Community Health Advocacy Essay

The levels of prevention in epidemiology help provide a framework for health professionals to intervene and prevent disease, injury, or disability. What is epidemiology? The World Health Organization (2014) states â€Å"epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events and the application of the study to the control of disease and other health problems† (para. 1). The National Asthma Education and Prevention Guidelines data showed that exacerbations of acute asthma episodes have gotten more severe over the years (Dougherty & Fahy, 2009). In 2010, one out of eleven children was diagnosed with asthma (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). Children are presenting with a combination of symptoms that show an increase in severity with expiratory airflow and decreased lung function testing (Dougherty & Fahy, 2009). When children present with shortness, wheezing, chest tightness or cough in school, the student has to report to the school nurse for their asthma protocol treatment ordered by a physician. If symptoms are not easily controlled, the child may have to be treated in and outpatient setting. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014), children missed a total of ten million days of school and cost the United States fifty-six billion dollars a year for treatment. In 2009, the yearly average cost was $1,039 per child with asthma. The Healthy People 2020 made pediatric asthma an initiative due to the increasing prevalence and cost in the United States. Epidemiology Framework The epidemiology framework consists of three levels of prevention; primary, secondary and tertiary. Primary prevention strive to reduce the occurrence rate of new cases in disease. Primary prevention approach to promoting a healthier lifestyle is to emphasize on educating individuals on risk factors  and protective strategies. A primary prevention strategy for asthma patient is educating on avoiding cigarette smoke, insect allergens, molds and pet dander (Agency for Toxic Substance & Disease Registry, 2010). Secondary prevention concentrates on early recognition and fast treatment of the disease. This level of prevention focuses on slowing down the progression of the disease process and decreasing the impact of the disease process on an individual or community. There are a number interventions that one can do to reduce the exposure to allergens, pollutants, or irritants that may trigger an asthma episode. Schools and homes may use a free standing air purifier for rooms, purchase a vacuum with an HEPA filter or us an HEPA filter in the air duct system. These systems help to eliminate animal dander, smoke, air pollution, molds, dust mites, and animal allergens. Several schools have introduces reading dogs in the elementary schools to reduce the fear of reading. Depending on the severity of the allergy, the student many not be able to be in the classroom. Families can select a pet that has low dander levels. It is difficult to get out dander and dust particles out of the carpet, hardwood floor may need to replace the carpet. Tobacco smoking affects approximately forty-two percent of children between the age ages of two months to eleven years of age (Agency for toxic substances & Disease Registry, 2010). Educated tobacco smokers the effects that tobacco smoke can have on the respiratory system in people of all ages. Tertiary Prevention strategies is implemented to stabilize and restoring functionality from damage that has resulted from a chronic disease. Education on medication compliance for pediatric patients and families is key for this level of prevention. Ecosystem Model The ecosystem of children’s health is a complex model that has the child and family at the center of the core (Friedman, 2010). Circling the center core are individuals and organizations that interrelate closely with the child and family such as schools, faith community, doctors, community services, and environment (Friedman, 2010). The further circle in the model are health insurance agencies, businesses, philanthropy, and research (Friedman, 2010). The model identifies several areas that impacts childhood asthma. First looking at the genetics of the child and then assessing the social, natural, and built environments that influence acute asthma attacks for the  child. These are all areas that need to be closely examines to figure out why children are having amplified severity during an acute asthma attacks. Frequency and duration of asthma attacks affect children’s social and academic life. Reference Asthma. (2014). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved fromhttp://www.cdc.gov/asthma/children.htm Daugherty, R. & Fahy, J. (2009). Acute exacerbations of asthma: epidemiology, biology and the exacerbation-prone phenotype. Clinic & Experimental Allergy, 39(2), 193-202. Environmental triggers of asthma treatment, management and prevention. (2010). Agency for toxic substances & Disease Registry. Retrieved from http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/csem.asp?csem=18&po=9 Epidemiology. (2014). World Health Organization. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/topics/epidemiology/en/ Friedman, R. (2010). How do we bring it all together? Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 73(2). Retrieved from https://www.centerforchildrenshealth.org/SiteCollectionDocuments/CCHAPSReports/CC HAPS-Asthma-WhitePaper.pdf

‘Jasper Jones’ by Craig Silvey Essay

‘In this coming of age story, Charlie must question his conventional notions of what is right and wrong as he navigates small town morality, racism and hypocrisy.’ In the novel ‘Jasper Jones’ written by Craig Silvey, the main character Charlie Bucktin experiences many life changing events that occur throughout the novel, which makes Charlie dramatically change his outlook on life. During the novel Charlie slowly uncovers that life in Corrigan is made up of rumours and lies. Charlie learns a great deal about himself, others, Corrigan and important decisions that teaches him some of life’s great lessons. The protagonist of the novel Charlie Bucktin is an innocent little boy until he encounters the ‘fearful’ character Jasper Jones when he appears at Charlie’s bedroom window one night by surprise. Charlie changes his thoughts from right to wrong completely. The town’s thoughts of Jasper are unbearable and should stay away from him. The major event that brings the two boys together is the brutal death of Laura Wishart. Jasper taking Charlie to where Laura Wishart’s body is, which then Charlie has to face make a decision whether he can keep it a secret it or not. ‘No, it’s too late. Like Jasper Jones, I have seen what I Have seen. I am involved.’ Charlie makes the choice to keep it a secret from the people of Corrigan. Charlie now starts telling lies to people to protect the ones that he loves. ‘How strange and unsettled I am. Like a snow dome paperweight that’s been shaken†¦Everything in my world that was steady and sure and sturdy has been shaken out of place, and it’s now drifting and swirling back down in a confetti of a debris’ Charlie compares himself to a nobody before he meets Jasper Jones, but after Charlie has officially meets Jasper he feels as though he has purpose in life. In the small town of Corrigan it is filled with rumours and lies. A huge amount of secrecy and mistrust is conducted by everyone in Corrigan. The lack of tolerance and understanding of each other in Corrigan creates rumours that are untrue, but people still believe them because they have nothing else to believe. A character named ‘Mad Jack Lionel’ is an example of which where the people of Corrigan misjudged him ‘but as the myth grows in girth, so too does our fear of speculation and intrigue for the kids of Corrigan’ thinking that Jack Lionel murdered a women. Realistically he was in a car accident which where the women was  killed. Charlie and Jasper share thoughts on their views of the world, and are clearly outsiders in the community. The thoughts of Jasper Jones in the community of Corrigan ‘a thief, a liar, a thug’ had no impact on Charlie, he ignores all the propaganda targeting Jasper and pursues an unbreakable bond between the two of them. As Charlie uncovers the town of Corrigan, he realises how racist and hypocritical Corrigan actually is. Not only is the town racist to Jasper, but also to Charlie’s best friend Jeffery Lu. Charlie learns through different situations throughout the novel. ‘Jeffery’s parents are Vietnamese, so he’s ruthlessly bullied and belted around by the boys at school†¦But he takes it all astonishingly well, which has always eased my guilt given that I’m answer brave enough to intervene. Jeffery is unflappable’ as Jeffery is bullied so much at school he has never looked back at the bullies; he always has a smile on his face. Jasper is also a target for racism in the town of Corrigan. Being somewhat rebellious half-cast young boy, and not socially accepted because he is indigenous. He is the only indigenous member of the community even though the rest of the community treat him as an outsider. Charlie comes to the conclusion to trust Jasper and not to believe what other people. His learns to not to judge something until you fully understand the situation. The duration of the novel Charlie started off as an innocent little boy, facing many events which made ‘grow up’ and not just think about the importance of himself but by the others around him also. This new found lesson will benefit Charlie later in life as he will make better decisions and back himself, and trust other people which will lead to greater trust and respect between them.

The Case for Birth Control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Case for Birth Control - Essay Example The bulk of the discussion then delved into enumerating the reasons why parents were deemed justified not to bear children who they could not effectively support. In sum, Sanger (1924) actually noted nine (9) reasons why parents were signified, after a thoughtful discourse, not to have children. As closely evaluated, the reasons could actually be classified according to possession of health dilemmas, when children were born with manifested illnesses, economic and financial difficulties (inability to support), with defined prescribed periods for spacing, and with defined prescribed period after before and marriage. ... Likewise, Sanger (1924) contended that this would be made possible through awareness and understanding of responsible parenthood through birth control. Personal Opinion When one first saw the title, it was initially thought of that the subject matter to be discussed would focus mainly on birth control methods; or techniques that would assist married couples in planning effectively the number of children that the spouses could support and sustain. It therefore came to a bit of surprise that the majority of the points presented centered on rationalizing why parents should not have children. Not having children and birth control is actually not perceived as synonymous. A discussion on birth control already presumed that spouses have been aptly prepared on the child rearing and raising; meaning, that is has assumed that the spouses have met all the initial requirements for bearing and raising children: (1) they are emotionally, physically and mentally prepared; and (2) they have the capa city in terms of economic and financial resources to support and sustain an identified number of children, depending on their income level, health condition, and conformity to traditional values and beliefs. One perceived that the points that were discussed on the reasons why parents should not have children were also presented in haphazard or unstructured manner. The reasons could have been structured more effectively by categorizing them according to health reasons; economic or financial stability; age requirements or maturity level; spacing; and other factors, as deemed necessary. It is as seems that the author wrote these reasons in no particular

Information Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Information Systems - Essay Example Best of breed has a lot of advantages over one vendor. First best of breed is deeper and more industry specific. It also creates a potential that minimizes software functionality. The organization also gets the advantage of not getting locked with one vendor. One of the major disadvantages is the cost of ownership due to the expense of buying from different vendors unlike buying everything from one vendor. The best breed also adds a lot of complexity to the footprint of the IT (Hebda, 2009). Meditech is the name of the system used in all of the floors of the hospital. It is where all nurses do their necessary assessment and documentation of various things in the system. The radiology laboratory also uses this system as well as the blood bank to know the amount of blood needed and available at a particular time. The pharmacy departments also use this system to control the flow of drugs in and out of the pharmacy and to store drug statistics. Doctors also use the same system to enter p atient data. This system is available in English and Spanish. The system is interfaced such that it provides an easy to use paradigm. The epic system is the system in use in the emergency rooms. The same system is used in the clinics and the urgent care rooms. This system is not as integrated as the Mediates but also has an easy to use interface. The system interface is HL7. It was specifically meant for use in healthcare facilities. It boasts as one of the most widely used application in healthcare places. Health level 7 provides a good interface that is user friendly. Data entry is made easier by the use of tables and forms. The user is also able to change the interface color to the desired color without any problem. The font can also be adjusted to the desired level depending on the user needs. This is convenient especially for patients and staff members with bad vision. Information security and patient privacy are one of the major challenges faced by most organizations. However for our system, this is maintained by two very convenient ways. By domain authentication each and every user is located a unique address in the database. To get into his/her account, each user needs a user name and a password. The username is unique to every user and the password is generated by the users themselves (Saba, 2009). This makes it very hard for someone to get into confidential patient information without the username and the password. The other way of ensuring security and privacy is through the encryption of data in the hard drive. Data stored in the hard drive is encrypted. Encryption is where the data is stored in different parts. The data is Brocken down into unreadable parts and then stored differently. It is therefore impossible for one to read the data without having the whole parts of the data. This type of data protection is very convenient and ensures that incase of theft of a hard drive, the thief will not be able to decrypt back the data without the other pa rt of the data or the encryption code. Yes I believe the system in my hospital provides enough nursing support. First of all it improves patient safety. This it does by providing a lot of support in decision making among the nurses. Therefore, it reduces any chances of errors being made. The system is also very

Steve Wozniak (Co-Fonder of Apple) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Steve Wozniak (Co-Fonder of Apple) - Essay Example His father was an engineer from whom he was influenced to innovate newer things. His succeeding creativity and creation was the basis of modern computer race that the present generation is experiencing at its best (Cohen, 2011). 2.0 Life and Education Since childhood, he was devoted to electronics items. He had completed the high school education in the year 1968 from California at ‘Homestead High School’. He started the college education in the University of Colorado, and subsequently changed the university; and in the year 1971, Steve Wozniak got admission in the University of California in the city of Berkeley with major in Engineering. At that time, he started to team up with Steve Jobs to create ‘Blue Boxes’ which permit individuals to ‘make long distance call’ (A&E Television Networks, 2011) & (National Inventors Hall of Fame, 2002). 3.0 Family Background Steve Wozniak belongs to a simple family background. His father was an engineer in th e Lockheed Martin, a security and IT organization of the US and his mother was a housewife. When he was only seven years old, his family was transferred to Sunnyvale at California. He got vast knowledge about electronics and other scientific areas from his father. Because of his huge potential and curiosity in inventing electronics materials, Steve Wozniak’s parents had given him electronics sets which included things such as lights, switches and timers. The most vital knowledge he gained from his father was information about transistor, logic circuit and idea about creation of basic gates (AND, OR) which were useful for development of his experience in the field of electronics (Hyman, n.d.). 4.0 Obstacles There were many obstacles that Steve Wozniak faced in his way of creation. He always endeavored to achieve peak position in his creation. After getting employed in the Hewlett Packard for making calculators, he realized it is a type of computer and subsequently knew about t he chip and how it works. Finally, he got an idea of making computer with that chip. As Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak did not have enough money to buy computer, they had developed their individual computer named Apple I, which was a prototype. The plan of making Apple I was generated from designs of TV and typewriter. Wozniak was a member of ‘Homebrew Computer Club’. Both Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs together met with technology sorcerers from the ‘Homebrew Computer Club’. In order to raise the money required to make computer, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs had sold many of their precious assets. By selling the scientific calculator of HP brand and ‘Microbus’ of Volkswagen both had gathered 1300 USD. The money was not enough for making computer which made them to request credit from the home electronic suppliers and consequently arranged their first product line (Srivastava, 1996). The Apple Company was established in the year 1976 by Steve Woznia k and Steve Jobs. They had faced several arguments because of the name ‘Apple’. The first creation of the company was ‘Apple I’ which was sold at 666 USD. Quite rapidly the ‘Apple I’ stroke in the market and they got an order of 50,000 USD. By evaluating the demand of ‘Apple I’, Steve Wozniak had upgraded it and developed ‘Apple II’

Compare and Contrast Looking For Work and An Indian Story Essay

Compare and Contrast Looking For Work and An Indian Story - Essay Example Ethnic minorities give new insights into the notion of the family. In both stories the protagonists do not live in a traditional nuclear family setting. There is no father in the home or he does not play an active role in the life of the main character. The role of the head of the family is played by women: mother and aunt Greta. Soto’s mother impersonates the absent father by acting strict and feigning â€Å"a stern posture† (Soto 29). Mother’s authority in the family becomes evident when the author chooses her to share his ideas about the fist steps in family improvement, i.e. eating turtle soup. Soto’s mother tries to dissuade the main character by indirectly and repeatedly reminding him of his Mexican origin: she switches languages while talking to her son, calls him â€Å"a crazy Mexican† (Soto 29). Thus the family structure in the story is a traditional one since female-headed families are common in Mexican society (Kanellos 69). Aunt Greta, i n her turn, helps solve the problems second marriage of author’s father caused. She adopts her nephew since Indian concept of a family relies on bloodline not wedlock. She plays the part of the head of the family by educating the mind and the heart of her nephew. Basically the family types depicted in both stories are matriarchal. In both stories the choices made by the main characters are influenced by the family considerations. Gary Soto wants the best in life not for himself, but for his family. He dreams of wealth â€Å"that would save us from ourselves† (Soto 27). He talks about being invited to white people’s homes and front gardens as the prospect for all members of his household. Roger Jack’s decision to attend college is influenced by his aunt. She does not press or push him giving him time to â€Å"rest his brains† (Jack 58). His choice of college is based on its proximity to his home and in his first years he frequently goes home. No mat ter how similar the family structures in two stories seem to be, household atmosphere appear to vary. In "Looking for Work" Soto portrays dissatisfaction with his way of life. He is attracted to the polished TV image of quiet, unhurried family routine. The unknown lures the nine-year-old away from the world of scolding, beating, away from commonplace talks and belly laughs at the table. Instead of comfort and understanding, the protagonist witnesses beating and family rifts. Buttered toasts, mashed potato and turtle soup are substituted by the diet of beans and tortilla. The dessert has to be retrieved from the neighbors’ gardens. Soto’s desires and wishes have no impact on his family, he is mocked by his elder brother, and mother makes no attempt at understanding him. Roger Jack, on the contrary, lives in the world of carefully preserved and cherished traditional values. He believes that we â€Å"emulate those we love and care for† (Jack 52). He is taught to ta ke pride in his ancestry; spiritual side of his culture fascinates him. Knowledge is traditionally passed from the elders in the family to the children (Sandoval 73). So aunt Greta plays the part of the educator taking her nephew on trips to the places connected with Indian culture and pow-wows. She is dignified unhurried manners, which makes Jack value her and his culture. Families may differ in the expectations placed on children and parents. In Soto’

Fieldwork project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Fieldwork project - Essay Example Not-A is necessarily impure, a random catchall, to which nothing is external except A, and the principle of order that separates it from Not-A.† Along the same lines, Judith Lorber states, â€Å"from society’s point-of-view one gender is usually the touchstone, the normal, the dominant and the other is different, deviant, and subordinate. In Western society ‘man’ is A, ‘wo-man’ is Not-A† (Lorber, J. 22). Bri could not grasp the concept that his wife was independent, sharing in the same responsibilities. With that, their marriage began to crumble. My personal feeling is his wife realized men have a historical, unfair advantage over women. Men are afforded a greater number of economic resources, such as quality education, higher-paying job opportunities, as organizations tend to be â€Å"monopolized by men† (Lorber, J. 23). Based on my experience, I completely agree with Lorber, and I feel that my perception of Bri’s wife†™s reasons for leaving is accurate. Bri’s wife was a very successful doctor; she did not want to give up her career and â€Å"do most of the domestic labor† (Lorber, J. 23). It is possible Bri and his wife could have negotiated, settling on a compromise that they would both be able to live with, but they failed to do so.

Global Beauty Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Global Beauty Economy - Essay Example The essay "Global Beauty Economy" talks about the model of productive, reproductive and virtual economies at work in the global beauty industry in general and in the Quine Anos more specifically and how these economies are "intertwined" and how the participants make use of these economies as both consumers and producers.The reproductive services included; financial support, beauty creams, hairdressing, and clothing. For instance, Quine Anera’s sisters and cousins donated their best clothes, god fathers took care of the financial arrangements and well-wishers provided room or venue for the event. In case a needed service is not within the reach of well-wishers and family members, the event organizers have to seek for commercial reproduction services that family members of the Quine Anera have to pay or compensate later and this defines the virtual economy. According to the author, virtual economy is the exchange of virtual services for real money of physical products. For insta nce, Quine Anera had to pay for a beauty advice which is a virtual service. Participants in the productive economy serve as consumers to those in the reproductive economy. For instance, Parents who are in the production economy, tend to buy the services of those in the beauticians who are reproductive part of the economy. The chain between the productive and reproductive economy gives rise to virtual economy. Beauty experts and other service rendering individuals commercialize their roles into money earning-profession.

Letter to the Committee Saying Why Brain Rejuvenation Should Not Be Essay

Letter to the Committee Saying Why Brain Rejuvenation Should Not Be Allowed - Essay Example Within the context of brain transplant, a person is only identical to the later person if the later person has the entire body as the earlier person, subsequently, brain rejuvenation results to memory duplication whereby a person’s memory can be used by several other persons. Prior to the suggested â€Å"brain rejuvenation† procedure on Nick, Dr. Mathews performed a â€Å"brain transplant† operation on Julia North and subsequently the members of the committee agreed that Julia North’s life was saved. Perhaps we may need to understand a few basics and events that led to this case. Before this operation, Julia North was a young woman run over by a car in efforts to save the life of a child who wandered onto the tracks. Mary Frances who was the child’s mother had stroke while watching the events unfold. The two victims were brought to this facility where Dr. Mathews performed his ‘Brain transplant’ operation which the committee approved an d agreed that saved Julia’s life. It is also important to note that at the time of accident, the survivor, Julia North’s body was dying and the brain was okay and Dr. Mathews transferred her brain into another body. The committee further agreed that it was Julia’s life that was saved since the survivor had memories of Julia based on the being Julia. While arriving at this conclusion, this committee must have been guided by the sophisticated memory account that provides that when a person is numerically identical to a later person if and only if the person has memories of being earlier person that is so caused in the right way. My objection for this matter rests with Cohen’s views on this matter. Julia North had one up until the time of accident, and another body after the operation. This implies that one person had two bodies. Therefore a person cannot be simply identified with a human body and therefore something must be wrong with the view that the comm ittee had adopted on this case as it implies that if a similar operation were to be carried out on brain transplant, then afterwards this person would be a person with new body since the person with that body has a memory of having a similar case as Julia if caused in the ‘right way.’ Right in this scenario has a particular meaning of interest, and must satisfy three conditions; if a subject experiences some event, this experience leaves a trace in the brain of the event and this trace that has been left is later responsible for content of a memory, then in this way we can say that the memory is caused in the right way. Dear members, we are faced with another problem of a new technique called ‘Brain rejuvenation’ yet to be performed on Nick. While adopting earlier propositions to defend approving Julia’s case we are also suggesting that the same logic as earlier proposed would be applicable and as such the committee is justified in saying that Nick w ould be the survivor of the operation , and I quote, â€Å"Nick would be the survivor of the brain rejuvenation procedure because the survivor would have the memories of being Nick and there would be more than one person of being Nick.† But dear members, Nick cannot be more than one person and this do not seems right. Using the same procedure as advanced in this new ‘brain rejuvenation’ process, the committee has argued that saving Nick’s life will be accomplished by replacing his brain with a duplicated brain from someone else and as such his survival are justified on the premise that the same bodies would be of this new person, say Alex and that Nick would then have Alex’s memories and they remember them in the right way. Premised on the duplication theory, when someone

Week4 report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Week4 report - Essay Example I performed the task of balancing the clearing checks which are deposited in the accounts of the customer. Moreover, I had to deal with the rejected checks which were drawn on the local banks’ accounts (Parker 48). I learned numerous new skills in the past 30 hours such as, I learned to make use of appropriate language and be positive while communicating with others. I was able to be flexible enough to adjust according to the need of work and the requirements of dealing with the customer. I am able to be calm and patient along with being polite to the customers. I learned to be able to keep the customers’ information confidential and to maintain their privacy according to the policy. I have been able to be careful and attentive about the single details and their accuracy. Most importantly in this work experience, I have learned from my mistakes and observed many ways to work out of difficult situations and in different conditions (Fitch 50). I have adopted the troubleshooting skills while facing some problems and handled them during training in the last 30 hours. The problems I encountered made me flexible and enabled me to find out their solutions accordingly. In the fourth week, the problem was that the workers were too busy because of upcoming Eid vacation. Therefore, it was difficult for me to complete my training as there was lesser time. I resolved this issue by being calm and followed the workers patiently. I also took help from the detailed papers to get an idea of the new tasks. Secondly a problem occurred when I forgot to write the customer’s phone number on the check while depositing that could cause trouble in rechecking if any error would be detected in depositing. I verified the customer’s account for the contact number with the help of a worker and then I wrote it on the check. Another problem I faced was that according to the bank policies a check cannot be deposited after 12:00 P.M., that I solved by explaining the customer our

Computer Aided Process Planning Essay Example for Free

Computer Aided Process Planning Essay Process Planning Products and their components are designed to perform certain specific functions. Every product has some design specifications which ensure its functionality aspects. The task of manufacturing is to produce components such that they meet design specifications. Process planning acts as a bridge between design and manufacturing by translating design specifications into manufacturing process details. It refers to a set of instructions that are used to make a component or a part so that the design specifications are met, therefore it is major determinant of manufacturing cost and profitability of products. Process planning answers the questions regarding required information and activities involved in transforming raw materials into a finished product. The process starts with the selection of raw material and ends with the completion of part. The development of process plans involves mainly a set of following activities; †¢Analysis of part requirements †¢Selection of raw workpiece †¢Selection of manufacturing operations and their sequences †¢Selection of machine tools †¢Selection of tools, tool holding devices, work holding devices and inspection equipments †¢Selection of manufacturing conditions i. e. cutting speed, feed and depth of cut. †¢Determination of manufacturing times (2) The manual experience-based planning method The manual experience-based process planning is most widely used. It is mainly based on a manufacturing engineers experience and knowledge of production facilities, equipment, their capabilities, processes, and tooling. The major problem with this approach is that it is time consuming and developed plans may not be consistent and optimum. The feasibility of developed process plan is dependant on many factors such as availability of machine tools, scheduling and machine allocation etc. Computer aided process planning is developed to overcome this problems to some extent.

Marketing Profile Analysis On Pandora Internet Radio Media Essay

Marketing Profile Analysis On Pandora Internet Radio Media Essay For our Group project we will be doing a marketing profile analysis on Pandora Internet Radio. First, we will explain what the company does. Next, an in depth analysis including the site navigation, the Pandora business model, brand interactivity, the brand look, brand personality, their competitors, Pandoras metrics, what kind of consumers use Pandora, how consumers behave, and where Pandora could use room for improvement will follow. In the business model we will look at how Pandora makes their revenue through the different services they offer. Site navigation will describe where each click will take you and how to get from page to page. Brand interactivity explains how not only user can interact with Pandora, but how Pandora can interact with its users. Further, we will see how the brand looks across different formats from computer screens to mobile phones in brand look. Next, in brand personality, we will discuss what kind personalities are embedded in the brand. Also, while looking at competitors we will see how Pandora fares against their top competitors and what they do differently. Pandoras metrics will include the sites traffic, how long a consumer stays connected to a site, and its reach. Finally, when we look at consumers, we will look at how the Net gen is the majority of Pandora users, and how consumers move through the behavior model of acquisition, consumption, and disposition. What is Pandora? Pandora is a Internet radio service created by the Music Genome Project. They started up in 2000 and according to their website its the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken. Users can enter a song or artist and Pandora will play music that you entered, but also music that is stylistically and auditorily similar. They have more than 50 music analyist that study and listen to the music one song at a time, collecting details on every song based on close to 400 attributes that include melody, harmony, instrumentation, rhythm, vocals, and lyrics. According to their website, the typical analyst working on the Music Genome Project has a four-year degree in music theory, composition or performance, has passed through a selective screening process, and has completed intensive training in the Music Genomes rigorous and precise methodology. Pandora never uses any bots or machines to extract data from any of the songs. The songs are always being updated and new songs are continually added to their ever expanding catalogue of titles. Site navigation Pandoras website is very easy to access. The address is http://www.pandora.com/. When the page loads, there are 3 places you can click at the top half of the page. You can register a new account, log-in with a preexisting account, or type in an artist, or song, and immediately begin listening to music. Clicking on the register hyperlink takes you to the registration page and is completely free. The only information needed is an email address, a password, the persons birth year, their US zip code, and their gender. There is a opt-out check box for personalized recommendations and tips. Once everything is complete you can click register for free of cancel. Registering for a Pandora account allows you to save you stations and access them from anywhere. If sign -in is chosen, all that is need is an email address and password. This takes you to all of your saved stations and also allows you to type in a new station or artist. Typing in an artist or song starts playing the music. The bottom half of the page is newer. There is a space where you can click to see the information about the music you are playing, view a mini feed of your profile, select music by genre, learn about how to get Pandora radio on your mobile phone and in your home, and see whats happening in the Pandora video series. Below this feed, you can view concert listings, gift a station where you can make a station and give it to another Pandora user, look at bookmarked songs, and again, go to the video series page. Business model The business model for Pandora is mostly ad driven. Consumers can register for free and begin listening to music immediately. Users are never required to pay anything because it is payed for by the advertisements. However, they have two more aspects to the business model. Once free Pandora accounts reach the 40 hour mark of listening per month, the music stops and you are required to pay 99 cents for unlimited listening for the rest of the month. You can also just come back the next month for another 40 free hours. Each month has the same choice on the limit and they never bill you after the fact of charge you. The final part of the business model is a paid Pandora One subscription account. This offers unlimited listening hours each month, plus no advertisements. It comes with a high stream quality, desktop application, extended interaction timeout, and a mini player. This can be purchased for a subscription for 36 dollars per year. Pandora also has a box through HP that you can purchase to stream music anywhere in your home. It has built in speakers and Wi-Fi connectivity. Aside from music, you can now view the Pandora vise series and look up concerts coming to areas near your town. Pandora is branching out to video and live music avenues. They also work with mobile companies through advertising and putting mobile applications on phones so you can listen to Pandora anywhere instead of just a computer or home device. Pandora allows for users to expand their musical knowledge based on their own personal preferences without requiring the user to purchase songs on a whim. The seemingly archaic days of buy before you try have ended partly because of services like Pandora. Pandora gives users the option to purchase each song multiple ways in a variety of digital formats. One of these methods is to buy a song via iTunes. While the iTunes service itself allows for the sampling of a given song, it does not give users the ability to stream the entire song prior to purchase.    Brand Interactivity Pandora is becoming more that just an internet radio player. Consumers can create a profile much like social networking sites and add friends to communicate with. Users can leave comments on other users profiles, share radio stations, and even find other Pandora listeners. With Pandora mobile applications, users can access this information where ever they are and listen to music straight from their mobile phones. Not only can you search to find song, or artist, you can also take a look at the Pandora video series, which is a video blog that contains videos about music, how the music is made, and where to hear it. Pandora also has a written blog where users can interact and comment on posts. The final point of interactivity is users can see a schedule of local live shows in their area. The list is based on your bookmarks list, thumb up and you station seeds, so the concerts that they show you are going to be based off of what your profile says you listen to and what you like. For each event, you can click on the ticket info button which takes you to the event website, to view the event and get tickets. This can also all be accessed from the mobile phone application. Brand look across formats Pandoras brand look is, for the most part, uniform across its various mediums. The page is identical no matter what browser you chose to view it on. This is extremely important for a service like Pandora. This is because a user might choose to view this content on a computer loaded with a browser that is different from the browser that they usually use Pandora on. An example of this would be a user who usually uses their windows-based computer loaded with Internet Explorer to access Pandora being forced for some reason to use a mac-based computer loaded with Safari. Because of Pandoras uniformity across platforms, this user will be able to use their Pandora on the mac-based computer without the initial learning curve often associated with using new web based services. Pandora is also able to be accessed on various broadband enabled mobile devices. Pandora has taken steps to make their service as uniform and consistent as possible across the mobile devices that might be used to access Pandora. For instance, Pandora accessed on a users Apple iPhone 3G looks almost identical to Pandora accessed on another users Motorola MOTORAZR V3. Furthermore, the page layout on both devices mirrors that of Pandora accessed on the users personal computers. This is another step Pandora has taken in order to reduce any additional learning curve that might be associated with accessing Pandora service on a users mobile device. Brand Personality Pandoras brand personality includes both a mechanical passion for music as well as a passion for connecting users with music that they otherwise might not have had or wanted access to. This mechanical passion for music is made evident by Pandoras Music Genome Project. Because of this mechanical passion, Pandoras brand gives off a scientific vibe. Pandora is also very diverse because no one persons musical taste is exactly like the next person. Musical taste is something that is very unique and Pandora is trying to cater to each persons uniqueness. They know each person is different, which what makes them different from other internet radio stations. Pandora is kind of like the guy that no one really cared about, but then everyone wants to know him because they realized how cool he really is. Major Competitors While Pandora brings many new and unique features to free internet radio, it is hardly the only game in town. Last.fm, Imeem, and Grooveshark are just a few internet radio alternatives to Pandora. Each of these services offers their own take on Internet radio. Lately, Last.fm has taken the position of Pandoras primary competitor. Like Pandora, Last.fm offers users the ability to stream custom playlists based on a users personal preference. While both services share this feature, they have unique and independent ways of doing so. Last.fm employs a technique called Scrobbling to determine which songs rise or fall in popularity. This is accomplished by the user downloading software on their personal computers and ranking their streaming music. With millions of users doing this on a daily basis, this is a great way to crowdsource popularity. Pandora on the other hand is based on The Music Genome Project. This is essentially a database of artist-defined analysis of each song. This analysis is primarily based on the songs musical attributes as well as unique qualities associated with the each song. So one on hand, you have millions of laymen ratings helping to improve the listeners streaming experience, and on the other hand you have a selected group of well trained ears pouring over individual songs to produce unique playlists for the user. Which is better is left up to the individual user. Recently, one of Pandoras competitors, Imeem, has stolen a substantial amount of traffic away from Pandora. Imeem is part social networking site, part internet media service. With Imeem, users interact with each other by streaming, uploading, and sharing music and videos. Imeem also allows users to build and share custom playlists with others directly on Imeems website or via an imbedded Imeem player through external sites such as Facebook and Myspace. Other online music services such as Grooveshark compete with Pandora. Grooveshark allows users to upload, stream, and vote on content similar to Imeem. Grooveshark also incorporates a Pandora-like system for recommending content based on the users personal song choices. With all these great features, why is Groovesharks traffic almost stagnant next to Pandoras mammoth annual growth of close to three million users? Grooveshark users have provided criticism that Grooveshark does not indemnify its users against any unlicensed uploaded content. Essentially, this means that Grooveshark is not responsible for the content that they host. Pandora Site Metrics According to Alexa.com, a website that specializes in web traffic metrics, Pandora is ranked 82nd for United States website traffic. This sandwiches Pandora between Newegg.com, arguably the internets largest electronic retailer, and the United States Postal Service for internet traffic. There are many metrics with which to compare a websites e-traffic and ultimately said websites/services success. The first of these metrics and arguably the most important is a websites daily traffic rank trend. This metric compares Pandoras daily traffic against other websites accessed. According to this metric, daily Pandora traffic has fluctuated over the past year. Currently, Pandora is ranked 371. Another metric with which to compare Pandora to its competitors is the time the average user stays connected to the given website. Currently, the average Pandora user stays connected eleven minutes. In relation to Pandoras previously discussed competitors, Pandora has the longest user retention rate. This compares to Last.fm and Imeems five minute and Groovesharks seven minute user retention rate. The last metric used is Reach. Reach refers to the percentage of global internet users who visit Pandora. According to Alexa, 97.7% of Pandoras users access Pandora from within the United States. This metric shows that Pandora has a strong national user base but should look into expanding their international user base. This is not necessarily the case for Pandoras competitors. Imeem, for example, has an extremely strong user base in Thailand, having a national user base of only 42.8% United States users. Last.fm has a United States user base of 35.2% with the remaining 65% consisting of international users. Ultimately, Pandora will need to begin increasing their international traffic if they plan on sustaining their growth. Customer Profile The types of people we see using Pandora, more frequently, and more often are the Net Generation. They were typically born from 1980-2000 and are anywhere from 10-30 years old. The reason that the Netgeners use Pandora more is because Pandora is a digital product and the Netgeners are growing up in a digital world. They are different from other generation in that their lives are surrounded by digital media. (Tapscott) 73% of youths between the ages of 12 and 17 use the Internet. For most teenagers it is a way of life. So, it is only natural that we see this age demographic using Pandora services. The characteristics of these consumers are as follows according to Tapscott. They have fierce independence because they create online identities and acquire knowledge to make their own decisions. They have and Intellectual and emotional openness and view the world in a global context. They have very free expression and have strong views. They are also very innovative and have a strong desire to be more mature than their predecessors. They investigate things out of curiosity, demands real time and fast processing, are very sensitive to corporate interest, and are very trusting online. Consumer Behavior Acquisition How the consumer gets content from Pandora is that they find it. This is accomplished by typing in an artist name, or song name, and Pandora streams then the content. They also get to choose more or less what they listen too. Also creating a profile helps in the acquisition process. They also get to create stations so that they can the content that suits them best. Consumption The customer consumes content by listening to the music, reading the blogs, or watching Pandoras video series. They can also consume content by getting gift stations from other users and communicating with them through a simple messaging service. Disposition In the disposition process, consumers can bookmark and save songs to remember them later and even use the information so that they can personally own the song. The content never really goes away though. They can listen, watch, or read the duration of the content, but its always there for the consumer to go back and listen, watch, or read it again. Ideas for Growth   Ã‚              The first idea for growth, which I think will also target a larger market, is somehow incorporating their service into automobiles a little better.   Currently, Pandora can only be heard through computers and cell phone with broadband data plans. If Pandora can create a way for people to get internet radio in cars with services, they could reach a larger audience for people that either dont listen to music on their computers or dont have expensive smart phones. A way of implementing Pandora into an already well respected device would be to implement Pandora functionality into satellite radios. It would also be a safer alternative to have something compatible with a car that being distracted by a mobile device.   Ã‚           Next, Pandora needs to begin expanding into the international market. Currently, Pandora has blocked access to users outside of the United States. This clearly explains why Pandoras user base is comprised of 97.7% United States users. Pandora founder Tim Westergren spoke directly on the topic saying: As it stands now, there is still no affordable license for a webcaster to stream legally (ie. abiding by all standing copyright law and properly compensating performers and composers) anywhere outside the US. However, Pandora has publicly stated their commitment to finding a way to provide Pandora service to international users, leaving new potential users with only keep the faithà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Finally, Pandora should look to advertise their paid services more. Even if they dont in publications or Ads, they need to at least start pushing it on their website more. The guess would be that they dont want to seem like they are moving to a paid service, but if they want to stay in this business, more money is what it is going to take and they need to start pushing people to subscribe, or buy products from them. Channel Mix Plan The Channel mix plan for Pandora is Internet. It is the one channel that can reach the maximum number of clients for their business model. They also use a phone application as a channel through mobile Internet service providers. The messaging with customer through both channels is all opt-in only. You will only receive emails if you check a box and any information is only sent or retrievable of you want, or ask for it. Conclusion In conclusion, we have discussed Pandoras business model in detail. It seems that once Pandora can monetize their service appropriately, they will be an extremely, financially, successful digital media venture. Furthermore, Pandora has a great deal of legitimate future growth considering they have yet to expand their service outside of the United States. Ultimately, Pandora has an extremely bright future in the internet radio market.

Developing Corporate Culture within an organisation

Developing Corporate Culture within an organisation As defined in Assignment 1, culture is a set values, beliefs, common understanding, thinking and norms for behavior that are shared by all members of a society. Organizational climate, on the other hand, is the process of quantifying the culture of an organization. It is a set of properties of the work environment, perceived directly or indirectly by the employees, that is assumed to be a major force in influencing employee behavior. In laymens terms, it is the employees opinion of the workplace environment that could have a direct bearing on their performance. For instance, a high performance climate will encourage individuals to do what is needed to meet goals, satisfy customers, and exceed expectations. Likewise, a poor climate will result in loss of confidence in the organization, lower commitment and mediocre performance from employees. There are six factors to evaluation climate, and they are: Clarity Everyone knows what is expected of them. Standards Challenged with reasonable goals. Responsibility Employees given authority to accomplish tasks without checking for approval. Flexibility Employees are recognized and rewarded for good performance. Rewards Employees are recognized and rewarded for good performance. Commitment People are proud to belong to the organization. Using these six factors to assess the climate at the School Employee Retirements System of Ohio (SERS), we can evaluate SERS existing climate from their scores in the Denison Organization Culture Survey. Climate Factors Denison Organizational Culture Survey Score Clarity Vision: 81% Goals Objectives: 82% Strategic Direction Intent: 78% Standards Coordination Integration: 87% Agreement: 73% Core Values: 73% Responsibility Customer Focus: 79% Flexibility Creating Change: 77% Empowerment: n/a Rewards Launch a rewards and recognition programme such as their standardized merit system to recognize those that go above and beyond. Commitment Capability Development: n/a Organizational Learning: 82% Team Orientation: n/a SERS has definitely taken on board the feedback from their initial Denison Organizational Culture Survey scores in 2006 and progressed significantly using the Culture Change Monitor. In a mere three years, it has realized remarkable improvements across many areas of the Denison model and transformed into an organization with balanced top-down and bottom-up team work and involvement. Task 2 Recommend ways to improve corporate climate in an organization. SERSs effort and accomplishment in their transformation is indeed an incredible feat. It would be wise for them to keep at their efforts in establishing an open communicative environment and aim towards creating an inclusive and meritocratic culture. American marathon runner, Joan Benoit Samuelson, was once quoted saying, I look at victory as milestone on a very long highway. Likewise, the journey to victory for SERS is a long road ahead. Thus it is important for SERS to consistency review the data to ascertain the details to progress forward and achieve organizational success. SERS could perhaps make improvements in their efforts for diversity and inclusion, which would ultimately lend in creating a strong future for SERS. This can be attained through addressing the factors of difference and fully capitalizing on the potential contribution of all employees. Embedding diversity and inclusion will give SERS the competitive advantage and help cultivate a competitive culture. For example, SERS could launch a global diversity drive and arrange networking events for affinity groups whereby particularly sub-sets of employees can network and exchange experience. Here, members can come together to discuss key issues and learn from each other, very much similar to their existing leadership development programme. On the employee development front, the SERS University is a good development to embed a learning culture within the organization. With this platform, employees are given the resources of a university to help them advance their careers, realize personal enrichment and achieve success. Additionally, the employee culture of SERS could be weaved into employee development course to inculcate a culture that focuses high engagement. Last but not least, it is recommended that SERS launch their own sustainability campaign to formulate a culture that is part of life and spirit of the communities it serves. It could be accomplished by involving volunteers across the company to donate time, money and resources to help those in need. Furthermore, SERS could offer educational resources such as books, classrooms, teachers to children in need. Task 3 Proposed a framework of organizational values that meet the specific strategic and operational needs of an organization The Competing Values Framework (CVF) developed by Quinn, Rohrbaugh could be proposed to conduct organizational analysis of the existing organizational values. The CVF was initially developed from the research on major indicators of effective organizations. Based on statistical analysis of a comprehensive list of effective indicators, Quinn and Rohrbaugh (1983) discovered two major dimension underlying conceptions of effectiveness. The first dimension is related to organizational focus, from an internal emphasis on the well-being and development of people in the organization to an external focus on the well-being and development of the organization itself. The second dimension differentiates organizational preference for structure and represents the contrast between stability and control and flexibility and change. Plotting this to illustrate, we get a spatial model that forms four quadrants, each with its own set of distinct indicators. Graphically, the CVF can be illustrated as the following: Each quadrant represents one of the four dimensions as depicted in the Denision Organizational Culture survey. These are the four major modes of organization and management theory. In the first quadrant on the upper left corner, we have the Human Relations Model which stresses on flexibility and internal focus. Here, cohesion, morale and human resources development are regarded as a criteria for effectiveness. On the upper right corner, we have the Open System Model. In this quadrant, emphasis is placed on flexibility and external focus, and the primary concerns are the readiness, growth, resource acquisition and external support. Moving on to the lower section of the diagram, the left quadrant is the Internal Process Model, while the right quadrant is the Rational Goal Model. The former emphasizes on control and internal focus and stresses the role of information management, communication, stability and control. The latter emphasizes on control and external focus, and looks upon pla nning, goal setting, productivity and efficiency as effective tools. Using the similar methodology, an alternative model of the CVF demonstrates the applicability towards leadership. Here, eight categories of leadership behaviors emerge, and can be illustrated as the following: Within each quadrant in this alternative model, each represents two roles that aligned with the four modes of organization and management theory. Human Relation Model Mentor is helpful and approachable, and is responsible for the personal development. Facilitator promotes teamwork, cohesiveness and manages interpersonal conflict. Open System Model Innovator possesses the creative and out-of-the box thinking skills, whereas broker possesses the political astute, persuasive, influential and powerful. Internal Process Model Monitor role checks on the performance and handles the paperwork, while coordinator facilitates the structure, schedules and the coordination efforts. Producer Role Model Producer role is responsible for the tasks and work, and motivate employees to attain stated goals, while director role engages in planning and goal setting, sets objectives and establishes clear expectations. This Competing Value Framework (CVF) can be a useful framework of organizational value that meets the specific strategic and operational needs of an organization. Management should take into account all of these eight roles and achieve a balance in competing demands and expectations. As such, this tool could help diagnose their existing and desired culture, and identify organizational gaps. Furthermore, it could be used as a tool for teaching and provide help in better understanding the similarities and differences of managerial leadership roles. Task 4 Identify internal and external stakeholders of an organization. Stakeholders in an organization are simply individuals or group that has an interest in the outcome of your objective. Internal stakeholders are defined as the people who are already committed in their responsibilities as board members, staff, volunteers, and/or donors. External stakeholders, on the other hand, are the people who are impacted by your work as clients/constituents, community, partners, and others. Internal Stakeholders can be represented by the following groups: Board members: Responsible for appointment of management in an organization, take accountability of management for their use of resources and the results of the stewardship of management. This stakeholder may engage in economic decisions which include whether to buy or sell an investment or whether to reappoint or replace the management. Staff members: Employees and their representative groups are interested in the well-being such as the stability and profitability of their employers. They are interested in information which enables them to assess the ability of the enterprise to provide remuneration, retirement benefits and employment opportunities. Donors: The investors of the organizations that provides the risk capital. They are concerned with the risk taken, and return on equity from their investments. They need information to make informed decision of either buying, holding or selling. Shareholders are also interested in financial metrics to discern the ability of the organization to meet dividend payments. External Stakeholders can be represented by the following groups: Clients: Clients or customers are the source of revenue for the business. Community Partners: These are the association boards, regulatory bodies that are concern with the business codes of conduct that the organization follows. Others: Could range from their Corporate Social Responsibility partners, group alliances, the charities that are in partnership with, and the environment. Using NHS as a case study, we can identify the following list of internal and external stakeholders: Internal Stakeholders External Stakeholders Director of Public Health Head of Health Intelligence and Information Procurement Director of Nursing Public Health Strategists Public Health Management Analyst Director of Programmes and Services Research Scientist Communications Environmental Health Intelligence Analyst Public Health Manager Trustees Board committee members Local Authority/council Providers Acute trusts Patients Service users Customers Suppliers Funders Quality assessors LINk group Special interest groups Health visitors/school nurses Wider public health workforce Media Task 5 Evaluate the effectiveness of an organizations existing communication strategies. Communication is one of the basic functions in an organization and its importance can hardly be overemphasized. It is the process of transmitting information, ideas, thoughts, opinions and plans between various parts of an organization. In other words, it is an active two way process that involves listening, speaking, writing and reading. Effective communication in the workplace is essential to provide clear direction and expectations to employees. This will help promote higher productivity, improved performance and increased customer loyalty and profit. Communication strategy in an organization is defined as a management technique for determining the most effective method of communicating in an organization. It outlines the process for communicating and sharing information on project benefits and facts to target audiences and stakeholders. In order to evaluate the effectives of SERSs existing communication strategies, it important to analyze this with respect to its internal and external stakeholders. Communication among internal stakeholders Since 2006, SERS have come a long way in establishing increased communication and promote a culture of openness. One avenue of communication among employees is the daily newsletter publication that provides the latest updates on community information and events, new hires and other relevant organizational information. In addition to that, monthly publications are handed out to employees detailing highlights from monthly board meetings to keep employee abreast on major organizational decisions. This provided employees a structured platform to keep track of major changes and also foster inclusion by encouraging participation in meetings. The set up of cross-function teams was another initiative on the communication front. This enabled staff to work in teams to address key issues, set specific goals and milestone to ensure accountability for their team. Here, cross-functional teams were responsible in the evaluation of the existing performance management process and the creation of competency models for every job function. These models communicated the performance metrics by first defining SMART goals, thus giving employees a sense of empowerment and accountability for reaching their goals. Communication among external stakeholders On the communication initiatives among external stakeholders front, not much have been mentioned in this case study. Extending this with additional research, SERS is currently exploring new ways to communication with their strategic partners. This involve identify and delivering solutions that will bring the greatest impacts to their external stakeholders. Currently, SERS is looking at providing multiple service channels for their existing members to include face-to-face, electronic, web, multi-lingual, etcetera. They have also engaged in lobbying and public education to minimize the potential for detrimental legislation. Task 6 Develop new communication strategies of an organization that address differences in belief, values, customs and language. The ability to communicate is essential to organizational success. We have come into an age of knowledge, and the ability to communicate effectively is the key to harness that knowledge. A good communications strategy would allow for better control and help structure issues in perspective to ultimately address the difference in belief, values, customs and language. Today, SERS has clearly identified its new model in its mission statement affirming its dedication to communication and collaboration to help them identify, and deliver solutions for, the issues of greatest impact to their members and retirees. In the initial stages of the development of a new communications strategy, it would be ideal to make this a collective process and involve participation of all members. This will help facilitate the brainstorm session and pool the necessary skills and competencies to develop an appropriate communications strategy for SERS. This strategy can be structured in several stages: Phase 1 Preliminary outline prepared by the close collaborators. Phase 2 Outline submitted to various partners for comments and revisions. Comments are also received from individuals, groups, etc. Phase 3 Management meets to finalize the strategy, and input/feedback from a communications expert is prompted. Phase 4 Once established, the strategy must be communicated to partners, groups and all members in the organization. The ideal way through the development process is to hold regular team meeting to keep everyone up to date on the needs and to keep the dossier active. This ongoing process allows the strategy to be continually verified during meetings, and evolve to adapt its existing requirements. At SERS, there are a few suggestions to be included in this new communications strategy. SERS can introduce new technologies to facilitate communication among staff. This could be implemented by installation of instant messenger applications, video conferencing tools and email to allow internal stakeholders to communicate more efficiently. SERS could bring its daily newsletters and monthly publications through its intranet and allow members access this information remotely or in the free time. Embed diversity and inclusion by launching a global diversity drive and arranging networking events for affinity groups whereby particularly sub-sets of employees can network and exchange experience. Here, members can come together to discuss key issues and learn from each other, very much similar to their existing leadership development programme. Adopt an open door policy to create an open atmosphere and allow junior members to freely discuss ideas or views on various issues. Creation of special occasion like an SERS day to allow employees from different departments to get to know each other on a personal level and engage in team building activities. Establish a feedback system to ensure a two-way process in the evaluation of colleagues and managers. Anonymity can be enforced by allowing employees to post feedback through an opaque ballot box. Conduct periodic surveys with their internal and external stakeholders to monitor existing performance and seek out avenues for improvement. Taking into account these suggestions for SERS coupled with the 4 stage action communications strategy, SERS will be able to achieve better manager employee relations, bring about improvement in motivation and morale, and ultimately increased productivity and ensure organizational success.

Physician Assisted Suicide Case study :: essays research papers

Diane: A Case of Physician Assisted Suicide Diane was a patient of Dr. Timothy Quill, who was diagnosed with acute myelomonocytic leukemia. Diane overcame alcoholism and had vaginal cancer in her youth. She had been under his care for a period of 8 years, during which an intimate doctor-patient bond had been established. It was Dr. Quill’s observation that â€Å"she was an incredibly clear, at times brutally honest, thinker and communicator.† This observation became especially cogent after Diane heard of her diagnosis. Dr. Quill informed her of the diagnosis, and of the possible treatments. This series of treatments entailed multiple chemotherapy sessions, followed by a bone marrow transplant, accompanied by an array of ancillary treatments. At the end of this series of treatments, the survival rate was 25%, and it was further complicated in Diane’s case by the absence of a closely matched bone-marrow donor. Diane chose not to receive treatment, desiring to spend whatever time she had left outside of the h ospital. Dr. Quill met with her several times to ensure that she didn’t change her mind, and he had Diane meet with a psychologist with whom she had met before. Then Diane complicated the case by informing Dr. Quill that she be able to control the time of her death, avoiding the loss of dignity and discomfort which would precede her death. Dr. Quinn informed her of the Hemlock Society, and shortly afterwards, Diane called Dr. Quinn with a request for barbiturates, complaining of insomnia. Dr. Quinn gave her the prescription and informed her how to use them to sleep, and the amount necessary to commit suicide. Diane called all of her friends to say goodbye, including Dr. Quinn, and took her life two days after they met. This is a fascinating case because it presents the distinction between a patient’s right to refuse treatment and a physician’s assistance with suicide. Legally, Diane possessed the right to refuse treatment, but she would have faced a debilitating, painful death, so the issue of treatment would be a moot point. It would be moot in the sense that Diane seemed to refuse treatment because the odds were low, even if she survived she would spend significant periods of time in the hospital and in pain, and if she didn’t survive she would spend her last days in the hospital. If Diane were to merely refuse treatment and nothing else (as the law prescribes) than she would not have been able to avoid the death which she so dearly wanted to avoid.

lab :: essays research papers

Intro   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Lab #5 five we will be exploring the cycle of copper through many chemical reactions. What we are going to do is take a piece of copper metal put it through a series of reactions that change it ¡Ã‚ ¦s state of matter and chemical formula, but in the end, we will return it to it ¡Ã‚ ¦s normal solid state. The idea of this lab is to try to recover as close to 100% of the copper we started with. Theoretically, this is possible, but for inexperienced college students, retrieving 100% of the copper metal is near impossible. There are five reactions that the copper will go through. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  3Cu(s) + 8HNO3(aq) + O2 „ ³ 3Cu(NO3)2(aq) + 4H2O(aq) + 2NO2(aq) 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  3Cu(NO3)2(aq) + 2NaOH(aq) „ ³ Cu(OH)2(s) + 2NaNO3(aq) 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cu(OH)2(s) „ ³ CuO(s) + H2O(aq) 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  CuO(s) + H2SO4(aq) „ ³ CuSO4(aq) +H2O(aq) 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  CuSO4(aq) + Zn(s) „ ³ ZnSO4 + Cu(s) At the end of reaction number five we should have close to 100% of the copper we started out with. Meth   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Obtain as close to .5g of copper wire, and record the mass to the closest mg. Make sure the wire is bent so it will lay as flat as possible in the bottom of a 250mL beaker. Then go to  ¡Ã‚ §the hood ¡Ã‚ ¨ and add 4mL of 16M HNO3. Swirl the HNO3 around in the beaker with the copper until it has completely dissolved and you are left with a green/blue liquid. Then add 30mL of 3M NaOH and heat the solution on a ring stand with a Bunsen burner. The blue/green jelly will turn in to sort of a black dirt at the bottom of the beaker, make sure to stop boiling when the jelly turns black. Decant all excess liquid in the beaker. Do not remove any black precipitate. Add approximately 200mL of hot deionized water to the black precipitate. Decant all excess liquid again. Add 15mL of 6M H2SO4 and then under  ¡Ã‚ §the hood ¡Ã‚ ¨ add 2g of Zinc metal to the solution. Once the Hydrogen has stopped bubbling add 10mL of HCl. Decant all excess liquid and transfer Copper metal t o a glass dish and wash with deionized water. Rewash Copper metal with 5mL of Methanol. Decant and dry Copper metal on a hot plate, weigh and record results to nearest mg. Resu Original Mass of Cu=.486g Mass of Cycled Cu=.480g 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the first reaction the was brown smoke and the copper turned into a light blue/green liquid. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the second reaction the solution turned into a clear blue liquid.

Decolonization and Influence of the Cold War Essay

The decades following World War II were all centered on the concept of decolonization, the dismantlement of Imperial empires established prior to World War I throughout Africa and Asia. Due to the aftermath of World War II, countries around the world experienced massive independent movements whose objective was to eliminate colonization and form new independent nations. The process of decolonization was separated by three different approaches: civil war, negotiated independence through foreign pressure, and violent incomplete decolonization. China, for example, had its internal struggles with Nationalistic and Communist parties conflicting that caused a civil war between the two ideologies. Countries including India and South Africa attempted decolonization through non-violent independence movements as well as peaceful negotiations for independence. Though some countries independently sought for decolonization, it was inevitable that decolonization became intertwined with the politics and interventions of the Cold War. After World War II, the world was divided into two blocs, one dominated by the United States and one by the Soviet Union. Because the United States and the Soviet Union couldn’t confront with one another directly in Europe, the two nations were strongly tempted to influence the process of decolonization through proxy nations in all parts of the world. Ultimately, the conflict between United States and Soviet Union disputed over decolonization of nations throughout the world including Korea, Cuba, and Indo-China (Vietnam). Though the Cold War did not imply a great loss of life or substantial bloodshed, it is best described as a severe ideological conflict revolving around territorial expansion efforts. Capitalism, which governed the United States economy and democracy, was the center of the United States government. On the opposite end, the Soviet Union adopted Communism, a predominant economic system that demanded extensive government control. The Cold War conflicts took effect as an indirect competition; a race to see which ideology would, in a sense, dominate the world. The East, represented by the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies, advocated the destruction of capitalism and the establishment of Communism throughout the world. Opposing them were the United States and its North American Treaty Organization  (NATO) allies that attempted to contain Communist expansion efforts, defending its actions through the Truman Doctrine and the Domino Theory. The Domino theory stated that if one nation fell to Communism, the neighboring nations would be affected and falls to Communism, eventually resulting in the inevitable spread of Communism throughout the world. One of the first nations that the United States and Soviet Union sought to establish control was in Korea. After 1949, when Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong proclaimed the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, the spread of communism began to target the country of Korea. Following the end of World War II, Korea was divided along the 38th parallel into â€Å"Soviet† North Korean and â€Å"American† South Korea occupation zones. Heavily armed with artillery and tanks, North Korean troops crossed and invaded South Korea on June 25th, 1950. Abiding to the containment of the Domino theory, United States immediately responded to the unprovoked attack. Under the leadership of the supreme commander of the United Nations coalition forces, General Douglas MacArthur, the South Korean forces managed to push back the Communist forces back behind the 38th parallel. The duration of the Korean War lasted three years and an armistice agreement was signed on July 27th, 1953. The Korean War was an extremely costly war, both in causalities and in financial areas. Though the United States did halt the advancement of Communist takeover, the decolonization conflict in Korea was one of the most flagrant confrontations of the Cold War that intensified the brutal effect of opposing ideologies. Another Cold War incident occurred not far from the United States soil. Up until the mid-20th century, Latin America had always kept good political relations with the United States. However, internal turmoil in Cuba and the rise of Fidel Castro resulted in the unorthodox alliance with the Soviet Union. In an attempt to terminate the Soviet Union influence in Cuba, President John F. Kennedy sent a team of 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles but was quickly defeated by Castro’s army. The â€Å"Bay of Pigs† incident was not the only confrontation between Cuba and United States; the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 22, 1962was the peak of nuclear arms war of the Cold War era. Prior to a CIA spy plane discovering missile sites on Cuba, the Soviet Union was secretly supplying building material and missiles to Cuban  military bases. With the options of a full scale invasion of Cuba, a massive air strike, or a naval blockade, the Kennedy administration had to quickly decide on what course of action to take. Eight days passed and the catastrophe was averted when President Kennedy instituted a naval blockade to prevent Soviet ships to reach Cuba. President Kennedy and Soviet Union’s Nikita Khrushchev reached in agreement as the Soviet Union removed their missiles from Cuba and the United States agreed not to attack Cuba. The conflict in Cuba not only characterizes the alarming intensity of the Soviet Union and the United States but also solidifies the importance of the influence the countries had in the matters of decolonization. One of the final and longest conflicts of decolonization was in Vietnam. The struggle for Vietnam between Communists and Western nations lasted from 1945 to 1975. In the previous century, Vietnam had been colonized by France. With encouragement and support from Stalin and Mao Zedong, Vietnamese Communists successfully rose against the French. At the start of what was known as the First Indochina War, the French government asked the United States for support against the Vietnamese Communists but the United States government did not initially grant support to the French to avoid heightened discrepancies with the Soviet Union. The Geneva Conference peace terms between France and delegates from Vietnam agreed to a partition, separating Vietnam at the 17th parallel (much like the boundary parameters set in Korea). Believing that the Geneva treaty granted too much authority to the Vietnamese Communists, the United States supported the creation of a counter-communist alternative south of th e 17th parallel. The establishment of the Southeast Asian Treaty Organization (SEATO) brought about a United States supported government in South Vietnam. In an attempt to reunify Vietnam under Communist rule, the Communists created a unified front to help mobilize southerners in opposition of Ngo Ding Diem, leader of South Vietnamese government. It was known as the National Liberation Front but became known by the Americans as the â€Å"Viet Cong.† The Viet Cong operated as a guerilla force and eventually overthrew Diem’s government and had him assassinated. In effort to regain Saigon, capital of Vietnam, and halt the complete takeover of Communism in Vietnam, President Lyndon Johnson escalated war efforts by utilizing more manpower and firepower. Despite the  heavy losses on the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces, the war was tiring on both sides and was dragging out. President Nixon managed to end hostilities between the United States and North Vietnam with the Paris Peace Agreement in January 23rd 1975. Although the peace terms were final, the South Vietnamese government continued to battle the Communist forces. With the support of Soviet Union, the Communist forces managed to take Saigon in April 30th 1975. The effects of the Vietnam War were devastating on both parties. The end of the Vietnam War realized the consequences of a confrontation between the East and the West. The Soviet Union managed to exert their Communist influence in the end but the end result of the war manages to signal the end of Cold War influences on decolonization. The era following the end result of World War II ushered in a time of decolonization throughout the world. Through peaceful negotiations or violent civil wars, independent nations became to form by breaking away from their respective Imperialist countries. However, at the same time, the decades also promoted the conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States. The conflicting ideologies of Capitalism and Communism served as a major role in the Cold War. With disputes over countries such as Korea, Cuba, and Vietnam, it became apparent that the politics of the Cold War contributed to the decolonization process across the globe.

In What Ways Have Large Business Organizations Changed Essay

In what ways have large business organizations changed in recent decades? Large business organizations have changed in recent decades in a few ways. Some of this ways are that are not always a conventional bureaucracy, they are more open and flexible, the technology used, and the political and economic trends are always changing. Plus there are others, but I’m going to elaborate on the one I had mentioned. In the past organizations had use a conventional bureaucracy approach (the pyramid), where it is a top-down flow. The upper level manager would give instructions to be carried out, and the lower level workers would carry out the instructions. But now days it is a more open and flexible place to work; where instructions are carried out by all members of the organization. And unlike the bureaucracy approach, the open and flexible approach gives the decision making to most or all members of the organization. There has defiantly been a significantly change in the department of technology over the decades. The technology used in the past was files, records, telephones, and fax machines. Now we use computers, the Internet and Web, e-mails, and mobile devices. The connection to the Internet and the Web has even changed over the years since we started to use them. Instead of being a steady passed organization and society that we once was we have quickened are pass to our now fast past world on the go at ever moment. The trends of economy and politics play a role in the organization’s environment, such as the outside factors of an organization that can affect the operation of business. This would include the current events, available workforce, technology, and other organizations. And as the times change, the resources changes with it. Couple decades ago the times where good for what it was, but now days, with the recession times are good for some and not good for others. The recent layoffs, foreclosures, and natural disastrous, in the past few years has not helped a lot, but we are coming back together.

Chapter 13 Guided Reading

Guided Reading Chapter 13 Terms: 1. Tropics- Areas with high humidity and temperatures 2. Monsoons- an overflow of water from rivers 3. Ecosystems- communities of living things within a certain climare 4. Bilad al-sudan- West African Jewish communities who were connected to known Jewish communities from the Middle East, North Africa, or Spain and Portugal. 5. Dhow – any of various types of sailing vessels used by Arabs on the east African, Arabian, and Indian coasts, generally lateen-rigged on two or three masts. 6. Swahili – a member of a Bantu people of Zanzibar and the neighboring coast of Africa.Also, Kiswahili, ki-Swahili. the Bantu language of the Swahili people, used also as a lingua franca in Tanzania, Kenya, and parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 7. Urdu- an official language of Pakistan, also spoken in India. The script derives primarily from Persia. It belongs to the Indic branch of the Indo-European family of languages, being closely related to H indi but containing many Arabic and Persian loan words 8. Junks- Chinese Ships that can contain up to 40 tons Places: 9. Niger River – the principal river of western Africa, extending about 4,180 km 10.Indus River – is a major river which flows through Pakistan. It also has courses through western Tibet (in China) and Northern India. 11. The Ganges – a trans-boundary river of India and Bangladesh. The 1,569 mi river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. 12. Mekong River- a river in Southeast Asia. is 4,350 km From the Tibetan Plateau this river runs through China's Yunnan province, Burma (Myanmar), Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. 13.Swahili Coast-The Swahili Coast refers to the coast or coastal area of East Africa inhabited by the Swahili people, mainly Kenya, Tanzania, and north Mozambique. The term may also include the islands such as Zanzibar, Pate or Comoros which lie off the Swahili Coast. 14. Strait of Malacca – is a narrow, 805 km (500 mi) stretch of water between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is named after the Malacca Sultanate that ruled over the archipelago between 1414 and 1511. 15. Mogadishu – the Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta's appearance on the Somali coast in 1331, the city was at the zenith of its prosperity.He described Mogadishu as â€Å"an exceedingly large city† with many rich merchants, which was famous for its high quality fabric that it exported to Egypt, among other places. He added that the city was ruled by a Somali Sultan originally from Berbera in northern Somalia who spoke both Somali and Arabic with equal fluency. The Sultan also had a retinue of wazirs (ministers), legal experts, commanders, royal eunuchs, and other officials at his beck and call. 16. Kilwa -Kilwa Kisiwani is a community on an islan d off the coast of East Africa, in present day Tanzania. 7. Aden – In 1421, China's Ming dynasty Yongle Emperor ordered principal envoy grand eunuch Li Xing and grand eunuch Zhou Man of Zheng He's fleet to convey an imperial edict with hats and robes to bestow on the king of Aden. The envoys boarded three treasure ships and set sail from Sumatra to the port of Aden. This event was recorded in the book Ying-yai Sheng-lan by Ma Huan who accompanied the imperial envoy 18. Malabar Coast – The Malabar Coast is a long and narrow coastline on the south-western shore line of the mainland Indian subcontinent.Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing mountain slopes. The term â€Å"Malabar Coast† is also sometimes used in reference to the entire Indian coast from the western coast of Konkan to the tip of the subcontinent at Cape Comorin. 19. Malac ca – the third smallest Malaysian state after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and Johor to the south.Malacca was founded by Parameswara, also known as Iskandar Shah or Sri Majara, the last Raja of Singapura (present day Singapore) following a Majapahit attack in 1377. He found his way to Malacca around 1400 where he found a good port—it was accessible in all seasons and on the strategically located narrowest point of the Malacca Straits. 20. Timbuktu – The first mention is by the Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta who visited both Timbuktu and Kabara in 1353 when returning from a stay in the capital of the Mali Empire. [25] Timbuktu was still relatively unimportant and Battuta quickly moved on to Gao.At the time both Timbuktu and Gao formed part of the Mali Empire. A century and a half later, in around 1510, Leo Africanus visited Timbuktu. He gave a description of the town in his Descrittione dell'Africa which was published in 1550. [26] The original Italian was translated into a number of other languages and the book became widely known in Europe. [27] Empires/ Kingdoms: 21. Delhi Sultanate – five short-lived dynasties, Delhi based kingdoms or sultanates, mostly of Turkic and Pashtun (Afghan) origin in medieval India. The sultanates ruled from Delhi between 1206 and 1526, when the last was replaced by the Mughal dynasty.The five dynasties were the Mamluk dynasty (1206–90); the Khilji dynasty (1290–1320); the Tughlaq dynasty (1320–1414); the Sayyid dynasty (1414–51); and the Afghan Lodi dynasty (1451–1526). 22. Mali Empire – a West African empire of the Mandinka from c. 1230 C. E. to c. 1600. C. E. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa I. The Mali Empire had many profound cultural influences on West Afric a, allowing the spread of its language, laws and customs along the Niger River.It extended over a large area and consisted of numerous vassal kingdoms and provinces. 23. Kanem- Bornu – existed in modern Chad and Nigeria. It was known to the Arabian geographers as the Kanem Empire from the 9th century AD onward and lasted as the independent kingdom of Bornu until 1900. At its height it encompassed an area covering not only much of Chad, but also parts of modern southern Libya, eastern Niger, northeastern Nigeria and northern Cameroon. The history of the Empire in the longue duree is mainly known from the Royal Chronicle or Girgam discovered in 1851 by the German traveller Heinrich Barth. 4. Gujarat – From 1297 to 1300, Allauddin Khilji, Sultan of Delhi, destroyed Anhilwara and incorporated Gujarat into the Delhi Sultanate. After Timur's sacking of Delhi at the end of the fourteenth century weakened the Sultanate, Gujarat's Muslim Rajput governor Zafar Khan Muzaffar asse rted his independence, and his son, Sultan Ishaan Shah (ruled 1411 to 1442), restructured Ahmedabad as the capital. 25. Bahmani Kingdom – was a Muslim state of the Deccan in South India and one of the great medieval Indian kingdoms. Bahmanid Sultanate was the first independent Islamic Kingdom in South India. 6. Vijayanagar Empire – an empire based in South India, in the Deccan Plateau region. It was established in 1336 by Harihara I and his brother Bukka Raya I of Sangama Dynasty and Dhangar / Kuruba Gowda lineage. 27. Great Zimbabwe – Great Zimbabwe acted as a royal palace for the Zimbabwean monarch and would have been used as the seat of their political power. One of its most prominent features were its walls, some of which were over five metres high and which were constructed without mortar. Eventually the city was abandoned and fell into ruin. Individuals / Peoples: 28.Muhammed ibn Ab-dullah ibn Buttata – a Muslim Moroccan explorer, known for his exte nsive travels, accounts of which were published in the Rihla (lit. â€Å"Journey†). Over a period of thirty years, he visited most of the known Islamic world as well as many non-Muslim lands; his journeys including trips to North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Africa, Southern Europe and Eastern Europe in the West, and to the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and China in the East, a distance surpassing threefold his near-contemporary Marco Polo. Ibn Battuta is considered one of the greatest travellers of all time.He journeyed more than 75,000 miles (121,000 km), a figure unsurpassed by any individual explorer until the coming of the Steam Age some 450 years later. 29. Sundiata – founder of the Mali Empire 30. Mansa Kankan Musa – the tenth Mansa, which translates as â€Å"King of Kings† or â€Å"Emperor†, of the Malian Empire. At the time of Mansa Musa's rise to the throne, the Malian Empire consisted of territory formerly bel onging to the Ghana Empire and Melle (Mali) and immediate surrounding areas, and Musa held many titles, including: Emir of Melle, Lord of the Mines of Wangara, and Conqueror of Ghanata, Futa-Jallon, and at least another dozen states. 1. Mansa Suleiman – mansa of the Mali Empire from 1341 to 1360. The brother of the powerful Kankan Musa I, he succeeded Musa's son Maghan to the throne in 1341. His son Kassa briefly assumed the throne following his death in 1360, but was succeeded the same year by Maghan's son Mari Diata II. 32. Sultan Iltutmish – He was a slave of Qutb-ud-din Aibak and later became his son-in-law and close lieutenant. He was the Governor of Badaun when he deposed Qutub-ud-din's successor Aram Shah and acceeded to the throne of the Delhi Sultanate in 1211.He shifted Capital from Lahore to Delhi, remained the ruler until his death on May 1, 1236. Iltutmish introduced the silver tanka and the copper jital-the two basic coins of the Sultanate period, with a standard weight of 175 grains. He introudced Iqtadari system: division of empire into Iqtas, which were assigned to the nobles and officers in lieu of salary. 33. Sultan Raziya – First female Sultan referred to as Razia Sultana was the Sultana of Delhi in India from 1236 to May 1240. She was of Seljuq slave ancestry and like some other Muslim princesses of the time, she was trained to lead armies and administer kingdoms if necessary.Razia Sultana, the fifth Mamluk Sultanate was the only woman ruler of both the Sultanate and the Mughal period. Important Events: 34. Mansa Musa’s Pilgrimage – Musa's journey was documented by several eyewitnesses along his route, who were in awe of his wealth and extensive procession, and records exist in a variety of sources, including journals, oral accounts and histories. Musa is known to have visited with the Mamluk sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad of Egypt in July 1324. Questions to Outline: 1.The ecosystems in Africa are controlled by their location in comparison with the equator and there are many different ecosystems with in a tropical environment which is an area with a high temperature and humidity. 2. It mobilized the labor of ordinary people in order to produce surpluses, helped support powerful states and profitable commercial systems. 3. Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent mainly took place from the 13th to the 16th centuries, though earlier Muslim conquests made limited inroads into North India as early as the time of the Rajput kingdoms in the 7th century.Some historians consider parts of the conquest the bloodiest chapter in human history. 4. The Indian Ocean trade has been a key factor in East–West exchanges. Long distance trade in dhows and sailboats made it a dynamic zone of interaction between peoples, cultures, and civilizations stretching from Java in the East to Zanzibar and Mombasa in the West. Cities and states on the Indian Ocean rim were Janus-faced. They looked outward to th e sea as much as they looked inward to the hinterland. In the contemporary period, the re-assertion of Asia’s cultural, political, and economic trength has manifested itself in varied events such as the meteoric rise of the Chinese economy and the growing influence of India’s culture industry, and the rise of Dubai as a global financial hub. These processes indicate a gradual movement of the fulcrum of global economic and military exchanges away from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, a shift which is being keenly watched by national elites and global institutions. 5. Their status was determined by males, Tasks were cooking, brewing and farm work, family organization was important in society and some women didn’t adopt veiling. . The spread of Islam, Commercial contacts and the rise of Mali and Ghana. These changed many things with in the people such as what rights they had, the amount of slavery, taxes and trade, economy was based off gold and their religion. 7. They made certain adjustments such as irrigation systems, and adopted different means of surviving such as wild food and fish hunting, herding and grain trade, farming of rice, wheat , sorghum and millet. They also built dams and reservoirs.