Philippines Country Sales

According to Yahoo Philippines Country Sales Director, Arlene Amarante http://thenewmedia.com/state-of-online-advertising-in-the-philippines-yahoo-phs-arlene-amarante/ that:â€Å"The online advertising industry here in the Philippines is in a state of rapid growth. While there is still much evangelization to do, the market players – both advertisers and advertising agencies – are now asking the more relevant questions unlike 3 years ago. They now start to ask: How do we start? How do I integrate online with my existing campaign? Can it work for a brand or industry like mine? How do I measure my success? These questions tell us that it is no longer about why advertisers should be online; it is about maximizing their advertising dollars and using online the right way.And, while online is still at a 26% penetration level, we see that the landscape is further paving the way for increased and rapid exponential growth – new broadband products, increased broadband pene tration, rise of internet mobile, rise of smart phones and the proliferation of low-priced PCs. Consumer behavior support the phenomenon. They are no longer dictated by traditional media alone; they immediately search for brands prior to a purchase. They are no longer looking for yesterdays’ news; they want to know what’s happening now. They are no longer waiting for brands to come and communicate to them; they are starting the conversations. Online advertising is now a powerful force that no one can no longer deny.†According to Mark Chaves, director of media intelligence solutions at SAS, http://www.studymode.com/essays/Local-Studies-1071666.html that:â€Å"Consumers are online right now talking about your products and services, their experiences, and their likes and dislikes. Smart marketers aren't just listening to online chatter; they are analyzing it to better focus resources and build engagement and loyalty,† â€Å"SAS Social Media Analytics helps m arketers combine data from online conversations with other data, such as a company's customer relationship management software, to build a more complete picture of each customer and then use these analytically-driven insights to predict and act,†Chaves added.According to LiveJournal,http://www.aijc.com.ph/survey_internet_access.pdf that:â€Å"The Philippines ranks seventh among the top 15 countries where blog hosting is popularly used. There are presently 39,274 Filipino bloggers under this hosting site.†LOCAL LITERATUREAccording to Josefina Estolas in the book Fundamentals of Research (1995) http://www.studymode.com/essays/Review-Of-Related-Literature-And-Studies-177904.html that:â€Å"In exploration, we find new techniques, new knowledge, even develop new substances, gadgets, equipment, processes or procedures, imagination and skill is employed by the researcher. The commodities, new devices, services, in technology are needs of man for a better fuller life which is the concern of the research. These useful arts are the products of the technological environment and the end-user is society in general†.According to Jeffrey A. Hofer on Modern System Analysis and Design (1996), http://www.studymode.com/essays/Review-Of-Related-Literature-And-Studies-177904.html that:â€Å"Science and technology are essential for national development and progress. The State shall give priority to research and development, invention, and their utilization, and to science and technology education according to the 1987 Philippine Constitution (Article XIV, Section 10).Since computer power  was the critical resource, efficiency of processing became the main goal. Emphasis was placed on automating existing process such as purchasing or paying, often within single department.† According to Abraham Silberschatz, Database System Concepts (1999) http://www.studymode.com/essays/Review-Of-Related-Literature-And-Studies-177904.html that:â€Å"A major purpose of a database system is to provide users with an abstract view of data. That is the system hides certain details of how the data are stored and maintained.†Foreign Studies According to Ajzen and Fishbein (1980), http://www.ukessays.co.uk/essays/marketing/the-literature-review.php that:Attitude is defined as â€Å"a learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favourable or unfavourable manner with respect to a given object†. It is the mental and physical respond that involve beliefs, feelings, values and predisposition to act in certain ways.According to Davis (1989), http://www.ukessays.co.uk/essays/marketing/the-literature-review.php that:In the earlier studies, perceived usefulness is defined as â€Å"the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would enhance his or her job performance†.According to Koufaris 2002, http://www.ukessays.co.uk/essays/marketing/the-literature-review.php that:Replaced the term â€Å"personal involvementà ¢â‚¬  into â€Å"product involvement†. In this research he used product involvement instead of personal involvement to point out the same concept and defined as â€Å"individual motivation regarding an object where that motivational state is activated by the relevance or importance of the object in question†.Foreign Literature According to Levy and Malaviya (1999) http://www.ukessays.co.uk/essays/marketing/the-literature-review.php that:Indicated that effectiveness of advertising is â€Å"persuasion does not rest within advertising messages per se and it depends on certain mental processes that as ad recipient invokes†. Generally, advertising effectiveness is described as being â€Å"a hierarchy of effects† (Vakratas and Amber, 1999). In the other word, changes of consumer perceptions by the information in the advertisement will lead to a change in their behaviors.According to Palanisamy and Wong (2003)http://www.ukessays.co.uk/essays/marketing/the-liter ature-review.phpthat:â€Å"When the consumer has a sense in what they believe is a quality price, quality of service, quality of interaction of the service and image of the business is explained as their expectation. When consumer expectations increase or decrease that effectiveness of advertising would change accordingly as this is a proportional relationship.†According to Tomsen and Faith (2003) http://www.ukessays.co.uk/essays/marketing/the-literature-review.php that:â€Å"Growing capabilities of interactive devices and fuel innovation set the consumer expectations. Consumer will develop new expectations about the new technology itself, services and network that support the technology. Acceleration of the development of the new technology and service providers is to fulfill the need of consumer shifting expectations. Likewise, evolution of technology is derived from the interactive consumer expectations. In this context, evolution of technology is seemed as evolution of i nternet advertising. Quality, reliability, convenience, attractive appearance and superior technology are the expectations of the consumers.†

Race and ethnicity in the United States Census Essay

The media is an industry where the competition is intense and it has been used by the government individuals, organizations, institutions, society, and family etc. for various purposes. However, due to the increasing competition in the industry, many at times the functions and duties which the media owes to the society are significantly overlooked. There are various functions of the media some will be discussed later on in this paper. The aim of the media has to a fearfully large extent shifted from fulfilling its roles to the society, rather their focus is often on how much entertainment they can offer to their audience and how much money they can make and how quickly they can make it. Entertainment and money making is definitely key in the existence, survival and growth of this industry, nevertheless, this should not be achieved by inappropriately portraying a group’s identity in any form. DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS Construction – To make or create, by putting together ideas, components or arguments. Group Identity – This refers to a person’s sense of belonging to a group. Media- Are communication channels through which news, entertainment, education, data or promotional messages are disseminated. Media includes every broadcasting and narrow casting medium such as newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, billboards, direct mail, telephone, fax and internet (business dictionary, 2015). THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY BY TAJFEL & TURNER (1979) This theory was propounded in order to understand the psychological reasons and basis for inter- group discrimination. The components of this theory goes thus: Categorization- This is the process of putting ourselves and others into categories, our self-image is associated with the categories we belong to. Identification – This is the process by which we associate ourselves with certain groups of people. Nevertheless there are some groups we don’t want to be identified with (out groups) and there are some we would want to be identified with (in groups). Comparison- This is the process through which we compare our groups with other groups, thereby creating a positive bias towards the groups in which we are members of. This aspect of this work will focus on two salient functions of the media amidst the various ones there are. Social heritage function- The onus lies on the media to transmit positive racial and ethnic values about every existing race and ethnic group. The act of highlighting and spotlighting the various negativities of races and ethnic groups should be avoided. Surveillance function- This is the duty the media owes to the society in circulating news and information when necessary, the media is responsible for providing information about events. THE CONSTRUCTION OF GROUP IDENTITY BY HOLLYWOOD (A STUDY OF THE LATINO RACE) There are five acclaimed races in the world: 1) Mongoloid (Asian and American Indian) 2) Caucasoid (European) 3) Australoid (Australian and oceanic) 4) Negroid (East African black). 5) Capoid (South African black) The Latinos could be said to belong to the Mongoloid race and most of the 315 million people who live in the United States of America are either immigrants or have ancestry to another country. In actual fact, the only truly American people are the Native ones. This country is based on the idea of migration in pursuit of a better social and economic life. According to U. S. Census Bureau (2012), there are roughly 52 million Hispanics/Latinos living in the United States, representing approximately 16. 7% of the total population of United States of America, and making them the nation’s largest ethnic minority. Among Hispanic subgroups, Mexicans rated as the largest at 63%, followed by Puerto Ricans (9. 2%), Cubans (3. 5%), Salvadorans (3. 3%), Dominicans (2. 8%), and the remaining 18. 2% were Colombians, Guatemalans, Portuguese, Honduras, Ecuadorians, Peruvians, Brazilian. The main reason for their migration has been either that they are politically endangered or have financial problems. For instance the Cubans who ended up in America wanted to escape from the political conditions in their country. Escaping from the communist government practiced in Cuba, they were considered as ‘political refugees’ in America for three and a half decades until 1995. As a result of America’s opposition to the Cuban government, they were treated in America better than almost any other ethnic group. This has also been partly because of their high level of education and professionalism before migration (Martins, 2006 as seen in Mousavi & Sadeghi, 2013). Latinos, Mexicans in particular, mostly live in the Southwest; almost half in California and Texas. Puerto Ricans are mostly in the East and Cubans are in Florida. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, legal Hispanic household income is only 75 percent of White American income. There is also a high rate of poverty and unemployment among them, and their socio economic status is at a low level. The cause for this situation is partially their jobs being the lowest paid ones, their low education level, and employment discrimination (Camarillo and Bonilla, 2001). They are present in the news, advertisements, election campaigns, political debates, television and films. The common major feature that is present in all of these portrayals is the problems related to them that should be solved and not to be glorified, exaggerated or exploited by Hollywood. Before now African Americans were more likely to be portrayed as domestic workers in Hollywood. African Americans played major roles in television sitcoms such as â€Å"Beulah† in the 1950’s and â€Å"Gone with the wind† in 1939. In recent times Latinos have increasingly replaced African Americans as Hollywood domestics. Hollywood has presented an incorrect reality of the Latino people to the American people and to the world at large, it has exaggerated a poor image of this particular race. Although the Latinos who live in America get more roles to play in Hollywood, most of these roles are mentioned in the next paragraph. The Latino female is often presented as a temptress, vamp, lustful, promiscuous, unfaithful, manipulative, of loose morals or submissive at times in relation to a white male fantasy, low class, serving the whites. A list of Ten Latino Female artists who have played the role of a maid in Hollywood Movies/series. Jennifer Lopez – Maid in Manhattan, 2002 Aida Linares- Clueless, 1995 Lupe Ontiveros- As good as it gets, 1997 (She has played an estimate of 150 maid roles on television). Consuela-Family Guy, 2005-till present Nadine Valesquez-My name is Earl, 2005-2009 Paz Vega- Spanglish, 2004 Kate Del Castillo- La misma Luna, 2007 Adriana Barraza- Babel, 2006 Catalina Saavedra, The maid, 2009 Roselyn Sanchez, Devious Maids, 2013- till present Pania Ramirez – Devious Maids, 2013 till present THE MEDIA, DIVERSITY AND SOCIAL CHANGE INITIATIVE (MDSCI)’S SIX YEAR STUDY REVEALS SOME STATISTICS. Among the racial and ethnic groups studied in the Media, Diversity, and Social Change Initiative’s report, released August 2014, Latinos made up only 4. 9% of movie characters across 100 of 2013’s top-grossing films. According to the U. S. Census Bureau’s estimates, there are roughly 52 million Latinos in the U. S. as of July 1, 2011, or just over 16% of the current U. S. population. That number is on track to reach 132. 8 million — or about 30% of the U. S. population — by July 1, 2050. LATINOS THAT ARE DEPICTED IN TOP-GROSSING MOVIES ARE MOSTLY NAKED. While the study does note that â€Å"Hispanic females (37. 3%) were more likely to be featured in popular films than were white females (29. 6%) or Asian females (32%),† Latinas are also more likely than females among any of the other groups studied (37. 5%, to be precise) to be shown partially dressed or nude on the big screen. LATINOS ARE ALSO HIGHLY LIKELY TO BE SEXUALIZED. The sexualization of Latinos does not stop with women. Latino men were the most likely among the studied groups (16. 5%) to be depicted wearing â€Å"tight, alluring or revealing clothing. † DANGERS OF THE NEGATIVE PORTRAYAL OF RACE & ETHNICITY BY THE MEDIA ?Since there is a tendency to believe what is represented or depicted by the media; as particular races or ethnic groups are often negatively portrayed, others who are not acquainted with such group of people are bound to believe they are actually the way the media has presented them. ? Another danger of negative portrayals of race/ethnic groups by the media is that the younger ones from such groups may not be able to see themselves better than the way the media has portrayed them. For example if a race is continually depicted as a maid or as vulgar murderer the younger generation of such groups may not see anything wrong with being that way and could actually end up as same. ? This particular race have existing challenges of employment, poor education; the continuous depictions as such does not help solve these problems, but only worsens them. ?It could be difficult for people who are negatively portrayed to keep relationships with or amongst other races who are depicted as superior to them. THE NOLLYWOOD CONSTRUCT OF ETHNICITY (A STUDY OF THE YORUBA, AND NORTHERN NIGERIANS) The founding fathers of Yoruba films in Nigeria i. e. Herbert Ogunde, Moses Olaiya (Baba Sala) Based their works on the constructive values of the Yoruba ethnic group without leaving their audience entertained. In recent times Nollywood has neglected the transfer of social heritage function in the production of Yoruba films. More often than necessary abusive statements, raining of curses and the invention of such and rascality has been synonymous with Yoruba films. The very rich Yoruba culture which the world could learn from is often being tarnished by our film industry. However there are various Yoruba producers who focus on spreading the positivity of the Yoruba culture i. e. Tunde Kelani, Tade Ogidan, Yinka Afolayan. Men from the Northern part of Nigeria are also often times portrayed as either a gateman or the security man of a well-established family. The character who could actually be Yoruba speaks like a man from the north to convince the audience that the gateman is a man from the Northern part of the Country. Little does Nollywood know that many of the gatemen in Lagos which I can speak for are not even Nigerians. I have observed that most of the gatemen/security men in reality are actually from Niger Republic many of them look like Nigerian Northerners, are able to speak Hausa language but they are not Nigerians. RECOMMENDATIONS ?Every race has some sort of value and norms that could be positive, the media should hereby seek out such and spread them. ? The media needs to respect the fact that every human person has dignity and should be portrayed as such. ?They never should never assume that a particular race or ethnicity is less than the other, regardless of the socio economic status of such groups. ?The media should seek to solve the challenges faced by some races and ethnic groups rather than exploit them. ?The media should be reminded that they are socially responsible to the society, thus they should be mindful of what they feed the society with.

Case Study on Human Error

JFK airport authorities had been told to keep a higher landing rate than safe at 33 planes attempting to land per hour, on one runway the typical rate being 52 in good weather, with all runways open. The airport was experiencing a rate of 27% missed approaches, with 39 planes waiting in holding patterns for clearance to land and dozens waiting to take-off. Sequence of events The 707 had been placed in holding patterns for a total of 1 hour and 17 minutes during three separate occasions over the U. S. east coast. There were 6 different air traffic controllers that had communicated directions to Flight 52 after they entered U. S. airspace, adding confusion and un-transmitted messages, yet at the same time not providing any more crucial information such as weather conditions. The Flight Engineer failed to communicate the urgency of the low fuel situation to the pilot and co-pilot after they passed the point of no return and had to remain committed to JFK –by not having enough fuel to get to their alternate airport at Boston, 342km away from JFK. He also failed to emphasize the importance of landing in their first attempt because they would not have enough fuel to loop around and try again. Another discrepancy was how the co-pilot used the words â€Å"Low Fuel† and â€Å"Priority† rather than â€Å"MAYDAY† and â€Å"Minimum Fuel† while communicating to ATCs. There was a lot of crucial information left out or misinterpreted and not so important information repeated, which could have easily been avoided without the language barriers in place. In terms of the Swiss Cheese model there were many holes in the conversations between ATCs and the flight crew, similarly between the flight crew and passengers, where they weren’t even given a warning. Causes and factors During the chase to point the blame on someone, Avianca stated to investigators that the phraseology used by their pilots was correct as per their training -whether it matched the standard English phraseology used by IATA countries or not they were only following what they thought to be proper protocol. Investigation by the NTSB found many holes in the events leading up to the crash, due to both active and latent failures by the crew, ATCs, and airport management. The leading causes can be attributed to airport mismanagement, inconsistent training for pilots that should have English proficiency, and overall poor communication between ATCs and the flight crew. Repetitive flaws in a system run by human beings shows a clear link in the lack of Risk Management, causing communication gaps referred to as holes in the Swiss Cheese model for human error. CRM stipulates training crew in assertiveness, inter-personal communication, leadership and decision-making, to name a few key attributes these pilots were in need of addressing prior to the incident. There was no problem of experience as both the pilot and co-pilot had flown that route before, and the pilot had 27 years of experience flying for Avianca. The implementation of Crew Resource Management techniques in the previous years must not have been as streamlined as intended, at least not for the American ATCs and those training under Avianca in Columbia. If one lesson would be learned from this it would be that had the crew received effective and efficient CRM training on time, they could have saved 73 people from an almost completely preventable death by human error. References AskCaptainLim. com {comments}. Aviation, Air Crash. Avianca flight 52: why the pilots failed to use proper phraseology. (Last updated October 19, 2008). Retrieved from: http://www. askcaptainlim. com/-air-crash-aviation-34/830-avianca-flight-52-why-the-pilots-failed-to-use-the-proper-phraseology. html Cushman Jr. , John H. New York Times, Archives, Collections, Fuel. Avianca flight 52: the delays that ended in disaster. (February 5, 1990). Retrieved from: http://www. nytimes. com/1990/02/05/nyregion/avianca-flight-52-the-delays-that-ended-in-disaster. html? pagewanted=allamp;src=pm National Geographic, Cineflix Productions. Air Crash Investigation series, Episode S02E05 Missing Over New York. Retrieved from http://natgeotv. com/ca/air-crash-investigation/videos/deadly-delay Wikipedia. org, Avianca Flight 52. (Last updated March 22, 2013). Retrieved from: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Avianca_Flight_52

Managerial accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Managerial accounting - Essay Example The reasons that back the statement include the increasing pressure of capital market, rapidly changing business environment and an escalating competitive environment. In the context of that, the below presented paper has discussed the different aspect of traditional budgeting followed with the criticism over the traditional approach of budgeting. With that, the paper has discussed the recent external pressures from the capital market. Activity based budgets are the flexible budgets that are based on the different cost drivers. In activity based budgets, multiple cost drivers are used for the different activities of the business. The activity based budgeting is more precise as compared to the conventional budgeting. The incremental approach towards budgeting initiates with the previous budgeting period which are also term as the actual results. It adds and subtracts the incremental amount to overcome with the inflation and other obvious changes. Zero based budgeting is that approach for budgeting that necessitates each element of cost to be particularly justified, as the activities related with the budget are taken into the considerations for the first time. In zero based budgeting, the allowance for budget is zero without any prior approval (Kaplan Financial Limited, 2012). The traditional budget of an organization designates the amount and quantity of money the management of the company allocated for a predetermined period in order to meet the financial obligations of the company. These includes allocation of funds for the operations of the business, the liabilities and other expenses incurred by the organization. The aim of the budget is to facilitate the organization to spend the revenues and income generated by an organization in accordance with the plan. The traditional budget is based on reviewing the historical performance of the company

A Socitey that Slipped Like the Wind Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

A Socitey that Slipped Like the Wind - Essay Example Almost over two centuries these people were being tortured, brutalized, tormented and murdered by the intruders but finally they started to realize that they also have individual entity and they are not like the beasts as they are treated by the ‘white rulers.’ These people started claiming their rights and equality in the society just same as the white people. However, just the moment these downtrodden people started to express their feeling, it immediately created a great deal of impact over the sense of superiority of the white people the rate of oppression as well as inflicting torture also increased. It is during the time of 1820s that the so-called slaves were rising against the arbitrary ruling system of the white people. Clearly, America during this time was divided between two clear sections the North and the South. People residing at the North, were mainly people belonging to the ruling class and people of the South were mainly dominated by the white men. Perha ps, the first clear indication of such rebellion occurred during the year 1920. In this year Missouri Compromise, though the state is basically a slave state but at the same time it restricted the spread of the system of slavery anywhere else in the territory of Louisiana. Citing from the novel of Mitchell, ‘Gone with the Wind’, we find the word ‘nigger’ used to refer to the afro Americans. (Mitchell) the concept of white skin to be the ideal beauty has been introduced through the appearance of Scarllet. When the author mentions ‘The black bombazine, †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ set off white skin superbly’ (Mitchell), she indicates a kind of contrast where it seems that the white people were powerful at the expense of the blacks. This also indicates a consciousness that aroused as the war was about to begin. Till this time period the white people did not take the whole situation in a very serious way but the white section of the society was also realizing

Drug Abuse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Drug Abuse - Essay Example As the research stresses the problem affects the victim in numerous ways because they are not good for the body, that is, they are harmful to the body. Drug abuse can harm the body system of an individual in numerous ways, such as the heart, liver, lungs, kidneys and also the brain. These organs can be heavily damaged by the introduction of the harmful drugs into the body system. From the report it is clear men, women and teenagers within the United States are widely experiencing the effects of drug abuse and have become addicted victims. Drugs such as Alcohol, cocaine, heroin and meth. Marijuana is among the drugs that are often abused, although, it is not technically addictive. All these drugs fall under the prohibited drugs in the American Law. However, Marijuana has been legalized in other places. Some other states are still in a discussion regarding the legalization of marijuana. These drugs are by all mean destructive as they lead to loss of job, families as well as homes. Drug abuse is a problem that has been relevant in the public domain for several decades. Some drugs such as cocaine, are rather expensive and used by individuals from wealthier families. The drug has physical and psychological effects on the victim. Methamphetamine is another seriously effective drugs and among the fastest growing in the United States. The effects are relatively harsh to the user and can be awfully concerning. Addicts experience a decline in appetite, high blood pressure, high body temperature, and violent behavior.

New diagnostic tool or intervention for the treatment of diabetes in Essay

New diagnostic tool or intervention for the treatment of diabetes in adults - Essay Example Additionally, the diet was thought to be good for use in the prevention of the cardiovascular disease, which provides an added bonus to those suffering from type II diabetes, who are contra-indicated for this risk. Summary The study itself is a comparison between two Mediterranean diets and a low-fat diet. Healthy individuals who were thought to be at risk of developing type II diabetes were given advice on how to follow one of the three diets, but were given no indications towards following any kind of physical exercise regime. The trial was non-randomized and consisted of 418 individuals aged between 55 and 80 years, and thus any benefits seen should only be used in practice for those of this age range, although benefits could be seen in those of a younger age bracket. The patients were then asked to attend a follow-up; a median time of 4.0 years after the original dietary advice was given. After this time, the incidence of type II diabetes was at 10.1% within the group whose Medit erranean diet was supplemented with olive oil, 11.0% in those whose diet was supplemented with nuts, and 17.9% in the traditional low-fat diet category. Whilst this may seem high in contrast to the normal prevalence of type II diabetes in the U.S. population (currently standing at 8.3% of the population), it must be noted that within the same age bracket the prevalence is 26.9% (American Diabetes Association, 2011). This suggests that there may be a huge impact on diabetes prevalence in the older population when following such a diet. Interestingly, although type II diabetes is associated with higher weight individuals (Hensrud, 2012), the Mediterranean diets were found to be beneficial in the absence of any change in weight or body mass. Discussion This new intervention could be extremely useful within medical practice. It suggests that in the absence of any formal intervention, there are options for those suffering from type II diabetes. The patients within the trial were not clos ely monitored, which suggests that closely following the diet is not necessary to see benefits. This would be a low-cost option for those who cannot follow expensive diet plans or those who do not have access to high-cost medicines. To integrate this principle into practice would also be extremely easy. A clinician could simply inform the patient of how the Mediterranean diet works, and the type of meal plan that might be involved. This would be associated with advice on the types of benefits that the patient is likely to see, and how substantially that this diet plan could lower the patient’s risk of developing diabetes. The patient could also be given a leaflet of advice on how to manage this new diet plan and how this would fit into a new life. However, it must be noted that the age range of the subjects in the study was between 55 and 80 years and therefore, this advice may not be beneficial to those of a younger age. This means that the advice should be carefully integra ted into practice to be given only to these individuals, as evidence has not shown benefits for those in younger age groups. Additionally, as with any new diet plan, the patient should be carefully examined to see if the plan is suitable (Moynihan et al., 2009). Explanation These findings could have a big impact on

Management Decision Making Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words

Management Decision Making - Assignment Example It is seen that communication does not follow the proper hierarchy. It is a large organization comprising big information channels. There is a general tendency among employees to bypass their superiors and communicate with their heads directly because he is from the same company. This is a major communication issue as it leaves the supervisors unaware of important information. This creates problems for them in coordinating activities of subordinates. The project tries to analyze the situation using Viable Systems Model (VSM) under the present structure of the organization. Having done this, it tries to look at the other issues that the organization has been facing. A big part of the problem can be attributed to the cultural issues arising out of the fact that the company is owned by three shareholders from three different countries. This is considered to be the minor metaphor. The project then presents the reasons why the above two problems have been chosen as the major and minor met aphors respectively. A particular methodology has been chosen from the system of systems methodologies and the choice for the same has also been justified. Finally, Senge’s five disciplines have been applied to this organization along with examples showing how each weakness can be converted to strength. The project talks about a big organization which has a number of business divisions. The business divisions are distributed among three different shareholders from three different companies. These are well-known companies established in three different countries. The major metaphor looks into the communication problems existing in the organization. The main problem exists in the communication channel in the organization. It is seen that in spite of the presence of a proper hierarchy, employees in the organization tend to bypass their supervisor and communicate with the second level in the organization.

Discussion Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 33

Discussion - Coursework Example In this regards, APNs play a key role in enhancing EBP adoption as it remains more as an ideal rather than a reality in many clinical care setting. In my unit, an advanced practice nurse is important in enhancing the adoption of evidence-based practice through facilitating the appropriate organizational culture and leadership. It is crucial for the unit to appoint leaders and staff that recognize and value evidence-based practice and research utilization in improving care provision. This can be further achieved by educating the staff on the importance of EBP utilization and possible ways of adoption. Facilitation and support in the process are also crucial. Thus, an advanced practice nurse has a role in ensuring that the necessary resources and conditions are available to attain success in the unit. This includes the provision of the appropriate time of practicing EBP and ensuring that the correct number of staff (staffing) are available in enhancing the process. Moreover, the advanced practice nurse has a role in enhancing further research in my unit to determine any additional factors that may influence or facilitate the adop tion of EBP. Advanced practice nurse have been noted to be on the frontline of utilizing EBP in the clinical setting in promoting the patients safety and their knowledge is crucial in promoting such practices among other teams such as my unit (Gerrish et al., 2012). Fagerstrà ¶m, L., & Glasberg, A. L. (2011). The first evaluation of the advanced practice nurse role in Finland - the perspective of nurse leaders. Journal of Nursing Management, 19, 925–932. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2834.2011.01280.x Gerrish, K., Nolan, M., Mcdonnell, A., Tod, A., Kirshbaum, M., & Guillaume, L. (2012). Factors Influencing Advanced Practice Nurses’ Ability to Promote Evidence-Based Practice among Frontline Nurses. Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, 9, 30–39.

Business of Data Warehousing Foundations Essay Example for Free

Business of Data Warehousing Foundations Essay Executive Summary mySupermarket is a grocery shopping and comparison website which aims to provide customers with the best price for their shopping. This report examines how data warehousing provided mySupermarket with the foundation in which to build a successful enterprise, and allowed a subsequent expansion into the ‘business intelligence’ sector. The research draws attention to the problems and limitations that mySupermarket encountered including; coping with diverse sources of data streams, customer loyalty issues, achieving real-time data, data integrity and generating a sustainable revenue stream. These problems were tackled respectively through; building their own data warehouse, adopting a CRM strategy underpinned by their warehouse, adopting Microsoft’s SQL software, supermarket website ‘crawling’, offering ‘targeted’ advertising space and the realisation that the granularity of detail they offered, would allow them to expand into the ‘business intelligence’ sector. The report appreciates the importance of storing data, but concludes that data itself is the prerequisite to success, and that good management is needed to convert this data into meaningful information. It is therefore a combination of data warehousing and good management that has enabled mySupermarket to become a successful venture. Introduction â€Å"On the 31st August 2006, entrepreneur Johnny Stern received a seven-figure sum from investors to transform the way consumers shop for their groceries. From this, the price comparison site mySupermarket.co.uk was born and the company has utilised data warehousing to give consumers access to cheaper grocery shopping. The venture has not been without its problems, however four years on the company has withstood Adam Smith’s ‘Invisible Hand’[1] and grown into a c. £10m company† mySupermarket is a grocery shopping and comparison site that allows customers to compare and shop from four main UK supermarkets in one central place. Their mission statement is â€Å"to get the best possible price for your supermarket trolley while enjoying an easier and more consumer-friendly shopping experience†. Through the use of SQL and data warehousing, mySupermarket is able to collect product pricing, promotion and availability data directly from retailers websites. It then uses its proprietary technology to match identical Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) across retailers. After initial investment from Greylock Partners and Pitango Venture Capital (investors in Facebook LinkedIn), mySupermarket have faced the same difficulties as other price comparison sites in generating a sustainable revenue stream after Stern declared that â€Å"the portal would remain free in principle for shoppers†. The customer proposition for mySupermarket is to first log into their account. Then choose which supermarket to shop at from; Asda, Ocado/Waitrose, Sainsbury or Tesco. Tick their preferred supermarket and choose a delivery time/date, then start to shop. mySupermarket is updated on a daily basis so that the prices shown are the most competitive. Once the customer has made their choice of store, they start to shop by using the tabbed choices along the top of the page. These are divided up into virtual aisles so making a choice from Fruit and Veg, Meat, Fish Poultry, or Drinks etc. Once shopping has been completed, it then shows basket prices across the four supermarkets and allows the customer an opportunity to switch supermarkets. This report will critically discuss how data warehousing has enabled mySupermarket to build a successful business model including the benefits and problems that have arisen from the use of this technology. The report will finally analyse the extent to which data warehousing has contributed to mySupermarket’s success. Technologies Discussed According to Bill Inmon[2] (1993) data warehousing can be defined as, â€Å"a  subject-orientated, integrated, time variant and non-volatile, collection of data in support of the management decision making process†. It is, in essence, a large data storage facility which enables an enterprise to gain a competitive advantage through analytics and business intelligence. Providing integrated access to multiple, distributed, heterogeneous databases and other information sources has become one of the leading issues in database research and industry, IEEE Computer (1991) which can be seen through the success of First American Corporation (FAC), Cooper et al (2000) and Tesco/Dunnhumby, J. Perry (2009). Data mining is the process of ‘digging-out’ patterns from data, usually through Clustering, Classification, Regression and Association rule learning. Data mining technology can generate new business opportunities by providing: †¢ Automated prediction of trends and behaviours. †¢ Automated discovery of previously unknown or hidden patterns D. Champion and C. Coombs (2010) This process is carried out by sophisticated software packages such as Oracle, IBM and SQL. This alleviates the (potentially) very time consuming task of manually inputting and analysing the data Within data warehousing, there is a high importance placed on the quality of data, as without it, meaningful analysis is impossible. Data collection should therefore be taken with a high level of detail, and have solid definitions, as to avoid subjectivity. The purpose of a data warehouse is to support creative strategic decision making through a greater granularity of information with a consistent view of what’s happening. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) emerged in the 1990’s at a time when customers were becoming better informed and less brand loyal. CRM is an integration of technologies and business processes used to satisfy the needs of a customer during any interaction, Bose (2002, p. 89) and is underpinned by data warehousing. As with VISION in the FAC case (2000), the subsequent  benefits of CRM, is that firms are able to exploit the ‘80:20 principle’ which states that some customers are more important/profitable than others. These information sources can only come through data warehousing and data mining. mySupermarket – The Beginning The inspiration for mySupermarket came from Stern’s bargain-obsessed elderly relative; who would scour the aisles of Tesco’s to find his favourite tin of baked beans, jot down the price and travel to competitor stores to try and find a better deal. Stern identified the growing interest in online grocery shopping and felt that it was an area that could be exploited (Fig. 1). Figure 1: Mintel Intelligence – Online Grocery Data Stern spent 18 months before the launch developing the software and tweaking the concept (Fig. 2). Figure 2: Adaption of Martin et al., 2005: 193 The data warehouse was developed through ‘crawling’[3] the four supermarket websites and adding product pricing, promotion and availability data to the warehouse. Once this data was implemented in the warehouse, proprietary technology and SQL software allowed mySupermarket to match identical SKU’s across retailers. This data was also used in developing its CRM strategy through the use of ‘cookies’[4] to store data in the customers computer using the functionality of their browser to find out whether the computer has visited the site before and what SKUs they purchased. â€Å"This enables us to operate an efficient service and to track the patterns of behaviour of visitors to the website.† mysupermarket.co.uk. The feature enables mySupermarket to utilize this information by creating functions such as a ‘Regular Shop’ button, saving customers’ time on their shopping. mySupermarket – Problems Many problems can arise through the use of data warehousing, both technically and commercially. According to Mintel Intelligence (2009), â€Å"Consumer loyalty is fairly low in the [price comparison] market with more than 14 million people (c.58% of market) having used three or more different price comparison sites†. Underlying these efforts was the recognition that, to succeed with this strategy, it must know its customers exceptionally well and leverage that knowledge in website design, service and interaction with their clients. mySupermarket would therefore have to find a strategy to retain a ‘loyal customer base’ in a notoriously disloyal sector. Kimball Ross (2002) state that a common pitfall of data warehousing is to â€Å"presume that the business, its requirements, analytics, underlying data and supporting technology are static† – an early problem mySupermarket encountered was the variation in regional pricing and a growing demand for ‘real-time’ data. Another problem with data warehousing is ensuring the integrity of data, this is typically a human procedure and so subject to human error. Even the most sophisticated data mining systems cannot produce good analysis from poor data. A good illustration of this is from Blastard and Dilnot ‘The Tiger That Isn’t’ where a hospital survey found that an alarming amount of patients were being born on the 11th November 1911. Further investigation showed that nurses often would not fill in patient files properly and to save time, when asked to enter patient D.O.B. they would type 11/11/11 into the database. No matter how intelligent a computer system is, if you put ‘garbage-in’ you will get ‘garbage-out’. Beynon-Davies (2004) states that data warehousing projects are large scale development projects typically taking up to three years to complete. Some of the challenges of such problems may include; selecting, installing and integrating the different hardware and software and also, the diverse sources of data feeding a data warehouse introduces problems of design in terms of creating a homogenous data store. Finally, as with all comparison sites, the major obstacle facing  mySupermarket was generating a sustainable revenue stream from the database they had accumulated. mySupermarket.co.uk did not generate any revenue 5 months after the website went live. Originally, mySupermarket didn’t operate a ‘search advertisement’ scheme (a central platform for companies such as Google eg, BP paying for advertising of their oil spill cleanup when people typed in â€Å"BP Oil Spill† G. Cheeseman, 2010) . There are also no revenue-sharing agreements in place with the four stores whose prices it monitors in effort to remain independent. This, in part, may stem from mySupermarket’s limited market, consisting of ‘a comparison of groceries’. mySupermarket recognised that they would have to expand their focus if they were to generate a large enough turnover to operate a successful business. mySupermarket – Technological Impact The first problem mySupermarket addressed was the industries poor ‘customer loyalty’. They decided to attack this through the implementation of a CRM strategy. After the initial launch, mySupermarket was receiving feedback from customers regarding such things as; healthy options, promotions on offer, printable shopping lists and regular shops. mySupermarket realised that the information stored in their data warehouse could be exploited to meet these demands and increase customer utility. Subsequently, a Health Checker feature was launched based on the Food Standard Authority’s approved traffic light system. In November 2008, the mySupermarket ‘Quick Shop’ function was added, allowing users to type their shopping list on a virtual notepad and find their required items in one go. As delivery slots started running out towards Christmas we also introduced a new print your shopping list feature, which was popular, said Stern. A lot of our shoppers are using the website as a quick way to find the best deals and are then going to the supermarket to make their purchases†. Recent analysis of visits shows mysupermarket.co.uk has a loyal repeat following, with Stern claiming visitors are spending an average of 20 minutes on the site. â€Å"Until recently, there were few viable tools to provide real-time data warehousing nor an absolutely current picture of an organization’s business and customer† J. Vandermay (2001). To combat the problem of achieving  real-time and regional data, mySupermarket used Microsoft’s SQL software[5]. Most data integration solutions focus on moving data only between homogeneous systems and database software. However, SQL integration is capable of moving data among a wide range of databases and systems. It also offers transformational data integration tools to consolidate and synchronize heterogeneous data into a warehouse. This allows consumers to view whether a certain item is in stock in their local store, or view delivery slots for their specific region. This real-time data saves the mySupermarket team having to continually update the warehouse manually. Fortunately for mySupermarket, their website ‘crawling’ technique allows them to take the SKU data directly from the supermarkets themselves. Therefore data will only be wrong, if the supermarket has made the mistake (so would have to sell the item at that price) and so mySupermarket would not be liable. Although Stern took half the time recommended by Beynon-Davies, the warehouse has had to be continuously tweaked since its launch. After its launch mySupermarket noticed a data stream that wasn’t being filtered into the data warehouse – calories. After the realisation, mySupermarket were able to add a ‘calorie counter’ function on to the website. For any business to survive, it needs to generate a revenue stream to achieve a sustainable cash flow:mySupermarket were able to negotiate with supermarkets a commission of  £5 for every ‘first-time buyer’ that shops through their site and  £1 every time thereafter. Other sources of revenue came from the use of advertising, which could be split into two different segments on-site and search-related advertising. Marks Spencer (Fig. 3) are one company that has chosen to advertise with mySupermarket.co.uk as the content is relevant and it is independent from the four supermarkets being compared. Advertisers will typically pay $1.00 $1.50 per 1,000 run-of-site impressions for the advertising placement. However, advertisers may pay even more for targeted sidebar advertisements. Search advertisements are targeted to match key search terms entered on the search engine, these products (advertisements) will then appear first in the search. Danone (Fig. 3) has  paid for ad vertisement when the search term ‘yoghurt’ is entered, and so their umbrella brands (eg, Activia) show at the top of the list, increasing its probability of being bought. Figure 3: mySupermarket.co.uk advertising example Due to the amount of data mining available to mySupermarket, an opportunity was identified for expansion, called ‘mySupermarket insights’. It acts as real-time B2B data service for the ‘Fast Moving Consumer Goods’ (FMCG) sector. As mySupermarket has access to SKU by SKU trends, it is able to offer extremely high level, intelligent data. The services it offers include; New Product Development (NPD) alert reports, Online auditing reports, Price comparison reports, Product substitution report and Customer profiling reports (allowing for further use of CRM through ‘cluster analysis’[6]). This sort of information is of high value to companies and a subscription to the service can range from  £5,000  £20,000p.a. (current clients include Kellogg’s, Innocent Smoothies, Nielson and Ella’s Kitchen). Finally, mySupermarket is often contracted by media companies, such as ‘the Independent’ to analyse trends for news stories – J. Burchill (2010). I feel that information is now widely recognised as being one of the key corporate resources, needing to be carefully managed so that it can be effectively utilised in the decision-making process. Timely, accurate and relevant information can only be generated, however, if corporate data is stored in a secure, accessible and flexible manner. The following table provides a summary of the impact that data warehousing technology had for mySupermarket: Figure 6: Technological Impact Summary mySupermarket – Conclusion To conclude, data warehousing has enabled mySupermarket to overcome issues  such as customer retention, real-time data and generating revenue. It really does appear that â€Å"information is key†, whereby data is the prerequisite for information. J. Poole et al. (2003) state ‘ the underlying economic justification is ultimately based on the value a given technology provides to the customers of the computing systems and software products’ and so the determinate of mySupermarket’s success is essentially based on ‘whether people use the technology’ and ‘the value of the company’. Based on an monthly unique user level of 1 million, and 500k registered users turning over c. £10m, we can assume that at this point in time mySupermarket is justified economically. On the other hand, you could argue that mySupermarket is a ‘recession business’ and not a sustainable enterprise. In which case, the rapid growth in recent years could be due to the economic climate and not because there is a long term demand. Looking towards the future, Our investors have international ambitions, Stern said. They see the potential of transporting the model to different markets.† mySupermarket are looking to expand the companys development team to support its entry into Europe and the US. mySupermarket are currently looking for another round of funding to bridge G. Murray’s (1994) second equity gap. Technology firms often require ‘follow on development funding’, as cash is heavily plowed into ‘Prototype testing’ and ‘Research Development’. In terms of an exit, mySupermarket would be very attractive to major FMCG companies such as PG, Unilever and Kraft’s venture arms. I believe that mySupermarket will achieve their second round funding as they are now profitable and have a proven concept that has high growth prospects for the future. Over the past few years there has been a huge growth in the use of ‘numbers’ and ‘analytics’. Businesses are recognising that it is not enough to work harder than the competition; they also have to work smarter. Davenport (2006) argues that it is â€Å"virtually impossible to differentiate yourself from competitors based on products alone† and so to pull ahead of the pack, businesses need to compete on analytics. In which case, ‘mySupermarket insights’ is poised in a perfect position to capitalize on this new thirst for ‘business intelligence’, whereby companies feel that  they will have to subscribe to the service to compete on an even playing field. However, it is not enough to just store data, it has to be managed, analyzed, implemented and utilised to convert raw data into real information. mySupermarket realised the benefits of data warehousing and were able to exploit this, expanding from a mere ‘price-comparison site’ to a ‘business intelligence provider’ to major FMCG companies. I believe that with the current shift towards analytics and business intelligence, mySupermarket has the potential to be a major force in the FMCG sector whilst offering a greater transparency for customers, all of which stems from good management and data warehousing. References: Beyon-Davies, P (2004) – Database Systems, 3rd edition, Palgrave, Basingstoke, pp. 527-538 and 547-553 Bose, R (2002) – Customer Relationship Management: Key concepts for IT success, Vol. 102, No. 2, pp. 89-97 Blastland, M Dilnot, A (2007) – The Tiger That Isn’t: Seeing a World Through Numbers Burchill, J (Aug 2010) – The Independent: So the Prince of Green Hypocrites is going on tour. Thank God Ill be abroad Cooper et al. (2000) – Data Warehousing Supports Corporate Strategy at First American Corporation Vol. 24, No. 4 Champion, D Coombs, C (2010) – Handout: BSC070 Enterprise Information Systems Cheeseman, G (June 2010) – Triple Pundit: Is It Ethical For BP To Buy Oil-Spill-Related Google Search Terms? Davenport, T. H (2006) – Competing on Analytics IEEE Computer (Dec 1991) – Special Issue on Heterogeneous Distributed Database Systems, 24(12) Inmon, W.H. and Kelley, C (1993) – Developing the Data Warehouse. QED Publishing Group, Boston, Massachussetts Kimball, R Ross, M (2002) – The Data Warehouse Toolkit: The Complete Guide to Dimensional Modeling, 2nd edition Martin et al., (2005): 193 – Managing Information Technology 5th Edition, Pearson Education Inc, pp. 192-195 Mintel Intelligence (Oct 2009) Web Aggregators, UK Murray, G (1994) The Second Equity Gap: Exit Problems for Seed and Early Stage Venture Capitalists Perry, J (Nov 2009) – Dunnhumby: A lifetime of loyalty? RetailWeek Poole, J et al. (2003) – Common Warehouse Metamodel: Introduction to the standard for data warehouse integration Smith, A (1959) – ‘The Theory of Moral Sentiments’ Vandermay, J (2001) – Considerations for Building a Real-time Data Warehousea

Green consumer behavior and influencing factors

Green consumer behavior and influencing factors This chapter literature review is presented by using review of previous studies. The literature explains green consumption, green consumer behavior and factors influence consumer behavior. During the past decade environment become a serious issue that leading to environmental problems have been concerned from public and the environmental awareness has occurred. Environmental knowledge from media, society, or education are boosting that lead to consumer behavior have been changed (Wagne,1997). Many companies consider about environmental issue force and start to take it to be part of corporate management (Reinhardt and Vietor, 1996). It causes the demand of green products is increasing. Many studies found out that green consumption pattern in variable factor widely base on consumption decision that partly on the environmental attributes (Krarup and Russell, 2005). In 1970, many companies were pressured by society and consumer; therefore, environmental marketing involves offering consumer with more socially acceptable product(Peattie, 2002).There is evidence that in 1988 many countries in the world have adopted the green label in order to support environmental behavior (Peattie, 2002). Green label is the label that shows the reduced environmental impact over the product life time (Rex and Baumann, 2006) and this lead to an increase of green consumption because green label also help some consumer who cannot distinguish green product from conventional product(Morris, 1997). Sheth mentioned that in 1990 almost 10% of new product was launched in form of green or environmental friendly. Although Bleda and Valente (2009) suggested that green label can use for solving the environment problem, Blair (1992) claimed green product cannot stop environmental harm. It only can be less harm which green product characteristics is less impact global environmental problem, design to be re-used or recycle, non-polluting, minimal packaging, local obtainable materials, no test animal. This is supported by Alwitt and Berger (1993)s reported that 70% of consumer concern about environment issue (Vantomme et al., 2004). Moreover, Tnsglobal (2007, p11) conducted survey in 12 countries around the world. It was found that for automobile, 53% of respondents said the environment has a significant or large influence on their day-to-day purchasing decisions. For food items, the figure is 49%. Household goods at 43% and then health beauty products at 41% come next. It can be seen that there are green consumer in all of products type. Besides, Eco-electrons (2009) reported that 81% of U.S. con sumers are willing to pay on green product, and 79% have a positive brand image with green brand. 2.2. Green consumer Green consumers is one who avoids products that are likely to endanger the health of the consumer or others; cause significant damage to the environment during manufactory, use or disposal; consumer a disproportionate amount of energy; cause unnecessary waste; use material derived from threatened species or environment; involve unnecessary use of, or cruelty to animal; adversely affect other countries (Elkington,1994 cited in Strong, 1998) While Moisander and Peronen (2002) mentioned that green consumers are the consumer who has morally oriented behaviour that is reinforced from their need or other, aiming to make better life of society. Wagner (1997) said that green behaviour cannot occur though only general environmental concern, the actual behaviour will be take place when specific environmental exist. In other word, green consumers who have green consciousness will have green behaviour, while Peattie (1992) observed that green consumer in one market is not necessary to be green c onsumer in other. This depends on their own behaviour attitude toward specific products, and the linked between green information and product information. Some consumer cannot separate between green product and general one, this lead to available green information and green label that help consumer make purchase decision. Moreover, an increase of green information also lead to the rise of green consumer and cause many companies behave environmental performance. However, there is no study about green consumer in Thai cosmetic market. Many researches characterise on green consumer that they are female, high education, high income, high social class (Peattie, 1992; Wager, 1997; Barr, 2003; Chen, 2007). There is no evident of Thai green consumer demographic. This research will investigate green consumers demographic, namely gender, age, status or income in Thai green cosmetic market in order to ascertain the exits potential segmentation. 2.2.3 Green consumer decision process Generally, consumer decision process consist of 5 stages ,namely, motivation, information search, evaluation of alternative, purchase choice, purchase outcomes. Understanding the determinant of each stage from beginning through the last stage is need in order to run the campaign or marketing mix which is suitable target consumer. Consumer can skip the stage or reverse some stage; it is necessary to pay attention in all stages (Wils n, Richard and Gilligan, 2007; Kotler and Armstrong, 2004; Ouwersloot and Duncan, 2008). Peattie (2002) explained the step of green consumer decision process as same as general consumer decision process; however, green consumer behaviour is not simple as general consumer behaviour because green consumers tend to behave as environmental responsible that involving buying or avertable consumption. Moreover, green consumer behaviour pattern are easily changed. It can be said that green consumer behaviour is the consumer behaviour that concerning about environm ental issue or social criteria, and lead to the purchasing and non-purchasing decision (Peattie, 2002). They might not purchase the product and do alternative way that respond green challenge such as replace, maintain or dispose of product. Figure4. Greening the buying process model Source: Peattie,2002,p.84 First stage: Recognition of a need or want Generally, all needs can be explained though Maslows need hierarchy. Physiological needs or the lower need in the hierarchy aim to be satisfied first and the need will turn to next level such as safety needs, esteem needs and self-actualization. However, it is not necessary that the lower need is fulfilled as first, some people might want to meet the higher level need as first, for example, some people forgoing food and buy other product that meet their higher needs(Wilson, Richard and Gilligan, 2007; Fan, 2008). Peattie (2002) said that during 1980s green issues become significant issue to drive certain need at each level of Maslow model. Ordinary, consumers have physiological needs as basic needs. They need food, clothes and house, however, green consumers tend to consume as small proportion in order to reduce resources. Moreover, in safety needs level, green consumers concern about safety and health. They interest about either production of packaging or product, how is come from t hat this contribute the secured package such as tamperproof container (Mackenzie. 1990). This cause people trust more in green product because they think that green product is safety for them. Many people consume organic food or natural cosmetic instead chemical ones (Peattie,2002). The is evident that demand of cosmetic in Thai market is required nature ingredient that means that product are not tested on animal, recyclable package (Falk, J ,2007 Ponbamrungwong and Chandsawang, 2009 ). Moreover, green consumers needs are shaped from recognition of problem that is influenced from media coverage, advertising or pressure group about environmental problem (Wilson, Richard and Gilligan, 2007). Some cosmetic company using emotional appeal in their advertising that represent how they help the world ( bodyshop,2010)This lead to people is looking for alternative green product and become the generic desire to buy other green product in their life. Second stage: Information search When consumers aware their needs. Finding information is important for them (Sheth and Mittal, 2004). There are many sources which consumer can have information either personal source from friend and family, public source from media and magazine, commercial source from staff or brochures and experimental source by trying product (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004). Regarding Green consumers, they need much more information about product that relate to environment, particularly, household product. They seek information beyond the given-information from company. Consumers also look for their guide, therefore; many organizations and pressure group activity become important because they truly inform the information in terms of product, and suggest about situation that consumer face involves environmental issue (Peattie et al.,2002).This kind of organization such as Greenpeace, Earthwatch and PETA (people for the ethical treatment of animals). They provide the information on their website that people can easily access. This can be shown that internet source becomes the importance source for consumer. Sheth and Mittal, (2004) stated in cosmetic market, internet are significant source because they can compare the price and share opinion about product. Although, Grubow (2010) found that in some Asia countries such as china, consumer still seek informat ion from cosmetic store as the first choice, they will go back to internet to find furthermore information. There is no study about significant source in cosmetic market in Thailand. The examination on this point will be occurred in order to benefit the companies that doing in this firm. Third stage: Evaluation of alternative stages The study of Thai consumer decision-making styles on imported cosmetic brand products by Chaisitthiroj (2007) found that Thai women have many characteristics that cause the different evaluation of alternative such as brand conscious characteristic, quality characteristic. Brand conscious characteristic refers to the consumer who appreciate brand as the first factor, they seem to be insensitive in price. They believe that brands represent the quality of product, and the brand that represent frequently in public can effectively influence their decision making. In cosmetic market, Green cosmetic brand might be best choice for green consumer that respond their desire and encourage them to switch from other brand (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004). Price conscious characteristic account for consumer who prefers the low price, they make buying decision making on the product that lower price. Green consumers look for alternative product that can help environment, for example, they use bicycles in stead of car in short distance. However, green consumers do not evaluate only between products or brand, they consider on the way of alternative purchase behaviour. Some consumer might not consume new product and repair or maintain old product instead. Borrowing is alternative way that consumers believe that after they return product to owner, it will be conserved. Buying second- hand approach becomes popular. Green consumer can fulfil their need without use more resources. Brand loyalty also can be green consumer by using refill product rather than buy the competed package product (Peattie,2002).. Forth stage: make purchase choice Euromonitor International showed that the highest company value in Thai colour cosmetic market is Mistine Brand (This brand sell an item around 50 pence) while the body shop (green cosmetic brand) was ranked at top 20. This can be questioned that Thai women use price factor or income factor to make purchase on cosmetic product. However, there is no study of influence factor in green cosmetic consumer. Therefore, green cosmetic market need to understand Thai green consumer buyer pattern. Peattie (2002) explained that green consumer will buy the product in where can help environmental problem or welfare of society, for example, green consumer might purchase the cosmetic that be made from the developing area that represents reinvestment and environmental protection. Moreover, green consumers purchase when product is creditable that have eco-behaviour, Those products can be shown by using green label or eco-performance. They might not purchase the unreliable product. Regarding quantity, green consumers tend to buy product at the less level in order to reduce the resources or buy refill pack of product (Peattie,1992 Peattie,2002). Fifth stage: post purchase behaviour stage After consumer purchasing the products, companies need to know the consumer perception in terms of product meet their exception or not, because it can lead to a repeat purchase behaviour. The seller need to make consumer are satisfied. It is because present consumer can leads to new consumer or become loyal consumer (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004). Peattie (2002) mentioned that in this stage green consumers have different behaviour from convention consumer. Therefore, marketers should understand green consumer post purchase behaviour. Peattie (2002) divided post- purchase of green consumer into 5 behaviours. Product use change. Green consumers use the same product in different ways. They might act as environmental organization guide. For example drive at 50-80 km/miles in order to reduce car emission. Reuse of product. Green consumer will reuse the part of product that serves their other needs. They might use cookie container to keep other food. Product disposal. Green consumer carefully use the product in order to though the where can be useful, some green consumer sell it as second hand products or donate them. Recycle of waste packaging. Green consumers consider about recycle packaged. Many green consumers said that natural material of package can be the factor that influences their buying decision. Care and maintenance. Green consumers pay more attention to use product in order to extend product life cycle. Therefore, the products that are easily maintained will be the choice for them. 2.4. Factor influence consumer behaviour Figure. The framework consumer behaviour Source:Lancaster,Massingham,Ashford ( 2002,p.75) 2.4.1 Cultural factors It is difficult to deny that cultures generate behaviour norms, and it is important to connect culture and consumer behaviour. Understating culture is needed. Brassington and Pettitt (2006, p.127) explained that culture is the personality of society within which an individual lives. It manifests itself through the built environment, art, language, literature, music and the products that society consumes as well as through its prevalent beliefs, value systems and government. It also includes traditions, taboos, value, and basic attitude of society, nationality, religious and geographic. Wilson, Richard and Gilligan (2007) mentioned that this factor is the fundamental factor influencing buyer behaviour. Kotler and Armstrong (2004) supported that different society has different culture. Asia culture varies from western culture; it leads to different behaviour. This research will be conducted in Thailand where is located in Asia, hence understanding Asia culture is necessary. Buddhism has been in Thailand more than 2000 years. It can be said that Buddhism unwittingly becomes a part of Thai people life and it is a national religion of Thailand. Although these days many Thai people change their religion to other, more than 90% of Thai people still is Buddhism (Department of Religious Affairs, 2010). Buddhism teachings avoid persecute all animal, other people and society. They search for peaceful life. This concept is similar as green consumer concern in terms of avoidance of animal (and) environmental damage. However, it cannot judge that culture can motivate Thai women behave as green behaviour and buy green cosmetic. The finding of Johri and Sahasakmontri(1998) found that Thai consumer did not buy cosmetic because no tested on animal as the important factor. However, this finding is obsolete, when data was collected Thai people did not have sufficient information about environmental which differ as present. According to Hofstedes demission of cultural value Asia countries have high uncertainty avoidance. Uncertainty avoidance refers to uncertainty acceptance culture. In high uncertainty avoidance culture people tend to avoid the risk, change in their life that lead to the social risk of trying a new product is very high (Fan ,2009) Although, many studies examine the factor influencing Thai women behaviour in green cosmetic market, it is surprising that many studies did not use culture factor to measure in their studies (Prapakamol, 2001; Namsanguan, 2007, Chaisittiroj, 2007). As it can be seen from review that culture is significant factor that influence buying behaviour. , this research cannot overlook culture factor. This research will investigate the positive relationship between culture and buying behaviour in green cosmetic market in Thailand. H1. Culture is significant factor influence Thai women to buy green cosmetic 2.4.2 Group and reference group There are many theories stated that consumer behaviour is reinforced from social group. This is evident that the social group can influence consumer behaviour by group which each consumer belong (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004). Chen (2007) mentioned that people perform a behaviour that is related to people in their life (eg, family, friend, and other). Schutte and Ciarlante (1999) claimed that family is the fundamental group in Asia people life because family is the first place that giving experience of life. Family will transfer the traditional and the building block of a harmonious society. for example, if green cosmetic are believed as a good product from people in their family, the consumer will have high intention of buying green cosmetic, whereas if member of consumers family think that green cosmetic is not good, consumer will not buy green cosmetic (chen, 2007) Moreover, Fan (2009) said that Asians always follow the crowed in the consumption because Asians are collectivism that always interdependent on each other and the way they act follow and believe the group than individual. In other word, if green cosmetic is the popular product in Thailand and chemical one is rejected, Thai women will purchase green cosmetic instead chemical one. However, it is also important to reach the opinion of leader group to find out the characteristic which influence other member so as to easily access other member (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004). The study of Summers (1970) found that the opinion leader in cosmetic product is influence consumer behaviour. In USA opinion leader are younger, high educated. Similarly, opinion leader in Hungary are younger, high educated and they have been to Western Europe or the USA in recent year. Although their finding found that leader group characteristic is similar, there is a small difference that might cause from demographic (Coulter, Feick and Price, 2002). Furthermore, Brassington and Pettitt (2006) added that environmental friendly trends are quickly spread from reference group, peer-group or social group, and they affect on their member buying decision. Strong (1998) examined that in green market, children are significant key that influence on family buying decision because children are important source in family that can encourage or discourage buying power. Furthermore, Lee (2008) claimed that green consumption is a form of symbolic consumption. Therefore, there is possible that people will buy green product in order to be accepted from group. As green cosmetic products are quite new topic in this area that no enough guidance. However, Cosmetics are fashionable product and green products are acknowledged as environmental friendly in Thailand. There is a possible that group, opinion leader are significant factor that motivate Thai consumer when buying green cosmetic. H2. Social group is significant factor that influence Thai women to buy green cosmetic. 2.4.3 Status Solomon et al (2006) said that the product or services we purchase often will represent to other people know what our social class. Therefore, consumer behaviour always is influenced with this aspect because consumer the products as status symbols. Status also display to education and income, for example, wearing high price suits can display the individuals professional or career position. Similarly, Fan (2009) said that Asian people are the most status-conscious in the world. The important of status makes it imperative to project the right image, which usually means up-market and prestigious(Schutte, 2010,p.658).To be accepted from social Asians will buy product that express status, normally expensive product. Although, products display status, it does not mean that social class can influence all kind of product. Chao and Schor (1998) claimed that social visibility is a key of status consumption. Status will be important when consumers purchase only the products are always showed to public view. In cosmetic products, they found that women buy expensive lipstick and do not care about relationship between price and quality because women only want to show their status though lipstick brand which normally women carry lipstick with them everywhere ,while facial cleaner are perceived as non-visible product because consumer keep it at home. When they buy they always consider about relationship price and quality. In contrast, the study of pungpumput and ngamsanguan (2000) in buying cosmetic behaviour in Thai students shows that the relationship between price and quality is a significant factor influence student buying decision and they did not mentioned about relationship between status and buying behaviour. It cannot be summarised that status is not influence factor when Thai women buy green cosmetic. Therefore, this research will find out that status have positive relationship with buying green cosmetic product or not. H3. Status has positive relationship with buying green cosmetic behaviour. 2.4.4 Attitudes Attitudes refer to peoples feeling, tendencies, evaluation toward the object, idea or concept. People actions and learning are affected from attitude. In the other word, attitudes affect consumer behaviour (Kotler and Armstrong 2004; Ouwersloot and Duncan 2008; Pickett and Ozaki, 2008). That is reason why many marketers try to change consumer attitude. However, it is not always that attitude become behaviour. Sometimes positive attitude cannot generate the behaviour, for example, consumer want to buy green cosmetic but she may not have money to buy because green cosmetic is more expensive than chemical one (Pickton and Broderick, 2005).In terms of negative attitude, it cannot automatically stop a purchase as can see from example of cigarette smoking. The behaviour will be occurred, if strong attitude overcome negative aspect. It can be said that if the importance of purchase is high, the importance of attitude toward product will be high. Attitude will less influence in case the purc hase is a part of habit or routine (Pickton and Broderick, 2005). Kotler et al (2004) mentioned that attitudes are difficult to change, therefore, company should try not to change consumer attitude but the companies should design the message about their product or service which is suitable to their attitude. Pickett and Ozaki, 2008 argued that marketer can change consumers attitude by adapt consumer evaluation through inputting new belief. 2.4.4.1 Environmental attitudes Fisgbein and Ajzen mentioned that attitude is one significant aspect that creates behaviour. Environmentally friendly attitude causes eco-behaviour such as purchase green product this can confirm from many studies (Kim et al., 2005; Chen, 2007). Kim et al (2005) found that the environmental attitude or concern directly influence on green purchase behaviour, explaining that consumer who has strong environmental attitude concern will interest in the product that connect to their concern. Chen (2007, p.1016) also examined that consumers attitude to organic foods purchase is in turn positively. However, Barr and Gilg (2007) found that people who have environmental attitude tend to do green activities (recycle, reuse) rather than purchasing green product. Similarly, Peattie (1999) said that green consumer seek for alternative purchase behaviour such as borrow or repair instead of purchasing. In contrast, Baker and Ozaki (2008) claimed that belief shaped attitudes toward behaviour that become to behaviour intention. However, their finding showed that environmental attitudes are not important factor that generate environmental behaviour. They explained that actual behaviour is not necessary occur from what they think is good because consumer might consider other factor such as subjective -interests. Baker and Ozaki (2008) added that providing green information is less effective on consumer attitude than educate them. It indicates that environment education is significant key that influence consumers attitude. Marketers should concern this point in order to choose the best way that affect on consumers attitude. Although some studies said attitudes have negative relationship with behaviour, there is study in cosmetic area. Therefore, this research will investigate that positive attitude toward environmental can influence Thai women buying green cosmetic. H4. Environmental attitudes are a significant factor influence Thai women buying green cosmetics. 2.4.5 Perception Perception is the way in which individuals analyse, interpret and make sense of incoming information, and is affected by personality, experience and mood (Brassington and Pettitt, 2006, p.118). Consumers always make decision or behave base on their point of view or perception (Peattie, 2002). The term of perception in marketing is consumers view toward to product, services, package, smell, taste, message or company. Perceptions will be differently modified by individual interpretation and that influence on decision making process. Even the same individual might have perception varies in different times. 2.4.5.1 Brand perception Creating brand awareness or placing information into consumer mind is important to consumer perception because it can be linked to brand image of company (Lancaster,Massingham and Ashford 2002). Especially, Strong brand name can influence consumer perceptions. It causes people feel familiar with brand and then purchase the products. Once consumers are satisfied the product, the brand will be on the top of consumer mind. This make consumers become loyal consumer and continue to purchase the products. For example, Wu (2003) stated that consumer do not stop purchasing current brand and change to environmental alternative brand. Ouwersloot and Duncan (2008) added that loyal consumer always communicate positively about company and brand to other consumers. It is called word-of- mouth. Pickett and Ozaki, (2008) stated that word of mouth is valuable tool that influence on consumer perception rather than other tool such as sale promotion. The finding of Pickett and Ozaki (2008) illustrates that some consumer trusted certain brand than other. This is showed that brand affect on consumer perception that transfer to emotional preference. Wu and Lo (2008) study the influence of core-brand attitude and consumer perception on purchase intention towards extended product found that consumer perception can increase consumers purchase intention. They experienced that brand awareness and product perception lead to purchase intention while Yam Ting and Chans study (1998) found that no strong relationship between green purchase behaviour and self- perception. They explained that this is because (1) consumers have gap between attitude and behaviour and (2) respondents do not perceive that purchase behaviour can improve environmental condition. 2.4.5.2 Corporate social responsibility perception Corporate social responsibility activities are the way to create consumer positive perception. West, Ford, Ibrahim (2006,p434) said that CSR is the actions of the company to act in a socially responsible manner to protect and enhance the various stakeholders that have an interest in company, the community in which it operate, the environment which surrounds it, and society. According to MORIs research (2003) found that 74% of British people accept that behaviour of company on social responsible would affect their buying decision ,and 86% suggest that community activities should be actively announced- 59% said it is grateful to see company profit from social activities.. The performance of CSR leads to good brand image and productivity and profitability in long time (CSR of British government, 2010). When consumers perceive the information about evidence of firm. They decode the message into 2 types of motive to the firm-self serving (to enhance profits, sale, brand image) or public serving (help people or develop society) that it can be called as profit-motivated or socially motivated respectively. The attribution is fundamental of perceived motivation affect consumers judgement on firm. Once consumers perceive the firm action as self-profit, the positive attitude on firm will be reduced. On the other hand ,if the firm is perceived as socially motivated, the positive attitude on firm will be increased (Olsen et al.,2005). From the review, it can be concluded that consumer perception either brand perception or CSR perception can generate buying behaviour. However, there is no evident that perception cause Thai women buying behaviour in green cosmetic product. This research will examine that there is positive relationship between perception and buying green cosmetic behaviour. H5. Brand perception is a significant factor influencing Thai women buying green cosmetics. H6. CSR perception is a significant factor influencing Thai women buying green cosmetics.

What is WAP? :: essays research papers

What is WAP? WAP stands for Wireless Application Protocol. The idea has been developed by some of the wireless telecommunications giants such as Nokia and Ericsson. The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) uses the Internet as a gateway for the transmission of the protocol. WAP has brought the Internet and the sub-services that it provides right into our lives as we are on the move. WAP brings us information right to the screen of our mobile phone. WAP offers the possibility to call specific WAP pages directly from the Internet; these WAP pages can be seen in a display, but their presentation is reduced and without illustrations and charts. The possibilities of WAP are nearly endless: Entertainment - sending messages - calling sport results, stock exchange quotations, arrivals and departures of airplanes and trains - (nearly) everything is possible. Especially in business WAP seems to be the "star performer" as to corporate communication solutions. Trends in WAP Customers willing to make use of these new possibilities need a WAP phone. This is a GSM mobile phone with incorporated modem and WAP browser. The data is transmitted with the usual transmission rate of 9.6 kBit/s. As to the consumers' interest in WAP there are still controversies. Mobile phones recorded in the UK very high sales rates during the 2nd quarter of 2000, however the sales rates of WAP phones were not that good. At the end of May 2000 there were worldwide more than 150,000 WAP pages and the offer of WAP pages continues to increase with explosive growth rates. (Forrester Research, 2000) International analysts predict that the demand for appropriate equipment will increase rapidly in the coming few months. After the online boom in 1990's WAP will be the next growth industry of the twenty-first century. The conditions seem to be ideal: The consumers' interest in online services and e-commerce does not stop to show an upward trend. For the time being there are worldwide several millions of persons using mobile phones, their number is still growing. WAP is based on GSM technology, the worldwide most used mobile phone system that has turned out to be the standard on all continents. (only in the USA there are more systems competing with GSM). Forrester Research believes in their study that in 2002 worldwide more than 100 million persons will use WAP phones. A forecast of the producer Ericsson confirms this trend, too: in 2001 nearly 50% the persons using mobile phones are expected to take advantage of WAP.

Narcolepsy Essay -- Disorder Sleep Sleepy Health Essays

Narcolepsy Sleepiness, whether due to sleep apnea, heavy snoring, idiopathic hypersomnolence, narcolepsy or insomnia from any number of sleep-related disorders, threatens millions of Americans' health and economic security (1). Perhaps somewhat most concerning of these disorders are those that allow sleep without having any control over when it happens-idiopathic hypersomnolence and narcolepsy. The two are closely related in that both cause individuals to fall asleep without such control, yet narcolepsy occurs without any dreaming during naps (2). For years, narcoleptic people have been falling asleep in corners, concerned, as they have given numerous attempts to try to stay focused and awake. But besides the excessive fatigue that people experience, there surely must be more that can be associated with causing such sleepiness among people at an uncontrolled level. There might especially not be a reason involving the I-function of the brain, as people are not aware of when necessarily they will fall into their deep sleep. Narcolepsy has been clinically defined as a chronic neurological disorder that involves the body's central nervous system (CNS). The CNS is basically like a "highway" of nerves that carries messages from the brain to other parts of the body. Thus, for people with narcolepsy, the messages about when to sleep and when to be awake sometimes hit roadblocks or detours and arrive in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is why someone who has narcolepsy, not managed by medications, may fall asleep while eating dinner or engaged in social activities-or even at times when they are so focused on being awake, yet they cannot be due to their narcoleptic nature. In many cases, however, diagnosis... ...r personal grief. Works Cited: 1)Sleep Apnea, Snoring, Narcolepsy, Insomnia and Other Causes of Daytime Fatigue http://members.tripod.com/~sleephealth/sleepdisorderssleepapnea.html 2)Better Sleep Now! http://www.dreamdoctor.com/better/narcolepsy/6.shtml 3)Center for Narcolepsy: Symptoms and Diagnosis http://www.med.stanford.edu/school/Psychiatry/narcolepsy/symptoms.html 4)Living With Narcolepsy http://www.sleepfoundation.org/publications/livingnarcolepsy.html 5)Sleepnet.com Apnea Forum http://www.sleepnet.com/apnea18/messages/434.html 6)Seratonin: The chemistry of Well-Being http://www.angelfire.com/hi/TheSeer/seratonin.html 7)Sleep Channel: Narcolepsy http://www.sleepdisorderchannel.net/narcolepsy/treatment.shtml 8)Sleep: Alternative and Integral Therapies http://www.holistic-online.com/Remedies/Sleep/sleep_ins_food-and-diet.htm

Stimulus/Response Versus Input/Output Theory: An Orientation to the Syntax of Scientific Literature :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Stimulus/Response Versus Input/Output Theory: An Orientation to the Syntax of Scientific Literature There appears to be a steady desire within the scientific and lay community to explain events which occur in the universe in a concrete absolute fashion. This most likely extends from an unconscious (or conscious) need to control the world around us. Such control can give a sense of security regarding our future. If we can explain why events happen, we can attempt to predict when and for what reason events will precipitate sometime in the future. Being able to predict the future leads to a greater feeling of security and control. However, it has been shown through decades of research that behavioral events are not predictable. Researchers tend to conclude that if they are to truly understand behavior then they must be able to develop a system which allows them to forecast the occurrence of certain behavior patterns. Conversely, if they are unable to state consecutively when and why a pattern is presented then they have failed to understand the event. In order to retain a sense that the universe is orderly the unpredictable results are often explained through the fault of the experimenter, that adequate control was not kept over the experimental situation. Through the Harvard Law of Animal Behavior ("under carefully controlled experimental circumstances, an animal will behave as it damned well pleases.") these "failed" experiments are incorporated into a succinct postulate which allows for the exploration of reason and desirability of such unpredictability (1). Through lectures, reading, and World Wide Web research done during the current semester I am moving from a stimulus/response theory to an input/output theory. The stimulus/response theory let experimenters believe that the unpredictable behaviors (responses) they had observed were due to inadequately controlled stimuli. An input/output theory allows for, and seems to rest on, the fact that many behaviors originate from the internal (spontaneous) generation of outputs. Internal origination is fundamental to many aspects of commonly observed behavior (biological clocks, innate endogenous rhythm, and other innate behaviors) and the presence of these behaviors seems to rest on something other then concrete stimuli from the external world. The syntax of many of the studies found on the Web leads me to conclude that these scientists are searching for an input/output behavioral system yet are unable to adequately document such a clear relationship. This inability most likely stems from the recently discussed phenomena of bidirectionality within and outside the most broad input/output box (Lecture, Bio 202).

Rationale Behind Crazy Transfer Fee of English Soccer Players

Rationale behind crazy Transfer fee of English Soccer Players England had a disastrous Football world cup in South Africa. English players are deemed as over-rated and perennial under achievers. But when it comes to the transfer fees, English players are able to command a premium. Liverpool paid ? 35 million for Andy Carroll, ? 16 million for Jordan Henderson and ? 20 million for Stewart Downing. Manchester City paid ? 26 million for James Milner and Manchester United paid ? 17 million for Ashley Young and ? 16. million for Phil Jones, who is just 19 and played only 28 times in English premier league. The important point to consider here is all the above mentioned players come from mediocre clubs and none have premier league winners medal under their belt. What is the mystery behind their astronomical transfer fees? The answer lies elsewhere. UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) has introduced a new ‘home-grown’ rule which states that each participating club in European competitions should have at least at least 8 homegrown players in their squad of 25. A player who is registered for at least three seasons at an English or Welsh club and is between the ages of 16 and 21 is termed as an home-grown player. The FIFA (International Federation of Association Football), the supreme body of the football is working on introducing a whole new system – nine players on every 18-man match day  squad must be home-grown. These developments have caught the English clubs off guard as most of the clubs don’t have the required number of English players in their squad sheet. The home-grown rule has forced the English clubs to go for head hunting of the English talent. The Demand –Supply curve of the transfer market for the English players is given below. D1 = Demand of English players before the implementation of ‘home-grown’ rule D2 = Demand of English players before the implementation of ‘home-grown’ S = Supply of English players p1 = Transfer Amount before FIFA implemented the ‘home-grown’ rule p2 = Transfer Amount after the implementation of ‘home-grown’ rule q1 = Number of English players in demand before the implementation of ‘home-grown’ rule q2 = Number of English players in demand before the implementation of ‘home-grown’ rule The home-grown rule has moved the demand curve to the right and with supply of the English players remaining almost the same; two changes have happened to the equilibrium 1. The equilibrium number of players has increased as there is more demand from English clubs 2. The equilibrium transfer amount has increased and this explains why even the mediocre English players are able to command a premium in the transfer market. Recently many problems have arisen due to the high price tags. Most of these players are either young or mediocre that they don’t find place in the starting lineup of the clubs. Players get frustrated by the lack of playing time and some of them put in transfer request. Also, the high price tags put immense pressure on these players to live up to the expectations. The danger with paying such a high price for a young player is that he might crumble under the pressure of expectations. James Milner is a perfect anecdote for this as he struggled to hold a place in Manchester City’s starting lineup during last season. ———————– Transfer fee A English Players A p2 p1 q1 q2 S D1 D2

Physical Disorders and Health Psychology

Chapter 9: Physical Disorders and Health Psychology †¢psychosomatic medicine- psych factors affect physical function †¢behavioral medicine- applied to prevention, diagnosis and treatment of medical problems †¢health psychology- psych factors that are important to the maintenance and promotion of health opsych and social factors: †¢(1) affect biological processes †¢(2) long-standing behavior patterns put ppl at risk for certain disorders o50% of deaths from top 10 leading causes in US can be traced to lifestyle behaviors †¢poor eating habits, smoking, lack of exercise, General Adaption Syndrome (GAS)- Selye oalarm- response to immediate danger or threat oresistance- mobilize coping mechanisms to respond oexhaustion- body suffers permanent damage †¢chronic stress may cause permanent body damage and contribute to disease †¢stress= physiological response to stressor †¢HPA Axis ohypothalamus- pituitary gland- adrenal gland oimportant for stress ocortisol= stress hormone †¢baboon case study odominant males have less stressful lives due to predictability + controllability olower males experience stress from bullying, higher cortisol levels osense of control important stress, anxiety, depression related osimilar underlying physiological processes oself-efficacy: sense of control and confidence that one can cope with stress or challenges †¢stress can lead to decreased immune system functioning oincreased rates of infectious diseases, mono, colds, flu, †¢Immune system oeliminates antigens- foreign maerials, bacteria, viruses, parasites o2 main parts: †¢humoral> B cells, antibodies neutralize antigens †¢cellular> T cells, destroy viral infections + cancerous processes owhite blood cells do most of the work (leukocytes) microphages= first line of defense †¢autoimmune disease oimmune system overactive, attacks body cells †¢rheumatoid arthritis- too many suppressor T cells, body subject to invasi on by antigens †¢HIV- human immunodeficiency virus ?AIDS-related complex first: minor health problems before AIDS diagnosis w. pneumonia, cancer, dementia, wasting syndrome†¦ ? treated w/ highly active antiretroviral therapy †¢reducing stress, social support, CBT help †¢psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) opsych influences on neurological responding implicated in immune response †¢Cancer psychoncology- psych influences in development of cancer otherapy can help treatment to reduce stress, improve mood, alter important health behaviors, supportive relationships †¢reduce cancer recurrence and dying †¢influence support + development of cancer oâ€Å"benefit finding†- deepening spirituality, changes in life priorities, closer ties to others, enhanced sense of purpose opsych procedures important to manage stress especially w/ children who undergo surgery †¢Cardiovascular problems ocompromise heart, blood vessels and control mechanisms cardiovascular disease ostrokes ocerebral vascular accidents- temporary blockages of blood vessels to brain cause temporary/ permanent damage ohypertension- high blood pressure, risk factor for other heart probs †¢blood vessels constrict, heart works harder, pressure †¢essential hypertension- no verifiable physical cause †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"silent killer† †¢blacks more at risk than whites †¢genetic influences †¢anger + hostility increase blood pressure ocoronary heart disease †¢heart disease in #1 cause of death in western cultures †¢blockage of arteries supplying blood to heart muscle chest pain †¢plaque †¢deficiency of blood to a body part †¢heart attack- death of heart tissue when artery clogged †¢stress, anxiety, anger contribute (+lack of coping skills and low social support) †¢myocardial stunning- heart failure as a result of severe stress oType A behavior pattern †¢excessive competitive drive, sense of pressured for time, imp atience, high E, angry outbursts †¢at risk for CHD (although cultural diffs significant) oType B behavior pattern †¢more relaxed, less concerned about deadlines, seldom pressured, †¢Reserve capacity model associations among environments of low socioeconomic status, stressful experiences, psychosocial resources, emotions and cognitions> increase risk for CHD †¢Pain oacute- follows an injury, disappears once injury heals ochronic- begins w/ acute episode but does not go away osubjective term pain vs. pain behaviors= manifestations of exp oemotional component= suffering oseverity of pain doesn’t predict reaction b/c of psych factors †¢Phantom limb pain oppl who have lost an arm or leg feel excruciating pain in the missing limb †¢operant control of pain pain behavior under control of social consequences oie critical family members may become sympathetic †¢gate control theory of pain onerve impulses from painful stimuli travel to spinal column th en to brain odorsal horns of spinal column= gate osmall fibers open gate, large fibers close †¢brain inhibits pain oendogenous opiods- naturally exist within body> endorphins oshut down pain, runner’s high after exercise, †¢men and women exp pain differently omen have stronger endogenous opiod systems owomen have additional pain-regulating mechanisms odiff areas more prone to pain Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) olack of E, fatigue, variety of aches and pains oneurasthenia- lack of nerve strength, old diagnosis oprevalent in western world and China †¢Pain can kill you†¦ oincreases rate at which certain cancers metastasize ocan weaken immune system response by reducing natural killer cells opain> stress>vicious cycle †¢Biofeedback omake patients aware of specific physiological functions that ordinarily not be consciously aware of †¢heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension in specific areas, electroencephalogram rhythms, patterns of blood flow â⠂¬ ¢(1) conscious awareness (2) learn to control them oinstill sense of control over pain †¢progressive relaxation obecome acutely aware of tension, relax specific muscle groups †¢transcendental meditation ofocus attention on repeated syllable, or mantra †¢relaxation response- silently repeat mantra to minimize distraction by closing mind to intruding thoughts †¢Coping mechanisms oprescription drugs, reduced effectiveness over time odenial oimproved attitudes, realistic appraisals thru CBT †¢4 leading causes of death in Us oheart disease, cancer, stroke, respiratory disease AIDS prevention ocontraception ochanging high-risk behavior is only effective prevention strategy †¢smoking is epidemic in china omyths: tobacco is symbol of personal freedom, important for social interactions, health effects can be controlled, important to economy, †¢Stanford Three Community Study o1 community- assessed risk factors for CHD and smoking o2 community- media blitz on risk factors o3 community- face to face interventions, most successful at reducing CHD risk factors Chapter 10: Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders gender identity disorder- psych dissatisfaction w/ one’s biological sex, disturbance in identity †¢sexual dysfunction- difficult to function while having sex, ie no orgasm †¢paraphilia- arousal due to inappropriate objects/ individuals ophilia- strong attraction opara- abnormal †¢male female sex differences omen masturbate more and admit it ofemales associate sex w/ romance + intimacy rather than male physical gratification omen have diff attitude toward casual premarital sex omen show more sexual desire/arousal omen’s self-concept characterized more by power, independence, aggression owomen’s sex beliefs are more plastic/ changeable women emphasize relaitonships †¢sexual self schemas- core beliefs about sexuality †¢Cultural differences oSambia in Papua New Guinea †¢adolescent boys encouraged to engage in homosexual oral sex b/c semen valued†¦ wtf †¢Homosexuality omight run in families, genetic component? odifferential hormone exposure in utero ogreater probably of being left handed or ambidextrous olonger ring finger than index ofraternal birth order hypothesis- each additional older brother increased odds of being gay by one third †¢Gender identity disorder oa persons physical gender is not consistent with persons sense of identity tapper in a body of the wrong sex otranssexualism odifferent from transvestic fetishism- sexually aroused by wearing clothing of opposite sex odifferent from intersex individuals- hermaphrodites, born with ambiguous genitalia, hormonal or physical abnormalities oautogynephilia- when gender identity disorder begins with strong sexual attraction to fantasy of oneself as a female, then progresses to becoming a woman ogenetic component suspected †¢gender nonconformity oboys behaving femininely or females behaving m asculinely †¢sex reassignment surgery controversial to directly alter gender identity to match physical anatomy oin order to qualify, must live in opposite sex role for 1-2 yrs to be sure omust be stable psychologically, financially, socially ogynecomastia- growth of breasts †¢intersex individuals- born w/ physical charactersitics of both sexes o5 sexes: †¢males †¢females †¢herms †¢merms- more male than female but have some femal genitalia †¢ferms- ovaries but possess some male genitalia †¢Sexual dysfunction oinability to become aroused or reach orgasm o3 stages of sexual response cycle: desire, arousal, orgasm opremature ejaculation vaginismus- painful contractions in vagina during attempted penetration olifelong or acquired ogeneralized or situational odue to psych factors or medical condition †¢Hypoactive sexual desire disorder olittle or no interest in any type of sexual activity †¢sexual aversion disorder othought of sex or brie f casual touch may evoke fear, panic or disgust †¢male erectile disorder and female sexual arousal disorder oproblem is not desire, problem is physically becoming aroused †¢inhibited orgasm oinability to achieve orgasm despite adequate desire and arousal (common in women) ofemale orgasmic disorder- difficulty reaching orgasm retarded ejaculation- cumming delayed oretrograde ejaculation- shoot back into bladder rather than forward †¢premature ejaculation- more common, 20% of males †¢sexual pain disorders odesire, arousal, orgasm present opain so severe that behavior disrupted odyspareunia- no medical reason found for pain †¢vaginismus- pelvic muscles in outer third of vagina involuntarily spasm oripping, burning, tearing sensations during sex †¢Assessing Sexual behavior o(1) interviews- and questionnaires o(2) thorough medical eval- rule out medical conditions o(3) psychophysiological assessment penile strain gauge- picks up changes as penis expands â₠¬ ¢vaginal photoplethysmograph- measures light reflected from vaginal walls †¢Causes of sexual disorders obiological contributions †¢nuerological diseases †¢diabetes †¢arterial insufficiency- constricted arteries †¢venous leakage- blood flows out too quickly for a good boner †¢prescription drugs ?anti-hypertensive medications for high blood pressure ?antidepressants ?SSRIs mess w/ arousal and desire †¢elicit drugs- cocaine †¢cigarettes opsych contributions †¢anxiety- can increase or decrease desire †¢distraction men who are dysfunctional report less sexual arousal †¢inducing positive or negative mood directly affects arousal †¢performance anxiety, 3 parts: ?arousal, cognitive processes, negative affect †¢erotophobia- negative cognitive set about sexuality, viewed as negative or threating ? learned early in childhood from families, religious authorities ? early sexual trauma, rape victims †¢script theory- we all op erate by following â€Å"scripts† that reflect social and cultural expectations and guide our behavior †¢sexual myths/ misperceptions †¢Treatment for sexual dysfunction education is very effective, dispel myths and ignorance about sexual response cycle otherapy, increase communication b/t dysfunctional partners osensate focus and nondemand pleasuring- exploring and enjoying each others bodies thru touching, kissing, hugging, massaging †¢1st phase no genitals or boobs †¢2nd phase genitals but no sex or orgasm †¢3rd sex once aroused osqueeze technique- squeezing tip of penis to reduce arousal and gain control over ejaculation omasturbation training and porn! omedical treatments †¢oral medication (Viagra) †¢injection of vasoactive substances directly into the penis? †¢surgery †¢vacuum device therapy †¢Paraphilia if exists, individuals normally exhibit multiple paraphillic patterns oassociated w/ deficiencies in consensual adult s exual arousal, social skills, sexual fantasies †¢frotteurism orubbing against someone in a crowded public place until point of ejaculation †¢festishism operson sexually attracted to nonliving objects o(1) inanimate object o(2) source of specific tactile stimulation†¦ rubber o(3) body part†¦ foot †¢voyeurism obeing aroused by observing unsuspecting individuals undressing or naked †¢exhibitionism osexual gratification from exposing genitals to strangers orisk + anxiety can increase arousal oassociated w/ lower levels of edu transvestic fetishism osexual arousal from cross-dressing †¢sexual sadism oinflicting pain or humiliation †¢sexual masochism osuffering pain or humiliation †¢hypoxiphilia- oself strangulation to reduce flow of oxygen to brain to enhance orgasm †¢pedophilia osexual attraction to kids oincest when own family †¢Psychological treatment ocovert sensitization- carried out in imagination of patient, associate sexually arousing images w/ reasons why behavior is harmful or dangerous †¢orgasmic reconditioning opatients instructed to masturbate to usual fantasies but substitute more desirable ones just before ejaculation †¢Drug treatments â€Å"chemical castration†- eliminates sexual desire + fantasy by greatly reducing testosterone levels ocyproterone acetate + medroxyprogesterone ouseful for dangerous sexual offenders who do not respond to alternative treatmens Chapter 11: Substance-related and Impulse-control disorders †¢impulse control disorders- inability to resist acting on a drive or temptation osteal, gamble, set fires, pull out hair †¢polysubstance abuse- using multiple substances †¢substance use oingestion of psychoactive substances in moderate amounts that does not impair social, educational or occupational functioning †¢intoxication- getting high or drunk oimpairs judgment, mood changes, lowered motor ability †¢substance abuse ohow much ingested is problematic †¢addiction- substance dependence ophysiologically dependent on the drug requires increasing amounts to experience same effect (tolerance) onegative physical response when substance no longer ingested (withdrawal) oNicotine is arguably most addictive drug in the world, more so than meth! †¢5 substance categories o(1) depressants- sedation + relaxation†¦ alcohol o(2) stimulants- active + alert†¦ caffeine o(3) opiates- analgesia + euphoria†¦ morphine o(4) hallucinogens- alter sensory perception†¦ weed, LSD (5) other drugs- don’t fit neatly into categories†¦ steroids †¢Depressants odecrease central nervous system activity, reduce levels of physiological arousal omost likely to produce dependence, tolerance, withdrawal oalcohol †¢reduces inhibition, motor coordination, reaction time, judgement †¢esophagus>stomach>small intestines>bloodstream>heart (+other major organs)> liver †¢influences GABA receptors  œanxiety †¢influences glutamate system- excitatory, memory, blackouts †¢withdrawal delirium- frightening hallucinations, body tremors †¢liver disease, pancreatitis, cardiovascular disorders, brain damage †¢dementia- loss of intellectual abilities Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome- loss of muscle coordination, confusion, unintelligible speech †¢fetal alcohol syndrome- when pregnant mothers drink, fetal growth retardation, behavior problems, learning difficulties, physical signs †¢alcohol dehydrogenase- enzyme that breaks down alcohol †¢3 million ppl dependent in US ostages of alcoholism †¢pre alcoholic- drinking occasionally, few consequences †¢prodromal stage- drinking heavily, outward signs of a problem †¢crucial stage- loss of control, binges †¢chronic stage- primary daily activities involve drinking odrinking at early age is predictive of later abuse alcohol linked to violent behavior oBarbiturates †¢sedatives, help ppl sleep †¢highly addictive †¢overdosing> suicide †¢influence GABA obenzodiazepines †¢reduce anxiety †¢highly prescribed in US †¢alcohol amplifies effect oStimulants †¢most commonly used psychoactive drugs in US †¢amphetamine use disorders ?reduce appetite ?narcolepsy, ADHD, Ritalin ?stimulants illegally abused by college students†¦ no shit †¢crystal meth †¢MDMA- ecstasy ococaine use disorders †¢alertness, euphoria, increase blood pressure + pulse, insomnia, loss of appetite †¢paranoia, heart probs nicotine use disroders †¢withdrawal- depression, insomnia, irritability, anxiety, increased appetite †¢more prone to depression †¢Opioids oopiate natural chemicals in opium poppy have narcotic effect oâ€Å"downers† †¢Hallucinogens ochange sensory perception osight, sound, feelings, taste, smell omarijuana oLSD †¢Other drugs oSpecial K osteroids oPCP †¢Family and genetic influence †¢neurobiol ogical influence opleasure pathway in brain mediates experience of reward odopamine- pleasure oGABA- inhibitory NT †¢Psych dimensions opositive reinforcement negative reinforcement- use drugs to cope/escape from bad feelings and difficult life circumstances oopponent-process theory- an increase in positive feelings will be followed shortly by an increase in negative feelings and vice versa †¢cognitive factors oplacebo effect oexpectancy theory †¢social dimensions opeer pressure omarketing omoral weakness model of chemical dependence- drug use is seen as a failure of self-control in the face of temptation odisease model of dependence- drug dependence cause by an underlying physiological disorder †¢cultural factors oacculturation- adapt to new culture omachismo †¢neuroplasticity brains tendency to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections ocontinued use of substance†¦. decreased desire for nondrug experiences †¢Treatment obiological †¢ agonist substitution- take a safe drug that has a chemical makeup similar to the addictive drug ? methadone instead of heroin ?cross-tolerance: they act on same NTs †¢substitution ?nicotine gum instead of cigs †¢antagonist drugs- block or counteract effects of psychoactive drugs †¢aversive treatment- prescribe drugs that make ingesting abused substance extremely unpleasant opsychosocial †¢therapy †¢inpatient facilities †¢alcoholics anonymous- 12 steps †¢controlled use- controversial covert sensitization- negative associations by imagining unpleasant scenes †¢contingency management- decide on reinforces that will reward certain behaviors †¢community reinforcement approach †¢motivational interviewing- empathetic and optimistic counseling †¢CBT †¢relapse prevention †¢Impulse control disorders ointermittent explosive disorder- episodes where act on aggressive impulses †¢serious assaults or destruction of property â₠¬ ¢influenced by NT levels okleptomania †¢recurrent failure to resist urge to steal things not needed for personal use or monetary value †¢high comorbidity with mood disorders opyromania †¢irresistible urge to set fires pathological gambling otrichotillomania †¢pulling out ones hair from anywhere on body oothers †¢compulsive shopping-oniomania †¢skin picking †¢self mutilation †¢computer addiction Chapter 12: Personality Disorders †¢personality disorders- enduring patterns of thinking about ones environment and self that are exhibited in a wide range of social and personal contexts oinflexible, maladaptive and cause significant impairment or distress ohigh comorbidity †¢Axis I= current disorder †¢Axis II= chronic problem †¢5 Factor model oextroversion- talkative + assertive vs passive and reserved oagree-ableness- kind trusting vs hostile selfish conscientiousness- organized thorough, reliable oneuroticism- even tempered vs nervousness moody oopenness to experience- imaginative curious †¢Cluster A: odd or eccentric oparanoid oschizoid oschizotypal †¢Cluster B: dramatic, emotional, erratic oantisocial (m)- irresponsible, reckless behavior oborderline (f) ohistrionic (f)- excessive emotionality and attention seeking onarcissistic †¢Cluster C: fearful, anxious oavoidant odependent oobsessive compulsive †¢Biases ocriterion gender bias- criteria biased oassessment gender bias- assessment measures biased