Characteristics of an Effective School Principal

Characteristics of an Effective School Principal A school principals job is balanced between being rewarding and challenging. It is a difficult job, and like any job, there are people who are not able to handle it. There are certain characteristics of a highly effective principal that some people do not possess. Besides the obvious professional requirements needed to become a principal, there are several traits that good principals possess allowing them to do their job successfully. Each of these characteristics manifests themselves in the daily duties of a principal. A highly effective principal will possess each of the following seven qualities. A Principal  Must Exhibit Leadership This is a characteristic that every principal must possess. The principal is the instructional leader of their building. A good leader has to take responsibility for the successes and failures of her school. A good leader puts the needs of others in front of her own. A good leader is always looking to improve her school and then figures out how to make those improvements regardless of how difficult it might be. Leadership defines how successful any school is. A school without a strong leader will likely fail, and a principal who is not a leader will find herself without a job quickly. A Principal  Must Be Adept at Building Relationships With People If you dont like people you shouldnt be a principal. You have to be able to connect with each person you deal with on a daily basis. You have to find common ground and earn their trust. There are many groups of people that principals deal with daily including their superintendent, teachers, support staff, parents, students, and community members. Every group requires a different approach, and individuals within a group are unique in their own right. You never know who is going to walk into your office next. People come in with a variety of emotions including happiness, sadness, and anger. You have to be able to deal with each of those situations effectively by connecting with the person and showing him that you care about his unique situation. He has to believe that you will do whatever you can to make his situation better. A Principal  Must Balance Tough Love With Earned Praise This is especially true with your students and your teachers. You cant be a pushover, meaning that you let people get away with mediocrity. You have to set expectations high and hold those you are in charge of to those same standards. This means that there will be times when you have to reprimand people and likely hurt their feelings. It is a part of the job that isnt pleasant, but it is necessary if you want to run an effective school. At the same time, you must offer praise when it is appropriate. Dont forget to tell those teachers who are doing an extraordinary job that you appreciate them. Remember to recognize students who excel in the areas of academics, leadership and/or citizenship. An outstanding principal can motivate using a combination of both of these approaches. A Principal  Must Be Fair and Consistent Nothing can take away your credibility more quickly than being inconsistent in how you handle similar situations. While no two cases are exactly the same, you have to think about how you have handled other similar situations and continue on that same track. Students, in particular, know how you handle student discipline, and they make comparisons from one case to the next. If you are not fair and consistent, they will call you out on it. However, it is understandable that history will influence a principals decision. For example, if you have a student who has been in multiple fights and compare her to a student who has only had one fight, then you are justified in giving the student with multiple fights a longer suspension. Think all your decisions through, document your reasoning and be prepared when someone questions or disagrees with them. A Principal Must Be Organized and Prepared Each day presents a unique set of challenges and being organized and prepared is essential to meeting those challenges. You deal with so many variables as a principal that lack of organization will lead to ineffectiveness. No day is predictable. This makes being organized and prepared an essential quality. Each day you still have to come in with a plan or a to-do list with the understanding that you will probably only get about one-third of those things done. You also have to be prepared for just about anything. When you are dealing with that many people, there are so many unplanned things that can occur. Having policies and procedures in place to deal with situations is part of the necessary planning and preparation to be effective. Organization and preparation will help reduce stress when you are dealing with difficult or unique situations. A Principal  Must Be an Excellent Listener You never know when an angry student, a disgruntled parent or an upset teacher is going to walk into your office. You have to be prepared to deal with those situations, and that starts with being an exceptional listener. You can disarm most difficult situations simply by showing them that you care enough to listen to what they want to say. When someone wants to meet with you because they feel wronged in some way, you need to hear them out. This doesnt mean that you let them bash another person continuously. You can be firm on not letting them belittle a teacher or student, but allow them to vent without being disrespectful to another person. Be willing to go the next step in helping them resolve their issue. Sometimes that might be mediating between two students who have had a disagreement. Sometimes it might be having a discussion with a teacher to get his side of a story and then relaying that to the parent. It all begins with listening. A Principal  Must Be a Visionary​ Education is ever-evolving. There is always something bigger and better available. If you are not attempting to improve your school, you are not doing your job. This will always be an ongoing process. Even if you have been at a school for 15 years, there are still things you can do to improve the overall quality of your school. Each individual component is a working part of the larger framework of the school. Each of those components needs to be oiled every once in a while. You may have to replace a part that is not working. Occasionally you may even able to upgrade an existing part that was doing its job because something better was developed. You never want to be stale. Even your best teachers can get better. It is your job to see that no one gets comfortable and that everyone is working to improve continuously.

How to Buy the Best Travel Insurance

How to Buy the Best Travel Insurance SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips A stolen laptop, a skiing injury, a dangerous hurricane- knock on wood that none of these accidents or emergencies ruin your travels. While you can’t do much to ward off bad luck, you can protect yourself from financial loss by buying a travel insurance plan. The best travel insurance will reimburse money you lose from a cancelled flight, medical issue, stolen belongings, or a number of other accidents that can occur when you travel. You can buy short-term travel insurance to cover a single trip or long-term insurance if you’re moving abroad for a year or more. This guide will go over all the benefits of travel insurance, as well as help you decide whether or not you need to purchase a plan before your trip. If you already know you want a plan, then jump down to my picks for the five best travel insurance plans for 2016. To start, let’s go over what travel insurance plans cover. What Is Travel Insurance? What Does It Cover? There are a variety of travel insurance plans out there, and you can shop around for one that covers what you need and leaves out what you don’t. Most plans insure the following essentials: Medical costs incurred from injuries on your trip (you may have to meet a deductible first, and then the insurance will cover costs beyond it) Trip interruption or cancellation (due to external circumstances, not because you woke up that morning and didn’t feel like flying) Lost or stolen baggage or belongings Emergency evacuation 24-hour emergency assistance Some plans only cover medical costs, and leave out the rest or offer these coverage options as add-ons. Many plans make a 24-hour travel service available to you, and some offer concierge services to help you make reservations. If you’re heading to the Alps to go skiing or Thailand to go rock climbing, then you can also add on coverage for any injuries incurred during adventure activities. Holiday insurance plans cover a wide range of issues, but they draw the line at some expenses. Read on to learn what most travel insurance plans don’t cover. Waiting at baggage claim and your suitcase is nowhere to be seen? Travel insurance can cover the cost of lost luggage. What Does Travel Insurance Not Cover? There are some limitations to travel insurance. If you’re traveling to a country in conflict, for instance, then you won’t find yourself covered there under most plans. Most plans also don’t cover, Elective surgery or treatment Injuries caused by alcohol or drug use War Some holiday insurance plans also don’t cover pre-existing medical insurance or acts of terrorism, or they offer these types of coverage as additional add-ons. When you buy a plan, make sure to read the fine print to see what’s included. If something important is missing, then see if you can add it onto the plan. After you purchase a plan, hopefully, you won't have to interact much more with the travel insurance company. But what if you do fall ill or get your laptop stolen? How exactly will your travel insurance plan cover these costs? How Does Travel Insurance Work? In the majority of cases, your holiday insurance will reimburse you after you file a claim. If an incident occurs, then you should save all receipts or other documentation to submit to the travel insurance company. If you're in need of emergency assistance, then you should call its 24-hour emergency assistance number. Most insurance companies advise you to contact them and submit a claim as soon as you're able after an incident occurs. That way they can process your claim quickly, as well as let you know any additional steps you need to take in the moment. While travel insurance reduces the financial risks of a trip, it isn’t necessary for all travelers. When should you take steps to insure your travels, and when would you be fine doing without? Make sure to keep all your receipts in case you need to file a claim. Do You Need Travel Insurance? Whether or not it makes sense for you to insure your trip depends on a number of factors. I’ve gone on a bunch of international trips and have only purchased travel insurance once. I insured a multi-month trip where I was backpacking around developing countries and wanted to be covered in case of injury or illness. If you’re not sure whether or not you need to buy travel insurance, consider these next four questions. #1: How Much Will Your Trip Cost? Are you investing a significant amount of money in your trip, or are you taking a short discount flight and crashing on your friend’s couch? If the former, then you might want to protect yourself with trip cancellation or interruption insurance so you don’t face a big financial loss. Look for coverage that will reimburse your flight, hotel, and any other pre-booked reservations. If you’re going on a relatively short, inexpensive trip, then you probably don’t need travel insurance to protect your investment. This doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t want your medical costs to be covered, but you likely don’t need insurance that covers trip cancellation or interruption. #2: Are You Already Covered? Before you start picking out a plan, check to see whether any of your existing policies- health insurance, car insurance, credit card agreements- cover any travel risks. Your regular health insurance, for instance, might reimburse you for medical expenses that you incur while abroad. Certain countries, furthermore, may offer free or low-cost healthcare to visitors. If you’re renting a car during your travels, then your regular car insurance or even credit card might cover rental insurance (except in Israel and Ireland, the latter of which I found out on a recent trip to the Ring of Kerry). Furthermore, some credit cards will also reimburse lost luggage or a cancelled flight. As you start to think about insurance, check out any existing policies you have to see if any aspects of your travels are already covered. Some car insurance and credit card policies cover the cost of rental cars in other countries. #3: Are You Worried About Emergency Evacuation? If you’re traveling to a country with volatile conditions, whether they be political or climate-related, then you might want to make sure you’re covered in the event of emergency evacuation. While you’ll likely have to choose a plan that’s a step above the basic one, you can get covered for emergency evacuation, as well as any loss or injury due to natural disasters or terror attacks. If it looks like a storm is brewing, then you may want to take coverage. #4: How Concerned Are You? Finally, the decision about whether or not to buy travel insurance may largely come down to peace of mind. If you’re really worried about the risks of your trip, then the additional cost of holiday insurance could be worth it to clear your mind and allow you to enjoy your trip. If you end up at the conclusion that you do need travel insurance, which plan is best for you? The following are some of the main coverage options to look for when choosing your best travel insurance. Traveling during a stormy time of year? Some insurance plans cover cancellations or delays due to weather. What Should You Look for In a Travel Insurance Plan? Most travel insurance companies provide plans at a few different levels, from the most basic to the deluxe, as well as optional add-ons to cover specific medical concerns or activities. Below are some essential features that most plans cover. Consider if any or all of these categories are important to you as you decide which travel insurance is right for you. The four main categories are trip cancellations and interruptions, medical and personal issues, overall cost, and miscellaneous personal needs. #1: Trip Cancellations and Interruptions Trips might get cancelled or interrupted by weather, employment transfer, jury duty, natural disaster, passport or visa theft, pregnancy, pre-existing medical condition, sickness, injury or death of traveler or a loved one, terrorist attack, traffic accident en route, or work reasons. Basic plans tend to cover cancellation due to weather or natural disaster, while pricier plans will cover a pre-existing medical condition or employment transfer. Typically, only the most comprehensive plans cover â€Å"cancellation for any reason.† You might also look to see if your plan covers delayed, lost, stolen, or damaged luggage, as well as the cost to replace a lost or stolen passport or visa. #2: Medical Issues These issues could include medical or dental emergencies, hospital visits, prescribed drugs, ambulance services, 24-hour medical assistance, and return of remains. Some plans may also cover pre-existing medical conditions. #3: Miscellaneous Personal Needs Look to see whether your particular needs are covered, whether you want to make sure you’re covered in case of bungee jumping incident or that your kids are covered for free under the plan. These miscellaneous needs largely depend on the length and nature of your trip. If you're planning two weeks of bungee jumping, rock climbing, parasailing, and whitewater rafting, then you might want to add on coverage for adventure activities. #4: Overall Cost Finally, a major last consideration is how much you want to pay for travel insurance and how much the company will dish out. Some companies insure a trip up to $10,000, while others cover trip expenses up to $100,000. You should also look at medical deductibles, or at how much you’ll have to pay out of pocket before the insurance company will start to reimburse doctor visits and other medical costs. Cheap travel insurance plans tend to cover just one or the other when it comes to medical and travel insurance. You might be able to find medical travel insurance for only about $30 for a two-week trip. Plans with more perks may range anywhere from $100 to $400 for a month-long trip abroad. With these factors in mind, I picked out the five best travel insurance plans. Read on to see options that provide comprehensive coverage, competitive rates, medical support, and coverage for older travelers and expats. The 5 Best Travel Insurance Plans Taking the above factors into account, I looked at different travel insurance companies and compared the extent of coverage, the potential for plan customization, and the overall cost to choose the best plans. If you want to compare travel insurance on your own, you can also check out the travel insurance search engines, InsureMyTrip and SquareMouth. These travel insurance comparison sites are superior to a travel or booking agency, which could have partnerships or gain commissions for pushing certain policies. Read on for the best travel insurance companies for 2016 and what makes them stand out from the pack. Below, you’ll find some more advice on how to buy a travel insurance plan to cover your trip. #1: Travelex Insurance Services- Best for Overall Coverage Travelex rose to the top of the pack for its wide range of customizable options for both leisure and business travels. It has three plan levels- basic, select, and max, all of which cover 100% of your trip’s cost in the case of cancellation or interruption. The select and max plans, actually, cover 150%, meaning you’ll get additional money back! The plans also cover up to $100,000 in medical costs. Travelex insurance covers children under the age of 21 for free. It also has add-on options for adventure activities, like rock climbing or parasailing. The basic Travelex plan does not cover pre-existing medical conditions, so you’d need to choose the Select or Max plan if you want that coverage. Overall, Travelex is a good choice if you’re covering a relatively pricey, international trip. The downside is that you can’t cover trips that are longer than 180 days. I also found the website to be kind of clunky; you need to fill in all of your personal and trip details before you can get an initial quote. Make sure your travel insurance plan includes everything you need, like lost luggage reimbursement or emergency medical helicopters. #2: HTH Travel Insurance- Best for Medical Coverage If your main concern is medical coverage, then you should check out HTH travel insurance. It allows you to buy travel medical insurance without any other add-ons. If you do go with HTH, you’ll have access to a useful app that locates English-speaking doctors close to you and helps you book appointments. Depending on your plan, you can get coverage for anywhere from $50,000 to $1 million in medical. The plans can cover an unlimited number of trips within a 12-month period, and some even let you keep the health coverage for nine months after your trip ends. There are a variety of plans for individuals, students, groups, and expats living abroad. There are a couple downsides to HTH insurance plans. One is that they don’t cover injuries from adventure sports and other activities. The second is that you might have to have a primary health care plan in order to purchase some of the HTH plans. HTH is a good choice for medical insurance abroad, but it unfortunately falls short if you’re an adventure sports enthusiast. #3: World Nomads- Best for Budget and Adventure Travelers While HTH doesn’t cover adventure sports, World Nomads has add-on coverage to cover over 200 of them! It’s a popular company for adventurous travelers, backpackers, and anyone traveling on a budget. I used World Nomads on my multi-month trip and found that it had relatively cheap holiday insurance plans with great coverage options. Plus, the website is streamlined and easy to use, and you can sign up anytime before or even during your travels. World Nomads plans cover trip cancellation or interruption, medical care, emergency evacuation, and lost or stolen gear. They insure your trip for up to $10,000, lost or stolen baggage for up to $3,000, and medical costs for up to $100,000. Since World Nomads sets a limit on trip cancellation at $10,000, it’s not the best choice for luxury travelers. Another downside? It doesn’t offer plans for groups or travelers over the age of 70. If you're going on a long-term international trip, then you should probably get insurance, just in case. #4: TravelSafe Insurance- Best for Long-Term International Trips If you’re traveling internationally and would like reservation or language assistance while abroad, then TravelSafe is a good option. It offers 24-hour travel assistance services, including concierge and interpreters. TravelSafe will insure trips for up to three years, so you can buy annual travel insurance plans. You’ll get up to $2,500 coverage of a lost or stolen passport or a missed flight or other connection. TravelSafe has a variety of individual and group plans at three levels, silver, gold, and platinum. The platinum plan offers a â€Å"cancel for any reason† benefit, which will refund 75% of your trip. #5: Allianz Global Insurance- Best for Older Travelers While several travel insurance companies set an age limit, Allianz doesn’t impose one. It’s also relatively inexpensive compared to a lot of other companies. Allianz offers a variety of coverage options and will insure trips that cost up to $100,000 (a much larger sum than the $10,000 covered by World Nomads). You can buy a short-term or annual plan, and children under the age of 17 are covered for free. Allianz has an app that will help you find nearby English-speaking emergency services in most countries. It doesn’t offer concierge services to help you with reservations, though, nor does it cover the cost of a lost or stolen passport. Allianz is a good option for older travelers, plus it’s a relatively affordable choice for those looking to insure an expensive trip. Once you find the comprehensive or cheap travel insurance plan that best meets your needs, what do you do next? What steps do you need to take to purchase travel insurance? Purchasing travel insurance is easy! Just go online. How to Buy a Travel Insurance Plan Once you’ve done a travel insurance comparison, thought about your needs, and chosen the best travel insurance for you, you can take steps to purchase a plan with an online application. You can buy your insurance directly from the company’s website or from a travel insurance compare search engine, like InsureMyTrip. You’ll need to know the dates of your trip, as well as your passport number. You’ll also fill in general personal information, your country of origin and destination, and ultimately, your payment details. Once you submit, you should get a confirmation email of your plan purchase immediately, as well as supporting documents sent via email or mail within a few days or weeks. Most travel insurance companies want you to purchase your plan prior to departing on your trip. Ideally, you should buy a plan immediately after you make your first deposit (usually the flight purchase). If you decide you want to buy additional add-ons, like a â€Å"cancel for any reason† option, then you’ll probably need to take care of it at least two weeks before you leave. World Nomads is unique because it lets you purchase a plan even after you’ve already left, and you can extend it any time if your plans change and you decide to enjoy your international vacation for a few weeks or months longer. Again, once you buy your plan, you’ll receive your insurance ID and policy through email or mail. Ideally, you'll never have to communicate with the travel insurance company after you buy your plan! Finding the Best Travel Insurance: Final Thoughts Ideally, you’ll never actually need to use the benefits of your travel insurance because your trip will go off without a hitch. Knowing that the benefits are there, though, can give you peace of mind, as well as provide serious financial protection should any unforeseen emergencies occur. Before buying a travel insurance plan, make sure to consider your needs and reasons for buying insurance. If it makes sense to insure your trip, then search around for the best rates and the coverage that protects you in the ways you need, whether you need medical coverage or just want to insure your electronics or extreme whitewater rafting trip. Again, the most common considerations for people when they buy travel insurance are injury or illness, trip cancellation or interruption, lost or stolen belongings, 24 hour services, and other issues in the destination country that could call for an emergency evacuation. Whether you’re a luxury traveler, backpacking through Southeast Asia, going on a family trip, or moving to another country, you will be able to find a travel insurance plan that specifically meets your needs as a traveler.

Theories on Mental Health and Illness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Theories on Mental Health and Illness - Essay Example Further, incorporates psychological meaning of events, feelings and behaviors in nursing interventions (Evans, 2008). Travelbee- Human-to-Human Relationship model emphasizing purpose of nursing through establishment of nurse-patient relationship; must assist the patient, family or community to cope with sufferings (Evans, 2008). These ideologies pave the way for considerate and indulgent nursing practice. These theories have given a now outlook to the nursing practice, enabling the development of congenial nurse-patient relationship. This give an impact on the psychology of the patient and helps the patient to confide on nurse, building a confidence and trust in nurse's practice. This trust in turn helps in sooner recovery of patients from the ailments. Psychological theories play crucial role in the personality judgment through human behavior, supporting psychotherapeutic interventions for mental illness.

Critically assess the use of environmental principles in environmental Assignment

Critically assess the use of environmental principles in environmental law - Assignment Example At present, the guidelines of the international environmental law play an imperative part that imposes considerable impact upon the notion of sustainable development. Environmental evaluation is quite essential for upholding the sustainable development of society as well as useful for establishing necessary laws related to environment. Apart from the factor of global warming, the aspect of climate change also contributes largely upon affecting the natural environment by a greater extent. Since the year 1960, several environmentalists took significant initiatives for reducing pollution, cleaning up the wastes, implementing strict laws for every individual of different nation, minimizing wastage products and introducing recyclable materials for the manufacturing of new products. In the year 1969, United States National Environmental policy Act referred that every societal member must follow the environmental laws in order to mitigate the impact of global warming. The major reason for e stablishing the international environmental regulation is for addressing social as well as environmental factors that have been considered as the root cause of global warming. By taking into concern the present environmental situation, it has been apparently observed that there has been drastic increase of pollution due to huge augmentation of carrier vehicles and industrial wastes. In order to make control of all these environmental aspects, lawyers and various environmentalists implement certain effectual environmental principles in order to create awareness about preserving the nature within the community people (University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, 2012). This paper intends to critically assess the execution of environmental principles in environmental law concerning different significant aspects. These aspects include the different principles relating to environmental law, environmental regulation and protection along with international and European Environmental La w. Principles of Environmental Law Polluter Pays Principle The ‘Polluter Pays Principle (PPP)’ is considered as an effectual guideline concerning the environmental policy. This policy implies that community people must take deliberate initiatives towards preventing the increased level of pollution. The major objective of the ‘PPP’ is to internalizing the external activities of environment so that every community people can become quite conscious towards maintaining the cleanliness of nature. The principle of international environmental law was initiated in the year 1972 and it is recommended by ‘Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’. OECD is recognized as a council that established the guidelines concerning international environmental law. The council stated that these guidelines should be executed for assigning the costs that are incurred for the prevention of pollution. Moreover, the council also introduced as well as implemented certain crucial initiatives with the intention of properly utilising the limited environmental resources (Lucia, 2010). The core meaning of the PPP is that any polluter should incur the costs in relation to the safeguard and the control

Bioinformatics for geneticists Essay Example for Free

Bioinformatics for geneticists Essay Bioinformatics is a recently evolved field in biology. The definition is still evolving but in essence, bioinformatics is the â€Å"computational branch of molecular biology† (Claverie 2007, p. 9). This is because the field integrates computer technology and information processing systems to combine biological data and analyse biological problems. The primary aim of this new field is the ascertainment of biological insights and establishment of a global view to support a unified understanding of concepts in biology. This found application in genetics by addressing the need for a database containing large volumes of biological information, especially on gene sequences. Eventually, bioinformatics allowed geneticists to access available data on genetics and combine new data for analysis to support continuity of knowledge building on genetics. (National Center for Biotechnology Information 2004) Bioinformatics Challenges for the Geneticist Bioinformatics create a number of challenges for geneticists. The aim of bioinformatics is three-fold. First is storage of large bulks of information in accessible databases. Second is the development and application of computer systems to support analysis. Third is the development of computer systems allowing interpretation of analysed data in a biologically meaningful manner. (Luscombe, Greenbaum Gerstein 2001) The second and third aims pose challenges for geneticists who need to be adept not only in accessing but also in developing and using information system tools in analysing and interpreting data in the context of genetic research. Having existing information in a database is useless without the competence to access specific data and integrate this with new data as well as analyse and interpret these in the context of the particular genetic research. Bioinformatics Needs of Geneticists Bioinformatics supports the needs of geneticists. One justification for computational systems in genetic research is to develop a global view of experimental design to integrate research efforts and results in different countries. This is necessary to link and bring together all existing knowledge on various areas of genetic research, especially nucleic and amino acid sequences. Another justification for bioinformatics in genetics research is database mining to facilitate the generation and testing of hypothesis on the functions and structures of gene and proteins by using available data as framework (Barnes Gray 2003) Managing and Manipulating Genetic Data Generally, there are two ways of managing and manipulating data. One is the use of software. A number of software emerged supporting the development genetic linkage maps and other purposes. Although software varies in function, the common aim is to aid in understanding genetic linkage information and automating the research process to support effective map building. (Weaver et al. 1992) The other is network systems comprised of a database and accessibility through network connections. Networks allow geneticists to access available information such as on genetic markers so they can combine this with new data for analysis and interpretation. This supports the continuity of global genetics research. (Cheung et al. 1996) Value of Bioinformatics The essence of bioinformatics to genetic research is innovativeness and huge potential in developing novel approaches to genetics research. Bioinformatics has the potential to analyse and interpret data not only for purposes of completing the research purpose but also for the practical purpose of usefulness in diagnosis or therapy. (Jones Phillip 2000) The potential of bioinformatics in translating genetic data into practical solutions for actual biological problems accounts for the expected increase in the value of the bioinformatics market to billions of dollars in the next five years (World Bioinformatics Market 2008). Bioinformatics for Genetic Study Designs and Analysis Bioinformatics allowed the development of better study designs and analysis for genetic research that address previous methodological problems. Genetics and bioinformatics both adhere to collaborative investigations. Genetic research necessitates phenotypes and researcher expertise in mapping or sequencing studies while bioinformatics depends on high quality databases as well as access and integration tools and expertise. (Schmidt 2003) Collaborative designs constitute a common challenge in genetics and bioinformatics. With bioinformatics, problem identification in research focuses on testing hypothesis such as gene identification in cancer research or linking new and previous data such as on mutations. Data gathering is through data mining by searching various databases using the Internet and networks. Data is then subject to integration and organisation according to the biological problem studied such as combining data on protein structure with its properties and functions contained in various databases. Data analysis considers breadth and depth. Breadth refers to analytical processes comparing genes using algorithms while depth pertains to the determination protein encoding of a particular gene. Tools such as modelling and simulation support data interpretation and presentation. (Luscombe et al. 2001) In the case of gene expression research, this required the efficient analysis of microarrays and population. Bioinformatics provided two-colour microarrays as a more effective analytical design by covering twice the number of distant pair design profiles and population. (Fu Jansen 2006) In cancer epidemiology research, bioinformatics supported the integration of genetic susceptibility factors to create innovative study designs (Malats Castano-Vinyals 2007). Non-Coding RNA Bioinformatics Bioinformatics plays an important role in non-coding RNA research. Hiro et al. (2006) explained that non-coding RNA genes have weak statistical signals and the potential of bioinformatics addresses this limitation by providing systems of searching and predicting non-coding RNA. Huang et al. (2008) discussed that bioinformatics can support non-coding RNA search through CYK-type and covariance programs but there is need to improve further programs to accommodate arbitrary RNA structures. Bioinformatics and Cancer Genetics Bioinformatics supports genetic research on cancer. Kato and Kato (2006) reported that that bioinformatics supports cancer research through omics data functions to support knowledge on genetic biomarkers linked to cancer including ‘predisposition, diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic markers’ using data and text mining programs. Barnes and Gray (2007) explained the contributions of bioinformatics to cancer genetics as cancer genomes, cancer genetics design, cancer gene mutations, and other breakthroughs. Bioinformatics and Gene Identification Biotechnology significantly contributes to the identification of disease genes by allowing the management of large bulks of data including DNA sequences and microarray data in identifying genetic functions that cause diseases. Chen and Chen (2008) explained the role of bioinformatics in linking genes and disease outcomes through gene identification algorithms incorporates into analytical software. Algorithms direct calculation and data processing by providing a sequence of instructions in handling data. Tu et al. (2006) discussed the use of the network-based stochastic algorithm in inferring disease causing genes and identifying regulatory pathways. Bioinformatics in Single Gene Orders and Mutations Bioinformatics is also useful in studying single gene orders and mutations to ascertain genetic causes of monogenic diseases. Barnes and Gray (2007) explained that the data storage and processing solutions of bioinformatics led to outcomes such as the genome-wide map of monogenic diseases, understanding of the nature of mutations in single gene orders, and implications of epigenetics on Mendelian traits. Cooper, Stenson and Chuzhanova (2006) explained that bioinformatics support studies of single gene orders and mutations via the Human Gene Mutation Database (HGMD) that contains a wide range of information on nuclear genes, particularly germ-line mutations that are associated with inherited diseases. In 2005, the database contained 53,000 lesions together with data on DNA sequences, splice junction, and polymorphisms. The database provides core data with which new data is combined to build knowledge on monogenic diseases. Bioinformatics and Genetic Data Mining Bioinformatics supports data mining and analysis in genetics research. Wang et al. (2005) explained that bioinformatics support genetic data mining and analysis through various databases on areas of genetic studies such as the gene mutation databases as well as software or programs operating through context-based algorithms. This enables analytical processes, to integrate genetic data, via clustering methods for microarrays, comparison of DNA structures, identification of sequence characteristics, discovering disease markers, indexing of pathways and sequences, among others analytical outcomes. Geneticists can select which algorithmic tool in bioinformatics to use in managing and analysing particular data involved in the study or integrating data from various databases. Since bioinformatics continues to evolve, new analytical tools would evolve to address current problems in data mining and analysis for genetic research. The National Center for Biotechnology Information (2004) identified two breakthrough contributions of bioinformatics in genetic data mining and analysis. One is protein modelling. DNA sequences can encode proteins with particular functions but protein structures cannot be visually seen using x-ray crystallography or nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy making it difficult to study protein encoding. Bioinformatics allows protein modelling to visualize proteins in three-dimensions and by using templates enables the prediction of structures of similar proteins. The other is genomic mapping for the management of sequence information, which is painstaking when manually made. Bioinformatics provide maps to guide geneticists in pointing the precise location of gene sequences. Bioinformatics in Improving Genetic Research Schmidt (2003) explained that bioinformatics improve genetic research by providing evolving and improving means of managing data explosion. Research advancements resulted to large data on nucleotide sequences comprising DNA and amino acid sequences comprising proteins stored in databases around the world. However, manually pulling out data for use in succeeding studies and analysing vast data takes time. Manual study of outputs has become tedious. Bioinformatics improve genetic research by allowing geneticists to search databases for the gene composition, proteins and mutations as well as model the chemical and structural compositions of living cells to support various health implications such as cancer and drug studies. A researcher cannot be familiar with every known genetic interaction, so that bioinformatics becomes necessary in managing and interpreting systems-level information. Conclusion Bioinformatics has transformed the field of biology, particularly genetics, by providing approaches, processes and tools to ease the difficulties of managing and analysing large bulks of data that have accumulated over decades of genetic research. Bioinformatics has made genetics an information and practice science from primarily a laboratory-based science. Furthermore, the continuously evolving field of biometrics holds the potential to facilitate further advancements in genetics through the development of new software, algorithms, and processes useful in filling research gaps in genetics. However, geneticists play an important role in directing and enhancing the role of bioinformatics in genetics. This requires geneticists to understand bioinformatics to develop data processing and analytical tools addressing the different needs in various areas of genetic research. References Barnes, M. R,. Gray, I. C. eds. , 2007. Bioinformatics for geneticists. 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing, Inc. Chen, Y. P. Chen, F. , 2008. Using bioinformatics techniques for gene identification in drug discovery and development. Current Drug Metabolism, 9(6), pp. 567-573. Cheung, K. H. , Nadkarni, P. , Silverstein, S. , Kidd, J. R. , Pakstis A. J. , Miller P. Kidd K. K. , 1996. PhenoDB: an integrated client/server database for linkage and population genetics. Computers and Biomedical Research, 29(4), pp. 327-337. Claverie, J. , 2007. Bioinformatics for dummies. 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing, Inc. Cooper, D. N. , Stenson, P. D. Chuzhanova, N. A. , 2006. The Human Gene Mutation Database (HGMD) and its exploitation in the study of mutational mechanisms. Current Protocols in Bioinformatics. Unit 1. 13. Available at: http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmed/18428754? dopt=Abstract [Accessed 14 October 2008] Fu, J. Jansen, R. C. , 2006. Optimal design and analysis of genetic studies on gene expression. Genetics, 173(3), pp. 1993-1999. Hiro, K. , Akio, K. Masaru, T. , 2006. Bioinformatics analyses of non-coding RNA. Protein, Nucleic Acid and Enzyme, 51(16), pp. 2420-2424. Huang, Z. , Wu, Y. , Robertson, J. , Feng, L. , Malmberg, R. Cai, L. , 2008. Fast and accurate search for non-coding RNA pseudoknot structures in genomes. Bioinformatics, 24(20), pp. 2281-2287. Jones, P. B. Phillip, B. C. , 2000. The commercialization of bioinformatics. Electronic Journal of Biotechnology, 3(2). Available at: http://www. scielo. cl/scielo. php? pid=S0717-34582000000200002script=sci_arttext [Accessed 14 October 2008] Katoh, M. Katoh, M. , 2006. Bioinformatics for cancer management in the post-genome era. Technology in Cancer Research Treatment, 5(2), pp. 169-175. Luscombe, N. M. , Greenbaum, D. Gerstein, M. , 2001, What is bioinformatics? A proposed definition and overview of the field. Methods of Information in Medicine, 40, pp. 346–58. Malats, N. Castano-Vinyals, G. , 2007. Cancer epidemiology: study designs and data analysis. Clinical and Translational Oncology, 9(5), pp. 290-297 National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2004 Bioinformatics, Available at: http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/About/primer/bioinformatics. html [Accessed 14 October 2008] Schmidt, C. W. , 2003. Data explosion: bringing order to chaos with bioinformatics. Environmental Health Perspectives, 111(6), pp. 340-345. Tu , Z. , Wang , L. , Arbeitman, M. , Chen, T. Sun, F. , 2006. An integrative approach for causal gene identification and gene regulatory pathway inference. Bioinformatics, 22(14), pp. 489-496 Wang, J. T. L. , Zaki, M. J. , Toivonen, H. T. T. Shasha, D. E. eds. , 2005. Data mining on bioinformatics. London: Springer-Verlog. Weaver, R. , Helms, C. , Mishra, S. K. Donis-Keller, H. , 1992. Software for analysis and manipulation of genetic linkage data. American Journal of Human Genetics, 50(6), pp. 1267–1274. World Bioinformatics Market. 2008. ReportLinker. com. Available at: http://www. reportlinker. com/p092468/World-BioinformaticsMarket. html [Accessed 14 October 2008]

Steveston Village and Deep Cove- Canadian Tourist Attractions Essay

Nowadays, lower mainland tourist attractions are one of the most attractive tourist destinations for people to go travel. They always locate just beside the big cities, but you can get many special things you can’t get in the big cities, such as the natural environment, local building, fresh air and peaceful feeling. Many people like to relax in the lower mainland tourist attractions at weekend. Vancouver is a city full of good lower mainland tourist attractions. Steveston Village and Deep Cove are two of the most famous lower mainland tourist attractions in Vancouver. According to the research of location, environment, and entertainment of Steveston Village and Deep Cove exhibits, we can found that both lower mainland tourist attractions supply an interesting traveling experience. However, Steveston Village’s is fitter for people who want to get fun while Deep Cove’s is suitable for people who want to relax quietly. Firstly, looking at the location of Steveston Village and Deep Cove will helps to explain why both these two lower mainland tourist attractions are very amusing, but adapt to different people of different purpose. To begin, Both Steveston Village and Deep Cove are locating beside the water. Steveston is located on the mouth of Fraser River. And it is a once-boisterous frontier seaport and principal port on the Fraser River. Similarly, Deep Cove is off Burrard Inlet on the North shore of Vancouver, and it is hidden treasure at the entrance to Indian Arm. In addition, Steveston Village and Deep Cove are quite near the commercial centers. Steveston Village just besides the Richmond Centre and it is about 15 miles (24 km) south of Vancouver. Likewise, Deep Cove is just a 20-minute drive from Vancouver. However, there a... ...k in Deep Cove. Overall, Steveston Village’s fishing style is fit for people who want to see the special things. Deep Cove is a place can give people opportunity to feeling the peaceful of the nature. In conclusion, both Steveston Village and Deep Cove are excellent place to go travel. Steveston Village will provide a wonderful play land to people would rather have delight, whereas Deep Cove is ideal for people who want to quiet and cotton to natural world. The differences in their location, environment and entertainment have obviously show the reasons these two lower mainland tourist attractions are attract different kinds of people. Every coins has two sides, nothing is perfect. Both Steveston Village and Deep Cove are showing the example that if who can insist to keep his style and continue to make it better, it will attract more and more people in the future.

Entering the soft drinks industry in india Essay

India is an enormous and diverse country with a population of over 1 billion people, making it difficult to make any generalisations about what Indians like and want from a soft drink (Background to Business in India, 2011). The soft drink industry in India has been growing rapidly since 2006 and in 2010 generated a profit of $3. 8 billion and although the market is set to decelerate, by 2015 he market value will be $5. 9 billion (Soft Drinks Industry Profile: India, 2011). From this, India is an attractive marketplace with many opportunities for a soft drinks manufacturer to want to expand in to. Porter’s National Diamond: Factor Conditions India has a very young population with over half being under the age of 25 (BSCAA , 2009) This is an advantage to the MNC wanting to expand their business in to India as research by Euromonitor (2011) suggests that young people aged 16-25 are more likely to purchase bottled soft drinks. Conversely, the diversity of the population in India must be stressed as it is such a large country, with a huge divide between rich and poor. Also with regards to human resources, the MNC could benefit from the profusion of low-cost labour in India (Maan, M et al, 2011), meaning the MNC could move its manufacturing to India to reduce its operating costs whilst targeting the young population with their soft drink product. When assessing the physical resources in India, the MNC needs to consider the poor infrastructure in the country and how rural some of the areas are. It would not be advised to enter the market in east/northeast India unless selling cheap bottled water because the area is very rural and poor and there is only really a market for selling healthy, clean and sanitised water (Soft Drinks in India, 2011). However, south India would be a much more promising area to invest in to and the MNC would have better business opportunities here. Southern India benefits from a much more affluent population of young, employed people, who in recent years have become much more health-conscious, which has led to an increase of 24% in market sales (Soft Drinks in India, 2011). If the MNC were to invest in India, concentrating on one area to ensure they reach the correct target audience, Southern India would be ideal to bring out a range of waters and juices to attract the young, health-conscious population there. Carbonated drinks should not be considered at research by Euromonitor (2011) stress the saturation of the market by megabrands such as Coca Cola and the need for â€Å"healthier† bottled, soft drinks. These also relate to the social and environmental sectors of the PESTLE model. Porter’s National Diamond: Demand Conditions In India, there is an increasing demand for healthy and hygienic soft drinks but sports drinks will remain to be the most rapidly growing sector due to the popularity of sports with young Indians (Soft Drinks in India, 2011). The research from Euromonitor (2011) states that Indians have moved away from carbonated drinks due to the rising health awareness, and have started to purchase more water and fruit and vegetable juices. For the MNC to compete against the increasing international competition, they would need to think â€Å"glocally†. Glocalisation entails local and global activities acting simultaneously, where they would â€Å"think globally and act locally† (Glocalisation, no date). By adapting to the local environment, the MNC could gain a competitive advantage as an international brand as they would appear to take in to account the local surroundings of their brand and they are more likely to be successful as they would be selling a product that the local Indians would want. The MNC should internationalise to respond to the megatrend of competitors, which is a deterministic force, and then compete through adaptation of their product to suit the local surroundings in India. The strategy the MNC should consider after analysing the demand conditions is to consider both price and value together. They should differentiate themselves from other soft drink suppliers by offering a strong brand that young Indians are conscious of (Soft Drinks in India, 2011) but also an acceptable price. Although there is a huge poor population in India, if the MNC were to target Southern India as suggested after looking at the factor conditions, research by the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (2011) depict a large and growing middle-class population of India that have a disposable income of between $4,166-$20,833 per year; this suggests that they could price their product in correspondence with the other brands as there is a growing population of richer Indians. Also by offering benefits of a brand and a health-conscious drink that is in high demand at the moment, they can concentrate on focussing on that one area of India where they could possibly dominate the market in a smaller area. Porter’s National Diamond: Firm Strategy, Structure and Rivalry With regards to structure of firms, the MNC will have to consider how different India is in terms of how they do business compared to Europe. In India, the majority of organisations have a strong hierarchical structure, with one authoritarian leader at the top (World Business Culture, 2011). When investing in to the Indian market it is recommended to approach business in the same hierarchical structure that India have as it is indisputably acknowledged. If they were to enter the market dealing with business in a more democratic, flat manner, how Europe would normally deal with business, they are unlikely to thrive. In terms of rivalry, there appears to be a lot of competition from other brands of soft drinks. Bisleri holds the largest amount of market share with 23. 6% in 2010; however this is the main seller of clean, hygienic water in India (Soft Drinks in India, 2011). After this, Coca Cola and Pepsi with all their sub-brands hold high shares in the market in India. If the MNC were to invest in to the Indian market, the strategy they would have to take would be to introduce a new soft drink that promotes sustainable benefits of being a healthy, branded, bottled soft drink that is different from the standard carbonates that the international, well-known brands offer. By differentiating their product and adapting it to the local environment in India, the MNC will gain competitive advantage. Porter’s National Diamond: Related and Supporting Industries Soft drinks are sweetened with sugar (Beverage Health, 2010) and India is the second largest producer of this commodity in the world (Sugar: Supply and Demand, 2010). This would be a benefit to the MNC as a main ingredient to soft drinks is readily available and will be cheaper rather than importing it from other countries. Plastic is also heavily involved when packaging soft drinks, through a third party factory. Luckily for the MNC, India has had a high development of their machinery which can create high-quality plastic products, including bottles (Indian Plastic Portal: 2009). By having plastic bottlers locally available, the MNC will have an advantage on being able to easily be supplied the service; however the price at which they purchase the plastic bottles for their soft drink product could be expensive due to the competition of other, more established brands such as Coca Cola. Porter’s National Diamond: Role of Chance The role of chance could invalidate the advantages of investing in the market in India at any time. Chance events that could affect the MNC introducing a new soft drink in India could include: well-established brands like Coca Cola or Pepsi creating a new product which young Indian’s are more likely to be swayed towards due to brand loyalty; another chance event could be new health awareness campaigns that may affect a young individual’s view on bottled soft drinks. There are constantly rising issues concerning health and the amount of sugar young people consume which could seriously harm the reputation and also the sales that the MNC could potentially make when entering the Indian Market. Also factors such as soaring prices in sugar or limited water supply could dramatically affect the manufacture and production of soft drinks. Porter’s National Diamond: Role of Government Currently, India is considered at a low-cost option for organisations to invest in to with its strong domestic market, high savings rates and positive demographic trend (World Business Culture: 2011), however, this could quickly change as India’s government could, at any time, implement new tax laws, quality standard laws or changes in antitrust laws which could alter the ease of entering in to the Indian marketplace for soft drinks. The MNC must take in to account and assess all the different policies and laws for foreign markets to invest to ensure they can operate their business properly. Issues that may arise in this determinant will also occur in the PESTLE model if the MNC were to undertake this from of country analysis. Porter’s Five Forces Buyer Power: Research by Datamonitor (2010) suggests that buyer power is temperate within the current soft drink suppliers in India as they sell not only to independent retailers but they sell their concentrates to bottling companies. However, the buyer power for a new brand of soft drink in India could affect the MNC profusely; this is due to the fact that the consumers will already have brand loyalty to the well-known and well established soft drink brands in India. The buyers would have to have an incentive to purchase the new product over something they are already used to and like; therefore having a relatively strong power over the new entrant. Supplier Power: Due to the fact that most ingredients of soft drink products are commodities means that supplier power is reasonably low and these commodities are readily available, for example: sugar (Datamonitor: 2010). Water, which is also a main component needed for the manufacture of a soft drink product, could be a problem in India as the sanitation of the water can be a problem and the supply is not always constant (India: Development Policy Review, 2007). Finally, supplier power from plastic packaging companies is growing due to the rise in awareness of environmentally friendly packaging (Datamonitor, 2010). New Entrants: If the MNC were to invest in to India, to ensure they were successful, they will need to ensure that they concentrate on differentiating and adapting their product to the area and from other brands (Datamonitor, 2010). Research by Euromonitor (2011) also suggest that by having a strong brand name and by using national figures to advertise the brand, a new entrant to the soft drinks market in India will thrive. From this, it suggests that there is a market for new entrants as long as the product is differentiated and well distinguished from the other products that already exist. Datamonitor also recommend that a new entrant should stress the health benefits of their product to attract more consumers. Substitutes: There is a reasonable threat from substitute products in the soft drink market in India. Research by Datamonitor (2010) depicts the larger brands like Parle Bisleri to be a higher threat as they offer other kinds of confectionary products as well as a wide range of soft drinks and the substitutes are able to stored differently (on shelves at room temperature). Datamonitor recommends that leading brands, as they have a diverse range of products, can reduce the risk of the substitutes on their performance. Rivalry: Research by Datamonitor (2010) gives evidence that the marketplace for soft drinks in India is concentrated with the top three players (Parle Bisleri, Coca Cola and Pepsi) holding 74. 1% of the market volume. These brands not only offer standard carbonated soft drinks and bottled water but speciality bottled teas and coffees. Therefore, if the MNC were to enter in to the Indian soft drink market, to remain a competitive brand, they would need to offer an adapted product to attract new consumers and draw them away from the well-established brands they know well. The Diffusion Curve. (Pearce, 2011) India as a whole would be placed in sector â€Å"late majority† due to the whole population of India being respectively poor with a GDP of only $1190 (World Business Culture, 2010). This means that they would purchase the product but maybe not straight away, when it is released, they will start to consume when the soft drink has become much cheaper. However, in a much more affluent area like South India where there is a population of young professionals with brand consciousness (Euromonitor, 2011) the population would be within the â€Å"early majority† sector. This is due to the fact that younger, wealthier people are more likely to want to try out new products when they see others consuming them and also feel the need to try out new products if the benefits and brands are well advertised to them (Euromonitor, 2011). Recommendations After assessing the market for soft drinks in India, it would be recommended for the MNC to invest in to this attractive marketplace. It is important for the MNC to internationalise its operations to diversify themselves, to respond to foreign competition and to take advantage from lower costs and increased technological expertise. However, there are many factors to consider when entering the market in India: firstly, the MNC must take in to account how diverse the nation is. As mentioned before, the population is huge and it would be ignorant to make any generalisations; therefore it would be a sensible idea for the MNC to only enter the market in one area of the country, for example southern India. It has been discussed that southern India is a much more affluent area of India, in which are many young, employed Indians who should be the target audience for the MNC as they are accessible and sustainable. Secondly, the competitors in this area must be considered. In order to be successful in investing in to India, it would be sensible for the MNC to create a product that is not standardised but adapted to the needs and likes of the population in this area. The MNC should conduct some research in to what kinds of flavours and tastes that are preferred in order to create a product that would thrive in Southern India. It is also very important for the MNC to create a product in which the health benefits are a main factor of their soft drink. Throughout the research in this feasibility study, it has been stressed that there is a need from consumers for a soft drink where the health benefits are highlighted as although the carbonated soft drink market is booming (Euromonitor, 2011) it is saturated with other competitors; therefore, the MNC should compete through differentiation and offering benefits of their â€Å"healthier† soft drink product. Overall, the MNC has the chance of being successful when investing in to Indian soft drink market. They need to be careful when dealing with business with them, ensuring they have conducted enough research in to how they do business as it is very different to Europe, as said before, they deal with business in a hierarchical and authoritarian way. However the foreign environment is uncontrollable and the MNC has no control over the macro environment, so they must ensure to fully understand the marketplace and how India operates with foreign investors. Critical Evaluation of Porter’s National Diamond Porter’s National Diamond is described as a â€Å"methodological approach to analyse the most current industry occurrences and competitive status, and to identify emerging issues and opportunities for successful market development† (Batra, M et al, 2009). The diamond is used to investigate an organisation’s ability to compete in international markets by looking at four different components: factor conditions, demand conditions, related and supporting industries and strategy, structure and rivalry. Secondary to these four determinants, porter stresses the need for considering the role of chance and the role of the government in order to have a sound analysis of the competitive advantage of nations. Porter’s national competitive advantage theory suggests that a country’s competiveness within a certain industry will depend on the whether or not the industry has the room to innovate and advance (Wild, 2011, p177). Porter’s diamond is mainly concerned with how and why certain countries are more competitive in different industries. His theory amalgamates the two different denominations of international trade theory from country based theories such as mercantilism and comparative advantage, and also firm based theories such as product life cycle and national competitive advantage (Griffin, 2007, p164) There are many advantages of using Porter’s National Diamond: it allows an organisation to asses and analyse a country, covering all necessary areas to think about, ensuring that it would be a successful country to invest in to. It ensures that the organisation takes in to account everything they need to when considering investing in another country. Although it is only a forecast, if the organisations thinks about all possible occurrences and fully assesses all the components, it should give them an extensive knowledge and assertion that they are making a prosperous investment. Another advantage is that it is academically renowned and used by many organisations and governments across the world. However, Porter’s National Diamond has been criticised for many reasons: firstly it suggests that any role of government is negative, where it could be positive and encourage foreign investments and make domestic industries less competitive (Hadjidakis, 2007, p88). The role of chance is also too difficult to predict as any environment can change very rapidly and unexpectedly. According to Dickens (2007, p187) the diamond compresses too much complex and intricate information in to a â€Å"four-pointed diamond model† and this is not enough to be able to measure the national competitiveness of a country adequately. It has also been argued that porter’s model lacks any distinct definition of the four determinants which in turn, will reduce the predictive power and accuracy of the diamond model (Grant, 1991). Within international business management, when applying Porter’s national diamond, it should be ensured to consider every single aspect that Porter recommends in to major detail to ensure a forecast for investment is as accurate as possible. The different aspects of the diamond should be developed as much as possible so that international competitiveness is driven to thrive and succeed. Reference List Background to Business in India (2011) Available at: http://www. worldbusinessculture. com/Indian-Business-Style. html (Accessed: 10 January 2012). Batra, M. , Niehm, L. (2009), â€Å"An opportunity analysis framework for apparel retailing in India: economic, social, and cultural considerations for international retail firms†, Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, Vol. 24 No. 4, pp. 287-300 Beverage Health (2010) Available at: http://www. beveragehealth. org. au/scripts/cgiip. exe/WService=ASP0017/ccms. r? PageId=10053 (Accessed: 12 January 2012) BSCAA (2009), â€Å"Background note: India†, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Available at: www. state. gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3454. htm (Accessed: 10 January 2012) Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (2011) Background Note: India. Available at: http://www. state. gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3454. htm#econ (Accessed: 10 January 2012) Dickens, P. (2007) Global Shift: Mapping the challenging contours of the world economy. 5th edn. Sage Publications: London. Grant, R. M. (1991), â€Å"Porter’s ‘competitive advantage of nations’: an assessment†, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 12 No. 7, pp. 535-48. Griffin, R. (2007) International Business: A Managerial Perspective. 5th edn. Pearson: Upper Saddle River. Glocalisation (no date) Available at: http://rija-rasoava. weebly. com/glocalisation. html (Accessed: 10 January 2012) Hadjidakis, S. Katsioloudes, M. (2007) International Business: A Global Perspective. Elsevier. India: Development Policy Review (2007) Available at: http://web. worldbank. org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/0,,contentMDK:20980493~pagePK:146736~piPK:146830~theSitePK:223547,00. html (Accessed: 12 January 2012) Indian Plastic Portal (2009) Available at: http://www. indianplasticportal.com/plastic-industry-overview/ (Accessed: 12 January 2012) Mann, M. Byun, S. (2011). Accessing opportunities in apparel retail sectors in India: Porter’s diamond approach. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 15, 2. Available at: http://www. emeraldinsight. com/journals. htm? articleid=1926550&show=html#b7 (Accessed: 10 January 2012) Pearce, A. (2011) ‘Week 9: Production Strategy and International Value Chain’. The diffusion curve [Online]. Available at: https://elp. northumbria. ac. uk/webapps/portal/frameset. jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_223681_1%26url%3d (Accessed: 14 January 2012) Soft Drinks Industry Profile: India (2011) Available at: http://web. ebscohost. com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? vid=5&hid=24&sid=89a8abec-1124-46fa-8180-57eef84e8a7d%40sessionmgr4 (Accessed: 10 January 2012). Soft Drinks in India (2011) Available at: http://www. portal. euromonitor. com/Portal/Pages/Search/SearchResultsList. aspx (Accessed 10 January 2012) Sugar: Supply and Demand (2010) Available at: http://www. spectrumcommodities. com/education/commodity/statistics/sugar. html.

Ethical Egoism & Psychological Egoism Essay

Ethical egoism which simply known as egoism, is of normative & rigid nature which states that a person should do whatever he/she likes and whatever which is in their interest. It also states that a person performing any act other than influence of one own interest does not come under egoism. Robert Olson in his book – ‘The morality of self-interest’ (1965) stated a theory that one should do whatever that promotes or supports one’s self interest, if everyone starts doing it, then it will collectively promote their personal interest. There are three diverse forms of ethical egoism which are individual, personal and universal. Individual ethical egoism states that all people should do what is in their best interest. Personal ethical egoism states that one should do whatever is in one’s best interest but can’t compel anyone what they should do. Universal ethical egoism discuss that everyone should do what is in their best interest. Psychological egoism Psychological egoism is a descriptive type of theory. This theory states that all actions of individuals are aggravated by their personal interest even if it seems to be act of benignant. People only act to attain their own interests intentionally or unintentional, directly or indirectly. It also states that whatever people do or act they mostly intend to do that, while doing it they might act selfishly. An objection regarding psychological theory was stated by William Hazlitt and Thomas Macaulay (1991) that â€Å"If a person willingly performs an act, that means he derives personal enjoyment from it; therefore, people only perform acts that give them personal enjoyment. † This statement concludes that a person will only perform those acts which fulfill their self interest, satisfaction or pleasure. Fallacy in Psychological Egoism The major fallacy in Psychological egoism is hasty generalization Humans are often known to work or act for the welfare of others like donating in charity, doing volunteer work, such acts are not visibly benefitting the one who is doing it. Therefore, it rejects the thought that this theory is applicable under all circumstances, that humans only do what benefits them. In another case people might do such acts which will ultimately harm them like smoking, drug addiction or suicide, conscience are also a factor that influence one’s action. If one considers all acts that harm or act of conscience then no action remains that’s not a form of psychological egoism. Strong and Weak Versions of Ethical Egoism According to strong ethical egoism it is always right to intend one’s own self interest, and not at all right not to do so. Weak ethical egoism states that it is always right to intend one’s own self interest, but it is inevitably never right not to do such a thing. Therefore, basically if one does something that’s for its own greatest good like attaining success it can be applied on both types of egoism that’s strong and weak egoism. But if one acts in a way that is not necessarily in his/ or her greatest benefit for instance doing a volunteer work in a hospital or a disaster struck area, then there are certainly more lucrative ways by which one can effectively use his time although they might not be as morally positive. In such a case weak ethical egoism supports and shows flexibility in this regard. Contrast of Doctrine of Theories For ethical egoist the motivation is personal pleasure, your personal benefit can be monetary or otherwise, survival or existence, personal achievement, fame and all those consequences that one visualizes to be fulfilling his personal needs of all kind. If not properly understood ethical egoism promotes greediness & selfishness amongst people where your sole intention/ motivation is your own personal interest. For Psychological egoist the motivation can be anything other people’s benefit that is satisfying your sense of responsibility, your pleasure arising by fulfilling your moral obligation, your intrinsic happiness arising out of your hard work, your duty or your volunteer act of helping others. Although also in the psychological theory the end product is the personal benefit but ethically it seems productive than ethical egoism which is highly inclined toward misinterpretation.

Software Development Proposals essays

Software Development Proposals essays During the past two months, several teams of this companys software development unit have been conducting widespread research, specifically targeting administrators of large volume organisational computer networks, as to what problems and difficulties that are often encountered in regular, day to day running of computer applications and network activities. A common complaint that our surveys have brought to attention is the lack of system security, not only from sources outside of the network, but also from the systems actual users. These security issues range from desktop functionality and user interaction to access restrictions and most importantly data security. Some of these aspects are already in some way provided for in terms of security by a standard operating system, however, the issue has been raised by network administrators that added security is needed. In saying this, our team has conducted minor research and development in a project that we think will take the netw orking market by storm. This product is a complete security solution suitable for networks operating on a Windows based platform. Net-I (the name of the security tool) includes many features that offer complete system security while providing administrators with detailed reports on system use, functionality and much more. This report will provide an outline of the specifications of Net-I and the advantages it brings when used over a network, its potential buyers and marketability, and the benefits that can be reaped by the company provided that the development of this piece of software is given the green light. The purpose of this piece of Software is to be a tool that can be used by system administrators as an internal network security manager. Being best-in-class includes a user experience that is stress-free and effective, using the best technology for the job.[1] Keeping this statement in mind, the central goal in developin...

Equilibrium Constant of Electrochemical Cell Reaction

Equilibrium Constant of Electrochemical Cell Reaction The equilibrium constant of an electrochemical cells redox reaction can be calculated using the Nernst equation and the relationship between standard cell potential and free energy. This example problem shows how to find the equilibrium constant of a cells redox reaction. Problem The following two half-reactions are used to form an electrochemical cell:Oxidation:SO2(g) 2 H20(â„“) → SO4-(aq) 4 H(aq) 2 e-  Ã‚  E °ox -0.20 VReduction:Cr2O72-(aq) 14 H(aq) 6 e- → 2 Cr3(aq) 7 H2O(â„“)  Ã‚  E °red 1.33 VWhat is the equilibrium constant of the combined cell reaction at 25 C? Solution Step 1: Combine and balance the two half-reactions. The oxidation half-reaction produces 2 electrons and the reduction half-reaction needs 6 electrons. To balance the charge, the oxidation reaction must be multiplied by a factor of 3.3 SO2(g) 6 H20(â„“) → 3 SO4-(aq) 12 H(aq) 6 e- Cr2O72-(aq) 14 H(aq) 6 e- → 2 Cr3(aq) 7 H2O(â„“)3 SO2(g) Cr2O72-(aq) 2 H(aq) → 3 SO4-(aq) 2 Cr3(aq) H2O(â„“)By balancing the equation, we now know the total number of electrons exchanged in the reaction. This reaction exchanged six electrons. Step 2: Calculate the cell potential.This electrochemical cell EMF example problem shows how to calculate cell potential of a cell from standard reduction potentials.**E °cell E °ox E °redE °cell -0.20 V 1.33 VE °cell 1.13 VStep 3: Find the equilibrium constant, K.When a reaction is at equilibrium, the change in free energy is equal to zero. The change in free energy of an electrochemical cell is related to the cell potential of the equation:ΔG -nFEcellwhereΔG is the free energy of the reactionn is the number of moles of electrons exchanged in the reactionF is Faradays constant (96484.56 C/mol)E is the cell potential. The cell potential and free energy example shows how to calculate free energy of a redox reaction.If ΔG 0:, solve for Ecell0 -nFEcellEcell 0 VThis means, at equilibrium, the potential of the cell is zero. The reaction progresses forward and backward at the same rate, meaning there is no net electron flow. With no electron flow, there is no current and the potential is equal to zero.Now there is enough information known to use the Nernst equation to find the equilibrium constant.The Nernst equation is:Ecell E °cell - (RT/nF) x log10QwhereEcell is the cell potentialE °cell refers to standard cell potentialR is the gas constant (8.3145 J/mol ·K)T is the absolute temperaturen is the number of moles of electrons transferred by the cells reactionF is Faradays constant (96484.56 C/mol)Q is the reaction quotient**The Nernst equation example problem shows how to use the Nernst equation to calculate cell potential of a non-standard cell.**At equilibrium, the reaction quotient Q i s the equilibrium constant, K. This makes the equation:Ecell E °cell - (RT/nF) x log10KFrom above, we know the following:Ecell 0 VE °cell 1.13 VR 8.3145 J/mol ·KT 25 degC 298.15 KF 96484.56 C/moln 6 (six electrons are transferred in the reaction)Solve for K:0 1.13 V - [(8.3145 J/mol ·K x 298.15 K)/(6 x 96484.56 C/mol)]log10K-1.13 V - (0.004 V)log10Klog10K 282.5K 10282.5K 10282.5 100.5 x 10282K 3.16 x 10282Answer:The equilibrium constant of the cells redox reaction is 3.16 x 10282.

Civil Partnership and Marriage are the Same Essay

Civil Partnership and Marriage are the Same - Essay Example To be eligible for a civil partnership, the parties should be of the same sex, be unmarried and not already a civil partner, be over the age of 16 and have parental consent if under 18 years of age, and should not be within the prohibited degrees of relationship. The formalities of marriage are predominantly governed by â€Å"the Marriage Act 1949, the Marriage Act 1983 and the Marriage (Registrar General’s Licence) Act 1970† (LexisNexis 2011). They include requirement for licenses, the conduction of marriages in a prescribed place, the fulfillment of formalities that relate to the hours of marriage, the attendance of witnesses, and other factors. Failure to comply with the formalities may form grounds for nullity. The formalities governing the formation of a civil partnership are contained in the Civil Partnership Act 2004. They include the requirements pertaining to notice and residence, the place of registration, delivery of the civil partnership document, registrati on, publicity, objections, and the waiting period. There is recognition of particular overseas relationships in England and Wales, which derive the same benefits as civil partnerships, and may be terminated in the same way as civil partnerships. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to critically discuss the statement that civil partnership is simply marriage by another name; therefore there is no need to extend marriage to same-sex couples or civil partnership to different-sex couples. Civil Partnerships and Marriage Until 1967 the concept of same-sex partners had not been acceptable in the United Kingdom; and sexual relations between two people of the same gender was considered illegal. The law was changed in 2004 as a result of extensive pressure from the gay community and the government’s commitment to equality and social justice. Ultimately, the law recognised the relationship between same-sex couples as similar to the marriage relationship between opposite-sex people. These reforms are significant, particularly for those generations of same-sex couples who suffered discrimination because of their relationship being considered illegal (Family Law 2, 2007). Thus, The Civil Partnership Act 2004 (CPA) has had long-term legal effects. It creates a new legal status of ‘civil registered partner’, and aligns English law with that of â€Å"the Netherlands, Belgium, parts of Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Portugal, Spain and Germany† (Family Law 2, 2007: 30). The Act grants several rights and responsibilities to homosexual partnerships that have been registered. Like marriage, the Civil Partnership Act, 2004 has particular formalities which need to be in place. The formation of the civil partnership is procedurally similar to the civil wedding. Thus, â€Å"the registration cannot take place in a place of religious worship and no religious service is permitted† (Family Law 2, 2007: 30). However, a specific difference between a c ivil marriage and a civil partnership is the form of words used; that is, no specific forms of words need to be used for a civil partnership unlike the case of a civil wedding. Only people of the same sex can register Section 2(1) of the Civil Partner

Introduction to Tourism Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Introduction to Tourism Management - Essay Example Tourists are people who Are staying in another place away from home (for a maximum period of one year), but will eventually return home; Are part of leisure and tourism related activities; Visit for temporary short periods; Are on day trips (they may not be outside overnight); Are on business trips, which may not be holidays (Rowe, Smith and Borein, 2002, 3-4). The basic components of trade and tourism are: Fig 1: The core components of tourism management (Source: Rowe, Smith and Borein, 2002, 6). B. ‘Generating’ countries: The countries from where people tend to visit other places as tourists, or countries from where there is more outbound tourism, are known as tourist-generating countries. The term refers to places where people travel away from their home countries to other international places, for leisure purposes or for conducting business. This is a form of outbound tourism (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2010, 109). As for example, a busin ess group travelling from UK to US, for some important exhibition; or a family travelling from UK to France for a holiday. Here, UK is the generating country. C. Receiving countries: The countries to which people travel for leisure purposes or for conducting business related activities, are known as receiving countries. As for example, teams from various international destinations travelling to UK for taking part in the Olympics; or a group of Chinese tourists going to UK for sightseeing, or for visiting family and friends. D. Main tourism ‘receiving' countries of the world: Travel and Tourism is a popular worldwide activity, associated with leisure and holidays. In 2010, figures revealed that more 940 million tourists from all parts of the world entered various receiving countries, leading to an increase of 6.6% in tourism when compared to the 2009 figures, and the total receiving global tourism numbers rose to   euro  693 billion in 2010, equivalent to a 4.7% rise in   actual terms (UNWTO, 2011, 2). Owing to the 2007-08 economic downturns, international  tourism  suffered a setback, which started around June 2008. Here we find that the rise the global tourism arrivals in various receiving countries falling to 2% (especially during the summer season) (UNWTO, 2008, 1). This trend continued into 2009, when some countries were more affected than others owing to the worldwide outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus, and in an average almost a 6% fall in tourism for the receiving countries (fall of 4% in global arrival numbers, resulting in around 880 million international tourist ‘arrivals’ in 2009) (ibid). Travel and tourism is an important segment in the economic sector of many ‘receiving’ countries, while for some ‘receiving’ countries tourism is a vital sector where the nation’s entire economy depends on the revenues earned from travel and tourism for an overall growth and development. Receiving countr ies where tourism earns large revenue  are USA, UK, Spain, France,  Italy, Greece, Egypt,  Ã‚   Israel,  Lebanon,  Thailand, Fiji, Seychelles, The Bahamas,  Maldives,  and Philippines. Tourism brings in revenue from the payments made by the tourists for  the services and goods received; it creates various job opportunities within the  hospitality and service  that function within the travel and tourism. The hospitality and se