Research Paper About Facebook

Facebook is the most popular social networking site in several English-speaking countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. And it was launched in February 2004 that is operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. Facebook is a popular free social networking website that allows registered users to create profiles, upload photos and video, send messages and keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues.As of July 2010  Facebook has more than 500 million active users. Users may create a personal profile, add other users as friends and exchange messages, including automatic notifications when they update their profile. Additionally, users may join common interest user groups, organized by workplace, school, or college, or other characteristics. The name of the service stems from the  colloquial name for the book  given to students at the start of the academic year by university administrations in the US with the intention of helping students to ge t to know each other better.Facebook allows anyone who declares them to be at least 13 years old to become a registered user of the website. Facebook was founded by  Mark Zuckerberg  with his college roommates and fellow computer science students  Eduardo Saverin,  Dustin Moskovitz  and  Chris Hughes. The website's membership was initially limited by the founders to  Harvard  students, but was expanded to other colleges in the  Boston  area, the  Ivy League, and  Stanford University. It gradually added support for students at various other universities before opening to high school students, and, finally, to anyone aged 13 and over. A January 2009  Compete. om  study ranked Facebook as the most used  social network  by worldwide monthly active users, followed byMySpace. [9]  Entertainment Weekly  put it on its end-of-the-decade â€Å"best-of† list, saying, â€Å"How on earth did we stalk our exes, remember our co-workers' birthdays, bug ou r friends, and play a rousing game of Scrabulous before Facebook? â€Å"[10]  Quantcast estimates Facebook has 135. 1 million monthly unique U. S. visitors. [11] C. Significance of Facebook Sometimes it is taking a while to get an understanding of the importance of something that is as much in the hype as Facebook is currently in 2007.With its recent positioning as an application platform Facebook has in our view become a unique challenger to established players in the field of Personal Information Infrastructure like Microsoft and Google. We are going to explain this in a way that hopefully also those can get at least the concept behind it who had so far (maybe even after they done a quick inspection of Facebook and some other â€Å"social networks† themselves) a difficult time in understanding the significance of Facebook contribution to application platforms in general. Applications are the building blocks of everyone’s Personal Information Infrastructure.Every a pplication is one block and provides users with a specific, bundled set of features. Sometimes applications (â€Å"integrated applications†) as we know them are sharing important pieces of personally maintained information like Contacts, sometimes they do not. Facebook application; a user is running to access the Facebook Contacts of this user. More importantly: Whenever the user does something of significance inside any Facebook application the platform itself will inform automatically his Contacts about it; Example: Your friend Paul just uploaded a new photo to his album!Your personal Facebook experience is depending on the number and level of activity of your Facebook Contacts. If there is no one on Facebook you know then the value of Facebook will be little or zero for you; but the more of your Contacts are using Facebook applications actively the more value in terms of â€Å"Getting to know about what they do† You will get out of Facebook (classical case of the â €Å"Network Effect†: the more people using a network the higher is the value for the individual user).These messages that the platform is continuously distributing to the Contacts of a user are one of the core features of the application platform Facebook: With this basic mechanism Facebook is allowing that Facebook users by just using their Facebook applications are staying automatically in contact with their Facebook Contacts. One standard argument against the overall value of Facebook is that staying in such an online and direct way in touch is something that is interesting only for â€Å"the younger generation†. That is maybe true or not. But there is another aspect.If you are for example a senior developer and you are not interested in staying in contact with your Contacts automatically then maybe you are interested in the potential business opportunity: Facebook is not only encouraging developers to create their own applications that will run inside Facebook (on top of the platform). The Facebook platform has also build in a simple but effective mechanism to promote the usage of your newly created application: All Contacts of any new user of your Facebook application will get (in exactly the same way as already described) a notification that these users just started to use your application.This form of directly â€Å"build in application promotion/marketing† for your application can deliver high numbers of users to any application so fast that probably most application providers will be challenged to handle the demand (please see for details this excellent article from Marc Andreessen ). Example : I find it fascinating how important Facebook has become in todays society. Below are 2 examples of how ridiculous it is: A. A friend of mine, and his gf broke up. A month or so later I saw that his FB profile read â€Å"In a relationship† so I called him.He and his gf got back together and it was very important to her that he change his status to that. I thought it was trivial but it was a huuuge deal to her. B. Last night I get a call from a friend who has been having marital problems. he called to tell me he thinks his marraige is over. We go over the whole story and I tell him to wait and see if she calms down. He says he knows it's over because she de-friended him on facebook. Am I the only one who is so surprised at how important FB has become to people in their personal lives? D.Development of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg wrote Facemash, the predecessor to Facebook, on October 28, 2003, while attending Harvard as a sophomore. The site represented a Harvard University version of Hot or Not, and according to The Harvard Crimson, Facemash â€Å"used photos compiled from the online Facebook of nine Houses, placing two next to each other at a time and asking users to choose the ‘hotter' person†. To accomplish this, Zuckerberg hacked into the protected areas of Harvard's computer network, and copied th e houses' private dormitory ID images.Harvard at that time did not have a student directory with photos and basic information, and Facemash attracted 450 visitors and 22,000 photo-views in its first four hours online. That the initial site mirrored people's physical community with their real identities represented the key aspects of what later became Facebook. The site was quickly forwarded to several campus group list-servers, but was shut down a few days later by the Harvard administration. Zuckerberg was charged by the administration with breach of security, violating copyrights, and violating individual privacy, and faced expulsion.Ultimately, however, the charges were dropped. Zuckerberg expanded on this initial project that semester by creating a social study tool ahead of an art history final, by uploading 500 Augustan images to a website, with one image per page along with a comment section. He opened the site up to his classmates, and people started sharing their notes. The following semester, Zuckerberg began writing code for a new website in January 2004. He was inspired, he said, by an editorial in The Harvard Crimson about the Facemash incident.On February 4, 2004, Zuckerberg launched â€Å"The Facebook†, originally located at thefacebook. com. Just six days after the site launched, three Harvard seniors, Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss, and Divya Narendra, accused Zuckerberg of intentionally misleading them into believing he would help them build a social network called HarvardConnection. com, while he was instead using their ideas to build a competing product. The three complained to the Harvard Crimson, and the newspaper began an investigation. The three later filed a lawsuit against Zuckerberg, subsequently settling.Membership was initially restricted to students of Harvard College, and within the first month, more than half the undergraduate population at Harvard was registered on the service. Eduardo Saverin (business aspects), D ustin Moskovitz (programmer), Andrew McCollum (graphic artist), and Chris Hughes soon joined Zuckerberg to help promote the website. In March 2004, Facebook expanded to Stanford, Columbia, and Yale. This expansion continued when it opened as well to all other Ivy League schools and Boston University, New York University, MIT, and gradually most universities in Canada and the United States. Total active users  (in millions)|Date| Users| Days later| Monthly growth| August 26, 2008| 100| 1,665| 178. 38%| April 8, 2009| 200| 225| 13. 33%| September 15, 2009| 300| 150| 10%| February 5, 2010| 400| 143| 6. 99%| July 21, 2010| 500| 166| 4. 52%| —| 600| 143 (ongoing)| —| Facebook  incorporated  in the summer of 2004, and the entrepreneur  Sean Parker, who had been informally advising Zuckerberg, became the company's president. [  In June 2004, Facebook moved its base of operations to  Palo Alto, California. It received its first investment later that month from  P ayPal  co-founder  Peter Thiel. The company dropped  from its name after purchasing the  domain name  facebook. om in 2005 for $200,000. Facebook launched a high school version in September 2005, which Zuckerberg called the next logical step. At that time, high school networks required an invitation to join. Facebook later expanded membership eligibility to employees of several companies, including  Apple Inc. and  Microsoft. Facebook was then opened on September 26, 2006, to every one of ages 13 and older with a valid  email address. On October 24, 2007, Microsoft announced that it had purchased a 1. 6% share of Facebook for $240 million, giving Facebook a total implied value of around $15 billion.Microsoft's purchase included rights to place international ads on Facebook. In October 2008, Facebook announced that it would set up its international headquarters in Dublin,  Ireland. In September 2009, Facebook said that it had turned cash flow positive for the first time. [  In November 2010, based on Second Market Inc. , an exchange for share of privately held companies, Facebook value was $41 billion (surpassing EBay's slightly), and it became the third-largest US Web Company after Google and Amazon. Traffic to Facebook increased steadily after 2009. More people visited Facebook than Google for the week ending March 13, 2010.Facebook also became the top social network across eight individual markets in Asia—the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Vietnam, while other brands commanded the top positions in certain markets, including Google-owned Orkut in India, Mixi. jp in Japan, CyWorld in South Korea, and Yahoo! ’s Wretch. cc in Taiwan. II. Potential Facebook Addiction A. Social Networking to your Old Friends The best thing about Facebook for those of us, who have been out of school for a long time, is the ability to find old friends.When you find old friends using Facebook you're given the chance to make amends, start over and be best friends again, not to mention find lost love. B. Business Facebook â€Å"Pages† (that’s with a capital â€Å"P†) were created to give businesses their own profile on Facebook. In fact, originally, the code that made up a Facebook â€Å"Page† appeared to be almost exactly the same as that which generated user profile pages. Pages give your business or brand an identity on Facebook. With a Page, those interested and following your brand can become â€Å"fans†, and when they do so, all their friends will see this.You can store photos, videos, information about your company, and custom applications on your Page. All activity on Pages gets posted back to your Mini Feed for all your friends to see. C. Communicating to other Nation Other nations are using this site in communicating. Nowadays, chatting or having social life with other nation is a great issue. Filipinos are one of the examples in maki ng friends with the other. Foreigners are now married with the other Filipina and that because of Facebook. And also, this might be the reason why we have this unity even though we’re not that same. III. Effects of Addiction to FacebookA. Financially We are force to spend our allowance because we are enjoying using Facebook. Like in our phone, just by reloading we can now connect with Facebook. Likewise, when we do not have our computer at home, we tend to visit internet shops. Some people do have their connections at home using the Globe Broadband and paying monthly. B. Health Problems The debate rages on about how these social networking sites affect our health. Many people have made new friends or even met special mates on these social networking sites. Some studies suggest that Facebook or Twitter could actually be harmful to our social health.Instead of meeting people in person, we are spending more time in front of our computer screens checking out the latest info. I re ally do not see how anyone really cares when John goes to the bathroom or eats dinner. Some famous celebrities use facebook too and use it constantly. C. Mentally Professionals worry that these cyber interactions are a detriment to participants in that they discourage traditional human interaction. It is far easier to log onto a website and chat with friends than it is to drive to their homes to see them in person, but physical human interaction is important to one's mental well-being.Also, maintaining contact solely through cyberspace can be damaging in that it is somewhat superficial and not as meaningful as face to face conversation. Lest you forget the nuances of a smile or the meaning behind an embrace, it is best to use Facebook sparingly in maintaining interpersonal relationships. IV. Signs of Facebook Addiction A. Neglecting your Studies Based on the experiences, students find their selves alone and making fun. Simply, they are enjoying Facebook. Instead of studying, they sp end more time in this site.Telling their parents that they have a research to do but the truth is they will just log in and they will share thoughts with their friends. Technology now is part of our life. Even a seven year old girl or boy does have their Facebook now. This is the proof that Facebook has greatly influenced the life of everyone. Students cannot focus in their studies because they have the reason to enjoy surfing the internet. B. Facebook Games vs. Cultural Games Many active users are playing games in Facebook. C. Rebellion V. ConclusionVI. References http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Facebook

Petrol Price Hike Effect on Business

http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=AEjXDCNww9c&feature=related Operating margins:  Ramping up diesel capacity will also require large capital expenditure. This will mean a large capital expenditure outlay, putting pressure on operating margins in the short-term. Given the tight liquidity and high interest rates in the domestic market, and a falling rupee, borrowing costs will also likely be higher whether it is in domestic or foreign currency. Unit sales:  Most Indian automakers rely heavily on petrol driven vehicles. This is particularly true of two-wheeler makers, whose entire portfolio is based on petrol engines.The new price hike could deter buyers from opting for petrol cars and two-wheelers. This will directly impact revenues and profits for automakers that have a petrol-heavy portfolio. Segment growth:  The petrol segment has already retreated by 14 per cent in fiscal 2012, while diesel car sales have grown 37 per cent. With the petrol price hike, the growth in the diesel segment is only expected to grow. Even a hike in diesel prices, which some experts are saying is likely as early as Friday, will still keep diesel cheaper than petrol.Too steep a hike in diesel will push up inflation, which the government is keen to avoid. Small car demand:  This is the only bright spot for automakers. In a situation where petrol prices are in the vicinity of Rs 80, demand for small cars will likely increase, since fuel typically accounts for about 50 per cent of running costs. Apart from space and environmental concerns, especially in urban centres, small cars are highly fuel efficient, which appeals to the highly value-   and budge-conscious Indian buyer.Small cars with diesel engines will be in even higher demand. They continue to be a worried bunch and their fears are not unfounded, for petrol getting out of reach for many people means there will be more diesel vehicles on the road in the years to come. This will have an adverse impact on the environment as diesel engine emissions are over three times more toxic than petrol. This has been collated by Centre for Science and Environment's analysis of the 2010-11 car sales data, which revealed that the demand for diesel-run SUVs has gone up.Also, 85% of petrol cars sold during the period had engine sizes smaller than 1200 cc. â€Å"We are extremely concerned about the huge petrol price hike. While fuel price reforms can help, in this case there is partial reform which is dangerous. There is already a dieselization of the car segment. â€Å"WHO and many other public health organizations have already that diesel emissions are carcinogenic. There is a really high public health risk,† said executive director, research and policy, CSE, Anumita Roychowdhury. People are buying big diesel cars, of engine size above 1500cc. They are not feeling the pinch because diesel is cheap. The subsidy on diesel is absolutely unacceptable,† she added. As of now 13 cities in the country comply w ith Bharat stage IV norms and  the rest  follow Bharat stage III norms. â€Å"The pollutants that are of major concern are particulate matter and nitrous oxide (NO2). Diesel cars are legally allowed to emit these pollutants more than petrol. In fact the legal limit NO2 for diesel cars is three times higher than for petrol cars,† explained Anumita.But the fact that diesel is more fuel efficient and gives better mileage masks the down side of increase in diesel cars. Professor L M Das of the Centre for Energy Studies, IIT Delhi says â€Å"Diesel contains more energy than petrol and the vehicle's engine combustion process is more efficient, adding up to higher fuel efficiency and lower  CO2 emissions  when using diesel. But the pollutants emitted from diesel and petrol are characteristically different. While petrol emits more carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons, diesel emits more smoke and particulate matter that have worse health impacts. Diesel is also more fuel eff icient giving out a mileage that is nearly 50% more than petrol. Dealers also agree that the demand for diesel cars has soared. â€Å"The demand for diesel cars in every segment has gone up. While demand for diesel cars has gone up by 15%, petrol car demand has dropped by 20%. Even people who are buying cars worth Rs 50 to Rs 60 lakh are opting for diesel cars. â€Å"Todsay we got many calls enquiring about diesel cars. Only people who want to buy small cars are opting for petrol cars,† said Ravinder, owner of Motosyics in Karol Bagh.Another car dealer, Sanjeev Nath Bhel owner of Rajnath automobiles in Vasant Kunj said that he has started getting calls almost every second enquiring about models of diesel cars. â€Å"There is a huge surge in the demand for diesel cars. It's also because diesel gives better mileage. People are mostly opting for middle segment diesel cars ,† he said. The negative sentiment is echoed by auto industry officials who feel the rollback notwit hstanding the current high petrol prices will have a serious impact on the auto industry and petrol car sales. Around 75 per cent of  Maruti Suzuki  sales come from petrol cars,† said Mayank Pareek, Head-Marketing, Maruti Suzuki. â€Å"Last year, due to petrol price increase, there was a drop of 15 per cent in the sale of our petrol cars. At the same time, diesel sales for the industry are growing. While diesel capacity is being over utilised, petrol car capacity remains under utilised,† he added. While companies like  Hyundai and Tata are offering discounts and special schemes  on its petrol models to stimulate demand, Maruti plans to make up for the decline in petrol car sales by increasing its diesel volumes. Last year, we sold around 2. 43 lakh units of diesel cars. This year will sell 4 lakh diesel cars, said Pareek. However, even that plan stands in jeopardy with the Finance ministry mulling an increase in the excise duty on diesel vehicles. According to f igures compiled by the government, passenger cars and SUVs account for 15 per cent of diesel consumption – a claim that has been rejected by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). The industry body says that personal cars make up for only 1 per cent of the total diesel consumption in the country while SUVs and taxis account for 5 per cent.Currently, diesel cars attract excise duty ranging from 12 per cent to 27 per cent based on their size and engine capacity. With diesel cars already commanding a higher price than petrol models (which in turn amounts to higher revenues for the state), a hike in duty will only end up reducing demand for passengers cars overall. Read more:  Duty on diesel cars may go up The negative sentiment is echoed by auto industry officials who feel the rollback notwithstanding the current high petrol prices will have a serious impact on the auto industry and petrol car sales. Around 75 per cent of  Maruti Suzuki  sales come from petrol cars,† said Mayank Pareek, Head-Marketing, Maruti Suzuki. â€Å"Last year, due to petrol price increase, there was a drop of 15 per cent in the sale of our petrol cars. At the same time, diesel sales for the industry are growing. While diesel capacity is being over utilised, petrol car capacity remains under utilised,† he added. While companies like  Hyundai and Tata are offering discounts and special schemes  on its petrol models to stimulate demand, Maruti plans to make up for the decline in petrol car sales by increasing its diesel volumes. Last year, we sold around 2. 43 lakh units of diesel cars. This year will sell 4 lakh diesel cars, said Pareek. However, even that plan stands in jeopardy with the Finance ministry mulling an increase in the excise duty on diesel vehicles. According to figures compiled by the government, passenger cars and SUVs account for 15 per cent of diesel consumption – a claim that has been rejected by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). The industry body says that personal cars make up for only 1 per cent of the total diesel consumption in the country hile SUVs and taxis account for 5 per cent. Currently, diesel cars attract excise duty ranging from 12 per cent to 27 per cent based on their size and engine capacity. With diesel cars already commanding a higher price than petrol models (which in turn amounts to higher revenues for the state), a hike in duty will only end up reducing demand for passengers cars overall. Read more:  Duty on diesel cars may go up In the short-term, sales will be further impacted while in the long term a negative consumer sentiment will be created which can hurt the growth of the industry, he added.Expressing similar sentiments, General Motors India Vice President P Balendran said: â€Å"Earlier, the industry was expecting a growth of 8-10 per cent this fiscal but I will not be surprised if we are in the negative territory due to fuel price hike and high interes t rates as the market continues to be sluggish. † This will result in inventory pile up of  petrol  vehicles as more and more consumers will opt for diesel vehicles, he added.Describing the latest price hike as a â€Å"disaster†,  Maruti Suzuki  India Managing Executive Officer, Marketing and Sales Mayank Pareek said: â€Å"This will further increase the skew between petrol and diesel vehicle demand, which is already very wide. This will severely affect the sales of entry level cars, which are mainly petrol driven. † Last year, the petrol segment declined by 16. 2 per cent as the demand shifted to diesel vehicles. Now there will be more demand for diesel cars after the price hike but most of the manufacturers are running on full capacity for diesel vehicles, he added.Pareek said the overall impact of the price hike would further dent growth of the automobile industry. Hyundai Motor  India Ltd Director Marketing and Sales Arvind Saxena said: â€Å"Deman d is already under pressure on account of inflation and high interest rates. A hike of such magnitude is neither good for the customer nor for industry. † Passenger car sales in India witnessed the slowest growth during April in 10 years at 3. 4 per cent as customer sentiment remained low due to post-Budget price hikes and high interest rates, affecting the entry-level segment most.As per  SIAM  figures, domestic passenger car sales stood at 1, 68,351 units in April 2012 compared to 1,62,813 units in the same month last year. In the fiscal 2011-12, car sales in India grew by just 2. 19 per cent which was the slowest since 2008-09. â€Å"The company has already asked the R& D department to speed up the work, and if required, it may also go for a third party arrangement,† the source said. In the last one year, the price of petrol has gone up considerably fuelling the demand for diesel cars, which account for more than 60 per cent sales at present.Honda has no diesel v ariant in its stable, which is becoming a big disadvantage for the company. Honda Brio will become the first car to have the diesel engine followed by City and Jazz. â€Å"With the  huge surge in the price of petrol, there is a massive demand for the diesel model. We are already giving discount on our cars but it is not possible beyond a point,† a marketing official from Honda said. Honda is not the only company to advance launch of diesel cars . Renault has also advanced the unveiling of its diesel model. Even Volkswagen is looking for models that run on other fuels like CNG.Others are trying to sweeten the deal with various discounts and offers. Sale of diesel vehicles in the country jumped by 35 per cent last fiscal while that of petrol variants dropped by 15 per cent. The sale of petrol cars will see further decline with the latest hike of ` 7. 50 per litre. A day after the increase, Hyundai announced a â€Å"petrol price lock assurance programme† that will insul ate its customers from the new fuel price rise for the next seven months. The programme covers people who will buy petrol models of Eon, Santro, i10, i20, Accent and Verna till May 31. The hike of this magnitude is neither good for the industry nor customers,† Arvind Saxena, director, marketing and sales, Hyundai Motor India, said. Other automobile manufacturers have already started giving discounts and freebies on petrol models and could introduce more such offers following the hike of petrol . According to automobile body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), there is a need for the government to reconsider its proposal for such a steep increase in the price of petrol. There is a need to seriously consider the option of a moderate increase in the price of diesel before it impacts the growth of the industry,† SIAM said. In a statement, Siam said that there is a requirement to look at the petroleum product pricing policy in a comprehensive manner and remove distortions so that downstream products market do not get disturbed. â€Å"The need of the hour is to bite the bullet by reducing the price hike on petrol and revising the price of diesel, which will bring in more revenue for the government as well as some level of parity between the two competing fuels for the industry,† SIAM said.However, manufacturers lament that they are not in a position to absorb the currency changes and mounting import bill, and have no other option but to pass on the impact to the customers. While  Toyota Kirloskar Motors  and  General Motors India  are expected to announce price hikes soon, others such as Maruti  SuzukiIndia and  Hyundai Motor  are likely to follow suit. â€Å"We have been facing cost pressures over the last few months and have decided to hike the prices. The quantum is yet to be finalised, but the hike should come into effect from June,† said Toyota Kirloskar Motors deputy MD (marketing) Sandeep Singh.General Mo tors has decided to increase prices from June 1, but is temporarily revisiting decision in the light of massive increase in petrol prices. â€Å"We are re-considering plans to increase prices from June as customers are hit by the massive increase in the prices of petrol. We do not want to create a double whammy for customers and are planning to postpone the hike till the conditions improve in the domestic market,† says General Motors vice-president (corporate affairs) P Balendran. Car companies had increased prices by up to 1. 5% to 3 in January this year, but the real impact came after 2%-5% increase in excise in the Union Budget. While most cars, including small hatchbacks, became expensive by Rs 6,000, the hike was up to Rs 5 lakh for top-end luxury segment. This resulted in overall sales falling to 168,351 units in April. Carmakers remain skeptical on market prospects with customers postponing new purchases. Country's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, is too weighing its o ptions. â€Å"There are intense cost pressures with regard to import of important commodities like steel due to currency and other reasons,† said a senior Maruti executive.An analyst tracking the sector says another hike will badly hit the auto market, which is already crawling. â€Å"The market is already reeling under the price of petrol price hike, which has further dampened the sentiment after the Budget hike. Now another hike will hit the industry hard,† said a Mumbai-based analyst with a Brokerage firm. High petrol prices and weak consumer sentiment in the face of slowing economic growth dragged auto sales down in May. Car market leader Maruti Suzuki India Ltd led the decline with a 4. 3% drop in domestic sales to 89,478 units from a year earlier.Sales of Maruti’s petrol models such as WagonR, Alto and the 800, which make up a third of overall sales at the Indian subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corp. , shrank by 29%. India’s economy grew 5. 3% in January -March, the slowest pace in nine years, data released on Thursday showed. Slowing growth has dampened consumer sentiment; high petrol prices and interest rates have deterred car buyers, who are increasingly preferring diesel models. Analysts say car sales will take a further hit in the months ahead after oil marketing companies increased the price of petrol by as much as  Rs. 7. 50 per litre on 23 May.The steep increase in fuel cost, combined with a recent increase in vehicle prices (due to rising input costs and an excise duty increase), has resulted in a 6% increase in the total cost of ownership of petrol cars over the past four-to-five months, wrote Joseph George, an analyst at IIFL Institutional Equities. â€Å"We cut our volume growth estimate for the car industry (excluding utility vehicles) from 16% to 12%. We also expect demand to further shift from petrol to diesel vehicles. † Sales at Hyundai Motor India Ltd, the second largest car maker by unit sales, rose 3% to 32,010 units in May compared with a year ago.Arvind Saxena, director of marketing and sales at Hyundai Motor India, said: â€Å"The recent hike in petrol prices has depressed market sentiment, with the macroeconomic indicators providing no cause for cheer. The demand outlook doesn’t look very bright. † Meanwhile, driven by sales of the Nano small car, passenger vehicle sales at Tata Motors Ltd rose 6% to 20,503 units compared to May 2011. The fuel efficient car billed as the world’s cheapest, contributed 41% of Tata Motors’ total sales in May. Nano sales rose 31% to 8,507 units.Utility vehicle market leader Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd kept up its strong sales momentum, posting an increase of 27% to 21,154 units in the month from a year ago. The company’s portfolio of models is predominantly diesel-fuelled, shielding it from the effect of the hike in petrol prices. Sales at General Motors India Pvt. Ltd and Ford India Pvt. Ltd dropped 27% and 14%, re spectively, to 6,079 and 6,036 units. At Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd, sales doubled to 15,051 units, buoyed by the company’s Innova and Fortuner models and partly because of a relatively low base last year. To stave off the impact of the weakening rupee, Toyota has undertaken a 1% increase in the prices of Etios diesel and Innova and a 0. 5% increase in Fortuner and Etios Liva, diesel, with effect from 1 June. † said Sandeep Singh, deputy managing director-marketing. Albeit on a low base, sales at Nissan Motor India Pvt. Ltd, too, increased 98% to 3,138 units in May. Meanwhile, notwithstanding the sluggish sales in the overall two-wheeler market, Hero MotoCorp Ltd continued its strong sales trajectory, despatching 556,644 motorcycles and scooters—an expansion of 11. 3% over the corresponding month last year. TVS Motor Co. eported a decline of 4. 3% to 176,012 units while Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt. Ltd, on a small base of 36,746 units, saw an increase of 21% compared to a year ago. Bajaj Auto Ltd will report its sales figures next week. The 10-company auto index on  BSE Ltd  has dropped 18. 46% in the last one month, compared to a 7. 82% drop in the benchmark Sensex. Car firms are looking at raising the  prices of their diesel variantsas rupee depreciation has led to a hike in imported input costs and they have to make up for the discounts being offered on their petrol variants, which are not selling due to high fuels costs.While Toyota has announced that it will  hike the prices of its diesel models  from one to two per cent from June 1, other companies are expected to follow suit. This will be the third price hike since January this year. Diesel cars to drive industry growth: Ford â€Å"There is tremendous pressure on auto companies and a price hike is certain. The one-two per cent hike will be effective from June. However, we have not decided the exact amount by which prices will be raised across models,† Sandeep Si ngh, deputy managing director (marketing), Toyota Kirloskar Motors, said. There are rising input costs and then the depreciating rupee also adds to import bills for parts being sourced from abroad. Auto firms can't absorb cost beyond a point,† Singh explained. However, Singh has hinted that the hike will be more on the diesel variants than the petrol models. Prices of petrol models which are still selling well may also be increased. Others such as General Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motors had also hinted at hike in car prices from June onwards.Most car companies are loading their petrol variants with freebies and offering discounts ranging from Rs 3,000-Rs 50,000 depending on the demand for the model. Earlier in January, car manufacturers increased prices to the tune of 1. 5 to three per cent. It was followed by a second hike of two to five per cent to compensate for the excise duty hike proposed in the Budget. However car dealers are worried. â€Å"Another round of price hike is not going to help the sector in any way. Petrol car sales are at an all-time low and only diesel models are bringing in revenue.Any further price hike will dent the prospect of sale of diesel vehicles as well,† a General Motors showroom owner in south Delhi said. Even experts say that a price hike will further dampen the sentiment and sales prospects of the auto companies. â€Å"The significant hike in petrol price has already dampened the sentiment and increasing prices of vehicles will hit demand,† said Yaresh Kothari, auto analyst, Angel Broking. The hike in petrol rate and the proposed increase in diesel vehicles will make it difficult for the industry to achieve their sales growth target of 10-12

Literature synopsis project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Literature synopsis project - Essay Example The book is for those people struggling with nicotine addiction. The author used inspiring stories and messages from real women who have struggled with nicotine addiction. These includes intrauterine growth retardation and adverse health effects, during pregnancy (Allen, 2002). Moreover, it affects the foetal growth and childbirth weight leading to abnormal bleeding as well as premature birth. The author argues the factors leading to nicotine addiction are unemployment, low level of education, increased stress and poverty. This is very effective because it eliminate psychological factors that result to cigarette addiction. There are several cases that women smokers continue smoking during pregnancy. Maternal smoking pregnancy is associated with adverse outcomes, for example, 150-200g decrement in in childbirth weight and high neonatal mortality rate. In addition, infants have a higher risk of infant death syndrome, language problem, behavioral problem and antisocial problems. In other words, maternal smoking pregnancy reduces the development of central nervous system in such a way that it may predispose the infant to various neurobehavioral problems. Nomura, Gilman and Buka (2011) found that the children of women who smoked more than twenty cigarettes in a day were at a greater risk of alcohol disorder and neurobehavioral problems. Thus, there should be intervention on mother to reduce smoking during pregnancy. Yoko Nomura, Stephen Gilman and Stephen Buka (2013). Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy and Risk of Alcohol Use Disorders Among Adult Offspring, Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 72(2): 199–209 Cigarette smoking is harmful to both mother and unborn child because its carcinogenic effect on various organs. Smoking during pregnancy accelerates the risk associated with intrauterine growth retardation and adverse health effects (Chung et al., 2001). In addition, it affects the foetal

Project management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Project management - Assignment Example Being one of the biggest and most innovative banks in New Zealand, ASB Bank needed to minimize energy consumption in all its headquarters and branch networks. Besides minimizing energy, cost the bank also wanted a solution that would enable a countrywide communication infrastructure, which would be reliable and secure. In addition, the bank also wanted a solution that would be independent of the bank’s data network. Finally, the fact that the smart metering technology was a new phenomenon in the New Zealand market necessitated the bank to find an experienced M2M partner. All these formed the primary goals of the establishment of the Machine-to-Machine (M2M) smart meter solution project. To minimize energy consumption, the bank aimed at installing a network of more than 200 smart meters in the in its headquarters and branch networks all over the country. The proposition of the project was to install smart meters in each ASB bank branches countrywide and around 10 smart meters in the bank’s data centre, call centre, and headquarters. The smart meters installed would collect data in a 15 minute interval, from eight power sources, and then feed the information collected to a central server in a 30 minute interval on a daily basis. This would enable the ASB Bank to monitor the data in each of its branches in a near instantaneous manner, verify the load profile, and respond to any problems in any of the branches accordingly. Smart meters would be installed in all the bank’s branches, key buildings and individual loads in bigger buildings. After the smart meters collect data from all the branches and offices, the data can be manipulated using numerous customized reports and automatically sent to the main server To enable successful project scheduling, the project goals must be broken down into tasks before the delivery dates, resource constrictions, or task contingencies are considered. When

Impact of Operations Decisions on Corporate Social Responsibility Essay

Impact of Operations Decisions on Corporate Social Responsibility - Essay Example The operations of the business need to be inline with the goal of CSR in order to achieve greater efficiency and productivity (Frederick, 2006). In operations, CSR effects from the input to the output processes; Input to process, for example, is when the organizations uses solar panel energy for their factory like sun chips. OR may be they are using an eco friendly form of transportation (bio diesel trucks). Outputs to the process are achieved by reducing emission or carbon footprint. A company which is changing into an environmental friendly raw materials support action against child labor is also fulfilling its social responsibility. A company emphasizing on green marketing and recycling is also looking towards fulfilling its environmental responsibilities. Decisions made in the operations, thus highly affect the way a company fulfills its social and environmental responsibilities (Slack, 2006). 1. The integration of global supply chains has created more reputation risks than business or financial risk for the suppliers. In order to cater to the global environment and maintain efficient supply chains, there is now a need for the supply chain to fulfill the corporate, social and environmental responsibility by keeping the suppliers well-informed, assuring that the customers are getting the right product quality, ensure proper working conditions throughout the supply chain and not exploiting the labor working conditions. 2. Life cycle analysis is a key operation that supports CSR efforts. Through life cycle analysis, organizations can assess what amount of energy and resources are used and also the emissions and waste generated can be estimated and continuous improvements in the environmental management system and pollution prevention programs can be made. 3. Similarly, establishing precise and clear codes of conduct related to the environmental and social responsibility of the company and employees assist in closely achieving the goal of fulfilling CSR. Codes of labor unions and working conditions should also be designed. There are a number of organizations that are working towards fulfilling their social and environmental responsibility through devising certain strategies and customizing their operations and including the aspect of CSR in their operations. There are organizations that produce separate CSR reports like the annual financial reports to demonstrate their efforts towards CSR. Shell has been discovering the capture and utilization of carbon dioxide to alleviate the effect of greenhouse gas emissions. Shell has also continued education and development plans with various institutions. Abbot Laboratories has always worked towards CSR by providing quality health care, investing in education programs, health and safety programs and environment improving initiatives. Whirlpool with the combine efforts of Habitat for Humanity, donated a refrigerator and a range to every Habitat home. Basically, Whirlpool emphasized their dedication, loyalty, philanthropy and sustainability on its website and they also highlighted their membership to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. Instead of making their own sustainability report, Whirlpool

Story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 5

Story - Essay Example But the plagiarism was just too much to be ignored. There were entire passages and paragraphs that had been copy-pasted from the web. Jason Blair was a rising journalist in 2003 (Bailey). He was rendering his services to the New York Times as a reporter. Everything was going fine until one day, an editor at the San Antonio Express-News found out certain common things between a column written by Blair and a previous report authored by Macarena Hernandez. This led to the starting of an investigation by the Times into Blair. As a result of the investigation, 36 out of the total of 73 articles written by Blair were found to contain fabrication, plagiarism, or some other kind of unethical behavior (Bailey). Blair was left with no option but to resign from his job as a reporter and a journalist from the New York Times. Bailey, Jonathan. â€Å"5 Famous Plagiarists: Where Are They Now?† Plagiarism Today. 21 Aug. 2012. Web. 16 Apr. 2015. . Grimes, A. C. â€Å"5 Insanely Blatant Acts of Plagiarism by Famous People.† 18 Feb. 2014. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.

Global Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Global Entrepreneurship - Essay Example   The scientific management resulted in great evolution of US business and the innovation management and sub division of labor helped the US business to grow at faster pace than the rest of the world. Research and development, mass production, efficiency and increased wages for the labors also provided adequate boost to the American business and the vast growing firms geographically expanded and took over the European markets through their corporate Americanization. At the same time, problems emerge in the system like agency problems, separation of control from the ownership, unrelated diversification, etc. US businesses stay sustainable through innovation and change management however economic meltdown obliges them to downsize. German business system has been able to sustain the non-price sensitive markets through collective bargains and consensus management and their primary focus is on long term strategy of production and export.UK business system is also quite similar to that a nd follows long term strategic planning. In the UK, businesses tend to expand geographically like that of US corporations e.g. Tesco, BT, etc. French business system is driven by functionality and rigid hierarchy and is found more directive than collaborative. The focus is to produce and supply hi tech products to the international markets.    European business systems endeavor to stay sustainable in the economic crisis through strategic management that helps them to cope up the crisis like merging, joint venturing, co-branding, etc.

IPods & the American Teenager Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

IPods & the American Teenager - Research Paper Example or nano, this particular product continues to innovate and thus has maintained its supreme position at the helm of the personal listening device field. With bright new flashy skins, as well as a series of interfaces which tie directly into the Apple network, the innovation of the iPod continues and has ensured that this product remains at the forefront of an ever-changing industry. Teenagers are the primary audience for Apple’s strategic marketing campaigns as they are also an important buying demographic unencumbered by major financial obligations. Teenagers are the demographic who may be able to afford to spend $250 on the latest iPod or the accessories associated with the latest personal mp3 player. Because teenagers often have more disposable and non-discretionary income than most other demographic groups, they have been the target audience for the iPod since it was released. Importantly, Apple Computer has added new video capabilities of the iPods. How will this impact th e American teenager? (Levy 44-60). iPods originated as personal listening devices more than eight years ago and there have been many changes associated with this particular product. Apple Computer has always been at the forefront of innovative change in a competitive industry and the iPod remains a product which is continuing to evolve. Through its many endeavors, Apple has successful appealed to a young generation of technically savvy teenagers intent on being in the forefront of fashion, music and technological innovation. Through the introduction of the sleek Apple personal computer to the iPod, iTouch and now the iPhone, Apple has consistently staked a claim for its specific demographic. Apple remains at the forefront of the digital revolution and the latest edition of the iPod is its next natural progression in the increasingly popular hand-held personal music device industry. The decision by Apple Computer to add a new video capability to its iPod will have a variety of

Global Financial Crisis in 2008 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Global Financial Crisis in 2008 - Essay Example Precisely, some of the great organizations that succumbed to this crisis include Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, AIG, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac as well as Meryl Lynch. All these were recognized as brand organizations and as such, they had been nationalized effectively. In addition to this, these organizations had risk management systems entailing technical excellence. Irrespective of this, they still succumbed to the effect of the Global Financial Crisis. The question is: if they indeed had implemented a superior risk management strategy, then why did they go under? Therefore, this article aims at establishing what could be the corporate weakness that contributed to their failure.2 Despite the fact that these institutions had established the right risk management strategies, there must have been flaws within those systems. To establish and better understand these flaws, it is essential that one understand some various concepts: Interconnectivity between operational risk, credit risk and systemic risk Risk management strategies are usually established and implemented in an effort toward readying an organization for any eventual risk that may occur. There are three categories of risks that an organization faces depending on the nature of its operations. These are: Operational risks: These are usually described as breakdowns that occur internally within the control systems as well as the corporate governance and as such, it results in financial losses attributable to errors, fraud or even inability to perform timely. In addition to this, these risks cause the interest rates set by the financial institutions to become compromised in some way.3 Systematic risks: These are risks that occur within a certain market segment or within the entire market. According to financial analysts, the aftermath of systemic risks is that the value of the portfolio of an organization declines. Such risks arise due to political or even economical problems like the global financial crisis in 2008. Other factors that facilitate the occurrence of systemic risks include changes of interest rates, wars as well as calamities. Credit Risks: These are risks that arise out of uncertainty in credit worthiness of a borrower, that is, uncertainty on the ability of the borrower to meet his obligations. They usually take a variety of forms since the borrowers could be a range of parties including the sovereign governments. According to most financial analysts, all these risks are interrelated or interconnected and as such, they are the major risks that warrant an organization to establish risk management strategies. According to most financial analysts, both the systemic as well as the credit risks are commonly underpinned by the need for individuals within an organization to follow some stipulated work procedures as well as the need to engage in particular work related activities, which can be said to be strong human elements. This underpinning is what can be referred to as oper ational risks, and this is where the interconnectivity is underlain.4 These three types of risks can therefore be said to have caused the extinction of the aforementioned organizations that were major players within the economy. The most obvious reason for this is due to failed transactions. Whenever financial credit occurs, the approval of credit worthiness of any organization by the financial institutions is usually delayed. This is because during such times, credit approval must be

History of Europe 1815-1914 Essay Example for Free

History of Europe 1815-1914 Essay Nationalism is a relatively recent phenomenon, considering the grand sweep of history. Although its roots can be found among the ancient Hebrews and Greeks, Niccolo Machiavelli’s book, The Prince, was the beginning of modern day nationalism, and was â€Å"important in the preparation of nationalism. † (Kohn, 1955, p. 9) Machiavelli believed that the state must be preserved and defended at any cost, and longed for Italian unification, which was to come centuries later. John Milton of 17th century Great Britain is considered to be the architect of modern day nationalism. Milton regarded nationalism as â€Å"the affirmation of individual freedom from authority, the self-assertion of personality in face of its own government or church,† and the freedom to â€Å"utter and to argue freely according to conscience. † (Kohn, 1955, p. 16-17) According to historian John Hall, at the core of liberalism is the quest to answer the question, â€Å"What is the nature of a good life? † (Hall, 1988, p. 9) Immanuel Kant, the German philosopher, was concerned with the categories of the human mind. His philosophy is often called critical philosophy. He believed human reasoning to be the ultimate authority on morality, and that a person should be free to reason. As hall puts it, Kant’s â€Å"defense of the basic liberal aim of considering individuals to be of moral worth remains high-powered and absolutely central to liberalism. † (Hall, 1988, p. 19) John Stuart Mill is considered to be â€Å"the most important single theorist of liberalism. † (Hall, 1988, p. 24) He believed in a person’s right to freedom, as did Kant, and defended individual liberty. Mill wrote in his work, On Liberty, â€Å"the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. † (Hall, 1988, p. 25) Mill was considered to be a radical in his time for he supported women’s equality, including the right to vote, education and birth control. Although Mill never became a socialist, he studied pre-Marxist socialist works. Karl Marx’s brand of socialism divided industrialized society into two classes: proletariat and bourgeoisie. The proletariats being the working class, and the bourgeoisie being the rich, ruling class. He criticized capitalism and considered it to be oppressive. He viewed freedom as the â€Å"extent of humankinds domination over nature and the degree of rational, conscious control over social relations. † (Walicki, 1995, p. 12) Marx was the â€Å"prophet of communism† and he thought that his utopian view of society would â€Å"restore the unity of humankind, reconciling human individual existence with human species essence. † (Walicki, 1995, p. 12) Friedrich Engels was a contemporary of Marx, and co-wrote works with him, including the Communist Manifesto. Both Engels and Marx co-founded communism. He believed that the evils in industrialized society were due to private property, and only through a class struggle which led to a communist society could there be equality. The Problem of Bismarck Otto von Bismarck was appointed as Prime Minister of Prussia by Emperor William I in 1862. Not incredibly popular when appointed, people underestimated the power-hungry man. Prior to Bismarck’s appointment, William wanted to reform the Prussian military. The parliament agreed to reform but did not want to yield control of the budget to William for a long period of time. When Bismarck came on the scene he managed to collect additional taxes needed, and used them toward military reform without the consent or approval of the parliament. Unlike Bismarck, Louis-Napoleon of France, the great nephew of Napoleon I, started his political career with great support, but ended up being deposed. He was elected president of France in 1848 with a victory of 74. 2%. He was able to gain such a huge victory by being able to â€Å"appear as all things to all men. † (Price, 2003) However, resistance grew to his domination of government in 1851. He started a coup in December 1851 with little resistance in Paris, but more in rural areas, but he was able to crush that resistance. An election was held after the coup to decide whether or not people wanted him to have the authority necessary to create a constitution, and the result was an overwhelming yes, due to his â€Å"immense popularity. † (Price, 2003) Napoleon created the Second Empire, with himself the Emperor. In 1868 Bismarck pushed for Leopold, prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, to take the throne of Spain after the Spanish Revolution of 1868. Napoleon was alarmed at the prospect of Leopold taking the Spanish throne and threatened war. Leopold’s candidacy for the throne was withdrawn, but Napoleon wanted a letter of apology from Bismarck. Bismarck published the demands of Napoleon and Prussia’s rejection in the Ems Dispatch because he knew it would likely lead to war, and thought that a war with France would cause southern German states to help fight a Prussian war, leading to the unification of Germany. War did break out in 1870, and lasted until 1871. France was defeated by Prussia under Bismarck’s leadership. Politics Economy During the 19th century Great Britain experienced a tremendous amount of economic growth, which began with the cotton industry. â€Å"Between 1815 and 1851 occurred the most rapid economic development of domestic resources in the whole of British economic history. † (Smellie, 1962, p. 140) By 1860 half of the world’s coal and manufactured goods were supplied by Britain. By 1870 British international trade was greater than the French, German and Italian combined. Several major political developments occurred in Britain during the 1830s. The Reform Bill, enacted in 1832, lessened the amount of land a man had to own to be eligible to vote. It increased eligible voters by more than 200,000. However, eligible voters still only amounted to 20%. As a reaction to the French Revolution, the Six Acts Law was passed by Parliament in 1819. It severely limited civil liberties, including freedom of the press and the right to public meeting. Other laws were passed which outlawed political rallies, and made it illegal to form labor organizations. The economic development of France was much slower than Britain’s. It took longer to industrialize because the French population did not increase as fast as the rest of Europe. The slow population growth was caused by peasants limiting their family size due to the small plots they farmed. A recession in the 1860s occurred because agriculture and industry could not keep up with global competition. From 1815 to 1870 France went through a series of regime changes. In 1815 Napoleon I was defeated and France was invaded by foreign troops. Restoration of the Bourbon monarchy was forced upon the French people, and Louis XVIII was installed as king. After Louis died in 1824 Charles X became king. Moderate royalists and liberals won seats in elections, and in 1829 Charles appointed Jules de Polignac as chief minister, which alienated both moderates and liberals. After the elections in 1830 Charles signed the July Ordinances into law which dismissed the newly elected Chamber of Deputies, causing another revolution where Charles was driven from the throne, and the July Monarchy installed, named after the month when Louis Philippe, of the house of Orleans, was installed. Louis-Philippe was also driven from the throne in 1848, and the Second Republic was created. An April 1848 election allowed all eligible males to vote. Workers in Paris, however, did not like the results of the election and revolted. The revolts were brutally put down in what came to be called the June Days of 1848. Louis Napoleon won the presidential elections of 1848, as previously mentioned, later declaring himself emperor. War Unity During the 19th century unification occurred in both Germany and Italy. In Germany Bismarck managed to unite Germany through war with France in 1870, asking Germans not to fight â€Å"for Prussian expansion but for the sake of the fatherland. † (Bridge, 1980, p. 3) He succeeded in uniting Germany, but at a price Germans did not realize. â€Å"Bismarcks sensational success in unifying the country blinded most of his countrymen to the political retardation he had imposed upon them. †(Feuchtwanger, 2001, p. 14) He managed to force an authoritarian system on all of Germany. In Italy the Risorgimento, the term for Italian resistance to Austrian rule and the growing desire for unification, began with Giuseppe Mazzini. Exiled to France in 1831, he created the organization called Giovane Italia (Young Italy) in order to help spread Italian nationalism. Giuseppe Garibaldi was inspired by Mazzini, and in 1860 he landed in Sicily in order to stir up a revolt against the Sicilian king. He managed to gather Sicilian peasants to fight, and they were able to defeat the king. He then set himself up as the dictator of Sicily, and headed to the southern mainland with his Sicilian peasants. He also gained the support of peasants there, and then headed north, where he defeated King Francis of Naples. He was met with resistance by the forces of Victor Emmanuel, king of Sardinia. He decided to hand over his conquests to Victor Emmanuel. Garibaldi was an exact opposite of Bismarck. He fought for unification of his country by gathering the support of the people, while Bismarck united his country by embroiling them in wars. Bismarck imposed authoritarianism on the German people. Garibaldi put his political ambitions aside for the good of his country. â€Å"He could have established himself as dictator of southern Italy but believed national unity to be more important than personal ambition. † (Farmer, 2006)

Proposal Of Setting Up A Telemarketing Company Marketing Essay

Proposal Of Setting Up A Telemarketing Company Marketing Essay A business plan proposal of setting up a telemarketing company Contents Introduction The telemarketing at the moment is a growing industry with most companies having an annual growth between 8% and 10% (Anything research, 2013). This is due to the fact that the  businesses are  becoming increasingly aware of the need for market information on ongoing basis and the desire to reduce customer turnover rates in the current hard hit economy. It is the mission of  JH Marketing to provide broad  telemarketing consultation which will help companies increase sales volume and provide customer services to our clients in the Ireland at reduced prices. Thus, helping clients to increase revenue and offering them substantial amount of savings on the operational costs of their telemarketing and customer services functions. JH marketing will be based in Karachi, Pakistan where the company will have access to high skilled labour at lower costs. Idea Selection Process As the recession has hit the profits of the businesses more and more companies have been forced to cut down the operational costs and to make the most out of the resources they have. Many big and small companies look to outsource their telemarketing and customer services operations to emerging markets where they can get skilled labour for lower costs and that is the rationale behind selection of the venture. Ideas such as setting up a PR company and advertising agency were considered as well but costs, skilled labour and the competition were the factors of not going ahead with the mentioned options. The other rationale behind selection of this business is the lower start up cost as well, the costs only include office space, computers and the internet connection and the staff with higher English speaking capabilities to handle the queries of the clients from Ireland. Service Description JH Marketing will be adapting low cost strategy for its venture by setting up its operations in Pakistan to minimise its costs and the clients will be given higher level of service as the company will be focusing on low cost, efficiency and innovation as their core strategic competitive advantages (Lawson, 2003). JH Marketing  offers complete and customized telemarketing campaigns and customer services operations. The most common telemarketing campaigns embarked on are for following purposes: Lead Generation Setting appointments Market research Surveys (Political surveys and statistical analysis etc) Subscriptions Business development or Sales Product promotion In order to create greater effect for the clients JH Marketing provide a comprehensive program for them that may include, but not limited to, some of the following services: Classification of Program Objectives and potential. Creation of tailored lists of leads for sales Market research and analysis Training and development of telemarketing agents Script writing for campaigns Conception of follow-up programs for successful calls. The list above is only a partial list of our services as each campaign and project is customised to the needs of the clients and is different and unique in terms of scope, length, customer reach, depth and costs. Competition in the Market The telemarketing and customer services industry is rather fragmented with companies that vary greatly in size, reach, services offered, and market share. Most of the companies are advertising agencies who offer telemarketing services along with other consultative services. Moreover, there are many companies who do not realise the potential of outsourcing, thus, set up their own telemarketing departments. The direct competitors of JH Marketing include all advertising and telemarketing companies and the call centres across Ireland. Whereas, the indirect competitors are all those companies, big or small, who have developed in-house telemarketing departments to handle their operations. JH Marketing, practically, has great threat from big nationwide consulting companies and the large and well established telemarketing agencies in Ireland such as Capita, Intercall and Conduit who hold significant market share. The industry itself is extensively fragmented, where huge numbers of small companies mainly provide services to small and medium sized firms and there are big companies who tend to seek large and extended contracts with the large companies which make this industry highly intense. With our strategy of greater service at lower cost and having office set up in Pakistan we will be able to offer lower costs to the companies and through our low cost strategy (Greater service at lower cost) we intend to avoid such  a debilitating market competition as price and scope are important reasons for accepting contracts, especially if the company is small or new. Industry Analysis JH Marketing Professionals business strategy is to  offer greater service at lower cost but our company does not intend to be a call centre only,  nor will it  ever become one as we are a consulting firm which will design the marketing and telesales campaigns for its clients and will also execute them to provide the cost advantage to the clients. These services  are  where we can offer a higher standard of quality to our clients. This will allow us minimise the costs, thus higher profit. Rivalry among different telemarketing agencies as stated before is greater and the market is fragmented but the industry as a  whole is  mature with long-term moderate growth with higher number of established companies. The fact that there are so many diverse or general telemarketing agencies; it makes this an aggressive industry. The threat of clients backwardly integrating so as to have their sales and customer services done in-house is one of the major factors used by buyers to indirectly control price in this industry, and increase competition. This must always be foremost in the minds of JH Marketing management when offering services and setting prices. The key advantage for JH Marketing is that they will have access to staff at low costs as compared to their competition which will help them to offer low prices than their competition as the difference between wage in Pakistan and Ireland is huge i.e Average wage per annum in Ireland is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬35k (Central statics off ice, 2013) whereas, in Pakistan is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬7k a year (Payscale, 2013). Human Resource Management Plan The company will have two officers: CEO Mr. Jihad Habib and Director, who will be highly skilled with many industry relations to help the company attract clients. We will also hire  an office manager, and 5 staff to do cold calls. The company plans to hire additional consultants and administrative personnel as we begin to get large numbers of contracts. To start off with JH Marketing will need 5 staff to do cold calls to the business in Ireland. As the business does not require highly skilled labour so the recruitment and selection of the staff will depend on the proficiency in English speaking and understanding and some background in sales and marketing. However, people with no sales experience could also be recruited and trained as per the campaign requirement, provided that they have grasp over the language. Operations Plan The CEO, Mr. Jihad Habib will personally schedule meetings and presentations with the perspective clients to sale them the idea of outsourcing their telesales and customer service operations. As per the clients requirement the staff will be taken on board and trained to make outbound calls and handle the inbound customer service calls. As discussed earlier in the plan companies who are new to the market find it hard to attract the clients and to give them the confidence to outsource, for this reason JH Marketing will need the help from an experienced professional (Director JH Marketing) who have experience of convincing the clients to outsource and has great industry connections as well. As per the requirements of the clients and volume of the business the staff will be recruited and trained to start off operating from the Karachi office. As discussed earlier, for the operations the company will need an office space, computers and the VOIP (Voice over internet phone) Software to start calling the customers in Ireland to sell the clients products and services. Marketing plan In order to attract clients, JH Marketing will begin to contact promising organizations and offer free initial consultations, and initial contracts at reduced  prices. These promotions will allow us to begin to make our reputation within the market. In addition, Mr. Jihad Habib and the Director will be travelling to different parts of Ireland during the first year of operations where we will have booths to advertise our services. Finally we will be setting up cold calls to potential companies and have half- and full-page advertisements in various  publications catering to  local businesses and organizations. JH Marketing will be focusing on cost leadership strategy to win the contracts and will be paying greater attentions to quality of the services as well to reiterate the mission of the company, Greater quality at lower prices. Mr. Jihad has been actively seeking to acquire a large contract with Resource International Consulting Ireland over the past 2 months. This company is the largest recruitment and tax solution company which deals with UK freelance contractors and provides them tax advice and recruitment services over the telephone and internet. JH Marketing believes that its chances  of acquiring this contract are excellent. Location Plan JH Marketing will have its office situated at Karachi, Pakistan for the sole reason of having access to quality labour at cheaper prices to main the low cost strategy of greater service at lower prices. As all the transactions will take place over the phone so location in itself does not have any advantages or disadvantages associated to it for the clients but it will play a vital role for the growth of JH Marketing.

Sports History and Sports Halls of Fame :: Sports

Sports History and Sports Halls of Fame Below are websites dealing with sports history, particularly those halls of fame which exist. In the dead of winter, many people's interest turn to sports, and the nominees and inductees are announced for many halls, including professional baseball and professional football. Professional Baseball Hall of Fame http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/ This website discusses the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The site combines baseball history and the Hall of Fame itself. The rotating exhibits at the museum are prominently featured, along with the members of the Hall. The site also discusses the rules for induction. Among the items available for the Hall of Fame members are their lifetime statistics, their biographies, pictures of their plaques, and desktop wallpaper. For those interested in analyzing the history of baseball elections, the results of the past votes are available. An online catalog of the museum's holdings is accessible here. The baseball history here is good, if sometimes not overly evaluative. The exhibits at the museum are also portrayed, and among the current exhibits are one on Ichiro Suzuki and another on Sports Illustrated. Information about visits is here as well. Basketball Hall of Fame http://www.hoophall.com/ This hall of fame (located in Springfield, Massachusetts), unlike baseball and football's hall of fames, represents all of basketball in one hall. (The other halls have separate halls for college and professional). Among the items on the site are information about the Hall of Famers, running from James Naismith, who invented basketball, to Medowlark Lemon, to Phog Allen, to Lynette Woodward. Five whole teams are also honored as members, including the Harlem Globetrotters, the New York Rens and the Buffalo Germans. Three people, Lenny Wilkens, Bill Sharman and John Wooden, are honored both as players and as coaches. The history here, outside of the hall, is generally good if not extensive and includes interesting sections on the original rules of basketball and the story of how the Hall of Fame was founded. Pro Football Hall of Fame http://www.profootballhof.com/ This hall of fame, located in Canton, Ohio, honors the game of pro football. The site includes information about visiting the hall, the history of the hall, and the hall of famers. Like most other halls, it lists the inductees, provides short biographies of them, and details the induction process. Information about this year's class is featured prominently, as the finalists were just announced. History of the NFL is provided, although it is not featured prominently.

Volunteering Changed My Life :: Contribution to My Community Service

Community Service is a great opportunity to make a difference in the area you live in. There are so many ways to volunteer. Some people are given chances to do community service when they need to pay off fines for tickets. Most people simply do because they love getting involved. It’s their way of making the community a cleaner, healthier place. Tutoring kids is one type of community service. I can say from experience teaching kids to learn is a great feeling. I know because I’ve been tutoring kids for almost seven months. You’ll be surprised how it makes you feel. To have one of your students’ parents thank you because there child has never been able to make an â€Å"A† in there reading or math class. Just hearing those words lets me know that I am already making a difference. The place that I volunteer at is Casa De Amigos and the children that go there really look up to you. Yes you’re helping them to be able to reach their goals but you’re also teaching them that helping the community can change so many lives. There are many activities that will help the community. Another way that I have experience is picking up trash. This one is very important because you are helping the environment and town that you live in. So why not help your environment to be able to apply for a scholarship. It’s also a fun way to meet people that enjoy making a difference. Picking up trash is one of the most common types of community service. There are so many volunteers a day picking up trash in their neighborhood and all around town. To be able to get involved all you do is call the Midland City Department and they will be glad to guide you where to go so you can help our community. Another service that I have done has been to volunteer at the West Campus Hospital gift shop. It was a great experience for me; if I had the time I would make the effort to volunteer again. For people that is good at socializing with others and love organizing I would recommend volunteering at the gift shop. Volunteering Changed My Life :: Contribution to My Community Service Community Service is a great opportunity to make a difference in the area you live in. There are so many ways to volunteer. Some people are given chances to do community service when they need to pay off fines for tickets. Most people simply do because they love getting involved. It’s their way of making the community a cleaner, healthier place. Tutoring kids is one type of community service. I can say from experience teaching kids to learn is a great feeling. I know because I’ve been tutoring kids for almost seven months. You’ll be surprised how it makes you feel. To have one of your students’ parents thank you because there child has never been able to make an â€Å"A† in there reading or math class. Just hearing those words lets me know that I am already making a difference. The place that I volunteer at is Casa De Amigos and the children that go there really look up to you. Yes you’re helping them to be able to reach their goals but you’re also teaching them that helping the community can change so many lives. There are many activities that will help the community. Another way that I have experience is picking up trash. This one is very important because you are helping the environment and town that you live in. So why not help your environment to be able to apply for a scholarship. It’s also a fun way to meet people that enjoy making a difference. Picking up trash is one of the most common types of community service. There are so many volunteers a day picking up trash in their neighborhood and all around town. To be able to get involved all you do is call the Midland City Department and they will be glad to guide you where to go so you can help our community. Another service that I have done has been to volunteer at the West Campus Hospital gift shop. It was a great experience for me; if I had the time I would make the effort to volunteer again. For people that is good at socializing with others and love organizing I would recommend volunteering at the gift shop.

Can Culture Be Caught or Taught Essay

A culture of an organization includes the norms, feelings, beliefs, attitudes, collective experiences, history, assumptions and values of an organization. Culture is something a new executive senses even before his first day on the job. That is, new employees are told ‘how things are around here’ by their colleagues and their team-leaders. â€Å"Caught and not taught† means you learn values or behaviors from the people that practice them, instead of by being told. You â€Å"catch† such values by seeing them lived. For example, if you were told (or â€Å"taught†) by someone, â€Å"You ought to live a certain way† (but you saw them not being a very good example of their teaching), chances are you won’t â€Å"catch† or consistently practice that value. On the other hand, if you see someone consistently living out what they believe, you might â€Å"catch† it. If their modeling of those values is powerful enough, their values c an be caught. The amount of catching and the amount of teaching is a balancing act that depends on any organizations existing culture (how entrenched it is, how far removed from the culture you need etc.), the degree of change that is required to make it happen and then the stage that you are going through. E.g. you will do more teaching in the early stages of rolling out a culture, but less when it is clear that influential people (top managers, team leaders etc.) have caught the gist of it and are out there passing it around. There is a well-known saying â€Å"You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink† Building a company culture is the aspect of strategic business planning that most employers feel is most important to their business. Companies that truly live their corporate cultures are higher performing and better places to work than companies that lack them. The 10 reasons why it’s important for a company to pay close attention to its solid corporate cult ure: 1.Generates positive public relations. Free PR creates visibility for a company. 2.Attracts ideal candidates. If the company’s corporate culture permeates everything from the way meetings are conducted to the format for the bios on the company’s Web site, candidates will know if they are a good fit. 3.Repels undesirable candidates. Without a clear corporate culture, undesirable candidates might join the company only to find months later that they do not fit in. 4.Rejects poor hires. Firing an employee is painful both financially and emotionally. Employees who are out of sync are often unproductive underperformers; they also disturb the established culture. 5.Fosters company loyalty. Employees who are a fit with the corporate culture will quickly integrate with the team and find their stride. This combination of ease and teamwork fosters employee loyalty. Loyal employees perform better, are more productive, are willing to exert extra efforts and are likely to influence others in a positive way, will spread po sitive energy throughout the office and attract top talent through word-of-mouth advertising. 6.Encourages dialogue between employees and management. A clear corporate culture opens the lines of communication for employees and employers to discuss what employees really want and what management expects of them, utilizing the right combination of coaching, knowledge and skills that focus on high performance. It communicates to employees what they need to do if they want to fit in, survive and become successful within the organization. 7.Facilitates creation of relevant benefits packages. When employers know what their employees really want, they can offer benefits that are customized to suit their employees’ needs. The benefits a company offers should be tied directly to what the employees want, making them a great recruiting and retention tool. 8.De-emphasizes the importance of cash compensation. A thriving corporate culture that fosters loyalty and provides intangible benefits to employees, such as work that is fulfilling and leaders they respect and trust, can actually reduce employee demands for higher compensation. 9.Encourages utilization of technology for productivity improvement. Leverage personalized, interoffice technologies that are customized to suit the company’s specific needs to save time, improve communication and enhance productivity. 10.Increases the efficacy of outsourcing. A solid corporate culture allows focus on the firm’s core capabilities. Hence, from the above discussion we can clearly state that solid, clear corporate culture has to be caught — not taught.

Dan-Erik Nilsson: A Research Paper

How truly complex and remarkable structures such as the human eye could evolve has almost always been one of the direst questions that have puzzled biologists around the world. We know that human sight relies on the ability of our eye to be able to form a clear and focused image on the retina. There are many researchers who have studied this issue, most of which who have suggested that prior to the evolution of the lens, there was a â€Å"regulatory link between two tiers of genres, those that would later become responsible for controlling lens development, and those that would help give the lens its special physical properties†¦it is†¦This combination of genes which appears to have then been selected in an early vertebrae during the evolution of its visual system, giving rise to the lens† (Current Biology, 2005). The history of research on this matter is long and extensive, and although there are really no evolutionary biologists known better than Charles Darwin, wh o stated that â€Å"To suppose that the eye, with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest possible degree† (Ridley, 2004). There are also many other evolutionary biologists who must be taken into consideration here, one in particular to be referenced in this report, Dan-Erik Nilsson.When it comes to a subject such as evolutionary biology, there are plenty of critics and skeptics that are present in this regards. Through natural selection, there have been many very different types of eyes which have emerged in evolutionary history in general, and for instance Darwin, who was one of the first truly recognized, acknowledged from the start that â€Å"the eye would have been a difficult case for his new theory to explain. Difficult, but not impossi ble.Scientists have come up with scenarios through which the first eye-like structure, a light-sensitive pigmented spot on the skin, could have gone through changes and complexities to form the human eye, with its many parts and astounding abilities† (Evolution Library, 2007). Biologists in general use the range of less complex light sensitive structures that exist in living species today in order to come to hypotheses regarding the various evolutionary stages that eyes may have gone through over time.One evolutionary biologist in general who has sparked much controversy, especially regarding the issue of the evolution of the eye, is Dan-Erik Nilsson. I chose this individual to focus on for this assignment because he has been so renowned and recognized in terms of his contributions to this matter. Specifically, his major contribution to evolution was his demonstration that a primitive optical sense organ could â€Å"evolve into a complex human-like eye within a reasonable per iod (less than a million years) simply through small mutations and natural selection† (Nilsson, 1994). His demonstration involves discussing how the complex human eye could have possibly evolved through natural selection acting on certain and specific, small variations.He began with a simple patch of light sensitive cells, from which his model evolves until a clear image is produced as a result. Nilsson found that â€Å"eyes corresponding to every stage in this sequence have been found in existing living sequences. The existence of this range of less complex light-sensitive structures supports scientists’ hypotheses about how complex eyes like ours could evolve. The first animals with anything resembling an eye lived about 550 million years ago. And, according to one scientist’s calculations, only 364,000 years would have been needed for a camera-like eye to evolve from a light-sensitive patch† (Evolution Library, 2004).It was found from his discoveries th at every change had to confer at least some sort of survival advantage, regardless of how slight each change actually was. Eventually from this what Nilsson found was that eventually the light-sensitive spot evolved into a retina, which is the known term for the layer of cells and pigment at the back of the human eye. Then, â€Å"Over time a lens formed at the front of the eye. It could have arisen as a double-layered transplant tissue containing increasing amounts of liquid that gave it the convex curvature of the human eye† (Evolution Library, 2007).I agree with Nilsson’s views because he shows in all of his work how much time and consideration he has put into the matter and he has solid, concrete proof behind every one of his theories. His life in retrospect also solidifies him as an intelligent, reliable evolutionary biologist, and also his work involving Darwin’s theories, as Nilsson and fellow evolutionary biologists worked to basically disprove many of hi s known theories. In particular they simulated a model of the eye to find out how difficult evolution really is. Nilsson allowed the shape of the model eye to change at random, in steps of no more than 1% change at a time.â€Å"The model eye then evolved in the computer, with each new generation formed from the optically superior eyes in the previous generation; changes that made the optics worse were rejected, as selection would reject them in nature†¦The work illustrates the value of building models to test our institutions† (Ridley, 2004). Nilsson’s research has absolutely had a great and significant impact on the field of evolutionary biology because his theories have all been so new and innovative and incredibly sufficient of proving that there is in fact an evolution of the eye.Overall from this report we can conclude a number of things, in particular that over his life Dan-Erik Nilsson made some seriously significant contributions to the field through his w ork in the evolution of the eye theories, and this is not only on his own but in accompaniment with other evolutionary biologists as well.ReferencesCurrent Biology, Vol. 15, Pages 1684-1689, September 20, 2006. DOI10.1016/j.cub.2005.08.046Evolution Library. (2007). Evolution of the Eye. Retrieved September 21, 2007, fromhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/1/l_011_01.htmlNilsson, Dan-E. (1994). â€Å"Beware of Pseudo-Science: A Response to David Berlinkski’s Attackon my Calculation of how Long it Takes for an Eye to Evolve†. Talk Reason. Dan-Erik Nilsson: A Research Paper How truly complex and remarkable structures such as the human eye could evolve has almost always been one of the direst questions that have puzzled biologists around the world. We know that human sight relies on the ability of our eye to be able to form a clear and focused image on the retina. There are many researchers who have studied this issue, most of which who have suggested that prior to the evolution of the lens, there was a â€Å"regulatory link between two tiers of genres, those that would later become responsible for controlling lens development, and those that would help give the lens its special physical properties†¦it is†¦This combination of genes which appears to have then been selected in an early vertebrae during the evolution of its visual system, giving rise to the lens† (Current Biology, 2005).The history of research on this matter is long and extensive, and although there are really no evolutionary biologists known better than Charles Darwin, who stated that â€Å"To suppose that the eye, with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest possible degree† (Ridley, 2004). There are also many other evolutionary biologists who must be taken into consideration here, one in particular to be referenced in this report, Dan-Erik Nilsson.When it comes to a subject such as evolutionary biology, there are plenty of critics and skeptics that are present in this regards. Through natural selection, there have been many very different types of eyes which have emerged in evolutionary history in general, and for instance Darwin, who was one of the first truly recognized, acknowledged from the start that â€Å"the eye would have been a difficult case for his new theory to explain. Difficult, but not impossib le. Scientists have come up with scenarios through which the first eye-like structure, a light-sensitive pigmented spot on the skin, could have gone through changes and complexities to form the human eye, with its many parts and astounding abilities† (Evolution Library, 2007). Biologists in general use the range of less complex light sensitive structures that exist in living species today in order to come to hypotheses regarding the various evolutionary stages that eyes may have gone through over time.One evolutionary biologist in general who has sparked much controversy, especially regarding the issue of the evolution of the eye, is Dan-Erik Nilsson. I chose this individual to focus on for this assignment because he has been so renowned and recognized in terms of his contributions to this matter. Specifically, his major contribution to evolution was his demonstration that a primitive optical sense organ could â€Å"evolve into a complex human-like eye within a reasonable per iod (less than a million years) simply through small mutations and natural selection† (Nilsson, 1994). His demonstration involves discussing how the complex human eye could have possibly evolved through natural selection acting on certain and specific, small variations.He began with a simple patch of light sensitive cells, from which his model evolves until a clear image is produced as a result. Nilsson found that â€Å"eyes corresponding to every stage in this sequence have been found in existing living sequences. The existence of this range of less complex light-sensitive structures supports scientists’ hypotheses about how complex eyes like ours could evolve. The first animals with anything resembling an eye lived about 550 million years ago.And, according to one scientist’s calculations, only 364,000 years would have been needed for a camera-like eye to evolve from a light-sensitive patch† (Evolution Library, 2004). It was found from his discoveries th at every change had to confer at least some sort of survival advantage, regardless of how slight each change actually was. Eventually from this what Nilsson found was that eventually the light-sensitive spot evolved into a retina, which is the known term for the layer of cells and pigment at the back of the human eye. Then, â€Å"Over time a lens formed at the front of the eye. It could have arisen as a double-layered transplant tissue containing increasing amounts of liquid that gave it the convex curvature of the human eye† (Evolution Library, 2007).I agree with Nilsson’s views because he shows in all of his work how much time and consideration he has put into the matter and he has solid, concrete proof behind every one of his theories. His life in retrospect also solidifies him as an intelligent, reliable evolutionary biologist, and also his work involving Darwin’s theories, as Nilsson and fellow evolutionary biologists worked to basically disprove many of hi s known theories. In particular they simulated a model of the eye to find out how difficult evolution really is. Nilsson allowed the shape of the model eye to change at random, in steps of no more than 1% change at a time.â€Å"The model eye then evolved in the computer, with each new generation formed from the optically superior eyes in the previous generation; changes that made the optics worse were rejected, as selection would reject them in nature†¦The work illustrates the value of building models to test our institutions† (Ridley, 2004). Nilsson’s research has absolutely had a great and significant impact on the field of evolutionary biology because his theories have all been so new and innovative and incredibly sufficient of proving that there is in fact an evolution of the eye.Overall from this report we can conclude a number of things, in particular that over his life Dan-Erik Nilsson made some seriously significant contributions to the field through his w ork in the evolution of the eye theories, and this is not only on his own but in accompaniment with other evolutionary biologists as well.ReferencesCurrent Biology, Vol. 15, Pages 1684-1689, September 20, 2006. DOI10.1016/j.cub.2005.08.046Evolution Library. (2007). Evolution of the Eye. Retrieved September 21, 2007, fromhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/1/l_011_01.htmlNilsson, Dan-E. (1994). â€Å"Beware of Pseudo-Science: A Response to David Berlinkski’s Attackon my Calculation of how Long it Takes for an Eye to Evolve†. Talk Reason.Ridley, M. (2004). Evolution of the Eye. Retrieved September 21, 2007, fromhttp://www.blackwellpublishing.com/ridley/a-z/Evolution_of_the_eye.asp

Significant Health Care Event

There have been several events that have helped to change and mold health care throughout history in the United States. Some influences that have are significant to benefit Americans and stay on track with the needs of Americans include society, culture, finance, religion, politics, technology, health trends, environment, and population (Shi & Singh, 2012) Significant Event’s Relation to Health Care In the year 2011 there were many reports in the media regarding bisphenol A (BPA).BPA is a hormone-disrupting chemical linked to adverse health effects like cancer, infertility, diabetes, obesity and ADHD (Newbold, 2009) A large amount of BPA has been removed from water bottles as well as baby bottles. However, the epoxy resin lining food cans was still a grave concern and widespread problem throughout the United States. A new study done during this time found BPA in several canned fruits, vegetables, and pasta treats consumed by many children.A Harvard study found that volunteers who consumed canned soup daily for five days had a 1,000 percent increase in urinary BPA (Datz, 2011). BPA is found in many foods and drinks ingested by Americans every day. It has also been proven to be found in sealants and dentistry composites used by dentists. Many countries have banned BPA use in baby bottles, sippy cups, along with other products primarily used by children. BPA has been used in the United States since the 1950s, and was approved as a food additive by the FDA at that time (Rust & Kissinger, 2009).Personal Accountability for a healthier lifestyle Another event that has become more common in the United States is personal responsibility of each American to lead a healthier life that leads to a decrease in health care costs in the long run. Access to effective health care is an important component to many people as well as an important social responsibility. Americans as a society can find many ways to promote healthy environments and lifestyles. These ways include pollution control, occupational health, sanitation, preventative medical care and education, along with food and drug safety.Greater attention should be paid to strategies for health promotion other than access to healthcare, such as environmental and public health and health research (Resnick, 2007). The lifestyle of many Americans is the primary cause of the majority of illnesses in the United States. The leading causes of disease have been proven to be contributing factors to disease and death in the United States. Chronic diseases are the leading cause of disability as well as death in the United States and are on the rise. 7 out of 10 deaths among Americans each year are from chronic diseases.Heart disease, cancer and stroke account for more than 50% of all deaths each year (Kung, Hoyert, Xu, & Murphy, 2005). More than one-third of all adults do not meet recommendations for aerobic physical activity based on the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, and 23% report n o leisure-time physical activity at all in the preceding month, cigarette smoking is more prevalent in high school students as of 2007 with a reported percentage of 20%, and more than 43 million adults are cigarette smokers in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008).Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death, and cigarette smoking causes almost all cases. Compared to nonsmokers, men who smoke are about 23 times more likely to develop lung cancer and women who smoke are about 13 times more likely. Smoking causes about 90% of lung cancer deaths in men and almost 80% in women. Smoking also causes cancer of the voice box (larynx), mouth and throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, pancreas, cervix, and stomach, and causes acute myeloid leukemia (U. S.Department of Health and Human Services, 2004). Chronic conditions that are caused by poor lifestyle choices ultimately create a huge burden on health care spending in the United States. The cost of health care spending for chronic conditions has increased the United States from $75 billion in 1970, $2. 6 trillion in 2010, and is expected to reach $4. 8 trillion in 2021. 75% of these costs is because of unhealthy lifestyles that lead to chronic conditions (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2011).General practitioners and insurance companies must focus more on educational resources related to preventative medicine and care to ensure citizens lead healthier lifestyles that will lead to longevity of life. This can be a difficult task as physicians are taught to uphold a creed to take care of all people who are ill, and Americans as a society are obligated to care for vulnerable citizens. There are no quick fix solutions. However, I believe that education can assist many Americans to strive more to live a better and healthier lifestyle in order to avoid disease and death from one of the many preventable chronic conditions.