File Systems, Remote Access, and Monitoring Essay - 1

File Systems, Remote Access, and Monitoring - Essay Example This essay stresses that VPN connections allow users working at home or on the road to connect in a secure fashion to a remote organization server using the routing infrastructure provided by a public internetwork (such as the Internet). From the user’s perspective, the VPN connection is a point-to-point connection between the user’s computer and an organization server. This paper declares that the particular policy settings available under Security Options are determined by the security template file, that was imported into the Group Policy object (GPO). These security templates are .inf files stored in your computer's %windir%\security\templates folder, and by default Windows Server 2003 includes a number of standard templates. The securedc.inf template can be used to harden the security settings on your Windows Server 2003 domain controller, while hisecdc.inf can be used to harden these settings to an even greater degree. Windows Server 2003 offers two MMC snap-ins dedicated to security templates: The Security Templates snap-in and the Security Configuration and Analysis snap-in. The Security Templates snap-in is used for creating security templates; and the Security Configuration and Analysis snap-in is used to see what's in a template. Windows Server 2003 doesn't come with a preconfigured console for the snap-ins, so you must open the MMC and a dd them yourself. Each template configures settings in seven areas: Account Policies, Local Policies, Event Log, Restricted Groups, System Services, Registry and File System.

Systems Engineering for Managers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Systems Engineering for Managers - Essay Example The dollars thus flowed to such countries as the country's good and services flows to the US. Another major cause of the weakening dollar and the US economy is the petering out of the information technology boom. This is a situation which can not be fixed by even good economic policies. It has been worsened by monetary and multinational fiscal stimulus. The US needs to offer cooperative monetary as well as fiscal stimulus to their own economies without interference with the international trade. Such policies that lower the interest rates would induce investment. There is need for provision of an expansionary fiscal policy government substitution of deficit in spending for the drying private sector. There is also need to cut down the tax that is inequitable as well as inefficient in provision of such stimulus. In the past patients used to have their teeth whitened whenever they wanted, but now they are rethinking the action. They are worried that they might have their income dropping as they are trying to become more prudent with the financial resources they are having. Several citizens in the United States are monitoring their spending behaviors much more closely and are also whitening down their credit card balances as well as their debts regarding other obligations such as education. Such as situation led to a pullback in spending hence the inflation. Thus the weak US dollar did not have the power to purchase another country's strong dollar. According to Tonelson, (2003) the weakening dollar has been pushed harder to the corner by the National association of manufactures that indicates that as the greenback has become too expensive in relation to the other currencies. Thus U.S made products would be priced out of the foreign market as foreign products have gained a cost advantage in the country's market. The increase in crude oil would alter the world's economy as well. Most of other countries' currencies will rise against the dollar. This in return would save the exporting countries against increase in crude oil prices. It is not the case with the US as they will have to pay this crude oil in dollars hence inflation would start in the country. In order to combat such a situation, the US government might need to employ their superpower status and fight any country which is producing such crude oil. Retail sales have generally were sluggish and occasionally below expectations in spite of the substantial discounting on a wide range of the consumer products. Manufacturing sector after being considered as the worst hit by the situation has continued to suffer the widening softness which had adversely affected the US economy. Its sustained weakness has been spilled over to other sectors as several of these have indicated declines in demand for change (People's Daily, 2001). Through out the country there have been ever growing signs which indicates that most consumers have been worried because of the country's weakening economy that is likely to slip into recession. CDIC (2010) indicates that the economic signals of late have been flashing yellow signals indicating that the citizens have to be cautious. As the situation moves from bad to worse jobs have been harder to get and the mortgage industry has been having crisis that has made it very difficulty for admiring home owners who wish to

Business Issues: Samsung In China

Business Issues: Samsung In China To identify and understand the international business issues recently faced by Samsung in China and how do they react as well as to remain competitive against its competitors over the years through the use of international marketing strategies based on different factors which would influence the movement throughout the globe. Design/methodology/approach: The approach is used to study and illustrate the real world situation where organizations being in the electronics industry face high intensity and problems as it impacts the market as a whole. Findings: The main findings are based on the various tools to identify and evaluate the different strategies, factors, and conditions for going abroad in order to capture a larger market scale and segmentations. Practical implications: The tools used have different characteristics that explain into different forms which can be used to study the strategic movement and what gives Samsung a competitive advantage. Originality/value: The paper is specifically focused on the evaluation of business strategies based on the different tools for long-term growth and sustainability. Keywords: Globalisation, competitive advantage, innovation. Paper type: Research paper. 2.0 SUMMARY Samsung Electronics Company is a company operating in the electronics industry for consumers goods, one of which is mobile devices. Furthermore, they have made successful comebacks in terms of their mobile devices where it accounted a high percentage of users that uses Samsung brand that comes with many different models. In the past, Samsung may not be the best-selling brands for mobile devices unlike the Nokia, and Sony Ericsson because they were not as competitive in terms of quality, product innovation, and features that able to meet the needs of consumers. Apart from that, China has been a large market for electronics and Samsung is able to capture a wide market scale in China by investing into research and developments to enhance in electronic products such as LCDs and other home appliances, moving away from being just a mere manufacturers for OEM or in other words, producing products out from component parts bought from other companies. On top of that, information technology changes rapidly and they would need to follow the pace based on consumers preferences to achieve long-term goals and sustainability. However, there are international business issues which recently faced by Samsung in China due to the allegations that child labour were used and Samsung have been accused for exploiting younger workers. Therefore, this would affect its reputable image and brand yet along being sued recently by Apple for infringement of its patent. 3.0 INTRODUCTION Samsung Electronics Company has one of the best-selling phones in the world amongst other electronic hardware where it has made its way globally throughout various markets by having an established supply chain and manufacturing plants in China and many other countries. Furthermore, Samsung has made its effort by marketing its product with the initiatives to capture a larger market share. However, countries that have different political regulations and stability, cultures, factors and conditions, and so forth would affect the strategic movement for Samsung, for instance in China which were accused for using child labour and violating human rights. Based on the issues as per above mentioned, China market can be analysed through the use of these management tools that comprises of the Michael Porters PESTEL Analysis and Porters Diamond to determine the external environment, the Five Forces for the industry, Competitor Analysis, Marketing Analysis, as well as Internal Analysis through the use of SWOT and Hofstedes Dimensions. These tools were essential to understand the environment from all aspects in another market as well to identify its competitive edge against its competitors and other markets globally. On top of that, Samsung has applied its innovation into its technology and the human capital would be a major aspect in terms of potential capabilities to perform (Anwar, 2007). This is to enhance its brand recognition in terms of product development and innovation for sustainability. 4.0 COMPANY BACKGROUND Today, Samsung Electronics Company manufactures electronic products which include mobile devices whereby Samsung was first founded by Lee Byung-chul back in year 1938 in Taegu, Korea. Samsung was first started out as trading company which exports groceries products to China and has become a multinational corporation today. In 1958, Samsung expanded into industries such as ship building, chemicals and so on throughout the 1970s before moving on through the decades to year 1969 whereby Samsung Electronics was formed to create business opportunities by acquiring business establishments such as the insurance company, hospital, department stores as well by producing electronics which includes mobile devices which what Samsung is famous for (Murat, n.d.). Next, the successes Samsung had from its technological aspects in the DRAM industry for computing experience throughout Samsung Electronics has made a higher growth and sales in terms of product development and by marketing them out in massive quantities to other countries which made way for expanding abroad. On top of that, Samsung has an excellent method of quality and product development which controls and innovate new products whereby Samsung also hires the finest workers that holds a PhD and thats no surprise because Samsungs company assets is accounted about $300 billion (Lero, 2008). Up to today, Samsung retains the status of worlds best technology that provides constant improvement to contribute to the society as qualified workers would also play a major role for excellence in their respective fields (Murat, n.d.). However, there are problems which Asian economic crisis and how do they survive as well as the recent lawsuits for the infringement of intellectual property and the allegations of child labour used whereby the current chief executive officer (CEO) of Samsung, Shin Jong-kyun embattled with its competitors. 5.0 EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS 5.1 Michael Porters PESTEL analysis 5.1.1 Political In political factor, Samsung have to take cognizance of policies regulated in different countries. For instance, some governments may protect their local brands in the electronics industry and therefore impose a higher tariff or restricted quota for importing abroad. This is because some competitors may have government contracts and Samsung has to distinguish its products to compete with competitors. However in China, the China Labor Watch is taking initiatives towards the allegations of child labour below 16 years of age and exploiting younger workers seriously whereby it would affect Samsungs image and branding as well of its suppliers which were accused as well (Arthur, 2012). 5.1.2 Economic Next in economic, Samsung have suffered from the Asian economic crisis back in year 1997 which resulted in a negative net profit even though Samsung made $16 billion out from sales and the dismissal of 29,000 employees (Quelch Harrington, 2008). Therefore, consumers spending was affected as well due to a lower disposable income which resulted from a high unemployment rate in some countries. On top of that, the economy recession in countries such as in the U.K. has made an impact on Samsung being in the electronic industry as U.K. is one of the modest countries that follow the up-trend technology. Apart from that, the market in China is huge whereby the Asian economic crisis have made a high impact towards Samsung. 5.1.3 Society In society, more people which includes the younger generation even demand for a smartphone thereby increasing the sales. Thus, people in developing countries would have a higher demand and Samsung would have to segment certain groups of consumers based on the applications available through the product. Therefore, Samsung have to take this advantage to continuously innovate and develop its product to remain in the competitive market. However, there are allegations in China that younger generation were also being exploited to work more 100 hours overtime in a month and that would violate human rights and it could result in consumers boycotting on Samsung products (Arthur, 2012). 5.1.4 Technological This is one of the most important factors in the electronics industry as it demands for new features and specifications that meet consumers needs. For instance, Japan being one of the most advanced country would seek technological improvements for convenience and thus able to make their lifestyle into perfection. Besides that, wireless networks and data transfers improvement are one of the most basic needs for consumers which Samsung could take advantage in countries that has a high bandwidth wireless connection. 5.1.5 Environment Next in environment, Samsung would need to foresee its weather in certain countries because it may affect its manufacturing plants. Furthermore, Samsung would need to take the society and natural environment into consideration due to the pollution and the emission of fumes from factories. In China, the weather and pollution index is bad which would result in society protesting towards more manufacturing plant in China that would be detrimental to their health. 5.1.6 Legal In legal, more and more companies are seeking to protect their intellectual property rights such as Apple Inc. that recently sued Samsung for infringing its design and other features. On top of that, human rights have to be protected whereby a woman in China has brain cancer due to the fact that she was exposed to toxic chemicals for half a decade in her employment. Therefore, it could tarnish Samsungs image for profit rather than peoples concern as allegations has been made towards Samsung in China for exploiting workers (Globalization Monitor, 2012). 5.2 Michael Porters Diamond 5.2.1 Firm Strategy, Structure and Rivalry Taking China as an example for expanding abroad, Samsung is able to capture a large market in China as China is well populated thus its cost-efficient due to shipping costs and close proximity. In the other hand, Samsung joint ventures with Corning in regards to the new Chinese LCD facility so that Samsung can understand the Chinese cultures and compete with its competitors (Matt, 2012). 5.2.2 Demand Conditions In the demand conditions, consumers disposable income has to be monitored and the Chinese may have a higher disposable income due to the growing economy in China. On top of that, Samsung have to forecast consumers preferences based on their cultures to fit into the products, for instance home appliances that fits into their homes which are used to be much smaller in size unlike in the western homes. 5.2.3 Factor Conditions Samsung have accounted a huge percentage of consumers based in China and it gives an advantage in terms of logistics and human capital. For instance, South Korea ports would give cost efficient for shipping products and have the policies to trade with China. In the other hand, Samsung is able to safe cost through cheap labour and the hiring of knowledgeable candidates from universities from a larger market in China (Dilipnaidu, n.d.). 5.2.4 Related and Supporting Industry The supporting industry such as Tesco has given share partnership to Samsung as they are mutually beneficial in the retailing industry. On top of that, Samsung has lots of OEMs in Asia and infrastructure support in China which is at an advantage in terms of resources and logistically in specific geographical locations. 6.0 INDUSTRY ANALYSIS 6.1 Michael Porters Five Forces 6.1.1 Buyers The bargaining powers of buyers are high due to the fact that consumers can easily change to other competitors products. Therefore, Samsung strive to keep cost low at bay as much as possible and by doing so, they are able to capture a larger market share as China is well populated. However, switching cost can be high because some consumers may want to change to a newer phone whereby the old ones are still under contract. Thus, people in China would tend to always have the latest gadget due to high disposable income which would also result them a high switching cost unlike the home appliances where people have a longer time frame of using them but there are many other competitors producing them as well. 6.1.2 Suppliers The suppliers have a low bargaining power in the sense that Samsung itself is the suppliers for component parts such as DRAM computer chips and so forth. Therefore, they have a cost advantage and able to retain its originality. However in the electronics industry as a whole, the bargaining powers of suppliers are high due to other parts required to produce its other electronic hardware (Huvard et al, 2011, p.8). 6.1.3 Threat of Substitutes The threat of substitutes is high as there are many other smartphones available that could perform the same features and applications. For instance, Apple and Nokia smartphones could perform as similar to Samsungs and they are competing in terms of quality and innovation, thereby they would look like the same. However for older generation users, the threat of substitutes would be much higher because most of them are not IT literate and would spend less to get cheaper phones which would be a threat to Samsung as well. In the other hands, substitute products for home appliances amongst others are high as well. Not to mention about China phones whereby China used to imitate products into a different brand thus resulting to a higher threat of substitutes. 6.1.4 Intensity of Rivalry The intensity of rivalry is high because there are many other competitors in the market such as Apple Inc. in the smartphones industry as well as Sony in the home appliances products (Huvard et al, 2011, p.9). On top of that, the market structure of Samsung is monopolistic competition whereby they do not compete in price with the competitors, but compete in terms of innovation, product development, and which performs better with one another because consumers tend to get the one that performs best for them. Thus, the rivalry is strong in China because its a large market whereby all competitors have expanded there. 6.1.5 Threats of New Entrants The threats of new entrants are very low because a very high initial investment is required for research and development to compete with the existing competitors. Today, Samsung have made a great achievement in product development and its very difficult for new entrants to keep up with the pace as well of issues for protected intellectual property. Furthermore, consumers loyalty would form a stronger barrier of entry and thus difficult for new entrants to compete (Chan et al, 2011, p. 12). 7.0 COMPETITOR ANALYSIS In order to compete in a large market such as in China, Samsung have to analyse its competitors in order to understand their objectives, strategies, assumptions, as well as the resources and capabilities to perform in China and other countries (NetMBA, 2012). Thereby, competitors in the mobile industry one of which is Apple Inc. and Sony for other electronic appliances has created a high intensity for Samsung to keep pace with the moving technologies before they are left behind. 7.1 Competitors Strategy Thus, its important to understand their strategies and to keep track with latest updates. For instance, competitors tend to advertise to promote its products and Samsung has to understand its strategies out from it. However, Samsung has made good strategy in terms of advertisement whereby they use Korean pop singers and dancers in music videos to advertise its products. Furthermore, China is keen to Korean stars and therefore would be influenced to Samsung smartphones which would be a competitive advantage as well. 7.2 Competitors Objectives All competitors have different objectives in which to capture a larger market share particularly in China. For instance, Apple Inc. has an objective to develop the best computers and software to meet the needs of consumers even in future as well to align with the rapid change of technology (Apple, 2012). Therefore, Samsung have to take initiative to plan and develop its product for distinguishing itself than its competitors. 7.3 Competitors Assumptions Its important to assume certain movement on competitors to keep pace with the market. For instance, Apple Inc. have recently marketed its new iPhone 5 that comes in with better specifications for four cores processors due to the fact that the previous model has only two cores and the rumours for Samsungs smartphones have a slightly wide screen. Therefore, Samsung would be able to foresee the coming strategies for Apple Inc. in terms of product development in which Samsung could develop a much better smartphone. However for Sony in terms of other electronic appliances, Samsung have to determine the household needs for consumers to market its products. 7.4 Competitors Resources and Capabilities In terms of competitors resources and capabilities, Sony for instance may have resources by venturing into China market and the capabilities to produce highly technological products for developments because Sony is originated from Japan which is known as an advanced technology country. Therefore, Samsung has to compete in terms of its capabilities and to understand the extent they would pursue. 8.0 MARKETING ANALYSIS 8.1 Market Segmentation 8.1.1 Geographic Segmentation Samsung have segmented its market geographically in China particularly in urban areas due to the population density and the need for consumers to use smartphones for their daily routine. Therefore, there would be high demand for smartphones and other electronic products which would result of Samsung exploiting workers to work more than 100 hours per month over time to meet the higher demand of consumers (Arthur, 2012). However, Samsung do not really segment markets in rural areas due to the fact that most people are not IT literate and therefore do not need smartphones, except for home appliances that may be useful. 8.1.2 Demographic Segmentation In demographics, Samsung targeted young generations in particular and working adults for smartphones as well as housewives for home appliances. This is because the younger generations regardless of its gender, and occupation, there are likely to get themselves a smartphone for some reasons. Furthermore, Samsung also segment its market based on an average or high income level because its products are priced at a certain level whereby some groups may only able to afford them. 8.1.3 Psychographic Segmentation Based on the consumers activities and interest in China, they are active in their daily lifestyle and the smartphone would works best for them that made tasks easier and convenient for them to organize plans. Hence, their lifestyles are turning into one of the advanced country as well as the economy of China is growing which more people are moving forward towards information technology. 8.1.4 Behavioralistic Segmentation This is referring to consumers behaviour in China based on the design, pattern, outlook, as well as the features available from the electronic products of Samsung. Thereby, Samsung would have to take this matter into consideration to gain a larger market share in China and other countries. On top of that, brand loyalty is indeed important as part of its competitive advantage over its competitors if they are able to distinguish its product and to meet consumers needs. However, the allegations made to Samsung regarding the use of child labour and the exploitation of Chinese employees in Samsung would create a bad image amongst the Chinese and would be detrimental in the long run if this matter persists. 8.2 Marketing Mix Gap analysis 8.2.1 Product Samsung has many different products and models based on the different categories such as smartphones, home appliances, televisions and so forth. These products were designed specifically to meet the needs of consumers but however the products target a wide range of market as a whole and may not focus on certain market niches. This is to avoid additional costs in terms of operations but Samsung have to keep pace with the competitors as IT is a trend that grows rapidly. Next, one of the best-selling products in Samsung was the smartphones whereby the recent news has reported that it has sold about 20 million Galaxy S III smartphones over months of marketing it globally (TheStar, 2012). Hence, this may cause the result for allegations made against Samsung by China Watch Labor for using child labour as well of exploiting employees in China for producing products in a higher capacity to meet the high demand for consumers. 8.2.2 Price In price, Samsung tend to lower its cost as well as prices of consumers goods to remain competitive in the market. This is because consumers tend to look for products and features available in smartphones or other electronic appliances but they are likely to be similar to the competitors. Therefore, Samsung have to take advantage in terms of price regardless of the physiological fact that higher price constitute better product unless the quality can proof for a better product. On top of that, Samsung is able to take advantage of its price by collaborating with service providers based on the contracts whereby consumers are able to apply for a phone line while having the product for a cheaper price. 8.2.3 Place Samsung has its manufacturing plants and suppliers within the supply chain all over the world in many different countries in order to go global. By doing so, they have an efficient flow in terms of resources and logistically. In China, Samsung has many suppliers to adapt to the broad geographical locations and to meet the high demand of consumers. On top of that, countries that have a growing economy would in turn beneficial to Samsung for home appliances due to the fact that property prices would increase and there will be a higher demand for home appliances as well. Thus, Samsung is able to capture a higher market share due to the growing economy such as Australia and particularly in China. 8.2.4 Promotion In promotion, the Samsung had invested about billions of dollars into advertisement to promote its brand and products. For instance, Samsung used the Korean pop stars through music videos to promote its product due to the fact that Korean pop music videos are one of the most viewed on Internet due to its popularity regardless viewers being in Asia, Europe, and the Western countries. Thus, this would influence the consumers for the products based on the advertising strategy and on top of that, Samsung also had made great effort into corporate social responsibility to promote a better welfare of the society, apart from the allegations being made against Samsung recently in China. 8.2.5 People The people are referring to the staff and employees Samsung has throughout the globe and particularly in China. In China, Samsung is able to hire the skilled employee, for instance PhD holders from universities and on top of that hire cheap labour into manufacturing plants which able to save costs. Furthermore, there are many suppliers as they established a stable supply chain in the market. 8.2.6 Gap Analysis Based on the marketing mixes as per above mentioned, there are gaps in between its marketing strategy. One amongst others is the product and prices strategy whereby Samsung does not focus on low to no income level whereby young students were not targeted. This is basically important because they are influenced by the up-trend and they are likely to get its product. Thus, Samsung may be able to produce smartphones that may have the similar but less features and functions at a lower price for low to no income level in which their parents may afford one for their children. This is to capture a larger market scale and to establish consumers loyalty as well to strengthen its brand. Next, its promotional strategy whereby advertisements were meant to capture young to working adults market groups but however elderly groups may not be influenced by these promotional strategy. Therefore, Samsung should have mixes of advertisement to show concerns for the older generation as they are part of the market group whereby they start using smartphones regardless of knowing how to use them or otherwise. This is because they are following the up-trend from their children in terms of communication and the features available that make their life convenient. 9.0 INTERNAL ANALYSIS 9.1 SWOT analysis 9.1.1 Strengths In strengths, one of which is the brand whereby Samsung have a strong brand recognition throughout the globe. Hence, almost everyone knows what Samsung is and what do they produce. Furthermore, the brand they had can be reinforced through the use of its quality and product innovation such as smartphones, and electronic appliances. On top of that, by venturing in China, there is a growing market in demand for smartphones in particular as well as other electronic products produced by Samsung. Therefore, Samsung is able to capture a larger market scale. Hence, not to forget about the diplomatic relationship China had with the capital city of Korea, Seoul which could be at an advantage at political regime (Anon., 2009). 9.1.2 Weaknesses There are several weaknesses for Samsung such as the increased cost for investment into research and development which reduce the net profits for Samsung. Thereby, this could result in Samsung in hiring child labour as well to exploit employees in production facility based on the allegations made against Samsung recently. On top of that, Samsung may not be able to protect its product because China have imitated and produced its similar products with a different brand name in China, yet along market them out globally as well although the quality may not be as strong as Samsungs. Furthermore, Samsung basically focuses on the whole market rather than market niches and may not fit its products with certain market groups. 9.1.3 Opportunities There are opportunities in China whereby it accounted a large market for consumers goods and electronic products. Thereby, Samsung is able to gain its competitive advantage by venturing into China due to geographic location and the use of cheap and skilled labour. In geographic location, Korea is located near to China and therefore would give shipping and port advantage which would result in cost efficient which would be profitable due to the fact that China is a huge market and its well populated. In the other hand, the use of cheap and skilled labour enable Samsung to save cost although they are allegations made towards the use of child labour against Samsung. Furthermore, skilled and knowledgeable employees can be hired through universities in China for their convenience. 9.1.4 Threats There are several threats in the industry one of which is the existence of its competitors. Samsungs rival such as Apple Inc. and Sony would be the biggest threat to capture a larger market in China. Therefore, in order to remain competitive, these parties would try to save cost so that they could have a larger investment into research and development to produce better products in terms of quality and innovation. Thus, this resulted in Samsung exploiting workers to meet demands of the market and was accused for using child labour and it will definitely affect Samsungs image and branding which would give an advantage for its competitors. On top of that, Samsung being the late mover in the industry would be a threat as well due to the high intensity in the market inclusive of the Chinese competitors which accounted of a huge percentage of the market. 9.2 Hofstedes Dimensions Hofstedes Dimensions were used to determine the cultural differences between two countries based on the 5 forces such as the power distance, the individualism versus collectivism, the masculinity versus femininity, the uncertainty avoidance, and the time orientation. Hence, the forces as per above mentioned can be determined by using the BRIC Geert Hofstede Scores to study the different cultures before going abroad. Thereby, this report is to study the cultural differences between Korea, and China for competitive edge. 9.2.1 Power Distance In power distance, the Chinese in China have a higher power distance compared to the Koreans BRIC Geert Hofstede Scores and this shows that the Chinese are aware of the higher authorities that make decisions knowingly that the higher positions have more experience and knowledge. Thus, their organizational structures would seem to be bureaucratic and the lower level employees may not make any decisions. Thereby, Samsung being a Korean company have a small gap between the scores in relations to the power distance and they are able to joint ventures with Corning in China. 9.2.2 Individualism versus Collectivism Next on individualism versus collectivism, both scores for China and Korea are relatively low and have the slightest gap between one and another BRIC Geert Hofstede Scores. Therefore, it can be seen that both countries are collectivism whereby they used to make decisions collectively in a group. Thus, Samsung would be able to adapt with the Chinese culture to make decisions in a group without taking risks for making decisions individually. 9.2.3 Masculinity versus Femininity In masculinity versus femininity, the Chinese would be referred as masculinity whereas the Koreans are referred to femininity based on the BRIC Geert Hofstede Scores. This indicated that the Chinese would like to have more recognition in terms of respect as well to dominate its decision-making in the organization for higher income. Therefore, the subordinates are expected to follow their superior orders whereas the Koreas are less emphasized to the importance of its status but are relationship oriented in terms of social norms. 9.2.4 Uncertainty Avoidance BRIC Geert Hofstede Scores, there is a huge difference between the Chinese and Koreans whereby the Chinese can be identified as risk taker whereas for the Koreans, are much likely a risk adverse. The huge gap in between indicated that the Koreans would take due diligence and care in decision-making before taking initiatives. However, if Samsung is venturing into China, there would not be a problem because the decision-maker lies with Samsung and therefore could make its decisions diligently before going into any agreement to joint ventures with Chinese companies whereby China are likely to take risk in this case as long profits could be made regardless of being in a short or a longer-term. 9.2.5 Time Orientation In time orientation, the Chinese would be taking a longer-term for decision-making unlike the Koreans that would take a shorter time based on BRIC Geert Hofstede Scores. Furthermore, this is because of the time needed to make decisions collectively but however Koreans are would take a shorter time even though they make decisions collectively as well. Thus, the Koreans are likely to gain opport

Packaging :: essays research papers

Successful and Unsuccessful Packages   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Budweiser package and Foster package does more than they contain and protect products. They also tell their great deal about the people from different countries that buy the products, as well as the people from different countries who sell the products. In addition, both packages are made in different countries, and both packages have differences and similarities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Budweiser package is manufacture in America and contains various bottle sizes and various can sizes. Budweiser bottle is small and easy to hold and the cap is easy to open. In addition, it is made in thick glass so when it drops from the knee down it does not crack, and it ¡Ã‚ ¯s appearance is attractive to people. Budweiser can is made in different beer quantity from 6 ounces to 24 ounces. Moreover, it encloses different item quantity from case of 6 to case of 24.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the other hand, Foster package is manufacture in Australia and contains one bottle size and one can size. Foster bottle is large and hard to hold and it is hard to open. In addition, it is made in thin glass so it ¡Ã‚ ¯s easy to break when it drops. Foster can contains only one beer quantity, which is 6 ounces and doesn ¡Ã‚ ¯t enclose various options to meet people preferences. In addition, Foster only has one item quantity, which is case of 6 that most people prefer case of 24. Budweiser package is a successful selling product in America because the price of the products is affordable to buy and it on advertisement (billboard, radio, and TV). In addition, the company and the product are popular to US citizen. Besides, Budweiser alcohol level is low around .02, which most American prefers that level of alcohol to be. For example, in New York Time Magazine say most American like to drink Budweiser because they say it tastes better and the alcohol level is no t dangerous for driving. On the other side, Budweiser package is a failure in Australia because it considers a foreign product and Australian prefers to have higher alcohol level.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Foster package is a failure in the United State for the reason that it ¡Ã‚ ¯s a foreign product and doesn ¡Ã‚ ¯t meet US citizen preferences. In addition, it contains lack in advertising and contains high alcohol level. Besides, Foster company and products are unpopular in the US, so the percentage of selling the product really low.

Alaska Milk

Dear Wilfred Steven Uytengsu, Jr. , My name is Joselito T. Santos Jr. and I'm a senior at San Beda College, majoring in legal management. As a graduating student of the said college an important school paper requirement for one of my subject which is Strategic Management should be accomplished to graduate. I'm writing to express my interest in making a Strategic Management paper for your prestagious company which is the Alaska Milk Company Philippines. Documents such company documents, financial documents and marketing documents will be needed for the progress of my paper. I will assure that all of your documents will be taken care of and only be used as reference for the progess of my paper. Im hoping you will help me and in return I will provide your company a great Strategic Management Plan for the development of your company. Thank you. Sincerely, Joselito T. Santos Jr. ALASKA MILK CORPORATION OUR VISION†¦ Is to be a leading consumer foods company with a diversified portfolio of consumer food brands and products that are market leaders in their respective categories. OUR MISSION†¦ PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT We will continue to build on the strengths and competitive attributes of the ALASKA brand and develop its full marketing potential. We will develop new products and identify market opportunities, mindful of our task to be responsive to the ever changing and growing needs of our consumers. CUSTOMER SERVICE Customer relationship is an integral part of building the Alaska business. We aim to provide our partners in trade the best and most efficient service, making use of leading edge technology to ensure timely product availability and accessibility. We strive to know and understand our customers fully to bridge the gap between what they need and what we can give. QUALITY Ultimately, the consumer whom we serve and their level of satisfaction with our products become our final judge and jury. We are committed to deliver high quality milk and other consumer food products from production to consumption. We will respond to the call to deliver higher quality nutrition to every Filipino home. PEOPLE We recognize that our people, the Alaska Team Members, are on of our most important assets and we are committed to promote their safety and welfare. Their wealth of experience, ideas, dedication and strong work ethic lay the foundation for the Company's continued success. It is our goal as much as it is theirs, to pursue and reach their full potentials through continuing education, training, and skills-enhancement programs. We challenge each individualby providing the opportunity to contribute to the Company's endeavors. PROFITABLE GROWTH Growth that creates value for our shareholders is paramount. We will deploy our resources on investment opportunities that are within our core competence and yield excellent returns relative to its risks and which are consistent with our growth objectives. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY We recognize our role in nation building by promoting the protection of the environment and taking part in various community-building projects that help enhance and uplift the quality of life of the underprivileged and the marginalizedsectors of our society. Original Mission Product and Services Yes We will develop new products and identify market opportunities, mindful of our task to be responsive to the ever changing and growing needs of our consumers. Quality Yes We are committed to deliver high quality milk and other consumer food products from production to consumption. We will respond to the call to deliver higher quality nutrition to every Filipino home. Market No Concern for survival and profitability Yes We will deploy our resources on investment opportunities that are within our core competence and yield excellent returns relative to its risks and which are consistent with our growth objectives. Technology Yes We aim to provide our partners in trade the best and most efficient service, making use of leading edge technology to ensure timely product availability and accessibility. Philosophy No Self Concept No Concern for Public Image Yes We recognize our role in nation building by promoting the protection of the environment and taking part in various community-building projects that help enhance and uplift the quality of life of the underprivileged and the marginalizedsectors of our society. Concern for Employee Yes We recognize that our people, the Alaska Team Members, are on of our most important assets and we are committed to promote their safety and welfare. Revised Vision Is to be a leading and the number one dairy consumer foods company in the Philippines both Luzon,Visayas and Mindanao regions with a distinct and well known various consumer food brands and products that are market leaders and highest profit earners in their respective categories, Revised Mission Product and Services Yes We will develop new products and identify market opportunities, mindful of our task to be responsive to the ever changing and growing needs of our consumers. Quality Yes We are committed to deliver high quality milk and other consumer food products from production to consumption. We will respond to the call to deliver higher quality nutrition to every Filipino home. Market Yes We are committed in building a brige connecting all Filipinoes who are not just living in Luzon but also Filipinoes who are living in Visayas and Mindanao and targeting all economic classes in the Philippines such as the upper,middle and lower classes by providing new a product with quality and affortability. Concern for survival and profitability Yes We will deploy our resources on investment opportunities that are within our core competence and yield excellent returns relative to its risks and which are consistent with our growth objectives. Technology Yes We aim to provide our partners in trade the best and most efficient service, making use of leading edge technology to ensure timely product availability and accessibility. Philosophy Yes We provide consumers with our products a choice to make their bodies to be more healthier and fit. Have a healty lifestyle and to live longer so that they can enjoy their fruitful years in their existence. Self Concept Yes We recognize that the company for so many years our company touches the hearts of all Filipinoes and with that we are one of the top supplier of consumer products in the Philippines. So we believe we provide provide products that has quality and affortability Concern for Public Image Yes We recognize our role in nation building by promoting the protection of the environment and taking part in various community-building projects that help enhance and uplift the quality of life of the underprivileged and the marginalizedsectors of our society. Concern for Employee Yes We recognize that our people, the Alaska Team Members, are on of our most important assets and we are committed to promote their safety and welfare. New Mission and Vission Vision Is to be a leading and the number one dairy consumer foods company in the Philippines both Luzon,Visayas and Mindanao regions with a distinct and well known various consumer food brands and products that are market leaders and highest profit earners in their respective categories, Mission Product and Services Yes We will continue to build on the strengths and competitive attributes of the ALASKA brand and develop its full marketing potential. We will develop new products and identify market opportunities, mindful of our task to be responsive to the ever changing and growing needs of our consumers. Quality Yes Ultimately, the consumer whom we serve and their level of satisfaction with our products become our final judge and jury. We are committed to deliver high quality milk and other consumer food products from production to consumption. We will respond to the call to deliver higher quality nutrition to every Filipino home. Market Yes We are committed in building a brige connecting all Filipinoes who are not just living in Luzon but also Filipinoes who are living in Visayas and Mindanao and targeting all economic classes in the Philippines such as the upper,middle and lower classes by providing new a product with quality and affortability. Concern for survival and profitability Yes Growth that creates value for our shareholders is paramount. We will deploy our resources on investment opportunities that are within our core competence and yield excellent returns relative to its risks and which are consistent with our growth objectives. Technology Yes Customer relationship is an integral part of building the Alaska business. We aim to provide our partners in trade the best and most efficient service, making use of leading edge technology to ensure timely product availability and accessibility. We strive to know and understand our customers fully to bridge the gap between what they need and what we can give. Philosophy Yes We provide consumers with our products a choice to make their bodies to be more healthier and fit. Have a healty lifestyle and to live longer so that they can enjoy their fruitful years in their existence. Self Concept Yes We recognize that the company for so many years our company touches the hearts of all Filipinoes and with that we are one of the top supplier of consumer products in the Philippines. So we believe we provide provide products that has quality and affortability Concern for Public Image Yes We recognize our role in nation building by promoting the protection of the environment and taking part in various community-building projects that help enhance and uplift the quality of life of the underprivileged and the marginalizedsectors of our society. Concern for Employee Yes We recognize that our people, the Alaska Team Members, are on of our most important assets and we are committed to promote their safety and welfare. Their wealth of experience, ideas, dedication and strong work ethic lay the foundation for the Company's continued success. It is our goal as much as it is theirs, to pursue and reach their full potentials through continuing education, training, and skills-enhancement programs. We challenge each individualby providing the opportunity to contribute to the Company's endeavors. Chapter 1 Introduction Alaska Milk products were first manufactured in the Philippines in 1972 through Holland Milk Products, Inc. (HOMPI), a partnership between AMC's former parent company, General Milling Corporation (GMC), an industrial foods company with interests in flour, feed and soy bean milling, and a Dutch dairy company, Holland Canned Milk International B. V. HOMPI initially manufactured liquid canned filled milk products, (evaporated and sweetened condensed milk) and eventually expanded to manufacture powdered filled milk and UHT milk products division up until AMC's spin-off and incorporation as a separate and independent corporate entity in 1994. It was also a time when the company embarked on a major expansion program which prompted the company to tap the capital markets through an initial public offering (IPO) to raise funds for the capacity expansion of its powdered milk facilities. Alaska Milk shares were listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange in 1995. Post-IPO, GMC held 66% of AMC while 34% was left in free float to the public. In mid-1997, however, GMC transfered its 66% ownership in AMC to individual shareholders of GMC through a property dividend, thus fully divesting its interest in AMC and enabling management to consolidate and focus its efforts in pursuing AMC's interests in the consumer foods industry. Currently, management and strategic partner Campina Melkunie hold 56% while 44% is in public free float. For over thirty years, AMC has emerged as one of only two major players in the Philippine milk industry, consistently maintaining brand leadership in the liquid canned milk category and holding a strong and growing position in powdered milk. It has also expanded into higher value-added milk products, particularly in UHT/Ready-to-Drink milk category. Apart from growing its core businesses, AMC endeavors to diversity and explore opportunities in related consumer products with global food companies that will complement AMC's existing revenue base. In 1972, Alaska began caring for the Filipino family by providing quality milk products for good nutrition and health. Since then, it has shown its caring in other ways: through programs that promote sports development, campaigns that foster good values among children and product innovations aimed at enhancing the Filipino's health and welfare. It is this commitment to the Filipino that has made Alaska a leading brand. In 1996, the mission of caring for the Filipino and bringing nutrition to each home grows stronger than ever, as Alaska looks forward to the next 25 years. Board of Directors Our board of directors have successful careers in businese, academe and public service. With their wealth of experience, they add significant perspective and direction into how management shapes and executes business strategies. ANTONIO H. OZAETA Chairman of the Board JUAN B. SANTOS Vice Chairmanof the Board WILFRED STEVEN UYTENGSU, JR. Director ROBERTO F. DE OCAMPO Independent Director GRAHAME S. TONKIN Independent Director JOSE R. FACUNDO Independent Director MICHAEL R. B. UYTENGSU Director ATTY. RAMON ESGUERRA Director DR. BERNARDO M. VILLEGAS Independent Director Our senior management team shares the same mission, vision and values — driven by a sense of accountability to be successful as individuals and as a company. WILFRED STEVEN UYTENGSU, JR. President and Chief Executive Officer JOSELITO J. SARMIENTO, JR. Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer ARNOLD L. ABAD Vice-President, Accounting & Controller MA. BELEN M. FERNANDO Vice-President, Marketing SANTIAGO A. POLIDO Vice President, Corporate Affairs FRANCISCO T. IDIAN Vice President, Sales AARON D. FULTON Director, Operations THOMAS NILSSON Director, UHT Operations REYCELLE M. RODRIGUEZ Director Materials Management ALFREDO B. JAVIER Asst. Vice President, Internal Audit ANSELMA G. CABANTAN Asst. Vice President, Information Systems II Research and methologies Research Design Data that will be used for the company analysis will be gathered from the websites of Alaska Milk Company, documents and other papers will be get from a connection working inside the company and other government agencies such Securities of Exchange Commisions and National Statistics Office. These government offices have the relevant informations for the paper to progess To assess Alaska's performance relative to its competitors, audited financial reports for 2010 and 2011 will be obtained from Alaska Milk Company as well as its key competitors from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Aside from getting and providing financial data, the published annual reports in general circulations such as newspaper will also serves as a good source of internal and competitor information. Statements from the corporate website of Alaska and its competitors will be used to determine recent developments, marketing activities and other internal and competitor information. To be able to benchmark the pricing of the company relative to its competitors, various. Scope and Limitation This paper will be limited to Alask Milk Coporation dairy food ventures in the Philippines. This paper intends to create a product which has a high demand in the food market and making a dairy product that will be competing to an exisiting market. The paper will focus on how can the company attract consumers to buy, earn profit and compete in the Philippine food consumer market in providing a new product such as a milk tea powder and making an exsisting dairy product such as white cheese product. The paper will only concentrate to the introduced new business product such as the caramel milk tea powder and white cheese productions of Alaska Milk Company. It's other products will not be tackled in this paper. Due to the timing of the submission of this paper, only the 2011 Annual report will be used. The strategies recommended in this paper will affect the financials of the company in 2012 up to 2016. Major Assumptions * Alaska Milk Company will be the first food consumer company to produce caramel milk tea powder drink all over the Philippines. Alaska Milk Company will be the first food consumer company to sell milk tea products in a low a price compare to its competitors. * Alaska Milk Company will be the first food consumer company to commercial and sell low priced nutrious white cheese products. * Alaska Milk Company White cheese product will be the number one cheese product in the Philipppines taking the place of other cheese product competitors. * The percentage income of Alaska Milk Company will increase due to high demand of its new product III. External Analysis

Censorship in Education

Plato writes in Book Nine of â€Å"The Republic,† that in a good society there should be censorship, which should be determined by the ruler. Plato has a very strict view on what should be censored in education. For example, Plato believes that many sections of the Odyssey should be censored. I do believe in censorship in education, but I do not believe in censorship to the same level that Plato does. I believe that censorship should be considered at a much smaller level. Plato believed in censoring poets, especially for the use of education. Plato said that fables and legends that are normally told to young children give a false idea of gods and heroes. Plato believes that the only thing that poets or writers should write about is the â€Å"divine nature as it really is† (71). Plato believed that children should only learn the truth, because if they do not they are given a false idea of life. I do not agree with Plato and his idea that fables and legends should not be told to children. I believe that children need to hear fables and legends. The fables and legends help young children understand major ideas that they otherwise would not understand or be interested in. For example, the fable of â€Å"The Milkmaid and her Pail† makes it easier to understand the theme â€Å"don†t count your chickens until they†ve hatched. † If a child is just told that idea they will not automatically understand it. Children need to be able to relate to what they are being taught in order for them to stay interested and listen to what they are being taught. This story may not be the â€Å"divine truth,† but I believe that it still has an important lesson for children. There is no harm in fables or legends and I do not believe that they should be censored. Plato believes as children get older, what they learn should still be regulated. Plato believes that even the Odyssey should be censored. Plato does not agree with Homer when he describes Zeus as bestowing of both good and evil. Plato says the truth is that Heaven is only accountable for what is good, not what is evil. Plato therefore, believes that what Homer has written is false and should be censored. Also, Plato does not approve of the language used in parts of the Odyssey. Plato says, â€Å"the very sound of which is enough to make one shiver† ‘loathsome Styx,† ‘the River of Wailing†¦ â€Å"† (77). Another part of the Odyssey that Plato would censor is the â€Å"wailing and lamentations of the famous heroes† (77). Plato does not look at death as something to fear, so promoting death as a bad thing should be taken out of writing. I do not agree with Plato. I find nothing offensive about his writing and language. I also do not believe there is anything wrong with writing something that is not the â€Å"divine truth. It is the right of the writer to choose how he writes and what he writes about. Hence, I believe that it is up to the discretion of the reader to pick what they do and do not read. When it comes to education, each school should decide on what to censor. The individual schools will know what is and what is not appropriate for their students rather than the government. I also disagree with Plato†s idea of banning the weeping of the dead. Plato said that death should not be feared. This is an issue that varies on an individual basis. Sometimes these beliefs are religious beliefs and sometimes they are not; and I believe that these thoughts and ideas should not be restricted in any way. Plato believes that the ruling part should set restrictions and enforce them. Plato does not believe in a poetic license. Plato says, â€Å"You and I, Adeimantus, as not†¦ to invent stories ourselves, but only to be clear as to the main outlines to be followed by the poets in making their stories and the limits beyond which they must not be allowed to go† (70-71). Plato believes that it is the ruler†s obligation to state the limitations of the writer. He also believes it is the writers obligation to follow these limitations. Plato believes that these limitations are all focused on writing of the â€Å"divine truth. † He believes an artist should paint a picture exactly as it is seen, without any imperfections. Plato says this is also how writers should write, the truth without any imperfections. Once again I disagree with Plato. I believe that a writer should not be limited at all. A writer has the ability and the right to write whatever they want to and how ever they want to. I strongly believe in freedom of speech which Plato does not believe in. This does not mean that I believe that children can read anything, but I believe that it is the responsibility of the parents to watch what the children read. As the children get older and enroll into school, it also becomes the schools responsibility to censor what the child reads. I do not believe that the government has any right to censor or limit a writer in any way just so someone does not read it. If someone does not want to read what was written, then they do not have to read it. Plato has a very strict view on censorship. One that I do not agree with. One reason why my views are so different from Plato†s is because we are from different periods in time. This has a lot to do with the conflicts in our ideas. Plato believes that the government should regulate and enforce what writers write. I believe that writers should be able to write whatever they want to and that it is the reader†s responsibility to pick what they want to read. If the reader is a child then the parents and school should regulate what the child is reading. I do not believe that a writer should be restricted in any way. I believe that this is very important to our society today.

Grumman F9F Panther in the Korean War

Grumman F9F Panther in the Korean War Having had success in building fighters for the US Navy during World War II with models such as the F4F Wildcat, F6F Hellcat, and F8F Bearcat, Grumman began work on its first jet aircraft in 1946. Responding to a request for a jet-powered night fighter, Grummans first effort, dubbed G-75, intended to utilize four Westinghouse J30 jet engines mounted in the wings. The large number of engines was necessary as the output of early turbojets was low. As the design progressed, advances in technology saw the number of engines reduced to two. Designated XF9F-1, the night fighter design lost a competition to the Douglas XF3D-1 Skyknight. As a precaution, the US Navy ordered two prototypes of the Grumman entry on April 11, 1946. Recognizing that the XF9F-1 had key flaws, such as a lack of space for fuel, Grumman commenced evolving the design into a new aircraft. This saw the crew reduced from two to one and the elimination of night-fighting equipment. The new design, the G-79, moved forward as a single-engine, single-seat day fighter. The concept impressed the US Navy which amended the G-75 contract to include three G-79 prototypes. Development Assigned the designation XF9F-2, the US Navy requested that two of the prototypes be powered by the Rolls-Royce Nene centrifugal-flow turbojet engine. During this time, work was moving forward to allow Pratt Whitney to build the Nene under license as the J42. As this had not been completed, the US Navy asked that the third prototype be powered by a General Electric/Allison J33. The XF9F-2 first flew on November 21, 1947 with Grumman test pilot Corwin Corky Meyer at the controls and was powered by one of the Rolls-Royce engines. The XF9F-2 possessed a mid-mounted straight-wing with leading edge and trailing edge flats. Intakes for the engine were triangular in shape and situated in wing root. The elevators were mounted high on the tail. For landing, the aircraft utilized a tricycle landing gear arrangement and a stinger retractable arresting hook. Performing well in testing, it proved capable of 573 mph at 20,000 feet. As trials moved forward, it was found that the aircraft still lacked the necessary fuel storage. To combat this issue, permanently mounted wingtip fuel tanks were mounted to the XF9F-2 in 1948. The new aircraft was named Panther and mounted a base armament of four 20mm cannon which were aimed using a Mark 8 computing optical gunsight. In addition to the guns, the aircraft was capable of carrying a mix of bombs, rockets, and fuel tanks under its wings. In total, the Panther could mount 2,000 pounds of ordnance or fuel externally, though the due to a lack of power from the J42, F9Fs seldom launched with a full load. Production: Entering service in May 1949 with VF-51, the F9F Panther passed its carrier qualifications later that year. While the first two variants of the aircraft, the F9F-2 and F9F-3, differed only in their power plants (J42 vs. J33), the F9F-4 saw the fuselage lengthened, tail enlarged, and the inclusion of the Allison J33 engine. This was later superseded by the F9F-5 which used the same airframe but incorporated a license-built version of the Rolls-Royce RB.44 Tay (Pratt Whitney J48). While the F9F-2 and F9F-5 became the main production models of the Panther, reconnaissance variants (F9F-2P and F9F-5P) were also constructed. Early in the Panthers development, concern arose regarding the aircrafts speed. As a result, a swept-wing version of the aircraft was also designed. Following early engagements with the MiG-15 during the Korean War, work was accelerated and the F9F Cougar produced. First flying in September 1951, the US Navy viewed the Cougar as a derivative of the Panther hence its designation as F9F-6. Despite the accelerated development timeline, F9F-6s did not see combat in Korea. Specifications (F9F-2 Panther): General Length: 37 ft. 5 in.Wingspan: 38 ft.Height: 11 ft. 4 in.Wing Area: 250 ft ²Empty Weight: 9,303 lbs.Loaded Weight: 14,235 lbs.Crew: 1 Performance Power Plant: 2 Ãâ€" Pratt Whitney J42-P-6/P-8 turbojetCombat Radius: 1,300 milesMax. Speed: 575 mphCeiling: 44,600 ft. Armament 4 Ãâ€" 20 mm M2 cannon6 Ãâ€" 5 in. rockets on underwing hardpoints or 2,000 lbs. of bomb Operational History: Joining the fleet in 1949, the F9F Panther was the US Navys first jet fighter. With the US entry into the Korean War in 1950, the aircraft immediately saw combat over the peninsula. On July 3, a Panther from USS Valley Forge (CV-45) flown by Ensign E.W. Brown scored the aircrafts first kill when he downed a Yakovlev Yak-9 near Pyongyang, North Korea. That fall, Chinese MiG-15s entered the conflict. The fast, swept-wing fighter out-classed the US Air Forces F-80 Shooting Stars as well as older piston-engine aircraft such as the F-82 Twin Mustang. Though slower than the MiG-15, US Navy and Marine Corps Panthers proved capable of combating the enemy fighter. On November 9, Lieutenant Commander William Amen of VF-111 downed a MiG-15 for the US Navys first jet fighter kill. Due to the MiGs superiority, the Panther was forced to hold the line for part of the fall until the USAF could rush three squadrons of the new North American F-86 Sabre to Korea. During this time, the Panther was in such demand that the  Navy Flight Demonstration Team (The Blue Angels) was forced to turn over its F9Fs for use in combat. As the Sabre increasingly took over the air superiority role, the Panther began to see extensive use as a ground attack aircraft due to its versatility and hefty payload. Famous pilots of the aircraft included future astronaut John Glenn and Hall of Famer Ted Williams who flew as wingmen in VMF-311. The F9F Panther remained the US Navy and Marine Corps primary aircraft for the duration of the fighting in Korea. As jet technology rapidly advanced, the F9F Panther began to be replaced in American squadrons in the mid-1950s. While the type was withdrawn from frontline service by the US Navy in 1956, it remained active with the Marine Corps until the following year. Though used by reserve formations for several years, the Panther also found use as a drone and drone tug into the 1960s. In 1958, the United States sold several F9Fs to Argentina for use aboard their carrier ARA Independencia (V-1). These remained active until 1969. A successful aircraft for Grumman, the F9F Panther was the first of several jets the company provided for the US Navy, with the most famous being the F-14 Tomcat.

How to control email (and free yourself)

How to control email (and free yourself) How to control email (and free yourself) If there’s one area that unites most professionals, it’s the struggle with email. Whether it’s how to manage the daily deluge of messages in our inboxes, how to respond to them or how to write them so they don’t lead to misunderstandings, finding ways to control email (and not let it control us) is a challenge we all face. The trouble is that email is everywhere. We send and receive more than 205bn emails a day [PDF], and when we open our laptops, email is usually the first thing we look at. Many of us will even check our inboxes immediately after our alarm wakes us in the morning. At biologys mercy Our biology doesn’t help: we’re wired to search. That brief frisson of pleasure you feel when you realise someone’s emailed you is actually a small rush of the hormone dopamine. Unfortunately, it usually is very brief indeed, and followed by a sinking feeling as you realise it’s just another problem to deal with. Opening yourself up to this kind of stress while you’re half-asleep does little to protect your mental health, and it’s also a real barrier to business success. That’s because in checking and responding to email so frequently and habitually, we’re building our agendas around everyone else’s goals, rather than our own. I know this all too well. I’ve lost days to my inbox, veering wildly off track and wondering where my original list of goal-related tasks went. But there’s a lot you can do to stop email controlling your life. Here are some suggestions: Take control with technology Technology itself is one of the answers. There are several apps that will automatically prioritise key emails, categorise others and filter out the stuff you really don’t want to see at all. (Obviously check with your colleagues in IT before installing software on a work computer.) For example, I’ve been using Sanebox, an intelligent system that files emails based on my history and behaviour, for over a year and it’s made a huge difference. It puts emails from addresses it can’t find in my contacts list into separate folders, saving my inbox only for messages it thinks I need to see. Then it emails me a digest once a day to tell me they’re there. (I can check the folders any time.) Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook and Apple mail also have helpful functions built in that are worth exploring. They’re less sophisticated, but free. WeekWill goes one step further. It sends you a text and can even call you if you get an email from anyone on your VIP list, so that you can switch off your mail app altogether. You can then check any critical emails using webmail (which, as it involves an extra step, is less tempting). This revives the prospect of email-free holidays. Remember those? Change your habits You don’t have to use a technical fix. You could try restricting yourself to checking and responding to email for half an hour, say, three times a day. If that works, you could then whittle it down to twice, or even once a day. For this to work, be sure to set an autoresponder to let correspondents know that’s what you’re doing. But be careful to word the automatic response sensitively or you’ll simply irritate people. Bluntly telling them that you check your email only twice a day will probably do more harm than good. (I’ve received emails like that and I confess it made me feel like the sender valued their time more than mine, even though I wanted to spend money with them.) Instead, you could write something like this: So that I can focus on doing the best work for my clients, I check email just twice a day, at around midday and 3pm. Then, throw them a lifeline, just in case: If you need to speak to me urgently, don’t worry. Just send me a text or call me on †¦ Most people will be happy to wait once you’ve reassured them in this way. This method needs real discipline, though. You need to use these half-hour periods for quick replies only. An email that takes an hour to respond to is a task in its own right. So try to recognise such messages and acknowledge that you need to plan them in properly (sending a holding reply if necessary). Take back your day Whatever you do, do something. It’s not sustainable to let email hijack your agenda every day. It will seriously restrict your progress and could damage your mental health. This article originally appeared in a slightly different form in The Guardian. Image credit: Basar / Shutterstock

What Aquatic Insects Tell Us About Water Quality

What Aquatic Insects Tell Us About Water Quality The types of insects and other invertebrates living in the worlds lakes, rivers or oceans can tell us if that water source has very high or very little water pollutants. There are a number of ways that the scientific community and environmental agencies measure water quality, such as taking the temperature of the water, testing the pH and water clarity, measuring the level of dissolved oxygen, as well as determining the levels of nutrients and toxic substances. It seems looking at insect life in the water might be the easiest and perhaps most cost-effective method especially if the surveyor can tell the difference from one invertebrate to the next upon visual examination. It can eliminate the need for frequent, costly chemical tests. Bioindicators, which are sort of like a canary in a coalmine- are living organisms that indicate the quality of their environment by their presence or absence, according to Hannah Foster, postdoctoral researcher in bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The main reason to use bioindicators is that chemical analysis of water provides only a snapshot of the quality of a body of water. Importance of Water Quality Monitoring Adverse changes to the water quality of one stream can impact all the bodies of water it touches. When water quality degrades, changes to plant, insect and fish communities may occur and can affect the entire food chain. Through water quality monitoring, communities can assess the health of their streams and rivers over time. Once baseline data on the health of a stream is collected, subsequent monitoring can help identify when and where pollution incidents occur. Using Bioindicators for Water Sampling Doing a survey of bioindicators, or biological water quality monitoring involves collecting samples of aquatic macroinvertebrates. Aquatic macroinvertebrates live in water for at least part of their life cycle. Macroinvertebrates are organisms without backbones, which are visible to the eye without the aid of a microscope. Aquatic macroinvertebrates live on, under and around rocks and sediment on the bottoms of lakes, rivers, and streams. Aquatic macroinvertebrates include species of insects, worms, snails, mussels, leeches, and crayfish. For example, sampling macroinvertebrate life in a stream when monitoring water quality is useful because these organisms are easy to collect and identify, and tend to stay in one area unless environmental conditions change. Simply put, some macroinvertebrates are highly sensitive to pollution, while others tolerate it. Certain types of macroinvertebrates found thriving in a body of water can tell you if that water is clean or polluted. Highly Sensitive to Pollution When found in high numbers, macroinvertebrates like adult riffle beetles and gilled snails can serve as bioindicators of good water quality. These creatures are usually highly sensitive to pollution. These organisms tend to require highly dissolved oxygen levels. If these organisms were once abundant, but subsequent sampling shows a decline in numbers, it may indicate that a pollution incident occurred. Other organisms that are highly sensitive to pollution include: Mayflies (nymphs)Caddisflies (larvae)Stoneflies (nymphs)Water PenniesHellgrammites (dobsonfly larvae) Somewhat Tolerant of Pollution If there is an abundance of a certain type of macroinvertebrates, like clams, mussels,  crayfish, and sowbugs, that can indicate that the water is in fair to good condition. Other macroinvertebrates that are somewhat tolerant of pollutants include: Alderflies (larvae)Dragonflies and Damselflies (nymphs)Whirligig Beetles (larvae)Riffle Beetles (larvae)Fishflies (larvae)Scuds Pollution Tolerant Certain macroinvertebrates, like leeches and aquatic worms, thrive in poor quality water. An abundance of these organisms suggests environmental conditions in a body of water have deteriorated. Some of these invertebrates use snorkels to access oxygen at the waters surface  and are less dependent on dissolved oxygen to breathe. Other pollution-tolerant macroinvertebrates include: Black Flies (larvae)Midge Flies (larvae)Lunged Snails

What have you learned about Asian culture (you may wish to distinguish Essay

What have you learned about Asian culture (you may wish to distinguish between various countries and cultures) in this course - Essay Example The discussion will be based on the analysis of a number of films being produced in the region. The films chosen for the analysis are: Seven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa, Hanabi by Takeshi Kitano, Apur Sansar by Satyajit Ray, Salaam Bombay! by Mira Nair, Red Sorghum by Zhang Yimou, and Chungking Express by Wong Kar-Wai. The paper will examine how the variations of Asian culture are presented in these films. Before going into any further discussion on the nuances of Asian culture, it is important to understand what culture means. A general definition of culture argues that the concept of culture can be best described as â€Å"a shared, learned, symbolic system of values, beliefs and attitudes that shapes and influences perception and behaviour. It is an abstract ‘mental blueprint’ or ‘mental code’.† Concepts and ideas of culture can be studied by means of exploring behaviour, customs, material culture (artefacts, tools, and technology), language, etc. of a particular community or region. So to say, culture is a learning process through which a community or society can be studied both at individual and collective levels. This process of learning one’s culture can be labelled as enculturation. One of the characteristic features of culture studies is that there is nothing like a ‘culture of one’, it is a collective possession shared by a ll the members of a society. Commonness in behaviour, customs and other traditional practices can be achieved by mutual construction of a culture by means of a constant process of social interaction. Besides, culture, language and thought are based on symbols and symbolic meanings. Apart from this symbolic nature, the definition of culture features arbitrariness and habitualness as culture is internalized and created by humans. Coming to the more specific discussion of the Asian culture, it is characterized by the concept of cultural variation. Some of the most important ingredients of Asian culture are: Asian art,

Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Questions - Essay Example Both sets of techniques are similar in that they describe the data collected, and help in evaluating the similarities and differences between the groups being studied. Both inferential and descriptive statistics help the researcher identifying and exploring the trends observed and to make sense of the relationships that are shared by the variables being studied. The main difference between descriptive statistical techniques and inferential ones is that while the descriptive statistics provide information that is limited to the data available, inferential techniques allow the researcher to verify if the observations made from the sample collected may be considered representative of the population from which the sample is drawn (Howitt &  Cramer, 2008). While descriptive statistics provide an exact description of the data used, inferential statistics provide an estimate about a larger group. Descriptive statistics are used when it is important to describe the similarities and differe nces in different groups, to explain the trends observed in the data for a particular group of subjects, and to provide information that may be used to develop hypotheses about the population (Howitt &  Cramer, 2008). ... nd value of the study) it is preferable that the researcher carefully selects a small sample and uses inferential statistics to make estimates about the population (Howitt &  Cramer, 2008). b)  Ã‚  Ã‚   What are the similarities between case studies and small-N research designs? What are the differences? When should you use case studies and small-N research designs? Case studies are usually conducted using very few participants, and could also be focused on a single participant (McBurney & White, 2009). These studies describe the experiences of the individuals included in natural, clinical or experimental conditions in great detail, and use techniques of describing data that are both qualitative and quantitative (Christensen, Johnson & Turner, 2010). Case studies are used to describe each individual studied so that the particular aspects of the variables being studied may be discussed. Typical examples of case studies would describe an individual’s pertinent background, th eir experiences and the way they respond to the chosen stimuli within a setting. While case studies are considered as a type of small-N research design, not all the Small-N studies describe the particular individuals as much as the case study. Some small-N designs are extremely quantitative and although the data collected is from a very small sample, the research study follows a very experimental design (McBurney & White, 2009). Small-N designs are useful when the researcher is trying to evaluate a rarely occurring condition or when a new treatment procedure is being tried out. Case studies, small-N studies and single participant research have been found to provide valuable insights in the fields of psychophysics, clinical research and cognitive psychology (McBurney & White, 2009). Although the main

Questions and answers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Questions and answers - Essay Example Paul’s teachings differ from those of Jesus’ in his definition of heaven. Paul describes heaven in his teachings as where the body of Jesus Christ dwells, while Jesus described the Kingdom of heaven as prophetic Kingdom of the Israelites here on earth. Paul’s also differed with Jesus when it comes to teachings on authority. Jesus directed that people should obey authority and pay taxes while Paul’s teachings mostly condemned authority. Paul also differed from Jesus in his teachings where he emphasizes that one’s faith alone is required in salvation. This is different from what Jesus taught since he stipulated that in order for a person to have salvation; faith, repentance, and Baptism are necessary. Another difference that characterizes Paul’s teaching from those of Jesus was how the teachings were delivered. Paul’s teachings were mostly in form of letters to different congregations while those of Jesus were mostly delivered in form of parables. 2. Explain the schism between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. There are various issues that contributed to the schism between the Roman Catholic and the Eastern orthodox churches. ... d to the schism between the two factions of Christianity were issues that surrounded priesthood, the major one being the celibacy of priests which the orthodox churches were greatly opposed to. The papal authority was one of the major issues that led to the schism between the west and the east. Eastern orthodox churches were greatly opposed to the religious and political power that revolved bishops and moreover the pope. These eastern orthodox churches argued that the pope was meant to be the servant of God thus to the people and not a form of authority on earth. In fact, before the separation of the two factions scholars have argued that the pope was the most powerful authority in the known world at the time. Disagreement over the Holy Spirit also contributed greatly o the two factions ex communicating each other (Fisher 328). For instance the western faction stipulated that the Holy Spirit came from the Son and the Father while the eastern faction stipulated that â€Å"the Holy Sp irit proceeds only from the Father† (Fisher 328). 3. What issues did each of the Protestant Reformers (Luther, Calvin, the English Reformers) have with the Roman Catholic Church? Luther One of the major issues that that Martin Luther had against the Roman Catholic was the understanding of salvation. According to the Roman Catholic, in order for a person to be forgiven of their sins after being baptized they must seek repentance and then confess to a priest their sins. Martin Luther differed with this since after studying the bible intensely, he understood that salvation was available to anyone as long as they repented since God offered salvation to all people through the death of his son Jesus. Calvin John Calvin also had issues with the Roman Catholic on the application and understanding of

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

Individual Paper - Essay Example s legislation and decline of social inequalities, more and more people are migrating to different places and opting for jobs at various levels depending upon their education and caliber. Vast numbers of mixed populations from different communities, groups, races, ethnicity and nationalities can be seen in large corporate organizations and in multinational organizations. News regarding law suits against some of the large corporations has spanned news papers, magazines and the websites, largely due to the huge settlements involved. For example, the largest known settlement for a racial discrimination lawsuit was paid by Coca-Cola in 1999. The company was sued by African-American former and current employees for racial discrimination under the US Civil Rights Act. The charges included unequal wages for African-Americans compared to the Whites; very few positions at top given to African-Americans; and certain policies that inhibited African-Americans from trying for promotions (Winter). Coca Cola had to face such charges due to the inappropriate diversity management policies and practices. In addition to the large sum, these charges resulted in reputational loss, which can further impact their competitiveness and sustainability in the market. Searches for current issues in management practice and organizations were conducted on the web, with maximum results obtained in the field of diversity management. A variety of issues were found, most of which included unequal opportunities at workplaces causing employees to revolt against management. Some of these include racial discrimination (as in the case of Coca Cola); minimal opportunities for women at top positions (Winter); unequal pay for women and men; and issues related to sexual harassment. Hence, a study of management policies at different corporations was conducted in order to learn how they prevented and handled issues related to diversity management. In addition, reasons for diversity management

Leadership beyond Control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leadership beyond Control - Essay Example The article has extensive information regarding the competitive and the cooperative models of leadership utilized by CEOs. Notably, CEOs who assume the competitive style do not foster adequate distribution of knowledge in the senior management team. In many cases, CEOs who embrace the competitive model are likely to demand admiration and loyalty from the employees without any exception. Some leaders relying on the competitive style may prove mean and ruthless to the employees. They create a form of anxiety regularly endured by the employees and everyone under them. Organizations overseen by a CEO with this leadership style reflect a specific chain of command. The senior management receives orders from the CEO and passes down the orders to every employee. None of the employees can think of disputing the CEO’s directions. The senior management team is not in a position to share ideas with the CEO, particularly during significant decision-making processes. The CEO embraces the ro le of decision-making independently, and he delimits the direction of the organization at all times. Although the competitive leadership style may promote high levels of loyalty, many of the leaders utilizing this style do not get to hear the honest opinion of the senior management team (p. 80). Many of the managers prefer to tell the CEO what he wants to hear instead of giving him honest opinions. Senior managers may also begin to engage in needless competition, which may ultimately influence the organization.

Carrefour China - French Hypermarket Retail Chain Essay

Carrefour China - French Hypermarket Retail Chain - Essay Example With sales reaching 78 billion dollars annually, Carrefour stands as the second largest retailer after Walmart, in the world market. (Lin and Liang, 2002). Carrefour has established its presence in Asian countries like Malaysia, Taiwan, China, South Korea and Singapore. Though its growth in the Chinese market has been restricted by the governmental regulations like the mandatory requirement of a local joint-venture partner, Carrefour has increased its market share and successfully followed a policy of regional penetration in China. Carrefour has slowly and steadily made a foray in the retail industry in China, largely by taking up strategic local partners. With an agreement with the Guangzhou General Merchandise Group of south Chinas Guangdong province, the French company has laid the foundation of a lucrative joint venture in 2002. It also has joint venture undertakings in Kunming, the capital of southwest Chinas Yunnan province, and in Harbin, the capital of northernmost Heilongjiang province. 2 (Xinhua News Agency, 2002). Carrefour operates over 71 supermarkets across China and has been said to have purchased a total of 1.5 billion U.S. dollars worth of commodities from China in the year 2001. 3 (Xinhua News Agency, 2002). The latest Carrefour store became operational in January 2006, in Shanghai. The main competitors of Carrefour are Wal-Mart China, with 42 stores in the country, and Germany-based Metro Group, with 29 stores. 4. (China Frenchiser, 2006). Carrefour has an array of over 600 products sold through its retail stores and hypermarkets spread across diverse Chinese regions. Its products include grocery, detergent and personal care goods, fish farm and poultry, dairy and milk, snacks, bakery, snacks, frozen foods and beverages, and non-food items like kitchen-grade utensils. In addition to the above, Carrefour also stocks electrical goods, clothes, toiletries, luggage accessories and cleaning products. 5(Carrefour, 2006). The Carrefour stores are based on the concept of self-service, that provides the customer with the freedom to browse the products at their pace and thus exposing them to attractive display and packaging.     

Leadership beyond Control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leadership beyond Control - Essay Example The article has extensive information regarding the competitive and the cooperative models of leadership utilized by CEOs. Notably, CEOs who assume the competitive style do not foster adequate distribution of knowledge in the senior management team. In many cases, CEOs who embrace the competitive model are likely to demand admiration and loyalty from the employees without any exception. Some leaders relying on the competitive style may prove mean and ruthless to the employees. They create a form of anxiety regularly endured by the employees and everyone under them. Organizations overseen by a CEO with this leadership style reflect a specific chain of command. The senior management receives orders from the CEO and passes down the orders to every employee. None of the employees can think of disputing the CEO’s directions. The senior management team is not in a position to share ideas with the CEO, particularly during significant decision-making processes. The CEO embraces the ro le of decision-making independently, and he delimits the direction of the organization at all times. Although the competitive leadership style may promote high levels of loyalty, many of the leaders utilizing this style do not get to hear the honest opinion of the senior management team (p. 80). Many of the managers prefer to tell the CEO what he wants to hear instead of giving him honest opinions. Senior managers may also begin to engage in needless competition, which may ultimately influence the organization.

Patterns and trends in health among society Essay Example for Free

Patterns and trends in health among society Essay Gender Women’s life expectancy is higher than men; women typically live five years longer than men (Stretch and Whitehouse 2012. In 2002, life expectancy at birth for females born in UK was 81 years, compared with 76 years for males. This contrasts with 49 and 45 years respectively at the turn of the last century in 1901(Sikin, L undated). Another reason why women live longer could be because men tend to smoke and drink more alcohol than women in general. Men also take more risk than women; Women have less chance in getting cardiovascular disease, like heart attack and stroke. Women usually develop these problems usually in their 70s and 80s, about 10 years later than men, who develop them in their 50s and 60s (Blue, L 2008). Another reason why women live longer could be because men in their late teens and 20s go through something called ‘’testosterone’’ (Blue, L 2008). Testosterone is when the level of hormones is high and changeable, this can create dangerous behaviors. For e.g. they may not wear seatbelts; they drink alcohol and they can become aggressive. These kinds of behaviors can lead to higher death rates for males. Men also take risk more than women; expert claims that men take more risk, making them twice as adventurous and carefree than female. However in 2011 bps state that woman often takes more risk than men. Psychological Science a journal of the Association for Psychological Science has shown the reality of what type of person is prone to taking chances is more complicated than first thought. The study found that despite stereotypes, females sometimes take more risks than men and adolescents can be as  cool-headed as any other demographic. (3). they have found out that men are prone to financial gambles and women often take social risks. Another reason why women life expectancy is higher because men tend to do dangerous sports such as rugby, surfing, motorcycle racing and skiing. In 2002 statistic said that females born in the UK live up to 81 years, whereas males live up to 76 years. This contrast with 49 and 45 years respectively at the turn of the last century in 1901 (2). This is a table is from 2007-2009 about life expectancy in different parts of the UK. In the UK, males and females expect to spend more than 80 per cent of their lives in very good health or general health from birth. Falling to around 57 per cent at the age of 65 (1). In recent years males are taking care of their health more than females. However in today’s society it is believed that female’s health has improved more than males. Social class Statistic produced a biases picture. They believe that people in the lowest social class work in dangerous industries. This causes higher rates of illness. Therefore it is not the class but age and employment of people that causes high levels of illness and lower life expectancy. /http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1007 Ethnicity All ethnic minorities have higher rates of still births, perinatal moralities (death within 1 week), and neo-natal mortality (within 1 month). Ethnicity backgrounds tend to have shorter life expectancy. Children from Asian families have higher rates of getting rickets. Only Afro-Caribbeans and Pakistanis continue to show excess mortality throughout infancy (Whitehead 1992). Afro-carribeans more likely to be admitted to mental health units, men more so than women and more likely to be sectioned. Once there they are more likely to receive harsh treatment e.g.- electro-shock therapy, anti psychotics. Age Geographical location The black report Internet Blue, L (2008) Why Do Women Live Longer Than Men [online] Available at: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1827162,00.html http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/disability-and-health-measurement/health-expectancies-at-birth-and-age-65-in-the-united-kingdom/2008-10/index.html Sikin, L (undated) Life expectancy [online] Available at: http://www.agediscrimination.info/statistics/Pages/LifeExpectancy.aspx The telegraph (2012) Men twice as likely to take risks [online] Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/evolution/9005552/Men-twice-as-likely-to-take-risks.html

Decrease Ventilator Associated Pneumonia

Decrease Ventilator Associated Pneumonia Patients on ventilator support are very prone to respiratory infections. These patients have no means or control over what enters their lungs or what does not. One prevalent infectious process that can occur in these patients is ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP), and affects many patients every year who require ventilator support. Ventilator associated pneumonia is a form of pneumonia, a lung infection, which occurs in mechanically ventilated patients. It develops at least 48 hours or more after the ventilator is utilized (Powers, 2006). Ventilator associated pneumonia is caused by bacterial organisms entering the patients lower respiratory tract usually by aspiration of oral pharyngeal secretions. The bacteria colonize within the lungs causing immune response or infection to occur (Powers, 2006). The development of this infection can lead to a decline in the patients outcome and increased healthcare cost to the patient as well as the health care facility (Mori, 2006). With all t hese problems VAP can produce it is important to the patient as well as healthcare providers to be able to find ways to reduce the development of VAP cases in patients. The purpose of this paper is to determine if routine oral care can decrease the incidence of ventilator associated pneumonia in mechanically ventilated patients. The picot question guiding this paper is what effect does routine oral care have on the incidence of ventilator associated pneumonia rates in mechanically ventilated patients. Background and Significance Ventilator associated pneumonia is a serious infection affecting both the patient, healthcare facility, and staff. It is the second most common healthcare-acquired infection (Koening, 2006). Incidence of VAP is estimated as high as 65% and it occurs in up to 28% of patients who have been on the ventilator 48 hours or longer (Powers, 2006). The mortality rate associated with VAP ranges from 12-50% (Sona et al, 2009). Studies on the mortality rates of VAP also show that patients who develop VAP have a 2.2 to 4.3 times higher risk of death compared to other mechanically ventilated patients who do not have pneumonia (Powers, 2006). A couple affects that VAP has upon the patient and healthcare facility are time of hospitalization and healthcare costs. Ventilator associated pneumonia causes the length of a hospital stay to increase significantly. It can increase the hospitalization time anywhere from four to nineteen days longer (Powers, 2006). This extra hospitalization can cause additional stress for the patient and their health. As the incidence of VAP causes longer hospitalizations to occur, patient and health care facility costs climb also. It is estimated that the average increase in hospital costs is around $57,000 per VAP occurrence (Powers, 2006). There are also increases to the hospital that occur due to increases in supplies used, staff that is utilized, and more medications used. Since VAP has such a negative impact upon patients and healthcare facilities many interventions have been tried to prevent the incidence of VAP. One intervention utilized is keeping the head of the patients bed raised to at least thirty degrees to prevent aspiration of bacteria in secretions. Another is sedation vacations which consists of interrupting the patients sedation medication until patient shows signs of alertness, to assess if patients can be weaned off the ventilator more quickly. Other notable interventions that have been utilized in the past and some in todays practice as well include: suctioning secretions, good aseptic techniques such as hand washing, and oral care (Pruitt Jacobs, 2006). Patients are continually developing VAP and having complications from the infection. If it is found that routine oral care, defined as teeth brushing with the use of an oral antimicrobial within this paper, can reduce the incidence of VAP in mechanically ventilated patients it could decrease length of hospital stay, keep costs due to incidence of VAP down for both patient and healthcare institution, as well as decrease mortality rates in these patients. Clinical Question Ventilator associated pneumonia occurs way too often in the hospital setting. It causes significant stress on the patients already problematic health status. The writer of this paper has observed many nurses who are vigilant in providing oral care to ventilated patients, but has also observed other nurses who forego oral care as if it not important and has no affects upon the patients health. This made the writer question what the actual effectiveness of oral care has upon reducing the incidence of ventilator associated pneumonia in mechanically ventilated patients. This issue is very relevant to nursing because the ultimate goal of a nurse is to help the patient have the best possible outcome. Trying to achieve the best possible outcome for the patient makes infection control is a very high priority for nurses. Patients who have infections are more prone to get other infections and require more nursing care and more time to recover from their illnesses. Although VAP will continue to occur in patients, and oral care is not a cure for ventilator associated pneumonia, there is valuable information included in research studies included within this paper that shows the incidence of VAP can be reduced in mechanically ventilated patients by implementing routine oral care. Empirical Review 1 The purpose of the first study, conducted by Sona et al, 2005 was to determine the effect of a routine oral care protocol upon incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia. The research design was a quantitative, experiment, quasi-experimental study which utilized a non-equivalent control group before and after the design. The study had no conceptual framework stated by the researchers. Within the study, the variables of significance to the clinical question being looked at were the routine oral care protocol and the ventilator-associated pneumonia rates. The independent variable of new oral care protocol was defined as the mechanical cleansing of the teeth or gums to remove plaque with a tooth brush and the application of an oral antimicrobial. The study went on to further discuss the protocol as brushing the teeth for one to two minutes with a regular toothbrush and then applying .12% chlorahexidine to all oral surfaces every twelve hours. The dependent variable was the ventilator associated pneumonia rates. It was defined as a common hospital acquired infection and is the leading cause of death in ICU patients who are ventilator dependent. Ventilator associated pneumonia rates were measured using the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance System (NNIS) criteria.The reliability nor the validity of this instrument was addressed within the study. Another variable that was studied was length of stay. This was just measured by the number of days that the patient spent within the ICU after a ventilator associated pneumonia infection occurred (Sona et al., 2009). This study took place at Barnes Jewish Hospital on a 24 bed intensive care unit (Sona et al., 2009). The study focused particularly on patients that were admitted to the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) whom required mechanical ventilation. The subjects consisted of all patients who had mechanical ventilation between June 1, 2003 and May 31, 2005. Subjects were chosen using non-probability convenience sampling. The pre-intervention was implemented for patients that were admitted between June 1, 2003 and May 31, 2005. The size of this sample was 777 patients. The pre-intervention phase consisted of standard care the nurse provided to the patients, no changes were provided during this time; only observation took place. One month before the end of the pre-intervention phase all nursing staff working on the SICU were debriefed and educated on the aims of the study as well as the new routine oral care protocol by two clinical nurse specialists and a nurse educator. This was to help pre vent discrepancies in the intervention. During the post intervention phase of the study which took place between June 2004 until May 2005 the sample size consisted of 871 patients who were all nil per os (NPO) (Sona et al., 2009) On June 1, 2004 the new routine oral care protocol was implemented (Sona et al., 2009). The intervention/protocol consisted of the nurse brushing the teeth of the patient for one to two minutes with a regular toothbrush, rinsing the mouth with water and suctioning it out, and then using 15 mL of .12% chlorahexidine to cleanse the mouth. The intervention was repeated every 12 hours by the registered nursing staff. Compliance of the protocol was estimated to be around 90% and the implementation was carried out for 12 months before results were analyzed(Sona et al., 2009). For this study the level of significance was expressed using p-values. A p value of less than .05 was considered significant (Sona et al., 2009). For the data analysis, two statistical tests were used: The Mantel-Haesnel Chi Squared . After the analysis of data, it was determined that p=.04 showing that the routine oral care protocol did cause a significant reduction in the ventilator-associated pneumonia rates within the subjects studied. The pre-intervention rate for VAP was 5.2 infection per 1000 ventilator days while post-intervention rate for VAP showed 2.4 infections per 1000 ventilator days (Sona et al., 2009). Other statistics for the study showed the patients number of days the patient was on ventilator was decreased(Sona et al., 2009). From the statistical analysis within the study, the researchers derived certain findings and conclusions (Sona et al., 2009). One of the findings was that the post intervention group had trends toward shorter time on the ventilator, as well as length of hospital stay. The main finding within the study found that when the routine oral care protocol was being utilized, the rates of ventilator-associated pneumonia were significantly decreased. The researcher makes it a point to state that although the finding suggests that the implementation of the protocol reduces rate of VAP this cannot be proven (Sona et al., 2009). This study is a nonrandomized controlled trial. The quality of this evidence was convincing and significant. It was a consistent study and it is considered to be of Level II quality. Certain extraneous variables that could have had an effect upon the outcome of the study, as identified by the student, could have been the condition the patient was in before the ICU admission, any pre-existing conditions that could alter health and increase the risk of infection, and the nurses attitude toward performing oral care. Although the study was a strong and consistent one, it did have both strengths and weaknesses. There were no strengths identified by the researchers. However, the student did identify some strengths within this study. One of the first strengths was the education that was given to the nursing staff prior to the implementation of the protocol. This helped the study to be more valid by increasing the continuity of the care and way the nurses performed the protocol. The other strength of the study was the design being a quasi-experimental. This is because quasi-experimental studies usually can be generalized to the population that is being studied. Weaknesses that were addressed within the study by the researchers was that the researchers themselves did not evaluate the teeth brushing portion of the intervention to make sure that the nurses were being consistent in the way they did it, and if the nurses performed it for the correct amount of time (Sona et al., 2009). This resulted in the lack of control over nursing techniques. Another weakness of the study recognized by the researcher was the study did not take into account the change in the patient population over the duration of the study (Sona et al., 2009). Some weaknesses the student identified within this study was that the study was very susceptible to bias because no blinding or masking was used within this study. Everyone knew what was occurring and this could have had the researchers looking as if the intervention helped more than it actually did. Within the study the researcher did not address if the study could be generalized. However, the writer of the paper believes that this study can be generalized. The intervention is a very simple one. Most cultures have no problems with utilizing oral care. Also, most hospitals have intensive care units and/or ventilator dependent patients which were the population within the study. This intervention within the study does not have a lot of risks. The only risks mentioned were possible tooth staining from the antimicrobial and poor taste (Sona et al., 2009). Also, this intervention is very feasible. To implement oral care there is no special training needed, although education should be provided. The oral care routine is a relatively quick intervention that takes no more than 5 minutes to implement, which would allow nurses with busy schedules to still be able to perform the intervention. Also, this intervention is very low cost compared to the cost of ventilator associated pneumonia c ases. Therefore, the cost-benefit ratio would be a great benefit to health-care facilities. This study suggests that oral care can be very effective in decreasing the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia rates. Although a very valid study, one study is not enough evidence to implement a new protocol into a nurses practice. One must look for more studies and literature to support the finding in order to attempt to implement it into practice. The next study that was appraised by the writer of this paper seems to support the findings that were found in this study. Empirical Review 2 The next study examined by the writer of this paper was a research study conducted by Mori et al.,2005. The purpose of the study was to determine if oral care of mechanically ventilated patients contributed to the prevention and reduction of the incidence of ventilator associated pneumonia (Mori et al., 2005). The research design utilized for this study was a quantitative, experimental, quasi-experimental which used a non-equivalent before and after approach. Within the study the researcher did not state any theoretical framework to guide the study. The study was not randomized, and used a non-probability convenience sample method (Mori et al., 2005). The research study took place on a medical/surgical intensive care unit in an urban university hospital which was not named by the researcher (Mori et al., 2005). The population of interest was ventilator dependent patients with tracheal intubation. Since subjects were chosen by convenience sampling, they were chosen as they became available on the unit. Inclusion criteria for subjects were that they must have been receiving mechanical ventilation and have tracheal intubation. Exclusion criteria for the study were patients whose conditions contraindicated oral care, patients with severe bleeding tendencies, or patients with iodine allergies. The sample for the oral care group was patients admitted to the intensive care unit between January 1997 and December 2002, and consisted of 1,248 patients. The sample for the non-oral care group, or the control, was patients admitted during January of 1995 until December of 1996; this sample size was 414 subjects (Mori et al., 2005) For this study, the independent variable was the oral care being delivered (Mori et al., 2005). This variable was defined as cleansing of the oral cavity three times a day by nursing employees following the specified new protocol. The protocol was that the nurse would check the patients vital signs and then do oral suctioning, followed by positioning the patients head to the side to prevent asphyxiation and determine the condition of the oral mucosa. After this the nurse would clean the mouth with a 20-fold diluted solution of providone-iodine gargle (antimicrobial). Then the use of a standard toothbrush was used to brush the teeth; the patients mouth was rinsed with water. Directly following the brushing and rinsing, the providone-iodine was utilized again by swabbing the mouth and teeth. Finally, oral suctioning was done one final time. The dependent variable in the study was the incidence of ventilator associated pneumonia. This variable was defined as a hospital-acquired pneumoni a that becomes present after 48 hours of the patient being mechanically ventilated. Ventilator associated pneumonia was suspected if patch infiltrates were present upon the patients chest x-ray and two of the following were present: a temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, white blood cell count of 10,000 m3 or higher, or purulent respiratory secretions were observed. A definite diagnosis of ventilator associated pneumonia, which was used for evidence of the incidence in this study, was determined by trancheobronchial secretion cultures showing a result of 1+ or more. Other variables were duration of hospitalization defined as length of stay measured by the number of days and the causative agent of the pneumonia identified by bacterial cultures (Mori et al., 2005). Reliability and Validity of the cultures and radiography used to measure if ventilator associated pneumonia was present and causative agent were not addressed within the study by the researcher, so the validity is unkno wn.