HW Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

HW - Assignment Example Kodak has a legal obligation to sue companies that infringe on its patents. Kodak is among the oldest companies in the market that is slowly dying. Patents give the company to exclusively benefit from its innovations. Kodak sues the companies’ infringing on its patents to be compensated for its products. The company has to sue to deter other companies from infringing on its patents. Kodak has an exclusive right to produce the product for 20 years before other companies can duplicate. The company sues to ensure that it retains this right. Kodak can market its products in the market to gain market dominance before its patents expire. The company should invest in market penetration to ensure that it attains a loyal client base before the 20-year patent period. The company can also diversify it product range to compete with other players in the market. Positioning is key for the company, the management should ensure that the company is well positioned in the

Comparison of the health staus of Australian males and females Essay

Comparison of the health staus of Australian males and females - Essay Example e paper will aim at analyzing if healthcare institutionalization paradigms operational in Australia facilitate in offering similar services for both genders. Study reveals that there are striking contrasts in healthcare patterns amongst both genders, however, the comparison also reflects the fact that the factors affecting the health of both the genders are also quite diverse in nature which calls for differing treatment for ailments. Furthermore, the ailments affecting both the genders also reflect distinct patterns which also instigate policy mechanisms diverging at various points. Though the proposition made here reveal divergent policies for both genders in Australia, it must not be assumed that convergence in no way is possible since there are a few areas in health sector where similar treatment is also available for both genders. To understand the divergent patterns of healthcare in Australia, it is crucial to understand how social determinants affect the physical well being of individuals. Since through their lives, men and women go through different social and cultural phases, the health status of both genders also differ. For instance, over the years cardiovascular diseases have been assumed to be a man`s disease which is also true in the context of the kind of stress they go through in the competitive work environment (Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. 2010). Since women are associated more with other kinds of diseases, they are under-represented in the healthcare system when it comes to cardiovascular diseases. Similarly, the prevalence of diabetes is more widespread amongst the male populace of Australia owing to the genetic variations and lifestyles which the males exhibit more often than women. However, diseases like breast cancer may only be accounted to females, which is almost 28 % of the diseases which the females are diagnosed for (Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. 2010). Yet, lung cancer is diagnosed

Four quartets

Four quartets Four Quartets in the Light of Eliots Critical Theory Four Quartets is one of the most serious and longest poems of T S Eliot. It is very much philosophical in its tone and theme. Eliot considered Four Quartets his masterpiece (Johnston: 2005), as it draws upon his knowledge of mysticism and philosophy of life. It consists of four long poems, Burnt Norton, East Coker, The Dry Salvages, and Little Gidding, each in five sections or movements. The five sections are said to be symbolically representing particular elements like air, earth, water and fire; and they also suggest Christian holy days Ascension Day, Good Friday, the Annunciation and Pentecost respectively (Sexton. 279). Although they resist easy characterisation, they have many things in common: each begins with a reflection on the geographical location of its title, and each meditates on the nature of time in some important respect-theological, historical, physical, and on its relation to the human condition. Talking about the subject matter of the poem, Rees (64) remarks that the essential focus or unifying idea, of the Four Quartets is describing eternal reality which the poet tries to search through mortal time. He says that Eliot has tried to give a kind of philosophic cum artistic summary of his various social concepts and beliefs in these quartets. A reflective early reading suggests an inexact systematic approach among them; they approach the same ideas in varying but overlapping ways, although they do not necessarily exhaust their questions. Eliot proclaims that the Four Quartets are straightforward, told in the simplest language possible (Bellin: 2003). However, Bellin argues whether the poets claim of simplicity i.e. acceptable or not. He quotes a few other critics who agree on the point that because the subject matter in the Quartets is not an ordinary thing, so the language used to describe such ideas mostly avoids simplicity. Dallas (193) gives her opinion, with special reference to Four Quartets, about Eliots consistency with his poetic stan dards in the practice of his own poetry. She writes that T. S. Eliots in his prose and plays or poetry has maintained an increasingly developed understanding and usage of the doctrines that an indivisible association is found there between form and substance in his work of art. She has specially written about the association between Eliots critical thoughts and poetic practice. She compares the content and structure of different poems especially of the Quartets and finds an appropriate correlation in them. The form of a poem develops and takes its shape from the order which is inherent in the material, or substance of the poem (Dallas, 194). From various angles this long poem of four sections has been commented upon by critics. Many critics have found the Eliots proclaimed characteristics of impersonality in the poem. The relationship of mater and form of any poem is considered very significant to show artistic expertise objectively. Fussel (212) finds a correlation between the content and the form of this long poem. He says that the structure of Four Quartets as compared to its subject matter is both a innate and expected consequence of techniques and concepts formerly used by Eliot and, at the same time, exceptional not only in Eliots own poetry but also in the entire English literary tradition. However Fussel is also of the opinion that in the Quartets, what we are offered to view is not what every individual can perceive on his own but it is rather the eyes of a single personality that shows us what we see. Even then the critic concludes that such is the skill to develop the theme that a reader feels himself as the p art of the experience. His poetic works are a kind of externalization of aesthetic and emotional images mixed together with explanation and annotation by the interpreting understanding, a combination of personal contemplation and open public dialogue (Fussel. 213). He further says that the structure of Four Quartets is outcome of the poets experience, which is artistically developed by intellectual analysis and the depiction of emotional state. Fussel also talks about Eliots concept of unification of sensibilities but with mixed comments of achieving it. He says: In the Quartets, the opposites of intellect and sensibility, thought and feeling, do achieve union, but the gulf is deepened while the bridge is under construction (214). He means to say that in comparison to Eliots early works, the poem Four Quartets shows a delay resolution of the unifying devices, which the poet does on purpose. He says that Eliot knows the limitations of the modern man to understand the universal realities not so easily, therefore, first of all, he had to take to direct description of his religious thoughts and, then, by describing the concept of incarnation, Eliot achieves the union of the opposites in the Quartets. Dallas (6, 7) writes in detail Eliots use of opposite images to describe the opposite universal forces at work. She quotes lines from the different sections of the Quartets, which simultaneously mention life and death, cold and hea t, haze and light, dead, and living and the beginning and the end. All this is to depict impersonally the dual effects of the subtle universal laws. The poet, here, requires the intelligence and concentration of the reader to feel and understand the undertone of the message of the poem. Written between 1935 and 1942, they mark the end of Eliots major poetic achievement. As a poet, Eliot was by no means prolific. So much greater his merit of creating, in quite a few great poems, an imaginary world which has haunted poetry ever since. If he has not got whole shelves of books to boast of, he is, in exchange, an accomplished master of concentration and ambiguity. We have seen him as an innovator, as a difficult poet, a magician of the understatement. The Four Quartets are his last feat of magic (Vianu). The effect is mystifying. Soothing is the first attribute that comes to mind in connection with Eliots Four Quartets (Vianu). If anything, then, these soothing Quartets are first and foremost poems of the mind. Emotion mastered, love reconsidered, sensibility dissected by serene thought. The Quartets have many names for their mystical goal of knowledge outside language still point, pattern, love, consciousness (Bellin: 2003). The masterly use of language plays very impo rtant role in bringing forth the desired meaning in a situation especially describing an abstract phenomenon. According to Bellin, Eliot has adequately used most of the language tools, which has made it possible for him to pronounce his mental feelings agreeably although, the poet has been denying his mastery over the adequate use of words. Bellin further says that such a paradoxical use of language can well be seen in Burnt Norton-the redemptive power of language and the distaste for language: Words move, music moves Only in time; but that which is only living Can only die. Words, after speech, reach Into the silence. Only by the form, the pattern, Can words or music reach The stillness (li. 137-142) Words strain, Crack and sometimes break, under the burden, Under the tension, slip, slide, perish, Decay with imprecision, will not stay in place, Will not stay still. (li. 149-153) Bellin (2003) quotes Hay who comments, One critic proposes that the poem uses a stream-of-consciousness methodthough whose consciousness is a crucial question (Hay; 161); and he swiftly proclaims that in the poetry produced at some later stage, the perception and consciousness are clearly Eliots own (Hay 161). In case of the Quartets, the poets consciousness and the quality of the Quartets impersonality come under question. Bellin, then, quotes Thompson who suggests finding out a certain formula as to read the Quartets impersonally as desired by the poet. Melaney (151) appreciates Eliots mastery over the use of befitting language in Quartets. With particular reference to the Quartets, he says that Eliot usually enjoys adopting a style of expression that facilitates him to put forward abstract and theoretical proclamations as crystal clear and indisputable truths. The illustration of the time paradoxes in this poem is so h3 that it constitutes a kind of poetics for the young poets especially regarding the use of the appropriate language. Boaz (32), by quoting Ruth Berges, says that Eliot wanted to write poetry so transparent that we should not see the poetry, but that which we are meant to see through the poetry. And this is possible only through the use and application of a language that should be most befitting to convey the poet to the readers not only aurally but visually too. Speaking about the start of the poem, Brown (2003) says that the imagery of the rose garden takes the readers along with the poet. He says that the world created by the poet becomes the imagined world of the readers; it is all because, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the poetry creates the conditions to fulfill its own inter-personal invitation. This is the relation between the poem and the readers, not between the poet and the readers. The poet has to be an observer as before the composition of his poem so he has to remain after its composition. This is what is skillfully done by Eliot in his Quartets. To come back to the late summer of Burnt Norton, the poem goes on with memories of youth silenced by the lullaby of elderly thoughts. There is a trilling wire in the blood, and this blood still sings below inveterate scars. But the old wars are long forgotten, or, in Eliots words appeased. A still point is mentioned. It reminds the reader of the prayer to the silent sister in Ash Wednesday: Teach us to care and not to care Teach us to sit still He reiterates, time and again, all is always now, and it looks difficult for him to forget what he wants to forget i.e. the loud lament of the disconsolate fantasy. They are all there in a poem which, though is determined to forget certain things and events (old ideal of Ash-Wednesday), has not yet performed this task of forgetting things. Obstinate recollections of old troubles and excitements enliven it: Quick now, here, now, always Ridiculous the waste sad time Stretching before and after It is not only memories that hurt the poet, but also his struggle with the words, which should express them. In Burnt Norton, serene as the tone may be, peace of mind is wishful thinking, and the poets words reveal a restless mind trying its hand at relaxation, but Words strain, Crack and sometimes break, under the burden, Under the tension, slip, slide, perish, Decay with imprecision, will not stay in place, Will not stay still. East Coker (1940), title of the second quartet, is the name of a Somerset shire village.   T.S. Eliot desired that, at the time of his death, his body should be cremated, and the ashes buried at East Coker. Which his second wife dutifully accomplished. This place was visited and inhabited by Eliots ancestors also. That is why we find the start and the main theme of the poem as, In my beginning is my end, reversed later into In my end is my beginning. The specifically literary twist here is that the simple revelry of the imagined rustic men and women is largely rendered in the words and spelling of a probable ancestor of the poet Sir Thomas Elyot (Brown: 2003). In daunsing, signifying matrimonie A dignified and commodious sacrament. (178) This observation shows that Eliot has tried to present a bygone time or persons in their own typical surroundings. This masterly skill of Eliot has been a great means of success to achieve the impersonal tone in his poetry throughout these fragmented poems. The main space of Burnt Norton is, however, the still point of the turning world. Imaginary or not, who cares? Fact is that deep below, at the bottom of the poem, stillness and restlessness coexist. The poet has described here his past, his life philosophy, his achievements, his wishes and disappointments. A dynamic view of life has been mentioned in poetic style. A number of universal contrasting ideas have been put together in fantastic antithetical statements. Vianu, speaking of such opposite facts, says, They sadly go hand in hand, with Eliot inertly watching: Words move, music moves Only in time; but that which is only living Can only die. A tendency of detachment and aloofness encompasses certain sections in the Four Quartets: in East Coker where Eliot puts the metaphor of Christ, the wounded surgeon, in The Dry Salvages, where he mocks augury, in Little Gidding where he transforms German dive-bombers into the Pentecostal descent of the Holy Spirit. Bottum (1995) confirms this wave of detachment in the quartets and says that this lack of involvement starts off as a final point in Eliots desire to turn his knowledge and experience into metaphorical symbols. The development of the performance of an artist, Eliot wrote when he was younger, is a continual extinction of personality. To him the poet is not experiencing his experiences here; he is only standing self-consciously outside experience in order to watch himself experience. In the Four Quartets the self- conscious poet stands outside his temporal experiences in order to find in them a metaphor for the temporal facts he has not experienced. The fundamental experienc e in The Four Quartets that experience to which all other experiences are ordered as metaphors-Eliot always describes in the conditional or the subjunctive or the future (Bottum:1995). And all shall be well and All manner of things shall be well When the tongues of flame are in-folded Into the crowned knot of fire And the fire and the rose are one. But here the views of Stevens (2004) are slightly different. He says, though, in poems like Prufrock and The Waste Land, Eliot is considerably successful in applying his theory of impersonality, but it is certainly Eliots own voice that we hear in the later poetry such as Four Quartets. Stevens is of the opinion that the poet, in Quartets, has become subjective and speaks personally of his own life experiences. He does not find the element of detachment but rather a h3 presence of the poets personality in the Quartets. Finally, Stevens says that Four Quartets, being a religious affirmation, gives way to certain discursive and expository elements that we do not find in his earlier poems. Any how according to many other well reputed critics, Eliot has, in the Quartets, used the kind of images and symbols that as those in The Waste Land and Prufrock, bring forth the poets inner thoughts in an objective manner. Eliot has shown great skill of using characteristic images to expose very abstract concepts in the Quartets. Rees (65) is of the view that it is the use of images that has helped Eliot relate and yoke together the opposite themes in the quartets. He writes, Dry Salvages provide an excellent illustration of how Eliot presents his two related but contrasted themes in the form of dominant images. He points out to the images of river and sea, which represent the concepts of the temporal mutability and eternity respectively. Esty (2003) is of the opinion that Eliots striving after objective style is a successful attempt to bring forth the intended impression of the poem impersonally. He says that the poets effort to make inner voice surrender to outer authority paves way for the artistic impersonality in his poem. For Esty the poetic techniques of Eliot are a practical show of his critical canons. Dennis Brown (2003), talking about the psychological effects of the Quartets, experiences, My own feeling is that the most powerful passages are those which engage the reader in an epiphanic experience which creates a transitional area. He speaks about the readers involvement in feeling the poets thoughts and says that the musical and the therapeutic effects while the description of times hold grips of the reader and engages their mind to be one with the poet. Brown calls this Eliots genius.   Morris Weitz (1952) opines on the use of several symbols in Eliots poetry. He especially takes the symbol of rose garden and says that Eliot has used the symbol of rose garden at several places in his poetry to depict the temporal experiences, which exhibit the immanent character of the ultimately real. Footfalls echo in the memory Down the passage which we did not take Towards the door we never opened Into the rose-garden. My words echo Thus, in your mind Weitz is of the opinion that though the critics have defined the symbol of rose garden with different connotations, the essential meaning has the double impact rose garden as an actual place and the symbolical use of the poets worldly experiences and their possible relation with the Absolute. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.the rose garden symbolizes those moments that show, more than any others, the meeting of the Eternal and the temporal (Weitz:1952) These Quartets are termed as a death and life effort with the words and their meanings. The poetry in them does not seem to matter, at first sight. It does matter a lot, at the deeper level of the poets mood and spirit of innovation (Vianu). Here it is stated that Eliot is not giving preference to how to say out the things but he is more concerned with what to say. It is actually extracting out the emotion from the poets mind in its entirety in the shape of words. In doing so, though, the poet tries his best to put forward everything in the best possible way, the occasional lack of befitting words must not impede the true expression of the ideas especially in an impersonal way. That was a way of putting it not very satisfactory: A periphrastic study in a worn-out poetical fashion, Leaving one still with the intolerable wrestle With words and meanings. The poetry does not matter. The irony falls back on the reader who sees nothing but poetry in the poem (Craven: 2004). In the above quoted lines of the poem, Eliot seems to be talking modestly of his own genius. His critics are of the view that the Quartets do not exhibit only the sublimity of his poetic thoughts but his technical aspect is also at its heights in the Quartets. Craven further says that the readers are compelled to work through the traditional suspension of disbelief while going through this poem. This again tells us Eliots skill of involving the readers to feel, understand and interpret his poetry in an objective way. However, according to Roger Bellin (2003), Karl Shapiro and George Orwell hold contrary views. Bellin reports that Shapiro accuses the Quartets of the complete abandonment of poetry (247), and Orwell insists similarly: Perhaps what we need is prayer, observance, etc., but you do not make a line of poetry by stringing those words together. Bellin also quotes Thompsons opinion saying that a careful reading of the Quartets reveals the poem personalizing the poet as a protagonist in order, in reading, to participate in his struggle (Thompson 83). Talking about the use of adequate images in Four Quartets, Vianu refers to Ash Wednesday and says: Ash-Wednesday is not far behindà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. We feel we are drifting together with the poem on the waves of a whimsical sea. Our life, like anybodys, is a drifting boat with a slow leakage. Here the learned critic understands the feelings of the poet who is trying to convey his thoughts. He speaks of horrors in a blank voice. We do hear about wailings, withering, wreckage, unprayable prayers, failing powers, wastage, primitive terrors, and sudden fury One thing, however, is changed, and this change makes all the difference. Eliot is no longer trying to terrify. He shuns away his anger and revolt. He tries to look resigned (Vianu). Sexton (280) has pointed out Eliots making of Cross in the Quartets. the four quartets respectively concern the way up, the way back, the way forward and the way down as spoken of by Eliot in Dry Salvages III. We first see these four directions in Burnt Nor ton II. With these directions or movements in mind Sexton finds the traces of the making of Christian Cross in the poem. This shows a subtle way of portraying religious images in an objective way upholding the poetic concept of impersonality. Eliot, the literary critic, repeatedly put aside from him the flights of abstruse reasoning. Of course, literary critics will go on dissecting the philosophy of the Quartets. Eliots wish was that poetry should be felt before it was understood. This is one of the reasons why these quartets should be handled carefully. We must learn to protect the fleeting feelings they delicately outline. Philosophy may have had a part in these poems, but only as a discipline of mind. The main thing is that these Quartets reveal something unique in Eliots poetry: a warm directness. This evidence of attachment to man and life in Eliots creation can hardly be stressed enough. Reading these lines, we realize why Eliot hated those critics who called him learned and cold. The more the poet writes about indifference, peace of mind, detachment and so on, the more attached he feels to everything. His former ties to the world were grumbling. He kept feeling hurt and howled out. This new attachment is spiteless ; it is generous and warm. The warmth of a poet who hides in his poetry, a heart for all seasons. In his own words: music heard so deeply That it is not heard at all, but you are the music While the music lasts. Danby (79,80), evaluating the over all impact and feeling of the Quartets, says that here the poet makes the reader move along with him for the full satisfaction of the three dimensional experience while reading the poem. He means to say that Eliots poetry is so encompassing that it leaves nothing go unfelt. In spite of several difficulties, the poet is successful in turning a whole generation of readers to experience the feelings. Danby further says: They (Quartets) are themselves both poems and criticism of poetry (80). Danby is stating here the corresponding accord between Eliots criticism and his poetry. They also practice what they preach(p.80). Towards the end of his article, Danby speaks about Eliots mastery of imagery. He says that the poet is quite capable of finding and using such comprehensive images that exhibit the complexities of the poets mood. They are used as objective correlatives to feelings or thoughts (Danby: 84). Although many critics have found the Quartets in keeping with the poets concept of impersonality, Melaney (148), like Stevens, parts his way with the rest of the critics. He writes, His (Eliots) canonization as a literary icon has prevented his readers from considering his poetry as a record of personal change. He says that the subject matter of the Quartets is not wholly in accordance with his critical canons. Here we find a great deal of his autobiographical account that makes the poem a personal life sketch. The account or subject matter may be personal, but it is the way of presentation that makes it personal or impersonal as defined by Eliot. Hence, if we look at the way things have been talked about in the Quartets, the impersonal tone is more obvious than the personal. Fussell (217) says, in the Quartets, on the other hand, he forges a more personal form by using only the first person, and yet he creates an illusion of the impersonal by splitting up the single personality into contrasting moods and by giving the speaker a public as well as private voice. Thus, apart from the observations of a few critics, most of the poem seems in conformity with Eliots concept of impersonality. The intended abstract idea of time has been presented in such an objectified manner that the reader feels one with the feelings of the poet while going through the poem. References: Bellin, Roger. The Seduction of Argument and the Danger of Parody in the Four Quartets. http://alum.hampshire.edu/~rb97/eliot.html> 29-10-2005 Bottum,J.WhatTSEliotAlmostBelieved. First Things, Vol. 55. (Aug. 1995). http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft9508/bottum.html> 20-4-2006 Brown, Dennis. Literature Theology, Vol. 17. No. 1, March 2003 Craven, Peter. The Urbane Mysticism of Old Possum. Financial Review Oct. 01. 2001 http://afr.com/articles/2004/09/30/1096527854077.html 17-06-2005 Dallas, Elizabeth S. Canon Cancrizans and the Four Quartets. Comparative Literature, Vol. 17, No. 3. (Summer, 1965). Danby, J. F. Intervals During Rehearsals. Cambridge Jul. 02, 1949. Esty, Jed. Four Quartets, National Allegory, and the End of Empire. The Yale Journal of Criticism 16.1 (2003) 43 Fussell, B. H. Structural Methods in Four Quartets. ELH, Vol. 22, No. 3. (Sep. 1955). Melaney, William D. T. S. Eliots Poetics of Self: Reopening Four Quartets. Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics, No. 22 (2002). Thes. PhD. (Abstract). Columbia University. 1980. Sexton, James P. Four Quartets and the Christian Calendar. American Literature, Vol. 43, No. 2. (May, 1971). Rees,Thomas R. The Orchestration of Meaning in T.S. Eliots Four Quartets. Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 28.1 (Autumn 1969): 63-69. Stevens. http://ieas.arts.unideb.hu/faculty/materials/usliterature.doc.> 19-10-2005 Thompson, E. (1963).T. S. Eliot: the man and his work.Carbondale: Southern University Press. Weitz, Morris. Modern American Poetry. http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/eliot/norton.htm> 8-10-2005 Weitz, Morris. Modern American Poetry. http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/eliot/norton.htm> 8-10-2005 Vianu,Lidia. T.S.Eliot:TheFourQuartets.

Violence: Children Who Own The Streets Essay -- essays research papers

Violence: Children Who Own The Streets   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many problems facing today's society. One of the problems is the violent condition that surrounds the lives of children in America. We are awarded of the violence among our juveniles because we read, hear and see it. The newspapers, magazines, news media, and our neighborhoods testify the living proof of the chaos. Everyone tries to find explanations of the causes and consequences of street violence and other aspects of the turbulent lives of young people. Yet, the problem facing our juveniles will not be solved over night. But that's not a reason enough to ignore the problem. It will only make matters worse and keep on doubling through the years. It is our duty as citizens, friends and family to start trying to make that difference. It is frustrating to know that violence among the children of America is increasing in many aspects. The crimes are starting to vary. It's not like in the past, where kids only stole candies or disobeyed curfew laws. Now children steal, murder, rape and use drugs. This is not the America that we knew, this is a battle. What can we do to influence these kids to stay off trouble? First of all, we have to realize this is a very serious problems. And it has to be stopped. The second step is to figure out what causes children to be violent and become juvenile delinquents. This negative attitude causes them to lead a life of delinquency and a life isolated from society's idealistic world. When we ask these question, many others come in mind. Does these problems begin in the family? Are parents good role models or are they condoning the violence? How can we prevent parents from destroying the minds and future of these children? If we try to deny a teen who seeks help, they will only turn to the streets, drugs, and gangs. When they turn rebellious they will commit crimes, minor or major. Juvenile violence is a problem, it leads to crime and segregation. If it's not lessen, it will only keep doubling. And then the future of America will devour.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some of the main concerns of violence revolves around the family atmosphere. Some families are not creating a secured environment for their children. Instead, these children get exposed to illegal behavior and violent actions in the homes. Family morals and values play an important role ... ...are by far the most frequent type of offense. These include stealing from shops, houses, and cars; and the unauthorized taking of the person ( assaults, fighting, robbery with violence ), together with sex offenses and, in industrially developed countries, traffic offenses, come next and are more common among those aged from 17 to 21. Narcotic addiction and other types of drug dependence, though not always criminal offenses, are a relatively new and disturbing form of deviance and seem to be increasing rapidly. The 1991 UK National Prisons Survey found 83 percent of lock up young offenders had been in council care, against 2 percent of the population as a whole. In 1992 in Britain, 110,4000 children aged 10-16 were caught breaking the law; 75 percent were boys. By far the most common crime was theft or handling of goods. Throughout the 1980's juvenile crime fell in UK: 100,000 cautioned or convicted in 1992, 37 percent fewer than a decade earlier. The young population had also fallen, but only by 2o percent. In 1992, there were 3,764 male juveniles per 100,000 convicted or cautioned; in 1982 the figure was 5,028. The fall was the biggest among boys aged 10-13: from 2,929 to 1,927.

Iraq War Essay

The American government took the controversial decision of waging a war against Iraq. The circumstances and the motives of the American government indicate that the war on Iraq was unwarranted and cannot be justified although the American government has put forward a few reasons for waging this war. The logic and evidence does not support such contentions by the American government. The American government has failed to justify its unilateral decision of declaring war against Iraq. In the year 2002, the American President revealed his plan of attacking the Iraqi regime as it was thought that Iraq was in the process of emerging as the greatest threat to the American security. This decision was apparently taken on the basis of the intelligence information that the US government obtained concerning Iraq’s nuclear program. However, it is interesting to note that this intelligence information was kept secret until 2002. The major reason for this war was the terrorist attack of the World Trade Center in the year 2001. Obviously, this attack had left Americans at a state of shock as the successful terrorist attack demonstrated to the whole world that American security is at stake and that American military and intelligence power is not that efficient. (Powers 1) The knee jerk reaction resulted in the decision to chalk out the proper plans to prevent the future attacks of the American territory. However, it is interesting to note that the American government could not obtain even the simple majority of the members of the UN Security Council. This clearly indicates that the United Nations did not wholeheartedly support the Iraqi venture initiated by the American government. The close allies such as France and Germany could not be convinced of the need for this war project as these countries felt that there was no need for any fresh attack on the Iraqi territory as after 1991 this region was left in almost depleted state. The President was able to only convince the United States Congress as the members of the Congress did not question the necessity of a war on Iraq. The Congress members did not even participate in the debate regarding the Iraqi war. This shows that the American government could not convince the world leaders that Iraq was up to some fresh mischief in the form of the production of armaments having the capacity to destroy the world population. These details indicate that the American government has been alienated by other important powers which have not accepted the evidence presented by America that Iraq was emerging as another center of terrorist activities. (Powers 2) The main argument of the proponents of war was that Saddam Hussein possessed various dangerous weapons such as nuclear arsenals and chemical weapons which could have been used to destroy the enemy countries. The proponents of war asserted that the past history of Saddam showed that he was an aggressor. Their another contention is that Saddam Hussein had connections with the Islamic terrorist organizations and the leaders such as Osama bin Laden who had played an important role in the WTC attack. (Mearsheimer and Walt 1) These are the three reasons given by war supporters to justify the US aggression on Iraq. However, the proponents of war are not able to prove that Hussein really possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). The UN inspections did not reveal that Iraq actually possessed or had the potential of building huge base of WMD which could have been used for destructive purposes. The War mongers were aware of the fact that their action would lead to huge expenses to the American treasury and that this war would result in the alienation of America in the world politics. Even then they insisted that war was inevitable as one could not afford to ignore the possession of nuclear arsenals in the hands of the Iraqi leadership. In reality, the US had the power to contain the alleged Iraqi aggression. The argument that war was inevitable rests on the faulty logic. The war supporters are not able to come up with substantial proof to suggest that Saddam had seriously pursued the plan of destroying his enemy countries. (Mearsheimer and Walt 4) However, in this context one should remember that after the Gulf war the allied forces had obtained entry into Iraq and they had used their energy to reduce the military power of Iraq. The Gulf war debacle was sufficient to deplete the Iraqi resources. Perhaps the American government needed to make a strong statement against Islamic terrorists after the September 11 attack. This resulted in the declaration of war on Iraq. This can be considered as the face saving attempt made by the American government. The newspapers have reported information from CIA documents which contradicted the statements made by the President Bush who asserted that Iraq was trying to produce nuclear arsenals as the Iraqi officials had approached South Africa to obtain materials needed for producing nuclear weapons. However, CIA expressed doubt regarding this report that Iraq was trying to obtain nuclear weapon materials from South Africa. Another contention of the President was that the Iraqi officials refused entry of the weapon inspectors into Iraqi regions. However, there are evidences which refute this allegation. In reality, as the newspapers reported, the Iraqi government had offered their cooperation with the weapon inspectors. There is also evidence to suggest that even before the beginning of war the American government obtained the information that Iraq did not approach South Africa to obtain nuclear weapon materials. This shows that the Bush administration had deliberately misinterpreted the intelligence reports in order to obtain the support of the Congress members for this war. In spite of these contradictions Bush has defended his action of invading Iraq without any major reason. (Priest and Milbank A01) There are evidences to state that the US decision to attack Iraq has backfired and it has not contributed to the improvement of the US image in the international political arena. The Iraq venture has resulted in the protest by the governments and people belonging to different nations in the world which did not find any necessity for this war. (Martin 3) The main reason for this protest against the war is that this war was unjust. The extreme action taken by the US forces against the innocent Iraqi civilians has come under public criticism. This shows the world public opinion has not supported the idea of the US led campaign against Iraq. This war has enraged the Muslim nations and this may contribute to increase in the activities of the Muslim terrorist organizations leading to the loss of lives in different parts of the world. There is no evidence to state that the US government obtained the support of the majority of the Americans for this war. The Iraq war has contributed to the creation negative image of Bush not only in the world politics but also in the US. In this sense, this war has not benefited the US people. Instead of increasing the security of Americans, this war has increased the possibility of terrorist attack on the innocent American population. (Martin 4) Works Cited Bracknell, Major Rob. â€Å"Euro-bashing as Good Sport†. Naval War College Review. 58. 2, (2005): 139-142. Available at https://www.brookings.edu/

Business Law. Law and Application

Issue Is there a valid contract between Khalid and Siti? Law and Application When Khalid is interested in buying Siti’s painting which she had named â€Å"Hawa†, Khalid met Siti and told her that he will pay her RM5,000 for â€Å"Hawa†. This is an offer. Offer had be defined in S2(a) Contracts Act 1950 as â€Å"when one person signifies to another his willingness to do or to abstain from doing anything, with a view to obtaining the assent of that other to the act or abstinence, he is said to make a proposal†. Under the Contract Act 1950, a proposal is something which is capable of being converted into an agreement by its acceptance.Moreover, merely giving information is not an offer. For example of Harvey v Facey (1893) case, P telegraphed D – â€Å"Will you sell us Bumber Hall Pen? Telegraph lowest cash price. † D replied, â€Å"Lowest cash price ? 900. † P purported to accept the offer. The court held that price information is merely information. There was no offer to accept. Khalil had given clear information that he want to buy Siti’s painting with the price RM 5, 000, the offer is exist. But Siti said she will think about it. Two weeks after she made her mind that she want to sell the painting to Khalid for RM7,000 not Rm 5,000.This is a counter offer not acceptance. Counter offer had be defined in S6(c) Contracts Act 1950 as â€Å"by the failure of the acceptor to fulfill a condition precedent to acceptance. † Siti as the offeree makes a count offer revokes the original offer which made by Khalil. Counter offer had also defined in S7(a) Contracts Act 1950 in order to convert a proposal into a promise that acceptance it must â€Å"be absolute and unqualified†. It does refer to the case of Hyde v Wrench (1840), D made an offer to sell his house for ? 1000.P purposely accepted at ? 950 but D refused, P accepted the original offer of ? 1000. The court held that counter offer terminated the original offer. There was nothing to accept. Furthermore, acceptance had be define in S2(b) Contracts Act 1950 as â€Å"when the person to whom the proposal is made signifies his assent thereto, the proposal is said to be accepted: a proposal, when accepted, becomes a promise†. Thus the original offerror whose offer has been terminated by the offeree’s counter offer can accept or reject the offeree’s counter offer.Khalid said that the price Siti offered was too high and he did not want the painting, means that this is a rejection by Khalid. One week later, Khalid received bonus from his employer. After he got the money to pay so and he immediately contact Siti that he will pay the RM7,000 for â€Å"Hawa†. This is a new counter offer from Khalid. According to S2(a) Contracts Act 1950 â€Å"when one person signifies to another his willingness to do or to abstain from doing anything, with a view to obtaining the assent of that other to the act or abstinence , he is said to make a proposal†.But Siti has refused to sell the painting to Khalid with the price RM7, 000; she then said that for the price of her painting has gone up to RM10, 000. This is can counter offer. Conclusion There is no valid contract between Khalil and Siti. The moment that Siti sell her panting for RM 7,000, Khalil had refuse and reject the offer. When he wanted to buy the painting with RM 7, 000, Siti had gone up the price of her painting as RM 10, 000. For the whole â€Å"trade† there is no acceptance exists. There is just exist offer, couter offer and revocation. A contact without acceptance is void, therefor; there is no contract between them.

Essay on INFORMATION NETWORKS AS ENTERPRISE GLUE

Essay on INFORMATION NETWORKS AS ENTERPRISE GLUE Essay on INFORMATION NETWORKS AS ENTERPRISE GLUE Essay on INFORMATION NETWORKS AS ENTERPRISE GLUEToday, many users create their own home networks, which they want to run smoothly. However, beginners may face considerable problems, while developing their networks. In this regard, the development of the network between several PCs or laptops is not the main challenge but the emergence of new devices and software raises the problem of their compatibility but users still want to have all their devices connected and united within one network. Facing the similar problem, I attempted to find out how easy it is to connect different devices at home to create a well-functioning network.I approached the problem from the standpoint of the beginner, who has no experience in networking. My first step was to identify what I actually want from my network. To answer this question I had to determine, which devices I have at my disposal which I would like to connect into my home network. I decided to connect the devices which I had at hand, including my laptop, my tablet and iPhone. In such a way, I have got three devices which I intended to connect together and to get a network running perfectly. At first glance, the task was simple since I had to create the simple wireless network because all the three devices had the option of wireless networking.However, the first problem I faced was the connecting my three devices which all had three different operation systems. Frankly, I do not pay much attention to the operation system I used since I can grow accustom to any of them. This is why, I did not even try to synchronize operation systems of my devices, which I used on the regular basis. This is why I have got three devices with three operation systems. On analyzing the situation, I considered that I may have problems with the compatibility of the three devices which had different operation systems. This is why I decided to refer to internet for assistance looking for a free advisor or any sort of online help which could get fo r free since the problem did not seem too complex for me.At first, I tried to google the information which I wanted to find but results which I obtained did not seem to me quite reliable and credible. This is why I decided to focus on more specialized online resources. My next step was the selection of the website providing the technical support. I did almost randomly, although I skimmed through the list of websites singling out those website which offered their services for free or, at least promised that their services will be free of charge. After that I selected one of the top-rated sites, Tech Support Guy, and clicked on the link to access that website. At first, I have got the generation information about the website from the Techsupportalert team, and after that I finally get the link to the official website of Tech Support Guy. As I entered the website, I looked through it in an attempt to find any information relevant to my problem. There were some FAQs, forums, and other l inks which could potentially give me the answer to my question. However, I decided not to waste my time on surfing the website. Instead, I just typed in â€Å"home network different OS† in the search field. I have got a list of threads, where this issue was discussed by users. At the top of the list, there was the thread â€Å"Creating a network with multiple OS†. So I clicked on the link and entered the thread, where I have got the detailed information on how to create a network connecting multiple operation system. The threat provided the detailed, step by step information how to create the network and make all devices compatible, regardless of the different operation systems used. In such a way, on conducting a relatively brief search, I have found the free tech support website that gave the answer to my question concerning the creation of the home network using devices with different operation systems installed.Thus, today, users will hardly face any difficulties w hile finding the technical support online. At any rate, they can get information they need relatively fast, unless they need really complex solutions to serious problems.

Anatomy Physiology Essay Example

Anatomy Physiology Essay Example Anatomy Physiology Paper Anatomy Physiology Paper 1. The maintenance of normal volume and composition of extracellular and intracellular fluids is vital to life. List and briefly describe the kinds of homeostasis involved. In males and females, intracellular fluid has a greater proportion of total body water than does extracellular fluid. Give-and-take between the ICF and the ECF happens across plasma membranes by osmosis, diffusion, and carrier-mediated transport. The kinds of homeostasis involved are fluid Balance, electrolyte Balance, and Acid–Base Balance. Fluid balance is when the quantity of water we gain each day is equivalent to the amount we lose to the environment. The upkeep of normal fluid balance includes regulating the content and sharing of body water in the ECF and the ICF. The digestive system is the main source of water gains; a small amount of extra water is generated by metabolic activity. With electrolyte balance, it involves balancing the amounts of absorption across the digestive tract with amounts of loss at the kidneys. Everyday our body fluids gain electrolytes from drinks or foods we take in, and in turn, loose them through urinating, sweating and defecating. â€Å"If the gains and losses for every electrolyte are in balance, you are said to be in electrolyte balance.† We are in acid–base balance when the making of hydrogen ions in our body is exactly offset by their loss. When acid–base balance occurs, the pH of body fluids stays within normal limits. Stopping a reduction in pH is the main problem, because our body produces a variety of acids during normal metabolic tasks. 2. Why does maintaining fluid balance in older people require a higher water intake than in a normal, healthy adult under age 40? Water encompasses 55% in elderly people and is vital for cellular homeostasis and life. With respect to heat stress, water lost through perspiring decreases water content of plasma, and the elderly are less capable to compensate for amplified blood viscosity. Not only do they require a physiological hypodipsia, but this can be exaggerated by central nervous system disease and by dementia. Together with less fluid intake, with advancing age there is a decrease in total body water. The elderly have impaired renal fluid conservation mechanisms and have impaired responses to heat and cold stress. All of these factors add to an increased risk of hypohydration and dehydration in the elderly. 3. Why does potassium concentration rise in patients with acidosis? What is this called? What effects does it have? Sweat is a hypotonic solution that has Na+ in lower concentration than the ECF. As a consequence, a person who is sweating copiously loses more water than salt, and this loss leads to a increase in the Na+ concentration of the ECF. The water content of the ECF declines as the water loss happens, so blood volume falls. Clinically, this condition is often called volume depletion. Because volume depletion happens simultaneously that blood is being shunted away from the kidneys, kidney function is damaged and waste products collect in the blood. 4. Saline solution is used to reverse hypotonic hydration. Are body cell membranes permeable to saline? Explain your response. Body cell membranes are permeable to saline. The permeability of membranes is controlled by the mass of the pores or holes. The size of the pores can be altered in reaction to pressure and hormones. Some membranes selectively permit channel of certain ions or molecules and dismiss all others. 5. Explain the renin-angiotensin mechanism. Constant abnormalities in the Na+ concentration in the ECF happen only when there are severe complications with fluid balance, such as dehydration or overhydration. When the body’s water content increases enough to lessen the Na+ concentration of the ECF below 136 mEq/L, a state of hyponatremia (natrium, sodium) occurs. When body water content drops, the Na+ concentration increases; when that concentration surpasses 145 mEq/L, hypernatremia exists. Renin is an enzyme secreted into the blood from specified cells that surround the arterioles at the entry to the glomeruli of the kidneys (the renal capillary networks that are the filtration units of the kidney). The renin-secreting cells, which comprise the juxtaglomerular apparatus, are delicate to changes in blood flow and blood pressure. The main stimulus for increased renin secretion is diminished blood flow to the kidneys, which may be triggered by loss of sodium and water (as a result of diarrhea, persistent vomiting, or extreme perspiration) or by thinning of a renal artery. 6. Explain how ADH compensates for blood that contains too many solutes. Osmoreceptors in the hypothalamus respond to alterations in blood composition, such as less water and too many solutes. The posterior pituitary is notified to release antidiuretic hormone (ADH) which journeys through the blood to its target organ, the kidney. In the kidney, the collecting ducts answer back to ADH by reabsorbing more water. When this happens, more water comes back to the blood, while lesser amounts of concentrated urine are made. ADH is released and additional water is reabsorbed from the filtrate until blood solute concentration comes back to normal.

Robert Benchley on How to Avoid Writing

Robert Benchley on How to Avoid Writing Humorist Robert Benchley describes the sort of commitment that not writing demands. It took me fifteen years to discover that I had no talent for writing, Robert Benchley once said. But I couldnt give it up because by that time I was too famous. In truth, Benchley had a great talent for writing- comic essays, for the most part, and theater criticism. But as Benchley was quick to admit, he had an even greater talent for not writing: The secret of my incredible energy and efficiency in getting work done is a simple one. I have based it very deliberately on a well-known psychological principle and have refined it so that it is now almost too refined. I shall have to begin coarsening it up again pretty soon.The psychological principle is this: anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isnt the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment.(How to Get Things Done in Chips off the Old Benchley, 1949) A master procrastinator, Benchley is remembered for his work at The New Yorker magazine in the 1930s- and even more for his deadline-defying high jinks at the Algonquin Round Table. Like many of us, Benchley maintained a strict writing regimen, which involved postponing work until the last possible minute. In How I Create, he described the sort of commitment that not writing calls for: Very often I must wait weeks and weeks for what you call inspiration. In the meantime I must sit with my quill pen poised in the air over a sheet of foolscap, in case the divine spark should come like a lightning bolt and knock me off my chair on to my head. (This has happened more than once.) . . .Sometimes, while in the throes of creative work, I get out of bed in the morning, look at my writing desk piled high with old bills, old gloves, and empty ginger-ale bottles, and go right back to bed again. The next thing I know it is night once more, and time for the Sand Man to come around. (We have a Sand Man who comes twice a day, which makes it very convenient. We give him five dollars at Christmas.)Even if I do get up and put on part of my clothes- I do all my work in a Hawaiian straw skirt and bow tie of some neutral shade- I can often think of nothing to do but pile the books which are on one end of my desk very neatly on the other end and then kick them one by one off to the floor with my free foot.I find that, while working, a pipe is a great source of inspiration. A pipe can be placed diagonally across the keys of a typewriter so that they will not function, or it can be made to give out such a cloud of smoke that I cannot see the paper. Then, there is the process of lighting it. I can making a pipe a ritual which has not been equaled for elaborateness since the five-day festival to the God of the Harvest. (See my book on Rituals: the Man.)In the first place, owing to 26 years of constant smoking without once calling in a plumber, the space left for tobacco in the bowl of my pipe is now the size of a medium body-pore. Once the match has been applied to the tobacco therein the smoke is over. This necessitates refilling, relighting, and reknocking. The knocking out of a pipe can be made almost as important as the smoking of it, especially if there are nervous people in the room. A good smart knock of a pipe against a tin wastebasket and you will have a neura sthenic out of his chair and into the window sash in no time.The matches, too, have their place in the construction of modern literature. With a pipe like mine, the supply of burnt matches in one day could be floated down the St. Lawrence River with two men jumping them. . . .(from No Poems, or Around the World Backwards and Sideways, 1932) Eventually, of course- after sharpening pencils, making out schedules, composing a few letters, changing typewriter ribbons, relighting his pipe, building a book shelf, and clipping pictures of tropical fish out of magazines- Benchley did get down to work. If youd welcome some advice on how to skip all the preliminaries, see Writers on Writing: Overcoming Writers Block  and Writing Rituals and Routines: Advice on How to Become a More Disciplined Writer. .

Discussion questions-Managerial marketing Assignment

Discussion questions-Managerial marketing - Assignment Example e past several years, there are few options available to these companies as a means of seeking to reintegrate with consumers and provide a positive brand image. However, this should not be understood to mean that these firms are necessarily destroyed and the image is beyond reclamation. With regards to the specific case study and the question which was posed, it would be the choice of this particular student to integrate with a rather costly and far reaching outreach to consumers. Whereas few firms are willing to integrate with such an approach due to the fact that it is exorbitantly expensive, it would be the argument of this student, representing a key stakeholder within Mattel, that such an approach would ultimately reap long-term rewards due to the fact that consumers would have any and all fears that they might hold assuaged with regards to the best practices that the firm is able to integrate and the level to which it seriously considers the shortcomings of the past and looks p ositively towards the rewards and betterment of ethics and responsibility in the future. By seeking to integrate with consumers based upon these lines, a message and level of appreciation for their business and forgiveness can ultimately be achieved. Metrics must necessarily be provided to the stakeholders within the firm as a means of encouraging them to expand the necessary money; however, it is the police of the student that once these metrics are provided in the stakeholders are able to see the long-term rewards that such an approach could provide, they will be more than willing to integrate with such a public outreach

Biodiversity Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Biodiversity - Assignment Example He continues to observe that introduction of science to manage the environment may be futile. The cases of genetically modified food and nuclear energy may bring us more harm than what the world believes (Mark ppp. 23). Marks believe that to save the environment, it is a choice we have to make. It all depends on us to save the environment. These are different environmental systems that do exist and functions interdependently. For instance, there is ozone layer boundary, aerosol boundary, climate change, biodiversity, land use and fresh water boundary among others (Mark pp. 56). The current global environmental degradation has been caused by wanton natural resources use particularly by developed countries. It makes sense to believe that the developed economies use more natural resources as compared to less developed countries. In case of Mother Nature strike like the Katrina Hurricanes, the poor are always at receiving end. They suffer more than those who have used these resources. On top of that, the rich countries and state will try to solve the devastating problem milking the poor to

Gonorrhea Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gonorrhea - Essay Example of this that women are the ones that tend to suffer most in the long run when diagnosed with gonorrhea; when they ignore the symptoms, the infection spreads, causing severe complications within the reproductive organs. In males, it can take anywhere from two days to a month before there are obvious signs of gonorrhea after the infection has formed. In females, it is hard to pinpoint how long it can take for symptoms to appear in regards to the onset of the infection, as many women do not even show signs of the disease (Michaud, 2006). Only a small percentage of males do not show any signs to having the infection, as opposed to a larger percentage of females. The signs and symptoms in males include a yellow-hued discharge from the penis, as well as frequent and painful urination. The signs and symptoms in females are vaginal discharge, pain in the lower abdomen, and irritation of the genital region, which can also lead to painful urination and possible bleeding between menstrual cycles. Due to the period-esq symptoms of gonorrhea in females, many females ignore their symptoms until the infection worsens, strengthening the pain and the intensity of the symptoms. Other signs and symptoms, in both males and females, include fever and vomiting, as well as sterility and infertility. The longer the symptoms go unnoticed or untreated, the more parts of the reproductive systems get infected. The worse it becomes in females, the greater the chance is that they pass it on to their child if they are pregnant or become pregnant around the time of developing the disease. Within women, the infection can also cause damage to more than just the reproductive system, such as arthritis or blindness (Kolesnikow, 2007). In diagnosing gonorrhea, there are two methods that health care workers resort to. The first test, a staining sample, is the least accurate of the two. A staining sample involves taking a dab sample of the discharge from the infected area, dyeing it, and examining

What will be the impact on business of the abandonment of th e penny Essay

What will be the impact on business of the abandonment of th e penny (Canadian one - cent piece) - Essay Example This will result to a low circulation of money and businesses all over the country will be affected, for the loss of value. This will go on for a while the business and the economy continues to deteriorate in value due to the reduced cash flow. The government will also have a lot of work and spend equally when it will be collecting the pennies for reuse in its financial institutions. The country’s federal budget will also change its states that will affect the government’s expectation to apply a new way of getting equivalent currency for cash transaction in a fair and a transparent manner. The mathematical rounding off of figures will be done in several items and hence transactions involving low value items will be complicated to perform. The penny has been found to be of great help and use in the business world which is changing rampantly as new methods crops out day by day. AUSTEN, I. (n.d.). In Canada, the Pennyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Time to Shine Is Over - NYTimes.com. The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. Retrieved March 11, 2013, from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/business/global/in-canada-the-pennys-time-to-shine-is-over.html?_r=0 Canadas penny withdrawal: All you need to know - Business - CBC News. (n.d.). CBC.ca - Canadian News Sports Entertainment Kids Docs Radio TV. Retrieved March 11, 2013, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/03/30/f-penny-faq.html Penny C. Sansevieri: What the Plus! Whats Up With Google+? An Interview With Guy Kawasaki. (n.d.). Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Retrieved March 11, 2013, from

Corporate Culture and Performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Corporate Culture and Performance - Essay Example While organizational values relate to employees, profit, customers, stakeholders, community, and the like, individual goals will relate to fairness, honesty, trust, respect, quality, and cooperation. These are precisely the values that are inherent in the organizational values statement. Alone, these organizational values are far too general and open to interpretation. It is easy to forget the particular and complicated nature of human moral experience (Kotter, 2003). Thinking about and discussing the ethical implications of a goal is more practical and valuable than using a list of values or ethical models. Acting on the ethical implications is even more valuable. Ethical action in modern organizations is the relentless effort to make values a part of the goal-setting equation. Where the managers go wrong, however, is in expecting more from these values than they can deliver. it s organizational culture reflects unique industry requirements and customers' expectations. Each application deals with the realities of a particular goal and how to accomplish it. It is possible to say that new changes will be influenced by old principles of work and will need a new set of principles for further change. In this case, corporate culture is the real foundation on which organizational ethics is built.

Website Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Website Project - Essay Example According to the people involved in the protest marches, a lot of these protests are trying to make it easier for illegal immigrants to become citizens so that they can share in the civil rights laws that were created the last time large groups of ethnic people gathered together. This peaceful, yet attention-getting response by such large numbers of people on the city streets made the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s stand out in even greater detail as a significant period in US History. While searching, I found a student’s website that detailed a lot of information about African American history, including an entire chapter devoted exclusively to the Civil Rights Movement. Based upon what had already been learned, the African American History website seemed well-researched and informed for this project. Unlike many of the other websites that I went to, this one actually provided me with much of the information I think it would be important to know in terms of the Civil Rights Movement as well as the documentation to back it up. Not only did the author of the site provide her name, affiliations, and other information necessary for a complete bibliographical entry, but for each section of the site, she indicated when and why this section was written so that her readers would have a good idea of her experience and expertise level at that period in time. These are things that are not normally included as a part of the website features, which automatically excluded several websites I found during my search that might have contained the same information, but were not as well organized or documented. In addition, throughout each essay within the site, the author made sure to keep her own bibliographic references as part of the page, so that her information could be verified from the origi nal source or so that I, as a reader, could go find out more information about that

Corporate Culture and Performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Corporate Culture and Performance - Essay Example While organizational values relate to employees, profit, customers, stakeholders, community, and the like, individual goals will relate to fairness, honesty, trust, respect, quality, and cooperation. These are precisely the values that are inherent in the organizational values statement. Alone, these organizational values are far too general and open to interpretation. It is easy to forget the particular and complicated nature of human moral experience (Kotter, 2003). Thinking about and discussing the ethical implications of a goal is more practical and valuable than using a list of values or ethical models. Acting on the ethical implications is even more valuable. Ethical action in modern organizations is the relentless effort to make values a part of the goal-setting equation. Where the managers go wrong, however, is in expecting more from these values than they can deliver. it s organizational culture reflects unique industry requirements and customers' expectations. Each application deals with the realities of a particular goal and how to accomplish it. It is possible to say that new changes will be influenced by old principles of work and will need a new set of principles for further change. In this case, corporate culture is the real foundation on which organizational ethics is built.

The Effects on Cyberbullying Essay Example for Free

The Effects on Cyberbullying Essay Studies show that cyberbullying incidents have quadrupled in past five years (Ross). Cyberbullying has become a huge issue recently. Every time you turn on the news there is another bullying, or a suicide related to bullying, incident being reported. â€Å"Love is louder† has been a common phrase among celebrities and influential figures lately. They are trying to send out a message to their followers saying that bullying is not right and should not be tolerated. The growth of communication technologies is widening the way bully’s can torture their victims. The fact of the matter is, technology is not going anywhere, so we need to figure out a way to put an end to cyberbullies. Cyberbullying is becoming a major problem and we all need to do our parts in figuring out what can be done to stop cyberbullies in their tracks. Cyberbullies will continue to be a threat to today’s youth until we take preventive measures against them. Before putting a stop to cyberbullying we must understand why and how a cyberbully works. After researching and analyzing informative articles on the topic, this research paper aims to inform and answer questions such as: what a cyberbully is, how they work, whom they target, and how to stop them. By understanding how a cyberbully works we will be able to better protect youth populations as technology grows. Just about half of U. S. students are impacted by traditional bullying each school day (Ross). Cyberbullying is technology powered and as technology expands it is getting harder and harder to see and prevent bullying from happening. Bullying over the Internet makes it easy for the bully to get away with their destructive behavior without any consequences. The article, â€Å"What is Cyberbullying: Bullying Comes Home† states, â€Å"Bullying is not new but thanks to the Internet teens are now being bullied at home. Online harassment is a serious problem† (Hardcaslte). Although the Internet has opened many doors to new opportunities, it has unfortunately taken bullying to another level. As the article, â€Å"Cyber Bullying Facts† states, â€Å"as the number of households with Internet access approaches saturation and cell phone ownership expands to the 100 million mark, so do the ways kids bully each other† (Ross). Anything sent out into cyberspace is very difficult, sometimes impossible, to remove. Therefore, being cyberbullied can sometimes be much more severe than traditional bullying. Ann Frisen in he article, â€Å"Cyberbullying: A Growing Problem† states, â€Å"This type of bullying can be more serious than conventional bullying. At least with conventional bullying the victim is left alone on evenings and weekends† (ScienceDaily). What exactly is ‘cyberbulling’? The author of the article, â€Å"What is Cyberbullying: Bullying Comes Home† explains it as, â€Å"any harassment that occurs through the Internet† (Hardcastle). Cyber-bulling messages can be sent through text, e-mails, instant messaging, web pages, blogs, chat rooms, or any other information communication technologies. For example, Michigan’s assistant attorney general, who is a grown adult, has been harassing the University of Michigan’s openly gay student body president. Andrew Shirvell, assistant Michigan attorney general, created a blog in April of 2010 targeting Chris Armstrong, University of Michigan’s student body president. On this blog he has posted many rude, untrue, and unnecessary comments towards Chris Armstrong, along with distorted pictures. According to the article, â€Å"Assistant Michigan AG targets openly gay college student† the author states, â€Å"Shirvell has published blog posts that accuse Armstrong of engaging in ‘flagrant sexual promiscuity’ with another male member of the student government; sexually seducing and influencing ‘a previously conservative male student’ so much so that the student, according to Shirvell, ‘morphed into a proponent of the radical homosexual agenda’† (Steward). Mr. Shirvell is clearly a first-hand example of a cyber-bully and this article goes to show that it’s not just kids bullying each other in school anymore; it’s much bigger than that. There have been at least three teen suicides in September after experiencing homophobic cyber-bullying. Who are the main victims targeted by cyber-bullies? According to the article, â€Å"Cyber-bullying Facts† Middle school and High school girls are twice as likely as boys to display cyber-bullying behaviors in the form of email, text, and chat, and only 20% of cyber-bullying victims tell their parents about the incident (Ross). Cyber-bullies target students, coworkers, neighbors, and even friends. Lately, there have been many reports of suicides related to bullying. For example, the recent death of Tyler Clementi, a freshman at Rutgers University, is an extreme case of cyber-bullying. The article, â€Å"Rutgers student death: Has Digital Age made students callous† informs, â€Å"Mr. Clementi killed himself on September 22nd, 2010. According to prosecutors, a few days earlier his roommate, Dharun Ravi, and another student, Molley Wei, used a Web cam to secretly transmit images of a sexual encounter between Clementi and another man. They intended to do so again on September 21† (Khadaroo). With cyber-bullying a bully can pick on people with less risk of being caught. People who you would not see bullying someone in school don’t have a problem using the Internet to bully their victims because you can’t see their initial reaction. Bullying cannot only hurt the victim emotionally it can also cause them to have frequent headaches, indigestion and vomiting, loss of sleep, loss of appetite, paranoia, and suicide. In Tyler Clementi’s case he was so overwhelmed by what had been done to him that he jumped off of the George-Washington Bridge. It is important for college campuses to promote tolerance for differences, including homosexuality. From the article, â€Å"Rutgers student death: Has Digital Age made students callous† the author states, â€Å"We are tempted to think that social-media technology drove the behavior, but as a truly ethical matter, the behavior has to be and should be considered human-driven, not technology driven† (Foulkrod). Harrisburg University of Science and Technology in Pennsylvania recently blocked the use of social media for a week to prompt discussions about its role in everyday life. Nobody wants to see this happen again; therefore, we need to come up with a solution to the problem. Some observers of today’s youth and media culture believe that today’s media environment could be desensitizing young people to the hurtful effects of their actions. What can be done to prevent cyber-bullying? Parents can start by talking specifically about cyber-bullying and explain that is harmful and unacceptable behavior. Talk regularly with your child about on-line activities he or she is involved in, keep your home computer in easily viewable places, such as a family room or kitchen, and consider installing a filtering or blocking system (Ross). Also, you can â€Å"outline your expectations for responsible online behavior and clearly explain the consequences for inappropriate behavior† (Ross). The most important thing that can be done to stop a cyber-bully harassing you is to just not respond to the bully. Do not play into the bully’s games. Ignore the bully and tell a parent or teacher. While ignoring the bullying make sure to save all of the evidence so that if police need to be involved you will have it ready. In the article, â€Å"What is Cyberbullying: Bullying Comes Home† states, â€Å"Repeated or excessive harassment via email, forums or chat rooms is harassment and should involve the police. Threats of violence should also be reported to the police. Try to save all messages as evidence† (Hardcastle). Treat a cyber-bully like you would any other bully and they will lose their power. Another important way to prevent cyber-bullying attacks is if you see something going on don’t just be a bystander and let it happen, report it before anyone gets hurt. In conclusion, with the expansion of the Internet and social networking technologies cyber-bullying is becoming more common and more severe. The information presented in this research paper should give people a better understanding of what a cyber-bully is, how harmful they can really be, and how to prevent cyber-bullying from happening. This paper can be used to help victims realize they are not alone and should not give into a bully’s dangerous behaviors. This research paper is to inform society about what has been going on lately and how unacceptable and dangerous it is. Kids are killing themselves over photos, web posts, and videos posted by bullies using the Internet. Cyber-bullying is technology powered and will only get worse as technology becomes more widespread. Hopefully, this paper will help to inform today’s youth and parents. If you see any kind of bullying happening in front of you, stop it if possible, and then report it.

Bullwhip Effect In Healthcare Sector

Bullwhip Effect In Healthcare Sector In Supply Chain management, Bullwhip effect has attracted some considerable importance in the FMCG sector in the last 20 years. The phenomenon Bullwhip Effect shows how small changes at the customers end have tremendous impact on the operations back there in the chain. The cause behind this effect is mainly attributed to the increasing demand variability in the supply chain. We consider the number of companies taking part in a single supply chain. Each of the company gets the order from its immediate downstream company to be fulfilled. In Bullwhip effect the orders to the suppliers tend to have a larger variance than sales to the buyer. This demand distortion then gets amplified while propagating upstream. The paper mainly focuses on how the Bullwhip effect the matching of the demand and supply and the main causes leading to this. It also focuses on the PG case study to understand the Bullwhip effect and the steps taken to dampen the bullwhip effect. Further it aims at quantifying the bullwhip effect and reducing its impact on the supply chain. Acknowledgement I am thankful to Mukesh Patel School of Technology Management and Engineering (MPSTME) for giving me this opportunity to understand the Bullwhip Effect and the major causes and the PG case. Furthermore helping us understand the various techniques and procedures for writing a research project. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to my college mentor Prof. Jinu Kurian for her continuous guidance and support and being available at all times whenever the need may arise. I would also like to thank Prof. Prasad Chakrabarty for his help and support in the project. Table of Contents Introduction The bullwhip effect occurs when the demand order variability in the supply chain is amplified as they moved upstream in a supply chain. Distorted information from single end of a supply chain to the other may lead to tremendous inefficiencies. Companies can effectively deal with the bullwhip effect by thoroughly understanding its underlying causes. Organizational leaders are implementing various innovative strategies that pose new challenges: integrating new information systems defining new organizational inter relationships implementing new incentive and measurement systems. At macroscopic level, Bullwhip Effect generates inefficiencies in production scheduling, sourcing, capacity utilization, distribution and the profit generation. While if we take a look at the operating level it induces additional inventory which is placed inappropriately to maintain the service levels. It also reduces the performance level by decreasing the incoming cash and the potential revenue. It can even dilute any companys competitive strategies. 2 factors have changed the landscape of supply chain management in the last few years significantly. Availability and use of the technology and software applications to allow capture and sharing of information across a supply chain mostly through extranets Increasing indulgence of members of the supply chain in order to move towards to put aside the traditional arms-length relationships amongst each other and in its place move towards closer, partnership-type arrangements. Again, the networks over which these collaborations take place must include the necessary levels of performance, scalability, security and reliability to realise these benefits to their maximum potential. Problem Statement To analyse the Bullwhip Effect in healthcare sector and to find out its causes, consequences and cures. Significance Global competition in the world market today contains many challenges to achieve a degree of predictability in the supply chain and remove the impact of Bullwhip Effect. Researchers have examined the bullwhip effect and some models to reduce it, however a very few research has been done on analysing the Bullwhip Effect in healthcare sector and to find out its causes, consequences and cures quantifying the effect of bullwhip and its Measurement still remains an exigent research path. Research Methods A case-study based approach was employed to conduct the research. Data were gathered primarily through interviews, observations and archival sources. At the hospitals, Interviews were conducted, in person, with doctors, nurses, administrators, and other hospital staff. At the diagnostic laboratory, personal interviews were conducted with the CEO, pathologists and other lab technicians. As far as data gathering is concerned, we decided to employ an informal, minimally structured, non-directive interview approach, enabling to minimize the influence of the assumptions. . Literature Review Fluctuations in demand have a varying graph when we compare from industry to industry. Driven by seasonal demand and business cycles, apparel industry faces major demand adjustments, while the diaper market is subjected to constant demand in the market arena. Due to misjudgement of demands, the big players in the retail market can be subjected to inventory shortages or surpluses. But given the consistency of demand in the diaper market the diaper supply chain should be more efficient and accurate. But it isnt the case. The diaper market even with the reliable demand patterns isnt able to match the demand-production matching. The major cause to this supply chain inefficiency can be subjected to Bullwhip Effect. The term was coined by Procter Gamble who noticed amplification in the information distortion as the information of the order travelled upstream in the supply chain. Bullwhip effect or Whiplash effect can be majorly seen in the forecast driven distribution channels. It indicates a lack of synchronization among the members across the supply chain. Even if there is a small fluctuation in the customer sales, it reflected upstream in an amplified form. Because of this supply patterns does not match the demand patterns resulting in inventory surplus at various stages of the supply chain.C:UsersIndiaDesktopblwhp.jpg As the customer demand would be rarely perfectly stable, businesses should forecast demand in order to match the demands with the production and managing their inventory levels. Some of the major reasons behind bullwhip effect are:- Forecast Errors Overreaction to backlogs Lead time variability No communication and no coordination along the supply chain members Delay in information and material flow Price fluctuations Product promotions Order batching raw material orders from ProcterGamble to its suppliers fluctuated over time. On further noticing it was found that farther down the chain, when sales at retail stores were studied, it was found that the fluctuation which was present, were small. It is reasonable to assume that the consumers of the diapers at the last stage of the supply chain used them at a steady rate. Although consumption at the end product was stable, orders for raw material were highly variable, increasing costs and making it difficult for supply to match demands. Lack of coordination between supply chain members also results if information distortion occurs within the supply chain. Considering the Bullwhip effect PG observed in the diaper supply chain. As a result of the bullwhip effect, orders PG receives from its distributors are much more variable than the demand for the diapers at retailers. The lack of the supply chain coordination between members has an adverse effect on manufacturing cost. It increases the manufacturing cost in the supply chain. PG and its suppliers must satisfy a stream of orders that is even more variable than customer demand. ProcterGamble responded to the increased change by either building excess capacity or by holding excess inventory, both of which increase the manufacturing cost per unit produced. It even increases the replenishment lead time in the supply chain. The increased variability due to bullwhip effect makes scheduling at PG and supplier plants much more difficult as compared to a situation with level demand. There are times when the capacity which is available and inventory cannot supply the orders coming in. This results in higher replenishment lead times in the supply chain from both PG and its suppliers. It even hurts the level of product availability and results in more stock outs in the supply chain. Very high fluctuations in orders make it difficult for PG to supply all distributor and retailer orders on time. This increases the likelihood that retailers will run out of stock, resulting in lost sales for the supply chain. It also leads to an increase in the inventory costs. To handle the increased variability in demand PG has to carry a higher level of inventory than would be required if the supply chain was coordinated. As a result, inventory costs in the supply chain increase. The high levels of inventory also increase the warehousing space required and thus the warehousing cost incurred. It impacts the transportation cost in the supply chain. The transportation requirements over time at PG and its suppliers fluctuate with the orders being filled. As a result of bullwhip effect, transportation requirements fluctuate significantly over time. This raises transportation cost because surplus transportation capacity needs to be maintained to cover high demand periods. It also leads to the increase in labour costs associated with shipping and receiving in the supply chain. Labour requirements for shipping at PG and its suppliers fluctuate with orders. A similar fluctuation occurs for the labour requirements for receiving at distributors and retailers. The various stages have the option of carrying excess labour capacity in response to the fluctuation in orders. Either option increases total labour cost. PG estimated that due to the manual interventions required in their process of ordering, billing and shipment systems, each deal to its customers cost between $35 to $75 to process. Sharing point-of-sale (POS) data across the supply chain can help reduce the bullwhip effect. A primary cause for information distortion is the fact that each level of the supply chain uses orders to forecast the future demand. Given that orders received by different levels vary, forecasts at different levels also vary. If retailers share POS data with other supply chain stages, all supply chain stages can forecast future demand based on customer demand. Sharing of POS data helps reduce information distortion because all stages now respond to the same change in the customer demand. Sharing aggregate Point Of Sale data is sufficient to reduceinformation distortion. PG has convinced many retailers to share demand data. PG in turn shares the data with its suppliers, improving coordination in the supply chain. In a continuous replenishment programs (CRS), the wholesaler or the manufacturer replenishes the inventorey regularly based on Point of sale data. In its simplest form, CRS seeks to allow more accurate production planning of inventories and also matching of supply and demand. Success with continuous replenishment programs is achieved when production planning has become demand-driven on an end-to-end basis throughout the supply chain. . Vendor-managed inventory (VMI) is a family of business models in which the buyer of a product provides certain information to a supplier of that product and the supplier takes full responsibility for maintaining an agreed inventory of the material, usually at the buyers consumption location (usually a store). A third-party logistics provider can also be involved to make sure that the buyer has the required level of inventory by adjusting the demand and supply gaps. PG now employs vendor-managed inventory (VMI) in its supply chain, starting with its supplier, 3M, and its customer, Wal-Mart In VMI, packaged-goods behemoth Procter Gamble (PG) initiated a value pricing scheme for sales to retailers. Value pricing was PG label for everyday low pricing (EDLP), a pricing strategy under which retailers are charged a consistent price rather than a high baseline price punctuated by sporadic, deep discounts. PG had many reasons for converting to EDLP. Its sales force had grown to rely on discounting to drive sales and the use of deep discounts had spiralled out of control, cutting into earnings. Background SMS Hospital, operating in Jaipur, is one of the largest government healthcare providers in Rajasthan. It consists of more than 500 beds and offers healthcare services ranging from a 24 hour accident and emergency service, to acute medical and surgical care, operating theatre suites, intensive care, ocus on cardiac and orthopedics areas and head injury and orthopaedic related trauma and community care. The hospital services more than 40,000 patient admissions and an average length of stay of 3.62 days for all patients. There are10 operating rooms (OR) with state of the art equipment, in-patients have hospital wards, acute cases beyond normal post-operative hospital care have rehabilitation unit for recovery and related ancillary services in the hospital facilities. These rooms are being used for major inpatient procedures. On an average of about 27,000 operations are performed in these rooms in a year. Specialty and staffed with suitably qualified nurses and technicians organizes 500+ beds in the hospital. The Operating Room Management Department (ORMD) is the central division, which faces daily challenges of managing and allocating the staff and equipment so that surgeries can be performed in an efficient, cost effective, and safe manner. The equipment that is owned by the hospital may either be dedicated to a theatre or be shared across theatres. The Operating Room staff is comprised of registered nurses, nursing assistants, scrub technicians and unit secretaries and an Operating Room nurse super vises all these. Equipment to be used for Operating Rooms may either be owned by the hospital or be procured from outside on a loan/hire basis. The Operating Room Management Department is responsible for assignment of theatre suitable for the scheduled surgery and ensuring the availability of staff and equipment when needed. Quality and cost of patient care implications are on overstaffed, undermanned, and unbalanced nursing teams. The hospital has adopted a hybrid strategy to meet its nurse requirements in both wards and Operating Rooms. The hospital has employed a group of permanent, full time nurse staff, which is also, complemented by a bank of casual, part time nurses which are available at short notice. Also, the hospital also has made some arrangements with several private agencies, which are known for providing qualified nurses for short periods to hospitals, on a temporary basis. Fifty % of the hospitals requirements) in the terms of nurse requirements are usually been met by permanent staff, thirty% by part time nurses and twenty% from agency staff. The hospital havent employ any specialist/surgeon, but only has a small group of physicians for overall supervision of the wards. Instead, it has arrangement with a large group of consultant surgeons who hold privileges to avail of the hospital facilities for treatment of their patients. The hospital derives its revenues from the fees charged for the use of its facilities ORs, hospital beds and other services from the patients. In most cases hospital charges are borne by patients medical insurance providers and the hospitals revenue is based on negotiated rates with these firms. Value Chain Figure 1 illustrates a schematic description of SMSs service value chain. As shown in the figure, the multi-stage process begins with the patients consultation with his or her primary care physician. Upon receiving a referral from the general practitioner to visit a medical specialist, the patient will then be assessed by a specialist. This stage does not involve the hospital and may consist of several visits to the doctors office and diagnostic laboratories, deals with the assessment of patients condition and treatment options. A determination of the need for surgery results in the addition of the patient to the doctors list of patients requiring surgery/hospitalization. Typically, specialist doctors have privileges at several hospitals in the area, and the choice of hospital for surgery is determined by a number of factors that include cost, patient preference, case complexity, wait involved, facilities and other services provided by the hospital. Following the choice of hospital, the patient is scheduled for surgery by assigning a slot in one of the doctors theatre sessions at the hospital. It is not uncommon for elective surgeries to be scheduled several weeks to a few months in advance. The schedule for each session along with patient and surgery details is expected to be communicated by the doctors office to the hospital well in advance to enable the hospital to make adequate arrangements. The surgeons operating list is not frozen and is dynamic with additions possible at a later stage (in some cases a few hours in advance) and the hospital is expected to be responsive and be able to provide the requisite support of staff, equipment and supplies. Surgery represents the third stage of the value chain and Saint Marys hospital is responsible for providing required support services. These include staffing the theatres with qualified nurses and technicians, and making available all equipment and supplies needed. The hospital is also responsible for pre-operative care of the patient and getting the patient ready for surgery and for post-operative care. Insufficient capacity and delays in these phases can result in blockage and starving of theatre resulting in underutilization of ORs with consequent adverse impact on hospital costs and efficiency. Post-operative care in hospital wards and in subsequent rehabilitation areas, if necessary represent the fourth and fifth stages before the patient is discharged and exits the hospital system. Constraints on bed capacity in wards can lead to fewer surgeries being scheduled resulting in lower theatre utilization. This is in contrast to the rehabilitation services, where capacity shortage may only lead to patients being off-loaded to other facilities owned by competitors, thereby resulting in loss of potential revenue. Planning and Scheduling at SMS Hospital Planning and scheduling at Saint Marys hospital is similar to other hospitals in Australia with annual theatre plans forming the basis for hospitals activities. The theatre plan involves assignment of theatre sessions to consultant surgeons and essentially defines the demand for hospitals services. A half-day slot is considered the basic unit for this purpose and thus each theatre has a capacity of 10 sessions per week, based on a five day week. As described earlier, surgeons expect hospitals to provide complete flexibility in organizing the activities within their sessions and hence assignment of a theatre session to a surgeon commits the hospital for providing the necessary staff and equipment for operation and post-operative care, and hence the hospital workload is a direct consequence of the theatre plan. In practice, theatre planning at Saint Marys begins three to four months in advance, in September/October for the following year. The plan is developed in consultation with the surgeons and varies little from year to year, except for changes to accommodate vacation periods of surgeons and other planned absences. The plan can be characterized as cyclic with effort to evenly spread out sessions assigned to individual surgeons. Further, to the extent feasible, weekly schedules are adopted. For example, a surgeon with 50 sessions would be assigned one session per week, usually in the same time slot every week (say, Monday morning). One feature of session plan at Saint Marys Hospital that merits special mention relates to the practice of concentration of sessions assigned to particular specialty. As a result, we find, sessions corresponding to different specialties peaking on different days of the week. Such practices are not unique to Saint Marys and are quite common at other hospitals i n Australia. The annual session plan forms the basis for nurse and technician staffing in the hospital. The labor cost of nurses and technicians is perhaps the most significant controllable operating cost at Saint Marys and directly impacts the hospitals financial viability. Staffing plan for nurses in the OR theatres is prepared for each calendar month on a monthly basis, two weeks in advance to conform to regulatory requirements. The initial plan is developed on the basis of the session plan. The nurse schedule is revised and frozen only a day in advance, at which time the requirements are assessed based on surgery lists available in the hospital. Besides adjustments for providing the required number of qualified nurses, the final schedule takes into account deviations from the initial plan (for example, absence due to sickness, or inability to schedule the nurse due to excess overtime on the previous day etc.) At this stage there is only very limited flexibility in respect of permanent, full t ime staff and the nurse scheduler relies on part time staff, supplemented by supply from external agency to meet the requirements. As mentioned earlier, current practices at Saint Marys hospital result in 20-25% of nursing needs being met with agency sources. In monetary terms, the proportion is higher due to higher rates paid for the temporary staff. Nurse staffing in wards is similar and schedules are frozen only a day in advance. Observations Our interviews with doctors/surgeons indicated that in a majority of specialties there is no discernable pattern in the demand for elective surgeries. This is in contrast to illnesses such as flu, hay fever that exhibit pronounced seasonality. Thus, daily demand for elective surgery end customer demand can be reasonably be described as fairly uniform with no seasonality (day of the week, month etc.) and low to moderate variability. Figure 2 describes the pattern of admissions (which corresponds to demand) for orthopaedic surgeries at Saint Marys hospital by day of the week. The figure is based on data for one year and excludes the holiday period (mid-December to mid-January) in Australia during which most doctors avoid scheduling elective surgeries. The data in Figure 2 shows mild seasonality by month (admissions range from a low of 332 to a peak of 512 with mean of 470) and high variability by day of the week. Excluding the weekends, the average daily admissions range from a low of 58 on Fridays to a peak of 123 on Wednesdays. The pattern is similar for other specialties, except for the location of the peak. While in Figure 2 the peak occurs on Wednesdays and Thursdays, for other specialties it might occur on other days of the week. Taken in conjunction with our premise that end customer demand is fairly constant, Figure 2 suggests strongly presence of phenomena similar to the bullwhip effect. In the remainder of this section we discuss briefly the impact of this pattern on hospital performance operational and financial. First, increased variability in the number of surgeries performed directly impacts the demand for post-operative services in the wards. Consequently, on peak days, shortage of beds makes the wards the bottleneck, thereby restricting the number of surgeries and reducing the theatre utilization and hospital throughput, which in turn leads to lower revenues and lower operating profits. While the hospital is a not-for-profit organization, operating profits represent one of the key funding sources for financing investments in equipment and facilities, and lower levels or absence of operating profit can severely restrict the hospitals ability to provide state-of-the-art high quality service. Second, the demand for nursing services both in theatres and wards is directly affected by higher variability and results in higher labor costs. With Saint Marys strategy of meeting the nursing demand with a mix of full time, part time and agency staff, higher variability of demand translates to the need for higher levels of flexibility and larger proportion of casual and agency staff. Higher wage rates for these categories increases operating costs and leads to lower profits. Third, SMSs reliance on flexible (part time and agency) staff affects the hospitals operating performance in more subtle, but significant manner. Higher levels of temporary staff leads to frequent changes in the composition of support staff assigned to each theatre, thereby inhibiting development of cohesive support teams. Consultant surgeons in our interviews mentioned this factor repeatedly as the primary cause of inefficiencies in theatre, requiring more operating time and reduction in efficient use of theatre capacity. The role of cohesive support teams in improving OR efficiencies is well known and has been noted in many other hospital environments. In the absence of such a support team, the surgery list scheduled for each session tends to be shorter (thus reducing hospital revenues). Alternately, with normal list the theatre time will be higher than planned, resulting in overtime and increasing operating costs. In either case, this practice adversely affects hospitals profits. Furthermore, this factor influences the doctors choice of hospital, prompting use of Saint Marys for more complex cases requiring its facilities. For simpler cases, the doctors tend to choose other hospitals with more efficiently organized OR theatres, perhaps with more limited range of services. As the more complex cases typically involve higher costs, this behavior has an adverse impact on Saint Marys finances. Under the Australian system the fees payable (to the hospital and doctor) are based on predetermined rates for each class and do not depend on the case complexity within each class. To summarize, increased variability in the demand for elective surgeries at Saint Marys hospital results in lower efficiencies, higher operating costs and lower revenues leading to lower profits. Thus, the presence of bullwhip effect leads to degradation of performance as in the case of manufactured goods reported in the literature. While this is intuitive and not surprising, it is interesting to note the dynamics are different from those observed in manufacturing higher levels of inventories and shortages. Macintosh HD:Users:vasvigakkhar:Desktop:Screen Shot 2012-12-29 at 2.09.56 AM.png Macintosh HD:Users:vasvigakkhar:Desktop:Screen Shot 2012-12-29 at 2.13.36 AM.png Methods for coping with the Bullwhip Effect The preceding section highlighted the different causes of the bullwhip effect in the healthcare sector and identified strategies to mitigate the detrimental impact of the effect. We briefly summarize the strategies (see Table for a summary): (i) Reducing uncertainty In order to minimize or eliminate bullwhip effect, it is important to reduce uncertainty throughout the service value chain. If information about customer can be centrally managed and if each stage of the service value chain can be provided with latest information in a timely manner, it will help eliminate duplication of effort at different stages and also ensure data consistency across all groups that require that data. It is also critical that dynamic updating of information is performed which will greatly help reduce uncertainty. (ii) Reducing variability There is inherent variability in the customer demand process and any effort that can be taken to minimize this variability will help reduce the overall bullwhip effect. Also, localized practices that lead to increased variability in demand at any of the stages should be eliminated with better coordination. Use of good forecasting methods will also assist the reduction of variability. (iii) Developing strategic partnerships The bullwhip effect can be minimized by developing key strategic partnerships with different links in the service value chain. For example, in case of hospitals, the hospital administration has to forge strategic alliances with medical specialists. These partnerships will change the way in which the information is shared and will help foster better coordination between the two parties. Although this may not fully eliminate bullwhip effect, it will go a long way in reducing the effect. (iv) Realignment of incentives One prime reason for the lack of coordination and meaningful information sharing is that the different entities are evaluated on the basis of different criteria and receive rewards for different activities. The evaluation and reward system should be modified to stress cooperation across stages and so that the planning is performed on system-level objectives and not on division/local level objectives. (v) Improving coordination across stages of service value chain To reduce the bullwhip effect, it is also important to ensure coordination across stages that are facilitated and improved. Summary and Future Research In this paper we have identified and described a phenomenon in healthcare industry that is similar to the bullwhip effect observed in the manufacturing sector which results in amplification of demand variability upstream in the service chain. Not surprisingly, this distortion likewise leads to performance degradation. However, the similarity with the manufacturing sector does not extend much further since the causes and the impact are somewhat different. For example, while bullwhip effect in manufactured goods results in higher levels of inventory and shortages, in hospitals it leads to lower levels of throughput, higher operating costs and longer patient waits. Hence, initiatives and strategies for minimizing the bullwhip effect and its impact require a different approach that addresses directly the root causes. Our study also indicates that the potential for performance improvements is quite significant. While our study focused on hospitals and other allied institutions in the health sector, we conjecture that a similar phenomenon may be present in other service industries. For example, billing practices in consumer utilities (electricity, gas etc) and credit card services with monthly cycles leads to variable unbalanced loads in certain segments. Similarly, scheduling practices in auto repair industry result in some variability amplification. Together this suggests that a more detailed study of the bullwhip phenomenon in services is warranted and may lead to order-of-magnitude performance improvements similar to those realized during the past two decades in the manufactured goods industries.