Dove Strtegies

Critiques of the Strategies and Recommendation Dove has many strategic issues which are classified as convenience goods because consumers bought this product frequently and immediately. We can set the price a bit lower down and affordable for their product. Besides, they can change another supplier to lower down cost however can keep the good quality of product otherwise lower down the cost of advertising that can affect the product price of Dove. Dove can boost up their sales by using the line extension strategy and brand extension strategy.They should develop new flavors, forms, colors, ingredients, or package sizes of Dove to attract more category of consumer. It can also keep the firm's  managers  on their toes by generating internal  competition. Dove used the psychological pricing strategy which is used to influence the consumer purchasing power. Customers respond better to certain type of prices and they are more likely to buy with certain price levels because consumer b elief that the higher price is represent the good quality of product.Dove also can give promotion like giving discount, such as buy 2 free 1 to attract the consumer that make them feel our product worth more to purchase. The next strategic issue is Dove Company using retailing as their marketing intermediary. By using retailing concept, the entire new or loyal Dove company customer can get the Dove company product more easily in the market. Most of the producers including Dove sell the products and services directly to final consumers via a sales staff to retail outlets.The sales staff will promote the new products or give the sample to the retailers to make the retailers know more about their products. The suggested strategy for Dove is to strengthen its differentiation advantages by innovating its differentiation strategy. With this strategy, existing organizational resources and necessary means can be influenced to develop clear differentiation strategy. Other than that, Doveâ₠¬â„¢s think about provide low cost high profits and keep customer to compete with other competitors to be a key differentiation.Furthermore, Dove’s refresh its marketing hard work to aim the whole markets. Dove Company can introduce a range of shampoo that targets male users as Dove currently caters only for female customers. On the other hand, Dove could possibly create new breakthrough in the hair care line. Perhaps a shampoo that could reduce the greying of hair. Like all other hair care company, Dove could also branch out from their current product line such as providing hair styling mousses, wax, hair dying colours and even body care products like feminine wash.

Pervasis Case Study

Pervasis Receives Orphan Drug Designation in Europe for Vascugel ® to Prevent Arteriovenous Access Failure in Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis Cell-Based Therapy Aims to Regulate the Body’s Healing Response, Promoting Vascular Repair, Reducing the Need for Repeat Surgical Procedures and Improving Patient Outcomes Cambridge, Mass. , March 1, 2011 — Pervasis Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that the European Commission (EC) has granted Orphan Drug Designation for Vascugel ® for the prevention of hemodialysis vascular access failure in patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD).The designation follows a positive opinion from The Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP) within the European Medicines Agency (EMA) earlier this year. Vascugel is a novel endothelial cell-based therapy that aims to regulate the body’s healing response following surgical interventions to create vascular access which are necessary for ESRD patients undergoing hemodialysis.By p romoting and enhancing vascular repair, Vascugel reduces the need for repeat surgical interventions and improves overall patient outcomes. ESRD is an advanced and irreversible condition treated mainly by hemodialysis or kidney transplantation. It is estimated that more than 250,000 ESRD patients in the EU receive hemodialysis, a blood purification therapy designed to replace critical kidney functions – such as filtering waste.Orphan Drug Designation by the EC provides regulatory and financial incentives for companies to develop and market therapies that treat a life-threatening or chronically debilitating condition affecting no more than five in 10,000 persons in the European Union (EU). In addition to a 10year period of marketing exclusivity in the EU after product approval, Orphan Drug Designation provides companies with scientific advice and regulatory assistance from the EMA during the product development phase, direct access to centralized marketing authorization, as wel l as reductions in certain fees. We are committed to bringing Vascugel to patients with end stage renal disease who currently must endure serious complications and repeat surgical procedures so they can continue to receive life-saving hemodialysis treatment,† Frederic Chereau, president and chief executive officer of Pervasis. â€Å"Receiving Orphan Drug Designation in the EU is an important step, as it will help to advance the development process, and enhance our ability to deliver our novel cellbased therapeutic approach to address this significant unmet medical need. Vascugel has demonstrated proof of concept in two Phase 2 clinical trials involving patients with ESRD who require a permanent arteriovenous (AV) access in order to undergo hemodialysis. In these trials, Vascugel exhibited an excellent safety profile, and encouraging efficacy trends were observed, including improved duration of patency (or unimpeded blood flow) and a delay in time to first intervention as comp ared to placebo. In 2009, Pervasis received Orphan Drug Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Vascugel in patients with ESRD. Pervasis announced last month that the FDA had granted Fast Track review status for Vascugel. Last year, Pervasis reached an agreement with the FDA for a Phase 3 clinical trial of Vascugel under the Agency’s Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) procedure, whereby FDA formalized its agreement that the design of the Phase 3 trial was acceptable to support a regulatory submission seeking new drug approval.Failure of Hemodialysis Access Points Leads to Poor Outcomes During hemodialysis, blood is removed from the body, filtered through a dialyzer, or artificial kidney, and then returned to the body. Patients must undergo a surgical intervention to create a vascular access that enables blood to flow from the body to the dialyzer and back to the body. AV fistulae (created by directly joining an artery and vein) and AV grafts (created u sing a synthetic tube to join an artery and vein) are the two primary types of hemodialysis access.Due to an inflammatory cascade triggered by surgical intervention, the vascular access often has difficulty healing, and quickly become unusable or clot rapidly, prompting the need for additional, recurring surgeries to create a new access which can lead to multiple complications. Up to 60 percent of all arteriovenous (AV) grafts require re-intervention after one year. 1, 2 AV access failure is the most common reason for hospitalization among hemodialysis patients and can lead to anemia, infection, weight loss, jaundice, prolonged bleeding, and other serious complications. Vascugel ® – Combating Inflammation and Promoting Healing Pervasis’ novel approach to cell therapy uses adult-differentiated allogeneic endothelial cells (donor endothelial cells with a highly targeted biologic function) embedded in a polymer matrix to enhance the body’s natural healing respons e. The endothelium is the thin layer of cells that lines the interior surface of blood vessels in the body. Endothelial cells are critical to tissue repair and health, and have a well-understood role in regulating many of the body’s healing processes, including those associated with vascular repair.Vascugel, which utilizes Pervasis’ patented endothelial cell-based platform, is placed on the outside of the blood vessel at the AV access site during the surgical intervention to create the access. The endothelial formulation in Vascugel secrete several factors that combat inflammation and promote proper vascular healing, reducing thrombosis (or clotting) and the formation of intimal hyperplasia, or a thickening of the blood vessel wall in response to injury. After approximately four to eight weeks, Vascugel is safely resorbed by the body.Pervasis’ other areas of clinical investigation include improving outcomes in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) follow ing surgical procedures such as percutaneous transluminal angioplasties (PTAs) with stenting, the failures of which result in serious complications and a significant increase in medical costs. Earlier this year, Pervasis announced it has also embarked on an oncology development program using its proprietary endothelial cellbased platform to prevent solid tumor growth, cancer recurrence and metastatic disease. About Pervasis Dixon et al.DAC Study Group. Effect of dipyridamole plus aspirin on hemodialysis graft patency. N Engl J Med. 2009; 360: 2191-2201. 2 Hayashi et al. Vascular access for hemodialysis. Nat Clin Pract Nephrol 2006; 2: 504-513 3 Castner D. Recommendations for tracking arteriovenous access complications using a charting-by-exception model. Anna Journal, 1998; 25(4): 393-396. 1 Pervasis Inc. is a clinical stage company that is developing groundbreaking endothelial cellbased therapies designed to regulate the body’s natural healing and repair processes in various critical therapeutic areas.The company has initially focused on developing therapies to improve the outcomes of common vascular interventions, such as arteriovenous access, angioplasties, stent placements, and peripheral and coronary bypass grafts – the failure of which result in serious complications and a significant increase in medical costs. The company’s lead program, Vascugel ®, has demonstrated proof of concept and safety in two Phase 2 clinical trials.Pervasis is also applying its endothelial cell-based platform technology to develop an oncology therapy focused on preventing solid tumor growth, cancer recurrence and metastatic disease, as well as products for inflammatory disease and orthopedic injury. Pervasis is a privately held company with funding from Flagship Ventures, Polaris Venture Partners, Highland Capital Partners and the Richter Family Fund. For more information, please visit www. pervasistx. com. This news release contains certain forward-looki ng statements that involve risks and uncertainties.Such statements are only predictions and the company's actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such differences include the timing of clinical trials, the risk that products that appeared promising in early research and clinical trials do not demonstrate safety or efficacy in clinical trials and the risk that the company will not obtain approval to market its products. Company Contact: Margaret O’Toole Pervasis Therapeutics, Inc. 617-871-1201 [email  protected] com Media Contact: Liz Falcone Feinstein Kean Healthcare 617-256-6622 liz. [email  protected] com

Why the Islam is a threat to the Western world Essay

Why the Islam is a threat to the Western world - Essay Example ng of thousands of Muslims that are living in the Western World, and new challenges are faced by them every other day due to the deteriorated circumstances created by the Islamic jihadists in these countries. In addition, plight of Western Muslims has exacerbated due to the extremism of a small number of Muslims in these countries. It is observed that many Western Muslims are putting their efforts for the improvement of image of Islam in the West; however, Islam is considered as one of the serious threats to the Western security and democracy. An extraordinary amount of anger and frustration is observed in Muslims in different parts of the globe due to the Western invasion in different Muslims parts, which has caused deaths of civilians by the Western forces in the name of War on Terrorism. A number of researches and studies have indicated that majority of the Muslim World has a negative and angry opinion related to the Western countries and its anti-Islamic policies. (Pratt, pp. 40-47) Moreover, a number of Western countries and its sensible individuals take the terrorist activities as isolated incidents of aggression rather than taking it as an Islamic threat. However, such positive perspective towards Islam has been affected by some issues that keep on presenting Islam as a religion of terror. The Western psyche has been affected by the attacks of September 11 on New York Twin Towers, as well as, suicide bombings on US-led forces and buildings in different parts of the world, particularly Iraq and Israel. In the result, Islam and Muslims are taken as terrorists and threats due to a number of episodes of suicide bombings. One of the reasons of such adverse effects on the Western psyche is the wrong utilization of freedom of speech by a minority of Western Muslims that present such terrorist activities as a noble and Islamic strategy of Islam religion. In the result, such negative approach has presented Islam as a threat and barbaric religion in the Western

Nueva Yol Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Nueva Yol - Movie Review Example A Dominican widower who visits the New York City in order to have a taste of a ‘paradise’ as most people had put it. However, when in New York, the so called paradise was not to be. The movie also points out a man, Balbuena who mortgages his house in order to get a visa, is ignored and also exploited. He cannot get any type of a job because of discrimination and exploitations from the natives. 2. At the cemetery, Balbuena meets with someone (Fellito) who turns to be a friend to him. Fellito was close to the kid and was someone like a guardian to him. Fellito had, therefore, attended the burial at the cemetery too. 3. Balbuena, in the struggle to search for a job, finally sets foot at consul’s house. However, the reception and how he treated was not all that good. Being mistaken by the drug dealers due to her everyday appearance at the same place was a big blow to him since he was mistaken for the wrong person. Balbuena could not find a job in New York City. The fact that he did not had a green card and the inability to speak English made it worse and added the burden of looking for a job (Stephen 96). His cousin was not of any help to him. People of the Dominican Republic were discriminated by the natives. Having met people of the same origin or people with the same problems, Balbuena and the rest decided to form a circle of all the friends. This comprised of the people with Dominican Republic citizen. 4. At the airport, Felli meets with Pedro and turns out to be another friend just like Balbuena. However, Balbuena was a special and important person to be with. His character and style of doing things made him is a person who could be trusted as a good friend. 5. Through the network of friends formed, Balbuena meets with Pedro, who was a bit stable in his life. Pedro is able to see how Balbuena suffered a lot in the hands of his cousin who instead of

Scientific Support for Coaches Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Scientific Support for Coaches - Essay Example This is a simple indication of the research done to understand the coaching behavior practically undertaken within this schooling institution (Carling, Reilly, & Williams, 2009, p. 3). Therefore, the following paper will look into the significance, source and impact of a coach’s behavior towards the players, and the scientific approach taken and attained towards solving or improving the issue. The factors considered in the research video clips include the means by which the coach shows the drills, how he or she fines the players, the feelings of the coach, and how leading he or she is within and outside the team. Therefore, it is not that significant what the coach utters for every word. After watching both video clips, the coaching behavior and experience there are overall things not only about the film, but the scientific aspect of the study’s aim. Supporting the coach is a prosperous factor of scientific knowledge obtained on the basis of studies carried out with athletes. Data is accessible to maintain the coach and athlete in every zone of training and advancement as well as nutrition, biomechanics, physiology, mental and medication. There are several methodical techniques to measure and assess the athlete’s behavior. For example, computer-assisted evaluation of VO2 max, lactate amounts, running methodologies are a number of the methods. The art of coaching pulls in the moment the coach has to evaluate the methodical information and convert it into coaching and training schedules to assist the athlete. This evaluation depends entirely on the skills and behavior of the coach. The knowledge of the sport or event ought to be a concern of the player and the coach as well. By comprehending the science behind the coaching skills and experience is the foundation of training. It is also an elegant and exercise schedule that can be advanced and assist a

Superior Foods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Superior Foods - Essay Example As the study outlines to maintain competitiveness, 25% of daily-wage production workers had to be dismissed for next 3-4 months until the bans would remove and production process resume. The company is bound to reduce existing number of production employees because of changes in external environment; however, the old workers could be hired again once Superior Foods comes out of crisis. In this way, employees could be mentally prepared and would possibly not portray strong resistance. The communication would enable to maintain relationships, confidence and trust over employers, because they could be recruited again once the situation comes under control. From this study it is clear that it would be better to use an indirect approach to communicate negative message or news with employees working at production plants. Indeed, the reporter would start with a positive note to recall the value workers receive at Superior Foods. He would then explain all the recent market changes and reasons that have compelled the international food producer and exporter to take tough decisions to restore competitiveness in food industry. This would help making workers mentally prepared about any expected negative news from strategic planners. Then, the reporter would convey the bad news so that workers could assimilate this shock and accept the motives behind that decision. Finally, the message would end on a positive note with a reassurance to valued employees that they could rejoin Superior Foods after relaxation in bans and improvement in business prospects. As you all know that our company Superior Foods pay special attention to its valued workers an d opt for their welfare and well-being. However, we have been writing this letter to communicate recent changes that have taken place in our domestic (USA) and global markets. First, the mad cow disease has negatively affected our purchases of animals followed by reduction in supplies from partners / suppliers.

If employee involvement and participation were used effectively by Essay

If employee involvement and participation were used effectively by organistions many conflicts would never occur - Essay Example company’s production output efficiency as well as employee’s commitment in attaining the organizational goal and overall financial success of the business. (Bryson, 1999) Basically, increasing a company’s production output contributes a lot of savings in terms of being able to maximize the company’s fixed costs. Eventually, a higher production rate increases the company’s profitability from the sales of products and services. With regards to the practice of employee involvement, several authors have noted that each type of employee involvement technique or a combination of these techniques have different effects on employee’s performance. (Cabrera, Ortega, & Cabrera, 2003; McNabb & Whitfield, 1998) In line with the purpose of this study, HR student will first define the meaning of employee involvement. Given that each type of employee involvement technique or a combination of these techniques have different effects on employee’s performance, there is a need for the HR student to identify and discuss the different types of employee involvement and participation techniques including the significance of reward systems in terms of solving organizational conflicts that could hinder the attainability of organizational goals and objectives. Eventually, the benefits of employee involvement and participation will be thoroughly discussed. Prior to conclusion, the HR student will discuss some of the challenges that human resource managers will be facing when implementing employee involvement and participation including the recommended ways on how human resource managers could implement employee involvement and participation in order to solve organization conflicts. Employee involvement is considered as â€Å"the voluntary employer-led initiatives that are designed to encourage more active employee to participate in the business organization.† (Caldwell, 1993) Among the long list of benefits associated with the implementation of employee involvement and

What do You Understand by Economic Protectionism Essay - 1

What do You Understand by Economic Protectionism - Essay Example On the contrary, a country that is in least need of a given commodity or produces the commodity locally will raise the rates of import tariffs for the particular product to discourage importation of the commodity (Korber 2000, p. 10). In the views of Riley (2006), economic protectionism can also be achieved through the imposition of quotas. A county in dire need of a particular commodity will actually lift import quotas to encourage further importation of the particular commodities. Conversely, a country that is capable of producing sufficient or relatively adequate amount of a given commodity for its economy may opt to lower the importation quotas of a given commodity (Riley 2006). Under serious circumstances, a country may impose embargoes declaring total ban on importation of a particular commodity (Riley 2006). Export subsidies for locally produced goods can also be used to encourage bulk production and importation of particular commodities into the economy (Korber, 2000, p. 9). Riley (2006) reports that, in the case countries are engaging in free trade, the government may opt to formulate preferential government procurement policy and state aid to ensure that it allocates spending that will only benefit domestic producers as opposed to foreign suppliers. This case is common in the member countries of the European Union, which award contracts to members of the organization. Similarly, governments may also structure the anti-dumping tariffs to protect the local producers and industries from the economic disadvantages that may be caused by high importation of cheap commodities. The European Union imposed anti-dumping tariffs to Norway against cheap exportation of reared salmon to the Scottish and Ireland market, which ruined domestic trade in the two importing countries. Another example of anti-dumping laws emerged when the European Union blocked inflow of Chinese television tubes, aluminium foil and zinc oxides that were believed to sell far below the averag e domestic price, thereby suffocating local producers. In a move to gain local economic advantage, China reduced the value of the Yuan far below the US dollar thereby resulting to low cost of Chinese products in the USA and international markets. This resulted to increased consumption of Chinese products in import countries, slowing the output of the individual importer countries. The need to protect the US economy saw the Congress pass protectionist bill that banned importation of foreign iron and steel for construction purposes (Mankiw 2009). Trade barriers otherwise known as economic protectionism presents positive and negative implications to the economy almost in equal measure. Krol (2008, p. 2) reports that the imposition of trade economic protection policies by the US economy in 1979 resulted to massive loss of jobs as most manufacturing companies were either cutting their production or facing automatic closure thereby raising the net cost of US economy. The principles of mar ket protectionism led to the abolishment of production activities that required unskilled labour and adoption of production activities that demanded skilled labour in the US economy. This action saw the US specializing in the production of high tech machines and electronics with increased export tariffs of the products while raising importation tariffs of products like clothes and shoes produced by the unskilled labour in the developing countries (Krol, 2008, p. 3). This resulted into low prices

Teamwork in the multidisciplinary setting. Professional issues Essay

Teamwork in the multidisciplinary setting. Professional issues - Essay Example FORM OF EVIDENCE 9 INTRODUCTION 9 9 10 10 11 LEARNING OUTCOME ONE Multidisciplinary teams – critical analysis Psychiatrist Care Coordinator Advanced mental health practitioner 12 Personal reflection on Multidisciplinary teams 13 References 14 14 LEARNING OUTCOME 2 Critical Analysis of the use of Reflection in professional learning 15 References 15 Use of Primary Care Models to enhance care delivery 16 References LOCATION FORM OF EVIDENCE 16 18 LEARNING OUTCOME THREE Ethics 19 References 19 21 LEARNING OUTCOME FOUR Diversity 22 References 22 FINAL REFLECTION ON THE MODULE Course Outcome Number 1: The multi-disciplinary team Reflect on and critically analyse the roles, responsibilities, collaboration and inter-agency working within the multi-disciplinary team. PERSONAL AIM (Course Outcome 1) This first section is concerned with what YOU want to achieve and is based on personal aims that you identify at the start of the module. My personal aim in relation to this outcome was: To comprehend how multidisciplinary teams function and how they establish a coordinated plan of care to meet the patients multiple needs. Please complete one of the following: Where your personal aim was achieved? Please describe how achieving this aim has influenced your practice. Yes it was achieved, and I was able to understand how multidisciplinary teams work with each other and how their different skills when combined eventually achieve favorable patient outcomes. Where your personal aim was not achieved? Please state why you think this aim was not achieved. I believe that my personal aim was not achieved in terms of my assertiveness as part of the team. I did not try a more assertive approach during meetings and was not able to express my role as a member of the team. ACTUAL OUTCOME (Course Outcome 1) This second section concerns what you have achieved, in relation to this learning outcome. It should demonstrate, as comprehensively as possible, how your practice is different as a result of this module. Please list all the evidence that is included under this outcome and where it may be found. How does the evidence support your claim that you have achieved this outcome? What form does the evidence take? Location I established a critical assessment discussing the importance of multidisciplinary teams and to establish a personal reflection of an incident I witnessed while in my placement. References are also indicated in order to support the evidence I used. Critical and reflective accounts and references Page 9-13 Course Outcome Number 2: Nursing Theory Critically analyse the use of reflection in professional learning and the use of Nursing models to enhance care delivery. PERSONAL AIM (Course Outcome 2) This first section is concerned with what YOU want to achieve and is based on personal aims that you identify at the start of the module. My personal aim in relation to this outcome was: To comprehend the importance of reflection and the role of evidence in t he establishment of effective nursing practice. Please complete one of the following: Where your personal aim was achieved? Please describe how achieving this aim has influenced your practice. My personal aim was accomplished because I was able to critically assess the importance of reflection and how it can enhance my practice and learning. The assessment of the self-care model also helped me realize the importance of helping patients become

Kill a mocking bird 1.2.3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Kill a mocking bird 1.2.3 - Essay Example In the early chapters, he is known as a child who fights every conflict and never refuses dares thinking that those actions are expressions of bravery. In chapters 13-18 though different lines from the text showed Jem’s transformation. In the part where Jem and Scout’s father and aunt were having a discussion about Calpurnia, Jem told Scout in private to â€Å"try not to antagonize† their Aunt since she is still young to understand that â€Å"it’s different with grown folks.† In the said line he presented himself as an adult (Lee Chapter 14, p.139). Another evidence of Jem’s growth is the manner by which he handled the situation with Dill. Although, Dill did not like it, Jem told his father that the child run away from home and explained to him that he â€Å"cannot run three hundred miles off without his mother’s knowing† about it. This showed concern for other people (p.143). The third evidence of Jem’s maturity is his a wareness and understanding of the issues being discussed in court during the trial of the rape case. He explained to Dill that the matter was about. In addition, when Scout pointed out the fact that they had been seen by Mr.

Psychology For Social Care Practice Essay Example for Free

Psychology For Social Care Practice Essay This essay will demonstrate my understanding of developments which occur at each stage of an individuals life cycle. I will relate these developments to two relevant psychological theories and discuss how an individuals needs must be met to enable them to develop. The human life cycle can be broken down into 5 basic stages (Bingham et al. 2009); Infancy 0-2 years Childhood 2-12 years Adolescence 12-21 years Adulthood 21-65 years Older Adulthood 65+ years During each stage of the life cycle, different physical, emotional, cognitive, social and cultural developments occur; In infancy, physical changes include learning to sit up, crawl and walk independently. At this stage, the infant will begin to look for attention from others and seek affection and love. Infants are able to interact with others by smiling/laughing and crying, and begin to form attachments to main care givers such as family members from around 6 months. Fine motor skills and communication skills (understanding and formation of words) develop rapidly in infancy and individuals will become used to the routines and norms of those around them. In childhood, physical development extends to skills in balance and control over the body. Emotionally, the child will continue to strengthen bonds with primary care givers and social development will move on to interactive play and forming friendships. Language and expression develop further and the child shows a capacity to learn new information and skills as well as learning about and conforming to social and cultural norms. The body begins to change significantly in adolescence; the individual will go through puberty. An adolescent will be more self aware than in childhood and will become detached from primary care givers, instead preferring to form closer relationships with friends and peers. The individual will form stronger affiliations to certain cultural and sub-cultural norms and will express these through personal appearance, partaking in activities and choosing certain peer groups. In early adulthood, the individual will reach a peak of physical fitness which they will thereafter have to work at to maintain. More physical demands are made on the body such as childbearing, work and aging. Emotionally, a person  in adulthood will have established a role possibly in their place of work, or at home as a parent- how effectively they fill their role can effect self esteem. Social development can become limited to those with similar careers or interests and can be hindered by other responsibilities s uch as work and family commitments. Older adults may experience a decline in physical fitness eyesight may deteriorate and the body may become weaker. Some individuals may remain fairly fit well into older adulthood and some may find that physical fitness can deteriorate rapidly. Older adulthood can be isolating and ones self image can be altered through changing of roles eg. retirement. Socially, some find a sense of freedom in being able to leave work behind and live, others lose a sense of purpose and find that their world may become smaller and more family focused. Older adults will have a well established perception of themselves and what they find acceptable as part of their culture. For this essay I have used Mrs. Oswald as a case study. Mrs. Oswald is a resident at Thorneycroft residential care home for older people. She has been a resident at Thorneycroft for six months and at ninety-five years old, is in the final stage of development as detailed in the life cycle breakdown above. Mrs. Oswald is relatively able bodied, she is able to bathe herself but requires help getting in and out of the bath. She is able to move around independently, she does have a tripod to help her with this but she doesnt tend to use it. She is prone to falling over and has fallen fifteen times since moving to Thorneycroft, this is not helped by her insomnia which leaves her restless at night so she ends up wandering around unattended. Mrs. Oswald is hard of hearing and requires a hearing aid but her eyesight is good when wearing her glasses. She has a good level of personal hygiene and takes pride in her appearance. Before coming to Thorneycroft she had home help who assisted her with household tasks such as cooking and housework and helped her with medication for her cellulitis. Mrs. Oswald was a midwife for fifty years, she is well educated and enjoys sharing her knowledge and talking about her career. She keeps her mind active by reading the newspaper, doing crossword puzzles and playing dominoes when she goes to the day centre but it is possible that these activities are not stimulating enough fo r her. She is a little confused at times about her roles; she behaves as though Thorneycroft staff are her employees and adopts a matron-like attitude with them, which probably  crosses over from her role in her career as a midwife. She can be forgetful but does not have dementia and before moving to Thorneycroft was quite vulnerable as she sees the best in people and was being exploited by people doing odd jobs and coming in and out of her home. Mrs. Oswald appears to be content on the surface, she has started to accept death and talks about it openly. Her remaining family all live some distance away in England but she looks forward to a phonecall from her cousin each evening and seems to take comfort in speaking to him, appearing more settled after their conversations. She has outlived her close family husband and daughters and appears lonely. Mrs. Oswald doesnt talk much about her husband an daughters the way she does about her career, it is possible that talking about them makes her feel sad. As before, Mrs. Oswald has not made friends with other residents of Thorneycroft, though she has made a few friends at the daycentre. She likes to talk and could be encouraged to mix more which would help with her feel ings of loneliness, she never had friends or visitors at home before she came to Thorneycroft as her family all live far away and only visit to attend review meetings every six months. She has not formed close relationships with staff at Thorneycroft, instead, as mentioned before she treats them as her employees. Mrs. Oswald is an articulate and well spoken individual who has come from a middle class background. She appears to be well educated and has had a successful career as a midwife spanning fifty years. She had her daughters when she was young and out of wedlock, as a result they were brought up by her mother and Mrs. Oswald left at sixteen to begin her training as a midwife. Her career was important to her and she concentrated on this, not having any more children and marrying late in life. Her middle class upbringing has followed her through life, and she still takes pride in her appearance and has a strong sense of what she believes to be proper. Her husband and her enjoyed going on cruises and she is well- travelled. She does not attend church services or appear to be religious at all. In order for them to progress successfully through each stage in the life cycle, an individuals needs at each stage must be met. For example, our most basic physical needs are shelter and nourishment, if these needs are not met in the infant stage, potential for development and progression into childhood will be threatened. For each aspect of development, certain needs must be met; Physical The body must be kept fit and healthy through nourishment, shelter from the elements and the cold, excercise and rest. Emotional The need to be loved and to feel love for others. Good self esteem can be established from feeling loved and wanted by others. Social Being able to interact and build relationships with people around you. Cognitive The need for opportunities to learn and develop knowledge and keep the mind active. Cultural Having your values, religion, diet, language etc.(norms) as part of your daily life. In order for me to understand the needs of Mrs. Oswald and to what extent her needs have been met throughout her life, I examined Erik Eriksons theory of eight psychosocial stages. Erikson believed that humans develop through eight predetermined stages (a detailed table of these can be found in appendix 1) and in order to progress successfully through life, we must successfully negotiate each stage and that failure to do so results in mental deficiencies suc h as lack of trust, which will remain with us throughout life (Collin et al., p. 273). Each stage has one positive outcome and one negative outcome, and individuals progress through each life stage with a mixture of both, the differences between positive and negative being a result of the environment the individual is developing in. Mrs. Oswald, as an adolescent, would have experienced role confusion. She was from a middle class background but fell pregnant at a young age, resulting in her being hidden away and her mother raising her children as her own. It would have gone against Mrs. Oswalds role as a respectable young girl to have children at such a young age. She went off to train as a midwife at sixteen and left her family and her daughters behind. She concentrated on her career and appeared not to have any intimacy throughout young adulthood. This was resolved in mature adulthood when Mrs. Oswald got married and enjoyed the intimacy which she had missed out on in young adulthood. She never had any more children but her husband nd her appeared to have a happy life and they enjoyed travelling together. Mrs. Oswald is now in maturity and has begun to talk about death in an accepting way. Her needs may not have been met in the early stages of her life where she did not conform to her role in society and her life lacked intimacy, but later in life she had a successful and satisfying career and a happy marriage. I have used Abraham Maslows Hierarchy of Needs (see appendix 2) to assess how  Mrs. Oswalds needs are being met now. Maslows Hierarchy of Needs starts at the basic physiological needs we need just to stay alive. Once these are made we have a need for safety, then we want love and affection. Within our group we want to have self esteem. Finally we have a need of satisfying our full potential that Maslow calls Self Actualization (Deeper Mind). Maslow believed that ones needs had to be met at each stage of the hierarchy before the needs at the next stage could be attended to. The first category in Maslows hierarchy refers to physiological needs. I believe that most of Mrs. Oswalds needs are being met at this level. She has plenty to eat and drink and since she is mobile she has some level of excercise. She can have fresh air and she has warmth and shelter. However, Mrs. Oswalds need for sleep is not being met at Thorneycroft. She suffers from insomnia which is not helped by the fact that her bed is too small and therefore uncomfortable for her to sleep in. This has resulted in her being reluctant to settle in bed at night at all, so she is losing out on sleep. As a result of all her physiological needs not being met, all of Mrs. Oswalds safety needs are not being met either. Although she has shelter and security at Thorneycroft, the fact that she does not sleep has compromised her safety as she has a tendency to wander around at night time and is prone to falling as her mobility is not great. Mrs. Oswald appears sad that she has outlived her close family and her husband and doesnt speak about them much. She does have some distant family whom she speaks with on the phone every night which brings her some comfort, but she remains distant with others and reluctant to form close relationships with staff or fellow residents. Her need for love and belonging has not been satisfied. In order for Mrs. Oswald to progress and reach self actualisation the care staff at Thorneycroft must work on the needs which are not being met. Getting her a bed which is comfortable for her to sleep in may help her to settle at night and reduce the risk of a fall. She could be encouraged to mix more with fellow residents and form closer relationships with them as well as staff. This will help with Mrs. Oswalds sense of love and belonging and boost her self-esteem which will help her to reach self actualisation. References BBC (2014) BBC News Magazine. [Online] Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23902918 [Accessed 13/11/2014] BINGHAM, E. et al (2009) HNC Social Care for Scotland. 12th Ed. Essex: Heinemann. COLLIN, C. et al (2012) The Psychology Book. London: DK London. MACLEOD, S. (2011) Simply Psychology. [Online] Available form :http://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html [Accessed 11/11/2014]. NORWOOD, G. (2014) Deeper Mind. [Online] Available from: http://www.deepermind.com/20maslow.htm [Accessed 11/11/2014]

Fair Value Reporting Advantages and Disadvantages

Fair Value Reporting Advantages and Disadvantages Discuss the pros and cons of fair value reporting for investors? Why has this trend emerged, and how does asset value volatility seen during and since the Global Financial Crisis effect your views on this? There have been many debates in previous decades amongst the investors, users of the financial statements, on whether fair value accounting is worth being used. According to IFRS 13, fair value is the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (ACCA, 2016). Usage of fair value has advantages, however, it has disadvantages as well. This essay will discuss how fair value is more advantageous than disadvantageous and how it is carried out. It will also examine how fair value led Lehman Brothers, an American investment bank, into bankruptcy during the global financial crisis and why the trend of fair value has emerged in the recent decades. As historical cost loses relevance with the passing of time, it is more appropriate to use fair value reporting as it considers current market prices and conditions. This provides investors with the most relevant estimates of the value of business (Gjorgieva-Trajkovska et al., 2016), and timely information which is important for making investing decisions (McEnally, 2007). Penman (2007) states that fair value accounting reports assets and liabilities through an economists view and therefore reports economic income the change in fair value of net assets on the balance sheet. This is of interest to investors as they can make predictions of future earnings based on current information (Marra, 2016). On the other hand, Sundgren (2013) claims that there will also be fluctuations in fair values, leading to uncertainty of future inflows. Although this poses a disadvantage towards certain stakeholders, it is helpful to investors as high fluctuations could indicate high risk, which may rewar d them with high returns. Another advantage of fair value reporting is the reliability and transparency of the method. More transparency means that the investors are able to get an insight into the real value of the company. This allows investors to make more informed decisions that will benefit the business (Bigelow, n.d.). Fair value reporting is reliable as it can be checked in hindsight from available information about current and past market prices (Betakova et al., 2014). This is beneficial for the investors as it means that they can be confident that their decisions are correct and that the finances of the business will not suddenly change. Bubble prices can be an issue for investors as it may mislead them into making poor investing decisions. There is plenty of empirical evidence to show that bubble prices exist (Ryan, 2008). These price bubbles, according to Penman (2007), are introduced into financial statements through the usage of fair value accounting. He goes on to say that this causes bubble gains to reflect on the income statement, and these may, falsely, show the company as being healthy which could lull investors into a false sense of security. These bubbles also result in the investor receiving ineffective financial statements which will impair their decision making. An example of this would be where investors pay prices that far exceed their own valuation (Scheinkman and Xiong, 2003). This would make it tough for investors to earn a reasonable return on their investments. However, the research fails to consider the difficulties locating price bubbles or how investors can prevent themselves from being misled . It also fails to consider that bubble prices show the current trading price, albeit inflated, and therefore show the true value of the investment according to current prices. When there is illiquidity in a market, fair value is called mark to model accounting. Ball (2006) explains that when this occurs, market prices are not accurate as firms try to find an approximate value for the assets. He continues by stating that this can let managers easily manipulate values according to their own preferences affecting the reliability of financial statements. Betakova et al. (2014), argues that measurement procedures of fair value create loopholes and this means that prices can be written as vastly different from what they really are, which again allows manipulation. The fair value of assets and liabilities is derived from the 3 level hierarchy of inputs. According to IFRS 13, the highest priority is given to level 1 inputs the quoted price of assets and liabilities that are traded in the active market. Laux et al. (2010) state that assets or liabilities should be marked to market, which means that the quoted price has to be used to determine its fair value as it is the best approximation of how much an asset would be sold for (Magnan, 2009). IFRS also emphasises that the price to be used has to be those of an orderly transaction to ensure that it is not a forced transaction in order to maintain its representability. An example of level 1 valuation would be listed stocks or bonds. In cases where an asset does not have an active market, level 2 fair value measurement should be used. This is when the valuation inputs are directly or indirectly observable but do not fall under Level 1 (Magnan, 2009). Level 2 inputs, the net replacement cost, includ e quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active or non-active markets, and other relevant market data like the yield curves (Sundgren, 2013). For example, Petrobras issued a bond which is not traded. However, if there is an active market for a Valero Energy bond that is similar, the price of the Valero Energy bond can be used as level 2 input to value the Petrobras bond. Finally, the least priority is given to level 3 inputs, which are unobservable inputs. It is the least accurate as it is based on model assumptions. An example of level 3 measurement is when there is no observable input to value the Petrobras bond, then the value of the bond can be estimated by discounting its future cash flows. As a result, the reliability is reduced due to the subjectivity of the discount rate. Fair value is argued to be more appropriate, compared to historical cost, when level 1 valuation is used as it only allows minimal manipulation. However, during 2008, many companies overvalued t heir assets by using the level 3 measurement, contributing to the global financial crisis. Furthermore, there is an advantage in valuing certain assets using historical cost over fair value, like property, plant and equipment. This is because historical cost results in a more consistent calculation of depreciation. Moreover, under fair value, assets would need to be revalued frequently due to changing market conditions and this would impose additional costs to the organisation (Christensen and Nikolaev, 2013). Fair value was a dominant force in the financial crisis and exacerbated its severity (Cai-xia and Chi, 2010). Huizinga and Laeven (2009) note that fair value is procyclical and therefore intensifies the phases in the economic cycle. They expressed that banks were materially impacted due to the contrast between market and book values. Lehman Brothers was an American investment bank, founded in 1850, and was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States. Its bankruptcy in 2008 was a prominent event in magnifying the repercussion of the financial crisis (Acharya and Richardson, 2009). One of the pivotal reasons for this collapse was due to the high leveraging (Lehner, 2016). Lehman disguised this from stakeholders by utilising fair value accounting and creative accountancy. The incentive behind such manipulations would be the benefit pressurised managers derive by camouflaging vulnerabilities in the organisation. This is proved by the movement of the leveraging ratio from 23.7 :1 in 2003 to 30.7:1 in 2007 (SEC Info, 2007) which signifies a high level of risk to investors. In addition, Azadinamin (2012) mentions that accounting standards, due to their defects, enable management to misrepresent financial information for momentary monetary rewards. He states further that Lehman window dressed the financial statements, using fair value, to present healthy looking balance sheets which assisted in concealing a major complication negative cash flows. Magnan (2009) states that As of November 30, 2007, 75.1% of assets measured at fair value were measured according to level 2 or level 3 inputs. This indicates that Lehman generally did not use the more reliable level 1 values. In addition, the proportion of assets valued using level 2 or 3 increased to 81.7% the following year. This shows the speed at which reliability in the accounting method was reduced. It is backed up by the empirical evidence provided by Magnan which shows that the movement from level 1 to lev els 2 and 3 was done intentionally so that they were able to report assets too highly and hide losses. He goes on to explain that fair value provides beneficial information to investors when assets trade in deep and efficient markets but are less useful when the markets are less liquid. One of the key reasons for the fall was the lack of liquidity caused by banks securing themselves, due to the financial crisis, by asking Lehman to pay off their debts. In addition, even though Lehman had a huge asset base, they lacked assets which could quickly be sold for cash (Brunnermeier, 2009). Apart from the ongoing financial crisis, another aspect that increased the speed of the collapse was the unrealised gains and losses brought about by the usage of fair value accounting (Magnan, 2009). For example, Hughes (2008) mentions that Lehman Brothers showed a $400m gain from fair-valuing its own liabilities. As no other firm wished to buy Lehman, in its state at the time, they declared bankruptcy on the 15th of September 2008 and this was quoted as the largest bankruptcy in the history of the United States (Mamudi, 2008). Therefore, fair value accounting without adequate additional disclosure is neither fair nor a good reflection of the value that is at risk (Magnan, 2009). To summarise, whilst relevance and reliability are the primary qualities of the usefulness of a financial report, there is a constant debate on the trade-off between these qualities when fair value measurement is adopted. Fair value is known to be relevant as it uses the current market price, however, it sacrifices its reliability as level 2 and level 3 inputs are used. The value of relevance and reliability is equally important because relevant information that has no reliability would mean nothing to the investors (Sing and Meng, 2005). In contrast, Hitz (2007) notes that fair value would be reliable if there was an actively traded market but the problem arises when there is not. He also remarks that usage of historical cost is falling whereas fair value accounting is on the rise. The reason for this is because fair value provides more timely and comparable information than amounts that would be reported under other alternative accounting approaches (Laux and Leuz, 2009). Furthermo re, they add to this by saying that fair value accounting recognises losses earlier than other methods of accounting and this makes it much more difficult to hide problems in the corporation which, if left to grow, would make crises more severe. However, we have seen that even through the use of fair value accounting, as in the case of Lehman Brothers, fair value accounting was a significant player behind the crisis of 2008. Wallison (2008) argues that fair value causes instability among financial institutions, although the title of the journal suggests that he would be taking a biased stance towards the topic. Moreover, the usage of fair value accounting causes volatility due to constantly changing prices. This concerned banks during the financial crisis due to the enormous write-downs caused by falling asset prices. However, Enria et al. (2004) argue that volatility provides information to investors regarding the risks of their investment. We believe that solely utilising fair val ue has pitfalls and therefore companies should adopt an integration between historical cost and fair value to eliminate the weaknesses of each. Nonetheless, we conclude that investors still prefer fair value accounting despite the disadvantages and the trade-off because it represents the true economic condition of assets and liabilities. References: ACCA, 2016. A framework for determining fair value? [Online]. Available from: http://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/student/exam-support-resources/professional-exams-study-resources/p2/technical-articles/ifrs13.html [Accessed 08/03/17] Acharya, V.V. and Richardson, M., 2009. Causes of the financial crisis. Critical Review, 21(2-3), pp.195-210. Azadinamin, A., 2012. The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers: Causes of Failure recommendations going forward. Swiss Management Center. Ball, R., 2006. International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS): pros and cons for investors. Accounting and business research, 36(sup1), pp.5-27. Betakova, J., Hrazdilova-Bockova, K. and Skoda, M., 2014. Fair value usefulness in financial statements. DAAAM International Scientific Book, pp.433-448. Bigelow, L. The Advantages Of Fair Value Vs. The Equity Method. The Finance Base. Available from: http://thefinancebase.com/advantages-fair-value-vs-equity-method-3255.html [Accesses 02/03/2017] Brunnermeier, M.K., 2009. Deciphering the liquidity and credit crunch 2007-2008. The Journal of economic perspectives, 23(1), pp.77-100. Cai-xia, H.E. and Chi, Z.H.A.N.G., 2010. Fair value accounting under financial crisis. Journal of Modern Accounting and Auditing, 6(6), p.59. Christensen, H.B. and Nikolaev, V.V., 2013. Does fair value accounting for non-financial assets pass the market test?. Review of Accounting Studies, 18(3), pp.734-775. Enria, A., Cappiello, L., Dierick, F., Grittini, S., Haralambous, A., Maddaloni, A., Molitor, P.A., Pires, F. and Poloni, P., 2004. Fair value accounting and financial stability. Hitz, J.M., 2007. The decision usefulness of fair value accounting-a theoretical perspective. European Accounting Review, 16(2), pp.323-362. Hughes, J., 2008. Fair value can flatter to deceive on your own debt. Financial Times, 24(07), p.2008. Huizinga, H. and Laeven, L., 2009. Accounting discretion of banks during a financial crisis. Laux, C. and Leuz, C., 2010. Did fair-value accounting contribute to the financial crisis?. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 24(1), pp.93-118. Lehner, O.M. ed., 2016. Routledge Handbook of Social and Sustainable Finance. Routledge. Magnan, M.L., 2009. Fair value accounting and the financial crisis: messenger or contributor?. Accounting Perspectives, 8(3), pp.189-213.. Mamudi, S. 2008. Lehman folds with record $613 billion debt [Online]. New York: Market Watch. Available from: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lehman-folds-with-record-613-billion-debt [Accessed 08/03/2017]. Marra, A., 2016. The Pros and Cons of Fair Value Accounting in a Globalized Economy: A Never Ending Debate. Journal of Accounting, Auditing Finance, 31(4), pp.582-591. McEnally, R., 2007. Fair Value Financial Reporting. CFA Magazine, 18(1), pp.25-26. Penman, S.H., 2007. Financial reporting quality: is fair value a plus or a minus?. Accounting and business research, 37(sup1), pp.33-44. Ryan, S.G., 2008. Fair value accounting: Understanding the issues raised by the credit crunch. Council of Institutional Investors, (July, 2008), pp.1-24. Scheinkman, J.A. and Xiong, W., 2003. Overconfidence and speculative bubbles. Journal of political Economy, 111(6), pp.1183-1220. Sing, T.Y. and Meng, S.C., 2005. Fair value accounting-relevance, reliability and progress in Malaysia. University College Sedeya International. Sundgren, S., 2013. Is fair value accounting really fair? A discussion of pros and cons with fair value measurement. The Finnish Journal of Business Economics, 62(3-4), pp.242-250. Trajkovska, O.G., Temjanovski, R. and Koleva, B., 2016. FAIR VALUE ACCOUNTING-PROS AND CONS. Journal of Economics, 1(2). Wallison, P.J., 2008. Fair value accounting: A critique. Financial Services Outlook. LEARNING LOG SUMMARY (maximum 1 page using Aerial 12-point with at least 1cm margins) Suggested content: What did you learn from the assignment both technically and in terms of working together as a group? We learnt about what caused the global financial crisis to occur and the impact it had on various financial institutions We gained a deeper understanding on the faults in fair value accounting which also shows why historical cost was so prevalent We learnt how to allocate work between the members of the group as well as set realistic deadlines What strategy as a group did you follow in tackling the assignment task? Making sure everyone was involved in writing each paragraph so that we received various different viewpoints Having frequent meetings and discussions in order to compare our research and decide on which points we should include within our paragraphs What problems did you face and how did you overcome them? Understanding what was required of the question. We overcame this ask question to the lecturer and finding out, through research, about other topics that could be included in each paragraph What went well? Coordination was good since we kept in touch with each other frequently Everyone kept to their deadlines and provided what was required of them when needed What, in retrospect, would you have done differently, why and how? In the beginning we took time to assign research topics and research took a while as we were all new to it. However, later on we were able to increase the pace as we became more proficient. If, however, we had been able to start off at this pace, the work would have been more evenly distributed over the weeks rather than being skewed towards the deadline Where did you locate most of your sources? Google University of Bath library Google Scholar LOG OF GROUP MEETINGS (complete a maximum of 1 page for each meeting) Meeting 1 Date of Meeting 23 Feb 2017 (Thursday) Attendees Ben Maitland Kylie Siow Gavriella Kafkalia Sidharth Ranjith Name of Absentees Agenda and tasks completed Decide on days of meeting every week (Tentatively Tuesday 1-2pm Friday 12.30-2pm) Talked about the structure of the essay Agreed items Structure of Essay Introduction Pros and Cons of FV 3rd of March How its carried out 10th March Example of FV during Financial Crisis 10th March Conclusion Tasks to be completed by next meeting Find points for pros and cons of fair value Date of next meeting 28 Feb 2017 (Tuesday) Meeting 2 Date of Meeting 28 Feb 2017 (Tuesday) Attendees Ben Maitland Kylie Siow Gavriella Kafkalia Sidharth Ranjith Name of Absentees Agenda, items agreed on and tasks completed Allocation of points for the first paragraph pros and cons of fair value accounting to investors Tasks to be completed by next meeting Full paragraph of pros and cons of fair value Date of next meeting 3 March 2017 (Friday) Meeting 3 Date of Meeting 3 March 2017 (Friday) Attendees Ben Maitland Kylie Siow Gavriella Kafkalia Sidharth Ranjith Name of Absentees Agenda and tasks completed Compiled the first paragraph Talk about the next 2 points Global financial crisis How fair value is carried out Allocate points to each person Tasks to be completed by next meeting Find points for the financial crisis and how fair value is carried out Date of next meeting 7 March 2017 (Tuesday) Meeting 4 Date of Meeting 7 March 2017 (Tuesday) Attendees Ben Maitland Kylie Siow Gavriella Kafkalia Sidharth Ranjith Name of Absentees Agenda and tasks completed Choose which points to write about and discuss how to evaluate it. Tasks to be completed by next meeting Finish the paragraphs how FV is carried out and the example during financial crisis Date of next meeting 10 March 2017 (Friday) Meeting 5 Date of Meeting 9 March 2017 (Thursday) Attendees Ben Maitland Kylie Siow Gavriella Kafkalia Sidharth Ranjith Name of Absentees Agenda and tasks completed Completed all body paragraphs Tasks to be completed by next meeting Introduction and Conclusion Date of next meeting 14 March 2017 (Tuesday) Meeting 6 Date of Meeting 15 March 2017 (Wednesday) Attendees Kylie Siow Gavriella Kafkalia Sidharth Ranjith Name of Absentees Ben Maitland (However did send his share of the work by e-mail) Agenda and tasks completed Completed introduction and draft for conclusion Tasks to be completed by next meeting Complete full paragraph for conclusion and make some changes for body paragraphs Date of next meeting 16 March 2017 (Thursday) Meeting 7 Date of Meeting 16 March 2017 (Thursday) Attendees Kylie Siow Gavriella Kafkalia Sidharth Ranjith Name of Absentees Ben Maitland (However did send his share of the work by e-mail) Agenda and tasks completed Worked on conclusion Date of next meeting 18 March 2017 (Saturday) Meeting 8 Date of Meeting 18 March 2017 (Saturday) Attendees Ben Maitland Kylie Siow Gavriella Kafkalia Sidharth Ranjith Name of Absentees Agenda and tasks completed Made some changes to body paragraphs Finalised the whole essay

Overview of Ocular Histoplasmosis Syndrome (OHS)

Overview of Ocular Histoplasmosis Syndrome (OHS) Dr Pradeep Venkatesh Histoplasmosis Amol D Kulkarni and Suresh R Chandra Introduction Histoplasmosis is a systemic disease caused by Histoplasma capsulatum.1 Introduction Histoplasmosis is a systemic disease caused by Histoplasma capsulatum.1 It produces intracellular granulomatous inflammation of many organs including eyes, lungs, liver, spleen, etc. Ocular histoplasmosis syndrome (OHS) is characterized by a triad of signs –of punched-out atrophic choroidal scars in the macula or periphery, peripapillary atrophy and choroidal neovascular membrane (CNVM).2 Etiology-Aetiology HistoplasmacapsulatumH. capsulatum, a dimorphic fungus, is presumed to play a causative role in the development of OHS.1 There are few reports of pathologic and molecular evidence supporting a the direct role for of H. capsulatum in the development of chorioretinal scars, ; however, no serologic confirmation of histoplasmosis infection has been reported.3,4 A haematogenous dissemination of the fungus results in choroidal invasion and subsequent scarring. Additionally, disseminated histoplasmosis presents with intraretinal infiltrates composed of histoplasma yeast cells that are easily demonstrable on histology. Extensive study of the affected individuals in Europe and the United States has revealed the presence of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR15). 1: Please provide the full form of DR>.5 No full form; it indicates type of HLAThis HLA association suggests that immune reaction is likely to play a major role during the development of scarring and CNVM. H. capsulatum may induced local ized autoimmune reaction in the retina. However, an infection with this fungus is not an absolute requirement for the development of clinical OHS. Because of this lack of association, there has been a suggestion to rename this clinical syndrome as ‘multifocal choroidopathy’. Epidemiology OHS is most common in the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys of the United States, which are endemic for H. capsulatum.6 Up to 70% of the population living in the endemic areas reacts positively to the histoplasmin skin testing and 1.5% exhibits the typical fundus findings. 7It can be a blinding disease in its more severe manifestations. There is no gender predilection, although some reports show a higher prevalence in women. Pathobiology OHS belongs to the spectrum of autoimmune diseases triggered by an infectious organism, with H. capsulatum being one of several candidate pathogens. It is characterized by a chronic reaction to the immunogenic residua of the H. capsulatum, which acts as a nidus for inflammation. Light microscopy reveals mixed inflammatory cells in the choroidal lesions with the loss of overlying retinal pigment epithelium. There are adhesions between the outer retina and choroidal lesions. The genesis of CNVM in OHS is thought to be caused by the disruption of Bruch’s membrane at the site of atrophic scar. Systemic Featuresfeatures Mycilia Mycelia of Histoplasmosishistoplasmoses are inhaled and they transform to the yeast form shortly and infect lungs. They can produce caseation and enlargement of hilar nodes, which produce typical shadows on X-ray. About 90% of cases are benign and do not produce symptoms. In dDisseminated2: Kindly >OK histoplasmosis are is characterized by pyrexia, vomiting and enlargement of liver, spleen, and lymph glands. The Involvement involvement of skin, mouth, gastrointestinal tract and heart may also occur. Ocular Featuresfeatures The clinical findings in OHS include peripapillary atrophy, multiple punched punchedout white atrophic choroidal scars (histo spots), and a macular CNVM, accompanied by the complete absence of a cellular reaction in the anterior chamber or vitreous cavity [(Fig. 40.1(aA)].6 The histo spots are considered to be the earliest stage of the disease, and are usually asymptomatic [(Fig. 40.1 (Bb)]. CNVM will develop in fewer than 5% of individuals with histo spots. The Clinical clinical presentation of CNVM involves acute or insidious onset of painless progressive blurring of central vision and metamorphopsia. The Fundus fundus examination typically shows a yellow-green subretinal discolouration with accumulation of subretinal fluid. In advanced cases, there is subretinal fibrosis leading to disciform scar formation and that is associated with severe central visual loss. 9The exact time frame between the initial choroidal scarring and CNVAQ3: Please check if CNV stands for â€Å"choroidal neovascularization†and CNVM is choroidal neovascular membrane and should be replaced with CNVM>NO development is difficult to determine given that histo spots are asymptomatic. New histo spots may develop in more than 20% of individuals while they are under observation, ; however, only 3.8% progress to CNV. The precipitating factors promoting such progression are not known. Some studies implicate emotional stress and tension headaches as associated events. Diagnosis OHS is a clinical diagnosis and relies on the observation of characteristic fundus lesions in one or both eyes. Intravenous fluorescein angiography (FA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) can assist in the evaluation of CNVM (Figs. 40.2 and 40.3). FA assists in identifying areas of CNVM and in planning photodynamic therapy. OCT is a useful tool for the detection and monitoring of treatment response. 10 Treatment The optimum treatment of subfoveal and juxtafoveal CNVM is the main focus in OHS. Histo spots are asymptomatic in most cases and require no treatment until a progression of the disease is detected.9-11 Corticosteroids Regimens of systemic corticosteroid therapy were widely used in early studies of ocular histoplasmosis. 12Few clinical studies have evaluated the role of subtenon’s and intraocular triamcinolone. The intravitreal steroids demonstrated favourable visual outcomes; however, they are associated with cataract formation or progression and increased intraocular pressure.13 Laser photocoagulation Laser Photocoagulation photocoagulation effectively inhibits the progression of OHS-related CNV. In randomized trials, the Macular Photocoagulation Study demonstrated that argon and krypton laser photocoagulation is effective in treating well-defined, classic extrafoveal, juxtafoveal, and peripapillary CNV lesions secondary to OHS.14, 15 Only 12% of treated individuals experienced significant disease progression, compared with 42% of the control patients. Surgical therapy The role of submacular surgery for the removal of CNV lesions was evaluated in a multicentere randomized clinical trial. 16The study data indicate that surgery may be beneficial to patients with visual acuity worse than 20/100, and subfoveal CNV. Photodynamic therapy Verteporfin in Ocular Histoplasmosis study enrolled 26 patients prospectively with subfoveal CNV and demonstrated an improvement of visual acuity from baseline as well as an absence of serious adverse events at in 2 years.17 Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy Several intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) treatments are currently being pursued for the treatment of OHS-related CNV. Few retrospective studies have evaluated the role of intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy for CNV associated with OHS. One such study by Ehrlich et al. found that at least 50% of eyes with subfoveal or juxtafoveal CNV experienced ≠¥>=3 three lines of vision gain and 91.5% to –100% of patients had improved or had stable visual acuity (at 3-– to 12-month follow-up) after the intravitreal bevacizumab therapy. 18Similarly, the results concerning the therapeutic efficacy of ranibizumab are promising. Both treat-and-extend and pro re nata treatment strategies were effective. A study by Nielsen et al. demonstrated that many eyes require long-term anti-VEGF therapy to suppress the choroidal neovascular activity in OHS.19 Suggested reading Smith RE, Ganley JP. An epidemiologic study of presumed ocular histoplasmosis. Trans Am Acad Ophthalmol Otolaryngol 1971; 75:994–-1005. Gass JDM, Wilkinson CP. Follow-up study of presumed ocular histoplasmosis. Trans Am Acad Ophthalmol Otolaryngol 1972; 76:672–694. Hawkins BS, Alexander J, Schachat AP. Ocular histoplasmosis. In: Retina. Ryan, SJ, Schahchat, AP, editors. Retina. St. Louis, MO: , Mosby; 20014: Please check the author spelling>. Oliver A, Ciulla TA, Comer GM. New and classic insights into presumed ocular histoplasmosis syndrome and its treatment. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2005 Jun;16(3):160–165. Prasad AG, Van Gelder RN. Presumed ocular histoplasmosis syndrome. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2005 Dec;16(6):364–368. Macular Photocoagulation Study Group. Argon laser photocoagulation for ocular histoplasmosis: results of a randomized trial. Arch Ophthalmol 1983; 101:1347–1357. Macular Photocoagulation Study Group. Krypton laser photocoagulation for neovascular lesions of ocular histoplasmosis: results of a randomized clinical trial. Arch Ophthalmol 1987; 105:1499–-1507. Rosenfeld PJ, Saperstein DA, Bressler NM, et al. Photodynamic therapy with verteporfin in ocular histoplasmosis: uncontrolled, open-label 2-year study. Ophthalmology 2004; 111:1725–1733. Nielsen JS, Fick TA, Saggau DD, Barnes CH. Intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy for choroidal neovascularization secondary to ocular histoplasmosis syndrome. Retina. 2012 Mar;32(3):468–472. Fig. ure 40.1 Fundus photographs of a patient with OHS showing peri-papillary atrophy and CNV with subretinal haemorrhage in the right eye (A) and macular histo spot in the left eye (B).Choroidal neovascularization Fig. ure 40.2 Early (A) and late (B) phase fluorescein photographs showing CNV with subretinal haemorrhage secondary to OHS. Fig. ure 40.3 OCT scan showing CNV with intraretinal fluid secondary to OHS.

The Sedition Act of 1798 :: Government American History Papers

For the first few years of Constitutional government, under the leadership of George Washington, there was a unity, commonly called Federalism that even James Madison (the future architect of the Republican Party) acknowledged in describing the Republican form of government-- " And according to the degree of pleasure and pride we feel in being republicans, ought to be our zeal in cherishing the spirit and supporting the character of Federalists." Although legislators had serious differences of opinions, political unity was considered absolutely essential for the stability of the nation.Political parties or factions were considered evil as "Complaints are everywhere heard from our most considerate and virtuous citizens, equally the friends of public and private faith, and of public and personal liberty, that our governments are too unstable, that the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties, and that measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority_" Public perception of factions were related to British excesses and thought to be "the mortal diseases under which popular governments have everywhere perished." James Madison wrote in Federalist Papers #10, "By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community." He went on to explain that faction is part of human nature; "that the CAUSES of faction cannot be removed, and that relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling its EFFECTS." The significant point Madison was to make in this essay was that the Union was a safeguard against factions in that even if "the influence of factious leaders may kindle a flame within their particular States, [they will be] unable to spread a general conflagration through the other States." What caused men like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison to defy tradition and public perceptions against factions and build an opposition party? Did they finally agree with Edmund Burkes' famous aphorism: "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle?" Did the answer lie in their opposition with the agenda of Alexander Hamilton and the increases of power both to the executive branch as well as the legislative branch of government?

Aerospace Psychology :: essays research papers

Aerospace Psychology 1. The complicated task of piloting an aircraft can be broken into two broad categories. The first is keeping the aircraft flying. The second is arriving at a given destination. The second is always being effected by the first. Unlike a car, small deviation in course can over great distances cause the aircraft to arrive hundreds of miles from the target destination. To successfully accomplish the task, safe arrival, the larger tasks can be sub-divided into three categories. The first is the Procedural Tasks. These are the maintenance task that must be accomplished every time in a certain way at a certain time, i.e. take off and landing checklists. The next is Decision and Judgement Tasks. Problem solving is another way to look at it. The crew will react based on past experience to a given situation. The last is Communications and Resource Management. This is how the crew communicates with each other while problem solving, either poorly or well. 2. The pilot uses visual cues such as rate of flow of texture outward from or convergence of parallel linear features to visually fly the aircraft. Estimates of speed are derived from global optic flow (GOL). This is the rate that texture flows over the optical area. This can be effected by elevation, at higher elevations underestimation of true speed will occur. Approach path distortions occur when there is a slope before the landing strip or other visual features such as dwarfed trees. The human eye is not designed for conditions found in flight. Planes that are a collision course have no apparent movement to them. This takes the natural attraction to movement out of play. Because of the lack of visual stimulation the eye will focus only a few meters in front, so distant objects are unfocused. The scanning of instruments provides a source of input that allows the pilot to visualize the position of aircraft in flight. The novice pilot will scan all the instruments in a given pattern . While the experienced pilot will look at all the instrument that will give them feedback on the action that occurred. Of the main instrument the most useful is the attitude direction indicator (ADI). This is the instrument most referred and the one that most novice pilot will get fixated with. It is also the only one that resembles an aircraft and provides information in a format other than an analog circular dial.

King Lear - Power Corrupts Essay -- essays research papers

Power is the ability to manipulate and control whatever one desires; to do what one pleases to do without answering to authority. The power that corrupts the characters plays an extensive role throughout Shakespeare’s play, King Lear. Goneril and Regan are corrupted by the power that Lear offers them. Edmund’s corruption comes from the trust of his father. Absolute power corrupts absolutely with the characters, because once have full control, they are so cold that they will do anything to keep the power – or to gain more. The quest for power corrupts, but when absolute power is attained, treachery and deceit is the only path to take. The power that Lear gives to Goneril and Regan makes them treacherous and deceitful. Lear offers his land to his daughters – Goneril and Regan – but in return they must profess their love for him: â€Å"which of you shall we say doth love us most, that we our largest bounty may extend.† (1, 1, 56-57) By doing this, Lear gives an opportunity for his daughters to take advantage of him. Goneril â€Å"loves [him] more than words can wield the matter’ (1, 1, 60) and the same goes for Regan saying, â€Å"[Goneril] comes too short, that [she] profess [herself] an enemy of all other joys.† (1, 1, 79-80) They don’t really love Lear, but instead they love the power that Lear gives them. Once Lear had given the land to his daughters, the power that they have corrupts them. When Lear needs a place to stay, the daughters are not quick to react; Goneril allows him to stay...

British American Tobacco Implementation of SWOT Analysis

According to the economic theory (firm theory), a firm’s utmost objective is to maximize its profit. Hence during the initial stages of the enterprise growth, managers use financial metrics such as cash flows, revenue, and pre-tax profit to evaluate performance of their firm.However, these metrics only tell of past events and therefore can not be used for strategic management, with time the market conditions change. As a result, a firm will tend to invest more to develop capabilities and customer relationships on a long-term basis.Customer relationship is becoming critical for the firm and therefore as the firm embarks on the financial metrics; it must also add consumer satisfaction metrics for it to remain successful. Hence in this new environment over reliance on the financial metric is not enough in evaluating the path to be followed by companies to increase value through investing in employees, consumer, technology and innovation. In order to address the insufficiency of t hese metrics, business information consultants have put forward several strategic management tools and models.Some of these models and tools include the SWOT analysis, Balanced Scorecard (BSC) analysis etc. The BSC has four aspects namely, the customer perspective, internal business perspective, innovation and learning perspective and financial perspective.The SWOT analysis evaluates the weakness, strength, opportunities and threats involved in company's operations. Strengths and weaknesses are internal to the firm and evaluate the internal capability while Opportunities and threats are out-offing business control and refer to how the business is affected by the external environment.Strengths refer to areas where the business can excel in, for example business's competence and resource utilization. Weaknesses is what the company cannot do and managers should consider areas which need improvements, areas which the company do poorly and what should be avoided.Opportunities refer to th e market attractiveness and threats are the potential challenges which hinder business operation. British American Tobacco’s (BAT) goal is to build a long-term shareholder value through development of new brands and products.The company has used the SWOT analysis to implement strategic management and performance evaluation to achieve this goal. BAT is multinational company that manufactures tobacco products and it has many branches around the world.The implementation of business management tools is aimed at shifting management from quality performance to corporate performance. Strengths The company manufactures markets and sells cigarettes and other tobacco products. By the end of year 2007 the company had more than 300 brands and a work force of about 53,907 employees both in UK and internationally.Its revenue base for the period stood at $ 20,054 million. It offers adult consumers products of high quality and also assists them to make sure that they choose their product ove r those of competitors.Continued improvements in productivity have helped the company develop more brands hence increase earnings: for instance it has introduced smokeless cigarettes aimed at reducing smoke related diseases. To remain competitive in the market, the British American tobacco has embarked on cost reducing strategies and complexities in its supply chain.In 2004 the company made the commitment to reduce overheads cost and other indirect costs by $ 200 million annually by the end of 2007 through implementation of a single procurement processes within its area of operation.The company also offers from time to time training to its workers so as to make them adapt to the changing business environment. Threats The company's operations have been affected by the tobacco regulation policies across the world. One of them is the suggestion by the World Health Organization to have all products packaging be plain or unbranded.Removing colors and trademarks familiar to consumers is a critical challenge because consumers will not able to differentiate cigarettes from BAT and those of its competitors or the genuine products and fake ones.The company has strongly opposed the idea of plain packages claiming that there is no evidence that suggest that plain packs would have effect on smoking by children. In addition restriction of corporate trademarks by any government is a breach of intellectual property rights in international trade.The issues of counterfeit product harm the company's revenue and there have been cases of trade in illicit tobacco globally. In order to reduce the cases of cigarette smuggling, the company has supported various governments, world custom organizations and world trade organization in seeking ways to eliminate illicit tobacco trade. WeaknessesThe main internal challenge that has faced the company is the inability to produce less harmful products. However, for some years now the company has embarked in search for less harmful products.Hig h overhead costs have been another threat to the market competitiveness of the company's product. Before the implementation of single procurement system in 2003, the indirect costs had been too high which resulted to high cost of its tobacco products.Opportunities British American tobacco has more that 30 branches across the world and about 180 markets and has opening new factories in more countries. The demand for tobacco products has been rising as more and more youths have started smoking.The company has utilized this opportunity provided by the market through development of more products to satisfy the market demand. The company has decentralized its factories across the globe to increase it market share and position their product for the consumer who have decided to buy tobacco products.Bibliography BAT, consumer and trade, retrieved on 13 December 2008, from http://www. bat. com/group/sites/uk__3mnfen. nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO6ZXMRV opendocument&SKN=1BAT, plain packaging, retriev ed on 13 December, 2008, from http://www. bat. com/group/sites/uk3mnfen. nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO7J7DCZ?Opendocument&SKN=1 Capgemini, ‘5-year procurement target at British American Tobacco,' 2003, retrieved on 13 December 2008, from www. at. capgemini. com/m/at/cs/ss_British_American_Tobacco. pdf.Dickson Vicky, Balance Score Card as strategic management tool, 2005, retrieved on 13 December 2008 from http://www. betterlocalization. com/index. php? itemid=44.

Performance Management And Learning And Development Essay

Introduction In the 19th   century university was meant to be a theoretical theatre, while the factory was the place for formal training and learning. Education is broader in scope than training and it has a less specific application than training, as it is delivered in educational institutions. As a result, there has always been a tension between the needs of industry and the educational requirements of the individual, as society needs people who can contribute in a comprehensive way (Wilson, 2005). A century later, West moved beyond the factory and manufacturing as the basis for economic wealth have been achieved. Compared to earlier centuries now this century is able to demolish the   trading, political and economic   barriers, which hampered the progress in the old days. The arrival of mass media and technology is re-shaping our lives at a breathtaking speed; the concept of learning is now not a stagnant process, but in a flux and evolving every day (Beckett, 2000). The nature of work is changing with the knowledge economy in boom, giving rise to unparalleled demands for learning in work settings through consistent training. Enterprises need integrated approach to possess knowledge workers, which is the right prescription for businesses today. It is hard to create effective employment and training based policies which give high priority to education and training-both at a time. Countries like Korea and Singapore are seriously investing in their human resources, while the poor countries do not have sufficient funds to meet their growing needs. The overall goal of the global economy is provide opportunities to people and obtain productive work with dignity, which requires a framework to address worker and producer needs. To meet such requirements, the new millennium needs a shift from traditional approach and demands new human resources development and training policies. Learning and Training Learning can take place either in formal settings, such as school/university or in less formal organizational settings. Possessing knowledge is different from learning, as learning has limited value and is not a guarantee of being skillful, until   put to practice in real world. Wilson (2005) has defined learning as â€Å"a permanent change of knowledge, attitude or behaviour occurring as a result of formal education or training, or as a result of informal experiences. Learning, education and development are often muddled together, however   they carry specific meanings as explained below: Training = learning related to present job; Education = learning to prepare the individual but not related to a specific present or future job; Development = learning for growth of the individual but not related to a specific present or future job. It has been recognised by the enterprises that passive learning cannot not ensure an accurate developmental process necessary in the business world. The managers find it hard to believe, that, seminars and workshops can teach management. It is argued, that case methodology, lectures, discussions and theories are useful, but they never find its way into the corridors of business world. As a result, managers and educational theorists suggest experiential learning, which trains workers in work place more effectively. According to the Glossary of Training Terms (2005), training is â€Å"a planned process to modify attitude, knowledge or skill behaviour through learning experience to achieve effective performance in an activity or range of activities. Its purpose, in the work situation, is to develop the abilities of the individual and to satisfy the current and future needs of the organisation†. Rothwell (2003) mentioned that, training equips individuals and groups in an organisation to improve their work performance. However, training alone cannot alleviate a poor work, which may be due to the lack of rewards and incentives. Training is put into practice for a variety of reasons, such as orientation training for new workers or sending employees for special assignments and preparing employees to support critical activities (Wilkinson, 2005). The HRD equips people with necessary skills in three ways (McGoldrickand, 2001). .Individual Development   addresses broad areas and addresses, such as skill development, interpersonal skills, career development, etc.   Occupational /Group Development occurs among the groups through a team building programs. It also applies to specific occupational groups, such as implementation of new legislation. Organizational Development covers the whole organization. It can be defined as a â€Å"collection of planned change interventions, built on humanistic-democratic values, that seek to improve organizational effectiveness and employee well-being†(Wilson and John, 2005). The well-known examples are; the introduction of a customer care programs across the organization; and the introduction of total quality management, which requires all individuals and groups to become involved. Mumfords (1995) mentions that, an organization where people continually expand their capacity to create the results- truly invent patterns of thinking for collective learning. This process can be defined as following:   Personal mastery, ensuring individual motivation to learn; mental models, creating an openness to misconceptions;   shared vision, building long-term commitment in people; team learning, developing group skills like cooperation, communication and so forth;   systems thinking, which constitutes   integration with other disciplines the other four. All these disciplines are to be practiced together to create an impact and must be practiced by all the members of organization to work together. Each problem and dilemma is crisis and workers learn from crisis and difficulties together and try to development process, where all workers profit from each other’s experiences. Shift of Training in Knowledge Economy Drucker (1993) has mentioned that, â€Å"Every few hundred years in western history there occurs a sharp transformation. Within a few short decades, society rearranges itself – its world view; its basic values; its social and political structure; its arts; its key institutions.† The shift   from industrial-based economies to enterprises   started 20 years ago, moving to market share and hierarchical management focusing on a knowledge   based economy. If the industrial economy was driven by cheap energy; today’s knowledge economy is driven by inexpensive microchips and knowledge management enabling businesses to take benefit of the new knowledge (Trask, 1996). The modern corporation is over and the postmodern corporation is different. Today companies may look the same from outside—but behind the faà §ade, everything is different. They are no longer connected to the boiler or routine machines, but now in the business of knowledge creation. The activity of knowledge-based organization is not producing machine or power toys, but producing and managing knowledge. The knowledge economy differs from the old one, as the new economy is ever-increasing in information intensity and packed with more knowledge, data, and ideas. Now knowledge resides in the magnetic strip, not the plastic. The knowledge-based economy has new rules and standards, which require new ways of living and working, business, which do not acquire knowledge workers, are destined to die.   Wolfensohn (1999) has mentioned that, the knowledge-based economy relies on ideas and applications of technology rather than physical strength, which was done on the exploitation of cheap labor. In this new economy knowledge is created, acquired, transmitted, and sold by individuals, enterprises, organizations, and communities for the promotion of economic development. In the industrial world, knowledge-based industries are growing fast, while labour market demands are also changing. The new technologies insist on highly skilled workers, diminishing demand for the low skilled workers.   One of the key factors that distinguish intelligent business enterprise of the 21st century is emphasis on knowledge and information. Knowledge management is an important means by which organizations can better manage information and knowledge. Knowledge management encompasses a range of concepts, ranging from management tasks to technological practices, all come under the umbrella of the management of knowledge (Gupta, 2003). The successful organizations are aggressive, fast paced and have the ability to create  Ã‚   knowledge to maximize organizational strategic success. In today’s world, knowledge is a resource, which is critical to an organization’s survival and success in the global economy.   As the nature of work is changing, knowledge is regarded as a primary resource-giving rise to the unprecedented demand for learning in the working environment. Enterprises need to offer this new learning at work and create knowledge workers, which have become inevitable part of the corporate world. The workplace has become a site of learning associated with development of the enterprise through contributing to production and innovation. Thus the development of the individuals by providing training to create new knowledge is the most wanted asset of the enterprises today. The knowledge economy has four basic features as described below (Trask, 1996). Knowledge developed and applied in new ways, especially through information revolution, which has provided not only new opportunities to access information, but it is also creating new opportunities for swift transfer of the knowledge speeding up the process of worldwide change. Today product cycles have become shorter due to growing demand for innovation. In 1990s, it would take six years from concept to production in the automobile industry; now it takes only two years. Worldwide trade is increasing with increased competitive demands on producers. The countries, which are able to assimilate into the world economy, will achieve higher economic growth. Small and medium-size enterprises in the service sector have become significant players, in terms of both economic growth and employment. In the industrialized countries the employment has risen, but the patterns of employment are changing. The employers have re-organized workers into fixed and variable categories, while the fixed workers are career-oriented, the variable have little career progression and low access to education and training. These trends show that labour markets are becoming ruthless in their treatment of un-skilled workers and these low skilled workers stand at an edge. As a result working poor have grown in number and those working are underpaid and forced to work in miserable working conditions. The speed of change in the knowledge economy depreciates much more quickly compared to the past. In order to compete effectively in this changing environment, organisation need to   upgrade their workers skills continuously. This rapid change in the knowledge economy is so swift that firms can no longer rely longer rely on fresh graduates. In order to meet such need, lifelong learning and training is crucial to enable workers to compete in the global economy. Formal education and training includes programs which are recognized by the    Universities and institutes and lead to approved certificates and degrees.   Non-formal education and training includes programs, which are not formally recognized by the national system, such as apprenticeship training programs and structured on-the-job training.   Informal education and training includes unstructured learning, which can take place almost anywhere, home, community   or workplace.   It includes unstructured on-the-job training, the most common form of workplace learning. This improvement in people’s ability will allow them to be not only useful for their organisation, but it will also enable them to function as a useful members of their communities.   In a modern economy, the production of goods and services still relies on workers despite machine revolution. The need is to develop learning and training strategies, which allow these workers to learn new skills for new working conditions. It is crucial for the organisation to prepare workers for this new environment, which requires a new mode of education and training ­. This lifelong learning framework encompasses learning throughout the life cycle, from early childhood to retirement. It includes formal, non-formal, and informal education and training. In traditional industries most jobs require employees to learn how to perform routine functions, which, for the most part, remain constant over time and most learning used to take place when a worker started a new job. In the knowledge economy, change is so rapid that workers constantly need to acquire new skills. Firms need workers who are willing and able to update their skills throughout their lifetimes. Enterprises and organisation need to respond to these needs by creating education and training systems that equip people with the appropriate skills. The new millennium main challenge is to be employable and contribute to the economic growth in the global economy. This novel approach has set new rules for education, training and strategies in the organisations. The reason is that training not only advances interests of the individuals and enterprises, but it also augments the economic development of the nations. These new skills formation leads to equity in employment and society at large and allow the enterprise to reap the fruit of this human resources development. Performance Management According to Bacal (2004) â€Å"performance management is about creating relationships and ensuring effective communication and focusing on what organizations, managers, and employees need to succeed.† It is a   strategic approach to manage the business and improve organisational effectiveness with existing capabilities. Performance management provides development specialists with an opportunity to be   innovative in influencing corporate strategy and contribute to the results. The goal of performance management is to ensure that the organization departments, teams, and employees are working in an optimum fashion to achieve the organization objective. At the end of twentieth century new performance management systems were born and cannibalizing the old systems, due to the presence of the technological expansions. Management in the twenty-first century faces the challenge of creating and re-creating effective performance systems and requires a unique understanding of this process. Performance management process is about professionalism and continuous learning and development. The overall goal of performance management is to ensure that the organization and all its subsystems departments, teams, employees are working together in an optimum fashion to achieve the results desired by the organization. According to Bacal (2004), performance management is based on the following beliefs. Optimism: Performance management is based on the belief that improvement is possible, and that the human and organizational conditions can be improved. Performance management is the view of the possibility that performance improvement is always there and change is possible as long as people are willing. A Pragmatic View: Performance management is keeping the optimistic view, but it does have realistic view of improvement, understanding the possibilities for improvement and recognizing the  Ã‚   barriers to success. Performance management addresses various threats in the system and try to solve it, rather than kill it A Balanced Approach: It is natural to resist change in any organisation as change means changing habits. Performance management design strategies, which are part of organizational decision-making processes to build greater support for the change. It capitalizes on the opportunity for further improvement and success. Leadership. Performance management is built on the ethical knowledge. The true leaders determine promote best practices in their organisation to further the success. Such practices require courage to bring change, yet adhering to professional ethics ensuring that the change is consistent with legal requirements. Performance management is meant to establish a shared understanding about what is to be achieved and how it is to be achieved for an organization. To improve performance, individuals need to have a common understanding about what performance (and success) in their jobs looks like. It can be a list of tasks, objectives, or results or it can also be a set of behaviors or both. These goals need to be defined clearly with the jobholder so that people know what they are working toward? And what is expected from them to increase the probability of success (Lance, 1999).   A continuous management process delivers clarity, support, feedback, and recognition to all staff. Performance Management Process Performance management process is a communication process between an employee and his or her immediate supervisor with established expectation and understanding. This process is not meant to threaten or intimidate employees into neither being more productive nor does it mean to attack the personality of the employees, but it is a broad set of tools used to optimize the success of each employee for the larger interest of the organisation. The smooth functioning of performance management depends on the developmental activity and management control. A developmental push is essential to motivate workers and let them concentrate on work and commitment towards their respective organisation. Performance Management process is meant to measure the employee performance. It involves the following steps (Handbook for the Core Performance Management, 2005). Performance planning The workers performance is recognized through employee performance plans. They are clearly told, what are the expectations? And what are the set standards. Thus it is essential to develop such standards, which are realistic and attainable. Individual at the level of induction stage clearly need understand their role in the organisation. Employee/Team Performance In many organizations, employees work together to achieve the organizational objectives. The difference between group performance and an individual’s contribution is that, the group performance is measured aggregately, while an employee’s performance is measured individually. Monitoring performance After the assignment of job the progress of the workers are monitored by the manager/supervisor, to check how much they are really working. Employee development Mentoring is essential process of employee development, the example can be set either by showing a high performer or by leader/manager, which helps the employee to overcome the difficulties. A frank discussion is essential to focus on employee areas of excellence, identifying the barriers to performance. Multiple Source of Feed back It is a process, which provides employees with performance information to enhance managerial feedback. It includes comments from various sources, such as collogues, supervisor report and direct reports as well. Figure: 1.1 Performance Management Process Source: Handbook for the core performance management, 2005 Evaluating Evaluation is a two-way discussion in the form of written documentation to concentrate on employee areas of excellence, and identify the areas for improvement and further development needs. Stupak and Leitner (2001) warns that performance management measurement should not be punitive, but should be positive and should help the organisation, what the work do and what they should not and continue for organisation improvement. It should not be as a tool to punish the guilty, but emphasis should be on finding the right direction for the organisation. Linkage of Learning and Development and Performance Management The learning and development and performance management have been discussed separately earlier. Recent studies have shown, these processes are interrelated and are linked (Harrison, 2005). For example, in small firms, resources are stretched and workers have to switch roles, it becomes crucial to train and develop these workers, as they often have switch tasks. Following are the essential points in case of training in the small firm scenario: A well-focused induction program. Basic training in firm unique systems. A probation period to evaluate the performance. Post confirmation development for further development. Badger (2001) has mentioned that in a situation where products and processes can be easily imitated, the only source of competitive advantage is to stimulate employee to learn.   Organizations always seek to reduce cost increase efficiency and productivity. Today’s enterprises have started to evaluate learning and training programs to achieve higher performance from their workers, as they understand that learning and performance management are interrelated and inevitable to achieve competitive advantage. This competitive advantage can be achieved through the development of human resources by deploying a strategy to support its workers and enhance the organizational performance. The performance management process can positively develop the workforce self-esteem and keep them motivated, thereby giving them job satisfaction, to let them focus on the job. However its not mere training which can bring result, employee participation in decision making is essential as noticed by Peon and Ordas (2005), that organizations need to provide individuals with enough incentives and allow them to participate in the decision-making process to achieve higher performance. The ability of nations and organizations to enhance the standard of living of the growing population depends on sustained increase in the productivity of the systems. In the inter-dependent global economy, productivity is essential to maintain economic advantage for individuals and societies. People and institutions are inter-connected, and today countries have mutual interests in the game of higher productivity of other nations. A nation may gain short-term advantage from a lesser productive contributor, but in the long term lower productivity is a bad omen for all the nations. Conclusion According to Business Intelligence Board (2005), enterprises need to formally link learning and performance management process to measure the employee performance, as this can explain, weather learning has really resulted in higher performance. This link between learning and performance management is clear and the ultimate objective of learning management is to have an educated workforce, which can sustain the competitive advantage in the cutthroat corporate world. Learning and development are essentially related to performance management process, same as performance management process is not complete unless it embrace learning and development  Ã‚   to fill the skill gaps identified in the workers. Various amounts of efforts have been done to linkage learning with performance, Thomson and Mabey  (2001) mentions, many organisations failed to have higher performance from their workers, despite enormous amount of training. It has not yet yielded enough clear evidence of a direct link between learning and performance management. However, learning and development activity does consistently emerge as a crucial intervening factor. L&D alone is not enough-it has to be an integral part of a cluster of appropriate HR strategies. Reference Thomson.A and Mabey.C, Changing Patterns of Management Development, Blackwell Publishing. Marchington, M. and A. Wilkinson (2005), Human Resource Management at Work, London, CIPD   Stupak.J and   Leitner.P (2001), Handbook of Public Quality Management, Marcel Dekker Publications Harrison R (2005), Learning and Development, 4th edition, London. Workplace Learning, Culture and Performance, London, IFTDO. Badger,B (2001),Organizational Learning: An Empirical Assessment of Process in Small U.K. Manufacturing Firms, Journal of Small Business Management, Vol. 39. Drucker.P (1993), The Practice of Management Quorum Books Business Intelligence Board, www.businessintelligence.com (2005) . Wilson, John.P (2005), Human Resource Development: Learning and Training for Individuals and Organizations, Kogan Page Limited. Rothwell.J (2003), What CEOs Expect from Corporate Training: Building Workplace Learning and Performance Initiatives That Advance Organizational Goals, Saranac Lake, NY, USA. Mumford.M (1995), Intercultural Sourcebook: Cross-cultural Training Methods, Intercultural Press Inc. Beckett.D (2001) Life, Work, and Learning: Practice and Postmodernity. Florence, KY, USA.   Trask.L (1996), Building New Skills for the Knowledge Economy,   Business Communications Review, Vol. 26.   Lance.Berger (1999), Compensation Handbook, McGraw-Hill Professional Book Group, USA. Glossary of Training Terms (2005) http://forum.bodybuilding.com/ Bacal.R (2004), How to Manage Performance. McGraw-Hill Companies, USA. McGoldrickand.J (2001),Understanding Human Resource Development: Philosophy Processes & Practice, Routledge Publisher. Peon.J and Ordas (2005), The Learning Organization,   International Journal World Bank Staff (2003), Lifelong Learning in the Global Knowledge Economy: Challenges for Developing Countries, World Bank Publications.    James D. Wolfensohn (1999), World Bank Publications Gupta, Jatinder (2003), Creating Knowledge Based Organizations. Idea Group Publishing,USA. Handbook for the core performance management (2005) Ohio State University, USA.