Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Ap Psych Journal

Psychology Journals These journals should be written in essay form, and they will be graded as an AP essay. These journals may require you to integrate different content areas and to evaluate and analyze psychological constructs. You are to use analytical and organizational skills to formulate cogent answers. Consult your calendar for due dates. Chapter 1: The study of Psychology has had many contributions in history. Explain the contribution of functionalism and structuralism in psychology. How are these two forms different? Chapter 2: Control is often called the hallmark of a good experiment.Describe randomization, group matching, counterbalancing, placebo, and double blind as control techniques. Briefly develop an example of the way each could be used or has been used in an experiment. Chapter 19: We conducted a variation of Asch’s (1951) conformity study in which participants made judgments about the length of lines. We randomly assigned participants to one of two conditions and told them tha t the study involved perceptual abilities. In the first condition, participants estimated the length of lines after hearing five people pretending to be participants (confederates) give inaccurate estimates.In the second condition, participants estimated the length of lines without hearing estimates of confederates. As we expected, participants in the first condition were less accurate in their estimates of line length, demonstrating the tendency to conform to majority influence.A) How would each element below be related to the specific content of the experiment reported in the abstract?Control groupDeceptionOperational definition of the dependent variableHypothesisDebriefingB) How might participants’ estimates of line length in the study be related to the following? Social Facilitation *Group thinkChapter 3: The human organism displays various reactions that are characterized by opposing tendencies. Using a specific physiological or psychological mechanism to explain how bot h aspects of opposing processes apply to each of the following.AppetiteAutonomic nervous systemNerve FiringChapter 4: Define the following termsSchemaAssimilationAccommodationEgocentrismConservationDescribe how each of the above terms applies to Piaget’s Cognitive development theory.Chapter 5: The Smith-Garcia’s are planning for their first baby.Both parents-to-be have had a psychology course and are looking forward to applying the principles they learned from theories and research that address child development. A) Summarize one main idea or finding of each of the following four researchers.Harlow’s theoryErikson’s Psycho-social theoryAinsworth’s attachment researchBaumrind’s research on parenting stylesB) Provide a specific example of actions the Smith-Garcia’s might take to raise their child to produce positive outcomes using each of the theories below to address the corresponding psychological concept.Harlow’s: social adjus tment Erikson’s psychosocial theory: independentAinsworth’s attachment research: self-relianceBaumrind’s research on parenting styles: self-esteemChapter 6: : Define the following: -Sound localization -Sensory adaptation -Absolute threshold -Difference of threshold Explain how the following help an individual perceive the world.Chapter 7: Describe the psychological concept of expectancy or set. Discuss a specific example of how expectancy or set affects each of the following. Human Perception Opponent Processing theory The effects of psychoactive drugs on a human Object permanenceChapter 8: Compare and contrast Freudian theory on dreams, and activation synthesis theory in interpreting dreams.Chapter 9: 5 year old Jessie is used to getting everything that she wants. Define the following terms and explain how each of the following terms were either used to create this behavior or could be used to extinguish her behavior. *positive reinforcement *negative reinforce ment *punishment *classical conditioningChapter 10: Although you genuinely enjoyed studying hard for your Psychology test, during the test you feel frustrated and irritable because you can’t recall the answer to a series of fairly easy factual questions. What techniques could you use to effectively remember the information previously learned?Chapter 11: Describe several heuristics that you might use or that you have used when deciding whether you should (a) study especially hard for a test, and (b) ask someone for a date or accept a date. Under what circumstances are these heuristics likely to contribute to poor decision-making? (3 for each, total of 6 different problem solving strategies).Chapter 12: Based on the research of Gardner and Klein: answer the following in detail. Must be in essay form with arguments and evidence. What do you think the goal of intelligence testing should be in Education?Does acknowledging the existence of Multiple Intelligence help or hinder that goal? Explain.Chapter 13: Define drive reduction theory, set point, Yerkes-Dodson law, hypothalamus, and intrinsic motivation. Explain how each of the following could lead to an eating disorder.Chapter 15: Explain how Jung, Adler, and Horney modified Freud’s psychodynamic theory on personality.Chapter 16: A classmate argues that â€Å"the best way to handle stress is to work harder and meet life’s challenges head on. Evaluate both the strengths and weaknesses of you classmate’s position. (Think Seyle and the coping strategies)Chapter 17: A student becomes overwhelmed with anxiety when he is faced with major exams. How might the different viewpoints of psychology explain this reaction? -Psychodynamic -Cognitive -Behaviorist -Biological -HumanisticChapter 18: Describe how a therapist might use both aversive conditioning and operant conditioning techniques in order to help a client overcome a compulsive habit of sweeping the front walkway 3 times a day.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Customer Engagement on Facebook

Individual Research â€Å"Customer engagement of commercial brand community on Facebook† Ms. Benchawan Phumphuengsri ID: 543-9374 iMBA Batch 3 Section 19 BP6993 Individual Research Submitted to Assistant Professor Dr. Kriengsin Prasongsukarn Graduate School of business Assumption University Submission date: 12 April 2013 Word count: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. words Abstract The rise of the Internet in worldwide there are opportunities and challenges have emerged for marketing brands and products.In its early days, the Internet was seen as an opportunity for marketers to communicate with consumers, and even to engage the customer in two-way communications. However, consumers are becoming overcome by marketers’ attempts to engage them in relationship marketing strategies. The marketing managers and planners should apply new ideas in order to make their brand community more effective because traditional web sites are no longer motivating customers to return and interact to the site. So it is important for the marketer to find out the strategy that involves the development of a virtual community around the brand by focusing on perceived benefits such as social benefits, entertainment benefits and economic benefits to the customer by using online media and social network which are more powerful marketing tools in the current day. In addition, interactions among members can influence the selection of brands, making effective communities very important for the company.In order to get a better understanding of the important factors of community engagement behaviour, this study will show which factor lead to successful online strategies for the marketing on Facebook fan page by using Product Moment Coefficient Pearson Correlation (Bivariate) to analyse the variables and explain that how social benefits, economic benefits and entertainment benefits have a relationship on customer community engagement behaviour. Acknowledgements To complete my individual research, I wo uld like to thank you my advisor Assistant Professor Dr.Kriengsin Prasongsukarn for all helpful advices and guidance since the beginning up to the individual research completion. Moreover I have learned many things from him during the consulting time and he motivated me to try harder to understand and apply his teaching to real practice. I would like to thank to all of my friends, iMBA section 19 for their advice and encouragement which supported me to finish this individual research. Thank you to respondents of my questionnaires.Lastly I would like to thank my family who always believe in me that I could do study and work at the same time. I hope this research will be benefits the business towards understanding ways to enhance customer engagement with their brands. Table of Contents CHATER 1†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 INTRODUCTION †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 1. 1 Background of the topic†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 1 1. 2 Statement of the problem†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 1. Research Objectives†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 1. 4 Scope of Research †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 4 1. 5 Limitations of research †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4 1. 6 Significant of study †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 1. 7 Definition of terms †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 CHATER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 5 2. 1 Theoretical Literature †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5 2. 2 Related Literature Review †¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 7 2. 3 Summary table of findings of previous researches†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 11 3. 1 Theoretical Framework †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 11 3. 2 Conceptual Framework†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 12 3. 3 Research hypothesis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦.. †¦13 3. 4 Operationalization of the variables †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 14 CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULT†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 15 4. 1 Method of Research †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 15 4. Source of Data †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 15 4. 3 Research instrument †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦. 15 4. 4 Data Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 16 4. 5 Summary of Hypotheses Testing †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 22 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 23 5. 1 Conclusion †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 23 5. 2 Recommendation †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 24 5. 3 Future Study †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 25 REFERENCE†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. . 26 Appendix A Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 28 Appendix B Questionnaire †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 2 Customer engagement in a Facebook commercial brand c ommunity CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1. 1 Background of the topic The reason to select the studying community engagement behaviors in a Facebook brand community of customers is because nowadays Facebook is a very famous social-networking website that has impacts on daily life and it socially influences the people’s choices. The world is moving toward the cyber world is which internet connections are easily access and reachable for every households and businesses.This study will show how the customer community engagement behavior affects perceived benefits of the Facebook commercial brand, and user of its services and applications. We will focus on both male and female respondents who are Facebook users and fans of at last one brand on Facebook, because these people can respond to our questionnaire effectively as they already experience social-networking. The company is looking for ways to brand loyalty among customers as the brand community offers both companies and customers new ways to engage with each other.Whilst companies aim at engaging with influencing members’ perceptions, loyal customers about the brand, sharing information, and learning from and about customers (Algesheimer et al. , 2005), customers perceive value through the variety of practices that they execute offline and online (Schau et al. , 2009). Although originally, an online brand community referred to a community on the www, recently social media network has been added to companies’ marketing and brand building activities (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010).Attracted by the great number of users of Facebook so, the creative marketing activity in Facebook brand community will draw people to participate and make the brand succeed. This study will help the firm understand more about customer engagement in the Facebook brand community. 1. 1. 2 Social Network, Facebook Over the last years, the ways people search, share information and communicate with each other has changed dramaticall y (Hennig-Thurau et al. , 2010). Social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube are playing a major role and are more important in business communication.The changes force the company and brand to focus on online services in order to create relationships to customers. Facebook allows companies several services to contact and communicate with their customers. Fan pages are a very interesting tool for companies to use. Usual characteristics of fans are self-identification as a fan, cultural competence, emotional engagement, co-production and auxiliary consumption (Kozinets et al. , 2010). The Internet brought the possibility to overcome geographical restrictions and also help the company build fan communities world-wide.In practice, Facebook users can be fans of a fan page by pressing the â€Å"like-button,† then it identifies that they like this brand and will present their profiles on social network. The content and information of fan page is automatically posted to the customer is Facebook news feed, and the customer can post comments on the fan page, interact with the brand, forward offers from the page as well as the interact with other community members (Jahn and Kunz. ,2012). 1. 2 Statement of problem As a social network, Facebook has affected the social life and activity of people in several ways.With its availability on many mobile devices, Facebook allows users to continuously stay in touch with friends, relatives and other connections wherever they are in the world, as long as there is access to the Internet. It can also tie people with same interests or beliefs through groups and other pages. This study will help the company to understand more how community engagement behavior in Facebook is important to the company for implementing the technique to create company brand perception and gain market share via Facebook.In addition, engaging with the brand community in different behaviors, receive different relationship benefits, for e xample entertainment, may make customers more satisfied. This assumption is based on the reasoning that customers. This study will investigate how a customer engagement behavior affects consumers perceived benefits, and assume a positive relationship between the constructs. (Gummerus et al. , 2012) 1. 3 Research objectives The research objective is to study the affects of community engagement behaviour of Facebook commercial brand on perceived benefits.The company can know more insight of customer behaviour especially the company who focuses on social network marketing activities. This study will help the company create marketing and content to their page on Facebook effectively to increase perceived benefit of the brand. * To study community engagement behaviour has a positive relationship on social benefit * To study community engagement behaviour has s positive relationship on entertainment benefit * To study community engagement behaviour has a positive relationship on economic benefit 1. Scope of research The research studied the affects of community engagement behaviour on three factors of perceived benefits. The three independent variables of perceived benefits factors are social benefit, entertainment benefit and economic benefit. The respondents of this research are male and female Facebook user in Bangkok. This research result would be advantage to the marketing department of the company who has community page of their brand on Facebook they can apply more attractive activities for their members.This study will help them to monitor their Facebook fan page effectively after they understand the fact that the brand community will help a firm draws individual customers and to create relationships with those customers, and also establishing long-term relationships. 1. 5 Limitations of research There are some limitations to this study of customer community engagement behaviours of commercial brands on Facebook. The study is limited to the engagement behavi our in a Facebook commercial brand community, while customers also engage with the brand in other ways.The limitations that need to be considered are first, self-selection of respondents affects the results which may come from inactive community users. Second, the behavioural measures were reported by the respondents themselves, and do not know that the answers are from actual behaviour or not. Finally, because the findings are based on commercial brand on Facebook page and the respondent have to be both Facebook user and commercial brand community page so this will represent only some portion of target customer of the company not the whole market 1. Significant of the study The findings in this study have several implications for social media strategies, and help the company to understand why customers participate in the Facebook brand community which is important to increasing more numbers of Facebook users to become brand community members and towards develop marketing on Faceboo k, which is lower cost than other commercial media. Firms may want to encourage and reward consumers to become more active on the site to receive maximal perceived benefits from the community (Gummerus et al. 2012). 1. 7 Definitions of Terms Fan pages the important tool on Facebook for brand communication. The company can use to integrate and interact with the customers effectively (Dholakia et al. , 2004). Community engagement behaviour is the customer behaviour that is more value than purchasing the product or service, and can be defined as a customer’s behavioural manifestations that have a focus as motivational drivers rather than purchasing by the brand or firm (van Doorn et al. , 2010).Social benefits results from interaction among the company and consumer and mention to recognition and also friendship (Gweinner et al. , 1998). Entertainment benefits is the relaxation and fun which customer perceive and could encourage community participation (Dholakia et al. , 2004). E conomic benefits refer to people joining brand communities in order to get discounts and time savings, or to take part in marketing activity campaign and competitions (Gwinner et al. , 1998). CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2. Theoretical Literature Customer engagement in brand communities Customer engagement in brand communities causes the customer’s interactive experiences direct to the brand, is context-dependent, and develops consumers’ experience of brand value (Brodie et al. , 2011). Customer engagement is sometimes used to represent the highest form of loyalty (Bowden, 2009; Roberts and Alpert, 2010), but as behavioural indicator it comprises all kinds of behaviours, not only those that are characteristic of high degrees of loyalty (Libai, 2011; Narayandas, 1998).The customer engagement consists of five dimensions. First, customer engagement can be defined in a different ways depending on customer time, interest or preference this called customer’s resources. Second, it can generate in different of outcomes for the customer such as improvement in the service. Third, it can be different in scope and be momentary, for example on going behaviour or issuing a complaint. Fourth, it has various impact on the company both negative and positive impact. Fifth, customer can engage in the behaviours for specific purposes (van Doorn et al. , 2010).Consumers engage in a number of behaviours that tie their relationship with the brand. For example frequency of visit, buying behaviours, and intended behaviour which go beyond the traditional measure of the loyalty of the customer (Gummerus et al. , 2012). Perceived benefits of customer engagement in brand communities Before the existence of Web 2. 0, the customers did not consider social benefits important in an online context. They sought to experience trust benefit and special treatment benefit such as saving time and receiving special service rather than experience social benefit (Yen and Gwinner, 20 03).The previous research studied on practical benefits which included informational and instrumental benefits (Dholakia et al. , 2004) which are often achievable through a Facebook fan page set up by the company. This study is focused on social, entertainment and economic benefits which we called perceived benefits. The reasons that people use social networking site are social connections such as keeping in touch with their friends and exchanging information such as events or gossip, (Raacke and Bonds-Raacke, 2008). In similar interest, Foster et al. 2010) found the important motivation of people to participate the social network is the perceived information value from the community and the connection to their friends. The experiential value that derives the satisfaction of the customer of using online services is entertainment (Mathwick et al. , 2001; Nambisan and Baron, 2009; Nonnecke et al. , 2006). Entertainment benefit can be expected as an important more than e-commerce in a brand community context. The Facebook fan pages spend their time with the community page such as game applications (Gummerus at al. 2012). Many previous researches also show that entertainment plays an important role as shared and consumed content on social networking sites (Sheldon, 2008; LaRose et al. , 2001). Economic benefits (Gwinner et al. , 1998) mention to people connecting brand communities because they want to get discounts and time savings, or to be a part in awards and competitions. 2. 2 Related Literature Review Brand Community The companies aim to engage with the loyal customers, influencing the member to have good perception toward the brand, distributing information and earning form and about customers (Algesheimer et al. , 2005), customer perceive value from the variety of practice that they perform online and offline (Schau et al. , 2009). An online brand community referred to a community on the World Wide Web, recently social media has been added to companies†™ marketing and brand building activities (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). In this study, brand community is defined as a group of people who possess a particular brand or who have a strong interest in a brand, and who are active both online and offline (Muniz and O’Guinn, 2001; Jeppesen and Frederiksen, 2006).Research on brand communities found several different dimensions, including geographic concentration, social context, size, and temporality (Dholakia et al. , 2004; McAlexander et al. , 2002). Regarding the size, Dholakia et al. , (2004) found the differences between small group-based communities and big communities in terms of motivation to join the communities. Another dimension is their temporality in communities, some are unchanging and others are short-term.The temporal stability of community members can be benefit to marketers as well as longevity associates with a long-term, stable market. Finally, geographically concentrated or scattered are considered as a dimens ion of communities (Hur at el. , 2011) The keys of brand community participation are hedonic and functional. Functional goals mention to information sharing among community members, while hedonic goals lead customer to have a positive experience over the interactions among the member (Holland and Baker, 2001).Regardless of which aim is established before a participation, the effect of brand community on private lives has been growing, for example over actual product consumption and purchasing, or the formation of opinions toward products or brands (Hagel and Armstrong, 1997), since they have been changing the role performed by existing reference groups (Constant et al. , 1996). The firms have begun to use brand communities for the strategic purpose of getting closer to a specific target market segment.Members of a brand community define the outline and particular community activities by the inter-relationships between members who like the same brand, and as they share information ab out the brand (Muniz and Schau, 2005), they set up brand-centered sub-culture (Schouten and McAlexander, 1995), which could be applied for companies’ brand-building strategies. Then, the interaction between brand communities and companies is helpful for the firms to analyse customers’ characteristics and needs more accurately, so that firms can achieve long-term customer relationships at a lower cost. . 3 Summary table of findings of previous researches. There are many researchers who studied about the customer engagement, brand community, social networking, social benefit, entertainment benefit and economic benefit. The researcher name, objective and result are as follow: Table 2. 1 Previous empirical studies CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 3. 1 Theoretical Framework From previous research two engagement behavioural factors were found, one being community behaviour and one being transactional behaviours as independent variables (Gummerus et al. , 2012).The var iable measuring how often customers visit the page and react to the brand on Facebook. Therefore, the three constructs were social benefits, economic and entertainment benefits as mediator. The dependent variables were relationship outcome, one is satisfaction and one is loyalty. Figure 3. 1 Model of study on relationship benefits mediate the effect on customer engagement on relationship outcomes Source: Johanna Gummerus, Veronica Liljander, Emil Weman, Minna Pihlstrom, (2012),†Customer engagement in a Facebook brand community†, Management Research Review 35 (9), 857 – 877 . 2 Conceptual Framework The theoretical framework of relationship benefits mediate the effect on customer engagement on relationship outcomes (Gummerus et al. , 2012). The researcher adjusted the conceptual framework to study the relationship on customer engagement behaviour and perceived benefits as follows Figure 3. 2 Conceptual Framework There are three independent variables which are social benefit, entertainment benefit and economic benefit. The dependent variable of this conceptual framework is community engagement behaviour. . 3 Research hypothesis The hypotheses studies the relationship between customer engagement behaviour which is community engagement behaviour about the brand community on Facebook and perceived benefit which are social benefit, economic benefit and entertainment benefit and demonstrate that there is positive relationship of customer community engagement behaviour on perceived benefit for Facebook users in Thailand. Customer engagement in brand communitiesFrom previous studies, the researcher examined the customer behavioural engagement in a brand community relationship on perceived relationship benefits of Game Club in Facebook. For this study we will study a customer community engagement behaviour relationship on perceived relationship benefits of Facebook user in Thailand who are members of the commercial brand’s fan page. Perceived be nefits of customer engagement in brand communities From previous studies, the researcher examined the relationship benefits mediation of customer engagement on satisfaction and loyalty of Game Club in Facebook.For this study we will research the relationship of customer community engagement behaviour and perceived benefits which are social benefit, entertainment benefit and economic benefit of Facebook user in Thailand who is fan page of the commercial brand. Hence, the hypothesized model can be summarized as shown below: H1: Community engagement behaviour has a positive relationship on social benefits. H2: Community engagement behaviour has a positive relationship on entertainment benefits. H3: Community engagement behaviour has positive relationship on economic enefits. 3. 4 Operationalization of the variables CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULT 4. 1 Method of Research The Facebook user who is a member of the fan page of the brand on Facebook is defined as a target group to distrib ute the questionnaire in order to test the hypothesis. The questionnaires are available into two methods; one is online questionnaire and second is questionnaire paper. The respondent who answered the questionnaire of this study is all Thai Facebook users and also being a fan page of commercial brand on Facebook.The questionnaire combined 4 constructs which are customer community engagement behaviour construct, social benefit construct, entertainment benefit construct and economic benefit construct and consists of 23 questions which this research applied the question from the previous study base on this research objectives. 4. 2 Source of Data This research was applied from the previous study of customer engagement on Facebook. The information was collected from 208 respondents who are Facebook users and members of a commercial brand fan page and were tested to prove the hypotheses.The researcher collected data by distributed 58 questionnaires in Siam Square, Assumption University a nd Thai Summit Tower building in Bangkok, and posted a questionnaire online for Thai Facebook users and there is 150 respondents from online questionnaire. The date duration to collect the data is 24th February 2013 to 12th March 2013. 4. 3 Research instrument The instruments for gathering the data for the research are online questionnaire and paper questionnaire.To test the hypothesis the question paper consists of varies specific questions to measure the relationship of community engagement behaviours on three perceived benefit, social benefit, economic benefit and entertainment benefit. The questionnaires consist of four constructs. The Community engagement behaviours the perceived benefit statement was measured on a Five-point Likert scale with the anchors â€Å"Strongly agree† – â€Å"Strongly disagree†. Table 4. 1 Measurement Scale 4. 4 Data Analysis In this research, there are three types of data analysis.First, this study uses descriptive analysis to ana lyse the frequency and percentage of the data in screening question and demographic information. Second, this research use reliability analysis to test the reliability of each question for dependent and independent variables. Finally, this research use inferential analysis to analyse the correlation between variables by using Pearson correlation (Bivariate). Descriptive Analysis After screening question of the questionnaire from 208 respondents there are 200 respondents who are Facebook users and be a member of brand fan page and 8 respondents who are not Facebook user.The following table shows the frequency and percentage of demographic by using descriptive analysis. Table 4. 2 Screening question Facebook user From table 4. 2 of 208 respondents, we found 200 respondents are Facebook users 96. 2% (200) and 3. 8% (8) are not Facebook user. Brand fan page on Facebook From table 4. 2, after the first screening question we got 200 respondents who are members of a brand fan page on Faceb ook. Frequency of visit fan page From the table 4. 2, the highest percentage of visits to brand fan page on Facebook of the respondents is 1-3 times per week and the lowest percentage is once a month or seldom.There are 37. 5% (75) of respondents who visit 1-3 times per week, 29. 5% (59) of visit daily, 20% (40) of 4-6 times per week, 7% (14) of 2-3 times per month and 6% (12) of once a month or seldom. Table 4. 3 Demographic information Factor of Gender From the table 4. 2, the highest percentage of respondents was female. There are 56. 5% (113) of female respondents and 43. 5% (87) of male respondents. Factor of Age From the table 4. 2, the highest percentage of respondents was age 25-29 years old and the lowest percentage is age below 20 years old.There are 69% (138) of age 25 to 29 years old, 16% (32) of age 21 to 24 years old, 12. 5% (25) of age 30 and above and 2. 5% (5) of age below 20 years old. Factor of education level From the table 4. 2, the highest percentage of respond ents was college/university level and the lowest percentage is high school level. There are 66. 5% (133) of college/university level, 31. 5% (63) of advance degree level and 2% (4) of high school level. Table 4. 4 The Analysis of Descriptive statistics of constructs by using Average Mean and Standard Deviation Reliability AnalysisThe purpose of testing the reliability is to measure the question of each variable by using Cronbach’s Coefficient Alpha test. The results of each variable are as follows: Table 4. 5 The reliability Analysis of Research Instrument From table 4. 5, the results show that the reliability of all variables is greater than . 6 so all questions are reliable to use for this study. Inferential Analysis There are 3 independent variables which are social benefit, entertainment benefit and social benefit to analyse the relationship with community engagement behaviour by using Coefficient Pearson Correlation (Bivariate).Each independent variable has a positive re lationship to community engagement behaviour and significant value is less than 0. 01 which means all hypotheses are fail to reject (supported). Hypothesis 1: Community engagement behaviour has a positive relationship on social benefits. Table 4. 6 The Analysis of relationship between Community engagement behaviour and Social benefit As the result in table 4. 6, the sig. is equal to . 000 which is less than . 01 (. 000

Monday, July 29, 2019

Alcoholism diseases for mankinds Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Alcoholism diseases for mankinds - Essay Example ic, and environmental factors that influences its advancement and manifestation and it is associated with many possible causes and numerous detrimental effects on the alcoholic. Some of the alcoholism diseases of mankind are liver cirrhosis, schizophrenia, and hepatitis C infection. According to MedicineNet (2014), liver cirrhosis is one of the most severe forms of alcoholic related liver diseases especially amongst people drinking excessively. The disease normally see the healthy cells of the liver tissue replaced by scar tissue in the process known as fibrosis thus making the liver tissue to become lumpy and hard instead of smooth. Some of the early symptoms of alcohol induced cirrhosis include loss of appetite, feeling sick and vomiting, itchy skin, and weight loss. However, when the conditions progresses the symptoms may include yellowing of skin, swelling in the abdomen, muscle wasting, bruising and bleeding easily, confused feeling, or having poor memory and sexual changes. It is worth noting that liver always has significant function of processing alcohol one drinks. Conversely, it can only handle a specific amount of alcohol and therefore heavy or regular drinking puts strain and eventually damages the liver. The damage on the liver makes it less able to perform the function of processing chemical substances, which is a risky because the gradual damage on the liver may finally make it stop working properly (MedicineNet, 2014). Many alcoholics have ended up dying because of inappropriate medication or fatal cases of alcohol induced liver cirrhosis. The damage caused on the liver is irreversible although further damage may be stopped if individuals stop drinking. There a number of heavy drinkers who have undergone liver transplant because of their damaged livers. Additionally, the second disease caused by alcoholism is schizophrenia mostly because alcohol is highly abused apart from nicotine. People suffering from schizophrenia consume alcohol for same

Sunday, July 28, 2019

What is the difference in the international court of justice ICJs Essay

What is the difference in the international court of justice ICJs approach with respect to the law of maritime delimitations between the North Sea Continental - Essay Example Disputes are provided for through a separate optional protocol, parties to the Convention are obliged to exhaust the settlement procedure, preferably through direct talks between the parties. If direct negotiation fails, then the parties can submit the dispute to either the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the International Court of Justice, binding international arbitration procedures or an expert arbitration tribunal. The decisions of the ICJ have spelt out the principle to be found in the Ad Hoc Committee Report, which states that there is â€Å"an area of the sea bed and the ocean floor underlying the high seas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.†1 This falls under the Common Heritage of Mankind principle, adopted without dissent in the United Nations General Assembly and applied to the sea bed beyond the limits of national jurisdiction (Brown, 1994:262). Therefore, this has spelt out an important principle of maritime delimitation, whereby in some in stances it may not be possible for a coastal state to claim maritime territory, which may more appropriately fall within the scope of international jurisdiction and therefore unavailable to any State in particular. The emergence of the EEZ concept and further seaward extension of the outer limit of the continental shelf has focused attention on maritime boundary delimitation in contemporary international law. Equity now plays a greater role in interstate relations and the pragmatic issues of managing the delimitation of natural resources and boundaries. In so far as delimitation of the territorial sea is concerned, the UN Convention of the Sea states that when two countries are adjacent to or opposite to each other, neither one is entitled to â€Å"extend its territorial sea beyond the median line every point of which is equidistant from the nearest points on the baselines from

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Review of the movie Outbreak 1995 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Of the Outbreak 1995 - Movie Review Example This paper will highlight the manner in which the movie is linked to biology, as well as how the virus and antibiotic is carried by the monkey. The new strain of the Motaba virus was caused by a white-headed capuchin monkey that had been stolen from Biotest animal holding facility by one of the employees, James ‘Jimbo’ Scott. Jimbo stole the monkey with hopes of selling it in the black market; however, after failing to sell the monkey he releases it into the jungle (Petersen). Despite releasing it, he is already infected with the virus, and so is the pet store owner whom he wanted to sell the monkey to. He also infects his girlfriend when they kiss. The virus spreads so fast after mutating into a strain capable of spreading like influenza. For instance, several people get infected in the cinema hall after an infected person sneezes into the air (Petersen). It is because of its mutation that the antidote previously prepared cannot be effective to the already infected people. In this regard, the biological nature of the whole situation came into play since the host animal had to be found in order to create an eff ective serum to remedy the situation. In conclusion, Outbreak raises several questions as to what the government would do in case something of the sort happens. Consequently, concerns are raised whether CDC has plans to contain any contagion in case any outbreak occurs. The film combines medical detective work, marital and professional jealousy, military conspiracy, as well as action to create one gripping story

Friday, July 26, 2019

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 18

Marketing - Essay Example strategies need to be formulated or optimally oriented as part of marketing orientation, so that organisation can reach maximum customers, entice them and importantly build long-term relationship, thereby retaining them. As the above mentioned country specific aspects need to be mainly analyzed in relation with the product that is going to be launched, the product’s profile should ‘fit’ with the consumer of that particular market. Although, it applies to all product range, it is of utmost importance to luxury brands including luxury handbags. A luxury brand is a lifestyle concept that is mainly designed for an exclusive consumer base, even while enticing a wider consumer base. Vickers and Renand (2003) observe that luxury goods are adapted versions of base products which are manufactured according to consumer needs and tastes, and there are three dimensions to these products, and it applies to luxury handbags as well. The three levels of luxury products are, first, the inaccessible luxury products, which are only or mainly for the elite or affluent, as the other classes will find it difficult to buy it. Then, comes the intermediate luxury products, which for the professionals who are financially equipped to buy those products and thereby fulfil their desire to attain the status of the affluent. Finally, there are accessible luxury products for the middle class, which will be set in a feasible price range. Prospective customers in each of these levels have to be enticed through level-specific marketing strategies. So, on the whole it is necessary to grasp the consumer behaviour regarding particular products, along with other environmental forces. So, from the above understanding, it is clear that, to launch the new range of luxury handbags in UK, the macro and the micro environment as well as the consumer behaviour in the UK market has to be analyzed, based on which consumer and market oriented relationship marketing strategies can be formulated. The

Developing Professional Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Developing Professional Practice - Essay Example The new large scale retailers took three forms: department stores, co-operative societies and multiple chains (Jenkins, Johnson and Watson, 1997, p.1). It is estimated to boost in size by 15% in the next five years. UK retail industry contributes towards the 8% of the UK’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which involves mounting success of UK retailers overseas and the growth of e-commerce which accomplishes far beyond borders of United Kingdom. It also accounted for 4.5 million part-time and full-time equivalent jobs (Hillingdon, 2012, p.1). Hypermarkets like Asda and Tesco are proficient to capture wide customer base due to their diversified offerings. Along with Asda and Tesco, Morrison and Sainsbury’s also accounted for a market share of more than 80% of retail food sales in the United Kingdom. Travis Perkins Plc operates as a builder’s merchant and home improvement retailer in the United Kingdom. It is a leading company in the builders’ merchant and home improvement markets and is the largest supplier of building materials in the United Kingdom. ... This report will focus on the core structural elements of the retail industry and the main challenges currently facing by the retail industry in the United Kingdom. Core Structural Elements The core structural element of the Retail industry in the United Kingdom comprises of the key players who have captured a broad customer base because of their diversified offerings. To name a few, these were Tesco, Asda, Travis Perkins plc, J Sainsbury plc, Co-operative Group Ltd, Marks & Spencer Group plc and HMV Group plc. There are also recent developments experienced in the retail industry and because of such developments the UK retailers are considered to be the largest retailers in the world. Key Stakeholders In United Kingdom, the key players in the retail sector were Tesco plc, Asda, Travis Perkins plc, J Sainsbury plc, Co-operative Group Ltd, Marks & Spencer Group plc and HMV Group plc. Tesco plc is an international supermarket chain based in United Kingdom. It has acquired first position in UK retail market. The core purpose of the company is to create value for the customers in order to receive their lifetime loyalty. It is the largest British retailer by both domestic market share and global sales. The main product of the company includes financial services, groceries, life insurance and telecom. Their strategies involve looking after employees of the company so that they can serve the customers in a better way. It accounts for 42.8 billion pounds in terms of revenue and 2,480 million pound in terms of trading profit (Annual Report, 2012, p.1). Travis Perkins plc operates as a builder’s merchant and home improvement retailer in the United Kingdom. The purpose for the existence of Travis Perkins is to create wealth for the

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Analyse the financial performance & position of Intercontinental Hotel Essay

Analyse the financial performance & position of Intercontinental Hotel Group plc and explain and evaluate the treatment intangib - Essay Example Background Information Intercontinental Hotel Group Plc. owns one of the leading brand and chain of hotels and resorts across continents. The group’s registered corporate office is located in Denham, United Kingdom and the group has a history of almost 60 years of delivering the highest level of quality of customer service which has permitted the group to achieve phenomenal growth over the last few decades. The group operates not only by owing hotels and resorts completely and also by entering into franchise agreements with other companies to operate hotels and resources The group has more than 4,500 hotels which are operating in different countries. The group operates hotels brands including Crown Plaza Hotel, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites and others. These brands are arranged in a way that they reflect both luxury and budget hoteling facilities for guests. The group offers a hotel loyalty program through which it has achieved 63 million members wh o received updates and discounts on bookings and other privileges (Yahoo Finance, 2012). Financial Ratios Analysis For the purpose of analyzing Group’s financial performance in the last two years, following ratios have been determined and a discussion for them is presented while considering additional supporting information available in the Group’s annual report. It is pertinent to mention here that there are material exceptional items in the financial statements of IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group, 2011). These exceptional items are not considered for the purpose of calculating ratios. However, the impact of these exceptional items has been evaluated at the end of financial analysis. Profitability of IHG Keeping in view the profitability ratios as calculated below for the Group, it is noted that the Group has improved its performance in terms of returns. Apart from the continuing effects of recent global financial distress, the Group has managed to report growth in its profits. As evidenced by the gross and operating margins presented below, the Group has been able to report considerable growth in its gross and operating profits. One of the main reasons for this growth has been increase in total revenues of the Group. On the other hand, it is worth mentioning here that IHG’s cost of sales declined in 2011 whereas revenues climbed up, thus signifying the level of operational efficiency reached by the Group. Following this improvement in cost of sales figure in 2011 and gross profits, the trend translated into operating profits also, due to which the Group has been able to report higher operating margin for the year ended 2011 (Peterson & Fabozzi, 2012; Warren et al., 2011; InterContinental Hotels Group, 2011). Profitability Ratios Ratio 2011 2010 Return on Capital Employed 17.35 % 12.29 % Return on Equity 67.93 % 97.59 % Operating Profit Margin 21.32 % 17.44 % Gross Profit Margin 56.39 % 53.75 % Source: (InterContinental Hotels Group, 20 11) In addition to this, the returns on capital employed and on total equity of the Group have also shown favorable changes. With the increase in profits attributable to shareholders of the Group, the return on equity and capital employed also increased, and this increase in net profits for the Group has been such that it overcame the impact of increase in capital employed

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Influence of media on public opinion and foreign policy formulation Essay

Influence of media on public opinion and foreign policy formulation - Essay Example The issue of public opinion and its influence in foreign policy making has been a matter of dispute between different schools of thought both during and since the Cold War.On the one hand, realists find public opinion volatile, emotional, lacking coherence and structure, and with little if any influence on foreign affairs. On the other, liberalists suggest that public opinion on international affairs is stable, sensibly structured, consistent, and influences foreign policy making in a ‘reciprocal relationship’. Hence, some leaders take into account the public opinion when making important decisions others ignore it (Guraziu, 2008, p.2) In most of the democratic countries, governments often consider public opinion seriously since they need the support of the public to stay in power. If they avoid or neglect public opinion, it is difficult for them to win future elections. On the other hand, in countries where communist or totalitarian administration prevails, governments often neglect the public opinion because of the superior power enjoy by such governments. Such governments often put some control over the media in order to block the media from spreading information against the government. For example, in communist China, all the television programs and internet coverage of incidents were strictly censored before displaying it in front of the public. The advancements in science and technology caused tremendous changes in every segment of human life. The introduction of computers, internet, television, mobile phones and other digital equipment has made drastic changes in the communication world. It is often said that the information is at the finger tips at present. Earlier, people relied heavily on newspapers for getting information and therefore they succeeded in getting only delayed information. At present it is possible for the public to see the live telecast of incidents. In other words, public are able to get the information as soon as it happ ens now. Instant communication helped the public to respond more effectively to the information they are receiving. â€Å"Media is all about connecting people and mirroring the society that we live in. Media is all about reflecting on daily happenings around the globe. People are not just the audience but also an essential element of news in itself† (What is the Importance of Public Opinion in Media, 2011). Moreover, â€Å"The media are the deliverers of a message, and through this message the audience comprehends and forms opinions on events. This makes the mass media both an opportunity and a threat for the sides engaged in a conflict†(Simons, 2008, p.79). Media plays an important role in influencing public opinion on various issues. â€Å"In the vein of political theorist V.O. Keyes, I believe that the validity of public opinion is only as good as the what the media leads them to believe†(Jones, 2008). In fact ordinary people may not bother much to analyze th e information when they receive it. Media helps them to understand the consequences of certain information because of the in depth analysis and coverage of news and information happens in the current media. For example, US foreign policy and the Middle East affairs undergo immense public debate only because of the micro level analysis of these topics by the media. Public opinion is a dominant force in American politics. Research produced by the Statistics Department in Washington for the end of the 1990's indicated that in one year the average American would: watch about 1000 hours of network television watch about 400 hours of cable television spend 150 hours reading a newspaper spend 100 hours reading magazines (Public Opinion, 2011) This paper analyses the influence of media in formulating public opinion and foreign policy, taking US foreign policy and the Middle East affairs as examples. Influence of Media on Middle East Affairs & US Foreign Policy Significantly, during a Senate committee meeting on American foreign

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Criminal Investigations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Criminal Investigations - Essay Example earance before judges and a preliminary hearing, and this is to observe if there is some probable cause to believe the said crime is committed by the defendant. Other procedures involve the case being submitted to the grand jury. After arraignment, there may be the occurrence of hearings. The other procedure is the settlement or rather the plea docket. In addition, there are the pre-trial motions not yet addressed, in which case it may include the motion to suppress the evidence. A criminal trial contains several phase. The first phase is the jury selection. This is where there is gathering of a pool of potential jurors and asked several questions. Second phase is the opening testament, in which case each side presents some overview of the case. Third phase is the witness testimony. This is the phase that each side calls for a witness to be asked some questions about the case. Fourth phase is the closing testimony, in which case the prosecution and the defense make short summarizing statements. Next phase is jury instruction, and this is where the judges address the jurors by explaining the crime the defendant was judged and the application of the legal standards. The last phase is the verdict. This is the defendant is found to be guilty or not (Scheb & Scheb,

Monday, July 22, 2019

Hospitality industry Essay Example for Free

Hospitality industry Essay I HAD the good fortune of being able to attend the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Events/Exhibitions Conference, or MICECON 2011, sponsored by the Department of Tourism (DOT) and by many hotels and resorts in The Queen City, Cebu just recently. I just found out that the next one will not be until 2013 since the Philippines is hosting PATA next year. Green and technology were the main themes of the conference which brought international speakers like Hitesh Mehta, a sustainable architect; Noor Ahmad Hamid of the ICCA ;Corbin Ball; Max Hitchins, the Hospitality Doctor; John Peacock of Associations Forum, Australia; Susan Cardenas of Inkaterra fame, among many others who talked about green, sustainability and the use of technology to make for more efficient MICE operations. It was a welcome sign of improvement in our local hospitality industry to see the following changes, albeit for the better: †¢ The conference did not use any Styrofoam. Water was served in reusable glasses; coffee was served in paper cups and you could use a permanent marker to write your name on the cup, so you could reuse it throughout the day. Radisson Blu gave out reusable water bottles in their trademark blue color. †¢ The conference served snacks on banana leaves on â€Å"nito† trays and during one Coffee Break, Bluewater resorts even used a nipa box lined with banana leaves that many speakers took home. †¢ The Shangri-La Mactan gave away Citronella candles in cute woven containers, as their theme was GLAMPING or Glam Camping and citronella candles sure come in handy to ward off insects in camp. †¢ The MICECON organizers led by Stanie Soriano gave away flash disks or usb sticks so you could download the presentations, rather than bringing home tons of paper or handouts. This was appropriate because of being both techie and green. †¢ The governor of Cebu gave away little banig bags with a souvenir â€Å"puso† keychain and a mini ukelele that Cebu is famous for. †¢ The Marco Polo gave away little baskets of dried fruit or mango tarts, rather than Swiss chocolates. †¢ I could feel the locavore fever running through everyone’s minds, when this event was planned. Even the speakers’ send off gifts were local Tablea Chocolates wrapped in a reusable buri box courtesy of ECHOstore (shameless plug). So, it can be done. Show the best of the country and the province, rather than buy something cheap from China or pick the usual corporate or conference giveaways. The presents were tastefully done and the meals well-prepared. The conference was very inspiring, to say the least. It gave me hope that we can plan events with a meager budget but come up with something original, environment-friendly and promote locavorism. As soon as our panel discussion on greening the industry was over, a lady approached me to seek help â€Å"to remove all plastic from her hotel.† I told her we would help find suppliers for her needs. Some attendees approached me to say they were now ready to â€Å"buy local and use local.† Our locavorism will differentiate us from other more modern Asian countries. If we use more local ingredients, use more local food and drink, we surely will stand out because we have our own unique flavors. In architecture, we also can now promote our â€Å"bahay kubo† (nipa hut) than compete with the latest glass and steel structure of Thailand or Singapore. Like the old saying goes: â€Å"If you don’t have the height, maybe you have the speed!† So let us not be disappointed or discouraged when we are compared with our Asian neighbors. Nature is in. Eco-friendly is in demand. Eco lodges are the newest craze in the hospitality industry. Even Bill Gates now  stays in a â€Å"natural† resort in China, as mentioned by our speaker Hitesh Mehta. Who knows? Maybe we can claim the unique selling proposition that we have the best eco-friendly lodges and sustainable food and drink. After all, we do have banana leaves in abundance, we have organic rice and other organic foods because we cannot afford fertilizers and growth enhancers. Let us promote our being natural, eco-friendly and sustainable. Just like MICECON 2011 did. Kudos to The Tourism Promotion Board for a job well done. Chit Juan is an owner and co-founder of ECHOstore sustainable lifestyle at the Serendra and Podium malls. She also heads the Women’s Business Council of the Philippines (www.wbcp.ph) and the Philippine Coffee Board Inc. (www.philcoffeeboard.com). She often speaks to the youth and corporate groups on Social Entrepreneurship, Women’s Empowerment through business and Sustainability. You can email her at [emailprotected] or follow her on twitter.com/chitjuan.

Crohns Contribution To Physiology Nursing Essay

Crohns Contribution To Physiology Nursing Essay Crohns disease is a kind of lifestyle disease. Crohns disease is also known as regional enterities. It is a type of inflammatory bowel disease. Crohns disease is different with ulcerative colitis which is another common type of inflammatory bowel disease.The differences between the two illness is the area that affected in the gastrointestinal tract (GI tract). Crohns disease affects the end of small bowel (the ileum) and the beginning of the colon, but it may affect any part of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, from the mouth to the end of the rectum. Diagram 1 Regions that are affected by ulcerative colitis and Crohns disease There are 700,000 Americans may affected Crohns disease. Crohns disease is a disease which can be associated with genetic inheritance which runs in some families. If there is anyone of your relatives have this disease, your family members will have a significantly increased in chance of getting Crohns disease.The risk of developing this disease will increase when your parents have inflammatory bowel disease. Related members of the family of the affected individuals will be at higher risk. The percentage of getting Crohns for males and females are 50% respectively. The ratio of getting this disease for smokers and non- smokers is two to one. This disease can occur at any age but it is more prevalent among teenagers and young adults. The range of the age is between 15 and 35. The exact cause of Crohns disease is unknown. Crohns disease is more common in developed countries. It is an autoimmune disorder which is a condition that occurs when the bodys immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy body tissue. In short, the body over-reacts to normal bacteria in the intestines. Immunological and bacterial factors in genetically susceptible individuals are the causes of the disease. The interaction between environmental is one of the cause of the Crohns disease. Crohns disease has traditionally been described as an autoimmune disease, but recent investigators have described it as an immune deficiency state. Diagram1- Distribution of Crohns Disease in the intestinal tract Crohns disease can be categorized by the specific tract region affected. 50 % of the Illeocolic Crohns will occur in both the ileum and the large intestine. 30% of the Crohns ileitis will occur on illeum only, while the Crohns colitis, that manifest the large intestine, accounts for the remaining 20%. Diagram 2 Affected region by Crohns disease Crohns disease can be categorized by the behaviour of disease as it progresses. There are three categories of diseasee presentation in Crohns disease they are stricturing, penetrating and inflammatory. Stricturing disease causes narrowing of the bowel that may lead to bowel obstruction or changes in the calliber of the faeces. Penetrating disease creates abnormal passageways between bowel and other structures, such as the skin. Inflammation disease causes inflammation without causing strictures or fistule. Crohns disease is a kind of chronic disease. It is a chronic inflammatory disorder, in which the bodys immune system attacks the gastrointestinal tract possibly directed at microbial antigens. The patient will suffer throughout the period that the disease flares up and causes a lot of symptoms. During this period, the patient may not be aware of the symptoms at all. Crohns disease affects any part of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Diagram : Gastrointestinal Tract in which Crohns Disease affects Gastrointestinal Tract in which Crohns Disease affects The primarily symptom of Crohns disease are pain in abdomen that often accompanied by diarrhoea which may or may be bloody especially for those who have had surgery. The nature of the diarrhea in the disease depends on the part of the small intestine or colon involved. Ileitis typically results in large-volume and watery faeces while the colitis may result in a smaller volume of faeces but with high frequency. The faecal consistency can be range from solid state to watery. There are several cases which the patients have more than 20 bowel movements per day at any time. We can see the bleeding n the faeces in Crohns colitis.Bloody bowel movements are continuous and it can be in bright or dark red in colour. Flatulence and bloating will cause more the intestinal discomfort. Fever, vomiting, join pain, weight loss, skin problems and bleeding from the rectum may ocurred also and cause a person malnutrition. It may also cause the complications outside the gastrointestinal tract such as skin rashes, arthritis, anemia, fistula, inflammation of the eye, tiredness, and lack of concentration. Constipation may occur also. Children who have this disease may have growth problems. Symptoms Crohns disease Defecation Often porridge- like, sometime steatorrhea Tenesmus Less common Fever Common Fistulae Common Weight loss Often Table 1 The common symptoms in Crohns disease In Crohn disease the maximum damage to the intestine occurs beneath the mucosa, and lymphoid conglomerations, known as granulomata, are formed in the submucosa. In addition, Crohn disease attacks the perianal tissues more often than does ulcerative colitis. Crohn disease is diagnosed by a combination of methods, including blood and stool analysis and colonoscopy. Diagnosis may be confirmed by other methods, such as barium enema, which uses X-rays to examine the intestine following rectal insertion of a liquid barium contrast agent, and capsule endoscopy, which examines the intestines via a pill-sized video camera that is swallowed by the patient and transmits images to sensors attached to the patients body as it passes through the digestive tract. The effect of the Crohns disease can be problematic during pregnancy. This is because some medications can cause undesirable outcome to the foetus or mother.Certain medication will reduce the production of sperms or may affect mans ability to conceive. Preventive measures are taken through consultation with obstetrician and gastroenterologist. Crohns disease can be diagnosed through stool tests, blood tests, biopsy, sigmoidoscopy (used to investigate the lower bowel), colonoscopy, endoscopy, Barium enema X-ray, Barium meal X-ray and CT scans. X-ray pictures of the abdomen then show the inside of the bowel more clearly. Barium appears white on X-rays. Although there are so many tests, none of them require a general anesthetic. They are generally carried out as out-patient procedures so the patient does not need to stay in hospital overnight. Scientist Crohns disease was first described by Burrill Bernard Crohn, Dr. Leon Ginzburg and Dr. Gordon Oppenheimer in 1932, but it was not clinically, histologically, or radiographically distinguished from ulcerative colitis until 1959. Diagram Dr. Burrill Bernard Crohn Diagram Dr Leon Ginzburg. The history of the scientist Burrill Bernard Crohn (June 13, 1884 July 29, 1983) was an American gastroenterologist and was the first to describe the disease for which he is known, Crohns disease. His Institutions is Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. He studied at the College of Physicians Surgeons, Columbia University in year 1908. In 1932, Dr. Crohn and two colleagues, Dr. Leon Ginzburg and Dr. Gordon Oppenheimer, published an important paper describing the then-relatively unknown condition. Their seminal paper, Terminal Ileitis: A new clinical entity, documenting fourteen cases. The name of the disease was changed to Regional ileitis on publication. At the time that he and his colleagues described the disease, Dr. Crohn had a private practice in New York City and usually admitted his patients for diagnosis and treatment to the Mount Sinai Hospital. At Mount Sinai he worked with the neurologist Bernard Sachs from 1858 to 1944. He also spent time working with Dr. Jesse Shapiro, another medical doctor was very involved with Crohns research. As Dr. Shapiro had been diagnosed with Crohns himself, he had a born devotion to cure the disease. At Mount Sinai Hospital, Dr. Crohn built a very large and successful practice for patients with granulomatous enterocolitis and eventually was made the first chief of the department of gastroenterology. He was highly respected throughout the remainder of his professional career and received numerous patients from all over the USA, as well as from abroad. Crohn practiced medicine until he was 90, splitting time in his later years between the Upper East Side of Manhattan and at his country home in New Milford, Connecticut, where he met his second wife, Rose Elbogen Crohn, whom he married in 1947. The Burrill B. Crohn Research Foundation was established at Mount Sinai in 1983 with initial funding from Rose Crohn and later his daughter, Ruth Crohn Dickler. The discovery The first description of the Crohns disease was earlier made by the Italian physician Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682-1771) in 1769, when he diagnosed a young man with a chronic, debilitating illness and diarrhea. Successive cases were reported in 1898 by John Berg and by Polish surgeon Antoni Lesniowski in 1904. In 1913, Scottish physician T. Kennedy Dalziel, at the meeting of the British Medical Association, described nine cases in which the patients suffered from intestinal obstruction. On close examination of the inflamed bowel, the transmural inflammation that is characteristic of the disease was clearly evident. Abdominal cramps, fever, diarrhea and weight loss were observed in most patients, particularly young adults, in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1923, surgeons at the Mt Sinai Hospital in New York identified 12 patients with similar symptoms. In 1930, Dr Burrill Bernard Crohn pointed out similar findings in two patients whom he was treating. Crohns contribution to physiology Some of Crohns initial research into the causes of the disease was centered on his personal conviction that it was caused by the same pathogen, a bacterium called Mycobacterium paratuberculosis (MAP), responsible for the similar condition that afflicts cattle, that is Johnes disease. However, he was unable to isolate the pathogen-most likely because M. paratuberculosis sheds its cellular wall in humans and takes the form of a spheroplast, making it virtually undetectable under an optical microscope. This theory has resurfaced in recent years, and has been lent more credence with the arrival of more sophisticated methods to identify the MAP bacteria. Research Doctors and scientists are conducting Crohns disease research that known as clinical trials. Research studies are designed to answer important questions and to determine whether new approaches to treating Crohns disease are safe and effective. This research has already led to many advances, and researchers continue to search for more effective methods for dealing with Crohns disease. Crohns Allogeneic Transplant Studys investigation team of Seattle is undergoing the Phase II clinical trial to cure it. Transplanting of bone marrow is involved. The purpose of this phase is curing effectively patients who have this disease, Crohns disease. The Phase II research, the doctors will give the best medical and surgical treatments to the patients with Crohns disease who is going to undergo the transplantation so that they are healthy enough. The transplant procedure starts with chemotherapy and a small dose of radiation so that the patients immune system is weak and can accept the bone marrow calls from other. After receiving other persons bone marrow cells, immune suppressive medicines are given to prevent the new cells from being rejected and to stop those cells from damaging the patient. The new immune system will start growing and the blood counts will rise after the new donor cells start working. There is a risk of infection during this time so antibiotics and anti- viral drugs are given to prevent the infection. After the new donor cells are well-established, the immune suppressive medicines will be stopped. Doctors will examine parts of the intestine that were inflamed before the start of the transplant procedure; to make sure the Crohns Disease has disappeared after the transplant. Patients will be formally evaluated for Crohns activity at around 100 days after transplant, and yearly after that for 5 years. The effect of Crohns disease in intestine Crohns disease can cause several mechanical complications within the intestines, including obstruction, fistulae, and abscesses. Obstruction typically occurs from structures or adhesions that narrow the lumen, blocking the passage of the intestinal contents. Fistulae (an abnormal connection or passageway between two epithelium-lined organs or vessels that normally do not connect) can develop between two loops of bowel, between the bowel and bladder, between the bowel and vagina, and between the bowel and skin. Abscesses are collections of infections, which may occur in the abdomen or in the perianal area in Crohns disease sufferers. Ileovesical fistulae are the most common cause in Crohns disease. Crohns disease involves in the small bowel that will cause higher risk for small intestinal cancer. People with Crohns colitis will have a relative risk of 5.6 for developing colon cancer. Diagram : Endoscopy image of colon showing serpiginous ulcer, a classic finding in Crohns disease Pathophysiology During a colonoscopy, biopsies of the colon are often taken to confirm the diagnosis. Certain characteristic features of the pathology seen point toward Crohns disease; it shows a transmural pattern of inflammation, meaning the inflammation may span the entire depth of the intestinal wall. Ulceration is an outcome seen in highly active disease. There is usually an abrupt transition between unaffected tissue and the ulcer a characteristic sign known as skip lesions. Under a microscope, biopsies of the affected colon may show mucosal inflammation, characterized by focal infiltration of neutrophils, a type of inflammatory cell, into the epithelium. This typically occurs in the area overlying lymphoid aggregates. These neutrophils, along with mononuclear cells, may infiltrate the crypts, leading to inflammation (crypititis) or abscess (crypt abscess). Granulomas, aggregates of macrophage derivatives known as giant cells, are found in 50% of cases and are most specific for Crohns disease . The granulomas of Crohns disease do not show caseation, a cheese-like appearance on microscopic examination characteristic of granulomas associated with infections, such as tuberculosis. Biopsies may also show chronic mucosal damage, as evidenced by blunting of the intestinal villi, atypical branching of the crypts, and a change in the tissue type (metaplasia). One example of such metaplasia, Paneth cell metaplasia, involves development of Paneth cells (typically found in the small intestine) in other parts of the gastrointestinal system. Diagram : Section of colectomy showing transmural inflammation Prevention Crohns disease cannot be prevented, because the cause is unknown. But you can take steps to reduce the severity of the disease. First, take medicines regularly can reduce sudden attacks and keep the disease in remission.Second, do not smoke. Smoking will increase the disease. Third, never use antibiotics unlesss the doctor prescribed for you. Eating small meals can help with a low appetite too. Getting a healthy diet, regular exercise and enough of sleep also can help to reduce the symptoms. By controlling the symptoms, we should follow the low dietary fiber diet especially the fibrous foods that cause symptoms. Treatment There is no cure for the Crohns disease because Crohns disease is unpredictable but there may have treatment options that can make sufferers to minimise the effects of the condition on their lives. If the remission is achieved, the relapse can be prevented and the symptoms can be controlled. A person needs to receive the treatment when the symptoms are active. Crohns disease cannot cure by surgery. There are three main goals for the treatment of Crohns disease. There are the achieving remission that relieve symptoms, maintaining remission that prevent symptom flare- ups and improving the quality of life. The main treatment for Crohns disease is to take medicine so that can stop the inflammation that occurred in the intestine. Medicine can prevent the flare- ups and keep you in remission. These treatments are ongoing treatment that the doctor will want to see the patient about every half year. If your condition will flare- ups, you may have lab tests every 2- 3 months. People who have serious complications may require a stronger medicine The doctor will give the patients the traditional first-line at the beginning of the treatment. If the patients are getting worse, the doctor will change or add the medicines. Antidiarrheal medicine which will slows or stops the painful spams in intestines that cause symptoms can be respond for the mild symptoms. Aminosalicylates, antibiotics, cortisoteroids, Biologics and the medicine that suppress the immune system are the types of medicine that the doctor will give to the mild to moderate symptoms. Lastly, the severe symptoms may be treated with corticosteroids given through a vein. The first step is to control the disease. After the symptoms are gone, the doctor will change the medicine that listed above so that the symptoms are in remission. Conclusion Crohns disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) which will affected ours gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Patients who have this disease cant able to notice at all. Crohns disease is a disease which can be associated with genetic inheritance which runs in some families. Teenagers and young adults whose age is between 15 35 will be easilly to get this disease. There are three types of Crohns disease that is Crohns colitis, Crohns ileitis and Crohns Illeocolic which will affected different region of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Crohns disease is an autoimmune disorder. Crohns disease is a chronic disease which the bodys immune system attacks the gastrointestinal tract possibly directed at microbial antigens. The patient will suffer throughout the period that the disease flares up and causes a lot of symptoms. The primarily symptom of Crohns disease are pain in abdomen that often accompanied by diarrhoea. Constipation, fever, vomiting, join pain, weight loss, skin problems and bleeding from the rectum may ocurred also and cause a person malnutrition. Crohns disease may cause the patient to get colon cancer too. Burrill Bernard Crohn and two of his colleagues, Dr. Leon Ginzburg and Dr. Gordon Oppenheimer described this disease in New York City and usually admitted his patients for diagnosis and treatment to the Mount Sinai Hospital in 1932. Dr. Burrill Bernard Crohn practiced medicine until he was 90. Crohns disease cannot be prevented, because the cause is unknown and it is a genetic association disease so we have to change our bad lifestyle. We can change certain lifestyle like dietary adjustments, elemental diet, proper hydration, and smoking cessation will reduce the symptoms. Getting enough sleep is important too. Doctors and scientists are conducting Crohns disease research that known as clinical trials. Crohns Allogeneic Transplant Studys investigation team of Seattle is still undergoing the Phase II clinical trial to cure it by the bone marrow transplantation. There is still no cure for Crohns disease because Crohns disease is unpredictable. The doctors goal is to control inflammation, correct nutritional problems, and relieve symptoms. Doctors will give the patients medicine so that can stop the inflammation that occurred in the intestine. Medicine can prevent the flare- ups and keep you in remission. Sometimes, surgery is needed too. Crohns disease may cause us die if we didnt get the accurate treatment. For those who have this disease have to change those bad lifestyle. There have treatment options that can make sufferers to minimise the effects of the condition on their lives.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Strategic Alliances: Reasons and Types

Strategic Alliances: Reasons and Types Introduction Strategic alliances and why are they formed Strategic alliances can be seen as one of the fastest growing trends for business today; Alliances are sweeping through nearly every industry and are becoming an essential driver for their super growth. A strategic alliance, by definition, is a form of affiliation that involves a mutual sharing of resources for the benefit of all of the strategic partners. â€Å"Mutuality† is key (Beavers 2001). The business consideration is whether both alliance partners need each other. Strategic alliances range in size and scope from informal business relationships based on simple contracts to joint venture agreements, some times where corporations are set up to manage the alliance. According to Vyas et al (1995) strategic alliances are cropping up across the global arena mainly due to the maturation of several trends of the 1980s, such as: intensified foreign competition, shortened product life cycles, soaring cost of capital, including the cost of research and development, and ever-growin g demand for new technologies. However, strategic alliances can be tricky. Partnerships foster mutual benefits, but the alliances exist only as long as they are advantageous to both parties. Research indicates that a high proportion of strategic alliances fail (Forbes 2002; Lorange and Roos 1991; Day 1995). This essay explores concept of strategic alliances drawing from Mintzberg et als schools of strategy and then critically identifies the main factors that determine the design and delivery of effective co-operative strategies. It does so by using the case study that pertains to Avebe and Noveon Alliance. Why? For many multinational firms, strategic alliances have become increasingly important tools for ensuring speed and flexibility in carrying out multinational strategies. A typical example is SEVEL (Societa Europea Veicoli Leggeri), the 1978 strategic alliance between Fiat and Peugeot for the production of a new light van named Ducato. Both parties were short on resources and saved time and energy by combining their RD and manufacturing efforts (Lorange and Roos 1991). Strategic alliances can be effective ways to diffuse new technologies rapidly, to enter a new market, to bypass governmental restrictions expeditiously, and/or to learn quickly from the leading firms in a given field Mintzberg et als Schools of Strategy Strategic alliance is an agreement between two or more individuals, or entities, or organisations to cooperate in a specific business activity, so that each benefit from the strength of other and gains competitive advantage. The formulation of strategic alliance has been seen as a response to the globalisation and increasing uncertainty and complexity in the business environment. Strategic alliances involve the sharing of knowledge and expertise between the partners as well as in reducing the risk and costs in areas like relationship with the supplier and the development of new products and technologies. Strategic alliances usually make sense when the parties involved have complimentary strengths. Its unlike full-scale acquisition, an alliance does not give a firm total control over its partners. Avebe and Noveon Alliance Case Study. Avebe, a Dutch company, established in 1919 as a joint sales organisation for the greater part of the Dutch independent potato starch industry. Through research and development, joint ventures and acquisition in Netherlands, Europe and Worldwide, Avebe now plays a major role in the global sales, marketing, production and development of potato starch and starch specialities used in food, pharmaceuticals, animal feed, textile, paper and adhesives. Avebes specialities are used by the textile industry for obtaining good weaving efficiency, to obtain smooth fabrics, and for sharp and durable printing of fabrics. Noveon, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio with regional centers in Belgium and Hong-Kong, is a leading global producer and marketer of technology advanced speciality chemicals for a broad range consumer and industrial application. Noveon was recognised as leading producer of polymers. It was also acknowledged as the largest producer acrylic acid for synthetic polymer. Reason for cooperation Avebe Avebe was outstanding in printing thickeners but not yet in reactive dye printing market. It was not possible for Avebe to enter into this market as it was purely a starch based industry. Only a combination of starch and synthetic polymer could help them enter this market. For this Avebe had two options- Noveon and Alloid Colloids (under ICI Corporation, England). Combination of Avebes and Noveons products in laboratory test showed excellent printing thickness for reactive printing dye market. The final selection was based on four considerations, namely- Noveon had the same synthetic polymer as that of ICI in dry form and Avebe was expert in dry blending. Dry blends resulted in more efficiency both in space and cost compared to liquid one. Noveons synthetic was proved the best when combined with Avebe than any other. Noveon had excellent market expertise in the US, which Avebe lacked. Combination of Avebe and Noveons expertise expected around 25% of the new market to either company. Reasons for cooperation Noveon Noveons alliance with Avebe started by an accident. Noveon acquired QSI in South Carolina in 1994. QSI used to purchase natural starches from Avebe for its operation. This was the start of their joint venture. Synthetic polymer Noveon had was fairly expensive; while Avebes natural starch was relatively cheap. They expected that blending of these two would result in better quality at reasonable price. Noveon expected that the price of synthetic and natural thickener blends would increase in US and Europe, due to the demand for high quality products. Combination of synthetic and natural thickeners could reduce the cost of dye stuff and chemicals. The saving was estimated to be around $ 1 million per year. Noveon selected Avebe for their technology. Far East and Europe preferred Avebe as their best choice. Initial agreement The agreement was signed by both the companies on 24th March 1995. After two year, to anticipate competition, both the companies formulated a marketing agreement for their joint product. The agreement was as follows- Division of the world market. As per this agreement, Noveon agreed market their product in America and the Caribbean. Avebe agreed to market its product in Europe, Asia- pacific and Russia. China and India was open for both. Restriction on sale of each others product. As per this agreement Avebe was forbidden to sell Noveons product and Noveon agreed not to sell Avebes products to any other company without a prior consent of other. 3) Information exchange/ training. Both Avebe and Noveon agreed for a meeting once in six months to exchange development, manufacturing and technical service information relating to their joint venture. Reasons for alliance 1) Alliances assist the firms learning and diversification into new areas of activities. Alliances help to extend a firms competitive advantage in several ways. A firm enters into strategic alliance because this can potentially provide benefits that are not possible through either internal development or external acquisition. This helps the company to acquire benefit by reducing the cost rather than taking it all by itself. An alliance stand as an intermediate to help the allies enter into new industry and markets. 2) Alliance provide useful platform to test their products in new markets. Alliances help in extending and renewing their sources of competitive advantage while expanding globally. This helps the new companies to enter into new market with little market knowledge. By this these companies learn how to compete in the global market. Working together helps in overcoming the economic obstacles too. 3)  Design School of strategic management- Henry Mintzberg This prescriptive school of Mintzberg see strategy formulation as a process of conception which is responsible for the development of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the organisation (SWOT). In this school the strengths and weaknesses are of the company are mapped along with the opportunities and threat in the market place. This is implemented in order to formulate clear and unique strategies in a deliberate process. In this the internal environment is matched to the external environment. This school mainly helps in reducing ambiguity and is mainly used in stable environments. It supports strong and visionary leadership. The main drawback of the design school is that it is weak in a fast moving environment and there are risks of resistance. It also has many variables and is inherently complex and also inflexible. Types of strategic alliances Strategic alliances can be classified into three main types: Shared- supply alliance Shared- supply alliance bring together companies which join forces to achieve economies of scale on a given component or on an individual stage in the production process. The shared elements are further incorporated in products that are further incorporated in products that remain specific to each other and that competes directly in the market. This type of alliance is formed when the minimum efficient size at a particular stage in the production process is much greater than for the entire product, and when neither of the partner produce large enough to achieve the critical size. Shared- supply alliance are usually formed between partners of comparable size. This alliance primarily involves research and development (RD) and manufacturing activities. Coordination of research activities between the partners makes it possible to optimize the use or resources. These alliances are usually formed by firms operating in the same zone. In this case of shared supply alliance the assets and ski lls that the partner companies bring to the joint project are similar in nature and their goal is to benefit from increased economies of scale. Quasi- concentration alliance This alliance brings together companies that develop, produce and market a joint product. There is no open competition in quasi- concentration alliance. Quasi- concentration alliances are primarily characterized by transactions between the consortium of allies and the market. Transactions between the companies are also carried out within the alliance. This alliance covers all the main functions involved in carrying out an activity, that is, research and development, manufacturing, and marketing. Marketing and sales are either split between the partners on the basis of geographic presence or carried out jointly. Complementary alliance. Complimentary alliances bring together companies which contribute assets and skills of different natures to bring up a combined project. Here one manufactures the product, which is marketed by others distribution channels. There is no competition within the allies. This type of an alliance is mainly formed by only two parties.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Scarlet Letter Essay -- essays research papers

A common theme throughout literature is religion and how the author feels about his or her faith. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses rhetorical devices to draw comparisons between characters and events in The Scarlet Letter and Biblical figures and accounts. A few of the devices found in this novel that connect it to the Bible are symbolism, paradox, allusions, and characterization. It is important to first look at the characters and how they are described through characterization. The first rhetorical device is characterization. The way the main characters are described by Hawthorne sets up how they will be perceived. It is through this that we see the first inklings of biblical figures. Biblical characters are seen in Pearl, Hester, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and the Puritan people. The first is that Hester has many traits in common with the Virgin Mary. Both are originally shunned by society, but later accepted. Although Hester has sinned, within her the reader sees a character who is very loving and with the birth of Pearl, motherly. The fact that Pearl is the child of Hester, or the Virgin Mary as we have now identified her, it is only natural that we examine her as Jesus. The origins of Pearl and Jesus are similar in that both their mothers do not expect to have the child. But as they grow up, it becomes clear that the are not ordinary children. Both characters posses an innate ability to "read" people and who their emotions, as is seen in Pearl’s ability to visualize an â€Å"A† on Dimmesdale even though he does not wear a physical one. Jesus can also be seen in Dimmesdale during his last days of life. Dimmesdale’s death is caused by his sin and Jesus died for the sins of all people, both men dying without objection. Another Biblical character is seen in Chillingworth. Throughout the novel he is described as a man whose life is based on revenge and hatred. This â€Å"was a striking evidence of man’s faculty of transforming himself into the devil.† (155) The final part of characterization is in the similarities between the societies of the two times, Biblical and Puritan. Both the Jews/Romans and the Puritans accused and persecuted those who the saw as unholy, while in fact they were the least holy of all. Their pride in being religiously strict caused them to lash out at those who in hindsight are the holy ones. With this basic ... ...r being Biblical stories in disguise. The first is the connection between Hester and the Virgin Mary. The paradox is found in Hester’s representation of Mary. Hester was definitely not a virgin; however, her counterpart, Mary, and her life are most miraculous because she was a virgin. Another paradox is seen through the similarities of Pearl in Jesus. Pearl comes from sin, but goes on to live a beautiful life. Jesus on the other hand was born without sin, only to be condemned by and subsequently killed by the establishment. Another paradox is in that the Puritans prided themselves on being good Christians and condemned those who they found unholy. Ironically it is they who are the bad people and the people they have condemned whom are the best Christian, (barring Hester and that whole adultery thing.) Nathaniel Hawthorne’s use of rhetorical devices allows for a vivid connection to be drawn between his novel and the Bible. The use of symbolism, paradox, allusions, and characterization create a story that has in it the underlying of Bible stories. The use of the most widely read book as a pillar for his novel strengthens Hawthorne’s criticism and commentary on the Puritan society.

Friday, July 19, 2019

The origins of World War One :: essays research papers

The origins of World War One The Fritz Fisher thesis Fritz Fisher focuses on the Kaiser, Gottlieb von Jagow, Bethmann Hollweg and Helmut von Moltke. These four were the German leading figures at that time; Fischer is convinced that these people were responsible for the outbreak of World War One. Fischer’s three main claims were: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Germany was prepared to launch the First World War in order to become a great power. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Germany encouraged Austria-Hungary to start a war with Serbia, and continued to do so, even when it seemed clear that such a war could not be localized. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Once the war began, Germany developed a clear set of aims, already discussed before the war, to gain large territorial gains in central and eastern Europe, very similar to Hitler’s later craving for Lebensraum (‘living space’) in eastern Europe Fischer believes that the First World War was not a preventative war, but that it was planed and launched by Germany aggressively in order to dominate whole Europe. Furthermore Fischer sees Bethmann Hollweg in the role of the main constructor of the German policy during the July Crisis in 1914, and also as a central figure in the development of Germany’s expansionist goals once the war started. The Egmont Zechlin thesis Egmont Zechlin thinks that Bethmann Hollweg took a â€Å"calculated risk in July 1914 to gain diplomatic victory, or if it failed, to fight a â€Å"defensive preventive war† with nearly no objectives. This explains that Germany did not prepare a huge plan for expansion. Zechlin’s three main claims were: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Germany support for a preventative war grew after the Balkan wars had produced vast gains for Serbia. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bethmann Hollweg lacked the patience to settle matters by negotiation, believed that the Entente powers were paralyzing Germany, and realized that Russia was growing stronger in the Balkans, and Austria-Hungary weaker. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When he gave Austria-Hungary the ‘blank cheque’, Bethmann Hollweg realized that the crisis might escalate into a European war. It appeared like Germany hoped that the Austro-Serb crisis might divide the big Entente powers and with that give Germany a blood free victory. In addition to that Zechlin accepts the fact that Germany took advantage of the crisis to advance its own plan. The Gerhard Ritter thesis Gerhard Ritter supposes that Germany can’t be blamed for the outbreak of World War One. Ritter’s six main claims were: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There is no evidence of a unified German plan for war or world domination. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Germany acted defensively throughout the July Crisis to preserve its position in the existing status quo.