Monday, September 30, 2019

Problems Identified In The Las Cad System

First and foremost, from the investigations carried out, it is clearly shown that the CAD system was not fully mature or on time to be executed. Its users either were not ready or fully prepared to absorb it. The software itself was not comprehensive, it was not appropriately adjusted and finally it was not effusively tested. The flexibility of the hardware was also not tested when in operation and while fully loaded. Problems were also identified with the transmission of data from the mobile data terminals and back.There was also some cynicism about the accurateness of records of the automatic vehicle location system (AVLS). The people who worked in the Central Ambulance Control and the ambulance crew itself, did not trust the system and were neither fully trained about the system. The layout of the control room was changed with the introduction of the CAD system. The staffs working in the control were in a mix up because they were working in a very unfamiliar environment where ther e was not even any paper backup.Due to this, simple problems that they used to solve with their colleagues became monster problems. The CAD system was over ambitiously put in place. It was developed and put into operation in opposition to an impracticable timetable. The project itself was poorly managed and ambiguous from the development phase through the implementation process. Full time professional and qualified project management was lacking. A decision that had been made earlier to implement the full CAD system was erroneous.Putting into place a system such as CAD requires a step by step kind of approach, while establishing the efficiency of each step before moving on to the next. Each step should be justified by analyzing each aspect of it like costs and benefits. It’s true to say that the management, the supplier and all the concerned parties really put all their efforts into the implementation, but due to the fact that they implemented it as a single phase then they h ad no time to do the analysis and hence the couldn’t recognize the connotation of the numerous problems that were in due course to make it fail.Another cause of failure to the system was the fact that most of its users did not own up completely to accept the system. Some of the components of the system were recognized with certain problems over the previous months such that they created an atmosphere of distrust with the staff. Instead of wishing for its success, the staff rather expected a system failure. For the system to work efficiently, it required a number of adjustments to the existing working practices. The senior staff making the implementation had the idea that the system itself would bring about these adjustments.Btu instead most of the staff found it to be an outfitted line of restrictions within which they tried to operate and seem to be flexible with. This brought further perplexity rather than orderliness. The LAS management always attributed the problems of CA D to the misuse of the system by some ambulance crews. But the management did not coincide with the inquiry team which indicated that this would only have been one of the contributing factors, together with many others, that brought to the system failure. In some of the days of month of October (26th and 27th), there was an increase in the number of calls.This was not because of the increase in the number of patients but rather as a result of anonymous replica calls and recalls from the public as they reacted to ambulance delays. On this day the system did not fail from a technical sense but it did what it had been designed to do, though the response times were unacceptable. A substantial amount of the design had terminal defects that cumulatively lead to all of the systems failure. On this day several changes were made to CAC that made it very difficult for the staff to intervene and make corrections to the system.Therefore the system could only identify the location and status of fewer and fewer vehicles. This in effect led to poor, duplicated and delayed allocations; the awaiting list and the exceptional messages piled up in the computers; this pile up caused the system to slow up; this further led to an increase in the number of call backs and finally delays in telephone answering. Each effect reinforced the other. In the morning when the system was fully implemented it was lightly loaded therefore the staff could cope with the various problems and hence the imperfect information in the system about the fleet and its status.As the incidents increased, the incorrect information about the fleet, received by the system increased. Due to the new room configuration and method of operation the allocators were limited in solving the errors. The amount of incorrect information increased with the effects that the system made incorrect allocations thus many vehicles were sent to the same incident or either the closest vehicle was not sent; the system had less resour ces to allocate thus increasing the first effect; the system then placed covered call that had not gone through the amber, red, green status cycle, back on the attention list.a) The system made incorrect allocations: multiple vehicles sent to same incident, or not the closest vehicle sent; b) The system had fewer resources to allocate, increasing the problems of effect a); c) As previously allocated incidents fed through the system, placed covered calls that had not gone through the amber, red, green status cycle, back on the attention waiting list. The last two effects contributed to incorrect allocations, a slowing of the system and uncovered incidents all this leading to delays to patients.Incorrect allocations led directly to patient delays and crew frustration. Crew frustration was further heightened by the prolonged delays before arriving at the scene and more so the reaction of the public. Crew frustration the could be held responsible for those instances when the crew did no t press status buttons correctly or in an incorrect sequence and also, the crew taking different vehicles than those that the logged onto or a different crew or vehicle reporting to the incident.In the month of November, this frustration led to the increase of radio traffic which having been brought about by the radio blockages increased the number of failed data mobilizations and voice communication delays. The increase in the volume of calls together with a slow system and too few call takers caused significant delays in telephone answering and thus an increase in delays to patients. After CAD had developed problems, the staff reverted to using a semi manual mode of operation. They were comfortable with operating this system because they found the computer based call talking more reliable.The vehicle crews were also comfortable owing to the fact that the stations still had limited flexibility in deciding which resource would be allocated to what incident. The radio voice channels were available to assist in clearing up any enlistment understandings. An additional call taking staff had been allocated to certain shifts thus the average call waiting time was considerably reduced. But on another occasion the system failed due to minor programming errors that caused the system to crash.The protocol to be used when changing from the crashed system to the back up system had not been sufficiently tested and therefore at such a point the whole system had to be brought down. Quintessential Glitches As I have put it across here above, there were numerous rudimentary defects in the CAD system and its secondary organization. These problems can be classified simply into three, to bring the whole issue to a summary: i) The need to have a near perfect input information in an imperfect worldii) The meager crossing point between crews, MDTs and the system iii) Unpredictability, sluggishness and operator interface. The system had put so much faith into the near perfect informa tion it received from the vehicle location and the status of the vehicle or its crew. The system did not have accurate information of the vehicle location and the status of that vehicle or its crew. Therefore it became very hard for it to allocate the ideal resources to a certain occurrence. Some poor allocation was attributed to the allocation routines.But though this may be true, it is believed that the majority of allocation errors were caused by the fact that the system did not actually know where the vehicles were located, nether did they know the status of the crew in the vehicles or the vehicles themselves The second point pin points on the poor interface between the teams, the Mobile Data Terminals and the system. The system required perfect or almost perfect information on vehicle location and the status of each of the player parts of the chain. This ran from the crews to the dispatch systems, all of which were expected to operate and cooperate perfectly.But this was not th e case because investigations a few reasons were evident for the system not really knowing vehicle locations or vehicle status. These included a failure by the system to collect or receive all the data, accompanied by a genuine failure by the teams to press the appropriate status button due to the state and the pressure brought by certain incidents. In some black spots there was also poor coverage of the radio system which went hand in hand with the crew failing to press the status button due to frustrations from the re-transmission problems.There was also a radio communications blockage for instance when staff reported for duty and tried to confirm arrival via their vehicle units or Mobile Data Terminals, more so, on very busy periods. Also identified were the missing or swapped call signs. There were defects in the grip routines between the MDTs and the dispatch system. For instance sometimes the MDT would indicate Green and Ok but back in the systems screen the status would be sh own as something very different. Also some crews would intentionally press the wrong buttons or even press them in an incorrect order.Some of the crews would even take different vehicles rather than the ones they logged onto or different crews would respond to different vehicles allocated to them by the system. Some of the vehicle locations were also missing or incorrect. Another fault is where there was very few staff to take calls. All of these faults and defects used to flow in a very connected manner such that the errors were sometimes running concurrently. The third point came about after the system collapsed a number of times just before the end of October in 1992.The most common was the incarceration of computers. The staff had been instructed to reboot their computers incase they locked up. This happened mostly when the computers were doing their back ups or when they were fully loaded. The most common inadequacies included the failure to identify duplicated calls; the lack to prioritize exceptional messages; these exceptional messages and attentions on queue scrolling off the top of allocators’ or attention rectifiers’ computers.The software resources had also been allocated incorrectly; there was general heftiness of the system and finally there were also slow responses to certain computer based activities. THE WAY FORWARD FOR CAD; A SOLUTION TO CAD After going through and analyzing the problems of CAD, the enquiry team had to make certain recommendations so that the implementation of the future CAD would not have any errors. By following these recommendations, then LAS will have a solution to all its problems with CAD. The future CAD system must have the following objectives;i) It must be fully dependable and flexible with completely tested levels of backup. ii) It must be fully owned up by the staff and management within CAC and the ambulance crews. iii) It must be developed and introduced within a time scale which will allow for adeq uate consultation, quality assurance, testing and training while still considering the fact that they want to introduce it earliest possible. iv) The management and staff must have entire, verifiable, poise, in the steadfastness of the system.v) The new CAD must be geared towards improving the level and quality of the provision of ambulance services in the capital. vi) The new system should be introduced step by step while introducing first the steps that give maximum benefits. vii) Finally, any venture in the new system should be safe guarded and put forth into the new system if and only if it does not compromise the above objectives. REFERENCE Anthony Finkelstein (February 1993): Report of the Inquiry Into The London Ambulance Service. International Workshop on Software Specification and Design Case Study

Sunday, September 29, 2019

American Reconstruction: a Revolution or a Failure?

American Reconstruction: A Revolution or a Failure? Historians Eric Foner and C. Vann Woodward, provide a Tyson Vs Ali fight in the debate over whether the American Reconstruction period was in fact a revolution or a failure. Each provides an in-depth analysis supporting his argument. Foner takes the approach that the Reconstruction was a Revolution, explaining, that â€Å"Reconstruction allowed scope for a remarkable political and social mobilization of black, community, opening doors of opportunity that could never again be completely closed. Woodward takes a much more pessimistic approach arguing, â€Å"The other (failure) is the ruins of Reconstruction, the North’s failure to solve the problem of the black peoples place in American life. â€Å" Foner’s argument is based on the immediate political and civil rights that the freedmen were given after the emancipation through the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, and how the mindset of the south was altered forever. N ew adjustments such as the Homestead Act of 1862 and many other social and political changes were grounds to label the Reconstruction Era a revolution.Foner believed although nearly every authority and right that the freedmen were given were eventually taken back after the Reconstruction finally ended in 1867, the mindset and the drastic changes that took place would stay with America throughout its history, and therefore was revolutionary. Woodward’s pessimistic response to America’s optimistic take on the Reconstruction being revolutionary was based on the idea that in the long run what actually was accomplished was not very influential.With the exception of the amendments that were established after the Civil War, the hope of the freedmen sharing equality with the whites was taken away after the Reconstruction, and therefore was a total failure. The South’s resistance against the freedmen gaining any sort of political or social power was stronger than the wil l of the North to help bring equality to the South and according to Woodward, denies Reconstruction being a failure because they were to headstrong to admit defeat. When looking back at the Reconstruction and asking whether or not it was evolutionary, one must consider the affect it had on the country once the period ended. The answer is, the Reconstruction had had little to no influence on society once it had come to a halt after the election of President Hayes in 1867, and therefore cannot be considered a revolution. When talking about a revolution, what is being considered is a drastic change in culture, politics, and social structure, and the Reconstruction does meet those requirements. Looking into what occurred during the Reconstruction, the only true accomplishments that won out were those that came from the resistance of the South.When Foner makes his attempt to sway the reader’s minds into following his argument that the Reconstruction was revolutionary, he fails to point out any substantial examples of the freedmen overcoming the resistance of the South without the help of the government. For example the Homestead Act of 1862 was enforced by the government to make available land to freedmen which belonged to former land owners, (many of which were former slave owners) however when the Homestead Act was put in place, only one-tenth of the land was distributed to new land owners.Other examples such as sharecropping were also non-substantial as it triggered a new labor system which consisted of land owners advertising work to immigrants and hiring them to work for low wages and rations of bacon and cornmeal, which was a similar the experiments in the West Indies with the â€Å"coolies. â€Å" How is forcing the freedmen and their families on the streets and living in poverty in anyway revolutionary? It was only until the government stepped in and put and end of what Foner called a, â€Å"New modification of the slave trade† that the free dmen even had an opportunity to work for wages on plantations.One can argue that this was a change in how the labor system worked, but can something so minute be considered revolutionary? Once the government refuted one attempt at resistance from the South, another emerged. In 1865 the Black Codes were established in all different states throughout the South. These codes limited what the black man was able to do for a living and gave no opportunity to own land, making the situation for freedmen similar to what it was before the emancipation.Other forms of resistance, such as the radical group Ku Klux Clan brought terror and destruction to the South. Radical Reconstruction groups did not match the will of the resistance and therefore Reconstruction did little good for the former slaves. Every attempt to make the former slaves equals to whites was not accomplished because the Resistance in the South would not allow it. Woodward says, â€Å"The failure of Reconstruction is to be expla ined by the lack of revolutionary measures. If the attempt of Reconstruction was more radical, there could possibly be an argument that it was revolutionary, but the truth is the counter-revolution was stronger than the actual revolution. People were scared for their lives, terror and anger filled the streets, and the South was not a safe environment for the freedmen and their families. In conclusion, the only real gain that the freedmen received during the Reconstruction were the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments that were added to the Constitution following the end of the Civil War.All other gains were taken back with the election of President Haynes in 1867, after he made a deal to end Reconstruction in the South if elected president. Now compare what was accomplished to the other revolutions in History, the American Revolution, which separated the United States from British authorities and the French Revolution, where the people physically overthrew their government and established a democracy. Those were drastic shifts in society that defined what a revolution is.The idea that Reconstructions was a revolution would be the side that says the government establishing three laws was a revolution. This is a very weak argument, especially when the amendments that were passed were not accepted by the majority of the South and therefore not practiced due to the radical’s response of violence and terror. Revolutions are drastic changes that affect the country forever, and the Reconstruction simply did not meet the requirements to even be considered a revolution. Bibliography : 1.Eric Foner, â€Å"The Politics of Freedom in Nothing but Freedom: Emancipation and its Legacy† (Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press) 2. C. Vann Woodward. â€Å"Reconstruction: A Counterfactual Playback† (Oxford: Oxford University Press 1989) John Recchia Prof. Van Gosse U. S History II 9/20/10 ———————— Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€œ [ 1 ]. Foner, â€Å"The Politics of Freedom†, 10 [ 2 ]. Foner, â€Å"The Politics of Freedom†, 10-11 [ 3 ]. Woodwars, â€Å"Reconstruction: A Counterfactual Playback†, 29 [ 4 ]. Foner, â€Å"The Politics of Freedom†, 11-12

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Human Resource Management - Essay Example Boddy (2008) defines Human Resource Management (HRM) as â€Å"the effective use of human resources in order to enhance organizational performance† (p.354). Human resource management is one of the core areas of organizational functions. Even though an organization has many resources such as manpower, materials, machines and money, manpower or human resource seems to the most important one. Context for HRM & key concepts and practices associated with HRM According to Torrington et al. (2011), â€Å"Human resource management (HRM) is the basis of all management activity†( p.4). In fact all the management activities in an organization start from HR. If HR fails to identify and post suitable talents, the organization may not develop properly. The right person at the right place at the right time will always bring benefits to the organization. Since human resource managers are responsible for recruitment, placements, training, development and retention of the employees; the performances of human resource department is vital for the success of an organization. It should be noted that most of the current organizations are operating internationally and diversity in the workforce is not a myth but a fact. Diverse workforce often brings different types of conflicts in the workplace. HR department is responsible for settling such disputes. Strategic HRM is gaining popularity at present because of the globalized nature of organizations a nd the workforce. Paauwe & Boselie (2005) mentioned that â€Å"HRM practices should focus particularly on employee development, the encouragement of learning and knowledge management†. Knowledge management is vital for organizations to stay competitive in the heavily globalized and competitive market. It is necessary to update the knowledge of the employees periodically to make them capable of dealing with the new challenges. Training and development are necessary for the employees to update their skills and knowledge. HR department is responsible for organising training for the employees. As mentioned earlier, majority of the organizations have diverse workforce at present. Diverse workforce often brings a variety of challenges to HRM. Work philosophy, attitudes, skill sets, ethics, values, language, communication means, socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds of diverse workforces are extremely different. For example, many American companies are currently operating in China and these companies have many American employees along with Chinese employees. China and America are entirely different countries in terms of politics and culture. American employees may face lot of problems related to culture and politics while working in China. HR managers are responsible for providing necessary training to such employees before sending them to China. In short, HR management principles are changing as time goes on because of the huge changes happening in the global business world. The success of an organization depends on how well the HR department deals with such changes and makes corrections in its strategies. Along with employee recruitment, training and development, employee retention is another critical area handled by HR department. It should be noted that smart employees always get better opportunities. It is the duty of the HR managers to provide necessary motivation for work to the employees. Better remuneration and incentives alone may not motivate the employees to stick w ith an organization. Along with remuneration, current employees are particular about the work culture, organizational climate and work-life

Friday, September 27, 2019

Internship report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Internship report - Essay Example During this meeting, the member organizations assess the general thrust of their actions, set the priorities and decide of their joint strategy for the coming 3 years, notably by electing the International Board. The International Board is comprised of 22 elected members (a president, treasurer, 15 vice-presidents, and 5 secretaries general) representing all regions of the world. This International Board defines specific strategies to implement the thematic and regional priorities adopted by the Congress. It also meets 3 times a year to discuss the FIDH's political and strategic orientation and to approve the budget. The Executive Board is composed of the President, the Treasurer and 5 secretaries General. It is responsible for the management of the FIDH on a daily basis and convenes once a month to take decision on current concerns and request submitted by member organizations. The International Secretariat, based in Paris, employs 30 permanent staff members who carry out various du ties including working at the headquarters, acting as a permanent delegation before IGOs (intergovernmental organizations) and working in regional offices. It implements decisions taken by the International and Executive boards in conjunction with the member organizations. ... The International Secretariat, Observatory and Specialist Desks. The International Secretariat is divided into regions (Africa Desk, Americas Desk, Asia Desk, Eastern Europe & Central Asia Desk, North Africa & Middle East desk) and is responsible for setting priorities. Since 2009, the FIDH singled out certain areas of prime concern, for which it has determined action priorities. These include: protection for human rights defenders, accountability, respect for human rights in the context of globalization, defense of human rights, and respect for human rights in the context of counter-terrorism. The thematic division of the International Secretariat reflects the following action priorities: Globalization & Human Rights Desk, Women's & Migrants Rights Desk, International Justice Desk, Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defender (hereinafter "The Observatory"). The Observatory (a joint program with the World Organization Against Torture) seeks the implementation of the UN De claration on Human Rights Defenders and campaigns for the adoption of new mechanisms aimed at reinforcing their protection and security. It also provides emergency protection to human rights defenders on the ground under the form of material assistance, trial observation missions, media coverage, and urgent intervention. The International Justice Desk's mandate is to tackle the issue of impunity for those who carry out human rights abuses, and to make such individuals and groups accountable for their crimes against humanity. It does so by providing legal and judicial support to victims of international crimes by initiating or participating in litigation before national, regional and international courts. The fight against impunity is one of the raisons d’etre

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Avenues to Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Avenues to Justice - Essay Example The term Victimisation derived from the notion of responsibility of a victim for the cause of crime. For example there is a school of thought that, in quite a lot of cases the victims are also partly responsible, like in case of theft from car where the driver keeps the door unlocked or in case of rape where the victim gives opportunity to the offender by visiting him alone etc. The public learns about crime from various sources, press being one of the very important one. One can learn about crimes from police records, crime survey and official statistics released by the Govt. They also release 'supplementary Statistics' where more detailed information on specific offences is given. Home office also releases 'Criminal Justice Digest', which gives summaries of the above statistics. They also release selected statistics in their website for Internet access. Home office also maintains 'Offender Index', which holds data on individuals convicted of serious crime. The compilation of data for the statistics to be made available is a very cumbersome process. It involves interaction of various agencies of the criminal justice systems including various police forces. ... The compilation of data for the statistics to be made available is a very cumbersome process. It involves interaction of various agencies of the criminal justice systems including various police forces. The department politics also can effect the compilation of data. Hence statistics can never be wholly accurate. Many offences like those recorded by agencies outside the home office are not recorded. As mentioned earlier, some offences gets diluted as they are perceived as lesser offences, and they are also not included. Offences like domestic violence, sexual offences, drug offences get omitted, as they are not readily detectable by the public or police. Offences like illegal gambling, drug abuse, pornography, prostitution etc. where there is no discernable victims, also gets omitted. It will be safe to assume that the official statistics reveals which crime public chose to report and the perception of the police of the seriousness of the crimes. (Word count 505) Pages 59-61, 75-79 (2) What are the aims of sentencing Is one more effective than any of the other The key element of a criminal justice process is sentencing. Hence first we need to find out the justification for sentencing: The sentencing will ensure that the offender is made to pay for his crime, it will give a sense of satisfaction to the victims, it will create faith in other possible victims and society in general on the law of the land, and create fear in the other possible offenders, which will in effect reduce crime and prevent private vengeance. Now what are the aims of sentencing As we see Sentencing has to address three sets of people: 1) Offender 2) Victim 3) General Public. Six Aims of sentencing is propagated in most

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Racial & Sex Discrimination in the Medical Profession Essay

Racial & Sex Discrimination in the Medical Profession - Essay Example category within the social domain, then racism has all the rights to be a simple derivative originating from race as well as the resultant that arises from the experiences happening on a social front. The Webster’s New American Dictionary has defined racism as a distinctive belief that holds weight for different races having superiority in nature over each other. Thus to understand racism one needs to get deep down inside the very basics of this stigma in essence. It surely is a hot topic the world over and one which has caused quite a roar amongst the relevant circles. It has also made its due round of controversies every now and then and lingers on as a divide between the racially superior fraternities and the inferior lots. Similarly sex discrimination is a touchy topic, more so for the gentler gender. Sex discrimination, much like racial aspects has been the bane for so long now that the world has become sick of such topics emanating from all angles time and again. Governments do not directly take an active part in detailing their views to all about the racial differences that their charter has in accordance with the law of a particular country but they, every now and then, take certain significant steps, which help in curtailing racial discriminations from emanating in their respective societies. Their efforts in the field of health and providing basic first aid though are not that concrete at the best of times yet are overshadowed by a sudden outburst of racial fighting and hatred for each other which lead to the abandonment of any such proper healthcare that there was available in the first place. Racial and sex discrimination can give rise to domestic violence across towns; suburbs, cities and even on a national level whereby the whole country can get affected due to it. People get disturbed, as do their families and the whole religious/race group feels knocked out at the hands of the suppressing party. Racial discrimination leads to hatred within the

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

How might Pallasmaa's insights about the nature of our interactions Essay

How might Pallasmaa's insights about the nature of our interactions with place help us to conceptualize the complex ecosystems d - Essay Example However, recent studies have shown that the practice of establishing national parks and other protected areas meant to conserve wildlife have not really been beneficial. The reason behind this is that the design of the effort itself takes into consideration the interests of humans more than that of the animals, the supposed beneficiaries. Caroline Fraser’s article Rewilding North America provides a detailed discussion on the problem. It profoundly describes the inadequacies of the national park and protected area systems that exist in the United States in Canada. It also defines the challenges that confront conservationists and the governments of the two countries as they try to seek the most effective ways of protecting the remaining wildlife species in North America. Juhani Pallasmaa’s Architecture of the Senses, on the other hand, may be dealing with how architects tend to disregard the basic human senses as they try to create infrastructure for the use of people. Ho wever, in deriving the basic principles from the architectural theories pointed out in his book, it is clear that Fraser’s key concerns can be addressed by Pallasmaa’s insights. ... When the appreciation of a problem is one-sided or when it does not consider the other angles that may be just as important as that which have been treated, it is only expected that the solutions formulated are those that are bound to fail. In his discussion, Pallasmaa points out that architecture sets limits as to what space man can exclusively use. He explains that â€Å"as a consequence of (the) interdependence of space and time, the dialectics of external and internal space, physical and spiritual, material and mental, unconscious and conscious priorities concerning the senses as well as their relative roles and interactions, have an essential impact on the nature of the arts and architecture.† (Pallasmaa 284) This statement clearly describes that the process of creating a good architectural design is only possible if the architect actually touches base with all the information gathered by using the five senses. If he employs only one of the senses, he is sure to disregard the interdependence of things. It is the issue of interdependence that has also been forgotten when a number of biologists were not able to see the importance of connected ecosystems in order for wildlife to flourish under the most normal natural conditions. Fraser points out that â€Å"many biologists were quick to agree that when it comes to preserving ecosystems, large is better than small, connected is better than isolated, and whole is better than fragmented... some were resistant, arguing against a rush to judgment, suggesting that protected areas in the real worlds might prove vastly more complex, each with unique characteristics that might affect the outcome.† (115) In this statement, Fraser was referring

Monday, September 23, 2019

A key issue for the courts when deciding on the legal status of a Essay

A key issue for the courts when deciding on the legal status of a comfort letter is whether or not the party proffering the comfort letter intended to create legal relations - Essay Example Comfort letters are common in loan agreements, as an alternative from asking the lender to obtain a guarantor for the loan. In order for a claimant to be able to rely on the letter of comfort as a guarantee of payment, the claimant has to prove that the person issuing the letter intended to create legal relations between themselves and the claimant. According to Ellinger (1989) comfort letters can be identified into 3 specific types, and can include undertakings from a parent company to meet the financial commitments of the subsidiary company. Less stringent comfort letters identify that the parent company knows of the intention of the subsidiary company to enter into a contract with the other party, but makes no express guarantee to honour the agreement of the subsidiary or to actively intervene to ensure that the subsidiary company fulfils the contract. These letters can have legal effect despite the fact that they cannot be relied upon as a guarantee that the party will fulfil their part of the contract. One of the first cases to consider the effect of comfort letters was Banque Brussels Lambert S A v Australian National Industries Ltd1 in which the defendant averred that the letter should not be regarded as a binding contract. In this case, the bank insisted on a letter of comfort as a condition of the loan agreement between the parties. The bank had originally tried to force the defendant to guarantee the payments on the loan, which the defendant had refused to do. The claimant attempted to aver that the letter of comfort contained promissory paragraphs with regard to the conduct of the defendant and that the defendant had breached these promises. One such paragraph stated We take this opportunity to confirm that it is our practice to ensure that our affiliate [the borrower] will at all times be in a position to meet its financial obligations as they fall due. These

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Analysing the measure likelihood of success on the merits Assignment

Analysing the measure likelihood of success on the merits - Assignment Example In addition, the applicant’s attorney should prove to the court that effort has been made to stop to notify the adverse party and should give the reasons to maintain the claim that no court notice is required or the adverse party. The case of Ben Njoroge Muchunu & 2 others v Phares Muchunu & 2 others [2013] eKLR. In case, the applicants sought an order of temporary restraint to prohibit the plaintiff and the defendant against issuing the share of $52,000 as the proceeds from the sale of an estate to the late Benjamin Njoroge Wamanja. The applicants claimed that the money way held in the banks account in the names of the defendants’ and the plaintiffs’ affidavit. The basis of success was the fact that the applicants did not face any objection in their claim since there was no affidavit to deny the applicants claim. Therefore, in cases of denial of the issuance of a court injunction the applicants were entitled to suffer permanent damages that neither the defendant nor the plaintiff would compensate the applicant (Henry 47). The other alternative available is for the plaintiff and the defendant to establish to the court how they would compensate the applicants. In NEW YORK TIMES V. SULLIVAN, 376 U.S. 254, 84 S. Ct. 710, 11 L. Ed. 2d 686 [1964]. The New York times made a detailed advertisement titled â€Å"Heed their rising Voices† in a bid to raise funds to protect martin Luther King Jr against an Albama denunciation of false swearing. The Alabama court denied the application of temporary restraining order of defamation of Montogery Safety commissioner, L.B. Sullivan who was the police supervisor. The court claimed that the advertisement made by the New York Times did not mention Sullivan hence the commissioner had no base to sue the press for defamation. Also, these facts are evident in American Chicle Co. v. Topps Chewing Gum, Inc., 208 F.2d 560, 563 (2d Cir. 1953) (L. Hand, J.). The failure of the plaintiff was as a result of lack o f evidence of defamation hence the press could not be restrained from exercising their freedom of speech. In the case of Data General Corp. v. Digital Computer Controls, Inc 1971. The data general corporation exposed design information through its Nova 1200 minicomputer informing the owners of its secrecy of the design drawings in a contract agreement. Digital computer controls designed its minicomputer that resembled that of digital General Corporation that had sued in court to restrain digital computer controls against the use of heir technology illegally. The court help that a digital computer controls had breached the secrecy rights of the digital general corporation (Patterson 334). The bases for success of the digital general corporation case against digital computer controls were the fact that digital general corporation had applied sufficient security for their drawings hence digital computer controls breached the contractual terms by using confidential information for perso nal gain. In Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Co. [1893] Q.B. 256 (C.A.). the carbolic smoke ball company placed a newspaper advertisement promising 100 pounds to any person who consumed smoke balls three times in a day as directed by the company. Carlill consumed the smoke balls as directed and contracted influenza. She claimed the reward from the company, but the company denounced any contractual obligation with Carlill. The court applied temporary

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Corporate Governance and Ethical Responsibility Essay Example for Free

Corporate Governance and Ethical Responsibility Essay 1. Determine at least three different internal and external stakeholders that Dr. DoRight might have to deal with on a daily basis at the hospital. Stakeholders are individuals who are involved in, have a vested interest in, or a â€Å"stake† in the success of an organization (Merriam-Webster, 2011), such as a hospital. Dr. DoRight is an influential decision maker as the President of the Universal Human Care Hospital and it is important for him to consider how his decisions and actions affect the stakeholders of the hospital. In the course of his daily activities Dr. Do Right will interact and impact many of the hospital’s internal and external stakeholders. Internal stakeholders are be committed to an organization’s success. Often internal stakeholders will participate in the strategic development of coordinating resources to fund and sustain an operation. Examples of internal stakeholders which Dr. DoRight might engage daily would be: Director of Public Health, Head of Health Intelligence and Information, Director of Nursing, Public Health Strategists, Vice President of Human Relations or Members of the Board of Trustees (Markwell, 2010). External stakeholders are not directly connected to the organization; however, they are vested in the hospital’s success as clients, business or community partners. These stakeholders have influence over organizational activities by contributing their views and experiences related to issues which are important to them. Medical providers or suppliers, Patient Advocacy Groups, Quality Assessors, the Media, and Heads of Local Community and Special Interest Groups are examples of external stakeholders Dr. DoRight may deal with on a daily basis (Markwell, 2010). 2. Compare and contrast potential conflicts of interest that may exist between the internal and external stakeholders. Conflicts of interest exist between the hospital’s internal and external stakeholders. Medical providers such as, staffed research doctors or pharmaceutical manufactures want to provide the ‘best’ wellness plan by providing cutting-edge tests, treatments and medications which are likely to be more expensive to the payer or patients. Payers, such as insurance providers and private paying patients, would prefer a more cost effective approach to wellness with accurate diagnosis and treatments with fewer visits and tests (Wiseman, 2005). Although internal and external stakeholders may have different priorities, they will share common objectives. All stakeholders will share common ambitions for Universal Human Care Hospital to provide quality medical services to its patients. Additionally, all stakeholders will appreciate the hospitals efforts to improve the quality of life for the community it directly serves. (Markwell, 2010). 3. Discuss whether Dr. DoRight has fulfilled his ethical duty by reporting the illegal procedures. Dr. DoRight has reported the illegal procedures and patents dying due to negligent supervision and oversight to his Regional Director, Compliance Manager, as well as an Executive Committee in January 2009, but he has not fulfilled his ethical duty. As a doctor it is his responsibility to protect all patients from criminal acts including the illegal procedures and negligent supervision which has been reported at Universal Human Care Hospital. As there has been no result from the investigation after two years he has a responsibility to take further action to preserve the lives of patients. His ethical duty should include reporting the illegal procedures, as well as, the negligent supervision and oversight to higher ranking internal authorities. If the appropriate investigation and corrective actions do not occur he has a further ethical obligation to report the incidents to external authorities. As a doctor he is legally bound to take reasonable action. The law recognizes several exceptions the â€Å"no duty to rescue† rule and several apply to Dr. Do Right’s ethical dilemma (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). Continued deaths due to negligence and illegal procedures should be reported beyond the Regional Director, Compliance Manager and the Executive Committee as the failure to do so may result in his dismissal or even criminal prosecution. As a doctor he assumes contractual responsibilities to medically help others, and prevent them from being harmed. Patients in the hospital in which he is President may be lulled into a false sense of security, believing they will be helped, only to be neglected when lifesaving assistance is needed. Doctors and nurses employed in the medial facility which he oversees are endangering their patients and he is currently participating in creating a dangerous situation for several patients. Finally, there is a â€Å"special relationship† between Dr. DoRight’s medical facility and their patients. This relationship has a degree of dependency from the patient to the hospital and those whom govern the medical facility. As the President of Universal Human Care Hospital he is required to reasonably protect all patients from harm including the protection from the illegal procedures performed by the medical staff, and neglect or oversight of the supervising staff (Halbert Ingulli, 2 012). 4. Describe the deontology principle and apply it to the ethical dilemma that Dr. DoRight faces in this case. The deontology principle â€Å"is marked by steadfastness to universal principles †¦[of] respect for life, fairness, telling the truth, keeping promises – no matter what the consequences† (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). Immanuel Kant, the most famous deontological thinker, believed humans could rationally develop an absolute set of rules to govern behavior, and these rules should be applied in all situations without consideration of the consequences. For example, Immanuel Kant believed there is a never good time to lie, even if it could produce a favorable outcome, such as lying saving someone’s life (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). Under the deontology principle, moral and ethical behavior â€Å"is a matter of holding, without exception, to certain principles† or categorical imperatives (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). The first of these principles is that people should act under the assumption that the same action they chose should be repeated if roles were reversed and they ended up on the receiving end of those actions. In Dr. DoRight’s ethical dilemma a deontological approach would require him to make his decisions in the frame of reference of being a patient whose death resulted from the hospital’s negligence or oversight. If Dr. DoRight made decisions in this frame of reference it is doubtful two years would pass without any definitive findings from the internal investigation into patient deaths (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). Another categorical imperative of the deontology principle is that it is unethical for people to use others for their own gain. A mutually beneficial relationship should exist where all stakeholders gain something they want. In Dr. DoRight’s ethical dilemma, the relationship could be mutually beneficial if the patient receives suitable medial services and attention in exchange for monetary compensation. Dr. DoRight’s decisions can be considered unethical as the relationship is not mutually beneficial. Patients within his hospital to continue to die as a result of a variety of illegal procedures, while Dr. DoRight continues to win awards for his leadership and meeting his business goals (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). Patients have a right to make a fully informed decision when selecting their medical providers. Making fully informed decision for oneself is â€Å"of great ethical value in deontology† (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). In the last two years, Dr. DoRight has told his Regional Director, Compliance Manager and the Executive Committee about the patient deaths due; however, disclosures are not provided to patients. With the insight of increased mortality rates due to the illegal procedures coupled with negligence and oversight it less likely patients will chose his medical facility for their health care needs. It is unethical according to the deontology principles to keep this information from patients. An infringement is being placed on some of the patients most basic rights; the right to life and health. Within the deontology principle this is never acceptable. Dr. DoRight falls short of several deontological principles, and is unethically infringing on the rights of his patients who are dying as a result of his decisions (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). 5. Describe the utilitarianism principle and apply it to the ethical dilemma that Dr. DoRight faces in this case The utilitarianism principle guides individuals, like Dr, DoRight, to ethically â€Å"behave in a given situation †¦ to choose an alternative that is likely to produce the greatest overall outcome.† This principle evaluates the advantages and costs of an individual’s actions not only for the decision maker, but for all stakeholders who will be impacted by the decision. Within the utilitarianism principle the long and short term consequences to the stakeholders are analyzed when evaluating a dilemma, while weighing the size of the group and the effects of the decision upon the stakeholders (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). In Dr. DoRight’s dilemma some consequences may be shared by numerous stakeholders, both internal and external. For example, the media could tarnish the reputation of the hospital and several of its staff by publicizing the deaths as prev entable. This consequence could result in an increase of livelihood for external stakeholders such as the media, medical malpractice attorneys, or the extended family member of deceased patients. At the same time, it could result in the loss of livelihood amongst internal stakeholders such as; doctors, nurses and other members of as the hospital’s 5,000 employed staff (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). Smaller external stakeholders carry the burden of the greatest negative consequences. Most costly would be the loss of life to patients who died as a result of illegal procedures and negligent supervision. Although this group of stakeholders may be small in comparison to the 20,000 patients treated at the hospital, â€Å"losses of life and health weigh heavily on the scale† when assessing the consequences of a decision within the utilitarianism principle (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). The causes of deaths have not been revealed after two years of internal investigation. If an outside organization investigated the details of the illegal practices and neglect it could negatively impact some internal stakeholders. An external investigation could have a negative impact on hospital finances, the Executive committee, and the livelihood of the Regional Director, Compliance Manager or their direct staff. On the other hand, patients, doctors and other stakeholders could benefit from this same decision in the form of additional staffing, proper training and technology to provide accurate diagnosis. Ultimately, the short-term costs a few internal stakeholders of the hospital would be outweighed by the long-term benefits to several stakeholders if Dr. DoRight made this decision (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). References Halbert, T. Ingulli, E. (2012). Law, Ethics, Business. In Law Ethics in the Business Environment (7th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Markwell, S. (2010). Health knowledge. Retrieved from http://www.healthknowledge.org.uk/public-health-textbook/organisation-management/5b-understanding-ofs/managing-internal-external-stakeholders Merriam-Webster. (2011). Stakeholder. In Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stakeholder Wiseman, B. (2005). Who are the stakeholders in healthcare?. Retrieved from http://patientsafetyed.duhs.duke.edu/module_a/introduction/stakeholders.html

Friday, September 20, 2019

Nokia Challenges In Rural Marketing In India

Nokia Challenges In Rural Marketing In India The world is witnessing an unprecedented growth in the number of people who own a mobile handset. According to a September 2009 Economist report, the total number of people who owned a personal mobile handset stood at a whopping 3.6 billion, which is more than half of the worlds population. The point that is worth noting here is the fact that the majority of this growth has come from the developing nations. In the year 2000, the developing countries accounted for only one-fourth of the worlds 700 million mobile phones. But, by the beginning of 2009, developing nations accounted for more than 75%. Considering the fact that the developed markets are saturated, it is the developing worlds rural poor which will fuel the growth in this market in the coming times. [1] Exhibit 1 shows the share in mobile phone subscriptions of the developing nations and that of the developed nations in the last decade. [2] It is in this context, we consider the case of the Indian mobile handsets market which has seen a sea change in the last decade owing to a number of critical success factors. India is presently the worlds fastest growing telecom market in terms of the subscriptions as well as the number of mobile handsets. The mobile subscribers in India are projected to grow at a CAGR of 15% in the next 5 years from 2010 to 2014. [3] This shows the tremendous opportunity that exists in the Indian telecom market for the handset manufacturers. Indian Telecom Industry The Indian telecom Industry is the worlds fastest growing telecom Industry in the world with a total of 706.37 million subscribers out of a population of 1180 million. As of Aug 2010, out of the 706.37 million, a whopping 670.60 are mobile phone connections.[4] The Indian mobile telephony market adds more than 20 million subscribers a month on an average and for the first time in the year 2008-09, rural India outpaced urban India in mobile growth rate. The growth in the Indian telecom sector can be attributed to several factors which include the rising disposable incomes of households, rising aspirations of consumers across the country, the enhanced utility of a mobile phone for people from all walks of life be it business or education or just information. The mobile handsets revolution has changed the lifestyle of consumers by giving them a faster way to reach their near and dear ones, by making their life easier in more ways than one. The growth drivers for mobile handsets can be attributed to the telecom service providers and off late, it is also the mobile phone applications that are fuelling the increasing adoption of mobile phones as they give the consumers a whole range of new services he/she can avail by using a mobile phone. Mobile phones in India are fast changing into a commodity with the entry of numerous players in the market and similarity of offerings by the existing competition. Exhibit 7 shows the change in consumer decision making that has occurred over the years in the Indian mobile handsets market. It has changed from a High Involvement-Low Experience product to a Low Involvement-High Experience product. Mobile phones are mainly divided into 4 categories in the handsets industry in India: Smart Phones: These are essentially the high end phones which have many features and have the internet accessibility capabilities and Wi-Fi technology. This space is mainly dominated by the multinational brands like Nokia, Samsung, Blackberry, and Sony Ericsson. The general price range for such phones varies from Rs. 10,000 to Rs.35000 in the marketplace. DUAL SIM: This is the fastest growing category in the Indian market accounting for more than 35% of the total shipments in the beginning of year 2010. The principle reason so as to why these phones are in such great demand is the fact that consumers want to reap benefits of the attractive offers provided by telecom players. In this regard, Multi-SIM handsets are also being launched and they are fast becoming the next trend in this space. The market for this is mostly dominated by domestic manufacturers like Lava, Karbonn, Micromax, MAXX and Zen Mobiles among other players. It was only in September 2010, Nokia has launched its first ever DUAL SIM handset after it realized the huge demand for such models in the market. The general price range for such mobiles varies from Rs.2000 to Rs.5000 Touch Phones: These are the type of handsets which do not have any manual keys and are completely sensor based touchscreen handsets. These are extremely fashion oriented handsets which are in-vogue among the youth and fast catching up with all types of consumers due to their visual appeal and ease of use. The market for such handsets was mainly dominated by the multinationals but now it is cluttered with the entry of Indian players such as Micromax, Spice mobiles and others. The general price range for such mobile phones varies from Rs.5000 to Rs.15000. CDMA: These handsets use a different technology compared to others which are GSM based mobile phones. CDMA handsets are generally cheaper than their GSM counterparts. They are mainly preferred by consumers who have a heavier usage of mobile phone. The general price range of CDMA phones is Rs.1000 to Rs5000. This market is evenly distributed between Indian players as well as multinationals. Exhibit number 5 shows the type of handsets that fall into each of this category in the Indian market. The current tele-density in India stands at 58.17% and this is projected to reach up to 82% by the year 2012. The rural Indian market has a tele-density of 24% as of March 2010 whereas the Urban tele-density has already crossed the 100% mark* [5]. Considering the fact that around 65% of Indias total population lives in rural areas, we can say in other words, that every third person holding a mobile phone is from rural India. Therefore, it offers a huge potential for growth in coming years for the various handset manufacturers. Also, with the upcoming of 3G technology in the Indian market, the sector as a whole is likely to see robust growth in the coming years. In addition to this, the Indian mobile handsets market is witnessing a sea change in terms of the expectations of the consumers. It is being observed that consumers are demanding phones with multimedia and multi SIM capabilities at very affordable prices, especially in the Tier-3 and rural regions. Indian mobile handset makers are fast making inroads into the Tier-2, Tier-3 and rural markets which offer tremendous growth potential. Multi-SIM handsets accounted for a whopping 38.5% of the market in the 1st quarter of year 2010. Rural India: A huge opportunity in mobile handsets market The market for mobile phones in rural India remains highly untapped and offers a very high potential. It is this immense opportunity and the inability of the foreign based multinationals in understanding the Indian consumers that has led to the proliferation of numerous local manufacturers who now pose a serious threat to the existing players. According to a research by the Research and Markets, the market for mobile phones in rural India is projected to grow at a CAGR of 17% in the years 2009-2012. [17] It is also being suggested that the availability of low cost long battery phones will primarily drive the growth in these markets. The Mobile Handsets Market in India This unprecedented level of growth in the mobile usage of the Indian population has also lead to the birth and proliferation of a number of home grown mobile handset manufacturers. The market for mobile handsets which was once dominated by the likes of Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Motorola are being fast replaced by domestic Indian concerns like Micromax, MAXX, Videocon, Lava, Karbonn, Spice mobiles, Zen Mobiles to name a few. These domestic players have a strong penetration in the smaller towns and rural hinterlands of the country because they understand the needs of the local people better than the multi-nationals. Some of the innovations from the regional players include a 45 day battery phone, a solar powered cell phone to cater to the perennial power shortage in rural India. Again, there have been launches of mobiles that are dust resistant, water-proof and high decibel to cater to various needs that are unique to the rural Indian consumers. According to a research conducted by Voice and Data, the total market share of all the Indian mobile handset manufacturers came to 14%, which is quite a significant number considering the complete dominance of Nokia and other foreign players like Motorola and Sony Ericsson till very recently. Micromax leads the Indian mobile handset manufacturers with a market share of 4.1% followed by Spice mobiles with 3.9% and Karbonn with a market share of 3% respectively. However, Nokia still continues to be the market leader in the Indian market with a share of 52.2%. [6] Exhibit 3 shows the market shares of various players in the Indian market and a comparison in the years 2008-09 and 2009-10 is being tabulated as shown. [7] The following are the details about various players in the Indian mobile handsets market: Nokia: The Finland based multi-national is the worlds largest manufacturer of mobile telephones with a global market share of 30% in the beginning of 2010. Its latest offering is its OVI technology platform which offers a wide range of internet services such as games, music, maps, media and messaging. Nokia made its entry into the Indian market in the year 1995 [11] and there are many firsts to Nokias credit in the Indian mobile handsets market. It would not be an overstatement to say that Nokia has pioneered the evolution of mobile telephony in the Indian market. For instance, the first mobile call in India on an Indian network was made on Nokia phone and they were the first to introduce a camera phone as well as the first Wi-Fi enabled phone. Samsung: It is currently the worlds second largest mobile phone manufacturer after Nokia. It is a part of Samsung Electronics, based out of South Korea which is the worlds largest electronics company. [12] It is one of the major players in the Indian mobile handsets market and is known for its stylish phones as well as utility oriented models. The famous Indian actor Aamir Khan has been the brand ambassador of Samsung Mobiles in India and this has given the brand a good mileage in terms of product acceptance and trust ahead of big players like Nokia. Their anti-theft mobile tracker is one of the most successful features in the market and was highly appreciated by the consumers. Micromax: The Gurgaon based handset manufacturer started its operations in the year 1991 but it has made its presence felt in the last 2-3 years. With a slew of product launches with attractive features and value-proposition, it is now currently the third largest player in the Indian mobile handsets market after Nokia and Samsung. It appealed majorly to the high-potential underserved rural market with its 1 month battery backup model. It has also come up with attractive models at prices as low as 50% to that of a Nokia phone with the same features. Motorola: The American telecommunications giant has lost market share to other players in the Indian market. It also did not feature in the top 5 mobile handset manufacturers in the world in the International Data Corporation (IDC) research carried out in the beginning of year 2010. [14] Exhibit 4 shows the top mobile phone vendors, their market shares and the shipments of the top 5 mobile handset manufacturers in the world. Motorola had become the second largest player in the Indian market in the year 2007 on the back of its aggressive promotions and innovative product line. It had roped in the Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachhan as the brand ambassador during that time. Sony Ericsson: Sony followed a similar strategy and launched a series of phones which has very good music features that reflected the Sony Walkman legacy. Actor Hritik Roshan was the brand ambassador for Sony Ericsson in India and during this time, the company had gained considerable market share before its decline started due to the rise of local Indian handset manufacturers. Blackberry: The parent company RIM continues to be one of the top notch manufacturers of high end business phones in the world and as given in exhibit 3, it is currently the 4th largest handset maker in the world. In India, it targets only the business users and hence uses different communication channels rather than the mass media which is used by other manufacturers. HTC: This is a Taiwan based manufacturer of smartphones which made smartphones based on Windows software but is now shifting to Googles Android as its operating system. It has a very small presence in the Indian market and it has no intentions to come up with handsets that will be targeted at the Indian rural consumers. Spice Mobiles: This is a part of Spice Telecom which is majorly owned by the Aditya Birla Group and is currently the 5th largest player in the Indian market. It is being endorsed by the Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra. Lava Mobiles: It is one of the recent entrants in the Indian market which has launched a series of handsets which offers the DUAL SIM capability which is very highly demanded especially in the rural areas since many consumers in rural India buy one phone for a group of individuals and it is shared. Karbonn: It is a Joint venture between two players: UTL group and Jaina group. It is being endorsed by the Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag which the company believes is a good move since the mobiles they manufacture are positioned in the same tone as that of the playing style of Sehwag, which is explosive and agile. MAXX: Endorsed by the Indian cricket team captain M S Dhoni, this is one of the leading brands from the Indian mobile handset manufacturers. Videocon: This Company which is a conglomerate has diverse interests ranging from telecom to petroleum to power generation. They entered the Indian mobile handsets market in November 2009 [15] The Videocon group has also gained the rights to be the T-shirt sponsors of the famous Indian Premier League (IPL) team, the Mumbai Indians. This has given Videocon mobiles a lot of visibility and created awareness, which is very important considering the fact that it is still a new entrant in the highly competitive mobile handsets market. The market for handsets in India has evolved drastically over the last one decade with consumers expecting a lot more out of their mobiles rather than just making a call or sending a message. Exhibit 2 shows the various applications in mobile handsets as a percentage of total number of mobile phones shipped in India from the years 2007-2009. [7] It is precisely in this space that most of the recent players in the Indian mobile handsets market have positioned themselves. They offer more features in their handsets at the same price as the market leaders, Nokia being the benchmark of sorts in the Industry. Analysis of commercials of Nokia in the last 5 years In order to understand the communication strategy of Nokia in the last 5 years, a thorough analysis of all their TV commercials was carried out. This helped to understand their positioning and the type of customers they are primarily targeting. Given below are the series of analysis of their commercials for their various models of handsets. Nokia Xpress music 5310 and 5700: The commercial involves a plot in which there are shown lot of young students (all were apparently from a city background) in a hostel enjoy their music non-stop on the new Xpress music Nokia phones. This commercial also highlights the 18 hours non-stop music capability of this phone from Nokias stable. Nokia 1110i and 1600: In this commercial, the creative involves a husband coming back to his home in the village and he has his wife and daughter waiting for him. The husband gets stuck on the way as his vehicle gets damaged. Then, a neighbor in the village who has a Nokia phone helps in reaching the neighbors husband through the Nokia phone and thus an emotional connect is being formed for Nokia. It is also nicely captured in the advertisement where in the end, the daughter asks her mother: Kya hum bhi Nokia le lein? Nokia 3110 Classic: In this advertisement, the plot involves a young boy trying to impress a young girl through his Nokia mobile phone which has an 8ÃÆ'- zoom capability and a one touch camera option. This again focuses on the urban segment as the attire and the ambience as shown in the advertisement reflects a citys environs. Nokia 6300, 5310 and 2630: the commercial is more of an attempt towards corporate advertising where Nokia is being shown as a part of every moment of joy in the lives of people across the country. All the regional festivals are being shown and people have been shown clicking pictures, playing music etc. from their Nokia phones to celebrate their moment of joy. This ad shows no discrimination towards an urban or rural background. Nokia 7610 and 3600: It is a commercial which reflects the lifestyle, attitudes and aspirations of the modern day young girl. This again is filmed against the backdrop of a city projecting a metropolitan girl. The ad is a lively ad that captures the essence of the modern day lifestyle and the phone tries to reflect the same. This is again a commercial that focuses on the urban way of life and the youth belonging to such places. Nokia Navigation (Maps): This advertisement shows a character who finds her way all up to the house of her destination through the help of Nokia maps. This commercial emphasizes the utility of Nokias series of applications and tools to attract customers towards them. This is one of Nokias responses in countering the competition from numerous local Indian players. But, again this is an advertisement focused at the Indian urban population rather than rural where they are presently losing out to more nimble footed players. Nokia priority dealer: manpasand mobile guaranteed. The commercial shows an individual trying to find a good new mobile for him but has to do all the running to so many places. He is shown to be running after one model to the other but not able to catch hold of the phone that he is actually looking for. In the end, a Nokia priority dealer store is shown where he can find all the models of Nokia phones, thereby reducing his hassles. That is why the tagline in the beginning is apt. Nokia 1208 and 1209: This advertisement inspires the viewer by showing that all the dreams of an individual like owning a house, a car and taking a flight etc. will come true one day. Again, the ad goes on to show that Nokia is there for the consumer in realizing their dreams in life. These are the two low end phones of Nokia and there is a clear focus towards the aam aadmi of India who dreams of a better life. There is no discrimination of urban and rural in this case also. Nokia 6270: this advert shows the new Nokia phone which has a memory capacity of 1GB which was unheard of in the Indian mobile handsets market in the year 2006. The commercial shows the precision and perfection with which the phone has been designed. It is being positioned as an exclusive handset which is for those who desire perfection in life. This again has no clear bias on whether it is targeted at the urban consumers or the rural consumers. Nokia (Corporate): This commercial features the Indian star actor Shahrukh khan which shows his life as a superstar. The commercial explains how his Nokia phone has been there with him for the last 10 years and now he has a trust for that brand. The ad ends with Shahrukh Khan saying hamara Nokia. This is an advertisement that focuses on corporate branding of Nokia rather than any particular model. Nokia E-Series Business Phones: This commercial initially shows how it is very difficult for a modern day executive to balance and get the best of both his personal as well as professional life. And then the new Nokia E series business phones have been shown as the ideal solution using which the executive is able to merge his personal as well as professional commitments and is content with his wife, kids and work. This advert again has an urban focus in a thorough and distinct manner. Nokia OVI Music Unlimited: this commercial emphasizes on the unlimited music options that are available with the new Nokia OVI music store where one can get and store literally a million songs from the OVI store. The ad has a strong catchy theme and it does not have any bias towards an urban or rural backdrop. But, inevitably this also gives away its urban focus in the latter part of the ad. Nokia 1650 and 2626: This commercial shows the Radio (FM) feature in their handsets and how Radio still has a future in our multimedia world where there are numerous options for entertainment. Songs from all the possible types of genre have been shown playing on the radio through the Nokia handsets. This advertisement is targeted at all the target groups with no clear focus on the youth or the urban-rural distinction in particular. Nokia 1600: This advertisement is a fast paced creative where it is being shown how colors are a part of the life of an Indian and how colors are integrated into every aspect of our life. Various individuals from different walks of life have been shown in this ad. This ad also reflects the product that is being endorsed here: a phone for the common man of India. It ends with the caption: naya Nokia 1600, har jeb main rang. Nokia 7710, Experience: this advertisement shows an individual enjoying a music video on a screen that is so wide that it almost feels to him like a theater. The effect of the widescreen has been shown very distinctly in the commercial. This is one of the higher prices phones from the stable of Nokia. There is once again no clear distinction so as to who is the target audience for this product. Nokia 6300: This advertisement ends with the statement true style never shouts. The advertisement begins with a scene where a shooting for some purpose is going on and the director asks the professionals on the set to continuously remove all the glitz and showy backgrounds. In the end, a simple white background is what suits the need perfectly. Thus, the statement that true style doesnt need any showbiz associated with it. This is an effort to tell the consumers about the simplicity and reliability of Nokia as a brand with respect to all its recent competitors in the Indian market which have focused more on the showbiz. Insights from the commercials From the above advertisements and various corporate promotions carried out by Nokia in the last 5 years (a time during which a lot of new domestic players have entered the Indian mobile handsets market), a clear pattern that emerges is that Nokia has still not focused exclusively on the rural Indian consumers who form a major chunk of the population that uses mobile phones on todays date. There are many commercials which exclusively focus on the modern day youth of urban India and their lifestyles, attitudes and aspirations. But, there are very few advertisements and promotions that show Nokias willingness to target the rural Indian consumer. One of the reasons for this may be the fact there are no products that Nokia has exclusively designed that can fulfill multiple needs of the rural consumers other than just phone and messaging. Its only product that found an instant hit with the rural consumers was the 1100 model which had an in-built torch light. But, there were many needs of the rural consumers which could have been fulfilled with the help of mobile phones but Nokia did not come out with such products. It is in this space that almost all the new Indian domestic players have been very successful. Micromax, the Gurgaon based mobile handset manufacturer is one such case in point. They realized the acute shortage of electricity in the rural hinterlands of India and it was being observed that consumers need a phone the battery of which lasts for longer periods of time than the usual 2 days on an average. They aggressively promoted their new handsets which lasted for a month after being charged once. This was also accompanied by their sales promotions which offered phones at highly discounted rates and with more features than what a Nokia phone would offer at the same price. This trend continued and it led to the entry of other domestic players like Lava, Karbonn, Spice among others in the Indian mobiles market. Each of the player offered much more enhanced features than Nokia and at a price which is in many cases as low as 60% to that of a Nokia phone. Another very common trend that was again captured by the Indian manufacturers as well as some of the cheaper Chinese mobile manufacturers in India was the Dual SIM concept. Increasingly, people felt the need to use the services of two service providers at the same time and buying two phones for this purpose was not feasible for most of them. This was again catered to by these players who launched a slew of Dual SIM mobile phones at prices that were very competitive in comparison to a similar phone with a single SIM capability. One more such feature of the latest offerings from domestic players has been the ability to handle multiple accounts from a single handset. This has been an instant hit with the consumers of Rural India where a group of people now own a mobile phone. This reduces the burden on each particular individual and also at the same time ensures connectivity. Unfortunately, for Nokia has not paid much attention to these innovations in the initial stages and now it has woken up to reduced market share which has dropped down drastically from 78% five years ago to 52.2% in the year 2010.[4],[5] Analysis Our analysis was intended to find so as to how the Indian consumer perceives various brands depending upon their communication, their positioning and their overall marketing efforts which include different type of promotional activities. In this regard, a questionnaire was being developed which tried to measure the attitudes and perceptions of consumers in general towards Nokia and other brands of mobile phones that they use. From the responses thus obtained, a simple arithmetic coding was being done to quantify the responses and thus we obtained average scores on each parameter of importance in a mobile phone. For instance, here we calculated the average score that each brand of mobile phone gets on parameters such as price, battery back-up, sound quality among all other features. The MS excel sheet attached below gives an idea of how the responses were coded and then converted into a perceptual map. For better visibility, the averages were being coded further using simple arithmetic techniques as shown in the sheet as under: Perceptual Map Analysis In order to find out the current day perception of Nokia with respect to its various competitors in the Indian mobile phone market, as mentioned earlier, a questionnaire was being designed. This was circulated among a select group of respondents. It was being ensured that there are users of all the kinds of brands of mobile phones that are popular in the Indian market. It is mandatory that we get at least 6 responses each of the various brands of mobile handsets for them to be reasonably eligible to find a place on the perceptual map and thus be compared with other brands of phones. Exhibit 6 shows the questionnaire that was being circulated among the consumers who owned a mobile handset. From the perceptual map, it is clear that Nokia is perceived to be more expensive when compared with other domestic players in terms of the features that they offer for a given price point. In order to counter this, Nokia either has to come up with products that are exclusively designed for the rural masses with customized support for them in terms of the local language and certain locally relevant tools. Also, as we can see that there is no real difference in terms of the local manufacturers of handsets as all of them offer a slew of features at prices which are very low in comparison to the existing multinationals like Nokia and Blackberry. In this regard, Nokia can take a lesson from the stable of Samsung which has adopted an innovative strategy in dealing with the rural Indian market. It has launched a series of products like Samsung Guru, which are specifically targeted at the rural masses and have been very successful with their advertisement campaigns for the same. Nokias current strategy for the Indian Rural Market With a population of more than 800 million, rural India offers huge potential and Nokia has realized it. Nokia has already started its rural marketing as well as communication initiatives and have a well chalked out plan for the coming years. Given below are some of the steps that Nokia has already taken in this regard: It has tied up with 1000 micro-finance institutions across the country which will help in financing the mobile phone purchases of the rural consumers. It has tie up with big players like SKS Micro-finance which has a network of 653 branches across the nation It has come up with showrooms on the wheels which is its rural marketing vehicle that is a novel approach in this market and is borrowed from the FMCG industry where such activation programs are commonplace. Nokia has hired certain professionals who go to the villages and rural hinterlands to promote the brand Nokia in innovative ways like sponsoring a regional festival which sees participation from the whole population of the area. Another initiative is their Rural care on the go, which is their servicing vehicle for the rural markets. This is to tell the consumers and other possible buyers the fact that Nokia is with them at their doorstep to account for all of their mobile handset issues. Nokia Life Tools: These are a series of tools developed for the rural consumers which will help them make their life easier and better in more than one way. For the farmer community of the rural Indian population, Nokia life tools provide information about the type of seeds, best practices and commodity prices. Young students can use the education life tool for career related information and other help related to their academics. Location based tools are also being developed by Nokia, some of them being exclusively for the rural consumers for their entertainment and convenience. These are some of the initiatives taken by Nokia till now in order to increase connect with the rural Indian consumers on a pan India basis. But, it is yet to launch products that truly cater to the differentiated needs of the consumers in smaller towns and villages. Also, the same has to be communicated to the consumers through various traditional as well as non-traditional media. Suggestions and Recommendations In its quest to gain a significant position in the rural Indian market, Nokia can take a leaf from the strategy adopted by the domestic mobile handset manufacturers. For instance, Videocon mobiles took cues from customers feedback of the need to have large speakers and launched a model accordingly. Again, another regional player Zen mobile realized the importance of launching phones with regional language support as many consumers in the hinterlands and small towns are not well versed with English language [16]. Therefore, they came up with models that had compatibility with 18 different Indian languages. Nokia should also launch certain models which have features that are currently desired by the users and at prices that are comparable to that of the local domestic players. One interesting

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Vet Shadow Day :: essays papers

vet shadow day When I first arrived â€Å"Lisa† The girl that I shadowed told me that there was an emergency with one of the animals. It ended up that a one-year-old beagle ate an entire thing of metabolite, and then slowly started to die. The liver had shut down, and the heart rate was up to 300. Lisa told me that taking a thing of metabolite was like taking 50 cups of coffee at once. The owners of the beagle were there and bowling. The beagle’s name was Murry. Murry's body slowly was shutting down one thing after another. The owners made the decision the dog was going to be put to sleep. We got the dog ready to be taken out. They undid all the cords from the dog so they could take it to another room. I said goodbye to the dog, and then they took it into the other room so that the owners could be there when they put him to sleep. After that happened they then had to put a sleep a little hedgehog that had cancer on its mouth. We then did two regular checkups with one cat a nd with one dog. Those when great. After that we had a dog come in and it ended up having an affection that might end up killing it. I never heard the end result. The last thing that I did there was that a black lab had been bitten by another dog, and that dog ripped a hole in the neck of the black lab. The doctors had to perform surgery on the dog to close up the holes in the neck. They first had to clean it out with qutips. And blood stated to come out right then I was a little dizzy and I thought I was going to faint. But thank god I didn’t. I saw a cat get dental work on it. And a cat get a bath and they had to blow dry it and brush the hair while it was a sleep. I thought that the work place environment was very clean and very professional. On my pictures on the poster it shows you that they even had a place for dogs to go in and a separate place for cats to go in they also have different waiting rooms for each of them.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

The Christain Theme of Tolstoys The Death of Ivan Ilyich Essay

The Christain Theme of  Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich attacks the pursuit of material possessions.   The Ilyich family bases itself upon the unsure foundation of wealth.   As Ivan ascends the rungs of the corporate ladder, he acquires new possessions and articles.   After joining the Civil Service, Ivan buys "new fashionable belongings" at the "very best shops" to keep up appearances (100).   For his wedding to Fiorodovna, Ivan buys "new furniture, new crockery, new linen[s]" to be proper or comme il faut.   He tries in vain to keep up "appearances as ordained by public opinion" (116).   None of these niceties are needed: Ivan buys them purely for the pleasure of owning them and in attempt to fit in with those of his class.   He succeeds instead... ...erings" that Ivan's illness put her through.   In the end, Ivan has nothing to solace him during his slow expiration.   What Tolstoy points out in The Death of Ivan Ilyich is a purely Christain theme:   do not place your foundation upon material things, but upon those things which transcend all time. Work Cited Tolstoy, Leo. The Death of Ivan Ilyich. Bantam Classic ed. New York: Bantam, 1991.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Impact of looming oil crisis on global trade

Impact of looming oil crisis on global trade The availability of OLL Is taken for granted every day by businesses, governments and individuals alike. However, an oil crisis Is looming and could feasibly hit at any point. This brings back memories of the oil shortages during the asses, which had a major impact on the economic growth, particularly In major Industrial countries such as united States. During the 1973 oil crisis – an embargo initiated by the Organization of PetroleumExporting Countries (OPEC) to protest against some of the American trade practices. As a result of this embargo, the price of oil increased by 300%, causing widespread oil shortages and in some cases forcing petrol stations to close. Experts have warned that similar crisis may be Imminent, with Western countries' presence In the middle east causing friction with some of the countries who are members of OPEC. 011 prices have been Increased In many areas in an attempt to reduce consumption levels and prot ect our natural resources.However, research has indicated that despite these measures the consumption of 011 continues to Increase, with an estimated 89 million barrels of oil being used globally every day. Should a crisis like this hit, the effect on the global economy will be huge – importing materials and goods has become an essential practice for larger organizations, but any increase in oil price would dramatically increase the transportation costs of importing and exporting.As a result, companies would need to either seek cheaper alternatives, or more likely raise the cost of their end product, something which will slow the growth of the economy and prolong the recession. Travel has become a major source of expenditure for large firms, with employees often flying to business meetings Internationally as well as domestically. Budget airlines' turnover has grown throughout the recession as a result of the increase in business travel, however any increase in the cost of oil would force these airlines to pass the costs onto their customers in the form of increased air fares.In the event of another oil crisis, businesses which currently have large travel expenses would suddenly find themselves with vastly increased overheads, and have a sudden need to explore cheaper alternatives which may not suit their business plan. Transportation is by far the biggest cause of oil consumption, with this sector estimated to account for more than half of all consumption worldwide, and more than two thirds of consumption within the US.As well as Increased transportation costs, the costs of operating machinery would also Increase during an OLL crisis, leading to Increases In the cost of many essential items, including foodstuffs. As with the rising cost of transportation, any increase in Experts are unsure when another oil crisis might hit, but most experts agree that a crisis of some sort is likely to occur soon. While the exact effect it will have on the world economy can't be accurately predicted, there is no doubt that businesses of all sizes will need to adapt very quickly to continue trading.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Advantage Of Television Essay

Communication Technology Communication is the imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium. The communications revolution is based on three technologies Telephone Televisions Computer. The history and development of communication technology is one of the ever increasing speed and efficiency of communication over ever greater distance and ever decreasing costs. Telephone: Telephone / Mobile Phone is a system for transmitting voices over a distance using wire or radio, by converting acoustic vibrations to electrical signals. Today we can send a message from one side globe to another in seconds with touch of button via Mobile Phone. Mobile phone become a video-phone, computer, camera, TV, Radio, message minder, MP3 Music player, newspaper map etc. Television: Television is a system for converting visual images (with sound) into electrical signals, transmitting them by radio or other means, and displaying them electronically on a screen. Computer: Computer is an electronic device which is capable of receiving information (data) in a particular form and of performing a sequence of operations in accordance with a predetermined but variable set of procedural instructions (program) to produce a result in the form of information or signals. Telephone: Receiving and Answering Call, We use telephone in our Home, Office. Mobile Phone: Mobile phone is a telephone with access to a cellular radio system so it can be used over a wide area, without a physical connection to a network. We use mobile phone for Make a Call, Receive a Call, Text Messaging, Smart Phone: Smart Phone is a mobile phone that is able to perform many of the functions of a computer, typically having a relatively large screen and an operating system capable of running general-purpose applications. We use Smart Phone for making a Video Call, MMS, Use Internet, sending and receiving Email, use camera for recording. etc. Fax: Fax is an exact copy of a document made by electronic scanning and  transmitted as data by telecommunications links. Advantage of Telephone: Usages: Usages of Television – We use Television as a Mass Media Tele Text Interactive Television increasing speed and efficiency, ever greater distance and ever decreasing cost for use as Tele Tex, Mass Media and easy communication media between consumer & Customer, Government & Public. Because of Television we get up to date news from different part of the world. Computer Usages: A computer is a â€Å"Machine that performs tasks, such as mathematical calculations or electronic communication, under the control of a set of instructions called program.† (Microsoft Encarta 1998) We use computers in many ways that we may not even realise. In business, computers use barcode and scanners to check customers’ credit, to check out goods at a supermarket, and check warehouse supplies. EFT (Electronic Fund Transfer) electronically moves funds in the form of wages and bills between bank accounts. For Travel – Like booking Tickets, Checking Flight etc. Also we use computer for shopping or online Shopping as Ecommerce, Or E-business – Like e-Bay, Amazon Entertainment – We can watch any broadcast program connect Internet with Computer. Culture – Via internet we can published information about our culture to all over the world, we can meet with other national or cultural people. Such as social media site like – Facebook Bebo Twitter Linked In Google plus Pinterest Tumblr. Flickr VK Instagram Everything we use our daily life has advantage and disadvantage which affect our personal life, social life and normal life. Advantage of Telephone: Telephone Technology has increased dramatically over the last few years, making this issue a little more complicated in the post smartphone world. There are many advantages and disadvantages to using the telephone as a method of communication and some of them are more or less pronounced depending on whether you are considering a land line or a cellular phone. The basic advantages to a telephone. Keeping in contact perhaps on a more regular basis, if for example plans have to be changed quickly and a face to face meeting or a letter may take too long For emergency situations, obviously a cellular phone would be especially helpful in this way. It should also be remembered that a phone number is now required for many employment opportunities. Save time & Cost. Also cell phone is technology, having reached such a point as to now be miniaturized computers, offer access to a great deal of information, entertainment and aid for users. Such as Smart Phone became computer competitor and we use smart phone for upload video, download apps, check Email , make a video call using apps like Skype , google talk etc. Disadvantages of Telephone: Many people feel that phones have made life more hectic and work-orientated precisely because of our ability, and growing infatuation, with being connected to our work, friends and businesses twenty four hours a day. However, some research has also shown that the majority of cell phone use in the work places is actually focused on entertainment and social communication. So, instead of communications technology increasing our work load, it may actually be increasing our social obligations instead. However, there are some general disadvantages to both land line and cell phone use as a method of technology. To begin with: Phone communication is less personal in many ways and can lead to miscommunication and misunderstanding As a method of communication it is more expensive than say, talking Phones can raise privacy concerns not just over wire taps. Crossed lines do still happen and familiarity with using a phone can lead to personal conversations taking place in otherwise public settings. Using smart phone people can record and upload video which could be personal and private moment or something like pornography. Which affect our life badly. Also other disadvantage like – Disruptive Prevent face to face conversation Texting – detrimental to writing skill May damage our ability to focus for any length of time Stalking a bullying ( Like cyber bullying uploading offensive or private video picture) Health risk – like radiation These days marketing calls are being a head ache for everyone. Anonymous threats. Sexual abuses. Helps terrorism.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Development of Children with Mental Retardation

At the on set, the term mental retardation has been viewed by many as a stigmatizing term. Thus, authorities in this field of study from different societies had come up with a less stigmatizing term. The British Commonwealth and the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities referred to it as â€Å"intellectual disability† (Ainsworth, P. & Baker, P. 2004, p. vii), while Stephen R. Schroeder of the University of Kansas and his colleagues favor the term â€Å"learning disability. † Other more specific descriptors include Down syndrome and fragile X syndrome.Mental retardation is a disability in the developmental process that may come out from birth through the age of eighteen (health & disease information) In their book Understanding Mental Retardation, Patricia Ainsworth and Pamela C. Baker (2004), explained that mental retardation is a â€Å"syndrome of delayed or disordered brain development before age 18 years that results in difficulty learning information and sk ills needed to adapt quickly and adequately to environmental changes† (p.3) Its causes according to Ainsworth and Baker includes the genetic factors or the so called heredity factor, environmental factors which is link to an impoverished environment, and prenatal influence which has something to do with nutrition. Physical development of Children with mental retardation In his article in a paper published by the Ohio State University entitled â€Å"Stimulating Physical Development of Mentally Retarded Children† Julian U. Stein noted the importance of an active, vigorous life in the development of sound mind and sound physical body (p. 1).Stein cited Plato’s statement emphasizing that, lack of physical activity destroys the excellent condition of the individual human being, and that orderly work outs and movements preserve that condition (p. 1). Herbert Jennings in 1917 also disclosed that through play the child learns and develops better than through any other ac tivity (p. 1). Stein stressed that children with mental retardation should not spent their days idle, inactive or passive, and merely gaining weight as this will adversely affect their total physical development as the child’s motor development correlates with play activities.Children with mental retardation should not be deprived of the opportunity to play and to engaged in physical exercise because it will not only help them to gain better physical development it will also facilitates better social, and intellectual development depending on the severity of their mental illness. Language Development Children with mental retardation like their normal peers are capable to adapt skills needed for daily communication such as language (Pruthi, G. ).However, Gauri Pruthi cited that although children with mental retardation are capable to adapt a language, infants with mental retardation were behind by about two months compared to their normal peers in their language development. O n the other hand, studies done by Bruner, 1975 and Tomasello 1992 as cited by Pruthi, stated that the early social and communicative accomplishments are seen as essential prerequisite for various aspect of language acquisition. In their book Handbook of Mental Retardation and Development, Jacob Burack and Robert M.Hodapp (1998) emphasized that language acquisition â€Å"is one of our most remarkable achievements† which are normally achieved within the first two to three years from birth (p. 208). Yet for children with mental retardation, Burack and Hodapp pointed out that, at this age â€Å"they may only be beginning to move down this pathway, having learned just a few words to name the important people in their lives and significant objects or some expressions for regulating social interactions† (p.208). However, not all children who are late in beginning to talk have mental retardation problem as some of these children do catch up a little time later. The problem the refore is how to distinguish which normal and which is having mental retardation. Maria R. Brassard and Ann E. Boehm (2007) point out that most children with low cognitive skills â€Å"exhibit disruptions in all areas of language, as well as delays in most areas of development† (p. 337).Thus, in order to assessed children’s wellness, and language comprehension, Brassard and Boehm present a model of communication develop by Abbeduto and Nuccio, which requires assessment in four domains namely; Linguistic ability (mastery of syntax, vocabulary, and phonology), the Cognitive ability (memory); Social skills (perspective taking); and Pragmatic competence (knowledge and skill specific to the process of communicating with others) that would help determine the mental condition of the children for early intervention if they have mental problem.Cognitive development Mental retardation is defined as the â€Å"sub average general intellectual functioning existing concurrently wit h deficits in adaptive behavior, and manifested during the developmental period† (Grossman 1977, as cited by Wachs, T & Sheehan, R. 1998, p. 16). This definition indicates that children with mental retardation have consistent skills and cognitive functioning deficits. Marilyn Jane Field, Alan M. Jette, and Linda G.Martin (2005) pointed out that mental retardation is â€Å"characterized by a delayed progression† and is an ultimate â€Å"failure to achieve the ability to perform formal operations at maturity†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p. 69). Field, Jette, and Martin stated that the severity of mental retardation â€Å"corresponded to fixation at lower stages of cognitive development† (p. 69). Therefore cognitive development of children with severe mental retardation fixated at a lower stage which impaired not only their intellectual capacity but also their normative behavioral development.The impaired intellectual capacity is clearly seen in the experiment conducted at Kansa s University by John Belmont and Earl Butterfield in the 1970s as cited by Norman Bray, Kevin Reilly, Lisa Huffman, Kathryn Fletcher, and Mark Villa in their article entitled â€Å"Mental Retardation and Cognitive Competencies† in which the participants were asked to remember some items in their order of presentation.In this experiment, it yielded that children with mental retardation had a poor recall and they were found to have deficiencies in various memory task and were particularly found to be deficit in memory-related processes such as in the rapidity of processing and the inhibition of irrelevant information (Bray, N. et,al). Psychological DevelopmentIt is generally held by various professionals in the field that a normal and healthy socio emotional development during the first 3 years of life is necessary for the normal mental health and personality development. Anton Dosen and Kenneth Dy (2001) aptly stated that children with mental health retardation â€Å"follow t he similar sequence and are predisposed to make psychosocial developmental structures as usual children† (p. 418). Mental retardation usually manifest during early childhood often during the first and second year of the child’s life.Dosen and Dy points out, â€Å"but the socio-emotional development of mentally retarded children during the first 3 years may be susceptible to various obstacles—genetic, organic, environmental† (Dosen & Dy, p. 418). Dosen and Dy explained that children with mental retardation are usually delayed in their totality of psychological development because it is generally held that children with mental retardation shows maturational lag in different cortical areas (Dosen and Dy, p.418).Achieving quality life then for children with mental retardation can be ensured through early intervention. An internet article entitled â€Å"Mental Retardation† point out that it is important for parents, pediatricians, and other health care p roviders to be familiar with recognizable signs to be able to make an early intervention which is a crucial component to ensure maximum quality of life for these children (Mental Retardation).However, many researchers believed that children with mental retardation experience regressions under condition of cognitive challenge. Professional and parental interventions As it has been partly said above, early intervention is essential to the effective treatment of children with mental retardation. Linda Seligman and Lourie W. Reichenberg cited that special education, home health care, language simulation and social skills training at an early age â€Å"can have a great impact on treatment outcomes† (p.65).But above all these, some practical family matters such as showing family affection, love, acceptance, and other loving concern should be generously given to these children by their families as they grow up. I Nothing can replace the loving concern of the family for their member to grow normal and healthy. Questions for discussion that parents may have to ask 1. ) Suppose my child is proven to have mental retardation, is there be any clinical treatment available for my child’s condition?2.) If my child is diagnosed to have severe mental retardation, should the child be isolated from his peers to protect him? 3. ) Are there any therapeutic drugs that are available in the market that can help my child to become normal? 4). my child is 6 years old with severe mental retardation, what would be some possible effect if he is put in isolation from other normal kids? 5). Are there any kind foods that are may be detrimental to my child’s condition? 6). could there be a possibility that early intervention can help my child grow normal? References Ainsworth, P. & Baker, C. (2004) Understanding Mental Retardation USA: University of Mississippi. Bray, N. W.; Reilly, K. D.; Huffman, L. F.; Fletcher K. L.; Villa, M.; & Anumolu V. Mental Retardation and Cognitive Competencies. http://www.uab.edu/cogdev/graham4.htm Brassard, M.R. & Boehm, A. (2007) Preschool Assessment USA:   The Guilford Press Burack, J. A. & Hodapp, R. M. (1998) Handbook of Mental Retardation and Development USA: Cambridge University Press Dosen, A. & Dy, K. (2001) Treating Mental Illness and Behavior Disorders in Children and Adults with Mental Retardation USA: American Psychiatric Publishing Field, M. J.; Jette, A.M.; Martin, L. G. (2005) Workshop on Disability in America, a New Look