Monsanto SWOT Essay

Company overview Monsanto Company (Monsanto or the company) offers agricultural products to farmers. Its products include seeds, biotechnology trait products, and herbicides. Monsanto has operations in the US, Canada, Europe, South America, Asia, and Africa. It is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri and  employs about 26,100 people, of which more than 5,500 people are temporary employees. The company recorded revenues of $11,822 million during the financial year ended August 2011 (FY2011), an increase of 12.8% over FY2010. The operating profit of the company was $2,502 million in FY2011, an increase of 56.1% over FY2010. The net profit was $1,607 million in FY2011, an increase of 46.6% over FY2010. KEY FACTS Head Office Monsanto Company 800 North Lindbergh Boulevard St. Louis Missouri 63167 USA Phone 1 314 694 1000 Fax 1 314 694 1057 Web Address http://www.monsanto.com/ Revenue / turnover 11,822.0 (USD Mn) Financial Year End August Employees 26,100 New York Ticker MON Monsanto Company  © MarketLine Page 3 Monsanto Company SWOT Analysis SWOT ANALYSIS Monsanto offers agricultural products to farmers that include seeds, biotechnology trait products, and herbicides. The company has a leading market position in various geographies based on product portfolio of well recognized brand names. However, increasing instances of infringement of intellectual property rights can result in the company’s brand dilution and loss of revenue. Strengths Weaknesses Leading market position Strong focus on research and development (R&D) Wide customer base Legal proceedings Opportunities Threats Growing demand for food products with reduced saturated fat and trans-fat Strategic agreements and acquisitions Growing population, especially in Asia Infringement of intellectual property rights Genetically modified organism (GMO) regulations Seasonal nature of sales of the seeds and genomics segment Strengths Leading market position Monsanto is a leading global provider of agricultural products for farmers. The company’s strong brand portfolio allows it to have a commanding position in various countries. Its most popular brands include Roundup, Dekalb, Asgrow, De Ruiter, Deltapine, and Seminis. Roundup is the company’s flagship brand. It is also one of the most popular herbicides in the world. Asgrow, Deltapine, and Dekalb are genetically altered seeds (cotton, corn, soybean, and canola), which tolerate weeds and resist bugs. Seminis and De Ruiter are strong brands in the vegetable seeds business. Monsanto’s offerings of high yielding variety seeds under well recognized brand names makes it a leading player in most of the countries where it operates. Monsanto enjoys easy market penetration in new geographies based on its product portfolio which comprises well recognized brand. The company’s strong brand portfolio enhances its market leadership position. Strong focus on research and development (R&D) Monsanto Company  © MarketLine Page 4 Monsanto Company SWOT Analysis Over the years Monsanto has become a leading supplier to farmers for their agricultural needs because of its ability to deliver innovative products suiting their requirements. The company has developed competencies in applying bioengineering to agriculture. Moreover, Monsanto’s traits technologies enable it to develop herbicides and seeds with superior traits such as weed resistant, drought resistant, and improved yield. The company invests a substantial portion of its revenue towards research and development (R&D) per year. In FY2011, the company’s investment in R&D amounted to $1,386 million, an increase of 15% over FY2010. Monsanto has also entered into a number of strategic collaborations to expand its R&D capabilities further. For instance, in March 2011, Monsanto and Sapphire Energy (Sapphire) announced an agreement to enter into a multi-year collaboration that would leverage Sapphire’s algae-based research platform to discover genes that could be applied to agriculture, particularly in the field of yield and stress. In the same month, Monsanto and BASF reached an agreement to collaborate on the advancement of dicamba tolerant cropping systems. Further, BASF has agreed to supply formulated dicamba herbicide products to the company. To further boost its R&D capability, the company has established two new R&D centers, one each in China and the US. The research center in China will initially participate in early-stage of bioinformatics and genomics research, and will serve as a base for collaborations with Chinese scientists. The other research center in Texas, the US will focus on cotton research and will act as the central point for the company’s breeding and testing programs in the High Plains region. Monsanto’s focus on applying bioengineering to agriculture not only gives it a competitive edge but also enables it to revitalize its product portfolio. Moreover, its continuous focus on delivering seeds with new and improved traits helps it to cater to changing consumer preferences by offering value driven products to customers. Wide customer base Monsanto’s business operations have been well diversified be it in the terms of products offered or the geographical reach. The products offered by its seeds and genomics and agricultural productivity segments complement each other well and offer a complete solution to farmers and other customers. In FY2011, Monsanto derived 72.6% of its revenues from the seeds and genomics segment, while the agricultural productivity segment accounted for the remaining 27.6% of the total revenue. Geographically, in FY2011, the US, Europe-Africa, and Brazil accounted for 53.9%, 12.8%, and 10.8% of the company’s revenue, respectively. The remaining areas that contributed to the revenues of Monsanto were Asia-Pacific, Argentina, Canada, and Mexico, among others. Diversified operation dilutes the company’s business risk and helps Monsanto to cater to a wider customer base. It further insulates the company from economic fluctuations in any one region and thereby helps it to generate balanced earnings. Weaknesses Monsanto Company  © MarketLine Page 5 Monsanto Company SWOT Analysis Legal proceedings Monsanto is involved in various legal proceedings. For instance, in January 2011, the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System filed a complaint alleging that Monsanto violated the federal securities laws by making false and misleading statements between January 7, 2009, and May 27, 2010, regarding its earnings guidance for fiscal 2009 and 2010 as well as the anticipated future performance of its Roundup business and the seeds and genomics business. They also claim that these statements artificially inflated the price of the  stock and that purchasers of the stock during the relevant period were damaged when the stock price later declined. The company has also faced similar lawsuit in 2007. Further, in May 2011, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Notice of Violation to the company, alleging violations of federal environmental release reporting requirements at Monsanto’s phosphorous manufacturing plant in Soda Springs, Idaho. The EPA has asserted that the alleged violations may subject the company to civil penalties. Misrepresentation of vital information and lack of precautionary measures results in penalties and disrupt the company’s operations. Moreover, distortion of information adversely affects the shareholders confidence and the profitability and credit rating of the company in the long run. Opportunities Growing demand for food products with reduced saturated fat and trans-fat Due to the increased awareness regarding the health issues caused due to the consumption of trans-fat, people in the US and in many European nations have been opting more healthier options. Increased consumption of trans-fat lowers blood levels of HDL (the good cholesterol) and leads to the elevation of LDL (considered the bad cholesterol). This ultimately leads to the hardening of the arteries and different coronary problems. Bowing to public pressure and litigation by various anti-trans-fat organizations, many food companies (Nabisco and Kraft Foods) in the US have taken active steps to remove trans-fat from their offerings. Companies like Taco Bell, KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken), Wendy’s, Arby’s, and McDonalds have also been trying to substitute high trans-fat cooking oils with other healthy alternatives. Keeping this trend in mind, Monsanto has been actively working on the development of seeds that will advance the growth of foods with reduced saturated fat and reduced or no trans-fat. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a response letter to Monsanto’s Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) notification. The FDA’s letter supports the use of  oil from Vistive Gold soybeans (seed type manufactured by the company) to have less saturated fat and trans-fat. The new product would help the farmers to benefit from the premium pricing for their harvest once the oil from Vistive Gold soybeans is commercialized. Monsanto has already completed the US regulatory submissions to the US Department of Agriculture and FDA for the sale of Vistive Gold Monsanto Company  © MarketLine Page 6 Monsanto Company SWOT Analysis soybean. It has also made numerous regulatory submissions to the appropriate regulatory agencies around the world for the products commercialization. Once the necessary regulatory process is completed, Monsanto will be able commercialize its product. Through leveraging its expertise in developing seeds with novel traits and wide spread distribution network, Monsanto can become a leading supplier of seeds that produce crops with low saturated fat and trans-fat. It will help the company to expand its revenue base and gain a competitive edge over its peer group. Strategic agreements and acquisitions Monsanto has entered into a number of agreements and acquisitions in order to boost its market share and profitability. For instance, Monsanto acquired Divergence, a privately-held St. Louis-based biotechnology research and development company, in February 2011. In March 2011, Monsanto and Sapphire Energy announced an agreement to enter into a multi-year collaboration that would leverage the latter’s algae-based research platform to discover genes that could be applied to agriculture, particularly in the field of yield and stress. In the same month, Monsanto and BASF reached an agreement to  collaborate on the advancement of dicamba tolerant cropping systems. Further, BASF has agreed to supply formulated dicamba herbicide products to the company. Further, in June 2011, Monsanto entered into collaboration with Amvac Chemical, a subsidiary of American Vanguard, to broaden its Roundup Ready PLUS weed management platform in the US. In September 2011, Monsanto and GrassRoots Biotechnology agreed to extend their existing three-year research collaboration for an additional two years through January 2014. In November 2011, Monsanto and Evogene announced a one-year extension to their five-year research and development collaboration focused on identifying key plant genes related to yield, environmental stress, and fertilizer utilization in corn, soybean, cotton, and canola. In March 2012, BASF signed a supply agreement with Monsanto for fungicide seed treatments for cotton and soybeans in North America. These strategic agreements and acquisitions will help Monsanto to build a stronger platform for the promotion of its brand image. It will strengthen the company’s market share and boost revenue growth. Strategic collaborations will also enhance Monsanto’s research capabilities and add to its market competitiveness. Growing population, especially in Asia Currently, the world population is more than 7 billion, as of October 2011 and is expected to reach 10.6 billion by 2050. As the population grows the demand for agricultural products is also going to rise. According to MarketLine (a unit of Informa) estimates, the Asia-Pacific agricultural products market (the agricultural product market consists of six segments: cereals; fruit, vegetables, roots, and tubers; oil crops and pulses; sugar crops and sweeteners; spices and stimulants; and nuts) grew by 4% in 2010 to reach a value of $915.4 billion. In 2015, the Asia-Pacific agricultural products market is Monsanto Company  © MarketLine Page 7 Monsanto Company SWOT Analysis forecast to have a value of $1,228.4 billion, an increase of 34.2% since 2010. The Indian agricultural products market, which accounted for 13.8% of the Asia-Pacific agricultural products market in 2010, grew by 14.8% in 2010 to reach a value of $126 billion. In 2015, the Indian agricultural products market is forecast to have a value of $217.5 billion, an increase of 72.6% since 2010. Monsanto is a leading player in most of the countries where it operates. Thus, it can leverage its expertise, distribution network, and product portfolio comprising well known brand names to cater to the growing demand for high yielding variety (HYV) seeds. Monsanto’s revenue and profit margins can tremendously increase as the demand for HYV grows, especially in Asia. Threats Infringement of intellectual property rights Protecting its intellectual property rights is very important for Monsanto’s business, particularly in the seeds and genomics segment. The company obtains and protects its intellectual property rights in jurisdictions in which the products are produced or used and in jurisdictions into which the products are imported. However, even if protection is obtained, competitors, farmers, or others in the chain of commerce may raise legal challenges to its rights or illegally infringe on the company’s rights, including through means that may be difficult to prevent or detect. In addition to this, due to the rapid pace of technological change, and the confidentiality of patent applications in some jurisdictions, competitors may be issued patents from applications that were unknown to the company prior to issuance. These patents could reduce the value of the company’s commercial or pipeline products. Therefore, protecting inventions is critical for Monsanto to meet the growing challenge of infringement of intellectual property rights. A failure to do so could mean substantial loss of revenue and market share, and brand dilution. Genetically modified organism (GMO) regulations Monsanto’s revenues could be negatively impacted in view of bans imposed on its genetically modified crops. The degree of public acceptance or perceived public acceptance of its biotechnology products can affect its sales and results of operations by affecting planting approvals, regulatory requirements, and customer purchase decisions. Public concern can affect the timing of the government approvals in different countries. Even if the approvals are granted, public concern can lead to increased regulation or litigation against government regulators concerning prior regulatory approvals. Recently, the European Commissioner approved the cultivation of GMO potatoes in Europe, but the decision has come under stiff criticism and protest from various groups working against the GMO crops. Monsanto Company  © MarketLine Page 8 Monsanto Company SWOT Analysis Similar regulatory controls could affect the company’s market position in various countries. As the regulations around the use of GMO crops intensify, Monsanto would face difficulty in expanding its market and growth of its revenue. Seasonal nature of sales of the seeds and genomics segment Monsanto’s business is greatly affected by seasonal changes mainly in the seeds and genomics segment. In FY2011, approximately 72% of the seeds and genomics segment’s sales occurred in the second and third quarters. This  segment’s seasonality is primarily affected by the purchasing and growing patterns in North America. The seeds and genomics segment’s contribution to the overall revenue of the company has been steadily growing in the past few years. In FY2011, the segment accounted for 72.6% of the company’s revenue, up from 56% in FY2009. Hence, seasonal disturbances can adversely impact the overall sales of the company. Monsanto Company  © MarketLine Page 9 Copyright of Monsanto Company SWOT Analysis is the property of Datamonitor Plc and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.

Hypertension Among Tribal Population Health And Social Care Essay

Ischemic Heart Disease is one the major causes of decease in developed states. It is increasing being recognized as a major slayer in developing states like India that are presently undergoing demographic and epidemiological passage. Although IHD has a broad gamut of hazard factors like unhealthy dietetic form, serum cholesterin, age, physical activity, high blood pressure remains a major underpin that accelerates the hazard of future IHD. Hypertension is besides being widely investigated because of our ability to observe and pull off it easy and besides the potency for community degree intercession, sing the non-modifiable nature of other hazard factors and every bit good as the restricted feasibleness for intercession as a public wellness step. India has started the national programme for control of NCDs in maintaining with its committedness to react to emerging wellness jobs during the passage. In order to better understand the natural history of IHD many epidemiological surveies have been undertaken. In this context tribal populations have been investigated for IHD hazard factors both in western states and India every bit good. Tribal populations provide a particular epidemiological window to take a closer expression at the natural history of IHDs, based on our given that such populations have a life manner much different from that of modern society which is considered a major determiner of IHD. Tribal people live a hurried life, without the fiscal emphasiss of the modern society, their day-to-day life necessitating moderate to heavy physical activity and their diet forms remain mostly un-penetrated by the high salt, high fat nutrient civilization. This premise holds good as long the tribal people remain unacculturated. The procedure of socialization strips these people of the protective consequence that their traditional ways have provided hitherto. In India tribal population constitutes about 8 % of the entire population. Majority of them reside in the provinces of Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. Several surveies have been done to gauge the prevalence of high blood pressure in tribal population. Most of these surveies are from the southern parts of the state. It has been by and large accepted that the prevalence of HTN in tribal population is low but recent surveies have found higher prevalence. We did a systematic reappraisal to place all surveies done in tribal population that estimated HTN prevalence.MethodologyLiterature huntTwo writers independently ran hunts for the cardinal words high blood pressure, tribal, prevalence, India, hazard factors, coronary bosom disease and ischaemic bosom disease. The Boolean operators AND and OR were both used. The databases searched were MEDLINE, INDMED, Science Citation Index and Google Scholar. Documents of national bureaus like ICMR, NIN and other related organisations were besides searched. The members of the ICMR Expert Group on HTN besides provided suggestions for including certain surveies. Cross mentions of all the articles ab initio obtained were besides searched. Hand hunt was done in BBDL and NML. In instance of merely the abstract being available efforts were made to reach the corresponding writer bespeaking the full text. Articles published till September 2012 were searched. Attempts were made to look for gray literature li ke unpublished informations, theses and thesiss. Articles published in other linguistic communications were besides searched if they had a elaborate sum-up in English with the indispensable figures. Extras were removed. If more than one article was published from a survey the article that provided the most appropriate informations and/or the most late published was included. Each article was assessed for quality utilizing standard checklists like CASP/STROBE and information was extracted on predefined spreadsheets. Study features that were considered to hold an impact on the prevalence of HTN were extracted. The inclusion standards were spelled out based on the undermentioned – ( 1 ) It should a primary research. ( 2 ) A geographically and temporally defined population. ( 3 ) Cross-sectional survey or informations, or first stage of a longitudinal survey ( 4 ) Defined diagnostic standards stated for Hypertension ( 5 ) Well defined age group ( 6 ) Community based survey ( 8 ) Published in English, or with elaborate sum-ups in English ( 10 ) Provides prevalence informations with appropriate statistics for computation of consequence sizes. In instance of discordance between the writers for inclusion, consensus of the 3rd writer was sought. In instance two different writers reported the same survey as different articles, merely the first published art icle was included.Consequences:A sum of 16 surveies including two NNMB studies were retrieved ab initio. One article ( Mandani et al, 2011 ) was excluded because it reported the same information as given in another survey ( Tiwari RR, 2008 ) . Two of the articles published by Dash SC et Al ( 1986, 1994 ) seemed to be describing on the same information and therefore the most late published article ( 1994 ) was included and the 1986 article was excluded. Full text of one of the articles published by Mukhopadhyay B et Al ( 1996 ) could non be retrieved and the abstract did non provided sufficient information and hence excluded. The NNMB survey done in 2004-05 published as Technical Report No: 24 ( 2006 ) included Scheduled Tribes as one the survey population but provided neither sample size informations nor prevalence informations for this sub-population. Hence this information could non be used. After all these exclusions, a sum of 12 articles ( including one NNMB tribal study ) were taken up for farther reappraisal. In entire these articles provided informations on 23 sub-populations. There was a big grade of heterogeneousness among the surveies in footings of the age groups studied, trying scheme, survey scene, instruments used to mensurate blood force per unit area ( quicksilver vs. electronic ) , individual or multiple BP measurings, standard standards used for categorization of high blood pressure, socialization position of the folks and eventually the consequence of clip period over which the surveies were conducted. The earliest survey found was done in 1981 by Dash SC et Al and the most recent surveies were done in 2009. Merely five surveies were done before the twelvemonth 2000 and the remainder after that. The survey size varied widely between 50 and 47400. Except for two surveies which had used electronic setups, all other surveies have used quicksilver sphygmomanometer ( this information was non available for one survey ) . Almost all the surveies have used a cut-off of 140/90 for the diagnosing of high blood pressure ( JNC VII, ADA or WHO ) but two surveies used a cutoff of 160/95 ( this information was non available for one survey ) . Almost all the surveies used multiple readings of blood force per unit area ( two or three ) for the concluding diagnosing of high blood pressure ( this information was non available for one survey ) . Surveies were non available in all the provinces of the state ; even states known to hold a big proportion of tribal population ( like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, NE provinces ) were left out. Most of the surveies were carried out in southern provinces.S. No.Name of the province in which survey was carried outNumber1 Andhra Pradesh 3 2 Orissa 3 3 Kerala 1 4 Sikkim 1 5 Gujarat 1 6 Andaman & A ; Nicobar Island 1 7 Rajasthan 1 8 Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Kerala, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka ( 9 provinces survey ( 2009 ) by NNMB ) 1 Most of the surveies were done in big population of both sexes aged & gt ; = 16 or 18 or 20 old ages ( this information was non available for two surveies ) . One peculiar survey entirely included aged population aged & gt ; 60 old ages. Sexual activity wise prevalence was available merely for nine sub-populations. All the surveies explicitly provided the name and socialization position of the folk studied except for the NNMB study ( 2009 ) . The most common sampling scheme adopted by these surveies was simple random trying followed by multistage sampling and non-random sampling. The overall survey quality ranged from just to good. Most of the surveies were of good quality. One survey did non supply adequate information to measure survey quality. The prevalence of high blood pressure reported in these surveies ranged from 0 % to 50 % ( excepting the survey done among aged population ) . The prevalence of high blood pressure reported in surveies done before the twelvemonth 2000 ranged from 0 % to 23 % and that reported in surveies done after 2000 ranged from 17 % to 50 % ( excepting the survey done among aged population ) . The prevalence of high blood pressure in acculturated folks ranged from 0.25 % to 50 % , whereas in unacculturated folks it ranged from 0 % to 31 % . This shows that socialization might move as a determiner of high blood pressure in tribal population. There is an obviously increasing tendency in the prevalence high blood pressure in tribal population ( Fig 1 ) . This figure was obtained by come ining the maximal prevalence reported by the surveies in a peculiar twelvemonth. The prevalence was higher in certain population subgroups which were deemed have particular features like higher consumption of intoxic ant or salt tea, prevailing baccy mastication or toddy imbibing wonts or aged as compared to subgroups which didnaa‚Â ¬a„?t have such particular features.DecisionThe broad scope of prevalence reported in these surveies is unequal to deduce any valid decisions about the prevalence of high blood pressure in tribal population. Surveies with more unvarying methodological analysis should be carried out in a representative sample to obtain a better apprehension of the issue. A good planned follow up survey will turn to the inquiries raised about cogency of the findings reported in this reappraisal. A comparative prevalence survey between acculturated and unacculturated folk is necessary for an in-depth apprehension of the natural history of high blood pressure.Consequences of preliminary meta-analysis ( random effects ) with sensitiveness analysisS.No.Nature of the surveiesNo. of surveies includedPrevalence1 All surveies 23 14.0 2 All surveies ( excepting survey on aged ) 19 11.3 3 Unacculturated tribes* 12 8.2 4 Acculturated folks * 10 20.3 5 Acculturated folks ( excepting survey on aged ) * 9 17.0 6 No particular features in the population studied* 14 6.7 7 Particular features in the population studied* 8 31.7 8 Particular features in the population studied ( excepting survey on aged ) * 4 30.6 9 Surveies done prior to twelvemonth 2000 12 5.3 10 Surveies done after twelvemonth 2000 11 28.3 11 Surveies done after twelvemonth 2000 ( excepting survey on aged ) 7 26.1 * Excludes NNMB survey due to miss of needed information * Excludes NNMB survey due to miss of needed informationRanking of the nature of surveies harmonizing to increasing prevalence of HTNS.No.Nature of the surveiesNo. of surveies includedPrevalence1Surveies done prior to twelvemonth 2000125.32No particular features in the population studied*146.73Unacculturated tribes*128.24Acculturated folks ( excepting survey on aged ) *917.05Acculturated folks *1020.36Surveies done after twelvemonth 2000 ( excepting survey on aged )726.17Surveies done after twelvemonth 20001128.38Particular features in the population studied ( excepting survey on aged ) *430.69Particular features in the population studied*831.7* Excludes NNMB survey due to miss of needed information The lowest prevalence was seen in surveies done prior to twelvemonth 2000, in populations with no particular features and among unacculturated folks. Reasonably high prevalence was seen in surveies done after the twelvemonth 2000 and in acculturated folks. The highest prevalence was seen in surveies done among population with particular features.

Candide. Everything Has a Cause Essay -- voltaire, philosophy

Pangloss is one of the most significant figures around Candide. His central philosophy that â€Å"things cannot be other than they are, since everything was made for a purpose† (Voltaire 20) has been attacked by Voltaire in Candide. Voltaire criticized Pangloss’s philosophy by using the story of Candide killing Baron’s son – Cunà ©gonde’s brother. Candide told Baron that he wanted to marry his sister, and Baron exclaimed to disagree. Irritated by Baron’s words, Candide killed him. Later Candide and his servant escaped, but they were caught by Oreillons and were ready to be eaten until Candide told them that he was not a Jesuit as he killed one Jesuit – Baron. Because of this, Candide was freed from being eaten, and he said: What grand people they are! What fine fellows! And what culture! If I had not been lucky enough to spit Lady Cunà ©gonde’s brother, I should infallibly have been eaten. What all is said and done, there is a sterling goodness in an unsophisticated Nature†¦ Candide believed that the effect of him not being eaten is caused by the fact that he killed Baron and hence he was naively â€Å"full of admiration† to those peoplongly influenced by scientific revolution, the spirit of skepticism, brought forward by Pierre Bayle, also showed to us that there is cause and effect. He emphasized that nothing can ever be known beyond all doubt, and being skeptic encourages people to discover people why things take place. In other words, people should begin to focus more on reasoning rather than accepting the fact that â€Å"natural force† affects our life. From scientific revolution to our current era of Enlightenment to the emergence of skepticism, cause and effect kept playing a great role in leading scientists and philosophers to move forward. Consequently, Voltaire’s attack of cause and effect seemed to be gossamer and powerless since in our daily life, cause and effect can help us understand things that happen in our life and its impact on everyone living in Enlightenment cannot be overlooked.

Historical & Contextual Studies in Fashion Essay - 2

Historical & Contextual Studies in Fashion - Essay Example The essay "Historical & Contextual Studies in Fashion" discusses if the city of Paris still the center of the fashion. Currently, Paris is still one of the leading fashion centres alongside London, Milan and New York. Fashion around the world is still evolving, but the shopping centres of Paris are still the same, with a lot of shoppers from around the world and the famous High End Couture still receiving a lot of attention. Summer shopping is specifically becoming a common practice in Paris as people move around browsing boutiques along the arcades of historic Palais-Royal and the spectacular Canal of St. Martin. Fashion shopping is like a hobby for many people visiting the town, and fashion is like a tourist attraction in the entire Paris. This essay argues that Paris was once a centre for fashion and this is still the case until today considering the continuous fashion shopping practice that has dominated and evolved for centuries. Arguments for the proposition that Paris is still the centre of fashion in the world are far and wide. These arguments are basically about the history of Paris and its fashion institutions, and the factors that have influenced it throughout history. Paris is known throughout history as culturally fashioned city. Fashion has been considered as the cornerstone of national identity in Paris and France since the 19th century. By the second half of the century, fashion had become a booming business in France, with its base in Paris. Fashion developed alongside wider changes of the society.

The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe Assignment

The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe - Assignment Example Many folk practices and folktales have been cataloged in the ethnographic encyclopedia and folkloric motifs as a standard guide. These works allow the historian to crosscheck critically the practices and customs that were documented in primary sources. Our area of focus is going to deal with blood and its relationship to the early modern European (Redwald 27). The blood and the bodily symbolism are not only going to reflect the individual and social beliefs but also be able to interpret as they have the values and concepts that can be used to understand how people’s identity is built in a given society that they belong to. Anthropology methodologies are normally concerned with people’s culture; we are going to deal with an anthropological study of magic, witchcraft, heresy, and mysticism commonly known as paganism. Paganism ranges in various ways of high magic (known as ceremonial magic); through witchcraft, these two have varying cosmologies and mythologies, but they h ave a common unifying belief in communication with other spirits and deities in other worlds. These are usually experienced in one’s consciousness (Matteoni 97). According to Sprenger and Institoris’ analysis about witchcraft to have an effect, there must be the witch, the devil and God’s permission to concur in all the mentioned things. So the definition of many late medieval icons about the devil is not easy as one cannot tell the extent to which the devil is present in people’s minds (James 70). According to Peter Burke, the definition of â€Å"people† in western culture existed from the opposed categories: the nobility for the commoners, the literate for the illiterate, the rich for the poor, and the clergy for the laity. Historiography witchcraft reflects the problem of which figure perception by different parts of society, and historians have taken into consideration the socio-economic problems and changes in religious tensions, early modern society, the perception of the witch figure, effect of reformation and its gender relations (Levack 74).           Ã‚  

Hrm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hrm - Essay Example There are various differences between leadership and management; however, their biggest difference is how they get their followers to do what they want. This makes all the difference in various aspects of how they do things. Managers’ power given to them by the organizations they are employed in and they have assistants who work for them. Management uses transactional method to have tasks done. This means that the subordinates do what they are told because they expect something in return, this is normally salary. Managers act out of motivation that they will get paid after delivering. Therefore they put focus to their subordinate to reach the organizations’ expectations. On the other hand leaders do not have subordinates, unless in formal setting where they also hold management roles. In normal circumstances, leaders have followers who are inspired by their actions (Daft, & Lane, 2005, P. 5). Leadership requires that a person appeal other people so much that they are ready to stop doing what they are doing to follow them. It means they are ready to take risks they would not have considered to take were it not for the influence of a particular person (Bertocci, 2009, P. 6). Leaders get things done through their strong charisma and they do not promise their followers material reward; they persuade them by promising them positive transformation. Therefore, leadership is about making positive effect in people’s lives and leaders are able to convince people that they will become better people after following their leadership. Leadership focus a lot of their attention to people they work with. Leaders are charismatic but they do not necessarily hav e a loud personality they use a quiet, genuine style of addressing people. They are also ready to take blame for other people’s mistakes and always give credit to others. Leadership has many positive effects to

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 20

Summary - Essay Example The controversy which its use aroused eventually compelled music producers to cease the inclusion of DRM technology on its audio discs, with EMI being the last company to do so in 2007 (Thompson). DRM faded out of use because it violated existent copyright laws and did not produce the expected results. While DRM is designed to protect copyright material it does so in a way which violates existent fair use policies. As Sarah Houghton-Jan writes, â€Å"DRM makes it illegal for the owner of that CD to use that content on more than one device (which you should be legally allowed to do)† (53). When a person purchases an audio disc which has DRM technology embedded on it, the person is consenting to DTM terms. These terms include, in some cases, the inability to play the CD audio content on more than one machine and, quite possibly, the inability to play it on any of the machines which the user owns (Houghton-Jan, 53-54). In reference to the last, this is because not all machines have the required decryption codec installed. The implication here is that DRM technology violates the owner’s right to play the audio CD on any machine s/he chooses and restricts the types of machines on which s/he can play the CD. Hence, restrictions on use extend beyond the illegal duplication and dissemination of the copyrighted music and, indeed violate the CD owner’s rights. Apart from its violation of fair use policy, DRM had the effect, not of halting illegal copying of copyrighted music but, of negatively impacting music sales. As the music industry’s leading producers, EMI, Sony and others have realised â€Å"DRM doesn’t work and actually negatively impacts sales† (Rapoza, 47). It is an extremely costly approach to the prevention of copyright violations and, more importantly, it does not fulfil its promise to prevent unauthorised copying and dissemination. This is because encryption codes have proven

Financial Institutions Lending Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Financial Institutions Lending - Essay Example It is calculated by dividing total debts by total assets. A debt ratio of greater than1 indicates that a company has more debt than assets -a debt ratio of less than 1 indicates thata company has more assets than debt. Used in conjunction with other measures of financial health, the debt ratio can help investors determine a company's level of risk. A lending risk assessment ratio that financial institutions and others lenders examine before approving a mortgage.Typically,assessments with high LTV ratios are generally seen as higher risk and, therefore, if themortgage is accepted,the loanwill generally cost the borrower more to borrow or he or she will need to purchase mortgage insurance. A debt service measure that financial lenders use asa rule of thumbtogivea preliminaryassessment about whether a potentialborrower is already in too muchdebt.Receiving aratio ofless than30%means that the potential borrowerhas an acceptable level of debt. A general termdescribinga financialratio that compares some form of owner's equity (or capital) to borrowed funds. Gearing is a measure of financial leverage, demonstrating the degree to which a firm's activities are funded by owner's funds versus creditor's funds. The higher a company'sdegree of leverage, the more thecompany is considered risky. As for most ratios, an acceptable levelis determined by its comparisonto ratios ofcompanies in the same industry.The best known examples of gearing ratios include the debt-to-equity ratio (total debt / total equity), times interest earned (EBIT / total interest), equity ratio (equity / assets), and debt ratio (total debt / total assets). 5. Solvency Ratio One of many ratios used tomeasure a company's ability to meet long-term obligations. The solvency ratio measuresthe size ofa company's after-tax income, excluding non-cash depreciation expenses, as compared to the firm's total debt obligations. It provides a measurement of how likely a company will be to continue meeting its debt obligations. Thus, credit quality can best be evaluated by analyzing the probability of a company running out of both cash and profits at any given moment. To evaluate the possibility of a company running out of cash, lenders generally look at a cash budget for the firm. They evaluate various scenarios and try to determine how likely the ending cash balance will be negative, implying a need for outside funds that may not be forthcoming if the company is not profitable. The extent of the credit losses that then arise if a firm does run out of cash is a function of the collateral or seniority status of each debt, as well as the value of the total assets of the company in bankruptcy. Essentially, credit analysis can be simply conducted by comparing the company's average Times Interest Earned (TIE) ratio over the past few years to that of the cross-sectional average TIE of groups of firms with the same public credit rating, such as the same Moody's or S&P letter rating for which public data are available. Then set the company's starting credit rating equal to that which most closely matches the TIE of the firms with a given letter credit rating. Next, the trend in

What a Good Man Is According to Socrates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

What a Good Man Is According to Socrates - Essay Example Since no one has ever experienced death, even if he was released on the condition that he stops his philosophy, Socrates would not accept such trade. His argument is that he relies on the truth that evil things do not happen to good people whether they are dead or alive and that God is not oblivious to the concerns (pragrata) of such a good person. â€Å"No evil can happen to a good man either living or dead... (p28)†. The fact that Socrates regards himself as a good man during the Apology is a contrast that Socrates poses to himself. In his earlier dialogue, Socrates believes that virtue cannot be claimed without moral knowledge, which he claims not to have. Without an in-depth understanding of claim by Socrates, it is easier to assume that the claims by Socrates would only be valid if he also believes that, to a certain extent, one can be good without necessarily having moral virtue. According to Socrates, and indeed with surety, he views the virtuous as good. However, the virtuous cannot claim goodness if they lack moral wisdom that is needed to have the virtue. Away from trying to pursue the true thing that Socrates has in mind with his claim, it is almost obvious for one to deny the claim of Socrates that he does not possess the virtue which he insists he is still seeking. ...the fact is that neither of us knows anything beautiful and good, but he thinks he does know when he doesnt, and I don't know and don't think I do: so I am wiser than he is by only this trifle, that what I do not know I don't think I do. (p. 26) At this point, Socrates admits that he has some wisdom slightly higher than the rest of his fellow human in Athens, a wisdom which is given by God.  

Analysis on Language, culture and communitcation Article - 1

Analysis on Language, culture and communitcation - Article Example 88 interviews, a review of 10,000 documents and 12,000 photos and video, was completed only on Tuesday morning, just hours before the hastily called news conference. The investigators recommended that the UN Security Council require Israel to launch its own credible investigation into the conflict within three months. If that is not done, the investigators called on the council to refer the matter for action by the International Criminal Court prosecutor within six months. However, Israel does not accept the courts authority. "The mandate of the mission and the resolution establishing it prejudged the outcome of any investigation, gave legitimacy to the Hamas terrorist organisation and disregarded the deliberate Hamas strategy of using Palestinian civilians as cover for launching terrorist attacks," Israels Foreign Ministry said. Goldstone, who is Jewish and has strong ties to Israel, told reporters at UN headquarters that "to accuse me of being anti-Israel is ridiculous," anticipating such criticism. He said it was in the interest of both Israelis and Palestinians to establish the truth of what happened in the conflict. In a joint statement, nine Israeli human rights groups said the findings join a "long series of reports" indicating that Israeli and Hamas violated the laws of war. It called on the Israeli government to conduct an "independent and impartial investigation." "Notwithstanding its reservations, Israel will read the report carefully," the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday of the UN report, noting that the military has examined more than 100 allegations regarding the conduct of its forces during the Gaza operation, resulting in 23 criminal investigations. It found seven incidents in which civilians were shot while leaving their homes trying to run for safety, waving white flags and sometimes even following Israeli instructions, as well as the targeting of a mosque at prayer time, killing 15 people, were also war crimes. "Where there is no intended

My Hobby Essay Example for Free

My Hobby Essay Different people like different hobbies. Some like to spend their spare time in reading their favorite books. Some persons have the hobby of collecting stamps or coins. Bird watching is also a hobby for some people. Still other like to spend their free time in gardening. Photography is also a popular hobby for certain persons. But it is quite an expensive hobby and every one may not be sons to afford it. Fishing and swimming are also good hobbies. My favorite hobby is gardening. We have a spacious ground attached to our house I have developed this open space into a beautiful garden. I an always devoting my free time for the up keeping of my beautiful garden which is very dear to me. I get a sense of joy and pride when I visit my garden in my free time. In my garden I have planted some fruit trees. I have also planted some plants of beautiful flowers. Now I have also stated growing vegetables. Our needs for fruit and vegetables are wholly met from my small garden, which give me a great sense of achievement. I am really proud of my garden which is admired by all who visit our house. My garden is also full of sweet smelling and beautiful flowers. The blooming flowers of different colors greatly enhance the beauty of my garden. Thus, my hobby is giving my immense pleasure. Whenever I am much tired of my routine work, I just go to my garden and lie there on the green grass in the midst of blooming flowers. The sweetness fills my nostrils and I feel very active and smart again. My hobby provides me a good amount of physical exercise, too.|

Rates of reaction Essay Example for Free

Rates of reaction Essay Refer to: GRAPH 1 The basic trend of the graph shows that time of reaction (y) decreases at a decreasing rate. More specifically the curve of best fit shows that the average temperature (y) is inversely proportional to the average time of reaction (x). This forms an equation of y=mi (1/x) Time of reaction = constant x (1/temperature). As the constant is set as 1, this can be interpreted as y=1/x. In order to validate this I will produce a line graph showing the relationship between the two. The calculations of 1/temperature are also tabulated below. 2 As can be seen from the graph the time of reaction increases at a constant rate which proves that the time of reaction is proportional to 1 over temperature. Although the points do not form a perfect straight line, using the line of best fit it is possible to determine the time taken by any given temperature. For example a 1/temperature of 0. 015 i C would cause the reaction to take approx. 60 seconds. And by dividing 0. 015 by 1, it is possible determine the actual temperature of the reaction. In this case:   1/temperature = 0. 015 1/0. 025 = 66. 66 Therefore temperature = 66i C Hence it would take approx. 60 seconds for a product to be formed when the temperature is 66i C. I have analysed the time of reaction as this was the dependant variable throughout my experiment, but the aim of my experiment is to determine the relationship between temperature and rate of reaction. Therefore I will begin by producing a scatter diagram showing all the recordings. This will allow me to observe the accuracy of results and also, through a visual display, identify any possible recordings that dont follow the usual trend. Using the recordings of time of reaction, it is possible to convert this into a rate using the following formula: 1 / time taken Below are the rates of reaction calculations tabulated and therefore a scatter diagram demonstrating this: The scatter diagram shows positive correlation meaning as the temperature increases, the rate of reaction also tends to increase. In order to distribute the recordings further and more importantly notify a relationship I will tabulate and produce a line graph showing the average time of reaction recordings against increasing temperature. TEMPERATURE (i C) The basic trend of the graph shows that as the temperature increases so does the rate of reaction, which proves my prediction is correct. However as can be seen, the relationship is not linear. The curve of best fit shows that the average rate of reaction (y) is directly proportional to the square root of temperature (x). I have calculated this below and in order to test a relationship I have produced a line graph: The graph shows that the average rate of reaction increases at a constant rate, excluding the second point, which proves that rate of reaction, is directly proportional to the square root of temperature. Using the line of best fit it is possible to find the rate of reaction by choosing any temperature on the graph. For example a Vtemperature of 3i C would cause the reaction to take approx. 0. 00565 seconds. And by squaring the VtemperaturAs the temperature increases the time of reaction decreases.   As the temperature increases the rate of reaction also increases which validates my prediction is correct. And from demonstrating these findings on line graphs, I was able to determine and prove that:   Time of reaction is proportional to 1/temperature and   rate of reaction is proportional to the square root of temperature. EVALUATION: Accuracy: As can be seen from the circled point on the majority of graphs produced from the results taken, this is identified as an anomaly as it disperses away from the usual trend of the graph. There are many reasons to indicate why an anomaly is present; this consists of human errors and equipment restrictions and possible unruly scientific theories that affect the whole experiment.   The method of using a stop watch to measure the time of reaction was not as reliable as to using more precise recording apparatus such as a time measuring and indicating device for example. This is 1) due to the unit of time where all recordings were automatically rounded to 2d. p. and 2) the mature condition of the stop watch used at times caused a lockage in the start and stop buttons, in a case where the time distinction of getting the stop watch to start and stop may have affected the accuracy of a recording.   Furthermore it was impossible to observe and acknowledge exactly when a reaction had been completed; hence product formation. Extra attention was paid to the reaction, however the stop watch timer was only stopped when I believed the reaction was complete. This is unreliable and has no form of justification as this was determined solely through manual procedure.   Again another profound error may have been the amount of hydrochloric acid. I ensured as much solution as possible was poured into the required beaker after being measured in the measuring cylinder, however there were always small drips of liquid that were inevitable. It is illegible whether this has an influential affect; however this regardless opposes the accuracy of the recordings. The temperature of the solution may have not been as intended at the start of the reaction (when the magnesium was put in). This is primarily due to that the beaker was removed from the heat once the thermometer hit the intended temperature, however the distinction in time of removing the beaker from the heating setup area to the flat desk and entering the magnesium may have caused the temperature to fall (significant/insignificantly is unknown). This is due to the reaction being exothermic, transfer of heat to surroundings, which would have caused dramatic changes in temperature throughout the experiment. There are also reasons to compliment the accuracy of my results:   Each recording was repeated twice. This enabled me to calculate an average and gave me the advantage of being able to produce a better analysis overall.   I was able to identify early on during the preliminary work that the magnesium strips may have not been the same consistent size throughout, but during the actual experiment I took extra care in measuring, cutting and comparing the strips to the required identical length. Reliability: In addition to the scopes of errors mentioned above, there are many other incontrollable factors that may have had a form of influence or obstruction. However no significant problems or difficulties were encountered whilst conducting the experiment. My results and conclusion were accurate and reliable enough to verify a relationship that as the temperature increases, the rate of reaction also increases, hence agreeing with my set prediction. I was also able to determine that an increase in temperature, decreases the time of reaction, furthermore the time of reaction is proportional to 1/temperature and the rate of reaction is proportional to the square root of temperature. Improvements: No matter how accurate produced results are, due to the restriction in apparatus provided and the time to complete the investigation, improvements will always be applicable. Possible improvements:   In order to exclude the scopes of errors mentioned above regarding changing temperature, it would be convenient to conduct reactions in a thermos or similar container which would trap the heat. This would keep the temperature constant and in return increase the accuracy of results. Even though two repeats for each recording was accurate enough to produce a reliable average, increasing this to three or four recordings would produce a range of results which could then be analysed in more detail. From this possible impediments of restrictions may also arise, which whilst analsying may bring about new theories affecting the reactions.   As mentioned earlier, a more precise time measuring device would be useful instead of a stop watch. This would obviously be to produce better, pri cised results and one that would possibly exclude the need of manual operation. Extending the investigation:   It would be useful to experiment temperatures below 30i C. This would enable me to observe the reactions and behavior of lower temperatures. And primarily with the last three temperature recordings it was noticeable that the points were closer which explains the flat curve produced at the end of graphs that produced a curve. This would enable me to observe the point at which reactions are unable to exceed; therefore it would be of use to observe temperatures exceeding 90i. Another method of measurement would be counting the bubbles formed in a reaction. This would require the need of better equipment, but I believe this would form interesting results.   It would also be interesting to experiment the influences of the other variables, as mentioned at the beginning of my coursework. I was able to briefly experiment concentration in my preliminary work, but it would be interesting to do a continuous specialised experiment and also a new variable that comes to mind: light. SECONDARY SOURCES OF INFORMATION: Internet sources used to construct my background knowledge:   http://www. wpbschoolhouse. btinternet. co. uk/page03/3_31rates. htm   http://www. scool. co. uk/topic_quicklearn. asp? loc=qltopic_id=11quicklearn_id=1subject_id=21ebt=248ebn=ebs=ebl=elc=4   http://www. webchem. net/notes/how_far/kinetics/rate_factors. htm.

The History Of The Hypermarket Industry Marketing Essay

The History Of The Hypermarket Industry Marketing Essay In the chapter 1, we will giving an overview of our research topics and also will study the background of the research topic. Besides, this chapter will also explain about the research problems and outline the research objectives that are need to be achieved by us, research question to be answered, hypotheses to be tested and lastly the significance of the study. Research Background Scholars have attempted to build a better definition of impulse buying for over fifty years (Karbasivar Yarahmadi, 2011). Moreover, Lim, Badarulzama, and Ahmad (2003) also claimed that the retail trend in Malaysia keep increasing over years. In other words, retailers such as supermarkets and hypermarkets will substantially increasing in the future and the competition between these retailers will keep rising continuously. In addition of retail trend, there is potential growing trend in impulse purchasing as well (Bayley Nancarrow, 1998). During the research on the topic of impulse buying behaviour, researcher has identified several of essential information. Firstly, Hausman (2000) summarise the previous studies finding and stated that there are almost 90 percent of people making occasionally impulse purchases and 30 percent and 50 percent of all purchases were classified by the buyers themselves as impulse purchases. Besides, Rook and Fishers (1995) also pointed that consumers try to manage their innate impulsive tendencies as they feel that impulse buying as immature or lacking of behavioural control and it is normatively wrong. Yet consumers still insist on purchase product impulsive from retailers especially hypermarket. For these reasons, marketers have the tendency to increase knowledge and understand of the process, of influential factors and of effects of impulse buying (Hair, Bush Ortinau, 2003). Impulsive buying behaviour of consumers often occurred in hypermarket as hypermarket consists of one-stop and all-under-one-roof features (PricewaterhouseCoopers [PwC], 2005). In other words, shoppers who shop in hypermarket will make their purchase on all desired products at once and at the same, they able to enjoy the entertainment facilities provided under the same roof such as bowling alleys, cinema, and snooker centre. In addition, the citizens in Malaysia are becoming wealthier and making them afford to purchase plenty of products including luxury products. In addition, the citizens in Malaysia are becoming wealthier and making them afford to purchase plenty of products including luxury products. Wong (2010) also claimed that the price war among retailers including hypermarkets, supermarkets and small-scale retailers to compete to be low cost leader, resulting the Malaysian to purchase unnecessary product impulsively. 1.1.1 Hypermarket Industry Hypermarket started entering Malaysia in the early 1990s (Lim et al., 2003). Hypermarket is a superstore that merges both supermarket and department store to become a very huge retail facility which carries a tremendous variety of products under one roof, as well as full lines of groceries and general merchandise (Matamalas Ramos, 2009). Most of the hypermarkets are foreign retailers such as Giant, Carrefour, Tesco and so forth while for famous Malaysian-owned hypermarket is MYDIN hypermarket. Due to the significant growth in retail of Malaysia for the past few years and the expansion of foreign brand retailers by entering into our country, it helps to provide consumers with more choice in selection of brands and styles (Wel, Hussin Omar, 2011). Through shopping in hypermarket retailing, consumers will benefit in terms of lower prices, good quality and reliable supply of plenty of variety and assortments of goods including after sales services (Mohd Noor, Mamat Darawi, 2009). Retailers have long discovered the influence power of impulse buying, which is indeed a focal point in many purchasing activities (Mattila Wirtz, 2008). Hypermarket retailers will also value this opportunity as impulse buying will bring substantial amount of profit for them. Furthermore, some grocery retailers especially hypermarkets are starting to compete with purely non-grocery retailers such as home appliances as consumers demanding for more choices (Mohd Noor et al., 2009). The reason that hypermarket retailers took this action is to capture more sales profit from the consumers. 1.1.2 Students Purchasing Power The purchasing power of students must not be underestimated as they could generate a portion of sales for the hypermarket retailers. Besides, there is a new trend emerged from retailers such as supermarket, hypermarket, and shopping mall to build their shop near the higher education institution such as college and university as they have found the importance of students as key segments for their business (Ahmed, Ghingold Dahari, 2007). Basically, it is known that the students resources are mainly come from their parents and the student loan from government or private institutions. Danes, Huddleston-Casas and Boyce (1999) pointed that college students had many resources to spend and tended to be purchase impulsively. While Sabri and MacDonald (2010) revealed that college and university students in Malaysia would like to shop and purchase non-academic goods aggressively once they receive their student loans. Their study also shows there are about 45 percent of students in Malaysia spe nt all their loans before the end of semester (Sabri MacDonald, 2010). Moreover, some high education institutions in Malaysia have introducing their students to visit hypermarket near the students hostel and institution as the price offered by hypermarket will be cheaper than any small specialty shops, leading these students to make purchase in hypermarket (Berjaya University College of Hospitality, 2013; MONASH University, 2013). Apart from that, researches had shown that the students who visit hypermarket possesses greater proportion to purchase impulsively compare to other segments (Lim et al., 2011; ET Bureau, 2012). In addition, the continuous expansion of education services in Malaysia has made students as an important consumer market segment (Economic Planning Unit, 2006). There are two reasons why they will become an important consumer market segment. The first reason is the students purchasing power in Malaysia has growing, due to the availability of student loans; second, among all the market segments of population, student segment is the segment that has great potential earnings in future (Sabri, MacDonald, Masud, Paim, Hira Othman, 2008). Problem Statement Retailers have long discovered the influence power of impulse buying, which is indeed an essential point in many purchasing activities (Mattila Wirtz, 2008). As the result, it produce intensive competition among the retailers such as supermarkets, hypermarkets, discount stores, convenience stores and even the small-scale retailers in the form of shop houses. The fierce competition among retailers especially supermarkets and hypermarkets required them to figure out any approaches to attract consumers and lead them to make impulsive purchase as consumer impulse buying is one of the greatest ways for retailers to generate high profitability. Specifically for students, as there are previous studies shown that students cover high percentage of sales from impulse purchasing (Lim et al., 2011; ET Bureau, 2012). Although there are consumers including student who always revisit their favourite retail stores and tend to be loyal to a particular store but some consumers are often to be cherry pickers (Wel et al., 2011). In other words, they are not usually loyal to one store, while on the contrary, they will easily switch to other retail stores in order to bargain for the best price before they purchase any of the products. Therefore, in order to survive in the current marketplace, retailers must find out the ways to attract and retain significant share of consumer impulse purchases (Dlamini, 2006). As the result, as to achieve competitive advantage and stand out in marketplace, it is crucial to examine the effect of impulse purchases and highlighting factors that will direct and indirectly affect consumer impulse buying behaviour towards retail setting industry such as hypermarket. Hausman (2000) stated that impulse buying is an enigma within marketing world as it is considered wrong by the literature and consumers, yet it still account for a large amount of sales for retail industry every year. In addition, information about impulse buying and its numerous influential variables is still considered less (Abdolvand, Hanzaee, Rahnama Khoshpanjeh, 2011). Hence, scholars and researchers should participate further in this challenging topic. Although researches might face plenty of complicatedness during the process of investigating and examine, this topic has generated substantial amount of research interest for over thirty years (Beatty Ferrell, 1998). The topic of impulse purchases has received substantial research interest in marketing literature (Beatty Ferrell, 1998; Rook Fisher, 1995; Hadjali, Salimi Ardestani, 2012). However, research on impulse buying is often focused on consumers in the United States, yet fewer researches are done in non-western country such as Malaysia (Kacen Lee, 2002). Therefore, this study is to gain better understanding of how in-store environment, positive emotions and social norms influence consumer impulse buying behaviour in Malaysia. This study will investigate whether in-store environment, positive emotions and social norms have the power to influence consumer impulse buying behaviour in Malaysia corresponds to the western countries. Research objective According to the problem statement mentioned above, the researches of the topic of impulse buying behaviour is still ambiguous and it is requires for scholars or researchers to implement more researches in order to remove the ambiguous and acquire more accurate information of impulse buying behaviour. Apart from that, due to the tense competition among the hypermarket in Malaysia, hypermarket owners must clearly identified the important elements or factors that will truly influence the consumers to make purchase impulsively in their respective hypermarkets. 1.3.1 General objective This research is concentrated on underlying factors that influencing impulse buying behaviour. Besides, this research also studies on analyzing the relationship between the factors and impulse buying behaviour. Specific Objective To examine the relationship between in-store environment and impulse buying behaviour in hypermarket. To examine the relationship between positive emotion and impulse buying behaviour in hypermarket. To examine the relationship between social norms and impulse buying behaviour in hypermarket. Research Question Does in-store environment positively influence impulse buying behaviour in hypermarket? Does positive emotion positively influence impulse buying behaviour in hypermarket? Do social norms positively influence impulse buying behaviour in hypermarket? 1.5 Hypothesis of the study Findings from previous research together with the objectives of the study lead toward the development of the following hypotheses: There is a relationship between in-store environment and impulse buying behaviour in hypermarket. There is a relationship between positive emotion and impulse buying behaviour in hypermarket. There is a relationship between social norms and impulse buying behaviour in hypermarket. 1.6 Significance of the Study This research is determining whether impulse buying behaviour of college and university students has significant influence on stores sales and profit, and most of the stores and hypermarket had started implemented the impulse buying strategy. Due to this reason, our research is to study what are the critical factors that trigger the customer impulsive buying behaviour. This research is relatively important to all retailers especially hypermarket owners. By going through this research study, retailers are able to understand the critical factors that will greatly affect their store sales. For example, the enhanced store design or store environment that is varies from the conventional store design which is believed that it is unique by comparing to other stores, thereby it will play as a role of catching the attention of the pass by customers. Therefore, it can increase or trigger the tendency of impulse buying behaviour of the customers. 1.7 Chapter layout 1.7.1 Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter will provide an overview of the study which includes the background of studies, problem statement, general and specific objectives, research questions, hypothesis, and significance of the study, chapter layout and conclusion that explaining the purpose of the research. 1.7.2 Chapter 2: Literature Review This chapter shows the literature review that includes a full relevant of the relevant research work for the research topic. It describes the relationships for every independent and dependent variables. The research study reviews the relevant theoretical models, and then proposes the theoretical framework and hypotheses development. 1.7.3 Chapter 3: Research Methodology This chapter describes how the research study is carried out and gathers the data, by using the appropriate research design, data collection methods, sampling design, research instrument, construct measurement data processing and method of data analysis. 1.7.4 Chapter 4: Research Result This chapter presents the patterns of the results and analyses of the results which are relevant to the research questions and hypotheses by using SPSS analysis. 1.7.5 Chapter 5: Discussion and Conclusion In this chapter, the research study summarizes the research findings which are included statistical analyses, discussions of major findings, implications of study, limitations of the study and recommendations for future research. 1.8 Conclusion This chapter will provide an overview of the research study. The background, problem statement of this study, research objective and questions has been identified. Hypotheses of this study have been formed and it will be used to focus on factors that influence impulse buying behaviour in hypermarket. A further review of the previous relevant studies and researches will be conducted in the next chapter.

To Pleasant Or Not To Pleasant :: essays research papers

TO PLEASANT OR NOT TO PLEASANT?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Welcome to the world of drugs, sex, crime, and the worst weather you could ever imagine. Or, if it were a choice would you rather jump into the TV and join all your buddies at the perfect place. Nothing is ever out of order, there are no â€Å"F’s† to worry about, you do everything the same way everyday and if you do anything it’s going to be perfect. The largest problem that would come along would be Mrs. Smith’s cat getting stuck in the tree again. Luckytown you ask? No, it’s Pleasantville. Sounds great doesn’t it. Who wouldn’t want to live there? But, there always has to be someone to corrupt everything.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In this story that started out with two siblings that hated each other because of their popularity at school turned into a great movie. The sister was punky and the brother was nerdy, their views on life were very different. When the sister, Reese Witherspoon, plans to have her soon to be boyfriend over to watch the MTV awards her brother, Toby Magurie, has already planned to watch his favorite TV show Pleasantville. As the two fight over the remote control they break it. An old mysterious man shows up claming to be the TV repairman. Both siblings are in wonder why he showed up on their doorstep. They let him in; he ends up testing the brother on Pleasantville. Then he gives the two a big powerful remote that anyone would go crazy over. They are instantly zapped into the TV. When they get to Pleasantville they are both shocked and don’t know what to do. The brother tries to get the sister to play along, but that is not her inner nature. She plays along in f ront of her brother, for a while. She quickly tires of all the sweetness and starts playing with everyone. She shows them bad things and the result of this is color. Everyone starts changing colors and the gray people are revolted by the change, because it’s not what they are used to. As the movie goes through, everything changes. It kind of has the effect of war. One bad thing happens and everyone is effected.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The sister and the brother have to start getting along to keep everyone sane. The idea of the change was the reason why everyone was changing. The teenagers would have intercourse and turn to color, they would read and turn to color, and even chew gum and turn to color.

Argumentative Essay: Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence

Our nation has changed over the years. There is no question about that. The generation that my grandfather grew up in during the 1930’s and 1940’s has often been called â€Å"The Greatest Generation† (Brokaw). Why is my generation not talked about for our inventions and advances in technology? Maybe that the downfall of our generation has been the media and the influence it has on the public? There is no doubt that the media can spin a story into a shocking and scary account produced solely on the intent to sell. This information force-fed to the public can cause fear and hatred to develop within our country and result in gun violence and bloodshed. One reason for the amount of youth violence in America is the violent content in many video games. The average adolescent spends a major part of the normal week watching or interacting with some form of the media’s products. Video games are one of these media based mediums and have become increasingly popular since the 1980’s. According to a report in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, "Female gamers spent an average of 44 minutes playing on the weekdays and one hour and four minutes playing on the weekends, and male gamers spent an average of 58 minutes playing on the weekdays and one hour and 37 minutes playing on the weekends" ("Video Game Play Among Adolescents"). What can we understand from this evidence? The fact is that adolescents, male or female, are spending tremendous amounts of time each day sitting in front of a screen with a controller in hand. Although there is little evidence to conclude that violence in video games directly leads to adolescent gun violence, there are proven studies that show increased levels of anger and aggression in the human brain when... ...Federal Trade Commission. â€Å"Results of Nationwide Undercover Survey Released.† Oct. 2003. Mar. 2008. JAMA and Archives Journals. "Study Examines Video Game Play Among Adolescents." ScienceDaily 4 July 2007. 19 March 2008 . Kleck, Gary. â€Å"Targeting Firearms.† Aldine de Gruyter. 1997, pp. 94, 98-100 Mathews, Vincent.†Violent Video Games Poison the Teenage Brain: Study.† American School Board Journal. Feb2007, Vol. 194 Issue 2, p10-10 Norcia, Andrea. "The Impact of Video Games on Children." Palo Alto Medical Foundation Apr 2007 20 Mar 2008 . â€Å"Violent Video Games – Psychologists Help Protect Children from Harmful Effects.† Psychology Matters. Mar. 2008 Woodard, E.H. & Gridina, N. â€Å"Media in the Home 2000, The fifth annual survey of parents and children.† The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, PA. Feb 2001. 20 Mar 2008 .

Assemble & Associate :: essays research papers

Assemble and Associate The first amendment of the Constitution is one of the most fundamental and essential appendages to the C onstitution that statesmen could ever have made. It basically provides the way and means for any citizen of the United States to speak freely, worship freely, assemble with whomever they want, and complain to the government. One of the most important of those freedoms however, is the right of association. Association protects the rights of persons to enter into relationships with one another unhampered by intrusive governmental regulation. More specifically expressive association protects the right to associate with others in pursuit of a wide variety of political, social, economic, educational, religious, and cultural ends. The right to associate, being derived from the provisions of free speech and assembly, is fundamental to all private associations so that they might have the right to their own standards for membership and leadership. The Boy Scouts of America has been a private organization with the mission and chartered purpose of providing character-building experiences for young people since its founding in 1910. The organization’s Oath states, â€Å"On my honor I will do my best †¦ to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.† It is a scout’s duty to uphold this oath and live by the scout law. In April of 2000 the Boy Scouts of America’s rights to establish its own standards of membership and continue to instill the values of the Scout Oath and Law into the scouts were challenged. An individual's position as assistant scoutmaster of a New Jersey troop was revoked after a division of the Boy Scouts learned that the individual was an avowed homosexual and gay rights activist. The assistant scoutmaster filed suit in the New Jersey Superior Court, and alleged, among other matters, that the Boy Scouts had violated a state law prohibiting discrimination in places of public accommodation on the basis of sexual orientation. The Boy Scouts held that this violated their First Amendment right of expressive association. The Boy Scouts of America believe an avowed homosexual is not a role model for the values espoused in the Scout Oath and Law. The right of association is utterly the most important principle in the issue of the Boy Scouts of America and their right to be selective in their requirements of leadership. The Boy Scouts have the right to assemble with whomever they choose.

Difference Between Domestic and International Marketing

Difference between international marketing and domestic marketing First, International marketing is facing a more complex market environment . Domestic marketing is conducted in this country and so faced corresponding structure of the market environment is relatively simple ,which consists of those factors that are more familiar to companies — the domestic political, economic, legal, cultural and so on. However, International marketing is facing a more complex environment, it's a market with multi-level structure.This is because those companies who engage in international marketing , will inevitably be subjected to the world market environment. Which requires companies to face the world market environment, including the world's political, military, economic, technological and other aspects. Second, International marketing is facing more Uncertainties factors The contradiction between subjective understanding and objective reality, coupled with the volatility of the objective p rocess, international marketing facd more uncertainties factors for the companies .Compared with domestic marketing, it's more difficult to make sure the total demand, purchasers and competitors and more difficult to investigate and predict wholesale segment, retail structure, buying habits in international marketing. Third, International marketing is facing more diverse selection of marketing programs Companies in the domestic market, although also need to deal with different regions and different programs for different target markets, different strategies, and even the use of different promotions, but the overall program is the same however. he international market is a market composed of different countries . Enterprises in the international marketing, its marketing programs are of diversity, Enterprises in different country markets to sell their products, not unified marketing program, and must host country market, different scenarios were developed.Four, Marketing in internatio nal marketing is more difficult   Besides the complex environment and the uncertain factors ,diverse selection programs, international marketing have more risks and meet more fierce competition. The risks are added by the changing international political situation and the fluctuate exchange rate . Competitor's brilliant competitive strategy in price, promotion and products made the international market more and more narrow. Difference Between Domestic and International Marketing Difference between international marketing and domestic marketing First, International marketing is facing a more complex market environment . Domestic marketing is conducted in this country and so faced corresponding structure of the market environment is relatively simple ,which consists of those factors that are more familiar to companies — the domestic political, economic, legal, cultural and so on. However, International marketing is facing a more complex environment, it's a market with multi-level structure.This is because those companies who engage in international marketing , will inevitably be subjected to the world market environment. Which requires companies to face the world market environment, including the world's political, military, economic, technological and other aspects. Second, International marketing is facing more Uncertainties factors The contradiction between subjective understanding and objective reality, coupled with the volatility of the objective p rocess, international marketing facd more uncertainties factors for the companies .Compared with domestic marketing, it's more difficult to make sure the total demand, purchasers and competitors and more difficult to investigate and predict wholesale segment, retail structure, buying habits in international marketing. Third, International marketing is facing more diverse selection of marketing programs Companies in the domestic market, although also need to deal with different regions and different programs for different target markets, different strategies, and even the use of different promotions, but the overall program is the same however. he international market is a market composed of different countries . Enterprises in the international marketing, its marketing programs are of diversity, Enterprises in different country markets to sell their products, not unified marketing program, and must host country market, different scenarios were developed.Four, Marketing in internatio nal marketing is more difficult   Besides the complex environment and the uncertain factors ,diverse selection programs, international marketing have more risks and meet more fierce competition. The risks are added by the changing international political situation and the fluctuate exchange rate . Competitor's brilliant competitive strategy in price, promotion and products made the international market more and more narrow.

Federal and State Sentencing Essay

In 1998 the District of Columbia Sentencing and Criminal Code Revision Commission was charged with developing a comprehensive structured sentencing system for the District. The Commission concluded that the District could benefit from a comprehensive structured sentencing system. Next, the Commission embarks the difficult task of creating workable sentencing guidelines for felonies. As Washington, DC follows the lead of other jurisdictions as well as an earlier effort in the District, the Commission developed two grids: one for drug cases and one for all other cases in the direction of the dominant factors in sentencing: the offense of conviction and the criminal history of the offender. The Commission also established standards for departing from the recommended prison ranges in extraordinary cases, rules for imposing concurrent or consecutive sentences, along with adjustments and exceptions to sentencing. Together, the grids, standards, rules, adjustments and exceptions form the Voluntary Sentencing Guidelines for the District of Columbia. (ACS, 2012-pg.9) Sentencing for a felony conviction is usually heard by the judge/court in a separate hearing which is held several days or weeks after the verdict. There is so many types of offenders with varied backgrounds and criminal histories that the act of sentencing them is one of the most stressful and complex decisions made by judges. (Champion, D., Hartley, R. & Rabe, Gary. 2008, 2002). At the felony sentencing hearing, the prosecution makes a recommendation of punishment, and the defendant usually argues for leniency. The Supreme Court’s decisions that struck down state and federal criminal sentencing guidelines have caused a cascade of prediction of disaster. Shephard shows  in his study how sentencing guidelines have actually increased crime and not decreased crime. It has also been shown that in a landmark Blakely and Booker decisions, the Supreme Court had found that Washington State and federal sentencing system violated the Sixth Amendment and has identified nine other states whose regimes may also be unconstitutional (ACS, 2012-pg.9). Some guidelines were deemed invalid because they allowed the judge to determine factual issues during the sentencing that should have been decided by a jury. References ACS, (2012). Voluntary Sentencing Guidelines Manual. Retrieved, Feb. 22, 2015, from DC Sentencing and Criminal Code Revision Commission (Formerly Office of Advisory Commission on Sentencing): http://acs.dc.gov/acs/frames.asp?doc=/acs/lib/acs/pdf/2012_Voluntary_Sentencing_Guidelines_Manual.pdf Champion, D., Hartley, R. & Rabe, Gary, (2008, 2002). Sentencing and Appeals: Chapter Ten p.405, Criminal Courts: Structure, Process, and Issues -Second Edition, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Child Abuse and Neglect Policy Essay

1. Purpose To inform all employees of Aprils Daycare of the requirement to report suspected child abuse (including sexual abuse) or neglect and to inform employees of their immunity from civil liability or criminal penalty for reporting. To establish procedures to be used by all employees of the daycare in making oral and written reports to the appropriate authorities of suspected cases of child abuse or neglect. To protect children from abuse and neglect. 2. Definitions Under this Policy, the abuse and neglect of a child (i.e., any individual under the age of eighteen (18) years) is defined as follows: Physical injury not necessarily visible of a child under circumstances that indicate that a child’s health or welfare is harmed or at substantial risk of being harmed; The observable, identifiable, and substantial impairment of a child’s mental or psychological ability to function; The failure to provide proper care and attention to a child, including leaving a child unattended, under circumstances that indicate that the child’s health or welfare is harmed or placed at substantial risk of harm; or Any act that involves sexual molestation or exploitation of a child (i.e., any sexual contact or conduct with a child) regardless of whether the child has physical injuries. 3. Who Must Report Any employee of the daycare who has reason to believe that a child has been subjected to abuse (including sexual abuse) or neglect (the â€Å"Reporter†) by any parent, guardian, adoptive parent or other person who has permanent or temporary care or custody or responsibility for the supervision of such child (including, without limitation, daycare employees), or any household or family member of such child, shall make a report as directed below. An employee must act on the basis of any information and belief. The law gives the Reporter very little latitude. 1. The Reporter must immediately notify and give all information required below to the head of the daycare (the  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Head†) or, if the head of the daycare is unavailable, his or her designee (the â€Å"Designee†). [NOTE: The Daycare could choose to have more than one designee.] a. If the Head and the Designee are not immediately available but will be available later during that same daycare day, the Reporte r shall wait to make the report required above to the Head or the Designee as soon as they are available. b. If neither the Head nor the Designee will be available later during that same school day, the Reporter shall follow the directions in Step 2.a. below. 2. After notifying the Head or Designee, the Reporter, along with the Head or the Designee, must make an oral report (by telephone or direct communication) as soon as possible to the local Department of Social Services or the local law enforcement agency. Contact information is as follows: CFSD 1 (866) 820-5437. a. If neither the Head nor the Designee will be available during that same school day, the Reporter shall make the oral report as soon as possible without waiting to notify the Head or the Designee. 3. The Reporter must also make a written report to the local Department of Social Services not later than forty-eight (48) hours after the contact, examination, attention, or treatment that caused the Reporter to believe that the child had been subjected to abuse (including sexual abuse) or neglect. The reporter should also send a copy of the written report to the local Licensing Agency. Contact information is as follows: (406)655-7633. o The written report must be signed either (i) by the Reporter or (ii) by the Reporter and the Head or Designee. If the Reporter signs the written report without the accompanying signature of the Head or Designee, the Head or Designee must first review the report unless neither is available to do so within the requisite forty-eight (48) hours. 4. Contents of Written Report As far as is reasonably possible, an oral or written report made under this Policy shall include the following information: the name, age, and home address of the child; the name and home address of the child’s parent or other person responsible  for the child’s care; the whereabouts of the child; the nature and extent of the abuse or neglect of the child, including any evidence or information available to the Reporter concerning possible previous instances of abuse or neglect; and any other information that would help to determine (i) the cause of the suspected abuse or neglect; and (ii) the identity of any individual responsible for the abuse or neglect. 5. Immunity Any person who in good faith makes or participates in making a report of abuse or neglect or participates in an investigation or a resulting judicial proceeding is immune by state law from any civil liability or criminal penalty that would otherwise result from making or participating in a report of abuse or neglect or participating in an investigation or a resulting judicial proceeding.

Outside reading

This article featured in US Catholic Magazine discusses the importance that a pilgrimage can offer our spiritual life. I found out that pilgrimages to important Catholic sites, usually where Jesus or saints traveled are Important today as they were thousands of years ago. Before modern transportation, pilgrims took a prolonged Journey that lasted anywhere from several weeks to a year. This extended travel really demonstrated a pilgrim's dedication to their faith. Usually the reasons for this trip were to ask for divine aid, to fulfill a religious obligation, or to venerate an important place or object.Just arriving to a sacred place is only part of their Journey. Pilgrims, by embarking on an exterior, physical Journey, take an interior Journey as well. Even though the journey has changed over the centuries, Pilgrimages continue to function as an important tool for spiritual growth. By actually embarking on a pilgrimage, we can encounter firsthand the global nature of our faith and ou r Catholic heritage. Seeing Catholics flock from all the corners of the Earth for one specific purpose leaves an unforgettable sense of community within.Overall, the repose for any pilgrimage, near or far, Is to have a physical experience to help us better understand what we cannot come to know through our senses. Reading about pilgrimages Is far different from actually taking one. Reading about the powerful emotions and feelings taken from this experience makes me wonder what triggers these reactions. The author of this article said that on one of her journeys, she, â€Å"l felt that I connected with the life of SST. Francis?and therefore with Christ, whom he sought to imitate. The trip changed my life. † She also goes on to describe that the runner itself is as important as the destination.When people think of taking a pilgrimage, they usually decide on where they are going, not how they will arrive there. Looking at the Journey rather than the destination itself puzzles me because I would have not thought to think of that particular part. The motivation for taking this journey also posed questions for me. I read that, â€Å"Pilgrimages work because they address a fundamental human principle: to use our experiences of the perceivable created world to connect with the creator, whom we cannot see,† which means that NY pilgrimage helps us connect with God on a spiritual level as well.Not only has this article described what a pilgrimage is, but has challenged me to think about taking a pilgrimage for myself. The author says that her trips have changed her life. I wonder if it is possible for this to happen to anyone, including myself. I read that pilgrims don't Just help you escape, but call you to let go of current situation and seek interior conversion. The time spent following the footsteps of other Christians push us to directly encounter God. A pilgrimage is part of the foundation of our faith since it is essentially how it began.Since you ca n make a pilgrimage without spending much money or traveling a great distance, I know it is possible for anyone to take one. The key Is to recognize that you are in a sacred space where God's nearness becomes much clearer to you, which does not require you to travel great distances since god Is everywhere. Pilgrimages prove that In order to move your soul, you usually need to move your feet as well. The main purpose of this article Is to persuade people of the significance of a pilgrimage.It calls us to recognize that it is not just a trip for our evidence of God's presence in our world today. It challenges us to be moved by the faith from those experiencing God's healing love at these sacred sites. Becoming a pilgrim means is to realize that everyone is equal before God and challenges to take the wisdom acquired from the Journey and apply them to situations back home. This article calls to our attention that living a good faith-filled life isn't easy and that we should be making di fficult climbs to get to God who always waits for us.

Organizational change management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Organizational change management - Essay Example The changes can be planned or unplanned .The change becomes important if it has some positive impact to the organization. Organizational change is important in the survival and success of the company which brings good and efficient development. This leads to formation of techniques of managing the organizational change (Aswathappa, 2007). There are external and internal pressures which need to be addressed. The external pressures include; fashion pressures, mandated pressures and geopolitical pressures. Moreover market decline where the current market begins to decline thus pressure to invent new and more viable markets (Blanchard, 2010). A hyper competition pressure caused by high intensified rates of business brings pressure for change at the organizational level. Reputation and credibility pressures caused by corporate governance issues which cause one to ensure they maintain good reputation and high level of credibility. Internal pressures include those activities that take place inside the organization; growth, integration and collaboration, identity, power and political pressures. Growth pressures come due to the fact that the existing processes and systems in the organization can no longer be applicable due to increase in the size of the organization. Integration and collaboration pressures due to integration and economies of scale can lead to change in the organization. Identity pressure due to unified commitment of staff in different departments of the organization can led to change due to difficult in management. New broom pressure that is change in senior management level mainly the CEO can lead to significant changes in an organization. Power and political pressures can lead to change the internal processes of decision making (Pride, et al., 2011). This is a formal design of managerial hierarchies within an

Functional Social Support and Major Depression In Cancer Patients Article

Functional Social Support and Major Depression In Cancer Patients - Article Example Functional social support (FSS) is needed, and it entails more of emotional assistance The article highlights the findings that were observed after an undertaking that sought to show the impact of each of these support methods. It was noted that there was no discrepancy in the way both genders perceived the impact of FSS. In the same study, the researchers sought to analyze the impact of social support in relation to major depression by age. In the study, younger patients from the age of 18 to 54 were included in the study. It was observed that the FSS full scale was negative and had significant relation to MD among the younger and the older population (Chan et al p.48). The studies proved that some approaches prove vital for patients suffering from various conditions including cancer. However, for people who suffer from physical illnesses, some support systems proved to have little impact (Chan et al p.49). Notwithstanding this discovery, the study also showed that perception is imperative in aiding the patients. For instance, the Social Support could be beneficial to the patients if their perception is backed up by others in the society. Also, the impact often depends on the gender with evidence from the study showing male patients do not necessarily need the FSS and the AFF. In short, the study showed that the relation between the clinical depression and the SS is mainly moderated by a source or support, gender and the type of FSS employed. Nonetheless, the study comprehensively observed that, â€Å"the provision of social support can lead to a reduction in depressed mood in the following day† (Chan et al p.49). That is to say that whilst not every sickness can be remedied through the said interventions, offer support to these patients has significant impact on their psychological condition. Normally, when patients are left alone, there is