Saturday, August 31, 2019

Modern Times Essay

Discuss the representation of one of the following themes in ‘Modern Times’: industrialization, progress, gender. In 500 words your critique of ‘Modern Times’ must describe and comment upon specific scenes in the film. Charlie Chaplin’s film â€Å"Modern Times† is, in itself, a discussion of progress and of modernism. It is set in the 1930s, a time of great change and great struggle due to industrialism and unemployment. The film enraptures its time period in a light-hearted fashion that examines both the positive and negative effects of modernity, ultimately answering whether progress through loss or stagnancy exclusive of cost is better, with modernity in its most pure form. The film damns modernism for the way it destroys our cultures and traditions, yet revels in the abolition of such ridiculous dreams. Chaplin characterizes Industrialism as a movement that although is designed to speed up production and efficiency, as a byproduct, causes p eople harm. This is shown in 22:05 and 28:55 where, due to unemployment caused by industrialism, the American family is torn apart. This is a prominent theme that continues throughout the movie, as the little Tramp and the Gamin are both victims of unemployment and the destruction of their homes. However, Chaplin then goes to make fun of the â€Å"American Dream† and society’s goals in scenes 55:07 and 31:50 respectively. In 55:07 the rickety, worn down house that the Gamine and the Little Tramp find symbolize the fragility and downright silliness of the American Dream as it breaks and crumbles under them. It also teases the upper class in 31:50 with the absurdity of starving yourself for social status. It isn’t till 1:10:15 that Chaplin starts to takes a stance on whether change is worth the loss when it is revealed that the Gamine has secured a job for both herself and the Little Tramp. The reversal of gender roles was revolutionary and completely overshadows the thorough deconstruction of the American Dream of which they had held so dear in 55:07 and 43:14. The deduction being that ultimately, progress is for the greater good. The film goes beyond that, nonetheless, stating that society is not heading towards true progress and is getting held back by its own sense of evolution through Industrialism. Chaplin continuously makes fun of the legal system, upper class society, and in particular, industrialization. These themes stand for society’s goals and through that, their idea of progress. Chaplin subverts this view by making fun of just how ridiculous all these things are. For instance, machines are shown to actually attack people in  the scene beginning at 8:10 and Chaplin’s character is shown literally fending off the outbreaks of a machine gone rogue in 1:02:36. They show no progress and only serve to limit society as all these things have a negative impact on the movies characters. For instance, any attempts made by the Little Tramp to join the movement of Industrialism ends in prison, which, ironically is one of the two ways to escape society’s pressures and goals. The only other way that the Gamine and the Little Tramp are able to move on – in a state of freedom – and continue their lives, i.e. progress, is by escaping from society and starting again, effectively abandoning everything that they held precious. Chaplin states that the way to enlightenment is to leave everything that connects you to society. In conclusion, Chaplin advocates the very extreme of futurist modernity in â€Å"modern times† by stating that change is good and that the only way we can truly progress is by forsaking everything.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Gender and Student’s Grades Essay

I decided to choose to do my project on if the gender of the teacher reflects what the student gets in the class. I am interested in this because I feel that a male teacher, for me, does a better job teaching. They have a stronger personality and are louder which keeps you listening. I chose to do this project because I am interested in seeing how the average student feels compared to how I feel. In order to collect my data, I will test a total of 10 classes, 2 classes from the following subjects; Algebra 2 regular, Chemistry Honors, IB History, Media Arts, and English 10 Honors. One class will be from a male teacher and the other from a female teacher. I will the split the classes into two groups male and female. In the two groups I will categorize the 5 classes into what the student got in the class. There will be 5 categories A, B, C, D, and F. Since I only want 5 columns I will round the A-‘s, B-‘s, C-‘s, and D-‘s to a regular letter grade. As well as the A+’s, B+’s, C+’s and D+’s to a regular letter grade. After obtaining all the data, I will begin to compare and analyze the data. First, I will do a simple process by finding the mean, median, and mode of the two groups. Since my data is in letter grades I will have to change the letters to a GPA. For example an A would be a 4, also since I am rounding the A-‘s to A’s an A- would also be a 4. Finding the mean, median and mode will show what the average grades are in the male and female classes. That data can be compared easily to show what grades are getting in which gender class. Another simple mathematical process is making a histogram. Each category (A, B, C, D, and F) will have two bars coming from it, one male and one female. This can show how many of the each letter grade is coming from each gender. It will visually show what gender is getting what grades in the classes. The last mathematical procedure I will be doing is a Chi-squared table which will be my sophisticated process. This will be my most accurate calculation to show if gender of the teacher is dependent on the grade the student gets in class. I am going to make  ·this table by splitting the date into two columns, male and female, and then by the grade the student got in the class. When making the histogram for one of my simple processes I added all the A’s together from the male classes then all the B’s and so forth. I did this for the female classes as well. For the graph my x-axis is the grade, y-axis is the number of students in the column. There are two bars coming up from each grade group to show the comparison between male and female. Calculating the Chi-squared of this data will be my last process. To find the Chi-squared I had to make a table with all the grades in it and which gender it was for. I then had to find the expected value, an example of this was multiplying the total number from the male column and the A column then dividing that by the total of grades overall. After getting the observed and expected tables I subtracted the observed from the expected then square rooted this then divided it by the expected. I did this for each column. Then the numbers were added together to get a chi-squared of 4.88. I used the rejection inequality given a significance level of 5%. To find the p-value I put my calculations into my graphing calculator to get a p-value of 0.363. I then found the degrees of freedom by subtracting the rows by the columns. This was able let me know which significance level to use which is 9.488. Since the chi-squared was false, you accept the null. Some of the errors I saw in my project were the classes I chose, Mrs. Mel and Mr. Nichols were an IB History class. An IB History class is a higher knowledge class, all of the students in these two classes got either an A or a B. Since everyone had higher grades this made an error in my project because two of my classes did not have three of the letter grades. This skewed my grades toward higher GPA’s. I should have chosen a class that had more variety in grades. Another thing that made an error in my project was when I did the mean, median, and mode I rounded the grades. For instance a B- would be a B and a B+ would be a B. Rounding these grades made the variety not as big. Since students work well with different teachers another way to do this project which would give me more accurate data would be to compare a student who switched teachers between the two semesters from a male to a female. This would have showed more how a certain student acts with different genders rather than how a group of students acts. In conclusion, it shows that the gender of the teacher and the grade the students gets in that class are independent. The x ² calc was less than the critical value. The results I saw were similar to what I thought would happen. All though the calculations were not as accurate as I would have liked them to be and the conclusion is very vague to what I thought would have happened. This does change how I feel about gender affecting the student because I felt like the male was more of an effective teacher than a female but the calculations show the female is more effective.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Physician-Assisted Suicide for Alzheimer Patients Article

Physician-Assisted Suicide for Alzheimer Patients - Article Example There are alternatives to physician-assisted suicide for Alzheimer patients and dementia victims. One of them is palliative care. However, some opinion polls indicate support for PAS when it is administered only as a relief for a dying patient under extreme pain. Besides, Americans prefer an alternative such as ensuring control of pain and offering compassionate care for such Alzheimer patients, not helping them to die (Rhymes et al). Moreover, this preference is firmer among the patients of Alzheimer. A past study found out that numerous patients under pain preferred palliative care to PAS more than the public who also support palliative care. Masses still prefer pain relief and palliative care more than euthanasia or PAS though the latter method is not as popular as the PAS. This is because PAS underplays proper pain management practices. This therefore disputes Jack Kevorkian’s suicide assisted demise (Knickerbocker, 2011). Secondly, hospice care is yet another option for patients with Alzheimer ailment. This is a method that has increasingly been seen as an end of life choice for individuals with this deadly disease. Furthermore, this alternative applies activities such as pet therapy which offers reassurance and compassionate care for them. Additionally, the patients can be read to or listen to music, which is believed to elicit long forgotten emotion, regardless of the fact that they may not be apt to communicate effectively. However, some aspects of hospice care may seem not to effectively help patients with serious dementia (Rhymes et al). For instance, counseling at the end of life may not be effectual for those patients with communication drawbacks. Thirdly, patients with Alzheimer disease may make a decision to undergo pain control procedures disputed to the renowned PAS that Jack Kevorkian endorses as the best method of helping Alzheimer patients. Besides, pain is underrated and difficult to reduce in Alzheimer patients under dementia. Therefore, pain control aims at; at least reducing the pain than terminating it through PAS.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Cosmetic Surgery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Cosmetic Surgery - Essay Example Cosmetic surgery does not only improve one’s appearance but also makes a person happier and more confident since society values beautiful people. In fact, a research indicate that attractive people, both male and female, are more regarded and treated more positively( Olson and Marshuetz ,2005). They have better chances of getting hired, earning higher incomes, achieve higher marks, have better social skills and are even less prone to commit crimes ( p.502). In cases where one is not born with natural external beauty, cosmetic surgery can play a crucial role in changing the situation. The bottom line is that self confidence is a huge factor in being successful and a beautiful appearance adds to one’s confidence. With the availability of cosmetic surgery , there is now a quick and good chance to change one’s beauty and ultimately live a more confident and happier life. Pleasant looks has been linked to encouraging reactions from other people, including plain liking or passionate fondness, promotion and success in career, judgments and punishing in legal settings, and several others. Commonly, appearance is more strongly connected to assessment and consequences for women than for men. Contemporary cultures across the globe socialize women to internalize an onlooker’s perception on their physical bearing, and hence to endure more embarrassment and misery over bodies that do not match the cultural model. In reaction to this, women are more probable suffer from eating disorders in an attempt to manipulate their appearance (Davis, 2002). Thus, there is a higher incidence of eating disorders in women since they are more conscious of their physical appearance especially when looking for a mate. It is common nowadays for men and women to try several procedures for improving physical attractiveness as methods for drawing the attention, and retaining passionate partners. Some resort to extreme physical exercise or

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

McDonalds Business Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

McDonalds Business - Case Study Example With the growing public awareness and desire for socially responsible businesses, it is significant to note that companies consider planning for future socially responsible business operation (Kotler & Lee, 2004). An analysis on McDonald’s social responsibility evaluates an example of corporate social responsibility shown by McDonalds. McDonald is the largest company in the world that deals in hamburger food restaurants. In reference to McDonald’s corporate social responsibility, the company is taking action, maintaining openness in communication with its customers and shareholders and attaining results. The company works with its suppliers so as to promote socially responsible behaviors or practices in its supply chain as an integral part of the company’s supply chain strategy. This is part of the company’s social responsibility. In addition, the company has designed its own its code of conduct for suppliers which explains how the company desires or expec ts its suppliers to handle and treat their workers. The company has managed and succeeded in supporting suppliers who are removing sow gestation crates in supply chain. For instance, 50% of its Cargill contracted hog farms are all in new generation systems that do not apply gestation stalls for the benefit of the wider community. Additionally, McDonalds gives part of its pre-tax profits to corporate charity or philanthropy as part of its strategy to be socially responsible. The company conducts philanthropic contributions via the Ronald McDonald Houses Charities which focus to create, get and support programs that enhance and improve the well being and health of children in society. This body ensures that children in vulnerable communities can receive medication and dental treatment in order to improve their health and strengthen their respective families. This program aims to change and improve the lives of communities. As part of it being socially responsible, McDonalds has formul ated a way of engaging communities in operations through community based projects. Community based projects have become significant aspect of development assistance among world socially responsible organizations. For instance, McDonalds launched the Flagship farms initiative in Europe that aimed at employing innovative farming methods and practices across Europe and conducts research on how ethical farming practices can be included into commercial farming systems. Therefore, an economic relationship means a strategy of involving communities into business activity of the organization in order to makes sure that communities are embedded in corporate supply chain strategy so as to establish a sustainable business. Case study 2 McDonalds has got well written and designed corporate social responsibility program that it has well implemented in order to ensure that communities are integrated in its business and that it benefits from its business operation. For instance, the McDonald Compan y delivered its inaugural corporate social responsibility report in which the company sought to get extensive feedback from stakeholders and community. The company has included several things in its social responsible program that aim to make it more socially responsible. For instance, they have implemented program that aim to develop sustainable agriculture, employment policies

Monday, August 26, 2019

Marketing Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Marketing Research - Essay Example One of the primary goals of marketing research is identifying and assessing how the varying elements of the marketing mix impact on customer behavior. Marketing research falls into two categories depending on target market: consumer marketing research and business-to-business marketing research. Discussion The marketing research process covers a round of stages such as collection, organization, and interpretation of data. The designing of a research plan is a multifaceted endeavor as it involves decisions such as the data sources to employ, approaches to take, how to minimize distortions to the data collected, the research instruments to employ, the configuration of the sampling plan, methodology, and adherence to research ethics. A marketing research planning process incorporates a series of interconnected stages and each stage has an impact on the stage preceding or subsequent to it. Stages of a Marketing Research Plan Stage 1: Defining Research Problem The first stage in a marketi ng research plan involves identification of the problem or marketing issue (need). This stage comes after review of the business situation (Wild & Diggines 50). The starting phase of the research plan spotlights the reason or the research problem. When defining the problem, the researcher ought to construct an appropriate marketing research design. The problem should not be too narrow but should embrace the pertinent issues that the research seeks to capture. It is critical to obtain coherent insight into the nature, scope, and intensity of the problem prior to the formulation of the problem. The stated problem should reflect the organization’s resources and should be expressed in a manner that plainly identifies the sought opportunity (Housden 71). The problem in this case encompasses positioning of the new phone in the market. Outlining the Research Objective The researcher should justify the need for research as well as defining the objective of the research (Prasuraman & Krishnan 26). Outlining the research objective is crucial and the researcher needs to evaluate what he or she seeks to find out and why. In addition, the researcher should identify the data needed as well as the data sources. This entails scrutinizing the research purpose and highlighting the data required to complete the purpose (Prasuraman, Grewal, & Krishnan 33). Research objective entails goals to be achieved by conducting research. One of the objectives may be exploring some new product in the market. Diverse research objectives lead to diverse research designs (Wild & Diggine 51). Stage 2: Planning Research Design The second stage encompasses determining the research design to be employed. Picking out of the appropriate methodology is crucial to the overall success of the marketing research. The research method to be adopted depends on the research philosophy that has been employed. The designing of the research instrument is also crucial (Zikmund & Babin 51). Stage3: Planning Sample The third stage of a research plan incorporates defining the sample. The identification of the sample incorporates specifying who or which units should avail the data needed (Prasuraman & Krishnan 37). This stage lays the ground for designing of the sample. The stage encompasses instituting a problem solving framework and analytical models guided by the defined audience. The

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Fairytail analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Fairytail analysis - Essay Example On the other hand, Cinderella does not cease doing good and being compassionate towards those who mistreat her. Finally, although she did not have fine linen like her sisters to attend the kings ball, her godmother comes to her aid and makes it happen. Later, she ends up being the beautiful princess that the king marries. Her good nature overrides the evil against her, and she ends up the most successful of all. Perraults ‘Cinderella’ is modest, depicting that humility uplifts the less fortunate and warning us through its moral that pride comes before a fall. In his story, Perrault exclusively illustrates humility and its consequences and what can consequently happen to the proud. Humility, compassion and kindness have been depicted throughout the story. Cinderella’s mother dies leaving her under the care of her evil step mother who continuously mistreats her. Her step sisters are no good either. Despite her circumstances, she at no time stops doing good. ‘The poor girl suffered silently, and never said a word to her father.’ She did all the house chores as her sisters adorned themselves; slept in the worst place while the rest enjoyed the luxury of well furnished rooms. None of these made her complain; instead, she kept all the pain to herself and not a single time did she stop carrying out her chores. Cinderella is not invited to the ball and has no quality linen to dress for the occasion; however, this does not stop her from helping her sisters choose the best dress for the occasion. She even goes ahead to make their hair in the best way possible. Perrault asserts, "She had exemplary ideas and marvelous advices on how they could fix their hair and dress appropriately" (Perrault). When the king throws a ball, her step sisters spend their entire time chatting about it and preparing themselves. They even make fun of her that she would be the laughing-stock if she appeared at the ball. Although they despise her,

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Research paper solar power Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Solar power - Research Paper Example With man’s development and innovation, the sun has also become an energy source. Solar power is basically the power provided by the sun’s rays in the form of electricity or heat (Clean Energy Ideas, n.d.). Solar power has been considered a renewable form of energy compared to fossil fuels because the source, which is the sun, is basically present all the time. It is not likely to happen that the sun will burn out one day, or if it does, all of earth will be in trouble as well (Clean Energy Ideas, n.d.). rays. This photons is transforming the electrons in the materials to conduction electrons that make the electricity (Clean Energy Ideas, n.d.). Solar panels are the materials that have the electrons which create electricity. This materials look like computer chips and can also be seen in rooftops and space engines. The photons in the rays of the sun charges the electrons in the chips and the electrons flow through the cell. This is when electricity is generated (â€Å"Solar Energy†, n.d.). Different techniques have been used to make solar power. One uses a U-shaped mirror which looks like long troughs and focuses the sunlight to an oil that can be found at the middle of the pipe. With the hot coming from the sun, the oil makes the water boil and this creates the solar power. One more technique is using mirrors which can be moved to catch the sunlight which is connected to a tower that collects the heat and connected to a receiver. Molten salt is used as the receiver for this kind of technique. Another technique uses windows with materials that absorb heat. Usually, they are placed in walls and floors, and at night, these materials give out heat that can make hot water in the house (â€Å"Solar Energy†, n.d.). Just like any form of energy source, solar power has its pros and cons. The major benefit of solar power is that it is a sustainable source of energy. Meaning it can be harvested continuously without the fear that it will run out

Final Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 12

Final - Essay Example In particular, â€Å"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close† by Jonathan Safran Foer appears to be the fusion of text and visual aids. As it is a literary work, text plays the leading role in rendering the ideas, while visual aids perform the supporting role and enhance the story telling by means of specifying and illustrating the narration. In accordance with McCloud, text and pictures interrelate in several ways in a piece. Despite the fact that McCloud discusses mostly graphic novels, or comics, his ideas can be applied to the novel under consideration as well. Based on McCloud’s work titled â€Å"Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art†, there are two types of text and photo combinations in â€Å"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close†, such as word specific combination and additive combination. The first type of text and photo combination presupposes that pictures mostly illustrate what is discussed in the novel. One of the best examples of the use of photos in terms of illustrations is Oskar’s visit to the art supply store where the boy sees his father’s name (actually his grandfather’s name) written on the writing pads. The photos of writing pads are placed in the novel to illustrate that â€Å"most people write the name of the color of the pen they’re writing withâ €  and back up the manager’s words (Foer). Apart from that, these photos reveal no information. The second example is Oskar’s scrap book â€Å"Stuff That Happened to Me†. For the boy, the book is of great importance for it bears valuable memories. Put exactly in this part of the novel, however, the scrap book can be regarded as the illustration of what is happening in Oskar’s head at a particular moment in bed at night. â€Å"Stuff That Happened to Me† is the montage of photos (keys, Oskar’s fingerprints, Hamlet holding Yorick’s skull etc.) which reflects the welter of confused ideas and the boy’s state of perplexity at that very moment. The

Friday, August 23, 2019

History - american revolutionary period 1763-1815 Essay

History - american revolutionary period 1763-1815 - Essay Example large states and other such inequitable situations by using the idea of population as a representative measure while keeping a level of parity between states. The compromise reached at the convention is called the Connecticut Compromise and the Great Compromise under which two houses of government were created for the American people (Wikipedia, 2007). This was essentially an amalgamation of the Virginia Plan which focused on majority populations being more important than equality and the New Jersey Plan which called for equal representation regardless of population size. In the compromise, the House of Representatives would have population levels based representation while the upper house of the Senate would have two representatives from each state. The ‘issue’ of slave populations affecting the representative strengths of a given member state was settled by a three-fifths compromise under which each slave was counted as 3/5th of a human being (Brinkley et. al., 2006). Essentially, it seems that the compromise was one for the sake of expediency since it gave equal representation to all states in the upper house without disregarding the population structures in the lower house. I disagree with the first part of the statement but I am in complete agreement with the second part. I feel that Washington played a very important role in the war for America and it is difficult to imagine other generals of his caliber taking his place when a man like him was needed on the ground. Without leadership, the rag tag army of farmers and merchants could have hardly hoped to defeat the might of the British Empire which was more or less at its zenith during the American Revolution (Sparks, 2006). The revolution could not have been won without a man like Washington leading the armies and conducting the war effort. On the other hand, to say that it was Washington who actually created the United States as a true nation is not an

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Cedar Point Amusement Park Essay Example for Free

Cedar Point Amusement Park Essay When I lived in Michigan, one of my fondest memories was going to Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio. We lived over 3 hours away so it was a perfect day trip. When we reached Cedar Point Road, Lake Eerie was to the right and along the horizon seventeen roller coasters stood high as sky scrapers. As we entered the park we were greeted by Snoopy and the Peanuts gang. The park was soon filled with children laughing, parents pushing strollers, and adrenaline junkies looking for the next thrill. As the aroma of sugar candy coated apples filled the air, we dashed to the snack shop for candied apples and cotton candy. We enjoyed our sugary treats on the Giant Wheel which is known as North Americas largest Ferries Wheel. Coming off the Giant Wheel we find ourselves entering Snoopy town, where Snoopy and the gang entertained the audience with music and dance. As the show ended, we decided it was time to ride some coasters. The first coaster we rode was the world’s fastest coaster the Top Thrill Dragster which slingshot us from 0 to 120 mph in less than 4 seconds and in 15 seconds we were spiraled up 420 feet and back down to the finish line. We soon found ourselves wet on Shoot the Rapids the wettest water coaster that took us up and splashed us down. It was refreshing as the temperature was rising. Now we were at the end of the park and to our amazement stood the world’s largest wooden roller coaster. Its handsome and elegant architecture was admirable to look at. Aboard this coaster we were rocketed through the hills and turns, just like life, full of ups and downs. Above all Cedar Point Amusement Park is fun for all ages. It clearly left me with a lifetime of memories, to return home to Maui and share with loved ones.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Discussion Of Strategic Human Resources Management

Discussion Of Strategic Human Resources Management In this particular task we will discuss the Strategic Human Resource Management. What it is, what is the importance of SHRM in the modern business, purpose and the contribution of SHRM in the business. With the increased global competition and the innovation of new technology and knowledge ,human resource management became the most critical function of organisation. Therefore, the workforce which was considered as resources became assets and are valuable for gaining competitive advantage for organisation. HRM helps organisation in aligning individual goals and objectives with the corporate goals and objectives, and rather than working as dictator HRM works as facilitator and promotes participative approach of workforce. In short, the SHRM focuses on the efficient and effective management of people in achieving the organizations vision or purpose. Conceptually, the SHRM goes beyond a set of coordination functions and activities of an organizations human resources. One of the fundamental ideas underlying the SHRM theory is that the organization can create a strategic fit or synergy between its HR strategies and organizational strategies. In other words, the organization should be able to side with its HR strategies and policies with whatever their organization might exist for. SHRM if designed carefully can become the driving force for organizational success. For, it is the HR that stands in the key position to influence growth and development of any organization. Variables such as customers and stakeholders, the quality of products or services, revenues or development outcomes are greatly determined by HR strategies and polices. Definition of SHRM Strategic human resource management can be defined as the linking of human resources with strategic goals and objectives in order to improve business performance and develop organizational culture that foster innovation, flexibility and competitive advantage. In an organisation SHRM means accepting and involving the HR function as a strategic partner in the formulation and implementation of the companys strategies through HR activities such as recruiting, selecting, training and rewarding personnel. [ezinearticles.com,2010] Task 1.1 Importance of SHRM With the hard core competition and the tough market conditions it is getting hard for the organisations to survive in the market .organisation have to develop themselves in such a way that they can survive and gain competetive advantage over its competitors.this is where shrm comes into picture as SHRM helps in the long term planning of the business.SHRM is a proactive management of people. It is a two way process where organisation meeting need of people and employees meeting needs of organisation SHRM helps in aligning individual goals with that of organisational goals and objectives by developing the skills of the employees by training and motivating employees. SHRM have provided new dimension for training and development by encouraging and facilitating innovation and creativity. Employees are motivated by enriching their work experience . Instead of the performance Appraisal s performance and talent management have taken place. Strategic Human Resource Management blurs the distinction between a specialized Human Resource Management function and core operational activity, SHRM Aims to achieve strategic fit by integrating Hr strategies and business strategies vertically. {Adopted from: People management} DESTS Strategic Human Resource Management Framework According to survey in 2007 by Australian government a DEST Strategic Human Resource Management Framework is designed which explains the development of the department which shows to retain talented people in challenging environment department is introducing new and innovative strategies while delivering fundamental human resource services like the salaries, payroll and recruitment. A strong emphasis on leadership is used as a key strategic element to help and support for department people. the department has built and maintained a creative and engaged workforce able to deliver the growing and diverse education, science and training agenda. {Adopted from: Curtin.edu,2011} This diagram illustrates the HRM function factor are the specific factors that influence the compatability of HR practices ,while firm level factors are analysed as major determinants for matching hr activities with strategy.personal factors which embrace the capabilities of both employees and manager are identified as common determinants for both horizontal and vertical fit. Task 1.2 Purpose of SHRM The aim of SHRM is to ensure that the strategic decisions are made having a major long-term impact on the behaviour and success of the organisation by ensuring that the employees of the organisation are skilled, motivated and highly committed to achieve the organisational goals and also attain the competitive advantage against other rivals. Some of the SHRM activities are listed as below: Resourcing:SHRM main activity is to have right people to do the right job at the rightime.Main emphasis is laid on the efficiency and effectiveness of staff.resourcing is a process and pay.which have planning,recruitment, selection ,induction. Retention: once the staff is hired emphasis is laid on the retention of staff by providing them necessary training and development, by motivating them, by providing them job security ,job enlargement and using the reward management like the the performance related pay. Flexibility: employees are provided with the flxibilty of work life balance, getting job done from home, like the part tiome jobs for students and mums and the maternity or the paternity holidays and the sick holidays to retain staff. Therefore the purpose of the shrm is to deploy right people for the right task and look after the flexibilty and training and development of employees.The purpose of Shrm can only be achieved by proper planning and implementation. Task 1.3 Contribution of SHRM In todays economy the HRM plays an important role in achieving the main objective of the organization. it has lot to contribute as the policies of the organization is set by the Human resource management jointly with the approval of the senior level management hence a lot is depend on the contribution of SHRM in the organization .For any HRM to make positive contribution to the organizational achievements it is necessary that the HRM should know the business ,the core competencies and their competitive advantage along with expectations of the organization and their customers .there is a need to evaluate key drivers in the business performance . This will help the HRM in formatting the stratergic according to the need of the organization .the organizations mission and vision is the key factor For example if the organization is a Fast Food Industry where generally the vision is customer centric, customer satisfaction and the value of time. All these requires a well trained workforce usually available for the job to be done on time hence improving quality of work-life can have a substantial impact by reducing errors accidents, reducing absenteeism turnover, and improving productivity customer service. Thus contribution of the strategic human resource management in todays economy and style of business can makes substantial impact to the objectives of the organization and thus in turn participate in helping the business of the company to grow to higher limits. SHRM contribute to the paradigm of the business.Shrm provides a value added core responsibility of HRM. HR Planning: The ongoing process of systematic planning to achieve optimum use of an organizations most valuable asset its human resources.(investopedia,2011) Hr Planning assist organisations to recruit ,retain and optimize the deployment of the personnel need ed to meet the business objectives and to respond to the external environment.The three key elements of the HR planning process are forecasting labor demand, analyzing present labor supply, and balancing projected labor demand and supply. This may include the development of training and retraining strategies.(bnet,2011) Utility of Human Resource Planning in an unstable econonmic environment can be stated as follow: Employee Maintainence: Tha administration and monitoring of workplace.Safety ,Health and welfare policiesto retain competent staff and comply with the statuatory standards and regulations.Employee Maintainence gives access to the employee data in regard to the personal and workplace information. Performance Management:Accordng to Armstrong and baron -Performance Management is a process which contributes to the effective management of individuals and teams in order to achieve high levels of organisational performance. As such, it establishes shared understanding about what is to be achieved and an approach to leading and developing people which will ensure that it is achieved. Performance Management should be Strategic- About broader issues and long term goals and the Integrated -which links with the various aspects of the business ,people Management and individuals and teams. Peformance Management helps in the performance improvement and development of the individuals,teams and overall organisation.it also helps in managing behaviour iensuring that every there is better working conditions within the organisation.Performance mangament is a continuous process .Business starts of with the corporate goals and the departmental goals followed by the agreement on performance and development, leading to the development of plans betweenindividual and managers with continouous monitoring and feedback supported by formal reviews. Managers play aa important role in the performance management as they define individual behaviours ang assign duties and responsibilities and inform individuals about their accountibilities. Performance management is continuous improvement of the business processess, skills and behaviour of individuals and groups. Long Term Consequences: HR Planning main purpose is to recrit, retrain , optimise and deploy people.But HR is also responisble ethically to individuals working for the organisations.Ii has its responsibity towards individual for devolping their skills by providing them training .Training should lead the organisational effectiveness. HR is responsible towards the society for its well being following the ethical issues and the corporate governance.HR policies should be ethical and complaying with the laws. Because of the unstable Economic Environment large number of efforts are needed by the organisation sto sustain.Most of the organisations are trying to elimainate wastage like redundacy to get rid of the people who are not doing their job properly, Multitasking is pervailing and companieis are investing only on those employess who are capable and competent of multi tasking to assess sustainability. Hiring and training of new staff need lot of expenditure so companies is trying to train the staff internally from within the organisation. Task 2.1 Business Factors that underpin Human Resource Planning In an Organisation. Different business facors that underpin the Human Resource Planning in an organisation can be stated as follow: Competetive advantage: Human Resources within the organisations are treated as assets than capital.Having the Capable and Competent workforce than the competitor provides a competetive edge to organisation over the rivals. Talent management: Talent management is the systematic attraction, identification, development, engagement/ retention and deployment of those individuals who are of particular value to an organisation, either in view of their high potential for the future or because they are fulfilling business/operation-critical roles.(cipd,2011) From Business perspectives hiring those people who have the right skills that will be helpful to the organisation. Labour Market: HR Planning is affected by the labour Market which deals with the demand and supply of the skilled and unskilled workforce available in the market. Due to the Unstable economic Conditions their is to much of supply and less demand for the workforce . Strategy of the Organisation: Depending on the Strategy of the Business if they are the having a leader plan or the survival plan Hr will recruit and train staff. Finance: Heavy investment is needed in recruiting ,training and retaining staff . Different levels of management have Different raes of remuneration.According to the Finances Available to the HR Department Recriument or Training of workforce is done. Expansion or growth: Expansion or growth requires recriument and promoting of the workforce. Law: HR policies and planning has to abide by the law .Law relating to the women working, pay, holidays or the ethical issues. Internal /External Environment: Environment affect the operations and the working of the orgaistions. As the market is turbulent therefore the Hr planning is affected by the economeic conditions . Organisational need : Depending upon the structure or the culture of the organisation HR act . To provide flexibilty there can be number of part timers within the organisation. Apart from these factors HR planning is also affected by the mission and purpose of the organisation and the resource planning of the organisation. Task 2.2 HR Requirement in a given situation In a given situation HR requirement is about the workforce analysis.HR main job is to have right number of people with the right skill available for the job. Any training and development required is also analysed by the HR.HR estimates the cost of training and development. It is the responisibity of the HR to retain the staff.Basically HR is involved in all the activities related to the human resources such as recuiting,selecting, training, retaining . Task 2.3 Develop a HR Plan For an organization Organizational objectives are defined by the top management and the role of HRP is to sub serve the overall objectives by ensuring availability and utilization of human resources.   HR Demand Forecast: Helps in estimating future quantity and quality of people required. There are several good reasons to conduct demand forecasting Quantify the jobs necessary for producing a given number of goods Determine what staff-mix is required Asses appropriate staffing levels in different parts of the organization Prevent shortages of people Monitor compliance with legal requirements with regard to reservation of jobs HR Supply Forecast: Supply forecasting measure the number of people likely to be available from within and outside an organisation .Reasons for supply forecast are: Helps quantify number of people and positions expected to be available Helps clarify staff mixes that will exist in the future Assess existing staff levels in different parts of the organization Prevents shortage of people Monitors expected future compliance with legal requirements of job reservations HR Programming Once an organizations personnel and supply are forecast, the two must be reconciled or balanced in order that vacancies can be filled by the right employees at the right time. HR Plan Implementation Implementation requires converting an HR plan into action. A series of action programmes are initiated as apart of HR plan implementation. Recruitment, Selection and Placement- after the job vacancies are known, efforts must be made to identify sources and search for suitable candidates. The selection programme should be professionally designed. Training and development- The training and development programme should cover the number of trainees required and programmes necessary for existing staff Retraining and Redeployment- new skills are to be imparted to existing staff when technology changes. Retention plan- retention plan covers actions which would help reduce avoidable separations of employees. Downsizing- where there is surplus employee, trimming of labour force will be necessary Control and Evaluation Control and evaluation represents the fifth and the final stage of hrp process. It should also clarify responsibilities for implementation and control, and establish reporting procedures, which will enable achievements to be monitored against the plan. Task 2.4 Critically evaluate how a human resource plan can contribute to meeting an organisations objectives: Human Resource Planning plan for the optimum use of its human resources. HR planning therefore deals with having right people for right job at the right time. Therfore Hr is responible for fulfilling the organisational objective. Making best use of people: HR is responsible for hiring right people for the right job. Proper utilization of the capabilities of the individuals help the organisation to achieve its goal. Planning for the surplus and shortage of staff: HR plans helps the organisation about the skill and unskill labour market . If there is excess of staff then staff is made redundant or the early retirements are given to employees .but if the staff is in shortage than than the staff is hired or trained from within . Multiskilling is practised by the organisation. It is the responsibilty of the Hr to have right number of staff for the right job. Efficient utilization of people: Hr helps in the effective and efficient use of the workforce Hr helps the organisation to be cost effective by providing employees with the job rotation, job enlargement and job enrichment.Employees tend to acquire more skills by this. Succession Planning:Wendy Hirsh defines succession planning as a process by which one or more successors are identified for key posts (or groups of similar key posts), and career moves and/or development activities are planned for these successors. Successors may be fairly ready to do the job (short-term successors) or seen as having longer-term potential (long-term successors). Therefore Hr defines the right candidate to be promoted for the right post. Recriument of Efficient Staff: Talent Management is in practice which helps the organisation to gain competetive advantage over its competitors and finding the cabable and competent employee for the job. Creating a fit between the HR Strategies and business Strategy:HR need ritcto follow the policies which will help in the achievemnet of the business objectives.Strategies concerning recruiting, training, deployment and delayering should all be aliged with the business strategy to achieve business objectives. The Development and Retention of the Human resources:Beside recriument and training it is very essential for organisation to retain and develop the staff. Task 2.5 Explain the purpose of HR management policies in organisation Human resource policies are the formal rules and guidelines that businesses put in place to hire, train, assess, and reward the members of their workforce.(uslegal,2010) Rules and Norms: HR policy should follow the rules and norms and should comply with the law. Procedures- HR policies provides a clear idea about the procedures relating to the displinary. Support- HR policies provide support in regared to the working hours and the break timimngs etc. Displinary and greviaces-Policies relating to the greviances such as how the greviances by solved and what are the displinary measures and the misconduct and the gross misconduct. Performance Management: Performance management underlines the Hr policies about analysing and measuring the performance of individuals. These underline the probation time , appriasal and the reviews by the management. Employee Relations-HR policies provide support to employees in relation to any problem or information relating to the workplace. Reward Management : HR policies states the pay and remuneration of the employees and how the employees are paid . Task 2.6 Analyse the Impact of regulatory requirements on HR policies in an organisations Regulatory bodies have tremendous effect on the HR hence it is mandatory for the HR to keep the Law and regulatory authorities at priority before finalizing on HR Policies failing to do so would lead the organization into serious trouble with consequences up to heavy penalty and license being cancelled. There are a few of those policies No discrimination policy discrimination of any sort is a crime hence the HR follows the policy of no discrimination policy. Training is been given to employees on this topic which explain them what they can say or do. Equal opportunity policies where the Hr has to plan a structure to offer jobs for everyone irrespective on anything Economic : Hr sholud look after tax policies as well. Any Tax Evasion of wrong Income Shown leads to the unethical bahaviour .therefore HR policies should work ethically towards the government. Sexual or mental harassment policy: Hr takes a serious action against any employee breaking this policy Working HR Restriction policy: Hr Has to proved a contracted hours of job for immigrants that have work hour restriction for their job Social Corporate Responsibilty:it is HR responsibility to look after the welfare of the society or invest in the ecnomic infrastructure or creating jobs for the unemployed in the society. Adequate Resource and Training : HR policies should have proper measures for the training and development of workforce. Respect for employees: HR policies should support diversity in work cultures and the common law for respect for the employees and forbade the use of abusive language at work. Regular performance review: it is mandatory for the Comapnies to perform reviews of employees as it provide the idea of the working of employees. There are various policies and procedure that has to be implemented by the HR due to the legal restrictions of the government . Task 3.1 Impact of Organisational structure on HR: An organizational structure consists of activities such as task allocation, coordination and supervision, which are directed towards the achievement of organizational aims (wikipedia,2010) An organisation s structure is presented as an organisational chart which shows how management is organised vertically with layers of hierarchy and horizontally by function, product or division.There are three main types of organisational structure: tall ,hierarchical,flat hierarchical and matrix.In the centralized structure decision making power is concentrated in the top layer of management and in the decentralised structure decision making power is distributed. HR do not have much power to exercise in the traditional structure but in regard of the decentralised Hr have rights and power to exercise. Hr helps in improving the communication between managers ,supervisors and employees.It helps in allocating the roles ,powerand responsibilities are delegated ,controlled and coordinated. Task 3.2 Impact of organization culture on HR: The specific collection of values and norms that are shared by people and groups in an organization and that control the way they interact with each other and with stakeholdersHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stakeholder_(corporate) outside the organization.(wikipedia,2011) Role culture also known as the Greek temple ; classical structure, bureaucratic nature, roles more important that the people who fill them. Position power predominates and expert power tolerated. This culture serves the cause of structure.This type of culture is normally for the Army or the Home Office. Hr define the role properly for every individuals. Task culture also known as the Net; the focus is on completing the job. Individuals expertise and contribution are highly valued. Expert power predominates, but both personal and position power are important. The unifying force of the group is manifested in high levels of collaboration. NHS nurses and doctor are the examples of the tash culture.There is continouous training needed for the jobs. Person culture also known as a Cluster or Galaxy; a loose collection of individuals usually professionals sharing common facilities but pursuing own goals separately. Power is not really an issue, since members are experts in their own right. This type of culture serves the individual. Accountant,businessman are the examples.No hr is needed for the person culture as the individuals take their own decision and do not require any staff. Task 3.3 How effectiveness of HR is monitored:- Performance appraisal (PA) is one of the important components in the rational and systemic process of human resource management. The information obtained through performance appraisal provides foundations for recruiting and selecting new hires, training and development of existing staff, and motivating and maintaining a quality work force by adequately and properly rewarding their performance. There are two primary purposes of performance appraisal: evaluative and developmental. The evaluative purpose is intended to inform people of their performance standing. The collected performance data is used to reward high performance. The developmental purpose is intended to identify problems in employees performing the assigned task. The collected performance data is used for training and development purposes.The effectiveness of HR can be monitored by auditing the following functions of the Human resources like Hiring Procedures/Recruitment/Interviewing:- the quality of the hiring procedure ,recruitment and the interviewing criteria Reference Checking Process :- To thoroughly check the reference provided by the employee New Employee Orientation Program:- the Quality of the orientation programmed for fresh employees Salary Reviews/Compensation Issues :- the Time Taken to provide solution to these issues Employee Benefits Programs :- Are these programmed Worth for the employees HR Policies and Procedures :- their Adherence quality Employee Handbook :- How well it is reviewed Job Descriptions for Key Positions:- if the employees know about their duties and responsibilities. Cross Training :- Quality of Checking if the training was worthy enough for the employee Skills Assessments : criteria to assess the skills of the employee Staff Mentoring : the degree or the quality of mentoring provided to the staff by the HR if situation arises where a staff needs mentoring (htr,2010) Task 3.4 Recommendation to improve the effectiveness of HRM Below are some recommendations Have a check on the composition of the audit team which audits the performance of the HR. have a member of HR in the team representing the HR Review the values and the Mission statements of the HR Review the effectiveness of the Hr policies in getting the polices adhere to the desired result KPIs ( Key performance indicators should be set for Hr functions and should be monitored performance monitoring for the implementation for the planning made by the HR in the next six months also implementation and proper execution of the trading or other activity assigned for the employees. The time or the period taken by the HR to solve or rectify or address a query shall also be monitored and their follow up for the same has to be made. Appointing a consultant to examine the HR of a given Company would be a better option Conclusion Human Resource Planning helps ,in selection,recruiting,training and appraising . HR department helps the organisation to gain competetive advantage over its competitor by selecting the employees with the right skill to do the right job. HR now a days is focussing more on the talent management.Concepts like psycological contract ,learning organisations are getting into practise to increase the efficiency and productivity of employees. Refrences: Inroduction of SHRM available[online] http://www.rim.edu.bt/Publication/Archive/rigphel/rigphel2/people_mgt.htm [accessed 24th January 2011] Image of organisational culture adopted [online]http://changeworksblog.com/category/viral-change-change-management/ accessed [14th January 2011] defination of personnel management available [online]http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/personnel-management.html accessed[ 14th January 2011] HRM Available[online]http://humanresources.about.com/od/glossaryh/f/hr_management.htm [accessed 24th January 2011] Defination of SHRM avaliable [online]http://ezinearticles.com/?What-is-Strategic-Human-Resource-Management?HYPERLINK http://ezinearticles.com/?What-is-Strategic-Human-Resource-Management?id=549585HYPERLINK http://ezinearticles.com/?What-is-Strategic-Human-Resource-Management?id=549585id=549585 accessed [14th January 2010] HR Planning Available[online]http://www.bnet.com/topics/human+resource+planning accessed[24th January 2011] Image of HR Available [online] http://rphrm.curtin.edu.au/2006/issue2/strategic.html[Accessed 18th January 2011] HR Planning Available(online)http://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/human-resource-planning.asp [accessed 24th January 2011] Utility of HR Planning available[online]http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/perfmangmt/general/perfman.htm [accessed 24th January 2011] Talent Management Available[online]http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/recruitmen/general/talent-management.htm?IsSrchRes=1 [Accessed 25thJanuary 2011] Human Resource Policies Available[online] http://definitions.uslegal.com/h/human-resource-policies/ [Accessed 25th January 2011] Organisational structure Available[online]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisational_structure [Accessed 25th January 2011] Defination of Organisational Culture Available[online] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_culture [Accessed 25th January 2011] HR Effectiveness Available[online]http://www.htr.org/hrmanagement.asp [accessed25th January 2011] Doherty N.,Tyson S.,1999Human Resource Excellence.,Cranfield School of Mnagement.,Financial TimesManagement. Anthony P.W.et al.,1995.Strategic Human Resource Management,Dryden Press. Image of Evolution of SHRM available [online] http://www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/articles/77199.aspx?p=2 [accessed 18th January 2011] DEST Strategic Human Resource management Framework Available[online] http://www.annualreport2007.dest.gov.au/chapter_eight/people_management.htm [accessed 18th January 2011] Workforce planning Available[online] http://www.cciq.com.au/Business-Skills/Adult-Learning/What-training-is-right-for-your-business[ Accessed 19th January 2011]

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Definition Of Generic Pharmaceutical Company Business Model Economics Essay

Definition Of Generic Pharmaceutical Company Business Model Economics Essay This is an essay to identify CIPLA a generic Pharmaceutical companys business model and to explain the reasons why the company has to change its existing business model. This is done by first identifying the term business model and then using the definition to explain the business model adopted by the company, also determining the inherent changes in world policies and economic environment that prompt the change of the present business model. The second part of the essay addresses the issue of the conflict between the big ethical pharmaceutical companies and the relatively smaller generic pharmaceutical companies business models. This is addressed by highlighting the big pharmaceutical companies business model and comparing the two models (which will reveal the nature of their competitive relationship) there by identifying if there seems to be a convergence in their models and they are both becoming competitors in the same market or companies producing the same products but competing in different markets or companies where a symbiotic relationship has become inevitable for their survival in this present economic situation. Conceptualization of a Business Model. A definition of a business model is required to highlight the context to which CIPLAs (a generic pharmaceutical company) business model can be identified. During my research I encountered various concepts of a business model such as the definition given by Chesbrough and Rosenbloom (2002) a coherent framework that takes technological characteristics and potentials as inputs, and converts them through customers and markets into economic outputs (p.532), comparatively, Rayport and Jaworski (2001 cited in Wimmer 2004) defined a business model as the four choices of (1) a value proposition or a value cluster for targeted customers (2) a market space offering which could be products, services, information or all three (3) a unique dependable resource system and (4) a financial model. However Shafer, Smith et al (2005) suggests that a representation of a firms underlying core logic and strategic choices for creating and capturing value (p.202); is a design or creation, not an accident; wha t structures are in place to ensure firms capture value. Factually no sole definition can adequately cover all aspects of the term business model; I will endeavour to use a combination of all the stated business model definitions to better recognize the Generic pharmaceutical companys business model. I focused on the definition of this model first as most generic companies including CIPLA initially followed this business model before the need for change in 2005. The focus on India is also due to the fact that CIPLA originated from there. Definition of Generic Pharmaceutical company business model. Generic pharmaceutical company business model in India is characterised by the production and selling of copy cat pharmaceutical drugs discovered and developed by the big ethical pharmaceutical companies such as GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), this was achieve through the reverse engineering of the drugs invented by the big ethical Pharmaceutical companies and sold at lower costs. This was made possible in India due to the availability of cheap labour in the country, the favourable environment encouraged by the Indian government at the time which allowed low restriction on process patent and little or no conformity with WTO regulations. This was confirmed by Greene (2007) who wrote that government policy culminated in various actions including: the abolition of product patents on food, chemicals, and drugs; the institution of process patents; the limitation of multinational equity share in India pharmaceutical companies, and the imposition of price controls on certain formulations and bulk dr ugs. He also highlighted that India has garnered a worldwide reputation for producing high quality, low cost generic drugs. Financial evaluation of CIPLAs business model Using the Profit and loss account for 2000-2010, sales turnover steady increases from 2000-2004 but in 2005 there is a decline of about 10% which can be attributed to the implementation of the WTO law that affected the number of drugs available for replication. This also affected the earnings per share which dropped from about 51 to about 13 in 2005. Investment and debt also showed a steep decline of over 100% from 2004-2005, this corresponds to the change in business environment which can infer a reduction of debt incurred for drug production. However the excise duty showed steady from 2000-2005 indicating company focus on domestic market but in 2006 there is a steady decline in excise duties paid and this can be as a result of increased exportation of drugs following a change in business model. Change in CIPLAs Business Model The era of this type of business model however draws to an end as various changes in the economic situation and world policy will threaten the very successful model in which the generics pharmaceutical companies in India have been thriving. In 2005 Indian government changed its law concerning patent drugs and fell in line with World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Related Intellectual Property Agreement (TRIPs) this limited the production of certain drugs that was filed as a patent from January 1, 1995(Greene 2007). Another important point is that the rate at which ethical pharmaceutical companies are coming up with new blockbuster drugs is slowing down, with a shift from Research and development (RD) to marketing. This is as a result of the enormous cost to bring to the market a new drug ranging between 802million 1billion over a period of 10-15 years (Mogalian, Myrdal 2004). As inferred by Martinez and Goldstein (2007) statement that the century-old approach of finding chemicals to treat diseases is producing fewer and fewer drugs. Yusuf Hamied (CEO of CIPLA) stated that the World Trade Organization regulations, which since 2005 have prevented Indian generic drug firms from copying patented drugs, signifies that Indian generic companies have to change their business model or risk being swallowed up by multinational firms. (Livemint, 5th January 2010). Most generic companies in India adapted to this setback in their business model by transferring focus from domestic market in India and increase export of generic drugs to the United States and Western Europe, entering into RD agreements, mergers and acquisitions of foreign drug companies and developing alliances with foreign pharmaceutical firms. CIPLA however chose a slightly different approach than most pharmaceuticals by focusing on organic growth in India and only seldom indulging in strategic business alliances, technological services (such as knowhow transfer, plant supply etc) and in licensing with big pharmaceuticals. CIPLA also increased their export of generic drugs to the United States and Western Europe. Some points in CIPLAs corporate presentation in August 2009 highlight the companys focus: Business model based on international strategic alliances- Business focuses on organic growth and leads to reduced capital commitment and regulatory/litigation risks. RD targeted at ensuring efficient utilization of resources and focused at developing and launching niche products. The graph below shows a steady increase in the value of Indias pharmaceutical RD expenditure from 2001-2006 as a result of a shift in business model. Source: William Greene, US Trade Commission (2007) The emergence of Indias pharmaceutical industry and implications for the US generic drug market, US Office of Economics Working Paper 2007-05-A Business models of Big, Ethical pharmaceutical companies and the consequent reason for change of model. The big pharmaceutical company business model is the traditional pharmaceuticals company business model which comprises of large scale Research and Development departments which discover new drugs for diseases and the sale of those drugs to consumers .This is a rudimentary definition of their business model as it also entails many more components than those mentioned above for instance in recent times we see a shift of emphasis from the research and development to sales and marketing campaigns due to the competitive nature of the environment. A branded drug product is originally discovered and developed by a pharmaceutical company. In order for the company to market and sell their product they must first gain approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by submitting a New Drug Application. In this documentation the company submits data to establish a drugs clinical safety and efficacy. Other studies determine the characteristics of the drug dosage form, including the manufacturing process, drug stability, purity, strength, and how it dissolves. Once the drug receives FDA approval, the innovator company can then exclusively market and sell this brand-name product for as long as the company has patent protection. (Mogalian, Myrdal 2004) However a new external threat has evolved apart from the usual competition of rival companies in the form of Generics pharmaceutical companies. These companies as mentioned in prior section of the essay have used the process of reverse engineering to create cheaper replicas of the drugs produced by these big pharmaceutical companies and selling the drugs at cheaper costs to consumers. This has been of great profit to the generics companies as they had to indulge in little or no cost consuming research and development to come up with the drugs in the first place and the availability of low cost of production was just an added advantage to their business model. Martinez and Goldstein (2007) noted however that the rise of generics wouldnt matter so much if research labs were creating a stream of new hits. But that isnt happening. Though the industry doubled its investment from 2002 till 2006 in RD it yielded 43% less than it had in five years during the 1990s of chemical-based drugs. There is a change in the business environment for generic companies in India however with the 2005 adherence to WTO laws. They generics companies are focused on RD to produce their own patent drugs and generic drugs have become more accepted in Western countries over the years, with the rising costs of healthcare these governments are looking to cut costs and are therefore encouraging the adoption generic drug prescriptions to patients. Another major factor affecting the big pharmaceutical companies is the problem of expired patents. Companies like Pfizer that had a blockbuster drug called Lipitor a cholesterol lowering drug will be coming off patent in 2010 and this will allow the generics companies to bring in a cheaper replica of the drug which will reduce the sales of the company drastically. Patent expirations are a big problem. Drugs are granted 20 years of patent protection, Although companies often fail to get a product to market before half of that period has elapsed. Once it hits the market, however, the patent-protected drug is highly profitable: Typical gross margins are 90% to 95%. When patents expire, generic makers offer the products at a price much closer to the cost of production (Martinez and Goldstein 2007). *Sales data is from IMS World Review (except for China and Poland) ** Patented/generic split is from ESPICOM. Generic defined as a drug whose patent has expired ***2001 values for China; 2000 values for Poland; 2003 values for Brazil reflects patented/unpatented (unpatented includes branded unpatented, generics, similar) Sources: IMS; ESPICOM; Factiva; EGA; Mckinsey team Analysis This development will result in the increased encroachment on the market share of the big pharmaceutical companies, though we can see from the chart that countries like China, Brazil, India and Poland have higher percentage of generic drug usage than US, Japan, Germany, France and UK the problem of the global recession may cause an increase in the use of the generic drugs in these countries as well since developed countries like UK are hoping to cut costs on public expenditure like healthcare costs. Definition of relationships Based on these new developments in the business environment of pharmaceuticals companies and my research I begin to recognize a trend where big pharmaceuticals and generics have increasingly instances of working together in order to thrive in the new environment. This aids me in my definition of in tension asked in the question, I identify this as the type of relationship generating between the big pharmaceutical and the generics companies and we can see that it if morphing from a completely competitive one to a more competitive-collaborative relationship, where we can even see a convergence in their business models in some cases. We see big pharmaceutical companies are begin to return to India after the 2005 law passed by the government protecting their drugs, so they can benefit from the availability of cheap labor and low cost of innovative talent, they are even cooperating with the generics companies for Research and Development, in licensing and use of their distribution lines to transport their drugs to underdeveloped countries formally catered to by mainly generics companies. AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and Bristol-Myers Squibb have also recently suggested they will outsource at least some of their manufacturing. There are lots of people in India, China and Eastern Europe who can make products of the same quality as ours but at significantly less cost, says Bristol-Myers Squibb CEO James Cornelius (Martinez and Goldstein 2007). However though we see them working together big ethical pharmaceuticals companies still have some strategies to compete with generics pharmaceutical companies. Some defensive strategies of the big pharmaceutical companies are to develop new generic subsidiaries of their organization so as to be able to better compete with generics companies. By having their own licensed generic companies, they are able to limit the rate at which generics encroach on their market share for drugs that are off patents, they accomplish this by allowing their licensed patents to release generic copies of their blockbuster drugs into the market just before they are off patent thereby gaining market share before the other generic companies release theirs. In first nine months of this year, Novartiss generics unit, Sandoz, grew roughly three times as fast as its branded-drugs business and accounted for nearly 20% of overall revenue. The balance is changing, says Novartis CEO Dr. Vasella. In the coming quarte rs, we will continue to see a faster growth opportunity in generics. (Martinez and Goldstein 2007) Competitive strategies of the big pharmaceutical companies include investment in biotechnology and diversification. Biotechnology is of great appeal because of the inability for generics companies to create copies of the drugs as of now. Diversification on the other hand will allow the company to expand the range of services it offers its customers and allow it to get alternative sources of income. CONCLUSION In conclusion we make-out CIPLA business model to be the production of copycat drugs by reverse engineering of branded drugs and the sale of the generic drugs at cheaper prices to the India and any other country where the big pharmaceutical drugs do not have patent rights, however a change in the business model became inevitable in 2005 because of the Indian government adoption of WTO laws and caused a shift of the business model of CIPLA to focus more on RD for the production of its own Branded drugs and strategic alliances which entail cooperation with Big Ethical pharmaceutical companies through in-licensing and know how transfer. Another point to note is the change in relationship between the generic company and the big pharmaceutical where we see a competitive symbiotic relationship brewing, with increased dealings between the two types of firms where big pharmaceutical companies benefit from the cheaper cost of production and access to generic companies distribution pipelines a nd generics gain from the in licensing agreements where they share profits with the bug pharmaceutical companies. However big pharmaceutical companies still maintain development of competitive strategies to combat the generic companies by creation of their own generic companies and increased investment in both diversification and biotechnology. Biblography Rayport, J.F. , Jaworski, B.J.(2001). e-commerce, New York: McGraw Hill/Irwin. Wimmer M.A., Knowledge management in electronic governance. 5th ed. IFIP international. William Greene, The Emergence of Indias Pharmaceutical Industry and Implications for the U.S. Generic Drug Market (2007) CIPLA Corporate presentation August 2009 CIPLA Pharmaceuticals Yusuf Hamied: I Am Not Against Patents I Am Against Monopolies Published: May 07, 2009 in India [emailprotected] Pharmacist Erik Mogalian, Assistant professor Paul Myrdal of the University of Arizonas College Whats the difference between brand-name and generic prescription drugs? December 13, 2004Â   Big Pharma Faces Grim Prognosis Industry Fails to Find New Drugs to Replace Wonders Like Lipitor By BARBARA MARTINEZ and JACOB GOLDSTEIN December 6, 2007; Page A1

Monday, August 19, 2019

Strategies Of Success From Stanford :: essays research papers

Everything that has ever ‘come about’ in the world, started in the beginning as an idea. In order for anything to be invented, the inventor had a dream, an idea to make something that would help them and the people around them. Schools today, teach students to change the world- to take charge and stand up for things you believe in. The former president of Stanford University, Clark Kerr, once said, â€Å"The university is not engaged in making ideas safe for students. It is engaged in making students safe for ideas.† This statement can be taken two ways, both positive and negative.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We’ll save the best for last and, for now, start with the negative. This whole statement can be taken as a pessimistic view of the future. It seems to say that we, the young men and women of the next generation, are unable to continue doing things the way they were done in the past. It seems to say that we need to be taught how to think, and be told that what we want to gain isn’t the right thing. It’s like telling a little child that there is no Santa Claus- everything we believe in is completely changed. â€Å"†¦Making students safe for ideas.† Reading this alone makes it seem as if Julian, Erika the students are not smart enough to decide on his or her own which ideas to take advantage of. As if, the ideas are the ultimate prize and we, the students, are the contestants in a game show, competing to the death to have the best idea of all. It seems to say that we need to be conditioned and shown just what an ‘idea’ is and what to do with one. If you compare it to a gun, for example, you need to be taught how to take proper care of a gun, what to do with one and what not to do with one. The same idea can be put as a meaning for this quote. If you look at it through my eyes, the positive side of the quote has a much bigger impact on me than the negative side does. The optimism seems to jump out at me, blazing like a beachside sunset. This entire quote seems to say, in it’s own way, that schools are here to show the students that their imagination is completely limitless.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

tornadoes :: essays research papers

Tornadoes   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the most devastating natural disasters is the tornado. A tornado is so damaging due to its wind speeds. Of all the natural disasters, the tornado is the one that still has the most questions left unanswered. What we do know is that a tornado is a â€Å"violently rotating column of air† underneath a cumuliform cloud. This column of air is visible most of the time, but it does not always have to be. No one is exactly sure how tornadoes form, but most occur from supercells (Edwards 1). Supercells are simply violent rotating thunderstorms. It is impossible to predict exactly when and where a tornado will occur, but meteorologists are getting better. The purpose of this paper is not to inform you of the technicalities of a tornado, but rather to tell you about some of the worst tornadoes that have ever occurred.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The â€Å"Tri-State Tornado† is the worst tornado ever recorded. This tornado struck at 1:01 pm on March 18, 1925. For the next three and a half hours more people would be killed, more schools would be destroyed, and more deaths would occur in a single city than from any other tornado in U. S. history. This tornado struck the states of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. This tornado first touched down in Missouri, where it killed a farmer. This tornado went on to kill 12 more in Missouri. When it hit Illinois, devastation was at its worst. The town of Murphysboro, with 234 deaths, had the largest death toll ever recorded within a single city. With over 400 lives lost and over $10,000,000 in losses, Illinois suffered the most of the three states. In Indiana, multiple funnels were reportedly seen. The tornado had a base on the ground of over  ¾ of a mile wide. Seventy-one people died in Indiana. When it was all said and done the â€Å"Tri-State Tornado† had killed 695 people and injured over 2,000, which is why it is known as the deadliest tornado ever.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A series of tornadoes struck the central United States and spread damage all the way up to Ontario in 1974.

file vaults :: essays research papers

File Vault Help This software is free to use. In a recent article in Defense News (Vol 12 No 31) Aug 4-10, 1997 William Crowell, National Security Agency deputy director said "If a product of 64-bit strength were used by a military org... it would take 6,000 to 7,000 years to recover just one message." 1. File Vault - 64-bit (8 bytes) block encryption algorithm variable length key up to 448 bits File Vault - Places a number of user selected files in a single self extracting / self decrypting executable file called a File Vault. A File Vault can be sent easily to anyone over the internet and only accessed with your password. The recipient of a File Vault does not have to have any special software installed to decrypt or access a file vault. Each File Vault is totally self contained. This makes for easy attaching, receiving and general use. File Vault allows you to open the vault, access the files, then close the vault which performs a secure wipe of the files from the disk surface. In an encrypted file vault, filename information is encrypted too, so if someone examines the vault with a disk editor, no information on contents is available other than the optional description line entered during creation. Great for "Your Eyes Only" files... The encryption algorithm is the highly regarded BLOWFISH by Bruce Schneier, world renowned Cryptographer. See VGP information below for more detail. File Vault is available at... www.alcuf.ca/fv - - - - A word on compression: When you use Winzip or other compression utilities from Windows, they often will create temporary files that can reside on the users system which are complete duplicate files, or parts of files that you would rather be fully secured. Therefore, rather than zipping files and containing them in a vault, build a vault first which securly containes your files, and then create the zip (or other archive) file. That way any temporary stuff created by the archiver will be encrypted and remain secure. - - - - 2. Other free utilities included with File Vault --------------------------------------------- The following utilities are stand alone utilities that reside on your File Vault directory. These can be moved or deleted as you wish. DISKWIPE.EXE (and diskinfo.dll) - this utility is used to securly remove deleted information from a hard drive to prevent undeleting. Let's say you have a bunch of stuff you just deleted, and need to make sure nothing that was on the system can be undeleted and accessed again. This utility creates a file the size of the free remaining space on your drive and fills it with space, then deletes it.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Brazil

Brazil is perceived as a standout amongst the most multiracial district on the planet that involves a colorful, diverse and intriguing society made up of Local American, Africans, and Portuguese. The reason why I am focus on Brazil is because someday I would like to be apart of the diversity. I believe that understanding their culture better will enable me to develop sensitivity and appreciation towards Brazil culture. I would be honored to participate in many traditional celebrations such as the annual Rio Carnival, which is one of the world most exciting and inspiring cultural festival in South America. It would be a wonderful opportunity to experience cultural tradition food such as â€Å"Feijoada†, which is consist with black beans and some sort of meat you consider to add to make a stew. In the following cultural resume, I will attempt to present a comprehensive brief summary of the diverse Brazilian culture. This will include providing a broad overview of the country's profile that will includes the country geography, racial, ethnic and also, with cultural holidays, traditional foods, different languages, beautiful landmarks. Alongside, a summary of the country's history, political system, educational system and challenges that Brazil is faced with. The second section will be focus on challenging some of the biases and assumptions that I previously held about the country. This will also include an attempt to evaluate how my stereotypes and sensitivity toward Brazilian population has changed, and the major lessons that I have learnt by focusing on this country. Finally, I will scrutinize on the ways that I will make effort to communicate with people that comprise the Brazilian culture. Brazil is arranged on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. The greatest country in South America running along 5000 miles from coastline to coastline through every edge in South America foresees from Chile and Ecuador. Brazil is on the coastline of Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. The Brazilian scene is enormous and complex, with sprinkled streams, wetlands, mountains, and levels connecting other real highlights and navigating the limits of states and locales. Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world. Brazil's physical condition and atmosphere fluctuate enormously from the tropical North to the mild South. The scene is overwhelmed by a focal good country area known as the Planalto Focal (Brazilian High countries, or Level of Brazil) and by the huge Amazon Basin which possesses over one-third of the nation. Brazil is a beautiful topical country. The restricted seaside marsh zone ranges from tropical in the north to mild in the south. The cool upland fields of the south have a calm atmosphere and an incidental snowfall. The coolest period is from May to September, and the most blazing is from December to spring. October to May is the blustery season. As of 2018 the Brazilian population is well over 200 million. Set at number 5 in populace among the 193 countries of the world. In Brazil the decent variety of the scene coordinates that of the general population possesses of it which is indigenous people, Portuguese, Africans (which came as slaves). Around 86 percent of the population is urban.

Friday, August 16, 2019

The Holocaust and Book Title Night

Night â€Å"Today everything is possible, even the crematoria. (Night, Wiesel 59) This compound hyperbole describes Elie Wiesel memoir of all the treacherous events that took place during the holocaust. Elie witnessed the whole experience first-hand. Weisel titled the book Night, evoking both literal and symbolic description of his dark ordeal as a holocaust victim and survivor. â€Å"That’s it, God is no longer with us. † (Wiesel 42) In this excerpt Elie Wiesel used syntax to figuratively exaggerate the despair the Jews faced.Although all Jews felt that God was either no longer there or simply did not exist, this quote was used as a hyperbole to make a seemingly inferior race feel the heat of a religious upheaval. â€Å"Never shall I forget that first night in camp, which has turned my night into one long night seven times sealed. † (Wiesel 32) By using hyperbole, this excerpt lets Wiesel express this symbolic complex sentence to exaggerate the agonizing feelin g of the holocaust being one long and dark quandary. â€Å"Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my god and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. (Wiesel 32) By giving the personification that his dreams were turned to dust helps us as readers understand the full extent of the gruesome nature that had changed the lives of millions forever. This book is a perfect example of Man’s inhumanity to man. Babies were shot and burned right in front of Elie. This could be like someone kicking a puppy in front of you and knowing you can’t do anything to stop it. The book title Night helps us as readers understand the dark, outstretched gloomy nature of the holocaust, and the symbolic side of the emotion being felt during war.The holocaust was full of remorseful and dark memories like the night sky is black. Elie’s book titled Night truly shows how terrifying this war was. â€Å"Over there, that’s where you’re going to be taken. That’s you ’re grave. Over there. † (Wiesel 38) This literal compound sentence was an excerpt from the book. Its literal effect on readers helped us understand that the thought of death could not be escaped. There was no place the Jews could go, and nothing Jews could do to escape the horrific thought of a horrifying death. Whether this be starvation, a bullet to the chest, or the rematorium, the thought of death haunted them all. What was described as one of the scariest things happening during this time were men turning on family members. Between killing for a piece of bread and abandoning parents or children for being weak, the holocaust had men acting not as men, but as wild animals. Also on the literal side the excerpt â€Å"Never shall I forget that smoke. † (Wiesel, 32) The smoke that represented where he could have died, and the smoke that turned innocent infant children into nothing more than a diminishing pile of ash.During the holocaust men were not treated as su ch. To the eyes of German SS soldiers Jews were merely dirt. Wiesel’s symbolic side of the book was shown through personification, hyperbole, syntax and a variety of various sentence structures such as using ways to describe how dark and gloomy his â€Å"long nights† stay at camp was. The title also brought out the more literal side like the smoke he swore never to forget. The symbolic and literal nature of the title Night was a description like no other of Elie Wiesel’s journey through hell.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

In the Lake of the Woods Essay Essay

â€Å"In the Lake of the Woods† is a non-linear novel by Tim O’ Brien that consists of the themes trauma and insecurity. The protagonist of the text, John Wade is driven into insanity due to his fear of losing the love of his life, Kathy. Throughout the novel, john Wade’s secrets are exposed to the world, this being the reason that ended his career as a politician, which was the final push towards his madness. Wade was not only affected by his shattering moment in his career, but his childhood and experiences of war in Vietnam left him traumatized and feeling unworthy of love. John begins to crave love at an early stage I his life, after he meets Kathy he develops an obsession for her and becomes dependent on her love. He faces many issues with Kathy, trust being the main one; this could potentially be the reason for John’s breakdown of sanity. Although Kathy played a large role in his life and downfall, there was a whole other range of factors that took p art in his fall to insanity. John Wade started off his career with a goal in mind, to become something important in the political world. As he progressed through his career, he became aware of the fact that his past could ruin what he was currently building. Wade, as a child learnt to deal with his problems by bottling them up and pretending nothing had happened â€Å"this could not have happened. Therefore it did not† John believes that if he lies to himself, and continuously blocks out memories of his dirty past, he would be safe from the secrets. His method did not serve to his likings, as his secrets were exposed to the world despite John’s lies to himself. The secrets of his partaking in the massacre of â€Å"Thuan Yen† were exposed during his election, which proved to be a â€Å"career ender†. John used his career as a politician to gain the love and affection he so deeply desired. Growing up, he didn’t receive the love he craved, â€Å"you show me a politician and Iâ₠¬â„¢ll show you an unhappy childhood.† John losing the election was essentially the loss of his source of love and his sense of power and control. This potentially drove John into insanity. As a child, John Wade suffered. He loved his father but didn’t receive any affection in return. His father continuously teased john, referring to him as â€Å"jiggling john†. This makes John feel that if his own father could not love him, then he was unworthy of love itself. At the young age of fourteen, John’s father committed suicide. This traumatized john and led to his â€Å"desire to kill† the night of his fathers funeral. He wanted â€Å"to kill his father for dying† John was clearly angered by his father’s death, but instead of venting his anger in a healthy way, he pretended it didn’t happen, â€Å"It was pretending, but the pretending helped†. As John grew older he enrolled with the army to fight in the Vietnam War. He was registered with a group called â€Å"Charlie company† Unfortunately, John was involved in the massacre of â€Å"thuan yen†, where he witnessed murder, torture and had a first hand experience in taking two lives, one being his mate PFC weatherby. This came back to John as nightmares and flashbacks. He tried to forget and pretend it didn’t happen but it all came back to him during his slumbers, the memories and guilt wil l always be with john, in some way. The failed politician met Kathy in â€Å"the autumn of 1966† at the university of Minnesota. John’s obsession is evident from the very moment he meets Kathy. He is in love with her, and the â€Å"trick† is to â€Å"make her love him and never stop†. John treats life as a magic show, growing up, magic was his only friend, it gave him a sense of power, happiness and was the only thing going right in his life, as an adult John continues to use tricks to solve all of his problems. John, in a sense, manipulates Kathy and develops a fixation on her and doesn’t stop at anything to find out everything about her life. His urgency comes from fear; he doesn’t want to lose her. After his father committed suicide and in a way, abandoned John, he feels that at any moment Kathy can just get up and leave. Kathy had a tendency to â€Å"simply vanish†. She is â€Å"fiercely independent† which intimidated john because he felt that Kathy was too go od for him. John genuinely loves Kathy, but the way he represents their love is alarming; he compared their love to a pair of snakes he’s seen along a trail near Pinkville, â€Å"each snake eating the other’s tail, a bizarre circle of appetites that brought the heads closer and closer† â€Å"That’s how our love feels†. This image, along with his desire â€Å"crawl inside her belly indicates a love that is both obsessive and destructive. His need to control and ‘consume’ Kathy dictates how his obsession for his wife leads to the loss of his sanity. Although John’s fear of losing Kathy is a main part of his downfall, there is a whole range of factors that lead to his mental breakdown. His fear of losing his wife all trails back to his childhood, where his first traumatizing experience takes place. When the fourteen year Old’s father died, he was not hurt in a ‘normal’ way, It seems almost as if john missed the concept of having a father figure rather then his actual father. This becomes clearer when john remembers an idolized and great version of his father unlike the real one, who was â€Å"continuously teasing† John and suffered from alcoholism. John begins his life of pretence from this moment on thinking the pretending â€Å"would help†. As Wade develops into an adult, his ways never seem to change. During his time served in the Vietnam War, John is better known as â€Å"sorcerer† because of his magic tricks and deceit to the rest of his fellow soldiers. John, having started ma gic from a young age, continues to use it in his adulthood, providing him with a sense of control and power and during the time was fulfilling his craving for love. John takes part in a horrific act of massacring in â€Å"Thuan yen† where he kills two human lives, and watches his fellow soldiers in â€Å"Charlie company† murder numerous people. This comes back to traumatize and haunt John, as Post traumatic stress disorder tends to do, it came back as flashbacks and nightmares. His infatuation with Kathy was a major part in John’s demise; however, the various other components in the novel prove to have had an effect on his sanity.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Evaluating alternative sources of energy of the US

Evaluating alternative sources of energy of the US The energy situation of the United States is currently worse, an unimaginable situation for the country. This is because of the increasingly large demand for these resources in the daily lives of Americans. As the country reaches its peaks in development and technology, it is suffering from a deficit in the energy division, wherein the demands for it are not met, and the supply isn’t enough. The demand for resources like oil has stably increased in the past years, and the country depends much on imported oil so that they could reach the increasing demand.This also increases the price of these resources. According to Kouchi, â€Å"Since 2003, the unregulated price of natural gas has been very high and volatile – sometimes doubling in a matter of months (Kouchi). † With the continuously increasing needs of the people, even the importation of these resources will not be able to provide for the demands. Our needs con tinuously increase but the supply doesn’t. Even though we turn towards exporting these important energy resources, the costs greatly hurt the pockets of the people. According to Walker, â€Å"Residential energy use in the United States will increase 25 percent by the year 2025, according to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) forecasts (Walker). † Because of energy source problem we are experiencing, we are turning towards various alternative sources of energy. Our natural source is slowly getting depleted so we must find another source of the energy we need so much in life. These alternative sources of energy would provide us of the power we need to run business, fuel our transportation, and cook our meals, everything that are essential for us to live. The environment is abundant of these possible resources; it just depends on the people on how we would be able to put it into more useful forms.These alternative resources include renewable and nonrenewable resources. The r enewable resources are wood/biomass, hydropower, solar power, wind energy, wave energy, tidal power and fusion, while the nonrenewable includes oil sands, coal, shale oil, gas hydrates, nuclear fission and geothermal energy. These resources all have the potential to provide us of our needs but there are limitations for every one of them and that they pose underlying effects when they are used, so proper evaluation should be done in order to do so. The most feasible of these resources would be the solar power and that of nuclear energy.Since sunlight is a free source for the people, and for a certain time of the day it is available, we will all be experiencing abundance in its supply here on earth. It will depend on how the person would convert the raw solar energy to become a useful form of energy. The other one would be the Nuclear energy, wherein it could really provide a lot of energy but the drawbacks are very dangerous, thus adopting this technique would really mean taking a lo t of risk for the consumer. Nuclear energy is proven to generate a lot of energy for the country but risks are still there in doing so.It has been tried and tested, and we have even paid the price of failure, and it was really big. A closer look on solar power Solar energy is derived from the light of the Sun and has already been proven useful in energy forms in a lot of traditional technologies and techniques. It has seen widespread use especially in the places which doesn’t have any means of energy available, since sunlight is readily available, even in remote places. It is also a big energy source in the outer space, wherein the sun gives off its rawest form of solar energy, wherein it gives off high intensity power that you need to process it to make it usable.The solar energy that reaches us here on earth has undergone various activities as it passes through the atmosphere. It actually starts as a very powerful solar radiation upon entering the Earth’s atmosphere, wherein it boasts more than a thousand watts per square meter of pure energy, solar power at its rawest form. As the solar radiation enters the atmosphere, some of it gets reflected backwards and only a portion proceeds and gets absorbed by the Earth. The atmosphere acts as a buffer and a barrier, filtering energy until what gets left is the usable energy for the people.Clouds, dusts particles, and certain pollutants contribute to the rate of reflection and absorption of the atmosphere, thus regulating the amount of solar energy that reaches the surface of the Earth. Considering the rate of conversion of this energy, the photovoltaic panels, the ones used to capture and convert useful solar energy, could distinctively convert and transform some 15% of the incoming sunlight to electricity, wherein the average delivery of a solar panel in the United States would turn out to be around 19 to 56 watts per square meter or about 0. 45 to 1.35 kilowatt-hour per square meter on each day. So lar energy could provide sufficient energy for the United States, but the turnout would still depend on the local conditions of a potential specific site, that is why it is hard to speak in a generalized manner. It is dependent on the areas where you would want to setup a solar power collection plant. Setting up a solar energy collection and conversion plant would be possible in some strategic areas. This includes most of the United States dry lands, the desert areas where there is the abundance of sunlight and has a predictable weather.These are mostly effective in states which have enough sunlight all throughout the year. However, it is difficult to acquire solar energy on some parts of the year, especially during winter, where there is scarcely any appearance of the sun. You could not depend on the solar energy as a source all throughout the year. You would need to have another alternate source, especially when it comes to the wet seasons where there is no sufficient supply of su nlight to fuel our needs. Practical uses and applications of Solar Energy There are a lot of possible uses and applications of solar energy.It depends on the nature of the demand for energy, since solar energy can be stored in solar cells. It could be modified to suit the situation. The main uses of solar energy would include heating, electricity generation, and desalination of seawater. The different applications include solar heating systems, solar cooking, solar lighting and photovoltaics. A solar heating system uses solar energy to heat various materials. There are some solar heating systems for heating water, wherein solar heaters may heat domestic water, or for heating swimming pools.This is essential for people living in the United States because they are used to warm baths during the cold season. It would be the main function of solar thermal collectors, to make sure that there is warm water in case it is really needed. Solar cooking could also be done with the use of a sola r box cooker, but it is not necessary and practical in the United States. Another important concept is solar lighting or daylighting, wherein it utilizes the natural light in order to illuminate a certain area or place. It literally saves natural light so that you could save on minimal usage of electric lighting systems.Photovoltaics uses photovoltaic or solar cells in order to generate electrical currents directly from sunlight, and the generated electricity will be stored in power cells for future usage. Photovoltaic cells are also the ones that power those solar powered calculators with LCD’s, because it only uses low power. In its early years of introduction, the cost of manufacturing was high, so there were fewer experiments that explores its possible uses. But when the cost of production lessened, it became more cost-effective to the users, thus making it a practical tool for the power savers. Pros and Cons of Solar energy Pros.According to Youngquist, â€Å"This is a favorite source of future energy for many people, comforted by the thought that it is unlimited (Youngquist). † Classifying solar power, it is a renewable source, meaning we will not seize to enjoying its benefits as long as the sun continues to shine and reaches Earth. It doesn’t emit any kind of pollution, like air or water pollutants, because there is no combustion that is happening, so there are no by products that causes pollution. It provides electricity to far flung places, which are too far to be reached by cables and lines from a certain power plant or generator. Cons.It is not stable and predictable because it requires or depends on a certain amount of sunlight that needs to reach Earth. The amounts vary at certain lengths of the day, and at some instances, when the weather is cloudy or rainy, sunlight may be too weak to provide solar energy. Also, photovoltaic power stations are very cost-ineffective, wherein it is only about 10% efficient, not really practic al to establish one in order to provide energy for a certain area. Nuclear energy as an alternative source Nuclear energy is created or is the energy which is emitted from atomic nucleus, wherein it requires various processes in order to do so.There are various processes involved in order to release nuclear energy from atomic nucleus. This includes radioactive decay, endothermic nuclear reactions, fusion or the combining of two atomic nuclei, and fission, or separating of the nucleus into two separate, equal parts. The United States are open into using and adopting Nuclear means in order to provide energy sources, especially when there is a great need arising from American states. Because of that increasing necessity, the natural resources could not provide all the energy requirements of the people.Since nuclear energy is an almost limitless resource, it is a good candidate as an alternative source of energy. Nuclear power in its most useful form, really promises a lot as a source o f energy. The process of attaining and extracting the energy itself does not produce any carbon dioxide, which we know that if there is excess of it, will be harmful to the environment. The nuclear power that the US is using today comes from the fission or splitting of the nucleus of uranium, plutonium or thorium, or the fusion of hydrogen into helium, wherein these processes emit a certain amount of energy.The most common means of acquiring nuclear power is through the fission of uranium. The ratio of the energy outputs of nuclear fission of uranium is great, wherein the fission process of its atom produces roughly about ten million times the energy output of combusting the atom of carbon from coal. Talking about the duration of a nuclear power plant, the present Uranium-235 reactors are projected to last for more than a hundred years time, providing enough energy for the needs of the world.These power plants generates roughly more or less than one million kilowatts of electricity, far greater than that of other power generating plants. But the underlying issue would be about the nuclear waste that these power plants produce. Surely, it is unavoidable not to have any waste byproducts produced. The fuel rods which is the core of these power plants, when already became spent, poses a great environmental risk, a problem being addressed by many, yet still has no concrete solution. These fuel rods are highly radioactive and dealing with this is very costly.Fuel rods lasts about two years, until when enough of the Uranium-235 has been changed into fission products, and when these builds up, the fuel rods should already be replaced. The problem would then be about properly disposing these nuclear wastes. When the fuel rods are used to produce heat to which raises or creates steam to generate or produce electricity, it also produces the unnecessary wastes from spent fuel items. They maybe reused for a number of times, but eventually, they would be useless and the nee d to dispose it will arise.If they don’t dispose it, it will decay in the environment, and since it is radioactive, it is highly hazardous to the health of living organisms. Possible solution. According to Fleming, â€Å"Various ideas about how to deal with them finally are current, but there is no standard, routinely-implemented practice. One option is to pack them, using remotely-controlled robots, into very secure containers lined with lead, steel and pure electrolytic copper, in which they must lie buried for millions of years in secure geological depositaries (Fleming).† A solution to this problem would be sealing these radioactive materials in a container with various elements that serves as its linings, like lead, steel and electrolytic copper. After that it would be buried in geologically secure places around the world so that it will not be disturbed while it undergoes the decaying process. But doing so is very impractical, especially now that we lack resource s for energy. It is not practical because the energy costs of making the containers made up of various metals is very great, wherein the energy usage will be equal to the same amount of energy required to build the nuclear reactor itself.For America, it is very impractical, and the problem would be where to burry those potentially dangerous containers, wherein most places in the country are inhabited by people, and they would surely disagree with the idea of doing so. The people would fear for their health the most. Pros and Cons Pros. Nuclear fission promises tremendous energy outputs, producing large amounts of energy with only a small amount of fuel. Comparing coal and uranium, it is said that one kilogram of uranium would be equal to that of about 3. 5 million kilograms of coal; the discrepancy between the two is very big.In terms of the cost in creating energy, nuclear power is as cheap as using and making coal power. Also, air pollution is not produced during the production, l ikewise with carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, thus contributing to the worsening case of global pollution. According to McCarthy, â€Å"A major advantage of nuclear energy (and also of solar energy) is that it doesn't put carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere (McCarthy). † So we could clearly say that they’re not responsible for global warming or acid rain. Cons.Along with the usefulness of nuclear energy, underlying disastrous effects would come about. Nuclear fission of Uranium would create a lot of toxic substance that are very risky for living things. It creates poisonous wastes which are highly radioactive. Disposing of these wastes would require efficient planning and monitoring, and a hefty amount of budget. The Chernobyl accident, wherein a nuclear reactor have reached melt down was just a picture of the devastating effects of establishing nuclear reactors, especially those who are uncontained, near human settlements and establishments. It is a safety hazard for the people living near it. Establishing a nuclear reactor or power plant would require a lot of budget, even though it promises of cheaper energy, the costs of maintaining it and taking care of it until it is useless is very big. This is also prone to exploitation from those who seek power, since nuclear power is really scary and equally devastating, it could be an easy target for wrong doers and terrorists (Fleming). Summary and Integration The United States is undeniably running out of energy resources.We are being forced to import fuel for our machineries and technologies, which is why venturing on other possible sources of energy could be a move that could turn around the tables. Both Solar and Nuclear power promises and abundance of energies acquired from various means. But we shouldn’t take each other separately, since we could use both of them hand and hand. Having a lot of sources of energy could mean stability for the coming years. Applying both solar and nuclear power to the country could mean diversification in the use of resources, thus help in preserving our natural resources.We people are the ones who will benefit everything that these resources offer, provided that we use them properly. References: â€Å"Energy Situation†. 1996. March 12 2007. . â€Å"Solar Not Nuclear†. 2004. March 12 2007. . â€Å"The U. S. Press: Top Ten Nuclear Lies â€Å". 2004. March 12 2007. . Fleming, David. â€Å"Why Nuclear Power Cannot Be a Major Energy Source†. 2006. March 12 2007. . Kouchi, Roger.â€Å"Fact Sheet on Energy Situation†. 2006. March 12 2007. . McCarthy, John. â€Å"Frequently Asked Questions About Nuclear Energy†. 1995. March 12 2007. . Walker, Cameron. â€Å"The Future of Alternative Energy†. 2004. March 12 2007. . Youngquist, Walter. â€Å"Alternative Energy Sources – Myths and Realities†. 1998. March 12 2007. .