Corporate social responsibility and customer satisfaction in the Dissertation

Corporate social responsibility and customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry - Dissertation Example Business operations matching with the sustainability standards has turn out to be a significant issue for organizations and their stakeholders on a global level and is today the part of conventional business framework. Well-known as CSR, the concept requires a principled and dependable position in business operations to take account of the community’s well-being. Idea for a novel trade framework combining the ethics and business, lucidity, the surrounding, stakeholders and society are now widespread, needing dialog between society, government regulators and businesses. The significance of CSR within the travel and tourism sector has grown, especially, in the prevailing years along with the ecological issues of climate change, depletion of natural resources, degradation, fair trade, and human rights issues (Sheldon and Sun-Young, 2011).From the present study the tourism sector can gain relevant insight about the latest trends of the hospitality industry and thus they can formul ate their upcoming strategies keeping in mind the needs and wants of the consumers. On the other hand the consumers who wish to avail such services can get to know about the corporate social responsibility of this sector and can also get access to other relevant information. Moreover this study would prove to be helpful for the stakeholders related to the industry who will get an idea about the future prospect of the industry and accordingly they would plan their investments into the sector. Research Aim The main aim of the current study is to explore the significance of Corporate Social Responsibility within the industry. Research Objectives The various objectives of the study are listed below- 1. To explore the impact of CSR on hospitality organizations and customer satisfaction 2. To analyse how hotel uses the CSR as a marketing tool 3. To investigate the barriers to CSR in hotels 4. To suggest recommendations for hotels regarding their CSR practices Initial Review of Relevant Li terature Definition of CSR The term Corporate Social Responsibility represents a management notion whereby the firms combine the environmental and social aspects within their business activities and dealings with their shareholders and investors. It implies a scenario by the means of which the firm gains a balance between the environmental, social and economic necessity whilst at the same time meets the expectations of the stakeholders and shareholders (United Nations Industrial Development Organization, n.d.). The concept has received growing attention during the earlier decades, both amongst the academic fiction and practioners. The initial focus of the firms was on the â€Å"social† duties and responsibilities for instance community based programs, paying fair salary to the employees. However a recent inclusion to this concept is the responsibility towards the environment for instance the elimination of the carbon-dioxide emissions from the surrounding. The concept of â₠¬Å"environmental CSR† has become an essential area of CSR and acts as an extremely important element in the corporate world (FLAMMER, 2013). According to the

Fast Food Essay Example for Free

Fast Food Essay Visit at least two different fast-food restaurants that make hamburgers and observe the basic differences in the following processes: How are in store orders taken How are the hamburgers prepared How are special orders handled How are the burgers cooked How are the burgers assembled Is a microwave used How are other items such as fires and drinks handled The two fast-food restaurants that I visited were McDonalds and In-and Out. The main differences that I found between the two restaurants were freshness and customer service. When in comes to in store orders at McDonalds, you wait in line to place your order. It seems to be not as customer service driven. You give them your order, which seems to be informal, and not that personable. You pay and stand off to the side until they call your order. They announce your order is ready by saying your order out loud, for example number 2 with a diet coke, without your name attached. At McDonald’s the hamburgers are prepared from frozen possessed meat, they then they cook the meat on the grill. As far as special orders go you must tell the cashier exactly what you don’t want because the burgers come as they are. The cashier then inputs the data into the computer, which then in turn allows the kitchen to make the arrangements. The employees in the kitchen then prepare the burgers; they utilize somewhat of an assembly line to make sure the right ingredients get put on the right burger. With McDonalds you do not have full visibility of the kitchen staff preparing the food. While at McDonalds I did not see a Microwave used. When it comes to fries, McDonalds has their fries frozen in a large plastic bag they then cook them in oil. With drinks you serve your self. When I went into In and Out it was a little different of an experience, and seemed more personable. The orders here are taken similar to McDonalds, but they take your name and give you a number, you wait off to the side and they then call your name and number aloud. The hamburgers at In and Out are grilled using higher quality meat, without preservatives, and they utilize local beef distributors. When it comes to special orders, it seems every order at In and Out is a special order. They ask you exactly what you want, where’s McDonalds doesn’t ask you exactly what you want, they just assume and you must be the one who asks for changes. The cashier then inputs the data into the computer, which then in turn allows the kitchen to make the arrangements. The burgers are cooked on a grill just like McDonalds. When it comes to the assembly, In and Out also utilize somewhat of an assembly line to add ingredients. In and Out uses fresh ingredients, the kitchen is open and you can see the employees making the food right in front of you. As far as I saw, a microwave was not used. As for fries, they use fresh potatoes with out preservatives, instead of bagged fries. As far as drinks goes at In and Out you also serve yourself. This assignment was quite interesting, I would defiantly choose In and Out over McDonalds. They have fresh ingredients, you can have it your way, and the experience is more personable.

The Role of Computer Generated Imagery in the Movie (Film) Industry :: Expository Essays Research Papers

The Role of Computer Generated Imagery in the Film Industry Computer Generated Imagery is the special effects used in motion pictures to create a visual depiction of an illusion that can not be easily created in real life. Directors of major motion pictures have been using these technologies since the early days of the personal computer. Early on, when and special effects were in their beginning stages, it was difficult to make efficient and effective effects that are well accepted by the movie critics and the general public. An evolution of special effects and the introduction of computerized animation brought the standards for movie effects to a higher level. The development of new methods of Computer Generated Imagery for less money and more effective than in the past has allowed even fairly low budget movies to incorporate such technology. Today, movies use CGI to create special effects to replace thousands of extras, stunt people, and puppet like characters, as witnessed in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. The evolution of special effects and Computer Generated Imagery technologies has taken the film industry to a whole new level. Computer Generated Imagery began with awkward and dull effects in the early 1980’s. The 1982 film â€Å"Tron† was a desperate attempt from Disney to jump on the CGI bandwagon and start a revolution in film making technologies (imdb.com). Although this film showed an attempt at something that had never been done before in the history of cinematics, it was weird and confusing. This broke the door down for other companies to start up and aid films in creating better and better effects that appealed to a larger market. Although the effects were not good in the early days, the general film going public was astonished by computer generated effects and flocked to the theaters to see these cheesy attempts to use basic technology that did not transfer well to the silver screen. It was not until later films like â€Å"Jurassic Park,† â€Å"Toy Story,† and â€Å"The Lord of the Rings† until CGI became a film making powerhouse and the killer application for hig h budget movies. The evolution of the 1980’s saw the pioneers of the early ages of CGI, but it was not until major revolutions in computer aided film making when the industry took a notice. Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film â€Å"Jurassic Park,† one of the first major motion pictures to use CGI on a large scale, is one of the largest grossing movies of all time (imdb.

Night World : Black Dawn Chapter 15

Maggie shuffled behind Chamber-pot Emptier,heading back toward the castle. She was carryingpiles of folded linen sheets given to her by Laun dress, and she was doing her best to look like a slave. Laundress had smudged her face artisticallywith dirt to disguise her. She had also sifted ahandful of dust into Maggie's hair to dull the auburn into a lifeless brown, and when Maggie bowedher head over the sheets, the hair further obscuredher features. The only problem was that she wasconstantly afraid she was going to sneeze. â€Å"Those are the wild animals,† Chamber-pot Emptier whispered over her shoulder. She was a bigboned girl with gentle eyes that reminded Maggieof the calves tethered by Laundress's hut. It had taken Laundress a while to make her understandwhat they wanted of her, but now she seemed tofeel obligated to give Maggie a tour. â€Å"They're brought in from Outside,† she said. â€Å"And they're dangerous. Maggie looked sideways at the wicker cageswhere Sylvia and Gavin had walked earlier. Fromone a brown-gray wolf stared back at her with afrighteningly sad and steady gaze. In another a sleek black panther was pacing, and it snarled asthey went by. There was something curled up inthe back of a third that might have been a tigerit was big, and it had stripes. â€Å"Wow,† she said. â€Å"I wouldn't want to chase that.† Chamber-pot Emptier seemed pleased. â€Å"Andhere's the castle. It's called Black Dawn.† â€Å"It is?† Maggie said, distracted away from theanimals. â€Å"That's what my grandpa called it, anyway. Helived and died in the courtyard without ever goingin.† Chamber-pot Emptier thought a moment andadded, â€Å"The old people say that you used to be ableto see the sun in the sky-not just behind theclouds, you know. And when the sun came up inthe morning it shone on the castle. But maybethat's just a story.† Yeah, maybe it was just a story that you couldsee the sun in the sky, Maggie thought grimly.Every time she thought this place couldn't surpriseher anymore, she discovered she was wrong. But the castle itself was impressive †¦ awe inspiring. It was the only thing in view that wasn't dusty brown or pallid gray. Its walls were shinyand black, almost mirror-like in places, and Maggie didn't have to be told that it wasn't built of anyordinary human stone. How they had gotten it tothis valley was a mystery. Delos lives here, she thoughtasEmptier led herup a stone staircase, past the ground floor which was just cellars and storage rooms. In this beautiful, frightening, impressive place. Not only lives init, but commands it. It's all his. She got just a glimpse of the great hall, whereshe'd seen slaves setting a long table yesterday. Chamber-pot Emptier led her up another floor andinto a series of winding corridors that seemed to go on for miles. It was dim in this internal labyrinth. The windows were high and narrow and hardly let any ofthe pale daylight in. On the walls there were candles in brackets and flares in iron rings, but theyonly seemed to add wavering, confusing shadowsto the twilight. â€Å"His bedroom's up here,† Emptier murmured finally. Maggie followed her closely. She was justthinking that they had made it all the way withouteven being challenged, when a voice sounded from a side corridor. â€Å"Where are you going? Who's this?† It was a guard, Maggie saw, peering from underher hair. A real medieval guard, with, of all things,a lance. There was another one in the opposite cor ridor just like him. She was fascinated in the middle of her terror. But Chamber-pot Emptier of the not-so-quickwits reacted beautifully. She took time to curtsey, then she said slowly and stolidly, â€Å"It's Folder fromthe laundry, sir. Laundress sent her with the sheetsand I was told she could help me. There's morework because of the guests, you know.† â€Å"It's Chamber Maid's work to spread sheets,† theguard said irritably. Chamber-pot Emptier curtsied again and said just as slowly, â€Å"Yes, sir, but there's more work because of the guests, you see-â€Å" â€Å"Fine, fine,† the guard broke in impatiently. â€Å"Whydon't you go and do it, instead of talking about it?†He seemed to think that was funny, and he turned and elbowed the other guard in the ribs. Chamber-pot Emptier curtseyed a third time and walked on, not hurrying. Maggie tried to copy the curtsey, with her face buried in the sheets. There was another endless corridor, then a doorway, and then Emptier said, â€Å"We're here. Andthere's nobody.around.† Maggie lifted her face from the sheets. â€Å"You're absolutely wonderful, you know that? You deservean Academy Award.† â€Å"A what?† â€Å"Never mind. But you were great.† â€Å"I only told the truth,† the girl said placidly, butthere was a smile lurking in the depths of her gentle cowlike eyes. â€Å"There is more work when guestscome. We never had them before three years ago.† Maggie nodded. â€Å"I know. Look, I guess you'd better go now. And um-Emptier?† She couldn't bring herself to say the entire name. â€Å"I really hope you don't get in trouble because of this.† Chamber-pot Emptier nodded back, then went toreach under the bed and retrieve a ceramic container. She walked out again holding it carefully. Maggie looked around the room, which was verybig and very bare. It was somewhat better lit thanthe corridors, having several bowl-shaped oil lampson stands. The bed was the only real piece of furniture in it. It was huge, with a heavy wooden frameand carved bedposts. Piled on top of it were quiltsand what looked like fur coverlets, and hanging allaround it were linen curtains. I'm probably supposed to take all that stuff off and put the clean sheets on, Maggie thought. Shedidn't. The rest of the furniture seemed to be largechests made of exotic-looking wood, and a fewbenches and stools. Nothing that offered a hidingplace. But on one side there was a curtaineddoorway. Maggie went through it and found a small anteroom-the wardrobe Jeanne had mentioned. It wasmuch bigger than she'd expected, and seemed tobe more of a storeroom than a closet. Okay. So I'll just sit down. There were two stools beside a figure thatvaguely resembled a dressmaker's dummy. Maggie dropped her sheets on a chest and pulled one ofthe stools close to the doorway. Through the spacebetween the linen curtains she could see almost theentire bedchamber. Perfect, she thought. All I have to do is wait untilhe comes in alone. And then She stiffened. She could hear voices from somewhere beyond the vast bedroom. No, she couldhear a voice, a musical girlish voice. Oh, please, she thought. Not her.Don't let him come in with her. I'll have to jump out and hit herwith something; I won't be able to stop myself†¦ . But when two figures came in the room, she hadno desire to jump out. It was Sylvia, all right, but she wasn't with Delos.She was with Hunter Redfern. Maggie felt ice down her spine. Now, what werethese two doing in Delos's bedroom? Whatever itwas, if they caught her, she was dead meat. Sheheld herself absolutely still, but she couldn't tear herself away from the curtain. â€Å"He's out riding, and he won't be back for another half hour,† Sylvia was saying. She was wearing a dark holly-green gown and carrying a basket.†And I've sent all the servants away.† â€Å"Even so,† Hunter Redfern said. He gently movedthe heavy wooden door until it was almost shut.Not all the way, but enough to screen the bedchamber from anyone outside. â€Å"You really think he's spying on our rooms?† Sylvia turned in a swirl of skirts to look at the tallman. â€Å"He's brightmuch smarter than you give himcredit for. And these old castles have spy-holes and listening tubes built in; I remember. It's a stupidprince who doesn't make use of them.† He remembers, Maggie thought, for a moment too full of wonder to be scared. He remembers thedays when castles were built, he means. He's reallybeen alive that long. She studied the handsome face under the bloodred hair, the aristocratic cheekbones, the mobile mouth-and the quick flashing eyes. This was thesort of man who could fascinate people, she decided. Like Delos, there was a sort of leashed tension about him, a reserve of power and intelligence that made an ordinary person feel awed. He was a leader, a commander. And a hunter, Maggie thought. All these peopleare hunters, but he's the Hunter, the epitome ofwhat they are. His name says it all. But Sylvia was talking again. â€Å"What is it that he'snot supposed to know?† â€Å"I've had a message from Outside. Don't ask how,I have my ways.† â€Å"You have your little bats,† Sylvia said demurely.†I've seen them.† There was a pause, then Hunter said, â€Å"You'd better watch yourself, girl. That mouth's going to getyou in trouble.† Sylvia had her face turned away from him, butMaggie saw her swallow. â€Å"I'm sorry. I didn't knowit was a secret. But what's happened?† â€Å"The biggest news in your short life.† Hunter Redfern laughed once and added with apparentgood humor restored, â€Å"And maybe in mine. Thewitches have seceded from the Night World.† Maggie blinked. It sounded impressive the wayhe said itbut more impressive was the way Sylviafroze and then whirled breathlessly. â€Å"What?† â€Å"It's happened. They've been threatening for amonth, but most people didn't believe they'd reallydo it.† Sylvia put a hand to her middle, pressed flatagainst her stomach as if to hold something in.Then she sat on the fur-covered bed. â€Å"They've left the Council,† she said. She wasn'tlooking at Hunter Redfern. â€Å"They've left the Council and everything else.†Ã¢â‚¬ All of them?† Hunter Redfern's fine red eyebrows went up. â€Å"What did you expect? Oh, a few of the blackestpractitioners from Circle Midnight are arguing, butmost of them agree with the liberals in Circle Twilight. They want to save the humans. Avert thecoming darkness.† He said it exactly the way Maggie had heard lumberjacks say, â€Å"Save the spotted owls. Ha!† â€Å"So it's really beginning,† Sylvia murmured. Shewas still looking at the stone floor. â€Å"I mean, there'sno going back, now, is there? The Night World issplit forever.† â€Å"And the millennium is upon us,† Hunter said,almost cheerfully. He looked young and†¦personable, Maggie thought. Somebody you'd vote for. â€Å"Which brings me to the question,† he said smoothly, looking at Sylvia, â€Å"of when you're goingto find her.† What her? Maggie's stomach tightened. Sylvia's face was equally tight. She looked up and said levelly, â€Å"I told you I'd find her and I will.†Ã¢â‚¬ But when?You do understand how important this is?† â€Å"Of course I understand!† Sylvia flared up. Herchest was heaving. â€Å"That's why I was trying to sendher to you in the first place-â€Å" Hunter was talkingasif he didn't hear her. â€Å"If it gets out that Aradia, the Maiden of all the witches,is here in the valley-‘ Iliknow!† â€Å"And that you hadher and let her slip throughyour fingers-â€Å" â€Å"I was trying to bring her to you.I thought thatwas important,† Sylvia said. She was bristling and distraught. Which was exactly what Hunter wantedher to be, Maggie thought dazedly. He really knows how to play people. But the analysis was faraway, in the shallowestpart of her mind. Most of her consciousness wassimply stricken into paralyzed amazement. Aradia. The Maiden of all the witches. So it wasn't Arcadia at all, Maggie thought. She might have mentioned that,after I've been calling her Cady for days. But then she hasn't been conscious much, and when she was we had more urgent things to talk about. Aradia. Aradia. That's really pretty. The name had started an odd resonance in hermind, maybe bringing up some long-forgotten mythology lesson. Aradia was a goddess, she thought.Of†¦ um, sylvan glades or something. The woods.Like Diana. And what Maiden of all the witches was, she hadno idea, but it was obviously something important.And not evil, either. From what Hunter was saying, it was clear that witches weren't like other NightPeople. She was the maiden Bern and Gavin were talkingabout, Maggie realized. The one they were supposed to deliver. So Sylvia was bringing her toHunter Redfern. But Cady herself told me-I mean, Aradiatold me-that she was already coming tothis valley for a reason. Before she could even properly phrase the question, her mind had the answer. Delos. In a coincidence that lifted the hair on Maggie'sarms, Sylvia said, â€Å"She won't get to Delos.† â€Å"She'd better not,† Hunter said. â€Å"Maybe you don't realize how persuasive she can be. An ambassador from all the witches, coming to plead her case †¦ she just might sway him. He has a despicable softspot-a conscience, you might call it. And we know he's been in contact with the human girl who escaped with her. Who knows what messages the little vermin was carrying from her?† No messages, Maggie thought grimly. Not withthis vermin anyway. But I would have carried themif I'd known. â€Å"Gavin said Aradia was still unconscious fromthe truth potion-that she was practically dead,†Sylvia said. â€Å"I don t think she could have given any messages. I'd swear that Delos doesn't know she'sin the valley at all.† Hunter was still brooding. â€Å"The witches have oneWild Power on their side already.† â€Å"But they won't get another,† Sylvia said doggedly. â€Å"I've got people looking for her. All the nobles are on our side. They won't let her get toDelos.† â€Å"She should have been killed in the beginning,†Hunter mused. â€Å"But maybe youhave a soft spotfor herlike you do for that human boy.† Behind the linen curtains, Maggie stiffened. Like you do.Not like you did.And who else couldthe human boy be? She gritted her teeth, listening so hard she couldhear the blood in her ears, willing them to talkabout Miles. But Hunter was going on in his smooth voice,†Or maybe you still have some loyalty to thewitches.† Sylvia's pale face flushed. â€Å"I do not! I'm finishedwith them, and you know it! I may be a spellcaster, but I'm not a witch anymore.† â€Å"It's good to see you haven't forgotten whatthey've done to you,† Hunter said. â€Å"After all, youcould have been a Hearth-Woman, taken yourrightful place on the witch Council.† â€Å"Yes†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Like your grandmother and her mother beforeher. Theywere Harmans, and so was your father.What a pity the name isn't passed through the maleline. You ended up being just a Weald.† â€Å"I wasa Harman,† Sylvia said with muted ferocity. She was staring at the floor again, and sheseemed to be speaking to herself rather than toHunter. â€Å"I was. But I had to stand there and watch my cousins be accepted instead of me. I had towatch half humansbe accepted-be welcomed.They took my place-just because they were descended through the female line.† Hunter shook his head. â€Å"A very sad tradition.† Sylvia's breath came raggedly for another minuteor so, then she looked up slowly at the tall man in the center of the room, â€Å"You don't have to worryabout my loyalty,† she said quietly. â€Å"I want a placein the new order after the millennium. I'm through with the witches.† Hunter smiled. â€Å"I know it,† he said, lightly and approvingly, andthen he started pacing the room. He got what hewanted out of her, Maggie thought. Almost casually, he added, â€Å"Just be sure thatDelos's power is kept in check until everything's decided.† Sylvia bent and lifted the basket, which Maggiehad forgotten about. â€Å"The new binding spells will hold,† she said. â€Å"Ibrought special ingredients from one of the oldestMidnight witches. And he won't suspect anything.† â€Å"And nobody but you can take them off?† â€Å"Nobody but me,† Sylvia said firmly. â€Å"Not eventhe Crone of all the witches. Or the Maiden, forthat matter.† â€Å"Good girl,† Hunter said, and smiled again. â€Å"Ihave every confidence in you. After all, you havelamia blood in you to balance the witch taint.You're my own eighth-great-granddaughter.† Maggie wanted to punch him. She was confused and frightened and indignantand furious, all at once. As faras she could tell,Hunter Redfern seemed to be manipulating everybody. And Delos, Delos the prince and Wild Power,was just another of his puppets. I wonder what they plan to do if he won't join their new order? she thought bleakly. After a few minutes, Hunter turned in his pacingand walked by the door. He paused brieflyasiflistening, then glanced at Sylvia. â€Å"You don't know how happy it makes me just to think about it,† he said, in a voice that wasn't strained, or overly cheerful, or too loud, or anything that rang false. â€Å"To finally have a true heir.A male heir of my own line, and untainted by witchblood. I would never have married that witchMaeve Harman if I had known my son was still alive. And not only alive, but out having sons! Theonly true Redferns left in the world, you mightsay. Maggie, with her teeth set in her lower lip, didn'tneed to guess who was on the other side of thedoor. She watched tensely. And Delos came in, right on cue.

Clean Edge Razor Case

Problem Statement: Paramount has become a market leader in global consumer products; but knows that innovation is vital to continue success. Paramount has used technology to create an innovative razor, but wants to make sure that it is positioned effectively. Situation Analysis: * Customers: Male consumer products have been trending upward in the last decade. The customer segments are broken up into three areas; social/emotional, involved razor users, and uninvolved or maintenance users. Social/emotional are responsible for 39% of Nondisposable razors, Involved is for 28%, and maintenance users account for 33%.In 2009 consumers razors and replacement cartridges at a higher rate than ever before. * Competitors: Competition includes direct competition as well as substitutes for Nondisposable razors. In 2010 the three major players were Paramount, Prince, and Benet & Klein (B&K). Prince mainly focuses on super-premium products. B&K entered the Nondisposable market in 1985. There are als o new entrants which account for the rest of the market. In 2010 Paramount is expected to have a 21. 4% dollar market share. * Company: Paramount is a large consumer products company with $7 billion in gross profit in 2009.The current Nondisposable razor line has products in both the market and value customer segments. The Clean Edge Razor is the first Nondisposable razor produced by Paramount that has a technological innovation. Paramount is relying on the Clean Edge Razor to increase sales and earn more market share in the Nondisposable razor category. * Context: In 2011 the effects of a recession are becoming less drastic than in years before. Customers have more disposable income and companies have more money to spend on investments such as media/advertising and R&D. Collaborators (retailers): In 2009 food stores represented 42% of all razors and cartridges. Other distributors include drug stores, mass merchandisers, club stores, and other distributors. As SKU’s increase, shelf space is increased to accommodate for all of the different products. Distributors are willing to increase shelf space because the margin on razors is high compared to other consumer products. Alternatives: Position the Clean Edge Razor as a niche product for highly involved groomers looking for a superior shaving experience. Pros * Less cannibalization. Social shavers right now aren’t interested in the Pro or Avail razor. Paramount is concerned with the overall profitability of all the razor lines. By positioning the Clean Edge Razor as a niche product, the brand equity of Pro and Avail won’t be as affected as if the Clean Edge Razor was positioned as mainstream. The current customer segment for emotional shavers is 39%. With over 1/3 of the customer segment involved with emotional razor purchases there is a decent sized market that could use the benefits of the Clean Edge Razor. * The net operating profit based on financial analysis is higher than the mainstrea m positioning strategy.There are advantages of positioning the as a niche product. Advantages * One advantage is that customers will be more involved, so they will take the time to research the product. After the consumer investigates the Clean Edge Razor, he will be able to tell that there is a clear advantage and the Clean Edge Razor is the best option. * Another possible advantage could be that Paramount could increase the size of the social/emotional market. Cons * Clean Edge Razor is losing out on potential sales because the market is much smaller. * Another con is the negative brand awareness.Even if Paramount created the greatest razor of all time, the brand wouldn’t become stronger because only people who know about razors would know that Paramount is making technological innovations. Through a niche market Paramount would need to rely on their other razors to remain relevant to the mass market. This could prove to be difficult as other companies continue to come out with new razors. Disadvantages * The investment spent on R&D to create the Clean Edge Razor was substantial; it will take longer to earn back the money spent on developing the Clean Edge Razor.Position the Clean Edge Razor to the Mass Market Pros * More people will be exposed to the product. This will lead to greater sales. This will also improve brand equity. Through this positioning strategy Paramount will have a razor in each segment. * Although not as profitable, this positioning strategy will still make a profit and build brand equity. Advantage * Paramount will be viewed as innovative and keeping up with competition. A company that is stagnant falls behind. Through marketing this razor to everyone, Paramount will be viewed as taking the next step to create the best razor.Currently Paramount isn’t working on any other innovative razors so this technology will have to be available to all different types of customers. Cons * One con is that not everyone will know how the v ibration will help prevent a better shave. There are also a lot of people who don’t need a superior razor; they are content with the razor the way it is. * Another con is that the razor will have to be priced lower than if it were a niche position due to competition. * Money spent on advertising. Based on the pro forma; it would cost roughly $12million more to advertise to the mass market.This is risky if the Clean Edge Razor doesn’t do as well as forecasted. Disadvantage * Cannibalization. Currently Pro and Avail have 22. 2% of the volume of razors sold, the largest of any pair or razors. Introducing a razor in the same market with more features will damage the sales of both the Pro and Avail. * This will also negatively impact the brand power of Paramount when the numbers are revealed and it shows that Pro and Avail are not doing as well as expected. * Based on financials this is the worst strategy to pursue. Recommendation: It is important for Paramount to grow the Clean Edge Razor as well as the Pro and Avail.I recommend that the company position the Clean Edge Razor for one year as a niche position and then position the Clean Edge Razor as a mass-market razor for everyone to use. Pros: * Through using a bit of both positioning strategies Paramount will receive the best of both worlds. One pro is less cannibalization of Pro and Avail in the first two years while consumers are adapting to the Clean Edge Razor. By the time the Clean Edge is positioned as a razor for everyone; the 39% of people who have already been exposed to the Clean Edge will be able to differentiate this razor from the Pro and Avail.The cannibalization after the first two years won’t be as severe because people will have already been exposed to the Clean Edge Razor. * A lower price when the product is positioned differently will lead to a larger share of social shavers. The social shavers that have been paying a premium price will be happy to pay less money. The othe r social shavers that don’t use the Clean Edge will be more likely to use the shaver because the price will be lower; meaning the consequence of the razor not meeting expectations will decrease. The sales will increase dramatically after the second year due to more potential customers. Based on my financial statements the net profit is slightly larger than the niche positioning strategy by itself. * Growing brand equity and positive word of mouth advertising through social shavers telling friends and family Cons: * Regardless of the positioning strategy there will still be some cannibalization. * Social shavers may see the change in positioning as a shift in quality and think that a lower price will equate to a bad razor. * The incremental net profit may be too similar to the niche positioning strategy to risk damaging brand power. Implementation Plan:On January 1, 2011 I will tell production to manufacture the Clean Edge Razor just as if we were pursuing a niche positioning strategy. We will spend the $14 Million dollars in advertising on specialty male health and fitness magazines, television shows, and radio stations. We will also be relevant on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. There will be contests with our razors and customers will get the opportunity to spread word-of-mouth about the Clean Edge Razor. Paramount expects to make over $52 million, with most of that coming in the second year because the first year is mainly niche positioning.It is safe to say that $20-$23 million will be made in the first year. During September we will launch a new campaign positioning the razor as the everyday man’s razor with advanced technology. During this time we will also run a smaller ad campaign for the Pro and Avail marketing the razors as reliable and a staple of the razor market. This is why advertising increases overall in the combination strategy. Paramount is expecting cannibalization regardless, but using a mix of both strategies will help offset the large cannibalization from just using the mass marketing strategy.This will benefit Paramount as a company because Clean Edge Razor will be exposed to every customer segment while still trying to maintain the brand power of Pro and Avail. This strategy will benefit the brands as much as possible. Also, the financials in the Appendix support this strategy over the niche and mass marketing positioning strategies. Cannibalization is inevitable; but it is vital that customers from all segments see that Paramount is an innovative company determined to find new ways to benefit their customers. Appendix

The Monster Study Essays - Speech Impediments, Free Essays

The Monster Study Essays - Speech Impediments, Free Essays The Monster Study Holly Castle The Monster study is speech impediment experiment that was done on the children that lived in the orphanage. This experiment was conducted to find out if stuttering was inherited or did environment play a key factor. Wendell Johnson was the speech pathologist that conducted this study to find the cause and cure for stuttering. This study violated a lot of ethical issues because the children were psychological harm, informed consent was not given and the subjects were deceived. Wendell Johnson had a biased opinion in this study because he was a stutter himself and was desperate for a cure. In this essay, I will discuss the background of this experiment and the violations of ethics that were done in this study. The Monster study began on Jan. 1939, in Davenport, IA at the University of Iowa. The participates of this study were orphanages whose parents died in the civil war and their mothers could no longer take care them, so they were left in an orphanage. Johnson got permission from the University of Iowa to conduct his research at this orphanage. When conducting his research, Johnson decide to recruit one of his students to help with the experiment by the name of Mary Tudor. Mary Tudor was avid but timorous student that was willing to get involved in the research. In 2003, Reynolds stated that Tudor's responsibility in the study was to tell non-stuttering students that they stutter and to tell the one's that did stutter that they have perfect fluency. Her experiment begins with 22 subjects, none of the subjects were told of this study. They were also told that they will receive speech therapy. In 2003, Reynolds stated that Tudor's experiment, she had to induce healthy children into stammering: she also told stammering children that did not stuttering. Before this study began, there were ten participates that were target by matrons and teachers. The ten participates that were target as stutters were divided into groups. Five were group IA the experimental set and group IB were the control set. Group IA was told that their speech was fine and they had no problem. The other group IB was told your "''Yes, your speech is as bad as people say.'' The remaining twelve were ages 5-15 and was chosen randomly and they were separate into two groups of six. Group IIA were told that they were showing signs of stuttering and they must correct themselves immediately. In Group IIB, this was the control group and they were told that their speech was normal and was praised for their enunciation. The subjects in Group IIA sought a lawsuit against the University of Iowa because of their psycho logy harmed they received from this study. In this case study, there were a few incidents of violations of ethics. In 1998, Callahan recommends that researchers should follow the three ethical issues: Autonomy, beneficence, and human justice. Autonomy is the first ethical principle that a researcher should respect the participate and make sure that informed consent has been given. The participates of this study was not aware the risk or what the study was about and could not give consent legally because they were minors. Johnson and Tudor did not give full disclosure of this research to the minors, teachers, or matrons at the orphanage. Beneficence is the second ethical principle; the researcher should maximize the benefits to the individual or society without creating harm to the subject. Johnson was so determined to get a cure that he caused psychological damaged to these children and did not follow up with care. The last ethical principle is human justice. Researchers should choose their selection on equitable subjects instead of conducting research on institutionalized children and prisoners. Johnson unfairly targets the children in orphanage because they did not have any parental figure they could be taken advantage. In conclusion, this essay discusses the pertinent details of the case study and how Johnson and Tudor violated ethical issues to conduct inconclusive case study. The case study was done at the orphanage in Davenport, Iowa on 22 subjects. Johnson was determined to keep information from the participants and everybody that was involved, in order to validate his point about stuttering

Divorce Hurts Children

Divorce Hurts Children Free Online Research Papers Over half of couples seeking a divorce still have kids living at home. Some parents don’t realize when they file for a divorce the damage and effect that it will have on their children. Divorce hurts children no matter what their circumstance is. Parents start fighting in front of the kids over who did what and how stupid they were for getting married in the first place. Then they go to court to hear the judge make the decision of who gets what from their divorce. But the hardest part of the divorce for children, I think, is seeing their parents fighting over who gets custody of them. Firstly, during the divorce the parents are really determined to find out who did what. They try to shift the blame on each other for whatever the other parent did to cause their family to break-up. Whatever reason, the parent tries to give an explanation of why they are divorcing the other parent. They do this by getting the children involved in their arguments about the divorce. They make the children angry because of the hurtful words that they say to each other in front of them. They get so mad at their parents for causing all of their pain; they no longer want to be with them. I had a similar situation that I went through about 20-years ago. I, too, got a divorce. I would be the one always trying to pick up the pieces of their broken hearts. Our children loved both of us very much that they really didn’t know how to react. I would try to make excuses for him when he didn’t show up on visitation day; however, when he did come to pick them up ,he would say hurtful things to them about me. It was hard on my kids and to this day is still hard for them to accept. As of today their real father chose not to be in their lives because of the divorce. They do have a great stepfather, who is always there for them, but it doesn’t replace the hurt of what their real father did to them. So when you are thinking about getting a divorce, think about all the effects that it will have not only to you but your children as well. How bad or how well children deal with the divorce depends on how the situation is handled. Secondly, they go to court so the judge can decide which parent gets what in the divorce proceedings. When the kids see parents divide their belongings they sometimes feel abandon by the other parent; especially, if that parent has to move away to another city. They might have to move out of the very same house they grew-up in, so the custodial parent can support all of them. All the children can probably think of is their life they once had is gone forever. My children and I had to move away from their dad, because the city that we lived in didn’t have a job for me there. At first, It was hard for the children to leave their dad behind, because they went everywhere with him. They had to get adjusted to a new town as well as their new school. The only place I could get a job to coincide with their hours was at the school cafeteria. Luckily, my mother worked for the school and helped me get on with them as a dishwasher. Nonetheless, we all made it through but it was real har d on them until they got use to the idea of not having their dad around as much. All children ever want is for their parents to get along with one another. Real life is not always a perfect picture that we imagine, it has its ups and downs. Thirdly, when parents start fighting over the children is like a tug of war instead of using rope they use their children. They use their children as levers or pawns to go against one another in the divorce. There lives and routines are disrupted by their parents divorce. It is mandatory for the children to go on there visitation with the other parent, so they have to go no matter what the situation is. In my situation, he got the kids two months out of the summer because we lived so far away from him. They couldn’t see their friends for the whole summer, that really hurt my children. You could tell on their faces that they would get depressed when they would have to go for the whole two months. I didn’t have trouble with them until about May. They would start acting up in school, because they knew once school was out, they would have to go with their dad for the summer. Not only was it hard on the kids but me as well. Couples arguing about visitation rights, please remember to put your children first before your own feelings. All in all, divorce hurts children in so many ways; we can’t even begin to comprehend what’s going on in their little brain. It can throw the child’s entire life into a whirlwind. Their emotions run high; they think everything around them is falling apart and there’s nothing they can do about it. All they see is their family broken apart. Parent’s always fighting about the littlest things. Whatever is running through their minds is going so fast they really can’t take control of the situation. However, they don’t know how they will feel once the divorce is final. How are they going to survive if only one parent is supporting them? The family they once knew and loved, will no longer be. Parents with children living at home needs to come up with a better solution of solving their marital problems instead of bringing everything out in the open. It can therefore be thoroughly justified that divorce does hurt our children. Research Papers on Divorce Hurts ChildrenEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoHip-Hop is ArtThe Spring and AutumnThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesRelationship between Media Coverage and Social and19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductGenetic Engineering

The Definition and Usage of Optimality Theory

The Definition and Usage of Optimality Theory In linguistics, the theory that surface forms of language reflect resolutions of conflicts between competing constraints (i.e., specific restrictions on the form[s] of a structure). Optimality Theory was introduced in the 1990s by linguists Alan Prince and Paul Smolensky (Optimality Theory: Constraint Interaction in Generative Grammar, 1993/2004). Though originally developed from generative phonology, the principles of Optimality Theory have also been applied in studies of syntax, morphology, pragmatics, language change, and other areas. In Doing Optimality Theory (2008), John J. McCarthy points out that some of the most significant work on OT is available for free on the Rutgers Optimality Archive. ROA, which was created by Alan Prince in 1993, is an electronic depository of work in, on, or about OT. Its a fabulous resource for the student as well as the veteran scholar. Observations At the heart of Optimality Theory lies the idea that language, and in fact every grammar, is a system of conflicting forces. These forces are embodied by constraints, each of which makes a requirement about some aspect of grammatical output forms. Constraints are typically conflicting, in the sense that to satisfy one constraint implies the violation of another. Given the fact that no form can satisfy all constraints simultaneously, there must be some mechanism selecting forms that incur lesser constraint violations from others that incur more serious ones. This selectional mechanism involves hierarchical ranking of constraints, such that higher-ranked constraints have priority over lower-ranked ones. While constraints are universal, the rankings are not: differences in ranking are the source of cross-linguistic variation. (Renà © Kager, Optimality Theory. Cambridge University Press, 1999) Faithfulness and Markedness Constraints [Optimality Theory] holds that all languages have a set of constraints which produce the basic phonological and grammatical patterns of that particular language. In many cases, an actual utterance violates one or more of these constraints, so a sense of well-formedness applies to that utterance which violates the least number or least important constraints. Constraints can be classified in two types: faithfulness and markedness. The faithfulness principle constrains a word to match the underlying morphological form (such as plural tram -s in trams). But words like buses or dogs do not follow this constraint (the first falls foul of the constraint that prevents the pronunciation of two consecutive /s/ sounds and the second places a /z/ instead of an /s/). These two examples, though, follow markedness constraints, and in these cases the particular markedness scores higher than the faithfulness constraint, so the alternate forms are allowed. Differences between languages, then, are a ma tter of the relative importance given to particular constraints, and a description of these constitutes a description of the language. (R.L. Trask, Language and Linguistics: The Key Concepts, 2nd ed., ed. by Peter Stockwell. Routledge, 2007) Constraint Interaction and the Domination Hierarchy [W]e assert that the constraints operating in a particular language are highly conflicting and make sharply contrary claims about the well-formedness of most representations. The grammar consists of the constraints together with a general means of resolving their conflicts. We argue further that this conception is an essential prerequisite for a substantive theory of UG. How does a grammar determine which analysis of a given input best satisfies a set of consistent well-formedness conditions? Optimality Theory relies on a conceptually simple but surprisingly rich notion of constraint interaction whereby the satisfaction of one constraint can be designated to take absolute priority over the satisfaction of another. The means that a grammar uses to resolve conflicts is to rank constraints in a strict domination hierarchy. Each constraint has absolute priority over all the constraints lower in the hierarchy. [O]nce the notion of constraint-precedence is brought in from the periphery and foregrounded, it reveals itself to be of remarkably wide generality, the formal engine driving many grammatical interactions. It will follow that much that has been attributed to narrowly specific constructional rules or to highly particularized conditions is actually the responsibility of very general well-formedness constraints. In addition, a diversity of effects, previously understood in terms of the triggering or blocking of rules by constraints (or merely by special conditions), will be seen to emerge from constraint interaction. (Alan Prince and Paul Smolensky, Optimality Theory: Constraint Interaction in Generative Grammar. Blackwell, 2004) The Richness of the Base Hypothesis Optimality Theory (OT) does not allow for constraints on the inputs of phonological evaluation. Output constraints are the only mechanisms for expressing phonotactic patterns. This idea of OT is referred to as the Richness of the Base hypothesis. For instance, there is no input constraint that forbids the morpheme *bnik as a morpheme of English. The output constraints will penalize such a form, and evaluate this form in such a way that the optimal output form is not faithful to this form, but different, e.g. blik. Since forms such as bnik will never surface in English, it does not make sense to store an underlying form bnik for blik. This is the effect of lexicon optimization. Thus, the phonological output constraints of a language will be reflected by the input forms. (Geert Booij, Morpheme Structure Constraints. The Blackwell Companion to Phonology: General Issues and Subsegmental Phonology, ed. by Marc van Oostendorp, Colin J. Ewen, Elizabeth Hume, Keren Rice. Blackwell, 2011) Optimality-Theoretic Syntax [T]he emergence of OT syntax seems to fit into the general tendency in syntax to blame the ungrammaticality of a sentence on the existence of a better alternative. This view on grammaticality is also found in [Noam] Chomskys Minimalist Program (Chomsky 1995), although Chomsky takes optimization to play a much more modest role than OT syntacticians do. Whereas Chomskys only criterion for evaluation is derivational cost, the inventory of violable constraints assumed in OT syntax is richer. As a result, the OT constraints interact and conflict with each other. This interaction is exploited by the assumption that constraints are ranked, and that parametrization can be reduced to differences in ranking between languages. Chomskys economic conditions, on the other hand, have no such direct parametrizing effect. In the Minimalist Program, the locus of the parametrization is the lexicon. (Introduction to Optimality Theory: Phonology, Syntax, and Acquisition, ed. by Joost Dekkers, Frank van d er Leeuw, and Jeroen van de Weijer. Oxford University Press, 2000)

International Marketing and Branding for Hotels Literature review

International Marketing and Branding for Hotels - Literature review Example From this discussion it is clear that  the Handbook of Hospitality Marketing Management edited by Haemoon Oh and Abraham Pizam also talks of the increasing market share of branded hotels. The share of total room supply by branded hotels in the US increased from 61% in 1990 to over 70% in 2000. The handbook also points out that a majority of business and leisure travellers prefer to stay at branded hotels rather than ‘unflagged’ operations. Hotel guests perceive relatively lower risk in choosing a branded hotel as compared to choosing an independent hotel.As the paper highlights  Prof. Chekitan Dev of the Cornell University writes that the hotel industry has become a complex, fragmented, global and competitive brand business with over 300 international brands operating in the market. The brand structure in the hotel industry varies from owner operators, to managed properties and franchisees. Managed and franchised hotel properties often change brands. Prof. Dev writes that there is an urgent need to fill many gaps in our understanding of brand management in relation to the hotel industry.  The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) reports that in 2013, 41% of their customers travelled for business and 50% travelled for leisure. The profile of the typical business traveller is male (64%), age 35 – 54 (52%), employed in a professional or managerial position (61%), with an average household income of $ 127,000.

Global marketing ethic and culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Global marketing ethic and culture - Essay Example hese two giants turned into a contentious issue that included business rivalry, questions over ethics, loss of jobs and nationalistic feelings, to boot. This paper examines the issue from the above mentioned angles and applies management theory to the case where relevant to establish linkages between theory and practice. The first and foremost issue that was raised by the proposed takeover is the fact of monopolistic tendencies arising out of a conglomeration of two business giants. The next issue is that of undervaluation and the correct pricing structure to be applied in such a case. Further, the interests of stakeholders have to be considered as well. Finally, the issue of job losses and nationalistic sentiment playing upon the emotions of the parties involved in the debate has to be considered as well. The proposed takeover and the aftermath of the proposal turned into a business saga replete with all the action and drama one would normally associate with a business thriller. When Kraft first approached Cadbury with an intention to purchase it at a valuation of $16.2 Billion in late 2009, the offer was rejected outright by Cadbury which claimed that at this price Cadbury was undervalued. Subsequently, the offer bid was revised and Kraft even went to the extent of mounting a hostile takeover bid. After a corporate battle that lasted well over two months, both parties announced in January this year that they have agreed to a merger between the two at a valuation for Cadbury at $18.9 Billion. As one of the trade journals put it, â€Å"The historic acquisition of Cadbury International by Kraft Foods Inc. of US has just been concluded. After a five-month siege, Kraft Foods on the 19th of January, 2009 won the highly-publicised battle for Cadbury, turning its hostile approach friendly and securing the support of the UK confectioner’s board in its takeover bid. As the dust settles, industry watchers are asking what this remarkable development holds for the global

Strategic Management - Understanding a model Essay

Strategic Management - Understanding a model - Essay Example Strategy has, therefore, been defined as a unifying theme bringing coherence and direction to the organization towards its goals (Grant, 2010). These goals have expanded beyond the traditional realm of profit maximization towards economic value creation, disruptive innovation or techniques as well as considering the social and environmental impact of firms’ activities. Strategy, therefore, aligns stakeholders (shareholders, investors, personnel, suppliers, etc) with respect to organizational goals and facilitates their attainment. 1.2 Porter’s five forces model- History The figure (see Appendix 1) shows that, in the 1950’s and 1960’s, strategic management was focused on corporate planning and growth along with tighter financial controls and budgeting (Grant, 2010). Medium-term horizons, including 5-year plans, were set and used to develop macro-economic forecasts (Grant, 2010). The market players were relatively independent and were governed primarily by t he macro-economic forces, with little regard to the strategy of other players. The 70’s, with the internationalization of economy and events such as surge in oil prices further emphasized macro-economic volatility (Grant, 2010). Strategists approached a more granular level of analysis to find the best direction for the firm. Porter’s model of the Five Forces highlighted the economic implications on industry structure which put knowledge-based innovation and strategy at the forefront (Ryall, 2013). The model goes beyond the traditional â€Å"narrowly† defined view of competition as competing merely for profits to encompass other competitive forces such as suppliers, buyers, substitutes and threat of new entrants in the market (Porter, 2008). The model provides insight into the competitiveness of an industry, demonstrating that not all industries are equally profitable (see Appendix 2). It is rooted in the notion of creating and maintaining a competitive advantage (Nilsson & Rapp, 2005). Though (corporate) planning remains part of strategic design, the Five Forces model places this exercise in a more realistic industry-specific context. 1.2.2 Porter’s Five Forces Model - Definition 1.2.2.1 New Entrants It is important to consider that the threat of new entrants will depend on barriers to entry, and even barriers to exit as well as the reaction from incumbents. The theory identifies typical barriers to entry as: i. Economies of scale which result in lower production costs for already established players owing to their large volumes. ii. Significant investment is required for differentiation to override customer loyalty towards already established brands. iii. Capital requirement to build the business (plants, facilities, R&D efforts etc.) or equivalent acquisition of an existing business. iv. Experience in the business as well as patent protection provides a cost advantage to incumbents v. Regulations and laws prescribing business poli cies that impact costs or result in delay to enter the market (Henry, 2008). Furthermore, the reaction of incumbents creates additional threat to the shares of newcomers. i. Retaliation ii. Slow growth of industry or over-capacity: The lack of capacity may make it difficult to absorb new entrants. This can occur in several phases of an industry’s cycle. iii. The price conditions must enable the newcomer to be profitable. In this case, the total costs of entry should be lower than the market price

Tort issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Tort issues - Essay Example The other issue is Joe; John’s father. He becomes concerned and follows the ambulance. He drives at 60 miles per hour instead of 35 mile per hour and as a result gets arrested by the police In the first case, John has a duty to obey the speed limits of 10 miles per hour but he refused because of his own negligence. If at all he could have obeyed the traffic law then he could have not find himself in trouble with either Paul or police officers. John’s negligence to Paul may be charged as follows; Loss of income, impact at 25 mile per hour, general damage, loss of camera, unconsciousness and hospitals bills. In this issue there are two standard cares to be discussed under tort of negligence; the first one is the standard care of a reasonable man and the statute care. If the speed limit applies to a pedal bike then John is guilty. But the use of the word â€Å"unable† is an indication that John did not cause the accident knowingly but unintentionally and he was trying to control the situation. John could argue that, he did not see the speed limit sign because it was covered with tree branches. And therefore, it is the constitutional right for the government to provide, and make visible, speed limit road signs as appropriate. Also in Paul’s case, John can rightfully claim that Paul’s act of crossing the road where it is unmarked for pedestrians’ constitutes negligence in his part. Therefore, it is possible for Paul to lose the case under contributory negligence law. In order to avoid such contradiction, the court developed an exception called last clear chance .This rule allows Paul to recover first even though it was his fault. Investigation is conducted to prove who had the last clear chance and if it is found that John had the last clear chance then the ruling is unjust and confusing. The other tort in this scenario is the conversion of the camera. Henry is

Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Business Law - Essay Example However, under the intention to contract, neither of the parties had the intention to contract because Bob only offered a gift to Ted as a form of gratitude for helping him. Therefore, since there was no intention to contract, then it implies that there was no existing contract between Bob and Ted. The element of consideration also indicates that there had been no existing contract between the two parties (Burton, 2009). Under the element of consideration, a gift is different from a contract. A gift is a cost-free and voluntary conveyance of property from one individual to another (Stone, 2008). Therefore, it does not serve as fulfillment of a promise. Therefore, Ted cannot sue Bob for failure of paying him the $100 since there was no existing contract between them. Question Two (a) Betty’s contract is indeed valid since there was an offer to contract, made by Betty, which the owner of the local sporting goods store accepted. The element of consideration also exists in the con tracts since; Betty gave out her collection of dolls for the bat, ball and glove. Both parties also intended to contract because; they both expressed willingness to reach into an agreement, which they both fulfilled. However, in the case of capacity to contract, Betty had no capacity to contract since, under the law, she is an infant. ... Therefore, Betty can indeed get out of the contract since; the law does not view her baseball items as necessities. Question Two (b) In the case where Betty had contracted to exchange her doll collection for shoes and clothes, she will not be able to get out of the contract since; she will now be bound by the contract. The law defines necessities as all goods that infants require, and are suitable to the infant’s conditions at the time of sale and delivery (Feinberg, 2005). Therefore, shoes and clothes are necessities because, Betty had worn out clothes and; therefore; she needed the clothes. Consequently, in this case, the contract binds the infant (Betty) and thus she will not be able to get out. Question 3 (a) An intended beneficiary is an individual who is a third party to the contract apart from the other two basic parties to the contract. The individual benefits from the contract when one party (the promisee) gets into an agreement with another party (the promisor) to pr ovide services to the promisor while the third party (intended beneficiary) receives the benefits (Feinberg, 2005). Therefore, the promisee must intend to benefit the third party. Ethel is indeed an intended beneficiary of the contract because she is benefitting from services that Dan is receiving from Jen. Although she is not part of the contract between Dan and Jen, she benefits through Jens intention. Question 3 (b) The contract between Dan and Jen must indeed be in writing in order to ensure certainty of transactions and future security. According to the element of formalities, the requirement of writing prevents fraud by either of the parties (O'Sullivan & Hilliard, 2006). A party to a contract may perpetuate fraud by insisting that there is no

Tort issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Tort issues - Essay Example The other issue is Joe; John’s father. He becomes concerned and follows the ambulance. He drives at 60 miles per hour instead of 35 mile per hour and as a result gets arrested by the police In the first case, John has a duty to obey the speed limits of 10 miles per hour but he refused because of his own negligence. If at all he could have obeyed the traffic law then he could have not find himself in trouble with either Paul or police officers. John’s negligence to Paul may be charged as follows; Loss of income, impact at 25 mile per hour, general damage, loss of camera, unconsciousness and hospitals bills. In this issue there are two standard cares to be discussed under tort of negligence; the first one is the standard care of a reasonable man and the statute care. If the speed limit applies to a pedal bike then John is guilty. But the use of the word â€Å"unable† is an indication that John did not cause the accident knowingly but unintentionally and he was trying to control the situation. John could argue that, he did not see the speed limit sign because it was covered with tree branches. And therefore, it is the constitutional right for the government to provide, and make visible, speed limit road signs as appropriate. Also in Paul’s case, John can rightfully claim that Paul’s act of crossing the road where it is unmarked for pedestrians’ constitutes negligence in his part. Therefore, it is possible for Paul to lose the case under contributory negligence law. In order to avoid such contradiction, the court developed an exception called last clear chance .This rule allows Paul to recover first even though it was his fault. Investigation is conducted to prove who had the last clear chance and if it is found that John had the last clear chance then the ruling is unjust and confusing. The other tort in this scenario is the conversion of the camera. Henry is

Business contract of sale of goods Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business contract of sale of goods - Case Study Example This can be illustrated in the case of Thompson v. Robinson Gun makers (1955)2 here D purchased a standard Vanguard car from P and later P refused to accept the delivery of it. P's profit on the sale would have been 61 pounds, but D argued that they were not liable for this amount, since the profit would still be made when the car was sold to another customer. The court rejected this argument since the supply of this model exceeded the demand. Therefo0re if P had found another customer he could have sold a car to him in addition to selling a car to D. In this case where Roger is the driver of Reptiles-To-Go he is acting as a servant of the master, therefore any act arising from him during the course of his duty the master will be held liable .This means that Arthur who was hit by Roger will have to sue the master (Reptile-To-Go) for injury he sustained both in person and property. The rule here is that a master is held liable for the damages of his servants that are committed within the course of his employment .The tortuous act must be a wrongful way of doing what the employee is employed to do. In Limpus v. London General Omnibus Co.1862 3, a bus driver whilst racing a bus caused on the accident .his employees hold liable because he was doing what he was employed to do i.e. driving a bus although in an improper way (K Abbott, K. Ward man .Business law, 7th edition 2001) Contrast Beard v. London general omnibus Co. (1900)4 a bus conductor attempted to turn a bus around at the end of its route and in doing so he caused an accident. His employers were not held liable since he was employed only to collect fares and not drive buses. Therefore the employer will always be held liable for the acts of the servant even if the employee acts contrary to clear instructions. Rose v. plenty 19765 Q3. On the facts of case where Katie bought some nut that should have been suitable for feeding her pet pot -bellied pig Percy and they eventually died from the said nuts fall under sale by description. In this section the seller will be held responsible for any of the loss caused by the product in which he /she sold to the buyer and where the buyer relies on the seller's knowledge and skill .It is the duty of the seller to offer the buyer the best product that meets his/her description failure to which he will

The development of Beatrice and Benedicks relationship Essay Example for Free

The development of Beatrice and Benedicks relationship Essay Benedick and Beatrice’s relationship is very lively throughout the play. At the beginning of the play they mock each other constantly in a jokey banterous fashion. Both of them are very independent and don’t believe in love. Their friends trick them into falling in love with each other and succeed, so that by the end of the play Beatrice and Benedick have a strong relationship and marry. At the beginning of the play (1, 1) Beatrice and Benedick constantly mock each other trying to outwit each other with quite sharp comments. For example Benedick says â€Å"well, you are a rare parrot teacher† to annoy Beatrice he says this in a jibing way to provoke her saying that she is too chatty and talks too much. Beatrice responds by saying â€Å"a bird of my tongue is better than a beast of yours†. By this she means she’d rather be a parrot that speaks too much than a beast that can’t speak well. She says this as a comeback. Beatrice insults Benedick by saying he’s untrue to his friends and a backstabber. â€Å"Who is his companion now he hath every month a new sworn brother† when Beatrice uses the words â€Å"a new sworn brother† she’s saying that he swears his trust to a new man every month. The use of the word ‘brother’ implies that they become really close before he turns on them. Beatrice says to Benedick’s face that he is â€Å"dull fool† and pretends that she doesn’t know that he is behind the mask at the masked ball. â€Å"Why he is the princes’ jester, a very dull fool†. When Beatrice is speaking to Benedick behind the mask, she carries on mocking him, the use of the word ‘dull’ shows that she thinks of him as boring, dull and not funny. (2, 1) When Benedick is tricked into loving Beatrice, he declares his love for her. He says â€Å"I will be horribly in love with her†. The use of the word horribly suggests that he is going to be madly in love with her. The audience can feel his strong emotions with the use of these words. (2,3) In the middle if the play, When Beatrice is tricked into loving Benedick she immediately declares her love back to him. â€Å"taming my wild heart to thy loving hand†. When Beatrice says this she is devoting her love to Benedick even though this was all just a big deception to get them to love each other. The use of the phrase ‘taming my wild heart’ suggests that she has finally found love and has been tamed like an animal. The audience get the feeling that both Beatrice and Benedick are quite desperate for love, even though they don’t show it, because as soon as the opportunity for love comes in they both take the chance despite the fact that they used to  mock each other and things Benedick said that implies that he has no intent of marriage â€Å"Shall I never see a bachelor of three againâ⠂¬  (3,1) Benedick says that although he cannot rhyme and write poems he is an amazing lover better than everyone in the world. â€Å"Although Leander and Troilus have a reputation of being amazing lovers they are not as in love as I am† Benedick is saying that the best lovers Leander and Troilus is not as good as loving as him because the best thing he’s got is how much he loves Beatrice.

Strategic Management: An Introduction

Strategic Management: An Introduction Strategic management is the art and science of formulating, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decisions that will enable an organization to achieve its objectives. It involves the systematic identification of specifying the firms objectives, nurturing policies and strategies to achieve these objectives, and acquiring and making available these resources to implement the policies and strategies to achieve the firms objectives. Strategic management also integrates the activities of the various functional sectors of a business, such as marketing, sales, production to achieve organizational goals. It is generally the highest level of managerial activity, usually imitated by the board of directors and executive team. Strategic management hopes to provide overall direction to the company has ties to the field of organization studies. Strategic planning is a management tool, period. In short, strategic planning is a disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does, and why it does it, with a focus on the future. Strategic management also allocates the right amount of resources to the different parts of your business so that those assigned to particular goals have what they need to meet their objectives. This ranges from providing your workers with the right supplies to enacting systems by which employees receive the necessary training, all work processes are tested, and all information and data generated is documented. To effectively manage your business strategically, every inch of your company must have its needs met in these ways. Furthermore, one must know that two businesses cannot be same and there should be some basic differences between them. Because of this, the goals and the plans of action are different for each business. Plus, the strategies for long term and short term development should be different and these need to be applied separately. QUESTION 1: Explain how someone can be a manager but not a leader, a leader but not a manager, and both a manager and a leader. A manager is a person with a job of overseeing one or more employees or department to ensure these employees or departments do their job or assigned duties as required. A manager helps others to get more done by motivating the employees, providing directions , making sure the employees working together towards a common goal, and providing feedback. A new manager may be responsible for a small team or a small project. Usually a senior manager will watch over his or her work. The manager will have to learn the strengths and weaknesses of the team members, instruct a work to the team members, guiding team members to reach goals, provide the tools needed by the team and motivate them to do their task. Usually , a new manager has limited responsibility for money issues and little chances to approve or make an expenditures. They have to review and approve timesheets for their employees and may have the chances to approve expense accounts. The term of manager is not the same for leader since the two terms are not the same. A manager must ensure the appropriate delivery of human resources and funding to meet the routine daily productivity objectives. The manager is known as detailed oriented. Mangers don not see the overall picture and are less interested regarding the long-term corporate goals and mission. They are worried about details; as a result, they do not make them a good leader. Some managers may have certain leadership qualities but they remain too focused on their daily operations and are unable to provide direction and vision to the organization. A manager plans, organizes, leads, and controls whereas a leader influence others through communication, motivation, discipline, direction and dynamics Typically, the goals are set for a beginning manager by someone higher ranking in an organization. Here , the manager have to develop a plan to achieve the goal set. They have to provide feedbacks to their employees as they work with those plans. To be a manager , developing skills at all level is important . At a beginning level , examples of two area where a manager need to focus their skill development are the ability to manage their meetings and developing their own planning tools such as to do a list. A leader is different from manager. A leader is a person who has vision, a drive and a commitment to achieve that vision, and the skills to make it happen. A leader see a problem that needs to be fixed or a goal that needs to be achieved. A leader is also a person who guides others towards a common goal, showing the employees by example and creating an environment in which other team members feel active and involved in any process or task. A leader is a good listener. Leaders have to keep their mind open to others ideas. They can come up with new ways to accomplish the goal set. It is the leaders job to make sure that everyone in the group is being heard. Leaders have to listen to the team members ideas and listen their criticism for improvements. Leaders have to be focus all the time. They have to keep on remind themselves and the team members of the goals and mission. Staying on track and keep the team members on track ,the team will stay motivated and more productive. As leader of the group, it is important that you schedule time to meet with your team to establish and check-in about the goals you hope to achieve. Leaders also have to be organized. Leaders are responsible in a lot of things and might be very busy sometimes. A leader can set the tone for the team. A leader who is organized helps motivate team members to be organized as well. As a leader, youre responsible for a lot and youre probably going to be very busy at times. However, you still need to find time to talk with your team. A good way to do this is to set frequent group meetings, so that no question or concern goes too long without attention. Leaders also have to be decisive. Although an important part of being a leader involves listening to the people surrounding, they have to remember that they are not always going to be able to reach a compromise. When this happens, dont be afraid to make the final decision, even if some team members disagree with the plans. Confident is the most important characteristics of a leader, leaders have to believe themselves and the success of the team members. Show others that you are dedicated, intelligent, and proud of what you are doing. A manager basically directs resources to complete predetermined goals or projects. For example, a manager may engage in hiring, training, and scheduling employees in order to accomplish work in the most efficient and cost effective manner possible. A manager is considered a failure if they are not able to complete the project or goals with efficiency. . On the other hand, a leader within a company develops individuals in order to complete predetermined goals and projects. A leader develops relationships with their employees by building communication, exampling images of success, and by showing loyalty. As an example of a manager, A company CEO directs Wong, one of the companies up and coming managers, to hire enough new employees to provide the company with a customer service department. Wong undertakes his project with enthusiasm. He hires only those employees who can work the assigned hours, will accept the modest pay, and have experience working in customer service. He trains his new employees to perform the job to his expectations and assigns the employees to their new positions. Wong measures his success in terms of efficiency, calls handled per hour, and cost effectiveness, for example did he meet his budget?. However, Wong did not anticipate that of the employees he hired, only a handful would remain working six months later. Moreover, as an example of a leader, Ahmed obtains the same assignment as Wong. Ahmed hires employees that he believes he can develop a working relationship with, versus just those employees who will worked the assigned hours and take the modest pay. Ahmeds goal is to hire a diverse group of employees, some of who do not have any customer service experience, who he feels he can develop a personal connection. A large part of Ahmeds training involves team building, telling successful stories, and listening to each employees own desires for what constitutes a fulfilling job. Ahmed still assigns his employees their job duties and schedules at the end of training, and he also measures success in terms of efficient and cost effectiveness, but he also measures success in terms of low employee turnover, employee morale, and employee development. Ahmed feels proud when one of his employees obtains an advance level position a year or two after being hired. The skills to be a leader or a manager are not exclusive in nature. A leader who only displays leadership skills will be ineffective when it comes to checking time cards, completing employee reviews, and scheduling employee vacation time; things that employers require their managers to do on timely bases. Similarly, a manager who spends all his/her time completing paperwork and reading reports; only creates more problems for him or her because they lack a developing relationship with their employees. Many companies, one person may play the role of both leader and manager. In others, these roles are carried out by different people. And in many cases, the roles overlap and leaders need to manage and managers need to lead. However, it is critical that both roles are performed effectively for a company to succeed, especially a company with employees. Without a vision for the future, a company has no direction and no goals for which to strive. Good leaders are made not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience. As a manager who would like to become a better leader to inspire your employees into higher levels of teamwork, there are certain things you must be, know, and, do. These do not come naturally, but are acquired through continual work and study. Good leaders are continually working and studying to improve their leadership skills. Leaders an d managers also have much different conceptions of work itself. Leaders develop new approaches to long-standing problems. Leaders work in high-risk positions because of a strong aversion to mundane work. Conversely, managers view work as an enabling process. Managers tolerate practical, mundane work because of a strong survival instinct that makes them risk-averse. They are good at reaching compromises and mediating conflicts between opposing perspectives, but lack the influence to avoid future conflicts. QUESTION 2: Identify two very different organizations that compete on a cost leadership strategy and explain how they do this, i.e. find out what they do that enables them to keep their prices low. The cost leadership strategic is to gain a competitive advantage. Make it into a simple word, cost leadership is reduce the cost to fight with their competitor in same industry. The organization who need to earn more profit, must reduce the cost to ensure they are not waste any resource. The cost who has reduce more, the company will gain more profit and easy to survive in the market share. Anakku Anakku as famous is selling the baby product. The company is celebrated 38th anniversary in Malaysia in 2011. Therefore, the company has their advantage to survive in this market. Anakku produce the baby products get it the mission is built on a strong, solid foundation of premium quality, safety and reliability. The product have been sell by Anakku are fashion-wear for babies and toddlers, feeding equipment, toiletries, diapers, accessories, strollers, playpens and more. Baby Kiko Creating style glamour, fun comfort for the little ones. Is the brand name of Baby Kiko. Baby Kiko is a brand extention from KIKO. Baby Kiko is establishing in Malaysia for over 20 years. Baby Kiko is one of the most widely recognized baby brand in Malaysia, known for quality, trendy style, and marketing creativity. The product that have been sell are toddler clothing, feeding accessories to weaning products, baby cleansing to baby skincare products. Cost Leadership Strategic Both companies have completed their cost leadership strategic, therefore, both company can survive in the market taking a long period time. Each of them has the plan to reduce the cost and increase their profit. Not even thought, both companies also using the Michael Portal 5 force to operate the companies. And they no using too much of advertising to promote their product, so that, the cost will follow decrease. Next, most of the products like cloth or accessories are make by them. The pattern and the design had been created, so, the companies will produce it with their own manufactory. Follow by this, both companies will try to reduce the damage of the product. They will make sure the product is good. The after-sales service is one of the parts they can do, and get the feedback from the customers, and get to improve better to the customers need. Within the Michael Portal 5 forces, First of all, the bargaining power of supplier. For the Baby Kiko Company, all the product are make by own, so that, the raw material of they used is direct from the manufactory, so the price of the product can easy to under control. An opposite, about the Anakku Company, some if the products like car seat or toys are manufacture from the supplies. Mostly, the Anakku Company will control by the supplier. But, for the Anakku Company, the main product for sell is clothing and the accessories like bottles, teethers, feeding accessories and etc. If the supplies increase the price, so they will change the supplier to get the raw material and try to product good product for their customers. Next, the bargaining power of customer or buyer is one of the forces that both companies used. The price had been set and the customers no have too much or no have power to argue to reduce the price. The entire product had been fix price, unless the company does the promotion like discount, so the customer will get the lower price of the product. Both companies have provided onsite service and after-sale service. And some of the product will give about 1 week to 1 year of warranty depend on the product. The threats of the entry of new competitor will also influence the cost. If got new competitor join into this industry, the company will spend more money to do promotion as like discount or adverting to attract people. This kind of money will increase the cost, so the profit will been decrease. Otherwise, both company had been survive in Malaysia taking a long period time, they have their own popularity in this country. For the Anakku Company, they mostly are produce the safety and useful product. The product no easy to damage and some of the product have the warranty to attract the customer to buy it. This is the advantage for them and no need scare about the new competitor to try to attack them. Besides that, the Baby Kiko Company more is based on the creative and innovative product to attract customers. The design and the fashion are new and look nicely. Based on the customers, they will take feedback and get the new the information to produce the product. Those are the advantage of the both companies; the new competitor does not have too much power and cost to survive. Other than that, the intensity of competitor rivalry it may also influence the cost. Take a basic word, who can get the lower cost, who will win in the market. Therefore, the company must have the power and the capacity to run the business. For Anakku Company, they have many branches in the Malaysia. It will easy to target market and the customers. Anakku Company as a wholesaler otherwise as a retailer. They retail the product directly to the customer, so that, the cost will not be too high to be taken. The technology of Anakku Company use is high-tech machine. According the above statement, the Anakku Company does not have too much of advertising. Running the business around 30 years, the popularity has the value on their customers. For Baby Kiko, they usually are wholesale to the stores that are really preferred to sales. Some hypermarket like Partson or The Store, we can see Baby Kiko product. Wholesale to other store, it can deduct the cost of employee and no need searching the place to run over the business. The customers who are prefer to sell the product, they will delivery it. It may reduce the cost with it. Not even that, Baby Kiko Company also though the internet to promote the product. One of the major website is Facebook to promote. It is free of charge and also can attract more people to know the new product. Other than that, the labour force it may influence the cost available. Anakku Company is more focus on the retail sale, so that, the employee will taking more and more, so the cost relative will increase. From the manufactory to the store, they are too many employees to work. But, the Baby Kiko no taking too much of employee, because they have using the technology like machine or wholesale to other seller. The cost taking is the transportation fee. At last, which companies keep the lower cost; it may easy and expand the business. Besides that, properly using the raw material and do not simply waste too much. Because the waste will direct influence the cost. Have a good plan of cost leadership, the company more easy to survive in the market share. Nursing Case Study: Osteoarthritis (OA) Management Nursing Case Study: Osteoarthritis (OA) Management Introduction Over 60% of adults in England suffer from a chronic health problem (Department of Health 2004). Osteoarthritis (OA) is among the most common chronic conditions, particularly among older adults, and is a cause of considerable pain and disability among affected individuals. The prevalence of OA has been estimated at 2.5% in the overall population, increasing to 12% among those aged 65 years and over (Wood 1999). OA is a complex condition with multiple risk factors of age, sex, overweight or obesity, genetics, and biomechanical factors (e.g. joint injury or occupational or recreational use). It is possible for OA to develop in any synovial joint but the spine, hip, knee, hands most commonly affected, either in isolation or in combination (Steven and Finlayson 2005). Typical symptoms of OA include joint pain, stiffness, limited movement, crepitus and swelling, and symptoms may be static, relapsing or progressive (Steven and Finlayson 2005). Structural changes within the joint may also oc cur in the absence of any symptoms. OA places a considerable burden on healthcare resources, with data published in 2002 showing this condition to be responsible for over 11 million GP visits and more than 114,500 hospital admissions (Arthritis Research campaign 2002). OA also impacts significantly on the economy. In 1999–2000, it was estimated that a total of 36 million working days were lost due to OA alone, resulting in  £3.2 billion in lost productivity (Arthritis Research campaign 2002). It is therefore important that OA is managed effectively in affected individuals. This paper discusses a patient that I have nursed with osteoarthritis and examines the effectiveness of their care in the management of this condition. Patient case history Mrs Smith is aged 78 years and lives independently in a two-storey house with her husband, aged 82 years, who is her main carer. She has osteoarthritis of the knees, hips and hands and also has hypertension and diabetes. She is taking four medications for these conditions. Eighteen months ago, she underwent emergency hospital admission for a urine infection. After being discharged from hospital, assessment showed her to be at an increased risk of repeated admissions due to her multiple pathology, polypharmacy and previous hospital admission. The care she had received prior to hospital admission was below standard and self-management of her condition was poor. Her GP referred her case management to a community matron who worked alongside a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals (I was a member of this team) and her husband to co-ordinate her care and help Mrs Smith reduce her risk of future hospital admissions. The community matron was involved in Mrs Smith’s progra mme of care for a total of two months, after which time co-ordination of her care was handed back to her GP. At the initial assessment, Mrs Smith was found to be experiencing high levels of pain which affected her sleep patterns and showed symptoms of depression. She also reported relationship problems. At present, her pain is being managed effectively through a combination of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions which include self-management; she reports normal sleeping patterns and shows no signs of depression. Her relationship with her husband has also improved and Mrs Smith is now no longer at increased risk of future hospital admissions. Managing individuals with chronic conditions The care and management of chronic conditions should address individual needs and expectations. The government has set Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets for improving outcomes for people with chronic conditions. These include reducing emergency bed days by 5% and increasing the number of older adults who are supported to live at home by 1% by 2008, from the 2003/4 baseline (Department of Health 2005). With the aim of meeting these targets, the NHS and Social Care Model was developed to help Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and social care organisations improve care for individuals with chronic conditions (Department and Health 2005). From 2005, all PCTs are required to provide personalised care plans for those individuals who are most at risk. Initiatives such as the Expert Patient Programme are included in this model and will be discussed later. Providing high-quality care for older adults The NHS Plan set out a programme of reforms for the NHS (Department of Health 2000). Based on the underpinning principles of this plan, the National Service Framework for Older People was implemented to ensure that the needs of older adults are adequately addressed in these reforms (Department of Health 2001). This will be achieved by ensuring high standards of care are provided for all patients, improving access to care, and developing services which promote independence. The Essence of Care, published in 2001, sets out benchmarks for clinical governance covering eight areas of care which identify required standards for high-quality care and indicators for best practice (NHS Modernisation Agency 2003). NHS reforms have led to changes in the role of nurses, providing new opportunities for nurses to extend their existing roles, together with the introduction of new roles such as the community matron in the community setting and modern matrons in the hospital setting (Department of Health 2001). [Client: since we don’t discuss care in the hospital setting elsewhere, I haven’t discussed the role of the modern matron any further] This paper will examine the role of the nurse as part of a multidisciplinary care team in the care of Mrs Smith. Care and management of osteoarthritis in older adults The management of OA in adults becomes increasingly complex with advancing age (Holman and Lorig 1997). Since there is no cure for OA, the main therapeutic goals are to minimise the effects of the disease and over time. Effective care involves building long-term interpersonal relationships between healthcare providers and patients, carers, family members, other care providers, and those organisations involved in providing care and support. A holistic approach to assessment and treatment is required that considers the physiological, psychological and social needs of the individual in relation to their quality of life and daily activities (Salaffi et al. 1991). Both the National Institute of Clinical Excellence and the Royal College of Physicians have recently published guidelines for the care and management of osteoarthritis in adults (National Collaborating Centre for Chronic Conditions 2008; NICE 2008). The care of Mrs Smith will be discussed in the context of the recommendations ma de in these guidelines. Assessment The single assessment process for older adults was introduced in 2000 as part of the NHS Plan (Department of Health 2000). This requires an assessment of the individual’s health and social care needs to take place in a single assessment and was designed to standardise the assessment process and raise standards of assessment practice. During Mrs Smith’s assessment, her concerns, expectations and level of knowledge about her condition were discussed, together with the effect that her osteoarthritis had on daily activities including personal hygiene, climbing stairs, getting up from chairs, etc, and on her sleep patterns. Her levels of pain and mood were also assessed. Mr Smith also participated in the assessment, in order to gain his perspective on his wife’s condition and to establish how well he was coping as her carer, and also to identify any specific health need he might have. Further specialist assessment of Mrs Smith and her ability to undertake daily activi ties, together with an environment assessment, were undertaken by an occupational therapist. Mrs Smith’s level of knowledge about her condition was poor. Three other key issues were also identified during the assessment, namely pain management, depression/anxiety and relationship problems. Mrs Smith reported increasing pain in her joints, particularly her knees and hips prior to her admission to hospital which was so bad she was unable to sleep at night. The care she had been receiving prior to this had not effectively addressed this increasing pain. Screening and assessment showed Mrs Smith was suffering from mild depression. She reported feeling distress that she was no longer able to undertake many household tasks that she used to be able to do or participate in recreational activities with her husband that she used to enjoy. The increasing pain she had been experiencing prior to her hospital admission also contributed to her feelings of depression. She reported feelings of anxiety over fears that she may be made to leave her home as she could no longer manage to c limb the stairs. Mrs Smith showed negative feelings regarding her past care and was initially pessimistic about the likely effectiveness of the proposed treatment in the current care plan. Mrs Smith expressed concern that her relationship with her husband was suffering because her pain and lack of sleep made her irritable and short tempered. An additional factor compounding these problems was her husband’s poor hearing which served to make her more irritable. All of these issues are common among adults suffering from OA (Farmer et al. 2008), and is important that their care plans effectively address these needs. The nurse plays a pivotal role in the assessment of individuals with chronic conditions and it is important for the nurse to establish a successful therapeutic relationship with the patient and their carer(s) as early as possible in the process. Effective communication and building trust is central to this relationship and it is necessary to gain the perspective of both the patient and carer to develop a thorough understanding of individual needs. Development and implementation of a personalised care plan Empowering patients to take part in decisions regarding their care is central to the government’s health service policy agenda (Department of Health 2000). The empowerment of older adults is also addressed in the NSF for Older People (Department of Health 2001). Research suggests that patient empowerment may help to strengthen patient’s ability to self-manage their condition (Corben and Rosen 2005). It is also beneficial to involve families and carers in the decision-making process, with the consent of the patient. A personalised care plan was developed for Mrs Smith with the involvement of both her and her husband, which was tailored to meet her individual goals. This plan enabled high-quality, patient-centred care to be delivered via a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals which included her GP, nurse, physiotherapist, occupational therapist and community matron. Social services were also involved in providing additional support for both members of the co uple. Taking account of Mrs Smith’s multiple pathology and polypharmacy and the use of research-based evidence were both of major importance when developing this care plan. Interventions within the care plan and the individual roles of healthcare providers Non-pharmacological interventions The provision of education and advice and muscle strengthening exercises were the two core interventions in Mrs Smith’s care programme. Research has shown that patients frequently report better outcomes when they receive education and advice as this empowers them to become more involved in their own care and equips them with the knowledge and skills required for self-management (Holman and Lorig 1997). Educating both Mrs Smith and her husband about her condition and methods of self-management formed a key component of her care plan and discussions were primarily nurse-led. Encouraging self-management is essential for all chronic conditions and providing a framework for self-management is an integral aspect of care (National Collaborating Centre for Chronic Conditions 2008). The Expert Patients Programme (EPP) was introduced in 2003 following the success of the Stanford Self-management Programme in the United States (Department of Health 2006). Research which provides the rationale for this programme suggests that patients who have trained in self-management have greater confidence and use their skills and knowledge to improve their overall quality of life. These individuals subsequently require fewer healthcare resources, leading to long-term cost savings. Self-management courses are run trained by lay leaders rather than healthcare professionals. To date, the success of EPP in the UK has been limited compared with that of other rehabilitation programmes for chronic conditions (Bethell et al. 2007). A physiotherapist taught Mrs Smith to perform a series of gentle exercises to strengthen the supporting muscles around her knee which she was then able to perform on a daily basis by herself at home. An occupational therapist recommended a number of modifications to Mrs Smith’s home to make performing daily tasks easier. These included the installation of a raised toilet seat and wall bars in the bathroom. The occupational therapist also arranged the provision of shock- absorbing shoes to help reduce the pain in Mrs Smith’s knees and hips. Due to Mrs Smith’s limited mobility, opportunities for visits outside the home were restricted. However, social services arranged for both members of the couple to attend weekly bingo sessions at their local community centre which provided the opportunity for social interaction with other older adults which both members of the couple found beneficial. Pharmacological interventions Oral paracetamol and the use of topical NSAIDs for the knee were prescribed for Mrs Smith. Paracetamol and topical use of NSAIDs are the currently recommended first-line treatments for knee OA (NICE 2008). Paracetamol alone was not sufficient to control Mrs Smith’s high levels of pain in her knees. Since her antihypertensive medication was a calcium channel blocker, the use of NSAIDs were not thought to be contra-indicated and were unlikely to show drug interaction with her other medications (Luque et al. 2006). Following discussions with Mrs Smith, a decision was taken not to prescribe anti-depressants initially but to monitor her symptoms of depression and revise her care plan if necessary. Throughout Mrs Smith’s programme of care, the role of the nurse involved making regular home visits to assess Mrs Smith and her husband. Monitoring the effectiveness of the interventions implemented is essential if the goals identified within the care plan are to be achieved. Regular reviews of the care plan should be made and changes made as required based on the outcome of ongoing assessments. Prior to the involvement of the community matron, Mrs Smith’s GP practice was responsible for co-ordinating her care. The community matron is a relatively new clinical specialist position within the NHS, introduced specifically to provide support for people with long-term complex conditions (Department of Health 2004). Working alongside GPs, community matrons perform various roles which enable patient’s need to be met within the community rather than in hospital (Bassett 2005). The role of the community matron in this instance was in short-term case management. Addressing the carer’s needs Evidence suggests that the health needs of carers are frequently overlooked (Hare 2004). It is also important that carers receive adequate support as feelings of isolation and being unable to cope are common (Department of Health 2004b). Mr Smith’s health needs were assessed during the initial assessment and addressed accordingly. Mr Smith suffered from angina for which he was already taking medication, and poor hearing. A follow-up specialist assessment of his hearing identified the need for a hearing aid which he received. The health of both patient and carer was then assessed by the nurse during subsequent home visits. Success of the care programme Mrs Smith’s care programme had a successful outcome. Her symptoms of depression reduced and her relationship improved once her pain was being managed more effectively and she was able to sleep better. Her mobility improved and confidence increased such that she was able to start taking short walks outside her home with her husband. She was also able to undertake more tasks within the home. Education about her condition led her to realise that OA is ‘not the end of the world’ and that life can still be enjoyable, provided her condition continues to managed effectively. Mr Smith also received support from the healthcare team which helped to re-enforce his role as her main carer and extend his knowledge about his wife’s condition, which better equipped him to care for her effectively. Mrs Smith’s care was delivered using the appropriate frameworks for older adults and those with chronic conditions and was in line with current management guidelines. Osteoarthritis and ageing OA is more common among older adults and will therefore frequently co-exist with other age-related comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and hypertension, as demonstrated in the case of Mrs Smith. Because of this multiple pathology, polypharmacy is common and drug regimens are often complex (Gorard 2006). Polypharmacy may increase the risk of drug-drug interactions and drug-related adverse events. In some cases, drug-drug interactions may counteract the effect of a particular drug (Cotter and Martin 2007). For example, if beta-blocker or angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor antihypertensives are co-administered with non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs), the hypotensive effect of these drugs may be reduced due to sodium retention by the NSAID (Luque et al. 2006). Furthermore, older adults may also consume over-the-counter preparations (e.g. vitamins and analgesics) which also have the potential to interact with prescription drugs. Age-related changes in both drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics may be observed, and increased drug sensitivity may increase the risk of drug accumulation and toxicity in older adults (McGavock 2006). Other factors which should also be considered when prescribing drugs for older adults are (1) cognition – whether the patient is able to understand and follow their treatment regimen; (2) vision visual impairment may prevent them from being able to identify their tablets correctly; (2) ability to swallow or fear of swallowing – some patients may be unable to swallow large tablets or may be afraid to do so for fear of choking. It is therefore very important to ensure that a full drug history is taken for every patient and other relevant factors are also taken into account. Ethical and legal issues in the management of chronic illness NHS funding for individuals with chronic illness has been the subject of considerable controversy in recent years. Advances in medical technology have allowed healthcare providers to considerably prolong the life of many individuals with chronic conditions and this ability, coupled with the increasingly ageing population, have presented an unsolved dilemma of how to provide comprehensive care with limited resources (Waldron 2006). Until recently, some patients have been caught up in a so-called ‘postcode lottery’ whereby drugs and services may be available to individuals living in one region of the UK, but not another. This is considered by many to be against the founding principles of the NHS which was introduced with the vision of providing free medical care for all (Donnelly 2008). While it must be acknowledged that at the time of its conception sixty years ago, no one could have predicted the extent of future increases in population size within the UK, or the shift t owards an increasingly ageing population which have placed an ever increasing burden on services ill-equipped to meet demand. Nonetheless, regardless of the extent of available resources, these should be distributed fairly to all within the population regardless of location or any other factors. Living wills are an issue which may concern individuals with chronic conditions, particularly those receiving end of life care. There may be circumstances in which some individuals may not wish to receive life-prolonging treatment and it is important that decisions and choices regarding their care can be communicated to care providers if they themselves are unable to do so. Allowing individuals to refuse life-prolonging treatment may be viewed by some as a step towards euthanasia which considers the right of an individual to choose when and how to die and which has been the subject of intense debate for a number of years. The NSF for Older People (Department of Health 2001) addresses some of the ethical issues surrounding the care of older adults, in particular infringement of their dignity and unfair discrimination in access to care. This framework includes standards for (1) reducing age discrimination, ensuring that NHS services are provided on the basis of clinical need and that social services do not use age as a barrier to restrict access to services; and (2) treating older adults as individuals and allowing them to become involved in decisions regarding their care (i.e. promoting patient empowerment, as discussed previously). The Evercare programme also addresses the right of older adults to receive high-quality patient-centred care. This programme was introduced in the UK in 2003 after demonstrating success in the United States. It is designed to improve care for older adults who frequently have multiple pathologies and social problems, who may be receiving poor care, and who are often admitted to hospital as emergency admissions for reasons that may have been preventable with higher standards of care. Those patients at highest risk of future hospital admission are identified for enrollment in the programme. A role of the community matron would be in identification of those individuals who may be benefit from this programme and in their case management. The principles of the programme include the provision of personalised, holistic care aimed at promoting independence, comfort and improved quality of life, and avoiding adverse effects of polypharmacy. Conclusions The management of chronic conditions such as OA presents a greater challenge in older adults with multiple pathologies, where successful outcomes may be dependent on a number of co-morbidities. The need for a full understanding of drug-drug interactions and age-related physiological changes is essential for accurate drug prescribing in this group of patients where polypharmacy is common. Effective management of Mrs Smith’s condition was achieved through a combination of self-management and health and social care. Effective care involved a holistic approach to assessment and treatment from a multidisciplinary team of health and social care providers. Within this team, nurses played a pivotal role in the community setting (and were also involved in providing care in hospital setting during her hospital admission). There are a number of ethical and legal issues surrounding the care and management of chronic conditions, particularly in older adults where age discrimination and infringement of dignity have been highlighted as widespread problems. Initiatives such as the Evercare programme have been implemented to address these issues but their success has yet to be demonstrated on a national level. Bibliography Arthritis Research Campaign 2002, Arthritis: the big picture. Arthritis Research Campaign, London. Bassett, S. 2005, Community Matrons: Improving the care of patients with long term conditions, Modernisation Agency. Bethell, H. J. N., Evans, J. A., Turner, S. C., Lewin, R. J. P. 2007, ‘The rise and fall of cardiac rehabilitation in the United Kingdom since 1998’, Journal of Public Health, vol. 29, pp. 57–61. Corben, S. Rosen, R 2005, Self-management of long-term conditions: patients’ perspectives on the way ahead, King’s Fund, London. Cotter, L. E. Martin, U. 2007, Student British Medical Journal, vol. 15, pp. 337–82. Department of Health 2000, The NHS Plan: a plan for investment, a plan for reform. Retrieved 25th July 2008 from: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4002960 Department of Health 2001, National Service Framework for Older People. Retrieved 25th July 2008 from: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4003066 Department of Health 2001, Implementing the NHS Plan – modern matrons: strengthening the role of ward sisters and introducing senior sisters. Retrieved 25th July 2008 from: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Lettersandcirculars/Healthservicecirculars/DH_4004789 Department of Health 2004, Chronic disease management: a compendium of information. Retrieved 25th July 2008 from: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_062820 Department of Health 2004, The NHS Improvement Plan: putting people at the heart of public services. Retrieved 25th July 2008 from: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4084476 Department of Health 2005, Supporting people with long term conditions. An NHS and social care model to support local innovation and integration. Retrieved 25th July 2008 from: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4100252 Department of Health 2006, The Expert Patient Patient’s Programme. Retrieved 25th July from: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Aboutus/MinistersandDepartmentLeaders/ChiefMedicalOfficer/ProgressOnPolicy/ProgressBrowsableDocument/DH_4102757 Donnelly, L. 2008, NHS at 60: a vision which we still believe. Retrieved 25th July 2008 from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2171506/NHS-at-60-A-vision-in-which-we-still-believe.html Farmer, A., Korszum, A., Owen, M. J., Craddock, N., Jones, L., Jones, I., Gray, J., Williamson, R. J., McGuffin, P. 2008, ‘Medical disorders in people with recurrent depression’, The British Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 192, pp. 351–5. Gorard, D. A. 2006, ‘Escalating polypharmacy’, Q J Med, vol. 99, pp. 797–800. Holman, H. Lorig, K 1997, ‘Overcoming barriers to successful aging: self management of osteoarthritis’, Western Journal of Medicine, vol. 167, no. 4, pp. 265–8. Luque, M., Navarro, A., Martell, N. 2006, ‘Use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs does not modify the antihypertensive effect of lercanidipine in essential hypertension’, British Journal of Cardiology, vol. 13, no. 5, pp. 353–9. McGavock, H. 2002, ‘The scientific basis of prescribing in the elderly’, Prescriber, pp. 86–9. NHS Modernisation Agency 2003, Essence of care. Patient-focused benchmarks for clinical governance. Retrieved 25th July 2008 from: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4005475 National Collaborating Centre for Chronic Conditions 2008, ‘Osteoarthritis: national clinical guideline for care and management in adults’, Royal College of Physicians, London. NICE 2008, Osteoarthritis. The care and management of osteoarthritis in adults. Retrieved 25th July 2008 from: http://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/pdf/CG59NICEguideline.pdf Salaffi F, Cavalieri F, Nolli M. 1991, ‘Analysis of disability in knee osteoarthritis. Relationship with age and psychological variables but not with radiographic score’, Journal of Rheumatology, vol. 18, no. 10, pp. 1581–6. Steven, M. M. Finlayson, D. 2005, ‘Management of osteoarthritis’, Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, vol. 35, pp. 246–9. Waldron, N. 2006, ‘Funding decisions in chronically sick individuals’, British Journal of Nursing, vol. 15, no. 9, pp. 286–91. Wood, J. 1999, ‘Osteoarthritis and its management’, The Pharmaceutical Journal, vol. 262, no. 7046, pp. 744–6.