Monday, September 30, 2019

My Essay on War

Rishiv Chugh 9/24/12 4th period My Opinion On War War, it’s one of the biggest things to happen to the world ever since then human evolution. So my opinion on war? Well to me, war is good on one side, and a terrible thing on the other side. So why do I think it is both good and bad at the same time? I might as well tell you and give some brief explanations why. So to start off, I’ll tell you the pro’s of war. For one thing, if there was no war, for all we know, there just might be more chaos in the world.With no control, other countries could nuke or bomb us without us knowing. I’m just saying that even though war may be a bad thing, it may be the one thing that can save our loved country from being overruled from other countries. Now we don’t want that to happen. Now I’ll move on to the cons of war. So the most obvious con of war is the loss of many loved ones. Everyone knows that it can be pretty difficult to lost someone that you really lo ve.Just think about all the poor people that lost their lives just trying to fight for our country. We should appreciate how much these brave people do to save our country. I know I do. I guess that all I am saying is that there are many different consequences and advantages to war. It goes from saving our beloved country to people losing their lives. So, next time you think about this, think about the people that lost their lives protecting the country.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Type 2 Diabetes

Living with Type 2 Diabetes Introduction Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar. Hyperglycemia, or raised blood sugar, is a common effect of uncontrolled diabetes and over time leads to serious damage to many of the body's systems. No cure has been found for this disease. However, an important part of managing diabetes is maintaining a healthy weight through a healthy diet and exercise plan. Olokoba, Obateru, Olokoba, 2012) Type 1 diabetes (previously known as insulin-dependent, juvenile or childhood-onset) is characterized by deficient insulin production and requires daily administration of insulin. The cause of type 1 diabetes is not known and it is not preventable with current knowledge. Symptoms include excessive excretion of urine (polyuria), thirst (polydipsia), constant hunger (polyphagia), weight loss, vis ion changes, and fatigue. These symptoms may occur rapidly. Mosorovic, Brkic, Nuhbegovic, Pranjic, 2012) Type 2 diabetes (formerly called non-insulin-dependent or adult-onset) results from the body’s ineffective use of insulin. Type 2 diabetes comprises 90% of people with diabetes, and is largely the result of excess body weight and physical inactivity. Symptoms may be similar to those of Type 1 diabetes, but are often less obvious. As a result, the disease may be diagnosed several years after onset, once complications have already arisen. (Mosorovic, Brkic, Nuhbegovic, Pranjic, 2012) Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, affecting 25. million people of all ages (8. 3 percent of the U. S. population). Of the 25. 8 million affected people, 7. 0 remain undiagnosed. Diabetes is the leading cause of heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, lower-limb amputations, and new cases of blindness among adults in the United States. (http://diabetes. niddk. ni h. gov) Meet Mrs. M, who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at the age of 35. Mrs. M is now 57 years old. She has learned that although there is no cure for type 2 diabetes, it can be managed. She is aware that in order to better manage this disease she needs to eat well, exercise, and maintain a healthy weight.Mrs. M has graciously agreed to be interviewed. We will learn more about her, how she copes with this disease, and her struggle in maintaining a healthy weight by incorporating healthy cooking in her lifestyle. I will use the five holistic variables within the Neuman Systems Model (NSM) to identify how Mrs. M’s internal and external environment are affected. I will also assess Mrs. M’s learning needs and provide a trustworthy and reliable resource from which she can benefit from. Physical Variable Mrs. M was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at the age of 35 when she became pregnant with her last child.During a routine doctor’s visit, it was noticed Mrs. M w as gaining a significant amount of weight. Around her 24th week of pregnancy, the doctor ordered she have a glucose test. The test showed a high level of sugar in her blood. The test was repeated and once again, it showed that her glucose level was higher than normal and there was also sugar in her urine. At that point, the doctor diagnosed her with gestational diabetes. In 1990, the only thing that was prescribed was that she begin administering a daily injection of insulin. This came as a completely shock to Mrs. M. She had never even heard of this thing called â€Å"diabetes†.Even more disturbing was the fact that she, and her unborn baby, was now carrying this disease. The doctor advised Mrs. M that although the glucose could reach and affect her baby, the insulin would not cross over to the baby. She was pleased with the news that once she delivered the baby, she would return to her normal diabetic state. The doctor informed Mrs. M the importance of checking her blood gl ucose and maintaining a healthy diet after the birth. This would help to reduce her chances of developing type 2 diabetes. Despite the recommendations, Mrs. M ended up developing type 2 diabetes.For the past 22 years, Mrs. M has been living with this chronic disease. Her medication has been changed several times throughout the years. At the moment, she is taking Glucophage 500mg and 4 units of Humilin in the morning. From the last time Mrs. M was seen by her primary care physician, these were her results: she weighed 170 pounds, blood pressure was 122/78, average blood sugar was 125 mg/dL, average hemoglobin A1c test (HbA1c) average was 5. 98%, her cholesterol and triglyceride levels were within normal limits, her kidneys were working well, and no obvious sores or infections of her feet or skin.Her last optometry visit showed no problems with her vision. She knows dental exams and cleaning are important and makes sure to visit the dentist every six months. In assessing Mrs. Mâ€℠¢s physical variable, I determined that the lack of knowledge about diabetes as a major stressor. Mrs. M’s doctor visits have been a major resource. Socio-cultural Variable She is a traditional Mexican woman and her cooking or eating habits have never been a concern. She has always cooked traditional Mexican dishes, which are high in fat. She never learned to cook or eat healthy.It is a belief of Mrs. M that anything that is â€Å"low fat†, â€Å"nonfat†, or essentially â€Å"healthy† must not taste good. Mrs. M was recently laid off and is unemployed, leaving her with no insurance. She does not want to visit the doctor’s office because she says that it is too expensive. Not only does she have to pay for her medication, but also the doctor’s visit and the laboratory bill. This has given her motivation to try to lose weight. She does realize that if she loses weight, she could possibly be able to get off the medications she is on.At this poin t, she is walking on a daily basis but still finds it hard to start healthy eating habits. She would like to learn how to maintain a healthy diet that she and her family can benefit from. It is hard for her to break free from all the foods she has loved all her life. However, she realizes it is necessary to make this drastic change in order to help her lose the weight. In assessing Mrs. M’s social-cultural variable, I determined that the lack of insurance as a major stressor. Mrs. M’s motivation and willingness to lose weight are major resources. Psychological VariableJust like everyone else, Mrs. M has good days and bad days. On most days, she feels motivated and hopeful that she will be able to better control her diabetes and get off her medicine. She goes on daily walks and really enjoys it when her daughter goes with her. She says that when her daughter goes on these walks with her, it makes the time go by fast and she really enjoys the time they spend together. Th ese walks serve not only to lose weight but also as a distractor. Mrs. M uses this time to talk about her day and about life in general. However, there are days that are not so good for Mrs. M.There are days where she feels defeated and burned out by her diabetes. She feels like she is â€Å"old† now and her health is slowly declining. She has had this disease for so long now and doesn’t see any improvement. It has been a stagnant process for her and that really frustrates her. There are days when she gets angry that she can’t eat certain foods and that she has to take medications to be able lead a semi normal life. Some days, she feels like just giving up and letting God decide her faith. In assessing Mrs. M’s psychological variable, I determined her feeling of defeat is a major stressor. Mrs.M’s daily walks with her daughter are a major resource. Spiritual Variable Mrs. M is a devoted Catholic. She has complete faith in God, the Catholic Church, and the power of prayer. Mrs. M feels our whole universe isn’t controlled by human beings, but by God. Her life, past and future, lies solely in God’s hands. There is no question in her mind that there is an afterlife, where her soul and spirit will rise to and will go to a better place. She is not scared of death. She looks forward to the day when she will be at peace and free of worries and pain; a place where she will live eternally, full of happiness and joy.She anticipates the day when she can reunite with her father and be able to see him, talk to him, and hold him again. Mrs. M feels she has lived a gratifying and good life. She says she has been blessed to have had the opportunity to live and experience this thing we call â€Å"life†. She knows her disease has many health consequences and feels that if something happens to her, God made it happen for a reason. He controls her life and she is willing to accept what he has decided for her. In assessing Mrs . M’s spiritual variable, I determined that there is no stressor involved. Mrs.M’s faith in God is a major resource. Developmental Variable Stage of development Generativity vs. Stagnation is Erik Erikson’s second psychosocial development stage of adulthood and happens between the ages of 25-64. During this time, we establish our careers, settle down within a relationship, begin our own families and develop a sense of being a part of the bigger picture. We give back to society through raising our children, being productive at work, and becoming involved in community activities and organizations. By failing to achieve these objectives, we become stagnant nd feel unproductive. Mrs. M is in the Generativity stage. (Craven, Hirnle, 2009) Tasks of developmental stage Mrs. M is married with 4 grown children, and will celebrate her 36th wedding anniversary on December 14, 2012. Mrs. M was born in Jalisco, Mexico and moved to the United States when she was 21 years old. Her ideas and customs still remain traditional to the Mexican culture. Mrs. M was raised with the idea that family should come before everything, even herself. Mrs. M put her education on hold to be able to provide for her family, leaving her to work low paying jobs.She has worked her whole life to give her children the most and best she can. This has included working 12 to 14 hour shifts and then rushing home to make sure her kids had dinner and did their homework. She has always strived to keep her family happy, safe, and united. Her children are grown now and she maintains a good relationship with them. Now that her children are grown, she feels a sense of emptiness. She admits to feeling an overwhelming amount of sadness when thinking of how her house was once filled with her children’s laughter and now is so â€Å"empty†.There have been days when she feels she may be depressed. On these days she has to force herself to get out of bed and doesn’t feel like eating. She knows this is not good for her and affects her diabetes. She has noticed when she is feeling this way, her blood sugar drops. On the other hand, remembering all the precious times she has lived with her family brings a smile to her face. Mrs. M has always made her kids her number one priority and feels they have not let her down. Knowing that her kids are positive and productive members of society gives her a sense of accomplishment.She has a glow on her face every time she speaks of her kids. It makes her feel proud, loved, and special to know she has a family she can depend on, regardless of the situation. In assessing Mrs. M’s developmental variable, I determined that the depression she deals with is a major stressor. Mrs. M’s family is a major resource. Health Learning Needs After speaking with Mrs. M, her main concern is incorporating healthy meals and eating habits into her lifestyle. She feels cooking healthy is something she has always struggled wit h and would like to get more information as to how to cook healthy meals.Mrs. M has made it clear that she is a visual and hands on learner. She needs to †first see it and then do it† in order to better understand a task. Due to this information, I believe Mrs. M would benefit from a website that plays videos and has live demonstrations. Learning resource My recommendation to Mrs. M is that she visits the American Diabetes Association website at www. diabetes. org. This website has a lot of information that is helpful to anyone with type 2 diabetes. Mrs. M would benefit from the â€Å"Food and Fitness† tab.Under this tab she can find information on what type of foods she should be eating, healthy recipes, and helps in planning meals. There is also information about fitness and weight loss. There are great exercise ideas which will help Mrs. M get motivated to lose weight. This website offers live videos which will help with her visual learning need. Conclusion In summary, the NSM aims to promote a client’s optimal wellness. This model helps us see beyond just the objective clinical manifestations, which we are trained to observe. It helps us understand our clients on a whole new level, an interpersonal and holistic level.By completing an accurate NSM assessment, we see how culture, economic resources, spirituality, and family affect a client’s disease process. With the help of the NSM, I was able learn more about Mrs. M, assess her learning need, and provide a trustworthy and reliable resource from which she can benefit from. The www. diabetes. org website will teach her how she can maintain a healthy weight by incorporating healthy cooking in her lifestyle. References Olokoba, A. B. , Obateru, O. A. , ; Olokoba, L. B. (2012). Diabetes Mellitus: A Review of Current Trends. Oman Medical Journal, 27(4), 269-273. oi:10. 5001/omj. 2012. 68 Mosorovic, N. , Brkic, S. , Nuhbegovic, S. , ; Pranjic, N. (2012). Quality of life of people with Diabetes Mellitus. Healthmed, 6(7), 1076-1080. Demirbag, B. (2012). Neuman system model as a conceptual framework for community-based nurses when working with patients. Healthmed, 6(7), 2438-2445. Craven, R. F. , Hirnle, C. J. (2009). Fundamentals of Nursing. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (NDIC) (February 2011). Fast fact on Diabetes. Retrieved from http://diabetes. niddk. nih. gov/dm/pubs/statistics/#fast

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Markeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Markeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee - Essay Example Another way to differentiate products is by offering different levels of a product. Because everyone does not have the same disposable income, it may be difficult for everyone to be able to afford a certain product of high quality. For this reason, a like product can be substituted for high quality good but at a lower price. For me, I do not necessarily need the latest product available, so if there is something that fills a need and I can get it cheaper then I would go with that. One brand that excels on differentiation is Apple, whose iPhones have different plans and prices depending on the package that is chosen and also the iPhone number. When a new iPhone comes out, I do not have to go for the latest one because I am satisfied with my current one. Work Cited Thompson, Althea. â€Å"Competitive Strategies for Wal-Mart.† 2012. eHow. 28 October 2012 . Marketing Debate p. 378 Product and service marketing are highly related because the same basic principles still apply in mos t cases. In both forms of marketing, the attention of the customer still has to be caught and some sort of value has to be on offer to convince a consumer to part with their money. If a customer does not understand how a product or service benefits or can be useful in some way, then any type of marketing will fail. It is up to marketers to identify target markets and then come up with strategies to reach those target groups; this is true for both product marketing and service marketing. Where it is perhaps different is that in service marketing the customer cannot view the service that they want to buy. This is why service marketing needs to involve some sort of demonstration of the product. Very often services that are to be offered are shown to the consumer so that they feel convinced to of the benefit of it. In television marketing services are usually shown with a random member of the public so that consumers can see the service in action. On the other hand, in product marketing the marketer only needs to explain the benefits of the product because the customer can witness the product for themselves. Additional information may need to be provided to assure the customer that they are receiving a high quality product, but generally they can make a decision for themselves based on their feelings.    Marketing Discussion p. 410 As a consumer, I would prefer perceived-value pricing because I would want to get the best bang for my buck. I only have limited funds so I want to try and stretch my finances as far as it will go. This means that I have to be picky when it comes to purchasing a product and only get what I need, not what I would like. Whenever I am making a purchasing decision, the value of a product is very important to me because I want to receive something in return for parting with some cash. Although I often don’t have a lot of disposable income, I would rather pay a little more and get a high-quality product than pay a cheaper price for a piece of crap. Durability is major factor in my purchasing decision making because I want a product to last and not have to replace it within a short time. I would prefer a firm to employ slightly higher prices for most of the year and then offer discounts on occasion. This is because I am the type of shopper who likes to go and check out all the specials when they are on and

Friday, September 27, 2019

U.S Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Essay

U.S Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) - Essay Example By the early 1970s, the problems being created by drug use were severe enough to need more attention, time, and labor to try to sort them out. Therefore, President Richard Nixon created the Drug Enforcement Administration in July 1973 by Executive Order so that a solitary united command to fight the drugs war could be established (DEA, 2008). At its origin, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had in total two thousand, seven hundred and seventy five employees, this includes a support staff of one thousand, three hundred and five, and the budget was a mere sixty five million dollars in 1972. By 1975, there were four thousand and seventy five employees, with two thousand, two hundred and thirty one special agents. They had an annual budget of one hundred and sixteen million dollars. By the turn of the century in 2000, the administration had nine thousand, one hundred and forty one employees, four thousand, five hundred and sixty six were special agents, and they had a budget of 1,586.6 million dollars. However, by 2007, the Drug Enforcement Agency had an amazing ten thousand, seven hundred and fifty nine employees, five thousand, two hundred and thirty five special agents, with an annual budget of 2.3 million dollars, and have eighty-seven offices in sixty-three countries (DEA, 2008). By 2008 the DEA had eleven thousand employees all together (The Associated Press, 2008). In 2002, more that twenty-six thousand United States citizens died from drug related causes. To put this in perspective, that is seven times larger number of people than those who died in the 9/11 attacks. The money spent on direct drug related costs is enormous, and includes costs for health care and drug treatment programs, costs of services and goods lost to drug related crimes, law enforcement, costs for jails and prisons, and the judicial system costs. Additionally, there are the indirect costs of drug related use and crime are loss of productivity due to ill health or

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Analysis of Economic Articles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analysis of Economic Articles - Essay Example 2. If chemical companies set their plants in the U.S., the more than production and marketing costs could be minimized, especially if the target market is within the U.S. or nearby countries. In so doing, there is a possibility that trade relationships between the U.S. and EU with regards to shale gas or other alternative energy sources would be minimized. Looking at this perspective, it would be more beneficial to the U.S. since shale prices would be significantly minimized; while this would be detrimental to the EU for diminishing trade and export to US markets. 3. The boom of production of natural gas in the US is seen to negatively impact EU, especially those countries identified to previous export shale gas to the US market. With more chemical companies opting to explore the potentials in the US, the EU economy could be foreseen to worsen due to the negative impact of lesser exports and potential reliance or dependence on the Russians as a supplier of natural gas (Torello). 1. The current status of the U.S. economy significantly affects global trade in terms of contributing to increases in exports or imports, as continually affected by external forces. As such, it was evident in the article that the U.S. economy is not the contributory steering force that shapes the global economy, but rather, economic developments in both China and South Korea could be the dominant influencing factor. 2. The role of the Federal Bank in the U.S. in enhancing economic growth and allowing country developments remains paramount through the provision of financial support that is instrumental for global trade.  

SAM 451 UNIT 5 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

SAM 451 UNIT 5 - Assignment Example lso indicates that the cholera occurrences have also been directly hampering tourism in Cuba, which contributed around 2.5 billion to the US economy in 2011 (Orsi, â€Å"US issues advisory for Cuba over cholera cases†). As the report directly indicates the interrelation between cholera cases and tourism development of the Cuban economy, it can be referred as creative statistics. Another statistical report, published in the article titled, â€Å"ACT: Third of high school grads not college ready†, postulates increasing trend of high school graduate students deciphering their unwillingness to go to college. According to the latest survey, it was found that 31% of the students in the US are not ready to go to college, mainly owing to their educational lacunas of learning and applying at the college level. The article further reported that this decline in students’ willingness to go to college, may in future expand the gap between students’ perceptions and abilities with that of the projected job statistics (Elliott, â€Å"ACT: Third of high school grads not college ready†). Hence, imbalances in the US society might be caused owing to fluctuations in the job market, as a consequence of students’ unwillingness to pursue college level studies. This also addresses a creative field of economic development, and thus can be affirmed as a creative statistics illustration. Elliott, Philip. ACT: Third of high school grads not college ready. The Associated Press, 2013. Web. 24 May 2013.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Strategies for preparing a health care organization for change Essay

Strategies for preparing a health care organization for change - Essay Example The plan should indicate the goals and objectives of the change being instituted, roles of top management, and the period estimated for the entire process. The expected returns of the electronic recordings compared to manual recording should also be addressed According to Bridges and Bridges (2009), successful changes occur only in organizations, which demonstrate effective change from the top management. Top managers should exhibit positive attitude and reactions for the new electronic system. Even more, the managers should be conversant with the technicalities and technology of the electronic recording. In addition, management should focus on implementing the change by offering incentives and rewards to employees who emerge excellent in operating the new system. There should be concentrated effort to inform the staff of the expected change in the institution. In order to gain the support of the employees, it is vital for the management of the organization to inform them about the efficiency of the automated system and the advantages they are likely to enjoy by shifting to electronic medical records. The management should further train the staff members on how to use the electronic recording system. It is unlikely that the organization will flawlessly implement the electronic recording without challenges. This is because the employees will be adamant to maintain their status quo and they may oppose the trainings on how to use the new electronic medical recording system. Such challenges will be addressed by setting up of counseling center to inform and encourage the employees about the proposed

Monday, September 23, 2019

Discussion Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 10

Discussion Questions - Essay Example ncludes, but is not limited to, knowledge of the activities of competitors such as their sales and marketing strategies, price points, research and development, patents, mergers and acquisitions, hirings and firings, and so on. Besides this knowledge of what other competing companies are doing, it also includes knowing for example, relevant regulatory legislation such as deregulation and pollution standards, and awareness of new markets, emerging technologies, new competitors and public opinion etc. Knowledge of all the above-mentioned factors that impinge on the competitive environment contributes to a more complete understanding of multinational and global market research by providing the company already present or wishing to engage in this environment a profound insight into everything that can directly affect it. For example, legislation on safety standards would make it necessary for the company to conform to them; taking advantage of new technologies could help to improve the manufacture and assembly processes, communication systems, marketing and distribution networks etc. And, scarcity in the availability of raw materials could mean that the company would have to make alternative arrangements or seek new supply channels. Marketing fundamentals dictate that market knowledge should be used to increase sales but existing or returning customers help to perpetuate sales. So, in a highly competitive and especially shrinking market, customer satisfaction becomes all the more important. It is usually easier to try and keep current customers by keeping them satisfied that it is to seek out potential new customers. â€Å"Competitors that are prospering in the new global economy recognize that measuring customer satisfaction is key.† (Cacioppo, 2000) This way they can not only hold on to existing customers but also learn better to attract new ones. In the mobile phone industry for example, customers are normally subscribed to one cellular network. However, it is a

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Ku Klux Klan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ku Klux Klan - Research Paper Example The group had become a harbor for extremists who championed for white supremacy. The group is in essence comprised of three Klans on historical basis the first starting from 1865 to 1874, second from 1915-1944 and later Klans from 1950s to present. The group is one of the most famous not only in the United States but the whole world as it has transcended the test of time since its inception despite the many attempts, legal and otherwise, to try and extinguish its presence and influence. KKK - 1865 - 1874 KKK at this time did not have a definite structure as an organization most likely due to the nature of its objectives. There was however other groups existing at the same time i.e. 1865 especially in the Southern United States which took up the same name KKK as well as mannerisms (McVeigh 263). This is one of the first ways in which it spread. The Klan members acted as vigilantes whereby they murdered mostly radical republicans irrespective of whether they were black or white. They w ore masks and robes to hide their identities and usually ambushed their targets at night. This group was formed almost immediately after the Civil War whereby the veterans were against the changed society where people from different races had acquired some freedom seemingly undermining white supremacy. Many states after the Civil War experienced long periods of lawlessness which fuelled their efforts to use violence with impunity against black people. They later turned to Republicans and their ideologies claiming they were pro-blacks. They claimed that African Americans were largely voting for Republicans consequently trying to curtail their rights to vote, education and economic wellbeing. The group went as far as assassinating a congressman, J. M. Hinds and members of the legislature who were Republicans. Roughly 2,000 people were reported dead in Louisiana in 1968 just before the elections which followed a boycott by Republicans from voting in Fall of that year (Parker 63). The s ame actions were happening in other southern states leaving hundreds dead in the woods and thousands injured. By 1871, Acts had been passed that made it possible to prosecute the group’s crimes. In 1974 Klan groups reformed targeting Republicans by removing them from office through violence and intimidation. These actions were largely attributed to the landslide victory by Democrats in the South back in 1877 (78). KKK - 1915-1944 This Klan rekindled the ones that had died four decades earlier. The origin was in Georgia where its functions were largely concentrated. However, as time went by new recruits joined across the nation and the group leaders notably William Simmons realized the potential they had and immediately started fresh recruitment drives all over United States (Dray 113). This was a time of prosperity in the country and they found it easy to gain many affluent members. Apart from being heavily racist KKK had messages that were anti-Catholicism. They also preache d against communism and Semitism. The group increasingly became violent towards these groups or people affiliated to them regardless of their race. This KKK had a definite structure at both national and state levels and by 1925 the group widely publicized claims that its membership comprised of more than 15 percent of the total US population. These claims were however refuted as they had no scientific or factual basis. They were mere

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Supporting Teaching and Learning Essay Example for Free

Supporting Teaching and Learning Essay Health and safety is monitored and maintained in various ways within School; we have Health and Safety policy that complies with the Health and Safety at work at 1974, this is available on the School’s VLE for all staff, parents and students to see, the Health and Safety policy outlines the main objectives, these objectives are implemented every day in school. All staff at School has regular training to keep them up to date with the current Health and Safety at school. Every department within School has a Health and Safety representative that is responsible for keeping individual departmental Health and Safety Policies up to date. Under the Health and Safety at work at 1974 all employees at Jack Hunt School has a responsibility to comply with Health and Safety within the School. All staff are to check equipment they are planning to use before the students use it, this is to ensure that it is safe. Staff in subjects where goggles, gloves or aprons are used they are to ensure that they not faulty and provided when required. Risk Assessments are an important part of protecting; staff, students and visitors to School. A risk assessment is carried out to identify potential risks and/or hazards, once you have identified the risk and/or hazard you would need to carry out a risk assessment to try to minimise the risk and/or hazard to a minimal and acceptable level for staff, pupils and visitors. When you are completing a risk assessment you need to remember that it is only effective at the time of assessment and should be monitored at all times reviewing if an accident should happen or annually whichever may arise first. You have a legal obligation to complete risk assessments for anything and everything you do at school whether this is onsite or offsite. Not only are risk assessments a legal requirement but if you do not complete risk assessments you are putting yourself, pupils, visitors and other staff in danger. Below is a flow chart on how to complete a risk assessment. Within School has overall responsibility for completing risk assessments. However, each department has their own risk assessments and the head of department or a nominated person within the department is responsible for completing the risk assessments and keeping them up to date. Learning support departments point of contact for risk assessments is R Reeves; she is responsible for all risk assessments that need carrying out with our department. Teachers are reasonable for completing their own risk assessments for their classroom and any classroom work that requires a risk assessment to be carried out. If there is a field trip going on it is down to the person in charge or whoever they may delegate to survey the location and complete risk assessments for any possible risks or hazards. All staff at School are made aware of any changes to risk assessments by either being verbally informed or by e-mail. If a new risk assessment has been generated staff will be made aware in the tri weekly staff meeting or by e-mail, all staff will be made aware of where the new risk assessment is located and how to access it. If the pupils require a risk assessment to participate in a science experiment or in design technology etc. they will be verbally told the risk assessment including the hazards, risks and what to do if an incident should arise. Visitors to school sign in and wear a visitors badge, by signing in they are saying they have read the main points within the health and safety policy, the main points are in the inside of the sign in folder.

Friday, September 20, 2019

The Science Of Artificial Neural Networks Psychology Essay

The Science Of Artificial Neural Networks Psychology Essay The science of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), commonly referred as Neural Networks, stills a new and promising area of research. The concept of creation of neural networks exists for many decades. Nevertheless neural networks have become known and have been developed in international levels only in the recent years. It is noteworthy, scientist showing interest in neural networks, come from different scientific areas such as chemistry, medicine, physics, mathematics, engineering and the list goes on. That shows Neural Networks is a new challenge in science. No other science today combines and needs direct knowledge from such diverse areas. One of the main differences of the Artificial Neural Networks from the biological is that while ANNs learn through training and experience just like the biological ones but they follow different rules from regular computers. A Neural Network is a parallel data processing system consisted by multitude of artificial neurons, organized in structure s similar with the ones in human brain. They function as parallel computing devices made by many highly interconnected simple processors. Artificial Neurons are mainly organized in layers. The first of those layers called the input layer and is used to insert the data. Input layers are unable to proceed to any sort of computation as its elements do not comprise input weights or bias (threshold). The axon: mean of transfer of neural signals from the neuron. Its length can be tens of thousands of times the diameter of its body and it is characterized by high electrical resistance and very large capacitance. Every neuron has only one axon, however it can branch and thus enabling communication with many target cells or other neurons. The dendrite: short highly branched cell projections (filaments). Most neurons have many dendrites, attached on the soma and increase the surface area. There are approximately 10^3 to 10^4 dendrites per neuron, to receive information from other neurons through synapses they are covered with and transmit electrochemical stimulation to the soma. The axon terminal: located in the end of the axon and is responsible for transmitting signals on to other neurons. On axon terminals are attached the terminal buttons, that store the information in synaptic vesicles and secreting them in neurotransmitters. As mentioned above, the connection between neurons happens through the synapses. Neural synapses are a silent exchange of information. The electrical nerve impulses travel along neurons and transmitted by chemical transmitters (neurotransmitters) in the next neuron across a tiny gap, the synapses and are located between the neuron and the neighboring cell (target cell). Therefore dendrites are very close to each other but never in touch. It is estimated that there are approximately 10 billion neurons in the human cortex, and 60 trillion synapses or connections (Shepherd and Koch, 1990). A number of neurons and their connections form a neural network. The entire system of neural networks in the human body forms the Central Nervous System. This system goes through the whole human body with central points the brain and the spine. During lifetime, synapses are in constant dynamic equilibrium, new are created and old are destroyed. The creation of new synapse happens when the brain acquires more experiences from the surrounding environment, learns, recognizes and understands. On the other side, diseases cause the devastation of neurons and therefore the devastation of synapses. In comparison to other cells, neurons might not replaced by new ones, if destroyed. That means after the birth of a new individual, its neural system is fully developed within the first few months of its life. A neuron can be either active or inactive. When it is activated, it produces an electric signal. This signal has intensity of only a few mVolt. The way those electric signals are produced is pretty similar with the way a capacitor works. Between the external and internal surface of the cell of the neuron there is a dynamic difference. Although the mass of the human brain is only the 2% of human body mass, consumes more than the 20% of the oxygen that goes in the organism. The energy consumption in the brain is about 20 Watt in comparison to a computer that needs a lot more. The computational power of brain is measured by three possible approaches: The number of synapses (Kandel, 1985), the computational power of the retina and multiply it by their brain-to-retina ratio (Moravec, 1998b), and the total useful energy used by the brain per second by the amount of energy used for each basic operation to give the maximum operation per second (Merkle, 1989) From the three approaches above, is concluded that the estimated computational power of human brain is about 10^14 operations per second (Ng, 2009). It is interesting to mention how the electric pulses are created to stimulate neurons. On the membrane of the cell it is appeared to be an electric potential difference between its external and internal surface just like a capacitor. Most of the times the negative charges found in the internal surface as they cant penetrate the membrane and leave the cell. The membrane has many openings that allow ions and atoms to go through each element from its own channel. The endings of the channels are secured by gates which directing the flow of those elements. Proteins that act like pumps force the elements to travel in the opposite direction from their natural and thus neurons consume larger amounts of energy. Eventually the balanced movement of the elements along the surface of the membrane produces an electric current which is the corresponding electrical pulse that stimulates the neuron. Once the neuron has fired it returns to a state of potential equilibrium and in this state it cant be fired again until it recovers. Each neuron has a specific threshold or weight. When electric signals reach that point, sum up and if their weight value is same or larger than the one of the threshold the neuron stimulates. If the sum of the signals is smaller than the required value of the threshold, then the neuron stays inactive. Add images. Models of artificial neurons As mentioned earlier, ANNs are parallel data processing systems, consisting out of large numbers of artificial neurons, inspired by the biological neurons. A neuron is an information-processing unit that is fundamental to the operation of a neural network (Haykin, 1999, pg-10). A neuron may have many inputs, an internal structure consisting out of multiple layers but it always has a single output. Every single neuron accepts variable input signals x0, x1, x2 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦xn. This corresponds to the electric pulses of the biological brain. Every input signal is multiplied by the synaptic weights of the neuron, wi, where i=1,2,3..n, the input nodes. The weights represent the biological synapses and indicate the strength of the bond (the connection) between them. The range of value of a weight can be positive or negative depending on if the function of synapse suspend or propagate (transmit) the stimuli from other neurons, unlike the biological synapses that do not take negative values. This is because external bias, b, are applied when the weights added. Bias or threshold, is the standard value of the internal potential energy of the neuron that the sum of the combined output must be reached in order the activation (or squashing) function to be activated. An important element of the neuronal body is the adder .At the adder, all the input signals, influenced by weight vectors are summing up together and produce a resultant combined output u. When the sum of weight is big (0 Therefore, the product u is given by the relationship: The result of combined output u, pass through the activation function, denoted with the letter  Ã¢â‚¬  ( ). The activation function is a non linear function where the resultant combined output u takes its final value y. The calculated activation output signal of the neuron is shown as: and where Therefore, Activation functions There are several activation functions, however three of the most basic types are the following 🙠 they slightly vary from book to book) The threshold activation function, which gives as an output 1, if the adder produce a value greater than the one of the threshold. This is expressed as: The Piecewise-Linear function, where the unity is assumed to be the amplification factor inside the linear region of operation (Haykin, 1999, pg:14) The Sigmoid function, which is expressed as: Where  Ã‚ ¡ is is the slope parameter of the sigmoid function. This function is one of the most important and most commonly used as it provides non-linearity to the neuron. Some other activation functions are, the rump function, the bipolar sigmoid function, and the signum function. The signum function gives a positive or negative output, with values usually ranging from 1 to -1 depending on the value of the summation of the weights on the threshold. This can be applied to the activation functions mentioned above and more specifically to the threshold faction giving: Add images and graphs A simple neural network In this paragraph, neural networks will be introduced, starting from their simplest form. Every neural network consists out of hundreds or thousands of tiny units, the neurons. Each neuron has an input where the electric signals are received. A neuron may have more than one input but no matter how many layers of neurons and synaptic connections are in between (the body), there is always one output value. The neurons of a layer between each input and output are not connected to each other however each layer is interconnected with the layer of the next and the previous level. In its simplest form, a neuron has no layers but is limited only to an input and an output. Every signal that leaves an output and enters an input has a value, the weights. The weights represent the importance of each signal reaching the threshold of an input. Depending on the value of weight (wn), the contribution of the electric signal can be great or small for the function of the system. Artificial intelligence and neural networks Historical background (The study of the brain and the biological neurons has started thousands of years ago.) However, as artificial neural networks started to be developing the past century, the historical background still not as broad as in other sciences. The first union of mathematical logic and neuropsychology, commenced in 1943 by Warren S. McCulloch and Walter Pitts. McCulloch was a pioneer neuroanatomist and psychiatrist. Pitts was a young mathematical prodigy, who joined McCulloch in 1942. (Haykin, 1999, pg: 38). Together they created the first model a neural network that was represented by a great number of interconnected neurons. In their well-known paper, A logical calculus of the ideas immanent in nervous activity, (1943), came up with theorems that describe the function of neurons and the neural networks. As a result of those theorems, neural networks and artificial intelligence ideas established a new era of research began. The paper of McCulloch and Pitts, triggered the interest of many scientists like von Neumann, Wiener and Uttley in their effort to extract information of the function of biological neurons and create corresponding artificial ones. In 1949 another idea appeared by D. Hebb who published the book The Organisation of Behavior. Although his book had greater influence on the psychological rather than the engineering community, he introduced the concept of postulate and learning and the synaptic modification rule, which suggests that the connectivity of the brain changes continually thorough its entire life in the process of learning new tasks. From 1950 to 1979, a number of remarkable books were written about neural networks developing the ideas of neurons abilities, such as learning and memorising. Some of these books are the Design for a Brain: The origin of Adaptive Behaviors, (1952) by Ashby, that still exciting to read nowadays, and the Learning Machines, (1965) by Nilsson, one of the best-written expositions about linearly separable patterns in hypersurfaces. (Haykin, 1999, pg: 40). A novel model, the perceptron, introduced in 1958 by F. Rosenblatt. The perceptron is a very simple model of supervised learning, which has only one input and one output built around a nonlinear neuron (Haykin pg 135). Although this model appeared to have many limitations the idea of training the neurons encouraged many scientists for building larger neural networks. In 1969, Minsky and Papert in their book Perceptron they make a complete evaluation of the features and uses of the perceptrons. It proved with mathematics that there were fundamental limitations on the computational ability of single-layered perceptrons and therefore those limitations assumed to carry on in the multilayered levels of perceptrons. A period followed were scientists start losing hope about neural networks and turned to other knowledge based systems. In 1982, neural networks make an interesting come back when John Hopfield proved in a strict mathematical way that by time a neural network can be adjusted to use the minimum energy to function just like human brain does. In addition, Hopfield proved that a simple neural network can be used as storage devise. Such networks are called the Hopfield networks. A very important work was published in 1986 by Rumelhart and McClelland. The two-volume book, Parallel Distributed Processing: Explorations in the Microstructures of Cognitions, shows new methods of training neural networks and introduces the idea of parallel data processor. This theory had a great influence in the use of back-propagation learning as and allowed the development of multilayered networks (perceptrons). The books published by McCulloch- Pitts (1943), Hopfield (1982) and Rumelhart-McClelland (1986), are the most influential in the revolution of neural networks. Since 1980 to nowadays, Neural Networks have been established as a new independent science branch. Conferences and magazines appeared with complete interest on artificial neural networks while the first commercial companies dedicated to the improvement of them, created, supported by thousands of members worldwide especially in America, Europe and Japan. Learning processes/ training Fundamental ideas The present, looking to future Ann applications areas Anns in civil engineering Can it be applied in? Benefits/disadvantages Program Observations comments summary references

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Emotional Aspects of Mary Reilly :: Essays Papers

Emotional Aspects of Mary Reilly Throughout her tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Martin maintains some emotional aspects of the original Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, while discarding and replacing others. Although the subtleties of the emotions in Stevenson's novel are deeper than those of Martin's, they may still be found spotting the plot in all of the different characters. Stevenson's primary characters, Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll, and Mr. Utterson, display the strongest emotions, and can be most easily documented and interpreted. Martin, on the other hand, swaps out Mr. Utterson as the primary character and replaces him with Mary Reilly, a housemaid living with Dr. Jekyll. Unlike Stevenson, Martin provides a very grand emotional display. Mary is plagued by several distinct emotions, and the thoughts and feelings of Dr. Jekyll are brought to light far more vividly than in Stevenson's text. By utilizing a deep connection to emotion in her novel, Mary Reilly, Valerie Martin nearly transforms the genre of the original Dr. Je kyll and Mr. Hyde into a psychological thriller. Mary Reilly's emotions play the strongest role in Martin's novel. Since the Mary Reilly character does not appear in the original novel, it is difficult to compare her emotional characteristics to those found in Stevenson's novel; her point of view, however, can be loosly juxtaposed to the overall style of the narrators involved in Stevenson's novel. As previously noted, the emotions expressed by Stevenson are mostly implied, but they nevertheless carry a great deal of importance to the novel. As the Stvenson novel is told exclusively by upper-class characters and a narrator viewing only those upper-class characters, a great deal of detail is left out. The thoughts and feelings of Utterson, Lanyon, and Jekyll are all downplayed in a sort of "gentleman's modesty". Jekyll does not even reveal his chemically separated counterpart to anyone until desperate circumstances reqire that he release the information to Lanyon. Utterson masks his concern with his professional attitude, and Poole , Jekyl's butler, does the same. All of this masquerading begins to come to an end when at last the true identity of Mr. Hyde is brought to light. Until this point, the reader has only a few hints and his/her own thoughts to be guided by. In a plot-turning scene set in the street below Dr. Jekyll's open window, Jekyll tries to speak with Utterson and Enfield as they pass by: Emotional Aspects of Mary Reilly :: Essays Papers Emotional Aspects of Mary Reilly Throughout her tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Martin maintains some emotional aspects of the original Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, while discarding and replacing others. Although the subtleties of the emotions in Stevenson's novel are deeper than those of Martin's, they may still be found spotting the plot in all of the different characters. Stevenson's primary characters, Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll, and Mr. Utterson, display the strongest emotions, and can be most easily documented and interpreted. Martin, on the other hand, swaps out Mr. Utterson as the primary character and replaces him with Mary Reilly, a housemaid living with Dr. Jekyll. Unlike Stevenson, Martin provides a very grand emotional display. Mary is plagued by several distinct emotions, and the thoughts and feelings of Dr. Jekyll are brought to light far more vividly than in Stevenson's text. By utilizing a deep connection to emotion in her novel, Mary Reilly, Valerie Martin nearly transforms the genre of the original Dr. Je kyll and Mr. Hyde into a psychological thriller. Mary Reilly's emotions play the strongest role in Martin's novel. Since the Mary Reilly character does not appear in the original novel, it is difficult to compare her emotional characteristics to those found in Stevenson's novel; her point of view, however, can be loosly juxtaposed to the overall style of the narrators involved in Stevenson's novel. As previously noted, the emotions expressed by Stevenson are mostly implied, but they nevertheless carry a great deal of importance to the novel. As the Stvenson novel is told exclusively by upper-class characters and a narrator viewing only those upper-class characters, a great deal of detail is left out. The thoughts and feelings of Utterson, Lanyon, and Jekyll are all downplayed in a sort of "gentleman's modesty". Jekyll does not even reveal his chemically separated counterpart to anyone until desperate circumstances reqire that he release the information to Lanyon. Utterson masks his concern with his professional attitude, and Poole , Jekyl's butler, does the same. All of this masquerading begins to come to an end when at last the true identity of Mr. Hyde is brought to light. Until this point, the reader has only a few hints and his/her own thoughts to be guided by. In a plot-turning scene set in the street below Dr. Jekyll's open window, Jekyll tries to speak with Utterson and Enfield as they pass by:

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Hatchet :: essays research papers

I read a Book called Hatchet. Brian Robeson had divorced parents, goes on a flight to see his father in the Canadian wilderness. This is Brains first time in an airplane. He explains this to the pilot and tells him that he is scared. The pilot feels sorry for Brian and decides to show him that flying is not hard. He lets Brian take the steering control and lets him steer for awhile. Just when Brian thinks that everything is going well, the pilot has a heart attack and dies. Brian knows he must land the plane himself or die. He tries to use the radio, but it diddn't work. He knows that if he hits the trees he can die. So he decides to land in the water of a lake. When he lands in the water. He gets out through a window. He sat on the bank of the lake for a while to rest. Brian knew he needed food and shelter to survive so he left to find both. He diddn't want to go too far from the lake where his water was, or he might get lost. He found a cherry tree and he ate some because he was hungry. He filled his windbreaker with cherries to eat later and then found a cave to stay in. He slept good, but in the morning when he woke up, he saw a bear in the cave. He was scared, because the bear was only about 20 feet away eating his cherries out of his windbreaker. The bear only looked at Brian and then left. The cherries must have been enough to full him up. The discovery of how to make a fire was very important to Brains survival. He needed to have a fire at the front of the cave to protect him from wild animals, and to signal for help.A porcupine came into his cave. It was dark in the cave and he heard something moving. He knew it was alive, but he diddn't know what it was. So he kicked it. Then the quills shot into his foot and then he knew it was a porcupine. He was in hurt, and knew he could not touch it. He threw his hatchet, and it hit the rock of the cave instead of the porcupine, and it made a spark. He knew how to make the spark.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Elbow or Shoulder Pain and Professional Baseball Pitchers :: essays papers

Elbow or Shoulder Pain and Professional Baseball Pitchers It’s fair to say that a good baseball game can lie in the hands of the pitcher. According to an article by the American Journal of Sports Medicine, 50 percent of professional baseball pitchers experience elbow or shoulder pain due to the way they throw the ball. Because not much research has been done on professional baseball athletes, the purpose of this publication was to find at what point in the pitcher’s technique does most of the damage occur. The study began by taking 40 pro-baseball pitchers, all ranging from the age of 23-33 years old with relatively the same height and weight. Also, thirty-two of the 40 selected are right-hand dominant. Then they placed 3 cameras in different parts of the field. These cameras would take still frames of the pitchers and their technique when throwing the ball. They found that at the point where there is maximum rotation (aka the cocking phase) the distraction force was low. Also, it was stated that because of the elbow angle at foot stride and ball release that the shoulder joint was affected more so than at any other time. Finally, in order to understand why the injuries occur we should learn the joint ranges of motion so we can develop better preventive methods for injuries. I don’t believe that this article is very reliable, because the way the chose their subject wasn’t very scientifical. First, The range of age is too broad, and it doesn’t mention how long the pitcher has been in the sport. For example, the could have chosen a 23 year old with a good arm, but bad technique compared to a 33 year old who has been pitching for years and has loosened the ligaments in his arm. Also, they selected 32 that were right-hand dominant. That became the majority. I believe that the data would be wrong if the numbers of right-handed to left-handed pitchers weren’t equal, because they are the control group in the experiment, which makes the variable the pitchers’ technique. Overall, this experiment shouldn’t be considered a reference for students or others to depend on. When it comes to the relevancy of this article to the field of athletic training, I believe that it is somewhat helpful. In order to understand and prevent injuries, an athletic trainer must understand why and how the injuries happen.

Owl- Foolish or Wise

Ullu (owl) – Foolish or Wise? Today in ITPN class, a very interesting debate started but due to lack of time and due to some over excited people (mostly psychology stream kids, they speak so much! Are all psychology people gifted with feature like â€Å"I think after I speak,†? it’s so annoying) who have to speak on everything! The debate somehow could not finish properly. So, the house was divided on if â€Å"Ullu† was wise or foolish. Owl, who wakes up at night and sleeps during the day, is considered to be the poster boy of wisdom and smartness.In Hindu mythology owl has been bestowed with the honor of being the vehicle of goddess Saraswati. Now Saraswati is supposed to be the goddess of knowledge and music. So if we interpret it correctly, owl can be seen as the vehicle of knowledge, which I assume, is a very respectable thing to be. But then why does â€Å"ullu da patha† which means son of an owl is taken as an insult? So when someone is callin g you â€Å"ullu da patha† isn’t he indirectly calling you something truly respectable?But actual meaning of â€Å"ullu da patha† isn’t son of an owl, but when someone calls you â€Å"ullu da patha† what he’s trying to say is â€Å"I can’t abuse you properly right now†, and by properly I mean reaching mothers and sisters. That’s the reason it’s taken as an insult because we know the hidden meaning. We often hear people calling us â€Å"ullu† whenever we do something foolish. But what is that foolish thing which our poor owl does that people keep associating our foolish acts with his? Is it his gaze? Or his nocturnal sleeping habits? But what’s so wrong about sleeping in the daytime?If everyone is sleeping at night that does not mean our poor owl has to copy them. I think it somehow shows how our society sees things, if someone is not doing what majority is doing, he is labeled as stupid. Why are ever ybody expected to do same things? Walk the same path to success. Isn’t this stupid? (Doing things without thinking and follow what others do) Ask any science student today who is studying in school that what he wants to do after school? Answer would be the same, â€Å"I want to become an engineer and then do an MBA! Thank God, I am not running in this horse race. I guess, not everybody was so ignorant and somebody somehow realized that how wise our poor owl could be. I don’t know what was that person thinking when s/he made owl the vehicle of Saraswati and put our owl in the league of wise. I think what makes him wise, is the fact that he has the wisdom of the night. He knows what others don’t and he knows what other’s hide. He knows the secrets of the night. His uninterrupted gaze, his 360 degree vision, sees what lies in the dark, what happens in the underbelly.Maybe people had started calling him stupid, to hide their shame, they thought that by calli ng him stupid they would make him untrustworthy and nobody will trust his words. But they forgot that our poor owl needs to sleep too, he won’t tell their secrets to anybody because when the whole world daydreaming, our poor owl is actually dreaming in his sleep. So, if next time, someone calls you â€Å"ullu da patha,† don’t feel bad and think about the hidden meaning. Rather think about the respect that man is giving you unknowingly! -Shikhar Goel

Monday, September 16, 2019

Project Estimating Techniques Essay

One of the most important factors to the success of a project is how well the project is estimated, as well as how overall costs are managed during the execution phase by the project manager. Project costs and estimates are vital to the success of any organization to remain competitive in the market. Cost estimating for organizations rely heavily on resources that can sometimes be difficult to obtain. Forecasting and utilizing historical return costs are just a couple of ways that organizations rely on estimating. Experienced planners are often a sought trade within the market; this paper will discuss some often used project cost estimating techniques. Types of Estimating The first type of estimating is analogous. This type of estimating utilizes estimates from a previous project that is similar, and uses them to build estimates for the new project. While this type of estimating is beneficial to the planning process, caution must be used to ensure that estimates carried over from the previous project are fair and reasonable. Parametric estimation takes historical data inputs, makes calculated assumptions based on market and statistical data, and then formulates the estimate. This type of estimating is useful as it does use historical data, coupled with statistical data; however, assumptions made by the planner can be skewed and lead to inaccurate estimates in my opinion. The next type of estimating is bottom-up. Bottom-up estimating utilizes information from individual estimates through the Work Break Down structure. This type of estimating is one of the most common types of estimating because it uses estimates from the floor tasks. These floor tasks are estimated by subject matter experts with years of experience, and can be very beneficial to ensuring that not only the estimate is accurate, but the scope of the task is correct. Another type of estimating is three-point estimating. Three-point estimating takes a look at the best, worst, and most realistic scenario to cost estimating the project. These three options obviously come with a  premium on cost, time, or quality. Dependent on what the project objective is will more than likely determine what route to take in this process. From my work experience with project planning, cost estimating can be a very difficult task. Most organizations have a method or process in how to cost estimate. Some utilize checklists, while others may standard operating procedures as part of an organizational policy. Regardless of what tools are available to a project team during the cost estimating process, knowing the overall goals and objectives of the project are keys to estimating a successful project. The burden of cost estimating is not normally the responsibility of one individual; it often lies within the project team. Multiple estimators from various skills are part of the process, and all types of estimating as discussed earlier are part of the process. Tools that my organization utilizes are bid specification review meetings that go over the material, labor, and rates that apply to the work being conducted during the project. In addition, an independent government estimate (IGE) is utilized to ensure that estimates are filled out thoroughly, and reviewed against the contractor’s estimates upon receipt. There are many other processes that can be used; however, these are the most commonly one’s used within government estimating. Conclusion Cost estimating is a very important part of the project planning process as it often dictates the duration of the project, and how much work can be accomplished during the project against the budget given for the project. Estimates of time and cost together allow the manager to develop a time-phased budget, which is imperative for project control (Larson & Gray, 2014, p. 131). While there are many different ways that estimates are created, there is no sure fire way in stating that one is better than the other. While some may think that historical data is a more accurate way, there is not telling that the estimate and return costs from a previous project were fair and reasonable. If the previous project cost was overestimated, then the current project would continue to be overestimated; therefore not proving to be a cost benefit to the organization. Cost estimating drives the project plan, and organizations need to ensure they utilize all the tools and resources they have available to them to make the  project a success. Reference Larson, E. W., & Gray, C. F. (2014). Project Management: The Managerial Process (6th ed.). McGraw-Hill.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Analyse Communication methods and assess their effectiveness in a care setting

Effective communication is the foundation for any health care setting. Communication is essential in these environments as is helps classify issues, provides emotional support and also establishes relationships. It is important for employees in health care setting’s to be equipped with social skills in order to identify wide range of emotional needs. Wilbur Schramm theory is ‘to understand human communication process, one must understand how people relate to each other’. For example a care worker needs to be able to adapt their social skills to be able to communicate with different patients and identifying their client’s needs.Communication is verbal or non-verbal. Verbal is spoken (oral) which can be accomplished face-to-face. This type of communication is central to establish relationships between people. For example a professional in a hospital will use verbal communication to inform a patient of any procedure or care task that is given. This builds a se nse of trust because communicating face-to-face establishes that the professional has time to care for the patient, which makes the patient feel looked after. Verbal communication also allows any questions to be raised and gives opportunity to answer.This is effective as any misunderstanding issues would be raised. Non-verbal communication (written) is also used in a health care environments. Such as hospitals. They use written communication to record medical history, staff Rota’s and formal policies and procedures. This is the most effective way in recording patients’ medical history as it is more accurate and factual. Another example of this form used in hospitals is during ‘handover meetings’. This happens before staff rotation, the staff on shift update the staff about to come on shift with any events or incidents that occurred.These meetings can be informal and rushed, the lack of communication found here can cause problems in hospital productivity as the new staff on shift might not get all the information they need to know. Written communication is also used by social workers. They use printed forms to use when meeting a client to ensure they have asked all the correct questions needed for a review. Communication is either formal or informal. Formal communication is often used in hospitals such as in policies and documents. This language register is used in hospitals as it gives it a professional image.This perception will give of a serious and respected environment and the patients will feel like they are in good hands. Formal lexis that is used in hospitals can make it difficult for patients to understand. For example a professional may mention ‘hypertension’ to the patient, this jargon is mainly understood by professionals, therefore would need to explain to the patient that it is high blood pressure. Informal communication is also used in health care. Social workers may communicate informally to their clients. Especially during first interaction as informal communication makes the client feel relaxed and less nervous.Communication can be difficult as it can be affected by someone with a physical condition. Such as a hearing impairment. Individuals with this condition struggle to understand verbal communication. They can overcome this in many ways. Firstly, by using a hearing aid which increases the volume. It not only increases the volume of what needs to be heard but also the background noise too. This can still make it difficult to hear what is being said. A second method is using speech to text. This is where a translator types word for word and it is then viewed on a screen instantly.The person is unable to interpret tone of voice which makes it more difficult to understand the meaning of the message. Therefore it is important for correct kinesis techniques to be used such as body language to help the individual understand the implication of the message. For example eyes down and cro ssed arms indicates sadness or boredom. A third alternative form of communication for the hearing impaired is sign language. In the UK British sign language is the most preferred language for the Deaf. It involves the movement of hands, face and body. This method can only be understood from those who have learned BSL.Another physical condition which effects communication is someone with a visual impairment. These individuals will find it challenging to understand the meaning of the conversation as they are unable to interpret body language. Therefore they rely on what they hear to interpret emotions. This is achieved by analyzing paralinguistic techniques such as tone of voice, speed and pitch. A system called Braille is used to help Blind communicate. Braille is a system of raised dots which is read by individuals by using their fingertips. It enables language to be translated into written form.This is not that effective in health care settings as not everyone can understand it. Br aille is also not commonly found on written forms. Such as information leaflets found in hospitals. Technology is increasingly advancing, therefore computerized communication is becoming more common in health care settings. An example of this type of communication is e-mail. E-mail is used in most work places for colleagues to communicate to each other. This is used as it is a quick and an intermediate way to communicate. Another example is a small hand held device called a Blackberry.In a hospital an individual may use this if they are on call as it is always accessible, for that reason they will be able to react immediately. Effective communication is very important in any health care setting. As it results in good patient care and increases productivity. There are many barriers in communication, one of these being time. If a professional in a hospital does not have the adequate time to complete a review on a patient this results in bad patient care. Another example of this is if the hospital is busy and they do not have enough beds this can result to informal rushed interactions with patients and quick discharges.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Marketing Plan: Maybelline’s New Perfume

Marketing Plan: Maybelline’s new perfume The University of Sheffield Marketing Management (MTG 2410) Blagoy Savov (BS11124) 21 August 2012 Abstract L'Oreal’s Maybelline, a global, mass market cosmetic manufacturer, has decided to develop and market a new fragrance for women. This report includes research, analysis and evaluation of the market environment for female fragrances. Furthermore, it outlines a marketing strategy for the new product which describes the marketing mix to be used by Maybelline in order to sell its new product addition to the target market.Introduction The fragrance market is a very competitive one with large companies having a global presence and well established images and brands. This market is also very profitable and ever growing with signs of great potential. Maybelline is one of L'Oreal’s brands and is well known worldwide for its value based cosmetics products.Now Maybelline is entering the fragrance market with a new female perfume and this report describes how it will take on this challenge. The first part of the report introduces L'Oreal, which is Maybelline’s mother company, its vision and company profile including its financial success. Maybelline falls under L'Oreal’s Consumer Products Division, which offers mass-market products. The report continues by presenting an environmental analysis of the market as well as a competitive analysis. There are three main players in the industry, which represent 24. 5% of the global market in the face of Coty Inc. Maybelline’s mother company L'Oreal, and Procter & Gamble. The first part of the report concludes with a SWOT analysis of the Maybelline, which indicates that the strengths and opportunities outweigh the weaknesses and threats. Based on the market analysis, the second part of the report proposes a target market for the new female fragrance product and a specific marketing mix in order to successfully reach its customers. The company L'Ore al L’Oreal is one of the largest cosmetics companies in the world, producing and marketing a range of make-up, perfume, hair and skin care products in over 130 countries.The company is headquartered in Clichy, France and employs about 68,900 people worldwide in a total of 41 factories. With 613 registered patents in 2011 the company earned 20. 3 billion EURO of sales in that year and currently has a brand portfolio of 27 international brands (L'Oreal 2011). For more than a 100 years L'Oreal has devoted its efforts in the business of beauty. Its mission is to enable all individuals to express their personalities, gain self-confidence and open up to others by offering the best cosmetics innovation in terms of quality, efficacy and safety.The company pushes the boundaries of innovation by heavily investing in research in order to explore new territories and invent new products (L'Oreal 2012). Wrapping up another year of financial growth, in 2011 Company Responsibility (2005 â₠¬â€œ 2011) – Reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 29. 8% – Reduced waste generated by 24. 2% – Reduced water consumption by 22. 6% – 95. 7% of waste is reused, recycled or used for energy production – Reduced total energy consumption by 6. % for 2010/2011 Company Profile – A century of expertise in cosmetics – â‚ ¬20,3 billion sales in 2011 – 27 global brands – 130 countries – 68 900 employees – 613 patents filed in 2011. L'Oreal grew faster than the worldwide cosmetics market and confirmed its position as the world leader in beauty. The company also heavily invests in being socially, ethically and environmentally responsible to ensure a sustainable growth in the long-term. Compared to 2005 the organization significantly reduced its gas emissions, generated waste and water consumption and invested in research in order to foster sustainable innovation.Maybelline As described in the journal by Aaker and Joa chimsthaler (2000) brand architecture is a structure that organizes the company’s brand portfolio and specifies the brand roles and the relationship between them. Coherent brand architecture provides tools to: ? ? ? permit brands to stretch across products and markets, resolve conflicting brand strategy needs, preserve brand-building resources by leveraging existing brand equity, protect brands from being diluted by over-stretching, and signal a new and different offeringAs outlined in the journal by Harish (2008), L'Oreal’s brand architecture is organized around 27 international brands, which are clustered in separate business divisions, each of which focuses on a specific target market. As illustrated in Table 1, L'Oreal’s business is structured under three divisions (Consumer Products Division, Luxury Products Division and Professional Products Division), one department (Active Cosmetics Department) and an ethical cosmetics brand (The Body Shop). L'Oreal†™s brand architecture, showing brands, positioning and sales channels. Consumer Products Luxury Products Profess.Products Active Cosmetics The Body ShopMajor international umbrella brands: L'Oreal Paris Garnier Maybeline New York SoftSheen Carson Le Club des Createurs de Beute (LCCB) Lancome Biotherm Helena Rubinstein Kiehl’s Shu Uemure Perfumes: Giorgio Armani Ralph Lauren Cacharel Victor and Rolf Diesel Positioning: Quality products at affordable prices for the masses Up-market luxury products for discerning consumers Specialist products for use by professional hair stylists and salon professionals Sales Channels: Mass market retail outlets in the case of L'Oreal Paris, Garnier, Maybelline and SoftSheen CarsonDirect marketing for LCCB High-end international department stores, travel retail outlets, brands’ own boutiques and perfumeries Hair stylists and salon professionals Pharmacies and specialist retailers Predominantly through body Shop’s exclusive retail chain Cosmeceuticals with proven safety and effectiveness; backed by pharmacists and dermatologists Ethical cosmetics for socially and environmentally conscious consumers L'Oreal Professionnel Kerastase RedKen 5th Avenue NYC Matrix Mizani Vichy La Roche – Possay Inneov SkinCeuticals Sanoflore The Body Shop Table 1 Within the Consumer Products Division, L'Oreal Paris is the premium brand while Garnier and Maybelline New York are the neighbouring aspirational brands. The company offers these distinct brands in order to satisfy different target groups and avoid losing customers to a competitor (Harish, 2008). L'Oreal’s goal is to make Maybelline a leading global mass-market brand. This brand is sold in about 127 countries and makes up over 45% of the total revenues.Maybelline is positioned to be the leader of massmarket cosmetics targeted at women between the age of 15 and 49 at a reasonable price and it successfully promotes the â€Å"urban American chic† image a cross the globe. Maybelline includes five ranges of products – face, eyes, lips, nails and tools. Each range includes several lines and there are individual products with unique brands under each line. As per Harish (2008) the products of the Maybelline group are mainly promoted through TV advertising and brand ambassadors like the supermodels Christy Turlington and Adriana Lima. Since 1915, the brand has been empowering women everywhere with the impactful slogan â€Å"Maybe she is born with it. Maybe it’s Maybelline. Today Maybelline New York is the leading makeup brand worldwide, which combines technologically advanced cosmetics with trendy expertise to create accessible products with a spirited style that empower women to make a statement by exploring new tools, experimenting without risk, and flaunting their own artistry (L'Oreal, 2012). L'Oreal has a licensing agreement with five different fragrance brands, which complement the firm’s wide spectrum of prod uct offerings. As described in Table 1 these brands fall under the Luxury Products Division, target discerning consumers and are sold in high-end department stores, travel outlets and boutiques. L'Oreal is now developing a completely new perfume under its own Maybelline product line. Environmental Analysis Market AnalysisThe fragrance market experienced a steady growth in sales in the period between 2006 and 2011. Furthermore the overall market growth is expected to accelerate in the next five year period. In 2010 the global fragrance market generated total revenues of $36. 3 billion resulting in a compound annual growth rate of 4. 2% for the period spanning 2006 – 2010 shown in Figure 1 (Datamonitor Global, 2011). Global fragrances market volume: million units 40000 35000 30000 25000 20000 4. 2 3. 1 5. 6 7 6 5 3. 9 4 3 2 $ million % growth 15000 10000 5000 0 2006 2007 2008 Figure 1 1 0 2009 2010 Consumption volume in the fragrance market increased with a compound annual grow th of 4. % between 2006 and 2010 resulting in 1. 3 billion units in 2010. By the end of 2015 the consumption volume is expected to rise to 1. 6 billion units. As shown in Figure 2 female fragrances showed the highest sales numbers generating $23. 1 billion of revenues in 2010, equivalent to 63. 8% of the market’s overall value (Datamonitor Global, 2011). Global fragrances market segmentation by type: % share 5% 64% Female fragrance Male fragrance Unisex fragrance 31% Figure 2 The fragrance market segmentation is distributed between the three major continents.As shown in Figure 3 Europe leads the consumption of fragrances by 45. 1% followed by the Americas with 38. %, Asia-Pacific by 10. 5% and Africa and the Middle East by 6. 4% (Datamonitor Global, 2011). Global fragrance market segmentation by region: % share 6% 11% Europe Americas Asia-Pacific Affrica and Middle East 45% 38% Figure 3 Overall the current fragrance market condition and especially the sub-category of female f ragrances shows to be positive and creates opportunity for new product additions, which is an advantage for Maybelline’s idea to introduce a new perfume (Datamonitor Global, 2011). Market Environment In the book by Perreault et al (2011) it is described that when creating a new product the required marketing strategy planning process includes electing the best opportunities and developing a strategy that will provide superior value to the potential consumer and a competitive advantage to the company itself. In order to find the best opportunity and create a marketing strategy, the company has to analyze and evaluate the important elements of the marketing environment and the occurring trends. Perreault et al (2011) continues by stating that there are different forces that create the market environment. These forces include the direct marketing environment comprised of the customer, the company, and the competitors and the external market environment comprised of the economic, technological, political, legal, cultural and social aspects.In order to create the best marketing mix (product, place, promotion, price and personalization) for the new female fragrance of Maybelline, the marketing environment has to be analyzed. Economic Environment As per Perreault et al (2011) the economic environment refers to macro-economic factors, including economic growth, national income and inflation which affect the way consumers (individual customers? ) and businesses consume. Changes in the economy in general in certain industries or parts of the world could have an impact on the consumption. Technological Environment Technology uses the application of science to convert resources into output.In particular it affects marketing by creating opportunities for new products and new processes. Technological advances allow for better communication and promotion opportunities and it furthers globalization. It also provides for more effective and efficient ways of producing an d delivering products and services (Perreault et al, 2011). Political Environment The political environment of a country is affected by the attitudes and reactions of people, social critics, and the government. The political environment can affect selling opportunities at both local and international levels. In some markets nationalistic feelings can reduce or block marketing activities, which creates a challenge for companies (Perreault et al, 2011).Cultural and Social Environment These two factors have a significant impact on the marketing environment. The cultural and social environment affects the way people live and behave, which in turn affects their consumption behaviour as well as the economic, political, and legal environments. These factors consist of different variables including: language education religion style housing view on work, marriage and family The growth of the fragrance market is different across the various geographic zones depending on the economic conditio ns in that area. The consumption of perfume is largely dependent on demographics and lifestyle trends, in particular the importance of luxury and status.If a particular country is experiencing difficult economic conditions, usually the luxury products suffer the most, as they are not a needed product but rather a nice to have (ReportLinker, 2012). In contrast mass-market, value products are not as impacted by the economy. The US, with the highest market share of 33%,shows steady growth partly due to the fact that the country is coming out of the recession and into better economic conditions. The consumption of perfumes in Asia is relatively low, aside from Hong Kong and Singapore, due to the economic conditions and the perception of perfumes and heavy scents being used as a way to mask body odour.However, the growth potential in these demographics is immense, especially as Asian women are adhering to the Western trends in fashion and personal care, and are receptive to using well-kn own brands for building their self-image (ReportLinker, 2012). The penetration of private fragrance labels in China stands at the low 5%. Brand loyalty and higher levels of disposable income provide popularity for the European fragrance products. Suppliers are targeting the younger population in order to attract new customers, due to the changing age structures in the country. To this day, Chinese consumers favor specialty stores when shopping for fragrances, which is an important consideration for companies wanting to be successful in this market (ReportLinker, 2012). Competitive AnalysisPerreault et al (2011) defines the competitive environment as the number and types of competitors the company is facing and the way these competitors behave in the particular industry. There are four basic kinds of competitive market situations: Pure competition A market state where buyers and sellers trade a uniform commodity such as wheat, copper or financial securities and no single buyer or sel ler has much effect on the market price. In its pure form this market state eliminates the purpose of marketing research, product development, pricing, advertising and promotion. Oligopoly A market state with a few sellers who are highly sensitive and alert to each other’s marketing strategies and pricing.In this market it is difficult for new sellers to enter. Monopolistic competition A market state where many buyers and sellers trade over a range of prices, rather than a single market price. The range of prices occurs due to the fact that the sellers offer a differentiating factor of their product to the buyers. The differentiating factor can be achieved through segmenting, price fluctuations, branding, advertising, personal selling and other marketing tools. Pure Monopoly A market state where a single firm produces a product, for which there are no close substitutes and in which significant barriers to entry prevent other firms from entering the market to compete.The fragr ance market is definitely a monopolistic competition in which many vendors sell to many buyers and there is a range of prices based on differentiating factors created through segmenting, branding, advertising and other marketing tools. The global fragrance market is greatly fragmented with the top three selling companies accounting for 24. 5% of the market value. Most of the leading companies are either large manufacturers of personal care products or large fashion houses and are geographically diversified. As most companies operate large production facilities, fixed costs are high in this market the vast business diversification eases the competitive pressure.In conclusion the rivalry in the fragrance market is moderate. Shown in are the top three leading players in the fragrance market, which are Coty Inc. with 10. 2% share, L'Oreal S. A. with 7. 7% share and Procter & Gamble Company with 6. 6% share. The rest of the market is divided between much smaller fragrance vendors and acc ount for 75. 5% of the market (Datamonitor, 2011). Global Fragrance Market Share: % share, 2010 10% 8% 7% Coty Inc. L'Oreal S. A. Procter & Gamble Company Others 75% Figure 4 Coty Inc. Coty Inc. is a privately held company that manufactures and markets fragrances, color cosmetics, toiletries, skincare, sun care and personal care products.It is headquartered in New York City, employs more than 8,500 people and distributes its products to around 90 countries. The company distributes its products utilizing different channels including department stores, specialty retailers, upscale perfumeries, pharmacies, mass market retailers and duty free shops. The company recorded total revenues of $25. 8 billion in FY2010, an increase of 11. 6% over the previous year. Revenues from the fragrance product category for the company reached $2. 2 billion in FY2009. North America accounted for 32% of total revenues, whereas Europe as its largest ? geographical market accounts for 57% of the total reven ues in FY2010, Asia with 7% in FY2010 and the rest of the world with 4% in FY2010.L'Oreal Even though L'Oreal is the mother company of Maybelline it still needs to be considered as a competitor in a way since it does have five fragrance brands under its umbrella. These brands are placed under the Luxury Product Division and include Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, Cacharel, Victor and Rolf, and Diesel. Procter & Gamble Company (P) P manufactures and markets consumer products with over 300 brands in over 180 countries. The company is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio and employs about 129,000 people. The company offers its prestige fragrance products under its beauty division which recorded revenues of $20. 2 billion in FY2011, an increase of 3. 4% over the previous year. P earned 36. 9% of its revenues in the United States and 63. 1% internationally. SWOT Analysis of MaybellinePerrault et al (2011) describes SWOT analysis as a marketing tool used to create a marketing strategy which id entifies screening criteria (and identifies) and outlines the company’s strengths and weaknesses, and its opportunities and threats. The analysis has two categories: internal factors such as strengths and weaknesses, which analyze the company’s resources and abilities; external factors such as opportunities and threats, which are observed by analyzing the external market environment, customers, and competitors. This marketing tool helps the marketing department create a marketing strategy that takes advantage of the company’s strengths and opportunities while avoiding its weaknesses and threats.SWOT analysis is usually illustrated with a diagram consisting of four squares and each one of them summarizes the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Maybelline’s SWOT analysis is illustrated in Figure 5. Helpful Harmful Strengths ? Owned by the biggest cosmetics company in the world Solid financial backing Distributed in 127 countri es Leader in mass-market beauty products ? ? Established image Established production and distribution infrastructureWeaknesses Lack of expertise in manufacturing fragrances Product division completely focused on females Lack of expertise in producing natural and organic products Internal Opportunities Growing presence in emerging markets (Asia, South America) Natural and organic fragrances Men’s fragrances   Threats Counterfeit of fragrances Established strong competition Weak economic conditions worldwide External ? ? Figure 5 Strengths Maybelline enjoys a few significant strengths when it comes to its entry into the female fragrance market. One of them is the fact that Maybelline is owned by the biggest cosmetics company in the world in the name of L'Oreal, which has a solid financial foundation, an established image and existing production facilities and distribution channels. Maybelline itself has strengths in terms of its already established image and worldwide presen ce in the mass-market of beauty products. WeaknessesThe most significant weakness of Maybelline is the fact that it has no realistic expertise in developing and manufacturing fragrances and specifically female perfumes. The brand is well known for making and selling makeup, but the fragrance industry poses its own unique challenges. Maybelline’s complete product set is targeted only towards female’s including their research and marketing departments. This is considered a weakness since the men’s fragrance segment of the market is (still) emerging, which is outlined in the opportunities section of this paper. Another opportunity, which Maybelline is not ready for is the emerging segment of natural and organic products, which makes it a weakness for the company.The production of natural fragrances requires investment in research and development and different know-how and expertise, which Maybelline has not fully developed. Opportunities By the year 2020 countries in Asia and South America (emerging market) may represent more than 50% of the total cosmetics market, which directly affects the fragrance portion of the market. Currently, people living in emerging countries consume fewer cosmetics products than the rest of the world (Western Europe, North America, Japan, etc. ), but as their GDP is increasing, the consumption level should increase accordingly creating a great potential for penetration (Marketline, 2012). This presents a serious opportunity for Maybelline to offer its new fragrance in these demographics. Threats According to Global Insight Inc. 2007) and research performed by the Global AntiCounterfeiting Group, counterfeit perfumes and cosmetics cost the industry 3. 0 billion EURO annually in lost revenue and 555 million EURO in lost profit. The effects of counterfeiting include loss of profit, reduced investment and innovation, and an overall slowing down of the economy as a result of lost jobs and reduced tax revenues. Counterf eiting poses one of the biggest threats to Maybelline and its plans to introduce a new female fragrance on the market. Another threat is the long-time established competition in the female fragrance market including stable companies with an established image. This makes it difficult for Maybelline to penetrate the market with yet another new product.Currently, the global economy in general is struggling and especially in some European countries and the United States. As fragrances and cosmetics in general are not a ‘need’ but rather a ‘want’ product, the effects of lower income and higher unemployment rates are posing a threat to this industry and Maybelline itself. SWOT Conclusion By performing a SWOT analysis for the opportunity for Maybelline to introduce a new female fragrance into the market, it becomes apparent that the strengths and opportunities outweigh the weaknesses and threats. An already established company such as Maybelline is more than halfw ay of creating and marketing a new fragrance regardless of its inexperience with this specific product type.The struggling global economy and counterfeit products are challenges that every fragrance company faces, still this industry is strong and has the potential for growth. Market Strategy Perrault et al (2011) describes that to plan a marketing strategy is to find attractive opportunities and develop a profitable marketing strategyThere are two interrelated parts to a marketing strategy and they are the target market and the marketing mix. As defined in this book, a target market is a fairly similar group of potential customers to whom the company wishes to appeal. A marketing mix is the controllable variables the company puts together to satisfy this target group.These variables include the characteristics of the product, the place where the product will be sold, the price the Figure 6 product will be offered at and the promotion that would be used to market it. As illustrated in Figure 6 at the centre of the marketing mix is of course the target customer. Perrault et al (2011) states that the customer is placed in the center of the diagram to show that the customer is the target of all the marketing efforts. Target Market Currently, Maybelline targets women between the ages of 15 and 49 in more than 127 countries worldwide. Based on this wide market the new fragrance being introduced will be targeted to a narrower target, which is women between the ages of 18 and 34 living in Europe.Although as outlined earlier in this report, the men’s fragrance market is rapidly growing and has great potential, Maybelline offers products only to the female part of the population and has an already Figure 7 established image as such a brand. The new perfume brand will follow that image and target females only. The decision to initially introduce the product in Europe only is based on the fact that this is the strongest market for fragrances. If the product succee ds in this market its reach can be expanded to North America and even Asia. Furthering the definition of the target market, Maybelline will focus its marketing efforts on women between ages of 18 and 34 that are either single or freshly married with little or no children, have an active lifestyle and are young professionals. The target market is summarized in Figure 7. Marketing MixAs described in the book by Perrault et al (2011) the marketing mix specifies the details of the new product being developed and includes four P’s (product, place, price and promotion).1. The first P for Product may involve a physical good (a perfume in our case), a service, or a blend of both as well as its branding, packaging, and warranties. The basic idea is that the product has to satisfy a specific customer need.2. The second P is for Place, which defines how the product will reach its customer when and where it is needed. This includes the distribution channels used for getting the product s old.3. The third P is for Promotion and it describes the way the product will be marketed or sold to the customer, which includes advertising and public relations.4. The fourth P is for Price and specifies the amount of money a customer has to pay to acquire the product. When setting the price, the producer must account for the competition in the target market and the cost of producing and marketing the product. Based on the marketing principles and the research described above in this document a marketing mix for Maybelline’s new female fragrance follows. Product Name Maybelline’s new perfume will be called DENI which is an abbreviation for Desire, Exquisite, Natural and Intimate. The name describes what the perfume stands for. When a woman wears the DENI fragrance, she is desired, the scent is exquisite, the product is natural and the connection with it is intimate.Scent The scent of the perfume will be light and fresh, to be worn by females with an active lifestyle when going to work or being active. It is meant for everyday use and does not intrude, since the individual wearing it will be around people interacting. The perfume will only be available in Eau de Parfum spray since it is the lighter and more affordable version of the original scent. Ingredients An increasing trend in the market is the demand for natural products; therefore the DENI perfume will be made out of natural ingredients. This will possibly raise the production cost but compensate with a differentiating factor and the increasing demand for such products. Packaging DENI will be offered only in a 50ml glass bottle, which is compact and utilizing a screw on cap.The bottle design is meant for being carried in a small purse or a bag without the possibility of the cap coming off and being sprayed inside. To keep with the company’s green ideology, the bottle utilizes an aluminum removable pump, which can be separated from the glass bottle before disposal, so the glass bot tle can be easily recycled. The bottles are packaged in a cardboard box made completely from recycled paper and painted with natural paints. The bottle can also be returned to one of the stores where DENI is offered for a refill. Place DENI perfume will be manufactured at the current Maybelline plant located in North Little Rock, Arkansas.There will be an additional facility built for the manufacturing of the new perfume adjacent to the current massive factory. The administrative and transportation functions of the existing plant will be utilized for the new product as well as the distribution channels. DENI will be sold in Specialist Retailers, Department stores (including Duty-Free Shops), supermarkets and hypermarkets as it is a mass-market product with a low profit-margin. Price DENI will cost 38 EURO for the 50ml bottle to the final customer. The perfume is a mass-market product under L'Oreal’s Consumer Product Division and it is meant for everyday use and hence the pric e must be lower than the more luxurious products that the company itself offers as well as the competition.Table 2 shows a comparison of the prices for 50ml Eau de Parfum spray bottles of some of the bestselling perfumes on the market. For instance Chanel No. 5, as one of the best perfumes on the market costs nearly double compared to the price of an equivalent DENI bottle. The product however cannot be the cheapest since it has to be corresponding to L'Oreal’s image of offering high quality products. Perfume price comparison (EURO per 50 ml) 79 62 43 43 40 38 36 30 Table 2 Promotion Even if Maybelline creates the best product at the best price, no one would buy it if customers do not know about it. A very important part of the marketing strategy is the way the product will be introduced and advertised to the target market. As mentioned above, the target is women