Is Money Ruining Football Essay

Is money ruining football? One of the most talked about topics in football. Some fans think that it is a wonderful thing, a dream come true however others seem to disagree. Is all of this money in modern day football ruining it? From all this money football seems to become a victim of its own success. One main part of this money being in football is due to a lot of clubs having foreign ownership.It all came about in 2003 when Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea FC and since then he has put in hundreds-upon-hundreds of millions of his own money into the club Chelsea have since won nine major trophies including three Premier League titles and most recently the UEFA Champions League. Proof that wealth can indeed buy honours in the world of football. Since then half of the 20 Premier League clubs are now owned by foreigner investors. Those clubs are: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, QPR, Reading, Southampton and Sunderland.Perhaps the most spectacular of them all is politician and member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Manchester City. Since he has bought the club in 2008 he has spent over ? 425 of his own money to buy first team players for the club. The highest fee that has ever been paid for a footballer is ? 80 million for Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United to Real Madrid, this is a major difference to what the highest fee in 1928 the highest amount paid for a player was ? 10,000.The maximum wage has was also only ? 12 a week and players got a ? 650 bonus if they stayed at the club for 5 years whereas nowadays the most paid players is on ? 250,000 pound a week. This colossal money being spent to attract a footballer to a club doesn’t necessarily mean that the player is any better than another; it purely is just saying that the club has more money than the others. This is having a negative effect on football as now players are playing for the money and now not the club that they are playing for.It is also very unfair on competition in the same league meaning the richer team has an advantage as they can pay crazy amounts to get a player but a lower team can spend very little meaning the competition on less competitive. So if your club has more money it then attracts players who are better known where less known clubs have to settle on lower wages meaning that the players that they buy will be on a much less wage than those of a higher team. One big problem hat money has is the risk of the football club going bust. The most recognisable of those clubs currently in major financial trouble is former Premier League club Portsmouth, now of League One. The club is currently in administration and runs the risk of being non existant. This has come from the club overspending on players and the wages the players been given far too much than what they realistically should be on. Last season Premier League clubs shared a staggering ? 68 million in tel evision revenue, if the Premier League were to introduce a ‘safety pot’ of money (? 9. 68 million) for football league and Conference clubs so that in severe cases clubs can apply for grants to stop them going into administration/save clubs from going bust. Having an owner with millions to spend isn’t always as good as it sounds since it runs the risk of your club vanishing forever. One of the major things though is the rise in ticket prices.Football used to be called the working class sport but now it is an expensive pastime and something that the average working class man struggles to afford. This is shown at St. James’ Park when in 1992/9 3 you were able to get an adult season ticket for around ? 122 but nowadays the average season ticket is around ? 500 which shows how expensive football is now getting and that in 20 years there has been a 150 percent rise in prices.It seems that football is now slowly changing from a working class sport to a sport for those who are wealthier. The only solution to stop money from continuing to ruin football is by Uefa the governing body of football to try and do something about it by introducing salary caps or by putting in place transfer caps so only certain amounts of money can be spent in the transfer market and this would have an effect on agent fees, sponsorship and TV deals which would then ticket prices could be lowered and that clubs could still turn a profit.Another thing is putting a limit on how many foreign players you can have in your team which would mean more home-grown players would be in the team and then less wages would be spent and transfer prices to attract players from overseas and this would mean teams would need to spend more money on youth academies rather than looking all over the world for players to spend ridiculous amounts of money on. Football is no longer turning into a sport, it is a business that is now worth millions and millions of pounds and this is taking the game to its knees. By Reece Paterson.

Communication Styles †Analysis of a Special Interaction Essay

The paper is an analysis of the special interaction between a Noble and a Reflective. The analysis is a process to see how communication styles affect the interaction, and how changing one’s style when communicating with another style can result in different outcomes. This paper illustrates how I adjusted my communication style to adapt my boyfriend’s communication style and how the result changed. The paper addresses the following: 1) A description of the interaction, 2) An analysis the interaction, and 3) Conclusion. see more:describe how to support different communication abilities and needs of an individual with dementia A description of the interaction The specific interaction I want to demonstrate is the interaction between my boyfriend, Tony, and me. Because we have different communication styles, we sometimes argue and get mad at each other. He is a straight forward person; he tells me right away what I am doing wrong. As a Noble, Tony is very decisive. He likes to be center of every discussion. In contrast, I have a Reflective style; I tend to be quiet. I love spending time alone; I think deeply and do not make decisions quickly. The interaction The following scenario is an illustration of our communication styles. The interaction took place late at night two weeks ago at the Home Depot store where Tony and I went to buy some fixtures for my room. We went inside the store; he grabbed the products he needed quickly, while I took my time looking around. I showed him the light I had chosen and he said, â€Å"It is not a night light. Let’s go over another row†. He held my hand and tried to move quickly to another row, but I pushed his hand away and stood in the same area. He went by himself and said, â€Å"We have to hurry up, or we can come back tomorrow†. I was very angry, but I did not say anything. Finally, I went to the cashier, and I saw him holding a pretty night light in his hand. The impact of different communication style Although he still helped me choose the night light, his behavior made me feel like he was rushing me and did not care about me. He thinks he knows what I want, and he should have asked me what kind of light I needed. If I chose the wrong one, he should have explained what kind of light I needed. He acted as if he needed to make the decision for me because I was taking too long. An analysis of the interaction Last week, Tony helped me repaint my room and we went to the Home Depot to purchase colors and painting tools. Tony was very unhappy because I took too long to decide the paints. He also complained why I did not plan ahead of time. In the meantime, I decided to speak out what I was thinking instead of being quiet and doing my own thing. I told Tony that he should have helped me on selecting the paints because the color I wanted was not available and the instruction of choosing and mixing colors in the store was confusing me. I described what kind of color I wished to use for my room and asked him for advice. I also talked to Tony directly that I tried to ignore his offended comments, but those unconscious words irritated me. Tony realized his unintentional attitudes made me upset and he said apologize to me. We both felt like we removed the communication style barrier between us after the frank conversation and we finished shopping and painting my room successfully. I will remind mys elf to use this method in our future conversations to prevent conflicts and arguments. Conclusion Learning the communication styles concept has helped me better understand the way people interact. Each person has a distinct style of communication which has both good and bad aspects. Any miscommunication can cause unexpected outcomes, but if I can adjust or control my communication style, I can predict the result of most interactions. Therefore, I recognize that learning and understanding other styles and applying what I have learned in real life will help to bring good results.

Ethics †Hamburger Essay

Finance is an essential part of Business. It is imperative to be ethical in this sector as it’s the area that handles the money, various ethical issues fall under this sector for example, unlawful conduct (bribery). Health is also a imperative part of business as a business needs to have a sanitary area for employees to work, it’s even more important for McDonalds as they make food. Kitchens & the restaurant need to be sanitary. It’s rather unorthodox that I put Finance and health together, but the combination can bring out an ethical issue which is Bribery. Restaurants Get Health inspections on a regular bases to ensure they are kept to a good standard, it’s not uncommon for a Inspector to be bribed by an owner to give them a good result. Jacksonville October 2011[1] is a perfect example; two men were arrested for receiving bribes. The men were giving good results to poor standard restaurants. These restaurants were named within Jacksonville this means they will receive much less business, they will be lucky to get a few customers. These Restaurants have acted unethically which is part of the reason for the major decline in customers. McDonalds have had one issue of bribery, this was in Hong Kong. The managing director for McDonalds Hong Kong[2] was arrested for accepting bribes. The suppliers of McDonalds Hong Kong were bribing him to ensure McDonalds used them to supply the major fast food restaurant. This was a major hit to McDonalds as their reputation was tarnished, this had an effect on them, and Chinese investors did not want to invest in an unethical company. McDonalds Finance department need to ensure they don’t bribe inspectors or other bodies that have an impact on McDonalds, as that can hurt their reputation by a very large amount. McDonalds finance should also allocate money to ensure stores are sanitary; this will give them no reason to be bribed. McDonalds UK are on the right track as they own the farms that supplies its stores. Ethics: Marketing & Human Resource Many Ethical issues occur in Marketing such as discrimination. The implications this can have are catastrophic. McDonalds being a fast food need to ensure that they don’t discriminate when advertising a new product (promotional burger). If they discriminate then the person subject to discrimination will feel emotionally hurt, which is bad as people around that person will stop going to McDonalds, this will lead to a massive decrease in customers. as they will not want to eat at an unethical restaurant. A prime example of an unethical advert is that of Sony [3] Sony were put under the microscope in recent years as they displayed an unethical advert. The Advert was for the PSP (Play Station Portable) the first issue was the fact that they vandalized New York City in order to create its advert, the images painted on the walls was also discriminating to certain races. Sony was lucky that people never saw this as the sales of their PSP would have been much lower than it was. McDonalds Have a menu just for Children, this means advertising towards them, in doing this they are hooking young children to the temptations of Fast Food. This is an ethical issue as they are increasing the rate of obesity. McDonalds have now made their child menus healthier by giving fruit and veg with each meal. They also advertise the fact that fruit is tasty and healthy. They are trying to get children to eat more fruit. Competitors of McDonalds have no such philosophy, for example KFC advertise family meals, which is good for social backing but, the food they advertise is high in salt, fat and oil. All of which are bad for the body. McDonalds need to ensure that when creating a new meal they don’t discriminate against a race. For example if they make a New Mexican Meal, then they need to make sure they don’t advertise in a way that discriminates against Mexicans and they don’t use any labels within their advert. The HR department helps the marketing department. They tell them various things like, what is considered as discrimination. The HR department must ensure this advert does not discriminate against anyone. HR and marketing also work together when it comes to recruitment, the HR department tells marketing what the criteria for a job is, they must ensure no bias and discrimination is involved within this criteria. The Marketing department will then advertise this to the public. If the advert discriminates against someone then the public will think McDonalds is a poor place to work. Food Production Food production has many Ethical issues especially for McDonalds as they are a Fast Food business. Selling their food means their will be an increase in obesity which is a major ethical issue, as the life expectancy of people will drop. This Issue is perhaps the biggest yet. McDonalds have done well to counter this issue (selling healthier meals) they also warn customers what they are eating. The salt content of the Big Mac [4] is 2. 1g this is 42% of a persons daily allowance. Their Medium Fries has 0. 6g of salt this is 12% of a person’s daily allowance. Therefore a meal will have 2. 6g of salt which is 54% of your Daily Allowance, and this is just one of your daily meals and yet you have taken in 54% of your daily allowance. As you can see the health risks are very bad. McDonalds have tried to make a healthier menu but the fact is people love the taste of their burgers, and reducing the salt content can have a monumental effect on the taste. Another Major debate is the meat used within Beef burgers. In recent times there has been a major controversy about Horse meat [5]. Horse Meat has been found in Beef Burgers at Various stores such as Tesco, Burger king etc†¦ These Companies have made Customers afraid of Beef Burgers as they do not know the true ingredients. This issue is big because Tesco was feeding Horse meat to customers without the customer knowing. To make things worse Tesco and other Supermarkets also have traces of Pork within their Beef Burgers, this is a mega breach of trust as people from a Muslim Household are prohibited from eating Pork. Doing this Tesco and other super markets have affected all types of people. McDonalds major Competitor Burger King has also been selling Beef/Horse Burgers, this has ruined the reputation of Burger King, and it has also made people wary of most Fast food stores, as they are not sure what kind of meat is in their products. The Implications of Fast Food are both good and bad; the good part is that it is fast and convenient. The food itself is also made to be a quality meal, for a small price tag. The bad part of Fast food has already been spoken about, health risks. McDonalds need to create even more variety when it comes to healthy meals, as the burgers are still favourable they need to make healthy meals more competitive. Environmental Implications Global Warming is a huge issue. All people in the world contribute to Global warming, even breathing contributes towards it. Global warming is the melting of the polar icecaps, this raises the sea level which means sea level countries will soon be under water. The destruction of the Ozone layer is another issue, if the ozone layer is destroyed then the suns rays will be at full strength which means ultra violet radiation will increase causing a high increase in skin cancer. Businesses have been warned about this and are expected to reduce their energy consumption; they can do this by finding an alternative power source. McDonalds spends millions on energy and water. But money is not the issue, the environment is seeing a major decline, McDonalds have tried to counter this by finding and alternative energy source for their stores. So far they have only got one which is in America, this store uses geothermal energy to heat the store and light it. McDonalds use a lot of packaging; it was smart of them to switch to recycled packaging as this helped the environment. They should tell their customers how important Recycling is. Recycling [6] is the process of reusing paper, glass etc†¦ It is an essential part of our eco system as it saves trees from being cut down, this means more oxygen in the air, which helps the planet in various ways, such as prolonging our resources, this helps cut down Global Warming. Food Production also contributes to Global warming, as they use machinery to produce it, this increases their carbon footprint, taking the size of McDonalds into account it would be hard to acquire the figure of their carbon foot print, but we can assume that it is a very large amount, McDonalds is doing various things to reduce it (environmental projects). Global warming is also very dangerous now as its melting away the homes of various animals such as Polar Bears, the species is in danger because of this. Companies need to cut down on the use of energy to save these animals, and to prolong the life of the Earth Corporate Implications Corporate implications are related to ethics. There are rules and regulations put into place for businesses to follow. These rules are to ensure companies act ethically. McDonalds is doing a great service to the UK as they provide lots of money to government (through tax) they also promote healthy eating, some say this is ironic as they sell fast food, but they are minimising the effect of the ethical issue that is Fast food. Staff at McDonalds needs to know how to act ethically, McDonalds can train staff to do this. McDonalds have been subject to some ethical issue e. g. Hong Kong director arrested for accepting bribes. McDonalds manages need to ensure they comply by the rules put into place to protect both businesses and customers. They must Ensure their legal patents are taken seriously, what i mean by this is the use of their name and logo. Small businesses sometimes copy the brand image of McDonalds as it helps bring in customers due to the customer thinking the store is part of the renowned restaurant. McDonalds has patented their logo to ensure other businesses and competitors can’t use their logo in a professional manner. They have also patented all their products meaning people can’t use the same recipe to make their products. They’ve also patented the names of each product e. g. Big Mc. In doing this they have ensured people can’t copy their brand. Sources [1] http://jacksonville. com/news/crime/2012-05-01/story/jacksonville-police-arrest-2-state-inspectors-restaurant-bribery-sting [2] http://www. chinacsr. com/en/2007/08/14/1599-mcdonalds-executive-arrested-for-taking-bribes-in-hong-kong/ [3] http://www. ethicsscoreboard. com/list/sony2. html [4] http://www. mcdonalds. co. uk/ukhome/more-food/savers-menu. html [5] http://www. telegraph. co. uk/earth/agriculture/supermarkets/9844352/Horse-meat-scandal-Now-Tesco-and-other-supermarkets-admit-to-pork-traces-in-beef-burgers. html [6] http://www. benefits-of-recycling. com/whyisrecyclingimportant/.

Technology affect future Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Technology affect future - Essay Example The mere purpose for which phones are discovered was for making communication and getting immediate feedback (calling), and now a wide range of uses has been developed. Phone as a technological device change in size and use is worth examining. In this case, the point of focus is to examine how technology in phones has advanced t from the past to present. The future of these devices will also be examined. As pointed out earlier, Grahams discovered telephone that later advanced to cellular phones. Telephone composed of booths from where one would make a call. The telephone booths connected with each other using phone lines. It meant that one would have to travel to the nearest area that was connected to a phone line just to make a call. Telephones represented caste and marked class of individuals in the society (Roche, 1972). These classes included the ruling class and business people since they are the only ones who could afford to have them. Apart from being expensive, they were rare and were barely used. Initially, the purpose of phones was calling.Making quicker communication in a time when sending letters was the only means of communicating with people in different regions was necessary.Other features like voice mail began to be integrated into phones with time as technology continued to advance. The phones also were characterized by hardware problems such as overheating, especially with the Motorola phones. From the candlestick phones used in the 1930s to Motorola DynaTAC utilized in the 1980s, to all other phones to date, there has been an evolution in size of the phones as (Sismondo, 2009) finds out. Phones began being massive and weightier devices.The display of phones started as black and white with no light in the background. This later changed with the addition of background light. That was not all, and phones were also fitted with antennas for network reception. There is a

Contributions of the Austrian School of Thought Essay

Contributions of the Austrian School of Thought - Essay Example The historical school suggested that economic science cannot generate universal principles so scientific research should study historical examination in detail. Principles of Economics reiterated the universal laws’ view of political economy using marginal analysis. Roscher’s students gave Menger and his followers the title of Austrian School for being faculty members at the University of Vienna. There have been no leading figures in economists from any Austrian university in the Austrian school of economics since the 1930s. Between 1930s and 1940s, scholars associated with the Austrian school were located at different universities in Britain and the US. Many ideas of the mid-twentieth-century Austrian economists originate in the classical economists’ ideas or ideas of economists from the early-twentieth-century. The present Austrian school economists are influenced by modern economists. There is no substantive meaning of the label â€Å"Austrian†, though a unique Austrian school of economics does exist in the economic profession. This article discusses the major propositions of economics believed by the Austrians. According to the first proposition, only individuals select which implies that man starts all economic analysis with plan and purpose. Choices are made by individuals rather than by collective entities. The second proposition suggests that the market order study is basically about exchange behavior and organizations undergoing exchange. The science exploring market order is categorized under catallactics. Catallactics discusses emerging exchange relationships in the market, bargaining in the process of exchange, and the institutions that participate in exchange. The third proposition states that the social sciences’ facts are what individuals think about and also believe. Being humans, we can understand other humans’ purposes and plans. Human action sciences vary from natural sciences. Human sciences are ruin ed with them being forced into natural sciences’ philosophical mold. The fourth proposition considers costs and utility to be subjective because the human mind filters all economic phenomena. One has to choose among the various available paths while deciding the courses of action. Focus on choice alternatives leads to opportunity costs. Any action’s cost is the value of the most valuable alternative left out while that action is selected. The fifth proposition states that economization of the price system is based on the information needed by individuals to process in decision making. Price summarizes exchange terms on the market. Market prices quickly change with the change of underlying conditions thus causing people to quickly adjust. According to the sixth proposition, private property is a compulsory condition in the means of production that is needed for rational calculation of economics. Private ownership offers strong incentives for scarce resources’ eff icient allocation. Economic planners cannot correctly calculate the alternative use of production means if money prices do not reflect the means of production’s relative scarcities. The seventh proposition considers the competitive market to be an entrepreneurial discovery process as competition is thought by many economists to be a state of affairs. The entrepreneur plays the role of change agent that pulls and prods markets in different directions since competition is an activity. Market economy and

Apple vs samsung Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Apple vs samsung - Essay Example The content of this report concentrates determining the main reasons behind the increasing competitiveness of both the companies and the reasons behind the recent success of Samsung in comparison to Apple in the smartphone segment. From the findings, it is determined that Samsung has significantly focused on availability, after-sales service and use of media to lure the consumers as compared to Apple. The presented findings of this report also discuss about the pertinent views of the general managers of both companies who highlight their opinions regarding the changing competitiveness in the industry and their future endeavors with the offered smartphones . It concludes with the assessment that despite possessing impeccable brand image Apple has slightly remained behind Samsung in the smartphone segment due to the lack of availability, after-sales service and a reduced focus on ensuring utmost consumer satisfaction of ease of purchase. Thus, certain recommendations including focusing of untapped consumer segment and reducing price of the smartphones have been offered to Apple. Conversely, Samsung has been recommended to increase its market share in the segment of smartphone through sustained focus on augmentation of brand awareness and product promotion. I hope this report will prove to be satisfactory. If you should have any questions concerning my project and report, please feel free to contact me â€Å"Sumaya Ali â€Å" at Samyaa0202@hotmail.com. Sincerely, Fatima Ali Attachment : My report on Smartphone Comparison Table of Contents NU SUBJECT PAGES 1 Summary of the Report 4 2 Introduction 5 3 Procedure 6 4 Overview About Apple And Samsung 6 5 SWOT Analysis 9 6 Findings 14 6.1 Questionnaire Findings 14 6.2 Interview Findings 21 7 Conclusion 24 8 Recommendations 25 9 Appendix 26 9.1 Survey Questionnaire 26 9.2 Interview Questionnaire 28 10 References 29 1- Summary of the Report The report intends to provide a comparative study of the smartphones of two of t he world’s leading manufacturer’s i.e. Apple and Samsung. From the perspective of technology and innovation, both the companies are superior in this field. However, there are a number of pertinent parameters based which Samsung can be stated to be noticeably ahead of Apple in terms of sales as well as market share. Therefore, as a part of this report a consumer feedback questionnaire has been designed and feedbacks from the smartphone users have been accumulated accordingly. In addition, a set of interview questionnaire is also designed for taking the interview of the Chairman/CEO/General Manager of Apple as well as Samsung. Based on the feedbacks obtained as a part of this report, a set of relevant recommendations has been offered to both the companies. 2- Introduction Over the past decade in the field of technology segment, Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics have been two of the major players as well as rivals. Apple Inc is an American based multinational organisation (MNC), founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs (Apple, 2013). Samsung Electronics is a South Korean based MNC founded in 1938 by Lee Kun-hee (Samsung, 2013). Although Apple came into the market later but in the course of focusing on sustained technological innovation it has turned into one of the preferred and respect brands in the world, thus in turn creating an immense challenge for the competitors to match up to the offerings of Apple. In

Label and Delinquency (Criminal Justice) Assignment

Label and Delinquency (Criminal Justice) - Assignment Example Finally, this paper aimed to assess the robustness of labeling in explaining the different types of delinquency (Adams, et.al., 2003). The analysis on this paper which shall now follow aims to offer an overview of how this research was conducted, the subjects used, and the overall findings of the research. It also aims to present a personal opinion on whether or not this student felt that the authors looked at relevant and pertinent information and data in the article, including the most interesting findings in the article and why. Finally a recap of the pertinent findings and this student’s overall opinion on the article including recommendations on how this article may be improved shall be presented in this paper. The research was conducted by assessing the high school students’ attitudes and behaviors regarding drugs and delinquency in Mississippi. Respondents were juveniles who were held in two training schools in July of 1992. The respondents were mostly from the rural areas. These respondents were also remanded to the custody of the Mississippi Youth Services for behavior which ranged from status offenses to gang-related activities. The research was conducted on group settings with about 25 juveniles per group. A research questionnaire was answered by said respondents. Researchers used overhead projectors and they read each item to the different respondents. There were 337 juveniles who were qualified for the research, and about 277 ended up participating in the study. Reasons like court appointment, preparation for release, and solitary confinement prevented the other respondents from participating in this research. Teachers, peers, and parents were also included as respondents. T hese three groups assessed the informal labeling placed on these delinquents. The data gathered was later coded based on the different variables included in this research. After coding, an index of six contrasting descriptive adjectives was used to

Glo-Bus Company Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Glo-Bus Company Analysis - Research Paper Example The Glo- Bus Company is a fully automated simulation where the team leaders are divided in teams to run a digital camera in a head to head competition with other companies. It competes globally with other companies. The major challenge for this company in trying to craft and execute a competitive strategy which will result into a respected brand image, keeping their company in contention for global market leadership, and producing financial performance. This is measured by its earnings per share, stock price appreciation, credit rating and return on equity investment and this calls for a proper strategy. The Glo-Bus application was an intriguing and challenging venture starting in the simulation where the team leaders were positioned well with good strategy and strengths in the first years. Despite the challenges in the first years, it struggled to adapt to the increasingly changing market conditions. Eventually, it gained an insight which would help in its future strategy formation and execution efforts (John, 1997). Strategy As a co-management team, a plan of attack was formulated quickly to enable the company compete effectively with its competitors. A plan conference was then decided upon with all the managers of distinguished image. The company felt that this would be its most convenient opportunity for its team leaders to talk over its strategies which would help them come up with a plan of attack. This conference led to the birth of the company’s vision statement and I quote, â€Å"Distinguished imaging strives to be the global market leader in reliable technological and advanced digital cameras. We are focused on customer satisfaction on quality technological products and seeking to be the number one in the digital imaging technology† (John, 1997). By having this vision statement put in place, the team leaders worked with the notion of being unified in to a cohesive and coordinated effort. From a strategic perspective, they decided to offer quality products at a cheaper cost unlike th e other companies. Its major goal was to use the best cost provider strategy in providing good to excellent product qualities but at a cheaper cost. This strategy has enabled the company compete with Beacon camera and Capture camera respectively in the sixth year. Its goal was to offer a quality entry level camera at a cheaper cost plus a higher quality multi feature camera at a reasonable price. This was only during that year alone but in the next year, the company would adapt a new strategy which included a combination of focused market niche differentiation and low cost strategy to be applied (John, 1997). Strength One of the quickest ways in trying to achieve the best cost strategy was to invest in a high quality workforce and major on the employee output. This was coupled with paying their employees at the high end of the pay scale and rewarding them in exchange for reaching a higher level of output. This was because with a higher input, it would definitely lead to improved pro duct production and quality. Unlike its competitors, this would definitely be a plus to them hence compete effectively as can be seen in year seven. As a result of this logic, the company did not invest in the first three years in warranty periods as it expected the quality of the products to maintain lower quality claims. Therefore, in hindsight, the company might have missed a great opportunity in offering an extensive warranty programs at a lower claim rate due to the quality products. As a result of this, a corporate citizenship program was implemented by increasing the employee conditions and the community efforts in the following years respectively (Jennifer, 2000). As part of the initial product strategy, focus was on offering a strong number of camera models and concentration was initially on developing features of entry level cameras. This was definitely to offer a strong market share. A decision was made not to enter the multi feature

HSC PharmacologyTerm Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

HSC PharmacologyTerm Project - Assignment Example The treatment has been somehow demanding due to the fact that P. falciparum develops resistance to any new medicine discovered to treat malaria. Due to this several pharmacological agents have been set in different times to cure malaria. Other plasmodium species that cause malaria are P. vivax, P. Ovale and P. malariae. Chloroquine also known as 4-aminoquinoline has been used to treat malaria caused by falciparum species in the malaria prone areas until this parasite developed a resistant to it. Chloroquine is a weak base that concentrates after mixing with the lysosome of the parasite, probably through parasite-specific drug concentrating mechanism. It’s a weak base and its concentration increases in the lysosome of the parasite probably through parasite –specific drug concentrating mechanism. After infection the parasite digests the hemoglobin forming ferriprotoporphorin IX known as haem which is very toxic to the parasite. However the parasite contains plasmodialhaem polymerase that converts haem to a red pigment associated with malaria referred to as haemozoin, harmless to the parasite. Chloroquine inhibits this enzyme and thus accumulation of haem destroys the parasite by membranolytic action. Moreover chloroquine intercalates in the parasites DNA and also causes fragmentation of its RNA. Chloroquine can be used for clinical cure where it lowers the effect of fever and destroys all the parasites in the blood in 24 hours as well as control method. Chloroquine is only a fundamental treatment for P. falciparum infection and not for P.vivax or P. ovale since the latter contain hypnozoites in the exo-erythrocytic phase that lead to clinical setback attack. However progaunil is combined with it to prevent these relapse in chemoprophylaxis. Due to the resistant nature of P.falciparum maloprim is combined. Apart from

An Efficient Manner in the Organization Case Study

An Efficient Manner in the Organization - Case Study Example From this discussion it is clear that  financial data in a company is of much consequence. In order to ensure accurate financial data collection and its correct use, the company must make sure that the IT function and Finance team collaborate and use the expertise of one another for better data and analysis. Both teams must be on the same page.  This study declares that another important aspect is to make it simple and understandable to the extent that all stakeholders of a particular kind of data know what to do with it; however, it should not be broken down so much that it loses the essence of its purpose. For this reason, metrics are very important. It is extremely important to note what is measured. Off the mark measures will waste time and money, force people into performing on wrong parameters, all rendering the collected data unusable. To give meaning to any meaningless collection of data and convert it into useful and interpretable information, it is imperative that key t ools and techniques are in place which a) collect the right kind and data and b) make the conversion into useful information easy.  The very first step in this process is to assess whether the data collected is important in the first place. Was the purpose of collecting data to answer an important business question such as sales figures, costing information, employee satisfaction, etc.?  To have efficiency in the overall system, it is important that the data collected is for a reason.

TUI ( tuarism industry ) case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

TUI ( tuarism industry ) - Case Study Example Most of the countries in the European Continent have a pleasant weather throughout the year with rainfalls is summers and snowfalls and brisk winds in the winters. These countries therefore have a excellent features for attracting tourists. Many businesses in the tourism industry of UK and the rest of Europe depend upon tourism. These businesses are museums, cinemas, hotels, night clubs, restaurants, leisure parks, spas, resorts etc (Aston, 2009). The UK tourism industry is worth  £ 114 billion. The tourism industry of Europe is backed by the European Travel Commission (ETC), which is a non-profit making organization and has its main office in Brussels. This organization has 39 member organizations (European Travel Commission, 2009). The role of these organizations is to promote tourism internationally to European countries. These European countries have now started to focus on â€Å"Ecotourism† as mentioned in the European Travel Commission website. The focus on ecotourism and sustainable tourism was initiated when the tourism industries of Asian countries were booming and the Europe tourism industry was stagnated. The tourist destinations in Europe are not a booming business but they are very stable when compared to other tourist destinations of the world. The industry creates a lot of opportunities for the locals as they get more job creation and business opportunities. The single European market has been able to attract more tourists since the European Union (EU) came into existence (Pompl, 1993). The rich culture of the continent and the diversity makes it the most viable option for tourism whether it is for business reasons of for vacations. The general population in the world is tilting more towards family oriented fun and travel (FCCA, 2005). Individuals with families want to spend more time with their families on vacations and leisure time. The increase in youth activities together with their ability to

Violent Video Game Debate Essay Example for Free

Violent Video Game Debate Essay Hook: A lot of people in this room alone have probably at least once played a violent video game or at least have seen someone play a game that is violent. Games such as Call of Duty, Halo, or Gears of War. Heck I own all three of those games, but that’s beside the point. What good can come out of playing games where you repetitively kill others and see some ridiculous gory images? Honestly what good can come out of this when developing minds are playing games where they shoot peoples heads off over and over? Like I said, yeah I myself have played these games and haven’t really thought about the effects of playing them but the statistics and studies don’t lie when it comes to linking violent video games with increased aggression in mainly teenagers, and to play the games so much to where it numbs your mind and you have no concept of what is actually going on in reality around you. Argument 1: Research finds that children who play violent video games can become violent themselves, but are these people just mimicking what they see on the screen or do the games leave lasting effects on the brain? I mean that would be pretty messed up if a video game could have negative lasting effects on the brain right? Well†¦ Time Magazine reported on a study conducted by Dr. Vincent Mathews and his colleagues at Indiana University where they took a group of 28 students all young adult males and they randomly assigned the students to play either a violent, first person shooter game or a non-violent one every day for a week. None of the the participants had much previous gaming experience. At the beginning of the study, researchers used functional MRI to scan brain activity in the participants, while they completed lab-based tasks involving either emotional or non-emotional content. A week later after playing their games every day for that week they were scanned again as they repeated the same tasks. At the start of the study, researchers used functional MRI to scan brain activity in the participants, all young adult men, while they completed lab-based tasks involving either emotional or non-emotional content. The participants were then scanned again while they repeated the same tasks, after a week of playing the video games. Researchers found that those who played the violent video games showed less activity in areas that involved emotions, attention and inhibition of our impulses. â€Å"Behavioral studies have shown an increase in aggressive behavior after violent video games, and what we show is the physiological explanation for what the behavioral studies are showing,† says Matthews. â€Å"We’re showing that there are changes in brain function that are likely related to that behavior. † It’s not clear how long-lasting the changes may be. When Matthews brought the participants back after a week of not playing video games, their brain activity had changed again, reverting to more normal reactions, but their brain functions still weren’t quite the same as before they were exposed to the violent games. Following playing the game they put the participants through some tests where it was clear that the students who played the violent first person shooter game showed signifigantly less activation of the emotional centers of the brain. Meaning the games had left their brain unable to show proper emotions or reactions to what’s going on around them. The brain changes don’t appear to be permanent, but documenting that the brain does change in response to playing a violent game — even just for two hours a day for a week — is a significant advance in understanding how young players may be affected by these games. The brain changes that Matthews’ group saw were similar to those seen in teens with destructive sociopathic disorders, and his results, along with those from previous studies showing shorter-term effects, have been used in court cases by parents and others hoping to limit violent game play among young children. Do you think its messed up that the patterns observed in that study were the same as those with destructive sociopathic disorders? Argument 2: So now that you know for a fact that violent video games effect the brain in a bad way, but what else could they effect? Teen driving habits and reckless driving for teenagers. A group of researchers at Dartmouth College did a study where they found a shockingly positive correlation in risky driving habits with teenagers that played violent video games that involved driving such as Grand Theft auto. The researchers interviewed a group of teenagers when they first got their license that played these games, and a group that didn’t play the games. After time they checked up on their study participants and found that the ones that played the games were involved in a substantially larger number of wrecks and received a lot more tickets. Not only did the group that played the violent video games get in more wrecks and receive more tickets, there was a large number from this group that admitted to driving drunk where the group that didn’t play these games had no admittances to driving under the influence. The researchers of the study propose that violent video games change a young players self-perception, so that they see themselves as someone who does risky things. In other words, they are suggesting, the players try to become more like the characters they are controlling on screen. Recap: Good: Nothing. Bad: A lot.. Lasting negative effects to the brain, increased aggression, positive correlation with reckless and drunk driving with teenagers. Hmmm I’ll let you decide. Argument 3: By looking at this kid, would you say he looks like a murderer? I don’t think so. But here’s his story on how his strong addiction and how what I talked about in the first study directly ties into his case of murdering his mother and shooting his father all because of the video game Halo 3. The controversy between Daniel and his parents began when they forbade Daniel from buying and playing the Xbox 360 game Halo 3. Petric’s sister, Heidi Petric, testified in court that Daniel never played the game until he contracted staphylococcus infection from a jetski injury and was housebound. Petric was introduced to the Halo franchise while at the house of his friend, the Johnsons. His father, Mark Petric, was a minister at the New Life Assembly of God in Wellington. Both parents objected the idea of their son playing a violent game with adult ratings and did not find it suitable for him. Mark testified that Daniel sneaked out of the house one evening and purchased the game without either of the parent’s knowledge. While housebound, Daniel would sometimes play the game for up to 18 hours at a time without taking a break. After his parents found out that he had gone against their wishes and purchased the game, they immediately took the game away and locked it in a safe that also incidentally concealed a 9mm Taurus PT-92 handgun.

The Financial Crisis Of 2008 Finance Essay

The Financial Crisis Of 2008 Finance Essay There were many economic and political factors that lead to the financial crisis of 2008. Specific regulations, companies overstepping their boundaries with leverage, and the housing market bubble are only a few that have been said to have caused it. All of these factors were very important, and some of them are still happening today. The following four companies were on the front pages of almost every newspaper during this time, Bear Stearns Co., Lehman Brothers Holding Inc., Washington Mutual, and JPMorgan Co. To understand how these companies became major players in the financial crisis, the history of the companies must be shown. Bear Stearns Co. began when three men named, Joseph A. Bear, Robert B. Stearns and Harold C. Mayerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [Invested] $500,000 in capital to start one of the biggest independent investment banks in history. (11) Bear Stearns Co. came to be an extremely strong company. During the stock market crash, the firm [laid] off none of its employees. (11) Bear Stearns was always a strong company and it was not until 2007 that the company had its first quarterly loss. (11) To investors of a public company, over eighty years of profits means someone is running the company right. But once that first loss happened, the stock price sunk for the first time in company history. Lehman Brothers Holding Inc. was originally a small shop (4) that Henry Lehman opened when he moved to Alabama. After [Henrys] death in 1855à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Lehman Brothers evolved from a general merchandising business to a commodities broker that bought and sold cotton. (4) Lehman Brothers helped fund many major companies that are still around today. Some of these companies include Paramont Pictures, 20th Century Fox, RCA, Haliburton, according to (4). Lehman Brothers kept growing even through the Great Depression, making it one of the largest and strongest financial services firms in the US. Washington Mutual originated in 1889 [as] Washington National Building Loan and Investment Associationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ and [lent] its first $700 to build a house in Ballard. (8) Almost twenty years following, the banks name was changed to Washington Mutual Savings Bank. In April 1990, (8) Kelly Killinger was named the companys CEO. Within the next six years, WaMu acquired 16 smaller banks in Washington, Oregon, Utah and California. (8) In the year 1999, [Washington Mutual] buys subprime lender Long Beach Financial, which writes mortgages for people with less-than-stellar credit. This acquisition was a smart move for Washington Mutual to make more money, but it ends up coming back to haunt them in less than ten years. JPMorgan Chase Co. is one of the oldest, largest and best-known financial institutions in the world. (9) JPMorgan Co. started as The Manhattan Company in 1799. (9) JPMorgan Co. merged with many different big name banks and financial institutions of the time. Some of these banks included, Chase Manhattan Bank, Bank One, and The Bank of Manhattan. (9) JPMorgan Co. has also helped numerous big companies start and go public. JPMorgan helped create ATT, GE and U.S. Steel and also helped Apple Computers go public. There are a few different theories of the causes of the financial crisis. One theory is that Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and the FHA caused a housing bubble because they were loaning to lower income people that could not afford the mortgage payments after the ARM payments increased over a short period of time. ARM stands for adjustable rate mortgage, which means, when a house is purchased, there is a low interest rate that people like and can easily make the payments. However, the following year, the payment includes a higher interest rate, which is harder to pay, but still manageable. Then a year or so after that, the interest rate increases to an even higher percentage and this payment is too much for the homeowner to make the payment. The high interest on top of the principal made the mortgage payments so high that the number of foreclosures increased at a very rapid rate. Foreclosures are legal [processes] by which a bankà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦takes a homeowners propertyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [And ] is the result of non-payment of the mortgage. (3) Soon after, people owed more money on their house than it was originally worth. This caused a panic in the housing system because homeowners that have had their house for years still owed more than their house was worth. This became a huge problem for investors as well. Some people like to invest in houses and flip them to make a quick profit. Flipping a house is when a house is purchased at a cheap price and is then renovated and sold for a quick profit. These investors were able to buy the house for cheap, but since they were considered dealers instead of brokers, they had an inventory of houses that they could not sell. Having to make mortgage payments on three or four different houses cannot be easy when homeowners are having trouble making one mortgage payment. Many of these investors then had to foreclose on their houses, sending them pretty close, if not, into bankruptcy. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were also major contributors to the financial crisis. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are government owned companies that were created to securitize mortgages, making the market for secondary mortgages larger. Securitizing mortgages is when a large amount of mortgages are combined into one security so investors only need to invest in one bond instead of hundreds or thousands of separate bonds, leaving more risk on the investor. AAA was, at the time, the safest bond that could be purchased on the bond market. Bonds are debt a company issues for investors to purchase, giving the company more money to operate with. Many investors choose bonds to invest in because they are extremely abundant and some are very low risk investments. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were government-owned, so the two most credible credit rating companies rated them as AAA. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae had been investing in mortgages that were eventually going to overturn; the bonds were not as safe of an investment as investors thought. This had a major impact on the rating system, making it not as trustworthy, influential or reliable as before. The reputation of credit rating companies has since been hard to trust and will remain questionable for a long time. There were now a countless number of foreclosures on the books of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Homeowners were not paying their mortgage payments because they did not have a reason to if they were going to lose their house. Once mortgages started to lose value to investors and homeowners, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bonds were not as valuable. This caused a downturn in investments and questionable thoughts about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The second theory for the cause of the financial crisis is that greedy bankers knowingly manipulated the financial system and politicians in Washington [took] advantage of homeowners and mortgage investors. (2) This means that back in 2004 when the exemption was passed, the bankers knew that by having fewer liabilities, they could make more money. So, when banks started being able to invest more money compared to their deposits, they were able to stuff more money back into their pockets, making them even richer than before. This was not good because some people say, money is power and investment bankers did not need more power or money to risk. This extended amount of money was unhealthy because the investment banks could risk more of their money and still have enough capital to cover the bank, if needed. The third and most thought out reason for the financial crisis has ten separate factors, leading to the real answer. (2) According to (2), the ten factors are a broad credit bubble, a sustained housing bubble, excess liquidity, failures in credit-rating and securitization transformed bad mortgages into toxic financial assets, managers amassed enormous concentrations of highly correlated housing risk, risk of contagion, common stock, rapid succession of ten firm failures, and severe contraction in the real economy. The factors listed above are not blaming one person or organization for something they did. These are rational reasons that could have caused the crisis and could have made it easier to calm. However, it is dangerous to conclude that the crisis would have been avoided only if we had regulated everything a lot more, had fewer housing subsidies, and had more responsible bankers. The crisis happened on a much bigger scale than what anyone could have predicted or prevented. The financial crisis of 2008 all started when Christopher Cox, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, passed an exemption on the regulations for the big five investment banks. The meeting on April 28, 2004 was an urgent plea by the big investment banks. (1) These investment banks were looking for a way to raise their leverage ratio. It is said that at Bear Stearnsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [The leverage ratio] rose sharply, to 33 to 1 (1) shortly after the exemption was passed. The leverage ratio is the ratio between a companys liabilities and common equity. This was a major advantage to Bear Stearns, and the other big investment banks, because they could have a significantly lower amount of their deposits on hand than they were able to before. According to Harvey Goldschmid, a higher leverage ratio means if anything goes bad, it will be an awfully big mess.(1) This statement held true as we see today. On March 16, 2008, Bear Stearns made a deal with JPMorgan Chase Co. (12) This saved Bear Stearns from filing Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Bear Stearns collapse was only the beginning and nobody could stop the economy from being blind-sided. Bear Stearns spiraled from being healthy to practically insolvent in about 72 hours. This was bad news for the entire economy. Bear Stearns experienced one of the largest bank runs in the history of the U.S. A bank run is when many depositors withdraw their money from a bank in a short period of time because the public does not have any confidence in the banking system as a whole. The public panics because they want to make believe their money will be safer outside of the bank. Bank runs do not occur nearly as often as they did before the FDIC. The Federal Deposit Insurance Company ensures depositors that their money will be safe from bank runs by insuring up to $250,000. A bank run can not only shut down a poorly operated bank but could also shut down a healthy bank. JPMorgan, backed by the New York Fed extended a sure line of credit that [gave] Bear Stearns at least 28 days to shore up its finances orà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ find a buyer. (12) Bear Stearns was in immediate trouble and people were starting to believe they wouldnt make it out of that one. JPMorgan agreed to pay a mere $2 a share to buy all of Bear [Stearns]. (13) This was a huge discount for JPMorgan because just one year earlier the stock was around $159.36. (14) This was an extreme drop in the price of a once highly valued stock. According to (14), the actual percentage of the price JPMorgan purchased at compared to the 52 week high was a 98.7 percent drop. This was by far the most dramatic drop in stock price in the 21st century, hoping to not be passed up in the near future. Lehman Brothers was a major factor in the financial crisis of 2008, not because the company was the reason of the crisis, but because Lehman Brothers was the largest bankruptcy case in the history of the United States. (6) The bankruptcy was approximately 691 billion dollars in assets. On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ under chapter 11of the United States Bankruptcy Code.(5) According to the Chapter 11 Bankruptcy form, Lehman Brothers had over 150 billion dollars of bond debt and over 2.5 billion dollars in bank debts. On May 31, 2008, Lehman Brothers had total assets of 639 billion dollars and debts of 613 billion dollars. This is far from what the leverage or debt ratio should be in a major investment bank. Immediately following the Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual collapsed, causing one of the largest banks to also file for chapter 11 bankruptcy. The bankruptcy was preceded by a large amount of withdraws from the bank in a short amount of time. This is called a bank run. According to (7), Washington Mutual had a $16.4 billion dollar run on deposits in as little as a few days. So, after Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, the public started to get a little uneasy because they thought Lehman Brothers was a sound company. This resulted in many depositors of Washington Mutual to withdraw all or most of their funds. Moodys and Standard Poors are credit rating companies that are believed to have had a say in the financial crisis of 2008. Investors are very reliant on credit ratings, especially when it comes to bond investments. When purchasing a bond, there are ratings, which are related to the safety of the bond. An AAA bond rating is considered the safest bond that can be purchased and any bond with a rating of BB or lower is called a junk bond. A junk bond is considered to be a risky investment because it has a higher default risk than AAA bonds. Default risk is the risk that the borrower will not pay either interest or the principle back. For instance, the U.S. government treasury bonds have a lower default risk rate than Greek government treasury bonds. As earlier mentioned, Bear Stearns Co., Lehman Brothers Holding Inc., Washington Mutual, and JPMorgan Co. were major players in the financial crisis. It is hard to choose which theory is correct, but the third theory is the most reasonable because there is never only one factor that goes into changing the economy so drastically.

The Effective Advertising And Misleading Consumer Economics Essay

The Effective Advertising And Misleading Consumer Economics Essay Effective Advertising and Misleading Consumer Over the past few decades advertising has been an important marketing strategy. Advertising is always subjected to change because peoples taste, demographic, cultural and socio economic factors change always. Consumers changing response to advertising is essential to develop more effective and efficient marketing strategies. Chanjin (2000) developed a varying-parameter advertising model specifying advertising parameters as a function of advertising strategies and the market environments to explain the varying nature of the advertising responses. The model is applied to New York City fluid milk market and he concludes his findings that advertising strategies and market environment play important role in determining advertising effectiveness and he further concludes that demographic factors are more important than economic factors(Chanjin, 2000). Companies change their advertising strategies time to time to attract customers as well as keep the existing customers with their products. B ut in some developed countries they have their own self regulatory system in order to stave off the government intervention. Harker(2003) states in his published article that despite claims of social and economic benefits, advertising has always had its critics. However, when dealing with unacceptable advertising, advertisers in developed countries usually choose a self-regulatory approach in order to stave off government intervention. The recent breakdown of one of the worlds longest established advertising self-regulatory programmes in Australia has reopened the 20 years old debate concern with enhancing understanding of such regulatory system(Harker, 2003).Though he states like that , even in some developed countries the advertising misleading consumers significantly sometimes very badly. To face to the race of businesses, companies use varies marketing strategies to attract and retain consumers with their products. Advertising is one of the most efficient marketing tools that most widely used in the world. The issue is it has become a main tool or a media where consumers are misled for products or services. Expressing the finding of the result of his research paper, Howard (2005) says over half of the sample viewed most or all mail and telephone advertising as misleading, and that 38 percent of the respondents regarded most or all television advertising as misleading. Also, findings for the Age groups indicate that two out of three respondents regarded most or all advertising directed at children as seriously misleading (Howard, 2005). Advertising has become a powerful emotional promotion method and now there is a trend of sending advertisements via mobile phones even without prior permission. But Melody(2004) points out those consumers generally have negative attitu des toward mobile advertising unless they have specifically consented to it(Melody, 2004). Generally in most countries attitudes toward the quality and information containing in advertisements are not in a good scale. Richard (1993) explains in his paper that a comprehensive model of attitudes toward advertising includes three personal utility factors (product information, social image information, and hedonic amusement) and four socioeconomic factors (good for economy, fostering materialism, corrupting values and falsity/no-sense). He tested these seven factor model on two independent samples and found most respondents exhibited conflict between an appreciation of the personal uses and economic value of advertising and an apprehension of cultural degradation(Richard, 1993). False information in advertisements significantly decreases the credibility of the product. That is why some standard organizations validate their advertisements before broadcast or expose to general public. Ste phen (1998) conducted a study to investigate whether consumers who are exposed to an advertisement containing a deceptive environmental claim have significantly different attitudes about the advertisements than those consumers exposed to a similar non-deceptive advertisement. He conclude the study mentioning that higher levels of perceived deception were associated with lower level of perceived corporate credibility, less favourable attitudes towards the advertisement, less favourable attitudes toward the advertised brand, and decreased purchase intention toward the product in the advertisement(Stephen, 1998). Marketing Pharmaceuticals-Increasing trend Marketing pharmaceuticals are very dynamic and innovative subject especially in this current business arena. Pharmaceutical industry is one of the most profitable businesses in all over the world. Kesic(2008) states that the world pharmaceutical industry has been changing profoundly in the last decade. Intensive globalization, increased competitiveness and the fight for global market shares create new challengers for pharmaceutical companies. Not only in pharmaceutical industry, but also in most of the business entities, profit maximization is a core objective. However, Chandra(1999) points out that pharmaceutical product companies are not like most other companies because most other companies do not deal with a product which directly affect human health. Reinhardt(2004) highlights that it is not clear that the current allocation of the pharmaceutical industrys revenue dollars to marketing and research development is efficient for societys point of view(Reinhardt, 2004).Kesic (2008) concludes that basic research and development(RD), together with marketing and sales activities two of the most important operative and even more strategic priorities of the world pharmaceutical industry. Having analysed these figures he has found that the biggest, inventive world pharmaceutical companies invest, on average, approximately 16% of their sales into RD and even more, about 26% or more into marketing and sales activities(Kesic, 2009). Drug companies really spend ample amount of money for marketing especially for direct-to-consumer advertising. Lisa(2008) says according to the IMS health report in 2006 in America, drug companies has spent nearly 5 billion on direct advertisements to consumers, and 80 percent increase over what they were spending in 2002(Lisa, 2008).Likewise Chiu(2005) explains that according to the National Institute for Health Care Management, U.S consumers spent $154.5 billion on prescription drugs in 2001.This amount to 10% of total health spending, wh ich account for 14.9 % of the U.S GDP as of 2002.In a publication Parker(2003) states that there is a little doubt that the pharmaceutical industry is a major force in todays economy as measured by both over-the-counter(OCT) and prescription drug sales and further more he says that it seems clear that there have been rather dramatic increases in advertising expenditures by pharmaceutical companies in the past few years. It also seems clear that these expenditures have coincided with significant increases in sales of both OTC drugs and prescription drugs(Parker, 2003). Promoting drugs to consumers directly has become a new trend in all over the world and many pharmaceutical companies have experienced it as a very effective way to market their products. Wilkes et al(2000) points out that direct to consumer drug(DTC) advertising of prescription drugs is affecting patients, doctors, and health care organizations in profound but not always predictable ways. Not only have the numbers of drugs advertised increased, but so have the drug companies advertising budgets directed at consumers. Wilkes et al (2000) further state that several news sources had suggested that drug manufactures earnings have directly benefited from this new promotional strategy(Michael, 2000). According to Moynihan et al(2002)theres a lot of money to be made from healthy people they are sick. Some forms of medicalising ordinary life may now be better described as disease mongering: widening the boundaries of treatable illness in order to expand markets for those who sell and deliver treatments(Moynihan, 2002). Director of research and policy at the National Institute for Health Care Management, Findlay(2000) concludes that Advertising works and pharmaceutical companies have successfully promoted their product to doctors for decades. They are now bringing that marketing survey to the consumer market place. The question is whether -over time-the benefits of raising consumers awareness of specific drugs and the conditions the medicines treat will outweigh the danger that consumers will bring to demand and use some medicines inappropriately(Findlay, 2000). Over-The-Counter Drugs and Paracetamol Advertising Over-the-counter drugs can be purchased any amount without a prescription anywhere in the world. But some researchers have pointed out having some sort of mechanism for issuing these drugs to consumers may reduce misuses. Trends towards greater availability are paralleled by increase in its use for both non-fatal overdoses and suicide. Paracetamol related morbidity and mortality seem to be less frequent in France where the quantity of paracetamol in a single purchase is limited. Although non conclusive, these data add to a body of evidence which suggest that restrictions in the quantity of paracetamol available as a single purchase in other countries can reduce suicide and liver failure related to paracetamol(D Gunnell, 1997).Most of these over-the-counter drugs are advertised frequently in mass media to get and keep attention of consumers on those products. Ashish(1999) in his research paper states that manufactures may attempt to familiarize consumers with brand names in hopes that the consumer will purchase product. The consumer may think that he has heard of this product and assume that it is somehow better than competitive product(Ashish, 1999).In his research paper Hawton(2004) clearly states that suicides and hospital admissions due to paracetamol poisoning reduced after change in legislation which is limiting the size of the available pack of the paracetamol for consumers and in his study he concludes that legislation reducing pack size of analgesics in the United Kingdom has been beneficial and further reduction in pack size could prevent more deaths(Hawton, 2004). Over the counter drug usage among children is very common. Allotey(2004) mentions in his recently published paper Research on the medication of preschool-aged children has suggested that the use of OTC medication is substantial. Kogan et al for instant, found that 54% of three year olds in the United States has been given OTC medications in the 30days preceding the study. In a common survey in New York, 22% of children have taken OTC medication in the preceding 3 day period. Studies in United Kingdom also indicated high rate of OTC medication use among children, ie,28% during a 2-week period and 66% during a 4-week period(Allotey, 2004). Wazaify(2005) emphasizes that increasing availability of non prescription medicines may encourage patients to believe that there is a drug treatment for every ailment. Furthermore, he explains the use of such products may delay/mask the diagnosis of serious illness, with increased risks of interactions and adverse reactions and of self treatment being undertaken when medical aid should have been sought. There is also the potential for misuse and abuse of such products(Wazaify, 2005). According to the Sri Lankan context there are many proprietary products under one generic product. Senarathna(2008) in her thesis of master of philosophy points out that there are around forty registered product of paracetamol in Sri Lanka(Senarathna, 2008).Weerasuriya(1993) points out there were 63 registered paracetamol products in the country in 1993 and paracetamol was the commonest drug registered in the OTC category(Weerasuriya, 1993). Ethics of Advertising OTC drugs It is clear there is an increasing trend of usage for OTC drugs in all over the world. Wazaify(2005) states that in recent years there have been an increasing trend in self-medication with non prescription drugs available in pharmacies and retail outlets and in parallel, more product have been deregulated for purchase without a prescription(Wazaify, 2005). At the same time Solhaug(2006) concludes in his recent abstract publication that only half of the information presented in drug advertisements was correct and clinically relevant and relatively few statements were fault, but a considerable proportion of statements gave an excessively positive picture of the product; hence, in general, this kind of information has no value as a source of information(Solhaug, 2006).Among the publications those point out that drug advertisements are not up to the standard especially OTC drug, Ashish(1999)states in his publication that in reality, it has been observed that pharmaceutical product advert isers often promote their products to achieve their own goals at the potential risk of having an adverse effect on the consumers health and this type of advertising is most often seen in OTC drug product advertisements(Ashish, 1999). Wazaify(2005) points out that the deregulation process has been championed by the pharmaceutical industry, the pharmacy profession and government health policy makers and is supported by the view that patients wish to have a greater role in their treatment choices. Almost all countries in the world has not allowed to pharmaceutical companies to advertise their product to consumers directly. Stremersh(2009) states in his research paper that so far only two countries, New Zealand and the United States, allow pharmaceutical marketers to advertise directly to consumers and in the same paper he further explains that due to this reason patient requests are often accommodated by physicians mainly because they affect physician visit satisfaction and show patients that the physician cares(Stremersch, 2009). Drugs are categorized into few groups and essentially there are two categories which are OTC drugs and prescription drugs. What is categorized as OTC varies from country to country and is dependent on the local legislative framework according to (Buckley, 2004). Many researchers have pointed out over-the-counter drugs has become a public health problem due to misuse, disease mongering and drug abuse and wrong, in appropriate or inadequate information given in the promotional program may have an impact of this health issue(Ashish, 1999, Allotey, 2004, Fernando, 2008, Buckley, n.d.). While there are government agencies charged with monitoring the marketing of medicines, typically this is one of many briefs for these agencies and is often only in a reactive fashion. In other words such monitoring as does occur, occurs only in response to complaints, and even then is often very slow and cumbersome'(Buckley, n.d.). Buckley(n.d.) urges that two things should be happen to put this issue in a correct track which are establishing independent monitoring bodies to police marketing codes of practice with real penalties and paying increased attention to the education of the consumers of pharmaceutical advertising, in particular those with prescribing pow ers(Buckley, n.d.).In Sri Lanka also the situation is almost same like most of the countries in the world. The government has imposed rules and regulations for promoting and advertising pharmaceuticals within the country. In a paper published by the Sri Lanka medical associations ethics committee recently says that Advertisement to the general public should help people to make rational decision on the use of drugs which are legally available without a prescription. They should take account of peoples legitimate desire for information regarding their health, but should not take undue advantage of their concern for their health. Drug advertisement should neither portray nor be directed at children. Advertisement may claim that a drug can cure, prevent or relieve an ailment only if this can be substantial. They should also indicate, where applicable, limitations to the use of the drug When lay language is used, the information should be consistent with the scientific data sheet or other legally determined scientific basis for approval. Language, pictures or sounds, which bring about undue fear or distress, should not be used. The following list illustrates the type of information that advertisement to the general public should contain The name of the active ingredient, using either international non-proprietary names or the approved generic name of the drug The brand name Major indication(s) for use Major precautions, contraindications for warning Name and the address of the manufacturer or the distributor Information to the consumer on price should be accurately and honestly portrayed(Committee(SLMAEC), 2003). Though the guidelines are clear, there is a doubt of implementing and practicing the guidelines in many countries including Sri Lanka. There is a big challenge and responsibility for the government authorities and regulatory bodies in terms of providing correct information to the consumers. Techniques, methods and effective advertising Pharmaceutical industry is in a pressure and Kesic(2008) states that fast globalization definitively reinforces the consolidation of the world pharmaceutical industry. There are so many challengers in pharmaceutical industry and drug companies running after many strategic moves to have sustainable competitive advantage. Direct marketing products to consumer have become one of the innovative methods to win the market comparatively. Buckley(n.d.) states that in United States all drugs may be promoted to consumer, but in practice direct to consumer advertising focuses on OTC and common ailment targeted prescription drugs(Buckley, n.d.). But some authors support to this argument and they mention direct to consumer advertising makes consumer better understanding and make more informative for drugs available to them(Leonard, 1999, Weissman, 2003). On the other hand some researchers like Maguire(1999) points out that American physicians are being asked to rubber stamp self diagnoses and sel f-prescriptions by patients. That is how some advertisements have been influenced on consumers. Kesic(2009) reveals in his paper that it is no surprise that the biggest world multinational pharmaceutical companies invest more than 25% of their sales into marketing activities in a goal to get considerable global market shares. Supporting to the argument of Kesic, Michael adds that not only have the number of drugs advertised increased, but so have the drug companies advertising budgets directed at consumers; the advertisements have also become far more sophisticated(Michael, 2000). A paper published in Thailand in 2005 on Radio drug advertisement situation and regulation in Thailand says advertising has a strong influence on the sale volume of any goods. Drug advertising covers media such as television, radio, newspaper, magazines, internet and printed materials. It further says that radio advertisements can easily mislead people in rural areas because of socioeconomic and educational status(Kittisopee, 2005). Allotey(2004) mentions that OTC medications promoted through televisi on, radio and print advertising directly targeted at women, housewives or working mothers, encourage them not only to self medication but also to dispense OTC medications to their children, because it is important to establish a lifelong pattern of sensible (drug)use'(Allotey, 2004), Ashish(1999) explains that all pharmaceutical advertising is not bad but advertisements should be considered what they are promotions. Drug marketers should always try to follow the unwritten rules of marketing ethics and consider what is best for their consumers before developing a particular advertising strategy. Nowadays the issue is consumer can purchase any kind of drug online. Buckley(2004) highlights in his paper that consumers can purchase all kind of prescription drugs online often without need for a proper prescription and he further points out that most internet pharmacies provide poor quality information(Buckley, 2004). Moynihan(2002) expresses that inappropriate medication carries the dangers of unnecessary labelling, poor treatment decisions, iatrogenic illness, and economic waste, as well as the opportunity cost that result when resources are diverted away from treating or preventing more serious disease(Moynihan, 2002). How consumers are misled -Reliability, Relevance and adequacy of Advertisements Many research papers point out that drug advertisements mislead consumers in many ways directly or indirectly (Sidney, 2002, Michael, 2000, Ashish, 1999, Findlay, 2000). Though it is a common phenomena in all over the world, a practical guide on understanding and responding to pharmaceutical promotion published by the world health organization recently explains clearly how information is given to consumers in advertisements in developed and developing countries. It says while advertisements from developed countries typically contain nearly all of the information listed in the box, this is not always the case in developing countries(WHO, n.d.). The table below published by Hawkins(1993)in his research paper support to the above argument strongly and in the discussion he states that indications were mentioned more often than the negative effects of medicines. Important warnings and precautions were missing in half of the advertisements while side effects and contraindications in about forty percent. Price tended to be given only in countries where a social security system pays for the medicines(Herxheimer, 1993). Nowadays there is a trend of promoting drugs through internet. Buckley(n.d.)mentions on his research paper that most of the internet advertisements provide less information or poor quality information. Many pharmaceutical companies mislead consumers in many ways. A United States Food and Drug Administration(FDA) has issued 88 letters accusing drug companies of advertising violations from August 1997 to Aug 2002(Buckley, n.d.). Most of the time drug companies overstated the effectiveness of the promoting drug and they always keep attention not to highlight its risk. Some companies disseminate advertisements misleading advertisements even after they were warned or cited for violations(Gottlieb, 2002). Some drug companies stimulate consumers to buy expensive or new drugs which has high profit margin and it raises the health care cost of consumers as well as of the country ultimately. Some drugs promoted by pharmaceutical companies have limited Medical beneficiaries but those are heavily advertised because of the high profit margin. Rebecca(2010) says its almost impossible for the public to actually parse the ads and come to their own independent conclusions(Rebecca, 2010). But Weissman(2003)states in his research paper that industrys argument is that patients are highly motivated to seek the best available treatment for their condition and they need and deserve more and better information on which to base their judgement(Weissman, 2003). It is true if the pharmaceutical advertisements provide proper, balance and correct information to their consumers. A research done in Thailand, sharing the findings says that 22% radio advertisements have misled consumers and only 7% of the advertisements have recommended an appropriate dose among studied advertisements. Further more a warning message was found in only 3% of the advertisements and name of the manufacturers were present only 20% of the advertisements collected(Kittisopee, 2005).Weil(2009) is really against the trend of this drug advertisements. He says many adv ised drugs are not only ineffective, but have serious side effects that are frequently played down (and occasionally cancelled) by manufactures. Because advertised drugs have such vast profit potentials, political and financial interests collude to speed them to market before they have received sufficient scientific scrutiny(Weil, 2009). Now there is a trend of using popular characters for marketing advertisements of drugs and sometimes they are neither reliable nor relevance. In a paper published by Michael(2000) says that Now advertisements enlist well-known personalities to endorse pharmaceutical products (Michael, 2000). Lot of people imitate and follow famous personalities and it help pharmaceuticals to reach consumer quickly and in a familiar manner. Criticizing this promotional tactics Weil(2009) says in his report that Sally Field is a talented actor, But what qualifies her to promote Boniva, an osteoporosis drug that is of limited benefit, has worrisome side effects, and for which there are natural alternatives that merit careful consideration?.(Weil, 2009) Drug companies are in the process of promoting their product to consumers in many ways. Sometimes they may use health care professionals to reach consumers because they know that consumer believe professionals who have background knowledge about treatments. Wazaify(2005) points out in his recent published paper that The main factor found to influence the publics choice of OTC medicines was pharmacist recommendation. This is reassuring especially with increasing availability of potent medications without prescription and the increased potential for interactions(Wazaify, 2005). It is one of the indirect marketing methods that the pharmaceutical industry uses. On the other hand people have a belief that over the counter drugs like paracetamol do not have serious side effects. Some over the counter drugs have serious side effects when consumer uses it with some other medications. A very good example is Viagra used for erectile dysfunction. If consumer use it while using nitrate as a treatment of blood pressure, it cause severe drop of blood pressure which is difficult to treat. Buckley(n.d.)says it has mentioned on advertisements but in a much smaller font, it is You must not take Viagra if you are using any nitrate medication including amyl(poppers). It may lead to a severe drop of your blood pressure that may be difficulty to treat. As sexual activity may be a strain on your heart your doctor will need to check whether you are fit enough to use Viagra(Buckley, n.d.). Buckley points out the ordinary people do not know what is nitrate medications and they cannot recognize from this statement that the combination of these two drugs will enou gh to kill them more often. Supporting to this argument Wazaify(2005) mentions that consumers generally believe that only safe medicines are permitted to be sold without prescription and OTC medicines do not usually have serious side-effects(Wazaify, 2005). Some giant pharmaceutical companies have their own physicians, independent monitoring committees and analytical groups etc. They make aware public some new drugs which are effective treatment for some diseases which are common among current generation and they suggest through advertisements, that it may be effective to use their drugs or supplementary product to prevent from those diseases. This is another current trend in the world and basically what they do is label healthy people that they are sick. Supporting to this arguments Moynihan(2002) express his view in this paper stating that Within any disease categories informal alliances have emerged, comprising drug company staff, doctors and consumer groups. Ostensibly engaged in raising public awareness about undiagnosed and under treated problem, these alliances tend to promote a view of their particular condition as widespread, serious, and treatable. Because these disease awareness campaigns are commonly linked to companies mark eting strategies , they operate to expand market for new pharmaceutical products(Moynihan, 2002). Extensive advertising and promotion has put on higher price on pharmaceuticals. Consumer has become the victim of those expensive pharmaceuticals. Dave(2010)says Promotion may affect price through two difference processes. First, promotion may increase demand and/or reduce the absolute magnitude of the demand price elasticity (that is, reduce the price responsiveness of purchasers), which may raise price. Second, the increasing operation cost due to high promotional spending may be shifted to purchasers in the form of higher price. Concluding his findings he states that in addition to potential misuse, the cost of direct to consumer advertising result from increased drug price and increased use of expensive drugs in place of equally effective lower-price drugs(Dave, 2010). Effect of Misleading Many researchers have pointed out that misleading consumer due to unprofessional advertisement of the pharmaceutical industry has created considerable issue to the society in many countries(Herxheimer, 1993, Dave, 2010, Leonard, 1999, Ashish, 1999). There is a reasonable doubt whether consumers spend money for their real requirements of treatments. Moynihan(2002) says drug companies earn lot of money form healthy people and it is better to describe as disease mongering. He further says whereas some aspects of medicalisation are the subject of ongoing debate, the mechanics of corporate backed disease mongering, and its impact on public consciousness, medical practice, human health, and national budgets, have attracted limited critical scrutiny(Moynihan, 2002). There are people who count this criticism and say Direct To Consumer Advertisements (DTCA) fosters rapid detection of disease and promote grater compliance with treatment regimes. Further more they suggest that DTCA is simply pa rt of a wider social trend whereby consumers take greater responsibility for their health care(Hoek, 2002). Pharmaceutical industry may grab ample amount of money from consumers through unprofessional promotions and advertising drugs. Most of the time heavily promoted drugs may has less clinically importance considering the price as the generic drug provide almost similar clinical effect at a cheap price. Parker(2003),supporting to this argument says Prescription drugs such as Celebrex and Vioxx are heavily promoted and cost the consumer just over $2per pill, while generic ibuprofen, which cost the consumer pennies per pill, often work just as well(Parker, 2003). Effective and attractive advertisement can attract consumer towards the product some times without considering the quality or the value of the product. Ashish(1999) states in his publication that Advertising is thought to contribute to the economy as well. By effective promoting increase in promotion of goods and services may occur, which in turn can result in increase in sales and the flow of money within society(Ashish, 1999).B ut some researchers expresses a different idea about the relationship between drug price and drug advertisements. They point out when drugs are advertised, the market is more competitive and due to that the price of the particular drug reduces. Research has generally found that advertising tend to reduce price, rather than increase them, primarily because advertising makes markets more competitive(Calfee, 2002). Sometimes drug advertisement give wrong information due to many reasons for consumers and it is affected for less dose or overdose usage of drugs. A general problem associated with drug advertisements is that it is a powerful influence which may motivate consumers to select overly expensive, overrated, or less than optimum medications for their particular needs. More specifically, it is possible to identify numerous individual problems associated with the promotional practice(Ashish, 1999). Our culture very much believes in the More in Better principle and consumers sometimes even hospitalized or suffer from serious long term complications due to this misleading information. Galapatti says it is important that media try and make people aware of the side effects and danger of excessive usage of these

Congress And The Presidency Essay -- Political Science

The president is the foreign policy leader for the United States with an important political, military and economic role in the international arena. If there is collision between the president and congress, can congress restrain the president in foreign policy making? The era of globalization has witnessed the growing influence of a number of unconventional international actors, from non-governmental organizations, to multi-national corporations, to global political movements. Traditional, state-centric definitions of foreign policy as "the policy of a sovereign state in its interaction with other sovereign states is no longer sufficient. Several alternative definitions are more helpful at highlighting aspects of foreign policy traditionally neglected. The first views foreign policy as "those external goals for which the nation is prepared to commit its resources". By focusing on what a country does rather than what it says, this pragmatic definition usefully separates a country's rhetoric from its true intent and its material capabilities. However, lack of action can also constitute a policy-the policy of an isolationist state is defined by its very unwillingness to commit resources. A second conceptualization of foreign policy is as "the range o f actions taken by varying sections of the government of a state in its relations with other bodies similarly acting on the international stage...in order to advance the national interest". Notable here is the recognition that governments do not act as monolithic, static entities, and that non-state actors may at times be as influential as states. However, the assumption that governments always know what is in the "national interest" and always rationally work towards its realiza... ... President's interests. The number of Vice Presidents who have later become President suggests that this concern may not be entirely incomprehensible. The enormous amount of infighting and politics between (and within) departments should not be underestimated. Factions are formed, rumors spread, information leaked, and consensuses forged. When making decisions, each department "will tend to concentrate on acquiring information that protects and advances its own interests or its view of the national interest". This inevitably leads to oversimplification and a favoring of men and women of action rather than deep, strategic thinkers, whose voices tend to get lost in the fray. One of the attributes of a good President is the ability to recognize and rectify imbalances in his administration. Failure to do so can lead to an unrepresentative and irresponsible foreign policy.

humans doing their best :: essays research papers

We human beings are a very unique creature. We have the ability to communicate through words, actions, and visions. We also strive to be the best that we can be. Whether at sports, school, or work we all want to be to the leaders of our field. That is why with my guidance and leadership we can grow not only as individual people but as a group of people as well. As you all know, my door is always open to suggestions and comments. If you feel hat something might work better than the way it is being handled let me know. Also, I shall make sure everyone is treated fairly and justly. In our country everyone will be treated equally regardless of their wealth or status, which we all desire. Here, no one will be overworked or underpaid; we will all share the revenue that is created by our fellowman. Lastly, there will be low taxes which will go toward funding our military. Our military will be used to protect citizens so they will not live in fear, it will not be used to police our peop le, like fascists. In the end communism will benefit us by allowing everyone to feel safe and equal. Since we are a communist community I shall be speaking for all of us. But that does not mean you have no say in what goes on. As your leader, I shall keep you all posted on what is happening locally as well as internationally. Unlike democracy, bills will be passed in a timely fashion because there will not be political parties arguing. Also, everyone will have the resources that they need which will eliminate competition for basic necessities, such as food, clothing, housing and education. Furthermore, unlike democratic politicians this government will be honest with its' people. No one under this government would be ruled with an "iron fist," like in fascism, instead the punishments that people receive will be given in accordance with the crimes they commit. First of all lets talk about the rules. Rule number one is no killing. Those who fail to do so will be subject to torture of the victims families' choosing. Second, no stealing. Stealing will result in forced payment of double the value of the item stolen, and in the case that the thief is poor, he or she will do community service equivalent to a dollar a day until they have paid off double what they have stolen.

The Human Genome Project :: Science Genetics Papers

The Human Genome Project Imagine having the recipe to make a human being. Knowing its entire genetic make-up from beginning to end. Sounds far fetched, well it isn’t with the latest scientific achievements in sequencing the Human Genome. It’s only a question of how far we will take this information to get an understanding of its full potential. The Beginnings: Long before there was a formal Human Genome Project (HGP), the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Institute of Health (NIH) and some of their predecessor agencies were interested in developing more sensitive methods to detect changes in our genetic make-up, induced by ionizing radiation, and to begin understanding the related health effects due to this type of exposure. It has been know for some time that the genetic-information containing deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the molecule in the cell that is the most sensitive to the effects of radiation and other pollutants, even at low levels. One can only begin to imagine the impact it will have, in the pharmaceutical, and medical fields as well as how research will change, once we have our complete genetic make-up spelled out.(www.ornl.gov/hgmls/publicat/judges/aren.html) In 1984, researchers got together at a conference to discuss a single question. The question being asked was if modern DNA research provided an adequate way of detecting genetic mutations. Particularly, if there was sufficient evidence to indicate an increasing mutation rate in those people and their descendants, who survived the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. The overwhelming conclusion was, not yet, and so this was the underlying question-answer series that sparked the idea for the formation of the Human Genome Project. (www.ornl.gov/hgmis/publicat/tko/01_forword.html) In 1988, the DOE and the NIH signed a memorandum joining them in a combined effort to sequence the human genome. Then just two years later, on October 1, 1990 the official clock began counting down, signaling the journey and adventure to sequence the entire human genome. (New England Journal of Medicine, July 1, 1999) It was evident that once this project was completed it would furnish a highly detailed and accurate genetic reference guide that others could use to build on, without having to repeat the sequencing process from scratch. Originally the goal of the project was to have a completely sequenced genome within15 years. Due to improved sequencing techniques and the increased competition generated by the private sector, a "highly accurate" version of the human genome is set to be completed by the year 2003.