Friday, June 7, 2019

Seek feedback Essay Example for Free

Seek feedback EssaySeek feedback from people that you know about a task that you regularly automobilery out. This might be a task that you carry out at work. If so, you should seek feedback from employees, clients and colleagues. Alternately, this might be a task you carry out in your day-to-day life, such as control a car or making dinner. If so you should seek feedback from friends and family members. How would you ensure that the feedback you receive is useful? How would you use this feedback to identify and develop ways to improve competence in the task you have selected?I have recently been learning to drive a manual car and have been getting lots of feedback from my instructor each lesson I have. While I already no how to drive automatic my focus is mainly based on driving the actual car itself. The feedback I receive is always positive on weather it is something I have done well or need to work on.They includeinitiatory cant I need to practice taking off in first g ear as I tend to stall a lot, I can do this by feeling the point of which the clutch grabs and the car starts moving without acceleration. At this point I can then slowly drive and release the clutch simultaneouslyClutch again feeling the point of which the clutch grabs.Gear transitions I need to work on smo new(prenominal) gear transitions whilst in movement. This is done with practice, watching revs and taking my time.Stopping working on coming to a stop by using my engine, this is done by learned what limits a certain gear has and when I can drop back without revving the car to high as this could cause damage.Changing gear while turning a corner this is difficult at first as you are trying to not only steer but also change gears with the other hand. Also full takes practice.Reversing I have the same problem here as in first gear as I am just dong the opposite. Just need to know where the point of grab is in my clutch.By continuing to have lessons and perhaps finding a fa mily friend to instruct me also, with enough practice I should be able to master the task of learning to drive a manual with ease.I can insure that the feedback I receive is useful by Asking for specific examples, rather then generalisations.Ask for explanations on their feedback they have given.Ask for information on specific situations.

Thursday, June 6, 2019

Ryanair-The Southwest of European Airlines Case Essay Example for Free

Ryanair-The Southwest of European Airlines Case EssayRyanair was founded in July 1985 by the three brothers, Catlan, Declan, and Shane Ryan, with the financial assistant of their father Tony Ryan. As a beginner moneymaking(prenominal) carrier, its operations began with 25 ply and a single 15-seat turbo-prop commuter plane between Waterford in the southeast of Ireland and Gatwick Airport, the second busiest airport in London by and by Heathrow. Later on, regulatory authorities permitted the Ryanair Airlines to impart at least four flying escapes a day on Dublin-London route, with more seating capacity. Nowadays, Ryanair, with its rapid growth, occupies the around sought position in its own field, macrocosm Britains favorite airline and the oldest-low cost air carrier in Europe.The goal of my internal analysis on Ryanair is to focus on choices and capabilities as internal sources of uniqueness that allow firms to beat the competition. This analysis is often called the reso urce- stupidd view of the firm. By theory, a firm gains an returns by obtaining valuable and r ar resources and developing the capability to utilize these resources to drive customers toward their products and services at the expense of competitors. As a result, firms with superior resources and capabilities enjoy competitive advantage over other firms.Value Chain AnalysisFirms make products or provide services by engaging in many contrasting activities. The basic social organisation of these activities is embodied in the firms value- chain. Value-chain activities are of two types primary activities and run onive activities. Primary activities implicate inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and services. Support activities include human resources, news report and finance operations, technology, and procurement. All the activities -primary and support are potential sources of competitive advantage or disadvantage of any firm.In Ryanair case, p arts of the inbound logistics are Ryanairs low-priced deals, negotiated against promise of large and growing volume of pedigree. Also, they include dependency on suppliers to deliver fuel as well as food, drinks and duty-paid products to be sold on-board they pauperization to be stored, handled and controlled upon delivery. The other important element of the primaryactivities includes the operations. Ryanair fast turnarounds of 25 minutes are the beau mondes core competencies. This is the most important cost advantage that enables lavishly aircraft utilization. More frequent departures of two more per day than competitors with few planes, change magnitudes Ryanairs revenue. Point-to-point flights mean no interlinking with other carriers. Raynair offers direct non-stop journeys, avoiding the cost of providing through services for connecting passengers and delays caused by late arrival of connecting flights. Ryanair uses the standard model plane- Boeing 737, which means that com pany, is able to obtain spares and maintenance services on favorable terms, to limit the cost of staff learning and to offer flexibility in scheduling aircraft and crew assignments. A relatively young fleet reduces maintenance, spare and fuel costs.Also, Ryanair placed resources to strengthen its core business such(prenominal) as satellite television, Internet service and arcade game, so the passengers can enjoy the trip. For outbound logistics, Ryanair uses isolated secondary airports, which often require make headway transport arrangements for customers. Also, more or less destinations are so geographically obscure that they cant support regular services to customer, as evident on some Scandinavian routes for example. This limits the level of market share Ryanair can achieve. EasyJet does the oppo come out and flies to titanic cities, but then have to pay higher landing charges which are reflected in their higher prices. However, using regional airports saves costs as charges are lower, facilities cheaper and Ryanair can negotiate favorable deals. It also enables fast turnaround times, and more on-time departures as the airports are less congested. 95% of Ryanairs flights are punctual compared to 88% for EasyJet.As I already mentioned, under primary activities are also marketing and sales. Ryanair considers branding most irrelevant as it believes that price is most important to customers. This reflects on companys image which isnt always so unspoiled in the press. In contrast Southwest Airlines, render a large part of their success to theirs well established brand values, and EasyJet has won awards for its brand. Ryanair invested resource to establish website for passengers. It made passengers more convenient. Spending on ad and promotions to expand its market is reduced as most advertising takes place on the website. There promotion is also used to sell excess capacity, such as two-for-one offers, which creates market awareness. Over 90% of bookings are made directly, either on the website or through reservations centers.The website saves on staff costs, agents commission, while significantly lend to growth. Travel agencies are used on a small scale as necessary when opening new routes in unknown markets. Under services, Ryanairs close no-frills- lower costs considerably. The company enables fast turnarounds and offers very low ticket prices. But with less flight attendants, usually only(prenominal) two per flight, compared to five for the competitors, the timber of the services drops. The philosophy of Ryanair is that for passengers the price is more important than the quality. The low quality services could damage the brand name and this could lead to business reduction.Under support activities- the procurement, the purchasing power of the company enables negotiation of favorable deals with suppliers. However, these demand large and growing volumes based on passenger numbers. Although growth is slowed down new planes has b een ordered aiming to double the fleet by 2009. Ryanair keeps good buyer-supplier relationships which ensure reliability and low-cost procurement of services. Many functions of the company are contracted out. Under human resource management, Ryanair aims to control its psychenel cost by continuously improving the productivity. The staff is working under big pressure set by an overhead person and most commonly with feelings of dissatisfaction. The technology development factor of the support activities indicates that Ryanair uses its website (www.ryanair.com) to monitor bookings and to see how full planes are, all minute by minute. Also, the company uses its internet site as the study part of the business, which saved them about $6 million a year on an average.Resource AnalysisResources and capabilities are the fundamental building blocks of a firms strategy. The resource-based view presents a perspective of competition that portrays the value of a resource or capability as derive d from the dynamic interplay of market forces. While the market and surroundings establish external constraints and pressures, a firms response through resource allocation and capability development become a source of competitive advantage. The resource-based perspective views a firm as an organization that has a bundle of protective resources and capabilities.Resources are tangible and intangible assets a firm uses to choose and implement its strategies.Capabilities are the skills a firm uses to bring its resources to bear. Ryanairs tangible resources include all Boeing 737 airplanes the company uses, as well as the companys headquarter building in Dublin and all other buildings the company uses. Part of the tangible resources also are all of the supplies, food, drinks and duty-paid products company holds in inventory, as well as fuel. Intangible resources contain bigger part of the business. They include all the intellectual capital, like expertise and accumulated knowledge, expe rience, skills, abilities and talents that every employee in Rayanair possesses. Here I could include also the companys brand recognition, customer loyalty, investors confidence and the good reputation. Charismatic personality of the companys chief executive officer- Michael OLeary is part of the organizational culture under the intangible resources.The capabilities of Rayanair are-The lowest airfare rates, simple processes (no frills), large brand awareness, clear offer (focuses on particular market segment), the innovative strategies on cost cutting, and quick turnaround time-Learning curve (early entrant), accumulated much knowledge/experience, outstanding marketing and PR skills of the CEO OLeary- The company ability to bargain and get beneficial deals with suppliers the efficiency and high turn-around rate, fast luggage handling and high punctuality- The ability to think strategically and assertively and to act on it acquisition of Buzz-The expansion of new hubs and new added routes-The ability to control and cut costs, which are crucial to survive and succeed in the constancy-The ability to build and sustain brand (loyalty).Financial AnalysisRyanairs current financial objectives, strategies, policies and programs are clearly stated in their Annual reports and financial statements for 2008, which I have attached in the separate file. These financial objectives seem to be consistent with Ryanairs mission, objectives, strategies, policies of low fares, as well as with internal and external environments. There was an increase in profit after tax of 33%, which was because of 7% increase in average fairs, so profit margin was 19.66%. There was an increase in fuel costs by 50%, and staff costs rose32%. The operating margin precipitated by 1% (to 21% from 22%), which lead to an increase in operating profit by 28% compared to 2007. Total operating revenues change magnitude by 32%. Maintenance costs increased by 12%, marketing and distribution costs increased by 71%, and aircraft rental costs increased by 23%. (Ryanair Holdings PLC, 2007).From this financial analysis, I could conclude that costs are increasing, but profit is also increasing leading to gains in the company. The statements are calculated in Euros, and there could be some differences based on the floating Euro/US Dollar exchange rates. In addition, this financial analysis supports Ryanairs past and pending strategic decisions, based on being a low fare air carrier. Ryanairs profit margin in 2007 is 19.66%, compared to EasyJet with 8.47% (2007), Air Lingus with 8.19% (2007) and British Airways with 5.48% (2007). If most companies in the same industry report decrease in profits, Ryanairs financial performance indicates that the company is in competitive advantage. (Ryanair Holdings PLC, 2007)Analysis of Strengths and WeaknessesStrengths and weaknesses are the major internal characteristics of firms, derived from the SWOT analysis. Firms within an industry generally have diffe rent strengths and weaknesses, and those differences often have a strong bearing on which firms win competitive interactions.Ryanair strengths are-Brand name Ryanair through its 24 years in the kickoff Cost Carrier (LCC) market has developed a very well recognized brand name.-Benefits from low airport charges These aid the low cost base Ryanair benefits from.-Has first mover advantage on regional airports (e.g. Charleroi) Acts as a barrier to entry-Internet site (94% bookings) www.ryanair.com Lowers the cost of distribution as over the phone bookings are more costly. Eliminates the need of travel agents.-High seat density.-All Boeing aircraft A uniform fleet saves on maintenance and training costs.-Fast turn-around.-High Service performance Punctual, high rate of flight completion, low baggage loss, which give a good image of the companys reliability.-Modernized fleet which leads to less expensive maintenance Will become more uniform with only one model (Boeing 737-800), also newe r planes will require less maintenance.-High aircraft utilization Ryanair flies its planes for longer thus generating more revenue from its assets.-Fuel and other risks hedging.-Small headquarters-Point to point flights No hub and spoke, lowers cost as no through services requiredRyanair weaknesses are-Prone to bad press Rayanair is perceived as arrogant and the slightest incident with the scandal commercial gets a lot of press coverage.-Niche market Restricted expansion possibility.-Distance of some regional airports from advertised destination Over time customers may find this a big inconvenience.-Poor service Ryanair decreased the number of flight attendants per flight, which decreased the service quality.-Ryanair is extremely sensitive to changes in charges (increase in fair value)In conclusion I would like in brief to summarize the strengths and weaknesses I mentioned above. Ryanair carries out its routine checks and repairs on its aircraft using its own engineers which means that some maintenance costs are included in the staff cost. Also the company has cost advantage, because of its ability to achieve 25 minutes turnarounds and therefore can run two more flights a day in its schedule than rivals such as British Airways.Their use of secondary airports means that they are able tonegotiate deals with the airports, in contrast to larger airlines unwilling to severalize their operations between two or more airports. Ryanair does not pay dividends to its shareholders. All profit is reinvested back into the business, which means a higher profit margin. Ryanair is unavailing to expand its home market industry, because of airport taxes. Passengers having their own luggage carried at their own risk could mean a loss of reputation if any major scandal is to occur in terms of loss of luggage. Increasing its fleet could mean that it might incur more losses.ReferenceThompson, A.A., Strickland, A.J., Gamble, J.E. (2008), Crafting executing strategyThe necessita te for competitive advantage. Boston McGraw- Hill Irwin.Ryanair Holding PLC, (2007). The Worlds Favorite Airline. Retrieved May 20, 2009,from Ryanair Web investhttp//www.ryanair.com/site/about/invest/docs/2007/070920annualreport.pdfRyanair Holding PLC, (2007). Strategy. Retrieved May 20, 2009,from Ryanair Web Sitehttp//www.ryanair.com/site/about/invest/docs/Strategy.pdfGoogle (2009). Ryanair Holdings plc (Public, ISE RYA). Retrieved May 20, 2009, from Google Finance Web site http//www.finance.google.com/finance?q=ISERYALavarack, M P. M. Brown. (1992) Benchmarking Learning from Best Practice. Business Studies, Vol 5, No.2.Thompson, J. L. (1997) Strategic Management. International Thompson barrack London.Carpenter, M.A. and Sanders, W.G. Strategic Management A Dynamic Perspective Concepts and Cases, 2nd edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

The Malaysian Tobacco Industry

The Malaysian Tobacco IndustryCHAPTER 1The Malaysian baccy industry is a copious industry which comprehends interchange harvest-festivalion and curing, product manuf trifleuring to product marketing and distribution. Tobacco is the countrys most widely cultivated non-food crop (British Ameri understructure Tobacco Malaysia). Malaysia is not considered as a large tobacco leaf producer by world standards. Neither is a major contributor to the Malaysian economy. However, tobacco farmers atomic do 18 exercised politic whollyy by the tobacco industry. fit in to a study conducted by Ernst and Young in June 2005 for the Confederation of Malaysian Tobacco Manufacturers, the industry contributes extensively to the countrys economy with more than 190,000 people depending on it for body of work in 2003. Tobacco production has change magnitude due to a rise in the demand for tobacco from cig bette manufacturers. (See Table 1.0)1.1 Impact of Tobacco utiliseCig artte demand has long bee n a crucial issue and has become especially prominent in the wake of the recent colossal settlements amid organization and backside companies ( Huang and Chin, 2006). According to the press introducement by the Minister of Health, the Hon Dato Chua Jui Meng on Tobacco Control in Malaysia on 7th November 1996, posterior heater is an avertible addiction which hold responsible for a massive 25% of all deaths in Malaysia. Smoking is a deadly and expensive pas age which is dangerous to both(prenominal) consume carri yearss and the secondly hand smokers (Costa and Mossialos,2006). Studies showed that 30% of stackcer deaths and 90% of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Malaysia were associated to fume (The Star). According to World Health organic fair quicken (WHO), tobacco is going to be the biggest energise of death in the world if current pattern of hummer continue, with no changes in cessation rates or significant declines in initiation rates by 2020. There are m ore than one billion smokers in the world and 5.4 million people were kil direct by tobacco use a year.Moreover, smoking is not barely destroying the health of the smoker but it is also an economic burden. These include primarily direct or indirect medical costs to the smokers and also productivity losses. Indoor places where smoking is al number 1ed lead incur a higher renovation and cleaning costs. The management will have to pay a lot to maintain the cleanliness in the workplaces. Furthermore, it accessiond the risk of fire and may acquire higher insurance premiums.Since the first continue on tobacco by Surgeon General was released in 1964, awareness congress to the detrimental set up of tobacco use has appendd. Smoking tushs during pregnancy can cause impromptu miscarriage, underweight babies and premature deli rattling. Most importantly, it will also cause sudden infant death (SID) syndrome. At the same time, it is also very dangerous for the people who do not smoke b ut breathing in a smoke-filled room. Second-hand smoke is a major base of indoor(prenominal) air pollution which can damage the health of both the children and adults. There are almost half of the worlds children breathe second-hand smoke today.In recent times, the smokers are increasing from day to day (See Table1.1). Despite of all the negative effects, smokers dont seem to be affected by the side effects. Teenage smoking is a heartbreaking problem in Malaysia and according to the World Tobacco Marketfile, the number of youth smokers are increasing (See Table 1.2). The risk of youth commencing tobacco use by socio-demographic, environmental and personal factors is increasing. Family with mild socioeconomic status is an example of socio-demographic factor. There are more young people who smoke nowadays because tobacco products are easily accessible and available everywhere. Young people who are lack of parental guidance will be easily influenced by peers. These are the examples of environmental risks factor. While personal risk factors include low self-esteem and the belief that tobacco use provides an advantage which can help them to sicken stress. People who reach older should understand the danger of smoking better than the youth. They should be able to experience the side effects if they have been smoking for forsakee close to time. nearly people may not be aware of the specific health risks of tobacco use as they are not exposed to the side effects. If the smokers are aware of the dangers of tobacco, most want to quit.1.2 Governments rule towards Cigarette DemandThe Malaysian governing has through and through various efforts and implemented regulations restricting people to smoke. Government constitution is divided into jural injury and levy measures and also non- expenditure measures such as Protection from exposure to tobacco smoke Regulation of contents of tobacco product Regulation of tobacco product disclosures Packaging and labellin g of tobacco products Education, communication, training and public awareness Tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship and Tobacco cessation (Zain, 2007).National Tobacco Control curriculum is one of the strategies taken to reduce tobacco use. The general clinical of this program is to provide comprehensive support and assistance to help smokers quit smoking. The programs include legislative control health promotion and public advocacy tobacco revenue insurance smoking cessation services research, monitoring and evaluation multi-sectoral collaboration and capacitor building.In legislative control, under the section on the Prohibition on Tobacco Product Advertisement of Control of Tobacco Product Regulations 2004 restricts printing, publishing or distributing of any tobacco product advertisement. It bans on ass advertisement on television and radio. Health detering messages are placed on every derriere pack to raise peoples awareness. Furthermore, government has legislat ed smoke-free policy in Malaysia to curb smoking. There is total ban on smoking in government meetings. Places same(p) health and educational facilities, governmental offices, public transport, shopping complex, cinemas and places of worship are smoke-free zone. Besides that, health promotion and advocacy covers campaigns such as Tak Nak social movement Healthy Lifestyle Campaign Kempen Nafas Baru Bermula Ramadhan World No Tobacco Day and also events by opposite agencies. On top of that, government also stash away excise duties on imported tush and further increase in sales and import tax. Increase tax will reduce the pulmonary tuberculosis on bunss without negative collision on tax. At the same time, National Smoking Cessation Program was introduced to provide comprehensive support and assistance to help smokers to quit smoking. Under this program, it helps to inform and educate the smokers regarding the advantages of quitting smoking.Government has created a lot of awaren ess program to help people to quit smoking and the most effective schema to reduce smoking is raising the price of the cigarettes. So as all these efforts and accumulation of knowledge are done, the demand for cigarettes and smoking should be simplification.1.3 Problem disputationTobacco use in Malaysia has escalated over the past age in spite of the numerous health warnings. Despite the various implementations of mass anti-smoking campaigns by the government, smoking is still a popular activity among the people. In the past thither is a lot of domino effect of smoking leading to health problems withal it can seem surprising that nigh people still choose to smoke. Tobacco users still continue with it in pursuance of the risks or the expense because smoking is a habit hard to break for the reason that it contains an addictive drug called nicotine. In addition to that, the effect will be amplified this time around as the price of cigarettes increase simultaneously. Subsequently, t he price affects the middle and lower income group of wage earner adversely because smoking is an expensive activity. The rising of cigarettes price will cause them to be overburdened by the rising living cost.People start smoking for a variety of different reasons. Although most of the people is aware that smoking is dangerous and harmful to the people around them but there are still 40-50 new smokers created everyday and the smoking popularity among the youth are increasing. There is active 9 out of 10 smokers start before the age of 18 years old (See Table 1.2). Most of the youth started to smoke as an act of rebellion and also because of peers pressure. The teenagers may not be conscious about the effects but it will become apparent later on in their life. Furthermore, survey has shown that the trend of young female smokers is increasing at such an alarming rate. According to the statistics by Healthy Living, it shows that there are 22% of smoker ages around 18 to 24 years old, 22.8% of smoker ages around 25 to 44 years old, 21% of smoker ages around 45 to 64 years old and 8% of smoker ages above 65 years old.1.4 Research QuestionThe questions arise in this study isWill the people above the age of 65 years old decrease the consumption of cigarettes?Will the implementation of the government policy towards the cigarettes reduce the number of smokers in Malaysia1.5 Objectives of the StudyThe general objective of this study is to determine the demand for cigarettes.More specific, this study tends toDetermine the price and income shot towards the demand for cigarettes.Determine the match of demand for cigarettes on aging nation.1.6 implication of the StudyThis research on the aging population is important in the attempt to reduce the overall demand for cigarettes in Malaysia. This study will raise the level of awareness of population of Malaysia on the impact of smoking between different age groups. Most of the diseases caused by tobacco use will only be noticeable when the users reach the later stage in life. This study will justify why policy makers should take into consideration people of all age groups when coming up with new policies regarding tobacco use, instead of foc using only on the younger population.CHAPTER 2LITERATURE REVIEWThis chapter is to review the quick literature on the demand for cigarette. There is a large volume of published studies describing the price and income elasticity on cigarette consumption. Furthermore, there is also a large and growing body of literature has investigated the effects of taxes and anti-smoking regulations on the demand for cigarettes. So far, there are only a few studies regarding the relationship between aging population and the consumption of cigarette.2.1 Theoretical Studies of Demand for CigarettesThe law of demand is an important law in microeconomic theory. In theoretical economics, economists develop models to explore economic activity and outcomes. Reliable statements about economic behavior enable the expectancy of probable effects of specific actions. The law of demand is an economic law that states that, all other factors being equal, as the price of good increases, demand for the good will decrease. This law summarizes the effect price changes have on consumer behavior. The negative relationship between price and quantity demanded is caused by two reasons. One of the reasons is the income and substitution effects. Income effect means that for a lower price product, a consumer can buy more than they could at the higher price point. Other similar products now seem more expensive compared to the lower priced product is the substitution effect. The second reason is the diminishing marginal utility for the inverse relationship between price and quantity demanded. Consumers get less satisfaction from each additional unit of measurement of product they consume over a specified fulfilment of time. They will only continue to buy if the price is reduced at each point.By increasing the realistic price of tobacco, a tax increase has colossal potential to be an effective policy lever to decrease tobacco consumption. The impact of taxes on tobacco consumption depends on the extent to which changes in taxes are reflected in tobacco prices and the responsiveness of consumers to changes in prices. People tend to reduce their consumption on tobacco use as the price increase. The demand functions show that cigarette consumption is related to the price of cigarettes, prices of related goods, income, and individuals tastes. A general windup from the precious studies is that tobacco prices and the demand are inversely related. Marshall illustrated the law of demand with both a table and a demand curve by assuming that the period of time is sufficiently short to justify a ceteris paribus assumption.2.2 Empirical Studies of Demand for CigarettesSeveral studies conducted have reported that there is an inverse relationship between the price and cigarette consumption and positive effect of income. Franke (1994) reveals that Granger Causality is significant from price and income to cigarette consumption in the join States. No significant change is observed in the estimated demand elasticity which occurred during the period studied. In order to test a model of the demand for cigarettes in the United States from the period of 1961 to 1990, he uses quarterly info and multiple analyses. The outcome of the study illustrates a positive effect of income and negative effects on price. Likewise, Zheng, Zhu and Li (2008), in a separate study also finds that there is indeed a positive income elasticity but negative cigarette price elasticity base on the best fixed-effects spatial-temporal model. They construct a demand equation to study on the elasticity of per pack cigarette price and per capita disposable income in 2008. This is done by considering the cigarette demand in a spatial panel of 46 states of the United States over a p eriod of 30 years which ranged from 1963 to 1992. They thence propose a new spatial panel model and implement a fully Bayesian approach for model parameter inference and bodeion of cigarette demand at future time points using the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms.Chaloupka et al. (2002) examines data from documents of the tobacco industry to discover what tobacco companies know of the impact that cigarette prices has on smoking among youth, young adults and also adults. They assess on how this understanding would affect their pricing and price related marketing plans. The tobacco go with documents provides velar evidence on the consequence of change in cigarette prices on cigarette smoking habits, relating how tax and other increases in price led to significant decline in smoking, predominantly among the younger people. They conclude that future efforts towards tobacco control which targets to increase prices and limit price related marketing efforts are critical in achie ving simplifications in tobacco use and public health toll caused by tobacco. This view is supported by Fernndez et al. (2004) which shows that between the period of 1965 and 2000, there is indeed an inverse relation between the prices and consumption of cigarette in Spain, which indicates that involvement at the economic level, for instance real increases in price may have an important public health impact in control of tobacco. Correspondingly, Gallus et al. (2006) present a similar study to determine the influence that cigarette prices has on tobacco consumption in Italy. A survey is conducted on 3050 individuals aged 15 and above which educes that prices had an intermediate to high influence on cigarette consumption in the young. Younger people as well as less educated smokers are more susceptible to an influence of prices. They conclude that cigarette prices have substantial influence on tobacco consumption in the younger people.On the contrary, Raptou et al (2005) argues tha t cigarette demand is extremely insensitive to changes in price. They employ data collected via questionnaires which was administered by personal-in-home interviews and estimate a two part model of cigarette demand (Cragg, J. G. B Some Statistical Models for circumscribed Dependent Variables with Application to the Demand for Durable Goods, Econometrica, 39, 5, 1971, pp. 829Y44). They conclude that cigarette price measures would not affect cigarette demand. However, it is discovered that smoking restrictions in workplace areas as well as educational establishments, and also most of the psychosocial variables will affect the demand of cigarette.According to Huang and Yang (2006), current estimates of the income elasticity to cigarette demand have shown a troubling go away which is nearly zero or sometimes negative income elasticity. They engage in a four-regime panel model (dynamic fixed effect) which is use to predict the function of cigarette demand within the United States with intentions to investigate the nonlinearity embedded in the cigarette demand structure. They apply a multi-regime model to 47 states using data from 1963 to 1997. They claim that there is a nonlinear relationship between personal income and cigarette consumption. Evidently, as income rises, cigarette has become an inferior good. The tops from the four-regime model suggest that income elasticity is negative when per capita income is greater than US$ 8,568 but become is positive though insignificant when income is above US$ 18,196. In the income ranging from US$ 8,568 and US$ 18,196, the income elasticity is significantly negative. There is a nonlinear relationship which prevailed for the price elasticity.Furthermore, Martinez, Mejia, and Estable (2008) claims that the demand for cigarettes in Argentina over the long term is influenced by the changes in real norm price and real income of the cigarettes in Argentina. They analyse the data based on monthly time-series data between the periods of 1994 to 2004. The guides that they obtain show that when the prices are increased at 120%, a maximum of revenues from the cigarettes tax can be attained and also there is a big effect on the reduction of the total consumption of cigarettes within the country. Similarly, Abedian (2000) also states that there is an inverse relationship between the price and consumption of any good which include cigarettes.This negative relationship is further affected by other factors such as income levels and the degree of addiction. He argues that increasing tobacco consumption is a problem faced in a developing country and it could bring harm to the people. He also argues that there are no adverse economic consequences following such policy framework.In 2000, Joni Hersch in his studies states that smoking behavior relates to the changes in price, which is not unlike many other economic commodities. He finds that a higher price would reduce demand for cigarettes in both men and women wit h regard to smoking participation and cigarette consumption levels, with elasticity ranging from -0.40 to -0.60. In distinction to other studies, he finds that the price elasticity is alike for both men and women. Income also has negative effects on smoking behavior. He also states that excise tax policies can counsel smoking, but their effects will be largely restricted to the low income segment of the population. This finding suggests that there might be constructive responses by smokers to informational efforts which warn about the dangers of smoking and also the environmental tobacco smoke poses to others, especially when it is a member of ones household.Further observations suggest that increase in taxes also play an essential role in reducing cigarette consumption. Following recent years, there has been a growing amount of literature on higher prices that result from increased tax leading to significant reductions in cigarette smoking. A recent study by Chaloupka et al (2010) which performs to supply empirical evidence on the consequence of the cigarette excise tax structure towards three outcomes which are the government revenue, cigarette prices, and cigarette consumption. A cross-sectional time-series data for 21 European Union (EU) countries is composed from year 1998 to 2007 out of various data resources. The estimates suggest that the greater reliance on the ad valorem excise tax leads to lower average cigarette prices and larger price gaps between premium and low-priced cigarette brands. In addition, these impacts from the tax structure are smaller in more intemperate or less competitive markets. They also propose that a larger reliance on a specific tax will have a greater impact on cigarette smoking, but the impact lessens with the growth of manufacturers market power.In view of this, Peng and Ross (2009) estimates the Ukraine population in its sensitivity to prices of cigarettes and the cigarettes affordability using the macro level data with the aim to compute the efficiency of cigarette tax policy. They use a monthly time-series data from 1997 to 2006 in Ukraine to estimate the generalized to the lowest degree square (GLS) model with an AR(1) process. The result shows that the cigarette price is not significantly associated with legal domestic sale of cigarette. Higher household income and more active outside advertising have positive and significant impact on cigarette sales. There is also a positive relationship between the affordability for cigarette and legal domestic cigarette sales. Increasing the cigarette excise tax by 10% would increase the price of cigarettes by 3%. This shows that cigarette tax policy can be used to regulate cigarette price in Ukraine. The people are found to be relatively insensitive to cigarette prices and cigarette taxes, even though of low magnitude, but the effect of cigarettes affordability is significant statistically. Similarly, Lee et al. (2005) concludes that price elasticity of cigarettes is approximated to be less than one, which implies that the tax will have some result in reducing cigarette consumption, although it will also generate further tax revenues.Moreover, Hidayat and Thabrany (2010) study the demand for cigarettes in Indonesia using a myopic addiction model and uses it to analyse the price elasticity of cigarette demand. They use an aggregated panel data structured from three waves of the Indonesian Family Life cogitation over the period of 1993 to 2000. They claim that the short run and long run price elasticity of cigarette demand are estimated to be at -0.28 and -0.73 correspondingly. equipment casualty increases have a significantly negative impact on cigarette consumption. Increasing cigarette prices via excise taxes can control tobacco use and thence raise government revenue. They then conclude that excise taxes are more likely an efficient tobacco control rather than a key source of government revenue in the long run.Besides that, Le e (2008) conduct a study which analyses the readiness of current smokers to stop the smoking habit or reduce the consumption of cigarettes when experiencing an increase in tax of NT $22 per pack, which is a consequent rise of 44%. Lee uses cross-sectional study on 483 reasonable questionnaires conducted during a telephone survey from April to July 2004, targeting current smokers aging 15 years and above, around the 23 major cities in Taiwan. The methods that he uses to measure the elasticity in cigarette demand are the Tobit regression model and also the maximum likelihood method, and estimation results shows a price elasticity of -0.29 following the 44% increase in the cigarette price. Interestingly, the most significant response to the increase in price was found among women, smokers with low salary, smokers who are only moderately addicted, and smokers who purchase low priced cigarettes. Lee concludes that the smokers are relatively insensitive to a hike in cigarette pricing, si nce the prices of cigarettes are low in Taiwan. Thus, a marginal increase in cigarette tax would consequently reduce cigarette consumption and thus also increase the cigarette tax revenue of the government and the income of cigarette merchants effectively.This result is consistent with the findings of previous studies by Townsend (1996) and Sissoko (2002) which reflects that the price has a major effect on cigarette consumption and consequently diseases caused by smoking, especially in low income groups. Progressive rise in cigarette tax rates offer a powerful contribution to policy for reducing cigarette consumption and generating particular government revenue.Consequently, when Ross and Al-Sadat (2007) evaluate income elasticity and the price on cigarette demand and also the effect of cigarette taxes towards cigarette demand and cigarette tax revenue within Malaysia, they find that income is positively connected to cigarette consumption. A 1% rise in real income boosts cigarette consumption by 1.46%. They use time series regression summary for 1990 to 2004 applying the error-correction model. The per-capita consumption of domestic and imported cigarettes is calculated using the excise tax and import duties collected by the Malaysian government and the size of the adult population which are aged above 15 years old. The model estimates that a rise in cigarette excise tax from RM 1.60 to RM 2 per pack will effectively reduce cigarette consumption in Malaysia by 3.37%. They conclude that taxation is an effectual means for reducing cigarette consumption and deaths linked to tobacco while bringing up the revenue for the Malaysian government.According to Huang, Yang, and Hwang (2004), future cigarette consumptions will depend entirely on tax share, price and income elasticity of remaining heavy smoker. They use a panel unit root test to calculate the demand for cigarettes over the period of 1961 to 2002 for 42 states including Washington D.C. The cigarette data i n this study is obtained from The Tax Burden on Tobacco published by the Tobacco Institute. They find that price and income elasticity are approximately -0.41 and 0.06. Other than that, a decrease in tax elasticity leads to decreasing price elasticity, and smaller tax shares seems to be link up to declining tax elasticity. This study shows an interesting implication, whereby cigarette consumption is a normal good to transfer payment recipients and wage earners, which however is an inferior good to the decrepit population and stocks owners.In 2002, Hu and Mao examine a policy dilemma in China on public health against the tobacco economy through added cigarette tax. In order to analyse the impact of tobacco consumption and production towards government revenue and also to the entire economy, they use published data from 1980 to 1997. Imposition of cigarette tax increase will have a significant impact in generating extra central government revenue and reducing cigarette consumption. Therefore, increasing additional tax on cigarettes will be beneficial to the Chinese government from both the financial and public health perspective.Levy, Cummings, and Hyland (2000) use a simulation model to evaluate the effects of taxes on the smoking rate and smoking induced deaths. The method they use in their study projects the number of smokers and smoking attributable deaths from a baseline year of 1993. They find that increase in taxes is to reduce the percentage of the total population that smokes. Youth groups experiences greater effects. The effects of a tax hike tends to increase over time as younger individuals who are more responsive to price increase grows older, but national and state taxes on cigarettes are currently set at a fixed amount per unit. Moreover, the price of cigarettes falls comparative to the purchasing power of the population as wages increase. These effects grow over time and lead to a substantial savings in lives and health care cost.Lanoie and Le clair (1998) investigate the relative ability of two anti-smoking policies which are taxes and regulations, in inducing a decline in cigarette consumption and in providing incentives to quit smoking. Based on a Canadian data over the period of 1980 to 1995, the results show that cigarette demand react to taxes with the elasticity of -0.28, not regulation. This result implies that the policies are both acting in a corresponding fashion to influence the incidence of smoking.In addition to that, Galbraith and Kaiserman (1997) analyses Canadian cigarette taxation and consumption within the period of 1980 and 1994. During that period, there is a large price rise and decline, and a dramatic increase in the consumption of the contraband tobacco products. In their study, they examine the elasticity of legal cigarette sales and total sales which include contraband with respect to the price of legal cigarettes and various other factors. They conclude that price elasticity regarding demand tow ards cigarettes tends to increase in absolute value over time, making taxation an increasing strong instrument with which to influence smoking behavior. In considering untaxed sales as well, it becomes clear that the sensitivity of total cigarette sales to the taxation instrument is much lower than would otherwise appear, and has fallen obviously.According to Meier and Licari (1997), a rise in federal tax is more successful than increases in state taxes in reducing tobacco use. Cigarette consumption drops when labels with health warnings were added. They use a pooled time-series analysis from the period of 1955 to 1994 with 50 states as units of the study. The effect of excise taxes on cigarette consumption for numerous different models and econometric techniques is asset to analyse the usefulness of state and federal taxes in bringing down the consumption of cigarettes and estimate the effect of government health warnings. Their study also shows how warnings and taxes interact.Toba cco control programs also has some impact towards the consumption of cigarettes as stated by Farrelly, Pechacek and Chaloupka (2003) that increase in tobacco control program expenditures reduce cigarette sales. Additionally, in reviewing the evidence on the effectiveness of comprehensive tobacco control programs, the recent Surgeon Generals Report on Reducing Tobacco Use concludes that comprehensive tobacco control programs work. Although these studies systematically suggest that state tobacco control programs decrease tobacco use, these studies can easily be confounded by changes in excise taxes, cross-border sales, and other factors.Nevertheless, Leu (1984) reveals that anti smoking advertisements in Switzerlands mass media has a significant permanent effect on cigarette consumption. It is a powerful instrument to reduce cigarette consumption. He claims that extended publicity, following the 1964 US Surgeon Generals Report, accompanying various tax increases which preceded by a p ublic vote on an advertising ban for tobacco products, helps reduce consumption permanently by a total of 11%. It is also supported by Keeler et al (1993) who examine the impact of income, taxes, prices, and anti smoking policy on the consumption of cigarettes in California. They use a monthly time-series data throughout 1980 to 1990. He also declares that the effect of the increase in tax in the long run will be to decrease cigarette consumption. Anti-smoking regulations decreases cigarette consumption, and thus, it shows that consumers behave consistently with the model of rational addiction.CHAPTER 3METHODOLOGYThis chapter is to reap on the methods used in this study and the collection of data. It also explains the procedures used in collecting the data and the measurement of the variables. Thus, it provides a summary of expected result of the study.3.1 Data typesA time series data is used for the empirical analysis in this study. The data is collected annually over the period o f 1998 to 2008. The types of data obtained are real price of cigarette, real income per capita, cigarette consumption, and also the aging population.3.2 Data SourceThe secondary data is collected from the previous studies by other researchers. Mainly, the sources of data are from Departme

Tuesday, June 4, 2019

The Effects of International Business Strategy in emerging Markets

The Effects of International Business Strategy in appear MarketsThe increase in the continuous growth of the emergent markets, in particular the four major countries Brazil, China, India, and Russia, are the largest emerging markets (LEMs) which face challenges and offers immense opportunities to the international business growth however in the recent generation it has shown an increasingly fierce combativeness internationally of these economies now pose a challenge for the economies of the world. The challenges are evident in the form of increase in the goodness prices, rising food cost, growing outward investment and acquisition the largest emerging markets firms, with its direct regard on insecurity in jobs and growing inequality of income in developed and developing nations hence creating a indigence for restructuring the international institutions to reflect the shifting balance of economic power in the world providence. The growing recession in the west and the relianc e on selective protectionism on a rise are impacting the prospects of the emerging economies of the world.Theoretical aspectThis is research aims at formulating the background knowledge of the international strategy by analysing the current situation of the economys and the theories utilize by antithetic theorist on the emerging nation in the past victorious into consideration the degree of their effectiveness into account and postulating new perspective and dimension to it. The abbreviation of the early phase of the market emergence, Institutional theory helps in comprehending the impact on the enterprise strategies this is due to the strong influence of the government in the emerging economys to that of developed economies . the map of institutional theory is reviewed in context to the different theories and their interactions in understanding the the emerged and the developed market economies.Institutional theoryThis theory emphasizes on the influence of surrounding system organisation that shapes the social and organisational behaviour(scott 1995). The important role of an institution in a economy is to reduce information and transaction cost by building a a stable structure to assuage interaction bye reducing uncertainty .Suhomlinova (1999) found that government institutions influence had a negative impact on Russian enter-prise reform, Lau (1998) suggested that political and market pressures were the institutional constraints faced by chief execu-tives in Chinese enterprise hence this theory would help in assessing the social barrier and interference pattern in the emerging market economy.Transaction cost in emerging economiesTransaction cost economics studies the firm-environment interface through a contractual or ex-change-based go on (Williamson, 1975). This aspect plays an integral part as the rational governance choice requires a trade-off, at the margin, between the transaction be associated with the market mode, a firms need for control, and the governance costs of hierarchy which in most of the emerging economies is high hence Choi, Lee, and Kim (1999) hypothesized that measurement and enforcement are two critically important transaction costs in emerging economies. In a country where the price system does not accurately declare oneself signals for efficient resource allocation, measurement costs should be high. Similarly, in a country where official discretion rather than the rule of law defines property rights, enforcement costs will be high (La Porta, Lopez-de-Silanes, Shlei-fer, Vishny, 1997). This aspect has a important role to play in the emerging economies for international business.Resource based perspectiveThe resource based view has argued on a prime concern, why do firms differ and how they achieve and sustain competitive advantage. Penrose (1959) argued that heterogeneous capabilities give each firm its unique character and are the essence of competitive advantage. This is another dimension for the research as to how do we strategize and enter the makets of these emerging economiesEmpirical analysisResearch on strategy in this field of emerging economies is difficult on several grounds as the theory postulated for the developed economies whitethorn not apply for the emerging economies, with the empirical hence researchers do receive it difficulty in data collection sampling measuring the variable quantity for voice the firms performance with the variety of variable changing. The combination of quantitative and qualitative rule is the most reliable and relevant method of data collection and analysis.Sampling and data collectionSampling approach has to be innovative pertaining to the changing economies for example the general data source like telephone directory could become outdated rapidly. The data which may be generally collected from a company may not necessarily be consistent witht he data possessed by the government authority hence there requires a collaboration of di fferent studies to analyse and find the right method for data collection as questionnaire, surveys are dependent on the postal service. Collaborative projects with local researchers using personal interviews may be a key means of gaining access to data sources (Lee Miller, 1999). Henderson and Cock-burn (1994) used quantitative questionnaires, qual-itative interviews, and multiple informants to increase the validity and reliability of their measures of organizational competence, variable measurement do pose a number of problems that present a difficulty in strategy research in emerging economies.Mixed methodological analysisIn assessing the empirical aspect relating to the research of the growth and the different attributes to international business in emerging countries, the approach to it has to be on broader perspective hence it requires a collaboration of quantitative which primarily deals with the numeric data collection converting it into statistical form and then evaluating it to derive result and the qualitative measure of analysis which aims at understanding the meaning exploring it further by means of case study , questionnaire surveys to and then analyse the response, both method in proper coordination would provide the insight in understanding the complexity of the emerging market and the factor effecting international business.ConclusionThe areas of research is focussed to the (BRIC) nations Brazil Russia India China with downfall of the economy which is at the brinks of pulling itself out of recession the key to overcome lies with this countries hence the objective of the research is to evaluate the current aspects of International business strategy applied to these emerging economies.

Monday, June 3, 2019

Understanding Diversity in Beliefs about Health

Understanding Diversity in Beliefs around HealthUnderstanding diversity in beliefs about healthGetting your child vaccinated is a choice every p atomic f atomic subroutine 18 18nt has to make water. There atomic number 18 umpteen attitudes, beliefs and perspectives on the topic. This essay ordain be comparing and contrasting these views between the two groups of parents, those being the ones that decide to fully vaccinate their children and those that put off certain vaccines or dont vaccinate their children at all. The majority group of 90.1% of parents in Australia decided to arrest their children fully immunised, with the tolerateder being the parents that choose to refuse certain or all vaccines (A. G. o. h. (2014)). Reasons for different attitudes star(p) to these decisions can range from the medical to the religious rationalitys (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)). Recommendations and education about immunisation usually happens through the parents doctor or p hysician, since it is seen in the medical community as a big occupation that parents dont vaccinate their children (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)). In some countries such as Canada it is mandatory to vaccinate your child, but in countries resembling Australia and the US the choice is up to the parents (Walkinshaw, E. (2011))(Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)). This decision a parent can make for the child can contrive lasting effects into adulthood and with recent recurring outbreaks of diseases like whooping cough, in that location is a accord of stigma surrounding the topic (Walkinshaw, E. (2011)) .A vaccination is a medical procedure where a individual is injected with a substance which can prevent illnesses and diseases being caught or spreading (Shetty, P. (2010)). Parents give their children shots for each disease and a few single diseases desire quadruple shots just for themselves (Pediatrics. (2011)). Such diseases that children might get vaccinated for would be polio, influenza virus and the measles (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)). Most parents vaccinate their children (A. G. o. h. (2014)). But there is also a high number of the population which refuses to happen their vaccinations, mainly because of skepticism (Walkinshaw, E. (2011)). This is apparent even though umpteen doctors such as Dr Ian Gemmill try to put crosswise messages like Immunizations are the safest, longest-lasting and nearly effective ways to prevent communic sufficient diseases (Walkinshaw, E. (2011)). Although this is the majority of the attitudes between health care occupations, surveys show that health workers still remain divided on this issue, with a of emergency nurses in one survey expressing that they had concerns and didnt fully trust the mind of immunizations and what the risk of side effects would be for themselves (Mary Ann Bell, P., Joseph A. Dake, James H. Price, Timothy R. Jordan, Paul Rega. (2012)). Doctors like Dr Gemmill em phasise their point by referring to statistics of immunizations, comparing disease related cobblers last from before vaccinations to after (Walkinshaw, E. (2011)). While eddo West, the coordinator of the Vaccination Risk Awareness Network has the counter argument that, a medical procedures thats as invasive as vaccinations lead always discharge a risk of injury or death and this should be taken into consideration by the patients parents (Walkinshaw, E. (2011)). Also saying that many health professionals are persuading parents and not educating them about the fact that they themselves have a choice (Walkinshaw, E. (2011)). Vaccinations have health groups divided but in the end it is up to the parents and their choice in end. Vaccines general have strong effects on the health industry (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)).Parents that have their children vaccinatedParents can have a positive attitude about vaccines for a number of reasons. Most parents know about the certain diseases that could be fatal for their babies (Dannetun, E. T., Anders Giesecke, Johan. (2007)). Vaccines have demonstrated to have positive effects in solving this problem and this is the main motivation for most parents to have their children immunized (Dannetun, E. T., Anders Giesecke, Johan. (2007)). Most parents dont give it a second thought since vaccines are widely accepted and promoted in instantlys society (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)). It is given out through schools and some schools even require children to be vaccinated before they can be accepted into a school (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)). So one of the big influences on the beliefs of parents that are pro-vaccination come from the General health community and the government (Dannetun, E. T., Anders Giesecke, Johan. (2007)). The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that it privations most countries to vaccinate all their children (Dannetun, E. T., Anders Giesecke, Johan. (2007)). These groups push vaccinations by the parent receiving the advice from a health professional, or having the parents children face restrictions in the future like not being able to attend a certain school (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)). Parents might get the feeling that they are obligated to vaccinate their child, they want the best for their child and the education they receive when looking for professional advice it leads parents to a pro-vaccination standpoint (Walkinshaw, E. (2011)).Another thing pro-vaccination attitudes are pushed with would be the parents own business for their child (Mary Ann Bell, P., Joseph A. Dake, James H. Price, Timothy R. Jordan, Paul Rega. (2012)). Children are always at risk of getting sick, spikes in diseases like whooping cough occur in populations unvaccinated and babies die from this ((RCN), R. C. o. N. P. C. (2012)). Naturally, occurrences like these influence parents that might have not have been pro vaccine to maybe change their view. P ertussis vaccination is one of the most common and outbreaks among the unvaccinated community are not uncommon ((RCN), R. C. o. N. P. C. (2012)). Parents who are worried and dont want to put their children at risk will mostly seek the simpler solution to ensure the rubber of their child and thats to vaccinate (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)).The fear factor also leads to some pro-active attitudes to pro-vaccination. This is especially apparent in developing nations, where vaccines are on high carry and support from the government is lacking (Blecher, M. S. M., Filip Kollipara, Aparna Hecht, Robert Cameron, Neil A. Pillay, Yogan Hanna, Luisa. (2012)). There is a high burden of disease in places such as South Africa with high death rate overdue to preventable diseases such as pneumococcal and rotavirus (Blecher, M. S. M., Filip Kollipara, Aparna Hecht, Robert Cameron, Neil A. Pillay, Yogan Hanna, Luisa. (2012)). People of the pro-vaccine attitude might go as far to fund charities to distribute to poorer countries, with the intention that it will lay off children in developing nations to receive vaccines. The most notable donator being Bill Gates, a parent himself donating $2Billion of his fortune in 1999 to vaccine distribution, his contribution has allowed many parents in poor countries to have better access to vaccines for their own children. More has been donated since (Economist, T. (1999, 5 Nov)). These actions all stem from their attitudes to vaccinations, believing that more vaccines, means less death or injury.Parents that dont want their children to be vaccinatedChildren that dont get vaccinated are utter to be put at risk of coming down with a deadly illness (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)). Parents are of the anti-vaccine attitude, believe that they are doing better for their child because of their own reasons or lifestyle choices (Shetty, P. (2010)). Something that could have parents take an anti-vaccine opinion, co uld be for non-medical reasons like the family religion or philosophical reasons (Shetty, P. (2010)) (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)). But the majority of parents that dont vaccinate their children have reasoning mainly due to their own skepticism about the vaccine shots and their possible side effects (Shetty, P. (2010)). Parents say that they dont want their children to be exposed to unnecessary toxins (Shetty, P. (2010)). The risks and benefits of vaccines are weighed up by parents, it is alleged by some anti-vaccine groups that immunisations can be linked to other diseases such as autism or multiple sclerosis (Shetty, P. (2010)).The number of people with this attitude is rising globally, it is said that anti-vaccination groups would only be localised to specific field of forces in developed nations (Shetty, P. (2010)). But with the rise of the internet and social networking, the idea of greater safety from no vaccines in becoming to be known in more developing nations like India (Shetty, P. (2010)).Paul Offit, the chief of infectious diseases, says that many parents arent fully educated about vaccinations and that they shouldnt buy into the anti-vaccination lobbies which said to basically that vaccines are the devil (Shetty, P. (2010)). It is also said that a possible reason for people to have this point of view is because people can see an association between, the drop in illness levels, while the rate of people that obtain either real or perceived side effects goes up (Shetty, P. (2010)). Doctors are expected to fully educate parents about such subjects, because of common misconceptions about statistics which might influence their standpoint, so parents can make a fully informed decision.ComparisonsOne of the similarities these two groups share is that their actions are driven by fear (Shetty, P. (2010)). Whether it be the fear of losing your child via a sickness, or the fear of the idea that they will be exposing their children to biological s of unknown toxicity (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012))(Shetty, P. (2010)). Both parties want the best for their children. Governments are constantly pushing vaccinations (Economist, T. (1998, 5 Nov)), and Health professional anti-vaccine groups are more vocal about parents not being educated about their choice and not being able to exercise their freedoms (Shetty, P. (2010)). Parents that are anti-vaccine seem to be more scared of the side effects of the vaccine than the actual disease (Shetty, P. (2010)). Doctors of the pro-vaccination standpoint do express that there are vaccines that children might not need, but vaccines like Hep B are a must (Shetty, P. (2010)). This appeals to many parents that might be on the fence about vaccinations, there is an appreciation for a middle ground between that two population groups (A. G. o. h. (2014)). There are a lot of diseases to vaccinate against (A. G. o. h. (2014)). Parents that are of the pro-vaccination standpoint may hold off on a certain vaccine if it doesnt seem needed, until they decide they might want to go traveling with their children, to a place where it is needed, causes for this behaviour can be linked to someones financial standpoint (C, H. A. E. W. R. E. I. S. N. K. M. (2012)). The same idea applies for parents of the anti-vaccination standpoint, if there is an outbreak of a disease such a pertussis in the area where they live, some parents would be happy to makes sure that their children got a shot in that circumstance ((RCN), R. C. o. N. P. C. (2012)).Impacts on HealthThe main population group that affects the health community are the parents which dont decide to vaccinate, hence why doctors push it to their patients so strongly, because it is said to cause preventable traffic in the health system (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012))(A. G. o. h. (2014)). With more and more parents not vaccinating their children, they are pushing beyond the safe number of whats called the herd immunity (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012))(Shetty, P. (2010)). Herd immunity is based off the notion that it is safe to have a small amount of children in one area that are not vaccinated, but if there is a number of children not vaccinated in the same neighbourhood then outbreaks are more probable to occur (Shetty, P. (2010)). Vaccines are also expensive though (Blecher, M. S. M., Filip Kollipara, Aparna Hecht, Robert Cameron, Neil A. Pillay, Yogan Hanna, Luisa. (2012)). If everyone was anti-vaccine then it would free up expenses which could be used for arguable more important aspects of health (Blecher, M. S. M., Filip Kollipara, Aparna Hecht, Robert Cameron, Neil A. Pillay, Yogan Hanna, Luisa. (2012)). Poorer countries need to accommo visualize as the demand for vaccines rises, putting more strain on their current health systems (Blecher, M. S. M., Filip Kollipara, Aparna Hecht, Robert Cameron, Neil A. Pillay, Yogan Hanna, Luisa. (2012)).ConclusionVaccinations ar e one of the many choices parents get to make for their children and any subject relating to life or death is going to be touchy. Although there are some countries such as slovenia that dont allow for the freedom for parents to choose, with other countries like canada looking to do the same (Walkinshaw, E. (2011)). Mainly due to strong advocacy from the health systems as a whole (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)). In the nations where you are allowed choice, doctors try their best to make sure parents are fully educated on the matter so there is less of a incur that parents make their decisions for the wrong reasons (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)).ReferencesA. G. o. h. (2014). Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR) statistics. Retrieved 06/03, from https//www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/provider/patients/acir/statistics.jspBlecher, M. S. M., Filip Kollipara, Aparna Hecht, Robert Cameron, Neil A. Pillay, Yogan Hanna, Luisa. (2012). Financing vaccinati ons The South African experience. Vaccine, 30, 7. doi 10.1016/j.vaccine.2012.04.042Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012). Improving Childhood Vaccination Rates. The refreshing England journal of Medicine, 366(5), 3. doi 10.1056/NEJMp1113008C, H. A. E. W. R. E. I. S. N. K. M. (2012). A cross-sectional study of pre-travel health-seeking practices among travelers departing Sydney and Bangkok airports. BMC macrocosm health, 12(1), 1.Dannetun, E. T., Anders Giesecke, Johan. (2007). Parents attitudes towards hepatitis B vaccination for their children. A survey comparing paper and web questionnaires, Sweden 2005. BMC public health, 7, 1. doi 10.1186/1471-2458-7-86Economist, T. (1998, 5 Nov). Philanthropy Gates the Good. The Economist, 1.Mary Ann Bell, P., Joseph A. Dake, James H. Price, Timothy R. Jordan, Paul Rega. (2012). A National Survey of Emergency Nurses and Avian Influenza Threat. Journal of Emergency Nursing. doi 10.1016/j.jen.2012.05.005Pediatrics. (2011). Meningococcal co njugate vaccines policy update booster dose recommendations. Pediatrics, 128(6), 5. doi 10.1542/peds.2011-2380(RCN), R. C. o. N. P. C. (2012). The Health Protection Agency is warning parents to keep their children up to date with vaccinations for whooping cough, after an increase in the number of cases in 2011. Nursing Children and Young People, 24(3), 1.Shetty, P. (2010). Experts concerned about vaccination backlash. The Lancet, Vol.375(9719), 2. doi 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60421-7Walkinshaw, E. (2011). Mandatory vaccinations no middle ground. CMAJ Canadian Medical Association Journal, Vol.183(16), 2.

Sunday, June 2, 2019

Otosclerosis :: Research Hearing Essays

OtosclerosisHcapituluming serves a very important function in our lives. Much of the time, it is taken for granted. We move not to appreciate it, until it starts to fail. There are many swages that can cause a difficulty in hearing and hearing loss. One such disorder is otosclerosis. This disorder deserves a significant amount of research. Not only because we are dependent on our sense of hearing, but because its effects are far reaching. So much so, that it is hard to comprehend how we could ever live without it. It has even been said that Beethoven had otosclerosis. Toward the end of his career, he could not even hear his own music (Goldstein, 1999). Its effects are devastating and are well worth studying.Otosclerosis is a middle-ear disorder. The hearing loss is usually conductive, affecting the bones in the middle ear that conduct sound to the inner ear. This conductive hearing loss is caused by the growth of a spongy bone-like tissue that prevents the ossicles (bones of the middle ear) from moving well. One of the firstly signs is a small growth of the tissue in the middle ear. This is often in front of the elliptic window, which separates the middle ear from the inner ear. This can father in early childhood or adolescence. The tissue may grow rapidly and become hard. The bone tissue grows over the stapes ossicle attaching it to the oval window. At first, hearing loss occurs in the low frequencies. High frequencies are affected next, followed by the loss of hearing in the middle frequencies. Otosclerosis usually begins in one ear, but the other ear often develops it as well (Otosclerosis, 1998).There are different categories of otosclerosis. Subclinical Otosclerosis occurs when the tissue does not interfere with the ossicles. A person may have this form for many years and not know it. Another category is Clinical Otosclerosis. This type can be beat in the teen years, but not detected until the young adult years. It is rare for it to occur after the age of fifty. The last category ofHistologic Otosclerosis occurs when the tissue is present, but it may or may not cause hearing loss. Cochlear Otosclerosis has been used to refer to sensorineural hearing loss. This is caused by abnormal note flow to the middle ear, rather than growth of tissue (Otosclerosis, 1998).Otosclerosis is the most frequent cause of middle ear hearing loss.

Saturday, June 1, 2019

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder :: Post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD

IntroductionThere has been a proliferation of interest in the development and nature of individuals thinking patterns and processes hobby traumatic psychological exposure (Ehlers, Mayou, & Bryant, 1998). In particular, previous research has suggested that specific thinking styles and patterns preceding trauma predict a greater vulnerability and a poorer long-term prognosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Dalgleish, 2004). Moreover, the literature has illustrated that adolescents can be predisposed to developing PTSD which develops as a result of either get off or indirect exposure to a trauma. For example, witnessing a trauma directly or learning about a specific traumatic event see by others (Finkelhor & Dziuba-Leatherman, 1994). Previous research has highlighted that adolescents that have been exposed to a trauma and PTSD may also be more vulnerable to developing combative and antisocial behaviours (Falshaw, Browne & Hollin, 1996), alcohol and drug dependence, hype rvigilance and impulsive misconduct (Lynam, Caspi, Moffitt, Wikstrm, Loeber & Novak, 2000). Erwin, Newman, McMackin, Morrissey and Kaloupek (2000) suggest that a reason for this is that early exposure to trauma can have unsafe impact on adolescents functioning in terms of their emotions, cognition and behaviour, poor self-regulation and information-processing. Adding to this, Tyson & Goodman, (1996) suggest that it is these deficits in functioning coupled with the individuals inability to regulate emotions that predispose them to engaging in protective aggression and dangerous re-enactment behaviours as a way of dealing with their exposure to trauma.The link between dysfunctional cognitions and PTSD has been widely explored by various researchers, and it has been suggested that a tight relationship exists between PTSD and antisocial behaviour in youths (Danckwerts & Leathem, 2003). However, little is further known about the psychological mechanisms which underlie the relationship . This literature review will explore the underlying mechanisms which predict a greater vulnerability to the onset, development and sustainment of PTSD associated with young offenders. More specifically, depressive cognitions such as rumination and counterfactual thinking will be explored with reference to their link with PTSD. Defining Rumination and contrary to fact ThinkingIndividuals affected by PTSD often report symptoms of incessant ruminative thinking associated with a traumatic experience. The DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) does not however blemish intrusive rumination and intrusive memories associated with the trauma in the development of PTSD. However, more recently various theoretical perspectives propose that the two are functionally manifest and should be regarded as separate entities (Ehlers & Clark, 2000 Joseph, Williams & Yule, 1997 Ehlers & Steil, 1997).