Health of children living in poverty in hong kong Essay

Health of children living in poverty in hong kong - Essay Example Acording to statistics in 2005, a family of three took home $8,000 while that of four and two earned a low income of $9,800 and $6,400 respectivley. Analysts have intimated that the growing disparity between the rich and the poor is one of the greatest contributor to the poor education levels of the children in Hong Kong as there is no possibility of bridging it to make things better. In essence, the rich only associate with the rich while the poor have no option other than to keep by themselves meaning that it is a continuing cycle of poor education access for the poverty stricken because they cannot free themselves from it. According to the General Household survey of 2012 (89), a significant percentage of the population above 15 years and less than 65 is economically inactive in Hong Kong hence explaining the high levels of poverty in the region. The statistics also shows that Sha tin, Kwai Tsing, Kwun Tong, Wong Tai Sin, Yuen Long, and Tuen Mun are the principle districts in Hong Kong that have continued to register high numbers of poor households. Ideally, child poverty tends to have an effect on the feeding of the same in that it creates malnutrition for those affected by the scourge because these children cannot afford to feed properly as per the nutrition requirements. Most of the children drop out of school because they have to fend fro themselves rather than study because their parents cannot afford to put them through school. Other than this, children living in poverty tend to have self-esteem issues as they tend to feel marginalized and humiliated because of their non-desirable financial status hence making them to avoid going to school(Ngo 2013). Poor health and poverty also means that these children are likely to fail attending school because they are forced to help their parents in fending especially those from single parent households.. On other the other hand,

Course evaluation paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Course evaluation paper - Essay Example (AHRQ, 2007) (See Table I – Recommended Immunization Schedule for Persons Aged 0 – 6 Years in the United States on page 6) As part of delivering good quality service to selected patients, segmenting the patient population is necessary to enable the community nurses to provide effective health care strategies in delivering a safe, efficient, effective, timely, patient centered, and equitable health care to patients. (Lynn et al., 2007; Institute of Medicine, 2001) The expected outcome for the community health care that focuses on immunization is to ensure that there will be a reduction of morbidity and mortality among the infants and children throughout the community. (Zimmerman et al., 1987) The intended target population for rendering the community health care which focuses on immunization is patients below six (6) years of age and below. In order for nurses to accurately identify the target patient population within a selected community, nurses will have to study the existing computerized patient record (CPR) within the community health care computer system. (Rivo, 1998) Adding the total number of children below six years of age plus the patients who are currently pregnant, the nurses could easily determine the total number of additional babies each month. In the absence of CPR system, nurses should ask the pregnant women to fill out a simple survey form which will be used in determining the size of target population for immunization and health care education for expectant mothers. Considering that there are some babies born within the community each month and the fact that the immunization schedule for new born infants up to six (6) years old is more likely to overlap at the time the schedule is due, the implementation of community health care immunization program should be continuously offered to the community at least once or

Online dating services Essay Example for Free

Online dating services Essay Online Dating Services, once a haven for the desperate and lonely are starting to attract a significant user and revenue base and are growing at an increasing rate. These services now attract over 30 million users a year in the U. S. and soon will be the highest revenue subscription content service on the Internet. The growth of online personals and many of the industrys characteristics are similar to those of products such as fax machines, DVD players, and the Internet itself. The main similarity is that the value of these services for each user increases with each additional user. However, many other characteristics hold true as well. It has significant economies of scale, requires highly complimentary products, and displays some semblance of standards and compatibility between its competitors. Since online dating services have proven to be so similar to other networked goods, much of the knowledge gained by examining these other services can be applied. This means that one can expect these services to continue to grow rapidly, gain mainstream acceptance and that subscription prices will remain low as long as the major services remain incompatible. Further, they likely will remain incompatible for a variety of technical and strategic reasons. Online dating services have been around since 19951. Computer dating services date (no pun intended) back as far as the 1960s2. However over the last three years these services have seen explosive growth. While other dotcoms reached their peak in 2000 and have since crashed, dating sites have seen explosive growth since 1999 both in users and revenue. The industry generated over $50 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2002, 550% year over year growth3. This growth has been so fast and successful that many of the Internet companies that survived the crash have turned to dating services for additional revenue and profitability4. This explosive growth and several of the industrys other characteristics are reminiscent of other technologies or innovations. The fax machine, VCR, and the Internet itself have all followed similar growth curves5. What online dating has in common with these sites is that they are all examples of networked products or services where each additional user increases the overall value of the good to all the other users. The following report provides an overview of the online dating industry and its recent growth. It then examines the characteristics of networks and whether these apply to the online dating. Based on these characteristics, it models an explanation for its recent growth and attempts to explain any potential shift in attitudes towards online dating. Finally, this report looks at the competition between services and the likely affect this will have on consumers utility, prices, the services themselves and societal welfare as a whole. The following section provides an overview of what online dating sites are, the major players, industry size and business models to establish a basis for comparing this industry to the characteristics of networked industries. Online dating services are simply websites that carry a database of singles for other singles to search. Typically users can visit the site and search based on sex, age and often certain characteristics of their profile, for example: I am a male seeking a female aged 18 to 24 in Toronto, ON. Only show ads with pictures. [insert screen shots here] From here visitors view a list of matching profiles and can click through on any of these to view the full profile. The full profile can contain one or multiple pictures, various stats on the user (age, sex, body type, sexual or religious orientation) as well as an opening headline, description and clever answers to profile questions. Registered users can then make contact with the user, usually through a messaging or chat system within the site and if the match is successful the relationship moves off of the site into the real world. Online dating services are big business. The online personals industry generated $53. 1 million in revenue in the first quarter of this year. That number is over 5 1/2 times the $8. 1 million total for that period in 2001. That number will likely continue to grow substantially this year once industry wide figures are available. Revenue at the leading service Match. com more than doubled in the third quarter of 2002 to $33. 4 million and this is a company with less than one third of the market. Nearly 34 million people visit personals sites each year6. The industry is dominated by two major players. Match. com is the biggest site with nearly 6 million visitors per month while Yahoo, at 3. 4 million, is the second most popular site, leveraging its large population of web directory and email users7. Following well behind these two are a dozen or so fairly evenly trafficked sites (see chart: Major Players in Online Dating). The business models for most of these sites are some combination of free and paid access. For all the sites browsing the ads is free. However users have to register and pay between $20 and $25 in order to post ads or respond to ads or both. Over 93% of online dating subscription prices are in the $5-50 range8. Both Match. com and Yahoo charge to post an ad and respond to ads. Lavalife (the 10th most trafficked site) is free to post ads but requires users buy credits in order to contact other users. Overall 98% of purchases at online dating sites are subscriptions. 54% of those subscriptions are monthly, 22% annual. The user population of online dating sites is about 60% male, 40% female9. The ages of users range from 18 to 80 with the largest percentage (32%) between 35 and 44 years of age. Followed by 24% for 25-35 year olds, 22% for 45-54 year olds and 11% each amongst 18 to 24 year olds and those 55 and over (see graph: age distribution)10. The fastest growing segment appears to be the 18-30 space. In the first quarter of 2002, fully half of the new users of Match. com have been under 3011. This suggests that dating sites are no longer just for the desperate, those over 35 and still single, but have become another source for those with time and looks on their side to accelerate their dating or improve their dating efficiency. 5 Online Dating Growth While spending on online content as a whole has increased, no category has increased more than online dating (see graph: Quarterly Growth of Consumer Spending by Category of Online Content). While the other categories such as business content and research have experienced steady linear growth, the growth curve for online dating is an exponential curve. Not only is it growing but the rate of growth quarter over quarter is also increasing. At its current rate by the time numbers are available for the rest of 2002 it will exceed business spending as the largest category of online spending. It is also the only category of online content that has significant consumption externalities. When purchasing any of business content, research, single player games, news, credit help, sports or online greeting cards, the number of other users of the product does not play more than a minor role in the purchasing decision. There is also plenty of room for the industry to grow in both revenue and users. Soon these services will have video chat capabilities12. People will overcome a lot of their negative perceptions of the practice as the number of users increase and many of these primarily US-based services will begin to expand internationally. Many products are not useful without a complementary product. Portable CD players are useless without headphones, and DVD players require DVDs to play. This is one of the factors that separate network goods from goods such as an apple which can be consumed by itself. Arguably online dating services could be the required complementary product to the Internet. With an Internet connection one needs content to look at, and certainly users of online dating services are required to have an Internet connection, so there is some complementarity here but this connection is somewhat weak. While CDs are needed for a CD player to be useful at all, dating services are not a requirement for the Internet to be useful. Further, even with the rapid growth in online personals, it still lags Internet growth and coverage so significantly that for at least the next little while the overall growth of the Internet will have a negligible effect on online dating when compared to the growth it will experience from existing Internet users. With the requirement many networked goods have for complementary products comes the need for compatibility and standards. The benefits of making goods compatible with others are clear. Consumers can benefit by being able to choose from a number of headphone choices knowing that for the most part (except on airplanes) these headphones will plug into their CD player, stereo, and computer. From a headphone manufacturers perspective it is far cheaper to build for a standard jack than specifically for every device. While there is not a single standard that all online dating services are based on to the point where a profile or other stored information from one service can be seamlessly transferred to any other, several competing platforms are starting to emerge. Nerve. com, after the rapid growth of the personals section of its website, spun the service off into a separate company, Springstreet Networks, which provides a standardized shared match making service for other content providers such as salon. com, bust, boston. com and others14. Match. coms database is shared with licensees including msn. com, nytimes. com and villagevoice. com to name a few. Relationship Exchange is another network that powers the personals services behind. cupidjunction. com, and personals. canada. com amongst others. Even some of the smaller dating sites like people2people. com are licensing their databases to online newspaper sites like sfgate. com. The competition is not necessarily amongst the dating sites themselves but the networks they supply and pull from. However, Yahoo Personals is independent and not licensed to other parties. It is banking on its existing position as the top website on the Internet15 and its large pool of users of its other tools to provide a large enough pool of users. Lavalife also has its own proprietary system and is banking on its unique features and credit based rather than subscription based system. While Yahoo and Lavalife are staunchly independent, the advantages to smaller sites are obvious. A personals site is only as valuable as its pool of profiles that match the user. If the user is unable to find people with the same interests, geography and whatever other characteristics determine a match, the user will not subscribe to the site for very long, nor be enticed to subscribe in order to contact a matching user. The larger the pool of people, the better the selection of people that may match, the more likely the user is to subscribe or purchase credits. 6. 3 Consumption Externalities The increase in value with an increase in users is the fourth characteristic of networked industries: consumption externalities. If there is one heterosexual person of each gender on one of these sites the possible number of connections is only one. However with five people of each gender the number of possible connections is 25. With 100 males and 100 females the number of possible connections is 10,000. Thus the total value of the network, as measured by the number of possible connections, increases by Vn = nm x nf where n is the number of users and m and f indicate male and female respectively.

Power of suppliers analysis

Power of suppliers analysis Analysis Each of the five forces will now be evaluated individually in terms of the UK supermarket industry to see how attractive the industry is. Background information on the UK supermarket industry The industry consists of the following UK supermarkets: Aldi, Asda, The co-coperative, Iceland, Lidl, Marks and Spencers, Morrisons, Netto, Sainsburys, Somerfield, Tesco and Waitrose (Supermarket, 2009). Researching into these supermarkets show that they were all established in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This shows how established they are within the industry and how they have continued there success. The UK food retailing industry is dominated by four major supermarkets (Tesco, Asda, Simsburys, Morrisons), who together account for over two-thirds of UK retail food sales (Fearne et al, 2005, p570). The UK grocery market is worth  £146.3bn for the calendar year 2008 (IDG, 2009) and has been steadily rising each calendar year: The bargaining power of suppliers Analysis The UK supermarket industry would not be capable of running without suppliers to stock their shelves. This means that the bargaining power of suppliers is an extremely important force to look at in depth, as, if the bargaining power of suppliers is high it makes the industry less attractive as the suppliers will be able to push prices up and take control of the supermarkets power. There are many different elements that are looked into to analyse to the full extent of the bargaining power of the suppliers which are looked at below: Porter states that suppliers are more powerful if there are only a few suppliers (Lynch, 2009: 97). With the supermarket industry they have to deal with a large number of suppliers of goods and products that they will stock in their shops. This means they are in constant communications with different suppliers. This means that the UK supermarket industry are in a very strong position, as there are thousands of different products and ranges this means the supermarkets can pick and choose their suppliers depending on price, quality and service, meaning the bargaining power of suppliers in this sense is not high as they need to get there products into the supermarkets and therefore need to have contracts with huge Supermarkets like Tesco and Asda. However, Tescos and many other supermarkets have started to create relationships and good working ethics between themselves and suppliers. For example Tesco have created a supplier partnering approach which is by forging long-term partnerships with our suppliers and identifying new innovative suppliers (Tesco, 2009) which as a result, our supply base is distinguished by its long-term constructive relationships (Tesco, 2009. Tescos has over 1,5000 suppliers who have been working with them for over five years, this shows that Tescos has learnt that working in co-operation with the suppliers causes better relationships as has Simsburys who have recently launched there supporting fairtrade campaign. If there are no substitutes for the suppliers they offer (Lynch, 2009: 97) it is said that the suppliers are more powerful as they will exert there power if they know they do not have anyone to compete with, therefore setting higher prices and in the case of supermarkets holding power over them. In the supermarket industry this can be looked at from two different views as most Supermarkets offer a range of different brands to substitute each other along the same line, for example Supermarkets stock both Nestle and Kelloggs cereal, so in that respect they do have different substitutes within product lines but in this case the supermarkets and branded products both need each other. The brands need to get shelf space to gain market share and the supermarkets need to offer the products being marketed to the consumer to attract customers into the shops. Due to the huge market shares of the main supermarkets the suppliers have little bargaining power at all. Porter also believes that if suppliers prices form a large part of the total costs of the organisation (Lynch, 2009: 98) then the bargaining power of the supplier is high. This means that if suppliers prices were to be raised then the supermarkets in this case would also have to raise their prices and they would be adversely affected. In the case of the UK supermarket industry, the top supermarkets are not affected by the suppliers prices changing as the suppliers have such large dependency on the supermarkets for contracts and repeat business meaning they are in some ways controlled by the prices the supermarkets are willing to pay as the power they have means they can just find another cheaper supplier. However, with the smaller supermarkets they do not have as much control as the suppliers price will affect them and they may not have the higher market share meaning they cannot exert any power over the suppliers as they can choose to supply the bigger supermarkets instead. Overall, it would not benefit the supplier to change to higher prices as supermarkets buy in such high volume and their relationship is crucial therefore the bargaining power is low. Overall, taking into account all aspects of Porters theories on bargaining power of suppliers is low as, the fact that a handful of supermarkets control access to consumers means that they are increasingly in a position to exercise buyer power. This is because distribution through these outlets is critical to manufacturers and suppliers as these suppliers have no other viable means of setting up distribution that offers the same scale and economic benefits (Dobson et al, 1998 as cited in Fearne et al, 2005, p571) and the key players in the UK food industry are dominated, led and controlled by retailers to a large extent (Howe, 2008 as cited in Robson et al, 2001, p 39). However it can be seen that the supermarkets in the UK are working towards forging strong relationships with suppliers. The bargaining power of buyers Analysis Within the analysis of the UK Supermarket Industry the buyers in Porters five forces are the customers. There are four main ways in which the bargaining power of buyers is high and they are under the following conditions: If the buyers are concentrated and there are few of them (Lynch, 2009: 98). The UK Supermarket Industry has thousands of customers all around the UK, this meaning that the power of the customers is not high in this sense as their target market is phenomenally large with 6,410 supermarkets covering most of the UK meaning they are easily accessible for a huge range of customers. Another condition which means the bargaining power of buyers is high is when the product from the organisation is undifferentiated (Lynch, 2009: 98). This means that the customers can switch from one supermarket to another as they all basically offer the same products, this is an issue in the supermarket industry as most customers are not loyal to just one supermarket, but the volume of customers is so high this does not really have a negative impact on the supermarkets this meaning the buyer power is not strong enough to create a problem for the industry unless a high percentage of loyal customers decided not to use the supermarket again, however the supermarkets are continuously running advertising campaigns to attract new customers and to retain there original loyal customers. If backward integration is possible (Lynch, 2009: 98) then the bargaining power of the customers is high. In the UK Supermarket Industry it is impossible for the customers to integrate backwards and take over the supermarkets role, so the bargaining power of buyers is non-existent. This shows that the bargaining power of buyers/suppliers is extremely low in the UK supermarket industry as there are so many customers that the supermarkets will always be in demand but because of the nature of the industry and UK customers always needing them to supply them with their weekly shopping etc so they do not have any bargaining power. The threat of potential new entrants Analysis Whenever new firms can easily enter a particular industry, the intensity of competitiveness among firms increases (David, 1997: 128). Porter states there are seven major sources of barriers to entry, as UK supermarkets are highly profitable the industry looks attractive in that sense, but the real issue is whether or not the industry can be entered easily. If the UK supermarket industry has low barriers of entry this means that the industry becomes more competitive and if you are already established this is not good news as the competition becomes fierce as David (1997) suggests; however if the barriers of entry are high and you are already established this is very comforting news as it means there will not be many competitors and new competitors very unlikely. The economies of scale in the industry need to be looked at closely, especially as it has a huge effect. This is because in terms of stock, supermarkets can purchase products from suppliers on a huge scale, meaning they get better deals and reduced costs, a new entrant to the supermarket industry would find this hard to do as the capital needed would be extremely large and not achievable straight away. The second source of barriers to entry is the branding, customer knowledge, special levels of service and many other aspects (Lynch, 2009: 99), which can create high barriers. This is very true in the UK supermarket Industry as the supermarkets are established and have already created different strengths within the market; most of them from the late 1800s. The extent to which the supermarkets already established are recognised is an enormous advantage, this meaning the barriers of entry are very high as lots of money would have to be spent marketing, setting up and creating a successful supermarket idea that would be sustainable amongst the long established competitors. The capital requirements to enter the UK Supermarket Industry are financially challenging to compete with the established supermarkets; raising such funds and taking such a high financial risk, makes the barriers to entry extremely high. Switching costs deal with the motion that if customers are happy with the supermarkets already within the industry then the cost to a new entrant would be very high to persuade the customers any different; therefore making the industry unattractive, as there is already lots of choice within the supermarket industry I feel it would be very hard to make customers switch therefore the costs would be very high. Porter argues that the access to distribution channels is a threat to new entrants. Within the supermarket industry however this links in with could a new entrant find suitable locations to distribute its products that would be easily accessible and would these kinds of sites be too costly to fund from the beginning; also with high competition levels around each town or city. The cost disadvantages independent of scale (Lynch, 2009: 99) also need to be looked at as possible new entrants need to assess how easily they will be able to gain stability and a foothold in the market, they will do this by seeing how well the other supermarkets in the industry are established, have constant customers that are loyal and trusting and the supermarkets knowledge of the marketplace. As many of the supermarkets in the industry are extremely well established and recognisable for their different traits this makes an extremely high barrier of entry for new entrants, as they do not have this bank of knowledge and experience. Government policy has a big effect on new entrants, as within the supermarket industry there are many different laws. Legislations and regulations that have to be abided by especially as food products are being sold. This means that a new entrant within the supermarket would find this process very costly and timely, therefore raising the barrier to entry. Overall, the threat of new entrants within the UK supermarket industry is very low as the costs to enter the market will be extremely high and the competition against the established supermarkets would be high due to their knowledge, experience and networks with suppliers and distribution channels. The threat of substitutes Analysis Substitution reduces demand for a particular class of products as customers switch to alternatives (Johnson et al, 2005: 82); it can be argued that there is no substitute to food but whilst looking at the UK supermarket industry each supermarket is each others substitute, hence the competition being fierce and constant as each food product they offer the competitor will also offer. The way in which supermarkets have overcome this however, is that they each have there own different strategies and strengths for example Asda offers a huge range of low cost products where as Waitrose focuses on having high quality products at a higher price. There are also other substitutes outside of the supermarket industry which really need to be analysed like local corner shops, newsagents, farm shops, markets and budget shops. The threat of substitutes has taken on a different meaning during the recession as UK supermarket giant Tesco has lost market share to discounters Aldi and Lidl as consumers cut back on spending (BBC News, 28.04.09), where there has been a shift by shoppers from high-end to low-end stores (BBC News, 27.06.08). This means that the threat of substitutes have become an issue within the UK supermarket industry as other retail shops like Poundland and Wilkinsons offer discounted products which have become more attractive to the UK customers due to the recession. This means that the threat of substitutes has risen over the past years making the industry become less attractive. The extent of competitor rivalry Analysis Rivalry among competing firms is usually the most powerful of the five competitive forces (David, 1997: 127). Competitor rivalry plays a huge role in the UK supermarket industry, Competition may take the form of price competition, advertising and promotion, innovation, or service during and after sales (Thompson, 2003: 296) The reason why competitive rivalry is high in the UK supermarket industry is because most of the competitors are of equal size, therefore meaning that if one competitor decides to try and gain more market share then the rivalry considerably increases. This has happened recently with Asda as they are constantly running advertising campaigns showing how much cheaper they are than all the other supermarkets. Since this has happened the other supermarkets have fought back and have shown they are also just as cheap therefore raising the competition barriers and therefore rivalry. Here are some adverts below to show how they are naming their competitors and their prices: There is also a high level of competition within the UK supermarket industry as it is difficult to differentiate products and services (Lynch, 2009: 100) so therefore competition becomes based upon costing and offering the better deal to the customer to attract them to keep as many loyal customers as possible. There are extremely high levels of competition within the UK supermarket industry making it an unattractive industry. Conclusion of the UK Supermarket Industry according to Porters five forces Analysing the above information the UK supermarket industry is attractive in three of Porters five forces The bargaining power of suppliers, the bargaining power of buyers and the threat of new entrants. In the remaining two forces however, the industry is extremely unattractive the threat of substitutes and the extent of competitor rivalry. Critique of Porters five forces Porters five forces gives a basis of analysing the environment within an industry, but there have been many criticisms, which will be explored further. The dynamic nature of industry structure (Hax et al, 1991: 50) is something that needs to be analysed in terms of reliability with Porters five forces. As with most models and frameworks Porters model is static and is only a snapshot in time, where as in reality the nature of industries is that they are constantly changing, evolving and competing. The model may not be able to keep up with these constant changes and therefore not give a clear and accurate picture of the industry. For example the computing industry is constantly changing with new software available, new technologies therefore the level of competition constantly changing. The model also does not take into account how to define an industry and this causes a lot of implications as looking at the UK supermarket industry it is hard to define the difference between that of a supermarket industry to that of a grocery industry and where one stops and the other starts. Porter assumes that the industry is easily definable, but in reality this is near impossible as most industries overlap and/or people have different views or perceptions of a make up of an industry. This was found whilst looking at the UK supermarket industry as it was very hard to define which shops were deemed as supermarkets or other retail outlets. Another aspect that was hard to define was the fact that the supermarket industry seemed to overlap the grocery industry making the information very hard to extract. Another critique of the model is that it does not deem buyers, or in the supermarket industry case customers, as any more important than the other aspects within the micro-environment, where in fact in reality the customers are one of the most important aspects of being successful within an industry. This in turn means that within strategy development customers should be treated differently within the analysis. Porters model also suggests that the main intention of the organisation is to address its own interests before others, where in reality charitable and governmental organisations have different intentions therefore making this function of the model incorrect in some cases and industries. It can also be seen that just to survive is a main concern of most businesses rather than just focusing on profits. The model is also based on the idea of competition and that competitive advantage is essential both over other market competitors, customers and their suppliers. As Porter focuses on this he does not take into account strategies like strategic alliances, electronic linking of information systems of all companies along a value chain, virtual enterprise networks or others (The Manager, 2001) It can also be seen that Porter ignores the Human Resource aspect of strategy which includes management skills and cultures which form some industries beliefs and how they carry out their work therefore affecting the industries attractiveness. One of the five forces within the model is bargaining power of suppliers. Porter looks at suppliers as a threat to the industry where in fact in some organisations and industries have found it very useful to engage in closer co-operation with suppliers (Lynch, 2009: 101). Robson et al (2002) suggest that Supermarkets are leading the way in developing vertical relations in the food industry. It can be seen that some supermarkets have created a relationship and partnership between themselves and their suppliers as they are both as dependent on each other. Hence why working in harmony is a more ideal situation than Porters suggested aggressive approach to suppliers. This therefore means they are no longer a threat leading to the force not needed in some cases. In different industries not all forces are equally important (Hax et al, 1991: 50) therefore the simplicity of the model gains only limited information and to make a complex evaluation thorough research into the different forces and how much weight they carry in comparison to others needs to be established before a conclusion can be made about how attractive the industry is. For example, It could be very well be that many factors add to an unattractive position, and yet, when judged from its entirety, the industry still presents an overall attractive picture (Hax et al, 1991: 50). The government is a huge force that influences industry attractiveness or not. Porter does not suggest this within his chosen five forces but instead as a factor within the force of threat of new entrants. In recent economic times the government has been truly shown how it has in the final say of organisations. The recession and the recent break down within the banking sector showed the governments true role as it helped as it In total, the Government has put  £74 billion of taxpayers money into the banks, including RBS, Lloyds and HBOS, since the start of the financial crisis last year(Winnett et al, Telegraph, 2009) . Thus showing that if the government was not involved then the banking sector would have completely collapsed hence the government playing a huge role in supporting industries, for example the banking industry. Grant (2002) believes that there is a missing dimension in the five forces model. As the five forces model addresses the suppliers of substitute goods as threats, Porter does not explore that as well as substitutes for products there are also complements. Substitutes within the framework are shown as reducing the profit available in the industry where as complements have a positive impact on value (Grant, 2002: 90) and can help to exercise bargaining power (Grant, 2002: 91). This is because the more complements there are and the closer their relationship to the products supplied by the industry, the greater the potential profit within the industry (Grant, 2002: 90). In conclusion complementary businesses have to be taken into account as well as substitutes as dynamics within these organisations will affect the industry attractiveness; for example new technologies. Overall there has been many different critiques about Porters five forces, the main theme seems to be that the model is useful to get a general idea of how attractive an industry is, but to make sure you get a fully comprehensive analysis you need to look much more in depth at the industries elements that are not necessarily mentioned within Porters model and realise that this is only a snapshot in time and will change considerably over times and different economic events that occur. Reference List Books Grant, Robert M (2002). Contemporary Strategy Analysis. Fourth Edition, Page 90, Blackwell Publishers Ltd Grant, Robert M (2002). Contemporary Strategy Analysis. Fourth Edition, Page 91, Blackwell Publishers Ltd Thompson, John L (2003). Strategic Management, Page 296, Thompson David, Fred R (1997). Strategic Management. Sixth Edition, Page 127, Prentice-Hall Inc David, Fred R (1997). Strategic Management. Sixth Edition, Page 128, Prentice-Hall Inc Johnson, G et al. (2005). Exploring Corporate Strategy. Seventh Edition, Page 82, Prentice Hall Lynch, Richard (2009). Strategic Management. Fifth Edition, Page 97, Pearson Education Lynch, Richard (2009). Strategic Management. Fifth Edition, Page 98, Pearson Education Lynch, Richard (2009). Strategic Management. Fifth Edition, Page 99, Pearson Education Lynch, Richard (2009). Strategic Management. Fifth Edition, Page 100, Pearson Education Lynch, Richard (2009). Strategic Management. Fifth Edition, Page 101, Pearson Education Hax, Arnaldo C et al (1991). The strategy concept and progress. A pragmatic approach. Page 50, Prentice Hall Bibliography Books Grant, Robert M (2002). Contemporary Strategy Analysis. Fourth Edition, Blackwell Publishers Ltd Thompson, John L (2003). Strategic Management, Thompson David, Fred R (1997). Strategic Management. Sixth Edition, Prentice-Hall Inc Johnson, G et al. (2005). Exploring Corporate Strategy. Seventh Edition, Prentice Hall Lynch, Richard (2009). Strategic Management. Fifth Edition, Pearson Education Hax, Arnaldo C et al (1991). The strategy concept and progress. A pragmatic approach, Prentice Hall Hill, C et al (1995). Strategic Management, an integrated approach. Third Edition Houghton Mifflin Company De Wit, B et al (1998). Strategy process content context. Second edition, International Thomson business press Hitt, M et al (1995). Strategic Management, Competitiveness and Globalization, West Publishing Miller, A (1998). Strategic Management. Third Edition. McGraw-Hill Websites Winnett et al, 2009,  £4,350 per family to bail out banks. Telegraph [Online] Available from www.telegraph.co.uk [accessed on 20.11.09] Recklies, D, 2009, Beyond Porter A Critique of the Critique of Porter, The manager [online] Available from www.themanager.org [accessed 11.11.09] BBC News (2008) Supermarkets to Battle on prices, BBC News Business [online] Available from www.bbc.co.uk BBC News (2009) Tesco is losing UK market share, BBC News Business [online] Available from www.bbc.co.uk Visit4info (2009), visit4info, [online] Available from www.visit4info.com [accessed 1.11.09] Supermarket (2009) Supermarket, [online] Available from www.supermarket.co.uk [accessed 319.10.09]

Genetic Screening :: Science Genes Biology Papers

Genetic Screening What is genetic screening? Health care is becoming more and more of a concern today as the profession is constantly creating new procedures and what we hope are better ways to administer care. How would things be, though, if patients could be told beforehand what diseases they are likely to contract in the future? This is where genetic screening comes into play. Genetic screening is the ability to examine the genetic code for possible defects and the consequences thereof. What is a genetic disease? Professor Kare Berg of the University of Oslo describes genetic diseases as "†¦(including) diseases caused by a mutant gene at a single locus (Mendelian diseases), disorders caused by numerical or structural chromosomal anomalies, and diseases or malformations caused by the action of several genes or by interaction between genes and environmental factors" (1996). How can we test for these defects? Most often, a simple blood test can supply enough DNA to perform a thorough examination. Researchers are also developing new ways to test the genes of the unborn. For example, a new test in Korea extracts eggs from the mother and brings them to maturity. The eggs are then fertilized with the husband’s sperm and allowed to divide once or twice. A cell is then removed from each group and tested for known genetic diseases. University of California at San Francisco professor Yuet Wai Kan has developed a way to test an unborn baby’s blood without the use of amniocentesis. A blood sample is taken from the mother and immature red blood cells from the fetus are separated. Kan’s team can then run tests on these immature red blood cells. The procedure is said to be tedious but does not require expensive equipment or the costly time of an obstetrician, not to mention the pain that can accompany amniocentesis. Social, Economic, and Moral Issues Science is constantly seeking new uses for what we learn from genetics. Not everyone, however, is in favor of such findings. There are many things to consider as we put what we learn about genetics out for the world to see. How and when are these tests to be performed? Should they be performed? Who has the right to see the results of these tests? Who has the right to suggest such testing? Genetic tests and their results can have serious consequences on the lives of people tested and those who surround them. For instance, if employers know of an applicant who is susceptible to a deadly disease, they could most likely refrain from hiring the individual and save themselves trouble down the road. Genetic Screening :: Science Genes Biology Papers Genetic Screening What is genetic screening? Health care is becoming more and more of a concern today as the profession is constantly creating new procedures and what we hope are better ways to administer care. How would things be, though, if patients could be told beforehand what diseases they are likely to contract in the future? This is where genetic screening comes into play. Genetic screening is the ability to examine the genetic code for possible defects and the consequences thereof. What is a genetic disease? Professor Kare Berg of the University of Oslo describes genetic diseases as "†¦(including) diseases caused by a mutant gene at a single locus (Mendelian diseases), disorders caused by numerical or structural chromosomal anomalies, and diseases or malformations caused by the action of several genes or by interaction between genes and environmental factors" (1996). How can we test for these defects? Most often, a simple blood test can supply enough DNA to perform a thorough examination. Researchers are also developing new ways to test the genes of the unborn. For example, a new test in Korea extracts eggs from the mother and brings them to maturity. The eggs are then fertilized with the husband’s sperm and allowed to divide once or twice. A cell is then removed from each group and tested for known genetic diseases. University of California at San Francisco professor Yuet Wai Kan has developed a way to test an unborn baby’s blood without the use of amniocentesis. A blood sample is taken from the mother and immature red blood cells from the fetus are separated. Kan’s team can then run tests on these immature red blood cells. The procedure is said to be tedious but does not require expensive equipment or the costly time of an obstetrician, not to mention the pain that can accompany amniocentesis. Social, Economic, and Moral Issues Science is constantly seeking new uses for what we learn from genetics. Not everyone, however, is in favor of such findings. There are many things to consider as we put what we learn about genetics out for the world to see. How and when are these tests to be performed? Should they be performed? Who has the right to see the results of these tests? Who has the right to suggest such testing? Genetic tests and their results can have serious consequences on the lives of people tested and those who surround them. For instance, if employers know of an applicant who is susceptible to a deadly disease, they could most likely refrain from hiring the individual and save themselves trouble down the road.

The Awakening :: essays research papers

The Awakening   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the novella The Awakening by Kate Chopin, two supporting characters, Madame Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz, represent two distinctively different females of the Victorian Age. Madame Ratignolle serves as society's idea of the ideal woman. 'There [is] nothing subtle or hidden about her charms; her beauty [is] all there, flaming and apparent: the spun-gold hair that [neither] comb nor confining pen could restrain; the blue eyes that [are] like nothing but sapphires; two lips that pout, that [are] so red one could think of cherries or some other delicious crimson fruit in looking at them.'; Her beauty is complemented by her extreme devotion to her family. They come first in her life. She is the quintessential mother-woman. '[Mother-women] [are] women who idolized their children, [worship] their husbands, and [esteem] it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels.'; She gave up her individuality by taking marriage v ows and became one half of the Ratignolle family. 'The Ratignolles understood each other perfectly. If ever a fusion of two human beings into one has ever been accomplished on this sphere it [is] surely this union.'; Madame Ratignolle has surrendered to her husband's world as proper wives at the time were expected to do. She obeys her husband and assumes the responsibility of keeping him satisfied. 'She would not consent to remain with Edna [when] Monsieur Ratignolle was alone, [because] he detested above all things being alone.';   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While Madame Ratignolle is the ideal Victorian woman, Mademoiselle Reisz is 'a disagreeable little woman, no longer young, who [quarrels] with almost everyone, owing to a temper which [is] self-assertive and a disposition to trample on the rights of others.'; When Edna asks the proprietor of the neighborhood grocery store if he knew where Mademoiselle Reisz had moved, the man answers that 'he [thanks] heaven that she had left the neighborhood, and was equally thankful that he did not know where she had gone.'; Mademoiselle Reisz is in no way the beautiful Aphrodite that Madame Ratignolle is. She is an old woman who is past her physical prime, although the reader gets the impression that, during her prime, her looks still left something to be desired. The community snickers at her because she wears 'false hair'; has poor taste in fashion. Mademoiselle Reisz has always lived on the top floors of apartment buildings, which takes her far away from reality and the prob lems of others.

Albert Camus Essay

How Aschenbach and Meursault in Death in Venice and The Stranger respectively, are driven by mind initially then change to being driven by the heart as the result of a key event In both The Stranger and Death in Venice, the characters change as the book progresses. There is mainly one action that sparks this drastic change. In The Stranger, this action is the murder of Raymond’s mistress’ brother, and in Death in Venice this critical moment occurs when Aschenbach has the sudden urge to travel. Aschenbach and Meursault are both characters that move from one extreme to the other. They begin as characters who make decisions based solely on what their mind tells them. As the novel develops, these characters move to the other extreme, which is making decisions based solely on what their heart tells them. This transition from extreme logical thinking to extreme emotional thinking is what leads to the downfall of both Aschenbach and Meursault. As the novel begins, Thomas Mann introduces Aschenbach as a fairly likable German writer. Initially the reader sees Aschenbach as a normal character anyone can relate to. He lives a very stable life, and has never traveled before. Aschenbach is a character who is extremely involved in his work and one who organizes his entire life based on how he can best achieve quality in his work. At this point in the novel Aschenbach makes all his decisions using his mind rather than his heart. While taking a stroll, Aschenbach sees a man with red hair as well as long teeth. It is this man that pushes his mind in to traveling. Aschenbach begins to change as soon as he sets his mind to travel. In his daydream regarding his adventure he envisions a â€Å"†¦ landscape, a tropical swampy region under a vapor-laden sky, damp, luxuriant and uncanny; it was like the portrait of a primitive world of islands morasses and slit-laden rivers† (pg 3, Mann). The symbol of Aschenbach’s departure on this journey is the sign of the beginning of his decline. It is from this point on that Aschenbach transforms from being a normal man who makes logical decisions with is brain, to one that makes decisions with his heart. As Aschenbach’s journey progresses, he notices many men with red hair and long white teeth like the one that inspired him to travel. This shows the constant rapid declining of Aschenbach. His first sight of Tadzio in the hotel marks the beginning of the extreme heart-driven Aschenbach. His description of Tadzio clearly portrays his obsession. â€Å"With astonishment Aschenbach observed that the boy was perfectly beautiful. His face, pale and charmingly secretive with the honey-colored hair curling around it, with its straight-sloping nose, its lovely mouth and its expression of sweet and divine earnestness recalled Greek statues of the noblest period, and, along with its extremely pure perfection of form, it was of such unique personal charm that the onlooker thought he had never come across anything so felicitous either in nature or in art† (pg 20, Mann). Once Aschenbach begins to follow Tadzio’s every step, the reader notices that Aschenbach is becoming more and more indulged in Tadzio’s life rather than his own. â€Å"His head and his heart were drunk, and his steps followed the dictates of that dark god whose pleasure it is to trample man’s reason and dignity underfoot†. Even when Aschenbach learns of an epidemic, he realizes that if he dies along with Tadzio, they will be able to meet in heaven. Aschenbach loses total control of his mind and gives in to Venice, a â€Å"city, half fairy tale and half tourist trap, in whose insalubrious air the arts once rankly and voluptuously blossomed, where composers have been inspired to lulling tones of somniferous eroticism. † Even when given the opportunity to leave Venice and escape cholera, his love for Tadzio weighs him down. Aschenbach then has fantasies about everyone else dying, and him being left alone with Tadzio. Now it can be clearly seen that Aschenbach’s passion is coming directly from the heart, and no thinking is being done on his part. This extreme obsession from Aschenbach’s heart immediately leads to his downfall. He dies in his chair, and it is hours before anyone notices. Albert Camus introduces Meursault as a character people are quite taken aback by.