Absenteeism in the Workplace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Absenteeism in the Workplace - Essay Example This is a global phenomenon; however there is no consistent definition for absenteeism. In a general context absenteeism covers non-attendance at work where work attendance is scheduled. This includes sickness absence leave; various special leaves, such as bereavement leave; and may also include time lost through industrial disputes. Workplace attendance and absenteeism are crucial to the industry oriented society. There is loss not only in terms of productivity and economy, but also in terms of credibility and confidence of the employees. Excessive absenteeism also places additional pressure on employers and workers especially at critically important times. The causes for absenteeism are varied and are much dependent on the person taking leave. They can vary from taking off for illness when in reality they are not ill at all to excuses like friend’s accident, death in family etc. There have been incidents where doctors have not only been pleaded with, but also abused and threatened to sign false medical certificates.

Database Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Database Security - Essay Example These security controls may be technical, administrative, logical or physical. The vulnerability to the database security include unauthorized access by hackers or outside attacks or misuse by authorized personnel which are database users, administrators or system managers. A malware infection may cause unauthorized access to the database and may compromise its integrity and confidentiality via leakage of details deletion or permanent damage. This may also include denial of access to authorized users or a denial of service attack. Overloads or inefficient performance constraint may compromise database integrity and the data might be susceptible to damage physically (earthquakes, fire, flood) and should be provided with adequate physical protection or have proper backup. Design flaws and invalid data entry can also compromise the integrity and reliability of the database servers. Database Reliability Reliability of a database means that the database provides services for a significant ly long period of time without any fail. It is because database may include data from different sources and a reliable access should be prudent for the database users. Key business data and process information is usually stored in databases and it is very important of DBMS users to have the data protected so that the data accessed is reliable. For this several security measures can be made in order to prevent databases from losing important data through damage or loss (Basta & Zgola. 2011). Database Integrity Database integrity refers to the consistency and the accuracy of data within the database and data warehouse systems. Data integrity is often times dubbed as data quality and data with integrity and a whole structure. There are various types of data integrity that is associated with databases. Physical integrity of a database refers to the immunity of a database system to physical damages such as power failures, earthquakes, floods etc. and that the database can easily be recon structed in case of such catastrophe. Logical integrity of a database is equally vital as its physical counterpart and it entails that a database structure must be preserved and it is evident by the logical integrity of the structure when changes to one field do not put a cascading effect on other fields of the database. For example, the data in each element must be accurate, the data is auditable, there is access control for unauthorized personnel, users are correctly identified and the database must be available for the authorized personnel. Auditability of a databases addresses with the monitoring of who or what accesses the data base or has modified the database itself. Other data base integrity constraints include referential integrity and domain integrity. To ensure data integrity, data values are first standardized using specific data models or types. For this it is important that the data is complete in its business relations, functions, rules and dates and it is protected. Data integrity can also be implemented through other ways than database security where different error checking and validations must be checked in order to provide accuracy of data. For example, a numerical value in the in a date of hiring cannot be one that is ahead of the system date. In its realization, data

Gansz V. Alton Haunted House Essay Example for Free

Gansz V. Alton Haunted House Essay The case of Gansz V. Alton Haunted House originated when a girl tripped while running from an individual with a loud motor driven chainsaw at a haunted house in Alton, Illinois on October 29, 2011 (Faces of Lawsuit Abuse, 2013). The girl’s father, Terry Gansz, claims the haunted house tour included a section where patrons were directed through a passage leading to a ramp with an entry to the rear of the haunted bus. American Legion is being blamed for the design of the haunted house making it difficult for patrons to exit the attraction (Madison Record, 2013). Arguing that the plaintiff voluntarily assumed the risks of the haunted house, the defendants claim they are not at fault and should not be liable for any injuries claimed (Madison Record, 2013). Issue: Has negligence been demonstrated? Rule According to Cheeseman (2013), negligence is a A doctrine that says a person is liable for harm that is the foreseeable consequence of his or her actions (p.91). The elements of negligence include: Duty of Care Breach of Duty Harm Legal Causation The case of Gansz versus Alton Haunted House exemplifies the foundation of the fault principle. Terry Gansz the father of a young girl who was injured when she tripped over a ramp at the Haunted House alleges that there was failure to ensure the safety of the patrons who visited the haunted house.  Alton Haunted House had a duty to exercise reasonable care for those who would visit the haunted house. The unforeseen danger of the participants were not averted and the injuries suffered by the young girl is the fault of Alton Haunted House. Alton Haunted House believes the young girls harm was the result of her own negligence. It was not the duty of the young girl to research beforehand the possible dangers of the haunted house. Analysis In our analysis of the case team D recognized that there were flaws in the defendant’s case. The defendants had a responsibility, a duty in fact, to ensure the safety of the patrons. There should be a limit as to how far actors should be allowed to come to patrons. Also nowhere in the case did it state that a sign was posted stating enter at your own risk or anything of that nature. So team D concluded that the defendant must be held liable for their action because there were no clear policies in place for employees with regards to chasing patrons. . Duty of care is listed as Duty of care is defined as the obligation people owe each other that is, the duty not to cause any unreasonable harm or risk of harm (Cheeseman, 2013, p. 91). We believe that is was there duty to ensure safety. Conclusion Learning Team D reviewed the case of Gansz v. Alton Haunted House using the IRAC method. Based on the issue, rule, and analysis conducted, the team’s conclusion is that Alton Haunted House is liable for negligence because they breached their duty of care. This breach resulted in foreseeable injuries to the plaintiff. In this case, patrons did assume a level of risk by entering into the house; however, Alton Haunted House still had a responsibility to ensure their employees were properly trained and supervised prior to interacting with patrons in order to minimize the risk of injury. This case provides an excellent example of the liabilities business owners may encounter. Therefore, in any business managerial setting it is imperative that owners carefully consider how their actions or lack of actions could lead to a lawsuit. References Faces of Lawsuit Abuse. (2013). Girl chased at haunted house sues Alton. Retrieved from http://www.facesoflawsuitabuse.org/2012/10/girl-chased-at-haunted-house-with-chainsaw-sues-alton-american-legion/ Madison Record. (2013). Bellville attorney to represent Alton in haunted house lawsuit. Retrieved from http://madisonrecord.com/issues/366-personal-injury/249477-belleville-attorney-to-represent-alton-in-haunted-house-lawsuit Madison Record. (2013). November trial vacated in girls suit against Alton haunted house. Retrieved from http://madisonrecord.com/issues/366-personal-injury/259790-november-trial-vacated-in-girls-suit-against-alton-haunted-house-cmc-set-eve-of-halloween

Combination Adjuvant Platform for Human and Animal Vaccines

Combination Adjuvant Platform for Human and Animal Vaccines A novel combination adjuvant platform for human and animal vaccines   Ravendra Garg, Sylvia van Drunen Littel-van den Hurk Volker and Gerdts Abstract Adjuvants are critical component of vaccines. They are being used to enhance and extend the overall immune response, to drive the response towards a specific type of immunity, and to reduce the need for multiple booster immunizations. Here we report the development of a combination adjuvant platform consisting of three immune stimulators, namely host defence peptides, polyphosphazenes and PolyI:C/CpG ODN. The adjuvant platform was co-formulated with a variety of human and animal vaccines and tested in mice, pigs, sheep, koalas, and fish. When co-formulated with a wide range of viral and bacterial antigens including Bordetella pertussis, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), Chlamydia trachomatis and influenza antigens, a single immunization induced 100-1,000 fold stronger humoral immune responses (IgG, IgG1, IgG2a), a much earlier onset of immunity, a clear shift towards a more balanced or Th-1 type of response and extended duration of immunity of up to two years in some cases. The vacc ines were highly effective in neonates of less than 7 days of age and provided complete protection against a lethal challenge with B. pertussis or RSV. Furthermore, the polyphosphazenes in this combination allow the assembly of microparticles that when lyophilized were stable for several months. Intranasal immunization with these microparticles induced strong mucosal immune response in the upper respiratory tract. Moreover, the adjuvant platform was highly effective in the presence of maternal antibodies. In summary, we developed a novel vaccine platform for neonates, which provided more balanced, long lasting and fully protective immune responses in neonates after a single vaccination only. Introduction Vaccine provides huge public health benefits for reducing the burden of infectious diseases. Live vaccines generate effective immune responses but have been associated with a number of safety concerns, including improper attenuation and reverting back to virulence.   Nonliving vaccine antigens i.e. whole, inactivated viruses and specifically recombinant or highly purified subunit vaccines are often weakly immunogenic and need adjuvants to enhance the immunogenicity of vaccine based on antibodies and effector T cell functions to prevent infection. Adjuvants are critical components of vaccines, usually used to stimulate faster, stronger, and long-lasting immune responses to vaccines. It has various roles in vaccine formulations i.e. enhance immune responses to vaccine antigens, provide faster onset of immunity, improving immune responses to immunization in infant or elderly populations, whose immune system are immature or waning, dose sparing, either reducing the quantity of antigen required in the vaccine preparation or reducing the immunization schedule (Coffman, Sher et al. 2010). Adjuvants are absolutely required in subunit vaccines due to the poor immunogenicity of such antigens. There is no single universal adjuvant which can cover all the vaccine requirements. Using single adjuvant has a number of limitations, including induction of weak, improper, and short lived immune responses. For example, alum and MF59 (Kenney and Edelman 2003) are the universally approved adjuvant for human vaccines. Both normally induce a Th2 biased immune responses but not cellular immune responses which required for immunity against intracellular infections. In many novel adjuvant technologies, using multiple adjuvants in combination often act synergistically by stimulating and activating a various type of immune cells. Combination of adjuvants platform is promising and beneficial for suboptimal vaccines and particularly advantageous for vaccines against specific and more susceptible populations, such as neonates and the older adults. In some aspects, the neonate immune system is similar to that of the elderly, both having diminished anti-microbial activity by immune cells, reduce d antigen uptake and presentation by antigen presenting cells and compromised adaptive immune responses (Simon, Hollander et al. 2015). Strong adjuvants may provide an approach to boost immune responses in the both neonates and elderly populations. Most of the studies have combined a delivery system with an immunostimulatory adjuvant, especially combinations with the TLR agonists and MPL. Combination adjuvants have only recently been vigorously explored. Some combinations have been tested in humans and large animals and have yielded promising results. Recently, we developed a novel combination adjuvant platform (TriAdj) which is highly effective with wide range of animal and human vaccine. Novel Combination adjuvant platform for animal vaccines: Veterinary vaccines have been used for several of years, and have an important role in protecting animal health, animal welfare, food production, and public health. They are a cost-effective method to prevent animal disease, improve the food production, greatly reducing the need for antibiotics to treat food and companion animals and reduce or prevent transmission of zoonotic disease to human. Interestingly, the challenges related with vaccinating animals are stability, low cost, ease of administration etc., require new solutions in vaccine development. Freund introduced a combination of mineral oils and bacterial cell components (Freunds complete adjuvant) for the improvement of vaccine immune responses (Freund et al., 1937). However, many nations are not using the Freunds adjuvant in animals due to its reactivity and side effects. Alum and emulsions based formulations have been successfully used since long time in a wide variety of animal vaccines. However, with an advanced underst anding of the immune system, many new adjuvants (Saponins, Liposomes, virosomes, particle based and TRL ligand) have recently been developed for veterinary applications. A wide range of adjuvants has been successfully used in commercial vaccines for animals and several new technologies are currently in preclinical development. Over the past decade, we have seen several new combination adjuvants, typically contain two and three individual adjuvant components, including MF59â„ ¢ (Novartis Inc.), ASâ„ ¢ (Glaxo Smith Kline Inc.), IC31â„ ¢ (Valneva Inc.) etc. We recently developed a novel combination adjuvant platform (TriAdj) that is contained of three components, namely toll-like receptor (TLR) agonist either PolyI:C or CpG ODN and an immunostimulatory host defense peptide (HDPs) in polyphosphazene carrier system (Kindrachuk, Jenssen et al. 2009; Garg, Latimer et al. 2013). Synthetic PolyI:C and CpG ODNs are well known potent adjuvant with various vaccine antigens and have been shown to enhance immune responses by activating monocytes/macrophages, dendritic cells, natural killer cells and B cells, and induce the production of proinflammatory cytokines   (Krieg 2002; Trumpfheller, Longhi et al. 2012). The second component, HDPs are derivatives of natural host defense peptides, which are cationic amp hipathic peptides with microbicidal, chemotactic and/or immunomodulatory properties (Yeung, Gellatly et al. 2011). HDPs are involved in a range of immune functions including immune cell recruitment (neutrophils, monocytes, macrophages, T cells and mast cells), innate immune activation, and wound healing (Jenssen, Hamill et al. 2006). The third component, polyphosphazenes are synthetic water-soluble biodegradable polymer with immunostimulatory properties, and forms non-covalent complexes with variety of viral and bacterial antigens and/or other adjuvants to enhance their stability, immunogenicity and allow multimeric presentation (Mutwiri, Benjamin et al. 2007; Andrianov, DeCollibus et al. 2009; Kovacs-Nolan, Latimer et al. 2009; Awate, Wilson et al. 2012). When vaccine antigens were co-formulated with this combination, we found much faster onset of immunity, highly effective even after a single immunization and significantly long lasting, robust, protective immune responses against variety of animal pathogens including bovine viral diarrhea virus, bovine respiratory syncytial virus and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus. The combination adjuvant is stable, cost effective and highly effective in a variety of animals including pigs, sheep, cattle, koalas, cotton rats and mice (Polewicz, Gracia et al. 2011; Khan, Waugh et al. 2014; Snider, Garg et al. 2014; Garg, Latimer et al. 2015). For example, formulation of E2 protein of bovine viral diarrhea virus with TriAdj resulted in strong humoral and cell mediated immune responses, leading to significant protection following pathogen challenge of calves (Snider, Garg et al. 2014). Fusion protein of bovine respiratory syncytial virus co-formulated with TriAdj developed significantly higher antibod ies and interferon gamma secretion (Kovacs-Nolan, Mapletoft et al. 2009). Similarly, formulation of S1 domain of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, and outer membrane protein of chlamydial major   with TriAdj enhanced humoral and cell mediated immune response in pig and koalas respectively (Khan, Waugh et al. 2014; Makadiya, Brownlie et al. 2016). Novel Combination adjuvant platform for human vaccines: Several combination adjuvants consisting of a variety of immunomodulators such as Immune stimulating complexes (ISCOMs), montanides, nanoemulsions, and Adjuvant Systems have been developed in recent years and are currently being tested with human vaccines in preclinical and clinical trials. The novel adjuvant platform, TriAdj was co-formulated with various human vaccines and tested in mice, pigs, sheep, koalas, and fish. This adjuvant platform is highly effective against a variety of infectious diseases. TriAdj was shown to promote the induction of strong immune responses to various viral and bacterial antigens in multiple animals. For instance, TriAdj in combination with fusion protein of human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV), mediated the induction of robust, balanced and long-term protective immunity by stimulating long-lived neutralizing antibodies, memory B and CD8+ T cells against hRSV (Garg, Latimer et al. 2013; Garg, Latimer et al. 2014). In addition, mucosal vaccination with TriAdj formulated antigen induced both systemic and local immunity in neonates, even in the face of maternal antibodies (Garg, Latimer et al. 2015). Similarly, when TriAdj was used with pertussis toxoid of Bordetella pertussis, strong and protective immune responses were found in both mice and pigs against lethal infection with B. pertussis (Gracia, Polewicz et al. 2011; Polewicz, Gracia et al. 2011). Furthermore, the vaccine formulated with TriAdj induced a prompt onset, longer duration than existing commercial vaccines and effective after a single vaccination even in the presence of maternal antibodies. (Polewicz, Gracia et al. 2013). TriAdj platform was also formulated with influenza virus antigens or chlamydia antigens, which induces strong immune responses in vaccinated animals (Kindrachuk, Jenssen et al. 2009; Shim, Ko et al. 2010). The combination of adjuvants was also shown to be suitable for maternal immunization. Vaccination of pregnant animals with TriAdj formulated human vaccines resulted in efficient transfer of maternal antibodies and protection from subsequent challenge of the offspring (Elahi, Buchanan et al. 2006; Garg, Latimer et al. 2016). These results indicate that maternal immunization with TriAdj formulated antigens might be an alternative, safe and effective approach to provide protection against pathogens in newborn and young infants. Furthermore, the adjuvant platform can be formulated into microspheres (100 nm to 2 ÃŽ ¼m) to enhance the mucosal and syt emic immune response following intranasal vaccination (Garlapati, Garg et al. 2012). The TriAdj is expected to have multiple applications for the development of vaccines against multiple respiratory pathogens and possibly other infectious agents. Mechanisms of action of novel Combination adjuvant platform: A number of mechanisms of action were identified for this novel combination adjuvant. For example, TriAdj as a mucosal adjuvant increased antigen uptake by dendritic cells, improved dendritic cell maturation, and more efficient transported to local draining lymph nodes to present the antigen to T cells   (Garg, Latimer et al. 2013). TriAdj with antigens promoted the production of chemokines, cytokines and inflammatory cytokines, followed by recruitment and activation of several immune cell populations including dendritic cells, macrophages and neutrophils to the upper and lower respiratory tract, that leads to strong and long-term   protective immune responses of this novel adjuvant formulation (Sarkar, Garg et al. 2016). This was further correlated to the induction of local humoral and cell-mediated immune responses, including production of large numbers of IgA secreting memory B cells as well as effective memory CD8+ T cells. TriAdj also promoted increased germinal centre react ions and effective B cell activation and development in the lungs following mucosal immunization (Garg, Theaker et al. 2016). References   Andrianov, A. K., D. P. DeCollibus, et al. (2009). Poly[di(carboxylatophenoxy)phosphazene] is a potent adjuvant for intradermal immunization. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 106(45): 18936-18941. Awate, S., H. L. Wilson, et al. (2012). Activation of adjuvant core response genes by the novel adjuvant PCEP. Molecular immunology 51(3-4): 292-303. Coffman, R. L., A. Sher, et al. (2010). Vaccine adjuvants: putting innate immunity to work. Immunity 33(4): 492-503. Elahi, S., R. M. Buchanan, et al. (2006). Maternal immunity provides protection against pertussis in newborn piglets. Infect Immun 74(5): 2619-2627. Garg, R., L. Latimer, et al. (2014). Vaccination with the RSV fusion protein formulated with a combination adjuvant induces long-lasting protective immunity. J Gen Virol 95(Pt 5): 1043-1054. Garg, R., L. Latimer, et al. (2015). The respiratory syncytial virus fusion protein formulated with a novel combination adjuvant induces balanced immune responses in lambs with maternal antibodies. Vaccine. Garg, R., L. Latimer, et al. (2013). Induction of mucosal immunity and protection by intranasal immunisation with a novel respiratory syncytial virus vaccine formulation. The Journal of general virology. Garg, R., L. Latimer, et al. (2016). Maternal immunization with respiratory syncytial virus fusion protein formulated with a novel combination adjuvant provides protection from RSV in newborn lambs. Vaccine 34(2): 261-269. Garg, R., M. Theaker, et al. (2016). A single intranasal immunization with a subunit vaccine formulation induces higher mucosal IgA production than live respiratory syncytial virus. Virology 499: 288-297. Garlapati, S., R. Garg, et al. (2012). Enhanced immune responses and protection by vaccination with respiratory syncytial virus fusion protein formulated with CpG oligodeoxynucleotide and innate defense regulator peptide in polyphosphazene microparticles. Vaccine 30(35): 5206-5214. Gracia, A., M. Polewicz, et al. (2011). Antibody responses in adult and neonatal BALB/c mice to immunization with novel Bordetella pertussis vaccine formulations. Vaccine 29(8): 1595-1604. Jenssen, H., P. Hamill, et al. (2006). Peptide antimicrobial agents. Clinical microbiology reviews 19(3): 491-511. Kenney, R. T. and R. Edelman (2003). Survey of human-use adjuvants. Expert review of vaccines 2(2): 167-188. Khan, S. A., C. Waugh, et al. (2014). Vaccination of koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) with a recombinant chlamydial major outer membrane protein adjuvanted with poly I:C, a host defense peptide and polyphosphazine, elicits strong and long lasting cellular and humoral immune responses. Vaccine 32(44): 5781-5786. Kindrachuk, J., H. Jenssen, et al. (2009). A novel vaccine adjuvant comprised of a synthetic innate defence regulator peptide and CpG oligonucleotide links innate and adaptive immunity. Vaccine 27(34): 4662-4671. Kovacs-Nolan, J., L. Latimer, et al. (2009). The novel adjuvant combination of CpG ODN, indolicidin and polyphosphazene induces potent antibody- and cell-mediated immune responses in mice. Vaccine 27(14): 2055-2064. Kovacs-Nolan, J., J. W. Mapletoft, et al. (2009). Formulation of bovine respiratory syncytial virus fusion protein with CpG oligodeoxynucleotide, cationic host defence peptide and polyphosphazene enhances humoral and cellular responses and induces a protective type 1 immune response in mice. The Journal of general virology 90(Pt 8): 1892-1905. Krieg, A. M. (2002). CpG motifs in bacterial DNA and their immune effects. Annu Rev Immunol 20: 709-760. Makadiya, N., R. Brownlie, et al. (2016). S1 domain of the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus spike protein as a vaccine antigen. Virol J 13: 57. Mutwiri, G., P. Benjamin, et al. (2007). Poly[di(sodium carboxylatoethylphenoxy)phosphazene] (PCEP) is a potent enhancer of mixed Th1/Th2 immune responses in mice immunized with influenza virus antigens. Vaccine 25(7): 1204-1213. Polewicz, M., A. Gracia, et al. (2011). Influence of maternal antibodies on active pertussis toxoid immunization of neonatal mice and piglets. Vaccine 29(44): 7718-7726. Polewicz, M., A. Gracia, et al. (2013). Novel vaccine formulations against pertussis offer earlier onset of immunity and provide protection in the presence of maternal antibodies. Vaccine 31(31): 3148-3155. Sarkar, I., R. Garg, et al. (2016). Formulation of the respiratory syncytial virus fusion protein with a polymer-based combination adjuvant promotes transient and local innate immune responses and leads to improved adaptive immunity. Vaccine 34(42): 5114-5124. Shim, D. H., H. J. Ko, et al. (2010). Efficacy of poly[di(sodium carboxylatophenoxy)phosphazene] (PCPP) as mucosal adjuvant to induce protective immunity against respiratory pathogens. Vaccine 28(11): 2311-2317. Simon, A. K., G. A. Hollander, et al. (2015). Evolution of the immune system in humans from infancy to old age. Proc Biol Sci 282(1821): 20143085. Snider, M., R. Garg, et al. (2014). The bovine viral diarrhea virus E2 protein formulated with a novel adjuvant induces strong, balanced immune responses and provides protection from viral challenge in cattle. Vaccine 32(50): 6758-6764. Trumpfheller, C., M. P. Longhi, et al. (2012). Dendritic cell-targeted protein vaccines: a novel approach to induce T-cell immunity. Journal of Internal Medicine 271(2): 183-192. Yeung, A., S. Gellatly, et al. (2011). Multifunctional cationic host defence peptides and their clinical applications. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences: 1-16.

Challenges Faced By The Virgin Atlantic Commerce Essay

Challenges Faced By The Virgin Atlantic Commerce Essay Nowadays globalization has increased so competitions in business are very high because of making profits the demand increases through customers. There are lots of good smart phone applications, or app, available for smart phones to help every people to travel easier. People are addicted to travel in different places by flights, so they are looking for cheap rate. If this company decrease the flight charges their marketing in business will be in loss. One really good one is flight track. This flight land at fix time and gate number and even allow to see the geographical position of the flight on a map at any time. In this flight offers many facilities like food, water, drinks ,napkins with free of cost travelers make wonderful journey for their trips on this flight.Many airlines such as southwest,jetblue and others have launched applications which let you book your tickets ,lookup schedules and check in all in phones so customers can book tickets through online and tickets were posted in houses. A few days ago virgin Atlantic came out with app and is called JET LAG FIGTHER which seems to have a lot of potentials for people. In some emergency case workers, families in serious can immediately book on this flight. This aircraft is fastest rather than any other aircraft. TASK1 For years theres been something rather lonely about the British airline its very expensive travelers to travel. The food which they provide is not free of cost. The British airline which flies outside the comforting embrace of the big three alliances, despite the 49%stake owned by the Singapore airline a member of star alliances. That could set to change , though with virgin having now admitted to receiving a number of lines of enquiry. Theres something rather inevitable about a deal for virgin. British airways are very expense this aircraft makes difficult to gain their profits. Its a big rival working ever more closely with American airlines and international air transport associations, virgins continuing survival as a lone operator just seems too shaky. Leadership style is the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans and motivating people. Kurt Lewis (1939) led a group of researchers to identify different styles of leaderships.The three major style of leadership are AUTHORITIAN OR AUTOCRATIC PARTICIPATVE OR DEMOCRATIC DELEGATING OR FREE REIGN AUTHORITIAN-This style is used when leaders tell their employees what they want done and how they want it accomplished without getting the advice of their followers .Some of the appropriate conditions to use it is when we all the information to solve the problem. Some people tend to think of this style as a vehicle for yelling ,using demeaning language and leading by threats and abusing their powers. PARTICIPATIVE(DEMOCRATIVE)-This style involves the leader including one or more employees in the decision making process. However leader maintains the final decision making authority.Using this style is not a style of weakness, rather it is sign of strength that your employees will respect. This is normally used when you have part of the information and your employees have other parts. DELEGATING OR FREE REIGN-In this style leaders allow to make the decisions. However the leader is still responsible for the decisions that are made.This is used when employees are able to analyse the situations and determine what needs to be done and how to do it. Leadership is organizing a group of people to achieve a common goal. The leader may or may not have formal authority.Students of leadership have produced theories involving traits. 1.situational,interaction,function,behavior,power,visionand values. 2.charishma and intelligence and among others Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is a British entrepreneur best known for his virgin group of over 400companies His first successful business venture was a magazine called student at age 16.In 1970 he set up an audio record mail order business. In 1972 he opened a chain of record stores .Virgin Records later known as virgin megastores.Bransons virgin brand grew during the 1980.Branson mainly has lots of business he earned more profit for virgin atlantic.He wants to continue his business for a long time. Once he caught arrested and charged selling in virgin stores that had been declared export stock .He settled out of court with uk customs and Excise with an agreement to repay the unpaid tax and a fine. Earning enough money from his record stores. Branson in 1972 launched the record level and a country estate in which he installing a recorded studio. He have lots of professional work and have good idea to build up the companies. DETERMINING ORGANIZATION DIRECTION 1. Through an interpretation of information gathered during environmental analysis managers can determine the direction in which an organization should move. 2. Important ingredients of organizational direction are organizational Mission and organizational objectives. DETERMINING ORGANIZATIONAL MISSION: The most common initial act in establishing organizational direction is an organizational mission. The statement that describes the mission talks about the target market which in this case is families, geographic, domain of neighbourhoods. It also talks about its strategy t be profitable by providing good customer service through friendly and knowledgeable people. It is essential to look into external influences like labour, conditions, competitors, government rules while considering mission statement. Companys mission statement should define stakeholders expected return along with the measurement of the performance of the company through those returns. The expected profit too should be included in the organizations mission. Moreover, the company should come to consensus as to what all areas should be measured like margin growth, efficiency, competitive cost position, product quality, market share etc. A missions statement sets the boundaries for how resources should be allocated and what strategic and operational goals should be set. The mission statement should acknowledge the companys strength and then inform employees where to direst their efforts in order to take advantage of those strength. It is often helpful to allow companywide input when creating a mission statement. Employees from throughout the organization can help identify the core values of the company. It is important to keep in mind that there will be a draft process involving in creating the mission statement. Employees can often provide invaluable insight on how to improve on each draft. In the end the mission statement should reflect the personality of the organization. Thus each company should be creative and unique in developing its own statement. Creating a mission committee that consists of members of management, frontline employees. Communicating the mission statement to customers to make them feel valued a nd important. It can be sending to customers in a mass mailing or posted or signs in areas those customers frequent. It sets the forth the goals of the organizations so customers know what to expect when doing business with the company. Mission and vision statements give organizations a focus and a strategy for the future. Setting up meetings with members of management and frontline employees can often help uncover areas where the company does not meet the standard sets by the mission statement, SWOT ANALYSIS Organizations should begin first by reviewing internal strengths and weakness. When analyzing an organizations strength is important to identify distinctive competencies or strength possessed by only a few competing firms. These distinctive competencies often become the competitive advantage that is included in the mission statement. Distinctive competencies can be found in the financial resources, quality product and services, proprietary technology or cost advantage. Organizational weakness is skills and capabilities that prevent an organization from implementing strategies that achieve its mission. They can be problem with facilities, lack of clear strategic direction, internal operating problems, too narrow a product line, weak market image, or the inability to financial changes. The next step is to identify external opportunities are circumstances in an organizations environment that if capitalized on will result in above normal increases in economic performance. In conclusion mission statement provides a sense of direction and purpose. In times of change and growth they can be an anchor and a guide in decision makings. The benefit far outweigh the disadvantages and challenges when looking at the potential for increase in profitability and returns .Defining an organization by what it produce and who it satisfies are the main target towards creating a sound and stable mission statement. Setting a company apart from the competition is one of the biggest advantages. Task-3 There are two major components to your marketing strategy: how your enterprise will address the competitive market place how you will implement and support your day to day operations In todays every competitive market place a strategy that insures a consistent approach to offering your product its all up to customers how much they required. It is of little value to have a strategy if you lack either the resources or the expertise to implement it. In the process of creating a marketing strategy you must consider many factors. Of those many factors some are more important than others.Because each strategy must address some unique considerations its not reasonable to identify every important factor at a general level. If the market is very attractive and your enterprise is one of the strongest in the industry you will want to invest your best resources in support of your offerings. If the market is very attractive and your enterprise is one of the weaker ones in the industry. A cost leadership strategy based on the concept that you produce and market good quality product or service at lower cost than your competitors. These low cost should translate to profit margins that are higher than the industry average. Some of the conditions that should exist to support a cost leadership strategy include an ongoing availability of operating capital, good process engineering skills, close management of labor, products designed for ease of manufacturing and low cost distribution. A differentiation strategy is one of the creating a product or service that is perceived is being unique throughout the industry. The emphasis can be a brand image, proprietary technology, special features, and superior services, a strong distributor network or other aspects that might be specific to your industry .This uniqueness should also translate to profit margins that are higher than the industry average. In addition some of the conditions that should exist to support a differentiation strategy include strong marketing abilities, effective product engineering, creative personal the ability to perform basic research and a good reputation. A focus strategy may be the most sophisticated of the generic strategies, in that it is a more intense form of either the cost leadership or differentiation strategy. It is designed to address a focused segment of the marketplace, product form or cost management process and is usually employed when it isnt appropriate to attempt an across the board application of cost leadership or differentiations. It is based on the concept of serving a particular target in such an exceptional manner, those others cannot compete. Usually this means addressing a substantially smaller market segment than others in the industry, but because of minimal competitions, profit margin can be high. CUSTOMER SERVICES The strength of the customer service function has a strong influence on long term market success. Factors to consider include. .Experience of the customers service manager in the areas of similar offerings and customer quality control, technical support, product documentation, sales and marketing. The availability of technical to service your offerings after it is purchased. one or more factors that causes your customer support to stand out as unique in the eyes of the customer service. Accessibility of service outlets for the customer. The reputation of the enterprise for the customer service. PROFIT POTENTIAL Potential for competitive retaliation is based on the competitors resources, commitment to the industry, cash position and predictability as well as the status of the market. The enterprises ability to construct entry barriers to competitions such as the creation of high switching costs, gaining substantial benefit from economic of scale ,exclusive access to or clogging of distributional channels and the ability to clearly differentiate your offerings from the competitions. the ability of the enterprise to limit suppliers bargaining power. The availability of substitute solutions to the prospects need. Market potential for new products considering market growth, prospects need for your offerings and the competition and the degrees of the prospect needs. The freedom of the enterprise to make critical business decisions without undue influence from distributors, suppliers, unions, investors, and other influence. COST TO ENTER MARKET This is an analysis of the factors that will influence your cost to achieve significant market penetration. Factors to consider include. your marketing strength. Access to low cost materials and effective productions. The experience of your enterprise. The complexity of introduction problems such as lack of adherence to industry standards, unavailability of materials, poor quality products, regulatory problems, and the inability to explain the benefits of the offerings to the prospects. The effectiveness of the enterprise infrastructure in terms of organization, recruiting capabilities, employee benefit programs, customer support facilities and logistical capabilities. Distribution effectiveness as measured by the history of relations, the extent of channel utilizations ,financial facilities stability, reputations ,access to prospects and familiarity with your offering. Technological efforts likely to be successful as measured by the strength of the development organization. The availability of adequate operating capital. PRODUCTION The strength of the production manager including experience with personnel management, current and new technologies, complex projects and equipments, tools used by the manufacturing personnel. Economies of scale allowing the sharing of production and the potential for vertical integration. Technology and production experience. The necessary production personnel skill level and or the enterprises ability to hire or train qualified personnel. The ability of the enterprise to limit suppliers bargaining power. The ability of the enterprise to control the quality of raw materials and product. Adequate access to raw materials and sub-assembly production. TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS Technology is an outgoing process and BAS competition like virgin Atlantic is also in for the challenge .Virgin Atlantic airlines invested in innovative features that distinguish the company name. The use of information technology and internet are key factors in BAS strategy success and efficiency of the organizations. British Airways recognized this opportunity and turned in to one of its strength. On the other hand Technology advancements may also be a threat to the airline industry. As an example video conferencing may reduce business travel. Another example its internet bookings which are allowing greater price transparency thus leading to aggressive price battles between competitions, resulting in less profit marketing and leading to a less effective financial positions. MARKETING STRATEGY BA lacks of a marketing strategy to win customer loyalty. A weakness that has to be addressed by the organization. It is argued that BA is growing thanks to the globalization and travelers needs rather than to the effectiveness of the marketing campaigns. Despite the great infrastructure hosted by the company.BA needs to carry out better marketing schemes to attract prospective travelers .The company suffers from a deprivation of strategic management strategy to keep its goal aligned with growing market trends to match needs of the future. Virgin Atlantic is being proactive and is currently reviewing it global advertising strategy in a move to increase its advertising effectiveness that could lead to an overhaul of its worldwide arrangement. MAKING STRATEGIC PLANNING MORE EFFECTIVE Rigby has found there is no co relation between satisfaction with financial results and the number or type of strategic management tools used by an organization. The connection between strategies and business results is not perfect because reality usually interference. Reality may interfere internally as when a company is unable to execute its intended strategy, or externally as when events such as competitive response, technological innovation or societal trends affect the business environment. As a result of this week connection the planning process has a limited ability to influence the strategic direction of the enterprise .Most planning process does not work very well. Simpson offered some tips on what planners could do to improve the effectiveness of the planning process. He suggested minimizing the size of the planning function, expanding participation in the planning process, and keeps planning as far away from finance as possible. He noted that a large planning staff tends just to create work and that is important for managers of the functions and business unit to do their own planning .In this way they do the thinking have the insights and are invested in the implementation and results. The business needs to own their plans and against having the corporate planning staff review and critique and an operating department plans. While reducing the size of the planning staff .Planning must become non-elitist and less exclusionary, understanding what business they are in and what value the organization adds. The organization is purpose and strategy flow from the business data. THE THREAT OF TECHNOLOGY Common practices of good management, according to Professor Clayton often sow the seeds of eventual failure; because they are biased towards incremental improvement rather than radical change .He identify two types of technological change, very few established companies have managed to stay top of the change and stay ahead of upstairs competitors. Adopting these disruptive technologies would have caused currently lucrative product lines to become obsolete more rapidly .Companies stumble in the face of technological change for all kinds of reasons, including complacency and arrogance. Failure may be the price of success as companies become captive to once successful paradigms. The gap between what the market requires and what technology is providing creates opportunities for the introduction of radically new technologies. Discontinuities occur when a new technology gives the market smaller, cheaper products with fewer features, less performance or lower quality. Disruptive technologies will not have all the features valued by the mainstream market but may very well serve the needs of the significant portion or an emerging the ability to record. TASK-4 LEADERSHIP SKILL Having this process in place is vital to the organization because the individual identified in the plan will eventually be responsible for ensuring the company is able to tackle future challenges. These high potential candidates must be carefully selected and then provided training and development that gives them skills and competencies needed for tomorrows business environment. Another reason its important is because these high potential will one day become the leaders of the company. This is why their development needs to incorporate a broad range of learning opportunities in your organizations. The individuals should also exposed to as much of the working environment as possible that they gain a good understanding of what the company requires to remain successful. Succession planning is one of those initiatives that many companies dont find the time to start until its too late. If you dont address succession planning now your organization may end up facing the burden in the middle of a crisis. Finally organization understand the need to manage the development of their high performers are step ahead of their competitors. The effort required to establish a development program for future leaders is worthwhile because it creates motivated and capable groups of employees that are ready to move forward in the organization when the need arise. Succession planning is not something a well run company consequences is not being prepared to replace key personnel will have a major impact on organizations ability to achieve its goal and strategic targets. The succession planning needs to be consider as part of the companys strategic planning process because it deals with projecting future changes by anticipating management vacancies and then determining how to meet these challenges. The group turnover is in billions consisting of over 200 companies. The differences in approach from a typical multinational company are: 1) LONG TERM PLANNING-The group is privately held and in the decision making public investors are not involved. Hence the decision is taken from the long term growth perspective. The group does not need to focus on short term profit to show performance in the stock market. 2) COMPANIES OPERATE INDEPENDENTLY-The group is loosely structured under common brand name .The private companies run safely. 3) Containing company wise risk-When a company grows beyond a specific size, the company is divided in two or more. These keep company manageable and while minimizing the impact of its failure in the group. 4) NEW PRODUCT IDENTIFICATION -The group identifies new market and product based on the analysis of the existing market. The existing market for the new market is frequently either a monopoly or oligopoly.

F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby Essay -- essays research papers

The Great Gatsby   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Everyone wants to be successful in life, but most often people take the wrong ways to get there. In the1920’s the American Dream was something that everyone strived to have. Having a family, money, a big house, and a car meant that someone had succeeded in life. A very important aspect was money, and success was determined greatly by it. This was not true in all cases however. Jay Gatsby was a poor boy who turned into a very wealthy man, but did he live the American Dream? Money is actually the only thing that Gatsby had a lot of. Jay Gatsby tries to live the life of The American Dream, but fails in his battle.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From his early years Gatsby has his eye one Daisy and throughout his life he is deeply in love with her, but he never marries or even has a life with her. Another one of Gatsby’s goals in life was to be an extremely successful, just like his model Dan Cody, but that plan ends up failing as well. As a part of what Dan Cody taught him, Gatsby attempted to go into business with a man named Meyer Wolfsheim, but failed at that also. For such a long time Gatsby has had his eye on Daisy and has been in love with her, but this does not develop. Gatsby has always gazed at the green light on Daisy’s porch. Jordan Baker says, â€Å"Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be across the bay.† The color green is traditionally a symbol of hop and youth and that is what Gatsby is hoping to find beyond it. When Gatsby and Daisy meet, he tells her about how he has watched the green light that burns at the end of her dock. For so long that light has been a symbol of his dream, of something he has wanted more than life itself. Gazing at it so much, Gatsby must have believed that if he could only have Daisy he would be eternally happy. In chapter four he suddenly has her and the light is just a light again. It doesn’t seem that Daisy could ever be as wonderful as Gatsby’s dream of her. Dreams, sadly for Gatsby are most often longed for rather than made a reality. Gatsby never ends up getting with Daisy his shining star in life, much of what he lived for.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In his younger years, Gatsby worked on the south shore of Lake Superior earning room and board by digging clams and fishing for salmon. One day he saw the beautiful yacht of the millionaire Dan Cody and borrowe... ..., D. Melvin. 1992. Response of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alfalfa Cultivans to Salinity During Germination and Post-Germination Growth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Crop Science 32(4): 976. Bliquees, Gul. 1999. Effect of salinity. light, and temperature on germination in   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Allenrolfea occidentalis. Canadian Journal of Botany 77(2): 240-247. Foderano, Margaret and I.A. Ungar. 1997. Growth and survival of polygonum aviculare   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  L. at a brine-contaminated site in Southeastern Ohio. The American Midland   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Naturalist 138(1): 140-152. Mills A H., J. B. Jones , K. H Tan, L. S Hardnan. 1997. Salts and Plant Nutrition.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Journal of Plant Nutrition 22(12): 1905-1920. Poljahoff-Mayler, A., G.F. Somers, E. Werker, J.L. Gallager. 1994. Seeds of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kostelstzlsya virginica: Germination and salt tolerance. American Journal of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Botany 81(1): 54. Ungar, I. A. 1996. Effect of salinity on seed germination, growth, and ion accumulation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  of Atrplex patula. American Journal of Botany 83(5): 60-65.

Bill Clinton: Rhetorical Settings, Strategies, and Paradoxical Popular

Bill Clinton: Rhetorical Settings, Strategies, and Paradoxical Popularity Everyone knows what he did with Monica Lewinsky. They watched him shake his finger and lie to their face on national television. They heard his promise to be forthcoming with the truth, and head about how he patiently hair-split his way through four hours of grand jury testimony. Why is he still here? The answer lies in a combination of Clinton’s rhetorical strategy and extrinsic circumstances. Bill Clinton’s rhetoric is two-fold. His problem is unique in that he must communicate in two different forums–in a public context to the American people and in a legal context to the House and Senate. This presents some unique problems. Although the two arenas are different, they are mixed–what the President says publicly can be held against him legally, and what he says in court is presented to the public through the media. Clinton’s challenge is to develop rhetoric that is optimum for the arena it is delivered in, but compatible with the other arena’s rhetoric as well. In both situations, Clinton is always in control of what he is saying; neither reporters nor jurors can put him on the run, or catch him in a misunderstanding he cannot adequately explain, refute, or deny. Although the tone of his public and legal rhetoric sometimes conflict, they are effective nonetheless. We will begin by examining his public rhetoric. The purpose of Clinton’s public rhetoric is to win the support of the American people, relative to the Republicans and the Independent Counsel. The support of the people will ensure the eventual cooperation of the House and Senate–who are directly responsible to the public for their jobs. Because Clinton is speaking to a broad and... ...tp://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/resources/1998/clinton.jones/ C-SPAN Website http://www.c-span.org/guide/executive/investigation/articles.htm C-SPAN: President Clinton’s Testimony: Text http://www.c-span.org/guide/executive/investigation/video_text/ C-SPAN: Presidential Testimony http://www.c-span.org/guide/executive/investigation/0998.asp#gj1 C-SPAN: 81 Questions to the President http://www.c-span.org/guide/executive/investigation/clinton112798.htm C-SPAN: White House Trial Memorandum to the Senate http://www.c-span.org/guide/executive/investigation/whtrialmemorandum.htm Gallup Poll Website http://www.gallup.com/poll/indicators/indmedia.asp http://www.gallup.com/poll/trends/ptopinion.asp http://www.gallup.com/poll/trends/ptrateecon.asp House of Representatives Directory http://clerkweb.house.gov/mbrcmtee/mbrcmtee.htm