Role of Government in Encouraging Innovation

ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN ENCOURAGING INNOVATION 12/4/2011 Strategic Innovation Management Authored by Nandini Kapur (D326) Kanika Katyal (D325) ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN ENCOURAGING INNOVATION ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN ENCOURAGING INNOVATION S T R AT E G I C I N N O VAT I O N M A N A G E M E N T Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 2 INTRODUCTION†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 4 STATE INDUCED INCENTIVES FOR INNOVATION †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 4 TECHNOLOGY INCUBATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF ENTREPRENEURS †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 5 SUPPORT INTERNATIONAL PATENT PROTECTION IN ELECTRONICS & IT (SIP-EIT)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 6 MULTIPLIER GRANTS SCHEME †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 NATIONAL INNOVATION FOUNDATION †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ TECHNOLOGY PROMOTION, DEVELOPMENT AND UTILIZATION (TDPU) †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 7 Technology Development and Demonstration Program (TDDP) †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 7 Technopreneur Promotion Programme (TePP) †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 8 ‘INNOVATION OF SCIENCE PURSUIT FOR INSPIRE RESEARCH (INSPIRE)' †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 8 CONCLUSION †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Page 1 ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN ENCOURAGING INNOVATION EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Government plays a vital role in any national in novation system, in that it formulates policies that may or may not be conducive to business environment and may or may not reward entrepreneurial quest for innovative products. It further creates an institutional framework which may in varying degree support basic and advanced research in universities, industrial R&D, and grass-root innovations including in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The Government also determines whether, in which industry sectors, and to which degree it welcomes foreign participation, e. g. in form of foreign direct investments (FDI) and whether or not it would like foreign firms to engage in R&D activities on domestic soil. This paper describes the Government of India’s activities that influence, directly or indirectly – intentionally or unintentionally, India’s innovation system. It then moves on to how innovation can be encouraged in the country, and how the entire process can be expedited by Government’s role in policy making. Page 2 ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN ENCOURAGING INNOVATION INTRODUCTION The inability of India to adequately provide for its own population no longer reflects a failure of implementation, but rather of a failure of innovation. In India, innovation is emerging as one of the most important rubrics in the discourse on how to bring about greater and more consistent economic and social development. One observes steadily growing investments in R&D across the country, the setting up of national and state innovation bodies, as well as the introduction of government-sponsored innovation funds. Despite widespread agreement on the importance of innovation in India, there are wide gulfs between different conceptions of innovation and the path India that should take towards securing benefits through investments in innovation. India needs more frugal innovation that produces more frugal cost products and services that are affordable by people at low levels of incomes without compromising the safety, efficiency, and utility of the products. The country also needs processes of innovation that are frugal in the resources required to produce the innovations. The products and processes must also have frugal impact on the earth’s resources. The Government of any country plans and formulates policies that affect the business environment and its way of operation. Such policies can reward or deter entrepreneurial quest, can either encourage or be an impediment to innovation. Page 3 ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN ENCOURAGING INNOVATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY Since independence from the British rule in 1947, India has been investing a significant part of its resources, in creating quality institutions of higher education and research. In 1958 Indian Government passed a â€Å"Scientific Policy Resolution 1958†, which stated: â€Å"The key to national prosperity, apart from the spirit of the people, lies, in the modern age, in the effective combination of three factors, technology, raw materials and capital, of which the first is perhaps the most important, since the creation and adoption of new scientific techniques can, in fact, make up for a deficiency in natural resources, and reduce the demands on capital. But technology can only grow out of the study of science and its applications. † In keeping with this objective the Government has established a number of scientific publications in regional languages for school children and other groups in the society to increase scientific awareness in India. These publications are available to public at large mostly at subsidized, affordable rates. Finally, in 2003 a â€Å"Science and Technology Policy† was announced, which recognized â€Å"the changing context of the scientific enterprise†. The new policy has put greater emphasis on innovations to solve national problems on a sustainable basis. For this purpose it even ended the insistence on indigenous development of technology so as to master â€Å"national needs in the new era of globalization†. One of the concrete, declared objectives is â€Å"[t]o promote international science and technology cooperation towards achieving the goals of national development and security, and make it a key element of our international relations†. Dietrich Kebschull, India Representative of the German federal states of Hamburg and SchleswigHolstein said Indian Government has provided valuable backing for key high-tech sectors such as Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals, IT and IT-enabled sectors, e. g. by providing â€Å"extensive policy and infrastructural support† through setting up of technology parks and continuing strengthening of communication facilities. Indian Government actively tries to foster entrepreneurship, for instance by encouraging spin-offs of R&D institutions to promote technology transfer. Increase of new ventures (e. g. start-ups) is an important Governmental aim. STATE INDUCED INCENTIVES FOR INNOVATION The Government has launched several innovation funding programs. According to information provided by the Technopreneur Promotion Programme (TePP) at Department of Scientific & Industrial Research, S&T budget has been increased significantly in previous years. â€Å"No project application†, recounts an official, â€Å"has been rejected on account of financial constraints†. 20 outreach centers have been established in various parts of the country to facilitate support programs. Whereas focus of the funding programs was up to 2007 as such on innovations and not on particular sectors, in the 11th Five-Year Plan (2008-2012) the focus is to be put on â€Å"niche technology areas† like nanotechnology, biotechnology and ICT. Page 4 ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN ENCOURAGING INNOVATION The processing time for TePP applications is typically just 3 to 4 months with 20% acceptance rate. â€Å"Rejections†, asserts an official working with TePP, â€Å"are invariably given with feedback†. Another senior official in DST points out that all scientific ministries at administrative level are headed by scientists and technologists. The posting of scientists in key positions in Ministry of Science and Technology (MST), the nodal agency in the Government for funding innovation projects and incubating activities, says this official, are done deliberately to ensure that there is less bureaucracy in the functioning. To bring â€Å"grass-root level into contact with the formal sector, universities and other research centers†, a â€Å"National Innovation Foundation† had been established. In Dec. 2007, India’s Department of Telecom announced a USD 2. 5 billion package to fund innovations in communications technologies. Entrepreneurs, SMEs, universities and NGOs that have developed communication technologies may seek funding for the â€Å"commercial roll-out of their innovations†, especially those â€Å"linked to improving quality of services or making telecom operations more economical† Also the New Millennium India Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI) program is worth mentioning. This program has been launched with an intention to go â€Å"beyond today’s technology and seeks to build, capture and retain for India a leadership position by synergizing the best competencies of publicly funded R&D institutions, academia and private industry† An official at German Embassy in New Delhi says local Government supports those foreign SMEs that don’t have enough resources to start their own R&D units, by providing facilities / incubators, especially via research institutions like Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Society for Innovation and Development (SID), both in Bangalore, to settle down in India and also to cooperate with local research institutes and firms. Additionally, India also offers tax incentives for R&D operations in the country. For example, expenditure incurred on R&D may be deducted from corporate taxes with a weighted average of 150%. For a detailed account of financial incentives, see DSIR (2006). TECHNOLOGY INCUBATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF ENTREPRENEURS Department of Information Technology’s (DIT) Technological Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs (TIDE) scheme was launched in the year 2008. The Scheme has multipronged approach in the area of Electronics, ICT and Management. Some of the broad objectives of the scheme include the following. ? Setting up and strengthening Technology Incubation Centres in institutions of higher learning, nurture Technology Entrepreneurship Development for commercial exploitation of technologies developed by them Promoting product oriented research and development ? Page 5 ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN ENCOURAGING INNOVATION ? Encourage development of indigenous products and packages and bridging the gap between R&D and commercialisation. At present the scheme is being implemented at 15 TIDE centers. Eventually the scheme proposes to support 27 TIDE centers and 2 virtual incubation centres over a period of 4 years. SUPPORT INTERNATIONAL PATENT PROTECTION IN ELECTRONICS & IT (SIPEIT) SCHEME In order to encourage filing of international patents, a Scheme Support International Patent Protection in Electronics & IT (SIP-EIT) has been put in place. The Scheme Supports International Patent Protection in Electronics & IT by SMEs(Small and Medium Enterprises) and Technology Start-Up Companies. Under this scheme, SMEs and Technology Start-up units will be reimbursed up to 50% of actual costs, up to a maximum of Rs. 15 lakhs per application, incurred in filing international patent applications in Electronics and ICT domain for their indigenous inventions. Through this scheme DIT aims to encourage indigenous innovation and enable the companies to capture global opportunities in the area of Electronics and Information Technology. MULTIPLIER GRANTS SCHEME Multiplier Grants Scheme (MGS) encourages collaborative R&D between industry and academics/ R&D institutions for development of products and packages and bridge the gap between R&D and commercialization. NATIONAL INNOVATION FOUNDATION The main goals include providing institutional support in scouting, spawning, sustaining and scaling up grassroots green innovations and helping their transition to self supporting activities. NIF seeks to achieve this goal by drawing upon the HoneyBee network and its collaborating partners. The Honeybee Network and Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI) have been scouting innovations by farmers, artisans, women, etc. at the grassroots level. The Honey Bee database of 10,000 innovations, collected and documented by SRISTI, would be a part of the National Register of Innovations, is to be managed and supported by NIF. The primary objectives of NIF are to: ? ? ? Help India become an innovative and creative society and a global leader in sustainable technologies by scouting, spawning and sustaining grassroots innovations. Ensure evolution and diffusion of green grassroots innovation in a selective, time-bound and mission oriented basis so as to meet the socio-economic and environmental needs of society. Provide institutional support in scouting, spawning, sustaining and scaling up grassroots green innovations as well as outstanding traditional knowledge and helping their transition to self supporting activities. Page 6 ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN ENCOURAGING INNOVATION ? Build linkages between excellence in formal scientific systems and informal knowledge systems and create a knowledge network to link various stakeholders through application of information technology and other means; etc. To meet its objectives in scouting, awarding and incubation of grassroot innovations, NIF has set up five dedicated departments to execute innovation to enterprise development models:? ? ? ? ? Scouting and Documentation Business Development and Micro Venture Value Addition and Research and Development Intellectual Property Management Dissemination and Information Technology Management TECHNOLOGY PROMOTION, DEVELOPMENT AND UTILIZATION (TDPU) Aimed at promoting technology development and industrial research in the country as well as encouraging its utilization by various sections of economy, be it industry, academic, scientific institution and the society at large. The programmes and activities under this scheme are centered around promoting industrial R&D; development and commercialization of technologies; acquisition, management and export of technologies; promotion of consultancy capabilities; etc. Under TDPU Programme, there is one very important programme component called â€Å"Technology Development and Innovation Programme (TDIP)†, which aims to develop technologies and promote innovation in the country. TDIP is sub-divided into 2 programmes, namely:- Technology Development and Demonstration Pr ogram (TDDP) It was earlier known as ‘Programme Aimed at Technological Self-reliance (PATSER)'. It is a plan scheme of Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) to promote industry’s efforts in development and demonstration of indigenous technologies, development of capital goods and absorption of imported technologies. That is, its broad objectives for achieving self-sufficiency in industrial growth are:? ? Supporting industry for technology absorption, development and demonstration. Building indigenous capabilities for development and commercialisation of contemporary products and process of high impact. ? Involvement of national research organisations in joint projects with industry. ? Technology evaluation in selected sectors. To achieve such objectives, DSIR provides on a selective basis partial financial support to research, development, design nd engineering (RDDE) projects proposed by industry in the following areas: ? Development and Demonstration of new or improved product and process technologies including those for specialized capital goods, for both domestic and export markets. ? Absorption and up gradation of imported technology. Page 7 ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN ENCOURAGING INNOVATION The partial financial support by DSIR is primarily meant for covering expenditure involved in prototype development and pilot plant work, test and evaluation of products flowing from such R&D, user trials, etc. Bulks of costs of the project are from the industry’s resources. Technopreneur Promotion Programme (TePP) It was launched to tap the vast innovative potential of the citizen of India. TePP is a mechanism to promote individual innovators to become technology-based entrepreneurs (Technopreneurs). Thus, its main objectives are to:? ? ? Promote and support untapped creativity of individual innovators. Assist the individual innovators to become technology based entrepreneurs. Assist the technopreneur in networking and forge linkages with other constituents of the innovation chain for commercialization of their developments. The activities under TePP include providing financial support to selected and screened individual innovators having original ideas for converting them into working models, prototypes and so on. TePP assistance is provided to the innovator to meet expenditure on the following: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? R&D/Engineering consultancy Procure small equipment, tools etc. required Raw Material/ Accessories (for prototype/process trials), Fabrication cost (for prototypes) Patent guidance and support Manpower Testing & Trials any other relevant costs TePP support to the innovators is limited to 90% of the total cost of the project and remaining 10% is to be borne by the innovator/inventor. ‘INNOVATION OF SCIENCE PURSUIT FOR INSPIRE RESEARCH (INSPIRE)' It is another such innovative programs proposed by the Department of Science and Technology for attraction of talent to science. The basic objective of INSPIRE would be to communicate to the youth population of the country the excitements of creative pursuit of science and attract talent to the study of science at an early stage and build the required critical human resource pool for strengthening and expanding the Science & Technology system and R&D base. INSPIRE Scheme has included three components. They are: (i) Scheme for Early Attraction of Talents for Science (SEATS); (ii) Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE); and (iii) Assured Opportunity for Research Careers (AORC). Page 8 ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN ENCOURAGING INNOVATION CONCLUSION There is a large pool of technically-trained personnel in India, but its density of Research Scientists and Engineers (RSEs) is one of the lowest. However, there is no appreciation of this issue as a problem in policy circles. The country has very few research grants specifically for the enterprise sector. Even those that it has are largely utilised by public sector enterprises. The technological infrastructure of the country is fairly sophisticated (at least by Developing Country standards). The network of laboratories under the umbrella of the CSIR forms an important component of this technological infrastructure. The interaction of these labs with the enterprise sector, despite efforts to enhance it, is still very low. Part of the difficulty arises from the low demand for innovations from the enterprise sector. Tax incentives are not very popular because of their

IMC Plan.List of assumptions and Potential competitors Essay

Ranbuild is a company in Newcastle, Australia that is in the business of supplying steel buildings. The company was formed in 1949 by Neil Statham. Ranbuild has been in this business for almost 65 years serving Australian and the world market. Initially, Ranbuild started by producing handling equipment and horizontal grain sheds that were specialized (Ranbuild, 2014). Neil Statham the founder of Ranbuild went to Middle East in 1971 and managed to procure sales of over one hundred thousand sheds. When he returned to Australia, Neil Statham developed back to back C section together with engineer Charles Resersky that would reduce cubic weight for shipping. In the early70s, Ranbuidld became a public company. Later on it was purchased by Acquila Group. Acquila Group later on sold it to Kerry parker. Ranbuild bought a roll forming machine that would produce rock bolts and guard rails. It also gave Neil Statham back a section of building in the business. It was that building section that later on became R & N Steel Building. R & N Steel Buildings became what is today called Ranbuild. Ranbuild is currently producing various products and selling them to equine, domestic, rural and commercial markets. It regards itself as the ultimate leader in fabricated building industry. Authorized dealers of Ranbuild continue sharing the success and the growth of the company. In 2004, Ranbuild was purchased by Lysaght Solutions Pty Ltd. Lysaght Solutions Pty Ltd is a subsidiary fully owned by BlueScope Steel. BlueScope Steel is a building company that is one of the largest building company in Australia and commands respect because of it outstanding record or reliability, service and high quality products (Ranbuild2014). Ranbuild continues to position themselves as the leaders in the market by building a professional image and offering quality brand to their customers. Ranbuild has partnership with a network of dealers that server their client with satisfaction. This leads to increase in profitability as well as market share to Ranbuild and other dealers (Ranbuild2014). Target market             Ranbuild Company targets B2B markets. This makes it necessary for Ranbuild to understand various characteristics of business industries in Singapore. For them to realize their goal they should realize that their target market in Singapore have different characteristics compared to building industries in Australia. It is advisable for the company to analyze carefully the characteristics of their customers in Singapore. After the analysis, Ranbuild cam target construction, real estate development company, contractor and hardware resellers. List of assumptions             In order to create an integrated marketing plan, several assumptions are formed. An assumption is information that is required but cannot be accessed or given out easily. This means that assumptions may be different from the reality of the situation. In some cases it may reflect the situation of year 2014. It is assumed that in 2014, the demand for construction and other products related to construction will be stable and strong in Singapore market. Ranbuild stands to benefit from companies that will be seeking for construction products to expand and upgrade their business. It is assumed that over one year, the economy of Australia and Singapore will be stable. The stability of an economy has a significant impact on expansion of (Mole, 2012). The prices that Ranbuild charges for their product are taken to be the same or at the same level with that of Singapore market. This makes Ranbuild’s product to be competitive. Due to sensitivity of prices businesses are advised not to increase their price above other businesses in the same market. Ranbuild’s products are said to comply with safety requirement in Singapore and other laws and regulations. It is assumed that B2B customer’s preference is receptive; hence customers in Singapore will work or use Ranbuild products. Throughout year 2014, the financial status of Ranbuild, its customers in Singapore and Suppliers is said to remain stable. Prices charged by Ranbuild are expected to remain stable throughout the year 2014. In Singapore, market growth and opportunity is said to be stable or move to a greater level. It is assumed that production cost is not included. Potential competitors Primary competitors             Primary competitors refer to companies that have the ability of providing almost identical products or services. A good example in construction market is Ranbuild. Some of Ranbuild competitors include; 3D Shed-n-patios             3D Shed-n-patios has been in operation for more than 23 years. It is a well recognized shed building brand. Their quoting system gives them a lot of strength since they are able to identify different trends and at the same time satisfy their customers. They are able to satisfy their customers by use of high technology features in their products. 3D Shed-n-patios materials are backed by BlueScope Steel which at the same time is a holding company of Ranbuild (3D Sheds-n-Patios, 2014). This is seen as a defect in the operations of Ranbuild. This company has been able to diversify their sheds and continues to diversify in a better way than Ranbuild which produces fewer types of sheds. Another weakness of Ranbuild is the fact that they have poor marketing strategy which can be seen from the few communications and social networking solutions (Clow, 2013). The Shed Company             It is one of the leading sheds in building business. It derives its strength from its design, facilities and supply. They also have many designs that include shapes and color. However, the shed company is currently trying and working hard to understand and talk to their customers Queens Shed Market             Queens Shed Market has over eleven years of experience in the building industry. The company has accomplished various diversified operations as well as projects. It gives full warranty for all their products to customers. It also has a staunch access to build- in doors and other types of products (Francia, 2014).  Secondary competitors refer to firms that deal with products or services that may be used as substitute to what Ranbuild produces. Some of the companies that may affect Ranbuild include; 1. Parasol Steel pte ltd 2. Professional plastic Inc. Overview of marketing mix Product             Ranbuild sell products of high quality. This is because their suppliers, BlueScope Lysaght is known globally for dealing with premium steel and product (Lysaght, 2014). Quality of Ranbuild’s products is widely known and it is an accepted fact that they are long lasting. Price             Ranbuild website does not contain prices for their products. However, their clients can ask from their consultants in their website the price range. Ranbuild gives a service called â€Å"Ranbuild better pay.† This option is applicable only when one purchases products that are above AU $500. This service enables customers to experience improved convenience and also enable them to match it with their cash flows. Ranbuild better pay gives up to one year interest free repayment period (Ranbuild2014). Place             Ranbuild has dealership in Singapore. This means that their products are sold through authorized dealers and not directly to customers. This is done throughout Australia (Kelley, 2012). Promotion             Ranbuild often introduces new offers and new promotions that enhance customer satisfaction. It also increases brand identity by use of marketing tools like website, social media account, brochures, blogs and e-newsletter (Ranbuild2014). Ranbuild currently launched a Weaco Ice Box 2013 promotion. This is a premium ice box for orders placed between December up to February 2014 (Ranbuild2014) (Refer to Appendix1) Promotion mix Tradeshows             Ranbuild holds tradeshows in expo annually in Singapore. The purpose of tradeshows is to connect with their customers, stakeholders and suppliers that may need hangar, industrial buildings, shelters and gallery. These tradeshows give their client a chance to evaluate the product and its quality. They also get a chance to ask questions and give feedback to the company (Chandra, 2000). Newspaper             Ranbuild should use newspapers that have a lot of adverts in construction. This is a good advertising media to reach local market.  It provides a good sales lead since customers can read catalogs. They can request sales persons to call them back and also make purchase on websites. Personal selling             Personal selling is a good way of creating awareness about the brand and also draws attention of customers to the company’s product. It will also enable Ranbuild get information from their clients directly. Personalized selling will enable Ranbuild create a specialized marketing strategy in future in Singapore. Brochure             This enables a company to increase the attention of their clients towards their products. They also inform clients about the product details, product ranges and other special offers (Chandra, 2000).Appendix 1 References Brown, M. (n.d.). Products. Stainless Steel Plate Supplier, Distributor & Stockholder. Retrieved March 1, 2014, from http://www.brownmac.com/singapore/products/ Chandra, A., & Thompson, E. (2000). Does public infrastructure affect economic activity?: Evidence from the rural interstate highway system. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 30(3), 457-490. Clow, K. E., & Baack, D. (2013). Integrated advertising, promotion & marketing communications (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall. Francia, A. (n.d.). Francia Virtual Home. Sun shades. Retrieved January 19, 2014, from http://www.mnjss.com/index.php Kelley, L. D., & Jugenheimer, D. W. (2012). Advertising media planning: a brand management approach (3rd ed.). Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe. Lee, M., & Johnson, C. (2012). Principles of advertising a global perspective (2nd ed.). New York: Haworth Press. Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore. (2013, February 19). Economic survey of Singapore 2012. Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore. Retrieved January 19, 2014, from http://www.mti.gov.sg/ResearchRoom/SiteAssets/Pages/Economic-Survey-of-Singapore-2012/FullReport_AES2012.pdf Source document

Analysis Of John Donne s Poetry

John Donne is renowned in the world of poetry as the leading influence in metaphysical poetry. His works including sonnets, love poems, religious poems, sermons, and so forth are characterised by their strong, sensual style, which may be seen as contradictory to the stereotypes of Donne’s job; a churchman. Many of Donne’s poems contain metaphysical conceits and thoughtful reasoning to guide the readers into an in-depth understanding of the speaker’s emotional state. These conceits are elaborate,†¦ John Donne had many obstacles throughout his life that would define him as well as his poetry. The day he was born he faced one of these obstacles as he was born to a Roman Catholic family at a time when practicing Roman Catholicism was illegal. The religious conflict he faced tore him up inside. That was until, of course, he rejecting his mother and father’s religion, electing to convert to Anglicanism. As this transformation took place, there was also a revolution in the way Donne would write†¦ lies is that, in poetry, all facts and all beliefs cease to be true or false and become interesting possibilities†¦It may not, perhaps, be absolutely necessary that he believe it, but it is certainly necessary that his emotions be deeply involved, and this they can never be unless, as a man, he takes it more seriously than as a mere poetic convenience.† It is Donne’s sensibility and his personal experiences which are revealed with a vibrancy of language in his love and religious poetry that make him†¦ prominent literary figures of the early seventeenth century, John Donne has engendered widely differing views regarding the merits of his work. His reputation stands on two distinct accomplishments: the witty, sensual love poetry of his early career and the serious, devout religious writing of his later career as the Dean of St. Paul 's. Donne 's poetry was influential enough to be considered the basis of the metaphysical school of poetry, as characterized by later writers such as Richard Crashaw,†¦ John Donne’s ‘The Anniversary’ is all about the love that the narrator and his wife share together. The narrator assures his wife that although a year of marriage has passed, and everything has grown older, their love hasn’t. He says that when they both die, their bodies will decay, but their love won’t because their souls will reunite in heaven. He goes on to say that until they die, they are kings, secure in their love. It comes as no surprise that Donne has spoken of monarchs and death in his†¦ pain. A remedy to sadness. The ideal happy ending to all fairy tales. Love is the cause to the butterflies and jittery feeling inside when that special someone is near. In numerous scenarios, love is portrayed as a positive asset to life. However, in John Donne’s poemâ€Å"The Broken Heart,† love destructs and shatters a heart to an extent where restoration is incompetent. Throughout this doleful poem, Donne’s speaker uses an abundance of literary devices such as metaphors, personification, and imagery to†¦ Intro Donne expresses the need to remove the stigma around death and perceive it as inconsequential.Death is not brought up in everyday conversation and people often elude the thought of death when it does come up. Death is feared and dreaded by most people, but Donne veers away from this stigma. Death is personified in this poem and is talked down upon by Donne. He mocks death by comparing it to drugs and potions, which deal out the same fate, but drugs and potions are thought less of than death†¦ Defining and scrutinizing poetry is always difficult because of its poetic elements and chosen words. Through these elements, poems are usually difficult to comprehend. However, understanding poems can be entertaining and captivating because of the romantic structures and powerful emotions. One example is John Donne’s â€Å"Batter my heart, Three-Personed God.† This holy sonnet explores the emotions of the speaker as he talks to the three-personed God, which is the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. He†¦ Sixteenth century poet John Donne author of the Holy Sonnet Fourteen; ‘Batter my Heart’ is known as the founder of the Metaphysical Poets a term used to refer to 17th-century English writers whose work was characterized by the inventive use of conceits, and by a greater emphasis on the spoken rather than lyrical quality of their verse. Donne adopts Petrarchan sonnet form for the majority of this poem which aids the seamless fluidity of this sonnet. Donne’s Religious poetry demonstrates turning the†¦ John Keats is said to be seen as one of the most â€Å"canniest readers, interpreters, and questioners of the â€Å"modern† project in poetry, which sought to dwell in the desires and sufferings of the human heart.† His works such as Ode to Melancholy is a worthy example as to how Keats illustrates the relatable feeling of pain, and shines light on the common idea that it is to be hidden and masked with false happiness. In this work he tells us to embrace it, to take it by the hand and let it flow through†¦

Should liability for payment of damages caused by nuclear accidents Essay

Should liability for payment of damages caused by nuclear accidents lie primarily on the nuclear operator, a compensation Fund o - Essay Example The Paris and Vienna Conventions places absolute liability on nuclear operators and the subsequent Compensation Convention places responsibility on nuclear states to provide supplementary funds for victims who have claims against nuclear operators under the Paris or Vienna Conventions or similarly structured national laws. Given the limited means of insurance for nuclear operators, and states’ general obligations under customary international law to contain environmental damages, together with obligations under the Compensation Convention, states bear primary responsibility for compensating victims of nuclear damages. This research study investigates whether or not the law as established under the international regime is as it should be. Should the nuclear state, the state’s compensation fund or nuclear operators be primarily responsible for compensating victims of nuclear incidents? Or should the status quo remain in which states via international obligations and the a uspices of compensation funds be primarily responsible for compensating victims of nuclear incidents or accidents? This research paper argues that both the nuclear operator and the state should equally share responsibility for compensating victims of nuclear incidents or accidents. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Introduction 4 Background and Overview: Nuclear Accidents and Liability Under International Law 6 The Nuclear Operator 9 The Nuclear State 14 Compensation Funds 16 Analysis 18 Conclusion 21 Bibliography 22 Introduction The international legal framework for establishing and recovering damages resulting from nuclear accidents is governed by three international instruments. The instruments are: the Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy 1968 [hereinafter the Paris Convention], the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage, 1977 [Hereinafter the Vienna Convention] and the Joint Protocol Relating to the Application of the Vienna Convention and the Paris Convention, 1988 [Hereinafter the Joint Protocol]. The Vienna Convention is vastly similar to the Paris Convention and this is reflected in the Joint Protocol. Essentially, the international legal framework forms the basis of member state’s national laws with respect to liability relative to nuclear accidents.1 Essentially, the international instruments on liability for nuclear accidents assigns liability to the operator of nuclear facilities, with specific exceptions. This is problematic for uniformity in assigning liability since the international instruments are only binding on member states. As will be demonstrated in this research, even where non-contracting states adopt national laws and policies that are consistent with the Paris and Vienna Conventions, the Conventions only set minimum standards for assessing and measuring liability. As a result, there is no universal law assuring victims of the same level of compensation. While a large number of states a re parties to the international instruments, Ireland, Austria and Switzerland, which form a part of the EU are not parties to these instruments. Austria, perceives that the international Conventions and the subsequent Joint Protocol function to limit liability for victims of nuclear accidents and to preserve the nuclear power plants. As a result, Austria’

Interventions to reduce harm associated with adolescent substance use Essay

Interventions to reduce harm associated with adolescent substance use - Essay Example that reduce harm associated with adolescent substance use are because the disease burden and deaths for young people in developed nations is attributed to substance use. The interventions are about to reduce harm. In this course, they have to reduce mortality in the future and morbidity in the short period. The interventions are subjected to review to know about the impact of them on the persons. The positive impact of the intervention is a scale of its efficacy. In order to prevent the attractiveness to substance use, the regular interventions are necessary to avoid the adolescents in vulnerable families, schools and communities being attracted to substance use. However, there is little evidence found in study of JW Touymbourou et al in 2007 that tells about efficacy of treatment. However, they have found that the screening and brief interventions are effective. (J W Toumbourou, 2007, p.1391) This indicates that treatment approaches need long term approach than to observe in a limited time of study. This needs the feedback from the counselors who treat people suffering from substance abuse. They are effective in many contexts because, these reduce the availability of these drugs to majority of adolescents and are universal interventions. However, the efficacy of targeted interventions is more important as it is capable of addressing the problems personally. In contrast to regulatory interventions, the development interventions are more targeted than being universal. These interventions target the reduction of pathways to drug related harm by enhancing the conditions for healthy development of a person through his/her adolescence. Even in these interventions, there are two types. They are the ones that begin before the birth of a person and others are the ones, which are taken in the early stages of adolescence. The interventions before birth proved to be effective. (J W Toumbourou, 2007, p.1395) However, there are second types of interventions that start

Developing Countries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Developing Countries - Essay Example They are also countries that facing problems of environmental issues, health, education, housing and many sectors of underdevelopment. A developing nation, is that nation that have low standard of living, especially in the Economic, Political and social basis. A country where its people are getting low income, witnessing inflation, poverty and other features can be refer to as Developing nation. These countries can also be called 'Underdeveloped'. An Economist (Gerard Chaliand) who wrote on Developing countries, where he defines what all about developing nations and their features states that "The economically underdeveloped countries of Asia, Africa, Oceania, and Latin America, considered as an entity with common characteristics, such as poverty, high birthrates, and economic dependence on the advanced countries". Some features of developing nations include highly dependent on foreign goods. These sorts of countries always finding market for the finishing goods of developed nations. While in the developing nations most of the Industries are collapse not functioning, properly. As a result, they depend solely on importing goods from abroad for their people. There high rates of poverty in such countries, wide range of poverty and diseases and many other features. Socially, the developing nations are found with high rates of... Politically and economically, the features of the developing nations include social conflicts that in many of these countries continue to sabotaging their economies. Additionally, another feature of developing nations are those nations that always preferring their economy toward the betterment of Developed countries. Since we have read so far on the features of developing nations, even though in a nutshell, there is a need now to begin discussions on the main subject of the essay. DEBTS CRISES IN DEVELOPING NATIONS According to research conducted on the debt crises in the developing nations, its started dated back to 80s. (Seamus O'Cleireacain) (1990). explained when the crises of debts began in developing nations. He said "The crisis emerged over a weekend in mid- August 1982, when Mexico informed the United States and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that it was unable to meet its debt payments. Soon, the crisis had engulfed other developing countries. It stalled forty years of economic growth in the Third World, producing the worse recession in Latin America since the 1930s. As the development process slowed, education and child welfare were among the budget items slashed in many countries, causing UNICEF to include the debt crisis among the factors contributing to a slowing in the decline in infant mortality. 1 UNICEF estimated that the slowdown in development had cost the lives of an additional half-million children, raising to fourteen million the number of under five-year-olds who die every year. The debt crisis also inflicted costs on developed country taxpayers and shareholders". At this point, it is important to state that it is noted that the origin of debts problems in developing nations begun since

Private Life Should Mean What It Says Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Private Life Should Mean What It Says - Essay Example It was therefore not considered to be offensive. Later in October of 1999 when he was asked to declare the organizations with which he was associate, among them he listed the House of Roissy, which did such activities as fire acts and the merchandising of products that were connected with domination bondage and sadomasochism. It was also his acknowledgement that he performed in fetish and hedonist clubs but contended that such would not bring his employers to disrepute. The Assistant Chief of Probation considered this activity as unsuitable for a probation officer. The Human Resource Officer had no issue with the fact that the employee had another paid job outside his normal employment but whether or not, given that he was a public servant and a member of the criminal justices system, working with sexual offenders and several other groups that were considered vulnerable, the employees activities during his private time were commensurate with the role that he was playing in the societ y and if the public could trust him. This is despite the fact that they had not been offended by his performance but rather by the fact that he was expressing himself in a way that would otherwise be considered offensive by the victims of the people he was dealing with. The employee was dismissed and his dismissal was upheld when he appealed. It was the view of both disciplinary panels that the probation service had the responsibility to the public to show them that it had integrity and so did its officers and that if the public knew the activities that this particular employee was engaged in, it could ruin the reputation of the service. This is based on the fact that probation in itself was aimed at reforming the people in the society who were now considered a... This report stresses that the law of unfair dismissal is a part of private and not public law. So are many regulations that government employment, in both public and private sector. While there are regulations that may be in the interest of the public, private remains exactly that, private. There are many principles of public law that have been imported into the regulations that govern the relationship between an employee and his employer because of the rules of natural justice. This is mostly because these two share several common and essential features especially in the review of decisions and the manner in which such decisions are made and reached. This paper makes a conclusion that given the inevitable compromise and balance between work life and private life and the commitments involved in both particularly in matters relation to family issues, it is necessary to strike a balance between what is significant to the reputation of the employers or the duties of an employee and what is not. The reality of the circumstance that surrounds every case has to be considered. What should also be reviewed are the terms and conditions of employment, be they express or implied. This is because letting employers determine what affects their reputation or firm would amount to giving them permission to arbitrarily termination employment contracts on the basis of factors which they consider to be in contravention of the terms of their employment while it is possible they are just negatively stereotyped towards certain activities or beliefs of the employee.

Financial strength and developments of Lonmin Plc Essay

Financial strength and developments of Lonmin Plc - Essay Example Headquartered in Britain, Lonmin Plc’s selling is extended worldwide and the company’s flagship possessions is located in Marikana mine in South Africa. It has its effective operations in Canada and the group has total employees over 28,276 (Lonmin Plc Annual Report, 2014). The business also has joint ventures with Vakle and Walbridge. The company searches for PGM mineralization in Ontario and Northern Ireland project which is an initial stage exploration opportunity for the company (Lonmin Plc Annual Report, 2014). 1.3. Turnover of Lonmin Plc As indicated from Lonmin Plc’s annual report, the yearly turnover produced by the business in the year 2014 is observed to be 582.4 billion (Lonmin Plc Annual Report, 2014). The revenue of the company is observed to be decreasing over the past five years as the operating expense of the company is increasing. The platinum sales of the group accounted for 701,831 ounces and for PGM sales it was 1,383,945 ounces. Asset turnover of Lonmin Plc is found to be $4,384.5 Million which deceased over the past five years (Lonmin Plc Annual Report, 2014). The consensus forecast amongst 20 polled investments analysts who covers the company advised the investors to grip their position in the group. The forecasts of the analysts indicate that the company in the near future is expected to outperform the market. Lonmin Plc is listed in the London stock exchange and Johannesburg stock exchange and has been observed to major shares in the market.

Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Case Study Example â€Å"Its built around the recognition that everything we do in connection with our work at Google will be, and should be, measured against the highest possible standards of ethical business conduct† (Google investor relations, 2009, par. 2). This recognition is absolutely crucial to maintain quality employees and ethical business relationships. The ethical code of conduct is specifically written and provided to all employees, and it is taken into account when hiring any new employee. The goal is to avoid bringing in a new staff member that does not share in the same vision or the same values and ethics as the rest of the company. â€Å"Our commitment to the highest standards helps us hire great people, who then build great products, which in turn attract loyal users. Trust and mutual respect among employees and users are the foundation of our success, and they are something we need to earn every day† (Google investor relations, 2009, par. 2). The Google Code of Conduct states that the employees and the actions of the company must service the customers or users, respect one another, avoid conflicts of interest, preserve confidentiality, protect Google’s assets, ensure financial integrity and responsibility, and obey the law (Google investor relations, 2009). These principles are very substantial and can easily be maintained by each person as long as they put the company first over the personal gains and interests they may have. Many of these principles can also hold a long-term position within Google Company and make for a highly beneficial future, as long as they continue to uphold the principles. The major task that Google faces is to avoid negativity within the company or the view of the public, and to ensure that the defined principles are truly upheld. The goal is lofty, but Google Company can definitely achieve it as long as they continue to hire good people and always strive to

The Incredible India Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Incredible India - Research Paper Example It is also a country where marriage and family are regarded almost as a requirement for a full and happy life. Please join me in attempting to scratch the surface of the seventh largest country in the world, as together we uncover exciting facts about the country and the people that live within it. The Incredible India Introduction India, once a colony under the rule of Great Britain, is today an independent country with its own government, society, and culture. It is the seventh largest country in the world and in 2005 claimed the feat of being the second highest in population (Daniel, 2005). To the world, it is officially known as the Republic of India (Daniel, 2005). It also has two other names including Bharat from the Sanskrit language as well as Hindustan, a name given by the Persians meaning people living near the river Indus (Daniel, 2005). To the people of the country, it is simply called India (Central Intelligence Agency, 2012). It has six border countries, including Nepal , Burma, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and China, some of which were formerly part of what was known as the colony of â€Å"British India† (Central Intelligence Agency, 2012). ... gh India achieved its independence on the 15th of August 1947 after a very long struggle, the last of the British troops did not leave until 1950 (Daniel, 2005). Until its independence in 1947, the present day neighbors of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar were all a part of what was known as â€Å"British India† that included what is today the country of India, and were ruled under the concept of â€Å"divide and rule†, which split the areas into many different communities and offered absolutely no sense of nationalism whatsoever (Daniel, 2005).When it became clear that the British were going to leave, India demanded to be made into separate states that each reflected their own religious and political beliefs (Daniel, 2005). The problem was finally solved when two nations were created, India and Pakistan, which continue to this day (Daniel, 2005). India, like many other countries, also had their capital moved by their imperial rulers. The former capital of India was Ko lkata (Calcutta), situated in the east of India (Wright, 2011). However, in 1911, a letter was written by the Viceroy of the country under British rule that endorsed the idea of moving the capital to New Delhi (Wright, 2011). Among the reasons given was that, due to the Morley-Minto reforms, the Indian people were allowed to hold legislative positions (Wright, 2011). This fact meant that a more central capital was needed (Wright, 2011). However, behind the scenes, a storm was brewing, and the movement to give India its independence had gained strength, most notably in Calcutta (Wright, 2011). It was felt that a more hospitable and new city was needed in order to protect the sanctity of the rule, and therefore the capital was moved to New Delhi (Wright, 2011). The city was built for the purpose of holding

Ikea Invades America Essay Example for Free

Ikea Invades America Essay Founded in 1943 by a poor Swedish farmer named Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA is now one of the largest furniture retailers in the world. From its inception, Kamprad wanted to create cheap, quality furniture that everyone could afford. That formula led to IKEA’s early success in Sweden and has carried over until today. To its customers, IKEA is not just a store but a way of life, which may be evident through the cult-like following the company has achieved. When talking about the four P’s of marketing (product, price, place, promotion), there are few companies in the world that have mastered this concept better than IKEA. IKEA has been able to recognize the demands of its shoppers and create compelling products that meet those demands at a reasonable price. Its products are sold at unique stores that serve strategically important, geographic markets. This paper examines the factors that have made IKEA such a big success and offers some recommendations for future growth in the United States. Today, IKEA has over 240 stores in 35 countries and has revenues of over $26 billion. Its revenues double every 5-6 years and the company is now expanding to growing markets like China, Japan, and Brazil. The future of IKEA looks brighter than ever. For a brief snapshot of IKEA’s current sales around the world see Appendix 1. In 1985, IKEA decided to invade America. Faced with this early failure, IKEA retooled its furniture to fit American tastes. IKEA soon became the fastest growing furniture retailer and the 14th largest furniture retailer overall in the United States. IKEA executives needed to find a balance of how to create new furniture offerings without losing its unique design and corporate soul. By examining IKEA’s marketing strategy and answering a series of four questions, we have developed recommendations (see Appendix 2) that we think will lead to IKEA’s continued growth and success. 1) What are some of the ways that furniture retailers have sought to overcome these purchase obstacles? : a) identifying a product that consumers like, b) visualizing the product in the consumer’s home, and c) getting the product in the consumer’s home? In furniture sales, there are two general strategies: the low-end and the high-end. The low-end offers cheap, utilitarian furniture that is dreary looking. Cheap furniture is marketed to people such as college students who have a small budget. The cheap furniture is also displayed in poorly lit showrooms that offer little to no customer service. High-end furniture stores compete on quality and service. The high-end offers a large selection in each style and sub-style of furniture, which results in the showroom having a large inventory. The broad, variety strategy virtually guarantees that a customer’s preferred style will be available. The high-end stores also have high touch sales associates to help customers with product selection and furniture measurement. Sales associates are trained to educate their customers; such as explaining the life spans of different materials. They also reassure customers that their furniture will last a life time. Visualizing a piece of furniture in a person’s home can be very difficult. The high-end furniture stores have beautiful showrooms that are elaborately decorated to help the customer visualize where they can place new furniture or how they can redecorate their home. High-end stores also offer interior design services. Most retailers offer credit to make high-end furniture more affordable. All retailers offer home delivery, sometimes free, to make the transition as painless as possible for the customer. As an added bonus, retailers offer to assemble the furniture in the customer’s home. Sometimes, delivering the furniture also involves rearranging furniture, as well as removing and discarding old furniture. Providing these services makes the purchase of new furniture an easy and worry-free process. 2) Explain IKEA’s reverse positioning strategy. IKEA created a matrix used to prioritize product lineup and price. (See Appendix 3) Primarily the matrix is used to set a target retail price and select a product style. With the matrix system, IKEA is able to identify product line opportunities and gaps; creating a well rounded store. IKEA has avoided the image of the low end furniture store by displaying furniture in brightly lit showrooms. These showrooms help customers envision how the furniture interacts with the allotted space. Plus color coordinated cards provide design tips and information kiosks are on hand to help customers. All of these features reinforce IKEA’s self service ethos without making the customer feel abandoned. In IKEA’s case, the firm rejected the standard business models for both high-end and low-end furniture stores. IKEA’s furniture is composed of cheaper parts that are not visible and are not under high stress through use and a higher quality material is used for the visible parts or parts under high stress. This gives IKEA’s furniture a higher end look while keeping their costs low. IKEA’s reverse positioning kept prices low, while eliminating many services thought essential to a higher-end store. The company replaced them with unique services for its category: a bright, inviting showroom, furniture that was attractively designed, a child care center, a restaurant serving Swedish meatballs, and brightly colored house wares and clever toys. As a result, IKEA successfully avoided the feel of the low-end retailers, and customers â€Å"find the IKEA shopping experience to be immensely appealing (Moon, â€Å"IKEA Invades America,† 5). 3) What are some of the various product/service attributes that IKEA has chosen to withhold from its customers? IKEA seems to incorporate a hybrid strategy focusing on both cost and differentiation. IKEA attempts to price in the low to midrange category. IKEA does not build its furniture to last a lifetime, which in-fact flows well with its ad campaigns focused on letting go of the semimetal value Americans often place on furniture. IKEA products are known for falling apart after a few years; however, its customers are typically satisfied with the look, functionality, and affordability of IKEA products (Moon, 2004, p. 5). Its focus is on cost-efficiency, so the company uses higher-quality materials on visible surfaces and lower-quality materials elsewhere. High-end stores compete on quality and â€Å"high touch† experience and selection. Nearly all types of furniture stores offer delivery services. However, IKEA successfully eliminated many of these attributes. IKEA products are designed to be transported unassembled in flat boxes, which keeps shipping costs low and prevents IKEA from having to deliver/assemble furniture for customers (Moon, 2004, p. ). Customers are responsible for transportation of their furniture and assembly of their furniture. Although this step may seem like its decreasing the consumer experience/perceived product value; it’s actually keeping the customer involvement level high. Moreover, the competitive pricing offered at IKEA is attributed to letting customer build their own furniture, which keeps costs to a minimum. Formerly, IKEA only produced a few different designs; however, this has changed in recent years. In order to be consistent with IKEA’s self-service ethos and to keep costs low, the ratio of sales assistants to customers is kept low. The low number of sales associates can have a negative effect on the consumer experience. To handle furniture questions, customers are provided with product descriptions and measuring tape so they can make their own measurements. 4) What are some of the areas that IKEA has managed to achieve cost efficiency by implementing a number of firm-specific operation processes? A number of cost effective operating processes have been implemented by IKEA. In furniture design, IKEA engineers often select cheaper/low quality materials for less visible areas that experience minimal stress and expensive materials for visible areas that undergo stress. This aids IKEA in producing durable, good-quality products at low costs. IKEA has worked with over 1,800 suppliers in over 50 countries and often uses suppliers from developing countries. To keep costs down, IKEA usually purchases in bulk and often orders various components of a given product from different suppliers. IKEA is strict with employees about waste; it enforces minimal travel budgets and requires them to save electricity. IKEA keeps a small staff in stores and provides self-serve trolleys to aid consumers in loading their vehicles. Typical furniture retailers require a larger staff and/or incur shipping costs for delivery of their bulky, already assembled products. Flat packaging allows IKEA customers to transport their purchases home and eliminates the expense of home delivery. IKEA’s flat packaging strategy is another firm specific operating process. The strategy was inspired by an employee who, in 1955, removed the legs off a table to fit it into a customer’s car. This strategy requires designers to keep in mind the amount of space their products take up in their unassembled form. Flat packaging also helps prevent damage to the products during the shipping process. IKEA will often redesign their products multiple times to achieve space optimization and reduce shipping costs. Space optimization typically lowers prices for consumers; however, it may lengthen the assembly process. IKEA should continue to incorporate cost cutting activities across the board so long as the consumer experience remains positive.

Implementing A Nursing Dementia Care Bundle Tool Nursing Essay

Implementing A Nursing Dementia Care Bundle Tool Nursing Essay The purpose of this paper is to complete a diagnostic assessment and analysis to determine organisational readiness for an evidence-based service change linked to an action plan within Outer North East London Community Services (ONEL CS) Inpatient Unit within the London Borough of Havering. This paper will discuss how change can be achieved through completion of a diagnostic analysis. The evidence based change to be implemented and discussed in the paper, is the introduction of a Dementia Care bundle to improve dementia nursing care on the inpatient wards within Havering ONELCS. Through the use of a service improvement audit conducted within the Inpatient Unit; this paper will reflect upon the application of research methodologies that can support the diagnostic analysis; and the development and implementation of the action plan developed to achieve service innovation. The paper begins by giving the background information on the area of health care selected for review and service innovation. This will include the rationale for choosing this area, it importance and the explanation and definition of the key terms that will be used throughout the paper. The process by which the literature review was conducted will be detailed so that it could be replicated by the reader where necessary. Following on from this, the evidence pertaining to the chosen area of health care will be critically appraised to identify its merit in informing the diagnostic analysis assessment. Diagnostic analysis is the process of gathering information prior to the implementation of change, and is designed to identify the barriers and facilitators for change within an organisation; assessing organisational readiness for change (Hamilton, McLaren and Hamilton 2007). Theories and models relating to organisational change will be discussed; with the aim to informing and developing a strategy or action plan tailored to the local context for implementation. Background Dementia care is generally often overlooked on the acute inpatient hospital wards (Leung and Todd 2010). Up to 70% of acute hospital beds are occupied by older people (Department of Health (DOH) 2001; Alzheimers Society 2009). It is estimated that up to a of these patients, up to half of these patients in general acute care at any one time may have cognitive impairment including delirium and dementia (Royal College of Psychiatrists 2005). The unacceptable variation in the quality of dementia care provided on general wards in hospitals across England is well documented in numerous reports such as the Counting the Cost: Caring for people with Dementia on Hospital Wards report(Alzheimers Society 2009). The Healthcare for London: A framework for Action document (2007) and the National Audit Office report Improving services and support for people with dementia (2007), highlight the fact that services were not provided consistently well across London for people with dementia and their care rs; that people with dementia in general hospitals have worst outcomes in terms of length of stay, mortality and institutionalisation. Patients with dementia and their carers experience, have confirmed the above reports: patient feedback has highlighted an urgent need for research into care for older persons in general hospitals as is recently reported in media reports and Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman(2011) report investigating ten complaints into National Health Service(NHS) care of older people. Furthermore the National Audit Office(NOA) report (NOA 2007) provides potent evidence of the current costs of care for those with dementia diagnosis in the hospital setting; and highlights that acute general hospitals are not delivering a value for money service. As results of all this evidence the National Dementia Strategy (DOH 2009) (- a five year plan to transform dementia care) was developed by the Department of Health. It is against this backdrop that this paper was developed; to focus on the improving dementia nursing care provided on the inpatient wards by implementing a dementia nursing care bundle.. Definition of key terms: For the purpose of this paper key terms have been defined in particular the meaning of Dementia and care bundles. What is Dementia? The term dementia is used to describe a collection of symptoms, a syndrome which includes changes in memory, reasoning and communication skills, with a gradual loss of ability to carry out daily activities (Alzheimers Society 2009, Commissioning Support for London 2009; DOH 2009 NDS-a/b). There are a number of different types of dementia; with the most common being Alzheimers disease that accounts for about 60% of cases (Gupta, Fiertag and Warner 2009). The different types of dementia are outlined in Appendix one. Dementia in Havering- the local picture Dementia presents a unique challenge for London; with estimates of around 65000 people over the age of 65 in London diagnosed with dementia(Commissioning Support for London 2009); projections suggest that the number of people over 80 in London with dementia can be expected to rise by almost 50 per cent to 96000 by 2030(POPPI 2010). Dementia is an under-diagnosed condition in the London Borough of Havering. This paper focuses on improving inpatient nursing care delivered for dementia patients at St Georges Hospital. St Georges Hospital is a community hospital within Havering. Predominately for patients aged 65 and over it consists of a day hospital and 45 in-patient beds across two wards. There is one rehabilitation/assessment ward; and a stroke unit. In common with all members of the community, people with dementia can become physically unwell and require general hospital care. St Georges Hospital admits patients with dementia from the neighbouring acute hospital, Barking Havering and Redbridge University Hospital NHS Trust. Demographic changes and an ageing population in Havering mean there will be a disproportionate increase in the common conditions of old age, such as cancer, stroke, and dementia. A Freedom of Information (FOI) Request revealed that the estimated number of people with dementia is 1015. this represents 0.4% of all registered General Practitioner population and is below the national average of 1.1%. This figure is anticipated to rise and as is outlined by Appendix two. The evidenced based change to be introduced is a nursing dementia care bundle with the aim of improving the nursing care provided on the inpatient wards. What Is A Care Bundle? A care bundle is an evidence based protocol (Resar, Pronovost and Haraden, Simmonds, Rainey and Nolan 2005). Successfully used in Critical Care; it is a collection of interventions (usually three to five) that may be applied to the management of a particular condition (Fulbrook, and Mooney 2003, Resar, Pronovost Harden et al 2005; Belt 2006). The theory behind care bundles is that when several evidence-based interventions are grouped together in a single protocol, it will improve patient outcome (Resar, Pronovost and Haraden, et al 2005). The concept of care bundles was introduced by the NHS Modernisation Agency (DOH 2004) and continues to be fully supported by the Department of Health. A heavy reliance on the use of care bundles is evidenced the development and recent review of High Impact Interventions in reducing Healthcare Associated Infections by the Department of Health(DOH 2010). Although most specialities are using care bundles for the dementia care they are relatively a new concept. It is expected that by grouping dementia related evidence based practices or interventions together, within a single protocol that guides patient management, the overall quality of care nursing care delivered to dementia patients will improve. A dementia nursing care bundle has been developed by the Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust, through a freedom of Information (FOI) Request (Appendix three); a copy was requested and was to be locally adapted for the inpatient unit at St Georges Hospital ONELCS-Havering. Method of Searching for Literature An electronic search of the literature was undertaken on dementia care on hospital wards on the 30th of January 2011. Using an Athens NHS Log in details and advanced search of healthcare databases using the  Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) was completed. Appendix four outlines how literature was identified and selected for appraisal. Literature Review: The evidenced based change to be introduced is a nursing dementia care bundle with the aim of improving the nursing care provided on the inpatient wards. The current health care policy context and recent national reports along with initiatives, have recognised the need to improve care in hospitals on general wards; these include the Lord Darzi report, High Quality Care for all (DOH 2008); the National Service Framework for Older People'(DOH) and the National Institute of Clinical Excellence(NICE) dementia clinical guidelines(NICE/Social Care Institute of Excellence(SCIE) 2006). Increasingly there has been a move towards a more focused attention on dementia care in the acute setting (Alzheimers Society 2009). Delivering nursing care for people with dementia is a challenging (Borbasi , Jones , Lockwood and Emden 2006) and stressful task (Cunningham and Archibald 2006). Behaviours associated with dementia include wandering, agitation, aggression and resistance to care (Prtichard and Dewing 2001, Cunningham 2006, Cordwell 2010). It is expected that these behaviours will change with time however this is dependent on the type of dementia (Insel and Badger 2002). As a patients dependency increases, their care becomes more complex and demands more direct nursing time for both patients, relatives and or carer(Cunningham 2006). Given the challenges of caring for patients with dementia and their at most time their inability to communicate care needs or report concerns about care, they are at risk of suboptimal care, neglect, or abuse(Ballard, Fossey, Chithramohan, Howard, Burns, Thompson, Tadros and Fairbairn 2001, Ouldred and Roberts 2004, Sturdy 2010). This can leave nurses experiencing stress wh en trying to respond to such behaviour (Burgess and Page 2003). Following on from this, researchers (Cunningham and Archibald 2006, James and Hodnett 2009) write that the rapid nature and capacity demands of general hospital care; the focus of care is strongly geared towards treating acute medical problems, discharging patients and meeting the demands of the service such as staffing levels, fast turnover of patients; these alone present challenges to nursing staff in the hospital environment. Patients with dementia may find this difficult to conform and adapt to rapid treatment protocols and to a dominant culture of curing the patient(Archibald 2002, 2003); for example they may find the regular ward moves confusing; the busy, noisy clinical wards frightening and stressful for people with dementia; adversely affecting how they behave (Schofield and Dewing 2001, Cunningham and Christie 2009, Dewing 2009). Cunningham (2006) goes so far as to suggest that dementia patients can feel disempowered, infantilized and intimidated; and the likelihood of thi s increases in busy hospital settings. What is clear is that the hospital staff; faced with the challenges of decreasing length of stay statistics, creating capacity, meeting other performance targets dementia patients present a challenge to nursing staff; leaving them at risk of receiving sub-optimal care. Sub-optimal care- for someone who is frail and vulnerable with a dementia diagnosis, and needing additional time and support from nursing staff, with perhaps displaying behavior which is not perceived as normal by staff, can be seen as difficult(Cunningham 2006). Norman (2006) found that nurses perceptions of the person with dementia were central to whether their experience was positive or negative in hospitals settings. A study conducted by the Alzheimers Society (2009) reported that almost nine out of ten respondents working with dementia patients do not have enough time to spend with patients and provide one to one care. Nolan (2006, 2007) and Cordwell(2010) recognize that although nurses strive to provide optimum care they find that practically day to day- this is not always achievable. It is interesting that Archibald (2006a, 2006b) in his work noted that outcomes for dementia patients are usually poor, they note that nutrition, hydration, pain management, communication needs a re often overlooked. Other studies confirm that dementia patients have the worst outcomes in relation to length of stay and mortality(Sampson, Gould and Lee 2006, Sampson, Blanchard and Jones 2009) Whilst this is not surprising, the Parliamentary and Health Ombudsman report (2011)Care and Compassion found similar outcomes for in their report on ten investigations into NHS care of older people. Fennessy (2007) writes that this should be expected as dementia care is often carried out in general hospital settings and not in designated dementia units where specialist knowledge is available to help manage these challenges effectively. Furthermore, a lack of knowledge and understanding among nurses on how to respond to dementia-related challenging behaviour is also likely to contribute to the provision of sub-optimal care (Fennessey 2007). Packer (2001) suggests that few staff understand what dementia is and how to cope with the behaviour that can ensue. The primary aim of this work is to support frontline staff in changing practice-improving dementia care delivered within the inpatient unit by introducing a dementia care bundle. Completing a diagnostic analysis will identify barriers and facilitators to implementing this tool. METHODOLOGY NICE (2007) guidance on changing practice, suggests that a number of methods can be used to assess barriers to change. They suggest that a choice of methods should be based upon local context, resources and the number of staff(NICE 2007). Previous studies (Pollock, Legg, Langhorne and Sellars 2000; Davis, Jamison , Brumley, Engu and Danos 2006; Solomons,and Spross 2011) in their work exploring barriers and facilitators to implementing evidence based change; utilising diagnostic analysis identified a mixed methods approach to be of benefit in planning for successful implementation of the planned change. Following on from this Solomons and Spross (2011) write that the chosen method should be valid and reliable; the choice of model will depend mostly on what the target for change is and the group involved in changing (Lewin 1951, Bennis, Benne and Chinn 1985, Haffer 1986). The mixed method approach was therefore chosen for this diagnostic analysis. The premise behind the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods would allow the researcher to best answer the research question or problem(Andrew and Halcomb 2009); specifically for this paper, it would allow the researcher to capture the multiple realities and the various individual staff perspectives that made up the social situation of dementia care at the Trust. The notion of multiple realities was important in this work (Lincoln and Guba 1985), the use of a mixed methodology, would allow the researcher to capture the views of both the powerful stakeholders/decision makers as well as the frontline staff. Furthermore it had the potential to add breadth, rigor and credibility (Cresswell 2002/2009). Cresswell, Vicki and Clark (2011) write that mixed method designs combine the benefits of qualitative methods and quantitative methods to create a more complete picture. The study received Audit approval from the ONEL CS Audit department as well as sign off by the Associate Director of Operations Havering. Three data collection methods were used: as part of the triangulation of data, documentary analysis was conducted; focus groups was held along with a questionnaire, that was circulated to all staff involved with dementia care at the 2 inpatient wards at St Georges Hospital Documentary analysis: Documentary analysis was completed on six authentic, verifiable Trust documents in the public domain to obtain evidence on supporting evidence-based practice, clinical effectiveness, organisational priorities and quality outcomes. The range of documents analysed included the ONEL CS Monthly Board report for December 2010, ONELCS Trust profile online, Havering Primary Care Trust (PCT) Human Resources and Organisational development strategy(2005-2008);ONELCS Clinical Audit and Policy strategy(2009), Havering PCT Education Training and Development Strategy( 2008-2011) and the ONEL CS five-year vision for health service delivery-Intergrated Business plan(2009-2014). Documentary data was abstracted and analysed thematically. Focus groups: Focus groups were used to elicit the views and experiences of professional staff who would be affected by changes in implementing the dementia care bundle. Andrew and Halcomb(2009) write that focus groups can capture the particularities and breadths of opinions about a particular topic; and are useful as they provide the social context of how opinions are formulated. The participants, eight staff with strategic or operational accountability for aspects of inpatient care were purposively sampled. In attendance was a Ward Manager, Modern Matron, Medical Senior House Officer, Practice Development Lead, Physiotherapist and 3 ward- based staff nurses. The focus group focused on organisational culture, dementia assessment, and documentation. The focus group schedule was semi- structured, containing sequential questions exploring staff experiences caring for dementia patients from the time of admission to discharge, focusing on care processes, satisfaction with care delivered, activities of daily living, physical problems/challenges encountered, and the awareness of these potential problems on assessment. The focus group was tape-recorded and transcribed with the permission of the participants, and analysed thematically. Questionnaire The study population consisted of 90 staff members who regularly participated in the care of dementia patients. This included registered nurses, nursing health care assistants, clinical administration staff and inpatient therapy staff. The questionnaire chosen for this work used was the approved Approaches to Dementia Questionnaire developed by Lintern, Woods Phair (2000); a Likert-type instrument with 19 items. The ADQ measures hopefulness and person-centered approaches. The ADQ questions were graded on a Likert scale of response alternatives including: strongly agree, agree, uncertain, disagree and strongly disagree. A copy of the questionnaire is included in appendix five. The ADQ is made up of two domains: the hope attitude items and the person -centred attitude items (Lintern 2001). The hope attitude items were measured with eight questions, whereas the person-centred caring attitude items were measured with 11 questions. The dimension of hope is made up of questions relating to the participants thoughts about characteristic disease-related features, for example there is no hope for people with dementia, or dementia sufferers are sick and need to be looked after. A person-centred attitude was indicated by a response in the positive to questions such as It is important for people with dementia to have stimulating and enjoyable activities to occupy their time and people with dementia are more likely to be contented when treated with understanding and reassurance. Questionnaires, with an accompanying memorandum, were then sent to the Ward Managers to distribute the memorandum to staff, who were directly involved in the daily care of persons with dementia; including administration staff. The memorandum outlined the aim of the project, provided brief information about the aims of the questionnaire. The questionnaires were collected after two weeks. Reminder letters were sent to non-respondents with another copy of the questionnaire. Results Data Analysis The researcher took an interpretative approach to analyse the data for themes (Grbich 2007). Following verbatim transcription of the focus groups, each transcript was read several times to determine what is going on here. That is, what meanings, values and intentions were coming through and what competing or alternative perspectives are being put forward? The Data were then classified into themes. Results Documentary analysis: three themes were identified: 1. Innovative forward thinking organisation 2. Staff training, development and empowerment 3. Improving patient health and care Theme one Innovative forward thinking organisation The ONELCS Trust Profile on online provides a clear and concise vision; ONELCS clearly pride themselves as forward thinking and innovative; this is noted in their Integrated Business Plan and online profile, so much so that the organisation is described as: In our view ONEL CS is an exemplar of a community provider organisation. It is believed that this ethos benefits both patients and staff; with delivering quality care to patients at the heart of the organisation. Theme two Staff training, development and empowerment A strong emphasis on staff training and development was identified in all the documents analysed, explicit commitment to training and development was demonstrated in all documents reviewed. A high profile was given to education as part of continuing professional development, and explicit links were made between education and improved patient care. Education was also presented as creating a positive environment that would improve staff recruitment. ONELCS is committed to involving staff engagement in shaping the organisation and ensuring improvements in patient care. Valuing people involves developing education, training and career pathways that focus on individual as well as organisational need and demonstrate an appreciation of the staff and the vital role they have in ensuring quality services. (Organisational Development and Human Resources Strategy 2005-2008) Strategically the Trust publicly shows its support from board level to ensuring all staff have equal access to training and development opportunities to meet the requirements of the Knowledge and Skills Framework. This commitment to the ethos of lifelong learning is demonstrated in their Training and development policys the online Trust profile. Again staff development is linked to delivering and developing a quality service for patients: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ It should enable the Trust to deliver its strategic aims and objectives, through a workforce and organisation that is competent, motivated and confident to continuously learn, change and develop in order to deliver high quality and responsive patient care and services. (Education, Training and Development Strategy 2008-2011) While there was clear support for education and training none was demonstrated for research and research development. Theme three Improving patient health and care The Integrated Business Plan (2009-2011) ONELCS shows a commitment to Improving patient health and care; it hasà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ always been our priority. Our vision is that ONELCS will be an independent organisation that delivers consistent and excellent healthcare, proven to be safe and effective. The organisation emonstrates that it supports evidence-based practice and initiatives identifying opportunities to change practice and to improve the quality of patient care. The Clinical Audit Policy (ONEL CS 2009)is concise in describing the organisations objectives: It is the responsibility of all health professionals to critically review their work to ensure care is given according to the best available evidence. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.The Objectives for 2009-2011 are: Ensure that audit results lead to changes in clinical practice and inform policy and training needs. Focus groups Four themes were identified: dementia knowledge and skills, attitude towards dementia patients and organisational change- constant change at the Trust Theme one: dementia knowledge: skills and assessments Lack of knowledge and understanding about dementia and the needs of dementia was strong theme. Both qualified and unqualified staff (HCSW and RGN) expressed: I am not even sure what having dementia meansà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.are there different types of dementia Staff commented that they had not received dementia specific training The assessment of dementia patients was fragmented, separately documented, and lacked cohesion. Medical staff in their patient clerking- noted a diagnosis; nursing and therapy staff in their individual initial assessments noted dementia diagnosis. One Registered Nurse asked the following: do we actually provide personalised dementia care that we can evidence; for example in our care plans? Currently the teams have no specific dementia documentation such as care plans for dementia care. The medical teams utilise The Abbreviated Mental Test( Hodkinson 1972) whilst the therapy teams utilise the Mini Mental State Examination(Folstein, Folstein and McHugh 1975) validated assessment tools Furthermore the staff felt that the teams could have specialist links with the community mental health teams to obtain specialist training and assessments and to develop dementia champions. Theme two: Multidisciplinary working Staff expressed the multidisciplinary team working was not working well and would impact on improving dementia care. Staff present at the focus group, acknowledged that comprehensive multidisciplinary working did not occur, The level of multidisciplinary working varies, they could work better on the for dementia patients'(registered nurse) Lack of communication was highlighted as a major issues as part of multidisciplinary working, with mixed views expressed :the nursing staff expressed that .. Its hard keeping track of patients, theres no dedicated Dementia care pathway, thats the problem, if there was a specific pathway/guidance it would be so much easier for all staff to liaise with therapists and other professionalsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Theme three: Organisational change Participants expressed that organisation changes were most recently frequent and difficult to understand; the concept of Change fatigue came to mind. Currently the organisation has a new management structure, at present the inpatient wards are participating in an consultation with reduction in substantive posts Staff do not feel they are involved in current management decisions Staff expressed that there was limited communication and moral amongst staff was very low; furthermore, shortages of nursing staff were evident. we do not know what is going on Too many changes at present and these are poorly communicated first TUPE transfer to NELFT, then Reducing managing costs consultation, now inpatient reduction beds consultation all within 3 monthsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. No one listens to usà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦staffing levels are being reduced and we cannot provide the care we want to The general consensus from participants was that the Trust responded positively to change and that this was a constant feature of working in the NHS. Staff are open to change and understand that change is the nature of the NHS Many exemplars of well-managed change were cited, including the implementation of the Productive Ward Series, where staff were fully involved in the programme. Key characteristics of these changes were good communication, planning, involvement of staff, and training provided prior to implementation. Questionnaires: A total of 90 questionnaires were distributed. Initially, there were 33 respondents (36.7%), however, this rose to 43.3% after the reminder memorundum was sent (n = 39). Hence, a total of 39 (43.3%) respondents were included in the study. Thirty of the respondents (76.9%) were clinical staff, 4 (10.3%) were Non clinical administration staff and 5 (12.8%) respondents did not identify their role. . Hope attitude Items Where the positive hope attitude was obvious, more staff members selected it and this is evident in the response to statement 5- Nothing can be done for people with dementia, except for keeping them clean and comfortable where 62.9% of the respondents strongly disagreed. However when it was not so obvious, there emerged a variety of responses. Consider the statement People with dementia are unable to make decisions for themselves; a variety of responses are obtained. People with dementia are unable to make decisions for themselves Answer Options Response Percent 1 strongly disagree 25.7% 2 disagree 25.7% 3 neither agree nor disagree 25.7% 4 agree 14.3% 5 strongly agree 8.6% dont know 0.0% answered question skipped question This is a similar outcome for the remaining 7 hope attitude questions. With the remaining 7 of the questions, almost equal numbers of respondents agreed or disagreed with hope and non-hope approaches. Consider the question Dementia sufferers are sick and need to be looked after- are dementia sufferers sick? And in what sense are they sick? Those questions pose a dilemma and therefore it is not surprising that the respondents show this in the data below. Dementia sufferers are sick and need to be looked after Answer Options Response Percent 1 strongly disagree 17.1% 2 disagree 17.1% 3 neither agree not disagree 20.0% 4 Agree 14.3% 5 Strongly agree 31.4% dont know 0.0% answered question skipped question This again demonstrates the lack of consistency in the choices of approach, with some choosing the best considered approach and some not. It also highlights a need for further development of understanding and knowledge of the best available approach to caring for those with dementia as almost half the respondents agreed or strongly agreed the non-hope items for each of these questions. This indicated that staff have some knowledge and ability in delivering dementia positive care, but that this is usually only evident where this is a clear option. When it is a less obvious choice, some dilemmas are raised. The hope attitude items are characteristics of disease related features;, the responses suggest that indeed, some staff may have limited specific dementia care awareness and skills or perhaps there are areas of practice or experience that gives them some understanding of the dementia; it is remains clear that there is a gap in their knowledge. This supports the premise that more learning is required. Person Centred Attitude Items Responses to 9 out of the 11 person centred attitude items were strongly positive; and as they were obvious the responses were selected by most staff members. The questions raised issues of trying to maintain independence, choice and dignity while attending to physical care needs and managing the care. The responses suggest that as these were standards of caret hat healthcare staff strive for, in their day to day practice; however these are aspects of

The Rise And Decline In Teenage Suicides Psychology Essay

The Rise And Decline In Teenage Suicides Psychology Essay Teenage suicides are devastating, not only to the victim, but to families, friends and all who knew the victim. Statistical data show the rise and decline in teenage suicides ages 15 to 24 as far back as 1952. The causes, symptoms, risk factors, are all factors. Studies indicate that young men commit suicide at a higher rate than young women. There are economical as well as social surroundings that play a major role in placing teenagers at a higher risk of suicide. Researchers are finding that medical conditions undiagnosed or left untreated, is contributing to the rates of teenage suicides. Other researchers are finding that warning signs are going unnoticed and with the assistance of schools workers, doctors, and peers and above all, parents, watching for such signs can make a dramatic change in the rates of teenage suicides. Appropriate funding for prevention programs, family as well as school interventions can make a difference between life and death in a teenager who may be cons idering suicide. The purpose of this paper is to explore the causes and prevention programs for teenager suicides between the ages of 15 and 24. The different ways gender, age, and society can influence a teenagers thoughts of suicide is also explored. I will show various warning signs and symptoms teenagers feel when contemplating suicide (Andrews, Tanya David, 2005). The overall purpose of my research is to examine the prevalence of teenage suicides between the ages of 15 and 24. Various studies indicate that economical as well as social problems play a role in teenagers trying to commit suicide. It seems the lower the socioeconomic state, the higher the risk for teenage suicides (Brown, 2001). Other studies indicate that warning signs and symptoms are going unnoticed or untreated. Family histories, drugs, alcohol abuse, all play major roles and school workers, doctors, teachers, parents and so forth all need to be able to recognize and diagnosis such problems and try and reduce teenage suicide rates (Brown, et. al, 2007). Literature Review Many authors agree that social economic status affects the overall suicide rates among teenagers. They also agree that rural areas, sparsely populated areas in communities that have experienced historical trauma and cultural losses (Brown, 2001; Brown, Wyman, Brinales, Gibbons, 2007; Miller Eckert, 2009). Brown (2001) states that upheavals in the economy, job losses and social as well as loss of traditions will only increase suicide rates in teenagers. This author does not mention in his article whether or not economical influences play a role in teenage suicides. Individuals or THE RISE AND DECLINE IN TEENAGE SUICIDES 4 teens living in the lowest socioeconomic areas are more than five times the risk of suicide compared to others (Brown, 2001). Many authors agree that school based curriculum programs, prevention programs, school personnel training involving teachers, screening programs and community involvement are essential tools in preventing teenager suicides. They also agree on the percentage of teenage suicide rates and look at risk factors, warning signs and symptoms (Joe Bryant 2007; Kutcher, 2008; Miller, Eckert, 2009). Joe and Bryant (2007) and Kutcher (2008) also believe that screening of school-aged children can assist in identifying early risk factors and allow for intervention and prevention treatment. Brown 2001, Kutcher, 2008 and Wyman, Brinales and Gibbons (2007) agree that risk factors involving family histories of suicidal attempts, teenagers being exposed to drugs, alcohol, feelings of hopelessness, depression and mental disorders are risk factors that should be diagnosed and treated as a way in prevention methods. Miller and Eckert (2009) believe that factors leading to a decision to commit suicide are triggers such as mental illness, emotional, family turmoil and so forth. Other authors took a look at antidepressants that physicians and prescribe to teenagers for depression and the side effects that could take place (Barlas, 2007; Brent, 2007, Dockasi, 2009; Wagner 2007). All three discuss the Food and Drug Administration, (FDA) and the black box warning labels that are now required to be placed on labels indicating the potential risk of suicide due to the side affects of antidepressants. Teenage suicides are a major public concern in nearly every country. Suicides account for nearly 3% of all deaths, and are the third leading cause of death in teenagers. High school THE RISE AND DECLINE IN TEENAGE SUICIDES 5 students surveyed indicated that 9% have considered suicide and 2.6% have attempted suicide (Brown, et. al, 2007). Discussion Statistics of Suicide According to the World Health Organization, (WHO), teenage suicides have been on the rise from 1952 to 1992. Teenage suicides are the third leading cause of death in teenagers ages 15 to 24, and young men commit suicide successfully at a higher rate than women in over 30 countries. From the 1950s through 1998, youth suicide rates in the United States have nearly tripled (Brown, et al, 2007). Some reasons for such a trend are the loss of traditions, support, and teenagers can no longer rely on their parents as role models. This data indicates that mental illnesses are more prominent now in teenagers and is approaching 20% , compared to 10-12% in the 1960s (Brown, 2001). Suicide Attempt One such case is when an 8th grader stood at the edge of a concrete bridge looking down to the bottom some fifty feet below. All he knew was that he wanted to die; he extended his arms, took a deep breath and leaned forward. In an instance it could have been all over, expect for a stranger grabbing the young man around the stomach and pulling him to safety just seconds before he would have succeeded in committing suicide. Looking back, after receiving the necessary mental health diagnosis, he didnt regret what he tried to do, but he came to understand that what made him do such a thing was what he now understood to be a THE RISE AND DECLINE IN TEENAGE SUICIDES 6 mental illness. He knew he really didnt want to die, but something kept pushing him on, finally with help of a stranger and the right care, this young man can receive treatment for his illness and can live a long and productive life (Henick, 2010). Suicide Deaths Compared to Regular Medical Conditions The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2004, reported a 300% increase in suicides rates. Rates for teenagers 15 to 19 year olds increased 11%. Teenagers ages 10 to 14 showed an increase in suicides rates of 100% (Andrew, Tanya, David, 2005). In 1996, some basic facts are that teenagers died from suicide more than cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia and influenza, and chronic lung disease combined. Nearly one in five high school students have seriously considered a suicide attempt during the preceding school year, and three students made genuine suicide attempts within the last year (Andrew, et al, 2005). There are many risk factors that can influence why a teenager may want to commit suicide and these include, age, gender, cultural and social influences, mental illness, recent losses, family histories of suicides, prior suicide attempts, peer pressure, family violence, sexual violence and so forth (Kutcher, 2008). One such risk factor is the access to the means. Teenagers in the United States succeeded in killing themselves at a rate of 2.5 % due to the easy access to guns at home or from their peers. Suicides by means of guns has increased at a more rapid pace than any other methods used, such as hangings, drugs, and so forth (Brown, 2001). THE RISE AND DECLINE IN TEENAGE SUICIDES 7 Effects of Social and Economic Pressures Teenagers are not immune to the economical state or their social surroundings and the effect it has on their way of thinking or looking at the future. Teenagers surveyed in one study showed results that indicated the lower the socioeconomic status, the higher the risk for teenagers and showed that they had more than a five time risk of committing suicide (Miller Eckert, 2009). Upheavals in the economy have caused undue stress in young people and are making them feel as though they are unable to cope (Brown, 2001). Studies have shown that have linked socioeconomic factors and suicide risks to sexual orientation, social disadvantages, sexual abuse, and so forth. Over 90% of victims found to have at least one mental health disorder (Kutcher, 2008). Teenagers being exposed to alcohol, drugs and other substance abuses are at a greater risk of committing suicide. Hopelessness and suffering, depression, and mental disorders are going undiagnosed or untreated. Separation or divorces of parents causes undue stress on teenagers (Miller Eckert, 2009). Warning Signs and Treatments The U.S. Food Drug Administration, (FDA). In 2003-2004, the FDA issued a public warning that antidepressants could trigger suicidal thoughts and behaviors in teenagers 20 and under after taking the drugs for a minimum of 2 months. The Journal of Medical Association, (JAMA), looked at 5,310 children and teenagers and found that children taking antidepressants added a risk about 2 in 100 of experiencing worsening suicidal feelings above what they had been feeling (Barlas, 2007). The FDA, ordered that THE RISE AND DECLINE IN TEENAGE SUICIDES 8 antidepressant drugs needed warning labels indicating young people are 4% more likely to exhibit suicidal intentions if taking these drugs. The black box warning labels should included in the medications bottle stated an increased risk of suicide may accompany the use of these antidepressants and the black box warnings were placed on the inserts of all antidepressant medication and warned doctors to watch patients closely (Barlas, 2007; Brent, 2007; Dockasi, 2009; and Wagner, 2007). There are many warning signs that family members, friends, and school officials can be made aware and to look for in a teenager contemplating suicide. A very significant sign is the teenager tried to commit suicide previously; mood changes; giving away personal belongings; depression; great sadness; feeling of isolation; withdrawing from family, friends, peers; eating habits; turning to drugs and alcohol, and harming themselves to list a few. Common circumstances are linked to reasons why teenagers are committing suicide. The feelings of being rejected by family, friends, peers, failure and disappointment in oneself, emotional and family turmoil can lead a teenager to look for a permanent solution, such as suicide, since they cannot remedy the problems themselves. Many teenagers do not know they are suffering from a mental illness which could be causing their thoughts and feelings and by diagnosing and treating teenagers with mental illness. There can be a reduction in the deaths of teenagers and continue the downturn in statistics (Shaffer Cowdry, 1999). Studies have shown that have linked socioeconomic factors and suicide risks to sexual orientation, social disadvantages, sexual abuse, and so forth. Over 90% of victims found to have at least one mental health disorder (Kutcher, 2008). THE RISE AND DECLINE IN TEENAGE SUICIDES 9 Family histories of suicide attempts and teenagers who have attempted suicide before are at a greater risk for a second suicide attempt (Kutcher, 2008). Risk factors, such as which populations are at an elevated risk and which risk and positive factors could be targeted for preventing suicide (Brown, et al, 2007). There are various causes that could be contributing to teenagers committing suicide. Preventions of Suicide Curriculum school based prevention programs involving support of staff, screening of students and training teachers of what to look for in a troubled teenager. Involving peers and the community are areas that can also bring awareness to teenagers in need (Andrew, et al, 2005). Prevention programs involving specific information need to be provided directly to students that focus on warning signs and teaching peers how to talk with another teenager contemplating suicide. Knowledge is power and the more knowledge teenagers are about suicide, the better the results will be (Miller Eckert, 2009). Physicians or primary care doctors are key individuals in being able to diagnosis a trouble teenager. They are the first choice of contact that many teenagers want to contact in times of distress. Physicians treating teenagers need to be well educated and know the warning signs and give proper treatment (Kutcher, 2008). One such study analyzed prescription data for antidepressant medications used by teenagers and found that Lithium actually reduced the rate of both completed suicides and suicide attempts in teenagers diagnosed with bipolar disorder (Steele Doey, 2007). THE RISE AND DECLINE IN TEENAGE SUICIDES 10 Many schools are now using screenings for school-age children in an effort to identify teenagers at risk and can assist in identifying early risk factors and allow for intervention and prevention treatment (Joe Bryant 2007; Kutcher, 2008; Miller Eckert, 2009). School psychologists have an ethical and legal responsibility to prevent teenage suicides whenever possible. These psychologists play a vital role in school-based suicide prevention (Miller Eckert, 2009). There are many ways that state governments, public involvement and schools, colleges, healthcare providers and officials can make a difference in the overall teenage suicide rates. The National Governors Association, (NGA), produced a list of recommendations to assist in reducing teenage suicides. They suggest increasing public awareness, creating state prevention plans, establishing school-based prevention programs (Henick, 2010). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008, surveyed students in grades 9-12, and found that 14.5% of teenagers in the U.S. have seriously considered suicide in the past 12 months; 18.7% of teenagers were females; 10.3% of those teenagers were males; 11.3% of teenagers made a plan about how to commit suicide. Another result was that 6.9% of teenagers made at least one attempt that resulted in injury and required medical treatment (Miller Eckert, 2009). THE RISE AND DECLINE IN TEENAGE SUICIDES 11 The Presidents New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (2003) and the Childrens Mental Health Screening and Prevention Act of (2003), target teenagers who are at risk for suicide. Research has shown that when asked, a teenager will commonly state whether or not he or she is contemplating suicide. Many states now require that schools provide suicide prevention and management. There are three categories of the programs are, curriculum programs, in-service training for teachers and staff, and school-wide suicide screenings of school aged children (Joe Bryant, 2007). In 2003, President Bush authorized 82 million dollars over a three year period by passing a new law aimed at preventing suicides among teenagers and young people. The new law provided states, colleges, universities and other agencies with grant money to start suicide prevention and intervention programs. The Presidents New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, (2003), established screening of children, looking for mental illness, establishing community-based treatment and training for child care professionals in an attempt to stop suicides in teenagers (Joe Bryant, 2007). Laws Enacted The U.S. Congress and Surgeon General passed prevention acts with a main priority for 2010, aiming at addressing and trying to change statistical teenage suicide attempts currently at 2.6% down to 1%. Addressing antidepressants medications and psychosocial programs involving intervention will be done through research to determine hat strategy would be most effective (Brown et. al, 2007). THE RISE AND DECLINE IN TEENAGE SUICIDES 12 Conclusion Our children are our future. Studies that have shown suicide rates among our teenagers over the years have been at epidemic levels. There is a great need for federal, state, and local government involvement. Schools, universities, parents, communities and so forth, need to become aware of the causes, symptoms and address the teenagers needs accordingly. Reducing teenage suicide rates will be challenging, but by identifying risk factors, intervention and preventive treatment programs, funding and practices will definitely make a difference. Ending teenage suicides should be an attainable goal.