Journey to the Center of the Earth Essay

Based on one graphic novel, write about an important lesson that you have learnt. An important lesson that I learnt from the graphic novel, Journey to the centre of the Earth is that we should never give up and have confidence in ourselves. Professor Lidenbrock felt very excited when he found the document about how to get to the centre of the earth. He wanted to learn about what lies beneath our feet. although getting to the centre of the earth was not going to be easy, he still went because he was a determined man. Although the journey was fraught with difficulties he never gave up because he had confidence in himself. In the end the journey was a success. Based on one graphic novel, write about a happy event. A happy event in the graphic novel of A Journey to the centre of the Earth is when the Professor, Axel and Hans managed to come out of the earth uninjured and alive. They could have easily when been hurt or died as they were only on a raft and were thrown out of an erupting volcano. They landed uninjured in Sicily which is 3,000 miles away from Iceland where they started their journey. It is a happy event as they had successfully journeyed to the centre to the earth and lived to tell the tale of their adventure. Based on one graphic novel, write about an event that you cannot forget in the novel. An event that I cannot forget is when Axel passed out because they had run out of water. Hans, their guide then left Axel and the Professor. When Axel woke up he looked for Hans. When he could not find Hans he thought that Hans had deserted them,. However an hour later Hans returned. He then told them that he found water. Axel was very grateful to him. This is an unforgettable incident because although Hans could have easily left them he did not. He was a good and responsible guide. Based on one graphic novel, write about a character you sympathise. The character that I sympathise is Axel Lidenbrock. He is Professor Otto Lidenbrock’s nephew. When the professor wanted to figure out what the runic symbol in the document by the famous explorer, Arne Saknussem meant he forced Axel to help him. He said both he and Axel will not eat or sleep until they find the meaning. Later when they find out that the document shows how to get to the centre of the earth the professor forces Axel to go with him. I think as an uncle, the professor is a bully and I sympathise with Axel because he is not given a choice by his uncle. Based on one graphic novel above, write weather you like or do not like the ending of the story. I did not like the ending because I think it is a bit ridicuious. The explorers think they are going to die because they are on a raft in a volcano and the temperature is steadily increasing. The water begins to boil and their raft rises and finally when the volcano erupts the explorers are thrown out of the volcano. They land in Sicily, a country 3,000 miles away from Iceland. I think if they were in a volcano that was going to erupt they would have died. Therefore I feel the ending is illogical and I did not like it. Based on one graphic novel above, write an interesting event. An interesting event in the graphic novel, Journey to the centre of the Earth is when the explorers are caught in an electrical storm. They were travelling in an underground sea on a raft made by Hans. Suddenly the raft was hit by an electrical storm. Axel nearly died but luckily he survived. The explorers landed on a beach. The compass showed that they were back where they started. However the professor did not give up and said it was time to travel across the dangerous sea again. I found the event interesting as it showed that the professor does not give up easily.

Cultural Awareness

Within this report the aim is for organisations to develop and maintain positive attitudes towards cultural differences within the International Hospitality industry. This report will help to maintain and determine the opportunities that organisations can achieve if their limitations to cross-cultural competence can be avoided and by ensuring that the organisation implies an attitude of cross-cultural respect. IntroductionGlobalization has become a growing trend for organisations and that means they have to develop an effective international management strategies that will resolve the current issues, this means that organisations has to have a more systematic approach and understanding of value that diversity benefits brings into the International Hospitality industry. (19/10/2013)). Cultural diversity has become the most important factor in the working life within the hospitality industry due to becoming more diverse in the terms of race, ethnicity, national origin and other personn el characteristics of their staff members (Shaw and Barrett-Power, 1998).There isn’t any agreed definition for the term, but there is a new guidance from the Chartered Management Institute (2008) and they have suggested that it is about: â€Å"Valuing the differences between people and the ways in which those differences can contribute to a richer, more creative and more productive environment† The most visible term of diversity can be seen as (age, gender and colour) though the non-visible differences are (culture, religion and disability) these have been founded on the premise that adapting these differences which will help create a more productive environment for which every employee feels valued, also where their talents are being identified and fully used for in which their organisational goals are met (Kandola and  Fullerton, 1998).What Culture is?â€Å"The word culture can be said to be referred to the lifestyle of an entire society, also the term culture can be used in anthropology to help refer to a complex system of beliefs, values and codes of conduct. Society sees cultural differences as the variations in the way of life, traditions, beliefs and the laws that surrounds different countries, societies, religions and also people† (Business Dictionary) (18/10/2013). â€Å"Here are some examples of cultural differences and they are as following† (18/10/2013): 1. Clothing – For example Scottish men wears kilts to express their heritage. 2. Food – For example Islam people aren’t allowed to eat pork. 3. Language – For example Scottish people have their own language to communicate with one another. 4. Rules/ Laws – For example the European rules and regulations are different from United States of America’s rules and regulations.What Attitude is and how it is manifested?â€Å"Attitude is a predisposition or tendency to react positively or negatively that is aimed at a certain object, pe rson, idea or a current situation† (BusinessDictonary 18/10/2013). â€Å"It also has a huge influence on an individual’s choice of action and also which can be influenced by an individual’s response to a certain challenge, incentives and rewards (together these can be called stimuli)† (BusinessDictonary 18/10/2013 â€Å"They are four major components that influence attitude and how an individual reacts and they are†:1. Affective: An individual’s emotions and feelings towards another person can alter the affect they have for the person.2. Cognitive: An individual’s belief or their opinions can differ from other people’s beliefs to their culture and background.3. Conative: An individual’s inclination for the required action to ensure that they can accept the differences of another person culture and background.4. Evaluative: An individual’s positive or negative response to stimuli for them to take action on their att itude towards a certain person’s culture and background.An individual’s attitude can also be affected by the way that person has been brought up by their parents, it also can be influenced by a person’s emotion and behaviour. Another theorist has describes that a person attitude towards cultural diversity can be stated into two categories which is ethnocentric to ethnorelative stages, this is describe by (Milton Bennett appendix 1) my understanding of his Milton Bennett’s DMIS model is that it helps to describe the perspectives and behaviours that individuals face with cultural difference, and helps to identify and outlines a â€Å"continuum† of increasing cultural awareness, understanding, and adjustment.Implementing a management strategy towards cultural diversity within the International Hospitality Industry For organisations to manage effectively within a global or a domestic multicultural environment, they will need to recognize that they are differences and also learn to use these to their advantage, instead of attempting to ignore all the current differences or just simply allowing the differences to cause problems (Adler, 1997).It is said that managers should be taught how to adapt and respect the differences with work and also how to maximize the contribution of each employee (Cascio, 1998). Managers and their employees have to recognize that cultural diversity has its own potential advantages and disadvantages that helps to define an organisation’s strategy to help them manage cultural diversity within the workplace. Alder (1997) has identified the following strategies for managing cultural differences. And these are as following:1. Ignore cultural differences.2. Minimize cultural differences.3. Manage cultural differences.1. Ignore Differences:This strategy is where managers and employees adapt that they don’t recognize cultural differences or how it impacts the organisation, they also believe that â €Å"our way is the only way† to manage and organize. They see diversity as irrelevant. This strategy of ignoring cultural differences it precludes the potential of minimizing the negative impacts and also increasing positive impacts of diversity.2. Minimize Differences:This strategy is where managers commonly adapt the ethnocentric  method.Here they do recognize that cultural diversity but however only as a source of problems that occur within the workplace. Within an ethnocentric organisation, managers and employees believe that â€Å"our way is the best way† to help organize and manage. Within the strategy they attempt to socialize all employees into the behaviour pattern of the dominant culture, by adapting an ethnocentric organisation then they prevent the possibility of benefiting from many cultures that are present3. Managing Differences:For organisations that do adapt the strategy of managing differences within the workplace are synergistic organisations. They recognize the impacts of cultural diversity that can lead to both advantages and disadvantages. For the managers that using this approach believe that â€Å"our way and their way of behaving and managing differ† but both aren’t superior to each other. By applying a strategy then organisations create advantages that they could benefit from.OpportunitiesPeople’s attitude towards cultural differences can both have positive and negative impacts on the organisations but however these differences couldn’t be considered as hazards but rather opportunities and benefits if properly managed (Day, 2007). The opportunities that an organisations can benefit from include innovation, competitiveness and knowledge transfer. When associated with the benefits of cultural diversity there are four commonly mentioned reasons why companies within the International Hospitality Industry have to endure to be diverse.The four most commonly mentioned benefit of cultural diversity is:1. Valuable Innovation – First of all, diversity often stimulates new business innovations (Johansson, 2007). Employees within the organisation who multicultural backgrounds and experiences can bring in more improved innovation due to providing them with their new ideas from their viewpoints.2. Effective Knowledge Transfer – Within organisations cultural diversity can be useful in the knowledge transfer, although people come in different shapes, forms, and colours and do not seek out to be different from other people. Rather, people prefer to be with their own kind (Denton, 1997). This knowledge transfer helps to enhance the works productivity and efficiency.3. Increasing Competitiveness – Due to hospitality industry being extremely competitive  for companies to survive they have to control labour cost as well as increase customer count. Within todays dynamic markets companies have to serve various customer groups with different cultural background, hence f orward cultural diversity within the workforce can help companies to develop understanding of customers’ needs and keep long term business relations 4. Building Image – Cultural diversity can help organisations to enhance their corporate image. The hospitality industry has been somewhat passive about building a positive industry image for the public (Fernandez, 2006). Helps companies to recognize and accept diverse cultures.LimitationsWithin an organisation there are still many limitations and challenges that are faced when it comes to attitude towards cultural differences, either being an individual’s perspective or their behaviour. These are some of the challenges that are faced within organisations:1. Communication Issues.2. Discrimination Issues.3. Training Issues.4. Workplace Issues.5. Stereotyping Issues.6. Prejudice Issues.ConclusionGlobalization is a growing trend within businesses and have to give a rise to the need for the development of effective inte rnational management strategies therefore for many organisations there is a need to entail the thinking of a more clear approach towards cross-cultural aspects and issues.This report showed that there are always going to be more opportunities rather than limitations when it comes to cultural diversity, also for the understanding and management of diversity that has become important within the hospitality industry. Many of the cultural barriers that are commonly associated with diversity can be overcome in which this then will help to increase the awareness and sensitivity of cultural diversity management.RecommendationsTo ensure that all organisations within the international hospitality industry implement a strategy towards cultural diversity there have been many recommendations that can help them to achieve this within the workplace and also which recommendations that can be applied for which will benefit the organisation. Diversity has become a global aspect that affects the indu stry and which needs to be properly addressed and maintain, the recommendations that should be set out are:1. Implement a diversity strategy for the organisation to follow.2. To introduce diversity questionnaires for all employees to fill out.3. Implementation of a cultural awareness scheme for all employees to attend.4. Initiate a diversity management training program.5. Adopt an employee relationship management system.6. Overcome the stereotypes and increase fairness

Cross-Cultural Determinants of Employee Motivation in Starbucks Company

Introduction Starbucks has served as a milestone in the coffee industry and is a massive organization in terms of people employed and stores owned. At the current time it has revenue of $10.7 billion and owns 16,850 shops in 40 countries. Starbucks is clearly the world’s top coffee retailer, it employs 137,000 employees or â€Å"partners† as it likes to call them. Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, considers that ‘the tip of success in Starbucks is not coffee but employees’. He constantly builds upon the working experience of employees, providing chances of promotion, and treating workers as working partners is their way to operate sustainability. He firmly believes that the spirit of Starbucks is employees and feels honored about the value of Starbucks employees. Many theorists believe that â€Å"it is necessary to have a perfect education and training policy for better performance in a company† (Michelli, 2006). Despite serving in many countries, Starbucks h as a similar organizational structure; as a result, it does not take into account the cross cultural determinants. It has been criticized for its approach; also because, employees of some countries like UK are not as satisfied as employees from Poland and Germany, thus Starbucks must make use of cross-cultural determinants in order to improve its management methords. One of the most proficient theory, the Hofstede theory states that the motivational factors of every country are different and thus must be looked into before a company, such as Starbucks sets its motivational methods. Along with Hoftsede it talks about Management and Motivation in reference to the Grid/Group Theory by Douglas, which strives to classify different cultures in relation to being hierarchist, individualist, egalitarian and fatalist. It also talks about the ‘Cultural Theory’ and ‘Organizational Theory’ in relation to Starbucks. This research attempts to access these theories in ref erence to Starbucks, and its motivational methods across nations. It looks at a comparison between the way Starbucks company treats or must treat its employees across UK, Poland and Germany. Brief Overview The Starbucks Company is a vast and well constructed multi-national, which serves in 40 countries. It has to keep in mind various cross-cultural determinant while bringing in its motivational schemes. However, it has been criticized for not taking into account, cross-cultural determinants when building its management cultural across countries. It is often assessed, that the employees of countries like UK, seem to be less motivated than employees from Poland and Germany. This paper talks about all possible schemes in relation to motivational theories, that can be adopted by Starbucks,chiefly the Hofstede theory. The factors of this theory are highly relevant and can be implemented in various ways to improve performance. The first factor, Power distance can be defined as â€Å"the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally† (Hofstede 1991, p. 28). UK and Germany, are ranked as a low power distance society, where the relationship between bosses and subordinated is of interdependence, treating each worker equally and calling them ‘partners’. There, the managers of Starbucks are likely to place a greater importance on labors’ rights as compared to managers in Poland, which ranks as a high power distance country. However, in Poland there is a hierarchical social system, thus, it is said that their ‘ideal boss is a benevolent autocrat’. Another factor of the Hofstede theory is Masculinity, the dominant values in society being material success versus femininity, caring for others and the quality of life. UK, Poland and Germany, are Masculine societies, driven by competition, achievement and financial success. In these countries, people’s performance is highly valued and people ‘live in order to work’. Starbucks too, beliefs in monetary based appraisals, it spends $300 million, on their employees’ welfare, much more than ‘they do on coffee beans’. Starbucks even gave its UK staff shares worth around ?4 million in their employee share scheme ‘Bean Stock’, followed by a Christmas cash bonus to staff worth ?1.5 million. Uncertainty Avoidance, is another of Hofstede’s theories, it classifies countries into being high in Uncertainty Avoidance; having strict rules and resistance to changes like Germany and Poland and low in Uncertainty Avoidance; having fewer rules and being welcome to changes like UK. This is an important factor to look into a country when bringing in new innovations, and the planning of how the change has to be implemented. Managers of UK can bring in new ideas easily and with more enthusiasm while managers in Germany and Poland have to bring in changes subtely because people resist from breaking orthodox norms uneasy. Starbucks went through many changes when it merged with Giornale, it was welcoming to his employees’ involvement and included them in every change, by 1987, and employees at Starbucks had begun buying into the changes. The theory includes a comparison between countries which have more, individualism everyone is expected to look after themselves and their immediate family against collectivism, and cultures in which people are bound into strong and cohesive groups. UK, Germany and Poland, are individualistic societies, where the route to happiness is through individual accomplishment. Here the company, in order to motivate its employees has to come up with schemes to provide them and their families’ advantages. The culture in Starbucks is of mutual advantage, thus workers usually do a fruitful job but all these factors must be kept in mind. Understanding all the cross-cultural determinants including these is crucial for a company which serves such a wide range of cultures; their observation along with development on these lines, must all be looked into, in order to bring out the best results. Another theory is the Cultural Theory’ which talks about the importance of culture, stating that is is too ‘important to be left undefined and unrefined, and analysts need a deeper awareness of the anthropological and sociological frameworks’ when refining their management attitudes. It outlines the effect on culture in relation to common objectives, employee motivation and loyalty. Setting of roles, leadership, innovation, setting incentives, tolerance and accountability. The setting of the corporate cultural is extremely subjective of the countries cultural as a whole. The Grid/Group theory is another theory based on cultural determinants, created by Mary Douglas, in 1996. It strives to study cultural relativism, which can be increased through a classification system taking into account ‘moral system, worldviews and ideologies’. This classification is built into two axes, based on individualism versus collectivism, including isolate/fatalist, hierarchist, individualist and sectarian groups. Each type is based on different classifications, power paradigms, moral values and individuality. In this paper, it is used to analyze, the classification of different cultures, such as UK, Germany and Poland into these categories, observing where their general workers fall, taking into account their employee, culture, market and forms of hierarchy. The paper also talks about Organizational Culture Theory which is based on performance, ‘organization effectiveness, employee commitment, employee satisfaction, culture type, culture strength and culture congruence’. This theory is talked about in relation to Poland, Germany and UK; assessing them based on all these assesses their management and motivational factors. Even though Starbucks operates in different countries, its organization culture is often the same. This can be a harmful strategy, as due to differing cultural determinants, the company must change its strategies relatively. If this is not done, the motivation of employees can be lowered and the management can fail to do its job. Thus, this paper talks about all these theories and the possibilities that they provide to Starbucks, in modifying its strategies based on varying cross-cultural determinants. Objective This paper is set to analyze and evaluate the cross cultural determinants of Poland, UK and Germany, in order to find out the best ways to motivate the employees of those countries. It attempts to Find out the cross cultural determinants of these societies and the way the employees of these countries are treated. Methodology The Prime methodology used will be questionnaires that will be filled out by Starbucks employees across these countries. The questionnaire will be based on the Organizational Energy Questionnaire from ‘fully charged’ written by Heike Bruch, which is an instrument to measure a company’s energy state. The questions will include if the employees like what they do, do not have much drive feel relaxed in their job, feel angry in their job, feel enthusiastic in their jobs, have no desire to make something happen, speculate about the real intentions of management, have real care about company’s fate, are efficient in conducting work, behave in destructive manner, go out of their way to make company succeed and if they feel discouraged in their jobs. All these questions will convey about the general state of employees and their will be a separate questionnaire to observe the importance of cross-cultural determinants. References Heike Bruch and Bernd Vogel (2011). Fully Charged. United States of America: Harvard Business School Publishing. HOFSTEDE THEORY- Poland, (2011) [online]. [Accessed 2012]. Available from: . Penny Bassett (2004). CHINESE AND AUSTRALIAN STUDENTS’ CULTURAL PERCEPTIONS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY, Victoria University. Jim Boyer (2009). Understanding Hofstede’s Theory to Motivate Cross Cultural Employees. Business Insider [online]. (2011) [Accessed 6 May 2012]. Available from: Nicholson, N (1998) Encyclopedic Dictionary of Organizational Behavior Blackwell, pp 215 Hoovers [online]. [Accessed 2012]. Available from: . Starbucks Coffee [online]. [Accessed 2012]. Available from: . V S RAMA RAO (2009). The Hofstede Studies [online]. [Accessed 2012]. Available from: . Cultural Dimensions Theory [online]. (2010) [Accessed 2012]. Available from: . Zoe Wood (2010). Starbucks’ staff set to get free shares in incentive scheme. 19 December 2010. Starbucks [online]. [Accessed 2012]. Available from: . Employee Benefits [online]. (2011) [Accessed 2012]. Available from: . Projects [online]. (2011) [Accessed 2012]. Available from: . York Universit y [online]. (2011) [Accessed 2012]. Available from: .

Brief a case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Brief a case - Essay Example At one point the cars pulled up alongside one another and the drivers spoke to each other. A traffic stop involving the Ford discovered cocaine and DeLatorre had been observed driving by the traffic stop twice and slowing down to observe the scene. A search warrant executed on the home uncovered more drug-related evidence. DeLatorre was subsequently arrested and charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine and aiding and abetting possession with intent to distribute. Legal Issues: Delatorre appealed his convictions on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the conviction on each of the counts. In particular, Delatorre argued that the probative value of the evidence against him was outweighed by its prejudicial effect. Delatorre also argued that the trial judge abused the discretion by allowing the prosecution’s expert witness to give evidence on issues that fell outside of the witness’s expertise. Legal Reasoning: Referring to the Federal Rules of Evidence, Rule 702, the appellate court ruled that experts may testify to any fact or opinion based on â€Å"specialized knowledge that will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue† provided the expert is â€Å"qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training or education† (Rule 702). Moreover, if the court errs in determining the expertise of a specific expert witness pursuant to the definition provided in Rule 702, the conviction will not be overturned if the error was harmless (United States v Carrazana, 921 F.2d 1557 (11th Cir. 1991). The expert witness testified to drug language and schemes characteristic of the illegal drug trade. The appellate court ruled that courts have allowed Drug Enforcement Officers to testify as experts relative to drug trades language and schemes. In this case the appellate court was satisfied that the expert witness, as a Drug Enforcement Officer had the necessary

VISUAL ANALYSIS PAPER Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

VISUAL ANALYSIS PAPER - Essay Example a short time difference, the former artist belonged to the School of Florence and can be seen as a typical representative of Renaissance while the latter articulated a new period which is called Mannerism. To begin with, it may be particularly important to examine the similarities which can be found in the two works of art. First of all, the most obvious point that the two paintings share is colors of the clothes that Mary the Virgin wears. Thus, the authors adhered to the tradition and depicted her wearing old fashion garments, one of which is red and the other is blue. The contrast between these two colors is easily recognizable and is pleasing to the eye. While both authors used red, the intensity of this color is different: on the former picture it is significantly lighter than on the second one. Another point that the two works of art share is the posture of Mary. As one can easily see, she is depicted sitting and looking at her child. It is rather obvious that this composition can be interpreted from different points of view. On the one hand, this kind of posture reflects the biblical story and might be seen as a typical one. On the other hand, it is quite natural for a mother to look at her child while being painted or taken picture of. That is why the general atmosphere of the picture is incredibly humanistic: it depicts behavior of almost real people which contributes to warm perception of it. The third aspect which should be taken into account while considering the similarities between the two pictures is the way the two characters look. It must be noted that they do not look straight at the audience, but down and to the side. The reason why Mary is depicted in such a way can be easily understood: she looks at her son who is smaller than her and is sitting on her laps; that is why, it is natural for her to look down. However, the child also looks down and to the side. There are might be several ways to explain it. According to one of them, people can

Police Officers and Degrees Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Police Officers and Degrees - Essay Example Obtaining tangible evidence is essential to officers since they use it to identify potential suspects (Dempsey & Linda, 2011). However, in order to become a competent police officer, one bear in mind that he or she needs to have both educational and physical requirements that meet the standards of law enforcement officers. In addition to that, a police must complete the police academic training program set by the country. This paper will seek to discuss whether police officers should have degrees or not. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics sets forth that, before anyone becomes a police officer, he or she must posses the minimum education qualifications. In most cases, it usually lies in a school diploma or any other academic qualification equivalent to a school diploma (Siegel & Welsh, 2011). Nowadays, most police agencies require their officers to have at least a college level qualification. This means that things are changing and the police force is no longer the way it was decades ago. Analysts set out that, police officers who possess college level degrees are good at setting in place strategies suitable for curbing crime activities in their area (Fred, 2008). They are able to improvise the activities and performance of an agency by ensuring advent security through set policies and procedures (Cole, Smith, & Christina, 2012). With reference to this spectrum, it is important for a police officer to have a degree, as this would aid in meeting the set security targets. Fact-findings make it clear that, interrogation or questioning a suspect requires more than just techniques that an officer learns when he or she joins the police-training academy. In fact, officers responsible for interrogation sessions have more than just a college diploma. As time went by, requirements stated that police needs to have a higher knowledge about behavior and cognition in order to be in a position to interrogate a suspect (Fred, 2008). This fact shows that for the police to be abl e to deliver the relevant security efforts, they must acquire degrees since going through all that training gives one the power of knowledge and techniques sufficient to carry police tasks with adequacy. A degree for a police officer is imperative since education and skills are the best weapons for guiding and guarding whereby law enforcement officers act as both. In order to deliver adequately, officers need to have the skills and academic prowess that comes along with degree acquisition (Dempsey & Linda, 2011). Having a degree aids in advancing ranks. Apart from the law enforcement docket, most ministries consider educational background before promoting an employee to a higher level. Therefore, if police officers could learn to an extent that they all have degrees, it means that people working as law enforcement agents would not only be learned, but also competent. For instance, in areas where obtaining evidence requires use of mind or nerve or pulse reading machines, intense know ledge is crucial. As such, it is important for a police officer conducting such sessions to have a cognitive knowledge in that area (Siegel & Welsh, 2011). To enhance measures of maintaining civilian security, officers should have at least college degrees (More & Miller, 2010). Those officers dealing with police science or criminal justice should a degree in law enforcement policies, evidence gathering, constitutional rights, and criminology. Agreeably, being conversant with all these topics

Clinical Pharmacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Clinical Pharmacy - Essay Example It is evident that besides balanced food that is given to the patient some other nutrient supplements facilitate in recovery and reduce the health related troubles that become devastating if deficiency is related with the nutrients required for the well being. Patients are getting variety and choice of nutrition feed because of the commercial availability of many products in the market. Many companies are coming up with a special protocol of feed and related illness. This enhances the awareness of patient about the kind of food essential to combat illness (Concern at nutrition in hospitals). Nutrition supplements are licensed products and can be provided as the sole source of nutrition. They may be prescribed on medical grounds for diverse ailments. Depending on the severity and class of sickness, the nutrition supplements can be taken. Hospitals play lead role in making the patient aware of the consequences if the nutrition is not provided in the desired quantity. Hospital staff must help the patient psychologically, the advantages and disadvantages of the feed type he has been introduced to. This not only prepares the patient mentally but patient also co-operates with the hospital staff. Keeping this in mind the present study is conducted to build an understanding towards the nutritional support products, their advantages and problems and the available products that patient can utilize for better and sooner recovery. Basically three types of feeds are given for diverse ailments these are: Sip feeds, Enteral (tube) feeds and TPN feeds. Sip Feeds Various policies are defined to prescribe Sip feeds or Oral Nutrition Supplements for Patients with poor nutritional status especially those having: Disease related malnutritione.g. Reduced appetite or experience difficulty in swallowing, in cancer of throat or gut. Short-bowel syndrome (SBS) Intractable malapsorption Pre-operative preparation of undernourished patients Proven inflammatory bowel disease Following total gastrectomy Dysphagia Bowel Fistulas CAP Dialysis (Nutrition support in adults) Importance of Sip feed: Help the patient to gain weight or avoid loss of weight. Help the patient to surmount weakness of tiredness Help the patient to take in adequate liquid. Help the patient to alleviate the pressure to eat Help the patient to drink enough when dietary supplements cannot. (Nutrition support in adults) Before prescribing Sip feed it is essential to assess nutritional status, BMI calculation and weight loss by using simple nutritional risk scoring system When prescribing sip feeds * Do try equipped standard food (by adding milk, butter, cheese or cream)as first line therapy (4weeks before stipulating sip feeds). * Ensure that all patients be given suitable dietary advice by a state-registered dietitian or suitable trained member of the primary health care team. * No long term use without regular monitoring and assessment * It should not exceed 500-600kcals daily unless under the care of a dietitian. * Ensure that supplements are not taken at meal times / after meals e.g. as a bedtime drink to avoid reduction in food intake. * It should not be given as the sole source of nutrition except in consultation with

Strategic Management and Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words - 3

Strategic Management and Leadership - Essay Example The company’s headquarters is in Memphis, Tennessee. The corporation has many major divisions working under it which are like FedEx Express, FedEx Freight, FedEx Services and FedEx Ground. Among all these the flagship segment for the company is its FedEx Express which is the global leader in shipment industry providing the best quality service tot eh customers over the years continuously. The company has its business operations spread across in totally 220 countries with 300,000 employees, 660 aircrafts and 90,000 vehicles ready to perform at their best to provide the best quality service to the customers across all the countries. The company has been rated in the top 100 companies across the world in Fortune magazine and also has been ranked among the top 10 companies that are been admired globally in 2009 (FedEx, 2014). The corporation has got the highest number of aircrafts for shipment purpose than other companies in the shipment industry present in the global world. In 20 12, in US the company had a market share of 49% and also had a dream to grow continuously and capturing 15-20% of the market share in the global market having its good presence in mostly all the countries. The company’s net operating income value is around $2 billion and the revenue of the company is approximately $42 billion, in this 80% of the income generated for the company is from its flagship service FedEx Express which has been on the top of shipment of goods among all the other competitors present in the market. Many big companies like Apple have trusted over FedEx for their shipment process and they have used the service of FedEx to ship their products and parts to different parts of the world. Looking at the financial report of the company over the last few years it can be seen that the company has grown in a huge way in the last few years and has increased its market share and revenue with a good percentage over the previous years.

The software architecture Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The software architecture - Assignment Example The software application architecture is a basic structure that should meet all the software application requirements including technical as well as operational. The objective of developing software architecture is that the under development software application should qualify all the quality parameters defined in the architecture. The generic quality attributes include but are not limited to the performance, modifiability, reliability, interoperability, maintainability, portability, efficiency, effectiveness and security. It is pertinent to mention here that the advantages of using the software application cannot be achieved if the software application does not accomplish the quality parameters specified in the software architecture.   A definition of the software architecture provided by the Mary Shaw and David Garlan has been modified and refined by Grady Booch, Rich Reitman, Philippe Kruchten and Kurt Bittner. Moreover, the same has been provided by Microsoft at their website: â€Å"Software architecture encompasses the set of significant decisions about the organization of a software system including the selection of the structural elements and their interfaces by which the system is composed; behavior as specified in collaboration among those elements; composition of these structural and behavioral elements into larger subsystems; and an architectural style that guides this organization. There are few principles or guidelines require remembering while developing architecture of the software application.

Platos Contributions Essay Example for Free

Platos Contributions Essay It is believed that Plato, a student of Socrates, was one of the greatest contributors of philosophy. Proof of Platos notoriety in the world of philosophy can be clearly seen with his dialogues and his renowned student Aristotle. Plato’s writings are in the form of dialogues, with Socrates as the principal speaker. With his theory of Forms, he had discussed a wide range of metaphysical and ethical questions while finding inherent connections between the two. Plato also considered epistemological questions, such as whether knowledge is justified true belief. His greatest work, The Republic, developed theories of justice. Proof of a truly great philosopher can be shown by his or her students. As mentioned before, Platos Academy was a breeder of philosophers. One of the most prominent philosophers to come from the Academy was Aristotle. Plato himself took Aristotle under his wing and taught him the ways of understanding and contemplating the world around him. Plato divided his world into two aspects. These worlds have forms, the intelligible world and the perceptual world. Plato saw the perceptual world around us as imperfect copies of the intelligible forms or ideas. In the intelligible world, forms are unchangeable and perfect and only comprehensible by the use of intellect and understanding. For example, a chair is a chair because it â€Å"participates in† the Form of Chair. The forms are ideal â€Å"patterns,† unchanging, timeless, and perfect. Plato speaks of them as self-assertion: the Form of Beauty is perfectly beautiful. This led, to the Third Man Argument that there must be an infinite number of Forms. â€Å"If it’s impossible for unlike things to be like and like things unlike, isn’t it then impossible for them to be many? Because, if they were many, they would have incompatible properties† (Plato â€Å"Parmenides† 126), this is Mary Louise Gill and Paul Ryan’s translation of Plato’s Forms of Likeness and Unlikeness. Thus one and the same thing can be both like and unlike, or one and many, by participating in the Forms of Likeness and Unlikeness, of Unity and Plurality. Plato also believed that knowledge is innate, or inborn, and that the development of ideas is buried deep in the soul, and may be guided out by teachers. Plato drew a sharp distinction between knowledge, which is certain, and mere opinion. Opinions derive from the shifting world of sensation knowledge derives from the world of timeless Forms, or essences. Theaetetus stated, â€Å"It seems to me that a man who knows something perceives what he knows, and the way it appears at present, at any rate, is that knowledge is simply perception† (Cooper 168), in which Socrates agreed with that statement. In his best-known dialogue, The Republic, consisted of a lengthy dialogue on the nature of justice. Socrates identifies the four major virtues in the different aspects of this republic: the guardians possess wisdom, the auxiliaries possess courage, and the whole possesses justice and moderation. Plato believed that justice is the most important virtue. Socrates said, â€Å"Justice is minding of one’s own business and not being a busybody† (Plato â€Å"The Republic† 111). Hence, the justice of an ideal republic does not reside in any particular part of the republic but rather in the structure of the republic as a whole. While Plato is best known for his work The Republic, his larger contribution to philosophy includes many such dialogues that are of ancient thought and debate. Platos knowledge and theories have survived throughout the ages and are still relevant in todays society. He continued to teach until the end, winning the admiration and love of his students and fellow Athenians. His contributions to philosophy will be never-ending.? Works Cited Cooper, John M. , ed. Plato Complete Works. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1997. Print. Plato. Parmenides. Trans. Mary Louise Gill and Paul Ryan. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 428-347 B. C. Print. . The Republic. Trans. Allan Bloom. : The Perseus Book Group, 1968. Print.

UK DMS Military Amputee Rehabilitation Strategy

UK DMS Military Amputee Rehabilitation Strategy Introduction The previous chapter provided information regarding the context and background to the study, the research aim and objectives, the statement of the problem, the scope and limitations of the study, and the study structure. Globally, the availability of rehabilitative staff and for that matter health workers in general has become a cause for concern. WHO (2006) commented that the world faces a shortage of 4.2 million health workers. Experts have warned that the number of health workers being trained domestically in many countries is threatened by the strain on public finances inflicted by the ongoing economic crisis. The EU could face a shortage of 1 million health professionals by 2020 or 2 million if long-term care and auxiliary professions are also taken into account (Jensen, 2013). To combat these shortages, the UK and USA recruit staff on an industrial and international scale (Eckenwiler, 2009). This chapter will review the UK DMS military amputee rehabilitation strategy. Comparing the UK with US, it will review the global rehabilitation situation, discussing a number of issues affecting service provision, and rehabilitation staff availability. Additionally, the chapter will review some of the current evidence supporting the impact relocation has on the retention of civilian rehabilitation staff, and review perspectives underlying staffs willingness to stay with health organisations. UK Military Rehabilitation Strategy The principal aim of the UK DMS Rehabilitation Strategy (the Defence Military Rehabilitation Programme) is to return service personnel to operational levels of fitness as soon as possible the fitter quicker principle. Where this is not achievable e.g. military amputee patients the aim is to attain the maximal level of physical, psychological and social health possible (MOD, 2010, p.1). The Defence Military Rehabilitation Strategy (the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Programme) currently encompasses two distinct capabilities; the DMRC (Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre) and the DMRS (Defence Medical Rehabilitation Service). The DMRC is the foremost Defence rehabilitation centre where service personnel can receive rehabilitation for neurological, complex trauma (polytrauma) or force generation musculoskeletal conditions. The DMRS (MOD, 2016) is provided through a tiered network of rehabilitation facilities including 152 Primary Care Rehabilitation Facilities (PCRF) and 15 Regional Rehabilitation Units (RRU) across the UK and Germany. The PCRFs are Unit/Station based rehabilitation departments offering physiotherapy and exercise therapy on an outpatient basis. Patients with injuries that cannot be resolved at this level are referred to RRUs who provide rapid access to imaging services, podiatry and residential rehabilitation. The Defence Military Rehabilitation Programme is also supported by PRCs (Personnel Recovery Centres). They are residential facilities situated in or near garrisons and are available to all members of the Armed Forces during their recovery from sickness or injury. They aim to assist personnel back to either military service or a second career in a civilian occupation. US Military Rehabilitation Strategy United States Military Rehabilitation Strategy recognised the need for an overhaul of rehabilitation services during the War in Afghanistan. Seven years after US troops entered the Afghanistan conflict, Congress passed the Defence Authorization Act of 2008, which reflected legal and healthcare workers concerns about the quality and availability of medical care services (Lister, Panangala, and Scott, 2008). Accordingly, todays casualties receive an effective and expansive set of rehabilitative services that are akin to those seen in the in the United Kingdom. US rehabilitative care is provided by Tricare (a health care program of the United States Department of Defense Military Health System) and the Veterans Association (VA)2. Global Rehabilitation Issues Amputee Services Amputee rehabilitation services in high income countries are usually centrally funded and provide effective support. Amputee rehabilitation in low and middle income countries depends on their nations stage of development. In areas beset by war (for example Cambodia, Vietnam, Angola, Mozambique and Uganda), the greatest number of amputations (Staats, 1996) results from conflict and landmine explosions. As war drags on, the number of amputees increases and becomes an economic burden. In some countries the number of amputees is so great it is considered an ecological as well as economic disaster; this is the amputee volume imperative. In these regions amputee rehabilitation in any form is a luxury, if it is available at all. Global Rehabilitation Issues Population Effects When delivered at its best, rehabilitation provides people with the tools they need to attain maximal health, function, independence and self-determination (WHO, 2002). The World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank estimate that people with disabilities constitute at least 15% of the worlds population, with the majority in low and middle-income countries (WHO, 2011; Pryor and Boggs, 2012). Despite the continued increase in rehabilitation cases worldwide, prioritizing and monitoring of progress to improve health services for people with disabilities remains inadequate (Tomlinson et al., 2009). International evidence shows that people with disabilities have many unmet health and rehabilitation needs, face barriers in accessing mainstream health-care services, and consequently have poor health. With an ever-increasing incidence and prevalence of chronic disabling non-communicable diseases (Boutayeb and Boutayeb, 2005) and a global health refocus on reducing mortality, the world is experiencing a growing demand for rehabilitation services. Generally however, physical and functional rehabilitation is not emphasized in global health discourse (Pryor and Boggs, 2012), despite many recent documents, including various national and international policy instruments and the World Report on Disability (2011) that stressed that physical rehabilitation services are a necessary element of a comprehensive system. The WHO Global Disability Action Plan 2014-2021 (2015) includes the strengthening of rehabilitation services as a key objective. To achieve this objective, it provides capacity building actions (to meet this objective) for member states, national and international partners. Currently however, rehabilitation services, particularly in low and middle-income countries, do not have t he capacity to adequately address the needs of their populations. Global Rehabilitation Issues Finance and Resources UK and US military rehabilitation strategies are able to provide tiered and specialist services as they are centrally funded. Specialised amputee services in high income countries can also attract charitable donations in order to achieve the best care solution. Where rehabilitation is adequately financed, national rehabilitation strategies (NRH, 2009) dictate that care should be delivered from 3 perspectives: general rehabilitation; specialist rehabilitation; and a complex specialised rehabilitation service (C-SRS). In high income countries (UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden) rehabilitation is integrated in health care and financed under the national health system (Lilja et al., 2009; WHO, 2004). In other countries responsibilities are divided between different ministries. This stymies rehabilitation services at regional and local level; they are often poorly coordinated and not integrated into the overall system (OECD, 2008). The cost of rehabilitation can be a barrier for people with disabilities in high-income as well as low-income countries. Rehabilitation is problematic even where central funding from government, insurers, or NGOs is available, as it may not cover enough of the costs to make it affordable (Bijelow et al., 2004). Deficits in the New Zealand rehabilitation infrastructure and workforce already severely compromise access to and provision of rehabilitation services (New Zealand Rehabilitation Association, 2014). Australia (the sixth largest country in the world) is a high-income country, ranked 19th in terms of per capita GDP. The development of health services in Australia has mainly been focused on metropolitan and regional areas, with both on-site and outreach locations. A review of 30 years of development in rehabilitation, clinical services, and education reforms in Victoria (Pryor and Boggs, 2012), indicates that progress has been indifferent with mistakes, dead ends and successes al ong the way. Financing strategies can improve the provision, access, and coverage of rehabilitation services, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries. Whilst it can be assumed that any new strategy should be carefully evaluated for its applicability and cost-effectiveness before being implemented, the reality is that rapid implementation negates strategic review. In low and middle income countries, physical and functional rehabilitation is particularly challenging, given human resource shortages and inadequate funding of health care. In these situations, rehabilitation services have evolved in unique ways. They are often strongly linked to humanitarian responses and wider disability actions, and are less connected with mainstream health care than in other settings. Aid agencies from Australia, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States have supported such activities (Dolea, 2010). The rehabilitation sector is frequently disconnected from the health sector and is closely linked with poverty reduction strategies. Limited resources and health infrastructure in developing countries, and in rural and remote communities in developed countries, can reduce access to rehabilitation and quality of services (World Bank, 2009). In a survey of the reasons for not using health facilities in two Indian states, 52.3% of respondents indicated that no healthcare facility in the area was available (World Bank, 2009). Other countries lack rehabilitation services that have proven effective at reducing long-term costs, such as early intervention for children under the age of five (Stucki et al., 2005; Rimmer, 2006; Storbeck and Pittman, 2008). A study of users of community-based rehabilitation (CBR) in Ghana, Guyana, and Nepal showed limited impact on physical well-being because CBR workers had difficulties providing physical rehabilitation (Stucki et al., 2005). A 2005 global surv ey (SNCDD, 2006) of the implementation of the nonbinding, United Nations Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities found that: in 48 of 114 (42%) countries that responded to the survey, rehabilitation policies were not adopted; in 57 (50%) countries legislation on rehabilitation for people with disabilities was not passed; in 46 (40%) countries rehabilitation programmes were not established. Spending on rehabilitation services is difficult to determine because it generally is not disaggregated from other health care expenditure. Many countries particularly low and middle income countries struggle to finance rehabilitation, but rehabilitation is a good investment because it builds human capital (Haig et al., 2009). Health care funding often provides selective coverage for rehabilitation services, for example, by restricting the number or type of assistive devices, the number of therapy visits over a specific time, or the maximum cost (Dejong, Palsbo, and Beatty, 2002), in order to control cost. Governments in 41 of 114 countries did not provide funding for assistive devices in 2005 (SNCDD, 2006). In Haiti, before the 2010 earthquake, an estimated three quarters of amputees received prosthetic management due to the lack of availability of services (Bijelow et al., 2004). Poor access to prosthetic services that were available was attributed partially to users being unable to pay (Bijelow et al., 2004). Rehabilitation national survey in India, found two thirds of the assistive technology users reported having paid for their devices themselves (World Bank, 2009). Whilst global strategy recognised the need for appropriate resourcing, very few countries recognised the impact of disability on income. People with disabilities have lower incomes and are often unemployed, so are less likely to be covered by employer-sponsored health plans or private voluntary health insurance. If they have limited finances and inadequate public health coverage, access to rehabilitation may also be limited, compromising activity and participation in society (Crowley, 2003). Global Rehabilitation Issues Availability of Services and Staff National rehabilitation strategies require competent professional staff in great numbers; the global availability however of qualified /experienced rehabilitation professionals is on the decline (Chen, 2006). Not only do the settings for rehabilitation vary greatly from country to country, the availability of rehabilitation services in different settings varies within and across nations and regions (WHO, 2004; Haig, 2007; Tinney et al., 2007; Buntin, 2007; Ottenbacher and Graham, 2007). Haig et al (2009) flippantly concluded that the chance of a person with a disability in sub-Saharan Africa meeting a physician with specialist skills is about the same as that for an Antarctic penguin. Continuous WHO research has revealed wide cross-national disparities in the supply of rehabilitation health professionals. Lower income countries tend to have the lowest densities with less than 0.5 workers per 10,000 inhabitants in many countries of sub-Saharan Africa but also in several across Asia (Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Myanmar, India) and the Eastern Mediterranean (Iran, Yemen). Many high income countries including Finland, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada have workforce densities several times higher (De Savigny and Adam, 2009). This finding is not surprising: large differences across countries and critical shortages of highly skilled professionals in low-income countries have been well documented (Chen, 2006). Building a cadre of trained amputee rehabilitation personnel is a goal of many organisations and governments. Dunleavy (2007) suggests that the quality of the rehabilitation workforce in low-income countries is both disturbing and dangerous. A recent comprehensive survey of rehabilitation in Ghana identified no rehabilitation doctor or occupational therapist in the country, resulting in very limited access to therapy and assistive technologies (Tinney, 2007). An extensive survey of rehabilitation doctors in sub-Saharan Africa identified only six, all in South Africa, for more than 780 million people, while Europe has more than 10 000 and the United States more than 7000 (Haig et al., 2009). Discrepancies are also large for other rehabilitation professions (Saxena et al., 2007). Many developing countries do not have educational programmes for rehabilitation professionals. According to the 2005 global survey, 37 countries had not taken action to train rehabilitation personnel and 56 had not updated medical knowledge of health-care providers on disability (SNCDD, 2006). Despite a huge need for rehabilitation services in both urban and rural Cambodia, for example, hospitals could not afford to hire rehabilitation professionals (Dunleavy, 2007). Global Rehabilitation Issues Communication and Strategy Inadequate health information systems and communication strategies can contribute to low rates of participation in rehabilitation. Barriers to rehabilitation include poor communication across the health care sector and between providers (notably between primary and secondary care), inconsistent and insufficient data collection processes, multiple clinical information systems, and incompatible technologies (DiGiacomo, 2010). Poor communication can result in ineffective coordination of responsibilities among providers (Kroll and Neri, 2003). Complex referral systems can limit access. Where access to rehabilitation services is controlled by doctors (Dejong, Palsbo, and Beatty, 2002), medical rules or attitudes of primary physicians can obstruct individuals with disabilities from obtaining services (Hilberink, 2007). People are sometimes not referred, or inappropriately referred, or unnecessary medical consultations may increase their costs (Eldar, 2000; Holdsworth et al., 2006). The 200 5 global survey (SNCDD, 2006) of 114 countries, revealed 57 did not consult with families of persons with disabilities about design, implementation, and evaluation of rehabilitation programmes. This directly challenged McColl and Boyces supposition (2003) that the development, implementation, and monitoring of strategy and policy should always include users. A study of rehabilitation medicine related to physical impairments in five central and eastern European countries suggested that the lack of strategic planning for services had resulted in an uneven distribution of service capacity and infrastructure (Eldar et al., 2008). Strategy and planning needs to be based on analysis of the current situation, and consider the main aspects of rehabilitation provision leadership, financing, information, service delivery, products and technologies, and the rehabilitation workforce (De Savigny and Adam, 2009), defining priorities based on local need. Many countries have good legislation and related policies on rehabilitation, but the implementation of these policies, and the development and delivery of regional and local rehabilitation services, have lagged. Retention of Rehabilitation Staff Like other health staff, retaining rehabilitation professionals is affected by poor working conditions, safety concerns, poor management, conflict, inadequate training, lack of career development and continuing education opportunities (Crouch 2001; Tinney, 2007; Lehmann, Dieleman, and Martineau, 2008; Tran et al., 2008; Dolea, 2010). High income countries do not suffer from this scarcity, as their economies regularly attract healthcare workers from low-income countries (Landry, Rickets, and Verrier, 2007; Mock et al., 2007; Lehmann, Dieleman, and Martineau, 2008; Willis-Shattuck, 2008; Magnusson and Ramstrand, 2009). Retaining professional workers is especially important as professional workers may have stronger professional than organisational identification reasons for staying (Robertson and Hammersley, 2000). Retention can prove difficult however as turnover tends to be growing rapidly across many industries (Si, Wei and Li, 2008). More importantly, when employees leave they take their know-how with them and thus an organisation risks a potential loss of experience and expertise (Walker, 2001; Frank, Finnegan and Taylor, 2004). Employers invest a lot in recruiting and selecting employees and then invest even more in training and developing them over time. The development of these assets is an important task for human-resource managers (Sutherland, Torricelli, Karg, 2002). Moncarz, Zhao and Kay (2009) found that professional growth is an important retention factor and that in organisations where employees receive the proper training needed to assume greater responsibilities, turnover rates are generally lower (p. 441). Why Staff Stay With Organisations The learning and development of employees is an important retention-supporting strategy (Horwitz, Heng, and Quazi, 2003; Kyndt et al., 2009). Tymon, Stumpf and Smith (2011) note how retaining the best professional talent is of great practical significance to organisations as it eliminates the recruiting, selection and on-boarding costs of their replacement, maintains continuity in their areas of expertise, and supports a culture in which merit can be rewarded (p. 293). Advancement opportunities appear to motivate high-performer retention more so than other employees (Hausknecht, Rodda, and Howard, 2009). The role of management as a key factor in the retention of professional workers has been cited by several studies. Andrews and Wan (2009) link improved nurse retention to manager behaviour (p. 342) and Snyder and Lopez (2002) emphasize the role of leaders in an organisation in encouraging the talent of the organisation to stay. Research has shown that as long as employees feel that they are learning and growing, they will be less inclined to leave. On the other hand, once employees feel they are no longer growing, they begin to look externally for new job opportunities (Rodriguez, 2008). Factors influencing retention appear to be the existence of challenging and meaningful work, opportunities for advancement, positive relationships with colleagues, empowerment, responsibility, recognition of capabilities and performance contributions, rewards, good work-life balance, good communication within the organisation, managerial integrity and quality, and new opportunities/challenges (Arnold 2005; Herman 2005; Pitts, Marvel, and Fernandez, 2011; Allen and Shanock, 2013). The role of management as a key factor in the retention of professional workers has been cited by several studies. Andrews and Wan (2009) link improved nurse retention to manager behaviour (p. 342) and Snyder and Lopez (2002) emphasize the role of leaders in an organisation in encouraging the talent of the organisation to stay. There appears to be two aspects of management that are particularly important in retention these being the adoption of an appropriate style of leadership (Spence Laschinger et al., 2009) and perceived management support (Paillà ©, 2013). Since learning and development opportunities appear crucial for the retention of talented employees (Arnold, 2005; Echols, 2007; Rodriguez, 2008; Kroon and Freese, 2013) an organisation must establish a supportive learning and working climate. This makes development and learning critical for attracting and retaining employees, because talented people are inclined to leave if they feel they are not growing and stretching (Michaels, Handfield-Jones, and Axelrod, 2001, p. 14). Relocation and Strategy Relocation is among one of the most radical strategic decisions a firm can make (Isabella 1990). Relocation is essentially a form of organisational change, which, in its simplest form, can be defined as a difference between new and old settings (Weber and Manning, 2001, p. 229). Even when completed within the same vicinity, it is a complex and unsystematic process involving several stakeholders, phases and decisions (OMara, 1999). Whilst relocation can be perceptualised as a golden opportunity, with organisations using change as a catalyst to introduce elements of organisational change (Inalhan, 2009), it can have a significant impact on real estate costs, productivity, efficiency, workforce satisfaction, and meeting the overall business objectives (Morgan and Anthony, 2008; Christersson and Rothe, 2013). For employees, the combination of workplace redesign and relocation can be challenging. Not only are they facing a change in their workspace, they also lose the organisational patte rns and roles that were a part of the old premises (Milligan, 2003). Additionally, the way the change is delivered can also impact on how the change is received (Bull and Brown, 2011; Vischer, 2011). At an organisational level, many positive effects of relocation have been identified; positive changes in employee behaviour: enhanced employee satisfaction and productivity: improved decision-making, collaboration and cross-selling: improved retention and recruitment: reduced churn costs: and positive client feedback (Morgan and Anthony, 2008). On the other hand, relocation can also be risk-laden (Rasila and Nenonen, 2008). People form emotional links to physical environments, called place attachment (Milligan, 2003; Inalhan, 2009), and a relocation inevitably causes a disruption in this relationship to the old premises with some employees experiencing loss and grieving (Inalhan, 2009) or even a form of organisational death (Milligan, 2003). Early employee involvement and empowerment to participate in decision-making should be a part of projects where workplace change is significant and a part of a cultural transformation. Effective managerial communication in an organisation helps to connect with employees, build positive relationships and frame attitudes and behaviours of employees in the workplace and numerous studies state that communication plays an important role in the change process (Elving, 2005; Hayes, 2007) and some even claim that employee communication can mean its success or failure (Barrett, 2002). Communication of the reason and impact of the workplace change is significant in influencing the participants to accept change, and it is suggested to be even more important than the frequency or amount of information supplied (Bull and Brown, 2011). Despite this, employee experiences of the relocation process have not been widely addressed, with the exception of needs and experiences of employees in long-distan ce relocations, where organisations move to a new geographical area and the employees will have to move to a new home to stay with the company (Rabianski, 2007). Studies conducted within a relocated setting, often focus on comparing employees experiences of the old office with the new one (Brennan, Chugh, and Kline, 2002; Brown et al., 2010), but do not give attention to how employees experience the change in location. Conclusion The current economic situation has severely impacted global rehabilitation services. In low and middle income countries, inadequate resourcing combined with an ineffectual health infrastructure and consistent neglect of rehabilitation services, leaves patients facing lifelong disability. Some countries are barely able to provide a single rehabilitation practitioner. Beset by the net effects of an ever increasing population, the increasing health burden will continue to destabilize and overwhelm the most basic rehabilitation services. Even affluent countries (UK and USA) struggle to retain or recruit personnel, depending on industrial-scale immigration of qualified rehabilitation staff from countries who can barely afford their release. Nations (and naturally organisations, the DMS and MOD) recognise the qualities an experienced workforce can deliver. With the prospect of relocation, retaining these workforces can be difficult. Thus, the availability and maintenance of personal and professional development are key retention strategies. Relocation however, can have diverse results. On the one hand it can result in positive changes in employee behaviour, enhanced employee satisfaction and productivity; on the other it can result in a significant impact on the workforce, leading to the loss of staff with a resulting shortfall in experience and expertise. Though there are a number of researchers that have investigated healthcare workers perspectives of relocation and retention, this literature review has revealed a lack of any available UK military associated research of its military or civilian staff. The next chapter will attempt to address the DMRC civilian rehabilitation workforces retention and relocation perspectives through a research methodology that will encompass a qualitative focus group and cross-sectional quantitative investigation.

Development of Organizational Architecture

Development of Organizational Architecture Venter and Louw (2006, pg 394) describes organizational architecture is an integrated strategic response, which draws together key dimensions of the organization (such as organizational structure, leadership, organizational culture, policies and strategies and the to guide strategic formulation, alignment and implementation. This report will seek to critically discuss organizational architecture as a cohesive framework that will bring about change within PPC. Venter and Louw (2006, pg 394) says that the ability of an organization to facilitate the effective and efficient implementation of strategy is almost entirely dependent on its internal functioning, for it is the internal organization which is seen to comprise those elements that are pivotal in translating the strategy into tangible outcomes and actions. We will do this by exploring the notions of PPCs alignment and implementation with particular reference to the architecture developed by Lee et al (2004). Stakeholders The main driver of PPC strategy as described in the case study is to enhance stakeholders relationships. PPC Stakeholders are shareholders, customers suppliers, the broader community and its employees. These different employees are affected differently by PPC strategy. During the strategy formulation phase, PPC was able to establish that the main hindrance to achieving consistency was that their 4000 employees were demotivated. So PPC embarked on a strategy to motivate its employees. Cameron (2003) defines motivation as the force that drives behaviour in a particular direction. Mitchell (1982) defines motivation as those psychological processes that cause the arousal, direction and persistence of voluntary actions that are goal oriented. Both Cameron and Mitchell point out that motivation is goal oriented however Mitchell (1982) further defines this force as a psychological processes in his definition of motivation. This distinction by Mitchell is important in that it realizes motivation as a process (i.e. consisting of a number of steps) and psychological. This distinction reveals that for a manager to be able to motivate he has to identify the psychological needs of his employees and then devise a process of meeting those needs. PPC was able to identify that motivation of employees was one of the factors that it needed to improve in order to improve its goals. So it looked at how this can be achieved. Capabilities Louw and Venter (2006) describe capabilities as those different deliverables provided to the stakeholders by the organization and dependent on the nature of the organization. From the case study PPC seems to be following a low cost structure for its cement business and a differentiation strategy for its PPC Lime and Afripack business. These different capabilities have implications on PPC stakeholders. For example, for shareholders, the low cost strategy has high returns through streamlined, more cost effective operations and proved by the increase in share price from R78 to R122 by the end of September 2003. So the above combination of strategies has the benefit of drawing elements from both capabilities. Processes Processes can be seen as drivers of capability. Veasey (2001, pg 423) cited on Louw and Venter (2006) categorizes processes as management, operational and support. Management Processes: Describes the role of PPC managers, their work methods, goals and tasks that they aim to achieve and lastly knowledge, skills and level of performance required by the job. The Kumbuku project seemed to be aimed at reducing the performance as the responsibility of only the managers but to spread it amongst all employees. Operational Processes: This is merely concerned with the conversion of inputs into outputs. Heizer and Render (1999, pg 228) cited on Louw and Venter says most goods are produced using one of three strategies, namely, process focus, repetitive process and product focus. PPC produces many units of cement a year with very low degree of variety, so it follows the continuous process. Support processes: These are the processes that support the core business e.g., HR, marketing, sales. These processes are still very important in ensuring efficient and effective running of the business. Organisational structure/systems The main purpose of an organizational structure is to clear and precise roles and responsibilities for all employees as per their department and hierarchy in the structure. This ensures order and maintains a systematic procedure of doing things, which ensures performance and efficiency. At PPC, the strategy is aimed at flattening the structure and shortens the decision making hierarchy. This in turn can improve efficiency and motivate employees. Systems, Policies and procedure Policies and procedures are useful in guiding and aligning the organizations members in their activities and their behaviors at work. Reward Systems. Performance management systems Performance management includes activities that ensure that goals are consistently being met in an effective and efficient manner. These could include: Ongoing observation and measurements to track performance conducted by supervisor. Ongoing feedback about the performance to be given. Quarterly formal performance reviews. This could entails a formal documentation of the progress towards achieving expected results, comments on how these were achieved and suggestions on how to improve performance. If performance meets the desired performance standards, rewards should be given. Policies and procedures Knowledge, skills and abilities With the Kumbuku project, one of the main aims of the project is to achieve a good match between the requirements of the job and natural capabilities of individual employees. This could also have the impact of motivating the employees and lead to job satisfaction and loyalty. Technology Technology is the key to implementation of processes that lead to outputs at PPC. PPC has evaluated its manufacturing technologies and is similar to the best in the industry. However it also must ensure that its office technologies and service technologies are also of a benchmark standard. For PPC this has meant a big investment in order to achieve highly skilled employees. Organisational culture Collins and Porras (1994 in Clegg et al 1996) showed that it is strikingly evident that organizational culture lies at the centre of what differentiates visionary companies from comparison companies (and significantly greater economic performance over the long-term). Culture, how we do things around here in order to succeed (Schneider, 1994, 1997), is an organizations way, identity, pattern of dynamic relationships, reality. Nel et al (2001, p.397) on Harris and Moran (1979, p.32) describes culture as a communicable knowledge for human coping within a particular environment that is passed on for the benefit of subsequent generations, whilst Wilson and Rosenfeld (1990, p.229) defines culture as the basic values, ideologies and assumptions which guide and fashion individual and business behavior. The above definitions both speak to me about the communicable knowledge which Wilson and Rosenfeld explains it to be basic values, ideologies and assumptions. Stapleton (2003) on Trice and Beyer (1984) identifies 4 symbol categories in which this communicable knowledge manifests itself namely; practices, communications, physical forms and common language. These categories are best summarized to prove Deal and Kennedy (1982) definition of the way things get done around here. The way things get done around here can be seen through these 4 categories. Practices This refers to common practices at PPC e.g. Awards etc. Communications Common stories that are generally heard at PPC. Physical forms Some of the notable physical forms could be for example different dress manner between operators and professionals. Other examples include allocated parking spaces and offices. Common Language Refers to the common language during meetings, notice boards, procedure and policies. QUESTION 2 Employees are at the center of organizational change initiatives (Tetenbaum 1998).For PPCs Kumbuku project to be successful, employees need to be able to realize that a good organizational culture and climate would as McNabb and Sepic (1995) says bring about lasting change though the developing of working conditions in which employees can operate more effectively. Should the reason for change be not understood, the following sources of resistance to change could be experienced: Resistance due to organizational culture: Some of the difficulties with change initiatives may be attributed to deeper, more critical sources, such as the pervasive culture of the organization and the operating climate (McNabb and Sepic 1995). An organizations culture is the deep-rooted set of values and beliefs that provide norms for behavior (Deshpande and Webster 1989; Schein 1992). An organizations climate refers to the ways organizations operationalize routine behaviors and the actions that are expected, supported, and rewarded (Schneider and Rentsch 1988). These two characteristics combine to determine organizational readiness for change (McNabb and Sepic 1995). Resistance due to a lack of a holistic perspective: Another long-known reason for lack of change success is the propensity for organizations to implement piece-meal solutions rather than taking a systems perspective (Ackoff 1974). Stakeholders may be resistance to the Kumbuku project due to the fact that they might not have a clear understanding of the direction and holistic implication of the strategy the company is pursuing. Resistance by managers: People have a natural fear of change and when change is mandated they feel a loss of control (Evans 2001). For many people in an organization, change initiatives imply a loss of the security that goes with a specific job. Senge and Kaeufer (2000) note that change efforts can induce fear. The management team at PPC could be threatened by the introduction the allowance of employees in decision making processes. They might feel redundant and not adding value. Also the change in the PPC management structure putting management at the bottom might result in demotivated management team who does not take pride in its role. Resistance by white employees and managers: The fast promotion of black employees could be resisted by white employees, who might feel unfairly discriminated and not valued. Existing white managers might also feel unsecured and can also undermine the newly appointed black managers, who they might not attribute their promotion to good performance. Resistance due to poor communication: Should the Kambuku project not be properly communicated to relevant stakeholders, it could result in poor buy in and failure in implementation. Dawson (1994) discusses the idea of communication and employee involvement being central to the process of change as a crucial consideration in overcoming the natural resistance that most employees feel. QUESTION 3 Johnson (1988) cited on Signal-Horn (2004), defines strategic drift as when gradually, perhaps imperceptibly; the strategy of the company will become less and less in line with the environment in which the organization operates. This definition is the same as that of Charles Handy (1989) which describes strategic drift as the subtle changes of the organisations strategy that leads the organization away from its intended destination to a destination that is unintended. This means that an organization must continuously review its environment and change its strategy in relation to the change in environment as has PPC in the past five years. The organizations response to the changing environment is often associated with its culture. Culture in this instance is seen as a contributor to resisting change (keeping the organization in equilibrium as suggested by Lewin force field model) as it stifles innovation and performance, leading to a drift in strategy. This means that for organization to properly implement change they must undergo an appropriate cultural change. For PPC, it might take many more years for it to start experiencing strategic drift but it is important for PPC Chief Executive to look out for the symptoms of strategic drift which could include: Declining performance. Highly homogenous culture. Little toleration for questioning and challenging of status quo. Reliance on price/cost /competition. Strong power blockages to change. When some of the above mentioned symptoms are identifies Lewin three stage process of change could be used as interventions to prevent the danger of strategic drift: Unfreezing current attitudes This means that old behaviours and ways of doing things must be seen to be unsatisfactory by the organisation and changed and prohibited. Also the need and the benefits for change must be well communicated. Those resisting change must be confronted and addressed. This could be done by involving them to participate and communicating the value of change. Change to a new level This is a period of shifting the equilibrium. Here PPC could embark on a search for new solutions which could include information on new values, organisational culture and structure. Refreezing attitudes at the new level When the organisation has found a solution, it can embark on reinforcing and supporting the new strategy through it structure, policies and systems. REFERENCES Kreitner, R. and Kinicki, A. (2004) Organisational Behavior. New York, McGraw-Hill Nel, P.S., Gerber, P.D., van Dyk, P.S., Haasbroek, G.D., Schultz, H.B., Sono, T., Werner, A. (2001) Human Resource Management. 5th edition. Oxford University Press Southern Africa. Stapleton T (2003) The Context of Management -Sessions 1-7.OU Business School. Wilson, D.C. and Rosenfeld, R.H. (1990) Managing Organisations: Texts, readings and cases, New York, McGraw-Hill. Cameron, S. The Open University (2008). B713 Fundamentals of Senior Management, Block1; Session 14 page 125. Mitchell, T.R. (1982) Motivation: New Direction for Theory, Research and Practice, Academy of Management Review, pg 81. Clegg et al. Palmer, G. ed. 1996. The Politics of Management Knowledge London. Sage Publications. Schneider, B. Leadership at the Edge of Chaos. Strategy Leadership Magazine, Sept. 1997. Dawson, P. (1994). Organisational Change A Processual Approach Newcastle upon Tyne. Athenaeum Press Ltd. K. G. Lockyer, (2005), Project management and project network techniques, UK: Prentice Hall Financial Times Ackoff, R.A. (1974), Redesigning the Future: A Systems Approach to Societal Problems, New York: Wiley. Evans, Edward A. (2001), Executive Commentary, Academy of Management Executive, 15, 4 (November), 94-95. Schein, E.A. (1992), Organizational Culture and Leadership, 2d edition, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Schneider, Benjamin, and J. Rentsch (1988), Managing Climates and Cultures: A Futures Perspective, in Futures of Organizations, J. Hage, ed., Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 181-200. Senge, Peter M., and Katrin H. Kaeufer (2000), Creating Change, Executive Excellence, 17, 10 (October), 4-5. Signal-Horn, S. (2004) The Strategy Reader. 2nd Edition. Oxford, Blackwell Publishing in association with The Open University. Tetenbaum, T.J. (1998), Shifting Paradigms: From Newton to Chaos, Organization Dynamics, 26 (4), 21-32. http://www.divandari.com/ppt/Strategic%20Change%20(handout).ppt#288,8,The risk of strategic drift accessed on the 11 October 2009. Kritsonis, A. (2004-2005), Comparison of Change Theories. International Journal of Scholarly academic intellectual diversity. Volume 8 Number 1. Lee, G., Venter, R and Bates, B. (2004), Enterprise-based HIV/AIDS strategies: integration through organizational architecture. South African Journal of Business Management, 35 (3): pg 13-22.

The Conflict with Traditional Culture Essay -- Traditional Culture, Ho

The conflict with traditional culture The general people consider Hong Kong as an international city because a lot of cross-cultural enterprises choose Hong Kong as a landing base to enter into Chinese market and even Asian market.As a result ,the conscientious of women leadership can be brought into the working ecology through the expending of multinational firms. Nevertheless, it is misleading that the concept of women leadership can wholly be applied to companies in general and help increasing the number of women leader. There are several reasons. Firstly, in Asian countries including Hong Kong , the local market climate is dominated by the local companies and those companies are a kind of family business. A family business means one family has a significant ownership and influence to the decision in the company and the chairman of the company can only be the son within the family. This tradition can be a huge and unbreakable barrier to the women even though the companies are facing the influence of external culture. More important is that this new working concept especially the idea of women empowerment can not readily neutralize the traditional culture. The reason behind is that the setting rule of patriarchy is still utilized in the world today. Patriarchy is a social system which is male dominate and is central in the social organization. (Chesney-Lind, 2006) .One obvious example is that the children surname are followed by father’s family name, which means the sons are entitled to inherit everything from their father normally. As a result, the male can administrate the collective benefits within the family and consolidate the state of male. It should also be highlighted that the system has a conflict to enhance women s... ...nagement. In Fagenson, E.A. (ed.) Women in Management: Trends, Issues, and Challenges in Managerial Diversity. London: Sage. ISR survey. (2005) .On Hong Kong's Scene, how relevant is Gender in Recruitment - Business Perspective by Mr. Eddie NG, Chairman of HKIHRM International Committee, Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management .Retrieved from http://www.eoc.org.hk/EOC/GraphicsFolder/InforCenter/Conference/Content.aspx?Type=6&DateTime=2007 Equal Opportunities Commission .(2009). Study on Public Perception of Portrayal of Female Gender in the Hong Kong Media. Retrieved from http://www.eoc.org.hk/EOC/GraphicsFolder/InforCenter/Conference/Content.aspx?Type=6&DateTime=2007 SHAMIR, B. , SALOMON, I. , MANAGEMENT, A. , & Shamir, B. (1985). Work-at-home and the quality of working life. Academy of Management Review, [Electronic version]. 10(3), 455-464. The Conflict with Traditional Culture Essay -- Traditional Culture, Ho The conflict with traditional culture The general people consider Hong Kong as an international city because a lot of cross-cultural enterprises choose Hong Kong as a landing base to enter into Chinese market and even Asian market.As a result ,the conscientious of women leadership can be brought into the working ecology through the expending of multinational firms. Nevertheless, it is misleading that the concept of women leadership can wholly be applied to companies in general and help increasing the number of women leader. There are several reasons. Firstly, in Asian countries including Hong Kong , the local market climate is dominated by the local companies and those companies are a kind of family business. A family business means one family has a significant ownership and influence to the decision in the company and the chairman of the company can only be the son within the family. This tradition can be a huge and unbreakable barrier to the women even though the companies are facing the influence of external culture. More important is that this new working concept especially the idea of women empowerment can not readily neutralize the traditional culture. The reason behind is that the setting rule of patriarchy is still utilized in the world today. Patriarchy is a social system which is male dominate and is central in the social organization. (Chesney-Lind, 2006) .One obvious example is that the children surname are followed by father’s family name, which means the sons are entitled to inherit everything from their father normally. As a result, the male can administrate the collective benefits within the family and consolidate the state of male. It should also be highlighted that the system has a conflict to enhance women s... ...nagement. In Fagenson, E.A. (ed.) Women in Management: Trends, Issues, and Challenges in Managerial Diversity. London: Sage. ISR survey. (2005) .On Hong Kong's Scene, how relevant is Gender in Recruitment - Business Perspective by Mr. Eddie NG, Chairman of HKIHRM International Committee, Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management .Retrieved from http://www.eoc.org.hk/EOC/GraphicsFolder/InforCenter/Conference/Content.aspx?Type=6&DateTime=2007 Equal Opportunities Commission .(2009). Study on Public Perception of Portrayal of Female Gender in the Hong Kong Media. Retrieved from http://www.eoc.org.hk/EOC/GraphicsFolder/InforCenter/Conference/Content.aspx?Type=6&DateTime=2007 SHAMIR, B. , SALOMON, I. , MANAGEMENT, A. , & Shamir, B. (1985). Work-at-home and the quality of working life. Academy of Management Review, [Electronic version]. 10(3), 455-464.

Innocent Smoothies Essay

What is branding? Branding is the process involved in creating a distinctive look for a product or company to create desire and trust from the customers for the product or company. A way a company can use branding is by having a unique logo or motto because it’s a way for the public to recognise the brand. The name of the company is another method of branding, because if your company has a name that stands out from others it will catch people’s attention, and people will be familiar with what you’re talking about and who they are purchasing from. There are 3 different types of branding: Product branding, service branding and corporate branding. Product branding is a specific product for example Nike Air by Nike. It’s a unique part of branding because it’s a small part of the main brand. Service Branding is a specific service by a brand for example iTunes by Apple as that is just a music downloading service, while Apple is a multi product company. Corporate branding i s a larger part of branding because it’s a brand that applies to a variety of products within one company, for example Malteasers are a part of the Mars Inc. corporate brand. Branding in Action: Innocent Smoothies and Children In Need This company was founded in 1998. They started with smoothies and from there expanded into food, juice and children’s smoothies. They concentrated on a health focus of their products contained 2 of your 5 a day. Innocent have about 78% market share. Innocent smoothies use an angel with a halo with no mouth as their logo; they use this as their logo to persuade customers that their products are ‘innocent’ like angels and that they are good for you and your body. This logo is a significant part of the Innocent brand because they use a distinguishable logo; no other well known brand uses a smiley without a mouth and a halo. Innocent is also uniquely recognisable because its marketing is that it’s healthy and good for you, this health aspect is a major part of Innocent’s branding. Innocent add value to their products by saying how healthy they are and how good they are for you. They only use recyclable packaging when they first formed their recycling eff orts stood at  70% they are now at 100% which is a huge achievement. The company use lots of different combinations of flavours, some you would not think of putting together. All their products are natural, no added flavours. They do their best to promote their brands by making a big thing out of being good for your body. Parents are more likely to buy as there are no additives. They boost their image as more people buy the products as lots of people are health conscious now. They also do various promotions like a woolly hat campaign to raise money for charity. They changed the name of their product to make it more successful, their previous name was Naked. That would have needed a completely different promotion as they want to be associated with good. These businesses need to promote themselves for people to see them and to recognise them for doing something differentiating them from competitors. Innocent smoothies promote themselves by doing unique things that other brands don’t, for example they notified customers how much the bottle had been recycled and they eventually had a 100% recycled bottle Children in Need are a charity in the UK that was founded in 1980. As a charity they have raised over  £600 million and they help to change the lives of disabled, vulnerable and young people of the UK. Children in Need raise money doing baking activities, fancy dress events and they encourage the public to do sponsored challenges and they have a big Children in Need television show. The Children in Need brand is best known for Pudsey the bear and its big telethon around November. Pudsey is highly recognisable in the brand because he has a unique eye patch that makes him stand out from any other mascot bear. Pudsey is also another way for Children in Need to attract children because he is a character as well as a mascot. The Children in Need brand is well known for its telethon in BBC, people recognise the telethon because it’s on a Friday night on a channel that is advert free so people are more likely to tune in. The telethon is well known for its challenges and celebrity e ndorsement and they also will have a combination of two well know shows for example Eastenders and ITV’s Coronation Street called ‘East Street’. Children in Need add value to their product by having unique merchandise; the products are unique because of Pudsey as he himself is a unique mascot. They add value to the customer because they emphasise the fact that all the money they make will go to a good cause which makes  people sympathetic, and even people who are not concerned about the children will donate because the products they provide are ‘fashionable’. Children in Need’s brand personality is that they help children and therefore that they’re caring and considerate. They are a fun charity and do a lot of fundraising events and activities, which is attractive to children and parents. Their ethical image is a large benefit to their company because people will recognise that what they do will help unfortunate children, and that will increase their customer preference for donating to their charity. This will enable them to raise more money therefore they will be able to do more fundraising and provide more entertainment. Them being seen as a fun charity will help them because the public can be encouraged to get involved in their work as it is enjoyable as well as helping at the same time. If the branding for Children in Need was not successful, and did not make them appear to be caring and considerate, then people wouldn’t donate and they would boycott from donating and participating from their fundraising . If they weren’t a fun charity then people wouldn’t be as interested in donating to their charity and they wouldn’t be as well known as they are now. They need to promote themselves so they can raise awareness of their various charities, for example in Southend they help the following charities: Southend Association of Voluntary Services, Southend Mencap and Southend Mind. Children in Need differentiate themselves by the way they promote their company, for example they have popular celebrity endorsement in their adverts. They need to differentiate themselves from other charities so that they can stand out so they can get more donations. The Children in Need charity promote their service by having famous and popular comedians in their shows and they have well known children entertainers. Another way they use promotion is by the way they have the show on BBC One where there are no TV adverts, so no adverts for competitor charities. They also promote themselves by having well known supermarkets selling their product and supporting them, for example Asda. They also use paper promotion, for example leaflets and flyers and billboards. T he most popular way they are recognised is by advertising using their mascot Pudsey. Innocent is environmentally friendly , recycle , sustainable ingredient sources, super market promo , festival , tv , humor Children in need :  helping , money 4 good , super market promotion , tv , humor Marketing mix a key tool in marketing. The marketing mix is usually vital when deciding a products marketing and include the following P’s : Pricing , Promotion, Place and Product. I will be talking about the Innocent Fruit Tubes and how the marketing mix is used in branding. Fruit tubes are a yoghurt mad by Innocent and they are made from 100% fruit and they have 2 different combination flavours: Strawberry mixed with raspberry and mango and pineapple. The company are proud to say that this product has no artificial sweeteners or any added sugar and lumpy bits. This product has and overall rating of 4.5/5 and a majority of 5/5 ratings. The packaging is designed for kids, you can tell this by the way it is very colourful and the fruit logos on each tube has a character name and an interesting fact. The size of the packaging is small and easy for customer and children to manage. The Innocent Fruit Tubes are roughly priced at around  £1.99 for a average packet of 6 tubes. The yoghurts are priced at roughly  £0.33 per yoghurt which is a reasonable cost and affordable for many people Innocent promote their fruit tubes by having promotional offers such as 12 tubes for just  £3.00 and they use TV, magazine, billboards and posters to promote their Fruit Tubes. They will have a sales team who will go and pitch their product to popular supermarkets and confectionary retailers. The most well known promotional campaign they used was The Big Knit which was when they appealed for members of the public to knit mini woolly hats for their innocent products to help raise money for the elderly and to keep people warm during the winter. Innocents Fruit tubes are on sale in multiple different places for example super market stores or online super markets and shops, cafe’s and sandwich bars. The product is distributed all over the UK as well as many places in Europe such as: Belgium, Denmark, Germany. France and many other countries in Europe and in the Maldi ves .