Enron Case Study Essays - 1905 Words

1. Was Watkins an ethical hero in taking these steps? Watkins was definitely not an ethical hero. First, she made it clear in the first half of her memo that she was concerned about getting caught, and explicitly asked if there was any way their â€Å"accounting gurus† could wind things down and basically cover their tracks. Second, she went to no one other than Kenneth Lay, the CEO of the company; anyone, in this day and age, who believes that CEOs are deaf, dumb, and blind to whats going on under their noses is incredibly naà ¯ve – and this, Watkins was not. Third, she started having suspicions about unethical practices as early as 1996, years before she wrote anything to Lay (How Could 29); if she was truly ethical, she would have reported†¦show more content†¦3. Besides Kenneth Lay, who else might have had an interest in hearing from Watkins? Who else might have had a right to be informed? Did Watkins have a responsibility to anyone other than Lay? Watkins should have first gone to Andrew Fastow, who was the CFO of Enron and her immediate superior (Barlas, Willians, and Verschoor 21). Had she continued to achieve no results by going to him (she was reportedly afraid to do so because he wanted to fire her), then she should have continued up the chain of command all the way to the Board of Directors. Had she still gotten no results, she should have resigned and gone to the SEC. She did indeed have a responsibility to others, at least all the way through the Board of Directors in terms of her superiors at Enron, and, of course, to the thousands of shareholders who lost everything as a result of their unethical practices. 4. Other than informing Lay, what other alternatives might have been open to Watkins? Again, she could have gone to Fastow and the Board of Directors, as well as to the SEC. 5. What might the consequences of each of these alternatives had been? Clearly, Watkins faced being fired by Enron for her actions; however, that is the worst that could have happened to her. She had already cashed in her own shares as a result of having insider information (Ganske B05) (thusShow MoreRelatedENRON Case Study1572 Words   |  7 Pages1. The Enron debacle created what one public official reported was a â€Å"crisis of confidence† on the part of the public in the accounting profession. List the parties who you believe are most responsible for that crisis. Briefly justify each of your choices. Following parties are believed to be the most responsible for the crisis. With any big organization going so bad, the blame starts with the top level executives, there was no different in this case. For Enron the blame started with Enron’sRead MoreEnron Case Study2596 Words   |  11 PagesEnron a Case Study Enron, once known as the worldwide leader in energy trading, began as a natural gas pipeline company. â€Å"At its peak, Enron brokered up to 20 percent of America’s energy transactions. These included basic contracts to deliver natural gas from wells to pipelines for distribution to homes, contracts for the purchase of electrical power facility out port, and more complex financial contracts, which allowed power companies to manage price and market risk† (Ackman)Read MoreEnron Case Study4789 Words   |  20 PagesEXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report will analyse the groupthink’s concerns in the collapse of Enron. The collapse of Enron is less than three months, which Enron from a very prosperous company to a bankrupt enterprise. The collapse of Enron is one of the most grievous business failures in United States. This disastrous business failure had causes a large number of employees lost their jobs and retirement savings. Groupthink leads groups to make faulty judgments. Groupthink occurs when a group makeRead MoreEnron Case Study5921 Words   |  24 PagesEnron Case Study [pic] Part A: Problem Focused Analysis and Recommendations. 1. Brief Case Background. List key events, use timeline. Case Background At one time Enron was one of the world’s largest producers of natural gas, oil, and electricity. It also appeared to be one of the most profitable companies, taking shareholders from $19.10 in 1999 to $90.80 by the end of 2000. Enron’s top management answered to a Board of Directors whose responsibility was to question and challenge new partnershipsRead MoreEnron case study1195 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Q 1: Evaluate Enron profit and cash flow performance during the period 1998 – 2000? Profitability Measures Enron’s reported net income grew from $703 million in 1998 to $979 million in 2000, totaling 35.1% profit growth for the three-year period. Enron was among the leading of â€Å"high performing† companies by sustaining a high earnings growth insight. However, as Table 1 indicates, Enron’s reported profits were microscopic relation to revenues. Net income did not grow at anything near the sameRead MoreEnron Case Study Analysis1699 Words   |  7 PagesBusiness Strategy Enron Case Study 09/08/12 Enron Case Study: From Company to Conspiracy 1. What is the History of Enron, and what current situation does it find itself in? Enron was created by a combination of companies. These companies were Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth. These companies were merged together in July 1985. CEO of Houston Natural Gas, Kenneth Lay became chairman and CEO of the combined company. This happened in February 1986. The company changed its name to Enron on April 10thRead MoreEnron Case Study Summary976 Words   |  4 PagesEnron Case Study The case of Enron is a fascinating one. United States is a country where auditing and accounting principles are so strong. How can something take place on such high level in the United States? The Enron case demonstrates the need to reform the accounting and corporate governance practices in the United States. Moreover, the Enron case made government officials to pay close attention to deregulated energy market. Some of the aspects that struck me are discussed below. One of theRead MoreEnron Case Study1472 Words   |  6 PagesQ 1: Evaluate Enron profit and cash flow performance during the period 1998 – 2000? Profitability Measures Enron’s reported net income grew from $703 million in 1998 to $979 million in 2000, totaling 35.1% profit growth for the three-year period. Enron was among the leading of â€Å"high performing† companies by sustaining a high earnings growth insight. However, as Table 1 indicates, Enron’s reported profits were microscopic relation to revenues. Net income did not grow at anything near the sameRead MoreEnron Tyco Case Studies2163 Words   |  9 PagesRunning head: CASE STUDIES: ENRON’S FALL AND TYCO INTERNATIONAL’S LEADERSHIP CRISIS Case Studies: Enron’s Fall and Tyco International’s Leadership Crisis Grand Canyon University BUS 604 November 4, 2009 Case Study: Enron’s Fall and Tyco International’s Leadership Crisis The tight Federal regulations now governing businesses and their accounting practices came about because one corporation, Enron, took risks their company could not withstand without taking some rather extreme measures inRead MoreEnron and Worldcom Case Study1225 Words   |  5 PagesEnron and WorldCom Case Study This report is based on the demise of Enron Corporation and WorldCom. Both the firms are demised due to the ethical lapses. These ethical lapses come into existence when managements of the firm, uses unethical practices to accomplish the goals of the firm. Maintaining financial and accounting standards in the business practices are necessary. The profession of accounting has become a mockery due to the accounting scandals that took place all over the world in the

Crash White People and Movie Free Essays

Crash (2004) Directory Paul Haggis Crash is a movie that takes place in a two-day period and puts racism right in the face of viewers. From the time the movie starts to the time the movie ends, there is racism covered. The opening scene shows a black couple driving and gets pulled over by two white cops. We will write a custom essay sample on Crash: White People and Movie or any similar topic only for you Order Now One of the white cops starts harassing the black couple and leads to comments about race. It quickly turns worse as the white cop starts molesting the female of the couple they pulled over. Which in turn then causes a debate between the black couple about being controlled by white people. This was just the opening scene of the movie. This is a very powerful scene that leads up to all the events happening during the movie. There is racism in every part of this movie and from every angle. The movie shows how people themselves can be racist toward their own race and others. Crash breaks down stereotypes and shows how each has race certain features that the race has. There were scenes that showed what stereotypes Muslims have and how they talk to each other and own small convenience store. Later in the movie their store was trashed and spray paint on their walls called them â€Å"towel heads†. There was a Mexican lock smith who was in a white woman’s house changing out locks and was said to have the look of gang members and go to his â€Å"homies† with an extra set of keys to rob them. Which later shows him with his family at home and him loving his daughter. The list goes on and on with each different race to show stereotypes and how they are perceived and then shows the character in the way they live their life in that movie, being that it a true state of truth or what the real life is. Crash brings real life situations to light. There is a lawyer who even uses a race card to try to get people on his side. It is not how he honestly feels but it is how he is seen in the public eye. Brendan Fraser plays the, not so popular, role of the lawyer. A very different role for him to play and puts him as a bad character. Every movie he has completed, he has been a good guy type and lovable. Crash puts him into a category where later on could get fans to turn on him for this role. But he does a great job portraying this character truthfully. All the characters in the movie appear to have some kind of connection to each other, but not knowingly connected. Each character starts their own story, but by the end of the movie, shows how they all are connected to each other. They movie ends with the racist white cop who molested the black female from the couple he pulled over in the beginning of the movie, saving her life from a firey car accident. She tries to reject his help because of what happened earlier, but knows she has no other choice to accept his help. It shows that sometimes first impressions are not always true and people could be different from what they pictured in their head. When they showed the background on the racist cop, they showed he had troubles at home with is father that he loved and cared for. And he was not getting sleep because of the type of care he was giving him. Later on calling for help from his insurance company, who happens to be a black female with a â€Å"typical† black female name, causing another racist remark. But, again, the only thing he is looking for is help for his father. The black female insurance person was very angry about how she was being treated on the phone and that he was being racist. But later in the movie, it showed that she herself was making racist remarks. This movie has very real life situations. This movie can and does happen in everyday life. I have seen it happen and been around it when it happened. Everyone has stereotypes towards all races. Is that racism? Maybe and maybe not! It’s all how you act out on it. And in this movie Crash, everyone acts out on his or her beliefs of every race. In fact, the movie was based on a real life incident, which happened to director and writer Paul Haggis when his car was hijacked in 1991. (â€Å"Crash(2004),† ) Since this story was created on real life, it could happen and will most likely happen again in life. I, personally, loved the movie. It had a very powerful and strong message. Crash got you to hate and yet like the characters. Some parts pulled at my heartstrings and got me to cry multiple times. Why did I cry during this movie? I cried because I can see this happening everyday. I can see how this hurts people and how desperate people can be to make themselves look good. The movie did win BEST PICTURE and BEST WRITING awards at the Oscars the following year. The script was done perfect. A lot of thought went into writing this and brought in from personal experience. We all have own thoughts on how every race is seen in the public eye. Everyone doesn’t know what happens behind closed doors. When things happen behind closed doors, we do not know the whole complete story. And that’s when judgment is brought out. Racism happens everyday. It can be happening right in front of us or we can be the guilty party of creating it. It is a hard battle to fight when there is so much happening everyday. We choose which we do. Stand together and fight against this evil or keep going living our lives with hate towards each other and act like nothing is wrong. Crash(2004). (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. imdb. com/title/tt0375679/faq How to cite Crash: White People and Movie, Essays

Cinematography Analysis of American Beauty Essay Example For Students

Cinematography Analysis of American Beauty Essay American Beauty is an American drama directed by Sam Mendes. The connecting themes in the film are what make American Beauty a masterpiece. One of the key components in causing the multiple themes to connect is the use of cinematography. There are more than a few visual elements within the film that cause the viewer to connect certain motifs. Most of them are not necessarily meant to be consciously noticed but assist in conveying the primary messages meant to be communicated. One of the more obvious uses of cinematography in American Beauty is the placement of the roses throughout the film. The roses represent desire, passion, and possibly lust. Traditionally, the color red represents these emotions as well. Also, the most evident use of the roses is to represent Lester’s desire for Angela. The first time the roses are seen in the film are in Lester’s daydream of Angela during the dance routine at the high school. Whenever he is lustfully thinking about her, the roses are seen. Also, in the final scene when Lester and Angela almost have the sexual encounter that Lester has always fantasized, there is a vase of roses placed on the table in the room. When they are approaching each other the roses stand in between them portraying the mutual desire for each other between the two. There is also a scene where Carolyn is cutting rose stems. This could possibly represent that she is the wall between Lester and his lustful desires or that she has cut all passion away within their marriage, leaving it dry and morbid. The last time the roses are seen is right before Lester is murdered. He had just arrived at the peak of his progressive epiphany that he slowly neared all the way through the film. He had just had the opportunity to satisfy his obsessive lust over Angela and realized that it wasn’t actually worth what he imagined. He left the room where Angela was and sat down at a table and looked at photos of his family. The roses are right in front of him and his eyes are stuck on what he had concluded â€Å"really mattered†. He pays absolutely no attention to the roses. The roses are seemingly ignored. The scene portrays that though he had placed so much weight on his own carnal desire for Angela, it would not ultimately satisfy him. His family was what his heart desired and that was all in his life that held any actual worth. The color red was a very strong reoccurring cinematographic element in American Beauty. The billboards and advertisements for â€Å"The Real Estate King† represent Carolyn’s desire for success and eventually her sexual desire for Buddy. This is unleashed after a dinner they have together and immediately go to a hotel after and being somewhat of a relationship. For Lester, other than his lust for Angela it represents his rebellion as he buys the car of his dreams to satisfy some sort of desire for youth and satisfaction. In Ricky Fitts video of the bag floating in the wind, it is in front of a red wall. The video represents a mystical energy behind the entire universe, causing it to continue, and continue well. It is possible that here the color red represents Ricky’s desires to continually or more deeply grasp this concept, that in the midst of all the awfulness that life brings, there is something good, behind it all, waiting and wanting to be acknowledged and enjoyed. The use of camera placement is key to American Beauty. In the beginning of the film Lester is always viewed from a higher angle conveying that he is in some sense inferior: inferior to his boss and occupation, his wife and family, and even his wife’s to-be lover. .u43740af33b5fb68ce1507153d37ce07d , .u43740af33b5fb68ce1507153d37ce07d .postImageUrl , .u43740af33b5fb68ce1507153d37ce07d .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u43740af33b5fb68ce1507153d37ce07d , .u43740af33b5fb68ce1507153d37ce07d:hover , .u43740af33b5fb68ce1507153d37ce07d:visited , .u43740af33b5fb68ce1507153d37ce07d:active { border:0!important; } .u43740af33b5fb68ce1507153d37ce07d .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u43740af33b5fb68ce1507153d37ce07d { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u43740af33b5fb68ce1507153d37ce07d:active , .u43740af33b5fb68ce1507153d37ce07d:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u43740af33b5fb68ce1507153d37ce07d .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u43740af33b5fb68ce1507153d37ce07d .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u43740af33b5fb68ce1507153d37ce07d .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u43740af33b5fb68ce1507153d37ce07d .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u43740af33b5fb68ce1507153d37ce07d:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u43740af33b5fb68ce1507153d37ce07d .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u43740af33b5fb68ce1507153d37ce07d .u43740af33b5fb68ce1507153d37ce07d-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u43740af33b5fb68ce1507153d37ce07d:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Impacts On The American Revolution EssayThroughout the film Lester is progressively placed higher and higher within the frame. At some point he is placed more towards the vertical center of the frame and towards the end he is higher and looking down with the camera to his boss, his family, his daughter and Angela, and even his wife and her lover at the drive through of all places. This is communicating that he is in a sense â€Å"taking control† of his life: that what once ruled him, now serves him in some abstract psychological way, and is now inferior to him. In Lester’s final moments there is a panning eagle eye shot over â€Å"Lester’s life† . Right before he dies he says something along the lines of â€Å"life does not flash before your eyes but moves slowly and seemingly forever. † The shot moves slowly over dream-like scenes of all that â€Å"really mattered† to Lester. The film begins and ends with a shot moving over Lester’s neighborhood. In the opening shot it is pulling in conveying that you are in some sense â€Å"entering† Lester’s life and mind and heart as it is. In the final shot the camera is pulling out conveying that he is â€Å"leaving† this life and feels like you are leaving with him. The shot, being the same view, possibly could be an attempt at conveying that â€Å"what is† is always the same but how one views them, is what alters their subjective perception of reality. Cinematography is a massive story-telling tool used in American Beauty. It is obviously intentional as well as subtle enough to come across clean and orderly. It does not distract from the story but enhances it. It connects the pieces of the story that the dialogue, and other elements do not. It is truly the string that ties the film together.

Lord of the Flies vs. the Destructors Essay Essay Example

Lord of the Flies vs. the Destructors Essay Paper Fiction looks at all scopes of subjects through the eyes of so many diverse characters. Lord of the Fliess and The Destructors is no different in the sense you see two highly dramatic state of affairss through the eyes of surprising characters. These narratives both take a expression at society and the crude facets it can hold. The chief characters in the narrative are both kids of immature ages exhibiting surprising and sometimes highly flooring behaviour exposing a loss of artlessness. They differ in the sense that Lord of Flies looks at how barbarian a homo can acquire in despairing state of affairss while the other is how barbarian a individual can acquire against a society that feel victimized against. We will write a custom essay sample on Lord of the Flies vs. the Destructors Essay specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Lord of the Flies vs. the Destructors Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Lord of the Flies vs. the Destructors Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer These two novels have similarities that can be easy identified. They both display groups of striplings that are interacting with utmost state of affairss. Lord of Flies depicts kids stranded on an island and they must come together in order to happen these solutions. Desperation sets in which motivates them to get down moving more and more barbarian as clip goes on. This is similar to The Destructors because the short narrative displays a similar group of immature kids who display savage behaviour to a community. While one is a residential community and another is an island. the island represents a community for these male childs for the clip of the narrative because they are stranded upon it. Both narratives display a power battle through two characters in them. Lord of The Flies shows this through Jack and Ralph and In the Destructors this is seen through Trevor and Blackie. Jack and Ralph both attempted to go head of the new folk. Ralph winning by a few ballots. However. as clip goes on their crude behaviours shine through making a divide between the kids and Jack develops his ain folk. Jack’s influence motivates the kids to go violent and barbarous toward Ralph and his group. ensuing in killing one of Ralph’s friend. Piggy. All of the teamwork and civil behaviour that Ralph represents is easy gone until the kids all turn into monsters. which Jack represents. Ralph was about construction and happening a deliverance. which is apparent in his design of two groups. one for nutrient and one for a fire signal while doodly-squat was all about barbarian behaviour and power over the other kids. In the Destructors. Blackie and Trevor both have potency to be the leader of the Wormsley Common Gang and it can be seen through their duologue that they are both cognizant that they want it. Blackie tries to expose this by trying to forestall Trevor from voting on what sort of problem they get into when he tardily to their meeting but Trevor do es non let him. The extremum of this battle is when are discoursing thoughts and Trevor tells them about destructing Old Misery’s house from the interior. Blackie attempts his best to deter with the potency of constabulary and the inability to carry through this but Trevor continue to force the thought until it is voted for and chosen. This symbolized the terminal of Blackie’s reign of the group and when one member asks â€Å"How do we get down? † Blackie merely walks away stating. â€Å" He’ll Tell you. † Implying that he knows what has occurred and recognizing his function of leading is taken over. Both groups in each narrative displayed how easy a dynamic can alter through Power. When you look at the narratives from another angle. you can see that the messages they have differ highly. Lord of the Flies was all about human nature and the terminals it can travel. This novel is a timeless one because of the message it sends through the least likely characters. immature male childs. The Destructors is a more credible narrative because the type of force that is seen in the narrative. While harm to someone’s place is atrocious and the mode in which they did it was highly particular. Lord of The Flies uses force against one another and consequences in psychotic interruptions and kids losing their lives at the custodies of others. The longer these kids are with one another. they start to lose more of their humanity and derive more cardinal inherent aptitudes in ways of moving. Jack is the best campaigner to expose this because of how he grows more and more corrupt. After get downing his ain folk. he has enabled himself to order what he feels his followings should make. He allowed them to go barbarian every bit good. If he felt that other kids needed to be punished. he felt non vacillation and even was to the point of slaying another kid. He started have oning clay masks. which represents the symbolism of holding a new more cardinal facade. The novel wraps up with Ralph being rescued but shouting because he reflects on everything that has happened and how far these immature kids have fallen and to what points they all reached. The Destructors truly depicts a group of kids who aim to destruct a vicinity go forthing an old man’s house for last. These kids differ from the 1s in Lord of The Flies because though they do some reasonably questionable Acts of the Apostless. it is more delinquency instead than cardinal Acts of the Apostless. These male childs are making violent actions because of the force through the war they witness around them. With World War II traveling on. these kids are witness to bombardments frequently go forthing them experiencing with the demand to make something. They decide to go a pack that will do their grade around London. doing offense one more extreme than the following. Trevor motivates these male childs to destruct an old man’s house but alternatively of usually destructing it while he is off. they decide to bust up it from the interior out. Trevor says. â€Å"We’d be like worms. don’t you see. in an apple. † ( pg. 12 ) However. mid building the old adult male. Old Misery. comes place unexpected and is locked off until the occupation is finished. The stoping shows Old Misery sobbing as his house is destroyed and the lorry that was about ended the narrative by express joying stating â€Å"There’s nil personal but you got to acknowledge it’s good story. † ( pg. 22 ) This is really the exact opposite reaction of what Lord of The Flies displayed because even though Mr. Thomas was sobbing at his loss similar to Ralph’s reaction. the Lorry laughed at the comedy of the state of affairs. These narratives all depict kids making things that typically we would non anticipate to see in society. However. the deficiency of a society in both novels has allowed behaviour of this magnitude to happen. These narratives show us that though they are different sorts of offenses and in different context. society is what can be considered the common yarn through both narratives. Society and it’s influence can truly consequence the people that are in it and if you are in a society that doesn’t supply a positive construction. you could expose the actions seen in Lord of The Flies or The Destructors.

Dancing With Wolves essays

Dancing With Wolves essays Lt. John Dunbar was lying on a hospital bed, leg totally mutilated. Barely conscious, the man over heard the surgeon say he could not amputate this mans leg as tired as he was. Dunbar didnt like what he heard, so when the surgeons left, he grabbed his boat, and he slowly slid the boat up his mutilated foot biting on a stick to relive the massive pain. He returned to the battlefield, with only one thing on his mind, suicide. So, he took a horse, and rode it directly in front of the Confederate army. He rode and rode, never getting hit by any bullet flying by him. The Union army then crushed the Confederate army and this maid Dunbar a war hero. He pled to the general to keep his leg, and he did. After his foot healed he had the option of going to any fort. He chose to go west, to the plains. He left with one of the peasants from the fort he was in, to a post out in the plains. When he arrived there was no one there. He decided to stay and sent the peasant back. He settled in very well. One day when he was washing up, he had a run in with an Indian. He scared the Indian off. Then a few came soon after. He decided to go over to the tribe and talk with them. He found a lady along the way, who was slicing her wrists. He took her back to her tribe. The Indians did not respond very well. They later got along, the women he found spoke a little English, and they were able to communicate. Him and the Indians became very close. He was like one of the tribe. Ever since he got to his post, there was a wolf, he saw all the time, and he named him 2 socks. One day, he was playing with the wolf and the Indians named him Dances with Wolves. Most of the men of the tribe sent out one day trying to make peace with another tribe. Dances with Wolves was assigned to watch the chiefs family. While the men were gone, the tribe was attacked me other Indians. Danc ...

Serial Killer Michael Ross, The Roadside Strangler

Serial Killer Michael Ross, The Roadside Strangler The story of confessed serial killer Michael Ross is a tragic tale of a young man who came from a farm he loved, and a childhood filled with parental abuse, although he could not remember the experiences. It is also a tale of this same man who, driven by sexually violent fantasies, brutally raped and murdered eight young girls. And finally, it is a tragic tale of a judicial system that is riddled with imperfections in its responsibility of deciding life or death. Michael Ross - His Childhood Years Michael Ross was born on July 26, 1959, to Daniel and Pat Ross in Brooklyn, Connecticut. According to court records, the two married after Pat had discovered she was pregnant. The marriage was not a happy one. Pat hated farm life, and after having four children and two abortions, she ran off to North Carolina to be with another man. When she returned home, she was institutionalized. The admitting doctor wrote that Pat talked of suicide and of beating and striking her children. Michael Ross sister has said that as a child, Ross took the brunt of his mothers anger. It is also suspected that an uncle of Ross who committed suicide may have sexually molested Ross while babysitting him. Ross said he remembered very little about his childhood abuse although he never forgot how much he loved helping his father around the farm. Strangling Chickens After his uncle had committed suicide, the job of killing sick and malformed chickens became eight-year-old Michaels responsibility. He would strangle the chickens with his hands. As Michael got older, more of the farm responsibilities became his, and by the time he was in high school, his father depended a lot on Ross help. Michael loved farm life and met his responsibilities while also attending high school. With a high IQ of 122, balancing school with farm life was manageable. By this time, Ross was exhibiting antisocial behavior, including stalking young teenage girls. Ross College Years In 1977, Ross entered Cornell University and studied agricultural economics. He began dating a woman who was in ROTC and dreamed of someday marrying her. When the woman became pregnant and had an abortion, the relationship began to falter. After she had decided to signup for a four-year service commitment, the relationship ended. In retrospect, Ross said as the relationship became more troubled he began to have fantasies that were sexually violent. By his sophomore year, he was stalking women. In his senior year at college, despite being engaged to another woman, Ross fantasies were consuming him, and he committed his first rape. In that same year, he also committed his first rape and murder by strangulation. Ross said afterward he hated himself for what he did and tried to commit suicide, but lacked the ability to do it and instead promised himself he would never hurt anyone again. However, between 1981 and 1984, while working as an insurance salesman, Ross had raped and killed eight young women, the oldest being 25. The Victims Dzung Ngoc Tu, 25, a Cornell University student, killed May 12, 1981.Paula Perrera, 16, of Wallkill, N.Y., killed in March 1982Tammy Williams, 17, of Brooklyn, killed Jan. 5, 1982Debra Smith Taylor, 23, of Griswold, killed June 15, 1982Robin Stavinksy, 19, of Norwich, killed November 1983April Brunias, 14, of Griswold, killed April 22, 1984Leslie Shelley, 14, of Griswold, killed April 22, 1984Wendy Baribeault, 17, of Griswold, killed June 13, 1984 The Search for a Killer Michael Malchik was assigned chief investigator after the murder of Wendy Baribeault in 1984. Witnesses provided Malchik with both the description of the car a blue Toyota and the person who they believed kidnapped Wendy. Malchik began the process of interviewing a list of blue Toyota owners which brought him to Michael Ross. Malchik testified that during their initial meeting, Ross enticed him to ask more questions by dropping subtle hints that he was their man. By now, Ross was living in Jewett City as an insurance salesman. His parents had divorced and sold the farm. During the interview with Malchik, Ross told of his past two arrests on sex offenses. It was at this point Malchik decided to bring him to the station for questioning. At the station, the two talked like old friends: discussing family, girlfriends, and life in general. By the conclusion of the interrogation, Ross confessed to the kidnapping, rape, and murder of eight young women. The Judicial System: In 1986 Ross defense team moved for a dismissal on two of the murders, Leslie Shelley and April Brunais, because they were not murdered in Connecticut and not within the jurisdiction of the state. The state said that the two women were murdered in Connecticut, but even if they hadnt been, the murders began and ended in Connecticut which granted the state jurisdiction. But then a question of credibility came up when the state produced a statement by Malchik claiming that Ross gave him directions to the crime scene. Malchik claimed that somehow the directions were left out of statements, both written and taped two years earlier. Ross denied ever giving such directions. Evidence in Rhode Island The defense produced cloth matching a slipcover in Ross apartment which was found in the woods in Exeter, Rhode Island, along with a ligature used to strangle one of the girls. The defense also produced a taped statement of Ross offering to take the police to the crime scene, although Malchik stated he did not recall such an offer. Possible Cover-Up Superior Court Judge Seymour Hendel exploded during the closed hearing, accusing the prosecutors and police of purposely misleading the court with lies. Some of the counts against Ross were removed, however, the judge refused to reopen the suppression hearing on Ross confession. When sealed records were opened two years later, Hendel retracted his statements. In 1987, Ross was convicted of the murders of four of the eight women he confessed to having killed. It took the jury 86 minutes of deliberations to convict him and only four hours to decide on his punishment death. But the trial itself faced a lot of criticism in regards to the Judge who presided over it.   Imprisonment During the next 18 years that he spent on death row, Ross met Susan Powers, from Oklahoma, and the two were engaged to be married. She ended the relationship in 2003 but continued to visit Ross up until his death.   Ross became a devout Catholic while in prison and would pray the rosary daily. He was also accomplished at translating Braille and helping troubled inmates. In the final year of his life, Ross, who had always been opposed to the death penalty, said he no longer objected to his own execution.  According to Cornell graduate Kathryn Yeager.  Ross believed that he had been forgiven by God and that he would be going to a better place once he was executed. She also said that Ross did not wish for the victims families to suffer any more pain. Execution Having waived his right to appeal,  Michael Ross was scheduled to be executed on  January 26, 2005, but an hour before the execution was to take place, his lawyer obtained a two-day stay of execution on behalf of Ross father. The execution was rescheduled for  January 29, 2005, but early in the day was postponed again as a question into Ross mental capabilities came into play.  His lawyer said Ross was incapable of waiving appeals and that he was suffering from death row syndrome. Ross was executed by lethal injection on May 13, 2005, at  2:25 a.m., at  Osborn Correctional Institution  in  Somers, Connecticut.  His remains were buried at the Benedictine Grange Cemetery in Redding, Connecticut. After the execution, Dr. Stuart Grassian, a  psychiatrist  who had argued that Ross was not competent to waive appeal, received a letter from Ross dated May 10, 2005, which read Check, and mate. You never had a chance!

Audit Theory and Practice Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Audit Theory and Practice - Article Example This requires of the auditor to issue a 'statement of independence' containing a number of declarations such as: As per information derived from literature sources, the major criteria of a standard auditing process are: professional ethics, auditors' legal liability, audit risk, accepting the engagement and planning the audit, internal control over auditing process, audit sampling, designing substantive procedures, auditing different financial instruments and completing and reporting the audit (Cosserat, 2004, Eilifsen & Messier, 2006). Each of these core criteria will later be examined for strengthening our core argument that successful auditing can only ensue from a high degree of dissimilarity between auditors and the company being audited. The independence of auditors for various business activities has been ensured over a long period of time based on unsavoury corporate scandals such as Enron in 1997. At present, the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) as part of its standard code of ethics (revised rules) has proposed the following structural changes in auditing activities: 1. 1. Taking a 'conceptual approach' to independence: This is an approach which reconciles any perceived threat to independence of auditors, accepts safeguards and takes appropriate steps (interventions) to eliminate threats (Liandu, 2002). 2. No one fixed set of rules: Under IFAC guidelines, it's no longer possible to allow just one set of rules for a given auditing scenario. This is because each specific scenario is now recognised for its own merit in order to generate a set of financial instruments for the auditing activity (Liandu, 2002). 3. The importance of assurance services: In addition to company data, auditors are now encouraged to increasingly rely on secondary data such as performance indicators, statistical information, market and media reports, systems and processes and compliance with regulatory guidelines (Liandu, 2002). The purpose of assurance services is to enhance the credibility of overall information at the disposal of the auditor. 4. Safeguards mechanism: The general principle is that any kind of self-interest, self-review, advocacy, familiarity and intimidation can threaten auditing independence (Liandu, 2002). A number of safeguards are hence, proposed. Regulatory enforcement of independence requirements, external review of a firm's quality control service, keeping technical data up-to-date, a corporate governance structure which provides oversight to services provided by a firm, communications about independence, rotating senior personnel and performing annual review of the auditing exercise (Liandu, 2002). With regard to Cosserat (2004) core criteria of auditing

Chemical enginering assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Chemical enginering assignment - Essay Example The acetic acid which is the vapour is then cooled to obtain its distillate. From the cooler the acetic acid stream containing paracetamol and water (product) enters evaporator for concentration (increasing its concentration) by removal of certain portions of water from the product. Consider the flow diagram below; According to mass balance principle, mass of materials entering a system is equal to the mass of materials leaving the system assuming that there are neither losses within the system nor losses associated with the processes under which the materials entering the system undergo (Wacharawichanant 2012). This can be expressed mathematically as shown below, As of the case of processing paracetamol, the rate of mass of products (paracetamol) entering the evaporator is equal to rate of mass of mass of concentrate leaving the system plus rate of mass of vapour leaving the system. Mass balance can be expressed mathematically as shown below, (consider Figure 1) The mass of the products from cooler, (the mass of Acetic acid + Water + paracetamol) was 2319 Kg per hour (Kg/hr) (From L-37) of the Engineering line diagram (report 2). After evaporation the mass of the concentrate obtained per hour was 1380.85 Kg per hour. Therefore, the mass of the vapour (acetic acid vapur) assuming that no loss occurred as a result of evaporation process can be calculated as follows. In order that required quantity of paracetamol per year is obtained, and assuming other factors are constant, the product from the cooler should be fed at rate of 2319 Kilograms per hour or 55656 Kilograms per day (assuming that the plant will work 24 hours per day). A measure of concentration process that takes place in the evaporator is what is known as evaporation ratio, and it is calculated as shown above. When concentrating the solution F (dilute paracetamol) at a steady rate, the concentration rate starts

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company L.L.C. Essay Example for Free

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company L.L.C. Essay The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company L.L.C is known in the hotel industry as the king of hoteliers. It is best known for its exemplary and extraordinary service. The principles behind its service are largely driven by the legacy of Ceaser Ritz, whose philosophy of service and innovations redefined the standards of service, dining and facilities for luxury in a hotel. In order to maintain its positioning in the market, the company has strived to enhance its core competencies and preventing them from becoming rigidities. The report aims to outline and illustrate how the Ritz-Carlton has used and could adopt Human Resources Management strategy to propel it to a higher level in the industry. BACKGROUND AND ESSENCE OF SERVICE: The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company L.L.C is a leader in the hotel and hospitality industry that specializes in the development and operation of luxury hotels for others. It currently has operations in the three major regions; Asia/Pacific, Europe/Middle East and the Americans and Caribbean. (see Exhibit 1)Today the company is renowned for its exemplary and extraordinary service and painstaking attention to detail The key driver of it success was the legacy of Ceaser Ritz, whose philosophy of service and innovations redefined the standards of service, dining and facilities for luxury in a hotel setting endured long after his demise through his son Charles Ritz, who was an active board member of The Ritz-Carlton until his death in 1977. As one would expect the measure of the satisfaction derived from personalization available is totally in the control of the clients. The Ritz-Carlton group realized this long time ago and has since developed an aggressive and proactive approach to innovation of it delivering of services to consistently exceed the expectations of the guests. As a result, the company has received all the major awards the hospitality industry and leading consumer organizations can bestowThus in order to maintain its positioning in the market, the company has strived to enhance its core competencies and preventing them from becoming rigidities by constantly  refining its processes to ensure sustainability and proactive evolution of it values and standards of service. The companys guiding principles are embodied in the Gold Standards which encompass the values and philosophy by which it operates. They provide a guideline for the operational management of the hotels. Actions taken by Ritz-Carlton for the fulfilment of these standards include Total Quality Management (TQM) philosophy that permeates the organization, customized programs, establishment of Service Quality Indicators (SQIs) and Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives. However; the heavy emphasis on human resources is probably the most critical component of it strategy. It based on the four aspects of Human Resources Management:1.Planning2.Recruitment3.Development4.Review and appraisalRitz-Carltons main product is guest experience that is personalize and beyond expectation. JOINING THE RITZ-CARLTON TEAM The motto at Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. is, We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen. This motto exemplifies the anticipatory service provided by all staff members for which they receive a 7 day orientation starting on their first day at work. Ritz-Carlton completely integrates human resources and operations. Here the human resources and operations work together to select, orient, train and certify employees. They also ensure that the employees are highly empowered and remain deeply involved in running the business. During these first seven days, employees are trained and sensitized on the key competencies required and the applicable ground rules to successfully perform their duties. Emphasis is put on understanding and embracing the golden standards and any other factors that would affect the satisfaction of the guests with the services provided to them by the hotel. The seven days programme aims at fundamentally altering the employees behaviour by adapting to the standard required by the company in order to achieve their business strategy as well as creating a memorable event.  Ritz-Carlton believes that employees have to feel responsible for customer satisfaction, participate in developing the companys vision, strategies and plans, ultimately becoming a part of the Ritz-Carlton mystiqueTo lengthen the training days before hotel openingAt the end of it, all the freshly hired employees are expected to understand and easily apply the company standards which include problem solving, detailed grooming, housekeeping and safety. Ritz-Carlton believes that only the finest ladies and gentlemen can maintain the companys distinguished Gold Standards. Therefore it puts a lot of emphasis on the selection of the first class candidates for its staffing requirements and it follows a Quality Selection Process (QSP) that involves conducting research with employees, customizing interviews, identification of candidates who are most likely to be the best performers in specific roles. Ritz-Carlton pays a lot of attention to the tracking and appraising of employees performance, reviewing and improving systems and procedures based on internal and external analysis. Then the first class selected candidates follow an ongoing training program that is as much part of the company Gold Standard target. In the hospitality industry, most of the hotels have a soft opening and a real operation starts after a few weeks but it is different in Ritz-Carlton hotels. Ritz-Carlton aims to have everything right when the door opens to the first customers. The seven day countdown process is not just a training course for the candidates. It is actually a Ritz-Carlton standard procedure set before opening a new property. The first two days are the orientation days and the candidates become certified by attending a five days training course which runs by the prepared employee trainers. I believe James McBride should not expand the seven day countdown process as it will increase the cost of the hotel at it will postponed the opening  days. The seven day countdown is a standard procedure which has been used in many Ritz-carton hotels and it worked properly in the other hotels. HOTEL OPENING PROCESS The Seven Day Countdown process was recognized as Ritz-Carltons best practice. However, this process was challenged by Collin, who represents Millennium Partners. The underlying challenge comes in two folds:First, can Ritz-Carlton open at higher occupancy rate (i.e. higher than 50% during the first month)?Second, can Ritz-Carlton reach to 80% of occupancy rate in a shorter amount of time (i.e. instead of 3-4 months)?Collin questioned that 7 days may limit to reach these targets (i.e. higher open occupancy rate and shorter time to reach 80% occupancy rate). It is difficult to acknowledge whether or not 7 days is the limiting factor to achieve the target. Perhaps, it is more pragmatic to carry out research to study the root causes that contribute to these effects, instead of changing the best practice without considering the various repercussions (e.g. cost, reputation, organization process change etc.). The consequences of changing the current best recipe may alter the business result, hence, impact the bottom, if not carefully plan and execute. Lets summarize the key activities of each days in Seven Days CountdownDay 1: Orientation:Day 2: Departmental VisionDay 3 4: Technical training Handling Guest DifficultiesDay 5 7: Technical trainingSome areas of recruitment and selection can be further streamlined, e.g. a 2 days job fair can be reduced to 1 day, by changing some of the recruitment process, e.g. offer online registration, pre-interview online screening process. Besides, to meet the service quality, the HRP (Human Resource Planning) needs to closely integrate with the organizational strategy, i.e. the forecast of occupancy rate, the time of recruitment and selection, training and development etc. To meet the targets as above-mentioned, it is paramount to plan in feed-forward approach, i.e. to set target of above 50% in first month, and to reach 80% occupancy rate in, say, 2 months. The HRP and marketing team  needs to work hand on hand to match the supply and demand, of both customers and workforce sides. The HRP might forecast the headcount needs to match the higher occupancy rate, e.g. in forecasting workforce number, by the deployment of both quantitative and qualitative methods. Besides, the demographic of the location and employees mobility might be the important factors to consider in this planning and execution process, e.g. the availability of skill-set in particular location. Any constraints in the availability of skill-sets may restrict the capabilities to match to the target sets. To enhance the training and achieve consistent quality of Ritz-Carlton, it is also possible to relocate the existing workforce from another location to the newly opening Ritz-Carlton, this will increase the quality and flawless in services. To achieve higher level of quality service and to reach to the higher occupancy rate in opening and subsequent months, the HRP may integrate the past experience of opening new hotels into current training session for employees. For example, the issues encountered in the past, from the very beginning stage, such as recruitment and selection, retention, to 7 days countdown of employees training, can be documented, and integrate in HRIS (Human Resource Information System), and translate into a practical case study, and to be used in the 7 days countdown process, as real case study will shorten the learning curve and stimulate learning process. Besides, to meet quality level, and foster learning, it is paramount to maintain high retention during the period from selection, and job offering to 7 days countdown. This can be achieved through the current best practice (Exhibit 9), and also, providing employees the self-training material, such as CD, booklet, online training web portal. Conclusion In a nutshell, Ritz-Carlton is selling experience, not selling hotel rooms, as such, to maintain the gold standard, it is important to embed the culture prior to full-occupancy level. Besides, the true nature of hotel business is about service, and more importantly, service business is perishable (not inventories), and intangibility, both the hotel artefacts, and also services, will influence the customers experience. Reference list: 1.Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company Wikipedia encyclopaedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritz-Carlton_Hotel_Company)2.http://www.quality.nist.gov/PDF_files/RCHC_Application_Summary.pdf3.More details can be found at (http://www.ritzcarlton.com/corporate/about_us/gold_standards.asp). 4.Harvard business School case study5.Ritz-Carltons Gold Standard Service (http://www.epmsonline.com)Appendix1:The Golden Standards Summary†¢The CredoThe Ritz-Carlton Hotel is a place where the genuine care and comfort of our guests is our highest mission. We pledge to provide the finest personal service and facilities for our guests who will always enjoy a warm, relaxed, yet refined ambience. The Ritz-Carlton experience enlivens the senses, instils well-being, and fulfils even the unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests. †¢MottoAt The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C., We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen. This motto exemplifies the anticipatory service provided by all staff members. †¢Three Steps Of ServiceA warm and sincere greeting. Use the guests name. Anticipation and fulfilment of each guests needs. Fond farewell. Give a warm good-bye and use the guests name. †¢Service Values:I Am Proud To Be Ritz-Carlton; I build strong relationships and create Ritz-Carlton guests for life; I am always responsive to the expressed and unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests; I am empowered to create unique, memorable and personal experiences for our guests; I understand my role in achieving the Key Success Factors, embracing Community Footprints and creating The Ritz-Carlton Mystique; I continuously seek opportunities to innovate and improve The Ritz-Carlton experience; I own and immediately resolve guest problems; I create a work environment of teamwork and lateral service so that the needs of our guests and each other are met; I have the opportunity to continuously learn and grow; I am involved in the planning of the work that affects me; I am proud of my professional appearance, language and behavior; I protect the privacy and security of our guests, my fellow employees and the companys confidential information and assets; I am responsible for uncompromising levels of cleanliness and creating a safe and accident-free environment. †¢The 6th DiamondMystique; Emotional Engagement; Functional†¢The Employee PromiseAt The Ritz-Carlton, our Ladies and Gentlemen are the most important resource in our service commitment to our guests. By applying the principles of trust, honesty, respect, integrity and commitment, we nurture and maximize talent to the benefit of each individual and the company. The Ritz-Carlton fosters a work environment where diversity is valued, quality of life is enhanced, individual aspirations are fulfilled, and The Ritz-Carlton Mystique is strengthened.

Christmas As I Know It :: Personal Narrative Religion Papers

Christmas As I Know It Christmas used to be a tradition in my family — or at least I thought so. I had always associated Christmas with Storyland, and since we are Jewish, that always pleased my father. I think he felt comfortable labeling his children Jewish, and as long as that didn’t upset my mother, he would take us to Storyland to help us forget Christmas. But we still got to go to Storyland. Storyland was always closed in December. We drove by my favorite summertime childhood experience, and I watched as we sped by, wondering why I couldn't hear about Mother Gooses children. "Storyland is closed now, honey," my mom said as she glanced in my fathers direction. He seemed to hide behind the steering wheel, almost ashamed of telling me where I thought we were going. But I know that deep down, he was satisfied that for at least the rest of the day, I wouldnt ask him about Christmas. Instead, the real purpose of the drive was to go to the Christmas Farm Inn, a quiet, quaint inn in Jackson, New Hampshire. I think I was four years old when my family started coming to the Christmas Farm Inn. I still dont understand why my father agreed to go each year, but I guess it was only fair to my mom. My mom came from a Lutheran household where Christmas trees and Sunday services were the norm. She agreed to give up part of her past to raise my sister and I Jewish, but the Christmas Farm Inn was her way of celebrating Christmas. We may not have had a family tree, but we still woke up on Christmas morning with presents awaiting us. I remember I loved Christmas Eve dinner. But I also remember how I loved it too much. There was turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, you name it (its funny how I only eat that type of meal once a year on Thanksgiving, while most of my friends have it on Christmas and Easter as well). After dinner, my family went to a party with all the Inns guests, and I made sure I was the first to sit on Santas lap when it was time to read The Night Before Christmas. A tall, blond-haired man who looked like my elementary school principal read the story out loud and I spent my time listening attentively.

How to Prepare for a Job Interview

Preparing yourself for a job interview can be stressful for some people, but now that you have an interview it is time for you to overcome your fear barriers and prepare yourself before the interview. The first impression is always the best impression so you want to dazzle the employer by walking in shoulders high, well dressed and groomed, nice smile, firm handshake, eye to eye contact, and sit when asked by the employer. Before you get to that point of walking in that employer’s room it is always important to do some homework first. Research about the company before the interview because it shows commitment and that is a quality that employers look for when hiring. You want to get to know all about the company and their mission study that and also more insight on the job for which you are applying for. Make sure their qualification matches your skills and abilities and be enthusiastic when speaking. Study your resume it is good to memorize what is on your resume so when the employer asks you a question about what is on your resume, you will know it and you should be not fumbling back and forth between words. Study you weakness and strengths as you compare your skills with the employer’s qualifications use the skill that you are qualified for as your strength. Your weakness is the qualifications that your employer is looking for that are not listed in your job description, study them and turn that it into a strength to show the employer that you may not have experience in that area , but know a lot about the subject and eager to learn more from working in their establishment. It is also important to produce a portfolio of yourself to show employers and they seeks for candidates who are well organized, prepared, knows the inn’s and out’s of the company and willing to go the extra mile to get the job done efficiently. Your job portfolio should include: †¢Resume †¢Master Application †¢Reference Page †¢Cover Letter †¢Thank You Letter †¢Certifications†¦ Perfect attendance, employee of the month, outstanding performance, participation awards †¢Letters of Recommendation†¦ from your former employer, past teachers, someone work with you on volunteer project †¢High School / G. E. D Certificate †¢Police Clearance †¢Valid Picture I. D †¢Social Security Card Indicates what credentials are need for the interview to prepare yourself for the questions the employer my through at you and remember never leave home without you portfolio! Through research, practicing, taking deep breaths inhale exh ale and visualizing how the interview will go can help you overcome nerviness and prepare you to stay calm. Staying mentally prepared will keep you advanced in an interview. That apply to your weakness as well write them down and go over them many times as that will help you nail the interview. This will help you gain confidence and stay in control of the interview but it is important to remember that the employer is in the driver seat, never try to take the lead. Prepare yourself for the end of the interview write down ten questions to ask the employer never ask about salary until the second interview and only after the employer mentions it first. This is what I would prepare and study to ask the employer: †¢When hiring what do you look for in an employee? †¢What type of skills do you look for when hiring? †¢When viewing a resume what shows the most interest? What type educational background do you look for? †¢What skills do I need to work on to get promoted in the company? †¢Does it take a long time for promotions? †¢If I want to go back to school to advance in the company does the company pay for school/training? †¢How many years have you been with the company? †¢How did you get the position that you are in? †¢What is your edu cational background? These are some good question to ask the employer to gain some more insight about the company and the interviewer, it shows interest and that you are open to learn. Also it helps you to identify if all what the employer’s answers are compares to your job description that you are a possible candidate for the position. Now that you have mentally prepared yourself for the interview, it is now the nigh before the interview what should you do? First you should get your wardrobe together find something suitable for the interview, wear darker colors not to loud, you don’t want to distract the employer with bright colors. Iron your cloths, bath or shower and do all you’re grooming the night before Get a goodnights rest by getting at least eight hours worth of sleep. Waking up early, having a well-balance breakfast, more grooming, it is best not to wear perfume/cologne the employer my be allergic to it, get ready early, visualize, review and practices for interview. Study your list that you made of your weakness and strengths and practice how you will articulate them, and arrive at the interview at lease fifteen minutes early.

My own experiences of education education essay

Paideias doctrine is based on the belief that schools can be informal and individualised, yet still educate good. ( Paideia School ) How does this comparison with my ain doctrine about Mathematicss? This has decidedly changed and I believe for my ain good. Previous instruction experiences left me really disillusioned, I wanted to alter my sentiments and beliefs, travel frontward, and enable others to alter their doctrines about mathematics every bit good. Some people look upon mathematics as a tabu topic, and we, as instructors, need to guarantee that everyone has chances opened to them to heighten and promote their ain academic acquisition. We need to guarantee that student ‘s acquisition is individualised and that their experiences within the schoolroom are gratifying, motivational yet disputing. Mike Ollerton ( 2009, page 4 ) suggests that ‘The more confident any pupil becomes, the more competent they become. Achievement strains assurance, assurance strains competency and competency causes enjoyment ‘ . So what do I believe mathematics is? Mathematicss for me is an international linguistic communication, which describes, analyses and alterations everything. It consists of a monolithic set of tools and we need to work out which tool to utilize when using or work outing mathematics. We learn new accomplishments and must guarantee we can utilize and use them, by being able to make this makes us more competent to get by with day-to-day life. My ain experiences of instruction connect really much to the information given in the Cockcroft Report ( 1982, chapter 9 ) , which states expressed information on the instruction system of that peculiar epoch. However, the Smith Report ( 2004 ) ( Chapter 3, pages 53- 55 ) identifies the current mathematics tracts for the National Curriculum ( pre-16 ) . This gives a more appropriate portraiture of the National Curriculum, which is loosely used, within schools in the United Kingdom. Education throughout my ain life-time has greatly altered, so how has this affected my ain acquisition, my teaching method? Capable Knowledge is really of import for a trainee instructor because you need to understand the topic and you need to be able to convey it to pupils to guarantee they can understand and construe it to the full to increase their learning capablenesss. My ain capable cognition is continuously altering and progressing, learning a subject allows oneself to better and escalate the techniques for learning a assortment of subjects and of the assorted ways, those students are able to entree their acquisition. In 1986, Shulman introduced the phrase pedagogical content cognition. In his theoretical model, he states: ‘Teachers need to get the hang two types of cognition ( a ) content which is besides known as â€Å" deep † cognition of the topic itself, and ( B ) cognition of the curricular development ‘ . However, why is capable cognition so of import? ‘Teachers who have effectual capable expertness cognize how to construction larning in ways that allow students to link seemingly different subjects, and construct on their earlier acquisition ‘ . ( OFSTED, 2008 ) To guarantee my ain capable cognition continues to better I utilize the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics ( NCETM ) . Using the NCETM enables me to go on bettering my ain teaching method and my professional development, which so ensures that I can dispute and reassure students that they can make their ain academic potency every bit good. The Department for Education ( DfE ) ] set up the National CentreA in response to Professor Adrian Smith ‘s study Making Mathematics Count, ( 2004 ) . How can I guarantee that students and I work collaboratively to heighten their academic larning possible? On my first arrangement I wanted the students to work together in braces or groups ; this is something that had non antecedently been apparent and met with ill will from the students because it was something different. ‘There is now general understanding in research that concerted little group work has positive effects on both societal accomplishments and mathematics larning ‘ . ( Standard ‘s Unit, 2005, by Malcolm Swan ) However, this attack needed more practise and I needed to guarantee the mixture of the group would be able to work together. Once the students were more comfy about working in braces, I was so able to put them in specific groups and this encouraged them to work more collaboratively with different students and non experience uncomfortable or embarrassed about giving their positions or replies. The groups became supportive and were able to develop their ain cognition and understanding even further. To promote collaborative working amongst equals and other learning staff ensures sharing of resources, lesson programs and different schemes, which work with different twelvemonth or twelvemonth groups. Bing able to interchange thoughts and different instruction manners improves larning outlooks for both staff and pupils. Within the attack for coaction, I feel that the usage of staging is an country that worked non merely between the students and me but besides with the more able students and those with lower abilities. Originally introduced in the 1950 ‘s by Constructivist Jerome Bruner, nevertheless Vygotsky used a similar thought that larning depended on the zone of proximal development ( ZPD ) , in which he defined: â€Å" The distance between the existent developmental degree as determined by independent problem-solving and the degree of possible development as determined through problem-solving under grownup counsel, or in coaction with more capable equals. â€Å" ( Vygotsky, 1978 ) In my first arrangement, I used scaffolding to back up larning but I besides found that by lumping certain spots of information the students were better able to retain the information. Why is this? George A Miller ( 1956 ) produced landmark work on the short-run memory. He proposed that: ‘Information is organized into units or â€Å" balls † , and the restrictions on short term memory apply to the figure of balls an person can keep in consciousness at one clip. Balls can hold variable size, and the figure of balls worlds can keep in short-run memory is 7 + 2 ‘ . ( Miller, 1956 ) Another larning theory that I connect with and utilize regularly is that of positive support ( B. F. Skinner, 1971 – Operant conditioning ) , I find that utilizing positive reinforcing stimuluss for illustration spines, raffle tickets improves non merely the student ‘s behavior but besides increases their motivational accomplishments. Skinner suggests that: ‘A reinforcing stimulus is anything that strengthens the coveted response. It could be verbal congratulations, a good class or a feeling of increased achievement or satisfaction ‘ . Learning mathematics can happen in a assortment of different state of affairss. What is most of import is that the student uses a method that works for them and instructors are cognizant of a assortment of different methods to guarantee pupils are accomplishing their full academic potency. Presently, I am experimenting with different starting motor activities and plenaries. At arrangement one, I experimented with rich activities that I produced, tarzia mystifiers ; loop cards and mini-whiteboards because the pupils were non familiar with them, by presenting these different facets easy allowed me to allow the students extend/further their ain acquisition comfortably without experiencing over challenged. I feel that the starter gets the students in the temper for larning – by giving them a assortment of disputing activities gets them believing about the mathematics involved in the undertakings. My plenaries combine to demo how the students have understood the work covered in category and how it links to the acquisition objectives/outcomes for the lesson. ‘Effective instructors make good usage of starting motors and plenaries in the context of synergistic whole-class instruction to prosecute all students in constructive deep acquisition ‘ . ( Department for Education and Skills, Sept 2004 ) Another country that I have been experimenting with is my oppugning techniques. I have besides found Bloom ‘s taxonomy utile in be aftering aims for lessons in my 2nd arrangement and for progressively ambitious inquiries utilizing the cognitive aims. Why is this? ‘You can utilize the stairss in the taxonomy to assist program aims for lessons over a period of clip to guarantee that lessons are doing progressively disputing cognitive demands on students. You can besides utilize them to be after sequences of inquiries in a lesson. By sequencing inquiries in this manner, you can assist pupils to intensify their apprehension, to develop their thought accomplishments and for them to go more effectual scholars ‘ . ( Department for Education and Skills, 2004 ) Another country for experimentation has been the account of rules. By detecting a assortment of different learning staff, I can place and larn how to near different subjects particularly the higher-level work. Within this subdivision, I feel that I am manner out of my comfort zone but I need to dispute this and guarantee that I improve my capable cognition. I do non believe that I will of all time halt larning different facets of mathematics nevertheless, by taking portion in excess observations ; I am able to travel off from my comfort zone and widen my ain acquisition and apprehension. I am able to detect how to explicate cardinal constructs and the alterations needed in accounts for the students of different abilities. What or who is informing my ain pattern? I have found that the people who have influenced my instruction pattern are chiefly the wise mans both at University and at the schools. The constructive feedback from lesson observations is priceless and enables oneself to set their ain pattern to integrate new thoughts and schemes. By being able to detect a assortment of different learning staff, I am able to derive greater accomplishments and attitudes on how to near new subjects, behaviour direction and schemes to get by with ‘the bad lesson experience ‘ . Another good beginning towards informing my pattern has been the Schemes of Work related to different scrutiny boards. My first arrangement covered the AQA course of study, the system was good prepared and set up. However, my 2nd arrangement uses the Kangaroo Maths course of study for KS3 students and a assortment of OCR course of studies covering the additive and modular test boards for the KS4 students. My utilizations of different instruction manners are besides developing within my instruction repertory. I like to guarantee that my lessons incorporate different facets of the Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthetic and Tactile manners to guarantee that all students are able to entree relevant information in their ain preferable acquisition manner guaranting that Every Child does Matter. Psychologists and learning specializers foremost developed the VAK construct, theory and methods in the 1920 ‘s. Howard Gardner ( 1983 ) suggests that: ‘The VAK theoretical account provides a different position for understanding and explicating a individual ‘s preferred or dominant thought and acquisition manner, and strengths ‘ . So what about the hereafter of mathematics and ICT? British Educational and Communications Technology Association ( BECTA ) , now axed under the new authorities, was one of the chief thrusts into acquiring computing machines into school. BECTA ran Home Access, the former Labour authorities ‘s strategy to bridge the â€Å" digital divide † by guaranting all kids have a computing machine at place particularly amongst the poorest households in the United Kingdom. ( BECTA, 2010 ) A SecEd symposium held in March 2010 stated that: ‘Students today are turning up in a digital age, pass oning and larning via engineering now more than of all time earlier. To fix pupils for future success, schools are encompassing engineering to heighten the instruction and larning experience and transform educationaˆÂ ¦to genuinely transform acquisition schools must incorporate engineering tools that can broaden the instruction experience and link the schoolroom with the twenty-first century ‘ . Within my first arrangement, the school used ‘Mathswatch ‘ as a resource to utilize in lessons and at place by the students. I was besides able to utilize the artworks reckoners to assist pupils recognize and place different facets of graphical work. This was really good for the students and they enjoyed utilizing them. My 2nd arrangement, is a Technology College, where ICT is far more extended. Synergistic whiteboards are in all schoolrooms, ICT is a separate section as recommended in the Smith Report 2004. The usage of Mymaths enables prep to be utilized as a resource that gives instant appraisal. This is another country of experimentation for me, being able to put prep utilizing ICT and acquiring instant accessible consequences, this could be utile when composing studies and roll uping spreadsheets of the student ‘s assessment consequences. The Smith Report ( 2004 ) recognises the relevancy of mathematics to everyone and I feel stresses the importance of why mathematics still deserves its topographic point in the school course of study: â€Å" It is importance for its ain interest, as an rational subject ; for the cognition economic system ; for scientific discipline, engineering and technology ; for the workplace ; and for the single citizen. ( Chapter 1, page 3, point 0.12 ) This point emphasises the value of mathematics within assorted different facets of mundane life. We need to guarantee that students leave school with the appropriate mathematical accomplishments that will enable them to get by in their hereafter callings. My concluding point comes from a rabbinical expression: ‘Do n't restrict a kid to your ain acquisition, for that kid was born in another clip. ‘ Word count ( 2155 )Mentions:BECTA, 2010, ICT, ( online ) , from: webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ †¦ /http: /www.becta.org.uk, accessed 11/04/2011 Cockcroft Report, 1982, Mathematics Counts, ( online ) , from: www.educationengland.org.uk/ †¦ /cockcroft/cockcroft00.html, accessed 11/04/2011. Department for Education and Skills, 2004, Pedagogy and Practice: Teaching and Learning in Secondary Schools – Unit of measurement 5: Starters and Plenaries ( online ) , available at: www.standards.dfes.gov.uk, [ Accessed on 11/04/2011 ] . Department for Education and Skills, 2004, Pedagogy and Practice: Teaching and Learning in Secondary Schools – Unit of measurement 7: Questioning, ( online ) , available at: www.standards.dfes.gov.uk, [ Accessed on 11/04/2011 ] . Gardner, H. , 1983, The Multiple Intelligences Concepts and VAK acquisition manners, ( online ) , from: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.businessballs.com/howardgardnermultipleintelligences.htm, accessed on 11/04/2011 Miller, G.A. , ( 1956 ) , Short-run memory and VAK construct, from: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.lifecircles-inc.com/Learningtheories/IP/GAMiller.html, accessed on 11/04/2011. Ofsted, 2008, Mathematicss: Understanding the Mark, ( online ) , from: www.ofsted.gov.uk, accessed 11/04/2011. Ollerton, M, 2009, Mathematics Teacher ‘s Handbook, Continuum International Publishing Group, London. Paideia Schools, nd, Paideia Schools, ( online ) , available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.paideaischool.org/ , accessed 01/04/2011. Sec. Ed. , 2010, ICT and the Future of Education, ( online ) , from: www.sec-ed.co.uk/cgi-bin/go.pl/article/article.html, accessed 11/04/2011 Skinner. B.F. , 1971, Operant Conditioning – Positive Supports, ( online ) , from: hypertext transfer protocol: //tip.psychology.org/skinner.html- , accessed on 11/04/2011. Smith Report, 2004, Making Mathematicss Count – The study of Professor Adrian Smith ‘s Inquiry into Post-14 Mathematics Education, ( online ) , from: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.mathsinquiry.org.uk/report/MathsInquiryFinalReport.pdf, accessed 11/04/2011. Swan. M. , 2005, Standard ‘s Unit – Bettering acquisition in mathematics, ( online ) , from hypertext transfer protocol: //www.ncetm.org.uk/public/ †¦ /improving_learning_in_mathematicsi.pdf, accessed 11/04/2011. Teacher ‘s In-Depth Content Knowledge, nd, Shulman, from hypertext transfer protocol: //ww.intime.uni.edu/model/teacher/teac2summary.html, accessed on 11/04/2011 The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, 2010, NCETM, ( online ) , from: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.ncetm.org.uk, accessed 11/04/2011. Vygotsky. L. , 1978, Zone of proximal development, ( online ) , from: www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky78.pdf – United States, accessed on 11/04/2011.

Why recruiters are not paying attention to what youre saying in interviews

Why recruiters are not paying attention to what youre saying in interviews I have a confession to make. Years ago, 34 to be exact, at the start of my professional career I was an employment representative for a local university. Today, the position title would more likely be Recruiter or Talent Acquisition Specialist. The job title may have evolved, and the technology employed is now far more advanced. But the fundamental responsibilities of the position remain unchanged even today. Find candidates. Screen candidates. Interview candidates. When I say interview candidates, I mean a lot of interviews. Six to 8 interviews a day. Five days a week. Two years. That is more than 3,000 interviews if my math is correct. Now the confession. Not every single one of those interviews was gripping, edge of your seat theatre! Some of the interviews were mind numbing boring. At least once a day, in an interview, I would ask a question and then immediately â€Å"zone out†. By zone out, I mean my brain went to another place and time. It would return a few minutes late r when the candidate had finished the answer to the question. I, of course, had no idea what they had said or what valuable information they may have shared about themselves and their value to our organization. You can relate if you have ever been driving a car and several minutes go by when you find yourself at the next stoplight with no idea how you got there.I would like to tell you that my problem was unique, a symptom of life in the 1980’s and that the probability of â€Å"recruiter zone out† in today’s day and age is non-existent. But I would be lying. It’s just human nature. We are not built with an infinite attention span. We need mental stimulation and active participation to stay mentally engaged in any activity. Specific to job search and interviews, research from Monster.com indicates that:The average interviewer’s attention span looks something like this:As you begin speaking, the interviewer is listening with nearly full attention.Aft er about 10 seconds, he begins listening with less intensity.After 60 seconds, his mind begins to wander and he’s devoting less than half his attention to you. After you’ve been speaking for 90 seconds without interruption, the interviewer is barely listening at all.So, if maximizing engagement and attention span with your interviewer is a critical element of a successful job search, what’s the secret to being interesting in an interview? The answer is conversation. More specifically, you need to turn your interview into an actual conversation. We define a conversation as: â€Å"the informal exchange of ideas by spoken words†. That definition might run counter to your view of an interview as a series of formal questions and answers. If you don’t learn how to master the art of the conversational interview, then you run the risk that your interviews will always be a series of formal, dry, zone out inducing questions and answers.In today’s worl d of electronic communication, email and text messaging, it is possible that we are a little out of practice when it comes to informal conversation. That is not an indictment of any specific age group. We all, regardless of age, now have our heads buried in our smartphones. The good news is that conversation is like muscle memory and riding a bike. You never forget how to maintain a conversation. It’s human nature. You just need a few tips and techniques to adapt conversation to a job interview. Here are a few essential tips.Above all else, be interested in and inquisitive about your interviewer, the company and the position. Interest is best fueled through preparation. Research your interviewer on LinkedIn to identify areas of common interest and career experiences about which you would like to explore in greater detail. Research the company beyond the standard tour of the company website. Read articles from industry trade publications, postings from industry-specific groups on LinkedIn and the standard Google topic search.Take the time, before the interview begins, to build some rapport with your interviewer. Small talk and informal questions as you are getting settled will both ease your nerves and put your positive personality on display. Your pre-interview research gives you the building blocks for the small talk. For example: â€Å"I saw in your LinkedIn profile that you are fluent in three languages. That is a fascinating skill. How did you become so proficient in each language?†Be a storyteller. Every question you are asked is an opportunity to tell an engaging story that highlights your personality and value proposition. Work to formulate your answers to most of the behavioral interview questions using the standard STAR technique. What was the Situation? What was the Task that you performed? What was the Action that you completed to resolve the situation? And what was the quantifiable Result of your action?Keep the conversation going. En d every one of your answers with a related question designed to amplify your research and your value proposition. For example, after answering a question about how you facilitated a successful team project, you might ask: â€Å"I see that you use an open concept office design here. How do you use the open office space to leverage greater team collaboration?†And finally, have big ears and laser sharp eyes. By that I mean listen, really listen to what your interviewer is saying in response to your questions. And maintain eye contact. Don’t fake it. Stay engaged, have fun and view the interview as an opportunity to learn. Your best will shine through in an engaged conversation.The art of conversation just takes a little practice. And it makes life more interesting.I love to watch penguins. They all look the same, sound the same and pretty much do the same things every time I see them. I just don’t want to be one in an interview.Dan Troup is the founder of the Advan tEdge Careers coaching service. If you are interested in learning more about how a certified career coach can assist you in your job search, please contact AdvantEdge Careers at: https://www.advantedgecareers.com/

Alcohol Abuse in the over 65 Population

A discussion of the increase of alcohol abuse in the senior population. This paper discusses the problem of an increase of alcohol abuse among the over 65 segment of the population. The problems in identifying alcohol abuse in this group, as well as the consequences ofthe abuse are presented.The causes of abuse specific to the elderly population are explored.Substance abuse, especially that of alcohol and prescription drugs, is increasingly growing into a serious problem among the population segment of 65 plus citizens. What is of grave concern is the fact that this particular segment of the population is the fastest growing. Census estimates predict that 1994s older adult population of 33 million will more than double to 80 million by 2050.Also consider the fact that several studies have found a clear relationship between early alcohol habits and the development of alcohol abuse later in life. Given that the use of alcohol has been more widespread since the 1960s, it is likely that the future will see a far larger incidence of alcohol abuse among the el derly with the aging of the baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964).

Anatomy and Physiology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Anatomy and Physiology - Essay Example The woman was diagnosed with Gouty arthritis. The main symptom that was use to identify this disease was the swelling and the speed of onset as well as the target bones. But most importantly are the inflammation and the fact that only one toe was affected. When the woman was asked whether she has suffered from the symptoms earlier she said that she recalled a similar attack two years earlier that had disappeared as suddenly as it had come. While Gouty arthritis is faster and takes place within hours, it can be relieved by the body systems. . Another symptom is that the pain was only on the right toe which is typical for Gouty Arthritis. Gouty Arthritis affects the toes, Knees, ankles and elbows. As stated by (Loue, & Sajatovic, 2008), Gouty Arthritis symptoms often affect one side of the body limited to one side of the joint. This is different from other types of arthritis in which symptoms are symmetrical and for the case of this woman, would have affected both right and left toes. It is harmful for a growing 13 year old to include lifting heavy weights as part of his daily workout because of the severe consequences that it poses it his growth. As stated by Brown et al (2009), children are born with cartilages at the end of each and every long bone. The end of the bone is where new structures are formed thus allowing growth to take place. During growth and as individuals grow older, these cartilages grow narrower until such a time that physical maturity is attained and thus they are completely replaced by bones thus a person starts growing in height. Heavy weight lifting my teenagers is likely to damage these growth plates since they are much softer than the bones. The consequence of damaged plates is that the growth of these teenagers may be impaired or stop completely depending on the nature and the extent of plate injury (Brown et al, 2009). Apart from the risk of growth plate

Accrual Accounting Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Accrual Accounting Systems - Essay Example Project subject area and Angle description - Small to medium enterprises are major components of developed economies as they constitute 99% of the total number of business operations in these countries. Given the space that SMEs occupying within developed economies and their importance therein studying the methods by which these enterprises can utilise IT tools to maximise organisational efficiency and effectiveness, and enhance organisational performance, is extremely crucial. In direct relation to the aforementioned, accounting and organisational management scholars have determined that the right accounting software package can substantially contribute to organisational performance and the maximisation of efficiency and effectiveness (Hirst and Hopkins, 1998). Choosing the right accounting software is perceived to be one of the most challenging tasks that an entrepreneur faces in his professional career (Johnston 2003). This is especially true for small scale business operations wh ere owners often lack the resources and expertise beyond their core activities to the point that other functions are overlooked. However, the selection process is problematic, as is the subsequent implementation process. Problem to be Solved and Worth – Although, in this highly developed economy, there is hardly an SME which does not manage its accounts through the use of accounting software, few understand the imperatives of selecting the right package or the benefits of doing so.

Finance for Strategic Managers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Finance for Strategic Managers - Essay Example The paper tells that with any business, the key objective rests with the need for profit making. This means that the determination of profitability of a business requires that proper and accurate accounting records become available. Without reasonable profit making in any business, the long-term success arises as an unseen possibility. The process of sourcing for finance proves to be a difficult task for most business firms. A key reason for this is the lack of valuable accounting data that would stimulate the interest of prospective investors. Obtaining finance serves a number of roles that allow for the sustenance of business activities while utilizing the available resources efficiently. In the financial markets, the availability of reliable information remains to be the greatest tool for concerned parties, mainly the investors. Lack of valuable information in these markets hampers the decision-making process for investors. This relates to the formulation of decisions directed tow ards the allocation of capital. Eventually, the incapability of business firms to attract investments acts as a limiting factor that hampers the overall growth of the business. As key elements in any business organization, various stakeholders require the availability of financial data in order to make valuable decisions. Shareholders or owners of a business will require assessing the financial performance of their investment. Without financial data, a company fails in meeting the needs and expectations of its stakeholders. Customers make the final decisions as pertains to the product or service offerings of a business firm. Thus, a creation of value remains an impossible feature with a business as the purchasing decisions divert to other business parties and competitors. A major objective of businesses is the determination and achievement of business goals. Financial information arises as the essential element necessary for setting targets.

Healthcare Industry: IT Systems

Healthcare Industry: IT Systems Healthcare services have seen several changes throughout the years to respond to changing demands of the population. The present key drivers and issues that stakeholders (patients, healthcare providers, vendors and government) in the healthcare sector face are ageing population, increased burden of chronic conditions, rising public demand/expectation for quality healthcare, fragmented and uncoordinated healthcare services and rapid advances in information technology. At present, information technology is considered a strategic necessity by world class organizations instead of just a supporting tool. To obtain a competitive advantage in an environment with intense competition, it is vital for organisations to use more sophisticated information technology tools to address the challenges of building and deploying system in the short term and the identification, research and design of future system. Information technology (IT) is rapidly becoming integrated with healthcare to improve processes and communications, support decision making, reduce inaccuracies, and improve patient safety. The advancement of medical science through the years has made possible the use of more expensive equipment and the latest technology. This will allow healthcare providers and patients to gain access to health information easily and thus has the potential to improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of health care. As the healthcare industry is information intensive and knowledge intensive, there is also a need to publish health care information and knowledge. Healthcare systems vary from country to country but they all have a common aim that is to meet the healthcare needs of target populations. In this report, I will be focusing on healthcare IT in Singapore context. Healthcare System in Singapore Singapore has a dual health care system where individuals can choose between public and private providers. The government through Ministry of Health (MOH) manages the public healthcare system. MOH plays a major role in formulating national health policies, coordinating the improvement and planning of the public and private healthcare sectors and regulating health standards. MOHs mission is to promote good health and reduce illness, to ensure Singaporeans have access to good and affordable healthcare and to pursue medical excellence (Ministry of Health, 2007). MOHs vision is to develop the worlds most cost-effective healthcare system to keep Singaporeans good health. Delivery Structure Healthcare services in Singapore are provided by different types of providers from primary care to tertiary care and to step-down care. Primary Care Primary care includes primary medical treatment, preventive healthcare and health education (Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore, 2009). In Singapore, primary health care is provided through outpatient polyclinics and private medical practitioners clinics. 80% of the services are provided by private practitioners while the remaining 20% by government polyclinics. Conveniently located in town centres all over the island, polyclinics are one stop health centres which offered services such as outpatient medical care, maternal and child care health. Secondary and Tertiary Care For the secondary and tertiary care, 80% of the hospital care being provided by the public sector and the remaining 20% by the private sector. This public sector is organised into two vertically integrated delivery networks, National Healthcare Group (NHG) and Singapore Health Services (SingHealth) that operate as not-for-profit private companies. Having these two groups enable more integrated and better quality healthcare services through greater cooperation and collaboration among public sector health care providers. Each cluster consists of both general hospitals that provide multi-disciplinary healthcare services and specialised hospitals in various disciplines e.g. obstetrics and gynaecology and ophthalmology. The private sector provides similar specialist disciplines and comparable facilities to the public clusters. The two main providers are Raffles Medical Group and Parkway Group Healthcare (Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore, 2009). Step-Down Care Voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs) provide most of the step-down care services. They run nursing homes, inpatient hospices, community hospitals and chronic sick hospitals. Four of the public acute hospitals also provide geriatric units (Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore, 2009). Public Healthcare Delivery Structure One of the objectives of forming the two clusters is to facilitate integration of healthcare services at the various levels. The clusters have begun introducing measures to integrate primary healthcare at the polyclinics and secondary care at the hospitals. A Vision for 21st Century Healthcare Intelligent Nation 2015 (iN2015) is a 10-year masterplan to help Singapore realise the potential of infocomm. The vision of iN2015 is An Intelligent Nation, a Global City, powered by Infocomm. The goal for the Healthcare and Biomedical Sciences sectors is To accelerate sectoral transformation through an infocomm-enabled personalised healthcare delivery system to achieve high quality clinical care, service excellence, cost-effectiveness and strong clinical research. (IDA, 2006) Refer to Figure 1 in Appendix to see how it will look like. Key drivers of change in Singapores healthcare sector were identified and a number of likely shifts and changes to the system were predicted (IDA, 2006). Key Drivers Shifts/Changes Ageing population of chronic conditions Focus on prevention, health promotion and wellness care Rising public expectations of healthcare services Integrated and patient-centred system of delivery Fragmented and relatively uncoordinated healthcare services Consistent widespread application of evidence-based medicine Very rapid advances in infocomm, medical science and technologies and biomedical research Greater role of members of the public in managing their own health Greater facilitation of data flows between healthcare sector and biomedical sciences Strategies and Programmes (IDA, 2006) The targeted outcome is a well-integrated quality healthcare, cost effective healthcare services and greater ability of public to manage their health. To bring about successful business change using IT, healthcare providers should ensure that IT works in performance with meaningful changes in organisational functions and processes (Rothenberg, 1995). How IT can be used? In the healthcare industry, one suite solution is not common because certain user departments will need to have more in-depth functionalities than others. A more common approach in the industry is best of breed where it attempts to give full equal weight in terms of functionalities and features to individual user departments. Some considerations for best of breed approach are: It deals with more than one vendor A need to connect or interface the different applications to provide a fully integrated solution Future upgrades issues. Therefore, there is a need to strike a balance between having too many application platforms and departmental requirements or functionalities (Online Consultant Software). IT Infrastructure for the Healthcare Industry Functional interoperability is needed in order for computers to be able to share clinical data with one another. Computers must have functions to be able to physically communicate, send and receive documents and data files, share data and information. Therefore, there is a need for integration, standards and interface engines to build the healthcare industry infrastructure. MediNet MediNet forms the backbone of medical system in Singapore (IDA, 2006). It is Singapores nationwide computer network for medical and health care community that focuses on five components (Lim, 1990): Central Claim Processing System(CCPS) processing of claims in hospital bills National Patient Master Index (NPMI) consists of patients risk factors, drug allergies and demographic data Procurement Electronic procurement of medical and surgical supplies Notification Transmission of notifications to government agencies Information Services Access to local and foreign databases MediNet links up computer systems of all participants (MOH, Central Provident Fund Board (CPFB), Government Bodies, restructured hospitals, private hospitals, general practice clinics) in the healthcare delivery system so that they will be able to communicate, exchange data and access common applications on the network (ANNEX C: FACTSHEET: Infocomm Milestones, 2006). Health Level 7 A group of healthcare computer systems users who founded the Health Level 7 organization in 1987 started developing the HL7 protocol to create that common language that allows healthcare applications to share clinical data with each another. Over time the HL7 interoperability protocol became a nationally, internationally and globally accredited standard (HL7 Singapore). Health Level Sevens domain is clinical and administrative data. Interface Engine Interface engine is a software program intended to simplify the creation and management of interfaces between separate applications and systems, either within the organization or with other affiliated organisation (McLeod CG, Inc., 2006). It carries out messaging between systems and usually handles any mapping, translation and data modification required to ensure the effective exchange of data. Examples of common interface engines used in the healthcare industry are Cloverleaf, Datagate and Openlink (MDI Solutions, 2009). Imagine in a hospital where there are different departments needing different functionalities and features, different applications might be running. It would be very complex and technically difficult to maintain separate interfaces between them. Healthcare Applications Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) The public healthcare sector uses SAP industry solution for hospital (IS-H) (SAP, 2008). It supports patient management, medical and nursing documentation, and patient accounting, and integrates these with financial accounting, controlling and materials management. The information system contains evaluations of patient and hospital data that can be used both internally and externally. It also contains a communication component that enables data transfer both within the hospital and to external parties. The picture below shows the SAP footprint in Singapore Healthcare Industry. Only Parkway Health (Private Sector) and Republic Polytechnic (for educational purpose) are not under the public healthcare sector. Source: (SAP, 2008) Case Study: Hospital Information System at St Andrews Community Hospital (InfoComm Singapore Portal, 2008) St Andrews Community Hospital was relocated in April 2005 to a larger premise in Simei. The change in hospital and care processes was the drive to upgrade the Hospital Information System (HIS) at St Andrews Community Hospital from its manual administrative system and record stock which require tedious work to a more efficient way to process information by technology. The project team were focused on being user-centric rather than IT-centric in the choice of an HIS. User departments were pro-active and committed during the pre-selection brainstorming and consultancy and during the implementation stages of the new system. The VESALIUS, a complete HIS provided NovaHealth which covers front-end modules such as Appointments, Registrations, ADT and billing and ancillary support modules such as Pharmacy, Medical Records, back-end Inventory and integration to the Financial System. The benefits of the system are: Assisting management to track costs down to the minute details Increasing efficiency as manual and administrative work are being minimised Enabling links to the MOHs Elderly and Continuing Care system for online submission of information to receive government subsidies; and the CCPS for automated submission for Medisave claims Serving as a check and balance for inventory audit and reducing waste. As a result, there is no need for Pharmacy staff to spend time physically checking stock levels when transferring items from the various stores in St Andrews Community Hospital. Having a lean and efficient team complemented by the HIS, paperwork is also minimised. An Integrated Electronic Medical Database Electronic medical record (EMR) stores patients medical information through IT to enable sharing across healthcare institutions (MOH; SingHealth; NHG, 2004). It can be made more secure through appropriate IT access and security safeguards. The MOH holds the vision of One Singaporean, One Family Physician, One Medical Record to improve long term care. EMR provides medical staff involved in patient treatment with quick and accurate access to patients essential medical information (Yong, 2007). The integrated patient database system was thus vital in Singapore as there is a need to get the right information to the right people especially in an industry where a second could mean a difference between a life and death situation. EMR Adoption Model The EMR Adoption Model is devised by HIMSS Analytics to track the progress of hospitals towards creating a paperless patient record system. It is based on an eight-stage scale which starts at zero (HIMSS Analytics). The EMR Adoption Model Structure ensures all application capabilities must be operational before that stage can be achieved as it sets a foundation for subsequent stages. Refer to Figure 2 in Appendix for the EMR Adoption Model. Electronic Medical Record Exchange (EMRX) EMRX is an initiative by MOH and the two public healthcare clusters (SingHealth NHG) to share electronic medical record across all public hospitals and polyclinics in Singapore. The EMRX will have the following information (MOH; SingHealth; NHG, 2004): Discharge summary which summarises recent hospitalization records including the treatment received and clinical course; Operation reports and laboratory results, including radiology images and scanned medical records Medicines prescribed with drug allergy history It was launched in April 2004 to focus on the improvement of patient care outcomes. It is a pragmatic and incremental implementation where SingHealth and NHG first developed the key systems within selected institutions and then replicate in other institution within the cluster and eventually across clusters and where practical with the private sector. The benefits of EMRX are (MOH; SingHealth; NHG, 2004): Better coordinated care for patients moving across different providers and improved levels of healthcare delivery. Better clinical decisions, with access to complete and legible clinical histories, and updated test results at the providers fingertips. Reduce the risks of transcription errors and missing records. Save cost through the avoidance of unnecessary repeat tests and investigations Better distribution of care Facilitation and follow up of other IT based applications such electronic prescriptions and clinical decision support systems Potential for 24 hour access to real-time data for up to date results reporting Provision for data security and audit features to be built into the system. Current EMRX Implementation The aim of the clusters is to implement the EMR in all institutions within each cluster incrementally. SingHealth and NHG manage their clusters EMR independently. SingHealth started using an EMR system in SGH in year 2000. The main application SingHealth has used to develop its EMR system is iSOFTs iClinical Manager Solution (E-HEALTH-MEDIA LTD, 2004). Similarly, the National Healthcare group has also started using EMR systems in Tan Tock Seng Hospital and National University Hospital. EMRX was developed to enable secure cross-cluster exchange of patient information. This is to ensure that a patients record can be retrieved regardless where he or she seeks treatment. EMRX was later extended to healthcare partners, providing a central capability for effortless movement or records across the public healthcare clusters, community hospitals and Ministry of Defence (MINDEF), facilitating care delivery. SAF Electronic Medical Records The SAF healthcare system is centred on the SAF EMR system which is known as Patient Care Enhancement System 2 (PACES 2). It has clinical data repository, administrative function for manpower and logistics and also has the feature for research or analysis (Wong, 2009). The system connects all SAF medical centres across Singapore to allow for online and real time medical info retrieval and simultaneous viewing. Figure 3 in Appendix shows how it is connected. NHG Polyclinic Bukit Batok Polyclinic was the first to adopt the electronic medical records system. With paperless medical records, patients medical records can now be retrieved while diagnoses are entered into the system (Hoe, 2009). This move is part of MOH vision of integrating services between the healthcare providers. Benefits to Patients: Enhanced safety as there is a reduced patient risk through improved legibility of orders. Reduced waiting times due to the improved process Better care coordination and disease management through sharing of medical records Benefits to the polyclinic: Quality: Continuous improvement of quality care and patient service through error monitoring and elimination of unnecessary procedures Productivity: Saving time and effort that would otherwise be spent on correcting lost and illegible orders. Furthermore, there is no longer need to go to the records office, retrieve the physical paper records and bring it up to either the doctors or nurses room which can take up to 20 minutes or half an hour. Access: More readily available information and data of patients for healthcare professionals to make faster critical decisions Future Outlook National Electronic Health Record (NEHR) The next phase of electronic health record is moving towards creating a health record that is in fact personalised and accessible everywhere to be implemented by April 2011 (ChannelNewsAsia, 2010). With NEHR, all key information such as a patients demographics, allergies, clinical diagnoses, medication history, X-rays, laboratory investigations and discharge summaries will be fully exchangeable between various healthcare providers. Due to the costly implementation, only a number of primary and step-down care providers, including GPs, polyclinics and a community hospital will be linked up first (ChannelNewsAsia, 2010). The full implementation of NEHR will take many years as it has to cover the entire healthcare ecosystem and not just the public sector. The decision on whether to implement each phase will have to be justified on cost-benefit analysis. Refer to Appendix for an attached article on What could healthcare in Singapore look like in 2020? (Ministry of Health, 2008). Medical Information Services IT is also widely used as an information tool by both medical professional and the public. Several government and privately initiated websites provide information for health care services and databases for medical related issues. Web portals provide the following services: Searching for medical professionals within Singapore The MOH has a list of online resources to search for healthcare professionals in Singapore (MOH, 2007) Online pharmacies For example, Changi General Hospital myPharmacy is the first online hospital pharmacy in Singapore (Changi General Hospital, 2004). Medical publications One example of medical publications is PubMed (PubMed). Health related publications Some examples of health related publications from SingHealth (SingHealth Academy ). Health service reports Queue watch provide patients with timely information to arrange their visit. The number of patients waiting for registration and consultation, live webcam images showing the waiting areas for registration, consultation and pharmacy/payment and peak non-peak periods are displayed online (Government of Singapore, 2007). Medical schemes such as Medifund, Medisave MediShield Information regarding these schemes can be found in CPF Board website (Central Provident Fund Board, 2009). Competitive Advantages The growth and survival in the healthcare industry depends on how well Singapore is able to compete in this highly and competitive market. With the integration of the healthcare infrastructure, the advanced medical technology and the highly skilled professionals, Singapore has managed to establish a reputation of being a world class healthcare hub, the ability to deliver innovative healthcare solutions, a complete range of services and quality healthcare providers (EDB, 2009). There will be a strong demand from the population for quality healthcare and value added services with rising economic affluence and longer lifespan. Thus, there is a need to ensure that healthcare research and development continues to be supported so that Singapore healthcare services sector can excel and be a source of competitive advantage. To sustain the competitive advantages, Singapore should be aware of their strengths and weaknesses and also of their competitors. The approach for the future must be one that focuses on possible improvements, supporting innovations and facilitating changes. The focus will have increasingly to be on openness to new influences, a willingness to recognize different schools of thought and methods of training and a search for the best available expertise from around the world (Desker, 1991). Innovation is needed to overcome the future challenges ahead to maximise Singapores competitive advantage. Healthcare providers should enhance their medical and service offerings, develop new healthcare products, and promote a pioneering spirit that will help in dealing with evolving patients needs, and in creating holistic and flawless experiences for patients (Tan, 2009). Thomson Medical Centre The Business Times reported that Thomson Medical is leading the healthcare sector (Ramchandani, 2010). Focusing on three core areas patient expectations, perceived quality and perceived value to improve patient satisfaction, Thomson Medical Centre has been continuously innovating to provide greater value-added services to its patients. Their redesigned patient-centric workflow had helped them gain a competitive advantage over their rivals: Use of technology and raise in service and product standards has improved patient care and satisfaction Improve in-patient , out-patient and administrative processes by using touch screen billing in place of a key-in method, which has halved the time spent on billing and has resulted in cost savings of $2000 a month. Reduce waiting time for admission and discharges with express check outs, direct admissions and courtesy and in-room discharges. Act on service recovery. When there is an unhappy patient with service, they move fast to resolve the problem. Train front line staff to raise service standards which resulted in an increase in the number of compliments as compared to complaints (4.9:1 to 9.2:1). Create a positive patient experience by having a resort style ambience, offering concierge service, a welcome drink and, in the case of premier rooms, luxurious dà ©cor and relaxing spa music. Introduce value added services such as the interactive website ThomsonBaby.com to help new mothers prepare for the parenthood journey and save them time and money. The hospitals efforts in cultivating lasting relationships have also led to an increase in patient loyalty. 32.2% of its patients were repeat patients in 2009, compared to 26.8% in 2008. Besides that, there was an increase in the number of babies born. Thomson Medical Centres dedication in understanding patient needs and receiving feedback on their stay and their expectations at key hospital touch points has thus improved patient satisfaction level. Challenges The vision for an integrated and continued patient- centric healthcare system requires interoperable IT systems, active engagement of patients and suitably aligned financial framework. In the development of the Singapore healthcare system, there are some issues that hinder the implementation of healthcare integration due to unique specificities. In general, the problems faced by the players involved can be classified into five categories: Clinical and medical practices: Often built around specialization but could be better oriented towards integrated care Financing framework: GPs, Specialist Outpatient Clinics (SOCs) and patients does not see the incentive for integration of care Establishment of a new idea mindset towards integration of care for players involved Organizational processes: Enhanced by bridging communication and IT gaps, coordinating across sectors and defining workflows for the smooth move of patients between caregivers IT systems: Better connected across sectors and allow for the transferability of patient records. As shown in Figure 4 in the Appendix, these challenges have over the years led to ingrained mindsets and behavioural practices of parties at multiple levels of the system, further hindering the integration of care (Ministry of Health, 2008). The various challenges and loophole that currently exist are the result of institution-centric and tertiary-centric system of healthcare. As EMRX becomes widely accessible, there are concerns over patient confidentiality and privacy. For instance, legal implications of providing EMRs beyond cluster boundaries were considerable and attaining consent from individual patients would have been burdensome and stalled widespread accessibility of EMRs (MOH; SingHealth; NHG, 2004). This shows that there are vital ethical concerns over the privacy of personal medical records. Furthermore, the infrastructure for data standardisation needed to achieve this integrated healthcare system is getting more intricate and costly due to the vast amount of data involved from different independent systems. Despite SingHealth and NHG adoption of the HL7 v2.3, data exchange could not be easily achieved in spite of HL7 v2.3. This is because the standard was open to variations that hampered direct interoperability. Moreover, modification of systems to enable data interoperability would have been costly, without direct benefits to the clusters (Lee, Lim, Tan). Conclusion Previously, healthcare sector has lagged behind other sectors in the adoption of IT for its key process. Healthcare providers need to review the way businesses are conducted. IT can be a powerful enabler for an information intensive industry like healthcare through automation, knowledge management, business process reengineering, and even artificial intelligence. A pragmatic approach should be adopted to consider the current status and to focus on implementing immediate goals that would bring about meaningful changes in organisational functions and processes within a reasonable time frame. The use of IT to create value in a patient-centric approach to care is likely to contribute significantly to the overall level of care that patients can benefit from. Innovation can help healthcare providers to gain a competitive advantage. The success of some healthcare provider as mention above has shown that IT can help in the healthcare sector to improve healthcare quality, reduce costs and to meet some of todays trends in demographics and disease burden. This quote which is published in NHG annual review 2007-2008 shows the importance of IT, Technology is our enabler. We use technology to record and disseminate information with higher precision, accuracy and safety. More importantly, it allows healthcare to be delivered safer, faster and better. (National Healthcare Group Polyclinics, 2008) In the enthusiasm to adopt and invest in IT, it is important to note that there are some barriers in the move toward an integrated healthcare system as stated in the abovementioned section. Addressing and overcoming these challenges will involve the collaboration and cooperation of players at all levels of the system, across both the public and private sectors. Learning points / Opinions Strategy Technology should be used as a supporting tool not to steer health care reform. To transform Singapores health care system into a modern and responsive 21st-century health care system, a practical IT strategy which is consumer-focused is needed. In particular, it needs to be competitive in terms of price and quality because that is what consumers look for. A tripartite model of health care regulation, involving the active participation of empowered consumers, is Singapores best hope for containing costs and ensuring quality of care. What is done well? A committee to plan for the future development in healthcare iN2015 Healthcare and Sub-Committee came out with strategies and programmes to help address todays challenge and support the developmental opportunities. It aims to achieve high quality clinical care, service excellence, cost-effectiveness and strong clinical research. Improve business process with IT IT has played an important role in the delivery and development of healthcare services in this information age with applications ranging from finance and personnel administration to medical equipment operations. Healthcare service administrations have become more efficient and responsive, reducing patient waiting time and paper work. Medical equipments have become more accurate, laboratory results can be processed more quickly and effective communication among medical staff in Singapore and those overseas has become easier. What more can be done User Involvement IT investment decisions must serve the best interests of the key players involved. It is important to understand the users and their work flow and requirements as a one size or solution may not fit all. Flexibility is needed as each department requires different functionalities. Express clearly the benefits and value for the change Users involved need to understand the strategic goals of the organization and understand how IT, from technical and managerial perspectives, can help to achieve them. The success of IT investments is to ensure users see the benefit and value of IT so that they will be motivated to make the change. Limitations of IT Healthcare providers should be mindful of the limitations of technology and have a deep understanding of the information search behaviours of their target audience. Health care is still a hi Are Consumers Central to Marketing Activities? Are Consumers Central to Marketing Activities? In view of the dynamic nature of the marketing environment, to what extent do you consider consumers to be, in practice, central to marketing activities? Words count: 1621 words Marketing is the analyzing, organizing, planning, and controlling of the firms customer-impinging resources, policies, and activities with a view to satisfying the needs and wants of chosen customer groups at a profit. (Kotler and Keller, 1967) [1] The main purpose of any business is to make profit. To do so, their customers are necessary. The role of marketing is to anticipate and identify consumers needs and wants, in order to satisfy them efficiently and profitably.2 In view of the dynamic nature of the marketing environment, to what extent are consumers, in practice, central to marketing activities? First of all, it is necessary to define what characterizes the marketing environment, and in what way this environment is dynamic. Secondly, we will see how the consumer is central to marketing activities. Finally, we will discuss about the relative importance of the consumers in these activities and the other factors that can also influence them. The marketing environment consists of external factors that affect the companies and their ability to satisfy customers.[2] There are two aspects to this marketing environment: the macro-environment, and the micro-environment. The PESTEL factors are the factors found in the macro-environment: political, environmental, social/cultural, technological, economical and legal.[3] They are societal factors, thus not controllable; and the companies need to adapt to these factors. In the macro-environment is included the demographical factor. The study of the demographic environment can help predict the size of the market of a certain product. For example if the number of elderly people is going to rise, the potential market for retirement homes will grow. The same goes for a change in the number of children, which could impact the number of schools and teachers needed.[4] Companies need to adapt to changes in the micro-environment as well. The factors in the micro-environment are the ones close to the company, making them easier to control: customers, competitors, distributors, suppliers, and other departments within the company.For example, if a company has competitors satisfying the same needs with a similar product but at a lower price, it wont be able to sell its product and make profit out of it. Companies make use of marketing research and marketing intelligence to collect information about the marketing environment in order to adapt their marketing strategies. Marketing takes place in a dynamic environment: these external factors change constantly, and companies need to be aware of these changes taking place in the marketing environment in order to adapt themselves efficiently and effectively, and be able to keep on answering consumers needs and wants.[5] To satisfy their target consumers, marketers need to understand them. They need to study the existing and potential markets. Resources need to be efficiently managed in order to meet the identified needs in these markets.2 Marketing orientation is important because different customers have different needs. In order to meet the specific needs of each customer, firms have to adapt. Answering everyones needs is not a realistic thing, which is why segmentation is used. Segmentation is the method used to separate the population into specific segments, which contains customers with similar needs. Understanding the needs of these segments of population will allow the determination of the marketing strategy that will be used in a specific business plan.[6] The marketing strategy determines the actions that will be taken over time to achieve the objectives of the company. Marketing decisions are based on the 4Ps, also called marketing mix: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. The four components of this marketing mix are determined by the target consumers.[7] As said before, the purpose of any business is to make profit, and it needs to satisfy the consumers for that to happen. The product needs to fulfil the customers need of course, but not only. The product also has to be at an acceptable price in the eyes of the consumers for them to buy it. The price is what makes money for the company, it is determined by the production costs and the competition, as well as by how much the customers are willing to pay for the product. On the one hand, if the price is too high, consumers wont buy, which means the company wont achieve its sales target. On the other hand, if it is too low, the target will be achieved but there will be no profit made out of it. 4 Price has to be chosen accordingly as well as place. Different types of consumers will need the product to be available at specific places. A very expensive product, such as a luxury item, will not necessarily be available at the local supermarket for example, but most certainly in a specific shop or place. Consumers also prefer to buy products when they are located close to their homes and workplaces.[8] In order to answer consumers needs profitably, marketers have to use segmentation to target their market, and match their marketing strategy to their target consumers needs.4 Thus making the consumers central to the companys marketing activities. Lets take Microsoft as an evolutionary example of changes in the marketing environment with the technological factor (macro-environment) and the companys competition (micro-environment).9 Recently, Microsoft has struggled to find its place in a fast changing digital and technological environment. Microsoft was and still is in consumers mind the leader in Personal Computers. They are now lagging behind competitors like Apple or Samsung, and are trying to develop other devices like tablets, smartphones, consoles, etc. They even acquired Nokias smartphone business in order to do so. They developed a new version of their operating system that works on every platform, including their console Xbox; which provides a cloud based connectivity that consumers are looking for. Their change in strategy to provide consumers what they need in this era of technological improvements has paid off: Microsofts sales are trending upward since the past few years.[9] In order to keep his place in the market, Microsoft had to change its strategy to improve its solutions to satisfy todays consumers after being left behind by competitors and technological advances. To this point, we can affirm that consumers are indeed essential and central to marketing activities. Marketing is all about satisfying consumers profitably, and marketing research and marketing strategies are calculated around them. Despite their importance, consumers are only one of the forces in the marketing environment. Changes in the marketing landscape are so fast that it is now more and more difficult for companies to adapt. One of the most influential factors of marketing activities is technology: 40% of the worlds population now has access to the Internet, compared to 1% in 1995.[10] The vast majority owns a smartphone that also has access to the Internet. The Internet and social media are thus also used for marketing purposes as well[11]: websites, adverts, e-mails, videos, etc. Influencers on the Internet are also important for marketing research; they can be people who have blogs and websites for example, and are useful to marketers for them to better understand current trends and interests.[12] Companies can also sponsor people such as bloggers and video makers (YouTube in particular) by making them review products and/or services online.[13] Globalization is another factor that influences marketing activities. Lots of companies now face global competition. Also, when a company decides to sell its products abroad, it has to take into account the tastes and habits of the selected country. For example, for the French market, Nutella is manufactured to be more spreadable, due to the fact that French people mostly eat it on baguettes, making it more difficult to spread.[14] Nowadays, companies also need to take into account the environmental aspect for their marketing activities. They have to be environmentally responsible, to be more sustainable in their practices than in the past. These are a few other examples of factors, apart from the consumers, that can have an influence on the marketing activities of businesses. To conclude, consumers are indeed central to marketing activities, but are only one of the many factors that have an influence on them: notably changes in the marketing environments factors; the technological factor in particular, which is probably the fastest changing factor as of now. References Berthon, P., Pitt, L., Plangger, K. and Shapiro, D. (2012). Marketing meets Web 2.0, social media, and creative consumers: Implications for international marketing strategy. Business Horizons, 55(3). Ça mintà ©resse La curiosità © en continu. (2017). Pourquoi le Nutella nest pas le mà ªme en France quen Allemagne ? Ça mintà ©resse. [online] Available at: http://www.caminteresse.fr/economie-societe/pourquoi-ne-mange-t-on-pas-le-meme-nutella-en-france-quen-allemagne-1129354/ [Accessed 26 Mar. 2017]. Corcoran, C. (2017). Marketings New Rage: Brands Sponsoring Influential Bloggers. [online] WWD. Available at: http://wwd.com/business-news/marketing-promotion/marketings-new-rage-brands-sponsor-influential-bloggers-3230386/ [Accessed 26 Mar. 2017]. Goi, C. (2009). A Review of Marketing Mix: 4Ps or More?. International Journal of Marketing Studies, 1(1). Internetlivestats.com. (2017). Number of Internet Users (2016) Internet Live Stats. [online] Available at: http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users/ [Accessed 26 Mar. 2017]. Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G. (2016). Principles of marketing. 16th ed. Harlow: Pearson. Kotler, P. and Keller, K. (1967). Marketing management. 1st ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Li, Y., Lai, C. and Chen, C. (2011). Discovering influencers for marketing in the blogosphere. Information Sciences, 181(23). Palmer, A. and Worthington, I. (1992). The business and marketing environment. 1st ed. New York [etc.]: McGraw-Hill Book Co.. Richardson, M. and Evans, C. (2007). Assessing the Environment. British Journal of Administrative Management. Smallbusiness.chron.com. (2017). What Are the Four Types of Utility Marketing?. [online] Available at: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/four-types-utility-marketing-24420.html [Accessed 26 Mar. 2017]. [1] Kotler, P. and Keller, K. (1967). Marketing management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, p.12. [2] Palmer, A. and Worthington, I. (1992). The business and marketing environment. New York [etc.]: McGraw-Hill Book Co., pp.1-6. [3] Richardson, M. and Evans, C. (2007). Assessing the Environment. British Journal of Administrative Management. [4] Palmer, A. and Worthington, I. (1992). The business and marketing environment. New York [etc.]: McGraw-Hill Book Co., p.167. [5] Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G. (2016). Principles of marketing. 16th ed. Harlow: Pearson, pp.94-95. [6] Palmer, A. and Worthington, I. (1992). The business and marketing environment. New York [etc.]: McGraw-Hill Book Co., pp.10-17. [7] Goi, C. (2009). A Review of Marketing Mix: 4Ps or More?. International Journal of Marketing Studies, 1(1). [8] Smallbusiness.chron.com. (2017). What Are the Four Types of Utility Marketing?. [online] Available at: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/four-types-utility-marketing-24420.html [Accessed 26 Mar. 2017]. [9] Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G. (2016). Principles of marketing. 16th ed. Harlow: Pearson, pp.92-94. [10] Internetlivestats.com. (2017). Number of Internet Users (2016) Internet Live Stats. [online] Available at: http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users/ [Accessed 26 Mar. 2017]. [11] Berthon, P., Pitt, L., Plangger, K. and Shapiro, D. (2012). Marketing meets Web 2.0, social media, and creative consumers: Implications for international marketing strategy. Business Horizons, 55(3), pp.261-271. [12] Li, Y., Lai, C. and Chen, C. (2011). Discovering influencers for marketing in the blogosphere. Information Sciences, 181(23), pp.5143-5157. [13] Corcoran, C. (2017). Marketings New Rage: Brands Sponsoring Influential Bloggers. [online] WWD. Available at: http://wwd.com/business-news/marketing-promotion/marketings-new-rage-brands-sponsor-influential-bloggers-3230386/ [Accessed 26 Mar. 2017]. [14] Ça mintà ©resse La curiosità © en continu. (2017). Pourquoi le Nutella nest pas le mà ªme en France quen Allemagne ? Ça mintà ©resse. [online] Available at: http://www.caminteresse.fr/economie-societe/pourquoi-ne-mange-t-on-pas-le-meme-nutella-en-france-quen-allemagne-1129354/ [Accessed 26 Mar. 2017].