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The 4 Market Position and an Example of a Product Essay Example

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Monday, December 30, 2019

Financial Ratio Analysis - Harrys Hamster Limited - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2334 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Financial statements are useful as they can be used to predict future indicators for a firm using the financial ratio analysis. From an investors perspective financial statement analysis aims at predicting the future profitability and viability of a company, while from the managements point of view the ratio analysis is important as it helps anticipate the future conditions in which the firm should expect to operate and facilitates strategic decision making (Brigham and Houston 2007, p. 77). Profitability analysis Harrys Hamsters Limited (HHL) experienced growth in its profitability from 2007 to 2008; however, the net income reduced significantly during 2009. The return on equity (ROE) was 4.24 percent in 2007, increased to 14.68 percent in 2008 and decreased back to 5.10 percent in 2010. Similarly, the return on assets (ROA) also initially increased and later declined in 2009; the decline was sharper compared to the decline in ROE as the ROA in 2009 of 1.73 percent is lower than 2.08 percent in 2007. The ROE comprises of two main components: the return on net operating assets (RNOA) and the return on debt (ROD). RNOA for HHL has also deteriorated during 2008 decreasing from 16.61 percent in 2008 to 5.08 percent in 2009. The RNOA is used to weigh the overall performance of the HHL management. The ROD component of the ROE has also deteriorated from 13.68 percent in 2008 to negative 3.32 percent in 2009 (Kemsley 2009, pp. 12-16). The ROCE was the highest in 2008 estimated 11.39 percent. It im plies that the capital employed by HHL yielded high returns before the expansion period and that the company was significantly profitable. A considerable decline in 2009 to 4.82 percent can be unfavourable for the investors; however, as the company has not sold its shares to the public a reduction in this ratio for a temporary period is not a major concern for the current owners. The operating profit margins for HHL initially increased from 10 percent in 2007 to 17.45 percent in 2008; however, the company reported lowered margins of 8.53 percent in 2009. The decline in the operating profit margins of HHL is largely attributed to the increase in costs associated with the expansion of the business. The operating margins are expected to recover over the next year assuming that the new operations will become profitable as sales increase. The cost of goods sold have increased in absolute terms but the overall gross profit margins for the company have improved from 35 percent in 2007 to 42.01 percent in 2009. This implies that the company is effectively managing its relations with suppliers and has kept a control over the costs attached to buying the hamsters for breeding; but the operating costs have increased due to the low sales activity in the new operations. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Financial Ratio Analysis Harrys Hamster Limited" essay for you Create order Liquidity analysis The current ratio of HHL remains above the minimum threshold of one and is currently 1.22; historically, the ratio has remained between 2.73 and 3.25 times. However, the quick ratio for the company reveals serious concerns as it has decreased from 1.67 in 2008 to 0.22 in 2009. The low quick ratio implies that a considerable portion of the current assets of the company are tied up as part of its inventory (Bragg 2007, pp. 14-16). This could also mean that HHL might be unable to sell the hamsters and sales might be suffering. The company must increase its working capital to meet its near term current liabilities and retain its solvency (Brigham and Houston 2007, pp. 42). Efficiency analysis The firms efficiency has not necessarily decreased during the last year; an analysis of the efficiency ratios suggests a trend that is different from what is seen through the profitability and liquidity ratios. The inventory turnover has slightly deteriorated from 3.00 in 2007 to 2.89 in 2009; similarly impacting the days inventory on hand from 121.67 to 126.35 during the same period. The long inventory holding period suggests that the company needs to improve its liquidity position to maintain its efficiency and aim to reduce its inventory turnover significantly (Brigham and Ehrhardt 2008, pp. 57-62). The days of accounts receivables have reduced from 45.63 in 2007 to 40.05 in 2009 and at the same time the days of accounts payables have reduced even more drastically from 40.56 to 28.08. The operating asset turnover for HHL has deteriorated considerably from 0.87 in 2007 to 0.60 in 2009, owing to a long inventory holding period and a quick payment of the accounts payables. Capital structure analysis The capital structure has significantly changed over the past two years as HHL has increased its financial leverage and is using a considerable debt to finance its expansion activities. The debt ratio of the firm has increase from 0.47 in 2007 to 0.60 in 2009; imply that HHL is now funding 60 percent of its assets through debt (Berry 2006, pp. 68-71). The interest coverage ratio of the company had improved considerably in 2008 and was 4.29, but it has deteriorated to 1.89 raising additional concerns for the banks. The ROD for the company has reduced considerably but remains positive implying that the current level of financial leverage is generating additional returns for the company. Operating cash flows (OCFs) for the company remain negative being typical of young firms experiencing a high growth rate, but the ability of HHL to raise additional financing is limited; therefore negative OCFs raise serious concerns for the bank management. Report to credit committee Analysis for reasons of results HHL avails a long-term debt facility of  £ 0.45 million and has also utilised an overdraft of about  £ 35,000 from its current facility. The company performed exceptionally well during 2008, which led to an increase in its debt facility from  £ 0.275 million to  £ 0.45 million recently. The recent financial results revealed a tightening credit position of the company during 2009, which led to concerns regarding the excess usage of the overdraft facility by the company. Recent communication with the company reveals that it is facing liquidity problems due to its ambitious expansion program; however, the problem can be solved depending on the ability of the management to realise the seriousness of the situation (Madura 2006, pp. 17-32). The company is running an overdraft without any immediate plans regarding its understanding to pay back the short-term loan. The overdraft is being utilised to fund the working capital needs of the company, which it did not anticipate during its expansion into southern England. The success or failure of the new operations is yet to be seen and the position will only be clear by next year. The current assets are largely financing the inventory requirements of the company, while the inventory cycles are long and not in a position to be liquidated on urgent need. The company needs to introduce additional capital in order to solve its working capital problems. The working capital position of HHL can also improve by increasing the days of accounts payable ratio to higher levels or by reducing the inventory cycle if possible (Myers 1984, pp. 126-128). However, both options seem unlikely leading us to prescribe alternative solutions. The company has seen deterioration in the profitability ratios, which has reduced its ability to pay the interest commitments on the outstanding loan. However, the company still maintains an interest coverage ratio of 1.89 and should be able to regain its position once the new operations become p rofitable. The efficiency ratios of the firm have remained relatively stable with a slight decrease in the inventory turnover, an improvement in the accounts receivables turnover and a significant drop in the operating assets turnover. The company maintains a high debt ratio and about 60 percent of its assets are funded using debt; however, this is typical of most firms under the initial expansion phase. The company remains committed to making profits but has not considered rising outside capital by going public in the near future; the only way to maintain its current pace of growth will be either through an injection of personal equity or through the offering of company stock to the public (Ronen and Yaari 2007). The owners have invested most of their life savings into the business and the company cannot possibly raise any further internal financing. Recommendations regarding bank arrangements The credit committee is recommended to raise concerns regarding the current liquidity position of the company and to prepare a schedule for the repayment of the overdraft amount over the next six months. The company is expected to recover from the current situation during the next year, but it is important to remain cautious until the sales position appears to improve. Also developing a degree of pressure on the management should clearly communicate the banks position to the firm (Gibson 2009, pp. 212-216). The intention is to educate the company management about the gravity of this situation and ensuring that it is able to recover smoothly from the liquidity crunch, while at the same time minimising the banks exposure to the business risk HHL is facing. The Managing Director of HHL is consistent in maintaining regular contact with the bank; therefore we need to educate him with the possible solutions for recovering from the credit crunch faced by the company. The recommended solu tions include a consolidation of the business before considering any further expansion projects, a reduction in the days inventory on hand, increase in the days accounts payables, the retention of profits into the business allowing for no dividend payments over the next quarters, an injection of equity from any other sources available, an increase in collateral to support the banks claims and a phasing out of the bank overdraft over the next six months as revenues from the sales are realised (Harvard Business School 2006, pp. 3-12). Recommendations to management about improving finances of the company Mr. Michael, Thanks for a quick response pertaining to the overdraft issue. We have analysed the situation faced by HHL based on the recent financial statements and the qualitative information that we received during our recent correspondence. It is understood that your company has recently gone a major expansion and the short-term impacts are apparent on the financial results in terms of lowered profitability as anticipated. The concern raised by the bank is not directly related to the profitability of your company and we remain concerned about the liquidity position of HHL in months to follow (Bissessur 2008, pp. 142-146). The understanding between the bank and the company was that the expansion will be fully funded by the increase in the loan facility. This increase in loan was to support both the fixed investment in the expansion project as well as the working capital needs of HHL. However, as it is seen the actual expansion investment has exceeded the anticipated amounts and the company is facing a severe liquidity crunch that needs to be resolved. The credit committee is concerned regarding the profitability of the expansion project and is not prepared to enhance the overdraft limit until the latest results for the company become available. HHL would have to independently solve this liquidity crunch by either an injection of equity to facilitate the increased working capital requirements or to raise additional external capital. The intention of the company to continue towards is expansion projects can be best facilitated through a public listing of the company to raise additional capital (Hill and Jones 2009, pp. 28-29). The bank would require the company to pay the entire overdraft drawn in instalments over the next six months. This payment schedule has been drafted after a careful consideration of the credit history of your firm with the bank; in usual circumstances we would have required the repayment of the whole overdraft instantly. Moreover, i t must be understood that this correction is in the best interest of your company as it serves to facilitate your understanding of the gravity of the situation faced by HHL. A large proportion of the current assets held by HHL are tied up in the inventory and the company has no cash reserves available to pay for the maturing current liabilities including the banks interest payments. It is important to understand that the company would have filed for bankruptcy if the current overdraft was not available. Therefore, it is a very serious concern which should be resolved as soon as possible (Capon 1990, p. 1145). The company can adopt some emergency measures to immediately improve its cash position, including a maximum delay in the payment to creditors that might be possible without significantly harming the supplier relations, a quicker recovery of accounts receivables without significantly harming the sales position and an immediate sale of ready inventory on a cash payment discount (David 2006; Ebert and Griffin 2005). Moreover, the company must not withdraw any retained earnings in the form of dividends until the liquidity position is resolved. Waiting for your response, Nick Cameron Bibliography Berry, A., (2006). Accounting in a business context. Brighton: Cencage Learning. Bissessur, S., (2008). Earnings quality and earnings management: The role of accounting accruals. Rosenberg Publishers. Bragg, S., (2007). Business Ratios and Formulas: A comprehensive Guide. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. Brigham, E., and Houston, J., (2007). Fundamentals of Financial Management. Mason: Thomson Publishing Limited. Brigham, E., and Ehrhardt, M., (2008). Financial management: Theory and practice. Mason: Thomson Higher Education. Capon, N et al., (1990). Determinants of financial performance: A Meta Analysis. Journal of Management and Sciences, Vol. 36 (10), pp. 1143-1159. David, F., (2006). Strategic management: concepts and cases, 10th ed. Hong Kong: Pearson education. Dominguez, K., (2006). Exchange rate exposure. Journal of International Economics, 68 (1), pp. 188-218. Ebert, R., and Griffin, R., (2005). Business Essentials. Prentice Hall. Finnerty, J., (2007). Project fin ancing: Asset based financial engineering. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons Publishing. Kemsley, D., (2009). Financial Accounting Seminar: Practical Equity and Credit Analysis. New Orleans: Tulane University. Kumar, K., and Dissel, V., (1996). Sustainable collaboration: Managing conflict and cooperation in systems. Journal of Information Management, 20 (3), pp. 279-300. Gibson, C., (2009). Financial Reporting and Analysis: Using Financial Accounting Information. Mason: Cencage Learning. Harvard Business School., (2006). Essentials of strategy. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Helfert, E., (2001). Financial Analysis: Tools and techniques, a guide to managers. New York: McGraw Hills. Hill, C., and Jones, G., (2009). Strategic management theory: an integral approach. Mason: Cencage learning. Madura, J., (2006). Introduction to business. Mason: Thomson publishing. McDonald, B., and Morris, M., (1984). The statistical validity of the ratio method in financial analysis: An em pirical examination. Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, 11 (1), pp. 89-104. Myers, S., (1984). Finance theory and finance strategy. Interfaces, 14 (1), pp. 126-137. Ronen, J., and Yaari, V., (2007). Earnings Management: Emerging insights, in theory, practice and research. New York: Springer Publishers.

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Is It A Land Made By Immigrants - 1470 Words

Mai Yee Yang Professor Jennifer Stewart ENGL 1213 16 April 2017 This is a land made by Immigrants! As a multicultural nation that is the United States or America. I for one embrace the multitude of coming immigrants because I myself is an American citizen, born from immigrants. Although, this nation I live in, some have a say so. I’m taking a stance with pro-immigration with an event that unfolds daily in our lives as Americans and immigrants. Why I say it like that is cause, social and economic events between the two have been spiraling together for years now. How unjust it could be along the lines of unmorally, unfair events that can happen to most unlucky immigrants. To some American citizens, they just see those human being’s†¦show more content†¦Then talks about what our last president has had on his mind. Talking about his plans to protect undocumented immigrants. Explaining on what he is focusing to do by making the sentences smaller. Problems with politics, it touches up on what politics do to avoid or stall on a certain matter. Usually that is what happens in politics that we all know too well cause, it won’t profit in they’re benefit. Not even that, labeling ex-president Obama as I quote â€Å"Deporter in Chief.† Fitness to Stand Trial is an undocumented immigrants way learn the language and system before their court date. This law was first introduced in Canada and is something that happens in the United States also. This trial basically is a way for undocumented citizens to become legal. If they fail the procedures in court, the person shall be deported back to the country from where they came. This is a trial that is fair for most although the time frame for the learning process is six months only. It is enough time to learn the American System but, to learn it is more difficult for the trial. The hardship that immigrants put themselves through to find opportunities in America is crazy. In their case, their country is either not providing well enough or have the sources to be stable. Forcing them to undergo desperate measures in desperate times. Making their very own opportunities like for example, leaving to anotherShow MoreRelatedThe Plight Of The Immigrant Farmer Worker Essay1356 Words   |  6 Pagesthe Immigrant Farm Worker Have you ever wondered how really bad it is to be an immigrant farm worker? The article â€Å"In the Strawberry Fields† by Eric Scholsser, he looks at the hardships that face immigrant farmers. Though there are laws to try and help the immigrants Schlosser observed â€Å"The temptation to break the law can be great. The punishments for doing so are rarely applied† (86). From sharecropping and low wages to deplorable living conditions the farmers take advantage of immigrant workersRead MoreThe Diversity Of Washington County938 Words   |  4 Pagesof European immigrants as a whole in the United States before focusing in on Washington County. During the first fifty years following the American Revolution, very few European’s immigrated to the United States. Following those years, Europeans begin to immigrant in large groups for various geopolitical and economic reasons. Typical plains settlers were farmers in search of prime farm land that they could be the soul owners of. In most cases, European immigrants wanted to own land, and were unableRead MoreEssay On Urbanization In The Gilded Age1530 Words   |  7 PagesUrbanization in America was driven by the massive unskilled immigrants who wanted jobs and an opportunity to start their new life in a country known to most as â€Å"The land of opportunity†. Urbanization have made many changes to America. The cities have become a place to look for opportunities and a popular place to migrate for work either for the people from the rural area or immigrants from outside the county. Which will then lead to political issues and finally the restriction of immigration itselfRead MoreThe Effects Of Immigrants On American Agriculture1414 Words   |  6 PagesThe Effect of Immigrants in American Agriculture: Over the past couple decades the number of undocumented immigrants involved in American agriculture has increased by the hundreds. They have dominated the fields on the west coast and have been put to work in some very harsh conditions. Many people in the US believe that these men, women, and even children are occupying jobs that legal citizens could have. We realize that even though much of our agriculture these days is harvested by modern technologiesRead MoreIllegal Immigration Should Be Allowed721 Words   |  3 Pagesanother country without becoming a legal citizen. Illegal immigrants have many different names; illegal aliens, undocumented workers, and unauthorized citizens are just a few names they are called. 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In his book, Wyman explores some key ideas such as the reason immigrants decided to voyageRead MoreThe Reasons for Coming to America1620 Words   |  7 Pages Someone wasn’t happy in their own country, and they thought they would be happier in America. Immigrants firmly believed that their life would be better in America, so they abandoned their home country. They left to escape the hardships of their former life, but t hey had no idea how many hardships awaited them; circumstances made their lives problematic regardless of where they lived. Immigrants held an extremely wearying existence. Masses of people immigrated to America because they feltRead MoreHow Did The Ukrainian Immigrants Affect Canadian Society?1499 Words   |  6 PagesInquiry Question: How did the Ukrainian Immigrants affect Canadian Society. Outline: P1: Introduction Canada, known to its citizens as being diverse and having multicultural history.One historical events of Canada is the Ukrainian immigration. In the 1800, the waves of immigration from the Ukrainian area began as one Ukrainian family came to. Ukrainians are one of the predominant groups that arrived to Canada to start anew. This led them to change a lot of Canada’s society then in the late 1800sRead MoreEllis Island: The Gateway to America1136 Words   |  5 PagesPeople from all over the world view America as the land of opportunity. They saw new beginnings and a better life for themselves and their families. The process of coming to the United States was never easy, because immigrants had to go through long and hard processes at the Immigration Center, known as Ellis Island. Ellis Island is located on the Hudson River off the New York City Harbor and in between Governor’s Island and the Statue of Liberty. Before receiving the name, â€Å"Ellis Island,† he NativeRead MoreThe Issue Of Immigration Divide American Opinions1731 Words   |  7 PagesWhy does the issue of immigration divide American opinions when the United States is a country built by immigrants? The online encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org defines immigration to the United States as the permanent movement of foreigners to the United States. This online encyclopedia also states that immigration to the United States has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout American history. In order to establish an objective and well thought out the viewpoint

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Role of Human Resource Department Free Essays

The human resource department plays a major role in helping plan the system and in developing job description, job specification and performance standards. Specialists in that department may be assigned to conduct job analysis and write job descriptions in cooperation with managers, supervisors and employees. The human resource department is not involved in the actual writing of performance standards but play a diagnostic, training and monitoring role. We will write a custom essay sample on Role of Human Resource Department or any similar topic only for you Order Now JOB DESIGN Job design is a process of determining the specific tasks and responsibilities to be carried out by each member of the organization.In simple words, the logical sequence to job analysis is job design. Job analysis provides job-related data as well as the skills and knowledge expected of the incumbent to discharge the job. Job analysis, then, involves conscious efforts to organize tasks, duties and responsibilities into a unit of work to achieve certain objectives. Fig: Factors Affecting Job Design Factors Affecting Job Design Job design is affected by organizational, environmental, behavioural factors. A properly designed job will make it productive and satisfying.If a job fails on this count, the fault lies with the job designers who, based on the feedback, must redesign the job. (See Fig) Techniques of Job Design Fig: Techniques of Job Design ?Work Simplification: In this technique, the job simplified or specialized. A given job is broken down into small sub-parts and each part is assigned to one individual. ?Job Rotation: Job rotation implies movement of employees from job to job. Jobs remain unchanged, but incumbents shift. With job rotation, a given employee performs different jobs, but more or less, jobs of the same nature. Job Enlargement: Job enlargement involves expanding the number of tasks or duties assigned to a given job. Job enlargement is naturally opposite to work simplification. Adding more tasks or duties to a job does not mean that new skills and abilities are needed to perform it. ?Job Enrichment: Job enrichment seeks to improve both task efficiency and human satisfaction by building into people’s jobs, quite specifically, greater scope for personal achievement and recognition, more challenging and responsible work, and more opportunity for individual advancement and growth. Autonomous or Self-directed Teams: A self-directed work team is an intact group of employees who are responsible for a whole work process or segment that delivers a products or service o an internal or external customer. ?High-Performance Work Design: It is a means of improving performance in an environment where positive and demanding goals are set. Role of Human Resource Department The human resources department’s role in job design is usually indirect, although job design influences almost every aspect of human resources management.The department diagnoses organizati onal problems that suggest job redesign, incorporate information on job design in training and management development programs, and help plan job redesign programs to ensure that sound human resources policies and practices are developed. Further, the department is needed to prepare to modify job descriptions and job specifications and to modify recruitment, selection, training, compensation and other practices to be consistent with any job redesign program. How to cite Role of Human Resource Department, Papers

Friday, December 6, 2019

Ken Kesey Essay Example For Students

Ken Kesey Essay During the course of the last fifty years, society has changed significantly. Inmodern society a great emphasis is placed on individualism and diversity withina society. It is rare that an individual would be ridiculed or forced to changesimply for not complying with what society views as normal. This hasnot always been the case though. The nineteen fifties were much different. Thiswas an era of social conformity. The members of society who were intent onmaintaining this social state ostracized individuals who were consideredabnormal. Such abnormal individuals just simply acceptedthe fact that they were not part of this normal society. Because of societysinfluence, these people sought help in psychiatric wards in attempts to betterthemselves and thus fit into society. By doing so, they let society conform andmold them into what was thought as normal. Ken Kesey was a man inthis era that did not believe in social conformity. Kesey, along with hisfollowers set off on a mission to open t he minds of people who were focused onmaintaining this status quo. Ken Keseys journey led him to write One Flew OverThe Cuckoos Nest. This novel focuses on the struggle between individuals whoare intent on keeping things the same with those who are considereddifferent. Harding is a character in the novel that is limited byopposing forces of society and who in turn, seeks refuge in hopes to beaccepted. With the influence of McMurphy, Harding changes from an apprehensiverabbit to a self-assured man. This change illustrates Keseys viewthat an individual can realize the worth of their life through self-acceptanceand reliance on ones self rather than conforming to social norms. Harding admitshimself in the psychiatric hospital because he is abnormal in asociety that highly values normality. discovered at an early age that wasdifferent? indulged in certain practices thatsocietyregards as shameful(pg. 294). Admitting himself in the hospital isHardings way of succumbing to the forces of s ociety. He simply accepts the factthat without help he will never fit in the real world. Harding knowsthat This world belongs to the strong(pg.62). For this reason hefelt that is why he belonged in the hospital. The hospital is a place where good strong wolf like the Nurse teach place(pg.62). Initially with no self-esteem, Harding lets the Nurse andthe other hospital staff tell him how to live. When initially questioned of hisabnormal life by the other patients and the staff, Harding his thinshoulders folded nearly together around himselfhis hands trapped between hiskneestrying to look calm-but hes chewing his cheeksnot calm at all(pg.54). Harding is a nervous man who finds it difficult to deal with hisdifferences and simply follows societys commands in order to keep things easy. Hardings views and behaviors start to change slowly as he associates more withRandle McMurphy. McMurphy enters the ward involuntarily and has a much differentoutlook on life than the other patients. McMurphy places a great influence onbeing an individual and goes to great extents to be just that. He is a leaderand not a follower. His straightforward tactics and self-confidence allow him tofreely express his values. Along with these attributes, McMurphy also treats theother patients normal and does not treat them how society does. By treating themas equals and by instilling into them his views and ethics, they are able to seethe world differently. McMurphys concern with the music that dulls thesenses shows another side of him as well. It shows his concern andconsideration for his peers. A more important feature of McMurphy is that heshows no shame. This shows the patients, including Harding, that there is noneed to fell shame for being who they are. Amongst these things, McMurphyteach es the patients the power of trying and believing in ones self. McMurphyattempts to lift the panel in order to try to escape and he fails. Even thoughhe failed in the end, he still had enough confidence to try. The lesson islearnt that it is far better to try and fail than to never even try. Looking atMcMurphys actions and values shows that he is perceptive and sensitive toothers. He is able to see the mens weaknesses and attempts to build them up. Hehopes that in the end they will see Big Nurses strategy and be able to stand ontheir own feet and fight her ways. It is with McMurphys lead and stronginfluence that Harding is able to see that there is nothing to be afraid of. .uc2af2988e2f41068c98ad4be3bc27620 , .uc2af2988e2f41068c98ad4be3bc27620 .postImageUrl , .uc2af2988e2f41068c98ad4be3bc27620 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uc2af2988e2f41068c98ad4be3bc27620 , .uc2af2988e2f41068c98ad4be3bc27620:hover , .uc2af2988e2f41068c98ad4be3bc27620:visited , .uc2af2988e2f41068c98ad4be3bc27620:active { border:0!important; } .uc2af2988e2f41068c98ad4be3bc27620 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uc2af2988e2f41068c98ad4be3bc27620 { 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; } .uc2af2988e2f41068c98ad4be3bc27620:active , .uc2af2988e2f41068c98ad4be3bc27620:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uc2af2988e2f41068c98ad4be3bc27620 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uc2af2988e2f41068c98ad4be3bc27620 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uc2af2988e2f41068c98ad4be3bc27620 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uc2af2988e2f41068c98ad4be3bc27620 .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; } .uc2af2988e2f41068c98ad4be3bc27620:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uc2af2988e2f41068c98ad4be3bc27620 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uc2af2988e2f41068c98ad4be3bc27620 .uc2af2988e2f41068c98ad4be3bc27620-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uc2af2988e2f41068c98ad4be3bc27620:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: My Family Essay SummaryHarding slowly learns from McMurphy and makes realizations about himself. Fromthese realizations he starts to change his ways and fight the powers of society. When the patients are told by Big Nurse that they cant watch the baseball gameHarding shuts off the buffer. and goes pulls him a chair up alongsideMcMurphy(pg.138). Instead of obeying the Nurse as usual, Harding beginsto think and act for himself. When McMurphy arranges a fishing trip Harding iseager to go along. His nervous and apprehensive ways have begun to change. Thefishing trip is significant because it shows Hardings independence and hisinitial ability to act without McMurphy. When the boys fish are biting Hardingtakes charge for the first time. Harding finally saw that McMurphy wasntgoing to do anything, he got the gaff and jerked fish into the boat with aclean, graceful motion like hes been boating all his life(pg.236). Forthe first time without McMurphy by his side, Harding sees that he is able todepend on himself in the real world. When Harding returns from the fishing tripthings begin to change even more. Candy and Sandra sneak into the ward and theyall have a party. Har ding knows the consequences of the party will be great andhe begins to make plans as to what must be done. He makes plans for McMurphysescape and thinks of every aspect of what must be said and done. Harding wouldnever have thought of this type of action before McMurphy came along. Hardingsintricate plans and clever defense of McMurphy show that he is no longer afollower. His confidence and new outlook on life have changed his waysdrastically. Once a timid nervous man, who simply accepted his so-calledabnormality, Harding is now able to depend on himself and accept who he is. Oncethought of by Harding as the strong wolf, he now sees the Nurse asnothing more than . full of so much bull*censored*(pg.307). Harding fought against the Nurse and left the hospital with his wife afterMcMurphy opened his eyes as to what life was about. For the first time in hislife Harding rejected the status quo. One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest is apowerful novel that has a deep meaning. It does not simply tell the story of apsychiatric ward. The novel goes further to explore the importance ofself-esteem and self-reliance. It focuses on the power of individualism in anera when such a thing was shunned. The changes in Hardings attitude reflectKeseys personal rebellion against social conformity.

Friday, November 29, 2019

The Arrangement for Moves Like Jagger free essay sample

Instructor Scott Susan March 5, 2013 Listening Journals #2 Title and Band: Move like Jaeger Performed by Maroon 5 featuring Christina Agiler Style: Dance-pop, electro pop Instrumentation: Vocals, synthesizer, guitar, bass, drums, and keyboard Form: ABSENCE Intro, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Chorus, Chorus, Ending Moves like Jaeger has a very simple pop form, but Its a short pop and dance song intended for radio all the way, so it fits the form completely.It looks like this: ABSENCE. The song has only two chords (a riff that keeps repeating, but the arrangement outlines the songs sections. The Intro and ending are both shortened erases with the signature line over the top. The arrangement for Moves like Jaeger is fairly sparse, although in the chorus theres a lot more going on that there seems. Ere song is really centered on the rhythm guitar and kick drum, but the catchyInsisting signature line defines the intro, the end of the choruses and the ending of the song. We will write a custom essay sample on The Arrangement for Moves Like Jagger or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The 2nd verse Is different from the first In that harmony vocals enter at the and of the lines during the last 8 bars. The chorus Is different than from the verse In that the rest of the drum kit enters as well as a very subtle synthesizer string sound playing the rhythm and beefing up the section. In the chorus, the notes are slightly echoes as Olivines voice Is distorted via Auto-Tune.The song Is Introduced by a Nestle melody and light funky guitar In the key of B minor. l dont need to try to control you / Look Into my eyes and Ill own you / With the moves Like Jaeger / I got the moves Like Jaeger / I got the moves Like Jaeger. Agiler appears mold-way through the songs bridge, playing her role as a tease: You want to know how to make me smile / Take control, own me Just for the night / But If I share my secret / You goanna have to keep It / Nobody else can see this.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Sherman Alexie and Writing for Young Adults Essays

Sherman Alexie and Writing for Young Adults Essays Sherman Alexie and Writing for Young Adults Essay Sherman Alexie and Writing for Young Adults Essay Essay Topic: Adults Murder, blood, death and dark is a popular topic in young adult writing. But is it really young adult writing when there is somuch dystopia in a book? A lot of writers believe it is. One of the authors who strongly believe that its young adult is Sherman Alexie. Sherman Alexie is known for his young adult stories about young Indian boys struggling to survive in life. The young boys struggle with father relationships, death, acne, who they are, alcohol, and surviving in the real world. Many other writers and authors believe that there should be a line where some topics can be young adult and others should not even mention the topic. The authors who oppose this believe that these topics will damage young teens minds in their daily lives. I agree with Alexie that his writing is fine to be young adult because his writing helps young adults transition into the real world. Many of these young teenagers will soon face the real world with some of these problems. It helps to know that they ca n read about these problems and help them through whatever theyre going through. Death is what everyone will face;it is just a matter of when someone will face it. Death is a part of life. Everyone will die or experience someone close who will die. Death should be allowed in young adult literature because it doesn’t matter how old you are, death does not have a limit on any age or person. So why would authors would want to pretend that death doesn’t happen in life, when it does? â€Å"nothing, not a thing, that I could imagine giving my daughter. It was all vampires and suicide and self-mutilation, this dark, dark stuff† (Megan Cox Gurdon). Death is scary thing to understand though to process it is unthinkable but writers and authors shouldn’t say this topic is not meant for young adults because death doesn’t have an age limit. Even though Alexie’s writing isn’t about vampires, he does touchon suicide and self-mutilation. In Flight, Zits,

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Healthcare Policy Unit 2 DB HA415 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Healthcare Policy Unit 2 DB HA415 - Essay Example rces and efficient application of such resources identifies the importance of economics to health care policy makers because a good policy is one that can successfully be implemented. World Health Organization identifies the need to prioritize opportunities, or policies, and the need to solve the scarcity problem of resources through identification of sources, and efficient application of resources as some of the reasons why economics is important to policy makers in the health care sector. This is because every situation has alternative applicable policies and resources for implementing such policies are always scarce, and needed for application in other scopes. Consequently, there is a need for economic competence in order to identify a policy, with the highest level of utility, for implementation. Economics’ knowledge is further important to a health care policy maker because it facilitates identification of resources and efficient application of such resources in implement ation of an identified policy (World Health Organization, 2006). An understanding of economics is therefore important to a health care policy maker because it facilitates identification of policies with the highest utility level and ensures effective resource planning for policy

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Inquiry Brief Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Inquiry Brief - Essay Example My research question is as follows: do medical advancements and biomedical progress outweigh the controversial ethical and moral acts made in stem cell research? My argument is that medical and social benefits stem cell research brings to humanity the past progress and future development of the research. For the purpose of the analysis and argument on stem cell research, three academic sources were selected. The article by L. Leydesdorff and I. Hellsten â€Å"Metaphors and Diaphors in Science Communication: Mapping the Case of Stem-Cell Reseach† in Science Communication examine the term â€Å"stem cell† and how it varies in different contexts of research, applications and policy debates. From the very beginning, authors emphasize the pressing importance of stem cell research, indicating that the United States President George W. Bush addressed the political and social issue of stem cell research, specifically, embryonic stem cell research and it was the first time an American President had gone on national television in a special broadcast on a bioethical issue (Leydesdorff & Hellsten, 71). Later in November 2001, Bush convinced Congress to ban reproductive and therapeutic cloning of stem cells (Leydesdorff & Hellsten, 71). Authors points out that these restrictive policies have greatly affected both scientific research in the United States and the public debate over stem cell research. More specifically Leydesdorff and Hellsten focus on communication of stem cell research to general public and the importance of it to the latter. From the authors’ perspective, it is evident that stem cell research will receive the fullest reception of society. In her book â€Å"Stem Cell Research† Lillian Forman provides a thorough analysis of almost every aspect around stem cell research, from its medical potential and future benefits to policy

Monday, November 18, 2019

Understanding Property Markets. To what extent does property market Essay

Understanding Property Markets. To what extent does property market failure give a necessary and sufficient case for public intervention using planning controls - Essay Example current financial crisis clearly indicates that the nexus of the financial as well as property market can lead to the overall failure of the markets because the volatile nature of one market can readily impact another market if they are correlated with each other in any sense. In the past, it has been the practice of the financial institutions that they greatly offered easy money which allowed relatively higher volume of people to buy their own homes. This phenomenon, however, also gave rise to the speculative activity within the market which not only led to the price appreciation but also made the market more volatile and prone to economic shocks. This effect has been so much that it was estimated that more than 590 billion British Pounds were wiped out from the property market only during 2008. (Knapton, 2008). Such symptoms indicate that the property market is prone to failure and as such may require the government intervention in the market through planning controls. This essay will discuss whether the recent failure makes a case for government to intervene in the property market or not. It is argued that the free markets do not always provide the efficient allocation of resources. There are various causes of market failure and as such information imperfections, externalities as well as capital market imperfections are some of the causes which can be cited as the few major reasons behind the failure of the markets. (Keep,2006). Whether government shall intervene into markets to correct them or not is an issue of great debate which has been re-emerged again. During 1990s, it was argued that the extension of credit has a greater macroeconomic impact on the economy as credit has extensive linkages with different markets such as property markets as well as consumer durables.(Eichengreen & Mitchener, 2004). Property markets along with other markets, therefore, started to grow and reached to a level where it failed to accommodate the economic shocks and resulted

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Over The Counter Drugs And Paracetamol Advertising Economics Essay

Over The Counter Drugs And Paracetamol Advertising Economics Essay Over the past few decades advertising has been an important marketing strategy. Advertising is always subjected to change because taste of the people, demographic, cultural and socio economic factors change always. Consumers changing response to advertising is essential to develop more effective and efficient marketing strategies. Chanjin (2000) developed a varying-parameter advertising model specifying advertising parameters as a function of advertising strategies and the market environments to explain the varying nature of the advertising responses. The model is applied to New York City fluid milk market and he concludes his findings that advertising strategies and market environment play important role in determining advertising effectiveness and he further concludes that demographic factors are more important than economic factors(Chanjin, 2000). Companies change their advertising strategies time to time to attract customers as well as keep the existing customers with their produ cts. But in some developed countries they have their own self regulatory system in order to stave off the government intervention. Harker(2003) states in his published article that sometimes advertising has its own self regulatory system despite claims of social and economic benefits. In general, when dealing with unacceptable advertising, considerable advertisers in developed countries use their own self regulatory mechanism since they consider the intervention of the government or regulatory bodies for their product marketing are not good for their brand image. The recent breakdown of one of the worlds longest established advertising self-regulatory programmes in Australia has reopened the 20 years old debate concern with enhancing understanding of such regulatory system(Harker, 2003).Though he states like that , even in some developed countries the advertising misleading consumers significantly sometimes very badly. To face to the race of businesses, companies use varies marketing strategies to attract and retain consumers with their products. Advertising is one of the most efficient marketing tools that most widely used in the world. The issue is it has become a main tool or a media where consumers are misled for products or services. Expressing the finding of the result of his research paper, Howard (2005) says over half of the sample viewed most or all mail and telephone advertising as misleading, and that 38 percent of the respondents regarded most or all television advertising as misleading. Also, findings for the Age groups indicate that two out of three respondents regarded most or all advertising directed at children as seriously misleading (Howard, 2005). Advertising has become a powerful emotional promotion method and now there is a trend of sending advertisements via mobile phones even without prior permission. But Melody(2004) points out those consumers generally have negative attitu des toward mobile advertising unless they have specifically consented to it(Melody, 2004). Generally in most countries attitudes toward the quality and information containing in advertisements are not in a good scale. Richard (1993) explains in his paper that a comprehensive model of attitudes toward advertising includes three personal utility factors (product information, social image information, and hedonic amusement) and four socioeconomic factors (good for economy, fostering materialism, corrupting values and falsity/no-sense). He tested these seven factor model on two independent samples and found most respondents exhibited conflict between an appreciation of the personal uses and economic value of advertising and an apprehension of cultural degradation(Richard, 1993). False information in advertisements significantly decreases the credibility of the product. That is why some standard organizations validate their advertisements before broadcast or expose to general public. Ste phen (1998) conducted a study to investigate whether consumers who are exposed to an advertisement containing a deceptive environmental claim have significantly different attitudes about the advertisements than those consumers exposed to a similar non-deceptive advertisement. He concludes the study mentioning that higher levels of perceived deception were associated with lower level of perceived corporate credibility, less favourable attitudes towards the advertisement, less favourable attitudes toward the advertised brand, and decreased purchase intention toward the product in the advertisement(Stephen, 1998). Marketing Pharmaceuticals-Increasing trend Marketing pharmaceuticals are very dynamic and innovative subject especially in this current business arena. Pharmaceutical industry is one of the most profitable businesses in all over the world. Kesic(2008) states the pharmaceutical market has been changed significantly especially in last decade with dramatic improvement. There are many factors directly affected for these new trend and developments particularly concentrated globalization, huge competitiveness and many more factors influence directly or indirectly for new challengers for pharmaceutical companies. Not only in pharmaceutical industry, but also in most of the business entities, profit maximization is a core objective. However, Chandra(1999) points out that pharmaceutical product companies are completely different from other companies since their product directly deal with human health not like most other companies in the business world. Reinhardt(2004) highlights that it is not clear that the current allocation of the pharmaceutical industrys revenue dollars to marketing and research development is efficient for societys point of view(Reinhardt, 2004). Kesic(2008) concludes in his paper that research and development(RD), mutually with other marketing and profit earning activities are two main operative and prioritized strategies of the global pharmaceutical industry. Having analysed these figures he has found that the biggest, inventive world pharmaceutical companies invest, on average, approximately 16% of their sales into RD and even more, about 26% or more into marketing and sales activities(Kesic, 2009). Drug companies really spend ample amount of money for marketing especially for direct-to-consumer advertising. Lisa(2008) says according to the IMS health report in 2006 in America, drug companies have spent nearly 5 billion on direct advertisements to consumers, and 80 percent increase over what they were spending in 2002(Lisa, 2008).Likewise Chiu(2005) explains that according to the Nationa l Institute for Health Care Management, U.S consumers spent $154.5 billion on prescription drugs in 2001.This amount to 10% of total health spending, which account for 14.9 % of the U.S GDP as of 2002.In a publication Parker(2003) states that there is a little doubt that the pharmaceutical industry is a major force in todays economy as measured by both over-the-counter(OCT) and prescription drug sales and further more he says that it seems clear that there have been rather dramatic increases in advertising expenditures by pharmaceutical companies in the past few years. It also seems clear that these expenditures have coincided with significant increases in sales of both OTC drugs and prescription drugs(Parker, 2003). Promoting drugs to consumers directly has become a new trend in all over the world and many pharmaceutical companies have experienced it as a very effective way to market their products. Wilkes et al(2000) points out that direct to consumer drug(DTC) marketing makes some kind relationship of patients, doctors as well as with pharmaceutical organizations. He further points out that drug companies have increased their budget for advertisements and at the same time the number of drugs advertised also increased. Wilkes et al (2000) further state that several news sources had suggested that drug manufactures earnings have directly benefited from this new promotional strategy(Michael, 2000). According to Moynihan et al(2002)drug companies earn lot of money from healthy people and he interprets it as disease mongering. Director of research and policy at the National Institute for Health Care Management, Findlay(2000) concludes that Advertising works and pharmaceutical companies have success fully promoted their product to doctors for decades. They are now bringing that marketing survey to the consumer market place. The question is whether -over time-the benefits of raising consumers awareness of specific drugs and the conditions the medicines treat will outweigh the danger that consumers will bring to demand and use some medicines inappropriately(Findlay, 2000). Over-The-Counter Drugs and Paracetamol Advertising Over-the-counter drugs can be purchased any amount without a prescription anywhere in the world. But some researchers have pointed out having some sort of mechanism for issuing these drugs to consumers may reduce misuses. Trends towards greater availability are paralleled by increase in its use for both non-fatal overdoses and suicide. Gunnel(1997) says in France mobidity and mortality was considerable less due to the regulatory action taken to reduce the quantity of paracetamol in a single purchase. Although non conclusive, these data add to a body of evidence which suggest that restrictions in the quantity of paracetamol available as a single purchase in other countries can reduce suicide and liver failure related to paracetamol(D Gunnell, 1997).Most of these over-the-counter drugs are advertised frequently in mass media to get and keep attention of consumers on those products. Ashish(1999) in his research paper states that manufactures may attempt to familiarize consumers with bra nd names in hopes that the consumer will purchase product. The consumer may think that he has heard of this product and assume that it is somehow better than competitive product(Ashish, 1999).In his research paper Hawton(2004) clearly states that suicides and hospital admissions due to paracetamol poisoning reduced after change in legislation which is limiting the size of the available pack of the paracetamol for consumers and in his study he concludes that legislation reducing pack size of analgesics in the United Kingdom has been beneficial and further reduction in pack size could prevent more deaths(Hawton, 2004). Over the counter drug usage among children is very common. Allotey(2004) mentions in his recently published paper Research on the medication of preschool-aged children has suggested that the use of OTC medication is substantial. Kogan et al for instant, found that 54% of three year olds in the United States has been given OTC medications in the 30days preceding the study. In a common survey in New York, 22% of children have taken OTC medication in the preceding 3 day period. Studies in United Kingdom also indicated high rate of OTC medication use among children, ie,28% during a 2-week period and 66% during a 4-week period(Allotey, 2004). Wazaify(2005) emphasizes that increasing availability of non prescription medicines may encourage patients to believe that there is a drug treatment for every ailment. Furthermore, he explains the use of such products may delay/mask the diagnosis of serious illness, with increased risks of interactions and adverse reactions and of self treatment being undertaken when medical aid should have been sought. There is also the potential for misuse and abuse of such products(Wazaify, 2005). According to the Sri Lankan context there are many proprietary products under one generic product. Senarathna(2008) in her thesis of master of philosophy points out that there are around forty registered product of paracetamol in Sri Lanka(Senarathna, 2008).Weerasuriya(1993) points out there were 63 registered paracetamol products in the country in 1993 and paracetamol was the commonest drug registered in the OTC category(Weerasuriya, 1993). Ethics of Advertising OTC drugs It is clear there is an increasing trend of usage for OTC drugs in all over the world. Wazaify(2005) states that in recent years there have been an increasing trend in self-medication with non prescription drugs available in pharmacies and retail outlets and in parallel, more products have been deregulated for purchase without a prescription(Wazaify, 2005). At the same time Solhaug(2006) concludes in his recent abstract publication that only half of the information presented in drug advertisements was correct and clinically relevant and relatively few statements were fault, but a considerable proportion of statements gave an excessively positive picture of the product; hence, in general, this kind of information has no value as a source of information(Solhaug, 2006).Among the publications those point out that drug advertisements are not up to the standard especially OTC drug, Ashish(1999)states in his publication that in reality, it has been observed that pharmaceutical product adver tisers often promote their products to achieve their own goals at the potential risk of having an adverse effect on the consumers health and this type of advertising is most often seen in OTC drug product advertisements(Ashish, 1999). Wazaify(2005) points out that the deregulation process has been championed by the pharmaceutical industry, the pharmacy profession and government health policy makers and is supported by the view that patients wish to have a greater role in their treatment choices. Almost all countries in the world have not allowed to pharmaceutical companies to advertise their product to consumers directly. Stremersh(2009) states in his research paper that so far only two countries, New Zealand and the United States, allow pharmaceutical marketers to advertise directly to consumers and in the same paper he further explains that due to this reason patient requests are often accommodated by physicians mainly because they affect physician visit satisfaction and show patients that the physician cares(Stremersch, 2009). Drugs are categorized into few groups and essentially there are two categories which are OTC drugs and prescription drugs. What is categorized as OTC varies from country to country and i s dependent on the local legislative framework according to (Buckley, 2004). Many researchers have pointed out over-the-counter drugs have become a public health problem due to misuse, disease mongering and drug abuse and wrong, in appropriate or inadequate information given in the promotional program may have an impact of this health issue(Ashish, 1999, Allotey, 2004, Fernando, 2008, Buckley, n.d.). While there are government agencies charged with monitoring the marketing of medicines, typically this is one of many briefs for these agencies and is often only in a reactive fashion. In other words such monitoring as does occur, occurs only in response to complaints, and even then is often very slow and cumbersome(Buckley, n.d.). Buckley(n.d.) urges that two things should happen to put this issue in a correct track which are establishing independent monitoring bodies to police marketing codes of practice with real penalties and paying increased attention to the education of the consumers of pharmaceutical advertising, in particular those with prescribing powers (Buckley, n.d.).In Sri Lanka also the situation is almost same like most of the countries in the world. The government has imposed rules and regulations for promoting and advertising pharmaceuticals within the country. In a paper published by the Sri Lanka medical associations ethics committee recently says that Advertisement to the general public should help people to make rational decision on the use of drugs which are legally available without a prescription. They should take account of peoples legitimate desire for information regarding their health, but should not take undue advantage of their concern for their health. Drug advertisement should neither portray nor be directed at children. Advertisement may claim that a drug can cure, prevent or relieve an ailment only if this can be substantial. They should also indicate, where applicable, limitations to the use of the drug When lay language is used, the information should be consistent with the scientific data sheet or other legally determined scientific basis for approval. Language, pictures or sounds, which bring about undue fear or distress, should not be used. The following list illustrates the type of information that advertisement to the general public should contain The name of the active ingredient, using either international non-proprietary names or the approved generic name of the drug The brand name Major indication(s) for use Major precautions, contraindications for warning Name and the address of the manufacturer or the distributor Information to the consumer on price should be accurately and honestly portrayed(Committee(SLMAEC), 2003). Though the guidelines are clear, there is a doubt of implementing and practicing the guidelines in many countries including Sri Lanka. There is a big challenge and responsibility for the government authorities and regulatory bodies in terms of providing correct information to the consumers. Techniques, methods and effective advertising Pharmaceutical industry is in a pressure and Kesic(2008) states that fast globalization is the main factor of the strategic development of the world pharmaceutical industry. There are so many challengers in pharmaceutical industry and drug companies running after many strategic moves to have sustainable competitive advantage. Direct marketing products to consumer have become one of the innovative methods to win the market comparatively. Buckley(n.d.) states that in United States all drugs may be promoted to consumer, but in practice direct to consumer advertising focuses on OTC and common ailment targeted prescription drugs(Buckley, n.d.). But some authors support to this argument and they mention direct to consumer advertising makes consumer better understanding and make more informative for drugs available to them(Leonard, 1999, Weissman, 2003). On the other hand some researchers like Maguire(1999) points out that American physicians are being asked to rubber stamp self diagnoses a nd self-prescriptions by patients. That is how some advertisements have been influenced on consumers. Kesic(2009) explains in his paper that the biggest multinational companies spend more than 25% of their sales into marketing activities especially for promoting, introducing their products and competing for global market share. Supporting to the argument of Kesic, Michael adds that drug companies spend ample number of money for number of drugs advertised increased, not only that they spend considerable amount of money for quality, attractiveness and particularly for sophisticated advertising (Michael, 2000). A paper published in Thailand in 2005 on Radio drug advertisement situation and regulation in Thailand says advertising has a strong influence on the sale volume of any goods. Drug advertising covers media such as television, radio, newspaper, magazines, internet and printed materials. It further says that radio advertisements can easily mislead people in rural areas because of socioeconomic and educational status(Kittisopee, 2005). Allotey(2004) mentions that OTC medications pro moted through television, radio and print advertising directly targeted at women, housewives or working mothers, encourage them not only to self medication but also to dispense OTC medications to their children, because it is important to establish a lifelong pattern of sensible (drug)use'(Allotey, 2004), Ashish(1999) explains that all pharmaceutical advertising is not bad but advertisements should be considered what they are promotions. Drug marketers should always try to follow the unwritten rules of marketing ethics and consider what is best for their consumers before developing a particular advertising strategy. Nowadays the issue is consumer can purchase any kind of drug online. Buckley(2004) highlights in his paper that thre is no restrictions for purchasing all kind of drugs online without a prescription and the issue is most of these internet pharmacies very low or poor quality information(Buckley, 2004). Moynihan(2002) expresses that inappropriate medication carries the dangers of unnecessary labelling, poor treatment decisions, iatrogenic illness, and economic waste, as well as the opportunity cost that result when resources are diverted away from treating or preventing more serious disease(Moynihan, 2002). How consumers are misled -Reliability, Relevance and adequacy of Advertisements Many research papers point out that drug advertisements mislead consumers in many ways directly or indirectly (Sidney, 2002, Michael, 2000, Ashish, 1999, Findlay, 2000). Though it is a common phenomena in all over the world, a practical guide on understanding and responding to pharmaceutical promotion published by the world health organization recently explains clearly how information is given to consumers in advertisements in developed and developing countries. It says while advertisements from developed countries typically contain nearly all of the information listed in the box, this is not always the case in developing countries(WHO, n.d.). The table below published by Hawkins(1993)in his research paper support to the above argument strongly and in the discussion he states that indications were mentioned more often than the negative effects of medicines. Important warnings and precautions were missing in half of the advertisements while side effects and contraindications in about forty percent. Price tended to be given only in countries where a social security system pays for the medicines(Herxheimer, 1993). Nowadays there is a trend of promoting drugs through internet. Buckley(n.d.)mentions on his research paper that most of the internet advertisements provide less information or poor quality information. Many pharmaceutical companies mislead consumers in many ways. A United States Food and Drug Administration(FDA) has issued 88 letters accusing drug companies of advertising violations from August 1997 to Aug 2002(Buckley, n.d.). Most of the time drug companies overstated the effectiveness of the promoting drug and they always keep attention not to highlight its risk. Some companies disseminate advertisements misleading advertisements even after they were warned or cited for violations(Gottlieb, 2002). Some drug companies stimulate consumers to buy expensive or new drugs which has high profit margin and it raises the health care cost of consumers as well as of the country ultimately. Some drugs promoted by pharmaceutical companies have limited Medical beneficiaries but those are heavily advertised because of the high profit margin. Rebecca(2010) says its almost impossible for the public to actually parse the ads and come to their own independent conclusions(Rebecca, 2010). But Weissman(2003)states in his research paper that industrys argument is that patients are highly motivated to seek the best available treatment for their condition and they need and deserve more and better information on which to base their judgement(Weissman, 2003). It is true if the pharmaceutical advertisements provide proper, balance and correct information to their consumers. A research done in Thailand, sharing the findings says that 22% radio advertisements have misled consumers and only 7% of the advertisements have recommended an appropriate dose among studied advertisements. Further more a warning message was found in only 3% of the advertisements and name of the manufacturers were present only 20% of the advertisements collected(Kittisopee, 2005).Weil(2009) is really against the trend of this drug advertisements. He says almost a ll highly advertised drugs have many complications either short term or long term basis and in general these drugs are ineffective and some serious side effects are not considered or neglected by the manufacturers. Because most pharmaceutical companies give priority for their profit margin and such vast profit potentials may be obtained from this kind of heavy drug advertising (Weil, 2009). Now there is a trend of using popular characters for marketing advertisements of drugs and sometimes they are neither reliable nor relevance. In a paper published by Michael(2000) says that Now advertisements enlist well-known personalities to endorse pharmaceutical products (Michael, 2000). Lot of people imitate and follow famous personalities and it help pharmaceuticals to reach consumer quickly and in a familiar manner. Criticizing this promotional tactics Weil(2009) says in his report that Sally Field is a talented actor, But what qualifies her to promote Boniva, an osteoporosis drug that is of limited benefit, has worrisome side effects, and for which there are natural alternatives that merit careful consideration?.(Weil, 2009) Drug companies are in the process of promoting their product to consumers in many ways. Sometimes they may use health care professionals to reach consumers because they know that consumer believe professionals who have background knowledge about treatments. Wazaify(2005) points out in his recent published paper that The main factor found to influence the publics choice of OTC medicines was pharmacist recommendation. This is reassuring especially with increasing availability of potent medications without prescription and the increased potential for interactions(Wazaify, 2005). It is one of the indirect marketing methods that the pharmaceutical industry uses. On the other hand people have a belief that over the counter drugs like paracetamol do not have serious side effects. Some over the counter drugs have serious side effects when consumer uses it with some other medications. A very good example is Viagra used for erectile dysfunction. If consumer uses it while using nitrate as a treatment of blood pressure, it causes severe drop of blood pressure which is difficult to treat. Buckley(n.d.)says it has mentioned on advertisements but in a much smaller font, it is You must not take Viagra if you are using any nitrate medication including amyl(poppers). It may lead to a severe drop of your blood pressure that may be difficulty to treat. As sexual activity may be a strain on your heart your doctor will need to check whether you are fit enough to use Viagra(Buckley, n.d.). Buckley points out the ordinary people do not know what is nitrate medications and they cannot recognize from this statement that the combination of these two drugs will en ough to kill them more often. Supporting to this argument Wazaify(2005) mentions that consumers generally believe that only safe medicines are permitted to be sold without prescription and OTC medicines do not usually have serious side-effects(Wazaify, 2005). Some giant pharmaceutical companies have their own physicians, independent monitoring committees and analytical groups etc. They make public aware of some new drugs which are effective treatment for some diseases which are common among current generation and they suggest through advertisements, that it may be effective to use their drugs or supplementary product to prevent from those diseases. This is another current trend in the world and basically what they do is label healthy people that they are sick. Supporting to this arguments Moynihan(2002) express his view in this paper stating that sometimes the issue is informal alliance engage, including doctors, drug company staff and consumer groups and this kind of alliance is being used by the drug companies in raising public awareness about some new drugs which are not scientifically proven. On the other hand theses groups conduct some health campaigns and awareness programmes about undiagnosed and untreatable problems and view of th is kind of problems are treatable because these disease awareness programmes are directly connected to drug companies and their marketing strategies. In general drug companies use this type of marketing strategies to promote their new pharmaceutical products (Moynihan, 2002). Extensive advertising and promotion has put on higher price on pharmaceuticals. Consumer has become the victim of those expensive pharmaceuticals. Dave(2010)says Promotion may affect price through two difference processes. First, promotion may increase demand and/or reduce the absolute magnitude of the demand price elasticity (that is, reduce the price responsiveness of purchasers), which may raise price. Second, the increasing operation cost due to high promotional spending may be shifted to purchasers in the form of higher price. Concluding his findings he states that in addition to potential misuse, the cost of direct to consumer advertising result from increased drug price and increased use of expensive drugs in place of equally effective lower-price drugs(Dave, 2010). Effect of Misleading Many researchers have pointed out that misleading consumer due to unprofessional advertisement of the pharmaceutical industry has created considerable issue to the society in many countries(Herxheimer, 1993, Dave, 2010, Leonard, 1999, Ashish, 1999). There is a reasonable doubt whether consumers spend money for their real requirements of treatments. Moynihan (2002) says drug companies earn lot of money from healthy people and it is better to describe as disease mongering. He further says some practices in medicine and pharmaceuticals are questionable particularly on the subject of disease mongering and its impact on public health, medical practices, public awareness and financial budgeting(Moynihan, 2002). There are people who count this criticism and say Direct To Consumer Advertisements (DTCA) fosters rapid detection of disease and promote grater compliance with treatment regimes. Further more they suggest that DTCA is simply part of a wider social trend whereby consumers take great er responsibility for their health care(Hoek, 2002). Pharmaceutical industry may grab ample amount of money from consumers through unprofessional promotions and advertising drugs. Most of the time heavily promoted drugs may have less clinically importance considering the price as the generic drug provide almost similar clinical effect at a cheap price. Parker(2003),supporting to this argument says Prescription drugs such as Celebrex and Vioxx are heavily promoted and cost the consumer just over $2per pill, while generic ibuprofen, which cost the consumer pennies per pill, often work just as well(Parker, 2003). Effective and attractive advertisement can attract consumer towards the product some times without considering the quality or the value of the product. Ashish(1999) states in his publication that Advertising is thought to contribute to the economy as well. By effective promoting increase in promotion of goods and services may occur, which in turn can result in increase in sales and the flow of money within society(Ashish, 1999). But some researchers expresses a different idea about the relationship between drug price and drug advertisements. They point out when drugs are advertised, the market is more competitive and due to that the price of the particular drug reduces. Research has generally found that advertising tend to reduce price, rather than increase them, primarily because advertising makes markets more competitive(Calfee, 2002). Sometimes drug advertisement give wrong information due to many reasons for consumers and it is affected for less dose or overdose usage of drugs. A general problem associated with drug advertisements is that it is a powerful influence which may motivate consumers to select overly expensive, overrated, or less than optimum medications for their particular needs. More specifically, it is possible to identify numerous individual problems associated with the promotional practice(Ashish, 1999). Our culture very much believes in the More in Better principle and consumers sometimes even ho

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Sophocles :: essays research papers

The Way of Greek Play Wrights   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Greek Play Wright, Sophocles, wrote both the Antigone and Oedipus the King. Sophocles wrote Antigone around 441 B.C. and followed with the writings of Oedipus the King around 425 B.C. In Antigone King Creon decides that Polynices the traitor is to be buried, but his sister Antigone dislikes the order. She is caught, and sentenced by Creon to be buried alive-even though she is betrothed to his son Haemon. After the blind prophet Tiresias proves that the gods are on Antigone’s side, Creon changes his mind but too late. He goes first to bury Polynices, but Antigone had already hanged herself. When Creon arrives at the tomb, Haemon attacks him and then kills himself. When the news of their death is reported, Creon’s wife Eurydice takes her own life. Creon is left all alone at the end of the play. In Oedipus the King it was said that the king and queen of Thebes would give birth to a child who would grow up to kill his father and marry his mother. His parents feared this, so they nailed their son’s feet together and left him stranded on a mountainside. He was founded by a wondering shepherd and taken to the town of Corinth. He was then adopted and raised as the prince in the royal household. After he grew older he heard about the prophecy. He left Corinth to wander around Greece. Along the way he met a group of travelers, killed an old man, his real father. Later he arrived in Thebes and met the Sphinx, a monster who guarded the gates of the city. He answered the riddle correctly and was named King of Thebes. He was then married to a woman named Jocasta, his real mother.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Why did men play the role of women in early Greek playwrights? Once a woman was married her husband had complete control of her. He controlled all property that she may have inherited. She had no rights to wander about the town, without a sufficient reason. Any respectable women would not be seen in public. They contained no political rights and were run by men at every stage of their lives. Since men spent so much time away, women dominated Greek households. The wife was in charge of raising the children and making the clothes for the family. The only appropriate time for a woman to leave her house was to visit a female neighbor.