Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Bad News Message Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Bad News Message - Assignment Example Our mission is to deliver the best products to our clients and provide them with top of the line after-sales service. It is the practice of our company to grant watch replacement requests from our customers especially if after inspection of our technical department the request is valid and if it is within the warranty period. Unfortunately, we checked our records and found out that your watch was purchased last April 9, 2008; therefore, the three-year warranty has expired last April 9, 2011. All our watches, including the Magnifique 89379 are designed to last to up to an average of 15 years with proper care and maintenance. In as much as we can no longer replace your watch, you may visit the nearest service center and bring your Magnifique. We will be glad to repair it and give you a 12% discount on labor charges. Our technical department will be happy to assist you. They will give you free advice on the proper handling and maintenance of your watch to make it last for at least 15 years and

Monday, October 28, 2019

French influence in Vietnam in the 19th century Essay Example for Free

French influence in Vietnam in the 19th century Essay In the 19th century, the French had a great influence in Vietnam in different aspects including; culture, religion, ethics, economy, politics and government and nationalistic aspirations of the Vietnamese. The French ruled Vietnam from approximately mid-late 1800s until 1954 when Vietnam defeated the French. According by Edward Terry on the geocities website, the greatest influence in Vietnam was that of religion. Others may think differently, but this essay will explain how all different aspects had an impact on Vietnam and whether or not the French had a good or bad influence in Vietnam. According to the textbook Contested Spaces by Thomas Cantwell, French colonialism had a negative influence on Vietnamese society. The French had a huge impact on the Vietnamese culture. French culture strongly influenced Vietnamese food, language, some architecture etc. The French cuisine had a great influence in Vietnam as you can still find asparagus, white potato and French bread on menus in Vietnam. A Vietnamese breakfast would be a baguette, yogurt and orange juice, which are all typical French items. In the South, the influence was the greatest, so these things are most often found in southern Vietnam. Before the French came, the Vietnamese used Chinese characters but French missionaries introduced the Latin alphabet to replace that. The Vietnamese written language doesnt only use 26 characters like the English language, but many different with different accents. Actual Vietnamese words were hardly influenced by the French and it could be said that in the 19th century, the Vietnamese spoken language sounded just like the Chinese spoken language to people who couldnt tell the difference. Even though the French language didnt have a great impact on the Vietnamese spoken language, many well educated Vietnamese speak French. The French influence in Vietnamese culture wasnt particularly bad or good. Even though, some may argue otherwise. Vietnamese architecture wasnt influenced strongly by the French but in the main cities such as Hanoi there can still be found the remnants of old French buildings. The French occupied the city so the majority of the buildings in the center like government buildings, offices, opera houses and big lodges were all made by the French. As said before, some argue that the biggest influence the French had in Vietnam was that of religion. The Socià ©tà © des Missions Étrangeres (The society of foreign missionaries) claims that up until the year of 1841, 450 000 Vietnamese had changed their religion to Christianity. However, those statistics arent very reliable, because during the progress they might have killed twice as many people as that. Having said that, even up to today, Catholicism is the second most practised religion (after Buddhism) in Vietnam. Therefore there can be said that religion was one of the biggest influences the French had in Vietnam. Vietnamese moral and ethical values were mostly influenced by the Chinese and the French didnt have a great influence on Vietnamese ethics. The French might have brought in some Europeans habits, but the majority of the Vietnamese lived by Chinese ethics. The French also had a great impact on the Vietnamese economy. The French opened banks in Vietnam but only to the benefit of the French. Looking at the economic influences the French had on Vietnam there can be said it was a bad influence for Vietnamese people. The French also introduced a wine tax in 1817 and since the national drink of Vietnam was rice wine, this had a great impact on the Vietnamese people. They controlled the rice wine manufacture, distribution and sale in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Local production was illegal. Salt was also very important product to the Vietnamese. In 1897 Governor General Paul Doumer also introduced a salt tax. Salt could only be purchased from French outlets with a price 10 times larger than its original price. The French also took opium from Asia and introduced it in Europe. They started trading and by 1929 the whole of Indochina was producing approximately 80 tonnes of opium yearly. All of these things influenced the economy because there was more trading and people had to pay a lot of taxes on things that were free before. Looking at all of these things there can be said that the French did have a negative influence on the Vietnamese economy. The French obviously had an effect on the Vietnamese government because they were ruling the Vietnamese. When they first arrived in Vietnam, they divided  it in three different parts called; Bac Ky (Tonkin), Trung Ky (Annam) and Nam Ky (Cochin china), so they could gain control over each part at a time. While the French were in Vietnam the emperor remained a figure head with no real power. He could practice his activities with his court and initiated laws, and conducted ceremonies as long as they didnt clash with the French policies and intentions. The French were in control over the government and therefore also the politics. As said before they introduced more taxes and with these taxes came new laws. According to the book: A short history of South east Asia by Church P., the Vietnamese imperial government had lost all capacity to control events. Another thing that changed while the French were in Vietnam was that the Vietnamese became more nationalistic. The Vietnamese wanted independence from the French and had a very nationalistic attitude. The French being in Vietnam also started guerrilla warfare. The Vietnamese stood up against the French. Guerrilla warfare isnt supported by the official military of the government but can be very organized. The French being in Vietnam flamed up their nationalistic aspirations. There can be concluded that the French had a huge impact and influence in Vietnam on all different aspects of live and the country. In conclusion from analyzing these different things there can be said that the French mainly had a negative influence in Vietnam. Bibliography: http://www.geocities.com/vietnamrp/french_influence.htm by Edward Terryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Vietnamhttp://www.asian-nation.org/vietnam-history.shtmlhttp://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/World-Leaders-2003/Vietnam-POLITICAL-BACKGROUND.htmlThomas Cantwell, Contested spaces Conflict in Indochina. McGraw Hill education, first edition 2003, NSW. Church P. 2006, A short history of South East Asia, John Wiley Sons, Singapore.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

So, How Smart are you? :: Narrative Intelligence Education Essays

So, How Smart are you? If I could give you anything†¦anything you wanted at all, what would it be? For many, the immediate response is: â€Å"I want to be smarter!!!† Why smarter? If you are very smart, what do you do with all this smartness? Is there such a thing as being too smart? My younger brother, Ian, is a fourteen-year-old junior in high school. Clearly precocious for his age and stature, there are many who envy his ability and talent to understand academic concepts with relative ease. At this tender age, where most fourteen-year-olds are simply entering high school and trying to adapt to their awkward teenage bodies, my little brother is tackling the challenges of college applications, refining his resume, and perfecting his standardized test scores. His schoolmates joke with him about being younger than everyone else in his grade and about entering college at the age of sixteen without knowing how to drive. There was even talk about how he was going to get to the prom: Would his date have to drive him? Although these events seem superficially comical, one must look at the repercussions of always being seen as â€Å"the little kid in class†. I wonder if there is a true solution to this situation. At a young age my brother demonstrated great skill and adeptness for understanding. Enrolled in a Montesorri preparatory school where students were encouraged to learn at their own pace, Ian was reading and doing long division in kindergarten. Later that year, when my family moved, my brother and I were transferred to another school system. Ian was placed in a kindergarten class filled with five-year-olds and it was clear he did not fit in. Finishing the assigned work within 15 minutes, he sat around fidgeting and causing trouble. The teacher, already overwhelmed with too many students, did not know how to handle the situation and sent him to the principal’s office. Faced with this dilemma, the principal offered my parents the option for Ian to test out of successive grades until we determined which academic level was appropriate for him. My brother took the exams and tested out of kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd g rade.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Compensation – Incentive vs Bonus

A bonus plan is one where the bonus is awarded after the fact and typically has very little or no incentive value. The employees typically come to see it as an entitlement. An incentive plan is a variable pay plan that is tied to some level of performance. The employee is rewarded with a payment that is predefined and non discretionary. The reward is paid when actual performance meets or exceeds predefined goals. incentive| Any form of variable payment tied to performance. The payment may be a monetary award, such as cash or equity, or a nonmonetary award, such as merchandise or travel.Incentives are contrasted with bonuses in that performance goals for incentives are predetermined. Generally nondiscretionary and can be paid at any time of the year| bonus| An after-the-fact reward or payment (may be either discretionary or nondiscretionary) based on the performance of an individual, a group of workers operating as a unit, a division or business unit, or an entire workforce. Payments may be made in cash, shares, share options or other items of value. In the context of sales compensation, a defined, pre-established amount of money to be earned for achieving a specified performance goal.Planned bonus amounts commonly are expressed as a percent of the incumbent's base salary, salary range midpoint, percentage of target cash compensation or incentive compensation, or a defined dollar amount. See also discretionary and nondiscretionary bonus| Bonus versus Incentive – What is the Difference? Here is how our Glossary defines them:Incentive:  Ã‚  Additional pay (above and beyond the base salary or wage) awarded to an employee, such as stock options or a contingent bonus plan, that is ‘forward looking'. Bonus:  Ã‚  Plans that award cash or other items of value, such as stock (or stock options), based on accomplishments achieved.While incentive plans are ‘forward' looking' bonus plans are ‘backward looking'. An incentive that is dangled to ent ice certain behaviors may include cash or prizes or perquisites or anything that activates the motivations of the performers. A bonus is â€Å"something extra† which is usually cash and is always non-guaranteed. The two terms can obviously overlap:   job security in unsettled times can be an incentive for some people to work harder, while a contingent bonus premised on specific outcome results can also be an incentive to achieve those objectives.Cash dropped from the sky as a surprise is generally not considered â€Å"incentive† pay although such bonus gifts have disproportionately strong motivational effects, because the reward was not pre-announced and thus could not entice behavior changes. | Even though Frank and Jim have provided excellent definitions that  draw a distinction between the two terms, I'm sure that they will agree that there is a lot of inconsistency in the use of those terms across business, and even across the compensation profession. Always lo ok for the context that the terms are used in whatever you read or hear. Yep. Like you said, Paul. Term usages vary tremendously between enterprises, industries  and sometimes between applications. As an extreme example, when I'm in meetings and someone says â€Å"comp†, I frequently have to confirm understanding and must ask if they are referring to * compensation (WorldAtWork) * comprehensive (municipal) * complimentary (gambing) * computation (math)Back in The Day, I spent a lot of time translating terms like these and  performance  reviewand such things between disparte audiences who both meant and understood different things from the terms. In the context of sales compensation, WorldatWork defines a â€Å"bonus† primarily in contrast to a â€Å"commission. † In both cases in sales compensation, the reward is generally known in advance and offered for achieving a goal which also generally known in advance. The difference is that the â€Å"commissionâ €  is communicated as a â€Å"piece of the action† (e. g. , 2% of revenue, $5 per unit, 6% of margin dollars); whereas a â€Å"bonus† is a fixed incentive amount offered for achieving a specific objective, often with less offered for lower achievement levels and more for higher levels.Most of the time, the amount of the commission at goal (or â€Å"quota†) is high if the quota is higher – so if one sales person has a $1M quota and another has a $1. 5M quota, then one has a target commission that is 150% that of the other. Whereas in a â€Å"bonus† world, the target incentive is fixed for the role (e. g. , $40k per year) and is paid for hitting quota, which may vary from one person to the next.Of course there are myriad nuances and variations, including the possibility of â€Å"personal commission rates† which communicate a [email  protected] â€Å"bonus† as if it were a [email  protected] â€Å"commission,† etc. But that gets at the gist of it. All that said, I do have a current client with a business that is very weather-dependent (agrichemicals), to the extent that performance of the sales people can only be assessed retrospectively – did they create value for the company, sell well, cement relationships with customers, and achieve solid results given the opportunities that came their way during the year?Because the business itself is so volatile, the sales person's compensation must be less incentive-rich at target than most in similar roles, and performance can only be evaluated fairly in retrospect. However, this is only noteworthy because it is so highly unusual. Wherever possible (and it usually is possible), sales people have clear financial goals with formulaic compensation opportunities tied to how well they do against those goals. | |

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Leg Ulcers

Chapter One *A Brief Overview of a Venous Leg Ulcer *and the Assessment Process The nurse must have the skills and knowledge to identify a venous leg ulcer. Dowsett (2005) believes that it is important that nurses and other health care professionals look for the underlying cause of an ulcer. Whereas, the Royal College of Nursing (1998) has different views, and argues that, professionals who are fully trained in leg ulcer management should only be able to identify an underlying cause as it is easily mistaken that diagnosis of an arterial leg ulcer is made rather than venous which could cause serious treatment complications for the wound as well as the patient. There are major problems associated with a venous leg ulcer such as, pain, loss of mobility, financial implications and much more which will be discussed in chapter 3. Leg ulcers appear as shallow holes or craters in which the tissue underneath is exposed. They can vary in size, discolouration and depth (National Health Service Direct 2008) (NHS). The clinical factors of a venous leg ulcer are, lipodermatosclerosis (champagne bottle shaped leg) ,which is cellulites affecting the dermis and subcutaneous tissue (Finlay & Chowdhery, 2007), hyperpigmentation, derived red blood cells extravagated from dilated, leaky capillaries which produces areas of brown discolouration (Brown & Burns, 2007). Atrophic Blanche, where interspersed by visible engorged capillaries seen as tiny red dots just below the surface of the skin (Moffat et al, 2007). However before looking at the patients wound it is the nurses role to look at the patient holistically and find out past medical and family history as well as personal factor that could contribute to the condition (Moffat et al, 2007). There are essential details that the patient can tell the nurse about their ulcer and the factors that may contribute to this. Such factors are their full medical history these details should include varicose veins, diabetes, Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), previous leg surgery and any family history of leg ulceration (Dougherty and Lister 2004). The importance of this is that if a leg ulcer is diagnosed incorrectly, such as a venous ulcer being mistakenly diagnosed as an arterial one can have serious complications for the patient and causing further delays in the healing of the wound. Also the nurse must undertake baseline observations this includes, the patient’s weight, height, blood pressure (BP), oxygen saturations levels, temperature nd respiratory rate, and also the patient’s nutritional intake, urine samples and routine blood tests such as glucose and haemoglobin levels must be gained, as diabetes is present in approximately 5% of patients with leg ulcer (SIGN 1998). Murray (2004) also agrees with Dougherty & Lister (2004) & Bolton et al (2004) stating that that hyperglycaemia can have an e ffect in the wound healing process, as this can be linked with infection and decreased oxygen levels in the haemoglobin will slow down the healing process and go onto starve tissue. These factors are important to know as it plays a big part in the wound healing process. In clinical practice thesebasic observations are a vital part of information gained to ensure safer patient care and early recognition of deterioration. The key factor in order to gain a thorough assessment it is essential that the nurse must have is communication and listening skills not only for this purpose but also for a nurse patient relationship. Dealey, (1994) believes that fear is one of the most common experiences a human can feel and a patients illness release many fears, in which health care professionals are unable to identify when not allowing the patient to express their needs freely. If the patient has a full understanding of their condition they are more likely to comply with treatment regimes and have a more productive relationship with healthcare professional’s (Anderson 2006). The RCN (2008) states, that the nurse-patient relationship is founded on trust. The nurse patient relationship allows the conversation to flow easy in order to gain a holistic approach to the patients care. The Code (2008) also agrees that as nurses ‘we must listen to people in our care and respond to their concerns and preferences’. Much research has taken place regarding nurse patient relationships, McCabe (2002) carried out a study which aimed to explore and produce statements relating to the patients experiences of how nurses communicate. A qualitative phenomenological approach was used. This focuses on individual’s interpretations of experiences and ways in which they express them (Parahoo 1997), followed by unstructured questionnaires which were tape recorded and lasted for approximately thirty minutes. The results found that four themes emerged, these were, lack of communication, ‘attending’, empathy and friendly nurses. Therefore the conclusions were that in contrast to the literature, nurses are not good at communicating with patients, however nurses can communicate well if the task undertaken was a patient centred approach. Although research has taken place the limitations were that only eight patients participated, therefore this could reduce the validity and reliability of the study. Also with such a small sample the study could be used as a pilot study which could be replicated in the UK as this study was undertook in Ireland.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Gambling essays

Gambling essays Have you ever felt remorse after gambling? Has gambling affected your reputation? Do you often gamble until your last dollar is gone? Do you ever borrow to finance your gambling? After a win do you have a strong urge to return and win more? A compulsive gambler will often reply yes to most of these questions, but many simply wont admit the fact that they have a problem. Admitting that their behaviour is compulsive is like accepting defeat. Gamblers spend most of their time trying to win, so giving in doesn ¡t come easy. Gambling has been seen as a problem in society, ever since it was made legal in Nevada and Atlantic City in 1976. Since then, pro-gambling lobbyists have fought to get a form of legalized gambling in every state, but the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling has prevailed. In 1987 however, the Supreme Court ruled that Native Americans, who are without state regulation, could offer legal gambling far outside Indian reservations. This decision has contributed to the rising numbers of compulsive gamblers in many states. More than 6% of adult gamblers are now considered to be addicted, and the numbers are continuing to grow. At present, Americans will wager over 550 billion dollars a year, a! 3,200% increase since 1976. Solutions to this problem are beginning to come forward, much to the gambling industry ¡s dislike, as the four percent of pathological gamblers may account for as much as 52% of an average casino ¡s The causes of compulsive gambling are similar to those which alcoholics and drug addicts encounter. Compulsive gamblers are preoccupied with seeking out gambling and gamble longer than intended, and with more money than intended. There is also the equivalent of  ¡tolerance ¡ when gamblers have to increase the size of their bets or the odds against them in order to create the desired amount of excitement. (Lesieur 2)  ¡The cause of the addicti...

Monday, October 21, 2019

Panama Or Bust essays

Panama Or Bust essays The story opens with a scene of moving traffic. It is an over head view of both ways of traffic. The sun is almost down and the headlights of the cars are on. The scene switches to the inside of one of the cars where 5 young girls sit. The girls are all wearing shorts, t-shirts and flip flops. ( It is the middle of March in Northeast Ohio) The music is really loud and they are all singing.... ice, ice baby, too cold, too cold. They sing and laugh listening to music that was once popular not to long ago. The driver of the car, KERRY PRESTON, is in control of the radio. It is her car that the girls are using for their road trip. They drive through the rest of the night talking and telling secrets to each other. It appears to the audience that the group of girls are good friends that get along great. At around midnight they decide to get off the exit and switch drivers. At the gas station they all get out and use the restroom and get some caffeine for the rest of the trip. Kerry and EMI LY DARROW head straight for the cappuccino machine. As Kerry is filling up her cappuccino, the nozzle pops off and cappuccino goes spraying all over Emily. The other three girls, Erica, Melissa and Crystal, hear Emily screaming and come around the corner to see what has happened. They all stand there with their mouths dropped to the ground as they stare at Emily covered in brown, steamy liquid. Emily stands there almost shocked and then begins to shout at Kerry right in the middle of the gas station. Everyone is looking at them. She storms out of the gas station and gets back into the car. They all get back into the car and Emily is behind the wheel. She is going to be the next driver. The girls all get back into the car and sit in silence for the next two hours. Emily is driving erratically, taking fast turns and weaving in and out of traffic. Kerry keeps making remarks to Emily about the way she was driving. The girls hold on to the ...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Common Stereotypes About Africa

Common Stereotypes About Africa In the 21st century, there’s never been more focus on Africa than now. Thanks to the revolutions sweeping through North Africa and the Middle East, Africa has the world’s attention. But just because all eyes happen to be on Africa at the moment doesn’t mean myths about this part of the world have been dispelled. Despite the intense interest in Africa today, racial stereotypes about it persist. Do you have any misperceptions about Africa? This list of common myths about Africa aims to clear them up. Africa Is a Country What’s the No. 1 stereotype about Africa? Arguably, the biggest stereotype is that Africa’s not a continent, but a country. Ever hear someone refer to African food or African art or even the African language? Such individuals have no idea that Africa’s the second largest continent in the world. Instead, they view it as a tiny country with no distinct traditions, cultures or ethnic groups. They fail to realize that referring to, say, African food sounds just as odd as referring to North American food or the North American language or the North American people. Africa’s home to 53 countries, including island nations along the continent’s coast. These countries contain diverse groups of people who speak a variety of languages and practice a wide range of customs. Take Nigeria- Africa’s most populous country. Among the nation’s population of 152 million, more than 250 distinct ethnic groups live. While English is the former British colonys official language, the dialects of ethnic groups indigenous to the West African nation, such as Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo, are commonly spoken as well. To boot, Nigerians practice Christianity, Islam and indigenous religions. So much for the myth that all Africans are alike. The most populated nation on the continent certainly proves otherwise. All Africans Look the Same If you turn to popular culture for images of people on the African continent, you’re likely to notice a pattern. Time and time again, Africans are depicted as if they’re one and the same. You’ll see Africans portrayed wearing face paint and animal print and all with nearly pitch black skin. The controversy surrounding singer Beyonce Knowles’ decision to don black face for French magazine L’Officiel is a case in point. In a photo shoot for the magazine described as â€Å"a return to her African roots,† Knowles darkened her skin to a deep brown, wore splotches of blue and beige paint on her cheekbones and leopard print clothing, not to mention a necklace made out of bone-like material. The fashion spread sparked public outcry for a number of reasons. For one, Knowles portrays no particular African ethnic group in the spread, so which roots did she pay tribute to during the shoot? The generic African heritage L’Officiel claims Knowles honors in the spread really just amounts to racial stereotyping. Do some groups in Africa wear face paint? Sure, but not all do. And the leopard print clothing? That’s not a look favored by indigenous African groups. It simply highlights that the Western world commonly views Africans as tribal and untamed. As for the skin-darkening- Africans, even sub-Saharan ones, have a range of skin tones, hair textures, and other physical traits. This is why some people pegged L’Officiel’s decision to darken Knowles’ skin for the shoot unnecessary. After all, not every African is black-skinned. As Dodai Stewart of Jezebel.com put it: â€Å"When you paint your face darker in order to look more ‘African,’ aren’t you reducing an entire continent, full of different nations, tribes, cultures, and histories, into one brown color?† Egypt Isn’t Part of Africa Geographically, there’s no question: Egypt sits squarely in Northeast Africa. Specifically, it borders Libya to the West, Sudan to the South, the Mediterranean Sea to the North, the Red Sea to the East and Israel and the Gaza Strip to the Northeast. Despite its location, Egypt is often not described as an African nation, but as Middle Eastern- the region where Europe, Africa, and Asia meet. This omission stems mostly from the fact that Egypt’s population of more than 80 million is heavily Arab- with up to 100,000 Nubians in the South- a drastic difference from the population of sub-Saharan Africa. Complicating matters is that Arabs tend to be classified as Caucasian. According to scientific research, the ancient Egyptians- known for their pyramids and sophisticated civilization- were neither European nor sub-Saharan African biologically, but a genetically distinct group. In one study cited by John H. Relethford in the Fundamentals of Biological Anthropology, ancient skulls belonging to populations from sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, the Far East and Australia were compared to determine the racial origin of ancient Egyptians. If Egyptians did indeed originate in Europe, their skull samples would closely match those of ancient Europeans. Researchers found, however, that this wasn’t the case. But the Egyptian skull samples weren’t similar to those of sub-Saharan Africans either. Rather, â€Å"the ancient Egyptians are Egyptian,† Relethford writes. In other words, Egyptians are an ethnically unique people. These people happen to be situated on the African continent, though. Their existence reveals Africa’s diversity. Africa Is All Jungle Never mind that the Sahara Desert makes up one-third of Africa. Thanks to Tarzan films and other cinematic portrayals of Africa, many mistakenly believe that jungle occupies most of the continent and that ferocious beasts roam its entire landscape. Black activist Malcolm X, who visited several African countries before his assassination in 1965, took issue with this depiction. He not only discussed Western stereotypes of Africa but also how such stereotypes resulted in black Americans distancing themselves from the continent. â€Å"They always project Africa in a negative light: jungle savages, cannibals, nothing civilized,† he  pointed out. In reality, Africa houses  a wide range of vegetation zones. Only a small portion of the continent includes jungle or rainforests. These tropical areas are located along the Guinea Coast and in the Zaire River Basin. Africa’s largest vegetation zone is actually savanna or tropical grassland. Moreover, Africa’s home to urban centers with populations in the multimillions, including Cairo, Egypt; Lagos, Nigeria; and Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. By 2025, more than half of the African population will reside in cities, according to  some estimates. Black American Slaves Came From All Over Africa Largely due to the misconception that Africa’s a country, it’s not uncommon for people to assume that black Americans have ancestors from all over the continent. In reality, the slaves traded throughout the Americas originated specifically along Africa’s western coast. For the first time, Portuguese sailors who’d previously traveled to Africa for gold returned to Europe with 10 African slaves in 1442, PBS  reports. Four decades later, the Portuguese built a trading post on the Guinean shore called Elmina, or â€Å"the mine† in Portuguese. There, gold, ivory, and other goods were traded along with African slaves- exported for weapons, mirrors, and cloth, to name a few. Before long, Dutch and English ships began arriving at Elmina for African slaves as well. By 1619, Europeans had forced a million slaves into the Americas. Altogether, 10 to 12 million Africans were forced into servitude in the New World. These Africans were â€Å"either captured in warring raids or kidnapped and taken to the port by African slave traders,† PBS notes. Yes, West Africans played a key role in the transatlantic slave trade. For these Africans, slavery was nothing new, but African slavery in no way resembled North and South American slavery. In his book, the  African Slave Trade, Basil Davidson likens slavery on the African continent to European serfdom. Take the Ashanti Kingdom of West Africa, where â€Å"slaves could marry, own property and even own slaves,† PBS explains. Slaves in the United States enjoyed no such privileges. Moreover, while slavery in the U.S. was linked to skin color- with blacks as servants and whites as masters- racism was not the impetus for slavery in Africa. Plus, like indentured servants, slaves in Africa were typically released from bondage after a set amount of time. Accordingly, slavery in Africa never lasted across generations. Wrapping Up Many myths  about Africa date back centuries. In the modern day, new stereotypes about the continent have emerged. Thanks to a sensationalistic news media, people worldwide associate Africa with famine, war, AIDS, poverty and political corruption. This isn’t to say that such problems don’t exist in Africa. Of course, they do. But even in a nation as wealthy as the United States, hunger, abuse of power and chronic illness factor into everyday life. While the continent of Africa faces enormous challenges, not every African is in need, nor is every African nation in crisis. Source Relethford, John. Fundamentals of Biological Anthropology. 2 edition, McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, October 18, 1996.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Wal-Mart Information Technology Company Analysis Research Paper

Wal-Mart Information Technology Company Analysis - Research Paper Example Wal-Mart owes much of its success to the early adoption of an Information Technology as compared to its competitors. The store has continually evolved to adapt to changing market needs through enhancing its Information Technology strategy. This has given it a competitive edge over other retailers by enabling it to price its products more competitively. Information Technology use by Wal-Mart continues to enhance its market leadership and dominance. 2.0 Information Technology characteristics and dynamics of Wal-Mart Despite of Wal-Mart’s large size, it has one centralized information system that is developed internally giving it much advantage in operations that enables it price its products competitively in comparison to other retailers. In 95% of Wal-Mart’s Information Technology endeavors, much of the development is done by internal staff, managing programming and process engineering and not relying on commercial software or outsourcing. The company has also been able to maintain its Information Technology budget at a lower rate than its market competitors. These costs do not grow at a similar rate to sales despite the entire Wal-Mart business model relying heavily on Information Technology. Wal-Mart as a whole relies on information technology to attain its business objectives and meet the needs of its clients (Sullivan, 2004). The information system at Wal-Mart is a centralized system that manages supplier and consumer data all in one avenue. The centralized system analyzes data from Wal-Mart’s Discount stores, Supercenters, Sam’s clubs, Neighborhood markets and world wide stores from one location. The Information Technology staffs concentrate on building software for all its systems, both at home and in international markets. As a result, any new code affects the global operations of the entire retail store. This leverages the Information technology efforts resulting into massive savings in investments in the department (Sullivan, 2004). Wal-Mart’s system enables it capture all of a day’s sales and product information in real time from all of its global operations. This information is instrumental in making timely decisions as regards sales of particular products. The information is also used by buyers to make buy decisions that eventually affect Wal-Mart’s sales. Availing real time data is one of Wal-Mart’s Information System’s hallmarks. This information enables decision makers at Wal-Mart to act fast and decisively and to take immediate corrective measures where a problem is noticed. This has worked to enhance Wal-Mart’s market leadership over the competition (Sullivan, 2004). Wal-Mart also seeks to synchronize its online operations as well. This it will be achieved through the synchronization of its online sites such as walmart.com, samsclub.com, asda.com, walmartmexico.com.mx. Such synchronization will result in similar efficiencies as those experienced through the centralization of the brick and mortar stores operational information. The platform to host this system will be scalable, Java based and running on IBM’s WebSphere and Informix database. The aim of this is to achieve efficiencies in growth and enhance scalability with the ultimate goal of cost effectiveness that translates to more affordable products for the final consumers enhancing its market leadership (Sullivan, 2004). One of the more identifiable uses of Information Technology by Wal-Mart is the use of radio frequency identification in tracking stocks.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Week 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Week 2 - Essay Example I will also look for conflicts of interest within the article to ascertain its relevance to the topic. The above questions will help in critically appraising an article and give me enough evidence to judge whether the articles are fit to be used on the topic (Fineout-Overholt, Melnyk, Stillwell, & Williamson, 2010). There was a clear explanation of the study. The study was done to determine the relationship between the levels of education of nurses, years of work experience and medication errors to guide in the development of methods to reduce the errors. The sample size of the study was 47 BSN registered nurses. There were enough people in the study to establish that the findings were valid. In fact, the results of the study are linked to the surveys that were completed by the 47 participants two of which were discarded because of a lack of inclusion criteria. This research is important for clinical practice because it shows that the level of education and experience affects clinical practice, in this instance, nursing practice (Bailey, Engel, Luescher, & Taylor, 2008). Child abuse and maltreatment is not limited to a particular age and can occur in the infant, toddler, preschool and school age years. In the school-age year’s stage, the types of abuses that such children could face include sexual abuse, physical abuse, such as excessive punishment and emotional abuse, such as child neglect through isolation. The warning signs for child abuse in this age group will include withdrawal, extreme fear and anxiety, lack of concentration, lack of interest, sleeping in class, extreme hunger, malnourishment and physical wounds (Fang, Brown, Florence, & Mercy, 2012). Cultural variations of health practices that can be misidentified as child abuse exist. For instance, in certain cultures, children above 5 years can help in work duties especially if they are boys. In other cultures for instance

Learning activities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Learning activities - Essay Example The Americans public displays of affection are seen as liberated and rude in front of elders of Asian countries like the Philippines. It is in this way that false assumptions are made of cultural differences. While racism seeks to rationally and consciously oust different ethnicities, ethnocentrism is created by enculturation (Patterson 2005). A great disparity occurs because of the presence of ethnocentrism in the minds of individuals. With it comes improper deliverance of health care facilities to members of different races and ethnicities. Health workers, community members and policies are all affected by ethnocentrism which prevents individuals from getting the full benefits of a health care program. Despite all of this, there have been universal standards of right and wrong that are introduced and prevalent in the world today. The ideas of a superior white race during America's colonial times have been replaced with equal systems being created for whites and blacks alike. Thus, with time come change and a greater acceptance of different cultures. 2. There are certain health care jobs that each federal and state government is responsible for providing to the citizens of their country. This includes basic ideas like protecting the health and safety of every individual. The physical and mental health of each citizen has to be recognized and acknowledged through providence of proper food and nutrition along with controlling of diseases and providing for the elderly. But it also includes the measures that must be taken to protect the health of citizens during disasters. This includes providing and realizing the basic health care needs of each individual in a disaster hit area and providing relief medicine and goods accordingly. 3. Don't know 4. Don't know 5. Medicare refers to a social insurance program that is set up by the United States government to provide for the coverage of health insurance to any citizen over the age of sixty five or those who meet the special criteria (Medicare Rights Centre). Operating under a single fund, the doctors and expenses of this insurance program are all funded by the government itself. 6. Medicare is a perfect example of a health policy provided for by a single payer: in this case the government. Thus, living up to the ideals of social liberalism, Medicare provides equally for the patients who fit the required needs. 7. The presence of health care provided according to income is ample proof of an economic liberalism that exists in the United States Module 5 Allied health professionals provide a varied and diverse number of services. The education sought by each of these doctors, the degree of autonomy they have been allowed by the medical establishment that employs them and the regulations that have been set out to control their practices are all varied and different from professional to professional. However, there are a number of similarities between them. Emerging from the same history and evolutionary path, the creation of the autonomy is distinctly similar. Cost effective strategies have forced tremendous

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Guerrilla Marketing An alternative to classical marketing instruments Essay

Guerrilla Marketing An alternative to classical marketing instruments - Essay Example The difficulty with these traditional tools for marketing lies in areas of cost, as these are often expensive campaigns which require the efforts of internal and external expertise in order to make these campaigns bring a positive return on investment. For the smaller to mid-sized company, sometimes the classical marketing efforts are just too expensive to launch successfully without straining the brand budget. The purpose of this proposed research project is to investigate whether or not guerrilla marketing is more effective than other traditional methods for building rapid consumer interest. It has already been established that the costs of classical marketing instruments are sometimes just too high for the smaller business and these companies, in order to compete with larger and more budget-capable competitors, these brands require low-cost efforts to build stronger presence in their consumer target markets. Since it is completely unclear whether or not guerrilla marketing has the potential to bring better results than more costly and complicated marketing campaigns, it is important to identify different methods in which guerrilla marketing can and should be used to bring better results in consumer sales. Guerrilla marketing, best defined as a rather unconventional and innovative marketing technique which gathers consumers’ attention in unusual ways, is a new type of marketing which is becoming commonplace in today’s businesses, especially those with smaller marketing budgets. Guerrilla marketing is a more direct, in-your-face type of marketing which attracts rapid attention from desired consumer target audiences and uses tactics which create connection through lifestyle or personal consumer interests. For example, the Pepsi-Cola company conducted research among Hispanics and discovered that this group was drawn by colas with a cherry flavouring and product brand names whi ch are catchy and rememberable. The results

The role of Tropomyosin in Zebrafish development Dissertation

The role of Tropomyosin in Zebrafish development - Dissertation Example Tropomyosin is a long protein strand composed of two fully alpha helical chains in a coiled-coil dimmer, and binds along the length of the actin filament. It is also bound to bead-like protein complex, troponin, in which, together, they regulate the actin-myosin interactions in muscle contraction† (Biology Online). They are the one moving the actin filament through generating force by elongating one end of the filament coupled with shrinkage of the other, causing net movement of the intervening strand. And as actin filaments are moved, they act like a molecular switch for the movement of myosin molecules that are attach to the actin filaments and walks along them. Then cell division and morphing follows. Thus, Tropomyosin plays a significant role in cell morphology, as well as cell division, size and shape. Zebrafish is mostly used as model for researches. They have a number of unique characteristics that makes it a fantastic species for investigating vertebrate development and for modelling human disease, genetics and biology. However, they also have disadvantages. Advantages:1.Inexpensive.2.The embryos are transparent.3The embryos develop quickly; they go from a single cell to something that is recognisable as a tiny fish for within 24 hours. A mouse takes 21 days.4.The embryos can be physically manipulated genetically. You can transplant a single cell or group of cells into host embryos.5. The eggs are externally fertilised; embryos develop outside the mother’s body... The government is willing to fund zebrafish researchers and provide screening tools which will dramatically advance the ability to detect and characterise genes, pathways and phenotypes of interest for aging, development, organ formation, sensory processes, disease processes, and other areas. For they believe that results could be studied for the cure of some human diseases could also be made. It is likely that blood function and heart development in zebrafish are similar to humans. Some mutations on zebrafish embryos might mimic human syndromes, understanding them will provide us valuable insight as to the underlying problem. Such an understanding may lead to new treatments. That is why the government encourages and is willing to fund investigator-initiated applications designed to exploit the power of the zebrafish as a vertebrate model for biomedical and behavioral research. Reseach Methods. Tropomyosin (Tpm) proteins, encoded by four Tpm genes (Tpm1–4), are associated with the stabilization of the F-actin filaments and play important roles in modulating muscle contraction. So far, little is known about Tpm4 function in embryonic heart development and its involvement in the cardiovascular diseases. Study the functions of different isoforms of tpm4 in embryonic heartbeat in zebrafish. Generate a transgenic zebrafish line by insertion of a Tol2 transposon gene trap vector. Observe by transmission electron microscopy to reveal the ventricular myocytes of mutant fish contained. Study if Tpm1-4 would be stable for a zebrafish. 1. Fish and gene trapping. 2. TAIL-PCR, RT-PCR, and tpm4 cDNA cloning. 3. Whole-mount in situ hybridisation, mopholinos, microinjection and genotyping. 4. Transmission electron microscopy. Cited Works: Zhao, Long, et. Al. Heart

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Guerrilla Marketing An alternative to classical marketing instruments Essay

Guerrilla Marketing An alternative to classical marketing instruments - Essay Example The difficulty with these traditional tools for marketing lies in areas of cost, as these are often expensive campaigns which require the efforts of internal and external expertise in order to make these campaigns bring a positive return on investment. For the smaller to mid-sized company, sometimes the classical marketing efforts are just too expensive to launch successfully without straining the brand budget. The purpose of this proposed research project is to investigate whether or not guerrilla marketing is more effective than other traditional methods for building rapid consumer interest. It has already been established that the costs of classical marketing instruments are sometimes just too high for the smaller business and these companies, in order to compete with larger and more budget-capable competitors, these brands require low-cost efforts to build stronger presence in their consumer target markets. Since it is completely unclear whether or not guerrilla marketing has the potential to bring better results than more costly and complicated marketing campaigns, it is important to identify different methods in which guerrilla marketing can and should be used to bring better results in consumer sales. Guerrilla marketing, best defined as a rather unconventional and innovative marketing technique which gathers consumers’ attention in unusual ways, is a new type of marketing which is becoming commonplace in today’s businesses, especially those with smaller marketing budgets. Guerrilla marketing is a more direct, in-your-face type of marketing which attracts rapid attention from desired consumer target audiences and uses tactics which create connection through lifestyle or personal consumer interests. For example, the Pepsi-Cola company conducted research among Hispanics and discovered that this group was drawn by colas with a cherry flavouring and product brand names whi ch are catchy and rememberable. The results

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

MARKETING PRINCIPLES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

MARKETING PRINCIPLES - Essay Example Take for example the case of Inotada Knife Productions in Sakai-City, Japan. This firm produces extremely high quality, hand made kitchen knives, in very love volume and as such represents a behavioral segmentation. As it is the case that there are many manufacturers of knives across the globe many of which are much cheaper it could be argued that the reasoning behind why a company such as Inotada can stay successful is because the firm focuses on the product and not on marketing or planning. As it is the case that the company is already producing a high quality product in relatively low volumes one could argue that this strategy was already employed by the firm. As highlighted in the case, after PKD was no longer a supplier to major retailers such as Brown Thomas it became the case that the primary delivery method of his product offerings was through cold calling, trade shows, and a small amount of advertising and as a result the majority of his orders are between 300 and 1,500 euros mainly to boutiques. However it is the case that this may exert a greater level of control of PKD over its product offerings it may not be the best method for profitable growth. By ignoring a marketing and planning approach, the company ignores possible cost saving strategies through economies of scale. Furthermore it is the case that PKD means nothing to people who have never heard of the brand as such it may be the case that the company should spend significant efforts at promoting the pr oduct through alternative means. Lastly it is the case that whilst PKD may be ignoring marketing and planning, many of their competitors are not. If it is the case that A Nigella Lawson branded house wares product is of similar quality and price but has a brand that is recognizable to consumers it may ultimately be the preferred choice. Question #2- This answer will ultimately provide

Monday, October 14, 2019

Dbq on Olympic Essay Example for Free

Dbq on Olympic Essay The technology right now allows people from different countries to communicate with each other, by airplane, cellphone, email. However in 1892, such technology did not exist, but people unite in different way – Olympic. It is an athletic game originally held in Greece city states every four years in honor of Zeus, their god. Shaped by many factors; ever since the first modern Olympic start in Athens in 1896 this competition became international celebrated. Such as the countries ‘pride of associate with Olympic, the impact of conflict political view affects the team, the economic opportunities created by the events, and influence of society views on gender role of female. Document 6 and 10 forms a group, because both relate to the pride of countries for being part of Olympic. Document 6 was written by formal Soviet, state the effort of the country make Moscow chosen to stage 1980 Olympic game. It emphasizes the honor of hosting this competition and sees it as acknowledgement to the country ‘greatness. Document 10 was written to express the lack of pride of Pakistan’s Olympic team. It relates their performance to previous team which form at partition era, and state how the current team tarnished the country’s name by their poor achievement at competition. Another group is form by document 3 and 4, these include the effect of political views of countries affect the athletes. In document 3, Nazis would do everything in their power to won Olympic. Not to prove they are better in sport than others, but because they want to demonstrate the whole Nazism was superior that democracy. In document 4 it describe the pressure face by American team in 1952. The presence of Soviet team, the advocate for communism, stresses them. They need to prove democracy was better than communism by defeat the soviet athletes in Olympic. Documents 5 and 7 combined together for the reason that both deal with the financial prospects created by Olympic game. In document 5 the author thanks 1964 Olympic was help in Japan. After WWII the country was at hostile condition, but the power of hosting Olympic made Japan one of a world trade command. In document 7, the writer explain the loss of Korean’s opportunity in Olympic. Even though South Koran was select to stage the game, but none of the Korean company was top sponsor. No matter who earn the trophies at end, corporation sponsor still makes cash. Also document 2 and 8 form a group because it contents the gender role changes over time at Olympic. In document 2, there’s a picture of a woman archer, and it state only two percentage of athlete were female at 1908 competitions. In document 8, after almost hundred years the number of female participant increases to twenty-nine percent. One of the female competitors inspires other woman who has potential to ignore society gender custom and became stronger in mind. In document 1, it explains how Olympic a great beneficial to the world was. It would reduce the chance of war, and gaining allies for peace. The reason for this point of views is because of the author; he stands the founder of modern Olympic movement, so he obviously would write the statement that supports his actions. Document 9 content a graph showing fee pay to Olympic committee for right of broadcast the game. The point of view showing the improvement of Olympic overtime, more people interesting in it cause the fee to increase. It was publish by Olympic committee, so they want other to realize the enhancement of this competition. An additional document that would help me better understand the question is the data showing number of countries attending in each Olympic, accompany by timeline of important historical events. By compare the countries number with history I can find the relationship between it. Such as the low number of countries attend the Moscow Olympic in 1980 was caused by US led boycott to Soviet. Another document that would enhance my knowledge would be the process of chosen hosting country for the game. It would be benefit to know how the country earns the right to stage the game because all the other document did not provide guideline for select the country.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Importance of Having an Inter Professional Team

Importance of Having an Inter Professional Team This essay is meant to throw light on the importance of having an inter professional team that would make the service delivery to patients easier. In this essay I will discuss the roles played by nurses and other professionals in the team. The essay will reflect the efficiency of such a team and their work distribution and involvement. I will highlight the ways in which a team of professionals will work together to take proper decisions during emergency situations and tackle them effectively. The essay will also critically evaluate the various concepts of inter professional team work. An interprofessional team is a group of people who have a certain common goals or objectives which drives them to work together by setting aside individual goals. Inter professional team can be defined as a dynamic process involving two or more health care professionals with complementary backgrounds and skills, sharing common health goals and exercising concerted physical and mental effort in assessing, planning, or evaluating patient care, accomplished through interdependent collaboration, open communication and shared decision-making, and generates value-added patient, organizational and staff outcomes (Xyrichis and Ream 2007). Freeth et al (2005) defined inter professional team work as when two or more professional learn with, from and about each other to improve collaboration and the quality of care. The healthcare sector started showing interest in the interprofessional working during the early 1990. (Institute of Medicine, 1998;ONeil and Pew Health Professions Commission 1998;ÂÂ  Pew Health Professions Commission 1995a,ÂÂ  1995b,ÂÂ  1998). The Association of American Medical Colleges, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing suggested that the graduates must have enough knowledge in interprofessional collaboration (Varkey, Reller, Smith, Ponet, OsbornÂÂ  , 2006). Varkey et.al (2006) also pointed out that there should be enough cooperation between the various professionals in healthcare field for the success of this profession. But unfortunately this fact is not included in the curriculum of the different medical schools in USA. Inter professional teams are more effective in rehabilitating the patients than individual health care professionals. The number of patients having positive impact by the inter professional service is larger than those by individual service providers. A very strategic role played by nurses is highlighted now. The nursing tutors face the dual challenge of preparing their students enter into nursing profession as well as equip them to cooperate effectively with other health practitioners (Lattuca, 200l;ÂÂ  Newell, 1998). An interprofessional team is working to provide service in a properly planned and systematic manner. In the health care sector inter professional teams are meant to develop groups that works towards efficiently rendering care to the patients. These teams include nurses, doctors, and other health care professionals. For a team to be efficient role clarity to inevitable and this will help them define their own duties and responsibilities avoiding conflicts (West and Markiowicz, 2004). A team essentially will have a team leader who will lead the team and motivate them to render good service working together (Martin and Rogers 2004). A health care team will work effectively if there is stability in the team, this will make the team member in the group work with shared trust and understanding (West and Slater (1996); Gair and Hartery, (2001)). Interprofessional teams are of various types, they include multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary etc. In case of multidisciplinary teams the members are from various teams. These members set their own discipline specific goals and work towards achieving it. But ultimately the result is calculated as the total of all the disciplines (Dean and Geiringer 1990). The position of team members in the team hierarchy will affect the way in which the team functions and how it will render the service (Cotts, 1998). In case of a multidisciplinary team there exist subgroups of doctors, social workers, therapists and also subgroups which had nurses and other junior staff. Her study also unveiled the idea that the different subgroups had different perceptions about the inter professional teams. Inter professional team work is highly essential in operation theatres and intensive and trauma care units. Since these are the emergency units of a hospital the situation of such units cannot be predicted and thus highly challenging. The interprofessional team may have to work highly efficiently and together. There exists a high rate of tension and stress in the team members in such emergency situations. According to McWilliam et al (2003), interprofessional working is a very difficult task for health care professionals. The patients didnt get the full benefit of interprofessional working due to the misunderstanding between the health care professionals regarding the policies and procedures in it. Mistreatment of elders is a serious issue and its growing day by day. It is the responsibility of nurses to identify and prevent such occurrences (Baker Heitkemper, 2005). The nurses have a variety of roles to play in an Inter-professional elder mistreatment team. At present the roles involve screening and assessment, mandatory reporting, direct care, and complaint investigation. Elder mistreatment (EM) is a very complicated issue and can be effectively solved through inter-professional association. Critics like Bion (1961) say that the interprofessional teams fail to focus on the real task they should be doing. The primary tasks for which they have come together is forgotten most of the by the interprofessional teams. Whenever there is an issue the teams to fail to reach at a consensus and they do not take proper decisions on the issue (Strokes 1994). The meetings conducted in order to take decision on the matter are just a waste of time. These assumptions are based on the work group mentality theory. Critics of interprofessional team have questioned the values of the team. It is said that the teams are not well managed and they do not work properly and responsibily. Negotiation theory puts forward the perspective of negotiating the personal and professional goals. (Strauss, 1978) The negotiations by professionals in the health care field have played a critical role in molding the characteristics of an interprofessional team. Loss and change theory reiterates that the health care professionals like doctors and nurses lose their professional identity as they are working in a team, this will lead to developing an improper relationship and improper behavior in the team (Atkins, 1998). Thus it critically points to the inter professional teams in that it wouldnt serve the purpose of forming a team the unhappiness of the team members can lead to inefficient functioning. The increase of cost in hospitals will also result if there is lack of proper communication between the professionals like doctors, nurses and staff and also if they are not coordinated well (Gavett, Drucker, McCrum and Dickinson, 1985). The roles played by nurses in the interprofessional teams are fast evolving. The importance of specialist skills for nurses is now recognized and new role have come up. The Macmillan nurse is an example of such new roles and they possess skills in palliative care and are expected to look after patients with terminal illness. Another group called night practitioners literally run the hospitals at night. They are skilled to assist any department and are sometimes considered better than junior doctors too (Martin Rogers, 2004) While working in an interprofessional team, there is an increased chance of conflict between the team members regarding the superiority in the team. The truth is everyone is equal while working in a team and nobody should themselves subordinate to anyone. But sometimes the nurses and their opinions are ignored in an interprofessional team. Such events makes them reluctant to be a part of such teams (Martin Rogers, 2004). Task shifting is a common practice among the professionals now days (Reeves et.al, 2010). This would help the traditional professionals to relieve of their heavy workload. The nursing practitioners and physician assistants are such roles (Hooker McCaig, 2001). The multiplicative effects model of interprofessional working views it more than the sum of its parts. Here the synergy obtained from such work is described (Leathard, 1994). According to this model, interprofessional working improves the contributions of individual team members and thus will help in the overall development of team. Decision making is an essential in ingradient of all teams; it measures the efficiency of the group. Decision making in case of an interprofessional team also play key role deciding its service delivery process. The usual situation that happens in such teams is the unavailability of proper team leader and also reaching at a common consensus. The decision taken in team has the idea input all the members that needs to driven well in one direction for increasing effectiveness of the work the team does. Most of the important decisions concerning the activities of the team are taken mostly by the Doctors, or the medical staff in an inter professional team in hospitals. Solving important problems and resolving conflicts are the aims of masking decisions (Neil, 1978). There are a few hindrances for nurses to be part of interprofessional teams. The health care sector has shortages or less number of nurses, and those nurses who are available have increased amount of work. As a result of which there is a limitation in case of inter professional support and collaboration (Mckay Crippen, 2008). Another barrier that can be highlighted is the disinterest on the part of other departments to participate and actively involve in the team and work together. The culture and hierarchy of the organization also plays a role in the formation of teams in the organization. According to Henneman.et.al (1995) Collaboration involves a partnership characterized by mutual goals and commitments in which participants willingly become involved in planning and decision making. Henneman.et.al (1995) also proposed that collaboration is a process by which members of various disciplines (or agencies) share their expertise. Accomplishing this requires these individuals understand and appreciate what it is that they contribute to the whole. Many authors have suggested ways to make the intercollaboration more effective. According to Fullan (1993), effective collaborations operate in the world of ideas, examining existing practices critically, seeking better alternatives and working hard together at bringing about improvements and assessing their worth.ÂÂ   The National Network for Collaboration (NNC) put forward a frame work for effective collaboration and advocated that it should possess a common vision, problem, a desired outcome etc. NNC also pointed out that the members of the collaboration must share this vision and contribute equally. The NNC sees collaboration as an inclusionary process which should be constantly engaged and must strengthen the commitment and must identify that relationship building and maintaining is the key factor for the success of collaborations and they must try to sustain a win-win relationship. According to Garner (1995) and Hoeman (1996), it should be by means of collaborative communi cation rather than shared communication that the interprofessional team approach evolves. Efforts were made from the part of many authors for increasing the literature on interprofessional education for health professional students. But Cooper, Carlisle, Gibbs, and Watkins (2001) pointed out this literature to be diverse including a relatively small amount of research data and much larger amounts of evaluation literature. There were almost thirty works done on interprofessional education and all of them aimed to increase the level of co-operation and understanding between the members in interprofessional teams as well as to encourage a high quality care for the patients. There are a number of social science theories that explain the concept of interprofessional team work. Merton (1968) put forward theory in three modules. They are the micro, mid range and macro theories. The social sciences approaches that come under these three groups include: Micro: psychodynamic perspective by Bion, Menzies, Marris, social psychological perspective by Tejfel and Turner, Brown Interactionism by Goffman and strauss All the above approaches that come under the micro group are of the rational type that consolidates the team functions, identities and interactions. Midrange : Activity theory by Engestrom Institutional influence by DiMaggio and Powell Professionalization by Freidson These three approaches or theories are processual, organizational and contextual. Their task is to understand team activities, relation and performance, the relations between professions respectively. Macro: Discourse theory and surveillance theory by Foucault They are of the contextual type that deals with the impact of society and social interaction of with respect to the interprofessional team work. There are a set of models supporter by theories that help provide the inter professional education well in the health care sector that enables the health care professionals perform well and deliver quality service. These models are whilst behaviorism, cognitivism and constructivism (Schunk D 2003). I will working for the betterment of the service provided to a patient using the things I learned. Working in an interprofessional team is has made me get involved with the Doctors and other professional in the field and has helped to build a strategy that elevates the level of service rendering process. As a nurse am able to act in the right way a right direction in case of any emergency and otherwise. From now I will be able to put into practise the concept I learned. The model that I would use is the Kolbs model of reflection. It is a process whereby, individuals, teams and organizations attend to and understanding their experiences and consequently modify their behaviour. The model mainly has 4 important aspects: Experiencing means really doing the task and experiencing the whole process. Reflecting- in this step the work is reviewed in terms of experience and the real process. Conceptualisation- here the various important occurrences and tasks are analysed and their connections among the events are noted. Planning- the events that have been understood will be analysed well in order to envisage the occurrences in future. This will help to prevent any improper events happening and build a proper strategy to do the next task. The Kolbs reflection model if one of the best models for teams. In case of a team there are aspects like: Doing- same as experience, where the team does the task or the action. Reflection- after the action, the team members openly discuss the whole process and share their views and experience. Interpretation- the members of the team now work with common identity and culture and as a team by leaning behind individual interests. Planning- in the final step team works according to the joint decisions and plan out ways to committing the action. Finally I would say that in any sector especially the health care there is an elementary requirement of having an inter professional team. The team in all ways will help in providing superior service since the decisions are taken as a team and under common grounds.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

The Importance of Dinosaur Discoveries Essay example -- Anthropology E

The Importance of Dinosaur Discoveries When a paleontologist makes a discovery about Dinosaurs it is usually a celebrated event and will appear on all sorts of covers of magazines and even newspapers, with good reason. These discoveries are often quite exciting for a few reasons. The whole experience of finding a fossil that is hundreds of millions of years old is quite an adrenaline rush, but the fact that each discovery has the ability to answer questions in relation to evolution is quite amazing. Each finding of Dinosaur remains can help answer questions of how that certain species evolved from another. If our species can fully understand how Dinosaurs evolved, maybe in the future we can learn something about our evolution. Without discoveries from the past how is our society supposed to persevere and learn from mistakes that may lead to our own extinction, and who to learn better from than perhaps the dinosaurs that have gone through many stages of evolution and have faced extinction. The finding that will be discussed is the discovery of a new type of long- necked Sauropod Dinosaur named Rapetosauras, in the country of Madagascar (National Science Foundation). It was found by two groups of scientists. One group was headed up by Dr. Catherine Forster of SUNY Stony Brook and the other was led by Dr. Curry Rogers of the Science Museum of Minnesota (National Science Foundation). The paleontologists in total found a skeleton that possessed a set of 80 to 90 vertebrate from the neck all the way down to the tail (National Geographic). The two teams also discovered two nearly complete skulls, one from a young Rapetosauras and another from an adult (National Geographic). The Rapetosauras is a type of Dinosaur called a Titano... ...4 (Primary Source) Hartman, Joseph, Krause, David, and Rogers Raymond. †Stratigraphic Analysis of Upper Cretaceous Rocks in the Mahajanga Basin, Northwestern Madagascsar: Implications for Ancient and Modern Faunas.† The Journal of Geology vol. 108 (2000) : 275. Parsell, D.L. â€Å"Skeleton of New Dinosaur â€Å"Titan† found in Madagascar on National Geographic.com.† 1 August 2001. National Geographic News. 4 April 2004 â€Å"Brachiosaurus† Enchanted Learning.com. 2004. 4 April 5 2004 â€Å"New Long-necked Dinosaur Discovered in Madagascar.† Office of Legislative and Public Affairs. 1 August 2001. National Science Foundation. 5 April 2004

Friday, October 11, 2019

Smoking Cessation in Pregnancy

Women who smoke is one of the major causes of adverse outcomes for babies. Many damaging effects are due to mothers who smoke compared to mothers who did not. Encouraging and educating women early of the dangers of the detrimental effects of smoking during pregnancy will help reduce the number of complications and increase the health for both mother and baby. By conducting studies and evaluating these methods will allow us to gather the necessary data to improve and implement programs to help develop a pregnancy that is safe and decrease the health risks from the baby. Smoking and Pregnancy Smoking has been known to cause health problems for those who smoke and also for those exposed around them, known as second hand smoke. One known common health issue is cancer among those who smoke. Smoking during pregnancy doesn’t just affect the mother’s health, but also puts the fetus’s health at risk. The dangers associated with smoking during pregnancy include miscarriage, premature birth, low birth weight, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), birth defects (such as cleft lip or cleft palate), and even death (CDC, 2012). Creating a healthy environment for babies by quitting smoking will reduce the risk for these health risks. The baby will benefit from a healthy delivery and be less at risk of being born too early. Studies have also shown Statistics of Mothers who smoke According to the CDC in the 2008 Pregnancy Risk Assessment and Monitoring System (PRAMS), women who reported smoking during the last three months of pregnancy is approximately 13%. Out of women who smoked 3 months before pregnancy, 45% were able to quit during pregnancy. Among women who quit smoking during pregnancy, 50% relapsed within 6 months after delivery. Women who smoked during pregnancy have babies with lower birth rates in comparison to mothers who did not smoke. The leading cause of infant deaths is low birth weight, within the United States results in more than 300,000 deaths annually (CDC, 2012). Research Question What interventions should be implemented to stop women from smoking during pregnancy? And what can benefit both mother and baby from avoid complications during pregnancy, delivery and their overall health. A method of educating women early of the dangers of the detrimental health effects that smoking causes on their own health and the health of their babies will create a foundation that will encourage them to quit. Creating a program that will evaluate and support women during and after their pregnancy will help encourage them to remain committed. Hypothesis Creating a smoking cessation intervention in pregnancy will help women stop smoking. This will help reduce the health risks associated with smoking among mothers who smoke during pregnancy. Educating and encouraging women to quit smoking will act as a support in the challenges that they may face. Problems in the Health Care One problem that health care faces with smoking cessation for women that are pregnant is the lack of training among professionals. Educating women of the dangers of smoking during pregnancy is the first step, but following up with the proper interventions and material used to help women understand and motivated. Another problem is the challenges that women face in the attempts of quitting. Smoking creates an addiction among those who smoke due to its chemicals that it possesses. Nicotine is the substance in smoking that creates this addiction. This addiction is a form of uncontrollable dependence in tobacco smoking to the point where severe physical, mental or emotional reactions would be caused by the stopping of smoking (Slowik, 2011). Knowing the effects of smoke to ones health and especially to a babies health is very motivating in quitting, but it isn’t easy when the addict possess the challenges to stop. One in three succeeds in stopping permanently before age 60 (Slowik, 2011). Tragically, by this time, the effect of smoking has already damaged the body and some could be irreversible. Research methods used in the health sciences, and their strengths and weaknesses The research in helping women to stop smoking is in surveying pregnant women who smoke. The qualitative method is to evaluate and analysis the results. A questionnaire survey in 1992 was carried out among general practitioners, midwives and obstetricians to measure the delivery of smoking cessation interventions in pregnancy. Most professionals among the study were seen asking the status of pregnant women, where they recorded smoking status and explained the risks of smoking during pregnancy. Fewer professionals gave advice to women on how to quit or document the status of smoking (Clasper & White, 1995). The weakness found in the study is the lack or insufficient training among the professionals. Even the lack of enjoyment or difficultly experienced in giving smoking cessation counseling was seen in the survey. The strength in this study is on step in creating a guidebook or manual for health professionals. Such as the Pregnets, Smoking Cessation for Pregnant and Post-partum women: A Toolkit for Health Professionals. This toolkit is designed as a guidebook for professionals in creating a smoking cessation for pregnant women as well as after the delivery of the baby. This helps create success in achieving the goal of encouraging women to stop smoking. After this program has been implemented studies within this method could be conducted with both qualitative and quantitative methods. Statistical data can be gathered to updated and make changes to existing material. Conclusion By gathering data in studies a successful smoking cessation could be created for women who are pregnant will reduce the health risk associated with smoking. Knowing the target individuals and creating methods in preventions and interventions in cessation smoking will help develop a successful program a safe and healthy pregnancy for mother and baby.ReferenceCenters for Disease Control and Prevention, (2012). Tobacco Use and Pregnancy What Are the Effects of Smoking During Pregnancy on the Health of Mothers and Their Babies? March 26, 2012. http://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/tobaccousepregnancy/. Clasper, Paul & White, Martin. (1995). Smoking Cessation Interventions in Pregnancy: Practice and Views of Midwives, GPs and Obstetricians. Health Education Journal . March 27, 2012. http://hej.sagepub.com/content/54/2/150.abstract. Slowik, Guy MD. (2011). â€Å"What Is A Smoking Addiction?† EhealthMD. March 26, 2012. http://ehealthmd.com/content/what-smoking-addiction.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Life Is Easier Essay

Living today is more comfortable and easier than when your grandparents were children. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Recently, my grandparents often recall how difficult their lives were when they were young, claiming that my generation has much easier lives than they had. I agree with them. In fact, life today is much more comfortable and easier than it was in my grandparents’ youth for some reasons. First, technology has made modern-day life much more comfortable than in the past. During my grandparents’ time, life was rough and hard because all the work was done without any modern tool, so they had to do their laundry by hand, walked from one place to another by feet. Furthermore, there was limited in entertainment choices in the past. They could at best listen to the radio or perhaps watch a black-and-white movie for pleasure. Today, however, living has become a lot easier thanks to technological developments. We launder our clothes with washing machine, uses buses, subways, or cars to move around. We also enjoy home theater systems, DVDs, and video games. Technology has definitely improved our lives. In addition, people today have more leisure time than they did before. People no longer have to work very long hours like my grandparents did. Since my grandparents were farmers, they had to work in the rice field all day long even without resting on weekends. In contrast, many people today, including my parents, simply work from nine to five on weekdays and take weekends off. They therefore have much free time than my grandparents did, so they can spend more time on leisure activities. They go to the movies, go to the gym, or take trips. All these activities have positive affect on their quality of living. In conclusion, people today have more comfortable and easier lives than in the past. This is the results of technological developments and the extra leisure time available. These factors will make our live even more comfortable in the future.

Research: Sampling and Chili Sauce

1. 0Introduction The paper seeks to propose a research on the management of Tesco Stores Malaysia would like to introduce own branded chili sauce to Malaysia consumer. This paper will be organized under the following broad headings: * Problem identification * Literature review * Research philosophy and approach and research design * Data collection 2. 0General statement of the Problem. There are many type of products in the market. For example, in Malaysia there are more than ten type of chili sauce are selling in the market.Tesco would like to introduce its own branded chili sauce to the Malaysian consumer. The main factor of successful to introduce the chili sauce is the acceptance of the consumer. Brands vary in the amount of value and power they have in the marketplace. For example, Life brand chili sauce is a well known in the existing market, when a consumer knows that a brand exists in the market, the brand is said to have high brand awareness. If consumers’ awareness t owards the brands is high, its brands equity is also high.Besides that, the quality of the chili sauce also important, consumer will compare the ingredient, texture and etc with the other brands of chili sauce. A brand is valued high when consumers stay loyal to that particular brand. Consumers don’t switch to other brands and they willing to wait even if the store runs out stock. Example of products and brand that have high brand loyalty are Kimball, Maggie and Life. A brand is perceived to have high value if the brand is of goods quality. 3. 0Formulated research questionThe aim of this research is to survey the successfulness of the management of Tesco Stores Malaysia to introduce its own brand to the consumer. The research questions are: 1) To investigate quality, packaging, availability, range, promo and how the perceptions differ across demographic profile, that is level of income and age group. 2) Pricing 3) To determine the perception of customer towards to know the pr oduct quality. For example, the chili sauce texture, taste and so on. 4. 0Literature ReviewNo. | Author / title| Objective| Variable| Methodology| Finding| 1. | Marketing Communications Plan for : a new sauce brand under magi by nestleAuthor : IIoka Benneth Kueh Yi Kia Teng King Wee| To increase the market share and sales volume of Maggi brands in Malaysia up to 10 percent by the 12th month of compaign. To increase brand awareness of Maggie brand in Malaysia up to 20 percent by the end of the 12th Month. To generate up to 10 percent of total sale of Maggie brand in Malaysia. Selecting a new brand, unique selling point, positioning, new label design and packaging graphic, advertising and other promotional strategic. | Survey research will be used on the commencement, middle and conclusion stages of the campaign. A media evaluation service will be engaged to ascertain whether the media accomplished (qualitative and quantitative)Website participation be evaluated. | The strengths and w eaknesses of internal and external factor of Maggi.For example, Management, marketing, research and development,Competitive, technology and so on. | 2. | H. J. Heinz Inc: Industry AnalysisAuthor : Kasey FeigenbaumJustin WhiteElliott Matticks| Heinz is seeking to expand its offerings by focusing on emerging markets in countries such as brazil, Philippines, Turkey, and Vietnam where there is large potential growth. | Heinz is striving to develop globally while positively impacting the world. The company is promoting sustainability and supplying more than 30 countries with natural hybrid tomato seeds. Products sold through heinz’s own sales organizations through independent brokers, and agents distributors of chains, wholesalers, cooperative and independent grocery accounts, convenient stores, bakeries and so on. â€Å"Heinz Ketchup Road trip† and the campaign was pitched on social media site including twitter and facebook. | Heinz manufactures and markets products meet t he standards of individual countries, and the needs and wants of consumers in these countries.Heinz focuses on marketing their products with an emphasis on health, wellness and sustainability. | 3. | Cooking with ease: new Kikkoman Asian sauce line make home preparation of ethnic cuisine more convenient, providing consumers with an easy means of cooking Asian cuisine is a smart move and the new Kikkoman Restaurant series Asian Sauces supply this mean for today’s busy consumer. | One of the goals during the development of Kikkoman Asian sauces was maintaining an authentic or traditional flavor in each of the four varieties. During product development, several prototypes underwent numerous iterations and internal tests to ensure the ideal flavor profile was created in each version. | â€Å"The reason behind our decision to launch this brand new product line, the Kikkoman Restaurant Series Asian Sauces, results from extensive market research with consumers revealing the trend t hat Asian cuisines are becoming very popular,† says Shig Nemoto, vice president of sales and marketing at Kikkoman. â€Å"Kikkoman is known as the expert in the manufacture of soy sauces and teriyaki sauces, and our corporate strategy was to grow and extend within the same arena through the popular Asian flavors captured in these sauces,† says Nemoto. â€Å"Our brand is perceived as the highest quality product, and we expect consumers will associate these new entities, this new product line, with the same standard for high quality. â€Å"| 4. | Campbell reaches into pouch to heat up soup salesAuthor : Martinne Geller| Introducing new line called â€Å"Campbell’s Go†.Campbell plans to extent that line to other simple meals that are meant to appeal to younger shoppers with graphic that are edgier than Campbell’s traditional products. | The company plans to launch over 50 new items in fiscal 2013| Campbell spending on advertising to spur sales, rathe r than price-driven promotions. | Campbell’s are changing plan will not go back to heavy discounting and they confidence that between the levers of price, promotion, brand building and news to the base with innovation, they will be able to fully competitive in this business. 5. 0Research philosophy and approach & research design. In research, understanding of the appropriate research philosophy and approach is important before beginning a research. Quantitative analysis can be done for a number of reasons such as measurement, performance evaluation of a financial instrument. It can also be used to predict real world events such as changes in a share price. A business or financial analysis technique that seeks to understand behavior by using complex mathematical and statistical modeling, measurement and research.By assigning a numerical value to variable, quantitative analysts try to replicate reality mathematically. The survey can be collect from population There are issued a ssociated with population decline and changes in population composition in the developed world (low fertility, population ageing, increasing international migration and ethnic minority population) and those associated with population growth and environment in the developing world (rapid decline of fertility, disease and mortality control and urbanization).Population studies, as an integrated social science, seeks to examine processes and patterns of population change their local and global impact. For example, from the population we can collect the data of gender, age range, gender and so on to analysis the data how many of people like Tesco own brand chili sauce, how many don’t like. Besides that, the research also can collect data through questionnaire. A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of question and other prompt for the purpose of gathering information from respondents.Questionnaire have advantages over some other type of survey in that they are cheap, do not require as much effort from the questioner as verbal or telephone surveys, and often have standardized answer that make it simple to compile data. For example, questionnaire may include the question of the consumer satisfaction to the Chili sauce like the texture, taste, ingredient, price, packaging and so on. Other than that, sampling techniques provide a range of method that enable the researcher to reduce the amount of data needed, by considering only data from a subgroup rather than from all possible cases or element.In order to ensure that the data collected is representative, a few term related to the concept of sampling must be understood like population, element, censes, population frame or study population, sample, sampling unit or subject and sampling frame. The reason for using a sample are many; in research investigation involving several hundreds and even thousands of elements it would be impractical to collect data, test or examine every element. Con sider the cost of using a census, the time and the human resources needed; they are prohibitive.The quality of the information obtained from a sampling study is likely to be more reliable than from a census; this is mostly because fatigue is reduced and fewer errors will result in collecting the data, especially if a large number involved. In some situations, sampling is required. In testing the chili sauce of Tesco product, it would be impossible to test the entire population because the amount is large. A variety of sampling designs are available and the choice depends on the requirements of the research, the objectives of the study and the resources available.The sampling technique available is divided into two type. Probability sampling, the chance of probability of each case being selected from a population is known and is usually the same. It is based on the concept of random selection, which is a controlled procedure that assures each population element, or case is given a kn own –zero chance of selection. By using a probability samples, it is possible to answer research questions and to achieve objectives of estimating characteristics of the population from the sample. Thus, probability sampling is often used in surveys and in experimental research.In non-probability sampling, the probability of each case being selected from the total population is not known, and it is impossible to answer research questions or to address objectives that require statistical inferences about the characteristics of the population. Although generalizations could still be made from non-probability samples about the population, it cannot be done on statistical grounds. For this reason, non-probability sampling is often used in a case study research. 6. 0Data collection Data collection can be collect by using simple random sampling.In this sampling technique, each population element has an equal chance of being selected into the sample. The samples are drawn using rand om number tables or generators. This technique is best used if an accurate, complete and easily accessible sampling frame is available. By using random numbers, the selection of sample is done without bias, thus making the sample representative of the whole population. The Tesco management can randomly choose the consumer from the Tesco card member randomly to send the questionnaire by e-mail, posted mail or Short Message Service (SMS).From the database of the Tesco store can send by the area Tesco. For example, Penang Tesco will send questionnaire to the consumer who join the member at Penang Tesco, that mean the consumer maybe stay near Penang, same to Bukit Mertajam Tesco and other too. In this sampling technique the questionnaire, the major disadvantages of this sampling form is that is requires a listing of the population elements. This will take longer time to implement if the population covers a large random geographical area of selection, then a selected case is likely to be dispersed throughout the area, and will be costly due to the postage charges.The Tesco management can prepare reply envelope to the consumer that who don’t have e mail address and have to by normal postages, this is easier the consumer return the questionnaire. 7. 0Conclusion. A good sample should be accurate; there is little or no bias or systematic variance. Research is to collect accurate data and to analysis then only the management of Tesco Stores Malaysia know whether it would be feasible to introduce its own branded chili sauce to the Malaysia consumers after evaluated the entire questionnaire that received back from the consumer.Reference http://www. iservices. ilokabenneth. com/images/Maggi_Nestle. pdf http://www. culturaldiplomacy. org/culturaldiplomacynews/content/articles/participantpapers/2011/april/biec-roa-nua/h. j. _heinz_inc-_industry_analysis-_kasey_feigenbaum. pdf http://goliath. ecnext. com/coms2/gi_0199-5295700/Cooking-with-ease-new-Kikkoman. html http:/ /www. reuters. com/article/2012/02/22/us-campbellsoup-idUSTRE81L22V20120222 OPEN UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA (OUM), AUGUST 2011 BBRC4103

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Overview of Contractual Risk Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Overview of Contractual Risk Management - Essay Example These factors are even prevailing when it comes to upstream oil and gas operations. A typical example of such factors has to do with contractual risk management. Generally, contractual risk management has to do with an integrated process and responsibility of reviewing, analyzing and evaluating contractual risks of pending agreements so that once the agreements are executed, there would not have any repelling risk effects for the parties involved (Taverne, 2008, p. 32). Upstream oil and gas operations is one that is commonly plagued with series of disaster based occurrences that put upstream companies in so much risk of facing liabilities. It is in this direction that both operators and contractors, mainly the government has involved each other the signing of contracts that seek to protect the interest of all people involved. Even though on from a broader perspective, it would be seen as a great idea that there are contractual risks, the absence of an effective and efficient manageme nt system would result in a situation whereby the contract favors one side to the detriment of the other and it is for this reason that contractual risk management is always important. ... ncentrate so much on contractual liabilities whereby there is an adjustment in the liabilities that defaulting companies pay (Gordon and Paterson, 2011, p. 232). The cause of the changes has also panned around two major factors. In the first instance, economic disposition has been identified as a strong factor that influences the contract landscape. Often times, when the market is weak in terms of falling global prices of oil, suppliers most cases become highly desperate towards their work and strive to overcome their negotiating position as they often have weaker negotiating positions at such times when the market is weak. Subsequently, oil and gas companies would be highly defensive on the liabilities involved in the contracts they enter into. Such weak markets is characterized by low revenues and profits for the oil and gas companies and so the best ways they try to stay within their means of operation is to avoid further risks including contractual risks. Apart from the strength of the market, events of increasing oil spills and other forms of upstream oil and gas accidents and disasters also affect the contract landscape. A typical example of this can be cited with the Macondo incident in the Gulf of Mexico, which resulted in several concerns from stakeholders of the type of risks that upstream oil and gas companies should be dealing. Certainly, during such times, contractors become defensive by increasing liabilities associated with prevailing risks. Role of Operators and Contractors Ideally, in the effect of contract risk, there are two major sides of stakeholders identified. These sides are operators and contractors. As expected, the operators are the upstream oil and gas companies who take up the responsibility and task of drilling and transporting oil and gas