Thursday, October 31, 2019

Computers Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Computers - Research Paper Example This further took a new dimension when the web 2.0 was introduced with offers like social networking sites, blogs, and other similar features which made it more interesting and hard to resist and avoid. The intensity of the usage and its presence in our daily life can be imagined by the fact that just a single website has as many as eighty million members on it. With time the progress made by computers was so enormous that they crept into different disciplines of life and today they are part of every mobile phone, every television set, every refrigerator and every screen that is out on the road and in the sports gymnasiums. Mid 80s: While the first twenty years were slow in progress with regard to computer’s development. The dominant force in those times was I.B.M and computers were quite large in size. The changes came in, in time when the black and white and colorless scheme was replaced by the colored screens. The command line interface (C.L.I) was replaced by Graphic User Interface (G.U.I) and it brought more interest in to it(Kumar, 51). Apple Computer Inc. (now Apple Inc) was the pioneer in this regard and introduced resulted in more interest attraction from the customers (O'Grady, 32). The next step in the overall journey was the reduction of sizes of computers. While at first the computers were not able to be handled by single user and mainframe computers were quite common which were only limited to organizational usage, they were soon replaced by the personal computers which resulted in one computer per home and one computer per room. However even this was to change and the change came in form of the monitors and display screens. The cathode ray tubes (C.R.T) were replaced by L.C.D (Liquid Crystal Displays) which... Moore rightly predicted change and increase in the number of computer electronic devices every eighteen to twenty months (Shuman, 10). Where we stand today can be the ground breaking foundation for what is to come ahead. What we consider mammoth in terms of the progress made by computers might well be the stepping stone towards more advanced technologies and with the progress so far made, it is promised to bring further revolution and change in the manner in which computers are being handled. The terabyte space which might seem large enough today might not be even sufficient to accommodate the requirements of future single hard disk drive. They have created a total new world of digital existence with lots of jobs on offer and many other activities which would not be possible otherwise. It is the true gift of 20th century that is bound to stay here for times to come.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

A Case Study on Toyota Corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 17500 words

A Case Study on Toyota Corporation - Essay Example on 26 2.6 Integrated marketing corporation 27 2.7 Brand restructuring 29 2.8 Brand communication 30 2.9 Brand recall strategy 30 2.10 The Toyota brand strategy 31 2.11 Conceptual framework 32 Chapter 3: Research Methodology 35 3.1 Overview 35 3.2 Research approach 35 3.3 Research strategy 36 3.4 Data gathering instrument 36 3.5 Description of data 37 3.5.1 Primary data 37 3.5.2 Secondary data 38 3.6 Validity and reliability 39 3.7 Sampling theory 40 3.8 Conduct of personal interviews 41 3.9 Ethical consideration 42 3.10 Limitations of the study 43 Chapter 4: Data Analysis, Discussion and Findings 44 4.1 Overview 4.2 Results of the survey and interviews 44 4.2.1 Survey questionnaire results 44 4.2.2 Interview results 52 4.3 Results of document search 55 4.3.1 Data from Toyota’s audited annual reports 55 4.3.2 Data from market studies – comparison with competitors 59 4.4 Chapter summary 63 Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendation 64 5.1 Conclusion 64 5.1.1 How branding en ables a firm to recover from the negative effects of a product recall 64 5.1.2 How Toyota’s US product recall impacted on its brand image 65 5.1.3 Measures taken by Toyota to address adverse impacts of the recall 66 5.1.4 Brand strategies Toyota should adopt to regain its former position 67 5.2 Overall recommendations for Toyota’s brand strategy 73 5.3 Recommendations for future research 75 Bibliography 77 Appendices 86 List of Tables Table 1: Consolidated vehicle production 15 Table 2: Consolidated performance 15 Table 3: Survey sample questionnaire 37 Table 4: Mean scores and interpretation of survey results 45 Table 5: Results of the regression study 49 Table 6: Model summary 49 Table 7: Comparative income statement of Toyota Motor Corporation 56 Table 8: Balance sheet of Toyota Motor... This study examined the effect on the public’s perception of the Toyota brand, and the appropriate brand strategies that the firm may adopt in order to establish once more Toyota’s brand position in the public mind for quality and reliability. It concludes that despite the negative publicity and adverse consequence of the Company’s recalls, the chances Toyota may redeem itself and assume market leadership once more are high with the help of strategic brand management particular to addressing a product recall event. The modern age of business can be defined as an age of competition. The competition within an industry is gradually increasing with the expansion of business as many new players are entering into the market. There are several reasons behind this intensifying competition. Firstly, globalisation is one of the primary reasons for expansion of trade and business that lead to increased competition. Many business organisations have found greater opportunities in overseas market, and free trade policies and agreements between multiple countries facilitated their market expansion programs (Hitt et al 2009). The domestic markets have turned into global markets that heightened competition rivalry among existing domestic and new multinational enterprises. Since last two decades, the society has been experiencing a rapid technological improvement. The technological advancements have led to change the structure of entire trade and business. The management tasks and operational process are now backed with technology like e-commerce and e-business.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Elements for AV Informed Consent Process for Clinical Trials

Elements for AV Informed Consent Process for Clinical Trials Audio video consent Guidelines Shekhar Goyal, Indra Bhadu, Akhil Kapoor Abstract: Clinical research guidelines require that every adult volunteer must agree to participate in a clinical trial after given the consent. As per the schedule Y, in all trials, a freely given, informed, written consent, free from any physical, psychological or economic points. After highlight the order of the Hon’ble Supreme court, CDSCO dated 19 Nov. 2013 has passed that all clinical trials should be audio video recording of the informed consent process along with written consent of each trial subject. Audio video consent is another best mechanism intended to improve the quality of ICF. An audio video consent of the informed consent process will protect both the subjects and the investigators. AV consent will also work as a safeguard for industry as well as investigators for future litigations, media and socialist false claims. This article highlights the audio video consent elements procedures according to present guidelines. Keywords: AV process, Clinical trials, consent, Elements, audio video Introduction: Voluntary participation in research strengthens ethical conduct, making a comprehensive; informed consent documents a critical component of research. For good clinical practice (GCP) essential elements of informed consent process and documents should be incorporated. However, there are still instances where the process is not properly conducted intentionally or due to ignorance and subjects were found to have poor comprehension of information provided or incompetent participants were recruited. There are some issues is going on when study enroll vulnerable subjects, illiterate participants or those who don’t know understandable language or investigator don’t know the local language. Indian regulatory authority has taken the strict decision to increase the confidentiality, protection of human subjects, and the transparency of the clinical research. CDSCO issued the gazette of India notification dated 7th June 2013 proposed to make the draft rule that audio – video (AV) recording of the informed consent process of individual participants by an investigator. Final decision has been taken by Supreme Court, CDSCO vide F. No. GCT/20/ SC/Clin./2013/ DCGI dated 19 Nov. 2013 has issued the directions that in all clinical trials in addition to the requirement of obtaining written informed consent, audio-video (AV) recording of the informed consent process of each participant trial subjects, including the procedure of providing information to the subjects and his/her understanding on such consent is required to be done while adhering to the principles of confidentiality. Such audio video recording and related documentation would be preserved by site at least 5 year. A video tape recording of the consent interview is also recommended by United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) in case of illiterate participants who can understand and comprehend spoken English but are physically unable to talk or write. This guideline is applicable for all Indian as well as global clinical trials which are conducted in India. Elements of Informed consent Process (AV ICF Process): Every participant/ patient before participant in the study, Principal Investigator should have provide the individual or group presentation in presence of witness or LAR in a understandable language or local language without using much more scientific words to the patients in a proper manner. PI should explain the following required Elements for AV consenting: Topic of the study and aims objective of the study Study duration with scheduler number of participants Protocol design, selection criteria timelines with follow up investigation list Foreseeable Risk benefits of the study with discomfort Alternative treatment source and procedures Data confidentiality accessible details PI study team contact details Aware about AE SAE SAE medical management compensation details in case of: Seriousness of illness If Death Statement that participant is voluntary in the study and agree for AV consenting About prorate payment Subject responsibilities (reporting of new finding, any AEs and Withdrawal from the study anytime, regular follow up, previous results) In case patient unconscious or mental illness/ unable to give informed consent process then above mentioned information should be provided to the legal acceptable representative (LAR). If the subjects or LAR both are illiterate then use the impartial witness should be present during the audio video ICF process. All the communications between investigator and patient / LAR should be recorded in proper way without any restriction in audio video process. AV consent should be taken at disturbance free room. Investigator resolves all query generated by patient and patient LAR during the audio video consent. ICF copy also given to the subjects for deeply gone through, after that process should be started with the elements and ended with sign/ thumb impression in proper section by subject/ LAR, impartial witness and investigator. Previously without AV process, consent had been taken in written format, but after stringent law to tighten the regulatory framework around clinical trials same documented should be in the form of audio video which one recorded by site / investigator for each participant trials subjects. Protocol of AV recording: At the initial of the consent process, investigator will identify the patients/LAR (in case impartial witness (IW) required then IW presence is necessary during the process). Investigator communicate to the patient, his /her understandable language otherwise interpreter arrange for inter- communication. All elements points should be communicate during the informed consent procedure Final affirmation of the subject and certify that he is in complete knowledge of the study and all the queries are clarified. Patient ID proof also documented. Audio video have adequate capability to capture the facial details of subject, LAR, IW (if any), investigator during the consent process without any hurdle in peaceful place. This consent should be taken by orally in front of video. This consent procedure kept as source documentation or further record purpose. Merits: Saves investigators from future litigations: Audio video consent process should be safeguarding of the participants subjects in clinical trials. AV process also safeguard to investigator and show that all relevant information was provided to the subjects after that subjects agreed to take part in the study. In case of any issue or dispute, the sponsor will have solid evidence to support that adequate measures were taken to obtain consent instead of simply written informed consent form. Provides transparency Audio video consent process should increase the transparency ration of the informed consent process in clinical trials; it will enhance the confidence level of the clinical trial societies and institutions. AV recording could be used as an evidence in the court of law provided written process is followed for recording and maintaining the records. Which may helpful to reduce the false claims in the compensation process of SAEs. Protects vulnerable subjects from risk After taking AV consent process vulnerable subjects and illiterate subjects have protected and those subjects who are not understandable medical terminologies. AV consent patient investigator recording and investigator explain the each every elements of the study. So vulnerable subjects and illiterate subject know about the study study procedures. Simply and improved ICF process: In previously, monitor work on ICF documentation and make out the narratives to reconstruct the ICF process many times. The expectation of the documentation and detailed narrative languages continuous increase for the site make issues. Current process will be recorded for patient as well as investigator to ensure that before participant the clinical trials, participant know about the trial and all elements of the study are discussed and doubts and queries raised by participants/ LAR are resolved. It will also highlight those investigators who are not following the informed consent process properly. Demerit: Additional step and responsibility to do this work: Audio video process is an additional step for site. The investigator may counsel or resolve the all queries and doubts. Investigator will be given his more time to obtain informed consent process from each participant through AV consent process. This will enhance the volume of work at the site such as recording, storage, conduct the videography etc. Maintain the confidentiality and long term storage Investigator and study team should be keep confidentiality of audio video consent process, AV data could not utilized or open by any third party or sponsor / CRO. It will be used by regulatory body or EC in case of evidence or Ethical issues. Indian Culture: Indian has traditional culture especially in rural India. Indian women’s wear ghungat or burkas to cover his head face to avoid eye contact with men. When investigator or site staff goes for audio video consent then it will be time consuming and uncomfortable. Subjects who are not want to show her face, she refused to give her consent which may affect the recruitment of the study bias. Language barrier Indian has 26 types of languages speak out from different regions. When inspections or auditor want to gone the audio video process then it will be become difficult for auditor or inspector to know the process was adequately performed or not? Because he or she not familiar with the language. Unconscious serious ill patients Some studies are related to seriously ill patients or unconscious patients; in that case AV recording of the consent process to enroll the subjects will be a big issue. Cost burden: This process has a dramatically increased the clinical trial budget. In a study with large sample size and high screen failure rate, each and every consent should be audio video recorded or stored, whether the participants agree or refuse the consent at the end of the discussion. This will be raise up the cost unnecessary load. Conclusion: Audio video recording and elements of the consent process would be helpful to investigators to take AV consent in proper way. Best point to transparent the data which is helpful to regulatory body. References: CDSCO, Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health Family welfare, Govt. of India; â€Å"Draft guidelines on Audio Visual recording of Informed consent Process in Clinical trial† published in CDSCO website dated on dated 9 Jan 2014. Niranjan G. K., Audio video recording of informed consent process: boon or bane. Perspectives in Clinical research; Jan- March 2014; Vol. 5 issue 1. US FDA guide to Informed Consent: Information Sheet available form: http://www.fda.gov/regulatoryinformation/guidances/ucm126431.htm [Last accessed on 2013 Sep 14]. Ghooi R.B., Ensuring that informed consent is really an informed consent: Role of Videography. Perspectives in Clinical research; Jan- March 2014; Vol. 5 issue 1. The Gazette of India. Ministry of Health and Welfare, Notifications, New Delhi, 7th June 2013 G.S.R. 364 (E). Available from http:// www. cdsco.nic.in /GSR%20364EJune13.pdf [Last accessed on 2013 Sep 23]

Friday, October 25, 2019

Compare Dickens’ presentation of Scrooge in Stave I and Stave V Essay e

Compare Dickens’ presentation of Scrooge in Stave I and Stave V Scrooge’s presentation in Stave I and in Stave V is very different. In Stave I Dickens presents Scrooge, as a cold-hearted old man who loves himself and hates Christmas. In contrast, his nephew Fred enjoys Christmas with his wife, and is so nice to Scrooge all the time whereas Scrooge is always mean to Fred, (â€Å"Bah, Humbug†). Dickens uses the weather to describe how cold it gets when Scrooge is near; the point that he is trying to make is that he is so mean that his meanness has infected the atmosphere. It tells us that Scrooge is only worried about himself and his money. After Scrooge talking and hanging around with ghosts he goes back to bed and wakes up to reality, and changes all his mean ways. In Stave I, Dickens emphasizes the negative side of Scrooge. Scrooge is well known around his town and one day two portly gentlemen come over and ask for some money for the poor, who can’t celebrate Christmas but Scrooge says, â€Å"Are there any prisons†? The gentlemen replied, â€Å"Plenty of Prisons†, this just tel...

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Leading a Diverse Workforce Essay

1.0Introduction This report is an introduction to the circumstances of the diverse workforce. It explains the causes of diverse workforce leads into past, present trends. Where focus has centred on the consequences, there are some advantageous and disadvantageous outcomes which lead to â€Å"pay-off† of the organization. Therefore, discussion moves forward to the difficulties that managers would face and the management solution. The report concludes with a discussion 2.0Causes of Diverse Workforce â€Å"Workforce diversity is a workforce consisting of a broad mix of workers from different racial and ethnic background of different ages and genders, and of different domestic and national culture† (Naik, 2012). The emergency and development of diverse workforce is basically the result of globalisation, which is the current developing trend of the world. To meet the challenge of globalisation, it is extremely necessary for an organisation to have a diversity strategy than a domestic one (Naik, 2012). The diverse strategy enables the organisation to enlarge their customer base and market since the various backgrounds of employees make it much easier to communicate with global customers. There is also another cause of diverse workforce which is the requirement of the law and responsibility for the society (McInnes, 2013). There are usually some disadvantaged people in our communities who may suffer discrimination and a lot of hardships. In consider of that, the government has made anti-discrimination legislation to protect the rights of those disadvantaged people. Therefore, the organisation recruits people such as women, aboriginal and disabled individuals to form a diverse workforce as abidance by the law and as a social obligation. 3.0Past and Present Trends The trends of the workforce diversity in the organisation are dramatically difference between past and present, for the aspect of gender, generation and cultural. As the globalisation is prevalent around the world, especially in Australia where the place is encouraging multiculturalism and immigration, there are more organisation engage the workers with different  cultural, it makes the workplace more diverse, such as the Vodafone and ANZ Bank. For example, ANZ Bank started to promote a diverse workplace since 1990s. They believed that the staff with a vibrant and diverse background and life experience can help to forge strong connections with all their customers. Besides, in the past, the women in the workplace were automatically assigned to temporary or part-time jobs because their first priority was taking care of their families. It shows that most of the gender work in an organisation is male. However, Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (2011, p.3) indicate s that â€Å"The proportion of women in the Australian workforce and in leadership positions is increasing since 1960 with 52% and compared with 70% in 2009†. Nowadays, most women tend to work as a permanent worker and do not see it as temporary because women are become more independent. Therefore, the gender diverse in the workplace has a huge change from homogeneous to diverse, thus the organisation have been learning to treat women as the equals of men and discrimination against female employees are now against the law. 4.0Consequences of Diverse Workforce 4.1The advantages of having diverse workforce First of all, it can increase an organisation’s creativity, flexibility and innovativeness (Cole, 2013). More fresh ideas and different perspectives could be provided by diverse employees from various cultural backgrounds and mind-sets since they are more willing to think outside of the box (Belcher, 2014). Secondly, the diverse workforce can attract more different customers as the employees are capable to communicate across cultural boundaries which therefore give the organisation a competitive edge and help meet the needs and wants of globalisation better (Belcher, 2014). What is more, the image and reputation of an organisation could be enhanced through a group of diverse people and then retention can be improved because it appeals to some other competent talents (Cole, 2013). Loyalty of employees would also be reinforced since they are in a fair and friendly working environment. Last but not lease, the proper utilisation of diverse workforce will result in greater producti vity (Belcher, 2014). 4.2 The disadvantages of having diverse workforce In fact, diverse can lead to a conflict and some negative effect. Jensen (2011, para. 10) demonstrates that â€Å"Communication is the key to breaking down the cultural; barriers between people†. As people with different cultural may easily have a communication problem, they will always cause misunderstanding which will harm working relationships and damage working environment and atmosphere. Therefore, a company ne beds a well planning to engage different background, culture, experience, ability and age of employees, and provide an effective policy on every member of the workplace. 5.0The â€Å"Pay-off† The advantages and disadvantages of diverse workforce are heatedly debated. As we mentioned above, a diverse workforce can assist an organisation in many aspects such as working environment, productivity and creativity. Generally speaking, a diverse workforce enables an organisation to be much better. Though a diverse workforce would cause some misunderstanding, the problems will be solved as long as the managers are able to handle it. Eventually, with the development of the diverse workforce, it turns out that the benefits outweigh the costs. 6.0Challenges for managers The change of workforce requires leaders to pay more attention to adjust policies for diverse employees made up of ages, genders, nationalities and more. Meanwhile, employees also need to know how to work and communicate with people who are different with dissimilar cultural background. â€Å"Diversity management practices are specific activities, programs, policies, and any other processes designed to improve management of diversity via communication, education and training, employee-involvement, career management, accountability and cultural change† (Cieri, Costa, Pettit, & Buttigieg, 2008, p.6). The people with various cultural backgrounds a typical kind of diversity. They could forge strong connections with customers coming from diverse background; however, it might cause conflicts and misunderstandings because of their different understandings for things. In this case, in order to make full use of this kind of employees and force a nice working environment, managers are s upposed to deliver the concept of accepting and understanding other cultures and let the employees share  cultural value. Multigenerational team is another kind of the diverse workforce. Because of backgrounds, circumstances or the different education level, multigenerational workforce is much easier to bring about conflicts and misunderstandings. As a result, the function of leaders becomes significant and essential. They analyse and manage conflicts, organise all the work. More importantly, leaders know what kind of job each generation is qualified. For example, the younger generation is more likely to do the creative work while the older generation is better to do with the management. Conclusion As it enters the 21st century, workforce diversity has become an essential business concern. Diversity could be a positive factor to contribute to the local business, but misunderstanding is a major barrier. Australia as a developed country is attracting people from all over the world to come for study and work. Therefore, the government should make a comprehensive policy to improve diverse workforce issue, such as the working condition and foreign workers’ permission standard of the entrance system in Australia. Person with disability is a typical kind of diversity. They might have achievements that the normal people could not reach. Although they are not as efficient as others, they might have specific achievements that normal people could not reach. In this case, in order to make full use of them, leaders give this group more welfare as well as set up particular facilities to assistant them to work more efficiently and effectively. Reference list: Cieri, H., Costa, C., Pettit, T. & Buttigieg, D. (2008). Managing a Diverse Workforce: Attraction and Retention of Older Workers. Retrieved from http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/mgt/research/acrew/ageing-workforce-wp-2008.pdf Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (2011). Human Resources: Managing Diverse and Inclusive Workplaces, p.1-9. Retrieved from www.education.vic.gov.au/hrweb/Document/Mange-Diverse-Inclusive-Workplace.pdf Jensen, M. (2011). Special Issue on: Impacts of Diversity in the Workplace: Maintaining Open Communication. Aviary Group. Retrieved from www.aviarygroup.ca/special-issue-on-impacts-of-diversity-in-the-workplace-maintaining-open-communication/ McInnes, R. (2013). Workforce Diversity: Changing the Way You Do Business. Diversity World. Retrieved from http://www.diversityworld.com/Diversity/workforce_diversity.htm Naik, P. (n.d.). Challenge for Business Survival-Managing Workforce Diversity. IOSR Journal of Business and Management. Retrieved from http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jbm/papers/7th-ibrc-volume-2/15.pdf

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Horizon Foods Corporation

1) Case Summary (What’s the issue? ) Horizon Foods Corporation (hereafter â€Å"Horizon†) is a still-growing, nationwide foods organization that is widely known for its high quality products. With $300 million sales each year, the firm has been relatively successful so far, gaining good reputation and arousing much interest of the public through its brokers and local retailers. However, as the company prospers and customers demand more, Horizon foresees a coming crisis. The distribution issue, which the company has faced for a while, is now causing stock-outs, and increasing competition in the market is threatening the company’s market share.Authorities involved fail to scrutinize the issue and its cause, and they are eager to blame each other for the problems. The division of labor between two major departments – Marketing and Sales, and Production – seems to need a complete rearrangement for a more efficient process. Horizon should also analyze it s current brand positioning in the market and rework its strategies if needed. 2) Q1. What are the characteristics of the market served by the Horizon Foods Corporation? Horizon is a specialty foods processor.It has served a national market composed of food brokers who represent retail store chains. The food brokers make orders to Horizon. Generally, the orders are small. The production is done in two different plants thanks to the ingredients from some food suppliers. The plants are located in agricultural areas to reduce the cost of transportation. Moreover, Horizon produces in large quantities, and the food produced is very good in quality. The production is dispatched to several public warehouses. Then, these warehouses use contract carriers to deliver the products to the customers.Because of the small orders, the transportation cost to retail stores can be high. The market is very competitive since many of Horizon’s food competitors also offer a complete production line (See Appendix for diagram A – The Schema of the Market). 2) Q2. What problems exist at the Horizon Foods Corporation? Two issues exist at Horizon – namely, inefficient division of labor and increasing market competition. Firstly, inefficient division of labor is simply the inappropriate â€Å"split between delivery from production and service from the warehouse†.The problem might also be termed the lack of effective communication between the two major departments: Marketing and Sales (hereafter â€Å"Marketing†), and Production. Marketing is mainly responsible for promotion, merchandise, and delivery to customers whereas Production focuses on manufacture and transportation to public warehouses. The customers’ demand for the firm’s products, which are continuously measured and evaluated by the Marketing, is rather unknown to the Production, and a lack of such inter-communication is the cause of the â€Å"number of stock-outs that [retailers of the Horizon Foods Corporation] have been recently experiencing†.Secondly, increasing market competition poses a challenge to the firm. Competition is inevitable in a market, but it has now become a serious issue for Horizon as its competitors have begun â€Å"to offer complete product lines that compete directly with Horizon’s†. The firm should begin to analyze how well its brand is positioned among its competitors and figure out its new competitive priorities if need. 2) Q3. Why do you think the problems exist? There are two intrinsic problems.First problem is that the way in which Horizon holds a meeting is inefficient as different staffs join the discussion at different periods of time; communication across various departments is not effective. Second problem is that Horizon’s corporate manner does not allow every entity to openly discuss with proper manner; for example, when Roger commented about Production department supplying the market, Sally fou nd the comment as almost an insult. It is important that the corporate atmosphere is set right for discussions to take place openly and wholeheartedly.In addition to intrinsic problems, there are practical causes for the problems. Firstly, Horizon failed in managing its inventory. There are simply too many warehouses. The existence of many warehouses is the cause of the firm’s high inventory cost. Production that takes place in each and every single warehouse is rather small in quantity, and consequently, the cost to transport the products from many different warehouses is very high. It is to be noted that raw materials and ingredients are also transported over long distances.Delivery schedules vary for every warehouse, and so there are uncertainties that put Horizon at the risk of stock-outs. Secondly, the way in which Horizon has divided its management is very inefficient. As of now, marketing managers are in charge of product inventory whereas national sales manager is res ponsible for coordination of warehouses and arrangement of delivery. It is rather strange that inventory management is separated from coordination of warehouses and arrangement of delivery; in fact, all three aspects are so intimately inter-related that they should be managed by one entity within an organization.Moreover, increasing market competition, which is something that is inevitable, must be dealt with by constantly re-analyzing Horizon’s positioning and its competitive priorities in the industry. 2) Q4. What would you suggest the task force recommend in order to gain â€Å"control over this product movement process†? Before recommendations regarding control over product movement process can be made, one must notice that it has been quite a while since Horizon has been having this problem.The quote â€Å"Are we finally beginning to recognize that we have a distribution problem† shows how long it took for Horizon to finally realize, acknowledge, and gather together all the relevant authorities to discuss the issue. Corporate culture at Horizon must change in a way that would enable all entities within the organization to openly discuss any issues. Now, there are ways in which Horizon could gain more control over this product movement process. Firstly, Horizon could establish a new department – namely, Communications Management – that specifically takes care of interactions between Marketing and Production.The Communications Management would act as a bridge, allowing a free flow of information, people, and other entities (See Appendix for Diagram B – Horizon Foods Corporation’s Future State Map). The staffs in the department would develop a virtual contact system with each and every single authority relevant to personnel, purchasing, finance, marketing product line, and national sales manager; the staffs would just concentrate on effective communication within the firm.Furthermore, the new department could specialize in Materials Requirements Planning (MRP) to formulate detailed schedules for obtaining raw materials and manufacturing products. Secondly, Horizon could sign a contract with a logistics company that will exclusively work with Horizon. Currently, delivery schedules vary by carrier and are sometimes erratic because each public warehouse chooses its own distinct logistic company for delivery. Forming a contract to have a specific company to arrange all the necessary deliveries would reduce the number of stock-outs.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Gavin Case Study

Gavin Case Study Big Five Personality Traits Research in personality has indentified five personality dimensions. The first one is extraversion. This is the ability to have a wide social presence. People with this trait are sociable, assertive and talkative. The second trait is agreeableness. This refers to pro-social behaviour. A person with this trait is kind, affectionate and has a high sense of integrity. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Gavin Case Study specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Thirdly, there is conscientiousness. Persons with this trait are quite thoughtful when making decisions. The fourth trait is openness. A person with this trait is quite adventurous and loves taking risks. Lastly, we have neuroticism. Persons with this trait experience bouts of emotional instability. Gavin McMillan does not have all these traits. Practically, it is impossible to have all of them at the same time. However, he largely demonstrates ne uroticism. Despite the fact that he makes losses, he continues to attach himself with his goal emotionally. He lacks conscientiousness because his decision-making is a little off. However, he is open to suggestions. The latter is the most important because it allows him to succeed as an entrepreneur. It also complements other traits or lack of them. Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Extrinsic motivation derives from external pressure. This pressure comes off as coercion or a promise. On the other hand, intrinsic motivation derives from ownership and enjoyment of a task. People with this motivation do not need promises or coercions to perform their tasks. From the case, I think Gavin is intrinsically motivated. He tries and fails many times but continues to push for ownership of a Flair Bartending Franchise. Owning a franchise is also his initiative. Goal Setting Gavin wants to own a yacht with a helicopter on it. This may seem a farfetched goal but Gavin has the ability to achieve it. From Vroom’s Expectancy Theory, operant conditioning is the factor at play to motivate a person. This means that setting a goal and working towards it motivates a person. The reward he will get upon accomplishment of the goal motivates Gavin. In this case, it is a yacht. Secondly, goal setting acts as a point of reference. Gavin will keep on referring to what he wants to achieve. Perhaps he will design a format with stages to follow in achieving this. Every stage acts as a motivating factor to go to the next one. Recommendations on Goal Setting From the case above, it is explicit that Gavin has a huge problem when it comes to setting realizable goals. Initially, he would make losses and continue investing in a project that was clearly failing. He would pursue too many projects at the same time. This was the Achilles Heel in his ambition. Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF L earn More Therefore, it would be more reasonable if Gavin hires a Project Manager. This person will look into the various projects at hand and carry out an analysis of the most viable ones. This will drastically reduce the costs associated with botched projects. It will also save time. Gavin’s goals are also long-term in nature. He leaves no space for short-term goals, which motivate a person. For example, he does not state what he wants to do before owning a franchise. Additionally he does not set a short-term goal, which will lead him to own a yacht. Therefore, he should embrace short-term goals as motivating factor to achieve the long-term ones.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Obesity and Weight Loss essays

Obesity and Weight Loss essays The Newsweek article, "What You Don't Know About Fat," discusses the ways in which fat cells work in the body and explains why fat is so hard to lose. Authors Anne Underwood and Jerry Adler begin the article by describing the discovery of Leptin, a chemical that regulates the body's fat cells. Researchers found that when mice were injected with Leptin they were able to eat anything and did not gain weight. researchers found that mice who did not produce Leptin ate uncontrollably and became fat, and normal mice who received a shot of Leptin lost weight. These discoveries seemed as if it were the magic bullet of weight loss, but experts have since learned that fat cells are much more complicated and difficult to manipulate than they once believed. Fat cells, according to the article, are difficult to eliminate because they are a part of the body's mechanisms for avoiding starvation. And, once you have fat cells they work overtime to maintain themselves and multiply, creating a paradox that the more fat you have more fat your body wants to make, and even when people do lose weight fat cells work overtime and the weight is harder to keep off. Thus, while researchers continue to look for strategies to help obese people lose weight, the basic standard holds true: to loose weight, you must eat less The textbook describes basic methods of scientific inquiry and experimentation, and these methods appear to have been used in researching the Newsweek article. The article describes tests done on mice to study the effects and purposes of Leptin. The researchers observed the behavior of the mice, developed a hypothesis about Leptin and its effects on obesity, predicting that Leptin and obesity were directly related. They tested the hypothesis and confirmed that Leptin was indeed important to the growth and development of fat cells. However, the experimental results did ...

Saturday, October 19, 2019

An Examination of the Team Development Stages in the Movie 12 Angry Men

An Examination of the Team Development Stages in the Movie 12 Angry Men 12 Angry Men: Team Development Stages Team development is a crucial aspect of any group setting and consists of six stages: stage one – forming, stage two – storming, stage three – norming, stage four – performing, and stage five – adjourning (or deforming). In the movie 12 Angry Men, the 12 jury members go through these stages at various points of the deliberation; this paper will serve to explore how and when the jury went through the stages of team development. Forming The movie starts out with our group already been formed, as they were selected to be part of the jury; they really begin the team development process at the beginning of the deliberation, as the jury members all sit down and define what their goals and obligations are, saying that if the defendant is found guilty, they must send him to the electric chair. The forming stage continues as jury members start falling into their respective roles; the members find out that juror 3 and juror 10 are alpha type males, that juror 8 takes his civic duty seriously, but has some biased views (he is just a youth, how could he commit such a crime?), and general introductions from members of the group. Storming The storming stage follows the forming stage, and starts after the jury’s first round of guilty/not guilty voting; the storming stage is set off by juror 8’s not guilty vote, which is the first and only difference among the group at the time. The storming stage is furthered by the jury member’s perception of civic duty, and ignited to another level when juror 8 is attempting to make a case, while some of his fellow jury members are playing games and goofing off. In the storming stage the alpha males of the group try to insert and enforce their brand of â€Å"leadership† through verbal force and intimidation, such as Juror 3 cutting off other jurors during the initial deliberation, telling the group that they are going to skip the set speaking rotation. This struggle of power, juror 3’s intimidation technique versus juror 8’s logical argument technique, continues throughout the story. Norming The norming stage starts when juror 8 starts making his arguments for a not guilty verdict, while persuading others to his side; it is also the stage that lasts the longest throughout the deliberation and takes place in non-connected stages. Once there are a few jurors on the not guilty side of the verdict, open discussion becomes much freer flowing and direct; the jury members start having an actual debate about the facts of the case and whether they could be debated. The discussion, and norming stage, really takes off when juror 8 slams the similar knife into the table; before this the discussion was fairly closed off, with most of the other jury members saying that there was no way the kid was not guilty. Performing The performing stage gradually takes over from the norming stage as more solid arguments are made in favor of the defendant being not guilty. Juror by juror realizes that they may have indeed been so close to sending a potentially innocent person to jail, and feel further obligated to explore the facts in order to render a fair verdict. Jury members put together their individual experiences and knowledge in order to help each other come to a not guilty verdict, such as Juror 8 trying to recreate the witness who had to walk to his door with a limp, or questioning Juror 4 about his week in order to establish that memory can be fuzzy. The final sense of civic obligation come when Juror 9 notices Juror 4 rubbing his nose, making the final argument about one of the witnesses not using her glasses regularly. Adjourning The adjourning stage is the stage where the team evaluates its processes and performance, disbanding on either a temporary or permanent basis; the jury members do not disband on a temporary process, and any breaks are portrayed as short breathers, therefore the focus will be on the disbanding of the jury upon rendering a not guilty verdict. The movie does not go into too much detail about the aftermath of the team’s decision, but the audience could tell through the interactions of Juror 8 with Jurors 3 and 9 that the process took place in the manner it should have, and that the team was happy with their process and performance.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Fidelity Investments partnership with schools Case Study - 2

Fidelity Investments partnership with schools - Case Study Example One of the benefits accruing from Fidelity Investments’ partnership with Citizen Schools is the improvement of its employees’ team building skills. Another benefit is that the partnership enabled majority of Fidelity employees who participated in the apprenticeship exercise to improve their public speaking, communication, and presentation skills. Through participation in the program, both the employees and the entire Fidelity Investments Company got fulfillment for influencing vulnerable students positively. The partnership helped Fidelity Investments employees develop and others to sharpen their leadership skills. It was beneficial for some Fidelity executives to sit in the schools’ top decision-making body, the leadership board (Discussion Case: Fidelity Investments’ Partnership with Citizen Schools 424). Lastly, offering apprenticeship services for the areas in which they were experts made Fidelity employees feel relevant in the real life and might have helped them reflect on how much they knew. A risk with this partnership is the overworking of Fidelity employees or disruption of work schedules. Fidelity employees could be overworked because they worked both in their company and in the Citizen Schools teaching. Work schedule might have needed modification in order to accommodate time for Fidelity employees to teach at Citizen Schools. The two-way flow of benefits between Fidelity Investments and Citizen Schools is one of the things that qualify the partnership as an example of strategic philanthropy. This is because the partnership helped improve Fidelity employees’ skills while benefitting Citizen Schools with labor from these employees. Secondly, the partnership helped build higher profiles for both Citizen Schools and Fidelity Investments.  

Research an emerging infectious disease Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Research an emerging infectious disease - Essay Example s of containing such fear by informing the public that there is no possibility of getting the virus from casual contact with others (Bernstein, 2015). The article also describes how the virus is transmitted. It is noted as being transmitted by coming into contact with infected body fluids. Such fluids may involve blood, feces, and vomit (Bernstein, 2015). As a result, health workers and people with contact with victims are at a higher risk (Bernstein, 2015). There is also a suggestion of intervention strategies in the article. One of the strategies is to adopt safe burial practices (Bernstein, 2015). The other strategy is to isolate those individuals infected with the virus. In the second article by Dennis Brady, the focus is on changes that have taken place on Ebola virus since the recent outbreak. The changes are shown as a challenge to diagnosis as well as the treatment of the virus. The paper also focuses on the recent cases of the virus in West Africa and traces the origin of the virus that has devastated the region. The virus origin is traced to the funeral of a traditional healer that had been treating patients with the virus (Dennis, 2014). Moreover, proper treatment and control of the virus is said to depend on proper genomic sequencing of the virus. The author notes that changes in the virus affect accuracy of the diagnostic test. Moreover, the change affects effectiveness of the vaccines as well as treatment. The argument is that gathering data on genetic of the virus will help in containing the spread in different parts of the world. Hence, the argument is that genetic technology will help in controlling the virus outbreak and spread. There are various assumptions made in the two articles. One of the assumptions is that limited airborne of Ebola virus is likely to occur (Bernstein, 2015). However, this is flawed as there has been no reported case of virus being spread through the air. Major cases have been documented of spread of the virus. In these

Pathogoras' Fragments and Hermeneutics Coursework

Pathogoras' Fragments and Hermeneutics - Coursework Example      The two specific interpretations that Protogoras provides in his work titled â€Å"Fragments† center around two major concepts. First, is the issue of relativism, wherein man is viewed as the measure of all things. The question of ethics and what is good and what is not is determined according to man’s standards. One of the central issues in Protogoras is the question of whether virtue can be taught at all and whether citizens can be educated to a point where they become good citizens. Another central theme of the book is that possessing a virtue is equivalent to the possession of knowledge; whereas doing evil is merely an expression of ignorance in a person.   The idea that men who choose to do what is pleasurable to them may be venturing into evil deeds and not have the self-control to remain virtuous, is contested by Protogoras, who states that the very act of doing something pleasurable equates to being virtuous. In other words, he equates doing good to d oing what one finds pleasurable. Protogoras states that the process of learning is centered around the acquisition of knowledge, i.e, learning to be virtuous means in effect, learning a specific science or kind of knowledge.  Ã‚     The two specific interpretations that Protogoras provides in his work titled â€Å"Fragments† center around two major concepts. First, is the issue of relativism, wherein man is viewed as the measure of all things. The question of ethics and what is good and what is not is determined according to man’s standards. One of the central issues in Protogoras is the question of whether virtue can be taught at all and whether citizens can be educated to a point where they become good citizens. Another central theme of the book is that possessing a virtue is equivalent to the possession of knowledge; whereas doing evil is merely an expression of ignorance in a person.   The idea that men who choose to do what is pleasurable to them may be vent uring into evil deeds and not have the self-control to remain virtuous, is contested by Protogoras, who states that the very act of doing something pleasurable equates to being virtuous. In other words, he equates doing good to doing what one finds pleasurable. Protogoras states that the process of learning is centered around the acquisition of knowledge, i.e, learning to be virtuous means in effect, learning a specific science or kind of knowledge.   Plato was the one who formulated the term â€Å"rhetoric†, because before his views were propagated, verbal art was not well understood and the general understanding was that verbal art and dialogue was more holistic. But Pluto has highlighted how it is actually differentiated. the major issue that Plato has expounded is to clarify and establish a clear difference between rhetoric and philosophy. There are differences in the teaching about logos; one is the goal of seeking success and the other is the goal of seeking the truth – the former is rhetoric and the latter is philosophy.3.     A linguistic element may be both vocal and psychological in nature. There is an internal concept associated with each linguistic unit, which may exist in the mind and its understanding of the linguistic element. The other is the external sound-image, which is the spoken word. Linguistic elements are the foundation of language and because the process of formulation of language is such a complex one, it is not one that easily lends itself to changes. Moreover, it forms a common link between various generations; it forms the means by which linguistic signs can be used to depict reality.  

Thursday, October 17, 2019

The Impact of Social Media on the Education Sector Outline

The Impact of Social Media on the Education Sector - Outline Example The social networking arena has engrossed itself into the human lives such that each individual stays signed into his virtual profile round the clock. These social networks have been the roots of various social media that have evolved from them. Social Media is the new terminology with which the visual social connections of each digital device are connected to each other via the internet. The platforms that support the evolution and maintenance of the social connections are various and limitless. Examples of platforms supporting social web profiles are Facebook, Twitter, Orkut LinkdIn etc. The globalization of today’s world sees it as such that virtually every human being is connected to the web in one way or the other. People connected to the internet have the privilege of accessing all other sorts of information on it. Via the Internet anyone connected to it can stay up-to-date with the very latest information, can telecommute, check stock prices, compare prices and shop onl ine, communicate with others in chat rooms or on bulletin boards, take different online learning courses, learn how to cook food, book airline, train tickets and even earn an accredited degree. The current study is aimed at the standardization of the social web tools and the flexibility of web 2.0. It association in the field of education is highlighted with the aim to target the benefits associated with it. Challenges of incorporating social media into the education are mentioned in terms of the effects that they have on the corporate arena. Specifically the concept of e-business with respect to its integration with the social media is discussed. Marketing and advertising are also developing new meanings in line with the development of social media across the globe. EDUCATION AND SOCIAL... From the research it can be comprehended that youngsters and elders respond towards Social Media in an indifferent manner. This factor is a major trigger in the inclusion of Social Media within the Education Sector. Facebook has been witnessed as a potential platform that is acclaimed all over the world and is thus recognizable as well. Embedding education with the Social Media has resulted in positive influences upon the students may they belong to any age or class. Adaptability of the Social Media norms is massive among youngsters and it is thus recommended that implementation of social media norms into the education saga should be enhanced. The Corporate sector has also become highly dependent on the socializing arena that is generated via the Social Media saga. The challenges associated with this new and integrating phenomenon are to be addressed with effectiveness and control so as to ensure the rapid and healthy execution of the stakeholders associated with the concept. It is a lso essential that social ethics be made prevalent on the social media strengthening the grounds for its future usage in education and the executed usability associated with it.It is recommended that all new emerging entrepreneurs should integrate their concerns with those of the social media whether they are individuals or organizations especially with reference to advancements in means of acquiring education. The future of the human society is proposed to be based upon social media triggered interactions and modules and it is also owing to the fact that the pros of the promoting systems outweigh its cons.

Compare and Contrast Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country and Chinua Essay

Compare and Contrast Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country and Chinua Achebe's Thing's Fall Apart - Essay Example Achebe’s narrative signals the first indicator of tribal decline in Africa, exploited by the white colonisers to exert power in their expanding empire. The death toll of tribal life in Africa in Things Fall Apart symbolises the human predisposition towards conflict as the ethnic tensions are replaced with the tensions between the whites and blacks. In contrast, Cry, the Beloved Country takes the reader forward, highlighting the predicament of native blacks under white rule, where the funeral for tribal life prophesised in Things Fall Apart is now a reality, symbolised by the theme of human loss. The industrialisation of Africa and separation of families brought about by white rule is highlighted through the Kumalo’s journey as central protagonist in Cry. Pastor Kumalo loses a brother to the city and his brother in law to the mines. Furthermore, Kumalo’s sister disappears when she goes to the city. Through contrasting perspectives both novels utilise the conflicts between the white rulers and black natives to portray a deeper themes of the complex cycle of human conflict; its resultant impact on the family nucleus and the human need for connection and family relationships particularly driven by loss and fear. Analysed in conjunction, the contrasting spectrums at which both Paton and Achebe begin their narrative effectively takes the reader through the beginning of colonial policies in Things Fall Apart, to the practical impact of white rule in Cry, the Beloved Country. The focus of this analysis is to evaluate through a comparative analysis the authors’ depictions of the conflicts between the white colonisers and the native blacks and consider which, if any depicts the predicament most sympathetically. It is submitted at the outset that both whilst both works are undoubtedly important in highlighting the

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Pathogoras' Fragments and Hermeneutics Coursework

Pathogoras' Fragments and Hermeneutics - Coursework Example      The two specific interpretations that Protogoras provides in his work titled â€Å"Fragments† center around two major concepts. First, is the issue of relativism, wherein man is viewed as the measure of all things. The question of ethics and what is good and what is not is determined according to man’s standards. One of the central issues in Protogoras is the question of whether virtue can be taught at all and whether citizens can be educated to a point where they become good citizens. Another central theme of the book is that possessing a virtue is equivalent to the possession of knowledge; whereas doing evil is merely an expression of ignorance in a person.   The idea that men who choose to do what is pleasurable to them may be venturing into evil deeds and not have the self-control to remain virtuous, is contested by Protogoras, who states that the very act of doing something pleasurable equates to being virtuous. In other words, he equates doing good to d oing what one finds pleasurable. Protogoras states that the process of learning is centered around the acquisition of knowledge, i.e, learning to be virtuous means in effect, learning a specific science or kind of knowledge.  Ã‚     The two specific interpretations that Protogoras provides in his work titled â€Å"Fragments† center around two major concepts. First, is the issue of relativism, wherein man is viewed as the measure of all things. The question of ethics and what is good and what is not is determined according to man’s standards. One of the central issues in Protogoras is the question of whether virtue can be taught at all and whether citizens can be educated to a point where they become good citizens. Another central theme of the book is that possessing a virtue is equivalent to the possession of knowledge; whereas doing evil is merely an expression of ignorance in a person.   The idea that men who choose to do what is pleasurable to them may be vent uring into evil deeds and not have the self-control to remain virtuous, is contested by Protogoras, who states that the very act of doing something pleasurable equates to being virtuous. In other words, he equates doing good to doing what one finds pleasurable. Protogoras states that the process of learning is centered around the acquisition of knowledge, i.e, learning to be virtuous means in effect, learning a specific science or kind of knowledge.   Plato was the one who formulated the term â€Å"rhetoric†, because before his views were propagated, verbal art was not well understood and the general understanding was that verbal art and dialogue was more holistic. But Pluto has highlighted how it is actually differentiated. the major issue that Plato has expounded is to clarify and establish a clear difference between rhetoric and philosophy. There are differences in the teaching about logos; one is the goal of seeking success and the other is the goal of seeking the truth – the former is rhetoric and the latter is philosophy.3.     A linguistic element may be both vocal and psychological in nature. There is an internal concept associated with each linguistic unit, which may exist in the mind and its understanding of the linguistic element. The other is the external sound-image, which is the spoken word. Linguistic elements are the foundation of language and because the process of formulation of language is such a complex one, it is not one that easily lends itself to changes. Moreover, it forms a common link between various generations; it forms the means by which linguistic signs can be used to depict reality.  

Compare and Contrast Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country and Chinua Essay

Compare and Contrast Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country and Chinua Achebe's Thing's Fall Apart - Essay Example Achebe’s narrative signals the first indicator of tribal decline in Africa, exploited by the white colonisers to exert power in their expanding empire. The death toll of tribal life in Africa in Things Fall Apart symbolises the human predisposition towards conflict as the ethnic tensions are replaced with the tensions between the whites and blacks. In contrast, Cry, the Beloved Country takes the reader forward, highlighting the predicament of native blacks under white rule, where the funeral for tribal life prophesised in Things Fall Apart is now a reality, symbolised by the theme of human loss. The industrialisation of Africa and separation of families brought about by white rule is highlighted through the Kumalo’s journey as central protagonist in Cry. Pastor Kumalo loses a brother to the city and his brother in law to the mines. Furthermore, Kumalo’s sister disappears when she goes to the city. Through contrasting perspectives both novels utilise the conflicts between the white rulers and black natives to portray a deeper themes of the complex cycle of human conflict; its resultant impact on the family nucleus and the human need for connection and family relationships particularly driven by loss and fear. Analysed in conjunction, the contrasting spectrums at which both Paton and Achebe begin their narrative effectively takes the reader through the beginning of colonial policies in Things Fall Apart, to the practical impact of white rule in Cry, the Beloved Country. The focus of this analysis is to evaluate through a comparative analysis the authors’ depictions of the conflicts between the white colonisers and the native blacks and consider which, if any depicts the predicament most sympathetically. It is submitted at the outset that both whilst both works are undoubtedly important in highlighting the

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Prison Term Policy Recommendation Essay Example for Free

Prison Term Policy Recommendation Essay As a realistic matter, it is smart to sustain a bill that addresses a real concern, creates proper use of resources and effectively addresses the problem for which it was intended. It is known that victims of armed robberies want to see the offenders punished. It is noticeable that the public’s desire is to be safe and protected from being a victim of armed robbery. While on the other hand, the legislature must show caution in legislating across the board sentencing and defend discretion for the judicial system to consider the specific aspects that creates each case. â€Å"Yet advocates of deserved punishment argue that it is not automatically evident how intermediate sanctions compare with either prison or probation in terms of severity, nor is it clears how they compare with one another† (Clear, et. al., 2008). For example placing one offender on intensive probation while ordering another to pay a heavy fine may violate the equal punishment rationale of just deserts. Any recommendation should examine the proposed bill and the Criminal Justice System. Fairness is subjective; in spite of this every society will form a series of regulations through which to defend the individuals and society from damage. If an individual violates one of the regulations dictated by culture, there is usually a consensus of what constitutes a suitable punishment. In the United States, we depend on the Federal Sentencing Guidelines in addition to every states adoption of the Model Penal Code. Section 1.02(1) of the Model Penal Code instructions the allocation of punishment as to safeguard conduct that is without liability from condemnation as criminal (culpability), to provide fair caution of the nature of the conduct confirmed to represent an offense (legality) and to differentiate on logical basis between serious and minor  offenses (proportionality) (Model Penal Code, n.d.). Here we are referring to armed robbery. Considered a felony, armed robbery tends to take a large penalty in the majority states. Among the fundamentals measured in determining if a crime has been committed, one must address the diverse levels of culpability and/ or extenuating factors. Armed robbery can be a violent well designed crime otherwise a clumsy half-witted attempt. Eventually a result of guilt must be made, by a predominance of the proof, with competent lawful protection representation offered to the accused. Only after all these necessities are met can a judge proceed with sentencing. These judges must have discretion in considering the above three aspects and weight them accordingly in order to distribute a sentence that is fair and balanced. While the community may desire a representative to be challenging on crime, the community tends to be sympathetic to media stories of criminals who act out of distraction or need. There has been strong resistance to suggestions that delay individual considerations. Beyond the instant punitive effect, punishment can serve the need of removing dangerous people from the society, serve as deterrence to those inclined to commit a crime and potentially reform criminals into law abiding citizens. These societies have also recognized that in order for any corrective act to have its preferred effect it has to fit the crime. Take for instance the cutting off of a hand for someone caught stealing. Most western societies would regard this punishment as too severe and those societies that adopted this practice have come under scrutiny for these practices. Armed robbery has no doubt been addressed within these judicial systems. Sentencing guidelines should always represent fairness in reliability and proportionality. Also consideration needs to be taken into account as to why new policy efforts are being made for this particular crime. Is there a belief that the accessible laws have displayed omissions or errors that must be addressed? Has there been a failure of the justice system in punishment of armed robberies? Are convicted armed robbers being released from prison too early? Do they cultivate to be repeat offenders? Do these crimes tend to rise into murder or other violent felonies? Are there precise instances where the existing laws have failed to serve justice? To decide the practicability of the bill, the discussion of correctional assets would be applicable. The result of this bill regarding  maximum sentencing (as opposed to mandatory minimum sentencing) doubles the correction time for the person who is convicted in the armed robbery. In each specific case, to evaluate suitable sentence and to weigh the severity of the crime, the bills full force is to provide more choices to judges and the sentencing board. This bill may not help enforcing the provisions but may supply more choices for the severe cases which deserve more severe punishment. References Clear, T.; Reisig, M.; Cole, G. (2008), American Corrections. Retrieved from Google Books. Model Penal Code. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www1.law.umkc.edu/suni/crimlaw/mpc_provisions/mpc1021.htm

Monday, October 14, 2019

Green consumer behavior and influencing factors

Green consumer behavior and influencing factors This chapter literature review is presented by using review of previous studies. The literature explains green consumption, green consumer behavior and factors influence consumer behavior. During the past decade environment become a serious issue that leading to environmental problems have been concerned from public and the environmental awareness has occurred. Environmental knowledge from media, society, or education are boosting that lead to consumer behavior have been changed (Wagne,1997). Many companies consider about environmental issue force and start to take it to be part of corporate management (Reinhardt and Vietor, 1996). It causes the demand of green products is increasing. Many studies found out that green consumption pattern in variable factor widely base on consumption decision that partly on the environmental attributes (Krarup and Russell, 2005). In 1970, many companies were pressured by society and consumer; therefore, environmental marketing involves offering consumer with more socially acceptable product(Peattie, 2002).There is evidence that in 1988 many countries in the world have adopted the green label in order to support environmental behavior (Peattie, 2002). Green label is the label that shows the reduced environmental impact over the product life time (Rex and Baumann, 2006) and this lead to an increase of green consumption because green label also help some consumer who cannot distinguish green product from conventional product(Morris, 1997). Sheth mentioned that in 1990 almost 10% of new product was launched in form of green or environmental friendly. Although Bleda and Valente (2009) suggested that green label can use for solving the environment problem, Blair (1992) claimed green product cannot stop environmental harm. It only can be less harm which green product characteristics is less impact global environmental problem, design to be re-used or recycle, non-polluting, minimal packaging, local obtainable materials, no test animal. This is supported by Alwitt and Berger (1993)s reported that 70% of consumer concern about environment issue (Vantomme et al., 2004). Moreover, Tnsglobal (2007, p11) conducted survey in 12 countries around the world. It was found that for automobile, 53% of respondents said the environment has a significant or large influence on their day-to-day purchasing decisions. For food items, the figure is 49%. Household goods at 43% and then health beauty products at 41% come next. It can be seen that there are green consumer in all of products type. Besides, Eco-electrons (2009) reported that 81% of U.S. con sumers are willing to pay on green product, and 79% have a positive brand image with green brand. 2.2. Green consumer Green consumers is one who avoids products that are likely to endanger the health of the consumer or others; cause significant damage to the environment during manufactory, use or disposal; consumer a disproportionate amount of energy; cause unnecessary waste; use material derived from threatened species or environment; involve unnecessary use of, or cruelty to animal; adversely affect other countries (Elkington,1994 cited in Strong, 1998) While Moisander and Peronen (2002) mentioned that green consumers are the consumer who has morally oriented behaviour that is reinforced from their need or other, aiming to make better life of society. Wagner (1997) said that green behaviour cannot occur though only general environmental concern, the actual behaviour will be take place when specific environmental exist. In other word, green consumers who have green consciousness will have green behaviour, while Peattie (1992) observed that green consumer in one market is not necessary to be green c onsumer in other. This depends on their own behaviour attitude toward specific products, and the linked between green information and product information. Some consumer cannot separate between green product and general one, this lead to available green information and green label that help consumer make purchase decision. Moreover, an increase of green information also lead to the rise of green consumer and cause many companies behave environmental performance. However, there is no study about green consumer in Thai cosmetic market. Many researches characterise on green consumer that they are female, high education, high income, high social class (Peattie, 1992; Wager, 1997; Barr, 2003; Chen, 2007). There is no evident of Thai green consumer demographic. This research will investigate green consumers demographic, namely gender, age, status or income in Thai green cosmetic market in order to ascertain the exits potential segmentation. 2.2.3 Green consumer decision process Generally, consumer decision process consist of 5 stages ,namely, motivation, information search, evaluation of alternative, purchase choice, purchase outcomes. Understanding the determinant of each stage from beginning through the last stage is need in order to run the campaign or marketing mix which is suitable target consumer. Consumer can skip the stage or reverse some stage; it is necessary to pay attention in all stages (Wils n, Richard and Gilligan, 2007; Kotler and Armstrong, 2004; Ouwersloot and Duncan, 2008). Peattie (2002) explained the step of green consumer decision process as same as general consumer decision process; however, green consumer behaviour is not simple as general consumer behaviour because green consumers tend to behave as environmental responsible that involving buying or avertable consumption. Moreover, green consumer behaviour pattern are easily changed. It can be said that green consumer behaviour is the consumer behaviour that concerning about environm ental issue or social criteria, and lead to the purchasing and non-purchasing decision (Peattie, 2002). They might not purchase the product and do alternative way that respond green challenge such as replace, maintain or dispose of product. Figure4. Greening the buying process model Source: Peattie,2002,p.84 First stage: Recognition of a need or want Generally, all needs can be explained though Maslows need hierarchy. Physiological needs or the lower need in the hierarchy aim to be satisfied first and the need will turn to next level such as safety needs, esteem needs and self-actualization. However, it is not necessary that the lower need is fulfilled as first, some people might want to meet the higher level need as first, for example, some people forgoing food and buy other product that meet their higher needs(Wilson, Richard and Gilligan, 2007; Fan, 2008). Peattie (2002) said that during 1980s green issues become significant issue to drive certain need at each level of Maslow model. Ordinary, consumers have physiological needs as basic needs. They need food, clothes and house, however, green consumers tend to consume as small proportion in order to reduce resources. Moreover, in safety needs level, green consumers concern about safety and health. They interest about either production of packaging or product, how is come from t hat this contribute the secured package such as tamperproof container (Mackenzie. 1990). This cause people trust more in green product because they think that green product is safety for them. Many people consume organic food or natural cosmetic instead chemical ones (Peattie,2002). The is evident that demand of cosmetic in Thai market is required nature ingredient that means that product are not tested on animal, recyclable package (Falk, J ,2007 Ponbamrungwong and Chandsawang, 2009 ). Moreover, green consumers needs are shaped from recognition of problem that is influenced from media coverage, advertising or pressure group about environmental problem (Wilson, Richard and Gilligan, 2007). Some cosmetic company using emotional appeal in their advertising that represent how they help the world ( bodyshop,2010)This lead to people is looking for alternative green product and become the generic desire to buy other green product in their life. Second stage: Information search When consumers aware their needs. Finding information is important for them (Sheth and Mittal, 2004). There are many sources which consumer can have information either personal source from friend and family, public source from media and magazine, commercial source from staff or brochures and experimental source by trying product (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004). Regarding Green consumers, they need much more information about product that relate to environment, particularly, household product. They seek information beyond the given-information from company. Consumers also look for their guide, therefore; many organizations and pressure group activity become important because they truly inform the information in terms of product, and suggest about situation that consumer face involves environmental issue (Peattie et al.,2002).This kind of organization such as Greenpeace, Earthwatch and PETA (people for the ethical treatment of animals). They provide the information on their website that people can easily access. This can be shown that internet source becomes the importance source for consumer. Sheth and Mittal, (2004) stated in cosmetic market, internet are significant source because they can compare the price and share opinion about product. Although, Grubow (2010) found that in some Asia countries such as china, consumer still seek informat ion from cosmetic store as the first choice, they will go back to internet to find furthermore information. There is no study about significant source in cosmetic market in Thailand. The examination on this point will be occurred in order to benefit the companies that doing in this firm. Third stage: Evaluation of alternative stages The study of Thai consumer decision-making styles on imported cosmetic brand products by Chaisitthiroj (2007) found that Thai women have many characteristics that cause the different evaluation of alternative such as brand conscious characteristic, quality characteristic. Brand conscious characteristic refers to the consumer who appreciate brand as the first factor, they seem to be insensitive in price. They believe that brands represent the quality of product, and the brand that represent frequently in public can effectively influence their decision making. In cosmetic market, Green cosmetic brand might be best choice for green consumer that respond their desire and encourage them to switch from other brand (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004). Price conscious characteristic account for consumer who prefers the low price, they make buying decision making on the product that lower price. Green consumers look for alternative product that can help environment, for example, they use bicycles in stead of car in short distance. However, green consumers do not evaluate only between products or brand, they consider on the way of alternative purchase behaviour. Some consumer might not consume new product and repair or maintain old product instead. Borrowing is alternative way that consumers believe that after they return product to owner, it will be conserved. Buying second- hand approach becomes popular. Green consumer can fulfil their need without use more resources. Brand loyalty also can be green consumer by using refill product rather than buy the competed package product (Peattie,2002).. Forth stage: make purchase choice Euromonitor International showed that the highest company value in Thai colour cosmetic market is Mistine Brand (This brand sell an item around 50 pence) while the body shop (green cosmetic brand) was ranked at top 20. This can be questioned that Thai women use price factor or income factor to make purchase on cosmetic product. However, there is no study of influence factor in green cosmetic consumer. Therefore, green cosmetic market need to understand Thai green consumer buyer pattern. Peattie (2002) explained that green consumer will buy the product in where can help environmental problem or welfare of society, for example, green consumer might purchase the cosmetic that be made from the developing area that represents reinvestment and environmental protection. Moreover, green consumers purchase when product is creditable that have eco-behaviour, Those products can be shown by using green label or eco-performance. They might not purchase the unreliable product. Regarding quantity, green consumers tend to buy product at the less level in order to reduce the resources or buy refill pack of product (Peattie,1992 Peattie,2002). Fifth stage: post purchase behaviour stage After consumer purchasing the products, companies need to know the consumer perception in terms of product meet their exception or not, because it can lead to a repeat purchase behaviour. The seller need to make consumer are satisfied. It is because present consumer can leads to new consumer or become loyal consumer (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004). Peattie (2002) mentioned that in this stage green consumers have different behaviour from convention consumer. Therefore, marketers should understand green consumer post purchase behaviour. Peattie (2002) divided post- purchase of green consumer into 5 behaviours. Product use change. Green consumers use the same product in different ways. They might act as environmental organization guide. For example drive at 50-80 km/miles in order to reduce car emission. Reuse of product. Green consumer will reuse the part of product that serves their other needs. They might use cookie container to keep other food. Product disposal. Green consumer carefully use the product in order to though the where can be useful, some green consumer sell it as second hand products or donate them. Recycle of waste packaging. Green consumers consider about recycle packaged. Many green consumers said that natural material of package can be the factor that influences their buying decision. Care and maintenance. Green consumers pay more attention to use product in order to extend product life cycle. Therefore, the products that are easily maintained will be the choice for them. 2.4. Factor influence consumer behaviour Figure. The framework consumer behaviour Source:Lancaster,Massingham,Ashford ( 2002,p.75) 2.4.1 Cultural factors It is difficult to deny that cultures generate behaviour norms, and it is important to connect culture and consumer behaviour. Understating culture is needed. Brassington and Pettitt (2006, p.127) explained that culture is the personality of society within which an individual lives. It manifests itself through the built environment, art, language, literature, music and the products that society consumes as well as through its prevalent beliefs, value systems and government. It also includes traditions, taboos, value, and basic attitude of society, nationality, religious and geographic. Wilson, Richard and Gilligan (2007) mentioned that this factor is the fundamental factor influencing buyer behaviour. Kotler and Armstrong (2004) supported that different society has different culture. Asia culture varies from western culture; it leads to different behaviour. This research will be conducted in Thailand where is located in Asia, hence understanding Asia culture is necessary. Buddhism has been in Thailand more than 2000 years. It can be said that Buddhism unwittingly becomes a part of Thai people life and it is a national religion of Thailand. Although these days many Thai people change their religion to other, more than 90% of Thai people still is Buddhism (Department of Religious Affairs, 2010). Buddhism teachings avoid persecute all animal, other people and society. They search for peaceful life. This concept is similar as green consumer concern in terms of avoidance of animal (and) environmental damage. However, it cannot judge that culture can motivate Thai women behave as green behaviour and buy green cosmetic. The finding of Johri and Sahasakmontri(1998) found that Thai consumer did not buy cosmetic because no tested on animal as the important factor. However, this finding is obsolete, when data was collected Thai people did not have sufficient information about environmental which differ as present. According to Hofstedes demission of cultural value Asia countries have high uncertainty avoidance. Uncertainty avoidance refers to uncertainty acceptance culture. In high uncertainty avoidance culture people tend to avoid the risk, change in their life that lead to the social risk of trying a new product is very high (Fan ,2009) Although, many studies examine the factor influencing Thai women behaviour in green cosmetic market, it is surprising that many studies did not use culture factor to measure in their studies (Prapakamol, 2001; Namsanguan, 2007, Chaisittiroj, 2007). As it can be seen from review that culture is significant factor that influence buying behaviour. , this research cannot overlook culture factor. This research will investigate the positive relationship between culture and buying behaviour in green cosmetic market in Thailand. H1. Culture is significant factor influence Thai women to buy green cosmetic 2.4.2 Group and reference group There are many theories stated that consumer behaviour is reinforced from social group. This is evident that the social group can influence consumer behaviour by group which each consumer belong (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004). Chen (2007) mentioned that people perform a behaviour that is related to people in their life (eg, family, friend, and other). Schutte and Ciarlante (1999) claimed that family is the fundamental group in Asia people life because family is the first place that giving experience of life. Family will transfer the traditional and the building block of a harmonious society. for example, if green cosmetic are believed as a good product from people in their family, the consumer will have high intention of buying green cosmetic, whereas if member of consumers family think that green cosmetic is not good, consumer will not buy green cosmetic (chen, 2007) Moreover, Fan (2009) said that Asians always follow the crowed in the consumption because Asians are collectivism that always interdependent on each other and the way they act follow and believe the group than individual. In other word, if green cosmetic is the popular product in Thailand and chemical one is rejected, Thai women will purchase green cosmetic instead chemical one. However, it is also important to reach the opinion of leader group to find out the characteristic which influence other member so as to easily access other member (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004). The study of Summers (1970) found that the opinion leader in cosmetic product is influence consumer behaviour. In USA opinion leader are younger, high educated. Similarly, opinion leader in Hungary are younger, high educated and they have been to Western Europe or the USA in recent year. Although their finding found that leader group characteristic is similar, there is a small difference that might cause from demographic (Coulter, Feick and Price, 2002). Furthermore, Brassington and Pettitt (2006) added that environmental friendly trends are quickly spread from reference group, peer-group or social group, and they affect on their member buying decision. Strong (1998) examined that in green market, children are significant key that influence on family buying decision because children are important source in family that can encourage or discourage buying power. Furthermore, Lee (2008) claimed that green consumption is a form of symbolic consumption. Therefore, there is possible that people will buy green product in order to be accepted from group. As green cosmetic products are quite new topic in this area that no enough guidance. However, Cosmetics are fashionable product and green products are acknowledged as environmental friendly in Thailand. There is a possible that group, opinion leader are significant factor that motivate Thai consumer when buying green cosmetic. H2. Social group is significant factor that influence Thai women to buy green cosmetic. 2.4.3 Status Solomon et al (2006) said that the product or services we purchase often will represent to other people know what our social class. Therefore, consumer behaviour always is influenced with this aspect because consumer the products as status symbols. Status also display to education and income, for example, wearing high price suits can display the individuals professional or career position. Similarly, Fan (2009) said that Asian people are the most status-conscious in the world. The important of status makes it imperative to project the right image, which usually means up-market and prestigious(Schutte, 2010,p.658).To be accepted from social Asians will buy product that express status, normally expensive product. Although, products display status, it does not mean that social class can influence all kind of product. Chao and Schor (1998) claimed that social visibility is a key of status consumption. Status will be important when consumers purchase only the products are always showed to public view. In cosmetic products, they found that women buy expensive lipstick and do not care about relationship between price and quality because women only want to show their status though lipstick brand which normally women carry lipstick with them everywhere ,while facial cleaner are perceived as non-visible product because consumer keep it at home. When they buy they always consider about relationship price and quality. In contrast, the study of pungpumput and ngamsanguan (2000) in buying cosmetic behaviour in Thai students shows that the relationship between price and quality is a significant factor influence student buying decision and they did not mentioned about relationship between status and buying behaviour. It cannot be summarised that status is not influence factor when Thai women buy green cosmetic. Therefore, this research will find out that status have positive relationship with buying green cosmetic product or not. H3. Status has positive relationship with buying green cosmetic behaviour. 2.4.4 Attitudes Attitudes refer to peoples feeling, tendencies, evaluation toward the object, idea or concept. People actions and learning are affected from attitude. In the other word, attitudes affect consumer behaviour (Kotler and Armstrong 2004; Ouwersloot and Duncan 2008; Pickett and Ozaki, 2008). That is reason why many marketers try to change consumer attitude. However, it is not always that attitude become behaviour. Sometimes positive attitude cannot generate the behaviour, for example, consumer want to buy green cosmetic but she may not have money to buy because green cosmetic is more expensive than chemical one (Pickton and Broderick, 2005).In terms of negative attitude, it cannot automatically stop a purchase as can see from example of cigarette smoking. The behaviour will be occurred, if strong attitude overcome negative aspect. It can be said that if the importance of purchase is high, the importance of attitude toward product will be high. Attitude will less influence in case the purc hase is a part of habit or routine (Pickton and Broderick, 2005). Kotler et al (2004) mentioned that attitudes are difficult to change, therefore, company should try not to change consumer attitude but the companies should design the message about their product or service which is suitable to their attitude. Pickett and Ozaki, 2008 argued that marketer can change consumers attitude by adapt consumer evaluation through inputting new belief. 2.4.4.1 Environmental attitudes Fisgbein and Ajzen mentioned that attitude is one significant aspect that creates behaviour. Environmentally friendly attitude causes eco-behaviour such as purchase green product this can confirm from many studies (Kim et al., 2005; Chen, 2007). Kim et al (2005) found that the environmental attitude or concern directly influence on green purchase behaviour, explaining that consumer who has strong environmental attitude concern will interest in the product that connect to their concern. Chen (2007, p.1016) also examined that consumers attitude to organic foods purchase is in turn positively. However, Barr and Gilg (2007) found that people who have environmental attitude tend to do green activities (recycle, reuse) rather than purchasing green product. Similarly, Peattie (1999) said that green consumer seek for alternative purchase behaviour such as borrow or repair instead of purchasing. In contrast, Baker and Ozaki (2008) claimed that belief shaped attitudes toward behaviour that become to behaviour intention. However, their finding showed that environmental attitudes are not important factor that generate environmental behaviour. They explained that actual behaviour is not necessary occur from what they think is good because consumer might consider other factor such as subjective -interests. Baker and Ozaki (2008) added that providing green information is less effective on consumer attitude than educate them. It indicates that environment education is significant key that influence consumers attitude. Marketers should concern this point in order to choose the best way that affect on consumers attitude. Although some studies said attitudes have negative relationship with behaviour, there is study in cosmetic area. Therefore, this research will investigate that positive attitude toward environmental can influence Thai women buying green cosmetic. H4. Environmental attitudes are a significant factor influence Thai women buying green cosmetics. 2.4.5 Perception Perception is the way in which individuals analyse, interpret and make sense of incoming information, and is affected by personality, experience and mood (Brassington and Pettitt, 2006, p.118). Consumers always make decision or behave base on their point of view or perception (Peattie, 2002). The term of perception in marketing is consumers view toward to product, services, package, smell, taste, message or company. Perceptions will be differently modified by individual interpretation and that influence on decision making process. Even the same individual might have perception varies in different times. 2.4.5.1 Brand perception Creating brand awareness or placing information into consumer mind is important to consumer perception because it can be linked to brand image of company (Lancaster,Massingham and Ashford 2002). Especially, Strong brand name can influence consumer perceptions. It causes people feel familiar with brand and then purchase the products. Once consumers are satisfied the product, the brand will be on the top of consumer mind. This make consumers become loyal consumer and continue to purchase the products. For example, Wu (2003) stated that consumer do not stop purchasing current brand and change to environmental alternative brand. Ouwersloot and Duncan (2008) added that loyal consumer always communicate positively about company and brand to other consumers. It is called word-of- mouth. Pickett and Ozaki, (2008) stated that word of mouth is valuable tool that influence on consumer perception rather than other tool such as sale promotion. The finding of Pickett and Ozaki (2008) illustrates that some consumer trusted certain brand than other. This is showed that brand affect on consumer perception that transfer to emotional preference. Wu and Lo (2008) study the influence of core-brand attitude and consumer perception on purchase intention towards extended product found that consumer perception can increase consumers purchase intention. They experienced that brand awareness and product perception lead to purchase intention while Yam Ting and Chans study (1998) found that no strong relationship between green purchase behaviour and self- perception. They explained that this is because (1) consumers have gap between attitude and behaviour and (2) respondents do not perceive that purchase behaviour can improve environmental condition. 2.4.5.2 Corporate social responsibility perception Corporate social responsibility activities are the way to create consumer positive perception. West, Ford, Ibrahim (2006,p434) said that CSR is the actions of the company to act in a socially responsible manner to protect and enhance the various stakeholders that have an interest in company, the community in which it operate, the environment which surrounds it, and society. According to MORIs research (2003) found that 74% of British people accept that behaviour of company on social responsible would affect their buying decision ,and 86% suggest that community activities should be actively announced- 59% said it is grateful to see company profit from social activities.. The performance of CSR leads to good brand image and productivity and profitability in long time (CSR of British government, 2010). When consumers perceive the information about evidence of firm. They decode the message into 2 types of motive to the firm-self serving (to enhance profits, sale, brand image) or public serving (help people or develop society) that it can be called as profit-motivated or socially motivated respectively. The attribution is fundamental of perceived motivation affect consumers judgement on firm. Once consumers perceive the firm action as self-profit, the positive attitude on firm will be reduced. On the other hand ,if the firm is perceived as socially motivated, the positive attitude on firm will be increased (Olsen et al.,2005). From the review, it can be concluded that consumer perception either brand perception or CSR perception can generate buying behaviour. However, there is no evident that perception cause Thai women buying behaviour in green cosmetic product. This research will examine that there is positive relationship between perception and buying green cosmetic behaviour. H5. Brand perception is a significant factor influencing Thai women buying green cosmetics. H6. CSR perception is a significant factor influencing Thai women buying green cosmetics.