Police Psychology Essay

A number of methods of learning are available. Studies have shown that most people learn best if the information is presented in more than one format. Because the police officers involved in the crisis prevention will eventually be involved in real-life hostage situations, it is very important that they learn the information effectively. The training will involve a forty hour training, which will take place over a work week. The training would involve all staff that would in some way be involved with a hostage crisis. This would include the police who would respond first to the scene, specialists who would be called in, and dispatchers who take the calls for help. The first day of training would be in oral format. The information would include an introduction of the type of crisis and the basics on the type of people who would be involved (nervous, stressed, frightened, volatile people, who need to be handled very carefully), types of situations, potential places and victims. To get involvement experienced police officers would be encouraged to provide insights on real- life situations and the group could problem solve how to respond. The second day would be watching video trainings of actual situations, then having question and answers over how they were handled and the outcomes. The third day the group would be divided into small groups. Each group would be given a situation (domestic disturbance with the father holding the family hostage or five armed gunmen in an elementary school). Each group would decide the best way to handle the situation, and then the entire group would discuss all of the scenarios and discuss how individual situations would be handled differently. They would discuss whether the father would be more likely to become violent or the gunmen in the school, or a disgruntled employee in his former employer’s office. They would then discuss such issues as motive and background to determine which personalities would be more likely to escalate and which could be talked down. The fourth day would involve the legal issues on how to deal with hostage situations and what promises or threats could be made. The issue of homeland security would come about for public buildings and the United States policy on negotiating with terrorists would be an issue for discussion. The fifth day would be putting the information to the test in a simulated hostage situation. Each member of the group would be required to cover his or her job as if it was a real hostage situation. At the end of it debriefing would occur to discuss what went well and what needed improvement. In a case potentially involving members of the police department it would be very important to keep the information about the case among the main investigators of the case. The role of the psychologist in this case would be to retrace the events of the mayor’s last moments. This would involve learning more about the meeting that had taken place between him and the other prominent official. Since this was the last time he had been seen alive it would be important to find out if something about the meeting led to his death. Part of the psychologist’s job would be to find out if any of the police officials might be involved. In addition to this the psychologist would need to support the other investigators when they have to investigate their co-workers and their superiors. Investigating people close to them could be very difficult for the investigators, especially if they should happen to find that some of their colleagues were involved. In the case that there was police involvement in the murder and the investigators became forced to testify against people they have worked with or for it could create new need for the psychologists. In this situation the psychologist would need to provide support for the investigating officers through the investigation and the trial, against the fear of retaliation. Part of this would involve observing the behavior of other officers towards the investigating officers and being aware of changed behavior towards them. The tools needed for the psychologist’s role would include such things as observation skills, client records and profiles. It would require interviewing and record keeping as well as assisting the investigating officers in finding the motive for the murder. In any field effective management is very important and the relationship between management and subordinates is very important. In the police field it is exceptionally important, because not only does the effectiveness of the business depend on a positive relationship, but the very lives of the police officers could be involved. If the management of the police force is not well organized people can be sent on assignments without needed information or equipment, and be injured or killed on the assignment. Strong management needs to be organized and well informed. Management needs to be aware of the details of cases and situations before officers are placed in harms way. Although in police work there is no way to completely avoid danger, the severity and threat can be minimized by appropriate and thought out preparation and training. For a manager to be effective in placing employees in the proper positions and assignments, it is important for the manager to know the employee’s strengths and weaknesses. The psychologist can be helpful in this area by getting to know both the management team and the officers. By studying the personality styles of everyone involved, the psychologist can help match managers with the subordinates who would work best with them in order to make the team more effective. In addition to matching people, the psychologist would be effective in helping management know what assignments and positions would be best for which officers. In time of crisis or after a stressful assignment, the psychologist would be very important in debriefing the staff and minimizing conflicts among staff members.

Review of the Child Protective Services Investigation Process Essay

In the beginning of 2004, the tragic death of a young boy in San Antonio, TX raised concerns about Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services’ (TDPRS) procedures relating to the investigation of the child protective services (CPS) process, including responding to telephone reports and assessing the risk of maltreatment accurately. TDPRS is currently under investigation ordered by the Governor, Rick Perry. The Governor stated, â€Å"there is enough evidence from various parts of the state to suggest that some of our most vulnerable children are not receiving the protection they need from abusive situations. The evidence leads me to believe we have a systemic breakdown in the safety net that must protect abused children† (www.governor.state.tx.us July 1, 2004). This paper examines current procedures in the investigation process and provides recommendations for improvement related to several of the details and feature of the operations process. â€Å"Reinventing government† initiatives draw heavily on supply chain management, total quality management, business process reengineering, and just-in-time delivery – concepts that fall under the Operations Management umbrella.(Chase, 2003). Because this review is narrowly focused on the CPS investigation process, there are several essential elements of child welfare services that are not addressed in this paper, including substitute care and permanency services. OVERVIEW OF FUNCTIONAL AREAS The overall goal of CPS is to protect the unprotected children from abuse and neglect. This report focuses on specific CPS functions and crosscutting themes. These functions are those that comprise the child protection response to allegations of abuse and neglect. Operational definitions described in this report include: * Screening and Intake – the process by which CPS receives a referral and a report concerning allegations of child abuse or neglect, and decides whether or not to respond to the referral and report. * Investigation – the process by which CPS determines whether child maltreatment has occurred or if a child is at risk of maltreatment, and the decisions and actions that are needed to ensure the child’s safety. * Other CPS Response and Alternative Response – a response to an allegation of abuse or neglect that assesses the needs of the child or family with or without requiring a determination that maltreatment has occurred or that the child is at risk of maltreatment for the purpose of providing the family with services. For each function, there are several different features. The workflow of these functions is described in Table 1. SCREENING AND INTAKE Receiving community referrals, which includes those from mandated professional reporters and the population at large, is the gateway to CPS. Features of the intake procedures include the availability to receive reports, methods for documenting reports, and timeframes for accepting and forwarding a report. Intake is available 24-hours a day 7 days a week, and centralized in Austin, TX. Referred reports are generally categorized into two groups. In the first group, CPS caseworkers are dispatched immediately for children believed to be in imminent risk of harm. In the second group, investigations are usually initiated within 10 days. The policies indicate that a decision protocol for forwarding cases for investigation. The hotline workers conduct quality assurance (QA) reviews on each case and decision to forward a case to investigation is made with supervisor approval. In case of sexual abuse and serious abuse, the case must be notified to law enforcement. INVESTIGATION The investigation function addresses the process of determining whether a child has been maltreated or is likely to be maltreated, and if services are needed to ensure the child will not be harmed in the future. TDPRS implemented the use of risk and safety assessment (IRA) as tools to guide decision-making as to when and how to intervene to keep children safe in the immediate future and to reduce long-term risk. The result of IRA was included at case closure, during case planning at any major decision point, or whenever circumstances suggest a child’s safety is at risk. Investigators usually check if the child’s family has had a prior validated report of abuse or neglect. Investigators then visit and interview the family, including initiating face-to-face contact with the children, and begin collecting information about the alleged maltreatment incident. If an investigator, during the initial investigation, believes that a child has been maltreated and needs the court to protect the child’s safety, the investigator must initiate judicial oversight of the case, which can be time-consuming and complicated. While the investigator is following the procedures involved in investigating the alleged maltreatment, he or she is also developing a tentative plan to address those conditions in the home that CPS believes contributed to the maltreatment of the child. This plan ultimately becomes the case plan that outlines treatment services for the child and the family. The plan described what actions are required of all the parties involved to correct the condition that caused the maltreatment. OTHER CPS RESPONSE AND ALTERNATIVE RESPONSE The overall goals of alternative response are to provide a response option to those families whose situations did not meet the mandate or criteria for CPS involvement, to serve low-risk or low-severity situations, or to improve family situations. This is to emphasize partnering the families with the community and creating a network for the family, protect children and assist parents to recognize and remedy conditions harmful to their children, provide preventive services before the need of CPS involvement is required, and prevent the family from potentially being re-referred. The causes of child abuse and neglect are complex, and a case plan can involve referrals to an array of individuals, including caseworkers from other units in the agency, private service providers such as mental health and counseling professionals, other public agencies such as housing and transportation services. CURRENT WORKFLOW Documenting business process flows visually not only helps in ISO and QS initiatives, but it is the first step toward continuous improvement. (Gould, L. 2000) A good way to start analyzing a process is with a diagram showing the basic elements of a process (Chase, 2003) Table 1 describes the overview of current workflow from the time the report of maltreatment was reported to CPS until the completion of the investigation. Table 1 UNDERLYING PROBLEMS Because child protection is a critical service and because of the seriousness consequences of errors, CPS must seek to insure the quality, timeliness, and accuracy of the process both through detailed specifications (laws, regulations, and policy) and thorough supervisory oversight. However, the process must be balanced with systems that give workers and supervisors sufficient flexibility to apply sound professional judgment. Increases in the number of maltreatment cases, the changing nature of family problems, and long-standing systemic weaknesses have placed the CPS system in a state of crisis and undermined its ability to fully carry out the responsibilities for abused and neglected children. First, child maltreatment reports have risen steadily across the state. The caseloads of CPS have grown correspondingly, and CPS cannot keep pace with this workload. Second, these caseloads are increasingly composed of families whose problems have grown more troubling and complicated, with substance abuse a common and pervasive condition. Finally, systemic weaknesses, such as difficulty maintaining professional and skilled workforce, inconsistently implementing policies and procedures, and poor working relationships with outside resources has created a long-standing problems. The combined effect of difficult caseloads and systemic weaknesses may endanger the lives of children coming to the attention of CPS. In CPS, the staff sometimes deal with life-and-death issues, the knowledge of and consistent application of appropriate policies and procedures are critical. However, CPS staff is unable to consistently apply existing policies such as inadequate safety assessment. This is because policies change frequently, no procedures manual exists, and information is inconsistently distributed to all staff. By necessity, CPS should work efficiently and effectively with outside resources to protect children. However, the outside resources, like CPS, also face problems associated with the large volume of increasingly complex cases, budget cuts, and Medicaid reform. Unnecessary time spent to transfer or refer cases diverts the investigator from performing investigative activities on other open cases and create â€Å"congestion† in workflow. COMPARE AND CONTRAST WITH OTHER PRACTICE In 1994, Missouri developed a new strategy to handle the overwhelming number of reports coming into its CPS system. Missouri recognized that state government, acting alone, had neither the resources nor the local community, neighborhood, or family base to effectively alter the cycle of abuse and neglect. The agency and local CPS offices have turned to the broader community of churches, schools, mental health providers, and others to expand their reach. By developing partnerships with these community groups, CPS is able to quickly increase the number of people available to serve children and their families, without increasing CPS staffing levels. The model in this state is also based on the premise that not all CPS cases require the same traditional approach. Instead, the models incorporate a flexible response, whereby CPS cases can be grouped according to the nature of the allegation, recognizing that different types of allegations required different responses. RECOMMENDATIONS Build Community Partnership Different types of maltreatment require dramatically different prevention and treatment strategies. It is critical for CPS to form partnerships between CPS and community service providers. This will allow the cases to be referred and transferred more smoothly and in a timely manner. However, ultimate success will depend on the CPS staff’s ability to overcome certain challenges, such as developing willingness within the community to become more active in protecting children from maltreatment and to adapt to new roles and responsibilities. Refine the Key Performance Requirement Key Performance Requirements How to Achieve These Requirements Report Receipt (Intake) * Community awareness of when and how to report * Minimal wait to reach the intake workers * Effective use of the CAPS (agency computer system) * Enhanced phone system that provide real time information, manage call distribution to available workers, and support estimation of staffing requirements Screening * Immediate response to high risk situations * Reasonable timeliness of decisions on other situations * Sound screening decisions * Screening guidelines that provide consistent direction * Immediate access to relevant information system * Real-time consultation from experienced supervisors Assessment (Investigation) * Sufficient thoroughness; reasonable and prudent efforts made to obtain relevant information * Timeliness of decisions * Decisions consistent with information and with policy * Assessment guidelines that provide consistent direction * Assessment timeliness requirements that balance thorough information gathering with responsiveness * Reasonable caseloads and adequate number of staff * Accessible consultation from experienced supervisors Management Reporting * Information that enables management to make sound judgments regarding overall performance and other matters, such as staffing requirements * Information that enables supervisors to manage caseloads and monitor quality and timeliness * Use of the information to identify targeted improvements where needed * Real-time information about on-going cases * Reports on both the detailed (by worker) and summary (by unit) level on caseloads and case status (pending, deadlines, overdue, etc.) * Reports of quality assurance findings * Designation of specific performance measures that will be tracked and monitored with comparisons across local offices * Management reports on overall program performance including workload, timeliness, quality assurance results, investigation outcomes, list of outside resources, etc. CONCLUSION TDPRS is facing increased reports of child abuse and neglect, as well as a disturbing increase in the number of families with severe and multiple problems. The burden to improve the ways CPS responds to children at risk of abuse and neglect falls on state and local governments. When a process is operating at capacity, the only way to take on more work without increasing the waiting time is add more capacity (Chase, 2003) CPS management must recognize that the traditional approaches to child protection cannot keep pace with the demand for services. CPS needs to reach out to communities to establish partnerships among service providers, as well as our citizens. Furthermore, the CPS management team must look at the entire workflow of the operations process and recognize long-standing systemic problems. It is critical to seek ways to correct deficiencies and to build and maintain the personnel that will support the operations management strategies. REFERENCES: Chase, R. (2003). Product design and process selection. Operations Management for Competitive Advantage, Tenth Edition. The McGraw-Hill Companies. Chase, R. (2003). Operations strategy and management change. Operations Management for Competitive Advantage, Tenth Edition. The McGraw-Hill Companies. www. tdprs.state.tx.us www.governor.state.tx.us Gould, L. (2004) Designing a better business. Gardner Publications, Inc. Retrieved from www.autofieldguid.com on 8/23/04 McDonald W. (2001). National study of child protective services systems and reform efforts – Literature review. Retrieved from www.aspe.hhs.gov.hsp/protective01/ on 8/22/04. http://www.gao.gov/archive/1997/he97115.pdf

Edward Snowden Essay

Does anybody like to be watched? At face value, nobody wants other people to know their secrets and possibly use those secrets against them and surely nobody want all their online information recorded and their phone call wired. So why is the National Security Agency (NSA) carefully taking down everything we do with their giant yeottabyte-computers deep in the Utah Desert? We know about this NSA scheme because of the leaker Edward Snowden who has been recently granted a one-year temporary asylum by the Russian government. Why Russia granted the asylum and why Snowden is even there can be tied to three basic concepts of intercultural communication, those of culture & social group, perspective, and cultural relativism. Edward Snowden was a â€Å"security contractor at the NSA for the last four year, employed by several private contractors† (Economist 8840, 23). After announcing that he leaked the information that the NSA is using a program code-named PRISM, which collects an unknown quantity of e-mails, internet phone-calls, photos, videos, file transfer, and social-networking data from the technology giants such as Google and Facebook, Snowden boarded a plane flight to Hong Kong. According to his followers, Snowden first fled into the arms of the Chinese and then the Russian because of the harsh treatments Private Bradley Manning, the leaker of military secrets to WikiLeaks, received. On August 1, Snowden â€Å"finally managed to break free of his confinement at the transit zone of Moscow’s international airport† after he received his asylum on Thursday. In theory, this event is deeply connected to three concepts of communication: culture & social group, perspective, and cultural relativism. The three concepts are all concepts that are based on an intercultural point of view, because they all represent our culture and the dif ferences it has with other cultures. Our culture is as distinct from other cultures as two different people, they think differently, and interpret and act in accordance only to their own maxims and perspectives. The government’s perspective is very different from Snowden’s perspective, without their perspective being different, Snowden would not have done what he did, or the U.S. would not be chasing him around the globe. In addition, if the Russian Government did not recognize cultural relativism, Snowden could never dream of getting an asylum from Russia. Our culture is a key factor of why the Snowden affair even began. Because our culture can be considered quite a zealous security culture, we impose such rules that social communities and  other culture may not approve. After â€Å"September 11th 2001, George Bush tipped the balance too far from liberty toward security† and the balance stayed off ever since (Economist 8847, 11). Due to the common American way of life, people prefer a way of living in which they receive the most amount of comfort. If you walk up to an American and ask him what he thinks is important in life, one of his many answers will be the enjoyment of life. Snowden is no exception, and thought that doing something that would potentially stop the government from watching us and make himself feel more comfortable when he use a phone is totally acceptable. While the government is thinking about tracking down potential criminals, Snowden is thinking about why he is being watched and record and wired every second of his life except when he is asleep. Snowden’s perspective is the same as the government in that they both want the best for the people, but they differ widely on how that is to be achieved. Snowden believes that in order for the people to be free and genuinely happy, they must be given the right of doing what they want without certain constrains such as having their telephone record collected when they are not suspected of crimes. On the other hand, the government believed that the more America knows, the better it is at defending itself. Due to the fact that Snowden had a different perspective from the government, he â€Å"handed over ‘thousands’ of classified documents† and showed Americans what the government is doing behind their backs and in front of their faces (Economist 8840, 23). Even though there has been questions regarding why Russia granted Snowden the asylum, it can be explained easily by the communication concept of cultural relativism. Cultural relativism recognizes that cultures vary in how they think and behave as well as in what they believe and value. This clarified the point that Russians do not think as Americans and their gover nment functions differently. If Russia were to think like the American government, it would have never looked for â€Å"trouble† with Snowden. Americans consider their own welfare above all other things; due to that, when the American government grants asylums to â€Å"criminals† desperately wanted elsewhere, the government rarely think about how it is affecting the other countries. Now, when the American government is put in this situation, it automatically assumes that all action done for Snowden’s benefit is for American’s detriment. On the Russian point of view, what they are doing may actually be a way to keep the  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Security-Prioritized Americans† from going to war with others for no good reason. It is posisble that Russia thinks that it is wrong for a country to be a hypocrite, and that the American government should â€Å"learn a little lesson† from Russia’s asylum grant. Edward Snowden would not have done what he did without his culture, his social group, and his perspective. On the other hand, Russia would not grant an asylum if they did not recognize cultural relativism. Over all, the Snowden affair has been a controversy between the people and the government. The people have to apply all the communication concepts to use in order to make the future of America the best possible, and the government has to make its best judgments based on the people’s decisions. Therefore, people should all learn be better communicators, thus become better citizens, and help their country at such times of need as this.

Energy Consumption & Modernization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Energy Consumption & Modernization - Essay Example From this paper it is clear that  peak load is the highest amount of power or electric value recorded at a particular period. Peak load values will be obtained when there is more demand on the electricity due to use of appliances. In this case peak load values in the student halls will be recorded during the early morning when the students will be preparing to go to class or any other activities they are involved in. The use of the instant heating showers, blow dryers, iron box coupled with the demand to ensure that the room is warm enough due to the morning cold, the amount of electricity in use instantaneously shoots up. Peak load can also be noticed in the evenings just when the students are coming back from their classes and other activities they have been engaging in during the day.  This research declares that  base load is the lowest average in energy consumption at a particular period when the consumption is steady.  Base load values will be obtained when there is les s demand on the electricity. In the students halls Base load values will be recorded during the day while most of the students will be away, because this brings down the overall consumption of energy although the values during the day might not be very reliab lebecause of the students left in the halls since the will still be consuming the electricity this may take out the steady aspect in the calculation of base load values.

Paper 3--The Persuasive Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

3--The Persuasive - Research Paper Example The champions of vegetarianism are so convinced of the benefits of vegetarianism that some of them even advocate that it should be made compulsory. However, although its practitioners put forward many arguments in favor of vegetarianism, none of these are strong or conclusive enough to warrant such an extreme stand. The two major arguments advocated in favor of vegetarianism center round the health benefits of avoiding meat and cruelty to animals. Both these arguments are refutable and open to debate. The primary health-centered argument advanced by vegetarians is that a vegetable based diet has major health benefits, when compared to an animal based diet. It can readily be conceded that the phytochemicals and antioxidants found primarily in fruits and vegetables help the body combat heart disease and cancer. The high fiber content of vegetables and fruits further aid in digestion and protect against disease. However, it must also be conceded that a vegetarian diet is deficient in pr otein, essential amino-acids, calcium, iron, zinc and vitamin B-12. Studies published in 1988 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition â€Å"concluded that elderly people also should be especially cautious about adopting vegetarian diets† (Health Response Ability Systems). ... Price Foundation). Soy is to be consumed in small quantities and cannot be treated as a generous substitute for animal protein. The second health-centered argument in favor of vegetarianism is that the consumption of animal-based products leads to several diseases, particularly cancer, atherosclerosis, obesity and diabetes. This is attributed to the dietary cholesterol and saturated fats found in animal products. However, it is relevant to note that these diseases for the most part are fairly recent, twentieth-century phenomena, while mankind has been consuming animal products from primitive times. This strongly suggests that extraneous variables, such as food processing, methods of cooking, indulgence in tobacco, alcohol and caffeine, consumption of trans-fatty acids (which are found in margarine and vegetable shortening), and the excessive intake of sugar and carbohydrates may be the actual culprits, in combination with lifestyle factors, including lack of physical exercise, stress and pollution. (Byrnes). It is processed, ‘junk food’ which should be banned and not meat eating. After all, a plate of French fries is as healthy as a hamburger! Thirdly, the advocates of vegetarianism hold that eating animal-based products is hazardous to health as the administration of growth hormones and antibiotics to animal fodder and the contamination of fish by mercury lead to the ingestion of toxins by humans. Inadequate cooking of meat poses the risk of food poisoning. This argument can be countered by the fact that the consumption of genetically modified crops and pesticide contaminated vegetables poses an equal health hazard. Vegetables and fruits can be contaminated by infection causing listerium

Three Strikes Law Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Three Strikes Law - Research Paper Example In recent years, the increased population of the US has been accompanied with a growing number of crime rates. Consequently, the Three Strikes Law was enacted to limit the scope of crime and offenders in various stated of the US. Washington and California were the initial states in the US to adopt Three Strikes Law in 1993 and 1994, respectively. Since its implementation, the law has been majorly influencing the prison population. During the first decade, after the enforcement of law, more than 80,000 second strikers and about 75,000 third strikers were sent to state prisons (Three Strikes Information, 2005). It has significantly helped the state and federal governments to reduce the number of violent crimes, subsequently enhancing the role and performance of justice system practiced in the US. It is worth mentioning in this regard that the law applies for three repeated convictions and not the three repeated crimes. In this context, the Three Strikes Law is also applicable to those convicts who have committed different crimes in repeated instances. However, it should be noted in this context that the crimes must be subjected to the category of felony in accordance to the jurisdiction practiced within the nation. Accordingly, the law requires minimum of 25 years of imprisonment or life imprisonment for those offenders who have been convicted for at least three repeated instances because of committing the felony. Despite, the effectiveness of the law many people have criticized and stated the law as an unusual and cruel way of punishment.

United States v. Jones Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

United States v. Jones - Essay Example In the making of court decisions involving the fourth amendment of the Bill of Rights, three critical aspects are considered. The aspects include the kind of activities considered by the government to constitute searches and seizures, the probable cause constituted by the actions in the government activities, and the appropriate mechanisms of addressing the violations of the fourth amendments (Wetterer 94). In the case between the state and Jones, it is in order to put clear some facts to understand the unfolding of events in the court decision and reasons for such decisions. First, Jones, who is the respondent in the case, is the owner and operator of a nightclub come under suspicion that he could be dealing in drug trafficking. Based on the above occurrence, police after conducting their investigations sort for a warrant from the Federal District Court, which the courts granted for to use of a GPS tracking device on the Jeep registered to Jones’ wife, which, however, driven exclusively by Jones (McDonald and Means 112). However, the officers failed to beat the ten-day deadline issued and instead put the GPS tracking device on the car to track on the car’s movement on the eleventh day while in Maryland, outside of DC, which the permit granted. With the help of satellite, the GPS device was in a position to monitor the car’s movement for twenty-eight day, sending i ts data to a government-monitored computer and producing data comprising of over 2,000 pages over the same period (McDonald and Means 62). From the findings, Jones was charged for conspiracy of cocaine distribution by the government. Concerning the evidence presented to the court by the state, the judges suppressed the data obtained from the GPS while the car was parked in Jones garage while holding the remaining data based on the aspect that Jones had no expectation of privacy whenever the car was in a public place at the pre-trial hearing of the case (Arcila 88).

Recent cancer research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Recent cancer research - Essay Example Li C, Heidt DG, Dalerba P et .al (2007) has found that stem cells cause cancer in blood, breast, brain, prostate, ovary .The recent findings on the role of stem cells in causing cancer in pancreas also been stated in the study. In order to determine the mode of therapeutic intervention, it is quite critical to understand and define the specific stem cell where the cancer has originated. The study by Clarke, Michael F., Becker & Michael W (2008) has explained the potential of the stem cells in turning malignant and serves as the root of the cause of cancer. Further it has been stated that the stem cells promotes the growth of new cancer cells, and are considered as the origin of malignancy itself. In this regard these cells are termed as cancer stem cells. The study has also suggested the chances of these cells being normal stem cells at the origin or premature stage and they undergoing a malignant transformation in the growth stage. The authors urge the need for an accurate understanding on the transformation process in order to target the precise cancer stem cells in the process of cancer treatment or prevention. It is quite important to characterize and differentiate the normal human stem cells and the cancer initiating cells in order to have further knowledge on cancer therapy. A number of studies have evaluated the role of a number of antibodies on the Normal Stem Cells and the Malignant cells which is capable of Initiating Cancer. Donald J. Vander Griend, Wouter L. Karthaus, Susan Dalrymple, Alan Meeker, Angelo M. DeMarzo and John T. Isaacs have studied the role of the antibody CD 133 in Cancer. The study suggested that Androgen Receptor expressing prostate Cancer-Initiating Cells (CICs) is derived from malignantly transformed intermediate cells. (Donald J et. al, 2008). The importance of identification of stem cells has been asserted by Tuch, Bernard E. The study summarizes that the

Chanticleer show ( jazz) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chanticleer show ( jazz) - Essay Example However, the group generates substantial incomes from major global events and album sales (Weir, & Alfred Publishing Co. 2008). The following is an intense discussion on Chanticleer Jazz Show, with a reflection of the music genres, advancements, and revenue creation tactics. In the Grammy Awards ceremony, Chanticleer acquired an acknowledgement as the reigning global male chorus ahead of many other groups. Further, the group yields praise from its global audience and the media outlets. Over the past three decades, the group has continually blended the jazz music genre from an earlier and stagnant phase. Chanticleer is renown in San Francisco as an orchestra of voices, a factor that emanates from the combination of twelve members with unique voices. Their sales performances are overwhelming and consequently are leading in San Francisco (Weir, & Alfred Publishing Co. 2008). Opening with the songs, â€Å"The Siren’s Call†, and â€Å"Temptations†, Chanticleer Jazz show attracted a huge audience from all the American states. The countrywide tour in the U.S impacts effective reputation from the fans, and a probability is that the expected turnover at the events shall be overwhelming. As at March of 2013, the group targets to launch the anniversary tour, starting in New York City and spreading to other parts of the world. Chanticleer schedules to travel globally in an effort to complete the planned hundred concerts and performances. The tour will improve on the perceptions held on Jazz music. For example, a reflection of the 2011-2012 tour led to the birth of a music choir –The Louis A. Botto Choir. Therefore, presumptions are that the group serves as a motivating factor to rekindle and improve Jazz music, with a surety that the music genre will successfully pass to future generations. Another aspect that possibly reveals Chanticleer as a promotional choir to ensuring survival of Jazz is the fact that, the group focuses on encourages teenagers

Health Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Health - Article Example Further complications associated with diabetes include kidney disease, blindness, and the threat of amputations. This health concern currently affects about 16 million people in the United States with an estimated five million of those unaware of their condition. African Americans face heightened risks of contracting diabetes. Although about 33 percent of people with the illness are unaware of their condition, nearly three million or almost 12 percent of the African American population over 20 years of age suffer with symptoms of diabetes.   Because of this, African Americans have been identified as being at greater risk than those of Anglo descent to suffer macro-vascular problems such as strokes and heart disease. â€Å"African Americans are 1.6 times more likely to have diabetes than non-Latino whites. Twenty-five percent of African Americans between the ages of 65 and 74 have diabetes† (American Diabetes Association, 2006). The immune system, the environment and genetics are factors that influence Type One diabetes but the risk factors are more clearly defined for Type Two diabetes. These include obesity, physical inactivity, elderly people, family history of diabetes, a past history of gestational diabetes and those with a weakened tolerance for glucose. Ethnicity is another risk factor. â⠂¬Å"African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, American Indians, and some Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are at particularly high risk for Type Two diabetes† (American Diabetes Association, 2006). Despite the biological impediments that cannot be altered, African Americans can take measures to combat this genetic predisposition. Those African American diabetics who are overweight when they begin the nutritional program may require more initial calories until their weight drops to a more normal level. The reasoning is that too rapid of a weight

Human Resource Law - Consulting Project Paper Essay

Human Resource Law - Consulting Project Paper - Essay Example Due to these threats, organizations need to invent heavily on its human resource department. More emphasis should be put on employee related issues to protect an organization from law suits, which might even lead to collapse of a business. Dataset technology is a company which has suffered heavily due to legal suits from its employees. Dataset technologies is an organization with its roots in the US and have opened branches in other countries in the world. The company was started in 1997 as a small business unit dealing with information technology equipment. The company started with selling of computers and other computer accessories. It has now grown and, it now develops computer programs for governments and other companies. It also offers consultancy in all information technologies related problems. (Jeffers 2005) Its headquarters are based at Dallas Texas in the US. The company is not so popular in the US perhaps as a result of the fact that most of its businesses are done outside the US and specifically in Africa. The company boasts of more than 1500 employees from different origins and backgrounds. Its workforce is probably one of the most diversified in the corporate world. This has been enabled by the organization’s policy on employment where it boasts as an equal opportunity employer. Problem statement The company has suffered several losses from legal suits by its employees resulting from discrimination issues. This has given the company’s top leadership headaches for several days as the company’s reputation is on the verge of deterioration. The company also risks cancellation of substantial contracts with several governments and companies due to the law suits which could lead to massive financial loss for the company. The increase of terrorism cases in the world has led to discrimination of Arab-Americans, working with companies who have consequently engaged the company in a bruising legal tussle leading to loss of finances. The d iscrimination has also led to the company losing some of its highly qualified staffs who are of Arab- American affiliation, as well as Arab employees. Employees who are of the Muslim faith have as well reported cases of discriminations in the recent past. This has been escalated due to terrorist attacks in the recent past. Reports of harassment, intimidation and violence based on ones faith, national origin and race have also been reported. These discriminations escalated after 9/11 attacks. Employees from the Muslim faith have been demotivated due to this and are living in fear hence cannot produce as expected of them. There have been more than 15 cases reported in Dataset technologies from July last year, which is a worrying case for the company. There are cases where an employee of Muslim faith has been regarded as a terrorist. So what does workplace discrimination and harassment entail? (Jeffers 2005). Workplace discrimination and harassment Unlawful discrimination, according to the federal and state laws, arises when someone is treated less favorably than other employees in the organization due to his/her color, religion, age, nationality, disability, marital status, sex and other attributes as described in the anti-discrimination legislation. Harassment at the workplace happens when an employee is made to feel frightened, hurt or humiliated due to their race, color, religion, nationality, sex, disability,

Five-Year Career Development Paper Essay Example for Free

Five-Year Career Development Paper Essay Every year millions of college students worldwide graduate from college in hopes of obtaining a position in their career field of choice; however a lot of these students do not have a plan of action to actually help them find their career and achieve their goals. So much emphasis is put on college graduates going out and finding a job, but little focus is put on helping them find a career. A five year career plan is a road map that allows for progress tracking, and development of solutions or alternate courses of action (Crump, 2009). From personal experience I have realized that the chances of achieving my personal and career goals are increased of I actually write them out as a plan. In this paper I will discuss my career goals and objectives, my current knowledge and skills that I currently possess in my future career, the steps that I will take in order to meet my career goals, and any possible barriers that may present themselves in the path to me completing these goals. Currently I am a front desk clerk and personal trainer at Fitness Systems, a privately owned fitness center in South Sacramento. Since it is a small business and only consists of five employees, chances of promoting within the business are small. However I have used my experience from working the front counter and interacting with members of the gym, to help promote my presence of being a trainer. Also, working at Fitness Systems has allowed me to observe the procedures and responsibilities that it takes to run a successful business. Statistics show that most small businesses will fail in between 1-3 years from the initial startup time; therefore I am trying to absorb as much information as possible so that I dont fall into the same category. In order to manage a successful career it is important to develop an exceptional method of thinking strategically and exceptional execution skills. Building upon my skills in these areas will help me to achieve my long term goals. In all organizations, it is important that management sets goals for employees in accordance with the goals of the organization. When I open my fitness center, one of the main things that I want to stress among my employees (trainers), is strong communication skills. If management and staff arent on the same page, there will be an abundance of errors within  the organization. If certain skills are lacking within employees, it is the responsibility of management to identify these weaknesses and find a resolution such as training, to solve the issues. As a way to help kick start my five year career development plan, I have put together a list of some of my short term and long term career goals. My short term goals include improving upon my current skills as a personal trainer and gain experience in specific areas such as nutrition, so that I will be prepared to take on the role of being the owner of my own Personal Training Company. My personal short term goals include the following: increasing my knowledge in anatomy, improve upon my ability to map out an effective workout plan for clients, improve upon my communication skills, obtain my business degree in management, network with other local personal trainers, and gain more hands on personal training experience by recruiting more clients. My personal long term career goal is open a private fitness center that enables clients and their trainers to schedule one on one sessions in the center without having to worry about the crowds that usually plague commercial fitness centers. This goal will be achieved by the summer of 2012. My plan is to continue being a part time trainer for now, graduate with my BS in Business Management, enter and complete the MBA marketing program at the University of Phoenix, and then work on opening up my fitness center. Owning a successful business requires that you build strong relationships with your clients/customers, their families, and the surrounding communities. Maintaining a positive stance and reputation in the community that you serve, determines if youre company will be successful. In order to promote myself within the community, I have created business cards that describe the service that I provide and my contact information. I have also spoken to the founder and CEO (Plashette Robinson), of a local journal called the Sacramento Cultural Hub. Sacramento Cultural Hub is a Sacramento based journal that spotlights small businesses owned by minorities in Northern California. Ms. Robinson has agreed to post a small feature about  me in her journal. This feature will include a photo of me, current attributions to the community, my educational background, my career field of choice, and my opinion on different health/fitness related issues that are plaguing our society and communities. I feel that Sacramento Cultural Hub, along with my personal efforts, will help give me the exposure that I need to earn a good reputation within the community. As I mentioned earlier in this writing, actually mapping out a plan will help increase the chances of all objectives and goals being met. Below is a chart that displays my Five-Year Career Development plan on a year-to-year basis. Intermediate Steps Over the Next Five Years to Reach My GoalFor MeFor my supervisor/others who will support meYear OneFocus on school and earn my degree in Business Management by March 2010.Feedback from my peers and professors. Year TwoComplete the MBA Marketing program at UOP. Attend courses for first time business owners and begin looking for high traffic locations for my Fitness Center. Network with various promotional outlets.Feedback from my peers and professors. Seek advice from the owner of Fitness Systems in regards to opening a small business. Year ThreeActively recruit certified Personal Trainers in the Sacramento area. Open the Fitness Center in the summer of 2012. Network with other small business owners. Setup commercials spots with Sacramento area radio stations.Network with friends and family in order to assist me with finding local certified Personal Trainers. Year FourContinue to actively recruit Personal Trainers. Continue promotion via radio and other outlets. N/AYear FiveConsider possible methods of expanding services beyond Sacramento. N/A*Five-Year Career Plan Chart template retrieved from: mpiweb.orgRegardless of how well thought out a plan may be, there is always some kind of temporary barrier that may be encountered. In relation to my career plan, two potential barriers that I predict may take place are time management issues between my professional and personal life and a further downturn in our nations economy. Both of these issues can definitely cause a change in the objectives and goals for my business. However, the matter of time management can easily be tweaked if any issues shall arise and any issues in relation to the economy will have to be solved on a day to day basis. Both of the barriers mentioned above are vital, but they are issues that all small business ownerss struggle and deal with. In conclusion, I have shared my five-year career development plan. This plan will help assist me in achieving my career goals and at the same time help me in meeting some of my personal goals as well. Creating a development plan will assist in maximizing the potentials of an individual in the workplace. A career development plan not only helps to keep me motivated and focused; it also helps in providing the confident feeling that will in turn help me take charge of my career. References Crump, Jocelyn. (2009). Five-Year Career Plan. Retrieved July 30, 2009 from: http://www.stc.org/confproceed/1994/PDFs/PG163164.PDFFive-Year Career Plan Template. (2009) Retrieved August 1, 2009 from:http://www.mpiweb.org/CMS/uploadedFiles/Career_Development/Five-Year%20Plan.doc

Auto Cad And STAAD Pro

Auto Cad And STAAD Pro This chapter gives an insight into the topics involved in this dissertation, it starts with a review of the key items involved to complete this project such as the programs used to design and analyze the structure as in Auto cad, and STAAD pro. The chapter further develops in reviewing the euro codes in which the building will be designed to. Auto Cad This is a design and documentation software program that was founded in 1982, 28years ago. It is the most commonly used piece of software of its kind and it is constantly being enhanced and improving its software to meet the current needs of its users. It is used for drawing objects to a very high degree of precision in either 2D or 3D format using polar coordinates. Almost any object conceivable like the 3D model shown in figure 2.7 can be produced on todays Auto cad thanks to its extensive array of tools and when trained, easy to use interface. Its tool base may be used in both the 2D and 3D formats, some of the basic tools include, line, circle, arc, break, extend, mirror and copy. These are only a small fraction of the features of Auto cad, which make it possible to create and change or redesign models of any shape and complexity, in a relatively short period of time as compared to drawing by hand or using other software programs such as STAAD pro. This is the reason why auto cad was used to detail the design rather than STAAD pro because of its ease of use and the complexity of the design and then inputted into the STAAD pro software for the analysis. STAAD Pro This is a finite element analysis and design software program run on windows operating systems, which is used to analyse the structural stability of structures, under a variety of conditions. It allows the users to effectively analyse structures built from a number of different materials such as, timber, concrete, aluminium and steel, under different forces caused by, earthquake, soil interaction, and various dead loads and live loads, which are specified by the local design codes being used in whatever location the structure is being design, in this case Eurocodes. It is a very versatile piece of software that has being perfected over the past 25 years, it reduces the amount of man hours required to correctly analyse how a structure will behave when loaded using either 2D/3D model generation. The general steps involved in producing a successful model are as follows: Model generation: creating the structure model in either 2D or 3D which could involve importing an Auto Cad files and then choosing the material type and size for the members, applying a foundation types to correct locations and specifying loads and forces on the model. Calculations:-to obtain the analytical results. Code check:- creating parameters for design specification Running analysis:-to perform analysis and design. Verification of results:-displayed through graphs, diagrams and tables. Reporting and printing. Eurocodes: This chapter is intended to provide a brief introduction into the eurocodes. It will list the benefits, the problems, associated with the codes. It describes the general layout of the codes and discusses the difficulties with the drafting of the codes and how the difficulties were resolved, the national annex and their roles will also be discussed. It will advance to describe in detail to list the difference between the previous BS 8110 and the contents of Part 1.1 of Eurocode 2, which has superseded the above British standard. And will be the main eurocode used to design this concrete structure. The eurocodes are set of ten codes of practice for the design of building and civil engineering structures in concrete, steel, timber, masonry other building materials Table 2.1 lists these eurocode there titles and reference numbers. Similar to the previous codes of practice the British standards these codes come in a number of different parts, each containing different rules to the design of the different structures included in the codes. Table 2.1 EN1991 provides the characteristic values of the loads or actions as termed in the code, needed for the design. It is the head code of the world fist material independent design code providing guidance on determining the design value of actions and combination of actions, including partial safety factors for the actions. EN 1997 covers the foundation design with respect to the geotechnical side. EN1998 is devoted to the seismic design and provides guidance on achieving earthquake resistance in buildings and structures. These Eurocodes will have the same legal standing as the previous British standards and other approved documents. These codes were published first as preliminary standards; know as ENV (Norme Vornorme Europeenne), in the beginning of 1992. Now after being revised reissued as European standards, known as EN (Norme Europeenne), along with national annex which contains supplementary information, are coinciding with British standards but will eventually become mandatory and all conflicting standards will be withdrawn as in the British standards. Benefits of Eurocodes. There are many advantages of having design standards which are accepted by all member states how ever this is not a new initiative as the first draft Eurocode 2 for concrete structures was based on the CEB (Comite Europeen du Beton) Model Code of 1978 produced by a number of experts from various European countries, similarly Eurocode 3 was based on the 1977 Recommendations for design of steel structures published by ECCS (European Conventional for Constructional Steelwork). The original reason for this work was to improve the science of structural design. Recently though the drive is for political and economic unification of countries and these Eurocodes will help to lower the trade restrictions and barriers which exist between member states and allow for contractors and consultants to compete freely and fairly for work within Europe. Also the unification will enable products, materials, components, design programs to be marketed throughout member states. It will also improve interna tional standing of European engineers which should help in increasing their chances of wining work abroad. Prooduction of Eurocodes: Each Eurocode has been drafted by a team of experts from different member states. These groups are under contract to the CEN (Comite Europeen de Normalisation), the European standards organisation, whose members are the national standards bodies as in the British Standards Institute in the UK. During the ENV stage of production a liaision engineer from each member state was involved in evaluating the final document and discussing with the drafting team the acceptability of the eurocode in relation to the previous national code. Format of Codes: Problems associated with drafting the Eurocodes. There were many problems faced when the Eurocodes were being drafted mainly being the terminology that was to be used, different climate conditions, materials and different work practices from the different member states. The following details outline ways in which these problems were overcome. Terminology From the beginning it was inevitable that the terminology would have to be standardised in general the agreed terminology was found to be similar to that used in the UK national standards. The few minor differences include loads are now called actions while dead loads live loads are now referred to as permanent and variable actions respectively. Similarly bending moments axial loads are now called internal moments and internal forces respectively. Principles Application Rules This was the method used to divide the documents into sections ensuring documents were concise, described the overall aims of the design provided specific guidance as to how these aims can be achieved in practice. Principles comprise of general statements, definitions, requirements and models for which no alteration is allowed. Application Rules are generally recognised rules which follow the statements satisfy the requirements given in the principles. When the letter P is missing from the clause number it indicates an application rule. The use of alternate rules other than that in the eurocodes is permitted as long as hey do not effect the design requirements and are at least equivalent to those suggested. National Annexes Differences in work practices, climate conditions etc required the allowance for different parameters to be determined and specified at a national level such as safety factors, cover particular methods of construction etc. where these deviations are allowed a note in the code is provided in the accompanying annex, these parameters are know as NDPs (Nationally Determined Parameters). Eurocodes 2: Design of concrete structures. This will be the main Eurocode used to design this structure as the build will be mainly concrete this code is to replace the previous code of practice BS8110 and it is the European standard for the design of buildings in concrete, although the ultimate aim of Eurocode 2 and BS 8110 is largely the same to provide guidance on the design of buildings and civil engineering works in concrete, there are many new design procedures and differences, it is based on a limit state principles and comes in four parts as shown below in table 2.3 Liquid retaining containment structures Part 1.1 of Eurocode 2gives a general basis for design of structures and some detailing rules very similar to the previous BS8110, the design cannot not be completed without using reference to other documents such as EN 1990 (Eurocode 0) and Eurocode 1 to determine design values of actions (loads), Part 1.2 of Eurocode 2 for fire design, EN 206 for durability design Eurocode 7 for foundation design. The reason for this difference in structure and layout is to make the eurocodes more concise than BS 8110 and avoid repetition. Proposed Design: In the design process a number of different designs were considered and working with the requirements of the structure the most suitable one was chosen these requirements were as follows: Design a suitable multi-storey building containing retail units and accommodation units. The structure should be designed and built to modern codes of practice and standards. The building must be of modern aesthetics and be unique to surrounding buildings. Also the structure should fit the following criteria: Retail Floor Space ; between 1500 4000m2 Accommodation Space ; between 10000 30000m2 Maximum Footprint ; between 1500 3500m2 Maximum Height of Building; 40m. The following designs were considered and compared when choosing the final design. Proposal One; Retail space = 3161m2 Accommodation space = 11718m2 Footprint = 3161m2 Provision for lateral stability and vertically stability is provided by concrete columns and shear walls/shear cores within the structure. Proposal Two; Retail space = 2001m2 Accommodation space = 11674m2 Footprint = 2001m2 Provision for lateral stability and vertically stability is provided by concrete columns and shear walls/shear cores within the structure. Proposal Three; Retail space = 1558m2 Accommodation space = 28451m2 Footprint = 1558m2 Provision for lateral stability and vertically stability is provided by concrete columns and shear walls/shear cores within the structure. Chosen design: The design in proposal two was chosen finally because when it was compared with the other designs it was decided that it was more astethic than proposal three because of its falling design, it was then compared with design one and it was not considered to be more asthetic but it did accomodate the footprint requirments and space requirments better than proposal one did. Materials Methods: Elevator Elevator Shaft; The elevator shaft will provide latheral stability for the building and will direct forces into the ground, it will span from the base to the roof in each of the four shafts. There will be four elevator shafts positioned in the centre of each external face of the building, providing ease of acess to each floor. Each one will be of dimensions 3 x 2m and will utilise a electric cable borne method for lifting and will travel at a max speed of 2.5m/s. Each elevator will be able to accomondate a max of 10 peolple at a time. Latheral Stability: The elevator shafts incorporadted in this design provide for latheral stability caused by wind loads, these loads are created by the wind force on acting on the external face of the building transmiting the loads to the floor, these floors form horizontal diaghragms transfering the latheral load to the vertical rigid elevator shaft which acts as a vertical cantillever and subsequently transfers the loads to the foundations. The advantage of using the elevator shaft to provide lateral stability is that concrete walls tend to be thiner than other bracing systems used in medium sized multistorey construction and so save space in congested areas also they are very rigid and may be used as fire compartment walls, the disadvantge of using the elevator shaft for latheral stability is that construction is slower and less accurate and when constructed they are not easily modified, also it is difficult to provide connection between steel and concrete. Procedure STAAD Pro 1.1 Importing drawing Now that both the model had being created and the loads calculated, it was now time for the analysis of the model. To achieve this, first the model had to be imported into STAAD pro, this was done by saving the model in Auto cad as a R12/LT2 DXF file, which is compatible with STAAD pro, and then opening a new structure sheet in STAAD pro and using the import function located in the file drop down menu. When importing the file the following two pop up windows will appear shown in figure1.1 and figure 1.2, these let you define the orientation and units you want to analyse your model in. For the structure model meters and kilo Newton were chosen with a standard orientation of the Y axis pointing upward. After that the model will appear on the main STAAD Pro interface as shown in figure 1.3. As can be seen from figure 1.3, STAAD Pro has a vast array of tools and functions that make it possible not only to, analyse almost any structure in almost any situation, but also to draw structures. For simple structures it would be worth while using STAAD Pro, however for more complicated structures it is better to use Auto cad, because it is specifically tailored for drawing almost any structure or object with ease, for the trained user. Now that the model was now in STAAD pro, it was now time to proceed with further developing the model for analysis. On the left hand side of the main window containing the model, there is a tool bar called modelling, this toolbar contains functions for modifying the model, like design, support, general, load, material etc. 1.2 Adding supports For the model, supports were required at every base node position. To achieve this, the support window was selected from the general toolbar, figure 7.5 shows the window that pops up for adding support to your structure. For this model fiixed support was required so the create button was selected, and fixed support in the sub menu was chosen as shown in figure 1.4. Now that the option for fixed support was now in our main support window, it was now time to apply the support. STAAD pro gives you a number of different options of assigning the support, like, assign to view, use cursor to assign and assign to edit list, and assign to select nodes. First the node function was selected from the cursor toolbar as shown in figure 1.6, this option allows you only to selected nodes and not beams. When this was done, the bottom layer of nodes on the model, were select and the assign to selected nodes function was used. Now fixed support were applied to the model in the correct position as shown in figure 1.7, and it was time to proceed with the next step. 7.3 Member selection From the general toolbar, the properties window was selected. From here you can assign any style of member in accordance with many different regions building codes using the section database function, and apply any number of different sections to different members in the same model. You may also design the dimensions as in this case a 300mm by 280mm rectangular concrete section was chosen for the beam and a 300mm by 300mm concrete section for the column was detailed. Once selected, the section chosen appears in the properties window, and from here you are given the same option as applying support i.e. (assign to view, use cursor to assign and assign to edit list, and assign to select beams). First the beam function from the cursor toolbar was chosen, this allows you to only select beams and not nodes. Then the columns were assigned using the same process with the different section assigned, figure 1.9 shows the model with the beams and columns applied. Now that this was completed it was now time to move on to applying the various loads to the model. 7.4 Applying loads Loads are used to estimate how a structure will behave if constructed. Since the loads had being previous calculated with the aid of eourcodes, it was now possible to apply them to the structure. In the general toolbar, the load window was selected, from here all types of load may be applied to the structure, for the dome the loads calculated were, dead load, live load, and wind load. From the load window, the load cases icon was selected, a pop up window as shown in figure 1.10 was activated. From here all the three types of loads were identified and added to the main load window. Each load name was then picked individually by used of a pop up window known as load items which is shown in figure 1.11 and the specific load applied. Now that the loads had being picked and values assigned to them in the appropriate direction, it was now time to apply the loads to the model. In the load window the same options exist as for the support and properties window for applying items to the model, for the dead and imposed load, the assign to view function was used. For the wind load only the side facing the wind is loaded, so the node cursor was selected from the cursor toolbar and all the nodes on wind facing side of the structure was selected as shown in figure 1.12. 7.5 Running analyse First the analysis/print toolbar was selected from the modelling menu, which resulted in two windows being activated, the print analysis commands window and analysis whole structure window, which are shown in figure 1.13. In the analysis commands window the no print option was selected and added to the analysis whole structure window, which shows the processes involved in the analysis. After this was completed the analyse toolbar located at the top of the user face was selected, and the run analyse option selected as shown circled in red in figure 1.14. After the analysis in completed a window the STAAD analysis and design window shows the processes carried out and whether there are any errors or warnings related to the model. Any problems relating to the model may be checked by selecting the errors or warning in the window, and the exact problems with the members they are related to, will be displayed. Figure 7.15, shows the final analysis of the dome model which took 16 seconds with no errors or warnings, after all the errors and warnings were corrected. 7.6 Post processing On the bottom left of the STAAD analysis and design window, there is a set of options on where to go after the analysis, the go to Post Processing Mode option was selected and done button pressed. Form here, the post processing window as shown in figure 7.16 the results of the analysis may be viewed for both the beams and the nodes. Graphs and reaction tables along with visual representation can be viewed for the nodes, showing things like the max displacement of a node. Stresses, graphs and forces can be viewed for beams showing such things as max axial forces, max bending, max shear and max stresses. 7.7 Producing reports The number of results including structure type, No. of nodes, No of members etc can be put into a report format. This is a useful tool for an engineer to document any findings to produce to clients or planners, an example of a node report for the dome is shown in figure 1.17.

Integrated Marketing Communication Program For Pillow

Integrated Marketing Communication Program For Pillow Executive summary: Various PILLOW COMPANIES such as SATYAPAL AND ARCHIES etc. design various integrated marketing program. Although common objective of all IMC program is increase brand awareness, sale and design a unique image in customers mind. In order to address and attract customer all PILLOW companies launch various campaigns. To communicate with public and customers they advertise their campaign on TV, magazine, online and radio. Through their advertisement they want to design their brand image in customer mind. Besides advertisement, they also carried out promotion activity, public relation, direct marketing etc. Direct marketing is although time consuming but most effective tool for communication. Various PILLOW companies also organize various events in order to communicate properly with customers. Main purpose of this is to increase the sale of PILLOW. Before designing IMC program the company carries out market research in order to judge customers behaviors toward the products. For research they design the strategy. Before designing integrated marketing communication program it is necessary to judge consumers behavior toward PILLOW, it is necessary to known customers liking and disliking, these data provide various support during designing of IMC program. Although there are various media available for communicating but Print ads in magazine and news paper is seen most effective medium followed by television. After Research survey done by various PILLOW companies, it has been found that respondents were less brand conscious. There is no particular trend among customers. â€Å"Durability† and â€Å"comfort† are the major attributes considered by customer while buying PILLOW. Marketing plan plan Situation Analysis: Every organization faces a lot of problem at present time so it became necessary for every organization that before setting any objective carried out situation analysis in order to recognize strength, weakness, opportunities and threat present in our organization. According to Sally and John, marketing plans are â€Å"the written document or blueprint for implementing and controlling an organizations marketing activities related to a particular marketing strategy†. A successful marketing plan is able to improve organizations profits and growth, uses in objective setting and monitors results. So to gain a successful market plan it is necessary to understand the current situation comprehensively and trends affecting the future of the organization. There are two major reasons to explain why situation analysis plays a vital role in developing marketing plan. Firstly, dynamic marketing environment will lead to uncertainty, threats and opportunities for marketers. Marketing managers who success to know changes in environment through situation analysis can lead their companies to capitalize on opportunities and cope with threats created by changes. Then, systematically analyzing situational environments in order to identify our customers and understand their needs. There are certain opportunities in pillow industry, such as increase construction of houses, hotels etc increase market and market share through integrated PR, and advertisement and promotional campaign. Besides opportunities there is a lot of threat that create barrier for entry in to PILLOW industry. These threats are as follow: Increasing competition High price and decrease loyalty toward brand Main objective behind situation analysis is to known analyze customer, competitor and there strategy. Marketing objective: After situation analysis we became able to known our organization strength, weakness, opportunities and threat present in environment. It provides a lot of support in setting of objective. There may be a lot of marketing objective, some are as follow: Increase market share Create awareness among target audience. Use excessive advertising especially using media preferred by the target market. Create product belonging and position among buyers mind Marketing strategies: To achieve this objective we implement various strategies. Target market: Urban personality: High income group Hotel owners Marketing Mix Strategies : Main aim of pillow companies is to produce durable and comfortable pillow in various designs. This is mostly done to capture attention. They produce new and innovative pillow to capture more market share. Several pillow brands jump in the Indian market by producing high quality of pillow. Pricing range from Rs 500 Rs 1000 Pillow does not need too much promotion. The distribution channels for Pillow Company are as follows. MANUFACTURER (COMPANY) PILLOW SEND TO SHOWROOM CUSTOMER Internal Process It is as follows. Sample Cutting Stitching Washing Pressing and labeling Finishing Dispatched to store Packing and containers Explanation The sample is first send by the buyer. Its called a gold seal sample. In cutting dept, one piece is placed on the other and in this way a bundle of 50 PILLOW is made. Then the cutter cuts it. In the stitching dept, front end or the upper part is made. Then backend is made and they are assembled together in the assembly end. Washing can be done by simple garment wash or through the stone wash and chemicals. It is done according to the buyers request. In finishing dept, the quality of pillow is checked and mistakes are rectified. Then the pillow dispatched to the store. Then packing is done. It is done according to the buyers request. Then they are sent to the containers. Implementation tactics : Launch a blind ad campaign on billboards and magazines in all a class areas of major cities and magazine. Heavy advertising on TV, newspapers and magazines Set displays of pillow in showrooms and major dealer outlets in all cities. Reduce number of billboards, television and magazines advertisements. Continue Advertising Evaluation, Monitoring and Control: Goal of marketing plan is to achieve market objective that are established before implementation of marketing plan. We evaluate and control our strategic tactic by comparing our result with standard established before setting of plan, by measuring customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. If result is less than our standard than there any is default in implementation and monitoring. The people who are responsible for the monitoring and control of the marketing plan involves, the Marketing Executives, Sales Managers, Media Managers, Market Research Departments, and the Production Managers. Some activities must be carried out for precisely and closely evaluating the effectiveness of the strategies and tactics for example the gathering and structuring of data regarding market, product, consumers and the pricing trends, then the generation of daily sales report should be maintained and then in the end continuous reconfirming of the marketing budget and activities by the managers of different divisions. The Integrated Marketing Communication Plan Integrated Marketing Communications is a term used to describe a holistic approach to marketing communication. It aims to ensure consistency of message and the complementary use of media. The concept includes online and offline marketing channels. Online marketing channels include any e-marketing campaigns or programs, pay-per-click, affiliate, email, banner to latest web related channels for webinar, blog, micro-blogging, RSS, podcast, and Internet TV. Offline marketing channels are traditional print (newspaper, magazine), mail order, public relations, industry relations, billboard, radio, and television. A company develops its integrated marketing communication programme using all the elements of the marketing mix (product, price, place, and promotion) So Integrated marketing communication is integration of all marketing tools, approaches, and resources within a company which maximizes impact on consumer mind and which results into maximum profit at minimum cost. Promotional activities include Advertising, sales promotion, and personal selling activities. It also includes internet marketing, sponsorship marketing, direct marketing, database marketing and public relations. And integration of all these promotional tools along with other components of marketing mix to gain edge over competitor is called Integrated Marketing Communication. Situational analysis : First of all we carried out we carried out situation analysis in order to understood problem. In this we identify our competitors and their strategy for example Archies carried out competitor analysis and find out various strategy adopted by other pillow companies. After situation analysis Archies find out that the California gold rush whose trademark blue pillow have been an American clothing staple for generations, had fallen on hard times by 2004 and needed a change in strategic direction.After seven consecutive years of falling sales, profits turned to losses in 2003. Management responded to the decline by moving its manufacturing plants offshore and by introducing a new line of discount pillow in showroom. Under situation analysis we also analyze financial position of company. IMC objective : There are various IMC objective set by pillow company after situation analysis in order to accomplish their goal. Some of objective is as follow: To Increase sale by 50% in six month To Increase brand awareness To Increase customer loyalty To Increase desire of customer To Increase repeat purchase To measure customer satisfaction To create relationship with customer on personal level To control and observe public opinion To receive feedback from customer on regular basis Media objectives state the impact that you expect to have on an audience in terms of reach and frequency. Objectives must meet the following criteria: Measurability Quantifiability Realism time-specificity Budget determination: We need to establish what amount of money will be needed to achieve the IMC objectives.Although there is various methods present to determine what amount of money invest on IMC. These methods are as follow: Affordable Method Percentage of Sales Method Unit of Sales Method Zero Budgeting Method In affordable method we invest money on IMC as soon as we can afford. However in Percentage of Sales Method amount of money invest on IMC tool depend on what amount of sale we expect to achieve during course of year. These percentages are mostly adhoc and sometime based on judgment. In Unit of Sales Method Company allocate a certain proportion of cost of product to promotion. Thus say if ex factory cost of the product is say Rs 100/ the company will allot Rs.10/- toward promotion cost. Hence if company expects sale 10,000 unit of the product, thus allocated IMC budget will be Rs.100.000/-. In Zero Budgeting Method, company determine what need to achieve in term of sale and then rework backward in term of what money will be needed to be allocate to deliver those customers. Thus if company believe that in order to achieve their sales, 10,000 customers need to purchase their jeans once during the planning period than it will work out what number of prospective customers will needed to be targeted through ATL and BTL activity, in order to achieve that result. IMC Methodologies There are various component of integrated marketing communication that is as follow: Advertisement Advertisement is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas or products by an identified sponsor. Objective of any ads is to increase brand awareness. Objectives: There are mostly three objective of advertisement campaign, that is as follow: Inform Persuade Remind 1. Inform: Informative advertising, seeks to tell the market about the pillow, explain the new quality added in pillow, provide information on pricing, and build awareness of both the pillow quality and the company. Such objectives are normally pursued at the launch of a new quality pillow, or re-launch / up-date of an existing pillow. 2. Persuade: Here objectives are to encourage the target audience to switch brands, make the purchase, and create a preference in the market for the pillow as opposed to its competition. Advertising of this nature is required in highly competitive markets, where a range of pillow design competes directly with each other. In such circumstances businesses often seek to differentiate their pillow through Comparison Advertising either directly or indirectly comparing its pillow to that of its competitors. 3. Remind: Reminder Advertising, is used to maintain interest and awareness of a well established pillow brand in the market, often in the latter stages of its product life cycle. It is often used at the Point-of-Purchase to remind consumers of the Brand. Advertisement budget: Having identified advertising objectives, the advertising budget must be set. Determining exactly how much a business should spend on advertising to achieve the desired level of sales. Commonly, the decision is based on past experience of expenditure on advertising, and the sales subsequently achieved. There are however a number of factors that can be considered in setting the advertising budget Factors influencing the setting of advertising Budgets: Product life cycle stage: New products in the Launch stage of their Product Life Cycle, will normally require greater expenditure on advertising to create product awareness, and encourage consumers to trial the product. Whilst products that have reached Maturity in their product life cycle, will often require smaller advertising budgets to achieve the level of sales required. Competition: The number of competitors in the market, and their expenditure on advertising competing products, will influence a business to spend to a similar or higher degree. Product Differentiation: A product very similar to other products on the market may require greater expenditure on advertising to differentiate it from its competitors. Advertising Strategy: Developing an Advertising Strategy to achieve the objectives of a campaign, requires that consideration be given to both the ‘Message which will be communicated and the ‘Media through which it will be sent Advertising Message An advertising campaign, no matter how much money is spent, no matter what media is used, will only be successful if the Message appeals to the target audience. Given the level of advertising which bombards the average consumer, a successful advertising message must stand out amongst the advertising clutter. Thus marketing professionals are required to be creative, imaginative and innovative in developing the advertising message, both in terms of what is said, and How it is said? What is said This is often referred to as the ‘Big Idea, and will normally address the key benefits sought by the target audience, motivating the audience to pay attention. Given the constant search for new ways to appeal to target audiences, it is difficult to categories the content of advertising messages which a business may send; below we include a couple of examples of actual message strategy. For example: Satyapal brand, pillow and clothing: Satyapal. Keep it Simple. Satyapal, Its True. Fashion is nothing without people. In this example massage that draw attention of youth is quality must should be greater because without quality, fashion is zero. How they say it During delivery of advertisement massage in customer mind take the personality symbol, lifestyle and musical as consideration. In addition the tone of the advertisement will need to be established, which can be either positive or negative. The advert may therefore promote positive feelings of fun, contentment, and happiness or take on a more negative, somber, or even threatening tone. Selecting Advertising Media: In addition to deciding upon the content, style and tone of the advertising message, the media through which the message will be communicated to the target audience must also be selected. Mostly for pillow advertisement we select media such as magazine, newspaper and outdoor. TV rarely used for advertisement of pillow. In order to select the most appropriate media, consideration must should be given to various advantage and disadvantage of various media. Strengths and weakness of various media are as given below: Television : Strengths Dynamic attention getting media, combining visual, sound and animated stimulus. Strong potential Impact High market coverage Good at demonstrating products Weaknesses: Highly expensive Poor at communicating lengthy technical information Newspapers: Strengths: Targeting is possible through profiling readership Good level of market coverage Weaknesses: Static media, not suitable for product demonstration Potential for poor reproduction, sometimes limited to black and white print Short-life span, i.e. todays newspapers become tomorrows rubbish Magazines: Strengths: High quality reproduction, of color images Targeting is possible through specialist publications Good pass on readership Weaknesses: Static media, not suitable for product demonstration Lengthy lead-time between advert being placed and magazine being published Outdoor: Strengths: High repeat exposure to advert Relatively low cost Low levels of competition, in terms of advertising clutter Weaknesses: Limited audience selectivity / targeting possible Static media, not suitable for product demonstrations Difficult to monitor effectiveness â€Å"Make them your own† is the name of the campaign launched by Archies to boost the sale of pillow. This is one of the most aggressive marketing and advertising strategy followed by pillow to move up the sales. The theme of this marketing campaign is narcissistic youth. It will feature youth who will check themselves out in pillow. The advertising will target the age group of house hold wives. Mostly Archies also select TV, Magazine, and Newspaper as a media for delivering there massage about their product in customer mind. PRINT AD OF PILLOW Sale promotion: Sale promotion is collection of various consumers and trade promotional tool such as rebate, discount, gift, contest, coupons, price deal, contest game, sampling etc. to increase sale of products. There are certain objectives of sale promotion. However main objective is to increase immediate sale because Sales Managers are under great pressure to produce results quickly. Objective: There are certain objectives of sale promotion that are as follow: To increase immediate customer sale To increase support among the marketers sales force. To gain the support of the trade in marketing the product Reasons for Growth of Sales Promotion: There are number of reason for growth of company in sale promotion some are as follow: 1. Increasing Competition Due to increase in competition, companies are finding it increasingly difficult to compete on quality. They are therefore resorting to more innovative methods of sales promotion. In order to have a competitive advantage over its competitors like ARCHIES, SATYAPAL.JNO, once a year has a grand sale of up to 50%. 2. Customers Have Become More Price Sensitive: The increase price sensitivity is direct result of rampant inflation. Economic support this trend further, as a result customers and dealer became more sensitive toward price. If the customers get branded PILLOW at half the actual price, then they are definitely going to make huge purchases of SATYAPAL PILLOW because they want value for their money, as they are price sensitive. 3. Sales Promotions Generally Create an Immediate Positive Impact on Sales: Advertising, personal selling and other methods of promotion produce slower impact on sales in compared to sales promotion. Sales promotions are mostly for short duration, for a specified period, leading to a sense of urgency in consumers to buy now. This creates an immediate positive impact on sales. 4. Products have become more standardized: In many product categories there is proliferation of brand or line extension and me too many brands. Most of brand perceived by consumer varies little in price. Due to this it became very difficult for advertiser to reposition their product in customers mind. Due to which they focus on more and more on sale promotion to get immediate result. 6. Advertising Has Become More Expensive and Less Effective: All the advertising media have become quite expensive. Audio-visual medium, which is considered as the most effective for short-duration ads, may cost in excess of Rs. 1 lakh for a 10 second exposure during prime time. In many cases, consumers have reached a point of boredom due to excessive advertising on TV. Firms with small budgets cannot compete with big companies, which spend huge sums of money on advertising. For these small budget firms, sales promotion is a more cost-effective promotion method to produce sales results. 7. Trade Has Become More Powerful: At present time Retailers and wholesalers have became more powerful and demand extra facility from company to promote their product. Company has no other alternative. Besides these there is also various kind reason such as Excess Stocks, Impulse Buying Is Increasing, Sales Promotions Maximize Profits etc. Promotion Strategies: Promotional strategy is mostly run to change consumers behavior, to increase brand image, to increase profit, to increase sale of various good. There are mostly two kind of sale promotion, one is directed toward consumer and other one is directed toward trade such as dealer, supplier, retailer etc. Consumer sale promotion tool: there are a lot of promotional tool used to increase sale. Consumer sale promotion is directed toward consumer. It stimulate consumer to purchase their product rapidly. There are a lot of tool that are as follow: Price deal: Price deal is temporary reduction in price of product. There are two type of deal: cents-off deals and price-pack deals. Price deal is given at various times to stimulate purchase of pillow. Coupon: A coupon is typically a printed certificate giving the bearer a stated price reduction or special value on a specific product, generally for a specific period. Various company issue various kind of coupon that contain various discount price, customer get the advantage of this discount and purchase pillow at low price. Offer: There are various kind of gift is offer by various pillow industries. For example the branding magazine said that the archives will be conducting a marketing campaign centered on the idea that your favorite songs and your favorite pillow, make the perfect fit. Customers who try on a pair of the retailers new pillow will receive a free iTMS download. The campaign will be marketed with print and TV ads, and will feature TV commercials with musicians singing covers of their favorite song while wearing satyapal jeans. The company will be offering those collected covers in a CD at retail ARCHIES locations for customers who make a US$60 or more ARCHIES purchase. Premium: sometime various companies like Jno, SATYAPAL etc. offer some gift or at bargain price to encourage customer buying. Sampling: Some company like American eagles to known customer feedback provide free simple of various PILLOW according to their preference. Advertising Specialities: Advertising specialities also call a promotional product. It mostly given to our loyal customers. It includes various card like birthday card, New Year card. It is mostly done to retain old customer. Trade sale promotion tool: Objectives of Trade Sales Promotion: Gain/maintain distribution Influence resellers to promote product Influence resellers to offer price discount Increase reseller inventory Defend against competitors Avoid reduction of normal prices There are various sale promotion tools that stimulate trade to promote company product. There are a lot of trade sale promotion tools some are as discussed below: Trade Allowances: Trade allowances are short-term special allowances, discounts, or deals granted to resellers to stimulate reseller to rapid purchase of their product. Point-of-Purchase Display: Point-of-purchase displays are generally used at the retail level to call customer attention to a featured product. In this company employees observe every retail shop and that retail shop that display more company product will be winner of special gift or prize Trade Shows: A trade show is periodic, semi periodic public event at which supplier displays their Pillow and provides information about pillow quality and price to potential buyer. After implementing these different techniques of sale promotion we monitor result and evaluate these by comparing with objective set before implementation of plan. Public relation Public relation is nothing but creating a favorable relation for organization and product which is done through used of various communication channel and tool. So public relation is mostly done to improve the image of company and build good image in customers mind. So public relation may be define as â€Å"Public Relations is a set of management, supervisory, and technical functions that foster an organizations ability to strategically listen to, appreciate, and respond to those persons whose mutually beneficial relationships with the organization are necessary if it is to achieve its missions and values. Objective: like other aspect of marketing, public relation is also used to address several broad aspect of marketing like: Building Product Awareness When introducing a new product or relaunching an existing product, marketers can use a PR element that generates consumer attention and awareness through media placements and special events. Creating Interest: Public Relation create public interest to use the product at least for once time. Providing Information: Through the Public relation we can provide a lot of information about company activity and their product feature and service provided by company. This information is delivered to public through newspaper, article website, collateral material; PR helps in delivering information that helps to public in understanding the product feature. Stimulating Demand: A positive article in a newspaper, on TV, news show or mentioned on the Internet, often results in a discernable increase in product sales. Reinforcing the Brand: In many companies like JNO, SATYAPAL PILL Company the public relations function is also involved with brand reinforcement by maintaining positive relationships with key audiences, and thereby aiding in building a strong image. Direct Marketing Direct marketing is business of selling company product directly to customers through mail order, telephone, fax, e-mails, or web selling, rather than through retailers. Objective: There are mostly to objective for which direct marketing is carried out these are as follow: Convert not user to user. It is mostly done to obtain new client. The identification of new potential clients is very crucial when it comes to recruit new prospects and transformed them into your clients. The perpetual loyalty of customers. A loyal consumer cost less than new customers. Strategy: Various pillow industry like archives, satyapal involved in direct marketing to get more market share. These companies sent a mail-order catalog to approximately prospective customers. 100-page catalog, developed in-house, targets both men and women and also contains 10 pages devoted to home products. There are various tools for direct marketing these are as : Direct mail, Telemarketing, Email Marketing ,faxing, Voicemail, Couponing, Direct response television marketing. Besides these pillow producing company also used various methods to promote their product. One method that archiess has recently taken is Path Breaking Strategy. Path breaking strategy byARCIES: This strategy is mostly for that pillow whose cost above Rs.600. We know a lot of thing about EMIs for house, car and other kind of white goods. But these EMIs is first time adopted by archives for jeans. This idea has been conceptualized by archives. Downturn market, cost cutting everywhere and empty pockets is the present situation; and here to curb all these hindrances, Archies is now, for the first time ever offering EMI facilities on its pillow in India. Simply shop for more than Rs. 600 and you can avail this offer. This amount will be set off through your credit card in three equal installments. They have also tied up with ICICI Bank for the credit card settlement. There are certain objectives behind this strategy that are as follow: To increase the sales of premium pillow wear category that is worth more than Rs. 800 per pillow. To ensure sales throughout the year irrespective of seasonality: How will this objective be achieved: Indian market for apparels is highly driven by seasonalit