The Digestive System

The Digestive System Why is it that 1 in 3 people perhaps even more regularly battles some kind of digestion problems? Understanding how the digestive system works will help to understand why digestive problems are so common. The digestive system is more than stomach and intestines. It is a system of organs that turns food into energy and is one of the most important functions the body performs. There are many reasons that cause so many people to suffer with digestive problems. Three of the most common reasons are the lack of knowledge of how the digestive system works, poor nutrition and undiagnosed medical conditions. Lack of knowledge of how the digestive system works is one of the many reasons that cause digestive problems. The digestive system is uniquely constructed to perform its specialized function of turning food into the energy and extracting nutrients necessary to sustain life. It does this by breaking down food into its basic nutrients, which include vitamins and minerals, fats, carbohydrates, proteins and water, before transporting them to the small intestine, where most of the nutrients are absorbed into the body. The digestive system takes place in the alimentary canal, a tube that runs from the mouth to the anus and includes the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine, colon and rectum. The liver and pancreas also contribute to digestion, but are not part of the alimentary canal. Digestion begins in the mouth, where chemical and mechanical digestion occurs. Food inters the mouth and is chewed by the teeth, turned over and mixed with saliva by the tongue. The sensations of smell and taste from the food sets up reflexes which stimulate the salivary glands, saliva is produced by the salivary glands and is released into the mouth. Saliva begins to break down the food, moistening it and making it easier to swallow and contains a digestive enzyme called amylase which breaks down the carbohydrates (starches and sugars). One of the most important functions of the mouth is chewing. Chewing breaks the food into pieces and allows food to be mashed into a soft mass that is easier to swallow and digest later. Movements by the tongue and the mouth push the food to the back of the throat for it to be swallowed. A flexible flap called the epiglottis closes over the trachea to ensure that food enters the esophagus and not the wind pipe to prevent choking. Once the food is swallowed, it enters the esophagus, a muscular tube that is located between the throat and the stomach. Food is moved by peristalsis which pushes the food down through the esophagus to the stomach. The stomach is the widest part of the alimentary canal and acts as a reservoir for the food where it may remain for between 2 and 6 hours. The stomach has 3 main functions: to store the swallowed food and liquid; to mix up the food with various hormones, enzymes, including pepsinogen which begins the digestion of protein, hydrochloric acid, and other chemicals; and to slowly empty its contents into the small intestine. The wall of the stomach is impermeable to most substances, although it does absorb some water, electrolytes, certain drugs, and alcohol. At regular intervals a circular muscle at the lower end of the stomach, the pylorus opens allowing small amounts of food, now known as chyme to enter the small intestine. Most digestion and absorption of food occurs in the small intestine. The small intestine consists of 3 parts: the duodenum, the jejunum, and the ileum. The small intestine has 2 important functions. First, the digestive process is completed here by enzymes and other substances made by intestinal cells, the pancreas, and the liver. Second, the small intestine absorbs the nutrients from the digestive process. The inner wall of the small intestine is covered by millions of tiny finger like projections called villi. The villi are covered with tinier projections called microvilli. The combination of the two allows absorption of nutrients to occur. Undigested material travels next to the large intestine. The large intestine is to remove water and salts from the undigested material and to form solid waste that can be excreted. Bacteria in the large intestine help to break down the undigested materials. The remaining contents of the large intestine are moved toward the rectum where feces are stored until they leave the body through the anus. The anus is the last part of the digestive tract. Accessory digestive organs which include the pancreas, liver and gall ladder are not part of the digestive tract or also known as the alimentary canal, but play an important role in the digestive process. The pancreas produces enzymes that help digest proteins, fats and carbohydrates it also makes sodium bicarbonate which neutralizes stomach acid. The liver produces bile, which helps the body absorb fat and it also regulates substances in the blood cells. The gallbladder store s bile until it is needed. The enzymes and bile produced by these organs move through ducts into the small intestine where they help breakdown food. The nutrients from the small intestine travel through the blood to the liver, which help process the nutrients. Digestive problems results from poor nutrition. Good nutrition is essential for maintaining proper functioning of the body systems especially the digestive system. Eating a well-balanced, nutritious diet and maintaining a healthy lifestyle are the best ways to prevent digestive problems and diseases (Lipski, 2005). The kinds and amounts of food a person eats and how the digestive system processes that food plays key roles in maintaining good health and preventing common digestive problems. Since the digestive system is responsible for breaking down food into nutrients that can be absorbed by the body and used for fuel, growth and cell repair. Good nutrition is essential for maintaining proper functions of the body systems. Generally, health experts recommend eating fiber to help prevent constipation and diarrhea. Reduce fats and oils which can slow down digestion. They also suggest drinking plenty of water which helps lubricate food waste so that it passes more easily through the alimentary canal, it helps soften stool which may prevent constipation. Water also helps dissolve minerals, vitamins and other nutrients, there by facilitating their absorption by the body’s tissues. Good nutrition is not only essential for maintaining proper function of the body systems it is also essential for maintaining homeostasis of the body systems. The body needs good nutrition for the body systems to properly function correctly. The digestive system does assist with homeostasis however; it can not accomplish it alone. All organs systems work together to maintain homeostasis. The digestive system provides the nutrients needed for the circulatory system. As the food moves through the stages of digestion (mechanical, peristalsis, chemical) it is broken down into simple water-soluble molecules that can cross cell membranes. Since the circulatory system is the transportation system of the body it transports wastes, gases, hormones, electrolytes and nutrients from good nutrition to and from the body cells. It also transports water to and from the tissues. So as these molecular-sized, water soluble particles pass through the cell membranes of cells in the digestive tract and pass through the walls of capillaries the nutrients are picked up by the blood for transport. Blood in the capillaries carries the nutrients to all the cells in the body. Red blood cells, White blood cells, and Platelets and Plasma all help to maintain homeostasis. Red blood cells transport oxygen and hydrogen ions throughout the body. White blood cells fights infections and platelets assist in blood clotting and the plasma transports the blood cells. None of these things can function without the nutrients supplied by the digestive system. Blood also maintains homeostasis of water, electrolytes and body temperature all by getting the nutrients necessary to function from the digestive system. The digestive system needs good nutrition to keep it functioning properly and all organs systems working together properly to maintain homeostasis. Undiagnosed medial conditions will cause digestive problems if left untreated and is one of the most common reasons that so many people suffer with digestive problems. Nearly everyone suffers from heartburn and indigestion now and then and these might be normal side effects of digestion, but when they occur often it might be signs of a problem and should have medical attention. Seeking medical attention or being seen by a medical doctor will help to establish if the heartburn or indigestion are from normal side effects of digestion or whether any mechanical factor such as a hiatal hernia or even silent ulcers of the esophagus, stomach, or duodenum maybe causing the digestive problems. A hiatal hernia and silent ulcers if left untreated could turn into a serious problem which can cause bleeding, pain, scarring and difficulty in swallowing and can cause a chronic condition with complications. Treatment of heart burn and prevention of its complications are almost always medical, not surgical procedures these days; and, if followed faithfully are very effective. Peptic ulcers is another serious problem that many people have and do not even know it, one might mistaken them for heartburn, indigestion and nausea. The pain and discomfort comes and goes and sometimes lasting for days or even weeks. An ulcer can be treated by medication and usually takes about eight weeks to completely heal. If left untreated it can cause internal bleeding and more severe damage that might need surgical repair (Monroe, 2000). The digestive system is a complex system. There is a lot of information that we know about this system and so much more that is still unknown. For example, for many years the American Heart Association has recommended taking aspirin to prevent heart attacks and strokes. Now, there appears to be a downside to taking a low dosage of aspirin daily. According to research taking a daily aspirin can cause serious problems in the digestive system. Research shows that people who take aspirin are at risk for excess gastro-intestinal bleeding or ulcers that perforate. So the question is does the risk balance the benefit? Through research they have found out that there are three factors that particularly affect developing gastro-intestinal complications they are the increased risk, male gender and ulcer history. All of those things are doubled when a person takes a daily low dose aspirin and the complications can be serious including death. In fact five to ten percent of people with these complications will die from it. Research has proven that the thing that is in aspirin that causes these problems is the same thing that prevents heart disease and the same prostaglandin changes are the ones that somehow enhance the probability of developing gastrointestinal irritation that can lead to bleeding, that can lead to perforation. So research has taught us that there is a high risk of developing gastro-intestinal complications including bleeding or ulcers that perforate, with the use of a low daily dosage of aspirin especially in the male gender and in those with a past history of ulcers. Through this research we still do not understand why the risk is much higher for the male gender than the female gender, that mystery is still unknown. Reasons that cause so many people to suffer with digestive problems are the lack of knowledge of how the digestive system works, poor nutrition and undiagnosed medical conditions. The most obvious solution to maintaining good health and preventing digestive problems would be getting to know the digestive tract and understanding how it works, maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle and seek medical attention instead of letting the digestive problem turn into something much worse. The Digestive System The human body consists of number of organ systems which work collectively to execute functions of the body. The three most important human organ systems are circulatory, digestive and endocrine system. The main function of the digestive system is to process food in such a way that the energy molecules are absorbed by the body and the residues are left out. The physiological processes which are required for the digestive system are absorption, digestion, motility, secretion and excretion (Margaret E. Smith, 2001) Digestive System: Digestive system helps the body to maintain stability, equilibrium or balance.Digestive system contributes in homeostatic regulation of the body. The body would suffer if there is no regular supply of energy and nutrients from digestive system. The digestive system helps in absorption of ions, vitamins, organic substances and water that is necessary to the body. When the food is chewed and swallowed, the food is broken down in the digestive tract to very sm all nutrient molecules which can be easy to enter into the villi of small intestine. (Rebecca L. Johnson, 2004) Digestive enzymes are formed by the pancreas and the digestive tract.Besides this, the liver produces bile which is stored in the gall bladder to digest the fats. By the use of hepatic portal vein, blood passes from smaller intestine to the liver i. e. , in to the circulatory system. The liver is the vital organ of homeostasis and it monitors the blood. The liver produces urea by breaking down toxic substances like alcohol and other drugs. After eating, the liver stores glucose as glycogen and produces plasma proteins. Liver keeps the blood glucose concentration constant by releasing glucose in between eating. This is how the digestive system works along with the other systems which include circulatory system.Organs in the Digestive system: There are several organs in the digestive system. The digestive system can be divided in to two systems. They are upper gastrointestin al tract and lower gastrointestinal tract. The upper gastrointestinal tract consists of several organs like mouth, oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus and stomach. The lower gastrointestinal tract consists of small intestine, ileum, large intestine, anus and rectum. (Cheryl Jakab, 2007) The functions of some important organs include Oral Cavity: The oral cavity or the mouth is the first part of the digestive system. It accepts food by way of ingestion.Here, the food will be broken in to smaller pieces and get mixed with saliva. Saliva helps as lubrication for the food particles. The oral cavity consists of different parts which are helpful in the digestive system. They are tongue and teeth. Small Intestine: The small intestine is about 35 millimeteres in length and grayish purple in color. The small intestine is the longer intestine which is six to seven meters long. The small intestine has the general structure of the GI tract. The small intestine consists of exocrine cells in the muco sa which secretes peptidase, mucus, maltase, sucrose, lipase, maltase and enterokinase.Endocrine cells secrete secretin and cholecystokinin. The process of digestion is completed by the small intestine. It absorbs the nutrients and sends the residue to large intestine. The gall bladder, liver and pancreas are important organs in the digestive system which is closely related to the small intestine. Small intestine is divided in to duodenum, jejunum and ileum. The small intestine helps in several functions such as hormone secretion, intestinal juice secretion, ninety percent absorption, forward propulsion of contents and it is the major site of digestion.Rectum: The rectum can be found in the lowest portion of the large intestine which connects to the anus and it is a muscular tube like structure. The waste is stored here and permits expulsion when pressure on the rectal walls is caused. Anus: The anus is formed by the surface layers of the body, skin and the intestine. The anus is th e opening at the end of the digestive tract through which the waste matter is ejected from the body. There are many diseases which are caused due to the improper functioning of the digestive system. The most specific disease is the Ulcer.Ulcer is the disorder caused in the upper digestive tract. Ulcer can be developed in the duodenum, lower part of the esophagus and in jejunum. There are many causes for ulcer. Some of them include certain medications, infection and disorders caused by the over secretion of stomach juices. The symptoms of gastric ulcer include weight loss, feeling heart burn and indigestion and gastrointestinal bleeding. Most of the patients suffering from ulcer suffer from bleeding which results in vomiting blood, anemia or blood through rectum.

Human Resource: General Electrics and Samsung Essay

1. The comparison between Samsung and GE in terms of staffing process The Recruitment and Selection Process is one of the basic HR Processes. Recruitment and Selection are very sensitive as many managers have a need to hire a new employee and these processes are always under a strict monitoring from their side. The Recruitment and Selection Process must be simple and robust enough to operate excellently in the moment of the insufficient number of candidates on the job market. Also, the process must be also able to process a large number of candidates within given time. The clearly defined Recruitment and Selection Process is a key to the success of any Human Resources Department. To assess companies and to make a comparison regarding HRM practices in different countries, we selected GE in the U.S and Samsung in Korea. The main reason is that there are several differences in terms of hiring and training process. When it comes to hiring new employees, the recruitment and selection add values to HR Processes. The recruitment is about the ability of the organization to source new employees, and to keep the organization operating and improving the quality of the human capital employed in the company. The quality of the recruitment process is the main driver for the satisfaction of managers with the services provided by Human Resources. The main goal of the recruitment and selection is about finding the best recruitment sources, hiring the best talents from the job market and keeping the organization competitive on the job market. The recruitment and selection processes are about managing and choosing the right candidates from the high volumes of job resumes. The described process that companies have their unique value and culture helps to set and achieve the right limits. The performance of the recruitment process has to be measured, analyzed, and new so that innovative recruitment solutions can be implemented. First of all, we found out that Samsung has a different value of selection in which mainly focuses on hiring new entry level of employees throughout their recruitment process. They basically provide standard test called SSAT to assess candidates’ ability based on creativity, sense of judgments, and flexibility of thinking. After that, they have individual interview process with selected candidates by SSAT. It is clear that they focus on hiring employees who have potentials that will fit into organization. They also encourage prospective employees to have the ability of global talent, specialization for the job that will be assigned and strong sense of challenge. On the other hand, we noticed that GE has different value of selection of candidates in terms of HRM. Most of all, GE’s selection period can be described as mainly focusing on skilled and experienced level of employees who have at least 5 year’s experiences related to the job position. Since Jeff Immelt took a place as CEO, they have built a solid concept of recruitment based on the ability of imagination, problem solving, building creativity and leading skills of employees. According to their strategy, it is clear that they require employees to have the highest quality of talent based on the level of experiences and education regarding job requirement. Although there are somewhat similarities between two companies to select the level of new employees based on pursuing the importance of genius and perfection, it is clear that they have the different values emphasized on employees that have a great deal of impact on building the organization. Those factors are mainly contributed to the different culture in different country that has built throughout the history of cultural tradition. Samsung mainly focuses on emphasizing the culture of unity based on collectivism, and when it comes to GE, the strong sense of initiative and passion play an important role in building organization culture disregarding the fact that which level of position employees are in based on individualism. From the different value of staffing in terms of HRM practice from two companies, it will be hard to select which one is more productive and attractive, but it is sure that the companies have their unique ego to make employees fit into the organization’s value and culture. 2. The comparison between Samsung and GE in terms of compensation. The second different practice between two companies is the value of compensation to which plays an important role in motivating employees and achieving companies’ goal. The most effective reward and compensation systems align with objectives, outcome-based evaluations of employee performance. Each employee’s performance measurement should reflect the organization’s business strategy and financial goals. Compensation should also reflect the employee’s performance level and his/her contributions to the organization’s success. Sometimes compensations from the wrong practices occurred by nepotism and stereotypes, prevent organizations from achieving strategic goals. Hence, organizations need to align their compensation and reward systems with performance and fair-based criteria to increase productivity and to achieve sustainable growth while motivating employees. Samsung’s compensation scheme is mainly based on compensation without discrimination and compensation for performance to ensure internal impartiality and external competitiveness. Those on the same position are given the same amount of base salary disregarding gender, nationality, religion, social status, or age. On top of it, differentiated compensation is only made by individual performance in terms of productivity. In other words, individual performance for productivity-based outcome is the only indicator to determine individuals’ rewards throughout the year. Therefore, we found out that Samsung’s core value for employee’s compensation highly focuses on individual performance and productivity when motivating employees. On the other hand, GE practices not only individual productivity-based compensation but also adds some more values based on the behavioral performance such as the sense of leadership and the planning for self-development. We noticed that GE’s compensation system has two main values: to motivate employees and to find the high level of potential employees throughout the compensation and reward planning. To achieve GE’s compensation system’s objectives, they evaluate the employees with variable perspectives of assessment. For example, EMS, 9 Matrix, 9 Block, Planning for self-development, Session C, are the programs they evaluate employees for successful compensation planning in the organization. It is clear that the compensation and benefits processes belong to the most important HR Processes. They are critical for organizations no matter which type of structure and value the companies have. We think that organizations need to point out that the need for the transparency in the compensation practices in the organization and keeping the internal fairness. We also believe that the compensation and benefits have to supervise the development of new compensation systems, keeping the general rules for the design of the compensation component. Summing up, throughout variable practices of HRM, we learned how organizations achieve their goals and build competitive advantages based on their unique value and culture. Although Samsung and GE have somewhat different strategies and systems to operate their organizations, we think we need to understand the core value of HRM process to evaluate the culture and environment in each organization.

Converse Product Information

Product information 1. the name of all star come from full name:ALL STAR CHUCK TAYLOR Converse 1917 the world's first dual-ALL STAR canvas shoes in production, and the beginning of the twentieth century is known as â€Å"basketball ambassador,† said U. S. asketball star CHUCK TAYLOR (Chuck Taylor) on this new line of canvas shoes, put it down, convinced thatALL STAR shoes make basketball players on the court dash and enjoy the play, so he wherever he always has a pair of ALL STAR canvas shoes, enthusiastically to her friends, basketball players and coaches recommend ALL STAR canvas shoesand basketball on the requirements of the sports shoes and personal experience, personally involved in the ALL STAR canvas shoes, improved design, making it more suitable for basketball.The ALL STAR theoretically canvas as a material, wear. ALL STAR then only one color – – white. 1966, ALL STAR introduced color series, such as leather, rubber, etc. As technology continues to progr ess, more gradually been used as a shoe-making raw materials. 1970s, affected by the wave of fashion began to move closer to the natural, original feeling. ALL STAR at the time seems exceptionally retro, very easy to wear with wear to go freely to make life simplify. 996, ALL STAR launched ALL STAR 2000, the original leather uppers of canvas instead. 2. the publicity of all star ENERGY As the popularity of popular around Asia and sunshine handsome image became CONVERSE's first China brand spokesperson, and take Taiwan as the center of radiation throughout Asia brand operation Stefanie Who speak over converse in time for the 2002 World Cup Soda Green Lead singer Qingfeng said, to rock ‘n' roll. – London recording a new album, of course, to bring back the spirit of the original dense rock â€Å", and his is CONVERSE always demands creative first, subversion of rational, agree without prior without previous consultation. Endorsement and participate in design. 3. the reaso n of choosing all star light wear resistance bending waterproof acid alkali resistance low price 4. the type of all star a)material quality canvas oxhide PU leather b)shoe model low help high help art graffiti c)shoe style Lace-up shoe Loafers 5. how to distinguish the quality goods a)the genuine heavy feeling in his hand )Soles grinding with nail clippers, genuine will be a little scratch marks, rub with fingers, no scratch marks c)genuine shoelaces cotton content is very high, you can authentic shoes untied shoelace, natural straightened can also stretched, pulled the longest time, we have a relaxed, the laces will automatically shrink d)heel behind the logo concavity, and is affixed to the upper of this shoe machine precision workmanship problem e)Soles middle â€Å"CONVERSE ALL STAR† raised LOGO mark, logo next to the security of the Star of David *, the stars beside a registered trademark of R.Bottom for shoe sizes 6. how to take care all star a)After cleaning the shade of natural dry ventilated place, do not put the local baking sun prolonged sun exposure or high temperature, to prevent the back glue or degumming, accelerated aging b)Non professional labor shoes don't and acid, alkali, salt chemical exposure, so as to avoid corrosion degumming deformation c)The sweaty feet heavy friends, put on the shoes before the first shoes in spray a little vinegar, can reduce the odor, the other canvas shoes should be cleaned regularly, in order to prevent mildewy smell

The Love Bug Virus Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Love Bug Virus - Case Study Example A number of security threats such as viruses and worm programs cost business organizations, individuals and government agencies millions of dollars every year. Both the computer viruses and worms belong to a category of software called malware. In this scenario, a Malware or malicious code (malcode) refers to malicious software. In addition, it is a piece of code or software that is purposely developed or written to harm, break, interrupt, steal, or on the whole mete out some other â€Å"terrible† or unlawful act on data, information, hosts, or networks. Additionally, a computer virus is a kind of malware that can vary in harshness and damaging a system from causing slightly disturbing effects to destructing software programs or data and resulting denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. Normally, the majority of computer viruses are incorporated in an executable file, which shows that the virus can stay on a computer or machine however it may not be lively or able to extend until a u ser executes or runs the malicious host program or file. In this scenario, once the system user executes this host code, the infected file or code is also executed along with the program. In fact, the host program works properly even after it is harmed by the virus. On the other hand, a few types of viruses replicate other programs with copies of themselves, which eliminate the infected program and files all in all. Moreover, a virus can enter into a system and extend to other systems when software are connected to is distributed from one machine to another by making use of a USB drive, the network, file sharing, a disk, or infected e-mail attachments (IT Training & Education, 2009; Cisco, 2013; Neubauer & Harris, 2002; Singh & Lakhotia, 2002; Denning, 1990). On the other hand, computer worms are like viruses for the reason that they duplicate practical copies of themselves and can result in the same type of harm.

Liver Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Liver - Essay Example These plates radiate from the central vein. Each of these plates is of thickness of two cells. Between the adjacent cells lie small bile canaliculi that empty into bile ducts in the fibrous septa separating the adjacent liver lobules. Blood from the venous outflow of the gastro intestinal tract reaches small portal venules in the septa by way of portal vein. Flat branching hepatic sinusoids, which lie between hepatic plates receive the blood from the portal venules. Afterwards the blood goes to central vein. Thus hepatic cells are continuously exposed to portal venous blood. In the interlobular septa, hepatic arterioles supply arterial blood to the septal tissues between the adjacent lobules. Many of these arterioles empty directly into the hepatic sinusoids in such a way that one third of the distance is away from the interlobular septa. The venous sinusoids are lined by two other types of cells namely, typical endothelial cells and larger Kupfer cells. The latter is also known as reticuloendothelial cells. The Kupfer cells are capable of phagocytosis, the process by which bacteria and other foreign matter in hepatic sinus blood are engulfed. The large pores in the lining of the endothelial cells facilitate free flow of the substances in plasma. Some pores are big enough to the tune of 1 micrometer in diameter. Millions of narrow tissue spaces called 'Spaces of Disse' lie between endothelial cells and hepatic cells. In the interlobular septa, these Spaces of Disse are connected with lymphatic vessels. Overflowing fluid in these spaces are thus removed by lymphatics. The large pores are helpful in diffusing even the large portions of plasma protein freely into this space. The functions of liver are versatile. Liver maintains filtration and storage of blood. Carbohydrates, protein, fats, hormones and foreign chemicals that are found in medications are metabolized at liver only. Liver stores vitamins and iron, which are necessary for the growth. The very important function of liver is formation of bile. It is through this bile secretion that many waste materials are excreted from liver. During medication, we consume many drugs such as sulfonamides, penicillin, ampicillin, and erythromycin. The active chemical medium present in liver detoxifies or excretes those drugs into bile. Accumulation of some steroid hormones like estrogen, coristol, aldosterone secreted by endocrine glands causes over activity of hormonal systems. Theses hormones are either chemically changed into other substances or excreted by the liver. Unwanted Calcium is excreted from the body only with help of the secretion from liver; from bile secretion the calcium reaches the gut and is lost finally in faeces. (Arthur C.Guyton and John E. Hall, 2000) One of the important excretory jobs carried out by the liver is removal of bilirubin. Bilirubin is formed continuously in the usual breakdown of the red blood cells. After circulating in the blood stream for about 120 days, in a normal healthy adult, the red blood cells wear out. These worn out red blood cells, haemoglobin, are converted into bilirubin, a yellow pigment. This bilirubin passes through the blood stream to liver, which is the only organ in our body capable of removing it. Metabolism of bilirubin takes places in three phases--- prehepatic, intrahepatic and post hepatic. In prehepatic phase about 80% of haemogulobin halves are metabolized to form bilirubin. Nearly 4mg/kg of bilirubin is produced in a

European union competition law practice and implementation Essay

European union competition law practice and implementation - Essay Example European competition law has been developed over the years to overcome these fears and provide legal guidelines for fair implementation of business practices. The European Union authority believes that open competition in Europe is important as it results in lower prices and also increases the choice for consumers across Europe. Competition within European Union is regulated by the European Commission, along with national competition Authorities. (Goyder : 2003). A fair set of norms has been evolved to include action to be taken against business practices which restrict competition, monitor mergers to ensure that these are not designed to reduce fairness and open competition in previously state run monopolies.(Lowe : 2004) The European Union has set out a very transparent competition policy, which is easily accessible. This paper attempts to examine the issues set forth in the European Competition policy as it affects growth of monopolies particularly that of public service providers. Services of general economic interest have been identified as those market services which discharge broad interest tasks and are therefore subject to specific obligations related to public service in respective member states. These services need to be of a universal nature such as postal and telecommunications services. It is therefore essential that these function effectively to provide continuous and responsive facilities to the community. These also have to be at an affordable price. Thus Article 16 of the Treaty has specified that these services, "Without prejudice to Articles 73, 86 and 87, and given the place occupied by services of general economic interest in the shared values of the Union as well as their role in promoting social and territorial cohesion, the Community and the Member States, each within their respective powers and within the scope of application of this Treaty, shall take care that such services operate on the basis of principles and conditions which enable them to fulfill their missions." The European Commission has a duty to ensure that these services are supported and duly fostered and that these are not subjected to the likely impact of markets which are open to competition and thus which act beyond the purview of public interest. (Whish: 2003). The European Commission has three main objectives which govern the functioning of the services of general economic interest these are to ensure that these function efficiently, that those which are not within the purview of SGEIs are not classified as such and that it does not have any adverse impact on markets which are open to competition but out side the ambit of public services. (Non Paper : 2002). Classification of the SGEIs has to be made very carefully to ensure when applied to services which are operated by private operators these are intended to meet an individual's general requirements and not a specific category of consumer. There has been a monetary ceiling which has since been laid down of payments of up to 30

Food security and Bioterrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Food security and Bioterrorism - Essay Example government of United States gives utmost importance and significance to food security due to which, it assures that in any kind of problematic situation, people will be provided with proper food items (Singer, 1997). Due to the country’s well-managed food items, the country also makes financial benefit in food products and is considered a major economy in the world (Fogel, 2004). All the food products and the ways that are employed for the transportation of food products predict themselves as an imperative part of United States financial system (Singer, 1997). In the past few years, United States is threatened by many revolutionary terrorism attacks. The government of United States considers the importance of availability of food to its citizens in case of any attack from terrorists. FBI is active in getting all the information about any possible attacks on any part of the State (Paquette, 2002). It is also assessed that the assailants can attack by biological means that comes under bioterrorism, which means that biological means like virus, bacteria, parasite or any other toxic materials can be employed by the bioterrorists to conduct their attack on food items (Wagner, Moore and Aryel, 2006). A proper strategy is designed for people working with food items and drinks to ensure that the process is free of any kind of contamination and all the food resources are properly analyzed in terms of the healthiness of the food items (Brown, et.al, 2008). Packing of each food product is ensured by the food associations related to government and it is considered a crime to overlook the rules set by the food associations in terms of food security (Singer, 1997). The transporters and suppliers of food products are hired after assessing their details and after assuring that they are reliable people (Fogel, 2004) Water, other drinks and food products are analyzed by means of machines about their healthy state before making them available to public (Brown, et.al,

How to build a deck Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6500 words

How to build a deck - Assignment Example Building a deck is one of the best improvements you can make for your house. Depending on the material you use, a deck can be an inviting warm place to host parties, outdoor cooking, watch your kids as they play or just a good resting place for your pets. Many real estate agents will tell you that clients value houses that have well placed decks. Having a deck does not require high technology or expertise. Many people are able to do this by following simple instructions. You can actually design, plan and do the masonry and carpentry and see your house turn into something new. Having a good deck actually raises the value of your house. Before doing any modification to your house, it is usually safer to check with the local building inspectors to find out if you need a building permit for this. Doing this will save you embarrassment and money if you have to demolish the deck just because you did not adhere to the rules of your area. It is advisable to visit their offices to get details of what is expected and if there are any inspections that will be done by the officials. Since this deck will be a permanent structure that will hold human life, the government has a right to ensure that it is rightly done and that is why the building inspectors are there. The inspectors may have specified rules in terms of size, design, materials and even how deep you can dig the foundation. It is therefore important to get these permits and the inspectors to approve your intended construction. The inspectors will probably ask you for a deck plan, so you need to be ready for this. There are places where permits are not really required. If you do not need the permit, then do not go looking for one. However, you will need to be aware of the building codes in your area to ensure you are adhering to them. This manual discusses decks and incorporates images and illustrations for easier understanding. The procedures will be discussed as follows: Deck Plan Deck layout Selecting materials - what materials are available and how to choose the best Fittings and Fasteners Construction- laying and deck-step by step procedure Railing and finishing Common problems in building decks The Deck Plan A deck plan consists of the design of the deck with scale drawings of the size of it. Start out by determining where you want the deck to be. Take the measurements of the area putting into consideration permanent structures or plants that cannot be removed. For example, if you have a big palm tree in front of your house that you do not want to remove, you will be forced to adjust your measurements and design to accommodate the tree and at the same time ensure safety. Have a sketch of the design you want. Also, have enough space to accommodate that design. Now, when you have the space and the design, it is time to put the design on paper. Using your sketch, do the ground measurements. At this point, just record them as you measure. You will determine the scale once all the measuremen ts have been done. When you have all the sections measured, work out a scale. An example is

The Future of Computer Applications in Biomedicine Annotated Bibliography

The Future of Computer Applications in Biomedicine - Annotated Bibliography Example The authors with reference to the New England Journal of Medicine predict that computer technologies may be used in future to examine the causes for the development of Parkinson’s and epilepsy and in prescribing possible medicine for treating such diseases. Tissue engineering is also another possible development that computer technology is likely to facilitate in the field of biomedical engineering. This article provides an explicit research on this topic given its resourcefulness on the information under investigation. Increasing technological development and integration has led to massive transformation of various sectors of economies that have great impacts on human life. Biomedicine is one sector of great significance that has undergone broad transformation fanned by the speedy advancement of computer based technology. Away from the traditional communication technologies, introduction of computers in biomedicine have led to the transformation of health care procedures and practices. Computers have been of great use in biomedicine especially for the purposes of storing patients’ records, diagnosis and in performing other health related activities (Hung and Joseph 120). Laboratory is one component of heath care facilities that makes great use of computers in testing diseases and complaints as well offering therapies to patients of various diseases. Looking from the past and current transformation in the field of biomedicine, it is focused that this field has a very bright future with compu ter technology that will work to improve and ease health care procedures. According to Hung and Joseph, the recent increase in use of internet is viewed to have significant impact in the future of biomedicine (120). The internet has been very instrumental in enabling the process of data sharing that involve images and other health related information used by health care professionals. Analyzing from the current capability of internet to interlink

Strange New Land Essay Example for Free

Strange New Land Essay Strange New Land, offers a seemingly vast view of the presence of African Americans in present day North America. Mr. Wood describes the harsh and often brutal fate of African Americans during the colonization of America. Exploring Chapter 1, allowed me to view the way different cultures took advantage of not only African Americans, but Native Americans as well. Native Americans were invaded by Spanish settlers, taken into slavery and forced to live with harsh living conditions. Settlers exposed them to a vast number of diseases, and tricked other Native Americans into agreements, in which they were starved, made to live in the cold, and which ultimately led to the death of many of them. Native Americans were resistant to being overtaken and fought back to protect their people and their land. Spanish settlers needed more laborers to cultivate new land, and explore additional regions for settlement. Spanish Conquerors like Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon sent out to find laborers in Western Europe. During his search, he found that Europeans that practiced Christianity did not believe in exploiting its people. In return, the Catholic Church, did however, not mind the exploit of non-Christians to Spanish Settlers. As groups resisted fiercely, they looked to other options in which they could gain access to the slave trade. African Americans to my surprise came as a third resort. Spanish settlers wanted to gain access to the dreams of gold and silver told to be lying within the American soil. However African Americans would prove to be more valuable than just for labor. Spanish Speaking Africans such as Gomez and Esteban were great explorers and go-between people when asked to settle what is now the state of New Mexico. Being intermediaries between the Native Americans and Spanish settlers, they showed the resourcefulness that Africans held during the colonization of America. As I continue to discover how Africans came about to be in America, I was intrigued to learn that the basis of slavery were not limited to race at all. Religion played the most important role in colonization of America, as well as people becoming enslaved. If you were not of Christian belief system, then you were subject to being enslaved. From Mr. Woods accounts, he told of how even John Smith was enslaved for a period of time. And that the bases of slavery were defined upon much greater tools. Heredity was significant in the slavery system, because children of former slaves are said to have been born into slavery. The only thing I can account the Spanish settlers for, was that they didn’t enslave their people for life, as well as the Dutch. Many of their slaves lives the lives of settlers, they just were required to be laborers, because of their religion. At any time it shows within his text that they could have been released from slavery with the submission of their religio n. The earliest definitions of slavery presented a great amount of problems, which the slave-owners did not agree too. Rhode Island defined slavery as a period of 10 years, and not a lifetime commitment. Christian religious groups would allow other slaves to become converted to their religion to once again regain their freedom. The readily number of slaves were beginning to decline, so now new guidelines would be put in place to ensure that the slave-owners would keep laborers all the time. This part of the 17th century would mark the beginning of when race became the solemn factor of how Africans would become and remain enslaved. This is the shift in African history that everyone would feel and become a part of. Africans held two surprisingly different fates. Those that were released to Latin America had better conditions than those located in North America. But life in North America for Africans would see a dramatic shift as the laws and rules progressed. Slave codes were laws that basically took away all rights of Africans living in North America. This would serve as a permanent handicap for Africans for almost two centuries. Then the colonist took a dramatic horrible step used in the states as well as the colonies. Dehumanizing. This would be the greatest contributor of racism in the United States. This Law passed in Virginia in 1705, would allow English Colonist to treat Africans as property, disregard their feelings or wellbeing, and deny them of basic human rights. And these practices would carry over well into the 20th century.

Best Practice and High Commitment HRM

Best Practice and High Commitment HRM Introduction What is high commitment HRM? It is a set of HRÂ  practices that has the potential to contribute towards organisational performance. They are mainly to increase labour turnover, reduce absenteeism, improvise employees behavior and attitude, improve quality and customer service. This has been argued by a set of US academics that there are a set of hr practices which can increase the productivity and organisational performance, these practices are good for the workers and the companies perspective, because it improves on employment security, training and development and the from the companies end it improves on the quality and the overall organisational performance. The best practices according to Pfeffer J (1998): Employment security and internal labour markets Selective hiring Extensive training, learning and development Team working High compensation contingent on performance Performance review appraisal and career development Reduction of status differentials/ harmonisation Work life balance Employment security and internal labour markets. This practice says that the company cannot ask everything from its employees without some expectation of employment security, which as a major concern over the employees future, but the author argues that how much of employment security the company can provide, the company cannot allow its employees to stay for their rest of their life nor they can sack the employees when required. The author considers this has one of most vital principles of high commitment Selective hiring and sophisticated selection Recruiting and retaining outstanding people and capturing a stock of exceptional human talent (Boxall 1996 , p 66-67) The author says that the most of the companies want to recruit those who can show commitment, team working skills and trainability in them. The company should be careful while defining the job profile in the advert so as to reduce the number of applications. The company should use precise techniques to recruit. The company should make use psychometric tests, structured interviews and work simulator in order to select the best. This process should be conducted by professional individuals. The author also points out the best key point about best practice selection is that the process of selection should be integrated and systematic, the company should make use of the techniques which are appropriate for the position and the organization. Extensive training, learning and development (kersley et al, 2005, p.84) says extensive training is to those companies who emphasis more on quality and customer service, where it is perceived to be crucial for organisational success. This practice says that the company having selected the best, the company should ensure they train their employees to be forefront in their field of work, the author also states, their has been a growing importance of individual and organisational learning to gain competitive advantage. (wright and gardner 2003, p312)says the word learning is very crucial as it demonstrates employer willingness to encourage and facilitate employee development rather than providing training to cover short term crisis. Employee involvement and participation and workers voice (Marchington and Wilkinson, 2005) say that there are numbers why EIP is an essential component of the high commitment. Firstly there should be communication about the company financial performance, strategy and operational matters. The message should be conveyed that they are to be trusted and treated in a positive manner. Secondly team working will provide a platform for workers to offer their suggestions and contribute towards organisational performance. Thirdly the management will consider the participation of workers to put across their ideas before decisions are ultimately made. EIP appears in prescription foe best practice or high commitment HRM, this may include downward communications, upward problem solving groups, all of which are designed to increase the involvement of individual employees in their workplace. The author also argues that it is difficult to compare results across studies and arrive at any firm conclusions about the importance of EIP to high commitment HRM. E IP is often little more than a cascade of information from management. The objective of such schemes such as team briefing is to reinforce the supervisor as an information disseminator. Self-managed teams/Team working (Marchington, 1999) says, team working as been identified by many employers as a fundamental component of organization success. Pfeffer, 1998, p76) says, team working is seen as a platform to make a better decision-making and the achievement of more creative solutions. The author also states that there is evidence that the employees who work in teams, generally report higher levels of satisfaction than their counter parts who work under the traditional regime. High compensation contingent on performance (Pfeffer 1998) says, that there are two elements to this practice, higher than average compensation and performance related reward, both these elements say that the employees are to be awarded for their superior contributions. The author says the pays should be competitive, to retain and to attract high quality labour. It should reflect different levels of workers contribution like being paid as regular bonus or through profit sharing schemes. (Huselid 1995) says two measures for this factor. One being the proportion of the workforce who have access to company incentive schemes, and the proportion, whose compensation is determined by performance appraisals. Performance review, appraisal and career development Performance review, appraisal and career development as key element in high commitment HRM, they help in defining performance expectations and in providing employees with their targets to aim for. There should be regular team meetings between the staff and the managers to review and feedback to the staff through performance appraisals. Performance review is concerned, that the current levels of performance are acceptable, and instigating action if they fall below expectations, it is also important in helping the workers to plan their future in the organization and in determining any further learning and training needs. Employers should be able to communicate clearly through the appraisal process, so as to link between the organisational performance and hr practices. Reduction of status differences /harmonisation This practice states that the companies which employ manual workers, should convey message to these workers and the lower level staff that they are also valuable assets and deserve to be treated in a similar way to their senior colleagues. This practice allows the employees to offer ideas within an open management culture. This practice can be achieved by having staff uniforms, shared canteens and car parking facilities. This helps to break down artificial barriers between different groups of staff, which will in turn encourage and support team working and flexibility. The company should extend share ownership to the workforce and by doing this status difference can be reduced. Work life balance Most of the companies are emphasizing on work life balance. Mainly women employees because they have to work and take care of the family too. many of the companies are changing their policies to attract and retain those women employees who have responsibility.(Houston 2005, CIPD 2006) After briefly explaining the best practices of high commitment HRM, I can understand that each of these practices is important in improvising on the organization growth. Most of the authors say that these practices cannot be implemented in isolation, but they should implemented in a package (Mac duffie 1995) most of the literature says that these practices support and mutually reinforce each other, for example workers are more positive if there is employment security and status free, workers show more interest in team working if their efforts are rewarded with performance related pay, work life balance, access to training opportunities and share ownership. We can understand if there was a formal way of a selection and induction employees are more likely to adopt flexible practices and to training opportunities. All these practices will pay of only if there is strong organisational culture. This is argued that these practices form a synergetic bundle which helps the organization to en joy success. A research was conducted by john Purcell, this study was basically to check the link between hr practices and people management and how hr practices impact on performance. This research was carried on 12 organizations in different sectors of the industry. The research was done by interviewing front line employees and line managers, at the initial stage most of the companies had a big idea which the company is trying to achieve. Most of the companies which had an big idea, it was not just a mission statement but it was the values which was spread throughout the organization so that they are embedded in their policies and practices, so these organization had strong practices to improve on the organizational performance. The research also said its important to have good front line managers who can implement the practices, its not enough to have good hr policies but there should be someone that makes sure that these policies are followed. It is important that these practices are followed , so that the employees feel good and take that extra mile at work. We can say that if a company as good line managers who can implement these practices in a right way so to bring the best in the workers, so that they can help on improvising on the overall perspective of the organization. On the contradictory these practices will show good results only if they are followed together, Various authors have found out the drawbacks of these practices, (wood and de menezes 1998:487) note that most of the studies indicate the lack of consistency, reporting fragmentation, a pick and mix approach of human resource they even found out short termism packages of HRM, rather than deploying integrated, consistent and long term packages of HRM. (Truss et al) say that they hardly found out evidence of any deliberate or realized coherence Between hr practices, in their research one of the Hr officer said the company would recruit one employee and sack another from another department, then where is the practice called employment security. (pfeffer) says that most of the smart companies often do dumb things, failing to learn from examples. They say that there is support for the notion that HR practices do operate more effectively when combined together. They also say that the precise number and mix of these is more open to debate, for example extensive training is an essential requirement for self managed teams to run effectively, higher than average rewards are more to impact on the numbers of applications for the job and to the consistency of selective hiring practices. The provision of financial and performance information to all employee is likely to be part of a wider harmonisation package. Any employer is willing to show more employment security if there is effective selective process; self managed teams are more extensive though the organization and compensation is based on performance. (Huselid1995, Dyer and reeves1995) say that marginal changes on practices have little or no effect on productivity. Employers may make employee security a guarantee, condition only on an agreement that pay can be substantially adjusted in order to maintain employment in lean times. Few employees are offered security but with a price that they have to flexible, to move jobs and locations to maintain employment, they should be flexible to undertake retraining and to adjust in working hours. (Pfeffer) also said eliminating layers of management by instituting teams saves money. He says that self managed staff can also take on tasks, which was done by specialized personal, by doing this company can reduce the numbers of levels in the hierarchy and thus making senior managers more visible and more accessible. Some of the key methodological issues faced by the researchers was that there was inconsistencies between the studies, where one research ignored one factor and including the other, practice like employment security by pfeffer was not included in the list of Delaney and Huselid 1996, Youndt 1996, Patterson et al 1997, wood and de Menezes 1998. Some authors include some measure of employee voice rather than achieved by employee involvement. Pfeffer says, he is uncertain why researchers have included or excluded certain HR practices. He says the list can be developed on the basis of the other researchers have used or by constructing groups of practices on the basis of factor analysis. (Huselid 1995 645-647) identified two groups of practices namely employee skills and organisational structures they include job design, enhanced selectivity, formal training, various forms of participation and profit sharing. (Patterson et al, 1997) also emerged with two groups of practices job design and acquisition and development of employee skills. Guest says that there must be strong empirical base and a clear theoretical specification of hr practices that have to be included. Pfeffer says that the closer the organization gets towards the best practices the better, the better the performance. Guest points out that there may be room for variations between organization and practices which they follow in specific to external and internal circumstances. Conclusion The main focus of this study was check that can organization performance can be improved by following a set of Hr practices. The study led to suggestions that there is one way in which HRM should be delivered , moreover that these practices have an positive impact on the organization. This remains an idea that a bundle if hr practices and policies is capable of making major contribution towards organization success in all work places. On the contradictory side, weather this set of practices will suitable or which make a difference to lower line performance organizations.

The external and internal environment at Aer Lingus

The external and internal environment at Aer Lingus This paper proposes a new alternative strategy that Aer Lingus could potentially adopt. First and foremost the paper analyzes the external and internal environment regarding Aer Lingus. Here the strengths and weaknesses of the internal environment i.e the company are identified and a PESTEL analysis is conducted in order to assess the opportunities and threats concerning the external environment. Through this in depth analysis of both the internal and external environment we were able to devise three alternative strategies for Aer Lingus. 1. Aer Lingus move towards a Low cost carrier model. 2. Aer Lingus move towards benefit-oriented national flag carrier model 3. Aer Lingus continue with their current strategy and position of being in between an ultra low cost carrier and full service flag carrier in Europe while also adopting a low cost model on transatlantic flights; charging for ancillary services and increase the seat capacity on the planes by reducing the number of business class seats and increasing the amount of economy seats. After much deliberation the strategy we opted for was the third alternative. In considering the first strategy, we realized that it would be very hard for Aer Lingus to compete on cost as Ryanair occupies such a large share of the market, therefore making it very difficult for Aer Lingus to reach minimum efficiency levels. In evaluating the second strategy it came to our attention that with most of Europe in a recession, a flag carrier model would not be a desirable nor profitable strategy. Therefore we suggest that Aer Lingus continue with their current strategy and adopt a low cost approach on transatlantic flights, similar to the one they have incorporated to their European flights and also try to improve connections to Asia by finding a partner. This will enable Aer Lingus to access a new market and improve their profitability. External Analysis: The current economic climate has had a direct impact on the Irish airline industry. People have less disposable income and as a result Dublin airport has witnessed a decline in passenger numbers since 2008. Figures released by the DAA show a significant decline in passengers from 23.5 million in 2008 to 20.5 million in 2009; a decrease of 13% and it s expected that numbers will fall even further in 2010 to 19 million passengers. Ireland is one of the few European countries to impose a 10 travel tax on tourist travelling to Ireland. This along with the 40% increase in airport charges (which is being used to pay for Terminal 2) is considered to be one of the main reasons in the decline of seat capacity which dropped by 140,000 in April 2010 alone and the fall in Irish air traffic by 13% so far this year. Growth has returned to countries which have ditched this travel tax and reduced its airport charges. According to Canadian energy economist Jeff Rubin the maximum an airline company can pay for a barrel is $80 dollars, any higher and the company cannot make a profit, $80 dollars is the breakeven point. Oil prices have been steadily rising since January 2009 and economists have predicted that this year the price of oil will rise to $80 per barrel which could prove detrimental to the profitability of the airline industry. In April 2010 the eruption of an Icelandic volcano caused Irish air traffic to come to a halt. The closure of Irish airspace caused a sharp decline in trips to and from Ireland. In April 2010 The Central Statistics Office reported a decrease of 24.9% in trips made to Ireland and a decrease of 27.9% trips made by Irish residents made overseas in comparison with April 2009. (See Appendix A for an Aer Lingus analysis using Porter s Five Forces Model) Internal Analysis: When internally analysing Aer Lingus, we assessed their strengths, weaknesses, resources and capabilities. A major strength we perceive Aer Lingus to have is that they serve both regional and transatlantic hubs. This fact has positioned them between a low cost carrier and a flag carrier airline. Their partnership with Aer Arann has enhanced their short haul network. They have achieved certain advantages at no extra cost such as an improved network frequency, a deepened penetration in core Ireland and UK markets and a consolidation of long haul traffic in their Dublin hub. A major resource they possess is their network connectivity. Their long haul routes to the USA have been established with strong connectivity, such as New York, Boston and Chicago. They now connect to over 50 US cities. They also possess a large market share on key routes and are seen as a flag ship airline. Their large market share comes from their very competitive cost base. They also have potential for expansion on their long haul network. Valuable assets of Aer Lingus include their well positioned slots, their close to 1 billion in cash and their route network. These assets will ensure that Aer Lingus continue successful operations during a time in which the industry is facing an exceptionally tough trading environment which has progressively deteriorated in the last year or so. An important capability of Aer Lingus is their ability to compete with Ryanair, Europe s largest low cost carrier. Their prices are usually higher than Ryanair s prices, however sometimes not by much. Yet what makes them more attractive to many customers is that they fly into major airports, unlike Ryanair. Aer Lingus also managed to resist two take-over bids from Ryanair due to its strong ties to the Government. During our research we found there to be no airline in the top 100 brands, however, the Aer Lingus brand is well established and something that Aer Lingus themselves view as a main resource. Their brand boasts low fares and good service. Something which may be viewed as a weakness is the fact that this year Aer Linus have vacated some of their slots at Gatwick airport. They have also taken two of their Airbus A320 s out of operation and reduced their fleet size to just three at Gatwick. They deferred two A320 aircraft from this year to next year. And also state there to be some savage pay cuts for the Irish flag carrier. This was a result of the cost and capacity management in 2009. The significantly higher than expected cost of terminal 2 at Dublin airport mean that Aer Lingus flight prices will also be higher than expected. This may cause a knock on effect to passenger numbers and ultimately profits. Evaluation Criteria: When we assessed Aer Lingus s profitability we found that their return on equity has deteriorated even further from 2008 when it was -14.4% to -18.4% in 2009. We then assessed the efficiency level of the airline by computing their sales to assets ratio. In 2008 the efficiency level was 0.64, this improved to 0.69 in 2009. Aer Lingus have the 16th largest market share in the European airline industry, with a weekly departing seat capacity of 300,000. Their main competitor, Ryanair, occupies the largest share of the European market with approximately 1,900,000 weekly departing seat capacities. With the introduction of the Greenfield cost reduction programme Aer Lingus were able to reduce their cost base by 7.4%, setting a benchmark for the European Airline Industry. At present the average price of an Aer Lingus ticket is 77 compared with Ryanair s average price of 44. Strategic Alternatives: One possible way for Aer Lingus would be to move more towards becoming a low cost carrier (LCC). In order to be able to compete with the players in this niche, Aer Lingus would have to make further adjustments to its business model. The Irish competitor Ryanair proves that there is great potential in the low cost carrier market, as they are still both growing in passenger numbers and revenues and maintaining to be profitable even in times of global economic crisis. But such bottom line figures are results of focused streamlining of the airline business model. Almost every complementary service is charged extra, operations are kept to a bare minimum or outsourced wherever this seem lucrative, flights are not interconnected but only point-to-point, and the costs for fleet maintenance and procurement is greatly reduced by the use of only a single type of aircraft. Also over the last few years there has been massive consolidation in the airline industry, especially with respect to LCCs. This underlines the fact that the pressure in this market segment is particularly high. To get into this segment Aer Lingus would have to restructure its flight network, personnel, fleet, and ground operations, but even then it is questionable whether or not Aer Lingus would be able to match or outperform close competitors such as Ryanair. In exhibit [no.B1] the current differences in cost structure between Aer Lingus and Ryanair can be observed. Although the general structure is fairly similar, especially with respect to staff costs, airplane maintenance and Airport and handling costs Aer Lingus faces much higher costs than Ryanair. Overall, this direction could prove to be a risky and somewhat too challenging endeavor. Too many, too important aspects would have to be changed, which is unlikely to happen when taking into consideration that there will be internal politics involved, particularly when it comes to cuts in the field of staff expenses, Aer Lingus biggest disadvantage. (S ee Appendix B.1) Aer Lingus could also try to move to the other end of the scale, namely that of the benefit-oriented former national flag carriers. These airlines maintain extensive hub-and-spoke networks which allow them offer a big variety of different connections. The flights are complemented with different amenities such as free meals and luggage. In addition to the sheer transport service, an overall experience is created and valued by the customers. Flag carriers generally make their money through business customers who are typically not very price sensitive. Aer Lingus already owns the necessary timeslots and connections to provide an extensive network and its fleet could also potentially be modified to provide the more enjoyable flight experience that luxury customers are used to (See Exhibit B2). Also it is questionable if Aer Lingus is actually large enough to maintain a network that can match the advantages of airlines competing with a similar model. Despite the fact that Aer Lingus may h ave some experience with the type of flight that the potential competitors offer, this knowledge might not transfer as easily throughout the whole business, excessive cost for the same amount of benefits might occur. Also with the general economic climate, which is likely to persist over the coming years, even business travellers are increasingly price sensitive or do not fly at all, which makes this market segment significantly less attractive. (See Appendix B.2) A third strategic alternative Aer Lingus could consider is continuing with their current strategy and position of being in between an ultra low cost carrier and full service flag carrier in Europe while also adopting a low cost transatlantic model. Taking into consideration Air Asia s model of low cost, long haul flights between Asia and Europe, we feel that Aer Lingus could apply this same model to their transatlantic flights. They could implement a no frills approach on these flights by adopting an ancillary service. Passengers would pay a basic premium price for their flight ticket. Any extras on board the flight such as meals, the use of a TV, pillows, blankets, drinks etc. would incur an additional charge. We feel that by increasing the capacity of their current fleet, they could increase revenue, and potentially increase their market share. Both Aer Lingus and Air Asia use the same aircraft on long-haul flights, being the Airbus 330-300. However, Air Asia has managed their passenger numbers more efficiently. They have 12 business class seats, compared with Aer Lingus s 24 and 365 economy seats compared with Aer Lingus s 303. If Aer Lingus were to adopt Air Asia s more efficient method they could increase their seat capacity by 15%. (See Appendix B.3) Recommended strategic alternative and its execution: We have highlighted in the previous section three alternative strategies that Aer Lingus can take. We believe that shifting to a no-frills model is not convenient for Aer Lingus because of the greater bargaining power held by Ryanair, which is the European leader of no-frills carriers (it has reported a net profit after taxes of $612.2 million for the first quarter of 2010). Moreover Aer Lingus would not be able to reach the minimum efficient cost to make a profitable low-cost business because it would not be able to develop a learning curve in the short-term. On the other hand, shifting its business model to a western legacy carriers one is not a winning move because at the moment this business model is proving to be unprofitable (American airline has reported a net loss of $359 million for the third quarter 2009, which included the impact of approximately $94 million in non-recurring charges related to the sale of certain aircraft and the grounding of leased Airbus A300 aircraft pr ior to lease expiration. Excluding those non-recurring charges, the third quarter 2009 loss was $265 million or $0.93 per share). We think that Aer Lingus should continue with their current strategy while also incorporating a low cost transatlantic model based on that of Air Asia. In detail Aer Lingus Group Plc should offer enhancements including better food and faster check-in times to customers willing to pay more. In a switch that brings it closer to EasyJet Plc, which attracts a higher proportion of business flyers, Dublin-based Aer Lingus will adopt a hybrid model somewhere between a discount and full-service carrier. Aer Lingus also adds more short-haul routes through a franchise deal with smaller Irish carrier Aer Arann, while seeking to boost long-haul connections by increasing the number of code-share partners. Moreover the agreement with Aer Arann cover 12 routes, giving Aer Lingus new services to Bristol, Blackpool, Cardiff, Durham and Doncaster/Sheffield in England, together with Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland. While the flights use by Aer Arann, being ATR 72 turboprop planes, are branded Aer Lingus Regional, with tickets sold through the larger carrier s Web site. Aer Lingus also needs to improve connections to Asia by finding a partner with daily flights to the region. The airline may rebuild its base at London s Gatwick airport should demand improve after paring services and cutting the number of planes stationed there. Luton, England-based EasyJet is the largest carrier at Gatwick, and has attracted more time-sensitive flyers than Ryanair by operating to airports that are generally closer to major European cities than those used by its rival. Aer Lingus is already reducing wages and slashing its workforce by almost a fifth, and more jobs may have to go as the airline braces for a decline in sales in what will be an extremely challenging. The Irish government holds 25 percent of the carrier s stock, with Ryanair owning about 29 percent following two failed takeover attempts. Likely Benefits and Limitations of Strategic Alternative: Aer Lingus has been hit harder than most as the Irish economy struggles to emerge from the worst recession since World War II. That is why a pure low-cost model was limiting its ability to maximize revenue. Through establishing a low cost transatlantic model, Aer Lingus will have access to a new market which has been created as a result of the economic struggle. Moreover since the recession in Ireland is to last longer than anywhere else world, it is impossible for Aer Lingus develop new routes on its own. Through agreements and alliances, Aer Lingus is able to reach new airports and acquire a new market share at a lower cost by sharing fixed costs. In that way the company will increase its profits by raising the number of its itineraries as well as by differentiating its customer target. In fact, Aer Lingus has joined transatlantic routes by deals with UNITED and Jet Blue carriers and regional routes by their agreement with Aer Arann. Question 2 GTSI From our reading of the GTSI case study we consider the main problem to be that the company expanded too quickly: The Company was too ambitious in implementing such complex systems such as the ERP and GEMs systems and similarly in its 007 strategy. The main reason for the failure of the ERP system was that instead of being run as a corporate project it was run as an IT project. The system was initially supposed to have cost them between $3-5 million and was to take between 12-24 months to complete. Instead the system ended up costing them $60 million and took 5 years to complete and in the process 3 CIO departed. The company seemed to have lost sight of the goal of implementing this system which was to act as a means of lowering costs when in fact by trying to complete this system they ended up driving up the costs which was inevitably detrimental to the profitability of the company. Instead of treating the ERP system as a sunk cost the company kept investing money into it and then e ventually in 2005 launched the system before they were certain if it would be effective or not, stating that the company could learn by trial and error . The launch of the ERP system coincided with the launch of the new GEMS system which in addition was a failure. Because the system failed there was a huge back log in orders and nothing was shipped for two months. In an attempt to rectify this problem GTSI solely concentrated on large orders which only accounted for 20% of their customers, leaving the other 80% extremely dissatisfied. This resulted in a huge increase in customer complaints which in turn lowered staff morale which lead to the increase in employee turnover and proved harmful to their reputation. The reason for the failure of the 007 strategy was that it was simply far too ambitious and it did not take into account the impact of doubling the sales force and revenue in such a short period of time would have on the organizational structure. Also because the company operated in a defined market the implementation of this strategy caused their operating expenses to increase significantly. The company undertook too much by trying to implement the 007 strategy and the GEMS and EPRS systems simultaneously. In being too ambitious with their plans they ignored the individual execution required for the strategy and systems therefore nothing was implemented effectively. The company was nearing bankruptcy when GTSI jumped from a net profit of $10.3 million in 2004 to a $16-million net loss by 2005. Moreover the Bank did not extend GTSIs credit facility leaving the executives at GTSI with two months to find a new credit facility. The reaction of its partners was not good. Some of its long-term partners are going to end their relationship as well as customers questioning whether they should continue to do business with GTSI. GTSI s reputation dropped as well as its stock price. In fact GTSI was quoted into NASDAQ Stock Exchange and when its assets and liabilities were degraded, its rating fell down. In this situation the best solution for the company is trying to retrieve its reputation, so it could increase its stock price. By selling some core assets, the firm could get back some liquidity to guarantee for its liabilities to the Bank. Moreover it could ask for some help from the Government which could acquire some of GTSI s stocks and enable it recover some of its past reputation; particularly, by becoming partly a public company, GTSI stocks rating rise as well as its market price. The second step which we consider very important is to develop a centralized training system to make the employees familiar with the new ERP system, so that the company can really exploit the potential of its investment in this IT system. Finally, we state that a common organization culture and strong leadership is necessary to overcome the attrition within the current organization and to make the coordination between GTSI s activities easier. Question 3 Shenzhen After studying the case of Shenzhen Filtroil, the main problems we have identified are the two dysfunctional relationships between (a) Liu and Qian and (b) The American owners, Randolph and Leahman and the Chinese partners, Liu and Qian. Communication is severed and the merged factory Dongwon Filtroil is not operating as a single team. Relationships are a key component of the business so once trust and communication were not there anymore problems occurred. The main reason is the fact that Liu does not feel appreciated and does not feel that his work is recognised. The firm have a huge reliance on Liu as he is the only one who knows the zinc formula. Liu therefore plays a crucial role in the business and once he recognizes just how important he is he becomes greedy. During a conversation with Qian, Liu demands to be paid (RMB) 15,000 a month, 30% commission instead of his current 5% and also to get a new company car. Qian fails to understand the change in Liu s attitude since they had been such good friends. They should be equals in their business relationship as they both own a stake in the company. However, Liu finds Qian too controlling and untrusting by the way that he checks his products when it is not even necessary. He tells Qian that he needs to stop worrying about his workers and concentrate on his own workers. Due to these issues their relationship becomes more and more dysfunctional. Another reason for their relationship problems is that Qian sees Liu as someone who was in a lot of debt and could barely feed his family. He is of the opinion that Liu should be happy that the merged factory Dongwon Filtroil has enabled Liu to live a better life and send his daughter to a good school. Realistically Qian always felt that Liu should be appreciative of anything he has gained from the merger. He didn t value the important role Liu plays in the company s success with his zinc formula. The relationship between the American owners and the Chinese partners is strained because Randolph and Leahman were kept in the dark for a long time about the tension that was building in the Chinese factory between Liu and Qain. The lack of communication meant that problems were left unsolved and the Chinese partners were left dwelling in the difficult task of keeping the business going. We have considered two solutions to the above problems. The first involves fixing the internal relationship issues without any changes to who works in the business. This can be done by improving communication. Liu and Qain need to become more aware of their responsibilities to the business and stop relying on the American owners to fix their relationship problems. They could put contractual agreements in place that tackle the hold-up issue that Liu has created. This would then establish potential to reinstate trust in the company. At the end of the day we have realised that it is not money that Liu really cares about it is about his work being appreciated. If he had a greater stake it would improve communication and also allow both Liu and Qain to act as equal partners as opposed to one controlling the other. This solution will take time and will need the dedication of everyone involved in the business. Another solution is one proposed at the end of the case. Continue working with Liu and give him the raise he requested. Then hire someone to learn Liu s trade secrets. This would then allow Qain and the American owners to make the zinc formula themselves. They could then get rid of Liu by offering to buy him our or force his resignation if necessary. This solution means that they do not have to address the current major issue that is Qain and Liu s relationship.

Is there ever a solution for working mothers? :: essays research papers

The vast majority of mothers in the world today are working and earning. Where they work may range from the family compound, to nearby fields, to local markets, to industrial parks, to corporate headquarters; but in both developing and developed countries women are economically active, providing support for themselves, their children, and their families According to http://www.popcouncil.org/publications/seeds/seeds13.html#10T it states that: Not only are more mothers working but, in both the modern and traditional sectors, more mothers with very young children now find it necessary to venture further from home in order to provide a livelihood for the family. While it is difficult to find statistical breakdowns of the number of working mothers in most parts of the world, especially where large numbers of women are employed in the informal sector, in the United States today nearly 57 percent of women with children under the age of six are employed, and the trend appears to be growing. The number of women returning to the job market in the U.S. within one year of giving birth, for instance, rose from 31 percent in 1976 to 50.8 percent in 1987. The critical question is who is going to care for their children while they are working, because, in virtually all parts of the world, providing suitable child-care arrangements is the responsib ility of the woman. One problem is that, in too many cases, adequate child care is not available, and when suitable arrangements do not exist, women face not only limitation of employment options and confinement to low-income occupations (where there is generally greater flexibility), but frequent high levels of stress, anxiety, and fear. There is a need for another care giving alternative: delegation of responsibility to a formally or informally organized system of childcare.

Insanity in Shakespeares Hamlet - The Madness of Hamlet Essay

The Madness of Hamlet    William Shakespeare, in the tragedy Hamlet, designed two characters who exhibit symptoms of madness: Ophelia and the prince. Hamlet states his own madness as intentional, purposeful, for the carrying out of the ghost’s admonition. But does Hamlet’s pretended insanity actually touch on real, actual insanity from time to time, or is it consistent? Phyllis Abrahms and Alan Brody in â€Å"Hamlet and the Elizabethan Revenge Tragedy Formula† consider the madness of the hero to be completely feigned and not real: Hamlet is a masterpiece not because it conforms to a set of conventions but because it takes those conventions and transmutes them into the pure gold of vital, relevant meaning. Hamlet’s feigned madness, for instance, becomes the touchstone for an illumination of the mysterious nature of sanity itself. (44-45) Hamlet’s first words in the play say that Claudius is "A little more than kin and less than kind," indicating a dissimilarity in values between the new king and himself – introducing into the story a psychological problem, a refusal to conform, which lays the groundwork, or previews, the upcoming pretended madness. As the future king of Denmark, the hero is expected to maintain a good working relationship with the present king, Claudius. But this is not so. Even before the apparition of the ghost, Hamlet has a very sour relationship with his uncle and stepfather, Claudius. Hamlet’s first soliloquy deepens the psychological rift between the prince and the world at large, but especially women; it emphasizes the frailty of women – an obvious reference to his mother’s hasty and incestuous marriage to her husband’s brother: Must I remember? why, she would hang on him,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As if... ...: Hamlet. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1986. Rpt. of â€Å"O’erdoing Termagant: An Approach to Shakespearean Mimesis.† The Yale Review 63, no.3 (Spring 1974). Foakes, R.A.. â€Å"The Play’s Courtly Setting.† Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. of â€Å"Hamlet and the Court of Elsinore.† Shakespeare Survey: An Annual Survey of Shakespearean Study and Production. No. 9. Ed. Allardyce Nicoll. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 1956. Rosenberg, Marvin. â€Å"Laertes: An Impulsive but Earnest Young Aristocrat.† Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from The Masks of Hamlet. Newark, NJ: University of Delaware Press, 1992. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html