Operation Magement

PROBLEMS 1. Lead time for one of Montegut Manufacturing's fastest moving products is 4 days. Demand during this period averages 100 units per day. What would be an appropriate re-order point? Re-order point = demand during lead time = 100 units/day * 4 days = 400 units. 2. Montegut Manufacturing produces a product for which the annual demand is 10,000 units. Production averages 100 per day, while demand is 40 per day. Holding costs are $1. 00 per unit per year; set-up costs $200. 00. If they wish to produce this product in economic batches, what size batch should be used?What is the maximum inventory level? How many order cycles are there per year? How much does management of this good in inventory cost the firm each year? This problem requires economic order quantity, noninstantaneous delivery. [pic]or 1826 units. The maximum inventory level is [pic]or 1095 units. There are approximately [pic] cycles per year. Annual inventory management costs total [pic]= $2,190. 89 or $2,191. 3. C entral University uses $123,000 of a particular toner cartridge for laser printers in the student computer labs each year.The purchasing director of the university estimates the ordering cost at $45 and thinks that the university can hold this type of inventory at an annual storage cost of 22% of the purchase price. How many months' supply should the purchasing director order at one time to minimize the total annual cost of purchasing and carrying? First, calculate the EOQ from the data provided. In this problem, the â€Å"units† are dollars, and the â€Å"price† of each is 1. [pic] One month's usage is 123000/12 = $10,250. EOQ = 7094. Month’s usage = 7094/10250 = 0. 9, or about three week’s usage. (This is supported by the order frequency of 17 per year). 4. The soft goods department of a large department store sells 175 units per month of a certain large bath towel. The unit cost of a towel to the store is $2. 50 and the cost of placing an order has bee n estimated to be $12. 00. The store uses an inventory carrying charge of 27% per year. Determine the optimal order quantity, order frequency, and the annual cost of inventory management. If, through automation of the purchasing process, the ordering cost can be cut to $4. 0, what will be the new economic order quantity, order frequency, and annual inventory management cost? Explain these results. Annual demand is 175 x 12 = 2100. At S=$12, the EOQ is 273 units, and there are about 8 orders per year. Annual costs of inventory management are $184. 44. These results are detailed in the calculations below. [pic]; [pic] [pic] At S=$4, EOQ falls to 158, and order frequency rises to 13. Annual inventory management costs fall to $106. 48. The lower order cost encourages smaller, more frequent orders. pic]; [pic] [pic] 5. A printing company estimates that it will require 1,000 reams of a certain type of paper in a given period. The cost of carrying one unit in inventory for that period is 5 0 cents. The company buys the paper from a wholesaler in the same town, sending its own truck to pick up the orders at a fixed cost of $20. 00 per trip. Treating this cost as the order cost, what is the optimum number of reams to buy at one time? How many times should lots of this size be bought during this period?What is the minimum cost of maintaining inventory on this item for the period? Of this total cost, how much is carrying cost and how much is ordering cost? This is an EOQ problem, even though the time period is not a year. All that is required is that the demand value and the carrying cost share the same time reference. This will require approximately 3. 5 orders per period. Setup costs and carrying costs are each $70. 71, and the annual total is $141. 42. [pic]; [pic] Carrying cost =[pic]; setup cost = [pic] Operation Magement PROBLEMS 1. Lead time for one of Montegut Manufacturing's fastest moving products is 4 days. Demand during this period averages 100 units per day. What would be an appropriate re-order point? Re-order point = demand during lead time = 100 units/day * 4 days = 400 units. 2. Montegut Manufacturing produces a product for which the annual demand is 10,000 units. Production averages 100 per day, while demand is 40 per day. Holding costs are $1. 00 per unit per year; set-up costs $200. 00. If they wish to produce this product in economic batches, what size batch should be used?What is the maximum inventory level? How many order cycles are there per year? How much does management of this good in inventory cost the firm each year? This problem requires economic order quantity, noninstantaneous delivery. [pic]or 1826 units. The maximum inventory level is [pic]or 1095 units. There are approximately [pic] cycles per year. Annual inventory management costs total [pic]= $2,190. 89 or $2,191. 3. C entral University uses $123,000 of a particular toner cartridge for laser printers in the student computer labs each year.The purchasing director of the university estimates the ordering cost at $45 and thinks that the university can hold this type of inventory at an annual storage cost of 22% of the purchase price. How many months' supply should the purchasing director order at one time to minimize the total annual cost of purchasing and carrying? First, calculate the EOQ from the data provided. In this problem, the â€Å"units† are dollars, and the â€Å"price† of each is 1. [pic] One month's usage is 123000/12 = $10,250. EOQ = 7094. Month’s usage = 7094/10250 = 0. 9, or about three week’s usage. (This is supported by the order frequency of 17 per year). 4. The soft goods department of a large department store sells 175 units per month of a certain large bath towel. The unit cost of a towel to the store is $2. 50 and the cost of placing an order has bee n estimated to be $12. 00. The store uses an inventory carrying charge of 27% per year. Determine the optimal order quantity, order frequency, and the annual cost of inventory management. If, through automation of the purchasing process, the ordering cost can be cut to $4. 0, what will be the new economic order quantity, order frequency, and annual inventory management cost? Explain these results. Annual demand is 175 x 12 = 2100. At S=$12, the EOQ is 273 units, and there are about 8 orders per year. Annual costs of inventory management are $184. 44. These results are detailed in the calculations below. [pic]; [pic] [pic] At S=$4, EOQ falls to 158, and order frequency rises to 13. Annual inventory management costs fall to $106. 48. The lower order cost encourages smaller, more frequent orders. pic]; [pic] [pic] 5. A printing company estimates that it will require 1,000 reams of a certain type of paper in a given period. The cost of carrying one unit in inventory for that period is 5 0 cents. The company buys the paper from a wholesaler in the same town, sending its own truck to pick up the orders at a fixed cost of $20. 00 per trip. Treating this cost as the order cost, what is the optimum number of reams to buy at one time? How many times should lots of this size be bought during this period?What is the minimum cost of maintaining inventory on this item for the period? Of this total cost, how much is carrying cost and how much is ordering cost? This is an EOQ problem, even though the time period is not a year. All that is required is that the demand value and the carrying cost share the same time reference. This will require approximately 3. 5 orders per period. Setup costs and carrying costs are each $70. 71, and the annual total is $141. 42. [pic]; [pic] Carrying cost =[pic]; setup cost = [pic]

Government Punjab Public Library Essay

Government Punjab Public Library Lahore lies in the heart of the city of Lahore at the Library Road near Lahore Museum. Thelibrary is centrally situated in this way and has a pleasant atmosphere for a calm and peaceful study. The library holds an exceptional rare collection of books in English, Urdu, Persian, Arabic and Punjabi. The total collection is about 500,000 books now, comprising of massive numbers of magazines and newspapers, reports, also the old gazettes of Punjab, Pakistan and undivided India and more than 1,500 manuscripts. Government Punjab Public Library was formed by Sir Charles Aitcheson in1886. It started off with an old monument-type building where they had only 70 books. Gradually donations of books and documents were made and the library system managed to build up strongly. It? s main purpose was to build a public library and a reading room. The other Blocks were built in 1924, 1939 and 1992. Introduction: Government Punjab Public Library is facing some major problems from quite some time. These problems include mostly theft and it is discovered after the theft, waiting in long queues before issuing the book, discovering, after waiting for long, that the desired book is unavailable, tast is done manually. There is no system to keep a proper check on the books in stock and also on the visitor. The need to introduce an automated system as a solution to the problems faced by the members of the Government Punjab Public Library bought me to RFID system. By introducing RFID system, which happens to be a combination of a computer chip and a small radio antenna that allows object to self-identify, we intend to solve all the above mentioned problems. This is a unique system of its kind that not only is the fastest, easiest and most effective way to track, locate and manage library material but also pledge security and safety. A number of deficiencies have been experienced in the current system of the library since the work is done manually which happens to be a big problem. Hence it seems to be the need of the hour to provide The Government Punjab Public Library with an automated system which is going to make lives, of all those who really want to bring some change by devoting most of their times in gaining knowledge, a lot easier. RFID system would help in making an effective flow of book circulation. Also, it helps in tracking the book in minutes instead of hours and the unique ID of the RFID tag prevents counterfeiting. Through market research ie; through the interviews that I conducted from the members and librarian on my visit to the library, I have concluded that 87% people are in a desperate need for a better system. According to these people, if an automated system is introduced not only members but non-members would also purchase or issue books which would end up increasing their market share. Apparently the conditions of Government Punjab Public Library demand an automated system that not only keeps a check on the stock but also helps the librarian in looking for one and also deals with security concerns. Therefore I believe that RFID system happens to be the best suited solution for a problem like this because this society is capable of producing really good writers, scholars, poets, students and a platform like an automated Library system can be a gateway to success for such people. I determinedly believe that by pursuing this possibility and by implementing, controlling and maintaining a system like this, we will be able to satisfy a large number of people who are the only hope to bring a change about a change in Pakistan. Discussion Apparently Government Punjab Public Library is undergoing some problems. These problems lead to low members follow–up and is the reason why there is a need for a better system. For starters, currently members complaint of experiencing long queues which frustrates them and they don’t want to return back. The frustration is further caused when after waiting for several minutes it is discovered that the book isn’t available in the library. And in case the book is available, the member has to wait for long since the manual entry of book issuing takes long. Disappointment follows when members receive unfriendly staff. Moreover constant cases of theft have been witnessed by the librarian. Members often hide the books in their bags and leave without issuing. This not only causes stock mismanagement but also results in disappointment. To solve these problems, installing an RFID system, is important. The purpose of installing RFID system in the library system is to change the current manual and hectic structure. This would not only help in eliminating theft but will also reduce time consumption and level of disappointment that is caused when discovered that the desired book/s is/are unavailable. Hence, getting an effective and automated Library Management System is essential. The reason why I chose RFID system is because it is the fastest, easiest and most efficient way to track, locate & manage library materials. Not only that, through RFID system automatic check-in and check-out can be practiced. While interviewing the librarians at the library I, time and again, heard them complaining about the mismanagement of the stock and also that it takes long in locating a book. Through RFID system Library inventory tracking can be done in minutes instead of hours because it is basically a wireless system for automatic identifications and tracking by using radio frequency electromagnetic fields, by transferring the data from a tag attached to a product, which in this case are the books. One of the problems that the librarian highlighted and laid great stress on addressing that problem was the stealing of books. According to the librarian, this is one of the biggest issues the management of library is dealing with but with the help of RFID system, they can easily address to a situation like this. With the help of walk through gates, which is one of the components of RFID system, stealer can be easily located. This is possible because every book will have its own RFID tag like every member will have theirs. And if someone tries to take the book without issuing, that person can easily be traced with the help of walk through gates which will start to beam as soon as some is illegally exiting. This brings me to the point of discussing some of the benefits that can be driven from introducing RFID system. For starters, with the walk through gates and tags, no thefts will be claimed hence, a secure library management system will be exercised. Moreover the schedule of the staff will become flexible. This is because the routine would not be as hectic as before. Also if two persons were dealing with a task earlier, now only one can easily handle it. Furthermore, trained workforce would walk in. There is another business benefit that will be gathered in the form of customer satisfaction. Obviously, when the customers would not have to wait for their turn, standing in a long queue, they would be much happier and content. Conclusion: Keeping in mind the benefits it can easily be concluded that this system will be a big success once installed. It won’t be a wise move to deny the fact that it is going to be a big investment but analyzing the benefits which are significant and undeniable, the cost would be a secondary thing to worry about. Currently the books are mishandled and misplaced by the incessant handling processes of the staff members. There is too much hassle in material handling. Now this issue would be resolved due to the self-digitalized service by the members and the staff as well and as a result the inventory would be properly preserved. With the RFID, the Punjab Public Library management system would be revolutionized and the overall performance would catch pace and tasks would be done quickly and on time. References: 1. Personally visited the Government Punjab Publiv library 2. http://www. rfid-library. com/en/default_e. html 3. http://gppl. org. pk/ 4. http://www. logisticsit. com/articles/2007/03/22/2679-the-benefits-of-rfid 5. http://www. jesic-tech. com/RFID_iLib. html 6. http://www. rfid-library. com/en/system-four-phases. html.

Enterprise Architecture Proposal Essay

Submitted December 4, 2011 Description The organization I have selected is the company I work for, CMH Systems. The core functions of this business are Therapy, Counseling, Placement, and Job skills to name a few. This is a Mental Health Organization that compiles and disburses many services, including Doctors, Prescriptions, Hospitalization, and Housing of Mentally or emotionally challenged individuals. Protecting client information is essential. The integrity of such information is critical. We are currently in an affiliation with other CMH agencies and service providers across the state. I chose this agency because it is evolving so fast. IT is involved in every aspect of this organization and keeping abreast of changes are a challenge. Just over three years ago, we went from paper records to electronic. This alone was challenging enough, and then we implemented electronic record keeping software. Though this was well thought out and planned we continue to experience growth that is hard to keep up with. With an 80% business as usual attitude, the change is difficult. Getting input from other departments and or providers was essential. The problem arises when the stakeholders request changes on a daily basis. The information gleaned from the stakeholders up front was not what they expected. Their input was not specific enough to allow for advancement. Although the stakeholders were involved with the implementation of the new system, we struggle with staff that resists changes. operating model in terms of business process integration. CMH has a couple of operating models. First, there is the core agency, with several outlaying units. Within the core units, there is high integration. Everything except the daily activities are centrally controlled. The data is managed centrally. Tthis would be the coordination model. With our affiliates where the units are their management, data is kept locally, and records and data are transmitted to central for submission to state, would be the Replication model. operating model in terms of business process standardization. With both models, I mentioned the data and record keeping are standardized. On the core units, they enter data into the system using standardized software and data entry forms. The affiliate model runs the same standardized record keeping software and their data is kept on their servers and transmitted to us on a monthly basis. the chosen operating model in terms of business process integration. In comparison to the Happy Health organization, CMH has made strides in the areas of process integration. Although our affiliate has its own CEO and IT staff, we are the parent company. We have the same electronic record keeping software and it works in unison with theirs. We often share placement facilities and placement of clients with them. Compare the selected organization to the sample organizations using the chosen operating model in terms of business process standardization. In terms of process standardization, we are using the same methods of providing services and data collection. They have their own Doctors, therapists, and outreach workers on staff. The data collected there for the services, are input into their own system and the information is extracted each month and sent to us for import into our own systems. We then process the information and create the necessary claims for submission to the state. Describe the chosen operating model in terms of the financial benefits available to the organization as a result of the selection. In terms of the affiliation, the business model would be replication. Although as the primary provider and their affiliation with us we would like to have a more in depth model like coordination. †¢Explain your rationale for the selected operating model. With the coordination model we would have additional control over the record keeping, services provided and the ability to obtain needed information in a more timely manner. IT would also be able to work together, in a unified manner. In essence, this model would provide a much better way of record keeping and the ability to access the data and provide necessary claims to the state. The way we are currently conducting business is that we are completely different entities, and we have no direct recourse over what goes on there. The reason for the change in design is vital to the way we conduct business now and has a definite impact on the future. I propose the agencies come together in one coordinated model.

Domestic violence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Domestic violence - Essay Example Domestic violence refers to physical or emotional abuse directed to one whom you are in a relationship or married. Domestic violence usually occurs to any person irrespective of gender, age, race, religion or location. In any form of domestic violence, there is often the abuser and the one who is abused. Recognizing domestic violence at an early stage is critical at ending it in any form of relationship (Davis, 2008). Therefore, understanding it in depth is what most articles would talk about. Based on the publishers, the issue of domestic violence is a reality in the society and should be addressed as soon as possible. Moreover, the writer has maintained a neutral ground while talking about the issue without pointing any fingers towards any person that exist in an abusive relationship. Based on the authors writing, writer’s association with special interest to domestic violence victims can view her point of view as unbiased (Smith, 2014). All in all, it is clear that the auth or related to the problems faced by people in domestic violence scenarios, addressed them in relation to his thesis. Davis, R. L. (2008). Domestic violence: intervention, prevention, policies, and solutions. N.p.: Boca Raton: CRC Press, c2008. Retrieved April 30, 2014, from

Management decisions and ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Management decisions and ethics - Essay Example The company’s responsibility to the environment also has stayed undeterred over the years. Being a steward of our natural resources, the company has been and will continue being committed to environmental sustainability to ensure that our home is protected and taken care of (Korhonen 25-39). It has always been our commitment to leave a positive impact on the environment our mining operations takes place. This environment includes the people or the community with which we interact. The people around us have for a long time been employed in the company and their families and the community enjoying the company’s contribution in healthcare and education. By striving to do what is right always, Massey Energy has always been venturing into deals that bring aboard personnel and equipment that are supportive in attaining the vision of protecting the workers and the environment. These activities among others are based on the long-held principle by the company of maintaining focus on the fundamentals of the mining activities while still making sure that these activities are within the sound ethical and legal business practices. Our safety strategy popularly known as â€Å"S-1† (safety first) instills in the company a culture of safety. This strategy has brought into play a well-developed process that involves training, mentoring and monitoring risk reduction and innovation. Through a regular and comprehensive assessment of the safety situation, the company has been in a position to ensure a stable and safe workforce. Currently, the corporate culture of the company is based on the priorities of safety, ethics and excellence, having treasured the people for the last fifty years. First, the company has always sought to be the employer of choice in the region. By considering the workers as an integral part of the company, we choose to refer to them as â€Å"members." We also ensure that we

Broodstock Managment and larval rearing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Broodstock Managment and larval rearing - Essay Example In this system, water exists through the centre of the tank by gravity and is then through bag filters of sizes 300 um for filtration before going through a sump that maintains the levels of water. After this, system water is then pressurized by 2-hp pump through a glass media filter that is capable of trapping and retaining particles of up to 5um, and then passed through a UV filter followed by a 8-hp heat pump temperature control before going back to the maturation tank (Benetti et al, 2010). Approximately 25% of the pressurized, flowing water is passed through a side loop made up of a trickle biofilter and a foam fractionators before going back to the maturation tanks (Benetti et al, 2010). Biological control for ecto-parasites that may affect the broodstock during maturation in the maturation tanks is very important. Neon Gobies (Gobiosoma oceanops) is often stocked together with broodstock fish as a cleaner fish. Research has shown that Neon gobies has been successfully used to prevent ecto-parasites in maturation tanks with mutton snapper, and greater amberjack, thus its interaction with cobia adults may be helpful in maintaining broodstock cobia (Benetti et al, 2010). Diet used for feeding broodstock is made up of artificial formulated feeds as well as squid, sardines and no lesser degree shrimp. This should consist of about 3-5% of biomass daily. Mineral and vitamin supplements are also given to the broodstock daily especially when frozen feed is used mainly to compliment any possible nutritional deficiency that may arise from frozen feed (Benetti et al, 2010). To obtain spawns, the environmental conditions upon which broodstock is kept is manipulated especially the water temperature. As stated by Aquaculture Research (2008), all spawns occurred naturally at a temperature of 24-300C during the natural reproduction season extending from April to march yearly. Trials have indicated that females can

Canada's Immigration Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Canada's Immigration Policy - Essay Example There is also apparent shift in the profile of immigrant source countries in the past several years. Added to this is the fact that more and more people are moving from one place to another worldwide and the perceptible competition in the international economy to attract skilled workers. Movement of people across continents has been a global trend during the advent of long distance travel. Reasons behind this phenomenon are various. These include escaping political, economic, environmental persecution and problems. For some families, the more pressing reasons can be search for better opportunities and safer, more secure living conditions. Given the availability of manpower resources in the different parts of the world and the surplus of families applying immigrant status in Canada, the problem of sustaining the country's economy seems to be solved. However, the process of immigration is not as simple. There must be appropriate and efficient governmental and provincial policies to facilitate this process. This is the function of the Citizenship and Immigration Canada: to draft a structural framework and policies for handling immigration issues of the country. This paper aims to assess these immigration policies and their i... Section 7 (2) of Canada's Immigration Act of 1978 provides an estimate of the total number of immigrants, refugees and other non-immigrants status who will be given permission to settle in Canada. The responsibility of selecting immigrants and refugees and their number for every province, except for Quebec which has the only selection powers, lies on this annual immigration plan (CIC "Laws and Policies"). The proposed Immigration and Refugee Protection Act called Bill C-11 will provide the Citizenship and Immigration Canada the needed implements to ensure public safety and security in relation to the admission of immigrants in the country. This can be achieved by setting new admission criteria and delegating authority to arrest law-breakers and security threats (CIC "The Immigration System"). The other side of the above provisions is the important delivery of the following commitments of facilitating entry to legitimate immigrants and refugees. First is the change of selection priority using the assessment of skills and experience of workers over their current occupations. Second is the focus on reunification of families and protection of refugees. Third is the improved Temporary Foreign Worker Program for the simplification and efficiency of processing of skilled workers and permission of spouses to work. Last is efficient transition of qualified temporary workers from temporary to permanent residents (CIC "Laws and Policies"). The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act of Canada or IRPA was established in 2001. The act has a provision for a consultation between the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and the provincial governments regarding refugee protection policies and programs to include the determination of the number of foreign nationals

Chinese restaurant market and investing in the market with respect to Essay

Chinese restaurant market and investing in the market with respect to a fish and chip restaurant chain of UK - Essay Example Managerial tools like PESTEL and SWOT analysis are implemented initially for exploring the external environment of China along with the internal environment analysis of the firm. After that, the potential risks of entering the Chinese restaurant market are analyzed. Then in the analysis section detailed discussion of the competitors, cultural dimension, competitive advantages of the firm is executed. Recommendations in the short term, medium term as well as long term are also discussed. Contents Executive Summary......................................................................................................................2 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................4 Risk of entering China ....................................................................................................................................9 Analysis ............................................... .....................................................................................10 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................15 Recommendations ....................................................................................................................................16 Reference ....................................................................................................................................19 Introduction International trade has intensified to mammoth levels with the advent of globalization and influx of free trade regime in the modern world. Different sectors of production are engaged in the global business with various goods and services and their exchange. The increasing scope of business corporations in the herald of the 21st century is involving much attention and this trend is defined as a stretch of human imagination (Okoro, 2012, p. 130).The co mpanies and organizations involved in diverse fields of production are expanding their business neglecting geographical barriers and expanding internationally for establishing robust reputation in the global business dimension and also operating in a rigorous manner taking advantage and proper use of environmental, economic, political, cultural factors and so on of these international territories. But successful expansion and proper functioning of business on a new international arena incorporates strategy implementation with dynamic foresight and policies that ensures sustainability and ethical functioning as well as hardcore business motives. Food sector is one of the pioneering domains in the global business forefront and many companies have established their business ventures in the international

Christian Traditions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Christian Traditions - Essay Example Christian traditions have always been centralized around the provisions of the Bible most importantly the New Testament which contains the teachings of Jesus Christ. However, varied perceptions to the Biblical teachings have led to the emergence of different Christian groups. The Orthodox and Catholic Christians are an example of two such Christian groups. As evidence to their strong belief in the authority of the Bible the two groups share more similarities than differences. Both groups acknowledge the Bible as the word of God written by men who had been inspired by the Holy Spirit. However, Catholic Christians consider the Bible containing the law of God and that all people are bound to follow that law without question. On the other hand Orthodox Christians consider the Bible as playing the important role of teaching and guiding believers. The position of the Bible in both groups is that it is the source of their Christian Faith. However, Catholics demonstrated a more fundamental a pproach to the Bible due to its tendency to advocate for literal interpretation. On the hand Orthodox Christians believe in the mysticism of the Bible and that it is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that Biblical interpretation can be perfected. With regard to the authority of the Bible, the general realization is that both groups perceive that Biblical authority should be accompanied by traditions that have been inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Strategic Management Week 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Strategic Management Week 2 - Assignment Example Constantly, industry players are putting in place marketing policies and strategies that aim at making them the preferred options of customers. As a result of this, the use of competitive advantage has become a very importance concept in the health care sector (Shaw and Kenny, 2007). This notwithstanding, Porter and Teisberg (2004) do not seem pleased with the current state of competition. Reading through the article of Porter and Teisberg (2004), there is so much that can be agreed with the two authors. This is because in a study by Department of Health (2006), it was noted that most of the forms of growths that are experienced in the healthcare sector due to the competition are those that bring personal gain to investors. What this means is that the current state of competition has focused on profit making for business owners, leaving out the core needs and expected improvement that the patient is expected to receive. The call for a redefinition of competition in the healthcare sector will therefore be agreed with. It is high time industry players started focusing their competition on who brings value to the customer. Unfortunately, the customer does not always have the luxury of choosing to do business with a healthcare provider who guarantees value. This is because of how critical some health conditions can be (Ginter, Duncan and Swayne, 2013). This means that the service providers must take up this task of redefining their competition. The cost of health care plays very important role in determining the kind of service outcome that will be received from service delivery (Harris & Lenox, 2013). From a much generalised perspective, Shaw and Kenny (2007) argued that once the cost of healthcare goes up the quality of service delivery must also go up. This is because the inputs of healthcare that make them quality are facilitated with high capital expenditure. From the article that Kaplan and Porter (2011) present however, one would realise that there is

EMR feasability Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

EMR feasability - Article Example It is feasible to implement Electronic Medical Records (EMR) in hospitals that plan strategically to accomplish the inaugural state requirements of a meaningful use. EMR is an essential and exciting step towards the right direction. Currently in this rural area, there are no certified products of EMR in the market; however, the bodies responsible for certification are already planning to do so. This certification process and technological interoperability within the healthcare facilities have been awarded significant thought and attention by government officials and healthcare leaders. The feasibility of implementing EMR is limited with time; however, the process of implementation is very realistic and feasible. This will bring major changes in the healthcare industry; therefore the implementation process should be given top priority due to its feasibility. The paper has ascertained that creation of inter-related health systems, rather than stay alone silos of rural health care syste ms is a realistic opportunity to implement an EMR medical offices (Jones, 2008). The implementation of EMR is beneficial in the following ways; EMR improves greatly the quality of care through keeping up to date patient records and enhancing their accessibility; EMR allows easy tracking of patients by clinic staff who need follow up care; EMR allows physicians to find comprehensive patient medical records from the past; EMR improves the ability of clinicians to help the patients in managing the treatment of most complex diseases; and it also allows researchers and clinicians to analyze long term trends and patient data. On the other hand, implementation of the EMR has a lot of challenges some of which are: need for training data clerks in data entry and management which can be expensive to the implementer; setting up a system of information technology can be much expensive on the part of the implementer;

Barriers of the Communication in the Working Environment. Essay Example for Free

Barriers of the Communication in the Working Environment. Essay No matter how good the communication system in an organisation is, unfortunately barriers can and do often occur. This may be caused by a number of factors which can usually be summarised as being due to physical barriers, system design faults or additional barriers. Physical barriers are often due to the nature of the environment. Thus, for example, the natural barrier which exists, if staff are located in different buildings or on different sites. Likewise, poor or outdated equipment, particularly the failure of management to introduce new technology, may also cause problems. Staff shortages are another factor which frequently causes communication difficulties for an organisation. Whilst distractions like background noise, poor lighting or an environment which is too hot or cold can all affect peoples morale and concentration, which in turn interfere with effective communication. System design faults refer to problems with the structures or systems in place in an organisation. Examples might include an organisational structure which is unclear and therefore makes it confusing to know who to communicate with. Other examples could be inefficient or nappropriate information systems, a lack of supervision or training, and a lack of clarity in roles and responsibilities which can lead to staff being uncertain about what is expected of them. Attitudinal barriers come about as a result of problems with staff in an organisation. These may be brought about, for example, by such factors as poor management, lack of consultation with employees, personality conflicts which can result in people delaying or refusing to communicate, the personal attitudes of individual employees which may be due to lack of motivation or issatisfaction at work, brought about by insufficient training to enable them to carry out particular tasks, or Just resistance to change due to entrenched attitudes and ideas.

Stigma of Tattoos in the Workplace

Stigma of Tattoos in the Workplace Anna Marks Jo Vale Abstract    This research looks at the stereotype of tattoos in the workplace today. The research draws upon mostly primary sources including telephone interviews and questionnaires. This report intends to demonstrate that social attitudes are changing in relation to tattoos and that by identifying that tattoos are a part of life now and will continue to be, the aim is to eliminate the assumption that all people with tattoos are involved with crime or unemployable. The results were surprising as they revealed that the younger generations were more conservative in relation to tattoos in a professional environment. Introduction By describing and analysing its most important aspects, this report intends to discuss and evaluate the results that originated through research into the stigma of tattoos in the workplace on people today. The issues covered by this report include; the percentage of people who feel discriminated against because of their tattoos and the people who dont agree with tattoos being on display in the workplace. This topic is important as now a fifth of all British adults have been tattooed (J Henley) and with that number, ever increasing tattoos are becoming the social norm, employers will have to start making some changes to their dress codes if they want a new generation of employees. Tattoos started as an exclusively female practice in ancient Egypt, mummies found with tattoos were usually dismissed and assumed they were of a dubious status (C Lineberry) and until the early 1990s this opinion was largely unchanged, with only 15% of baby boomers (born between 1946-1964) with tattoos and 59% having the opinion that if you had tattoos you were involved with crime or in enlisted military personnel. (J Squires) However, social attitudes are changing and that is simply not the case any more, with increasingly more professionals reporting they have tattoos. Methodology A mixed method approach was used as good variation in data collection usually, leads to greater validity within the work. This was demonstrated with a wide variety of responses from several different sources. The research was approached from a practical standpoint, qualitative and quantitative data was collected through interviews and questionnaires. Quantitate data provided much-needed clarification throughout the research process. However, this method of data collection limited participant responses and are, therefore of little use if depth is required. The methodological approach involved qualitative methods within the research. This method is more suitably used when less information is known, this allows those who do not want to share too much to contribute, without losing out on important information. However, there was a small percentage of people who preferred not to divulge that private information. Primary sources were used more broadly, as the research contained some questions which some might find sensitive in nature and it allowed the questions that needed to be asked, to be asked. This was initially deemed unsuitable for primary data collection, however, the anonymity of the primary data method essentially worked in favour of the research as participants were much more open with their answers when provided with secrecy. Secondary sources were very valuable within research as it allowed statistic comparison and outside data to aid preliminary research. Comparisons of documents and records as well as the use of the census were helpful and reinforced the primary research done. The use of secondary sources helped construct an argument that would have been difficult to make without this information. However, information gathered through this source did create reconsiderations on how to go about the research, for example, secondary data offered a new perspective which introduced new ideas and gave the research more range. Results and Findings The findings suggested that people, in general, did not feel as victimised over their tattoos in the workplace as initially thought, it can be seen from the evidence that out of 88 tattooed individuals aged 18-61 only 5 people felt that they had been treated differently at work or not gained employment because of their tattoos, the small 5.7% of people thought that They will affect me in the future.   A much higher percentage of people did not feel discriminated against for their tattoos as those who did. This was an unexpected finding. The findings showed 94.3% of people who were asked did not feel that their employers had any issues with their tattoos at all. The results showed expectedly that some of the over 30s disliked visible tattoos in the workplace and thought that they should be covered, with most describing them as unprofessional and inappropriate    61% of people who took the survey without tattoos felt they should be covered up. Of that 61%, only 27% of them were over 30 making the majority between 18-26-year-olds who were against visible tattoos in a professional environment Discussion Out of the vast majority of participants with tattoos, 97% did not have any involvement with the navy/army or with crime. It was initially thought that these percentages would be higher as the stigma of tattooed people being involved in crime and/or enlisted is a popular reason in which most people do not appear to like them, with 1 participant saying Tattoos only used to be for thugs. The original hypothesis does not fit with the results maintained through the research, it was initially thought that there would be a significant difference between a younger persons positive attitude to visible tattoos in the work-place than an older persons negative attitude. This was an unexpected finding, however, to try and explain this Wallop (2015) discussed the impact of the so-called midlife crisiss affecting those over 30 and how it is becoming increasingly common for them to get tattoos later in life Tattoos, are now as much a part of a midlife crisis as scouring Facebook for old flames. A recent survey found that almost a quarter of 30 to 59-year-olds have a tattoo somewhere on their body, compared with less than one in six of those aged between 18 and 24. This shows the stigma of tattoos falling away slowly and the older generation gradually backing down on the hardened stereotyped view of tattoos. Backing this theory up, an article from Forbes, published in 2011 argues that tattoos still have a negative impact on employment (L Faw) However, in 2013 they retracted their statement, saying tattoos were no longer a kiss of death in the workplace (R Hennessey) This correlates with the data collected through previous research that was conducted and is interesting because, with just 2 years difference it can be seen from the evidence that social attitudes appeared to have changed, these results present an interesting finding as it seems that it is millennials that have become more conservative in their views. However, a study by CareerBuilder showed that 31% of employers said that having a visible tattoo is one of the reasons they would be less likely to promote an individual (2011) 86% of young professionals do not think tattoos reduce the chance of getting jobs (A Mishra S Mishra) and that grooming and business attire were more important indicators in the hiring decision than tattoos and piercings (J McLeod) as well as feeling that they feel more approachable by younger generations in the workplace. Conclusion The thesis of this report was to analyse and discuss conducted research into the stigma of tattoos in the workplace. In conclusion, from the evidence presented in this report, it can be seen that the hypothesis does not connect with the results presented. Initially, it was thought that younger people would be more open to displaying tattoos at work, in fact, this was not the case. 72.2% of 18-26-year-olds do not think tattoos showing in the workplace is appropriate, it was the older generation that had fewer problems with tattoos. However, with no information from the age range spanning between 27-29 statistics, it would be irresponsible to presume the figures that they fit into. Tattoos have been here for a long time and the findings suggest that they will be around for a lot more. It seems that tattoos may become more acceptable not only in the workplace but in general society References The rise and rise of the tattoo, J Henley, Tuesday 20 July 2010 https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/jul/20/tattoos Visible Tattoos And Other Corporate No-Nos, Larissa Faw, October 25 2011, http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeswomanfiles/2011/10/25/visible-tattoos-and-other-corporate-no-nos/#363efdd3670f Tattoos No Longer A Kiss Of Death In The Workplace, Rachel Hennessey, February 27, 2013 http://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelhennessey/2013/02/27/having-a-tattoo-and-a-job/#120e998d5b92 Anurag Mishra Sasmita Mishra p.3, April, 2015 http://www.ijird.com/index.php/ijird/article/view/69975/54946 The Hidden Mark: An Ethnographic Examination of Visibility in Heavily Tattooed Professionals, Josh M. McLeod p.23 https://dspace.royalroads.ca/bitstream/handle/10170/703/mcleod_josh.pdf?sequence=1isAllowed=y Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder June 29, 2011, Bad Breath, Heavy Cologne and Wrinkled Clothes Among Factors That Can Make You Less Likely to Get Promoted, http://www.careerbuilder.com/share/aboutus/pressreleasesdetail.aspx?sd=6%2F30%2F2011id=pr642ed=12%2F31%2F2011 Bibliography The National Archives http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ The Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/annie-singer/tattoos-in-the-workplace-_b_9321408.html

History of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

History of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) 2.1 Introduction to the Chapter This chapter provides a selection of literature relevant to the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). It starts with a brief history of CSR, it provides some definitions and it moves further to examine aspects like the Layers of CSR, the relation between CSR and Business Ethics and the Drivers of CSR. Some benefits and criticism over the concept are discussed and the strong relation between CSR and the companys Stakeholders is examined. The chapter continues with the Areas and the Activities of CSR and the Levels that influencing the adoption of CSR are analysed. Finally, some Global CSR tools as the United Nations Global Compact and the Global Reporting Initiative are presented. 2.2 The History of CSR through the Centuries The Business Relations, Accountability, Sustainability and Society Centre, known as BRASS, in its report History of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability (2007), states that The history of social and environmental concern about business is as old as trade and business itself. Commercial logging operations for example, together with laws to protect forests, can both be traced back almost 5,000 years. In Ancient Mesopotamia around 1700 BC, King Hammurabi introduced a code in which builders, innkeepers or farmers were put to death if their negligence caused the deaths of others, or major inconvenience to local citizens. In Ancient Rome senators grumbled about the failure of businesses to contribute sufficient taxes to fund their military campaigns, while in 1622 disgruntled shareholders in the Dutch East India Company started issuing pamphlets complaining about management secrecy and self-enrichment . Moving further, Eberstadt (1977) claims in his study that phenomena of social responsibility were already presented in the ancient Greece, while todays corporate responsibility movement is an attempt to restore a 2,000-year-old tradition of businesses being connected to the community (cited in Panwar, Rinne, Hansen Juslin, 2006). In the 18th century the businesses started to anticipate that having an efficient labour force was essential for the successful delivery of their activities. During that period Adam Smith, the great moral philosopher and pioneer in economics, present for the first time the traditional or classical economic model. The model suggested that the needs and the interests of the public would best be met if the individuals act in self-interest manner. Driven by their own self-interests, the individuals would produce and deliver goods and services which would earn them profit, but also meet the needs of the others (Fernando, 2009). According to Brown (2005), the companies in order to keep their employees satisfied, because of the negative effects that the lack of food, housing and healthcare had in the labour force efficiency, they started to invest in housing, healthcare and nourishment. Thus, the worker villages of the industrial revolution, company medical facilities and the subsidized wor ks canteen appeared. That action of social philanthropy by the companies can be considered as the forerunner of the modern day CSR. Sims (2003) claims that the contemporary CSR originated back to the beginning of the 20th century and is based upon two principles. The first, the principle of charity, is based on religious tradition and suggests that those who are well financially should give to those with difficulties. The second one, the principle of stewardship, says that the organisations have an obligation to serve the society and satisfy the publics needs since their wealth and the power that they have springs through their activities within the society. This second principle had an impact on affected how companies were faced by governments, press and other groups and led to the conduction of new more socially responsible laws. The turn of the businesses to the society and the development of a more societal thinking led the organisations to increase their responsibility and consideration for both social and environmental well-being. This response to environmental and social matters by the corporations is what it is known today as Corporate Social Responsibility (Panwar et al., 2006). 2.3 Definitions of Corporate Social Responsibility The rise of the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility during the past decades resulted to the continuous debate about the exact meaning of the term. The only generally accepted view about the term CSR is that is a concept which covers several aspects. Frankental (2001), comments that CSR is a vague and intangible term which can mean anything to anybody, and therefore is effectively without meaning. Castka, Bamber, Bamber and Sharp (2004) argue that there is no single authoritative definition of CSR. The CSR concept seems to be a loosely defined umbrella embracing a vast number of concepts traditionally framed as environmental concerns, sustainable development public relations, corporate philanthropy, human resource management and community relations. During the examination of various literatures it can be seen that there is not a single generally accepted definition, although many authors and worldwide institutions defined the term CSR in similar ways. The first academically accepted definition of CSR can be found in the book Social Responsibilities of the Businessman, written by Howard Bowen in 1953. Bowen defines CSR as an obligation to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or to follow those lines of action that are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society (cited in Panwar et al., 2006). Carroll (2004) argues that the social responsibility of businesses encompasses the economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary (philanthropic) expectations that society has of organizations at a given point in time, while Buhmann (2006) simply defines CSR as doing more than what is required by law. Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2005), define CSR as the ways in which an organisation exceeds its minimum obligations to stakeholders specified through regulation. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) defines CSR as the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as the local community and society at large (cited in Castka et al., 2004). Finally, the internationally known law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in the report The Development and Impact of CSR on the Construction Industry (2006), defines CSR as the voluntary integration of environmental, social and human rights considerations into business operations, over and above legal requirements and contractual obligations. To conclude, it can be clearly seen that the base line of the above definitions is the volunteering obligation that the organisations must have over their employees and their families, the environment and the general public which sometimes may go further their legal requirements. 2.4 Layers of Corporate Social Responsibility According to Sachs, Ruhli, and Mittnacht (2005) the probably best known economic paradigm that prepare the ground for further research on the concept of CSR is the Carroll Pyramid (Figure 1). FIGURE 1 Carroll (1991) suggests that there are four kind of social responsibilities that an organisation should take into account while conducting its activities and those responsibilities constitute total CSR. Those four social responsibilities of an organisation were presented into a four-layered pyramid model, called The Pyramid of Responsibilities. The four layers of responsibilities are economical, legal, ethical and philanthropic. The bottom layer and the foundation of the pyramid is the Economic Responsibilities. The business must be profitable in order to keep its shareholders satisfied, produce goods and services necessary to the consumers and be able to create new jobs and promote innovation. The second layer of responsibilities is the legal and is all about following the law. The businesses should not only be profit driven but at the same time they must respect the laws and regulations produced by government and it is expected that the businesses would keep their economic activities inside the framework of the law and pay by the rules of the game. The ethical responsibilities are related to fairness and morality. The peoples rights and beliefs must be respected, any kind of harm, physical or social, must be avoided and any harm caused by others must be prevented. The last layer is the philanthropic responsibilities which urge the businesses to be good corporate citizens. The businesses through their activities must contribute resources to the community and most importantly must be able to help to improvement of the quality of life. Carroll placed the four layers of responsibility in a pyramid in order to show the strong connection between the four kinds of responsibilities. If a kind of responsibility in the pyramid model is absent then the ones above cannot be achieved. Lantos (2001) characterises the Carrolls pyramid model of CSR as altruistic or humanitarian and argued that the firm will be good to use it as marketing too in order to promote its image. Following this view Lantos (2001) proposes a new model of responsibilities by reclassifying Carrolls pyramid from four to three layers. The first layer of Lantos model is the Ethical CSR and includes economic, legal and ethical responsibilities as one group. The second layer is the Altruistic CSR which is equal to Carrolls philanthropic layer and suggests that businesses must contribute to the community even if a part of the profits must be sacrificed. The last layer of Lantos model is the Strategic CSR where businesses are fulfilling their philanthropic responsibilities not only because of generosity but also because they expect financial returns from the positive publicity. 2.5 Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility are two close related concepts but they are not identical. As it can be seen Business Ethics play a very important role in Carrolls Pyramid of responsibilities as Ethics Responsibilities are placed in the second highest layer. Both concepts refer to values, goals and decision making based on something more than just making a profit (Mullerat, 2010). In general terms the bottom line of ethics is individually doing the right thing while avoid evil and harmful actions for you and the others in your activities. On the other hand CSR is more about the obligations that an organisation must have over its stakeholders than just its shareholders. A socially responsible organisation must act ethically (Mullerat, 2010). Phatak, Bhagat and Kashlak (2005) define Business Ethics as the moral thinking and analysis by corporate decision-makers and other members regarding the motives and consequences of their decisions and actions. Furthermore, Ferrell and Fraedrich (1998) add that business ethics compromises moral principles and standards that guide behaviour in the world of business. The concept of Business Ethics is vital for every self-respected organisation and this is why many companies today develop codes of ethics and make commitments about their ethical behaviour to the public (Fisher, 2003). According to Seitel (2001), the organisations develop ethics codes in order to: Increase public confidence: Due to various scandals, mainly concerning corruption and briberies inside organisations, the publics trust for businesses has been declined. Thus, companies have decided to adopt the ethics code in order to improve their image. Stem the tight of regulation: Due to the declining trust and confidence of the public for businesses, the governments increased their legislations and regulations in order to reverse the situation. The companies adopted the ethics codes in order to show that they have ethical behaviour and can be trusted. Improve internal regulations: Due to the increase of the size of organisations and the development of multinational operations it is essential that some codes of conduct must be created in order to have the same behaviour standards among the employees. Business ethics depend on two main factors, culture and time (Svensson and Wood, 2003). The business environment culture is influenced by traditions, religion, ethical values and individuals and can be defined as what is accepted and what is unaccepted. The companys success can be affected if different opinions, that is to say different cultures, cannot be adopted satisfactory by the organisation. Additionally, what is accepted and what is unaccepted can be affected by the business time element. The business world is a fast changing environment and what is considered ethical today it can turn out to be unethical tomorrow. As it can be seen the success or the failure of a business is closely connected with ethics and that is why Business Ethics must be used as a corporate philosophy rather than a corporate code in every organisation. To conclude, Johnson et al. (2005) argue that the societys expectations, which have major influence on companies and organisations, are based on three levels of Business Ethics. The macro level is the first one and is related to the ethical posture of the company. Simply, the macro level is related to the extent in which the organisations are willing to do more than their legal requirements in order to satisfy their stakeholders. The second one is a part of the macro level and is the Corporate Social Responsibility level. This level is concerned the ability of organisations to surpass the minimum requirements needed in order to maintain the organisations ethical stance. The individual or managerial level is the last level of Business Ethics. This is a very important level since is connected with the behaviour and actions of individuals inside the organisation. 2.6 Drivers of Corporate Social Responsibility The current momentum behind Corporate Social Responsibility is being built based on a variety of very important factors. Ernst and Young (2002) mention that there are five key drivers which encourage the increasing business focus on CSR. These are: (1) greater stakeholder awareness of corporate ethical, social and environmental behaviour, (2) direct stakeholder pressures, (3) investor pressure, (4) peer pressure and (5) an increased sense of social responsibility (cited in Jones, Comfort and Hillier, 2006). Panwar et al. (2006), argue that there are diverse motivations that lead to the adoption of CSR by the organisations. For example a business is adopting CSR in order to meet mandatory legal requirements aimed at controlling destructive business practices while another business is using CSR in order to increase its productivity and improve its financial performance. It is also suggested that a company by using CSR in its practises can improve functional areas such as market positioning and risk management. According to Wood (1991), the concept of CSR is being driven by three major principles. Firstly, businesses are obliged to use their power responsibly since they are above all social institutions. Secondly, the responsibility for the outcomes of the involvement with the public is upon businesses. Lastly, discretion must be exercised in decision making processes by the individual managers who are also moral agents. Andriof and McIntosh (2001) believe that the driving force behind the concept of CSR is the consumers and employees. These two categories are holding the power in the market system nowadays. Consumers and employees are now well informed about the several challenges the world has to face and they do not really believe that the governments can change things. They accept that corporations are the most powerful social institutions of the present era and most importantly they are willing to reward those corporations who are responsive to their concerns. Finally, Girod and Bryane (2003) use a strategic marketing view arguing that CSR is a key tool to create, develop and sustain differentiated brand names. Furthermore, the Commission of the European Communities (2002) argues that the organisations in order to better respond to the fundamental changes in the overall business environment they adopted CSR and used it as an important element in new and emerging forms of governance. These changes include globalisation and the responsibilities companies feel the need to address, as they increasingly source products and services in developing countries; the issues of image and reputation, which have become increasingly important elements in corporate success; and the need for companies to recruit and retain highly skilled personnel (cited in Jones, et al., 2006). 2.7 Benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility Many organisations are using nowadays CSR as a marketing tool due to the fact that the implementation of CSR practices can bring to the organisation a wide range of potential benefits, both direct and indirect. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has said that implementing a CSR policy, can bring real business benefits by reducing risk, by enhancing brand value, by opening doors and creating good will, and by improving staff efficiency and morale. It can also attract stable and ethical investment and add competitive edge (Chartered Institute of Building, Report) According to Mackey, Mackey Barney (2005) in the case that a company surpasses the minimum CSR requirements then the potential benefits can lead to a positive effect to the companys performance and value. Gildea (1994) and Zaman et al. (1991), stress out that research has shown that companies that care for the environment and exhibit good CSR practices experience increased consumer purchase preference in addition to increased investment appeal (cited in Panwar et al., 2006). Many consumers prefer to buy for ethical business. A survey conducted by Cone Inc. (2004) showed that 91% of the consumers have a more positive image of a product or a company when it supports a cause. The 90% of the consumers would consider switching to another companys product or services if they found out about a companys any unlawful or unethical practises. In addition, Muckiewicz (1993) supports that the reputation of an organisation plays a vital role as research studies show that 9 out of 10 consumers use it in order to decide which product or service they will buy from those that are similar in price and quality. According to Bernstein (2004), CSR benefits both the company and the community. Due to use of CSR the corporate culture and corporate name of the company can be improved significantly thus the best employees can be attracted and the motivation of the workforce will remain in high levels. The society benefits from CSR practices as well through a variety of services and action, though the company has to create some sort of societal benefit in order to be called socially responsible. Some of the potential benefits that a business can have from the use of CSR practices can include improved financial performance and profitability; reduced operating costs; long-term sustainability for companies and their employees; increased staff commitment and involvement; enhanced capacity to innovate; good relations with government and communities; better risk and crisis management; enhanced reputation and brand value; and the development of closer links with customers and greater awareness of their needs (cited in Jones et al., 2006) . Table 1 presents a summary of business benefits of CSR. TABLE 1 Concluding, it must be noted that the benefits from the adoption of CSR practises can never be predicted or be constant since each company operates in a different and always changing environment. Barnett (2007) adds that this unpredictability could lead to limited support for CSR initiatives from the board, in times of financial instability. Thus, the business case supporting CSR has to be specific for every company and based on Rowley and Berman (2000) CSR achievements of an organisation cannot be collated against some standards, since those does not exist. Furthermore, McWilliams and Siegel (2001) point out that the potential existence of those standards would allow CSR to be considered as part of the investment decisions, as the company would be able to make judgements for its business case in a more formal way. 2.8 Criticism against Corporate Social Responsibility The concept of CSR, as it can be seen from the various definitions presented on previous paragraphs, is based upon the principle that businesses do have another responsibility than just making profits. Every organisation has a responsibility towards the society, its people and the environment as well. At the same time, many are those who are opposed the idea of integrating CSR practices into their corporations and they believe that shareholders interest can be conflicted by operating a good business. Dr Milton Friedmann (1970), a renowned economist, in his article The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits affirms that there is one and only one social responsibility of business is to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud. According to his economic model the organisation is an economic institution which should only focus in the economic scope. Organisations are seen purely as legal entities incapable of value decisions. A manager who uses a firms resources for non-profit social purposes is thought to be diverting economic efficiency and levying an illegal tax on the organisation (Balabanis, Phillips and Lyall, 1998). Following this view Dr Robert Barrington (2008) states that the managers are concentrated on soft issues rather than hard issues of the bottom line and this is something that is costing money to the shareholders. Moving further Frankental (2001), conclude that CSR is simply a public relations invention and it will remain like this. He believes that CSR can only have real substance if it embraces all the stakeholders of a company, if it is reinforced by changes in company law relating to governance, if it is rewarded by financial markets, if its definition relates to the goals of social and ecological sustainability, if its implementation is benchmarked and audited, if it is open to public scrutiny, if the compliance mechanisms are in place, and if it is embedded across the organisation horizontally and vertically. Henderson (2001) after the examination of various issues related to the concept of CSR comments that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the current widely-held doctrine of CSR is deeply flawed. It rests on a mistaken view of issues and events, and its general adoption by businesses would reduce welfare and undermine the market economy. In the same motion Moir (2001) suggests that those who adopt the neoclassical model of business would follow the view that the only social responsibilities that a corporation can have are to provide employment, pay taxes and mainly to maximise its profits; therefore, maximise its shareholders value. On the other extreme of the arguments above, Dave Packard, the co-founder of Hewlett Packard Company once said I think many people assume, wrongly, that a company exists simply to make money. While this is an important result of a companys existence, we have to go deeper and find the real reasons for our beingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. We inevitably come to the conclusion that a group of people get together and exist as an institution that we call a company so that they are able to accomplish something collectively that they could not accomplish separately they make a contribution to society (cited in Handy, 2002). Concluding, Freeman (1984) argues that a corporation is wrong to be seen just as a private economic institution, as it was suggested by Friedman (1970), but it has to be also seen as a social institution. This way, corporations would be responsible for any of their actions against the people, the community and the environment. Based on his Stakeholder Theory, companies operations should not be based on the interests of their shareholders but they have to be based on the interested of their stakeholders. 2.9 Corporate Social Responsibility and Stakeholders The definition given about the concept of CSR from Johnson et al. (2005) includes the words obligations to stakeholders, which indicates that stakeholders have an important role to play in this extent. Freeman (1984), the father of the Stakeholder Theory of the firm, defines stakeholders as any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organizations objectives. The Stakeholder Theory of the firm is used as a basis to analyse those groups to whom the firm should be responsible (Moir, 2001). The identification of the different stakeholder groups of the organisation is extremely important during the implementation of CSR practices. Usually the stakeholder groups are separated into primary and secondary stakeholders. According to Clarkson (1995) a primary stakeholder group is one without whose continuing participation the corporation cannot survive as a going concern, while a secondary stakeholder group is those who influence or affect, or are influenced or affected by the corporation, but they are not engaged in transactions with the corporation and are not essential for its survival. Based on those definitions a primary stakeholder group contains shareholders and investors, employees, customers, suppliers, governments and communities. The secondary stakeholder group includes the media and a wide range of special interest groups (Clarkson, 1995). According to Freemans (1984) definition of stakeholders the relation between the company and its stakeholders can be described as two-way. Castka et al. (2006) support the view that the implementation of CSR is all about the right choices and strategic decisions and comment that the dilemmas that an organisations stakeholders can have are which choices and decision must choose in order to satisfy. Berman, Wicks, Kotha and Jones (1999), in order to find a solution for those dilemmas, derived two distinct stakeholder management approaches; the instrumental and the normative approach. The first, instrumental approach, suggests that concern for stakeholders is motivated by the perception that financial performance can be improved. The second, intrinsic stakeholder commitment approach, assumes that organisations have a normative (moral) commitment to advance stakeholders interests (Castka et al. 2006). The instrumental approach was the one empirically supported in Berman et al. (1999) res earch while Harrison and Freeman (1999) mention that the conduction of more research is essential in order to clarify the model of the normative approach. Although further research is required it can be clearly anticipated, through the examination of various literature, that the instrumental approach is the most desirable among researchers. McWilliams and Siegel (2001) suggest that corporations need to carefully consider in which aspects of the CSR to invest in and they comment that by using cost-benefit analysis the managers can ideally determine the level of CSR. Additionally, Agle, Mitchell and Sonnenfeld (1999) argue that the decision to make a CSR investment is driven by the needs of the most powerful stakeholders within the organisation, such as top management staff and is usually connected with their desire to gain more profits and increase the shareholders value. Finally Castka et al (2004) believe that the purpose of CSR is an investment and it must be considered and treated like one. Moving further they suggest that the balance between the need for maximizing profit from CSR and the demand for CSR from multiple stakeholders is the key to a core return on investment in CSR (Figure 2). In order to achieve this balance stakeholders expectations should be assessed and examined through dialogues and must be translated and included into the companys strategy plan. FIGURE 2 2.10 Areas of Corporate Social Responsibility Andriof and McIntosh (2001) write that CSR is not chequebook philanthropy, nor a study based on business ethics. They argue that the concept of CSR can be described as a vision that corporate leaders have for their business which is beyond of just making profits. CSR has an impact on every activity of the company and can affect areas either inside or outside the company. According to Andriof and McIntosh (2001) the four distinct areas that CSR encompasses are: The Community The Environment The Marketplace The Workplace By operating within these four areas companies can conduct specific programmes and make the difference and can actively monitor, evaluate and change their effects of their activities. The implementation of CSR and the thinking behind becoming involved in these areas represents the new way of doing business. 2.11 Activities of Corporate Social Responsibility The concept of CSR can be divided into many and diverse domains. Sen and Bhattacharya (2001) provide six broad domains of CSR activities, based on a comprehensive summarisation of CSR domains contained in Socrates: The Corporate Social Ratings Monitor (Kinder, Lydenberg, Domini Co. Inc. 1999), a database that describes and rates more than 600 companies in terms of their CSR records. These domains of CSR activities are: Community Support: The company provides support to the community with the use of health and educational and housing programs for financially disadvantaged. The generous and innovative giving is promoted Diversity: The company provides initiatives for sex, race, family, sexual orientation and disability diversity Employee Support: The company promotes health and safety, ensures job security and profit sharing, develops relations with the labour unions and allows employees involvement. Environment: The company avoids the use of hazardous waste management techniques, uses and produces environmental friendly products, develops pollution control and recycling techniques. Non-domestic Operations: The company prevents operations in countries where human right violations occur or unhealthy labour practices take place. Product: The company produces safe products and promotes research and development and innovation. Following the same line Johnson et al (2005) present a checklist of the organisations responsibilities. Those responsibilities are divided into two categories, the internal and the external aspects of CSR, based on the areas that the organisations activities can affect. Internal aspects of the companys activities can include employee welfare, working conditions, job design and intellectual property. External aspects of activities can include environmental issues, products, markets and marketing, suppliers, employment, community activity and human rights. 2.12 Levels influencing the firms Corporate Social Responsibility strategy Based on the literature it can be seen that there are some important levels which can play a crucial role in the adoption of a CSR strategy from the firm. These levels can be grouped into four different categories which are the region where the company operates, the nation, the industry and the company itself. According to Aguilera, Rupp, Williams and Ganapathi (2005) the four levels are strongly connected as a firms commitment to CSR can be influenced by micro (individual), meso (organisati

Girl Interrupted vs. The Yellow Wallpaper -- essays research papers

The main character in Susanna Kaysen’s, â€Å"Girl, Interrupted† and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† are similar in the fact that they both were suppressed by male dominants. Be it therapist or physicians who either aided in their mental deformities or created them. They are similar in the sense that they are both restricted to confinement and must endure life under the watchful eye of overseers. However similar their situations may be, their responses are different.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the stories, there were both positive and negative aspects and characteristics that the two protagonists possessed. Both women were thought insane and although they may not have been originally, being locked up made other characters question their sanity. In, â€Å"Girl, Interrupted,† Kaysen’s character was a passive yet promiscuous eighteen year old woman. Ten minutes into her visit with an analyst, Kaysen is being told she’s tired and that she needs a rest. The therapist makes a couple of phone calls, puts Kaysen in a cab and sends her off to the psychiatric ward at McLean Hospital. In the cab, she doesn’t put up a fight or try and escape and once she arrives at the hospital, she signs herself in because she is of age. Even before then, while she was still in the therapists’ office she showed no sign of struggling against the force that was her doctor. Instead she willingly accepted the fact that she was tired and to go then rather than on Friday to the hospital. This passiveness is a dominant characteristic of Kaysen throughout the rest of the story. But I view the trait as both a positive and a negative one. It seems like it would be a positive because Kaysen allowed herself to enjoy her time in the hospital. She made an effort to make the best of the situation. However, it’s also a negative trait to possess for the simple fact that had she fought or argued with the doctor or the cab driver, she would never had to go near McLean. During her taxi ride to the hospital she said, â€Å"I let my head fall back against the seat and shut my eyes. I was glad to be riding in a taxi instead of having to wait for the train.† This passive act, not only wins Kaysen a spot at McLean but doesn’t help change her therapist opinions on her.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While reading, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† I realized that Gilman also is a passive person. But I feel Gi... ... appearances which is why I think she does what her husband and brother prescribe. She even says, â€Å"If a physicican of high-standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression – a slight hysterical tendency—what is one to do?† This brings me to the point that women in those times had to follow their husbands orders. Anything else was unheard of!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  By the end of both stories, the women had changed. Kaysen for the better and Gilman, I feel changed for the worse. In â€Å"Girl, Interrupted,† Kaysen meets friends, learn about life, love, and herself and gets out of McLean. She meets a very wealthy bachelor and they date. I feel she had the more positive ending of the two stories. Gilman in â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† on the other hand, should be sent to a real phsychiatric hospital. She did not have such a positive outcome. Basically, Gilman had her freedom and sanity stripped from her by her husband. Living in solitary confinement, I would have gone insane two. But in those times, she had no choice but to do what her husband requested. However sad, that was life at the time.

Vitamin C in Treatment of the Common Cold :: Health Medicine Papers

Vitamin C in Treatment of the Common Cold Is Vitamin C the cure for the common cold? Will it reduce the severity and duration of a cold? Will it prevent you from ever having another cold? Of course, we would all like to think that would be true, but what’s the real effect of Vitamin C supplements? What is Vitamin C and Where Can I Find It? Vitamin C is water soluble and functions as an antioxidant and as a coenzyme. Furthermore, it can perform different functions in various situations, such as aiding in collagen formation for teeth, cartilage, and connective tissue and aiding in the formation of new tissue in wound healing. Vitamin C can be found in foods such as broccoli, brussel sprouts, cantaloupe, grapefruit, kiwi, oranges, peppers, and strawberries. Presently the RDA is 60 mg. What are the Dangers? Vitamin C Deficiency Vitamin C deficiency is rather rare in Western countries, however, it still occurs in alcoholics, drug addicts, and the elderly--groups whose dietary intakes are often very poor. Marginal deficiency symptoms are gingivitis, loose teeth, aching limbs and joints, poor wound healing, and weakening of tissues which increases the risk of infection. (Grodner, Anderson, & DeYoung; 1996) Vitamin C Toxicity Despite the fact that Vitamin C is essential to good health, you can have too much of a good thing. Although toxicity from foods high in Vitamin C does not occur, taking supplements in large doses (1 gm to 15 gm) may result in symptoms such as cramps, nausea, diarrhea, kidney stones, and gout. After receiving excessive amounts of Vitamin C, the body begins to destroy much of the excess Vitamin C that is in circulation. Furthermore, there is a potential rebound effect upon abruptly stopping supplementation for the body is still in the process of destroying the vitamin. (Grodner, Anderson, & DeYoung; 1996) Brown (1973) also warned that chronic massive doses of Vitamin C resulted in increased mobilization of calcium and phosphate from the skeletons of chicks, weakening the bone structure. Although unsure if massive doses would produce the same effect in humans, the author warned against chronic massive supplementation. Vitamin C and Colds: How Does it Work? Vitamin C is often used for both prophylactic and therapeutic purposes. Wilson, Loh, and Foster (1972) state that the prophylactic effect refers to the ability of vitamin C to prevent a cold Furthermore, commencement of administration of vitamin C when cold symptoms first appear constitutes the therapeutic use.

Gastrin

What is gastrin? What is its source? What are its target cells? What are its functions? gastrin is one of the many hormones that stimulates secretion of digestive acid by the parietal cells that lining the stomach. The G cells produced and released the gastric acids in the stomach and the duodenum to allows the stomach to break down proteins swallowed as food and absorb certain vitamins, gastric acids also disinfectant and kills most of the bacteria when entering the stomach with food that reduces the risk of infection in the stomach. 2.What causes the release of gastrin? The G cells trigger the release of gastrin in the blood when food enters the stomach, as gastrin level rises in the blood, the stomach will release gastric acid to help digest and break down food. 3. What cells produce stomach acid? What is stomach acid? Parietal cells or oxyntic cells are cells that produce stomach acids. Stomach acid is a digestive fluid that has a pH of 1-2 composed of hydrochloric acid, potassiu m and sodium. 4. What systemic (body-wide) condition can occur as a result of too much stomach acid production (usually occurs due to excessive vomiting)?Explain why this happens. Helicobacter pylori or (H. pylori infection), patient with this condition may develop peptic ulcer if there is imbalance between the amount of acid and the mucus defense barrier lining the stomach thus, the amount of imbalance acid will damage the lining ot the stomach, causing the detense mucus barrier to be disrupted and inflammation to the stomach mucosa leading to acid to be increased and excessive vomiting that caused by lost of potassium, sodium, hydrogen and chloride ions in the stomach acid composition. 5. What is Helicobacter pylori? How is it treated?Is also known as H. pylori infection that is identified in the gastric antrum of patients with active chronic gastritis and peptic ulcers, which is now recognized as the major cause of gastric cancer. It can be treated by omeprazole and antibiotic tr eatment. 6. What pathological conditions can H. pylori cause in humans? Gastric adenocarcinoma, Chronic Gastritis, gastric cancer gastrointestinal cancers and peptic ulcers 7. What did this study assess/evaluate/explore? The study assess that gastrin has a distinct effect on the gastric corpus and antrum n the setting of chronic gastric Helicobacter infection.While gastrin is possibly an essential cofactor for gastric corpus carcinogenesis, gastrin deficiency can predispose animals to antral tumorigenesis, and thus any imbalances in gastrin physiology may represent a risk for gastric transformation 8. What were the authors' conclusions? There are different effect of gastrin on carcinogenesis (normal cells are transformed into cancer cells) of both the gastric corpus and antrum, suggesting that gastrin is an essential cofactor for gastric corpus carcinogenesis

What Is Hypnosis

What Is Hypnosis? Describe the psychological and physical aspects of hypnosis and discuss the role of relaxation in Hypnotherapy. Before we can begin to discuss anything about hypnotherapy, it is important to discuss what hypnosis actually is. This essay aims to arrive at a definition of hypnosis by describing the psychological and physical aspects and looking at it use by hypnotherapists and the role of relaxation within this. The history of hypnosis dates back to the times of ancient Egypt and it has been quite a contentious history.From Mesmer to de Puysegur in the 1700’s; from the first use of the term hypnosis by Braid in 1840 to it’s use as an anaesthetic in surgery by Esdaile and Elliotson; from the work of Erikson (widely regarded to be the grandfather of modern hypnosis) to the present day, the debate continues and theorists are divided as to the true nature of hypnosis. These differences of opinion stem from difficulties in actually measuring hypnosis. Hypnosi s is a subjective experience and, as such, no two individuals who undergo the process will have exactly the same experience.Often requiring the use of psychological measures, it is, therefore, more difficult to measure reliably in comparison to physiological matters such as heart rate and blood pressure; although, technological advances in the use of EEG’s (electroencephalograms) and neuroimaging have been very useful. Hence, the nature of hypnosis has long been the subject of contentious debate between those who seek scientific experimental explanations of its various psychological and physical aspects and those hypnotherapists who seek to use it as a tool with which to help people.Even today, theorists are divided into two camps: State theorists who believe that the practice of hypnosis brings about an altered state of consciousness and non-state theorists who believe that the hypnotic state or trance is little different from everyday relaxation and that its effects are mer ely reactions to suggestions which would have occurred without the use of hypnotic induction, e. g. Spanos (1982). However, for the purpose of this essay, I will assume that the state theorists are correct and assert that hypnosis is an altered state of mind which occurs through the use of a set of techniques by the hypnotist.It can enhance a person’s concentration and responsiveness to suggestion in order to enable them to make desired and beneficial changes to their behaviours, feelings, thoughts and physiological state, thereby enhancing their lives. There are a number of complex psychological aspects involved in hypnosis. In 1951, Solomon Asch carried out a study of conformity whereby subjects were told that they were taking part in a study of visual perception with 6 other people. In fact, only one person in each group was the true subject of Asch’s experiment as the other 6 were aware of the true nature of the study.Each participant in turn (the subject being las t) was asked to say which line from a set of three was the same length as the line on the target card. The answers were obvious, but on hearing all the other participants give incorrect answers, in one out of three trials they gave the same incorrect answers. In the control group where the subjects were asked to write their answers in private, incorrect responses were rare. This experiment has been difficult to replicate more recently as modern culture has changed the way that people conform.The work of Milgram in 1963 showed that ordinary people (65% of subjects) were willing to follow the instructions of an authority figure even if this involved apparently causing harm to others i. e, punishing them with a shock of 450 volts for answering a question incorrectly. Such studies show that, as people, we tend to be more comfortable when we fit in, conform, or comply with the instructions of those in authority. As clients would generally be considered to have some level of rapport with their hypnotist it is reasonable to assume that some responses to suggestion could be explained in these terms.For example, if a hypnotist suggests that a clients arm feels so light that it may float into the air, the client may raise their arm because they feel that this is what is expected and they would feel uncomfortable if they did not conform with the perceived expectation of the hypnotist. It is important to understand this innate need to conform, which we all have, in terms of the people with whom we will work and always endeavour to treat people with respect and professionalism. There is also a possibility that some aspect of role-play may be involved on the part of the client i. , they may behave in a way that they believe a hypnotised person should behave. The concept of attribution may also have a part to play; i. e. does the subject attribute the experience they have had to having being hypnotised or do they attribute their experience to having been deeply relaxed and e ngrossed in their internal image? Other psychological aspects involved in hypnosis are the use of selective attention whereby the subject concentrates on a limited range of usually internal stimuli such as feelings and imagery and imagination here the subject is often instructed by the hypnotist to imagine a scene. The above section describes the psychological aspects of hypnosis, so what are the physical aspects? As mentioned above, the use of electroencephalogram’s (EEG) and neuroimaging with hypnotised subjects have been able to identify differences in brain functioning in hypnotised people. Askerinsky & Kleitman (1953) were able to show that hypnotised subjects were not in fact asleep as some early theories had suggested. Different levels of consciousness produce different levels of electrical activity within the brain.Beta Waves occur at a rate of 15 to 40 cycles per second and are present when our minds are engaged and focussed, perhaps in conversation or learning a new task. Alpha waves occur at a rate of 9 to 14 cycles per second and are present when we are engaged in some relaxed, creative or problem solving task and are accompanied by feelings of well-being. Alpha waves are not present when we are experiencing anger fear, high arousal levels or when we are in deep sleep but are present during light trance/hypnotic state.During this state, relaxation of the body may occur; breathing and pulse rate slow and an individual may appear to be day-dreaming as they direct their attention towards their imagination. Theta Waves occur at a rate of 4 to 8 cycles per second and are associated with our subconscious mind where our past experiences and memories are held. Freud was the first theorist to propose the presence of the unconscious mind. This is the area of our minds which deals with non-voluntary bodily functions, thus freeing up the rest of our minds for things which we actively need to think about.Theta waves may be present when we are day dreamin g, carrying out automatic well learned tasks such as driving and when we dream. They are associated with calmness and feelings of serenity and are present in medium and deep hypnotic states. During moderate and deep hypnotic states a person may lose awareness of their surroundings but gain an increased awareness of their internal functions (breathing/heart rate). Imagery becomes more intense and suggestions may be interpreted literally. Limbs may feel limp or stiff; attention narrows further and there may be loss of environmental awareness.Delta Waves occur at a rate of 1 to 4 cycles per second. These are the slowest waves which are present when are in our deepest state of rest when no other waves are present. When these waves are present we are in a state of sleep and possibly very deep hypnosis such as the Esdaile State used by the surgeon of the same name in order to anaesthetise patients for surgery. In addition other physical aspects of hypnosis include, feeling warm or cold an d tingling of the extremities. Subjects often feel sleepy and close their eyes and there can be a reduction in response to noise.Some people experience feeling strange or detached and dissociated from their body or surroundings and feelings of floating are common. These feelings vary from person to person and are dependent upon an individuals’ psychological predisposition and responses as described above. No two people will have exactly the same response to hypnosis and each experience is subjective. As we go through the different levels of consciousness our brain wave activity changes in a smoothly organised manner. For example, when relaxing into sleep we go from Beta to Alpha, to Theta and finally Delta waves predominate.The reverse happens as we awake. The waves which predominate during hypnosis are Alpha and Theta and it is these waves which provide a route to our subconscious. Relaxation has an important role to play in Hypnotherapy. Jacobson (1929) was the first to not e the helpfulness of consciously relaxing muscles to enable them to maintain a relaxed state and improve the health and wellbeing of his patients. Most hypnotic screeds include suggestions of relaxation which help the subject to physically relax to the degree that Alpha and Theta brain waves are produced.Suppressed memories may be brought to the surface when Theta waves are present and although this may be painful, it offers the client the opportunity to discuss and address any such issues with their hypnotherapist if they choose to do so. Such therapy can be helpful and aid healing if carried out with sensitivity. As a cautionary note, Mingay (1988) suggests that dissociated memories accessed under hypnosis may be at risk of contamination by fantasy or leading questions on the part of the hypnotherapist.Along with this deep, relaxation comes an increase in suggestibility, i. e. we tend to respond to suggestions made by the hypnotherapist more readily than we would generally. Heap ( 1996) argues that suggestion and trance are crucial to any definition of hypnosis. Whilst in a deeply relaxed hypnotic state, the Hypnotherapist is able to make suggestions which can help the subject to change their behaviours, feelings or thought patterns in a beneficial way. For example, if a client wishes to stop smoking, the hypnotherapist might suggest that they now choose to be a non-smoker.In fact, there are a number of ways in which a Hypnotherapist can utilise suggestion whilst a client is in a relaxed hypnotic state in order to produce beneficial effects. It can be used to produce anaesthesia in the body – the use of hypnosis for surgery has been mentioned above but there is ample evidence that hypnotic suggestion can influence physiological responses governed by the autonomic nervous system. Grabowska (1971) found that subjects were able to alter the blood flow in their forearms via hypnotic suggestion and Olness et el (1989) found that children were able to alter their concentrations of salivary immunoglobulin A.The use of Progressive Muscle Relaxation during hypnotic induction not only enables subjects to enter a hypnotic trance state and more readily accept beneficial suggestions but repeated use of PMR during Hypnotherapy can enable clients to be able to relax more readily in general and in situations where they may ordinarily become very stressed. Suggestions can be given which allow people to relax when needed as long as it is safe to do so and such techniques can be used to reduce general anxiety and stress, help improve sleep patterns and reduce phobic fear reactions to such things as public speaking and flying.In conclusion, hypnosis is not of itself a therapy. It is a state of mind which can be induced and its use in hypnotherapy can be described as a complex psychological interaction between the hypnotherapist and their client(s) during which the hypnotherapist uses the hypnotic screed, which often includes an element of PMR, to en able the client to relax encouraging the presence of Alpha and Theta brain waves and access to the subconscious.In this state, the clients’ concentration and responsiveness to suggestions made by the hypnotherapist increases, thereby enabling them to make desired, beneficial changes to their behaviours, feelings and thoughts and thus, enhancing their lives. References: Hadley, J. & Staudacher, C. 1996, Hypnosis for Change; 3rd edn; Canada, New Harbinger publications Heap, M. , & Dryden, W. , 1991, Hypnotherapy: A Handbook, OU Press What is hypnosis? The earliest known description of hypnosis dates back more than 6000 years ago to rites performed in Egyptian sleep temples. The Indus Vedas knowledge sacred book written around 1500 BC, mentions the use of hypnotic techniques and procedures in detail yet in 2012 we still find it difficult to answer the question â€Å"what is hypnosis?†. ‘All sciences alike have descended from magic and superstition, but none have been so slow as hypnosis in shaking off the association of its origin'. (Clark Hull, Hypnosis and suggestibility, 1984). The grandfather of hypnosism is regarded to be Franz Anton Mesmer who achieved some very amazing cures. He was, however, prone to be a bit theatrical wearing long flowing robes and brandishing a wand to complete his wizard image. Treatments and cures were conducted in large arenas with many onlookers. The film Svengali, although pure fiction did a lot to discredit hypnosis for many years by portraying hypnotists as evil predators and also inspired the emerging stage hypnotists. Even today stage hypnotists continue to discredit hypnotism making it hard to be taken seriously as an emerging science. It is my view that the use of hypnotism for entertainment should be completely banned. Abuse allegations where hypnotism has been said to be a contributing factor still regularly appear in our newspapers fueling the public perception that the only safe hypnosis is that which is performed in a public arena in front of millions of people for entertainment. My introduction would not be complete without mentioning the impact of the church. As a practicing Christian I find it difficult to understand how people practicing the same faith as me could believe that hypnotism could be believed to be evil. What i find more astounding is the fact that some people, educated people still think that today. ‘Whilst hypnosis and its use in hypnotherapy seem merely to be the input by the hypnotist of ideas into the subconscious of a subject in a heightened state of suggestibility, I would contend that this art of psychic manipulation is in fact of demonic origin. Though these roots of hypnosis are now obscured by an undergrowth of scientific jargon, it remains a dangerous activity to anyone involved.' (Dr A. D. Bambridge, Nucleus, 1987) There is no exact definition of what hypnosis is, mainly because no such definition can be agreed upon by all the experts. It has been described as ‘the deliberate inducement or facilitation by one person in another person or a number of people of a trance state. A trance state is one in which a person's usual means of orientating himself in reality have faded, so that the boundaries between the external world and the inner world of thoughts, feelings, memories and imagination begin to dissolve.' (Robin Waterfield, Hidden Depths, 2004). It has also been described as ‘a state of mental relaxation and restricted awareness in which the subjects are usually engrossed in their inner experiences such as feelings and imagery, are less analytical and logical in their thinking, and have an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestions in an automatic and dissociated manner.' (Windy Dryden, Hypnotherapy, a handbook, 1991). The clearest description being ‘a state of mind brought about by the use of a set of techniques. It enhances an individual's concentration and increases their responsiveness to suggestion in order to make the beneficial changes that the individual may wish to make in their thought patterns, their behaviour or their physiological state.' (Chrysalis, 2010) ‘It is probably more useful to describe hypnosis than attempt to define it. Features of the hypnotic state include the following: Acceptance of imaginary phenomena in place of sensory experience, and detachment from the sensorium; Suspension of reality testing, suspension of everyday cognitive logic and secondary-process thinking; Narrowing of attention (a sort of mental tunnel vision) to the content of the focus of the hypnotic exercise: suggested by the therapist or created by the subject's own imagination or memory; ‘splitting' of consciousness into separate channels that communicate in only one direction (i.e. The subject's normal consciousness, attitudes, reality testing and so on continue and are aware of the content of the hypnotised self, but the latter is unaware of the former); A rather regressed or developmentally immature frame of mind (closely akin to some transference phenomena in analysis or analytic therapy); Commitment to a substitute reality described by the therapist or the patient's own imagination and memory.' (Hellmut Karle and Jennifer Boys, Hypnotherapy a practical handbook, 1987) The mind still remains unmeasurable and unquantifiable and therefore a definition of any science or therapy based on the mind will always remain something open to debate and discussion. The fact that the hypnotic experience is personal and each individual will experience something different simply complicates things further. ‘There are a number of people, academics above all, who simply do not believe in the existence of mind. They think that this a naive belief held by the rest of us, and that the phenomena attributed to our minds are best explained otherwise.' (Robin Waterfield, Hidden Depths, 2004). It seems the best that the experts can do is fairly agree as to the psychological and physiological phenomena experienced during hypnosis. Psychological phenomena often experienced during hypnosis could include hyper suggestibility (so important that it is often considered definitional of hypnosis), time distortion (when an hour may appear to pass in a minute), super learning and creativity, spontaneous age regression, hypermnesia and amnesia. (Robin Waterfield, Hidden Depths, 2004) Since the invention of the electroencephalogram in 1929 we have been able to measure the electrical activity of the brain. Scientists have determined that there are four main brain waves which vary in frequency. 1. Beta waves (15 to 40 cycles per second). These are typical of a focused and engaged mind. These are found in abundance in our modern, busy life style. 2. Alpha waves (9 to 14 cycles per second). These are typical of taking a rest after an activity. They are present during times of creativity and problem solving but not during times of fear, anger, in a deep sleep or highly aroused. 3. Theta waves (4 to 8 cycles per second). These are present during sleeping and some meditative states.. These are associated with (amongst other things) medium to deep hypnosis. These waves are associated with our subconscious mind. You may be in the theta range when daydreaming or driving a car. It is where we engage with our intuition learning and creativity. It is where we have our best ideas. You may recall having moments such as these on a car journey or in the bath. 4. Delta waves (1 to 4 cycles per second). These waves are produced at our slowest, deepest state of rest. There are never any other waves active. They are present during the deepest hypnosis and sleepless sleep. You can never reach 0 cycles per second as that is brain dead. These waves will dip and flow and at any one moment one will be predominant and the others will just be present as a trace and moving from one to another depending on the state of the individual. From what we know about the frequencies we can see that hypnosis occurs during alpha and theta waves and that these waves are associated with relaxation which we will discuss later. Although philosophers and mystics may have been reflecting on a subconscious mind for centuries our understanding of it only dates back to the time of Sigmund Freud. We know that it is responsible for the non-voluntary bodily functions that keep our bodies working from one day to the next freeing our mind up to concentrate on the things of the day. Think about all those skills we learned within the first year or two of our lives – moving limbs, making a noise, swallowing food, standing, walking etc etc. Imagine for one moment that all those skills had to be thought about each and every time we wanted to use them. Our day would be completely filled with just those things. We learn those skills and then pass them to the subconscious mind to action them, leaving our conscious mind free to learn more and develop. So hypnosis is simply about assisting someone to reach the state where the predominant brain waves are the alpha and theta waves and so access their subconscious mind. As mentioned previously these waves are associated with relaxation which has, as our life styles have become more and more busy over time, become more and more difficult to achieve on ones own. Hypnosis and relaxation are not the same. Hypnosis uses relaxation techniques to relax the body and relaxation is an indication that a person has achieved a hypnotic state. The difference is that hypnosis aims to reach a special state of consciousness where selective attention and increased suggestibility are present. Hypnosis will then use this state to effect changes in a person through beneficial suggestions A brief look at the physiology of muscles shows us that muscle units work on an all or nothing principle, meaning they are either contracting or relaxed and there are no other states. The problem is that due to the constant stress that modern living brings with it some muscles, in particular the shoulders and neck, are constantly in contraction. In 1929 Dr Edmond Jacobson discovered that most of his patients, all with unrelated problems, had tense muscles and that by relaxing these muscles he could reduce the severity of their symptoms. He also noticed that most patients were not aware of the tension they carried with them. He developed a technique called Progressive Muscle Relaxation (or PMR) which enabled the patients to relax their muscles and keep them relaxed and thereby improve their physical, mental and emotional state. Hypnosis uses an updated form of PMR to achieve the same results. We know that relaxation does not mean laying on a bed and it does not mean being asleep. We will all have experienced times when we have driven somewhere and cannot remember getting there. We certainly would not say we were asleep. Long distance runners will also experience the same phenomena and often cannot remember huge amounts of the run. As a long distance runner myself I am aware of the importance of relaxing whilst running and can bring my pulse rate back to normal within a mile or two of the start of a run. I having been practicing PMR techniques for years whilst running without knowing that it existed In conclusion then it is still difficult to answer then question of what is hypnosis with a simple definition because in the past it has been so closely associated with theatrical entertainment or rejected by the church or wrapped in superstition, falsely portrayed as evil on film and used by some to abuse people that the scientific community never took it seriously as a science until recently. The fact that a number of academics deny the existence of the mind does not help matters either. We can begin to describe it in terms of the psychological and physiological phenomena experienced during hypnosis but not much more. We know that there is nothing mystical or magical about the hypnotic state. Put simply it is assisting someone to reach the state where the predominant brain waves are the alpha and theta waves and so access their subconscious mind where selective attention and increased suggestibility are present and then use this state to effect changes in the person through beneficial suggestions. We know that to achieve this state we can make use of PMR Albert Einstein said that we only use 10% of our brain. Maybe with hypnosis we are just beginning to push at a door that will lead us into the remaining 90%. History has given us glimpses of an amazing power that we don't yet understand. People undergoing major surgery with anaesthesia, curing debilitating physical conditions, amazing accounts of healing. What is hypnosis today? What could hypnosis be tomorrow?