Smoking Speech

Hi, the topic that I have chosen for my speech is â€Å"that smoking causes death† well that’s a pretty boring topic right . I’m going to be talking about the main effects, how many people die each year things like that. So do you want to die before reaching the age of 30? 1. Smoking has a massive effect on health; smoking causes around 5000 deaths in New Zealand each year. 1. 3 billion people smoke around the world. Smoking causes 1 in 4 cancer deaths in New Zealand including cancers in the lung, mouth and throat which is where the smokes goes.When you breathe smoke, the smoke goes into your lungs and stars putting black tar into your lungs. This means it is harder to breath and your heart has to pump harder to get the oxygen around your body. That is bad for your heart. 2. Smoking is so dangerous why don't people stop? Stopping is more difficult than starting. Nicotine is addictive this means that the nicotine in the cigarettes makes you want more and more and you can't stop you keep wanting cigarettes. So you keep on buying more smokes and waste a lot of money.Even people who don't smoke may be killed by other people's smoking. Around 350 New Zealanders are killed each year because of second hand smoking. 3. Everyday in Britain about 450 children start smoking, 1 in 4 who turn into regular smokers by the age of 15. Would you want your child to become addicted to smoking? Cigarettes smoke contains over 4,800 chemicals and 69 are known to cause cancer. Why is smoking so harmful? 1. Nicotine: is a highly addictive drug, which stimulates the nervous system. 2.Tar: is a Sticky substance contains many toxic chemicals and causes cancer. The number of smoke related deaths is also equivalent to a jumbo jet crashing everyday of the year! That is about 330 people each day, 120 thousand people every year. In 1994 over 1154 million cigarettes were smoked by 11 to 15 year olds. 30% of all cancer deaths are because of smoking. In conclusion I think tha t smoking does cause death and I hope you agreed with me. So be wise and don’t chose to walk the smokers path, thank you for listening and hoped you enjoyed my speech.

Sigmund Freud and Phallic Stage Fixation

Ferris State University 1. According to Freudian theory, is Steve aware of why he interacts with women on only a sexual basis? Steve is superficially aware of why his interactions with women are exclusively sexual, but there is an underlying issue with his mother that prevents him from having a deeper connection with women. 2. What type of psychic energy motives Steve, according to Freud? Libido, that controls sexual drive, is what has been motivating Steve over a majority of his life. . Which of Freud’s personality types does Steve display? What evidence is there for it? What would have caused it? Steve displays the personality of someone that uses defense mechanisms such as displacement and reaction formation. Due to the neglect by his mother, Steve has taken then experience and is taking it out on women around him. 4. At what Freudian stage is Steve fixated? What evidence is there of it? Describe the stage and how it contributed to the fixation.What would have caused this f ixation? Steve is fixated at the phallic stage of development. The evidence is that he is constantly looking for that sexual pleasure. With the lack of attention he got from the opposite-sex parent (Mother), Steve became focused on getting the kind of pleasure he desired, resulting in him being stuck in this stage of development. 5. Others might express their behavior differently than Steve if t hey were fixated at he same stage. Give some examples of how they might behave. While Steve’s hyper-sexual behavior is due to his phallic stage fixation, another person fixated at the same stage may act differently. For example, a person may instead seek sexual attention from people of the same gender. In another instance, a person could become fixated with themselves and unable to engage in sexual relations with another person.

Innovation at 3M Corporation Essay

3M was and still is a worldwide leader in innovation. After a rough start in 1902, over decades, 3M enjoyed national and global growth as well as a reputation for remaining a hothouse of innovation. In the 1990’s, 3M was trying to move away from the incrementalism and it sought to change the mix of new products to truly create something new to the world, instead of line extensions, which typically had provided two out of three new-product sales dollars. By 1996, the 3M Medical-Surgical Markets Division, a world leader in surgical drapes market, had gone almost a decade with only one successful product. At this point, Senior Product Specialist Rita Shor has been charged with the mandate of developing a breakthrough product within existing business strategy. She was selected not only because her seniority but also because she was thought of as being creative and consensus builder. Rita and the Medical-Surgical Market Division experiences with the traditional market research were disappointing. Traditional tools presented an abundance of data but contained little useful information for conceptualizing a breakthrough product as the current strategy of the company was desperate to find. In an in house lecture, Rita had heard about a new methodology for product development called â€Å"Lead User Research.† In an in house lecture, Rita had heard about a new methodology for product development called â€Å"Lead  User Research.† The premise of this novel methodology was that certain consumers experienced needs ahead of other consumers and some of the former would seek to innovate on their own. Shor decided to try since this might provide the key to the breakthrough product. The Medical-Surgical Division focused largely on reducing infections from skin through surgical drapes and surgical prepping. The team decided to  center their interest in a new product that should reduce infections, conform to the body, prove more effective than current products and be easy to apply and remove. Shor and her consultants follow the â€Å"Lead User Research† methodology stage by stage. The first two stages run as planned. However, the diversity in lead users and fields of expertise was adding complexity to the third and fourth phase. Along the way, after a change of the division manager, Shor experienced a big barrier of skepticism from her superiors. They had reduction on the team and clear opposition. The third stage took six months instead of six weeks. Shor and her team had to sell the program starting from scratch, reminding the new managers the expected benefits and the old problems. Finally, after one year and with the help of a dozen of lead users gather from backgrounds as diverse as cosmetics to surgery, the team ended up with three innovative product recommendations. Two of them represented a straightforward linear extension of 3M product lines. One more, the team though, might open the door to new business opportunities. However, the team had a fourth recommendation but it divided the team. The fourth idea would change the business unit strategy, in fact could mean to associate and combine technology from more than one core area of the company. Shor should decide if take the four recommendations to the senior management and revolutionize the company or just play safe and keep doing business as always. Case analysis There is no doubt of the excellence of 3M’s products. It is also known per decades that the company is a leader in innovation. However, this case represents the need for change in a moment where innovation was just predictable and the â€Å"new products† were the result of the same old ideas. It is understandable, up to a certain point, the level of comfort in employees and management had within the company. When the company has a steady income and year after year and the results show growth, small but growth, it is hard to sell a change in the organization. Rita Shor’s dilemma about presenting or not the fourth recommendation was not just about numbers. It was about business strategy, changes in the organization and cultural change management. After all, depending on how that kind of changes are implemented, the numbers could go either direction, faster and bigger by itself. Eventually, 3M should realize that the times where the innovation called for â€Å"it’s better to seek forgiveness than ask for permission† were behind. That there was no more â€Å"get-out-of-the-way† attitude. To put it in perspective, the employees’ comfort zone made the company transform itself in a short-term thinking, incapable of being radical anymore. In addition to the cultural aspect of the organization, another reason for the actual situation was the product developing process and the product teams that perform it. Those teams were composed primarily of technical individuals with zero room for an empirical behavior, making the company a secluded environment. The proportions of logic and predictability in contrast with creativity and â€Å"free† innovation were overwhelming. In summary, Rita Shor’s decision was not an easy one. She never imagined how far her assignment was going to go. The truth was that it went beyond the point of just finding a breakthrough product. The results of applying the â€Å"Lead User Research† methodolog y, opened bigger doors to radical change inside the company. That is what the case is all about. Alternatives Rita Shor had two clear alternatives. On the one hand, she could deliver to senior management only the three products they clearly defined. On the contrary, she could face the opposition of some of her own team members and introduce to 3M the â€Å"Lead User Research† methodology. Explaining the findings and telling the company that the legendary innovation process needed a refresh. The first option would help the team to present a safe and conservative idea, aligned with the 3M traditional methods. In fact, two of the three products were a linear progression of other products, which would please the â€Å"old† school of the management. Likewise, the third product accomplished the goal of the new company strategy. It was the  breakthrough product that the Senior Management charged Rita to find. This option was the best in terms of having everybody happy within the team and everybody in th e organization. The second option was a bigger risk. It was a personal risk for Rita and her results to the company. It was also a business risk for the Health Care Unit and the Medical -Surgical Division. The recommendation of evolution or revolution was a big challenge for all the levels of the organization. It would start with the Health Care Unit’s business strategy statement but it would not stop there. The new recommendation would imply to collaborate with other units. It would means probably to create and destroy business units along the company. Not to mention that the recommendation would touch the core of the innovation principles in 3M. However, all those risks could be the answer that 3M was eager to find. The 30% goal of sales from products that did not exist four years earlier was not an easy target. The answer could be the change in the innovation process as a whole and not just one product at a time. Recommendations Definitely, the recommendation is to deliver the fourth idea to the Senior Management team. However, in order to assure the success of the new â€Å"Lead Users Research† methodology, it must be clear that 3M needs to commit all levels of the organization to the changes that â€Å"reinventing† themselves will bring. Change Management is a painful process. Even though it could involve complex  activities, changes in organizational structure, downsizing and cultural mentality change, all will benefit the company, in the long run. The new initiative will bring back the bright ideas 3M was known for and it will restore the respect that other businesses in the industry always have had for them. It is important though, be aware of the long process, the challenges that implement new methodologies and new ways of thinking implies. In 1995, John Kotter published research that revealed only 30 percent of change programs are successful1. There are not too many changes since then. In fact, fig.1 shows how 9% completely failed, 49% failed and just 21% had a complete and successful implementation of changes in the organizations 2.

Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Research Paper - Essay Example This war gained heavy criticism and the critics have established that US was wrong in conducting this war. War on Iraq was not justified due to several reasons including: it had no weapons of mass destruction, it was a weak nation, Iraq did not participate in the attack on the World Trade center, led to increase in terrorists, war was ethically wrong, led to loss of allies, higher cost lower benefits, war was fought for self interest over the interest of the community and led to the destruction of the global economy. Body The main official reason due to which US attacked Iraq was that Iraq and Saddam was in control of weapons of mass destructions and these weapons even were expected to include nukes. US might have made a just decision of going to war on this particular reason but later it was figured out that intelligence regarding weapons of mass destruction was misleading and no weapons of mass destruction were identified in the nation (O’Neill, 2012). The basis on which thi s war took place was that Iraq has previous used weapons that were dangerous in nature during the period of 1980s, but all those weapons were either utilized or recognized as unusable during the 1990s (Zinn, 2002). This clearly represents that US attacked Iraq on the basis of obsolete intelligence and the decision of going to war made by the administration of Bush was not justified. The intelligence gathered during the 1990s clearly showed that Iraq was not in possession of weapons of mass destruction and was not a plausible threat either to US or its allied nations. Even Saddam Hussein never had threatened US and neither to its allied force of attacking them. Neither Saddam nor Iraq poised a threat to the neighboring countries and neither the neighboring countries feared Iraq. Iraq had never attacked any of its neighbors since the end of the Gulf War as it had become quite weak and could not afford any war (O’Neill, 2012). US suspected that Iraq and Saddam had close ties wit h the terrorist group Taliban and its leader Osama Bin Laden and the US even suspected that he might have contributed to the attacks of 9/11 (Zinn, 2002). Since 9/11 US has been at a war against terrorism and has been at war with Afghanistan and Al-Qaeda and its leader Osama Bin Laden, Al-Qaeda had openly accepted the responsibility of the 9/11 attacks and even threatened US to attack US and allied nations in future due to which US launched an attack at Afghanistan and stood victorious. But Saddam Hussein had never conducted such threatening activities and should not have been attacked on the basis of terrorism. Instead of wasting resources in Iraq and causing damage throughout the world US should have focused on its war against terrorism in Afghanistan where the real terrorists exist and who continue to not only disturb the US society, but societies all over the world. Attack on Iraq did not lead to decrease in attack conducted by terrorist groups; rather terrorist groups have beco me much stronger due to this war. Individuals living in Iraq and other countries have started raising their voices against US and there are even those who do not appreciate what US did to Iraq, due to this the terrorist groups have gained more men and more personnel to dismantle US as these terrorist groups use the hatred against US to cause destruction in US. Instead of US distributing its resources

Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Design - Essay Example This paper presents the introduction to cone calorimeter test, the experimental procedure for conducting the experiment, the test results obtained and finally the results obtained are evaluated and a conclusions is drawn based on the results. The name cone calorimeter was coined from the shape of truncated conical heater that was developed by Dr. Vytenis Babrauskas who used the equipment to irradiate a test specimen of size 100 mm by 100mm. most of the laboratory contain the FTT cone calorimeter as it is compact and easy to use. Exhaust system: It comprises of the hood, gas sampling ring probe and an exhaust fan which are manufactured from stainless steel. The flow can be controlled and the equipment also allows for orifice flow measurement. Split shutter mechanism: This system is used to protect the sample area before conducting the test. It ensures that the initial mass measurement is constant. The operator is given extra time before starting the test. The shutter system also prevents premature ignition of highly ignitable materials (Source: Johan, A. 2002. Cone Calorimeter –A Tool for Measuring Heat Release Rate. Finland: Abo Akademi process chemistry center. [Online]. Available at http://www.tut.fi/units/me/ener/IFRF/FinSweFlameDays09/4B/LindholmPaper.pdf . Accessed august 20, 2009. ) The oxygen consumption principle is used in the formulation of empirical observation in a cone calorimeter test. The underlying principle used stipulates that the heat released is directly proportional to the oxygen consumed. Measurement of the oxygen concentration at the exhaust duct and the volumetric flow rate of air give data that is used in the computation of the rate of oxygen consumption. The heat released in a cone calorimeter is given by; The main objectives for conducting this experiment are to determine the rate of heat

Introduction to GPS and static positioning Essay

Introduction to GPS and static positioning - Essay Example The system was introduced by the US military but today anyone can access its services through the use of a GPS receiver (McNamara, 52). The satellite system uses a trilateration principle to determine the location of the receiver (Maini and Varsha, 428). In three dimension trilateration, the requirement for the system to generate the exact location of the receiver is a direct line of signal from at least three satellites and the distance between a receiver and the satellites (Maini and Varsha, 411). These details are obtained by the receiver from analyzing the high frequency radio signals from the satellites. This distance is derived from a calculation of the time used by the frequencies to travel from one satellite to the receiver on a location that is on earth. This measurement is only possible if the time in both the satellite and the receiver are synchronized. Otherwise the delay would not give an accurate value of the distances obtained. To synchronize the time in space and the time in the atmosphere where gravity pulls are varied requires both the receiver and the satellite to have atomic clocks. However atomic clocks are very expensive and as such, the GPS system uses an error correction method that involves the fourth satellite. From the fourth satellites transmission of signals, the inaccuracy in trilatration is appropriately adjusted (Maini and Varsha, 308). The calculation for the error adjustment by the receiver is repeated several times to make the receiver just as effective without the atomic watch for synchronization. Further errors are bound to arise in the process of calculating the distance and location of the receiver. These include the effect of delays of signals in different layers of the atmosphere. However, the speed of electromagnetic waves is not affected and travels at the same speed as that of light. In different substances, the speed is considerably reduced. These variations in the speed of the waves are

Amazon.com Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Amazon.com - Case Study Example It has a competitive advantage over traditional companies that are physically based. Contrary to its online businesses, Amazon operates online and, has access to a large market. It has a strong financial and computer technology background. It has strength in partnership and affiliations with other businesses. A strong customer care service is an important aspect explored by the company to gain market dominance (Wheelen & Hunger, 2008). Most customers are not familiar with web-based sources of bookstore. In some situations, the company may undertake poor market analysis causing wasteful investment in online retail as pets.com , drugv store.com and home grosa.com that were never successful. Online retail business has the potential of generating high operating profits. There is growth in the number of household accessing the internet and, therefore, increased market dominance. Presence of new product lines in the market promotes entrance of new customers for the company. There is pressure from financial markets to abandon the companies stated goals, of sacrificing short time profit. There are existing book-selling companies established in the market that present competition to Amazon.com. Competition is from established home page websites such eBay and yahoo. Poor economic environment such as high sales tax on eco-mass transactions affects the company’s performance (Wheelen & Hunger, 2008). Products provided by the company include books, music, video, toys, electronics, tools, kitchen, and apparel. It provides services such as partnerships, online auctions, web services and retail shop service. The main problem faced by Amazon.com is increased operating expenses through advertisement. The best to address Amazon.com’s problem is cutting down on expenses based on the advertisement by collaborating with affiliate companies to help share the cost of

Co-Branding in the Fashion Industry Dissertation

Co-Branding in the Fashion Industry - Dissertation Example This study sought to investigate this assumption and in so doing, identify the determinants of successful versus unsuccessful co-branding ventures in the fashion industry. The question cited in the above was explored through a critical review of the literature and a survey of consumer opinion. The literature review, spread over two chapters, found that co-branding has the potential to significantly contribute to increased revenues for both of the partner firms and can enhance their respective market presence and visibility. On the downside, however, the findings of the literature review suggested that the greater majority of co-branding ventures failed and negatively reflected upon both of the partner brands. Within the context of the stated, the study focused on the identification of the reasons for failure. The literature review identified several causal factors, the most important of which was partner reputation. A company's market reputation determined consumer perceptions of it and, thus, its market performance. Brands which were identified as untrustworthy and unreliable were not likely to perform well on the market and were further found to nega tively impact upon partners within the context of a co-branding venture. The primary data supported the findings of the literature review. The study adopted a quasi experimental approach in which the factor of partner reputation was manipulated. The consumer survey showed that brands with a positive reputation were likely to suffer were they to ally themselves with a brand with a negative reputation, while that with the negative reputation was likely to benefit from partnership with a brand with a positive reputation. Total Words: 11,440 Table of Contents ii Declaration i Acknowledgements iii Abstract v Table... The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the impact of alliances among private organizations on people's perceptions of the impact of the pairings on attitudes toward the organizations. There is a marketing emphasis in this research that seeks to understand how people's perceptions of an organization are affected when it partners with another organization to pursue joint goals. The theoretical basis of this study draws upon the concept of brand alliances, or co-branding. A significant part of the dissertation will be devoted to a comprehensive review of the literature and to the process of precisely conceptualizing brand alliances in private organizations. This study is aimed at introducing brand alliances and examining their positive features, and also at identifying risks that organizations take in choosing other organizations with which to partner. Limited research is available on consumer perceptions of brand alliances in the private sector. Consequently, this dissertation research is exploratory in nature, seeking to identify issues that may arise and make suggestions regarding how they can be addressed. Organizations survive in part upon their reputations, embodied in the public perception of them. A business organization that sells a product- relies on the public perception of the quality of its product for sales. This includes visions of the quality of management, the reliability of its service guarantees, and the perception that the company stands behind its product.

Protecting the House of Under Armour by Patrick Craft and Jackson Lee Assignment

Protecting the House of Under Armour by Patrick Craft and Jackson Lee - Assignment Example The Under Armour Company, a performance wear company was created by a former collegiate football player, Kevin Plank, with an aim to provide for the ‘unsatisfied’ performance wear needs for his teammates and other football players (Kraft & Lee, 2009). The article describes on the rapid growth of Under Armour and the stiff market competition in the performance wear provision in America (Kraft & Lee, 2009). Through work ethics, hard work and determination, Plank was able to obtain a full scholarship, and became a captain of special teams, when he was a fullback for the University of Maryland (Kraft & Lee, 2009). Under Armour entered the active performance wear category in 2000, when the athletic apparel market was divided in the terms of percentage by other performance wear producers, such as Nike and Adidas (Kraft & Lee, 2009). Under Armour had multiple challenges ranging from high market competition, having a minimum budget, and the lack of financial resources, and had t o strategize for growth and market visibility (Kraft & Lee, 2009). Under Armour established diverse market initiatives to help in the development of its brand image and reach out to its targeted consumer group, which saw the creation of inexpensive marketing strategies for a hit entry into the market (Kraft & Lee, 2009).

See reqiurmence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

See reqiurmence - Essay Example Before embarking upon the discussion a brief look into the background would be helpful. The famous Silk Road paved the way for the Chinese goods that mainly consisted, silk, printed paper, gun powder and compass. Not only those are goods but ground breaking inventions that held the Chinese head high at the global arena (Whitfield, 2004). The communist government was established in China in 1949 and China entered a prolonged phase of social and economic restructuring till 1977 (MacKerras & Yorke, 1991, p.81). This phase is characterized by meager economic exchange. (Bell, Khor & Khochar, 1993). The reflection of globalization is almost everywhere, however for simplicity only four variables are considered in this paper; agriculture, Industry, International trade and foreign direct investment. Again a coin has two faces so as globalization. The paper analyses the impact of globalization on the Chinese economy. It means that the all or none policy while judging the impact of globalizatio n on Chinese economy would be faulty and far from the actual reality. Statistical overview The following table summarizes the growth rates of the agriculture, industry and trade pre and post reform period. This gives a brief picture regarding the impact of globalization in terms of figures on the Chinese economy: table 1: Annual growth rates of China's economy 1970-2010 (%)    pre-reform 1970-78 Reform period    1970-78 1979-84 1985-95 1996-00 2001-05 2006-10 GDP 4.9 8.8 9.7 8.2 9.9 11.1 Agriculture 2.7 7.1 4 3.4 4.3 4.5 Industry 6.8 8.2 12.8 9.6 11.4 11.9 Service n.a. 11.6 9.7 8.3 10.1 11.9 Foreign Trade 20.5 14.3 15.2 9.8 25.3 13.8 Import    12.7 13.4 9.5 24.9 14.2 Export    15.9 17.2 10.1 25.7 13.5 Population 1.8 1.4 1.37 0.91 0.63 0.5 Per capita GDP 3.1 7.4 8.3 7.2 9 10.6 (Huang, Wang and Qiu, 2012, p.5) The financial crisis of 2008 accounts for the lower annual growth rates of foreign trade, imports and exports for the period 2006-2010, but China managed to be consisten t in terms of GDP rate and the domestic sectors. Agriculture The initial impact of globalization on Chinese agriculture might be summarized as the transformation from collectivization to individual household responsibility. Improved form of agricultural procedures was introduced with chemical fertilizers and pesticides, machineries were welcomed and that brought a huge growth in agricultural output and in rural income. However this success was short lived and by mid 80’s rural economic growth had achieved its ceiling. By the end of the decade and the beginning of the next one stagnation and a step ahead degeneration became the trademark of Chinese rural area. As agriculture is the prime profession of the rural people it also serves as a dummy for the agricultural sector that was subject to the same problem. To raise agricultural production, deforestation took place at an unprecedented level and impacted the environment. Soon the rural household felt the brunt of rising price of machinery, fertilizers and pesticides and resorted to their initial way of farming that gave rise to pseudo unemployment. Apart from that, globalization exposed the farmers to market price fluctuations. Along with

Reality in the eye of representation Assignment

Reality in the eye of representation - Assignment Example The paper "Reality in the eye of representation" through analysis of various works produced in the eighties will give a clear picture of whether representation is a copy of reality or reality is a mere effect of representation. The use of signs in place of something else is known as representation. An artist can represent the world and reality through simple acts giving its element some unique attributes. The signs are thus organized in some kind of semantic construction and show relations. For example, both modern and ancient philosophers consider a man as a representative of all animals. The term representation can therefore be used to give various meanings such resemble or look like. It can also be used to stand for an object or individual. Representation therefore helps stimulate sensory information pertaining to an individual or item as described through a medium used. How perfect a representation look like the intended object depends on resolution that an artist assigns on the art and the word choice. Influence that presentation has on reality and the opposite of the same was a typical 1980s concern in art. Many arts were used to critique popular traditions. In 1980s videos portrayed the structural experiments of the past decades as political influenced. The arts instead looked to critique the social and economic premise on which the television was invented. The artist argued that the videos looked like TV shows though with something missing. The critique of representation became more popular.

Economic Implications on Social Media Essay Example for Free

Economic Implications on Social Media Essay The developments in the information technology sector have led to facilitation in information sharing across the globe in what has been referred to as social media. The internet has brought many changes in the way individuals across the world interact. Through the use of social media, individuals are able to exchange photographs, videos, post their thoughts on blogs and take part in discussions that takes lace online. Social media allows the people, organizations, companies and governments to be able to reach large numbers of people with a lot of ease. This paper shall give an overview of how the social media has impacted on the economic domain of development in the society by analyzing both the positive and the negative impacts. Social Media: Social media refers to the various internet based and mobile services which allows the user to take part in online exchanges, contributing user-created content and being able to join the online community. It also refers to the tools and technologies that enable an online interaction, networking, sharing and collaboration. There are various services internet services that are usually associated with social media which includes blogs, wikis, social bookmarking, social network sites, status updates services, virtual word content and media sharing site (Dewing, 2010). Blogs is a short form of ‘web log’ which can be described as an online journal in which pages are put on view in an overturned chronological order. The blogs can be hosted for free on various websites including WordPress and Blogger among others. Wikis on the other hand refers to collective websites in which anyone participating can modify the pages or create their new pages using a Web browser. A good example of a wiki is the Wikipedia which is a free online encyclopedia that utilizes the wiki technology. Social bookmarking sites are those sites which allow the users to share and organize links to websites for instance the Delicious, Digg, and Reddit. Social network sites are the web-based services which enables the individuals to build a public or semi-public profile in a delimited system. The individuals are also able to articulate a list of other users whom they share connection thus being able to navigate through and view their list of connections and those of others in the system. Such sites include Facebook, MySpace, and Windows Live Spaces amongst others (Dewing, 2010). Status-update services are also referred to as micro-blogging services are more like social network sites but they allow individuals to share short updates and also be able to view updates from others. A good example is the twitter services. Virtual world content on the other hand offers a game-like virtual environment for the users to interact. A good example of this would be the imaginary world that is created in Second Life whereby users can create avatars to interact with each other. Avatars are the virtual representations of the users. Media–sharing sites are those which enable the users to post videos or photographs for instance the You Tube and Flickr. It must be noted that some of these categories do overlap for instance twitter can be regarded as both a social network site as well as a stats update service (Dewing, 2010). Social media is capable of affecting the manner in which individuals interact online. Social media is known to open up new ways for cooperation and dialogue in today’s world. Most of the content posted in social media may remain there permanently at least by default. The content may also be accessible, replicable, and searchable. Social media can therefore be used anywhere, and at any moment provided that there is internet connectivity in the area. Such factors are responsible for shaping of the dynamics of the social media. The fact that the players in the social media are usually invisible raises various questions regarding the framework, correctness and unambiguousness regarding the communication. The identity and motives of those who post contents in the social media are not always clear (Dewing, 2010). Evolution of Social Media: The internet became popular in the last two decades and web sites which allowed individuals to create and upload content started appearing with the first network site said to have appeared in 1997 for the first time. The first social network site to be launched was called ‘SixDegrees. com’ and it was followed soon by many others at the turn of the millennium. In 2002, there was an upsurge in the number of social network sites with some surging to popularity only to fade in a little while such as the Friendstar. However, others were able to develop niche communities for instance MySpace appealed to adolescent music enthusiasts (Dewing, 2010). Towards the end of the first decade of the second millennium, social media was widely accepted, for instance; by the year 2009, Facebook made the announcement that its users were well over 350 million worldwide (Dewing, 2010). There are a number of factors that have led to a surge in the social media participation which include technological factors, social factors and economic factors. Technological factors include things such as readily available broadband, improvement in software tools, and the development of more powerful computer and mobile services. Social factors on the other hand include the rapid uptake of social media by the young generation while the economic factors include the growth in commercial interests in the social media sites and affordability of computers and related software (Dewing, 2010). Impacts of Social Media: Since the widespread usage of social media is a recent phenomenon, social and economic implications can only be barely understood. Some quarters hold the belief that social media is causing isolation amongst the people whereas others believe that social media has broaden democratic participation. According to a research conducted by statistics Canada; We should expect neither a dysfunctional society of loners nor a blissful society of happy net-workers. Rather, we are facing a society that is differently cohesive from the one we have known. There do not appear to be any significant differences in the number of social ties or in the amount of social interaction between Internet users and non-users. Instead, the Internet is providing ways of fostering participation with community members and enhancing relationships, including through social media (Dewing, 2010, para 10). Social media has also had economic impacts in regard to the manner in which what is contained in the social media is created and consumed. This can be summed up to the growth in the information and communication sector of the economy. In most economies, growth in this sector of the economy has been tremendous even surpassing the overall economic growth. Many business firms and organizations have also incorporated social media in their marketing strategies (Dewing, 2010). Socio-economic Impacts: The socioeconomic theory appears to be spearheading the deflationary cycle more than the financial or the political economics. Previously, the Keynesian and libertarian theories were believed to be the key players in the deflationary cycle. According to the socio-economic theories, it is claimed that in order for us to get out of the deflationary cycle, there is need to view it as both a sociological and fiscal problem. The solution is therefore to be found in the ground-breaking technology which promises huge profits to be used in investment so as to commence the next boom cycle, and snap the society out of the predicament created by the economic downturn. Social media could play a role in mitigating the damages that arise from the deflationary cycle. It could also be instrumental in the construction of the next opportunities for technological innovations (Fischer, 2009). Understanding the objective economic potential is very crucial and dependant on the revolution of the social media. Social media is known to utilize technology in enhancing the people’s ability to interact with others. Social media is to be found in interaction, connection, trust and relations that are driven by technology. In regard to business, this implies establishment of trust and channels of communication which supports and enables collaboration and building of engaged teams through the removal of barriers and frustrations that were created by conventional structures. Social media particularly in regard to collaboration has the potential to unlock the hidden knowledge in organizations when required. It also lowers the cost of software via open source cooperation, easing the finding of appropriate information, and making organizations to be more responsive. These are however cultural changes that occurs gradually. Nevertheless, the promise for change is there even though it might take much longer time. However, the technological investment that is required to bring about these changes is quite cheaply available (Fischer, 2009). With social media, change is bound to happen. Social media has the prospects of creating more effective organizations via the collaboration, â€Å"providing a greater variety of information services at low cost through mashups and open source, and a lower cost to product and service messaging, when the product and service has great appeal†(Fischer, 2009, para 7). Similarly, social media has detrimental impacts on the established industries. The conventional advertising media has become decreasingly effective due to the increasing numbers of the individuals who are networked and therefore attentive to one another. It is imperative to observe that; Friend of a friend referrals, rating sites or consumer oriented websites will become the norm and rely on their objectivity to maintain trust with their followers, therefore are not as subject to trying to manipulate their audience based on the promise of big advertising revenue (Fischer, 2009, para 8). There is no doubt that manipulation is part of the social media practice though the ability for any individual to broadcast and gain audience to the large network in the social media indicates that it is not an easy task and it is destined to be the exception and not the norm in the long run (Fischer, 2009). The distribution of retail products may also come to the forefront due to the social media influence. Due to the fact that e-commerce has been enhanced in the recent past owing to a revolution in the social media, some social observations have been made in regard to marketing trends for instance, there has been a relation drawn between the trends on how particular products are moved in the market. Such observations may be observed as ‘individuals who bought product X also bought product Y’. Large business organizations may also offer lower prices and utilize the social media to achieve the personal touch, a domain previously associated with small business organizations. This has been geared towards the ‘commodization’ of products that are produced on a large scale and the futuristic markets with the chances of realizing massive profits. The markets of the future are said to be niche markets that would require subject matter expertise and customization (Fischer, 2009). The gains of the social media in economic venture may be offset by the unsettling role associated with it in the conventional industries. In the past, any technological changes would result in obvious and simple routes to massive increases in the production and demand. However, with the social media, increase in productivity and demand over a short time is not palpable due to the fact that it requires cultural changes together with the technological transformations. Eventually, as the cultural changes are realized over time, massive increases in the production may be realized; however, in the short term social media can not be used to provide an obvious path for investment capable of leading to gains in effectiveness and productivity (Fischer, 2009). There is this argument that tightly knit society has the capability to survive economic stress better compared to a loosely knit society. Social media ensures that the world is woven in complex interactions and also offers individuals with something to do when they are not involved in an economic activity. This is motivated by what can be referred to as ‘reputation economics’ which is designed to motivate individuals to engage in activities such as creating open source software, report on events, and many more information services that would have required individuals to pay for before the advent of the internet. This allows for rich content and growth of valuable products to be carried out devoid of investment and yet with returns for instance a â€Å"business entity that hosts their websites on Linux servers or uses open office to create and manage documents† (Fischer, 2009, para 9). To add on the long term effectiveness of the social media which include the creation of complex systems like an operating system at relatively low cost; it could also enable the development of new innovations presenting a clear path that shall increase production and demand. The deflationary cycle that is predicted by the socio-economic theories could only be shortened if only we are able to find out the kind of innovation required and be able to bring it more quickly (Fischer, 2009). Social media is said to provide revenue to both the users and platforms. It has to be noted that social media better known as social computing is a driver for competitiveness. The effects of social computing may be seen on the industry itself for instance, the development in the social media or the information and communication technology sector. It can also be observed in other industries that uses the social computing. There is evidence that â€Å"more targeted marketing and user research which are reliant on user profiles and content interest are opening new channels to markets† (Pascu, 2008, para 11). There are emergent employment possibilities vial social networks and new opportunities to utilize user innovations in developing the products or as an intermediate between organizations and consumers (Pascu, 2008). The impact of social media can not be wished away as insignificant. This is because, faced with the modern reality where social media provides a platform for the consumers, competitors and the market place to discuss products, services and employees. All this is carried out online â€Å"whether its a protest group on Facebook (United Airlines Sucks! ), a persistent hashtag on Twitter (#attfail) or just a meme that travels from blogger to Blogger† (Taylor, 2009, para 5). At this juncture, it does not matter as to whether it is of importance to probe into the social networks. What is of importance is whether one is paying attention to the social media where the message has gone to. This means that the customer to the company products is the one to define the brand in the market. This is quite challenging as it means that those organizations with acceptable products are bound to be reap benefits even with minimum branding and marketing strategies whereas those companies that are considered bad by the customers are destined to suffer from a bad reputation even when they spent more money to advertise themselves and try to position themselves as market leaders (Taylor, 2009). It is therefore important for organizations to take time and monitor what is going on in the social media. There are various services at the disposal of whoever would like to monitor the social media which include the individual services such as ‘Search. twitter. com’ and more complicated ones such as ‘Filtrbox’ and ‘Radian 6’. For successful business undertaking, there is need for organizations to embrace the social media which provides an avenue to engage with the customers. Interaction on the social media with the customers is crucial and thus joining these sites for creating new bully pulpits for the organization’s marketing and sales messages without proper interaction with the customers is not commendable (Taylor, 2009). The organizations can not be isolated from the social media as they create a powerful impression with the capability of having a lasting impact that may prove to be hard to change. Accompany with a bad reputation might score poorly even with spirited advertisement due to evaluations that are obtained from the social media. It is therefore important to address the problems that are affecting the organizations one by one rather than spending huge sums of money in advertising the products (Chong, 2010). Conclusion: Social media has been a new discovery in the information and communication sector and that its impacts on the economic development are worthy noting. The economic impacts of social media are two fold and may bring positive results or negative results to a business organization. With social media, the consumers of the company products are able to talk about the products, services and competitors and definitely such discussions are to impact on the business entity either for better or for worse. Social media can therefore have far reaching repercussions on the business organizations in terms of profitability. Reference: Chong, S. , (2010). Nothing Can save Negative Buzz on Twitter. Retrieved on 26th July 2010 from; http://www. penn-olson. com/2010/07/02/nothing-can-save-negative-buzz-on-twitter/. Dewing, M. , (2010). Social Media: 1. An Introduction. Retrieved on 26th July 2010 from; http://www2. parl. gc. ca/Content/LOP/ResearchPublications/2010-03-e. htm. Fischer, K. , (2009). Exploring the economic impact of social media. Retrieved on 26th July 2010 from; http://www. web20blog. org/2009/03/24/exploring-the-economic-impact-of-social-media/. Pascu, C. , (2008). ERoSC-The Socio-economic Impact of Emerging Social Computing Applications. Retrieved on 26th July 2010 from; http://docs. google. com/viewer? a=vq=cache:dHneLXVRkYgJ:www. foresight-network. eu/index. php%3Foption%3Dcom_docman%26task%3Ddoc_view%26gid%3D352+Economic+Implications+on+Social+Mediahl=engl=kepid=blsrcid=ADGEEShixNJSG5ddAxmDsp3_H0NmsZ-LetSdSeKnGykkb0y_4ruRrW-EstMaeGHfs16v1u66MJlBbpW-WIgVRxtCabedvJWeojTeW4mfj7Z70xD-y31hAWGz7VhQwakzAylysKUUV0NNsig=AHIEtbRbStc-eBG_GjfGNgsEL-OmZ0oP8g Taylor, D. , (2009). Whats the impact of social media on business growth? Retrieved on 26th July 2010 from; http://www. intuitive. com/blog/impact_of_social_media_twitter_facebook_business_growth. html

How Learned Helplessness Can Impact Patient Satisfaction Nursing Essay

How Learned Helplessness Can Impact Patient Satisfaction Nursing Essay Ever since To Err is Human did patients really start to care about the quality of care they received from their physicians, hospitals, and healthcare organizations. However, healthcare organizations had already recognized the importance of patient satisfaction several years earlier. Many organizations started measuring patient satisfaction as a way to judge the perceptions of how their patients viewed their experiences while under their care. There are many facets to measuring patient satisfaction but to date the concept of learned helplessness has not been incorporated into the mix. Learned helplessness is a phenomenon occurring in many places in our society. It affects how we work, interact with others, conduct our business, and employ our thoughts and views on healthcare. When experience with uncontrollable events leads to the expectation that future events will also be uncontrollable, disruption in motivation, emotion, and learning may occur. That phenomenon has been called learn ed helplessness (Cemalcilar 2003). Armed with a better understanding with how learned helplessness plays a role in patient satisfaction healthcare settings will be better able to alleviate this discomforting phenomenon and thus should raise patient satisfaction scores. This paper serves as a vehicle to investigate the concept of learned helplessness combined with a review of patient satisfaction and provide guidance for research to further our understanding of the relationship between the two. Literature review: Learned helplessness came about by accident in 1965 by Martin Seligman and his team while studying the relationship between fear and learning. Seligman observed an unexpected behavior while investigating Pavlovs theory on stimulus and response. Seligman didnt pair the bell with food but rewarded the dog with a small shock while restraining the dog to keep it from running away. The researcher thought that the dog would experience fear after hearing the bell and would try to run away or display some other type of behavior. After this the dog was placed into a box with two compartments divided by a low enough fence that the dog could see the other side and escape if the dog so desired. To their amazement, after the bell was sounded the dog didnt try to run away but instead just laid or sat on the one side of the box. The researchers repeated the test but instead of sounding the bell they gave the dog a small shock. As was the case with the bell the dog decided to stay on its initial sid e of the box. The test was repeated with a dog that had never been subject to any of the previous experiments and when given the shock the dog took flight and jumped over the small fence to escape. What was decided was that the first dog, while being restrained, learned that trying to get away from the shock was pointless and the dog had no control over its destiny and was therefore helpless. Some researchers have contended that the dog just thought he was being punished for some act of wrongdoing or that the end of the pain from the shock was indeed the reward. However, this behavior has been used in a variety of situations which will be explained here in an effort to learn more about this phenomenon. Learned helplessness has detrimental effects on children. They develop a lack of self-confidence in challenging tasks which result in deterioration of performances (Dweck, Davidson, Nelson, Enna, 1978). These children do not develop good problem solving strategies and can suffer from lack of attention and think that all of their efforts are fruitless. Children like this are often held back a grade in an effort to bolster their social and academic skills. In the end, they get a message that they are worthless and hopeless (Berger, 1983). These children may be inadequately prepared to take on new learnings and perform out of the ordinary tasks. Failure become synonymous in these childrens vocabulary and repeated efforts may do little to change their outlook. In Eriksons view, he suggests that children with few successes will become inferior which leads them to have a low self-esteem (Berger, 1983). Most learned helpless students give up trying to gain respect through their academic pe rformance so they turn to other means for recognition. They may become the class clown, bully or tease. When they begin adolescent years they try to gain respect through antisocial behaviors (Berger, 1983). With learned helpless children, competence is almost entirely destroyed. They lose confidence within themselves because they experience failures, leading them to believe they are failures. They might feel competent about something at first but if they fail in that activity they wont bother to try it again for fear of failure. Autonomy is also faint in a learned helpless students life. They feel as though they have no control over their environment because no matter how hard they tried in the past, they never succeeded. As for relatedness, learned helpless students feel as though they dont belong because they believe that they dont relate to the environment. This is why they become the class clown, bully or tease in order to get their recognition. These results may include becomin g an antisocial individual during their adolescent years or earlier. These three factors are all detrimental to an individuals growth and development in our social world today. There have been a few scales conducted and measured trying to use this construct in a variety of situations. The majority of these studies utilized learned helplessness as a secondary construct in explaining either complaint behavior (Lee and Soberon-Ferrer 1999) and measuring the relationship between empowerment and learned helplessness (Campbell and Martinko 1998). The study showed that there were many differences between empowerment and learned helplessness. Another study was conducted in a hospital setting with a reported reliability of 0.85. It had a positive relationship with Becks hopelessness scale (r=.252) and a negative correlation with Rosenbergs Self-Esteem scale (r=-.622) (Quinless 1988). Another way it can affect people is through different emotions such as pessimism, futility, risk aversion, depression, and self-esteem. It has been defined in people as a state of which the consumer cannot control their destiny or outcomes and therefore relinquish control over a certain situation. What research to date has been conducted to study patient behavior with learned helplessness? Raps et. al (1982) found that the longer a patients length of stay was the worse the patient performed on cognitive tasks that index learned helplessness. First, they determined this because of a perceived loss of control by the patient. Second, increased hospitalization resulted not only in increased deficits but also in increased vulnerability to identical deficits produced by minimal amounts of uncontrollable noise, suggesting that the process underlying the deficits in the no-noise conditions is learned helplessness produced by hospitalization. Third, increased hospitalization disrupted performance at the problem-solving tasks, but not at the verbal intelligence test-replicating the previous results from laboratory studies of learned helplessness and suggesting that the deficits of our subjects were not a general deterioration but instead a more specific difficulty with new learning (Rap s et al. 1982). Fourth, increased hospitalization produced increased depressive symptoms that covaried with poor performance both across and within conditions. This pattern suggests again that perceptions of helplessness caused the observed deficits, since depression involves a diminished sense of efficacy (Raps et al. 1982). Faulkner (2001) set out to investigate the relevance of learned helplessness and learned mastery theories in the respective development of dependence and independence in older hospitalized people. Faulkners experiment shows how an exposure to uncontrollable or disempowering circumstances potentially places patients at risk of developing learned helplessness. This condition has the potential to retard self-care performance in the absence of supervision, direction, or active personal assistance thus rendering patients dependent (Faulkner 2001). Moreover, this dependence may not remain specific to the task within which LH was induced, but may generalize to affect patient performance in other activities. To date the accepted scale to use when measuring learned helplessness is the LHS scale developed by Quinless and McDermott-Nelson. A conceptual definition is necessary in order to further explore this phenomenon. Learned helpless can be defined by a state in which a person thinks that they cannot control their own destiny and the life experiences which happen to them. This definition incorporates the key elements found throughout the research: loss of control, depression, low self-esteem, pessimism, and defeat. Learned helplessness can have the potential for explaining some variation in patient satisfaction scores. In order to further explore how the two are interrelated, an investigation into patient satisfaction must be employed. Patient satisfaction: With the effectiveness of medical care being increasingly measured according to economic as well as clinical criteria, the inclusion of patients opinions in assessments of services has gained greater prominence over the past 25 years (Sitzia Wood 1997). As health care budgets come under scrutiny, so consumers in the West have become more critical of the health care provided, organizing and claiming rights as active participants in the planning and evaluation of health services (Sitzia Wood 1997). An increase in interpersonal relationship interest sparked the development for a need to understand the patient-physician relationship which gave rise to patient satisfaction measurement. Consumer advocate groups such as the National Consumer Council produced Patients rights, which influenced the rise of consumerism in healthcare. The term patients rights became the rallying cry for Patients to have more control and say about the care that was extended to them. What then determines what pa tient satisfaction is? Linder-Pelz (1982) approached a definition of patient satisfaction through five social-psychological variables proposed as probable determinants of patient satisfaction with health care. These are outlined as: Occurrences-the event which actually takes place, and perhaps more importantly, the individuals perception of what occurred; valueevaluation, in terms of good or bad, of an attribute or an aspect of a health care encounter; expectationsbeliefs about the probability of certain attributes being associated with an event or object, and the perceived probable outcome of that association; interpersonal comparisonsan individuals rating of the health care encounter by comparing it with all such encounters known to or experienced by him or her; and entitlementan individuals belief that s/he has proper, accepted grounds for seeking or claiming a particular outcome. Ware et al. (1983) gives a more definitive taxonomy with eight dimensions: interpersonal mannerfeatu res of the way in which providers interact personally with patients (e.g. respect, concern, friendliness, courtesy); technical quality of carecompetence of providers and adherence to high standards of diagnosis and treatment (e.g. thoroughness, accuracy, unnecessary risks, making mistakes); accessibility/conveniencefactors involved in arranging to receive medical care (e.g. waiting times, ease of reaching provider); financesfactors involved in paying for medical services; efficacy/outcomes of carethe results of services provided (e.g. improvements in or maintenance of health); continuity of careconstancy in provider or location of care; physical environmentfeatures of setting in which care is delivered (e.g. clarity of signs and directions, orderly facilities and equipment, pleasantness of atmosphere); and availabilitypresence of medical care resources (e.g. enough medical facilities and providers). CMS has mandated the HCAHPS measures of patient perception of quality of care as a c ondition of Medicare participation (Griffith White 2007). CMS (Medicare) states the supplier shall conduct beneficiary satisfaction surveys and make the results available upon request and/or listed on their Internet website (if applicable). The supplier shall document and review on a quarterly basis a percentage of beneficiaries satisfied with services. These surveys include questions that are divided into five groups: Your care from nurses, Your care from Doctors, The hospital environment, Your experiences in the Hospital, When you left the Hospital, Overall rating of the Hospital, and Demographic questions. These questions must be incorporated into commercial patient satisfaction surveys and publicly reported. In some cases referring physicians may act as agents for their patients and are concerned with clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction and cost. This is important because if they are not satisfied with their patients responses, they may divert their patients elsewhere. However there are some concerns for those that dont buy into patient satisfaction scores. These fall into the category of social-psychological artifacts. LeVois et al. (1981) states that Social desirability response bias argues that patients may report greater satisfaction than they actually feel because they believe positive comments are more acceptable to survey administrators. Similarly, ingratiating response bias occurs when patients use the satisfaction survey to ingratiate themselves with researchers or medical staff, especially if there are any reservations over the anonymity of respondents (Sitzia Wood 1997). Why then study patient satisfaction? Typically patient satisfaction surveys are after the services have been rendered and the patient has left the hospital or physicians office. Most of the surveys use a 5 point Likert scale with 5 indicating excellent or highly satisfied and 1 being poor or highly dissatisfied. Most managers think that getting an average of 4s is very good or good enough and trying to achieve a 5 rating is too costly or time consuming. This is not the case. Many managers also think that they should focus on unsatisfied customers but research has shown that no matter how much time, effort, and money they invest, there will always be a small percentage of patients that are dissatisfied. Managers should then focus on moving those four ratings to fives. When it comes to customer loyalty, excellent has a different meaning from the other rating categories (Otani et al. 2009). Highly satisfied customers are the ones that are loyal and return for their next encounter or recommend others to the same physician o r facility. This usually comprises of about 75% of the physicians business so it is imperative that they keep this group happy and highly satisfied. In an emerging competitive market such as healthcare, managers should focus on achieving excellent ratings to distinguish their organization from others (Otani et al. 2009). Patients that are merely satisfied will seek care elsewhere and look for other providers. Even though the cost of switching hospitals is quite high, patients have more choices now than they did in previous eras. What are some other reasons to highly satisfy these patients? Satisfied patients tend to comply with prescribed medical treatments (Ford, Bach Fottler 1997). Due to an increase in chronic conditions, it is more imperative that patients follow the treatment process prescribed. This can reduce length of stays and lower readmission rates thus reducing costs. Also, it decreases switching. When a patient changes physicians, he or she may be required to retake te sts, which increases the patients costs and may hurt the patient (Otani et al 2009). Another factor is patient satisfaction is now considered a key part of the healthcare quality improvement initiative (Shortell and Kaluzny 2000). Many managed care organizations use patient satisfaction data to determine reimbursement rates to healthcare providers, and many leading companies will not contract with health plans that do not require a patient satisfaction survey. Providers with positive patient satisfaction survey results may receive more financial incentives than providers with poor patient satisfaction survey results (Kongstvedt 2001). In addition a 1 standard deviation point increase in the quality of pt/physician interaction equals a 35% lower chance of a patient complaint for the primary care physician, and a 50% lower chance of a patient complaint for a specialist (Saxton et al. 2008). Saxton (2008) also reports that a one standard deviation decrease in patient satisfaction equal s a five percent increase in the physicians risk management. Compared to physicians in top satisfaction scores: Physicians in middle 1/3 of scores had malpractice lawsuit rates 26% higher while Physicians in bottom 1/3 of scores had malpractice lawsuit rates of 110% higher. According to Saxton (2008) the top five patient priorities are: Response to concerns/complaints during stay, Degree to which hospital staff addressed patients emotional needs, Staff effort to include patient in decisions about their treatment, How well the nurses kept the patient informed, and Promptness in responding to the call button by the patient. One issue not investigated thoroughly is the billing activities of the hospital or caregiver. Richard Clarke, HFMA CEO and President has stated the best care, and great customer service provided during the patients hospital encounter can be destroyed quickly by confusing, complicated, or incorrect billing afterwards (Swayne et al. 2008). According to Swayne (2008, the top five hospital bill features that irritate customers the most are: confusion about what the patients insurance company has paid, confusion about the balance the patient owes the hospital once the insurance company pays its share, use of medical terminology that the patient does not understand, sending a bill to the patient before the insurance company has processed the patients claims, and inability to determine exactly what services the hospital has provided and what the patient is being charged for the service. Follow-on activities are also another area that the physician or caregiver can alter patient satisfaction scores. Many providers think that once the patient is out the door the experience ends there. After a patient has been seen by a physician or is leaving the hospital after surgery, there is a likely need for further services: a child with an ear infection has to return in 10 days for another check-up to make sure the infection is no longer present; after hip surg ery a patient may need to be relocated to a rehabilitation facility to learn to walk again (Swayne 2008). All of these additional services are value adding service activities. All of these factors play a role in learned helplessness as the patient may become frustrated by not having an excellent experience throughout the visit or after the visit. Proposed study: This paper shall utilize the current learned helplessness scale (LHS) and apply it to see how it moderates patient satisfaction scores. Method of study: The proposed model for this study is: Patient Satisfaction Scores Internal State of patient Patient Experience Learned helplessness Learned helplessness This research was consistent with the often used S-O-R paradigm. This paradigm assumes that environments contain stimuli (Ss) that cause changes to peoples internal or organismic states (Os), which in turn cause approach or avoidance responses (Rs) (Mehrabian and Russell 1974). It is anticipated that higher levels of learned helplessness will negatively impact patient satisfaction scores. The area most anticipated are those consistent with loss of control in fulfilling the needs of the patient, like care from the nurses, care from the physician especially in information sharing, and billing issues from either the hospital or the insurance company. The construct will be viewed as a moderator. In general terms, a moderator is a qualitative (e.g., sex, race, class) or quantitative (e.g., level of reward) variable that affects the direction and/or strength of the relation between an independent or predictor variable and a dependent or criterion variable. Specifically within a correlation al analysis framework, a moderator is a third variable that affects the zero-order correlation between two other variables. In the more familiar analysis of variance (ANOVA) terms, a basic moderator effect can be represented as an interaction between a focal independent variable and a factor that specifies the appropriate conditions for its operation. (Baron Kenny 1986). Data collection: Data collection shall be the most challenging facet of this study. It is important to gather rich data that will either support or disprove the theory that learned helplessness lowers patient satisfaction scores. A large enough sample is to be gathered in order to fully demonstrate this phenomenons capability. The LHS will be distributed along with the chosen hospitals patient satisfaction survey and patients will be asked to complete them. It may be necessary to delay the distribution of the survey so the patient has ample time to be contacted or experience learned helplessness form billing issues that may arise. After a sufficient number of surveys have been returned to the author, statistical regression methods will be employed to assess statistical significance as it relates to learned helplessness and patient satisfaction scores. Different factors can be cross-tabulated to see if there are any generalized effects on the scores like age, race, financial, and educational positions . Model fit could be assessed using SEM or other methods to ensure proper allocation and model assessment. Limitations As stated before data collection shall be difficult in performing this study. Hospitals may be reluctant to allow a researcher, independent of the organization, access to their patients and their satisfaction data. This reluctance could be over a variety of factors including patient privacy, fear of inappropriate scores released to the public, and a general distrust for academic research. It may be necessary to conduct this study as a joint venture so the hospital may learn from this study as well as the researcher. Another limitation is patient recall. This is always a factor since consumer recall plays a role in remembering perceptions, actions, and behaviors that occurred in the hospital or caregivers office. Since billing is an issue with learned helplessness, the delay in presenting the surveys may affect memory recall. The last limitation may be that of the construct being studied itself. Since there is little research on learned helplessness as it relates to patient satisfacti on or patient experience it may be difficult to determine how strong a score on the LHS scale must be to fully realize an effect on patient satisfaction. Conclusion: This paper has outlined the construct of learned helplessness and how it potentially could interact with patient satisfaction scores. Patient satisfaction scores are of the upmost importance to hospitals and caregivers as it affects their quality ratings, their allocation from CMS, and their reputation in general. While this project is a major undertaking, the author feels that it is worthy of such time and effort as patients and caregivers seek to further understand the patient experience in healthcare settings. This paper has outlined a course of action and while this project needs to be further investigated, it lays the necessary framework for a study worthy of journal submission. Future research could fully implicate different ways that learned helplessness is formed in different healthcare settings allowing for richer analysis into how patients react to different perceived outcomes. Hospitals and caregivers should be able to use information from this study to redesign their pati ent satisfaction surveys to allow them to gather richer data and use this to improve satisfaction scores which ultimately affect the bottom line. In this new age of healthcare reform, it is imperative that healthcare organization strive in every effort to raise the bar of patient outcomes, not only physical outcomes but mental outcomes as well.

Cell Culture and Proliferations | Experiment

Cell Culture and Proliferations | Experiment To study the cell proliferation of Mouse Y1 adrenocotical cells by using MTT (3-(4, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) and crystal violet staining methods. INTRODUCTION In general, Cell proliferation means multiplication/Reproduction of cells for increasing cell population in a very short span of time. The assay of cell proliferation is to measure the number of cells which are present in the dividing culture medium. Cell proliferation is controlled by using growth factor (Fetal calf serum), Which normally bind to the surface receptors present on the cell membrane generally regulate the cell signaling molecules, which pass the message to nucleus by help of receptor generally where the transcription factor gets bind to the DNA, makes turn off turn on the protein synthesis mechanism, responsible for cell division. Cell proliferation method is very important for studying various biological factors like bioassay, carcinogenic analysis and other toxicological tests. Generally two metods are used for studying cell proliferation i.e. crystal violet staining method and MTT (3-(4, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) method, here these methods are used to study ce ll growth in mouse Y1 adrenocotical cells. In crystal violet staining method, the DNA of cells is going to stained by crystal violet which produces a colour intensity that is proportional to the cultured cells(including newly proliferated cells). In this method, the principle involved to calculate the cell proliferation is based on the absorbance taken up by the viable cells in culture at different concentrations after the cells are stained with crystal violet. In MTT (3-(4, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) method, the assay depends on the amount of MTT taken up by the cells, tetrazolium salt is water soluble which produces yellow colour. The tetrazolium MTT is metabolically reduced by active cells, in presence of dehydrogenase enzymes, producing NADH and NADPH which are reducing equivalents. This results in the formation of purple formazan intracellularly, which is measured by spectrophotometer. MATERIALS METHODS Cell culture: In DMEM (Dulbeccos modification of eagles medium),mouse Y1 adrenocotical cells which were grown on monolayer was removed by using mixture of trypsin and EDTA (0.05% and 0.02% ).The cells are incubated by 5minutes by adding Trypsin/EDTA(7ml).After incubation the flask was removed and tapped gently to separate undetached cells. The contents of the cell are transferred to a universal container for centrifugation at 1000rpm/ 5mins.Supernatant was discarded and medium is added for resuspending the cell pellet. The cell number was estimated by using Haemocytometer counter for 15ml the cell suspension dilution was prepared containing density 1.25X105 cells/ml of suspension. In 96 well plate, 60 wells were filled with 100Â µl cell suspension, in this the remaining outer wells are filled with Phosphate Buffer Solution (PBS) of 200Â µl.Allowed the plate overnight in a gas incubator to settle down the cells. Those cells were treated with Fetal Calf Serum (FCS) of different concentrations vary ing from 0% to20% in universal tubes.12 wells of plate were filled with 200Â µl of different concentrations. These plates were incubated for a period of 24hours. Cells were washed with Phosphate Buffered Solution (PBS) for three times using multichannel micropipette; later media containing various serum concentrations were added. These two 96 well plates were used for crystal violet staining and MTT (3-(4, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay after 72 hours of incubation. Crystal Violet Staining Method: The cells were removed from central 60 wells of 96 well plates and filled with 200Â µl of methanol in a fume cupboard. After 15minutes methanol was removed from the plate and was left to dry in the fume cupboard. Once the plates were dried the cells were stained with 200Â µl of crystal violet. Once the staining is complete after 20minutes the plates were washed with Distilled water for atleast three (3) times and then solubilized the cell layer by using 50Â µl of 10% glacial acetic acid. The plates were then kept for incubation in a gas incubator for thirty minutes after incubation Absorbance of wells was measured at 540nm. MTT STAINING METHOD: The cells present in the central 60 wells of 96 well plate were treated with 20Â µl of MTT (5mg/ml solution in PBS) and was left for 4hours in gas incubator at 370c.After incubation by using multichannel pipette medium was removed and 100Â µl of acid-isopropanol was added in order to dissolve the blue formazan crystals from the cell layer and then it was incubated for 30minutes at room temperature after solubilizing formazan crystals Absorbance was measured at 570nm using plate reader. Calculation: Total No. of cells in 5 square = 21 Average cells present in one square = 4.2 Calculation of cell number: The volume of each square is= 4 X 10-3 The total cell number for 5 square gives the cell = 0.02Â µl No. of cells in 1 ml = 105X104 Number of cells required = 395X104 Volume of suspension required = concentration required/ concentration got = 395X104/105X104 = 3.7619 ml cell suspension to be taken Medium to be taken =30,000Â µl-3.7619Â µl = 29996.23Â µl medium to be taken. DISCUSSION: Here the increase in the absorbance with corresponding to the fetal serum concentrations shows the sign for the cell growth. Ammonium cations bind to negatively charged DNA which in turn gave blue color to the mixture. By using the color intensity, viable cells were estimated by means of haemocytometer. No experiment will produce 100% results. So here also errors occurred due to practical errors. Occurrence of errors might be due to: Washout condition of stained culture cells Improper solubilisation of 10% glacial acetic acid. In MTT method the degradation of MTT gives color to the mixture. This degradation was due to the dehaydrogenases of viable cells. The color intensity is directly proportional to the cell growth. Here also the errors might be occurred due to improper solubilisation of formazan crystals (Butler. 1996), (Javoise. 1998). DIFFERENTIATION OF K562 CELLS TO PLATELETS IN PRESENCE OF PMA: Differentiation of K562 cells to megakaryoctes/platelets Phorbol Myristate Acetate treated and untreated cells were spun down in a bench centrifuge and after resuspended in 1ml PBS (having 1 % Bovine serum albumin). Then by using haemocytometer the cell number was calculated, after diluting the suspension. cytospin was added to 1 ml cell volume which was adjusted to density of 106 cells per ml. In assembled cytospin 200 Â µl at 1000 rpm/3min. After fixing the slide in acetone /methanol(50:50), slide was washed with 0.15 M tris buffered saline .In humid temperature Human cd61 cells were incubated for 2 hrs using TBS slide was washed.with rabbit anti- mouse Ig-G anti body cells incubated for for 30 mins at room temperature and washed with TBS, after washing, cells were incubated with Alkaline phosphate anti-alkaline phosphate complex, this was repeated with Ram and APAP for amplification. They were washed under running tap water after staining with red TR substrate and counter was stained with haemotoxylin. Finally the slide was viewed und er microscope after washing with TBS.PMA is a diester of phorbol and a tumor promoting agent (proc.Natl.Acad.sci.USA Vol.82, pp, 3859-3862, june 1985Medical sciences). PMA initiates the signal transduction by protein kinase C (PKC) enzyme which allows promoting the differentiation of K562 cells.By using CD 61 marker the K562 cells were treated .These CD61gets attached to cell network to work as primary antibodies. In addition with cells performs a seconndary antibobodies whenever exposed to Ram along with APAP and forms pink color by attaching to FC region of anti-human CD 61 antibodies. This phenomenon gives the cells under going differentiation when incubated with PMA (MSc Pharmacology Biotechnology, cell biology laboratory manual/ January 2010) RESULT: The slide treated with Phorbol Myristate acetate (PMA) is in pink colour, whereas the slide which is untreated with Phorbol Myristate acetate (PMA) is in blue colour after staining. The cells when treated with PMA differentiate into Platelets/Megakaryocytes. In PMA the diseter bond promotes the tumor, which in turn activates the signal transduction of protein kinase C enzyme(PKC) inn K562 cells causes the CD61 expression. The RAM IgG gets attached to the CD61 antibodies, these K562 cells when incubated with APAAP form a complex. Later fast red dye was added to the mixture which gets attached to the APAAP, the cells turn pink by taking the stain. The cells containing PMA expressed the CD61. It generates the (signal transduction protein kinase C) PKC enzyme and on of K562 cells causes the expression of CD61. The rabbit antimouse IgG antibodies attach to the antibodies of CD61 when incubated in the presence of APAAP (alkaline phosphatase anti-alkaline phosphatise) on of K562 cells complex. Then we add the fast red dye to the mixture which was attached to APAAP (alkaline phosphatase anti-alkaline phosphatise) and stains the cells pink. CD61 was expressed by only those cells which had PMA (Shelly, 2000)

The World Wide Web Essays -- Internet Technology Computers Essays

The World Wide Web Communication--it is a fundamental part of our everyday lives. It characterizes who we are, what we do, and how we relate to others in society. It is a very powerful tool that holds many different uses for our basic needs and survival. At a very simplistic level, it is key in attaining our very basic needs for survival. In that respect, it is key in achieving all needs in Maslows hierarchy. Its uses and possibilities endless. Over time, the discoveries that have been made in relation to communication have been revolutionary in that they have changed the way we live and act dramatically. For example, the writing on walls, pencils, pens, ink, paper, the printing press, telegraph, telephone, television, electronic mail--these only touch the surface. But, what they all have in common is that they have impacted our lives and the way in which members of society relate to one another, understand and percieve one another. As technology advances, the ways in which we communicate will change and advance. In 1992, the inception of the World Wide Web brought about, which at that time many people were unaware, a revolution in the communication industry. In essence, the way in which people communicate with one another would be changed forever. Families with relatives, friends, managers and employees, organizations-public and private, commerce--the consumer and the supplier. These and an endless number of communication relationships would be changed forever. This web site provides a detailed description of the World Wide Web, its history, the traditional and technological implications that have been brought about with it and raises some moral and ethical questions about the WWW. TARGET TECHNOLOGY--The Wo... ... to do with it or how it was going to change our futures. But, as time went on, we learned to better utilize the invention and how to capitalize on the advantages it holds. Today television is key in many peoples' lives. It changed communication, advertising, commerce and a countless number of things forever. I believe that the Web already has and will do the same in these areas in the future, only with an even greater impact. References Pasadena Public Library. "Internet Tutorial." A World Wide Web Tutorial. http://ci.pasadena.ca.us/library/tutorial.html (13 April 1999). Halonen, Olli-Pekka. "Guide for creating World Wide Web." A World Wide Web History. http://www.netppl.fi/~okko/ddd/history.html (13 April 1999). Ray, Tim. "HTML Definition." A Definition of HTML. http://ernie.bgsu.edu/~timray/hypertext/htmldef.html (15 April 1999).

Written Music Essay -- Music History

Written Music For a very long time music was not written down. It was sung or played from memory. As it was passed on from person to person, many changes crept into the tunes. A way of writing music down was needed so that it would be sung or played exactly as it had been composed. The name for written music that man developed is notation. The system of musical notation generally used today is the result of centuries of development- from about the end of the ninth century to the early 1700’s. This development began in the cathedrals in monasteries of the Roman Catholic Church. Since many of the Church’s services were sung, they were sung from memory. Towards the end of the ninth century dots and dashes and squiggles were written over the words in the church books. These signs, called neumes, showed the direction in which the melody should go. But they were still very vague. About 900 A.D. the music was made a little easier to read. The neumes were written at certain distances above or below the horizontal red line, representing the note F, to show how high or low...

Great Essentials for Happiness Essay

Joseph Addison â€Å"The great essentials for happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for.† Joseph Addison, a pre-twentieth-century essayist, was an impressive writer. Within his lifetime, he wrote numerous essays and plays, compiled a book on the lives of seven authors, and translated Virgil’s Georgic. While he was alive, the Battle of Blenheim was fought, inspiring one of his most famous and poems. Much of his works were shaped by the contextual influences all around him. Addison was the oldest son of a reverend. He was born on May 1, 1672 in Milston, Wiltshire, England (Joseph Addison 1). His family was very supportive of his writing, and often listened to his latest scribblings proudly. This attention and support is surely what started his successful writing career. Joseph Addison attended Lichfield Grammar School in Salisbury until he was fourteen years old. It was at that age that he was enrolled in the Charterhouse (an English independent school founded in 1611) in London (Joseph Addison 1). While attending the Charterhouse school, he met Richard Steele, a man who became a great friend of Addison’s. In 1687, he moved on to enter Queen’s College, Oxford along with his friend Richard Steele (Biography of Joseph Addison 1). In college, he set himself apart by his scholarship and his shyness. After showing exceptional skill in Latin verse, he won the election for a position as a Demy (a scholar) to Magdalen College in 1689. He was a fellow there from 1697 to 1711, meaning that although he had graduated, he stayed on to work with some of the other graduates and professors in the pursuit of mutual knowledge (Joseph Addison 1). Addison lost no time after his graduation, immediately publishing a book on the lives and works of several of the great English poets. This book, along with a commemorative poem on the Battle of Blenheim, caught the attention of a few very influential people. In Addison they saw a writer whose works could be potentially used in service to the crown (Biography of Joseph Addison 1). Through Lord Keeper Somers, an influential Whig statesman, and Charles Montague, later known as the earl of Halifax, Addison obtained a royal pension. This pension allowed him to travel abroad while studying politics and continuing to write essays (Joseph Addison (1672-1719) 1). His travels lasted from 1699 to 1704. During these five years abroad, Joseph Addison made the acquaintance of several English diplomats and European men of letters, one of which Addison himself had studied to become (Joseph Addison (1672-1719) 1). He started out in France and continued on to Italy, the place that was inspiration for his essay â€Å"Remarks on Several Parts of Italy† (1705) and the rhymed epistle â€Å"A Letter from Italy† (1704). Below, a brief excerpt from Addison’s essay â€Å"Remarks on Several Parts of Italy† (1705) boasts of his luminous writing style and trademark lively personality while writing: THERE is certainly no Place in the World where a Man may Travel with greater Pleasure and Ad|vantage than in Italy. One finds something more particu|lar in the Face of the Country, and more astonishing in the Works of Nature, than can be met with in any other Part of Europe. It is the great School of Musick and Painting, and contains in it all the noblest Productions of Statuary and Architecture both Ancient and Mo|dern. It abounds with Cabinets of Curiosities, and vast Collections of all Kinds of Antiquities. No o|ther Country in the World has such a Variety of Governments, that are so different in their Constitu|tions, and so refined in their Po|liticks (1). When writing, Joseph Addison’s shy, unassuming personality hides away to release a much brighter and more amiable side of him. From there, his travels continued to Switzerland, where he came to an abrupt, albeit temporary, stand-still (Biography of Joseph Addison 1). His travels were interrupted by some rather unfortunate news. While in Geneva during the March of 1702 he learned of the death of King William III, which resulted in his financial backers, Somers and Montague (the earl of Halifax), losing their positions (Joseph Addison (1672-1719) 1). This loss of income, however, did not prevent him from continuing his adventures abroad. He spent the next two years wondering through Austria, the German states, and the Netherlands before finding his way back into England in 1704 (Biography of Joseph Addison 1). Following his return to England, Joseph Addison was made (thanks in part to the publication of his poem The Campaign) the Under-Secretary of State. He kept this position for two years before becoming secretary and the keeper of records for the lord-lieutenant of Ireland (Joseph Addison (1672-1719) 1). In 1711, a change in the ministry lost him yet another government position, and he turned his eyes yet again towards writing as a means of occu pation (Joseph Addison 1). With renewed vigor he once again took to writing essays, this time doing the work for his old friend Steele’s paper, the Tatler. Joseph Addison contributed 42 works to the Tatler, which ran for about two years. Following the discontinuation of the Tatler in January of 1711, Joseph Addison and Richard Steele began publishing the periodical The Spectator (Joseph Addison (1672-1719) 1). One of his first essays published in The Spectator, â€Å"West Minister Abbey† is a beautiful example of the characteristic ease and elegance prose of his lifetime. Many of his essays during this time were a call to arms for the people of England, calling for them to rise to â€Å"higher levels of living and thinking† and aiming to awaken in them a passion to restore their great nation to its old glory. The essay is gloomy, reflecting Addison’s own reflections on death and acknowledging it as the great provider of equity, for as he so eloquently states: Upon this, I began to consider with myself what innumerable multitudes of people lay confused together under the pavement of that ancient cathedral †¦ how beauty, strength, and youth, with old age, weakness, and deformity, lay undistinguished in the same promiscuous heap of matter (2-3). The Spectator was published daily, and it grew to great popularity among the people of England. The Spectator’s political quips and insights into life and the state of their nation lent it a great deal of influence over the people of that time. Of the 555 or so essays featured in the periodical, Addison composed 274 (Biography of Joseph Addison 1). The Spectator lasted 3.5 years and was one of the few bright spots in Joseph Addison’s rather uneventful life, which was filled with personal disappointments (Joseph Addison (1672 -1719) 1). One such disappointment was his marriage to the Dowager Countess of Warwick. They were wed in 1716, and with his bride came a step-son who he had previously tutored. However, all was not bliss in the life of the newlyweds. His wife was said to be arrogant and unsatisfiable; constantly belittling him and pointing out his every short coming (Biography of Joseph Addison 1).. To make matters worse, he lost his position in Parliament due to his painfully overbearing shyness. He died a year later on June 17, 1719 (Joseph Addison (1672-1719) 1). Ironically, Joseph Addison wrote an essay titled â€Å"Defence and Happiness of Married Life† in 1712, four years before his unhappy marriage to the Dowager Countess. In this essay, he writes through the persona of Philogamus in support of marriage, listing the many advantages and enjoyments a married man may experience. After taking a look at his life and then rereading â€Å"Defence and Happiness of Married Life† (1712) one finds it quite ironic to realize that one of the greatest joys of marriage as put-forth is one that he himself was denied in his own marriage: You must have observed, in your Speculations on Human Nature, that nothing is more gratifying to the Mind of Man than Power or Dominion; and this I think my self amply possessed of, as I am the Father of a Family. I am perpetually taken up in giving out Orders, in prescribing Duties, in hearing Parties, in Administering Justice, and in distributing Rewards and Punishments. To speak in the Language of the Centurion, I say unto one, go, and he goeth; and to another, come and he cometh; and to my Servant, do this, and he doeth it. In short, Sir, I look upon my Family as a Patriarchal Sovereignty, in which I am my self both King and Priest (1). Joseph Addison took anything life happened to throw at him and managed to twist it into a delightful essay or haunting poem. Though his life was filled with disappointments, both in his personal life and in his political career, Addison managed to produce numerous essays and poems as well as a book and to top it all off, he co-produced three separate periodicals along with his friend Richard Steele. His writing hints at the contextual influences all around him. Bibliography Addison, Joseph. â€Å"Defence and Happiness of Married Life†. The Spectator. 03 October 1712. Web. 06 May 2013. Addison, Joseph. â€Å"Remarks on Several Parts of Italy†. 1705. Web. 06 May 2013. Addison, Joseph. â€Å"Westminster Abbey†. The Spectator. 30 March 1711. Web. 06 May 2013. < http://addison.classicauthors.net/WestminsterAbbey/> â€Å"Biography of Joseph Addison†. PoemHunter. Web. 06 May 2013. â€Å"Joseph Addison (1672-1719)†. Luminarium. Web. 06 May 2013. â€Å"Joseph Addison†. Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica Online. Web. 06 May. 2013 .

British American Tobacco, Strategies Planning and Management

Content Pages1. Executive Summary2 2. Introduction 3-4 3. 1 Company Background3 3. 2 Organisation Structure3 3. 3 Cultural of Company3 3. 4 Leadership Style4 3. Analysis 5-10 4. 5 External Environment 4. 6. 1 General Environment – PESTEL Analysis5 4. 6. 2 Industry Environment – Porter’s 5 Forces Analysis6 4. 6 Internal Environment 4. 7. 3 Vision/ Mission7 4. 7. 4 Long Term Objectives/ Grand Strategies 7-8 4. . 5 Business Objectives/ Strategies – Value Chain Analysis9 4. 7. 6 Financial Analysis10 4. Discussion 11-22 5. 7 Key Issues 5. 8. 7 Cigarette smuggling and illegal trading 11-12 5. 8. 8 Government regulatory12 5. 8. 9 Protecting Ecosystem13 5. 8. 10 External Environment13 5. 8 SWOT Analysis 5. 9. 11 Strength 14-15 5. 9. 12 Weaknesses16 5. 9. 13 Opportunities17 5. 9. 14 Threats18 5. 9 Balance Score Card 5. 10. 15 Financial 19-21 5. 10. 16 Internal Business Process21 5. 10. 17 Customers22 5. 10. 8 Learning and Growth22 5. Recommendations23 6. References 24-25 7. Appendixes 26-27 1. Executive Summary During past 100 years, British American Tobacco (Malaysia) (BAT (M)) has sustained and slowly become the market leader in Malaysia since established in 1912. Core competence of BAT (M) is the strong financial support from the mother company and it ranked among 25 top companies on Bursa Malaysia in terms of capital. Besides that, it owned 61% of market shares in the tobacco industry of Malaysia (British American Tobacco Malaysia, 10th April 2012). By carry out the internal and external analysis can help to determine how BAT (M) manages their internal resources to reduce the burden of external forces’ impact. External factors are unpredictable, thus BAT (M) has to set up risk management and strategic planning to overcome or reduce the impact from the forces. However, analysis the value chain of BAT (M) can determine how the support and primary activities add value to the products and services in order to generate more profits and differentiate itself among its competitors. Key issues that brings a major impact to British American Tobacco is cigarettes smuggling across the country. It causes the loss of tax revenues for the government and to the company which will also affect the economy of the country. Under the government regulatory, it stated that smoking is risky for health problems. While BAT introduces harm reduction products, some governments agencies refuse to accept the product that passes laboratory test in successfully reduce content of tobacco in a piece of cigarette. Participating in biodiversity project to protect the ecosystem after tobacco planting had incurred more operation cost to the company. Another major key issues to BAT is cause external environment which is natural disaster. BAT can prepare to face the disaster but cannot prevent it from happening. In conclusion, there are several strategies which are suitable and specifically recommended to the company in order to perform better. These strategies include purple ocean strategy, blue ocean strategy and horizontal integration. The purple ocean strategy is a strategy that poises the company’s position before it could proceed to the blue ocean. A blue ocean refers to an unknown market space that is untainted by any competition (Business Dictionary, 2012). Both oceans strategy assist in helping the company to establish the new market and search for fresh customers. While the horizontal integration is a strategy that able to increase the company’s market share in the tobacco industry, at the same time converting competitions into partnerships. 2. Introduction 3. 1 Company Background British American Tobacco Malaysia (BAT (M)) that formed in 3rd November 1999 is merger between Rothmans of Pall Mall (M) Bhd. and Malaysia Tobacco Company Bhd. , it is the children company under the British American Tobacco Group. BAT (M) had employed around 1,200 employees to carry out its business activities and there are 200 brands in BAT (M)’s portfolio that successfully distributed to worldwide. Core competence of BAT (M) is the strong financial support from the mother company and it ranked among 25 top companies on Bursa Malaysia in terms of capital. Besides that, it owned 61% of market shares in the tobacco industry of Malaysia (British American Tobacco Malaysia, 10th April 2012). 3. 2 Organisation Structure Organisational Structure of BAT (M) is categorized as functional structure which classified in 5 functional groups (Appendix 1) that under the control of Board of Director (BOD). The current composition of BAT (M)’s BOD includes 4 Executive Directors and 3 Non-Executive Directors that come from different professional background (Appendix 2). Main duty of these BODs is to identify risk, examine and decide strategic plan, management of regulation and rules in the company. . 3 Culture of Company Culture of BAT (M) on discussion and decision making is very concern about their employees as they are the key stakeholders and their greatest asset. Every year BAT (M) will conduct an employee dialogue program named â€Å"Your Voice† (British American Tobacco Malaysia, 10th April 2012) by Human Resource Manager to survey on employee’s issues, opinions or expectations on functional and cross functional sessions. â€Å"Your Voice† includes three processes of Listen, Decide and Deliver. 3. 4 Leadership Style The current Managing Director of BAT (M), William Toh Ah Wah encourages the transparent style on leading method. Therefore, the Standard/ Principle of Business Conduct are applied for leading and to ensure the governance on decisions and judgments made by all employees is legal and comply with regulations (British American Tobacco Malaysia, 10th April 2012). BAT (M) used this standard as a requirement to its employees’ behavior and honesty so that it can effectively prevent unwanted issues such as conflict of interest, corruption, insider dealing, whistle blowing and misuse of company’s resources. . Analysis 4. 5 External Environment 3. 1. 1General Environment PESTLEI Analysis Sources: 1) British American Tobacco Malaysia, Regulation and Engagement 2011 2) British American Tobacco Malaysia, Operating Responsibility 2011 3) British American Tobacco Malaysia, the illegal cigarette trade 2011 4) British American Tobacco, regulation and lobbying 2011 Conclusion: The unpredi ctable changes in the environment are the critical factors for British American Tobacco Malaysia to set the planning strategic. The changes of external environment factors like political, economic, social, technology, environment and legal would direct or indirect affect BAT (M) primary and support activities such as procurement, marketing and sales, inbound and outbound logistics, productions and others. Thus BAT (M) has to do in depth analysis by using PESTEL analysis in order to set strong planning strategies. 3. 1. 2 Industry Analysis Porter’s Five Forces High Threat of New Entrants * Huge amount of capital investment needed * Existing loyalty to Major brands -Dunhill, Marlboro Strict government rules and regulations * Difficulty in achieve economic of scale * Difficulty in product differentiation * Scarcity of raw material-tobacco High Bargaining Power of Buyer * Low switching cost * Some other alternatives for consumers * Customers are price sensitive * Purchase large volume – Food court, grocery shop * The products are not extremely important to buyers High Bargaining Power of Supplier * There are only few suppliers of tobacco * No raw material substitution * High switching costs High level of Industry Rivalry * Rarely competitors about same size JTI, Philip Morris * Slow market growth * Undifferentiated products and services Low Threat of Substitute * Prices range of tobacco in Malaysia is quite close * Illegal products may be the alternatives * Substitute products – Nicotine patches, gum Sources: British American Tobacco Malaysia, 2011 British American Tobacco, 2011 Conclusion: Porter’s five forces shows that BAT(M) is currently facing high level of industry rivalry, high threat of new entrants, high bargaining power of buyer, high bargaining power of supplier, but low threat of substitute. Overall of the tobacco is unattractive, but by understanding the threat and opportunity of the industry, BAT(M) can now look for resolution to maintain their sustainability. 3. 2 Internal Environment 3. 2. 1 Vision/ Mission BAT (M) vision is to obtain more market shares and become the market leader for the global tobacco industry so that it can ensure the sustainability of business and follow by bring more values. It missions is improve the productivity in terms of quality and quantity, as BAT (M) believes that act responsibly in productivity will bring the growth to its brand and also value of the business. . 2. 2 Long Term Objective/ Grand Strategies Source: British American Tobacco Malaysia Annual Report 2011, Pg 78- Pg 126 Growth In order to improve the growth on sales and distribution channel, BAT (M) introduced the in-house Direct Store Sales (DSS) operation in 2005. However to continuity growth, BAT (M) decides to further set up Exclusive Distributors (EDx) that different from the past process Exclusive Distributors (EDs) and currently the best practice in the in-house operation is the hybrid combination of DSS, EDs and EDx. Productivity BAT (M) with strong competitive position but slow market growth had developed few strategies in order to achieve its company vision and mission which aim to add value for its company shareholders. In order to ensure the supply chain and production of the main materials which is tobacco leaf is smooth and sustainable, BAT (M) had introduced a tobacco plantation â€Å"Leaf Program† from 2007 that cooperate with worldwide farmers to produce quality tobacco leaf at the same time continuity in growth for organization and its market. Winning Organization In order to boost up the financial and management synergy as a winning organisation, BAT (M) set up a policy of Director’s remuneration that aimed to motivate directors for more competitive and aggressive to achieved higher sales and better manage the business. This reward strategy is evaluated all director’s individual performance on an annual basis and then giving remuneration as benefits to attract directors for further improvement. The effort that all directors put in business will virtually become a good models or examples for employees to follow. Responsibilities For Corporate Social Responsibilities, BAT (M) is concerned on its customer’s health risk therefore it never stops on product development. Recently it introduced a harm-reduction cigarette into the market, Swedish style Smokeless Snus. According to several independent health experts, this new product is 90% less harmful compare to the normal smoking cigarette (British American Tobacco, 2011). At th e mean while protecting the environment with harm reduction by effectively reduce the energy use, carbon dioxide produced, waste, water use and other material use. 3. 2. 3 Business Objectives/ Strategies Primary Activities Supportive Activities The Value Chain analysis for BAT is as below: Recruiting, Hiring, Training, Developing Purchasing raw materials, fertilizers, pesticides, equipments, machinery 1. Channels to market 2. Product, Pricing, Promote 3. Sales force effectiveness 1. Warehousing 2. Order Processing 3. Shipping Manage feedback 1. Harvesting 2. Drying 3. Conversion 4. Packaging 1. Material Handling 2. Inventory Control Research & Development, Product Innovation, Product Design General Management, Finance, Corporate Strategy Sources: Pearce and Robinson 2009, Pg 249 – Pg 251 Conclusion: The business strategy for British American Tobacco (BAT) refers to the long term plan by management in order to achieve the company’s goals and objectives. The current business strategy for BAT focuses on the company’s growth, responsibility, productivity and wining organization (BAT Malaysia, 2012). The current effects resulting from BAT’s business strategy are making the company in a strong financial position and strong management team. While the future effects are improve the quality of BAT’s products and attract more customers. 3. 2. 4 Financial Analysis Financial position of British American Tobacco Malaysia Ratios and Working Capital| 2009RM’000| 2010RM’000| 2011RM’000| Interpretation| Liquidity ratio:Current ratio=Current Asset Current Liabilities| 240,220466,340=0. 52=0. 52:1| 363,018526,910=0. 69=0. 69:1| 152,984719,362=0. 21=0. 21:1| The current ratio of BAT (M) is below 1, this means that BAT (M) may face the problems of paying its debts on time. However, a low value does not show the critical problems, but BAT (M) has to concern the management. High level of current ratio indicates that BAT (M) is making efficient in its assets. | Leverage ratio:Debt-to-total Assets ratio=Total Debts Total Assets| 1,378,1261,635,849=0. 4=0. 84:1| 1,490,4761,801,751=0. 83=0. 83:1| 1,278,4231,585,160=0. 81=0. 81:1| The debt-to-total-assets ratio of BAT (M) is above 0. 8, thus its means the company is depend on debt financing. | Activity ratio: Total asset turnover=Sales Total assets | 697,371 1,635,849=0. 43=0. 43:1| 784,477 1,801,751=0. 44=0. 44:1| 802,832 1,585,160=0. 51=0. 51 :1| Total assets turnover ratio of BAT (M) is increasing on each year, thus it indicated that BAT (M) is efficient in using assets to generate revenues. | Fixed assets turnover=Sales Fixed assets| 697,371 1,137,906=0. 61=0. 61:1| 784,477 1,127,458=0. 0=0. 70:1| 802,832 1,125,439=0. 71=0. 71:1| BAT (M) has an increasingly ability to generate sales from fixed-asset investment (property, plant & equipments). | Profitability ratio:Return on total sales=Net income (before tax)Sales| 650,936697,371 =0. 93=0. 93:1| 741,805784,477 =0. 95=0. 95:1| 775,278802,832 =0. 97=0. 97:1| ROS of BAT (M) is increasing every year from 2009 to 2011, it might indicate BAT (M) is growing efficiently and has a good sign for future. | Return on total assets=Net income(after tax)Total assets| 640,8491,635,849=0. 39=0. 39:1| 736,3811,801,751=0. 41=0. 41:1| 774,2441,585,160=0. 9=0. 49:1| The ROA of BAT (M) is increasing since 2009 to 2011. This means the higher the return on assets ratio, the more efficiently th e company is using its asset base to generate sales. | Sources:British American Tobacco Malaysia Annual Report 2011, Pg 141- Pg 144 British American Tobacco Malaysia Annual Report 2010, Pg 150- Pg 153 Conclusion: The inventories turn over in tobacco industry is much more rapidly than the account payable becoming due. Although the debt-to-total assets ratio of BAT (M) is slightly over the normal level 0. 5, but for BAT (M) it is still consider safe in this stable industry. Overall of the BAT (M) financial performance is consider healthy, in this high level rivalry industry, BAT (M) still can maintain increasing their revenues and fully utilize the assets to generate more profit. 4. Discussion 5. 6 Key Issues 4. 1. 1 Cigarette smuggling and illegal trading Cigarette smuggling had caused huge losses on revenue for British American Tobacco (BAT) and government around the world. One of the countries that had been hit hardly by this problem is China. China market are accommodate with cigarette smuggling that are possibly the largest smuggling effort in the world. Amount up to US$1. 8billion in lost tax revenues annually (British American Tobacco and Cigarettes Smuggling in China, 2006) had been recorded cause by these activities. The main reason cigarette smuggling is popular is because the government effort to reduce or stop the amount of people from smoking. Government of China uses the method of increasing the tax opposes to cigarette. Tax rises up to 200% in Hong Kong in year 1991 (British American Tobacco and Cigarettes Smuggling in China, 2006) that subsequently increase the trade in black market. The method did not successfully reduce the amount of smokers but pathetically shifted smokers towards illegal trade in black market. The demand in black market rises because the price of cigarette is relatively lower than the cigarette in legal trade market. This encourages the cigarette smuggling in that country. British American Tobacco is interested in entering the huge potential market in China. Although China government is in effort of reducing smokers in their country, BAT remains their interests in their market. Under the Chinese Law, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration is the sole agency allowed to trade in tobacco (British American Tobacco and Cigarettes Smuggling in China, 2006). Collaborating with the government agencies seems to be a success for Bat in entering the market but cigarettes smuggling activities had cause BAT to face difficulties in entering the market. Annually, China market losses 30%-50% in total to illicit trade in cigarettes. BAT sales figure to China declines dramatically in year 1991 at the beginning of implementing China’s method in reducing smokers. It is difficult for BAT to sustain their business in China and the amount of Tax revenues losses to cigarettes smuggling are huge. Government agencies are revising another method in reducing smokers in the country while custom officials in China have been preventing the worst impact on cigarettes smuggling in the nation every day. Economy in Malaysia faces negative impact from the current illegal trade all over Malaysia. British American Tobacco Malaysia reveals that the illegal trades of cigarettes in Malaysia had raises from 20 per cent in year 2002 to 36. 3 per cent in 2010. While the legal volume of cigarettes trade had reduces. This lost in legal volume in cigarettes trade had resulted in the losses of tax revenues up to at least RM2 billion annually. The illegal trade also impacted on the health issues of citizens in a country. Government tends to increase or remain the price of cigarettes in high prices in an effort of preventing, reducing and encouraging smokers to quit smoking. Illegal trade of cigarettes became popular among smokers because the price are lower, thus forcing them to purchase cigarettes from illegal traders. With the low price on illegal cigarettes, people are tend to pick up smoking that will cause an increasing health risk and issues in that country either to the smokers nor to the public’s cause by environmental tobacco smokes (ETC) (British American Tobacco Malaysia, 2011). 4. 1. 2 Government regulatory Smoking had been classified as risky to health issues by World health Organizations. British American Tobacco (BAT) introduced harm reduction on cigarettes became the key elements in their business strategy (British American Tobacco Malaysia, 2011). Research and development team has been put up on finding methods for smokers to minimise their health risk without them completely quitting smoking. Research and development team in BAT had successfully found a way in reducing the tobacco content in cigarettes that may possess minimizing health risk for smokers. BAT believes it will brings benefits for smokers in the future as the content of tobacco are reduced but most governments agencies suggested it should be prevented rather than reducing the tobacco content in cigarettes. Reducing health impact on tobacco use is BAT long-term strategy in benefitting the smokers. Harm reduction program are still carrying on in researching and developing methods. 4. 1. 3 Protecting Ecosystem The recent establishment of British American Tobacco (BAT) Biodiversity Partnership with Fauna and Flora International (FFI), the Tropical Biology Association (TBA) and Earth-watch Institute (Earthwatch Institute Case Studies, 2010) is to protect and maintain the environment after it had been used for tobacco planting. In this partnership, they aim to provide social responsibilities towards the public and also environment. There are steps and procedures to be followed in protecting the environment. BAT are recognize as the sectors leaders (Earthwatch Institute Case Studies, 2010) because their initiative in proper forestation and social responsibility programs. In completing these activities, extra cost are incurred. Efforts of forestation required extra funding from the company. This increases the operational cost of BAT and left those answering investors question on their return of profits margin. Extra investment might be needed to ensure the program to be proceeding. Cost incurred are in huge amount because BAT’s tobacco leaf suppliers are in different regions, therefore, proper planning is advise before programs can be fully carry out for all their suppliers. 4. 1. 4 External Environment An external environment factor is also an unpredictable problem towards British American Tobacco. External environment in the like of natural disaster such as fires on plantation cause by weather, plantation infected by insects, typhoon and more cannot be predicted. This natural disaster will destroy the whole plantation and there is no possible ways that BAT’s suppliers can do to prevent it. The tobacco plantation destroyed will cause the company to losses entirely in the plantation cost. It will also causes shortage of supplies towards BAT manufacturing plant and delayed their manufacturing process. This mishap can cause huge losses to the company annual profits. Insurances are not covered because damages done by natural disaster is not included. BAT will suffers a total lost in the event of strike of natural disasters. 5. 7 SWOT Analysis Source: Pierce and Robinson 2009. Conclusion: From the above SWOT analysis diagram, BAT (M) is currently located in Cell 2 as it’s company substantial internal strength might affected by the major environment threats in the long run basis. . 2. 1 Strength BAT (M) main strength is that it has a strong financial position or support from the mother company, The British American Tobacco Group. Furthermore, it also ranked among top 25 companies in Bursa Malaysia in terms of capitalization. BAT (M) is the market leader of local tobacco industry as it owned 61% of the market shares and it has comprehensive distribution network that can reach whole nation (British American Tobacco Malaysia, 10th April 2012). Besides that, the collaborative commerce relationship that linked business-to-business (B2B) with its key customers such as 7-Eleven, Carrefour, Shell, Tesco and Wal-Mart is convenient channel to distribute its products. The numerous types of products that provided by BAT (M) can fulfill several types of customer’s preference and following by have stronger customer royalty that automatically generated from the strong brand equity. 4. 2. 2 Weaknesses One of the internal weaknesses of BAT (M) is the company not diversified in investing other segment of industry or businesses. Therefore, BAT (M) is easily will be affected whenever there are any external issues that impact on tobacco industry. Besides that, there is no online presence for BAT (M)’s customers to place order or check the pricing information and other details of the products. This may caused it to lost potential customers that interested to purchase in bulk amounts as for retail purposes. Furthermore, the numerous types of brands and products that BAT (M) offers to their customers is causing diseconomy of scale to its production line and procurement department. The fewer amounts it purchases from its suppliers, the less negotiation power BAT (M) had. 4. 2. 3 Opportunities The strong financial support or capitalization of BAT (M) can give it chances of take over and acquisition the small company that have less market shares in the local Tobacco industry, this can save its time of retraining new batch of human resources and purchasing new machineries. Furthermore, BAT (M) can easily expand its product’s portfolio by take over others brands. The influences of technology, it encourage BAT (M) to provide another business model that offer more flexibility to customers which is online basis. This will easy for customers to placing order and get products without spending extra time and cost such as petrol to travel from one place to another. 4. 2. 4 Threats The external changes of Government in terms of regulations on taxes rate leading to BAT (M) further contraction. Furthermore, the small sizes of local brands that using cheaper technology to produce similar types of products but selling it with lower price bring impact on BAT (M) market. The illegal smuggling is another external impact that cost BAT (M) to lose its business as in the illegal products is cheaper due to refuse pay tax. Annual average Illegal cigarette trade in Malaysia was 36. 1% in 2011, which means 1/3 of the country is not going to purchase any products from BAT (M) (British American Tobacco Malaysia, 10th April 2012). 5. 8 Balance Score Card Financial Objectives| Measures| Targets | Initiative| Achievement| 1) Maximizing shareholder interest towards the company 2) Contributing part of profits as social responsibilities towards the market| * Profits & cash flow * Interpret financial ratio for evaluating performance| * Growth in earning per shares (EPS) * Maintaining share’s market value level| * Ensure employee understand and acknowledge financial goal of business * Maintaining good relationship with bankers, financial adviser and insurance agent to improve company’s performance| * Successfully increase revenues and sales * Efficiently using acquired assets| Internal Business Process Objectives| Measures| Targets| Initiatives| Achievements| 1) Channelling momentum to operate at a faster, better and smarter way| * Encourages employee work smarter and more efficientlySources : British American Tobacco’s Annual Report, 2011| * Reduction on requirement of man-days | * Implementing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions| * Pilot market in Malaysia tobacco industry * Introduce subcontract manufacturing for large volume productions * Implement various key information technology to support globally-integrated business| Customers Objectives| Measures| Targets| Initiatives| Achievements| 1) Maintaining in responsibility 2) Build stakeholders and shareholders values| * Sustaining share values and improving company commercial’s sustainability * Participating in afforestation program| * Community * Awarding scholarships * Marketplace * Financial aids * Workplace * Employee Volunteer Program (EVP)| * Community Pillars * Poverty alleviation * Education * Employee volunteerism * Environment * Underprivileged & disabled community| * Offset carbon dioxide release to environment through afforestation * Improve company’s commercial’s ability * Completing targeted groups responsibilities * Completing initiatives in bringing a better quality life for community pillars| Learning and Growth Objectives| Measures| Target| Initiative| Achievement| 1) Continuing to drive goals momentum| * Measuring British American Tobacco Malaysia versus competitor’s shares of market in the Value for Money (VFM) segmentSources : British American Tobacco’s Annual Report, 2011| * Achieving good reputation and response from customer with their new products| * British American Tobacco choose to use strategic brand in enhancing market growth * Introduce different brand of cigarettes * enhance market capabilities and strong distribution network * Different brand has different unique capabilities | * Winning in premium Lights and Menthol segment of cigarettes. A portfolio’s strategy by BAT planned years ago before winning the awards. | Balance Score Card (BSC) 4. 3. 1 Financial In the financial view of British American Tobacco (BAT), the key objectives is to maximize their shareholders interest towards the company and also contributing parts of their profits as social respons ibilities towards the market. BAT regularly measures revenues and focuses on company cash flows to maintain their shares market values level. Another effort BAT took is to interpret their financial ratio and use the information gathered to evaluate their business performances. This had lead to the growth in earning per shares (EPS) and successfully increases their revenues and sales annually. Efficiently in using their acquired assets with minimum wastage also assisted BAT in achieving their business financial goals. Employees in BAT are well lead in understanding the financial goal and also acknowledging the way to achieve the business goals. They took the initiative to maintain good relationship with banker, financial adviser and insurance agent to improve the company’s profits in order to maintain the shares market value level of the company. 4. 3. 2 Internal Business Process Internal business processes is essential in maintaining and building a trust from shareholders and customers. Analyzing the best business processes can help the company to perform better to achieve the desire outcome. British American Tobacco Malaysia (BAT (M)) adopted channeling the business processes momentum into operating faster, better and smarter to meet their strategy requirement. Efficiency in performing business process and delivery effectiveness results is suitable in engaging into nowadays globally-integrated environment. BAT (M) targets productivity in their processes by encouraging employees to identify ways to work smarter and more efficiently. A campaign name as â€Å"Make Time to Win† had been introduced to the employee. These measures are done by reducing unnecessary workload such as completing work with zero errors to create effectiveness, reduce complexity and bureaucracy in the company’s business process to enable employee to perform faster and create efficiency in their work and lastly to enhance work-life balance enablers which focuses on the culture and working environment in the company by providing a comfortable environment and adaption to company’s culture program. The outcome of this campaign had been accomplished with the results in total man-days reductions of the company and generated a total savings of RM10. 4million for the company worldwide in 2011 (British American Tobacco Malaysia annual report, 2011). Other than that, BAT (M) took the initiatives in implementing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions in daily business processes and became the pilot market for ERP solutions in Malaysia’s tobacco industry. This also guided the company into introducing subcontract manufacturing method for large volume productions in Japan, Australia and Global travel retail (British American Tobacco Malaysia annual report, 2011) and thus, implementing various key information technology initiatives to support the globally-integrated business. 4. 3. 3 Customers Customers play a huge role in the company strategy planning. Providing clear and quality products to customers is vital for British American Tobacco Malaysia (BAT (M)). Maintaining BAT (M) responsibilities on their products had been set from the past to ensure the company promotes their products responsibly. Collaborating with government agencies in promoting the products only to legal age customer became one of the major objectives of BAT (M). Besides that, participating in forestation program became part of BAT (M) annual event in order to perform their social responsibilities towards the social in a way that offset carbon dioxide emission to the environment cause by smoker using the company’s products. This had managed to sustain the shares value and shows improve in company’s commercial ability. BAT (M) targets 3 major segment in the society which is the community, marketplace and workplace. In the company appearance to the community, BAT (M) awards scholarships to talented students in helping them to persuade their studies. Selected students are giving these opportunities by British American Tobacco Malaysia as part of the contributions towards the society. While in marketplace, the company provides financial aids for higher education to the tobacco growing community to ease their financial difficulties. Studies on the growing and managing the plantation assist the tobacco growing communities in producing more quality products for BAT (M). Lastly in workplace, the company organize employee volunteer program for a deserving causes. Employee Volunteer Program (EVP) is the company culture of giving back to the community. EVP allows employees dedicating their time and efforts for good cause towards the community. To give a helping hand to the community pillars, BAT (M) took the initiatives steps in allocating budgets and lends their helping hands to the community that needed the most. The activities done are such as poverty alleviation on building homes for poor family, providing education in awarding scholarships, employee volunteerism that promotes company culture of giving back to the community with employee volunteer program. It has done across the Peninsular Malaysia. On the other hand, the important of environment has lead the company’s employee to volunteered time towards environment conservations by cleaning waterfall and a beach and also to support the underprivileged and disable community. Volunteered time by the company EVP program throughout Malaysia to assist them in different aspect, thus improving their health, benefits and living standard. 4. 3. 4 Learning and Growth Learning and growth is an important segment in the framework because it supports the visions and ability to sustain the company in long-term. British American Tobacco Malaysia (BAT (M)) visions are to obtain more markets shares and become market leaders for global tobacco industry. BAT set an objective of continuing to drive goals momentum in achieving their visions. In the current situation, BAT (M) had strengthened the company leadership in the Malaysia’s tobacco industry with the healthy and positively growth trend in their financial analysis. Measuring the Value for Money (VPN) segment from 2009 to 2011 of BAT (M) and their competitor is crucial for the company survival in the market. This ensures the sustainability and also their vision in becoming the industry leader in the Malaysia’s tobacco industry. Along the year from 2009 to 2011, BAT (M)’s VPN are recorded at 7. 7percent, 8. 9percent and 9. 4percent while their competitor had 10. 2 percent, 11. 0percent and 10. 3percent relatively. The figures shows that BAT (M) share of market had been increasing positively against their competitor and successfully reduced the VPN gap between BAT (M) and their competitor from 2. 6percent to 0. 9percent (British American Tobacco Malaysia annual report, 2011). BAT (M) target of gaining good reputation and response from customers with their products is achieved by obtaining awards in premium â€Å"Lights† and â€Å"Menthol† segment of cigarettes. This is a portfolio’s strategy planned years ago before being awarded the success. In order to meet their vision, BAT (M) practice strategic brand as their initiative in market growth. Introducing various brand of cigarettes to enhance their market capabilities such as Pall Mall, Kent, Dunhill, Peter Stuyvesant is few types of cigarettes brand innovates by BAT(M) and strengthen their distribution network is part of the strategic steps taken. These different brands of cigarettes have different unique capabilities for the smokers such as triple filter charcoal technology, menthol and spearmint flavor cigarettes. These innovations assisted the company in obtaining more markets share and becoming the market leader in the industry. Conclusion: The activities and programs organize by British American Tobacco in alliance with British American Tobacco Malaysia in different segment and aspect had significantly improve the business operation, the social responsibilities and managing the company strategy plan in a proper way. It fits accordingly to the company visions of obtaining more market shares and become market leader for global tobacco industry so that it can ensure the sustainability of business and follow by bring more values. 5. Recommendations It was found out that British American Tobacco (BAT) is facing huge competition among the tobacco industry due to numerous brands in the market. In addition, cigarettes typically bring a bad perception to people lately. So, instead of scrambling around, the company is proposed to get rid of the red oceans by moving its business slowly toward the blue oceans, but not immediately. Thus, applying the purple oceans strategy could be the first step for BAT. The phase â€Å"purple oceans† means to stay in the combination of both red oceans and blue oceans. Hence, this strategy enables the play safe method and allows BAT to maintain its existing loyal customers, at the same time generating new extra customers through the product innovation. According to Dr Joe Leung, the first scholars that propose the purple ocean strategy, there are total 5Cs needed to be master before an enterprise could position itself in the purple oceans and the 5Cs are namely as cost, cash, customer, competence and counterpart (Fortune Making, 2012). Only when BAT able to mastered the 5Cs and poises themselves in the purple oceans, then only the company could explore toward the blue ocean. For BAT, the blue ocean could be established through product innovation. Since the company has their own research centre which is located at Southampton UK (BAT, 2012), therefore BAT could make use of it to develop their new products. For instance, create cigarettes that bring harmless to our health by replacing those harmful ingredients inside the cigarette. Once cigarette is harmless, it is not only creating the new market for BAT, but also changing people’s perception toward smoking. Furthermore, the government no longer got the reason to resist cigarette. Besides than using the oceans strategy, horizontal integration could be an alternative strategy recommended to BAT in order to improve the company’s business strategy. The horizontal integration is a strategy that allows the company to increase its market share in the tobacco industry through merging or taking over the similar companies (Biz Dharma, 2012). Since BAT is having a strong financial position, therefore the company may utilize this advantage in order to merge with those weaker companies. By applying this strategy, BAT able to grow its market share rapidly and what most important is it could reduce the number of competitors for BAT and switch them to become partners. 6. References British American Tobacco Malaysia, About Us: Who We Are, 10th April 2012 Fortune Making, Purple Ocean Strategy, 2012 British American Tobacco, Research and Development, 2012 British American Tobacco (Malaysia), Our Strategy, 2012 British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Berhad, 2011, Reports and Financial Statements, viewed 20th June 2012, . British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Berhad, 2010, Reports and Financial Statements, viewed 20th June 2012, . British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Berhad, 2011, viewed 20th June 2012, British American Tobacco (Malaysia), Our Strategy, 2012 British American Tobacco and Cigarettes Smuggling in China, â€Å"Keys to the Future†, 2006 http://www. plosmedicine. org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10. 1371%2Fjournal. pmed. 0030228 British American Tobacco Malaysia Annual Report, Government Regulatory, 2011 http://www. batmalaysia. com/group/sites/bat_7ryj8n. nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO7SUKSJ/$FILE/medMD8SFEPS. pdf? openelement British American Tobacco Malaysia, Illegal trade in Malaysia, 2011 http://www. batmalaysia. com/group/sites/BAT_7RYJ8N. nsf/vwPagesWebLiveO8PBFUP? opendocument&SKN=1 Earthwatch Institute Case Studies, integrating biodiversity into business management and operations, British American Tobacco Biodiversity Partnership, 2010 http://teebforbusiness. earthmind. net/files/Earthwatch_Case_Studies-HSBC_SHELL_-American_Tobacco. pdf Fortune Making, Purple Ocean Strategy, 2012 British American Tobacco, Research and Development, 2012 Biz Dharma, Horizontal Integration, 2012 < http://bizdharma. com/blog/what-is-vertical-and-horizontal-integration/> 7. Appendixes Appendix 1: Organization Structure of BAT (M) B. O. D Appendix 2: Corporate Information of BAT (M)