Market Strategy of Blue Cross Blue Shield Assignment

Market Strategy of Blue Cross Blue Shield - Assignment Example Conducive research indicates that even during the financial crisis of 2008, the organization has been stellar because of their high customer equity and premiums. Healthcare is one the elements that were always solid. Looking at the financial statements, the company made annual sales of $75.7 million. This allowed the company to leverage itself in the industry.   One of the major strengths of the organization is its ability to have a strong customer base supported by its technological infrastructure. The infrastructure is heavily supported by its business model and understanding how technology can serve its needs. However, the key benefit that the Blue Cross achieved was the fact that it allowed its customers to the accessibility of information without much delay. In an industry where information is vital, this organization was able to accommodate the needs of their growing customers as well as provide information that was compliant with HIPAA and ACA.   One of the major strengths, as mentioned before, was the fact that it had a strong customer and revenue base. The premiums that were being derived from the organization truly harnessed growth and allowed the company to get a strong threshold as a company.   One of the major challenges of the company was to expand its private and public cloud with compliance. It was evident that the risk management involved in the insurance business is a huge focal point.   Blue Cross had a huge dilemma of expanding their IT infrastructure boundaries by maintaining old records and creating space for new customers. Furthermore, the company’s auditing team was able to ensure the legitimacy of network passwords within their own IT infrastructure. When it comes to cloud computing, many flavors are present.

Types of Soil Essay Example for Free

Types of Soil Essay This is how one sixth-grader describes the way of playing video games. Such video games can seem like harmless fun, but what if the violence gets personal and addicts young teenagers, affecting their behavior and their view of reality? Some studies have shown that violent game players just do not leave it there on their game screens; they transfer the violent acts they get attached to, to the real world. Violent games have been shown to increase game player’s quest to experiment how all that stuff will look like in the real world. There is no doubt that violent video games have no effect on certain people, but for the most and especially in teenagers, the effects are negative and have led to fatalities and destruction of properties in certain instances. Although some parents claim that violence video games have bad effects on teenagers because they’re behavior changes, teenagers play too much violent games because they are very addicting. Some parents say that violent video games have bad effects on young teenagers. But most video- game players have normal lives. Most important, just because a player does not instantly take or follow violence found in video games does not mean the games will not have negative result on that player’s views and behavior. The violent games will have negative effects on teenagers. Young teenager’s behavior will have a big change. Because of this case, parents should be responsible for buying video games and should forbid young teenagers from buying those games that are violent. If parents do not take the responsibility than teenagers do not know what they are doing and what is good for them. Before teenagers take a big wrong step, parents should be there to take care of the situation. I have a little nephew in seventh grade and he loves violence video games. He loves playing call of duty. My aunt always gives him the money to buy any game that he likes. He loves the smell of money. She never checks to see what game he might have bought. Because of her not being responsible, my little cousin always gets into school fights with other children. So every parent must be responsible for their own child. Some parents say that violent video games have bad effects on young teenagers because a number of people claim that playing a violent video game does present a bad threat to user’s health. For an example, I have a younger brother who is seventeen years old. He loves playing violent video games. Every day, when he is home from school with his spiky brown hair, he starts playing the WrestleMania game. He does not eat anything and he talks to himself while playing the game. He does not realize that his behavior is changing by playing violent video games. One time, he tried to kick me in my stomach but a police man saw him and told him to stop. My parents made him quit playing violent video-games. Ever since he stopped playing violent video games his behavior has changed a lot. He now realizes he was out of control and it is all because of the violent video games. He sold his Xbox to one of his close friends. I am glad my parents took good care of it because it is their responsibility to look after their son. Some parents say that violent video games have bad effects on young teenagers because; there was a shooting in Colorado movie theatre. Twelve people were killed and fifty eight were injured by a graduate student. The guy who killed all these people was a very educated man. But he lost his sense of humor. He was out of control. People thought that the shooting was a part of the movie also. He was dressed up as the joker from the movie batman. Later the doctors found out he had some type of brain damage watching too much violent movies and playing games. So, he was not okay in his head. His behavior made so many people lose their lives. So many people lost their loved ones that day. And again violent community and games can damage people’s brains. Some parents say that violent video games have good effects on young teenagers because violent games can be new information to some teenagers, because it is something new and different from their daily lifestyle. They think violent games can help their child with memorization because it provides pretty text to look at. The video games have nice graphics for teenagers. It helps a teenager look at new information and advances them. Some parents think that teenagers learn better by looking at graphics and text that are provided by violent games. Parents think new and different inspires teenagers and games inspire them in a good way. But mostly business owner parents are saying this. But at the end of the day, it is every parent’s job to be responsible for their own child. Parents should pay more attention to their children while children are playing violent video games.

Effect of Glucosamine on Knee Osteoarthritis

Effect of Glucosamine on Knee Osteoarthritis REVIEW OF LITERATURE A prototypical 12-week, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial of glucosamine among subjects with knee osteoarthritis was conducted to present the safety and effectiveness over the Internet. The study comprised 205 subjects aged 45 years or older with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis and their eligibility was authenticated through medical record review. Participants were administered randomly to 1.5 g/d of glucosamine (n101) or placebo (n104), of whom 108 completed the intervention (93 in each arm). The primary outcome measure was the pain subscale of the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (Likert version) while additional outcome measures were physical function and stiffness subscales and overall score of the questionnaire, and analgesic use. It was found that there was no difference between treatment and control groups in terms of change in pain score, stiffness, physical function, overall score, and analgesic use. Although glucosamine was appe ared to be safe, it was no more effective than placebo in treating the symptoms of knee osteoarthritis. (McAlindon et al. 2004) A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted to evaluate the eficacy of Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM). Fifty men and women with knee OA pain were enrolled in an outpatient medical center. Intervention was MSM 3 g or placebo twice a day for 12 weeks (6 g/day total). Outcomes included the Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index visual analogue scale (WOMAC), patient and physician global assessments (disease status, response to therapy), and SF-36 (overall health-related quality of life). It was found that MSM produced significant decreases in WOMAC pain and physical function impairment as compared to placebo. MSM also produced improvement in performing activities of daily living when compared to placebo on the SF-36 evaluation. The effectiveness and safety of MSM in managing OA and long-term use could not confirm from this pilot trial, but its potential clinical application was examined. (Kim et al. 2005) A study was carried to evaluate the efficacy and upper gastrointestinal (UGI) safety of celecoxib, compared with nonspecific nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), among patients with osteoarthritis. A total of 13,274 osteoarthritis patients from 39 countries were randomly assigned to double-blind treatment with either celecoxib 100 mg twice daily (BID), celecoxib 200 mg BID, or nonselective NSAID therapy (diclofenac 50 mg BID or naproxen 500 mg BID) for 12 weeks. Standard validated measures were used to assess osteoarthritis efficacy. Serious UGI events were evaluated by 2 blinded, independent, gastrointestinal events committees. It was observed that both dosages of celecoxib were as effective as NSAIDs in treating osteoarthritis. However, ulcer complications occurred within the nonselective NSAID group as compared with the celecoxib group. There were less ulcer complications in the celecoxib group compared with the NSAID group, both in patients taking concomitant aspirin an d those not taking aspirin, but the difference reached statistical significance only in the latter comparison. The cardiovascular thromboembolic events were low and not statistically different among the groups, but the study was not powered to detect such differences. It is concluded that celecoxib is as effective as the nonspecific NSAIDs naproxen and diclofenac, but has significantly fewer serious upper gastrointestinal events in the treatment of osteoarthritis. (Singh et al. 2006) The aim of the study was to assess the efficacy of bromelain in treating OA of the knee. The study design was randomized, double-blind placebo controlled trial. Subjects (n ¼47) with a confirmed diagnosis of moderate to severe knee OA were randomized to 12 weeks of bromelain 800 mg/day or placebo, with a 4-week follow-up. Knee (pain, stiffness and function) and quality-of-life symptoms were reported monthly in the WOMAC and SF36 questionnaires, respectively. Adverse events were also recorded. The primary outcome measure was the change in total WOMAC score from baseline to the end of treatment at week 12. Longitudinal models were used to evaluate outcome. No statistically significant differences were observed between groups for the primary outcome, nor the WOMAC subscales or SF36. Both treatment groups showed clinically relevant improvement in the WOMAC disability subscale only. Adverse events were generally mild in nature. This study suggested that bromelain was not efficacious as an adjunctive treatment of moderate to severe OA, but its limitations support the need for a follow-up study. (Brien et al. 2006) The aim of this study was to evaluate and establish the non-inferiority of an oral enzyme therapy as compared to the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) diclofenac (DC) in patients with hip osteoarthritis. Ninety patients were treated with osteoarthritis pain for 6 weeks in one study centre in a phase III, randomised, double blind, parallel group trial. The subjects were divided into two groups, 45 patients in each group. The efficacy criteria were assessed by applying the test of non-inferiority with regard to mean changes and frequencies, t-test, U test, ANCOVA and descriptive methods. The non-inferiority of oral enzymes as compared to Diclofenac was established with p = 0.0025. The oral enzymes used were bromelain, trypsin and rutosid. It was found that oral enzymes were simultaneously non-inferior as compared to Diclofenac. However, in case of drug tolerability, some tendencies were observed in favour of oral enzymes. Although, there was no real difference found between oral enzymes and Diclofenac but oral enzymes may well be prescribed for the treatment of hip osteoarthritis. (Klein et al. 2006) The aim of the study was to provide a summary of the actions of curcumin on articular chondrocytes from the available literature with the use of a text-mining tool. Both the potential benefits and drawbacks of using this chemopreventive agent for treating osteoarthritis (OA) were highlighted. Recent work had shown that curcumin protects human chondrocytes from the catabolic actions of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1b) including matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3 up-regulation, inhibition of collagen type II and down-regulation of b1-integrin expression. Curcumin also blocks IL-1b-induced proteoglycan degradation, AP-1/NF-kB signalling, chondrocyte apoptosis and activation of caspase-3. The available data in vitro and in vivo studies suggested that curcumin may be a beneficial complementary treatment for OA in humans and companion animals. (Henrotin et al. 2009) The aim of the study was to assess whether glucosamine (GlcN), an oral supplement commonly taken to relieve the symptoms of osteoarthritis, modulates the immune and inflammatory responses to joint injury in organs proximal to GlcN absorption; namely, the liver and the gut-draining lymph nodes. Using a papain-injected knee mouse model, standard histological methods were used to validate our model and document the impact of GlcN (100 mg/kg/day) on groups of C57BL/6 mice (n  ¼ 5). Circulating inflammatory cytokines were assessed by Luminex-based immunoassays and the relevance of this cytokine profile on proteoglycan biosynthesis evaluated using a patellar-cartilage assay. Real-time PCR was used to document the role of the liver in cytokine production. It was observed that Papain significantly degraded the proteoglycans in the injected knees by 2 days. Cartilage proteoglycan content was significantly higher in GlcN-treated, papain-injected knees at Day 14. The peak concentration of ser um pro-inflammatory cytokines occurred earlier and decreased sooner in the injected, GlcN-supplemented mice; this trend was in agreement with the expression of these factors by the liver. GlcN did not alter the percentage of MLN populations but accelerated their activation. Hence, it was suggested that Oral GlcN alters the physiology of the liver and MLNs, which in turn, could indirectly alter the biology of the injured joint. (Panicker et al. 2009) A three month study was conducted on curcumin-phosphatidylcholine phytosome complex. The joint pain was decreased and improvement in joint function was observed in patients suffering from osteoarthritis. The patients were evaluated with clinical endpoints score, Karnofsky Performance Scale Index, and treadmill walking performance and ESR. The significant improvements of both the clinical and biochemical endpoints were observed. (Belcaro et al. 2010) The aim of study was to determine the effect of bromelain treatment on canine articular chondrocytes in vitro. This research was done to evaluate viability of cell, apoptosis levels and mitosis, proteoglycan concentrations and the expression of certain genes. Chondrocytes were exposed to 50 ÃŽ ¼g/ml bromelain for 4, 16 and 32 h. It was found that the rate of apoptosis in the treatment groups was significantly lower than in the control groups. The rate of mitosis in treatment groups was significantly higher than in the control groups. The effect of bromelain on gene expression was measured by the real-time PCR technique. It was found that bromelain significantly decreased TIMP-1 and MMP-3 expression. These experimental bromelain treatments had shown positive results, and increased the process of healing and modulation of osteoarthritis. (Siengdee et al. 2010) The aim of this study was to evaluate that actual cartilage AGE levels were directly related to actual cartilage damage in OA patients. The actual cartilage AGE levels were directly related to actual cartilage damage by use of cartilage obtained at joint replacement surgery. During study, Cartilage and urine samples were obtained from 69 patients undergoing total knee replacement. Samples were analyzed for pentosidine as marker of AGE. Cartilage damage was evaluated macroscopically, histologically, and biochemically. It was found that there was an inverse relation between cartilage AGEs and actual cartilage damage in end-stage OA. This was likely due to ongoing (ineffective) increased turnover of cartilage matrix proteins even in end stage disease. (Vos et al. 2011) The study was done to assess the ability of curcuminoid from Curcuma domestica Val in reducing the cycloxygenase-2 secretion by synovial fluid’s monocytes compared to diclofenac sodium in patients with osteoarthritis. The study was prospective randomized open end blinded evaluation (PROBE). The subjects with knee osteoarthritis were divided into two main groups randomly. One group received 30 mg of curcuminoid thrice a day while other group received 25 mg of diclofenac sodium 3 times in a day. The joints aspiration was carried out and cycloxygenase-2 enzyme secretion by synovial fluid’s monocytes was evaluated by scoring method before and after 4 weeks of treatments. In first group the average scores were 1.84 ±0.37 and 1.15 ±0.28 respectively (pet al. 2012) An observational study was conducted containing a formulation of Curcuma longa and Boswellia serrata extracts. The efficacy and safety of these extracts was measured and directly compared with the celecoxib in osteoarthritis patients. The treatment was tolerated well and it did not produce any major side effects. The patients were analysed by the vital signs, hemogram, liver and renal function tests. This formulation was proved to be effective and safe and no toxicity related with dose was found. (Kizhakkedath 2013) A multicenter, observational and prospective study was carried out on a complex of three natural anti-inflammatory agents. These agents include Harpagophytum procumbens,Curcuma longa, and bromelain nutraceuticals. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of commercial complex complex of 3 plant extracts in the treatment of osteoarthritis pain. The patients were divided into two groups i.e. acute and chronic. At baseline, the VAS pain score was 69.1 mm (15.4) and 68.0 mm (18.2) for patients with acute andchronic pain, respectively. At the endpoint, the scores decreased to 42.1 mm (21.1) and 37.8 mm (25.9), respectively. At the endpoint, most of the patients have reached the reduced pain level. No side effects were found due to treatment withdrawals. These 3 plant extracts had excellent tolerance profile and found to be safe alternative of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in patients suffering from osteoarthritis. (Mathieu P et al. 2014) The purpose of this study was to analyse efficacy of extracted Chondroitin Sulfate (CS) from chicken keel cartilages, its comparison with standard CS from shark origin alone and in combination with Glucosamine Sulfate (GS) in developed and standardized papain induced Osteoarthritis (OA) rat model. One group that was control received sterile normal saline solution while other experimental group received papain intra-articularly. Induction of disease with respect to time was assessed on the basis of histological lesions scores. The treatment effectiveness un-treated and treated group was assessed on the basis of histological lesions scores. Treatment was started from 29th day and was continued till 60th day of post papain injection. It was found that histological lesions score was not reduced in cartilages of OA group that remained un-treated. However, structural changes were reduced and were found to be close to the control groups that were treated. Histological lesions score was obse rved highest in un-treated Osteoarthritis group followed by GS treated, standard CS, extracted CS, extracted CS plus GS and standard CS plus GS. There was maximum reduction in histological lesions score in groups treated with combinations. The score of group treated with standard CS (shark) was almost similar to extracted CS (chicken) alone and extracted CS plus GS. CS (chicken) was proved to be effective and beneficial in reducing progression of disease. (Khan et al. 2014) The purpose of this study was to assess the clinical efficacy and safety of oral ginger for symptomatic treatment of osteoarthritis. Inclusion criteria were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing oral ginger treatment with placebo in OA patients aged greater than 18 years. Outcome measures were reduction in pain and disability. The efficacy was measured using Hedges standardized mean difference (SMD), and safety by risk ratio (RR). Standard random-effects meta-analysis was used, and inconsistency was evaluated by the I-squared index (I2). Following ginger intake, a statistically significant pain reduction with a low degree of inconsistency, and a statistically significant reduction in disability were seen, both in favor of ginger. Patients given ginger were more than twice as likely to discontinue treatment compared to placebo. Ginger was found modestly efficacious and reasonably safe for treatment of osteoarthritis. (Bartels et al. 2014) The study was conducted to determine the efficacy and safety of Curcuma domestica extracts in pain reduction and functional improvement. 367 primary knee osteoarthritis patients with a pain score of 5 or higher were randomized to receive ibuprofen 1,200 mg/day or C. domestica extracts 1,500 mg/day for 4 weeks. The main outcomes were Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) total, WOMAC pain, WOMAC stiffness, and WOMAC function scores. Adverse events (AEs) were also recorded. 185 and 182 patients were randomly assigned into C. domestica extracts and ibuprofen groups, respectively. The baseline characteristics were no different between groups. The mean of all WOMAC scores at weeks 0, 2, and 4 showed significant improvement when compared with the baseline in both groups. After using the noninferiority test, the mean difference (95% confidence interval) of WOMAC total, WOMAC pain, and WOMAC function scores at week 4 adjusted by values at week 0 of C. domesti ca extracts were noninferior to those for the ibuprofen group, except for the WOMAC stiffness subscale. The number of events of abdominal pain/discomfort was significantly higher in the ibuprofen group than that in the C. domestica extracts group. Most subjects were satisfied with the treatment, and two-thirds rated themselves as improved in a global assessment. It was concluded that C. domestica extracts are as effective as ibuprofen for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis. The side effect profile was similar but with fewer gastrointestinal adverse events reports in the C. domestica extracts group. (Kuptniratsaikul et al. 2014) The retrospective observational study was conducted to assess the experiences of 820 patients treated with a new Curcuma extract (Flexofytol ®, 4-6 capsules per day), for more than 6 months for various forms of painful osteoarthritis. These experiences were reported by 110 Belgian general practitioners via a questionnaire that included quality-of-life parameters for assessing patient experience. Data were submitted to an independent statistician for analysis. Within the first 6 weeks, Flexofytol ® improved patient pain, articular mobility, and quality of life. Excellent tolerance was reported, and more than half of these patients were able to discontinue analgaesic and anti-inflammatory drugs. Patient satisfaction was confirmed by their decision to maintain Flexofytol ® therapy for more than 6 months. It was found that Flexofytol ® which was based on a new preparation of curcumin, is as a potential neutraceutical for the care of patients complaining of joint problems, with ex cellent tolerance and rapid benefits for articular mobility, pain, and quality of life. (Appelboom et al. 2014)

Indian Boarding School Essay -- essays research papers

"Compressed emotions," that is the explanation a teacher once gave to the ongoing question, "What is poetry?" He said it was someone's deepest emotions, as if you were reading them right out of that person's mind, which in that case would not consist of any words at all. If someone tells you a story, it is usually like a shell. Rarely are all of the deepest and most personal emotions revealed effectively. A poem of that story would be like the inside of the shell. It personifies situations, and symbolizes and compares emotions with other things in life. Louise Erdrich's poem Indian Boarding School puts the emotions of a person or group of people in a setting around a railroad track. The feelings experienced are compared to things from the setting, which takes on human characteristics. Louise Erdrich was born part German, part American Indian. Since the title and other references in the poem refer to Indian people, it is most likely that this poem was very personal to her. The boarding school may have been a real place she went to, or where mistreatment of her people was not uncommon, or it could simply be a tool she used to express racism towards them in general. With that fact, the reader must remember that although the words are from the runaways' point of view, there are not necessarily any real runaways. From the point of view at which this is told, the runaways are eager to find their way home. They do not necessarily really try to runaway, it may just be in their fantasies, "Home's the place we head for in our sleep." (line 1). The first use of personification is in the line, "The rails, old lacerations that we love,"(line 4). It is not yet quite clear why Erdrich would compare the train tracks with old lacerations until the lines, "shoot parallel across the face and break just under the Turtle Mountains." (lines 5-6). Mountains are definite things that are physical in nature. Train tracks on a face are hard to imagine, so it leads us to believe it has some deeper meaning. This reveals that the children want to run away from the boarding school for more serious matters than just good old home-sickness. The "old lacerations" may represent wounds on their own faces, internal or external. Visually, train tracks look like wounds that were stitche d and scarred. The Turtle Mountains must relate ... ...d when it dried. That was the time when they remembered "delicate" injuries. Injuries that a child gets while playing or falling, not from bigotry or violence. Now those things are only memories. It is very likely that Louise Erdrich experienced some kind of racism or prejudice in her lifetime. Segregation laws were still in use while she was growing up in the fifties, and in the sixties, many of the same people still felt racist, with or without the laws. Boarding schools were not an exception to this fact either. School authorities probably did take advantage of the fact that boarding schools are away from home and not under the watchful eye of any parent. This poem demonstrates the truth of what it really felt and feels like to have lived through such bad treatment. It is disturbing to think that instead of just learning at school, Louise Erdrich, amongst other children, may have learned what it felt like to be hated. At such early ages, they taught these children that the way they were treated was how the world was supposed to be. It displays the painful scars embedded so deeply into a child, from a time that should have been the most nurturing part of his/her life. Indian Boarding School Essay -- essays research papers "Compressed emotions," that is the explanation a teacher once gave to the ongoing question, "What is poetry?" He said it was someone's deepest emotions, as if you were reading them right out of that person's mind, which in that case would not consist of any words at all. If someone tells you a story, it is usually like a shell. Rarely are all of the deepest and most personal emotions revealed effectively. A poem of that story would be like the inside of the shell. It personifies situations, and symbolizes and compares emotions with other things in life. Louise Erdrich's poem Indian Boarding School puts the emotions of a person or group of people in a setting around a railroad track. The feelings experienced are compared to things from the setting, which takes on human characteristics. Louise Erdrich was born part German, part American Indian. Since the title and other references in the poem refer to Indian people, it is most likely that this poem was very personal to her. The boarding school may have been a real place she went to, or where mistreatment of her people was not uncommon, or it could simply be a tool she used to express racism towards them in general. With that fact, the reader must remember that although the words are from the runaways' point of view, there are not necessarily any real runaways. From the point of view at which this is told, the runaways are eager to find their way home. They do not necessarily really try to runaway, it may just be in their fantasies, "Home's the place we head for in our sleep." (line 1). The first use of personification is in the line, "The rails, old lacerations that we love,"(line 4). It is not yet quite clear why Erdrich would compare the train tracks with old lacerations until the lines, "shoot parallel across the face and break just under the Turtle Mountains." (lines 5-6). Mountains are definite things that are physical in nature. Train tracks on a face are hard to imagine, so it leads us to believe it has some deeper meaning. This reveals that the children want to run away from the boarding school for more serious matters than just good old home-sickness. The "old lacerations" may represent wounds on their own faces, internal or external. Visually, train tracks look like wounds that were stitche d and scarred. The Turtle Mountains must relate ... ...d when it dried. That was the time when they remembered "delicate" injuries. Injuries that a child gets while playing or falling, not from bigotry or violence. Now those things are only memories. It is very likely that Louise Erdrich experienced some kind of racism or prejudice in her lifetime. Segregation laws were still in use while she was growing up in the fifties, and in the sixties, many of the same people still felt racist, with or without the laws. Boarding schools were not an exception to this fact either. School authorities probably did take advantage of the fact that boarding schools are away from home and not under the watchful eye of any parent. This poem demonstrates the truth of what it really felt and feels like to have lived through such bad treatment. It is disturbing to think that instead of just learning at school, Louise Erdrich, amongst other children, may have learned what it felt like to be hated. At such early ages, they taught these children that the way they were treated was how the world was supposed to be. It displays the painful scars embedded so deeply into a child, from a time that should have been the most nurturing part of his/her life.

Unit 1 – a Managerial Approach to Marketing

Kimberly Bell American Intercontinental University Unit 1 Individual Project MKT640 – A Managerial Approach to Marketing November 11, 2012 Abstract This paper reflects challenges brought on by starting up a new product, the effectiveness and efficiency of technology when marketing, and the battle of legal and ethical complication. Given are examples of different situation of each topic to demonstrate how each take place when starting a new product or service. The Marketing Scenario IntroductionWhen bringing a new product or service together there are certain aspects to be considered for a successful product or outcome. Those aspects may include target, sector, location, creating an effective marketing plans and advertisement strategies. There are also certain issues and challenges that may arise when bringing this new product or service into existence. Challenges in New Product Launches When bringing the new product or service into the market, without a plan in place for its t argeted consumers, sector, location, sales and distribution tactics there will be several issues and challenges to face.According to Bloom, if all these problems are anticipated and handled creatively, social marketing efforts can succeed (Bloom, 1981). Challenges: Target Market and Sector. One challenge that is very distinct is target consumers and sectors. These two challenges differ where ever you go. When bringing that new product into existence you must do the research of the market for the sector and target market. Therefore, realizing the market sectors as well as the target consumer can determine the difference that one or the other may cause for a major challenge.For example, 1990’s McDonald’s launched a product called Deluxe line to target the older people and launched a tag line â€Å"Especially for the grown up taste† to market it but the launch failed disastrously due to wrong selection of target market. Challenges: Effective Marketing Plan Another challenging task is creating an effective marketing strategy. Creating a effective marketing strategy when initiating a new product is all about keeping the consumers needs in mind. The information presented in the marketing should so explanatory that it gives precise information to the consumer about the details of the product.To give misleading information will cause product failure. Therefore, the marketing will be unsuccessful. For example, Levi Strauss came out with a product called type1 jeans with some different features in 2002 but the marketing and advertisements wasn’t properly devised and erroneously lead consumers in turn leading to failure of the product launch (Bonander, 2010) Challenges: Competition Another challenge is competition, when initiating a new product in the market because the market is constantly changing, entrepreneurs are constantly taking risks (ThinkQuest : Library).For example, in 1985 Coca-Cola launch a new version of the drink with a tag line â€Å"The best just got, better†, but the taste and quality of the new drink was not accepted by the consumers as the strongest competitors PepsiCo took the advantage and maximized its sales (POM final). Technology and New Product Development Marketing efforts can be enhanced by the use of technology. While sales and profits are progressing, it can also help the organization succeed in its marketing campaign. For example most companies are using social media and networking site like LinkedIn to market their business and services.These social networking sites can make the new product campaign even more effective. Technology: Distribution Technology can also allow way for distribution of products or services. Therefore, through desk top advertising, e-marketing, and online marketing, technology has led the way to easy access marketing (Herbert and Grace, 2008). For example, a software Gold Fire Innovator, developed by Invention Machine has three modules and comprises of tools that make use of value engineering and well formulated problem-solving methodology (TRIZ) to provide assistance to the users concerning the problem definition.Its second module called researcher Facilitates Engineers in executing semantic searches related with the powerful databases for finding appropriate resolutions and concepts (Frey, 2006). Technology: Efficiency and Effectiveness Technology also helps in the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of product data. For example, in the banking industry several models based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) have been developed to help with the analyzing and processing of data (Yang, 2009). This process not only helps the organization to be more efficient but also more effective when servicing its customers.Technology: Display Technology can also help to display your new product in an arena for a big or small audience. For example, with a web page the new product can be advertised and sent over the internet, whereas it will be disp layed in a database to allow a professional and systematic presentation to a large audience and sharing the of a wealth of information on a continued bases. Legal and Ethical Implications in New Product Development Many legal and ethical implications are faced when launching a new product or service.For example, packing, labeling regulations, disclosures, and standards. There are difference regulations set forth in different countries. There is a must that organizations understand the responsibilities regarding regulations are crucial to ensuring worldwide compliance and sustained economic edge (Akin-Ogundeji, 2010). Legal and ethical implications: Packing and labor There are various countries, which have specific regulations regarding packaging and labeling. There are also stipulates on how and where the labels should be placed on a products.For example, in the US the PDP, is that portion of the package label that is most likely to be seen by the consumer at the time of purchase (G eneral Food Labeling Requirements). This PDP must appear on the front of the product. Legal and ethical implications: Advertisement or Display The media also creates controversy due to interpretations of the signage used to advertise. For example, baby food called Gerber, when it was launched in the France, it means stack or vomiting, which had very bad impression on the customers and led to the reduced sales of the product (Perlman, 2008).Legal and ethical implications: Media Advertisement and Display can really damages the launching of a new product because the audience can misused or misunderstand the given information. For example, when Coca-Cola entered china with the same name, the characters revealed the meaning as â€Å"Bite the wax tadpole† which was very unfortunate and misinterpreted by the people resulting in a controversy (Bite the Wax Tadpole). Conclusion It is to be concluded that from the above discussions that product development is extremely important.It als o determines the organizations success and failures. Therefore, it can provide a great advantage to the company success. However, in technology can provide a huge advantage and shorten the time of developing and marketing a product. Technology allows an organization to customize their product in the market. Lastly, the product should comply with the legal aspects to avoid problem with its success. References Akin-Ogundeji, D. O. Get Your Business Ethics Articles and Articles on Corporate Social Responsibility From Ethicsworld. rg. Get Your Business Ethics Articles and Articles on Corporate Social Responsibility From Ethicsworld. org. Retrieved November 11, 2012, from http://www. ethicsworld. org/ethicsandemployeesBhasin, H. (2010, January 22). Bite the Wax Tadpole – Why we chose a silly name. Web Development Ireland. Retrieved November 12, 2012, from http://www. bitethewaxtadpole. com/bitethewaxtadpole. htm Bloom PN, Novelli WD. Problems and challenges in social marketing. J Mark. 1981 Spring;45(2):79-88. PubMed PMID: 12280283. Retrieved November 11, 2012.Bonander, R. 2010. Top 10: Failed Product Launches. Retrieved on November 11, 2012 from http://ca. askmen. com/top_10/entertainment_100/139d_top_10_list. html Brand Failure – McDonald's Arch Deluxe. Marketing Strategy, Marketing Management, Marketing News, Advertising reviews. Retrieved November 11, 2012, from http://www. marketing91. com/brand-failure-mcdonalds-arch-deluxe/ Competition in the Market   The laws of supply and demand are bestevident in a competitive market. ThinkQuest : Library. Retrieved November 11, 2012, from http://library. hinkquest. org/C008486F/iiid. htm Frey, C. (2006). Goldfire Innovator takes product development, process innovation to the next level. Retrieved November 11, 2012 from http://www. innovationtools. com/Resources/ideamgmt-details. asp? a=147 General Food Labeling Requirements. U S Food and Drug Administration Home Page. Retrieved November 12, 2012, from htt p://www. fda. gov/Food/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/GuidanceDocuments/FoodLabelingNutrition/FoodLabelingGuide/ucm064866. htm Herbert, H and Grace, A. (2008).Technology. Retrieved November 11, 2012, from http://www. npgoodpractice. org/Topics/Technology/Default. aspx Perlman, C. (2008). 10 marketing Faux pas. Retrieved November 11, 2012, from http://www. level2wo. net/? p=35 POM final. Scribd. Retrieved November 11, 2012, from http://www. scribd. com/doc/75844842/POM-final Yang, Z. Bank Branch Operating Efficiency: A DEA Approach. Bank Branch Operating Efficiency: A DEA Approach. Retrieved November 11, 2012, from www. iaeng. org/publication/IMECS2009/IMECS2009_pp2087-2092. pdf

my opinion on politics essays

my opinion on politics essays To say that my family enjoys sports is a slight understatement. A better statement might be that my family is crazy about sports. Ive probably spent a good quarter of my life watching, discussing, playing, describing, analyzing, or listening to some kind of sporting event. Though Im not quite as athletically talented as either my brothers or sister, I nevertheless find the world of sports both fun and fascinating. I have always enjoyed sitting in the stands, losing my voice to support the event that Im watching. But I enjoy observing sports fans even more. i find it fascinating that fans get so involved in their team, forging a camaraderie between themselves and athletes theyve most likely never met. Team sports afford average people the opportunity to act vicariously through superstars; thus, the bond between a fan and his favorite player or team is a strong one. For the same reasons, I suppose, i am equally fascinated by politics. People align themselves with candidates and parties in the same way sports fans support a player or a team. The deep bond between a person and her favorite candidate or party creates a distinct partisan line. Partisan politics evoke the passionate fan in all of us; we become enraptured, leaving reality in our fervor and support. I want to exercise my fascination with politics by studying and analyzing our government, but most importantly, by playing an active role in the political processes of our country. I wholeheartedly believe in the important role of the individual in a democracy, and as I continue through life, I will speak my mind and participate as much as I can. Eventually, I hope that my involvement in politics will positively influence the path of our country, promoting liberty, justice, and freedom. ...

15 French Words and Phrases That Dont Mean That in French

15 French Words and Phrases That Dont Mean That in French 15 French Words and Phrases That Don’t Mean That in French 15 French Words and Phrases That Don’t Mean That in French By Mark Nichol This post lists a number of words and phrases used in English that are derived from French but are no longer employed with the same idiomatic sense in French (if they ever were). Each term is followed by the literal French translation, a brief definition, and a comment about its status in French and how the French language conveys the idiom. 1. au jus (â€Å"with juice†): a brothlike meat sauce (the phrase is often incorrectly treated on menus as â€Å"with au jus†)- obsolete in French except for the slang phrase à ªtre au jus (roughly, â€Å"be with juice†) 2. cause cà ©là ¨bre (â€Å"celebrated cause†): controversial or emotionally weighted issue- obsolete in French, but originally referred to a sensational or unusual legal decision or trial 3. demimonde (â€Å"half world†): fringe group or subculture, or prostitutes as a class- obsolete in French, though une demi-mondaine refers to a prostitute (in English, demimondaine is synonymous with â€Å"kept woman†) 4. double entendre (â€Å"double to hear†): a comment that can have a second, often provocative, connotation- faulty grammar in French, which uses double sens (â€Å"double sense†) 5. en masse (â€Å"in a masse†): all together- in French, refers to a physical grouping, so when using that language, one would not refer to a chorus of voices as being en masse 6. encore (â€Å"again†): additional songs played after the scheduled end of a concert, or a call for such an extended performance- in French, â€Å"Une autre! (â€Å"Another!†) 7. en suite (â€Å"as a set†): usually refers to a bedroom and bathroom connected to each other- not used as such in French 8. esprit de l’escalier (â€Å"wit of the stairs†): a witty comment one thinks of only after the opportunity to share it has passed (when one is departing a social occasion)- nearly obsolete in French 9. in lieu (â€Å"in place of†): instead of- a partial translation; in French, au lieu 10. legerdemain (â€Å"light of hand†): deception in stage magic- not used in French 11. marquee (â€Å"awning†): sign above a venue announcing the featured entertainment- not used in French 12. passà © (â€Å"past,† â€Å"passed,† or â€Å"faded†): unfashionable- in French, passà © de mode (â€Å"way of the past†) 13. pià ©ce de resistance (â€Å"a piece that resists†): the best, or the main dish or main item- in French, plat de rà ©sistance (â€Å"dish that resists†) 14. rouge (â€Å"red†): blusher, or red makeup- in French, fard joues (though lipstick of any color is rouge là ¨vres) 15. venue (â€Å"arrival†)- location- not used as such in French Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Useful Stock Phrases for Your Business Emails"Have" vs "Having" in Certain Expressions30 Words Invented by Shakespeare

Capitol Punishment †Sociology Essay

Capitol Punishment – Sociology Essay Free Online Research Papers Over half the countries in the world consider capital punishment to be such a cruel and inhumane punishment that they no longer implement it. Of the countries that make up the other half, most are dictatorships with low standards of human rights. The United States is an exception to this statistic. While the United States has a very high standard of human rights in most cases, it still supports the use of capital punishment. One thousand prisoners have been executed by the United States government since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. While the death penalty has always been well supported by the American people, its support has consistently decreased over the years. Support of the death penalty today is at an all time low. In the past ten years, the number of people who support the death penalty dropped from eighty percent to sixty-four percent. When asked if they support the death penalty, sixty four percent of Americans said yes. However, when asked to factor in life in prison as an alternative punishment, support of the death penalty dropped below forty percent. Most people who support capital punishment do so under the assumption that the correct person is being executed. Capital punishment leaves no room for error; therefore most people assume no errors are made. However, in an imperfect world you cannot rule out error. As a matter of fact errors, in this system are not uncommon. In the past twenty five years, seventy-four people have been proven innocent and freed from death row. Numbers show that for every seven executions, one prisoner on death row is found innocent. While no one has officially been declared innocent after execution, mostly due to the fact that most don’t peruse someone’s innocence after they are gone, many credible claims have been raised. Most claims of innocence after execution are very serious. In an article written by the Huston chronicle on November 21 2005 an already executed man’s innocence proclaimed. Ruben Cantu, who was executed in Texas in 1993, both the eyewitness and co-defend ant in his prosecution came forward to say they lied. The eyewitness claims Cantu was not there, and he only testified that he was because he was pressured by the authorities and was afraid. Cantu’s co-defendant has signed a sworn affidavit stating that he allowed Cantu to be prosecuted and sentenced for a crime for which he was not present. (Huston Chronicle) Ruben Cantu’s case is just one of a handful of similar cases. While the number of innocent people mistaken for guilty may seem small compared to the number of guilty people actually punished, we have to ask how many is too many. Gerald Kogan, former chief justice of Florida Supreme Court, says â€Å"If one innocent person is executed along the way, then we can no longer justify capital punishment.† (U.S. News) Punishment of criminals is supposed to serve two main purposes. First is to protect society from the same criminal repeating its crime, and to act as a deterrent for other prospective criminals. The other purpose is to reform the criminal. Capital punishment fails in most cases. It does prevent the criminal from committing their crime again. However, it is proven that most heinous crimes worthy of the death penalty are personal and committed in the heat of the moment and are very unlikely to be repeated be the same person. While you may think that capital punishment would scare away other criminals from crime, that is not the case. If you compare crime rates of murder and other heinous crimes worthy of the death penalty of a country that uses the death penalty to one that does not, you will see there is little to no difference. The reason for this is that most murders are acts of passion in the moment, when people cannot reason or consider consequence. Also, people who plan t o kill do not plan to be caught, and truly believe they won’t be caught. Therefore, they have no reason to fear capital punishment. Capital punishment eliminates the possibility to reform a criminal. The government is supposed to consider it their duty to try to reform criminals. We have the capabilities to reform prisoners, and we can be very successful with average criminals. However, programs to reform are not offered to those on death row. If a criminal on death row is reformed, they do so on their own. By ending a criminal’s life, we close the door on opportunity to help that person better themselves and become a good person. When criminals in jail take the steps offered to them to reform and do a good job, they are rewarded. Many times their time served is reduced. However, while most criminals on death row are not offered help to reform, many do. Many prisoners on death row reform themselves into decent, remorseful people. However, no matter how refo rmed they may be, it is not taken into consideration for their punishment, and they are still executed. Capital punishment is not only about the convicted or even the victim of the capital crime. It is not just about the families or the parties involved, on the contrary it is about every man woman and child in the United States. When the Federal Government executed Timothy McVeigh it did so in the name of the people. The use of the death penalty diminishes us as human beings. A great poet once said â€Å"No man is an island entire of itself, any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.†-James Holmes. It becomes more diminishing when a man is killed on our behalf. Personally I am repulsed that the Government feels it should take the life of another human being and then do so in my name. â€Å"The increasing reliance on the death penalty diminishes all of us, it increases disrespect for human life, and offers the tragic illusion that we can teach that killing is wrong by killing.† (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.) The United Nations has made many strides toward abolishing the death penalty in all nations. To date only seventy eight countries and territories have retained the right to use the death penalty. In 1948 the UN adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It defines in detail the rights and freedoms of individuals, and declares that â€Å"everyone has a right to life.† (UN Chronicle) Since it’s ratification in December 1948 118 member states have abolished the death penalty. A Declaration is considered a non- binding treaty, however a Covenant is legally binding. In 1966 The UN adopted the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or the ICCPR. This strongly encourages Member States to abolish the death penalty. However it allowed the sentence of death only in the most serious crimes. It also allows for a monitoring body of the Covenant by the Human Rights Committee. In 1989 a second optional protocol was adopted to the Covenant. It was adopt ed because many Member States felt that â€Å"abolition of the death penalty contributes to the enhancement of human dignity and progressive development of human rights.† (UN Chronicle) It allows for the death penalty only during war time and only with justifiable reason. All parties must submit reports to the Human Rights Committee to show steps taken towards the goal. This protocol says that no person under the age of eighteen or child offender can be sentenced to death ever. This protocol has been ratified by 192 countries, and is considered to be the most universally accepted human rights instrument in history. Only two countries (that are member states of the UN) have not signed it, Somalia and the United States. Despite international effort to ban capitol punishment against children it is still being applied to child offenders, although it is clearly banned under the Convention on the Rights of Children. Since 1990 eight countries has executed thirty six child of fenders. China, Pakistan, and Yemen have risen to eighteen years minimum age for application of the death penalty. However Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and the United States have not outlawed such executions. Of the thirty six known execution of child offenders nineteen (over half) have taken place in the United States. Capital punishment is in no way error proof, and has resulted in the deaths of several innocent people, along with wrongful time served by many. The support of the death penalty by the American people continues to drop as more people are further educated about it. Furthermore, capital punishment is virtually ineffective at preventing crime, and therefore serves no purpose other than vengeance. Vengeance is a product of hate, it serves no good purpose. It should not be considered a good enough reason to take another person’s life. The United States is considered to have a very high standard of human rights. However on the issue of capital punishment the United States is grouped with countries whose average standard of human rights would out rage every citizen of the United States. The rest of the civilized world is moving forward at a quick pace on the issue of human rights. We soon need to step up and catch up or we will be left behind. Bibliography U.S News â€Å"The Wrong Man on Death Row† November 11 1998. Associated Press â€Å"Va. Killer may become 1000th prisoner executed since 1977† Brooks, Bradley November 25 2005. Huston Chronicle â€Å"Investigative Series Reveals Texas May Have Executed an Innocent Man.† November 21 2005. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops/ Social Development and World Peace â€Å"101 Reasons to Abandon the Death Penalty.† April 18 2002. UN Chronicles â€Å"Capital Punishment: Where the World Stands.† Research Papers on Capitol Punishment - Sociology EssayThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseThe Fifth HorsemanEffects of Television Violence on Children19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2Influences of Socio-Economic Status of Married Males

No Child Left Behind Act Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

No Child Left Behind Act - Research Paper Example The assessment of the basic skills of the students as well as national achievement standard is the highlight of the act. "No Child Left Behind (NCLB) emphasizes standardized testing to measure improvements in reading, math and the sciences. It consists of four general principles: teacher quality, student testing, scientifically based research and public school choice." (Background: No Child Left Behind). Therefore, the NCLB has been an essential step in elevating the performance of American schools and student with federal oversight and strict penalties for poor performance. The act sets standards by each individual state, rather than a national achievement standard and takes steps in improving the quality of education. According to the educational practitioners, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law has had a sweeping impact on U.S. public school classrooms. "It affects what students are taught, the tests they take, the training of their teachers and the way money is spent on educatio n." (What the No Child Left Behind Law Means for Your Child). In conclusion, the No Child Left Behind Law has been a fundamental development in the educational spectrum of the US and it aims at the overall improvement of the quality of education in the nation.

Largemouth Bass Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Largemouth Bass - Essay Example The blotches give it a beautiful look. The anterior part of the fish has 9-11 spines and a clearly divided fin; while, the posterior part consists of 12-14 soft rays (â€Å"Largemouth Bass†, para.1). They are given the name largemouth because their upper jaw is so big that it reaches the rear end of the eyes at either side. In the first year of its life, this fish grows 5-6 inches. In two years, it is about 8-12 inches; and a three year old fish is nearly 16 inches long. â€Å"The Alabama state angling record (16 lb, 8 oz) was caught in Mountain View Lake, Shelby County, in 1987† (â€Å"Largemouth Bass†, para.2). Largemouth Bass are said to be the biggest predators of the aquatic environment. They become active predators right in the first year of their lives. They feed on zooplankton, smaller sunfish, crayfish, smaller amphibians, and other little insects (Oster 10). Adult Bass feeds on smaller Bass and other fish of the aquatic ecosystem. Since this fish has a large mouth, it has the advantage of fewer predators. However, young largemouth bass is preyed upon by many predators like herons and larger fish. They can survive in a wide variety of aquatic habitats; however, they are most commonly found in quieter watery regions, such as manmade ponds, submerged logs, and rock ledges. They are able to tolerate turbidity and loose current in these waters. They are largely found in rivers and lakes in Texas, where they begin their spawning in spring season. It is when the temperature of the waters reaches 60? F. In winters, they move deep into the sea to find warmth; and in spring, they come up on bays that have become warmer (Bridges and Bester, para.6). They come in shallow waters when they are looking for food, in the mornings and evenings. The male bass makes nest under the water where the female bass lays eggs. Then she goes away, and the male bass protects the eggs that hatch in 5-10 days. The newborns are called fry, and they stay in groups called schools. Their schools are under direct supervision of the male bass. The lifespan of a largemouth bass is nearly 16 years (Texas Parks and Wildlife, para. 4). The Official Web site of Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (â€Å"Largemouth Bass†, para.3) states that: Native populations of Micropterus salmoides occur throughout the eastern United States. Extensive stockings of the Florida subspecies, M. s. floridanus, and the mainland subspecies, M. s. salmoides, have expanded the range of this species from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast and from southern Canada into Mexico. The Florida subspecies of largemouth bass has been selectively stocked in Alabama since 1971 and continues to be stocked by state and private fisheries biologists. Subspecies of largemouth bass have been introduced into Texas, and thus, largemouth bass becomes a specialty of this state. Texas has a great number of bass angling clubs where largemouth bass fishing is done. This fishing is very important for Texas’ economy as fish anglers prefer largemouth bass over any other fish for fishing. The trend of catch and release is growing, especially when the anglers catch adult largemouth bass. This is because most of these are female breeders, and it becomes important for the anglers to release them in the same water after catching, so that the breeding of fish is not disturbed. Texas is also popular for largemouth fish as delicious seafood, due to

Communication in the Work Environment Assignment

Communication in the Work Environment - Assignment Example An example of this type of problem can be seen when a worker discovers that a piece of equipment is not working up to standard even though expectations have been clearly outlined that are need of that piece of equipment working at its optimum. Effective communication can be lost as the worker tries to explain the problem and the manager is only hearing excuses as to why expectations cannot be met. Failures in communications can result in strained relationships between managers and workers as information is not given or processed correctly. Management Style The way in which workers and managers communicate with one another is often defined by the management style that a manager will adopt. The type of leadership that is established will have an effect on how a worker responds and is able to communicate to the manager. As well, the way in which an individual has experienced speaking with leadership will also have an effect on how they can communicate to a manager. Communications styles develop long before an individual enters the workforce, but they can be trained in order to provide for more effective communications (Young, 2009). Often times it is a lack of communications training that will position a worker so that are unable to give information to an employer. There are four basic types of management that will affect the way in which communication develops between a manager and an employee. The four types are autocratic, paternalistic, democratic, and laissez-faire. In an autocratic type of management, information is proprietary and all decisions are made by the manager. A paternalistic manager will make decisions upon the basis of what is best for the employees. Through good relationships with employees, this type of manager acts as a guardian for their interests. In a democratic style of management the manager will allow employees a voice in the decision making process with discussions and a fairly free flow of information allowing for some equality within the groups and teams of the organization. In the laissez-faire form of management, the manager avoids his responsibilities and the employees end up picking up duties without any form of true organization (PM4DEV, 2007). An autocratic leader is one which leads through closing off his position from those under them so that it is difficult to communicate. In this type of leadership fear often develops because of the proprietary nature through which information is withheld. Employees will not be sure that the information that they are trying to communicate fits into the situation where little top down communication as occurred. A paternalistic manager might also see the same kind of reluctance from employees as they do not want to cause friction or issues with a leader who has become a friend or has been seen to be acting in the employees’ best interests. The democratic style of management allows for the best potential for good communications as the leader has formed relationship s with the employees but is still actively managing the business. Teamwork allows for a free flow of information so that employees understand the relevance of the information that they may choose to impart. Laissez-faire styles of management usually accompany a complete breakdown as the manager has specifically shown that they are not interested in the work and goals that need to be accomplished. It is clear that communication is best developed through management that includes building a

International Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International Business - Assignment Example In order to analyse the appraisal, the report focuses upon four important factors like that of motivation of IKEA for going international, the selection of the market, the entry strategy of the company in the selected market and the corporate strategy. The report also has a dedicated section reinstating the major points in the summary and conclusions. Established in the year of 1943 by a teen ager named Ingvar Kamprad (who was only seventeen years old), IKEA came a long way to be an industry leader in the arena of home products that include furniture, accessories, kitchen and bathroom all across the globe. The acronym IKEA stands for ‘Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd’ and is managed by a Dutch registered foundation. This retail giant has total employee strength of more than 127,000 and the core competency of the company is that of manufacturing and selling assembled furniture. The company basically works with the concept of franchisee. This leading furniture brand targets to encompass major part of the society as it believes in providing world class products to the mass. For the purpose, it inculcates the strategy of competitive pricing. The company also has strong initiatives in the aspects of social responsibilities and environmental programs along with charitable involvements. It can be said without doubt that th ese factors have been instrumental for the success of the organizational in the international market. Bank of America along with the US investment bank, Merrill Lynch is one of the world’s largest brokerage firms. It has a client asset of $ 2.2 trillion. More than 15000 financial advisors are associated with the company to serve its clients from 150 countries. In United States, its portfolio covers 99% of US fortune 500 companies and 83% of Fortune Global 500 companies. It is a global leader on services in investment banking solutions which includes global high-yield debt, global M&A, commercial lending and global equity. The investment

Gilt Groupe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gilt Groupe - Essay Example According to the study Gilt groupe made riverbed manage their traffic. Gilt had to ensure their website was user friendly and while maintaining the simplicity. The page has to be attractive to display the products being merchandised. Through shifting to cloud environment, gilt would realize flexibility, speed, and expansion in their operations. In addition, Gilt groupe (GG) had to ensure safety of their data and security. If data is not well protected from hackers and crackers, the competitors of GG could get access to their strategy and goals which could hamper the achievement of their objectives. In order to ensure this, gilt group depended on the services of riverbed. The problem that faces Guilt group is how to ensure that there large number of users access their sites without difficulty and failure. What continued to pose additional challenge was the fact that the number of visitors accessing the site during the peak periods continued to rise. An unreliable site would make the company lose vast profits making an investment in the cloud environment urgent and profitable. This paper outlines that to help crack the challenges facing the groupe, it sourced the services of Riverbed and this enabled them to achieve the following. GG tripled their traffic within a year meaning that the number of people who accessed and shopped from their site increased. Again, the groupe managed to in moving their architecture from hosted environment to a cloud environment that was simple to operate. With this, everything worked successfully including fault tolerance in the cluster. Moreover, the multi-tier service managed by Riverbed allowed Guilt to manage their infrastructure with a common and reliable content cache.  

Othello Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Othello - Essay Example In his final words, Othello confesses that he has â€Å"loved not wisely, but too well† (V, ii, 353). This insight goes a long way toward explaining Othello’s character. It is because of where he’s placed his love that he behaves the way he does. He is a hero because of his ability to act according to what love dictates and is brought to his ruin because of where that love had been placed. Generally, heroism refers to a character that embodies our concepts of what is good and noble in the human race (Vest, 2002). Othello is a good example of this as he has risen, through his own hard effort, from the pits of slavery to the General of the Venetian ships. â€Å"I fetch my life and being / From men of royal siege [rank]; and my demerits [deserts] / May speak unbonneted to as proud a fortune / As this that I have reached [are equal to]† (21-23). In addition, the Duke himself calls upon Othello at times of great need as in â€Å"Valiant Othello, we must straight employ you / Against the general enemy Ottoman† (48-49). However, Othello’s nobility lies not just on the surface level of his position in society, but in his own moral judgment as when he is faced with an angry father and his warlike supporters: â€Å"Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them / Good signior, you shall more command with years / Than with your weapons† (59-61 ). It is thus in his love for Desdemona that his nobility shines through. In this statement, his nobility shines through as he defends his wife’s honor, acknowledges the respect owed to his elders and refuses to cross swords with them. All classic heroes also have an element of excessive pride, which contributes to their downfall as they become unable to discern truth from reality (McAlindon, 2002). Although it is harder to see in Othello because he is working to keep his speech humble, this same pride is

International Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International Business - Assignment Example In order to analyse the appraisal, the report focuses upon four important factors like that of motivation of IKEA for going international, the selection of the market, the entry strategy of the company in the selected market and the corporate strategy. The report also has a dedicated section reinstating the major points in the summary and conclusions. Established in the year of 1943 by a teen ager named Ingvar Kamprad (who was only seventeen years old), IKEA came a long way to be an industry leader in the arena of home products that include furniture, accessories, kitchen and bathroom all across the globe. The acronym IKEA stands for ‘Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd’ and is managed by a Dutch registered foundation. This retail giant has total employee strength of more than 127,000 and the core competency of the company is that of manufacturing and selling assembled furniture. The company basically works with the concept of franchisee. This leading furniture brand targets to encompass major part of the society as it believes in providing world class products to the mass. For the purpose, it inculcates the strategy of competitive pricing. The company also has strong initiatives in the aspects of social responsibilities and environmental programs along with charitable involvements. It can be said without doubt that th ese factors have been instrumental for the success of the organizational in the international market. Bank of America along with the US investment bank, Merrill Lynch is one of the world’s largest brokerage firms. It has a client asset of $ 2.2 trillion. More than 15000 financial advisors are associated with the company to serve its clients from 150 countries. In United States, its portfolio covers 99% of US fortune 500 companies and 83% of Fortune Global 500 companies. It is a global leader on services in investment banking solutions which includes global high-yield debt, global M&A, commercial lending and global equity. The investment

Othello Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Othello - Essay Example In his final words, Othello confesses that he has â€Å"loved not wisely, but too well† (V, ii, 353). This insight goes a long way toward explaining Othello’s character. It is because of where he’s placed his love that he behaves the way he does. He is a hero because of his ability to act according to what love dictates and is brought to his ruin because of where that love had been placed. Generally, heroism refers to a character that embodies our concepts of what is good and noble in the human race (Vest, 2002). Othello is a good example of this as he has risen, through his own hard effort, from the pits of slavery to the General of the Venetian ships. â€Å"I fetch my life and being / From men of royal siege [rank]; and my demerits [deserts] / May speak unbonneted to as proud a fortune / As this that I have reached [are equal to]† (21-23). In addition, the Duke himself calls upon Othello at times of great need as in â€Å"Valiant Othello, we must straight employ you / Against the general enemy Ottoman† (48-49). However, Othello’s nobility lies not just on the surface level of his position in society, but in his own moral judgment as when he is faced with an angry father and his warlike supporters: â€Å"Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them / Good signior, you shall more command with years / Than with your weapons† (59-61 ). It is thus in his love for Desdemona that his nobility shines through. In this statement, his nobility shines through as he defends his wife’s honor, acknowledges the respect owed to his elders and refuses to cross swords with them. All classic heroes also have an element of excessive pride, which contributes to their downfall as they become unable to discern truth from reality (McAlindon, 2002). Although it is harder to see in Othello because he is working to keep his speech humble, this same pride is

Online Requisition Essay Example for Free

Online Requisition Essay Introduction In the world of business, Information system is such where data are collected, classified and put into process interpreting the result thereon in order to provide an integrated series of information for further communicating and analyzing. In a progressively more spirited worldwide atmosphere, Information System plays the role as enabler and facilitator, which endows with tactical values to the officialdom and considerable step up to the excellence of administration. An Information System is a particular type of work system that uses information technology to detain, put on the air, store, retrieve, manipulate or display information. Information system enables companies to react, respond, cater, store, retrieve, disseminate, and control their new valuable asset that is information. In the years to come, a good information system within a company will be no longer an option; it will become a compulsory in determining success. Upgrading the computer information system is not an option in this technology-driven era; it is a requirement. Companies that use an up-to-date information system to gather, assimilate, and evaluate internal as well as external information are gaining competitive advantage over other firms. Management is quicker to cater to customer’s needs and complaints. With the growth of communication networks, there are almost no barriers between the firm’s management, employees, customers and suppliers. Networked computing systems have made new modes of work possible. Conceptual Framework of the Study Products and information Xammp MySQL The customers will input their information and serarch for products Xammp is the software used in this study. MySQL is the database used in this study. Online requisition material for gilmore computer solutions cabanatuan campus INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT Figure 1.1 shows the customers will be able to search for products and services faster and easier. Figure 1.1 the Proposed Systemfor the Company Verification Statement of the Problem The proponents aim to present the general problem and specific problems 1. What are the advantages of the website in a business? 2. Does the website give accurate information about the company? 3. What are the possible problems that the website will encounter in the future in terms of: 4.1 record duplication 4.2 accessibility of the information 4.3 transaction Objective of the Study The reasons for this company to have a website are pretty obvious. Whether they sell products that appeal to a large audience or products that are hard to find, if those products can be delivered quickly to homes or other businesses, online availability is a great way to increase sales. These websites may either maintain their own shopping cart software or use a third party e-commerce service. If a business provides a service or products confined to a small, local market, they can advertise on the web very economically. At the same time, they can offer a great deal of helpful information about their company, products, services that might not be possible with more conventional types of advertising due to higher costs. Significance of the Study To the Customers: it will give the customers an idea where to buy computer parts and where to repair their computer. To the researchers: it will benefit us through applying what we have learned in this project. To the company: it will benefit the company in the way that the company will e introduced to other places, be more popular and it will ring them more customers. Scope and Delimitation The study focuses on the advantage of using Operational information system in a company. The study will be conducted in Gilmore Computer solutions, Cabanatuan City * Survey on the customers * Interviews on the employee and the manager Definition of Terms Information System – Information System is a combination of people, hardware, software, communication devices, network and data resources that processes (can be storing, retrieving, transforming information) data and information for a specific purpose. System – A system is a procedure, process, method or course of action designed to achieve a specific result. Data Factual information, especially information organized for analysis or used to reason or make decisions. Officialdom one who holds an office or position or an administrator, especially one who acts in a subordinate capacity for an institution such as a business. Retrieve – The act of bringing back a data. Disseminate – scatter or to spread. Its main usage is probably to disseminate information. Website – A set of interconnected webpage, usually including a homepage, generally located on the same server, and prepared and maintained as a collection of information by a person, group, or organization. Internet – a vast computer network linking smaller computer networks worldwide Workforce multiplier – make the work faster and more efficient. Shopping cart software – Typically, a shopping cart is the interface between a companys web site and its deeper infrastructure, allowing consumers to select merchandise, review what they have selected; make necessary modifications or additions; and purchase the merchandise. Maintain – To keep the system working properly. Advertising is the nonperson communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, devices or ideas by identified sponsors through the various media. The Proposal Gilmore computer solutions Cabanatuan City offers different kinds of services on computers. The store also sells high quality computers and parts of computers. Making a website for the store will make it more popular in many different areas. A website where customers can look and order for the store’s available products that they need for their computer.

How Hiv Aids Affect The Mining Industry Commerce Essay

How Hiv Aids Affect The Mining Industry Commerce Essay The purpose of this paper is to examine the affects that HIV/AIDS can have on the mining industry in South Africa. I aim to look at how does HIV/AIDS affects to the mining industry. My goal is to show that HIV/AIDS has its direct and indirect impact on the business and that it plays a major role in the business environment today. I looked at individual mine companies, one that I focussed on throughout the paper was Anglo American, I also looked at the bigger picture and researched on how it would affect the country and the mining industry. The first phase of this project was to look at how HIV/AIDS affects the labour supply, and how it affects your profitability, than I moved onto more indirect affect which were what other impacts it has and then finally its impact on the economy. I found out that most of South Africas mine workers are HIV positive and this has a negative effect on the industry as they experience high expenditure due to providing health care, benefits and training and that the mining industry is experiencing a decline in revenue as efficiency and productivity is reduced due to workers being ill and weak. This paper shows that the education and support of the workers is vital to prevent the HIV/AIDS rate from increasing and threatening their workforce. If companies have strong policies in place they could lessen the impact HIV/AIDS has on their company. Word count: 244 Contents Page Introduction For a company to be successful they must demonstrate a competitive advantage, for African companies, most of them already have a competitive advantage as there is a profuse supply of inexpensive, and productive labour. Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome most commonly know to us as HIV and AIDS are one of the main causes of deaths in Africa. The percentage of infected people has steadily increased throughout the years and this infection rate does not seem to be stopping. The infection rate of South Africans is approximately 28% of the people that go into the clinics  [1]  . This statistic is not including the whole population so the total percentage of South Africans is unknown to us. I decided to focus on the Mining Industry in South Africa has it has recently had a spotlight shone upon it from having a high HIV workforce, to unemployed workers going into abandoned mines in the hope of generating an income for their family. There is an abundance of mining companies in South Africa, it holds nearly 90% of the platinum metals of the Earth, 80% of the Manganese 73% of the Chrome, 45% of the Vanadium, and 41% of the Earths Gold.  [2]  Miners are usually migrant workers who are away from their family. They are housed in same-sex hostels. These miners are often visit prostitutes to escape from their tough jobs. These visits to prostitutes make the mine workers vulnerable to HIV. I shall be concentrating for the purpose of this essay mainly the effect of the financial, economical and motivational effect HIV has on the workplace. By only focusing on one industry it helps me narrow done the research area and therefore I can focus much more deeply into each of the factors I shall be exploring in this essay. I will respond to my research question How does HIV/AIDS Affect the Mining Industry? by looking at the specific components that may be affected and see how these components are affected or how some components are not affected at all. Why I choose this topic I choose this topic as it is something that is relevant to me. I am living in South Africa and am confronted every day with new articles, new figures about HIV/AIDS. This interested me and I began to think about what impact this has to a business, I was interested to know more, know the deeper consequences and benefits that this HIV epidemic has on and business, on an industry. I then decided that choosing the mining industry would be great, there is this highlight on the mining industry and it is also an industry that requires you to have a strong workforce that can take the severe conditions. With these two very prominent things in South Africa, I can up with my research question. How is the Labour Supply Affected For a business to be successful they would need a constant supply of trained workers that are capable to do the job to the best of their ability. Companies that require a workforce that is fully trained, they seem HIV as a problem. It requires a huge amount of time to train a new employee and the costs to the company are great to so this. The highest prevalence of HIV is for the age group of 30-34 years of age, with the age groups 25-29 and 35-39 not too far behind  [3]  . These age groups are the groups that are entering the workforce or are already working. This is not a good thing for a business as this suggests that their workforce and their future supply of workforce are most likely going to be affected by HIV. The mining sector is very labour intensive, mechanisation is difficult in mining which results in mining having to have a big labour force. Most mine workers tend to be young males, which is the main age category that has been affected by HIV. These young males have to engage in physically demanding and dangerous work for up to 12 hours a day in hot, dusty conditions and are breaks are not very frequent, theses workers need to be physically capable and up to full health to cope with this. Workers living with HIV may find these working conditions straining and they physically do not have the strength to cope in these difficult conditions. Mines require a work force of semi-skilled workers and also require highly-skilled workers such as geologists and engineers, of one of these highly skilled workers were to be affected or be lost to the illness, their departure could disrupt operations greatly until a replacement is found for them. HIV also has an impact on the labour force of mining by having an increase in mortality, for example around 60% of the mining workforce is aged between 30 and 44 years; in 15 years this is predicted to fall to 10%  [4]  . This shows that the labour force for mining is being affected due to deaths related to AIDS. How Profitability is Affected HIV can affect a company is possibly to ways; to either increase its expenditures or it can decrease revenues. In the early stages of the HIV a company may experience the worker having an unexplained increase in absenteeism and the said worker and his or her family may have and increase in their health care costs. Some companies may choose to reimburse the worker for these costs or pay for a percentage of them. The productivity of the worker may decrease especially when infections that are well known to effect HIV positive people start to attack the body such as tuberculosis. With that said, the companies may observe an increase in diseases within their workforce as the contagious diseases are spread between the workforce. This would lead to workers having to take off more sick days and an increase in health care costs. Employees that have been identified as HIV positive may be kept on working in the same position, moved to a less demanding position or might even be fired, this all depends on the companys policy to HIV positive workers. A loss of revenue is due to workers having to take leave due to illness or having to take leave due to family members being HIV positive or needing to attend a funeral. For example in north central Namibia it has been estimated that extension staff spend at least 10 percent of their time attending funerals.  [5]  Productivity is also affected as workers in poor health are no longer able to produce at the same levels to when they were good health. Approximately 45% of South Africas mineworkers are HIV positive; this has already decreased productivity in mines by 15%.  [6]  This means that in the years to come mines would have to employ more workers, to keep up with the productivity level that they usually operate at to keep up their output levels. The extent to employees living with HIV being kept on at a company depends on the type of work they do and the companies policy that are in place regarding this. For some companies the government or trade unions require that they supply benefit to HIV positive workers but some companies are able to not do this, and therefore the government of the workers family are made to provide the benefits. There are a number of ways in which a companys expenditures may increase due to having employees suffering from HIV. They could experience an increase in health care costs, which indicates that the company is being affected by HIV epidemic. Companies that have invested in private health insurance policies could have an increase in their premiums. Companies that have in-house health services such as clinics may have an increase in the need for their services. According to the Chairman of Gold Fields, Christopher Thompson the HIV epidemic will cause the production of gold to increase by R100 per ounce in the next six years.  [7]  Anglo American has made anti-retroviral therapy available to all of their employees that are HIV positive at the companys expense. This decision could greatly increase costs to the company and affect the profitability of the company. As more workers die of AIDS, businesses can have an increase in costs in terms of death benefits. Larger companies often offer death benefits to the family of the deceased worker. With the increase in HIV related deaths companies have increased a big increase in costs and have had to find ways lessen the impact of these benefit costs. Some companies have lessened their financial contribution to the funeral, and some have required that funerals are only to take place on the weekend, to minimize the amount of time taken off of work. With such a high infection rate in mine workers together with the related incidence of illness and death means that mines loose between 5% and 10% of their workforce each year.  [8]   The cost of recruiting and training new employees may be high. The cost of replacing an unskilled worker is usually very same, and these types of workers can usually be replaced within a week and the cost of replacing them is very small, especially when the area the company is located experiences a very high unemployment rate. But many companies require skilled experienced employees, these are much harder to recruit. Most of Africa has a shortage of skilled labour which makes recruiting a suitable an appropriate candidate very difficult and positions can be left unfilled for weeks or even months. The training of the unskilled workers often doesnt cost the company much, can be done in-house and only takes a couple of days. However training of the skilled workers such as director of financing, marketing is of a much higher cost to the company, they usually get trained outside of the company, and many go overseas for the training. One company says they face costs of $100  000 to recru it and train a replacement for the managing director role.  [9]  It is estimated that in South Africa that every 100 natural deaths that occur in a year 88 are highly skilled workers and 176 skilled workers will die of AIDS in the same year, it is also estimated that in the same year 308 semi-skilled and unskilled workers will die of AIDS.  [10]   What Other Impacts Occur Another impact that HIV/AIDS has on a company is that is can lower the morale of its employees, employees may feel de-motivated and not willing to work as efficiently. They see their colleagues and friends at work die before their eyes and they soon start to have a negative, defeatist attitude towards their work as they see themselves in the same position as the deceased one. One indirect effect of all the leave that has been taken by employees is that the healthy workers have to work harder than usual to make up for the people on sick leave. In many companies workers are said to be working extra hours to make up for the time lost by the sick colleagues, however these healthy employees usually do not get paid over time and often feel overworked and exhausted. This could then reduce the quantity and quality of the final product as employees are stressed and de-motivated. The spread of HIV could lead to poor work relationships, they may not feel they are being supported by their company and their colleagues, that there are not enough care and prevention methods in place. Some workers may demand that employees that have been infected should be dismissed when they learn about their status. There often a negative attitude and behavioural responses towards an HIV positive person when other workers learn the status of that person. A way for managers to address the indirect effects HIV has on their company is to generate a workplace policy that addresses the needs of an HIV positive person; this policy promotes healthy relationships between all workers and levels of the hierarchy. Anglo American is one of the mining companies that is leading in the fight against HIV/AIDS, they have community outreach and strong policies to go on, Cynthia Carroll, Chief Executive of Anglo American said: Anglo Americans aim, as the Employer and Partner of Choice, is to effectively manage the impact of HIV/AIDS on our employees and to make a positive contribution towards minimising the social, economic and developmental consequences of this epidemic. Anglo Americans response reaches beyond its workforce, through community outreach HIV/AIDS programmes, to spread the application of good practice in a way which helps to strengthen community health systems.  [11]  By having strong aims like this the company is able to address some of the indirect effects that HIV has on their company and helps strengthen the moral of the workers as they feel like they are being taken care of and that they are an assets to the company. The Anglo American policy towards HIV/AIDS focuses on the some main things such as: Confidentiality- the employee who has HIV has the right to confidentiality and privacy. They are under no obligation to tell management about their HIV status. Non- Discrimination- Anglo American does not tolerate unfair discrimination towards a person with HIV and take all the steps to respects their dignity and ensure human rights. All employees that are part of the company, who know (or think they know) a workers HIV status are told of the requirements and responsibilities of disclosing this information to a third party, and the consequences that could happen if they were to do this. Gender equality- Anglo American aims towards having equal gender relations. They recognise that the empowerment of women is vital to successfully prevent the spread of HIV infection and enable women to cope with HIV/AIDS. Social Dialogue- Anglo American aims to build partnerships and alliances with their stakeholders so that they can develop a common vision and shared strategy with them. This policy they have is constantly updated with the ever changing environment that we live in. This strong policy as said before strengthens the employee relations as the company is seen to care for their employees and cares about their well being. Another effect HIV/AIDS can have on a business is that it can cause a decline in some products. Products known as luxury products could no longer be bought as much as previously, this is because with the employee getting sicker with HIV they no longer bring in that much income as previously, they are also experiencing an increase in their medical costs. This leaves them with no having enough money to buy those nonessential goods. This could not necessarily affect the mining industry, but it does affect their workers and their families. It means that they can no longer buy as many good as they previously could have. It also affects the businesses where the mine workers buy their goods from as they are no longer getting as much business from them as they would have before the worker had been infected. How HIV/AIDS is Affecting South African Economies HIV/AIDS can not only affect a company, but it can also affect the economy. This could lead to people not wanting to invest in the country as they are seen to have a declining economy. The decline in the economy impacts two things: investment and trade. The investment is impacted by the uncertainty over the impact of HIV/AIDS causes reluctance from the investor. Investors are not sure how the ever growing HIV epidemic is going to affect the business and they start to become reluctant to invest as they are not sure if the company will succeed or not. Another thing is there had been a decrease in the amount and variety of entrepreneurs; people are not going out as much and starting their own company, this means that there is not as many projects to be invested in as there is not the variety and range that investors want in that country, so they then move to the next country looking for the next best thing to invest in. Also the general economic picture is impacting on investment; some countries do not seem to be doing well and seem unstable this therefore would not be a wise country to invest in as the country could fall at any moment, think Zimbabwe, all people who invested in Zimbabwe mustve lost tonnes of money due to the country falling economically. This could affect the mining industry greatly, if no one is willing to invest in them then they lose vital financing. Mines are the ones being hardest hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic; investors are able to see this and predict the high labour turnover rate and the overall costs and losses the company experiences due to this. Investors would then be discouraged to invest in the company as the percentage of staff with HIV would only increase. They would also see the general economic picture of South Africa, and with the recession they could see that overall investing in mines in South Africa as an unwise decision due to all the factors. The trade in South Africa is impacted by the reduced production due to increased costs. With HIV epidemic growing companies are having greater costs than they have had in the past, they have to deal with factors like death benefits, providing health care and anti retroviral therapy and the recruitment and training of staff, this means that there is not as money available to buy the raw materials or employ as many staff as they have before, which leads to there being a decrease in the production levels. Another thing that impacts the trade is the decrease in workers with experience in the export markets. Skilled labour is much harder to recruit than unskilled labour positions can be left empty for ages. This means that it is difficult to find labour that has experience in export markets due to there being a lack of qualified labour. For the mining industry this means that its trade is being impacted by HIV, they are experiencing an increase in their costs due to all the factors above and because the work is demanding, they are also experiencing a decrease in efficiency which leads to the company not producing as much. They also loose lots of workers due to the demanding work and often have positions left unfilled as they cannot find someone with the right experience. There has been much debate on whether or not the HIV/AIDS epidemic would affect the economy. A Kenyan analysis indicated that the HIV/AIDS epidemic would cause a significant impact, which predictions that HIV/AIDS would leave the Kenyan economy one sixth smaller than it would have been in the absence of HIV/AIDS.  [12]  A South African study suggest that by the 2010, the level of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) could be lower than 17 percent due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic while the level of per capita GDP could be lower than 7 percent. About half the decline is due to an increase in the amount government is spending on health care to do with HIV/AIDS and one third is due to the lower productivity levels.  [13]   Conclusion South African mining companies have the potential to have a great competitive advantage against all the other companies around the world. Businesses need to protect the workers that have not been infected by HIV and educate their workforce to ensure the number of HIV positive people does not increase much more. For the ones that have been infected the mining companies need to use the services they have on them and that they support the workers through this difficult time. The companies need to ensure that the impact of this is as less as possible. As we have seen HIV mainly affects those that are at the prime working age, this means that the companies are greatly affected by this especially when skilled workers are needed or workers undergo an intensive training process. Therefore the loss of one of the workers can cause a business to lose some of its competitive edge. The increase in the HIV epidemic has lead companies to experience a loss in their profitability. This is due to an increase in their expenditures, such as sick leave, health care, funeral benefits, recruiting and training new employee and even providing anti retroviral therapy. Also their revenues have declined due to a decrease in efficiency and productivity as workers become ill and weak. Due to mining being such a demanding job, this has been one of the main problems they have experienced. There have also been more indirect ways in which the mining industry has been affected, such as de-motivation, poor work relationships. This great HIV epidemic may be slowly down investors wanting to invest new money into the mining industry. Also HIV/AIDS is said to be slowly down economic growth with is also turning investors away and limiting the number of people willing to invest in South Africa. Overall, with still more than half the population not being affected by HIV, there is still a chance that we can turn this situation around and lessen the impact of this epidemic to the mining industry and to our country. With continuing education, handing out condoms mining companies can hopefully limit the spread of HIV or even reduce it. If they keep addressing the issue and commit to the cause, we can limit the affects of HIV/AIDS to the mining industry.