Thursday, October 31, 2019
Inquiring Minds want to know Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Inquiring Minds want to know - Case Study Example    The information being sought touches on the private lives of the individuals participating in the study and this is a great challenge to the study as this is likely to raise many ethical issues. In the modern information age, protecting the personal and private information of an individual is extremely important. Yet, as is seen in this case, there are a number of issues which must be looked at in order to ensure that the privacy of the individual is well protected. Confidentiality Confidentiality refers to the fact that the information of the individuals will not be revealed to other people. It also loosely refers to the fact that the information collected for one purpose will not be used for other purposes. This is extremely important in order to help in protecting the privacy as well as other interests of the individual. In this particular study, there is the risk of the confidentiality of the individuals in at least two ways. First, the data used in the background research is dat   a that was collected many years ago and for different purposes. For instance, according to Schindler (2011), data from the early 90s which was collected using reader service cards was used to determine how the technology had affected the way the people were using information. This may be a violation to confidentiality of the people to whom this information belongs. Secondly, the information being collected through the questionnaires may also bring about the issue of confidentiality if it is used in the wrong way and this must be looked at in a critical way. Confidentiality is very important and any research carrying out a research where individuals are involved will have to only assure the participants that their confidentiality will be protected but also do also everything that they can in order to guarantee that the confidentiality of the study will be guaranteed. In this case, there are a number of issues which must be looked at in order to protect the participants. Informed cons   ent Informed consent refers to the fact that the participants of the study are clearly informed about the study, its purposes and how the information they will provide will be used. It also refers to the fact that the participants have wilfully agreed to participate in the study even after knowing exactly what the study will be used for. In this particular study, it is necessary for the participants to know exactly how the data they are providing will be used and how this will affect them. After this, they will need to give their informed consent and agree to participate in the study. This is especially important with regard to the privacy of the participants especially due to the fact that the individuals will be providing information which is quite personal with regard to their private life or their professional life. In this regard, it will be necessary for the person carrying this study to make sure that apart from guaranteeing confidentiality of the study, they will also help t   he participants to understand clearly what the study is about and that the participants will willingly agree to participate in the study. Protecting the interests of the participants This has to do with the first three issues discussed above, that is, privacy, informed consent, and confidentiality which are all geared towards protecting the inte       
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Weekly current event 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Weekly current event 2 - Essay Example    his collections, we see humour, the impertinence, the tendency to explode myths, and the manipulation of pop iconography all that we knew to be part of the labelââ¬â¢s founder Franco Moschino spirit and designs, commented Raffaello Napoleon, Chief executive officer of Pitti Immagine. There is also uniqueness in his work. He has ultra-sensor focused in the current times in the way he combines fabrics and materials, the best types because his designs are luxurious.    The Womenswear presentations from Thomas Tait have been named as one of the events not to miss during the London Fashion Week. It brings out the unexpected use of volumes and the devotion to design. This gave him an offer to express his creativity in Florence.    Thomas Tait addresses various issues in the globe with his collections. He says that a fashion designer should always keep things off-balance, Offer buyers what they need and most importantly one should offer things inside and out which is crucial for the fashion public and media. Many fashion designers may lack the viewpoint and vision that may not be good for the fashion business. Fashion should bring out the originality and should also be full of       
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Chocolate Processing Is A Long History Industry
Chocolate Processing Is A Long History Industry    Chocolate processing is a long history industry in global and since it been discovered in the mid 1600, the passion for cocoa grew. When Joseph Fry  Son discovered a way to make the first modern chocolate bar, its become favourite for sweet and dessert lovers. Since the demand increasing substantially, lots of large chocolate company established in the international market such as Cadbury, Ferrero roce, Hersheys and their brands are strong identified by consumers. Therefore chocolate industry is a high rivalry global market and it is crucial for Cocoa Boutique to plan appropriate strategic to modify the structure and competitive dynamics to gain an advantageous position. Prior to strategy planning, Cocoa boutique required understanding the internal and external environment and its position within the industry by using business strategy tools such as SWOT analysis, PEST analysis, and value chain analysis.  2.0 SWOT analysis of Cocoa Boutique  SWOT analysis model is the most common using tool by large organization whereas it is stand for strength, weakness, opportunity and threat of the firm or industry. Through SWOT analysis, managers can better understanding its organizations position within the industry and planning appropriate strategy to achieve its mission and goals.  Strength  Although the rivalry is fierce, chocolate making in Malaysia is quite unique because almost chocolates products imported from western company. This given an opportunity for Cocoa Boutique to establish their local chocolates making company to build brand identify among local citizens. Through effectiveness marketing direct, Cocoa Boutique established their seventh outlets in Eastern Malaysia to satisfy the demand increase dramatically from chocolate lovers. Owing to a small organization, the structure of Cocoa Boutique is easily to manage and control hereby reduces the administration and operation expenses as well as overall costs. Further, Cocoa Boutique also gain benefit cheaper cost of material because Malaysia is a place which rich with natural resources like fruits that widely use to process different chocolates taste.  Weakness  Since they are lots of large international chocolate company in the market, as a small company it is difficult for Cocoa Boutique to entry because they had build strong identify toward customers. Again, chocolate is a snack that different people has different flavor taste and thus whose customers loyal to their flavor brand chocolate would not easily change to the other brand. To gain strong brand identify and loyal customers, Cocoa Boutique facing financial problem in advertisement and distribution because this required a large sum to be able to compete with other international chocolate company. Further, some of the international brands who achieved the benefits of economic of scale enable to sell their chocolate products in a competitive price. For example, Cadbury who achieve high productivity and lower the cost per unit lead them sell their confectionaries at the lower price and become the price leader in the market.  Opportunity  Since Malaysia is a tropical country which is rich with tropical fruit such as mango, durian, and papaya, hereby create an opportunity for Cocoa Boutique to research and develop in the chocolate product mixed of variety fruits. Through developing creation and innovation, Cocoa Boutique launched new chocolate product by mixed tropical fruit into chocolate as their unique product to maximize customers satisfaction and pursue as the local market leader. As example, to date Cocoa Boutique is the one and only chocolate house that came up with distinctive Durian Chocolate which had been awarded as The Most Innovation Chocolate Product 2004 by the Malaysian Cocoa Board. Strategically, the ingredients which produced by local are cheap and easily to access directly lower the cost of distribution as well as research and development expenses however setting a higher selling price because of its unique. The increasing demands from customers create motivation for Cocoa Boutique to establish their    seventh outlets in Sabah, Eastern Malaysia which is one of the famous tourist attractions. Chance comes from own efforts. In continuous development, Cocoa Boutique seeking opportunity likes establish outlets in other area or expected alliances with potential company to expand its business scope.  Threats  Although the sweetness of chocolates attracts many people, the growing of health concern stick the passion of chocolate products. According to a health research, chocolate is such a food contributing to diseases like obesity, blood pressure, and diabetes. Chocolate contains high sugar, fat and caloric may have negative effect on health especially those chocoholic inheritances with these kinds of disease. However, this threat changes to an opportunity for Cocoa Boutique to make special less sugar chocolate to satisfy customers need. Price is one of the most important elements in strategy planning. Those large chocolate company gain benefit from economic of scale able to sell their products with lower price threatens Cocoa Boutique adjusted their product price to adopt the market trend and result in less profit.  PEST framework of Cocoa Boutique  The external environment consists of variables that are outside the organization and not typically within the short-run control of top management. Opportunity and Threats are components of external environment which influence the success or failure of strategy. PEST framework provides an analysis of possible influences of the broad marco-environment of an organization. PEST stands for Political, Economic, Social, and Technological.  Political  The political issue of Malaysia is stable although it made up of variety races. As a policy to improve economic, Government offer substitute and appeal local citizens to start up their own business and this policy had lead many small businesses been established including Cocoa Boutique. Cocoa Boutique takes advantage from political factor when launched its chocolate product range of local tropical fruit. According to the Minister of Tourism, these products are in line with governments vision of providing visitors something unique, a distinct element that cannot be found elsewhere. For instance Durian Chocolate, which is unique and only produced by Malaysia. The local fruits used in making chocolate would help increase demand for local fruits, and resulting in agriculture development such as economic spin-offs for Malaysian fruit growers and local farmers so that they can enjoy the benefits generated by tourism industry.  Economic  Chocolate product is such a luxury item where people would purchase it when they are with stable-income. Suppose the global economic crisis, people would have less money to spend on luxury items however save their money to buy necessary item such as rice and daily accessories. Again, as outline that many global chocolate manufacturers gain their benefit from economic of scale can setting their product price lower and relatively such a small business Cocoa Boutique failing to compete in price war. Customers who are in middle or low income group would prefer buying the global brand chocolate because of cheaper and believed high quality.  Sosiocultural  Malaysia is a combination of variety race country giving opportunity for Cocoa boutique earn profit by develop differ range of chocolate products to adopt different cultural customers. As example, Malay people prefer the rich taste of coconut, Cocoa Boutique launched coconut flavor chocolate to satisfy Malay group. People lifestyle considered as a key element in food processing industry. Todays people emphasis on diet or lose weight and healthy lifestyle as a barrier to food industry especially those sweeten snack like chocolate. Many chocolate manufacturers shift to adopt the market trend by concentrate on dark chocolate or low sugar chocolate products which believed would help to prevent from heart disease and cancer. Technological  Using technological in process manufacturing would result in cost efficiency and gain competitive advantage in the market. Even though Cocoa Boutique is a small company, its chocolate cooking equipments are standardizing such as using specific machine in the process of chocolate making. Handmade chocolate becomes unique and interesting in this century because the trend of technological world. Strategically, Cocoa Boutique launched ready- handmade chocolate as this may attract many people and can selling with a higher price because of its unique.  4.0 Value Chain Analysis of Cocoa Boutique  The internal environment of a corporation consists of variables (Strengths and Weaknesses) that are within the organization itself and are not usually within the short-run control of top management. Despite external influencers, company should analysis those internal factors that are most likely to affect the implementation of the present and future strategic decisions. Strengths and weaknesses are such impacts of the structure of internal environment within the company.  Value chain analysis, as proposed by Michael Porter, is a way of examining the nature and extent of the synergies that do or do not exist between the internal activities of a corporation. Its comprising the activities within and around the organization, they are design, produce, packaging of the products and distributing, marketing and sales the products to customer. Differences among competitor value chains are a key source of competitive advantage. Cocoa Boutique using the lowest cost material to make innovation chocolate product such as local tropical fruit chocolate product range. The fruits supplied by local farmers are cheaper however the product able to sell with a good price because of its unique design. Effective value chain occurred when the entire stakeholders value maximized. In the part of advertisement and distribution channel, Cocoa Boutique maintain long term bond with their stakeholders such as tourism agencies and taxi drivers by offered sales commission to motive t   hem bring customers or tourists into Cocoa Boutiques concept stores. Customers can visit and purchase such special and quality chocolates with acceptable price meanwhile maximize the value of the tourism agencies and increase profit to the shareholders. Cocoa Boutique only distributes and sells their chocolate products to its seven outlets. This may reduce distribution costs but as such weakness of Cocoa Boutique which limited its market share and the possible profitable in the future.  5.0 Cocoa Boutiques strategy formulation  Strategy formulation is the development of long-range plans for the effective management of environmental opportunities and threats, in light of corporate strengths and weaknesses. It includes defining the corporate mission, specifying achievable objectives, developing strategies, and setting policy guidelines. A corporations strategy formulation takes place at corporate-level, business-level and functional-level.  Corporate-level strategy of Cocoa Boutique  The corporate-level strategy should be defined the organizations purpose and the lines of businesses in which it plans to operate, thus providing the overarching direction for the organization. Many organizations begin their growth and development with a corporate-level strategy aimed at concentrating resources in one business or industry in order to develop a strong competitive position within that industry. Since Cocoa Boutique established in year 2003, they merely concentrate their business growth and performance in chocolate industry within these seven years evidence that they applied directional strategy approach into their business. They develop long term into high quality chocolate processing and chocolate house concept store to provide special products range to customers and build their brand identify in Malaysias market. Since the substantial increase in customers demand when they established the first outlet, they recognized the potential of local chocolate market and strat   egically applied horizontal growth approach where expand their business into other geographic location and increasing the range of product and service to their current market. For instance, the high volume sale of Gourmet chocolate in Sabah motivate Cocoa Boutique to develop a wide range of Gourmet chocolate to satisfy the particular customers need. Cocoa Boutique would not wait for lunch but strive to meet opportunities from the competitive environment. Next step to expand their business, they committed a joint venture agreement with a local corporation so called Genting Strawberry Leisure Farm who engages in tourist attraction development. Though the agreement, they alliance aims to acquire substantial revenues by create a diversity theme park for customers to have not merely an experiential but learning journey. In brief, the strategy marked out by Cocoa Boutique clearly orientating their corporations vision of continuous growing and developing creation and innovation to maximize    their revenues in local chocolate retail market.  Business-level strategy of Cocoa Boutique  A business level strategy is the blueprint that should enable an organization to leverage its resources, so that it can differentiate itself from the competition within a particular line of business. Companies struggle in planning strategy in order to obtain competitive advantage and then gain superior profits from the strategy they designed. Michael Porter has proposed three generic strategies that provide a good starting point for strategic thinking; they are overall cost leadership, differentiation, and focus.  Considering the rivalry in chocolate industry is fierce, small companies are unable to lead a stand in the market unless they target on the right market segment with the right products. Accordingly, Cocoa Boutique used focused differentiation strategy in chocolate industry which serving only one segment of overall market and trying to be the most differentiated organization serving that segment. Unlike other chocolate retailers who sells and distributes their confectionary products on the shelves of minimarket, supermarket or hypermarket, Cocoa Boutique focused on performance in travel retail. Based on the potential tourism industry of Malaysia, they pursuing a niche strategy in focusing on travelers, who are stable income, may come from local and foreign country and main purpose to visit and on the other hand purchase some native products, gifts or souvenirs.  As stated that chocolate house concept store is rarely in Malaysia, and to date there are just two companies running this conceptual store, one is Cocoa Boutique and another is Beryls Chocolate retailer. To adopt their targeted customers segment, Cocoa Boutique launched handmade chocolate which is another selling point apart from Durian chocolate. The chocolate made with different shapes like the chocolate model design of Twin Towel doubtlessly suit the tourists need and demand. Due to run a focused on a niche market segment, Cocoa Boutique sells their products price higher than the market brand such as Cadburys and Nestle.  In general, the strategy formulated by Cocoa Boutique is directly and simply within an undersized coverage yet is potentially in the future, especially in their business-level strategy planning. In the market of Malaysia, chocolate products can be seen in anywhere and they are usually Cadburys, Ferrero, Mars, Snickers, and other international brands. Almost of them develop in diversity market with the competitive advantage of economic of scale and well known in the line of international. In accordance with the outlined SWOT analysis, Cocoa Boutique recognized their weakness of limited finance as well as low reputation and hence wisely develops differentiation strategy in specific market segment in order to acquire higher profit with premium price. This strategy effectively decreases the scope of competition environment and evaded the intense price war with existing chocolate retailers. Their effort in business-level strategy also access to strategic alliances in corporate-level. Cons   idered Genting Strawberry Leisure Farm is a potential travel attraction that might complement their strengths and offset their weaknesses, the joint-venture strategy allows Cocoa Boutique to obtain a greater sales impact at less cost. 6.0 Strategy implementation of Cocoa Boutique  An idea is nothing until it becomes an action. Even the best conceived strategies are of little value if they are not implemented effectively. It should be noted that the plan for implementing a strategy might require radical design of organizational structure, the development of new control system, well skilled in handling human resources by develop strategic leadership. Cocoa Boutique who is the small enterprise gains the benefit in implementing their conceived strategies because the small fields of organization structure simplify their operation.  Operations Decision of Cocoa Boutique  Location is such key success in tourism industry and strategically, Cocoa boutique allocated its outlets nearby or within the tourist attraction. For instance, the latest Cocoa Boutique outlet has been established in Sabah, which is the famous vacationland in East of Malaysia. In order to gain competitive advantage, Cocoa Boutique develops appropriate operations decision to implement the strategy and ensure all the resources are used efficiently. Considered travel trade is depend on seasonality of demand, the inventory planning and control should be well- handle to avoid the problem of whether inefficient to meet customers demand or over- order during the peak season. From processing cocoa to chocolate products, Cocoa Boutique decides how much material or ingredients should be ordered and determines the production quantity because food products may have expired date and the expensive costs to storage them with low temperature. A range of customers demand analysis is needed to prevent    the food perish and suffer lose from seasonal discount.  Quality control is the key role in operating food processing companies because the food is directly influencing the customers perspective and even their healthy. Poor quality control of food and beverage would significant result a companys reputation and vicious aftermaths like involving in lawsuit. To ensure the quality and delicious of chocolates, all the Cocoa Boutique products are produced by using 100% pure cocoa butter in authentic Belgium recipe following Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and stringent quality control that complies with the international standard of hygiene. Cocoa Boutique to build reliability has offer live chocolate making show to customers to indicate their professional chocolate making procedure.  In the part of service quality performance, they allocate employees at every corner of specific products range to provide free taste testing and reliable sales advice to customers. The information system of Cocoa Boutique not merely worked in the part of financial and human resource management, but also the key role in implementing their business level strategy. Regarding in the aspect of tourism, customers would not come themselves unless they heard about the tourist attraction from fellows, advertisement from newspaper and radio, or joining a tour group. Hence, it is imperative to develop in advertisement and distribution channel in order to build reputation among customers. To gain competitive advantage, Cocoa Boutique promotes their attraction by building long term relationship with travel agencies. They allocate vouchers and brochures to travel agencies for customers convenience and offered forty percent of commission for travel agencies, bus and taxi drivers to motive them brin   g customers to visit their shops.  To satisfy these important stakeholders, the commissions from the total purchase of the customers bring by them can be obtain immediately after the customers checked-out. That is to say, a computer information system is imperative to record all the details of the tour guides and drivers including their codes and the commissions they collected based on the total purchase of customers they bring. Conversely, the low service quality of commission checking would result in loss confident among tour guides toward the company and the likelihood of being boycott by them. There is a manager allocated in each branch of Cocoa Boutique to responsible for the commission-pay system and tour guides service control. To maintain long term relationship, managers would send information about the total commission collected to each tour guides and drivers once a month though e-mail or SMS.  Human resource management  Effective strategy implementation should occur when the people required to take action to this end are motivated to do so. Employees are the key role of sale achievement in Cocoa Boutique because they using direct sale approach to persuade customers purchase their products. Consider chocolates is perishable and have limited life shelf, employees must struggle to sell out the products in advance. Thus, developing motivation strategy is required to increase employees willingness to hard sale the products and enhance their job satisfaction. Cocoa Boutique uses the performance-pay approach to motive their employees. The idea is employees paid a base salary, however is eligible for additional compensation based on achieving certain pre-approved tasks or goals. For instance, Cocoa Boutique had setting target revenue of incoming Chinese New Year holiday, the entire workforce of the branch will be rewarded bonus suppose they reach the target. The key of success is the managers who wisely dev   elop leadership in the team or branch to build a healthy workforce and thus improve cooperation among employees. In other words, performance-pay plan make it clear to managers what should be pay prior attention because they would get even more compensation. Cocoa Boutique also concern in training and development to ensure their employees is skillful to sell their products and provide appropriate advice to customers. They applied on the job training by admit employees to learn job tasks by actually performing them. This method, in somehow has effectively reduce the cost of expenditure in formal training and bring the training meaning to both employees and organization. Marketing Strategy  Marketing strategy is about the approach to deliver companys products and services to satisfy customers. Wrong decision in marketing would affect success or failure of strategy implementation. Likewise, marketing plan would be determined base on the companys mission. Cocoa Boutique engage in pursuing market leader in chocolate manufacturer and retail which catering for travel trade. They merely concentrate on their performance in tourist market segment by developing four Ps, which consisting product, price, place, and promotion.  The Implication of Four Ps in Cocoa Boutique  Place always the first consideration in developing marketing strategy. Before even starting a business, companies need to assess their own core competencies and then evaluate the place that will complement them in business line, geographic positions, or competencies.  Strategically, Cocoa Boutique and its outlets are located in the place that is accessibility, visibility and mainly catering for travel trade, for example some of them are located in the Malaysia Tourism Centre and Genting Highlands, which is an international tourist attraction. Cocoa Boutique continuous research and develop in products creation and innovation to become the leader in chocolate processing industry. To date, they offered variety of products range to meet different customers need and want, they including tropical fruit chocolate, gourmet chocolates, healthy range, and so on. Among the various chocolate flavor, Durian chocolate is the unique and best recommendation products because of the selling point of Malaysias symbolic. Others, the healthy chocolate range is even catching on the trend of healthy lifestyle in todays world. They promote this range of product by using slogan Sugar free pleasure without the guilt to attract those chocoholics struggling between health an   d delicious. In the consideration of Malaysia is an Islamic country, Cocoa Boutiques chocolate product also complying with Halal requirement to encourage Muslims consumption.  In fact, the price of products and services in travel trade are usually higher than the market because they serving on stable or high income group. However, Cocoa Boutique set their chocolate products price higher than the available in common market because of the quality of their chocolate and provides well services to increase customers value. Even they pursuing premium price in their marketing strategy, they have launched a Super Value package to adopt different customers demand. Travel trade is deeply depending on seasonal demand, therefore Cocoa Boutique design different promotion to different special day. For instance, they launched new packaging in Valentine day as the ideal gifts for couples. Environmental protection issue becomes popular in this contemporary since the global temperature again hit the peak in this summer. Most of the country had implemented zero plastic policy to reduce pollution and recently Malaysia started implements this policy too. Cocoa Boutique takes t   he chance to offer free reusable bag for customers who purchase their chocolate products as a way to promote their products. In consideration of cost efficiency, the reusable bags are made in China due to the low cost and acceptable quality.  Despite a compliment marketing strategy is non-executable without develop appropriate marketing skills. Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is a concept of marketing communication planning that recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan. IMC can produce stronger message consistency and greater sales impact. Most of the large organizations engage in improved integrated offering by acquire promotion agencies, public relations firms, package design consultancies, web site developers, and direct mail houses. Cocoa Boutique promotes their attractiveness by take part in Tourism Malaysia Promotion Board created by Malaysia Ministry of Cultural, Art and Tourism. Furthermore, they organized public relations activities in order to build good reputation and well-known brand in the segment of tourists. Even a small company, they hired package design consultancies and web site develops in the way to improve their business visibility, build brand identify and customer loyalty and fina   lly result in increase sales.  Strategic leadership  A key strategic role of managers is to provide strategic leadership for their subordinates. Hereinbefore all strategies would not implement successfully without leading by an effective leader. Take a place of managers of Cocoa Boutique is vital to develop leadership characteristics such as emotional intelligence and empowerment. Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the ability to recognize and manage emotion. A leader who is high degree of EQ understands his role in the organization and ability to control them mood and drive subordinates motivation to complete different job tasks. Meanwhile, they also develop empathy and social skill to build good relationship with the employees and help to earn loyalty from employees. Considering Malaysia built up with various racial, the workforce of Cocoa Boutique likely consists by different culture and religion. Managers should well handle in conflicts settlement and strive to maintain harmony in the workforce. Managers may develop mentoring by alloca   tes the experienced employee even themselves to coach new employee to build good attitude and behavior modeling in the branch on the other hand increase communication among them. When employees seek some one as the model in the organization, they willing to pursue the goals and commit high loyalty to the career.  Empowering subordinates or employees to make decisions is a good motivational tool. Such employees involve in decision making would increase their job enrichment and satisfaction and thus enhance their motivation to perform better. There is high empowering in Cocoa Boutique where managers need the opinions and suggestions from employees regarding the customers perspective and value to their products. The employees opinions sometimes helpful in research and development of new products which likely match customers need and want. Others, Cocoa Boutique also give high authorize to each branch managers to manage the operation as long as they keep their performance in sales and services quality.  7.0 Conclusion  In general, the strategic formulated by Cocoa Boutique is only present on the travel trade and implemented by simply managing people, develop marketing purpose and operating management to satisfy all the stakeholders of the organization, such as shareholder, employees, and the agents involving in travel trade. A strategic that focuses on specific market is rather good because concentrates on single business definitely easy to manage and control, yet, the business scope is limited and pin down the potential profits in other markets. In continuous develop in local market, Cocoa Boutique should expand their business scope to increase awareness among customers to their brand and impact on sales.    
Friday, October 25, 2019
Societal Views of Women in the Victorian Era in Henrik Ibsenââ¬â¢s A Dollââ¬â¢s
Societal Views of Women in the Victorian Era in Henrik Ibsenââ¬â¢s A Dollââ¬â¢s House      A Dollââ¬â¢s House, by Henrik Ibsen, creates a peephole into the lives of a family in the Victorian Era. The play portrays a female viewpoint in a male-dominated society. The values of the society are described using the actions of a woman, Nora, who rebels against the injustices inflicted upon her gender. Womenââ¬â¢s equality with men was not recognized by society in the late 1800ââ¬â¢s. Rather, a woman was considered a doll, a child, and a servant. Noraââ¬â¢s alienation reveals societyââ¬â¢s assumptions and values about gender.     A woman was considered by society to be a doll because she was expected to be subordinate to her husbandââ¬â¢s whims. Referring to a ball that she would attend, Nora asks her husband, Torvald, if he would ââ¬Å"take me in hand and decide what I shall go as and what sort of dress I should wearâ⬠ (26). Nora relies completely on how her husband would dress her, just like a doll. Just as Nora is treated as a doll, she interacts with her children as such. She doesnââ¬â¢t raise them, she merely ââ¬Å"play[s] and romp[s] with the childrenâ⬠ (13). She tells Torvald, ââ¬Å"our home has been nothing but a playroom. I have been your doll wife, just as at home I was Papaââ¬â¢s doll child; and here the children have been my dollsâ⬠ (67). In this conversation, she shows her alienation as a woman in society by expressing discontent with her role in life.     In addition to being treated like a doll, Nora is also regarded as a small child. Victorian society looks upon womenââ¬â¢s intelligence as no better than a childââ¬â¢s. Torvald tells her, ââ¬Å"You talk like a child. You donââ¬â¢t understand the conditions of the world in which you liveâ⬠ (69). Yet, he does nothing to rectify the situation. While ...              ... a heedless childâ⬠ (70).     Because of Torvaldââ¬â¢s inability to grasp the concept of equality, Nora leaves him. Societyââ¬â¢s values are revealed by Noraââ¬â¢s declaration of equality and independence. Through Noraââ¬â¢s rebellious declaration and departure, she removes herself from societyââ¬â¢s standards and makes a move towards equality. She renounces societyââ¬â¢s views of a woman as a child, doll, and slave. Men in Victorian society told a woman how to act as a parent to a child, how to dress for a public event as an owner to a doll, and how to keep her thoughts to herself as a master to a slave. Henrik Ibsen portrayed qualities of the Victorian era through the alienated female gender, represented by Nora.     Works Cited    Henrik Ibsen, A Doll's House. Dover Thrift Edition, 1992    Northam, John. Ibsen. A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. 1965.                        
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Gender Stereotypes in Military Essay
In the non traditional occupations, also called non domestic jobs, women in the work place including its attitude about womenââ¬â¢s roles are being studied by some professionals. Gender stereotypes are prone into this kind of scenarios. In the military communities for example, there is still a widely held gender stereotypes. Men and women in the military are being approached and treated differently. Military communities in the past were often integrated with men. Womenââ¬â¢s participation in the military and in war throughout history has been limited due to those common gender stereotypes.  Women can not be good soldiers allegedly because they are innately weak physically and emotionally. Generally men were believed to possess a higher level of motivation, initiative and leadership qualities necessary for effective military performance. Whereas women, primarily considering their physiological aspects, possess more feminine attributes that hinders them to achieve an excellent military performance. But given that the ââ¬Å"physical barriers to military participation have been gradually eroded due to the advent of highly technological weaponry and the improve fitness of women but the emotional barriers remain strongâ⬠ (DeGroot 24).  It is believed that women are genetically programmed for the softer and caring roles and therefore can not apply aggressive impulses necessary for effective soldiering to defend military interests in future conflicts. To recruit women therefore considering this belief means giving into the risks to lose future wars. This perceived reality hinders the military setting to recruit more women for an aggressive physical war. Many points of arguments have put forward by those against the idea of putting women into hand to hand combat.  One of the obvious concerns regarding women in combat is the given fact that women do not possess as much physical strength as their male counterparts. The female body structure is not as adept and enduring at handling high g-forces activities needed for actual combats. ââ¬Å"Female soldiers who are, on average, shorter and smaller than men, with 45-50% less upper body strength and 25-30% less aerobic capacity, which is essential for enduranceâ⬠ (Willens 1996). Psychologically, mixed gender accommodations in a small space can be very intimidating and can provoke sexual anxieties towards men which might affect their focus in combats.  Moreover there is a greater possibility for acts of rape, sexual harassment and molestation. Romantic relationships between men and women is somehow inevitable especially that war is a depressing situation. This can disrupt a unitââ¬â¢s fighting capability. Many women might be forced to get pregnant as well in order to escape combat duties. Moreover pregnancy may intimidate military readiness that will greatly affect the military combats. Placing women in combat may also mean putting the fighting unit into risks. Female are truly exposed to the risk of capture, psychological and sexual abuses.  The opposing parties may use women to intimidate their enemies through using them as prisoners. Meanwhile another interesting argument to keep women out of combat is the fact that female might disrupt the military cohesive unit and might undermine the soldiersââ¬â¢ sense of esprit de corps. The effectiveness of the military hinges on a cohesion ââ¬â every member must completely trust and respect one another. Many argue men would not be able to trust women to be capable of accomplishing the physical demands of combat, which could lead to serious problems..  A standard must be maintained to make every member feel as if he/she is part of one single unit, not separated by gender (Willens 1996). These gender differences and given the reality of war, the opposing parties who want to keep women out of combat believe that it is safe to put men in actual combats because they guarantee a greater percentage of military effectiveness. In the military, each party needs to have the most capable military power. In United States during World War 1 ââ¬Å"with the creation of U. S.  Army Nurse Corps in 1901 and the U. S. Army Nurse Corps in 1908, women were relied on primarily to provide nursing careâ⬠ Worell 772). Nursing the wounded soldiers was the most visible role played by women during early wars until World War 1. Marriage, pregnancy and motherhood however could be main legitimate basis for voluntary discharge. The ââ¬Å"Army Nurse Corps in 1901 expressly prohibited nurses from marrying and being mothersâ⬠ because these will hinder their social and governmental service and responsibilities (Worell 774).  In World War II however ââ¬Å"historians documented the more informal participation of women in active combat, in artillery units, as disguised enlisted men, in militia units, and in frontier warfare during the early years of U. S. history and as spies and scouts during Civil Warâ⬠ (Worell 776). The start of World War II apparently expanded non nursing roles of women provided their identity will not be boldly exposed so not to create public misinterpretations. War setting has been redefined however in the beginning of 1950s. Women were openly admit for military service.  There is an apparent changing nature and role in the modern military. Military now not only participates in physical combats. Their role has changed ââ¬Å"with peacemaking and disaster relief becoming the most common reason for deploymentâ⬠ (DeGroot 25). In this reason, military integrated a wider womenââ¬â¢s participation these past years. Womenââ¬â¢s gentle nature, their ability to control aggression and their conciliatory attitude are now perceived positively in the military setting. Womenââ¬â¢s nature can make a significant contribution for peacemaking.  Women are often integrated into combat support roles and services depending on their capabilities. The discrepancy between the stereotypic attributes of female apparently has variety of emotional effects on the experiences of women in the military. In terms of performance evaluation, people readily give a lower standards and expectations to women. They readily recognize and accept the fact that women has weaker physical and emotional attributes. Therefore as a result, they integrate womenââ¬â¢s role into the domestic and traditional jobs inside the military.  Work Cited Page: DeGroot, Gerard J. A Few Good Women: Gender Stereotypes, the Military and Peacemaking. Olsson, Louise. Tryggestad, Torunn. Women and International peacemaking. Great Britain: Routledge 2001 Willens, Jake. ââ¬Å"Women in the Militaryâ⬠. CDI Center for Defense Information (1972). August 1996. Retrieved on 25, June 2009 from http://www. cdi. org/issues/women/combat. html Worell, Judith. Encyclopedia of women and gender: sex similarities and differences and the impact of society on gender. Elsevier, 2001    
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Disadvantages of Fdi Essay
Disadvantages of Foreign Direct Investment The disadvantages of foreign direct investment occur mostly in case of matters related to operation, distribution of the profits made on the investment and the personnel. One of the most indirect disadvantages of foreign direct investment is that the economically backward section of the host country is always inconvenienced when the stream of foreign direct investment is negatively affected. The situations in countries like Ireland, Singapore, Chile and China corroborate such an opinion.  It is normally the responsibility of the host country to limit the extent of impact that may be made by the foreign direct investment. They should be making sure that the entities that are making the foreign direct investment in their country adhere to the environmental, governance and social regulations that have been laid down in the country. The various disadvantages of foreign direct investment are understood where the host country has some sort of national secret ââ¬â something that is not meant to be disclosed to the rest of the world.  It has been observed that the defense of a country has faced risks as a result of the foreign direct investment in the country. At times it has been observed that certain foreign policies are adopted that are not appreciated by the workers of the recipient country. Foreign direct investment, at times, is also disadvantageous for the ones who are making the investment themselves. Foreign direct investment may entail high travel and communications expenses.  The differences of language and culture that exist between the country of the investor and the host country could also pose problems in case of foreign direct investment. Yet another major disadvantage of foreign direct investment is that there is a chance that a company may lose out on its ownership to an overseas company. This has often caused many companies to approach foreign direct investment with a certain amount of caution. At times it has been observed that there is considerable instability in a particular geographical region.  This causes a lot of inconvenience to the investor. The size of the market, as well as, the condition of the host country could be important factors in the case of the foreign direct investment. In case the host country is not well connected with their more advanced neighbors, it poses a lot of challenge for the investors. At times it has been observed that the governments of the host country are facing problems with foreign direct investment. It has less control over the functioning of the company that is functioning as the wholly owned subsidiary of an overseas company.  This leads to serious issues. The investor does not have to be completely obedient to the economic policies of the country where they have invested the money. At times there have been adverse effects of foreign direct investment on the balance of payments of a country. Even in view of the various disadvantages of foreign direct investment it may be said that foreign direct investment has played an important role in shaping the economic fortunes of a number of countries around the world.    
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
War orf 1812 essays
War orf 1812 essays    During the mid to late 1890s, the United States began paying closer attention to foreign affairs, and also became more aggressive towards foreign conquests. As newspapers and other forms of press and media developed into a more prevalent occurrence in the average Americans lives, the power began to shift from the government alone to a government more influenced by its educated public. One of the chief motivators of this educated public was named William Hearst, the leader of the Morning Journal and instigator of much pro-war propaganda to come.      The world-wide depression caused by Spain was crumbling the investments of many Wall Street-ers, and Hearst used this opportunity to exploit the Spanish involvement, holding them responsible for the depression. By imposing tariffs that were solely providing profits for Spain, the entire Cuban sugar cane industry was diminishing, and after a rebellion led by General Gomez, Americans, reminiscing of their own rebellious revolution, felt the need to come to the aid of the Cubans.      Hearst continued to report scandals and rallied the support of Americans by informing them of the cruelties the innocent Cubans were enduring from Spain. He began to deeply exaggerate many stories, and even fictionalize war battles, ignoring the increasingly insubordinate Cubans and their wild arson riots. The Cubans were becoming a threat as a colony under the guidance of Gen. Gomez, and so in an attempt to manage the situation, he sent over General Don Weyler. Nicknamed the Butcher, Weyler was a harsh and violent man. He began murdering the Cuban arsonists, and thus, inadvertently rallying support from Americans. His actions were ineffective, and so in an attempt to subdue the Cubans once again, he issued a  reconcentrado which helped him to monitor and eventually restrict the importation and exportation of vital goods to Cuba. Soon, thousands of Cubans died due to the unhygienic st    ...     
Monday, October 21, 2019
Oak is the Official U.S. National Tree
Oak is the Official U.S. National Tree          The mighty oak tree wasà  votedà  the United States favorite tree in a National Arbor Day Foundation poll taken in 2001.à  Nearly five years later, aà  Congressional passage and a presidential signing of a historic bill made it the officialà  national tree of the United States in late 2004. Americas national tree is the mighty oak.          The Congressional Passage of the Official National Tree      Having oak as our national tree is in keeping with the wishes of the hundreds of thousands of people who helped choose this striking symbol of our nationââ¬â¢s great strength, said John Rosenow, theà  president of The National Arbor Day Foundation.         The oak was selected during a four-month-long open voting process hosted by the Arbor Day Foundation. From the first day of voting, oak was the peopleââ¬â¢s clear choice, finishing with more than 101,000 votes, compared to almost 81,000 for the magnificent runner-up, the redwood. Rounding out the top five were the dogwood, maple, and pine.          The Voting Process      People were invited to vote for one of 21 candidate trees, based on broad tree categories (general) that included the state trees of all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Each voter also had the option to write in any other tree selection they preferred.         Advocates of the oak praised its diversity, with more than 60 species growing in the United States, making oaks Americaââ¬â¢s most widespread hardwood tree. There is an oak species that grows naturally in nearly every state in the continental U.S.à            Why Oak Trees Are so Important      Individual oaks have long played a part in many important American historical events, from Abraham Lincolnââ¬â¢s use of the Salt River Ford Oak as a marker in crossing a river near Homer, Illinois, to Andrew Jackson taking shelter under Louisianaââ¬â¢s Sunnybrook Oaks on his way to the Battle of New Orleans. In the annals of military history, Old Ironsides, the USS Constitution, took its nickname from the strength of its live oak hull, famous for repelling British cannonballs.         Uses for oak tree wood are of major importance and in high demand as a commercially harvested tree species. Oak has an extremely dense wood and resists insects and fungal attacks because of its high tannic acid content. It saws even and true with beautiful grain desired for building the best furniture and cabinets along with the durability necessary for fine flooring. It is a perfect wood for long-lasting timbers for building, perfect planking for shipbuilding and the barrel staves used for storing and aging fine whiskey spirits.    
Sunday, October 20, 2019
Say It Right in Spanish
Say It Right in Spanish          Thats right. Go to the right. Its my right to vote for a candidate from the right. Its just not right. Youve got it right.         As the above sentences indicate, right is one of those English words that has a multitude of meanings. Althoughà  many dictionaries give derecho as the first choice of Spanish words meaning right, its use would be absolutely wrong to translate some of the above sentences.         Right as a Direction         The Spanish way to refer to the opposite of left is usually derechoà  (and its forms for gender and number)à  when used as an adjective or the phraseà  a la derecha as an adverb.         The technique of using the right hand to play the violin is something that ought to be learned correctly. La tà ©cnica de uso de la mano derecha para tocar el violà n es algo que debe aprenderse correctamente.Symbolic language is rooted in the right side of the brain. El lenguaje simbà ³lico est radicado en el lado derecho del cerebro.The doctors have to amputate Jorges right leg. Los mà ©dicos tienen que amputar la pierna derecha de Jorge.The car turned right to the end of the street. El coche girà ³ a la derecha al final de la calle.Look right! à ¡Mira a la derecha!         A la derecha is also used to mean to the right:         His political positions often are to the right of those of this rivals. Sus posiciones polà ticas con frecuencia estaban a la derecha de las de sus rivales.Look to the right side of your screen. Mira a la derecha de tu pantalla.          Right Meaning Correct      When right means correct, the cognate correcto (or its adverb form, correctamente) can usually be used. Other synonymous words or phrases often work well also. Examples include bien or bueno, depending on whether an adverb or adjective, respectively, is needed. To be right can usually be translated as tener razà ³n.         I think the article is right. Creo que el artà culo es correcto.Take the time in order to make the right decision. Tà ³mese el tiempo para tomar la decisià ³n correcta.I want to pick the right curtains. Quiero elegir las cortinas correctas. If the inhaler is used right the aerosol shouldnt drip from your nose. Si el inhalador se usa correctamente el aerosol no deber gotear de la nariz. Do you have the right time? à ¿Tienes el tiempo bueno? The customer is always right. El cliente siempre tiene razà ³n. Fortunately they werent right. Por suerte no tuvieron razà ³n.           Right Meaning Just or Fair      Often right carries the meaning of fairness or justice. In such cases, justo is usually a good translation, although in context correcto can have that meaning as well.         Many poor people live here. That isnt right. Muchos pobres viven aquà . Eso no es justo.Thats true, it is difficult to do the right thing. Es verdad, es muy difà cil hacer lo justo.          Right as an Entitlement      A right in the sense of a moral or legal entitlement is a derecho.         Civil rights ought to be respected, even during a national emergency. Los derechos civiles deben de ser respetados, inclusive en tiempos de estado de emergencia nacional.I have the right to be free of all types of abuse. Tengo el derecho de estar libre de todas las formas de abuso.          Right Used as Emphasis      Right is used in many contexts in English as a general word of emphasis. Often, it does not need to be translated into Spanish, or you may have to translate the meaning indirectly or with some idiom that is specific to what youre trying to say. Many variations other than those listed here are possible:         What are you doing right now? à ¿Quà © ests haciendo ahora mismo?If possible, the baby should get milk right after being born. Si es posible, el bebà © debe mamar inmediatamente despuà ©s de nacer.The solution is right here. La solucià ³n est aquà  mismo.Ill pay you right away. Voy a pagarte sin demora.          Miscellaneous Phrases and Uses      Often you can figure out a way of saying right by thinking of an alternative way of expressing the idea in English. For example, to say, The portrait is just right, you might say the equivalent of The portrait is perfect: El retrato es perfecto.         Some miscellaneous phrases will have to be learned separately:         right angle, right triangle; el ngulo recto, el tringulo rectoright-click (computer use), hacer clic con el botà ³n derecho del ratà ³nright-handed, diestroright of way, el derecho de pasoright-shift key, la tecla derecha de mayà ºsculasright wing (noun), la derecharight-wing (adjective), derechistaright-winger, el/la derechistato right (make correct), rectifar, reparar, rectificarto right (make upright), enderezar          Etymological Note      Although it may not be obvious, the English words right and the Spanish words derecho and correcto are etymologically related to each other. They all come from a Proto-Indo-European root word that had meanings connected withà  moving in a straight line or leading. From that root we get words such a direct (directo in Spanish), rectitude (rectitud), erect (erecto), rule, ruler, regal, rey (king), and reina (queen).    
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Christmas carols Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
Christmas carols - Essay Example    The word carol means dancing to something in a circular manner, and it originated from the Latin word ââ¬Ëcarulaââ¬â¢ and French ââ¬Ëcaroleââ¬â¢. Thus, carols are songs of joy and praise during sang celebrations such as the Christmas season. Christmas carols are important part of the Christmas celebration because they not only put people in the Christmas mood, but also tell the joyous stories surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ. Therefore, Christmas carols center on Christmas theme, or may not refer to Christmas specifically, but are associated with the holiday season, as they are sang during the period that immediately surrounds the Christmas holiday. This research paper explores Christmas carols from the origin, meaning, kinds, difference between past and present carols, and their impact on unity and identity of the people that practice the Christmas tradition.    The first carols sung in Europe were surprisingly pagan songs instead of Christmas songs. The pagans sang the carols during the celebrations of the Winter Solstice while dancing round stone circles. Though the original carols involved both singing and dancing, only the singing part survived, as dancing is not common in the Christmas tradition of singing carols. However, early Christians took the solstice celebrations from the pagans and turned it into Christmas, and consequently, introduced Christian songs for people to sing during this period instead of the pagan songs. The first Christmas hymns appeared in Rome around 129AD when a Bishop introduced the ââ¬ËAngels Hymnââ¬â¢ to be sung at a Christmas service.1 Similarly, Comas of Jerusalem wrote another early Christmas Hymn for the Greek Orthodox Church in 760AD. Other pioneer Christmas hymns include Veni redemptor gentium and Corde natus ex Parentis, among others that focused on statements of incarnation regarding the theolog   ical doctrine. Thus, followed a period in Europe when many composers wrote several popular Christmas carols. However, most of       
Friday, October 18, 2019
Student organization reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Student organization reflection - Essay Example    Consequently, while interacting in the student organizations students make lifelong friendships besides bettering their academic performances.    The student organizations hold their meetings like any other formal meeting in their institution meeting room. Those who hold the senior posts in the organization or the executive leaders have their seats on one side while the other organization members seat on the opposite side facing each other. The student overall leader is the chairperson and as well he or she chairs all the meeting besides he or she gives out the agendas and reminds the other members their purpose or reasons of being in the meeting. In this way, the general leader seemed to promote the relational understanding of leadership. The students are able to interact freely but in an official manner whereby they do not interrupt their fellows or the meeting progression. The leader presented his ideas in a systematic way such that all the present members understood and were able to participate in the meeting by asking questions besides presenting their views and opinions.    Throughout the meeting process, I learned that all the members were addressing their comments directly to the chairperson. This plainly indicated that the chairperson is the one who is responsible in ensuring smooth progression of the meeting. In that he kept order, facilitated the meeting, he declared the outcomes of the motion, he gave equal opportunities to all the members to contribute, he ensured the discussions reached consensus as well as conducting other tasks. Besides he or she should be at ease with the agenda as well as the other fundamental topics to be discussed in the meeting.    As well the chairperson is entitled to summarize the meeting if the need be. For instance, in circumstances such as when the members have lost the focus of the agenda, when       
Why Organisations Should Spend Time Gathering Secondary Data Prior to Coursework
Why Organisations Should Spend Time Gathering Secondary Data Prior to Undertaking Primary Research - Coursework Example    An organization may carry out primary research in which researchers gather facts about the prevailing situation through observation, surveys, and behavioral data and through experimentation. Most organizations initially gather secondary data before undertaking the primary research. Secondary data are data about the subject at hand that may be already into existence somewhere within the reach of the organization, having being collected by the organization or another body and therefore the information may be useful partly or wholly in handling the problem at hand. Reasons Why Organizations Spend Time Gathering Secondary Data The information that already exists somewhere may help the researching organization in expanding its knowledge regarding the problem to be solved. The company may use such report to find out what others have done in a particular field of study. The secondary data may also help an organization it its preparation for primary research, by helping in identifying the to   ols and materials that need to be used in order to make the future research successful. The secondary materials may also help an organization to understanding the progress that other researchers have made. This help in avoiding certain research problems in order to use the available resources effectively. The company may also use the secondary data to identify the needed resources for the research work to be successful. It helps in setting realistic period for the research work that the organization intends to undertake, and to assemble a team of researchers for different roles in the research process. Advantages of Using Secondary Data Data collected externally may be more objective since no one within the organization may have influenced the outcome of the data. This is usually useful when the data needed to solve the current problem does not exist anywhere in the organization, it may be appropriate to obtain the data that may have been collected by other pioneer organizations in    the same industry. This helps the researchers to identify areas of focus to solve the problem effortlessly. Using data that was collected by other organizations in solving related problem is part of the learning process that is useful when handling many research problems for the first time. This helps in avoiding some obvious mistakes that may lead to wastage of resources and time in the earlier researches (Kotler et al, 2009) The organization may find relevant data that touches similar problems that the company is seeking to solve. In marketing, it is common knowledge that all products goes through the product life cycle and all organizations goes through the same learning curves. It is therefore a reality that the problem that any organization may be dealing with at present may have been faced by another organization in the past. When data is acquired from other organization, it may influence the learning process much faster for smaller organization, whose resources are constraine   d. It is cheaper to obtain in different forms of research findings as needed by the organization for solving a specific problem at hand. The process of obtaining materials that already exist to be used in solving a related marketing problem is shorter. The processes of obtaining such existing data may at time cost the organization almost nothing or only a small cost may be involved. This is useful when there is need to save on the cost and time availability. Secondary data is readily available in variety. Today the world is today experiencing information explosion, and therefore every type of information that may be needed by       
Organisational Change Management Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1
Organisational Change Management - Dissertation Example    The decision made, the way it should be implement and other aspects D2 will have to deal with, are analysed and explained with respect to the 5D framework. Although the decision and plan made seems to be a feasible one, its implementation and execution is of utmost importance. A regular and continuous feedback, assessment and if required, change of plan accordingly will be the key to survival of D2 Introduction This analysis is of a car components manufacturing company called D2. D2 is a France based company. It has many plants. Two are based in France, one in UK and additional plants in Spain. Since operations D2 has put in an extra effort to increase shareholder value and achieve a formidable return on its investments. This has been made possible by investing in new technology and encouraging innovation with respect to the manufacturing of products. D2 managed a competitive position in the market of manufacturing automobile parts while competing with even those manufacturing compan   ies that were based in a low cost country. Ever since the economic recession has hit, the situation has changed drastically. The economic downturn has forced D2 to change it strategy and now produce fewer products and benefits from economies of scale rather than producing a whole variety of products. Secondly D2 is now more focused on cutting costs which may lead to plant closure and redundancy of staff. This is a major concern for both, the employees and management. However, the decision is yet to be announced. Appreciative Inquiry: The 5D approach Appreciative inquiry is a method of solving a problem. This was pioneered by David Cooperrider in the mid-1980s. from the Case Western Reserve University. This method can be best understood by understanding the meaning of both of the words The first word, Appreciation,à  refers to the recognition of contributions or attributes of people and things that surround us. The second word, Inquiry, refers toà  the act of exploring and discover   ing. This reflects on the attitude of being open to any new possibilities. Combining both words together means that with the help of appreciating and acknowledging what is valuable and good with respect to the present situation. We may be able to discover the future in a positive manner. Using Appreciative Inquiry: The 5D Approach It is important to focus on the positives while applying such approach. A positive approach may help in building on ones strengths, just as conventional problem-solving may lead to minimizing ones weaknesses. Hence it is important to consider that the strategy under consideration by D2 is a feasible one. Below is an analysis of the situation of D2 with respect of the 5D framework. The 5D framework constitutes of five elements namely, Definition: the phase in which a problem is defined Discovery: the phase in which ways to solve the problem are found Dream: the phase in which a company sets up its future objectives Design: the phase that determines how thin   gs should be implemented Destiny: the phase that sees the planning and implementation of the strategy Definition Before one can analyse a problem, the problem is to be defined. Economic downturn may suggest a precise definition of the problem faced by D2. It is important to understand what may happen to organisation when they face economic downturn or recession related problems. Many business analysts and researchers have narrated their views of such situations, a few of which are below. Zeidner,       
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Lesson plan and rationale Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Lesson plan and rationale - Essay Example    A successful program is made up of well-planned courses, and well-planned course are a result of well-structured, planned and successful execution of the required weekly lessons. An educator should take each lesson seriously and see it as an opportunity to use creativity in engaging with the learners. This is the stage where the course content, which reflects the curriculum objective, is emphasized, and it is the stage where the learner can participate in the program execution actively. According to Habanek (2005), the "syllabus should explain how the course has been designed by the professor to facilitate learning and what the professor will do to help all students achieve" their goals. Therefore, a course lesson should always be the first priority towards achieving curriculum goals and objectives. Below is a brief description of how ââ¬ËToxicologyâ⬠ lesson for The Advanced Pharmacology Course is executed to ensure that it meets the course and overall curriculum objectives.    Lesson objectives The ââ¬ËToxicologyââ¬â¢ lesson will be offered in week six of the course. The lesson is strategically placed near the end of the Advanced Pharmacology course because it contains very important information that the learners are required to expansively. Putting it near the end enables learners to gain a deeper understanding of the course in the first weeks and become familiar with the course rationale. By the time, the learners are in week six concepts such as toxicity and chemical makeup of the drugs will be easily comprehended. This will ease the educatorââ¬â¢s efforts towards ensuring the learners achieve the lesson objectives, which include: To attain a comprehensive understanding of toxicity of various drugs and their chemical make-up that may lead to toxicity The learner identifies how combination of drugs that have different chemical elements can react with patients when they are wrongfully prescribed Congruence of objectives to the courseââ¬â¢s ob   jectives and specific behaviors or outcomes expected from learners because of participating in this lesson. A good course and syllabus should be responsive and flexible to accommodate students concerns and address external events (Slattery & Carlson, 2005). At the end of this lesson, there are outcomes that the learner is supposed to display to show their understanding of lesson objectives. The outcomes display a clear and deep understanding of the lesson learning resources and material. Some of these outcomes include being able to determine the amount of prescription medication will be toxic to the patient. The learner should also be able to identify and link patient reaction to specified medication causing the reaction. It is also important that the learner be able to explain comprehensively drug action at a molecular, as well as cellular level. These outcomes are in direct relation to the course objectives, which state that learners should be able to Attain a comprehensive explan   ation of major drug groups and be able to apply it in medical practice Be aware of the common contradictions and side effects that drug prototype, including knowledge in drug interactions, actions, and toxicity. Description of instructional approach to use For this lesson, the students will be required to make discoveries and individually understand the lesson objectives. The best learning theory to apply for this class will be constructivism. Constructivism is best suited because it incorporates principles such as discovery learning, active leaning, and knowledge building which are all part of student exploration within a specified structure by the educator (Devries and Zan, 2003). A constructivism approach enables students to be involved in making discoveries at a personal level, therefore, making it easy for them to understand the key concepts. This makes the lesson to be learner centered. My main work as an educator will be to facilitate the learning process by ensuring       
Irrational Consumer Behavior. Why consumer often makes irrational Essay
Irrational Consumer Behavior. Why consumer often makes irrational decision to buy a low quality product because of advertisement or cultures - Essay Example    Often a big poster of advertisement or television leads people to make some irrational decision in buying products. The role of television advertisement is significant in irrational consumer behavior (Mafe & Blas, 2007). Consumers often buy a low quality product because they were ââ¬Å"deceivedâ⬠ by the advertisement. This happens because a majority number of individuals just trust tons of beautiful fonts, and words on the advertisement without making any further research about the products. The importance of the sensory receptors (eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and skin) plus peer pressure play an important role in irrational buying. Thus, the marketers often create great teasers to play with the consumer emotion because they know that the coherent pictures and the dynamic graphic on the commercial video are enormous stimuli for getting the consumer attention. Advertisement makes a lot of people ignore the details that are more important than the words that are written on the advert   isement. If individuals do more research before they buy the products, they will make the rational choice. However, only a few people are eager to look up additional information on the internet when they are already falling in love with the advertisement on the Television, and Posters. Furthermore peer pressure is also involved in influencing peopleââ¬â¢s mind when deciding the products that they want to purchase. All of this influential advertisements, that are created by marketers often lead people in choosing some of the bad choices. The marketer has a great way to advertise their product in society with the right timing, and at the right moment. Therefore, peopleââ¬â¢s perception of being interested at some commercial often lead many people to forget about the health issue because of their subliminal perception. This forces the consumers to purchase more expensive products of low quality because of advertisement Stimulus of the big brand products, and get a poor service by    paying a great amount of money after just looking at the descriptive terms of the advertisement. Health is one of the crucial issues in this world. Individuals need health in order to do their jobs. However, there are a lot of health issues in todayââ¬â¢s world. But why people often make an irrational decision by buying these unhealthy products with higher price instead of cheaper healthier foods? It is because people frequently consume unhealthy foods. For example, they are willing to spend $1 more for Soda like Coca Cola, and Sprite. This is because of they are attracted by the beautiful soda commercial. Many of soda firms contract a great marketers in their division to market the products. So today, a lot of Soda Corporations are focused on the subliminal perception of people. ââ¬Å"Stimuli that are too weak or to brief to be consciously seen or heard may nevertheless be strong enoughâ⬠ (Schifmann & Kanuk, 2009, Pg. 160). It is about the stimulated awareness of people t   hat responds to the advertisement they have watched. By understanding this fact, the marketers use the subliminal commands like DRINK SPRITE, and filming a commercial that tells the audiences that COKE is the best beverage to relieve the feeling of thirst. These types of advertisement have a high effectiveness in becoming a great attention grabber. A big number of people make an irrational decision by buying these drinks as their daily beverages when they can buy cheaper bottle of water that is healthier. Even though Soda brings many health issues like Diabetes, and Obesity, they donââ¬â¢t care about that because they prefer to satisfy their needs after watching the interesting advertisement. Mostly these ads are aired on television, and television advertisement plays a great role in purchase decisions       
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Lesson plan and rationale Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Lesson plan and rationale - Essay Example    A successful program is made up of well-planned courses, and well-planned course are a result of well-structured, planned and successful execution of the required weekly lessons. An educator should take each lesson seriously and see it as an opportunity to use creativity in engaging with the learners. This is the stage where the course content, which reflects the curriculum objective, is emphasized, and it is the stage where the learner can participate in the program execution actively. According to Habanek (2005), the "syllabus should explain how the course has been designed by the professor to facilitate learning and what the professor will do to help all students achieve" their goals. Therefore, a course lesson should always be the first priority towards achieving curriculum goals and objectives. Below is a brief description of how ââ¬ËToxicologyâ⬠ lesson for The Advanced Pharmacology Course is executed to ensure that it meets the course and overall curriculum objectives.    Lesson objectives The ââ¬ËToxicologyââ¬â¢ lesson will be offered in week six of the course. The lesson is strategically placed near the end of the Advanced Pharmacology course because it contains very important information that the learners are required to expansively. Putting it near the end enables learners to gain a deeper understanding of the course in the first weeks and become familiar with the course rationale. By the time, the learners are in week six concepts such as toxicity and chemical makeup of the drugs will be easily comprehended. This will ease the educatorââ¬â¢s efforts towards ensuring the learners achieve the lesson objectives, which include: To attain a comprehensive understanding of toxicity of various drugs and their chemical make-up that may lead to toxicity The learner identifies how combination of drugs that have different chemical elements can react with patients when they are wrongfully prescribed Congruence of objectives to the courseââ¬â¢s ob   jectives and specific behaviors or outcomes expected from learners because of participating in this lesson. A good course and syllabus should be responsive and flexible to accommodate students concerns and address external events (Slattery & Carlson, 2005). At the end of this lesson, there are outcomes that the learner is supposed to display to show their understanding of lesson objectives. The outcomes display a clear and deep understanding of the lesson learning resources and material. Some of these outcomes include being able to determine the amount of prescription medication will be toxic to the patient. The learner should also be able to identify and link patient reaction to specified medication causing the reaction. It is also important that the learner be able to explain comprehensively drug action at a molecular, as well as cellular level. These outcomes are in direct relation to the course objectives, which state that learners should be able to Attain a comprehensive explan   ation of major drug groups and be able to apply it in medical practice Be aware of the common contradictions and side effects that drug prototype, including knowledge in drug interactions, actions, and toxicity. Description of instructional approach to use For this lesson, the students will be required to make discoveries and individually understand the lesson objectives. The best learning theory to apply for this class will be constructivism. Constructivism is best suited because it incorporates principles such as discovery learning, active leaning, and knowledge building which are all part of student exploration within a specified structure by the educator (Devries and Zan, 2003). A constructivism approach enables students to be involved in making discoveries at a personal level, therefore, making it easy for them to understand the key concepts. This makes the lesson to be learner centered. My main work as an educator will be to facilitate the learning process by ensuring       
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Interpretative Reading in Thailand Essay Example for Free
 Interpretative Reading in Thailand Essay  Introduction Interpretative reading can be defined as the analysis of literary texts and subsequent enunciation of those texts. It is also sometimes called dramatic reading and relies on the readerââ¬â¢s voice to convey the emotion, drama and imagery of a narrative without actually acting it out. A good interpretative reader must possess a number of vocal skills such as the ability to control vocal tone, volume, pace and inflection to accurately communicate meaning and build drama.  In addition to clear articulation and correct pronunciation, which are paramount to the audienceââ¬â¢s understanding, the reader must have an in depth understanding of the text in order to produce a meaningful interpretation of it.         In other words the narrator needs to be able to know the characters, imagine their backgrounds and feel their emotions to be believable. Good interpretive reading is a difficult skill even for native speakers to master and takes preparation and plenty of practice; however, for a student in the Thai education system faces a number of distinct disadvantages in becoming a proficient interpretative reader.  To begin with the languages of Thai and English are very different. We have different stress patterns on words and there are sounds in English which donââ¬â¢t exist in Thai, both of which make clear pronunciation challenging for students and although many Thai schools now employ native speaking English teachers who are able to model correct pronunciation and natural rhythm, lots of Thai students lack confidence and have little opportunity to practice English outside of their classroom.  In addition, English uses intonation to convey different meanings and emotions whereas Thai uses a fixed tone for each word so it is often hard for a Thai student to express emotions like sarcasm or disbelief through inflection even when they recognize the need to do so. Another barrier for many Thai students, aside from the enunciation, is actually understanding the text well enough to interpret it. This depends upon, not only the studentââ¬â¢s knowledge of English language and ability to follow the plot but also on previous personal, educational and cultural experience that influence the way the narrative is interpreted.  A student lacking exposure to western culture and a deeper understanding of the social norms, stereotypes and cultural issues surrounding a text might struggle with a credible portrayal of characters and personation. These factors coupled with a general lack of focus on key reading skills leave Thai students at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to dramatic reading abilities. So, how do we assess the state of Thai interpretive reading? Do we take into account the many disadvantages that Thai students face in learning to read expressively and if so what criteria is it fair to judge them on?  After some research into the rubric schools overseas use to evaluate studentsââ¬â¢ interpretive reading skills we decided to base our assessment on the following criteria:- Pace. The speed at which a reader speaks, increasing speed creates drama and intensity. Pause. The lingering of the voice on, before or after a word for dramatic effect. Volume. Adds emphasis or fullness of tone. It can be used with other forms of emphasis to exaggerate emphasis. Melody. The wave-like change in voice pitch depends on the reader recognizing the relative importance of words in the text. Inflection.  The bending of the voice from the main pitch up or down. Personation. The readerââ¬â¢s interpretation of the character. Pitch. The degree of highness or lowness to a tone adds more subtle emphasis. Confidence. How comfortable is the speaker with reading aloud the text. The readers pace, volume and use of pause are techniques that can be used to emphasize mood or add drama but in the case of a non native speaker an overly loud or quiet reading could be due to nervousness and a pause or change in pace could be due to not understanding a word or not knowing how to pronounce it.  These things, in turn, can affect the other factors we will be evaluating. With this in mind we will be focusing on the deviations from normal patterns in each of these categories and trying to find any correlations. Conducting the research and investigation To better understand how well a Thai may use the techniques associated with interpretative reading we needed to hear some examples. We selected a number of Thai students to read a set part of a chapter from a book and recorded them to analyse their interpretative reading skills.  The material chosen was chapter one from ââ¬ËThe Monkey Kingââ¬â¢ a stage one young reader by Rosie Dickins. The chapter was broken into 5 separate parts for the students to read. The level one reader was chosen to accommodate all students and focus on their reading skills rather than their comprehension of the text. The studentsââ¬â¢ ages and levels of English ranged from, six to eighteen years old, and Beginner to Advanced. By having such a wide range of readers we will be able to see if there are any reoccurring problems across all levels and ages or if there are any surprising results.  Before the students were recorded they were each given different parts of the chapter to familiarise themselves with what they were going to read. This is to again focus on their interpretation of the text and to let them question any pronunciation of any unfamiliar words. In addition to that when the text was handed to the students, it was explained to them that they have to read it as if they were telling a story to someone, and they do not want this person to fall asleep.  Also, an example of interpretative reading of a text, other than their own, was then given to the students to make sure that they fully understood what they had to do. To do good interpretative reading, the text has to be fully understood, it is the key for good reading, so all the parts that they did not understand was read to them and explained again before they did the task. Some of the younger students did not really understand how to read the text like they were telling a story, so some parts of the text was read to them showing the change in voice pitch and intonation, as one would do for interpretive reading.  They then caught on to what was needed. The most difficult part was that many of the younger ones were nervous and shy, which is normal for some children who have to read text which is not in their native language. They were mostly nervous because of being placed in front of a laptop computer, and about their pronunciation. It was made clear to them that pronunciation was not the point of the research and that it was not a big deal if they did make some mistakes, but that the most important thing was the way they interpret the text, and that it has to be understood.  It was noticed that they did understand it since they all wrote some Thai notes on the text which seemed to be translations. Then, finally it was for them to forget their nerves and read the text. The students were then recorded reading their parts which were later analysed, considering the younger students reading level, they did quite well. Analysing the results Once we had the recordings of the brave students that took part in our research, the analysis could be carried out. We went through the recordings with a fine toothcomb, and complied the results into a chart.  In this chart, as can be seen in fig. 1. 2, the students were rated on their performance. They were judged on numerous criteria which include melody, speed, volume, pauses, inflection, personation, pitch and confidence. These eight criteria were marked as poor, fair, good, very good or excellent. We took into account their age group and reading skill level when judging them. Once the chart was completed, the graphs were made to clearly show which of the studentsââ¬â¢ skills were strong and which skills were weak (fig. 2. 1 ââ¬â 2. 8).  On the whole they performed better than expected, although there were obvious inflections, changes of pitch in odd places that Thais often make mistakes with when interpretive reading. We had spoken about this before the experiment had even begun, so it was to be expected. The results of the experiment showed that most of the students had a very good grasp of the pace that the text should be read at (see fig. 2. 2). In addition, most of them read the text at a decent volume; and all of the students were audible (see fig. 2. 3).  It was obvious which students have had a lot of practice reading because of their melody, and the way it flowed throughout their reading (see fig. 2. 1). These students are also the ones that were given good marks in inflection; pitch and confidence (see fig. 2. 5, 2. 7, and 2. 8). One of the areas in which most of the students did not do very well was the pauses, as it seemed as if they were in the wrong places and there did not seem to be enough of them (see fig. 2. 4). Finally, the worst area by far was the personation or interpretation of the characters in the story.  Most of the students did not even change the pitch or melody of their voice when reading the direct speech and those that did change the pitch of their voice did not put on any kind of exciting voice (see fig. 2. 6). From the results, we have seen that generally the standard of interpretative reading is at a fair level, usually respective of the studentââ¬â¢s level of English. However, there were certain issues and certain elements of their reading which are necessary to try and eliminate to help improve their interpretative reading.  The highest level of reading was from a student who could be considered the student with the highest level of general English. This was mainly due to his immediate in-depth understanding of the text. He was able to employ pauses in appropriate places such as full stops, commas, but also using them for dramatic effect as in adjective lists or after adverbs. He also had a strong use of melody in how he read. The best skill he used which set his reading above the rest was his use of personation on the characters voices.  Some other students were able to produce a similarly high standard of reading and once again these students can be identified as the ones with the best overall English language skills. Some of these good examples were from the M3 level. Despite them being at a high level of general English some of the elements they employed in their reading was something that could be said was found in all readings at this level but not as frequent. One of these is the studentsââ¬â¢ use of force on unstressed syllables. This was more common at the end of words which contained specific sounds.  This was seen in words such as monKEY and heavenLY, adding extra force to the /i? / sound, and gardeNER, giving force to the /? /. There is also another issue that was common at the end of words. This was the dropping of sounds or in some case whole syllables. This was most evident in plural nouns and ed sounds at the end of verbs. For example, peachES, leavES, soldierS, pronounced as /? z/, /z/, and /s/ which were generally dropped from the words all together especially the /? z/ sound. Further to this the /? d/, /d/, and /t/ sounds in words such as, boastED, stormED, and snappED, were particularly a problem.  As we looked down the levels of general English skills we saw problems more identified with that level rather than an overall picture of Thai speakers and these problems ultimately determined how well of a reader we believed them to be. One such problem was melody. English being a very musical language requires the reader to know the importance of stressed and unstressed words within the sentence. The result was mainly a flat sentence giving equal stress to prepositions and articles, to nouns and verbs. This disrupted the usual flow of the English language. The pause was another problem but was a more obvious one.  There are certain positions within a reading where a pause must be used, such as full stops and commas and without these pauses the reading can sounds unnatural. This wasnââ¬â¢t throughout the text but only in some places is enough to give a breathless effect. The above mentioned issues were the most common throughout all the readers but there were some individual mistakes present as well. For example, the rising inflection or falling inflection mid-sentence, giving a different meaning to the sentence as a whole. We believe that vocabulary knowledge is of great importance in the way we set up the experiment.  Although the material used for the reading is said to be a level one reader this does not mean that all the students are able to fully understand all the words in the text and their subsequent effect on the way the text should be read. From the six steps of analysis it is stated that a reader should be able to read the text line by line fully understanding the text, to understand the theme, and importantly take the text away and practice. With the limited time available with the students it was not possible to allow them to take the text home, study it, and perhaps translate the words to understand their meaning.  Therefore, the students with the greatest range of vocabulary were the students with the better examples of interpretative reading. In regards to the common use of what we considered to be their wrongful employment of interpretative reading skills, we tried to identify a possible reason for each case. Firstly, the use of force at the end of words containing /i? / and /? / we believe to be a problem that is associated with the Thai language. Generally, these sounds at the end of words are stressed in the Thai language while unstressed in English, and so they are mixing up the two languages.  In contrast to this is the studentsââ¬â¢ lack of plural and ed sounds at the end of words. Due to the fact that they are not pronounced at the end of words in the Thai language, the studentsââ¬â¢ would transfer this over to the English language and drop them from the English words. The studentsââ¬â¢ lack of melody could be also to do with being Thai language native speakers. The musical rhythm of the English language requires the use of melody by stressing words in certain ways within a sentence. The Thai language, however, does not have melody in a sentence as a whole and so the reading was flat as oppose to rising and falling, strong and weak.  The lack of pauses in some instances has more to do with the individual reader and with practice could easily be eliminated. Conclusion In conclusion, Thai teachers need to provide more speaking time for the students so that they can learn the rhythm of the English language. This can be achieved by giving the students more access to a native speakerââ¬â¢s spoken word. Some suggestions for this would be to have the students do more role-play exercises in the classroom impersonating different characters from a book.  Also trying to imitate characterââ¬â¢s voices from a movie or from television programmes would be a great way to master their personation technique. A game could be made out of this where the students have to guess who another student is trying to imitate. Another way to help Thai students might be to get them to listen to other well known interpretive readers while they are reading along to the story themselves to get an understanding of how it is done well. Interpretive Reading for Thai Students By Drew Eaglesham Timothy Parker Sarah Pratley Victor Deville-Blumberg EN202 Interpretative Reading.    
Monday, October 14, 2019
Use Of Abiraterone In Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer Nursing Essay
Use Of Abiraterone In Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer Nursing Essay    Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer diagnosis of men in Canada. In 2012, approximately 26,500 men in Canada were diagnosed with prostate cancer and approximately 4,000 died from the disease . Prostate cancer is strongly influenced by androgenic steroids . In advanced stage prostate cancer patients are typically treated using androgen deprivation therapy. . Androgen therapy is not curative and may only improve patients symptoms and may even reduce metastatic lesions . The benefit seen in androgen deprivation is often reduced over years of androgen therapy as the tumour will continue to grow despite low androgen levels. When this occurs the tumour is known to be castration resistant and is known to lead to prostate cancer- related mortality . Castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) may present as either a continuous rise in serum prostate- specific antigen levels (PSA), progression of pre-existing disease, or appearance of new metastases .  Many endocrine based therapies have been evaluated for CRPC with minimal success in prolonging patient survival . Systemic nonhormonal therapies using docetaxel, carbaztaxel, and active cellular immunotherapy with sipuleucel-T have been shown to prolong survival . A new drug abiraterone (Zytiga) has shown to improve survival and lower PSA levels in patients with CRPC. This article is to be used by health professionals to gain a thorough understanding of abiraterones indication, mechanism of action, side effects, dosage, clinical evidence, monitoring parameters, and contraindications.  Indication  According to the product monograph for abiraterone the drug is indicated with prednisone for the treatment of CRPC in patients who have received prior chemotherapy containing docetaxel.  Mechanism of Action  Abiraterone is formulated as a prodrug, abiraterone acetate, which is converted to abiraterone by the body and acts as a selective inhibitor of 17ÃŽà ±-hydroxylase/C17,20-lyase (CYP17) . CYP17 is responsible for androgen biosynthesis in testicular, adrenal and prostatic tumor tissues . As illustrated in Figure 1, CYP17 catalyzes the conversion of pregnolone and progesterone into testosterone precursors, DHEA and androstenedione . The reduction in androgen production is beneficial for androgen-sensitive prostatic carcinoma.  722776-fig1.jpg  Figure 1. Abiraterones mechanism of action in androgen synthesis   Side Effects  The most common side effects of abiraterone are caused by the mechanism of the drug on CYP17. As seen in Figure 2, inhibition of CYP17 causes on increase in the production of mineralocorticoids, which lead to hypokalemia, fluid retention, and hypertension . Other common side effects of abiraterone include myopathy, joint pain, abnormal liver function, hot flashes, diarrhea, urinary tract infections, bone fractures and cough . http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/28/9/1481/F4.large.jpg  Figure 2. Effects of abiraterone on mineralocorticoid production .  Dosage and Administration  The recommended dosage of abiraterone is 1000 milligrams daily as a single dose . The tablets need to be swallowed whole and the dose should be taken on an empty stomach . To reduce the mineralocorticoid effects of abiraterone the patient should also use a low dose prednisone. The recommended dose or prednisone is 10 mg daily .  Clinical Trials Evaluating Abiraterone  The effectiveness of abiraterone in CRPC has been demonstrated in several randomized trials. In 2009, a study Attard et al., using forty-two chemotherapy-naÃÆ'à ¯ve patients with CRPC received 1000 mg abiraterone . At follow up (median 505 days) a decline in PSA of à ¢Ã¢â¬ °Ã ¥ 50% of was observed in 67% of patients, with declines of à ¢Ã¢â¬ °Ã ¥ 90% in 19% of patients .  A 2010 study by Danila et al., of fifty-eight men with CRPC previously on docetaxel received abiraterone 1000 mg daily with 5 mg of prednisone . Results of study illustrated that 36 % of patients had a PSA decline of à ¢Ã¢â¬ °Ã ¥ 50% .  In 2011, De Bono et al. conducted a study including 1195 patients who had previously received docetaxel . Groups were assigned in a 2:1 ratio to receive 5 mg of prednisone twice daily with either 1000 mg of abiraterone or placebo . The primary end point of the study was overall survival . The secondary endpoints of the study were time to prostate-specific antigen progression, progression-free survival according to radiological findings based on specified criteria, and PSA response rate . At a median 12.8 month follow-up overall survival was significantly longer in the abiraterone group compared to the placebo (14.8 months vs. 10.9 months, p. The secondary end points all favoured the treatment group; time to PSA progression (10.2 vs. 6.6 months; p.  The studies using abiraterone in CRPC illustrate that the drug provides a moderate improvement in cancer progression and improves survival in patients.  Monitoring Parameters  Health professionals should place on emphasis of monitoring patients using abiraterone. Before treatment hypokalemia and hypertension must be normalized in patients who are scheduled to use the drug .  It is important to routinely monitoring a patients blood pressure while they are on this product. Potassium levels should be checked at baseline and regularly to prevent hypokalemia in patients. Patients should also be checked for signs of fluid retention, such as peripheral edema. Liver function tests (ALT, AST, and bilirubin) should be measured prior to initiating abiraterone treatment and continued every two weeks for the first three months of treatment and monthly afterwards . Patients should routinely be assessed for other common side effects, including joint pain and urinary tract infections.  Conclusion  CRPC is a very advanced stage of prostate cancer that is fatal. Abiraterone (Zytiga) has been shown to prolong survival and lower PSA in men with CRPC. The drug works by selectively inhibiting CYP17 and lowering the production of testosterone via upstream inhibition of precursors in prostate, adrenal, testicular tissues. The selective inhibition of CYP17 leads to a large increase in mineralocorticoid activity in the body leading to hypertension, edema, and hypokalemia. The excess mineralocorticoid activity is typically diminished by administering 10 mg of prednisone daily with abiraterone. It is important to note that abiraterone is indicated as a second line therapy for patients who have failed treatment with docetaxel. While on abiraterone patients need to be monitored for hepatic function, hypertension, hypokalemia, and edema.  .    
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
 
