Global Warming Will Lower Sea Levels Essay

Those who are highlighting the danger of global warming would not hesitate to relate it to a high sea level rise simply because according to their premise when there is global warming it affects both the Arctic and Antarctic regions, whereby the melting ice will eventually raise the sea level. The IPCC, the UN branch office that deals with scientific research had predicted a 20 inches sea level rise around the year 2100 and it is obvious that it has based it findings on the above assumption. Other suggestions and analysis indicate that what will in fact happen is the opposite where the global warming if it is true will either slow down the level of sea rise or will reduce it. The new analysis looks at two factual findings. The fact that the Earth temperature had risen 0. 6 degree Celsius in the last 100 years and the sea level had risen by 18 cm. What these analysts are focusing at is there is no relation between the two and especially the rise in sea level occurred independent of what happened to the temperature to a larger extent. What contributed to the rise of the seal level to 18 centimeters starts from the thermal expansion of the warming water body, especially the oceans and that contributed to 4 cm. What comes next is the melting of the so-called continental glaciers that accounted for 3. 5 cm rise level. The polar regions contributed to the lowering of the sea level simply because the warming of the temperature has evaporated more water and some of it rains in the Polar Regions adding to the amount of ice on these regions, hence there will be less water in the seas. But the findings highlight one shortcoming which is that the total amount of rise through the two activities adds up to only 20 percent of the total amount giving hint that there should be other sources contributing to the rise of the sea level other than the current global warming. What this led to was to depend on geological observations that revealed the sea level had been rising constantly for the last centuries at a rate similar to the last 100 years. Accordingly, there was sea level rise in the Little Ice Age from 1450 to 1850 indicating that if there were going to be a sea level rise it would be independent of what is happening in the environment. It was possible to arrive at such hypothesis using a data published on the melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet tracing it back to the end of the last ice age. Hence, the conclusion arrived at was since there had been a 120 meters rise in sea level since the last ice age that took place 18,000 years ago, the melting is still in process and will continue to do so for the coming 7000 years independent of what is going to happen to the present day temperature. What could change this course might be the arrival of another Ice Age, which is not in the prediction. In reality it is possible to say that a global warming caused by human activity cannot contribute to the rise of sea level since the record shows the climate warmed much between 1900 and 1940 and cooled down from 1940 – 1975. The outcome was the sea level rise slowed when the temperature was warmer and it increased when it was colder. The relation here is the two components thermal expansion and glacier melting had a lesser effect on the sea rise level when compared to the ice accumulation on the Polar Regions from the rain caused from warmer weather. Hence, it is possible to make a firm conclusion that warmer air or the current global warming will not contribute to the rising level of the sea. Instead, as it was illustrated it will bring it down by simply changing the amount of water into ice and depositing it on the Polar Regions. In spite of this analysis, the findings based on computer simulation try to demonstrate that the warming of the global temperature due to human induced activities will result in raising the sea level revealing that there is something wrong with such assumption (9). Conclusion In spite of the findings from various sources accurate, satellite measurement taken have not found any trace of global warming. Weather balloons also had shown similar findings. There are indications that the temperature had been rising starting form 1880 but such rise in temperature cannot be caused by greenhouse gases that are coming into existences from human induced activity mainly centered on burning of fossil oil and through the introduction of a developed and new method of land use. The other indication that shows the findings could be wrong is most of the measurements could reflect the temperature and air condition found closer to highly populated cities. All the feared outcomes of a high temperature brought into existence because of the greenhouse effect such as heat wave, hurricanes, or epidemic disease did not occur. If there had been a temperature rise to talk about, it was observed in the nighttime and winter season. Overall, it is possible to discredit the greenhouse apocalypse outright simply because it was not accompanied with all the catastrophic disasters that were predicted and anticipated (10). Even economists are wary of all the concerns simply because there might not be a discernable effect that will materialize from postponing the reduction of the greenhouse gas by another 20 years and see what the outcome will be. One of the reasons for that is meeting the greenhouse gas reduction effort would require getting rid of a big chunk of capital goods before they complete their useful life and that might not make economical sense for something that lacks scientific proof. But there is no doubt that such plans could be part of a long term process of any undertaking and the burden could also be eased as new technologies pertaining to the warming of the globe become readily available. The Kyoto Protocol itself would cost between $7 and $12 billion annually if it is implemented, a sum everyone is not comfortable with, simply because implementing the Protocol alone would cost each household up to $2000 annually and could raise home heating cost by at least 70 percent. Since people, especially those living in the advanced regions are heavily dependant on energy for their day-to-day living, raising the cost permanently to any extent would have a devastating effect, even if energy price is already very high. The only relief is since it fluctuates consumers could stretch their earnings whenever possible. It is possible to take it a bit further and see that if the assumption that the global temperature is rising to a dangerous level is true, a simple cost introduction of raising the federal fuel economy standard from 27. 5 miles to more than 40 miles itself will be costly, since it is such kinds of drastic measures that will bring down the amount of the greenhouse effect as automobiles are the worst source of pollution. The domino effect of such measures will lead to raising the price of cars, while at the same time such cars would have to be compact reducing the safety of cars that is feared to raise the number of fatalities form where it is currently at 4000 annually. The fact that the findings are heavily dependant on observation and computer simulation makes the concern a bit groundless since carbon dioxide is not a deadly gas to have in the atmosphere after all. The reason for that is the more carbon dioxide there is in the atmosphere it adds to thriving of plants that have various use for it. It is not only that if what is said about the meltdown is true that is another advantage for agriculture since there will be more land to put into agriculture that will lead to more foods in the world even if there is no proof that there is shortage of food in the regions where the land is covered with ice sheet. Other areas that would benefit from global warming are those who live in areas where the winter season is cold and long. Regions like that could enjoy longer summer seasons, which would mean longer growing period that will add to the amount of food produced. There are findings that the warmer weather is also good for the health of people in such a way that medical cost in most of the cold regions would come down and the quality life of in such regions would get enhancement. The fear centered on the rise of the sea level that would come into existence when the ice from the Polar Regions melts because of the warm climate for the most part is groundless. The reason for that is the warm weather heats the water from the sea changing it into vapor that will come down as rain. The rainfall that takes place in the Polar Regions would not find its way back into the seas, instead it would add on the amount of ice that is already in existence in the region. This process has dual advantages where the first one is it will add to the amount of ice in the Polar Regions defying the fear that the warming of the climate is causing the ice of the region to melt. Secondly, the amount of seawater will come down through the process since some of it will become ice. Hence, it is possible to say that the warming of the climate is good for the Polar Regions since they would get more ice through the natural process. That might have some disadvantages in other areas, because the melting of the ice from the Polar Regions is not without a merit. One of the merit is this particular harsh region could become more habitable where there will be more lands opened for farming, for housing, and industrial development leading to a huge economic activity that will boost the outcome in agriculture and other venues. At the same time, there is an observation concerning the opening of new routes that will be advantageous for trade as well for the tourist industry. However, one disadvantage cited was it might affect the wildlife of the region where, for example, the polar bear is on the list to become extinct at the end of this century. Since the presumption is it will take many centuries for the ice of the whole region to melt away, the only inconvenience wildlife might encounter is going farther to where the dense ice is located. This by itself is advantageous since some of the wildlife is becoming a threat by coming closer to where there are human inhabitants. Overall, since everything surrounding global warming is still a hypothesis that borders fear, where if some measure is not in place now the future could be disastrous and could become out of control, it is not possible to fully rely on the grim pictures that the alarmists are painting. The reality is life goes on normally in the regions even if a few incidents of melting ice sheets into the sea had occurred. The answer for such incidents is it is the outcome of the weather variation where in the summer time it is natural that the level of the ice could get thinner in the edge area and when the winter season is around it will again attain its thickness. The proof for this is there is not yet any documentation where because of global warming the inhabitants of the area had gained more access to land for farming or for any other purpose. The outcome is the same from observations made in other areas where none of the feared apocalyptic fears had taken place. Nevertheless, if the weather becomes warmer cold regions could rip numerous advantages that include less death toll, better health, and better living condition since the summer season is short in these regions. That alone contributes to a much shorter food growing and recreation season. Other than that, if there is call for action, there is none better than to exert more effort to come up with a concrete scientific proof in the place of the presumption that is prevalent now. What the existing finding avails for the world is there are concerned groups that are claiming that there is a global warming that is causing the sea level to rise and is contributing to the melting of the ice caps, which is the habitat of wildlife such as polar bears that are feared to become extinct in the beginning the year 2100. The other major concern is the reducing of the greenhouse gases, which has a very high price tag attached to it. The findings will have to lean fully on scientific findings that would require more funding and time, but the cost involved might not be equivalent to what businesses are fearing to incur in the coming few years simply to meet certain standards that are believed to contribute in controlling the emission of certain gases into the atmosphere. If the implemented measures are scientific it will be worth the effort, otherwise it will be a waste of resources. Currently, since there is no settled scientific proof there is a division in the public’s opinion where the number of people who do not believe in global warming is much higher, no matter how inundated they are by the media and environmental groups. This might have a serious effect simply because it is the same people who cannot be convinced about the pollution level that is prevalent who are responsible in various ways to add to the pollution problem. Educating them based on hypothesis will also make the job difficult because the message they would get from such effort would vary. Another problem cited was that the existing effort through the Kyoto Protocol is to bring down the emission level back to where it was in the 1990s a premise that does not make sense since there might not be an accurate measurement in place that shows what level the emission was before the 1990s. Such shortcomings highlight that the primary effort should focus on finding a settled scientific consensus and after that, the effort of popularizing a concept based on hypothesis might dwindle down. REFERENCE 1. Bailey, R. (2004, November). Two Sides of The global warming: Is It Proven Fact or Just Conventional Wisdom? Reason Magazine. Retrieved November 26, 2007, from http://www. reason. com/news/show/34939. html 2. UN Report, Global Warming Caused by Human Activity. Retrieved November 26, 2007, from www. newstarget. com/021565. html

Consumer & Industrial Buyer Behaviour Assignment

In consumer markets, segmentation typically entails statistically categorizing a large number of customers with similar needs into the same group so that they can be reached with similar marketing and advertising channels. By doing so, the marketer can then analyze the needs of the consumers and cater the products to better fit their needs. For the consumers, the decision process for making purchases begin with need recognition — they differentiate between their actual or desire states. Needs are the basic forces that motivate the person to do something. Some needs involve a person's physical well being; others the individual's self-view and relationship with others. Needs are more basic than wants. Wants are needs that are learned during the person's life. A successful marketer will be able to create the need amongst consumers and try to satisfy it. After the consumer become aware of their needs or wants, they will store them in their memory or go around searching for information on these needs. There are two kinds of searches: internal and external. Internal search is when the consumers search within their existing knowledge base, beliefs and attitudes. External search is when they seek information from neighbors, sales peoples or consumer reports etc. The consumer can obtain information from any of several sources: personal, commercial, public and experiential. Personal sources include family and friends. The personal sources are important for the person when making a buying decision. The marketer can use commercial sources such as advertising and point-of-sale marketing to reinforce the product awareness and increase the knowledge of the brand name. After gathering information from various sources, the consumer will then start to evaluate the different alternatives, weighing the pros against the cons. They rank the brands and form purchase intention. The purchase decision will result in the consumers buying the preferred brand and two factors can affect the purchase intention: attitudes of the others and unexpected situational factors. If you wants to buy product A, but your mother feels product B is cheaper while the quality of the two products is similar, it is very likely that you will end up buying product B instead. After purchasing the product, the consumer will be satisfied if they find that the product has met or exceeded their expectations. Re-purchases will likely occur, and consumers will probably introduce the product to their relatives and friends and become loyal customers of the brand. If, on the other hand, the reverse occurs, bad word-of-mouth will result and even consumers who have never tried the product will be hesitant to buy it. Societal values in the Body Shop It is critical that all aspects of the firm's marketing mix be consistent with the value system of its target market. Different groups will have different value systems and marketers must adjust their activities to the values of their target group. Marketers must also change their marketing mix as the value systems of their target groups evolve. Fortunately, values generally change slowly. Firms will have time to allow the practices to evolve if they monitor customer values. Firms can do that by conducting their own monitoring surveys or subscribe to one of the many commercial surveys. However, caution should be used in responding to popular press declarations of major value shifts. Nowadays, most of customers increasing concern for the environment. Marketers need to respond this approach by 1) producing products whose production, use or disposal is less harmful to the environment than the traditional versions of the product, 2) developing products that have a positive impact on the environment or 3) tying the purchase of a product to an environmental organization or event. Marketers need to be cautious when making environmental claims. Those most concerned with the environment are opinion leaders who are active shoppers. These people carefully evaluate advertising claims and are skeptical about them. As concern for the environment grew throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, many firms began to improve their products and processes relative to the environment and to advertise those improvements. In recent years, most of the companies have included ethical objectives in their mission statement. The products and services provided by these companies acquire a special meaning to their customers, which is associated with the value chain. However, failure to live up to ethical objectives may attract criticism. One company that has been very successful establishing an environmentally friendly image is â€Å"The Body Shop.† The name â€Å"The Body Shop† creates a natural and ethic subculture to the customers, which is further reinforced by the use of green to decorate their retail shops. It gives a standardized message – The Body Shop sells natural products. Store image is composed of many different factors. Store features, coupled with such consumer characteristics as shopping orientation, help to predict which shopping outlets people will prefer. Some of the important dimensions of a store's profile are location; merchandise suitability and the knowledge and congeniality of the sales staff. The Body Shop started in Brighton on the South Coast of England by Anita Roddick with only twenty-five hand-mixed products on sale in 1976. At first, The Body Shop employed mostly friends and friends of friends and everybody viewed themselves as one big family. However, the organization rapidly expanded through a system of franchises and to gain a franchise the potential franchises are all screened to ensure that they have the same ethical beliefs as the founder. The Body Shop now operates around the world with almost one thousand four hundred shops. The Body Shop maintains a number of formal policies, guidelines and manuals that underpin the ideals expressed in the Mission Statement. The Body Shop ‘s mission statement as quoted in Values Report 1997 is that the company is unique in explicitly giving attention to social problems. They focus on social responsibility and naturally based quality personal care products. Their core principles are organized into five pillars: Defend human Rights; Protect Our Planet; Promote Community Trade; Activate Self-esteem and Against Animal Testing. These are core to their campaigning and community engagement programmes and are an integral part of their business philosophy and practice. The Body Shop is committed to doing business with integrity and transparency. This means using their principles to inform customers of the way they do business and setting their business partners and themselves clear standards of practice. It also involves engaging stakeholders with their business aims and reporting on their performance within the overall context of their business strategy. They focus are on being a world-class retailer, offering customers prestige products at value prices with excellent customer services. In United Kingdom, they have driven through a major initiative called ‘Inspiring the Customer' in order to improve service. Unlike other cosmetics companies, the Body Shop does not claim that their cosmetics will eliminate wrinkles, make you look years younger or thirty pounds slimmer and change one's life. The company promotes health and well-being instead of beauty. Instead, it used stories to promote products. In 1998, they introduce Ruby dolls- love your body. She is a fat lady like a real person and she does not look like conventional models. The whole campaign aimed to give a self-esteem message to the customers. The Body Shop's philosophy of promoting health and well-being and actually serves as a promotion device. They focus on naturalness and health is a kind of niche marketing strategy, which attracts a relatively small segment of the market. This niche market generated a pre-tax profit of GBP20.4 million in 2003. The Body Shop sells skin and hair care products from Vitamin E cream to Tea Tree Oil, from Banana Shampoo to Aloe Vera Lotion. All in all, The Body Shop's product range includes over 400 products and 400 accessories. There are special product lines for men, for expectant mothers and for babies. There are sun-tanning products perfume oils and a full range of accessories, including brushes, towels, household gloves and sponges. At the time of writing, it enhanced its skin care range with the launch of kinetin. The Body Shop also undertook a stance of being against animal testing and seeking to gain attention and business from the environmentalist market by recycling bottles and keeping wastage to a minimum. However, it is worth noting that The Body Shop originally introduced recycling plastic bottles as a cost reduction exercise. Due to falling customer demand, the company discontinued their long-running refill service in January 2003. However, by investing time and resources to introduce the recycled plastic programme they believe they will have a greater positive impact on the environment globally than their refill service could possibly offer. In November 1998, the United Kingdom government banned tests on cosmetic products and ingredients. There were also finished product test bans in the Netherlands and Germany. After two years, Europe banned cosmetics animal testing. It is an environment influence the customers chose their cosmetics. They will choose the anti-animal testing cosmetics. The Body Shop was the first international cosmetics retailer to be approved in the USA for its non-animal testing policy under a common Corporate Standard of Compassion for Animals. The Body Shop asserts a philosophy based on the exchange principle: a company that owes its success to society should do something in return. Hence, the company should take responsibility for society in several respects. Of course there is no real indication that social and environmental policies negatively impact The Body Shop's profits. Rather the company cultivates an ethical profile and its customers get the idea that in buying the products, they help people in the Third World or help save the environment. The company's Fair Trade policy includes buying ingredients and accessories from Third World countries, thus attempting to improve living conditions in poor areas. In 2001/2 The Body Shop purchased over GBP5 million worth of natural ingredients and accessory items through the Community Trade programme, including nearly 60 tonnes of natural ingredients. Now there are 37 suppliers ranging from Nicaraguan sesame farmers to Indian handicraft producers from 24 countries from Australia to Zambia. The sponsoring of Greenpeace in 1985 reinforced this approach. In addition to encouraging employee involvement in the local community, the Company also facilitates employees' personal donations to their selected charities through a give-as you-earn payroll scheme. Other initiatives include Charity Works, an on-site charity shop enabling employees at the United Kingdom head office and distribution center in Littlehampton to purchase products that are substandard or shop spoiled. This initiative allows for the disposal of non-saleable stock in an environmentally responsible way, while also bringing benefits to the local community and employees of The Body Shop. The use of environmental and ethical issues are used to appeal to those who have the same concerns as well as in gaining free publicity from local and national press. Marketing uses psychographics to identify those not only with the desire for more natural and high quality products, but those with the same beliefs and attitudes towards the products they buys. The increased awareness in environmentalism and concern over the way the planet is being treated has also created a fashion of environmental awareness, taking this appeal mainstream rather than remaining as a marginal target market. The good value and the simple packaging with clear labels were also more extensive than most common brands. For many products there is a decision making process, this takes place in the black box. Black box models treat the individual and his or her physiological and psychological make-up as an impenetrable black box. They are concerned with the external environmental influences on behavior and in the context of consumer behavior. The producer is affected by the actions of its competitors and the government; distributors are affected by the sales and marketing efforts of their suppliers and by the needs of consumers and finally consumers are affected by the marketing activities of producers and retailers and by the actions of the other consumers. This may be by the category-based evaluation or piecemeal processing. Category based decision making is a method of evaluating a product. The category based process will involve the consumer will make use of the existing knowledge or memories that they already have regarding the product. They may remember that a particular brand was associated with Fair Trade, or received a good review in a magazine. Advertising may play a large part in this but as the Body Shop philosophy is against advertising. Many of the consumers will have gone into the shop aware of the philosophy, this is usually through publicity surrounding Anita Roddick or by the notices that advertising the philosophy in the window such as trade not aid and supporting environmental issues. A piecemeal process is where the consumer takes into account the different characteristics of the different products. The consumer looking for a product may therefore look to see if it is scented, tested on animals, what the strength and type is described as and possibly even the usefulness of the jar after the product is used. In attracting the consumers into the store the category process may be used and inside the piecemeal process may be seen as determining what products are purchased. Conclusion The consumer decision produces an image of an individual carefully evaluating the attributes of asset of products, brands or services and rationally selecting the one that solves a clearly recognized need for the least cost. It has a rational, functional connotation. While consumers do make many decisions in this manner, many others involve little conscious effort. Furthermore, many consumer decisions focus not on brand or with the environment in which the product is purchase or used. Purchase cosmetics requires limited decision making. It involves internal and limited external search, few alternatives, simple decision rules on a few attributes and little post purchase evaluation The marketers of the Body Shop are helping consumers recognize problems. The approach is generic problem recognition to cause problem recognition. It creates the need for affiliation and for assertion. Affiliation is the need to develop mutually helpful and satisfying relationship with others. Group membership is a critical part of most consumers' lives and many consumer decisions are based on the need to maintain satisfying relationships with others. The need for assertion reflects a consumer's need for engaging in those types of activities that will bring about an increase in self-esteem as well as esteem in the eyes of others. The Body Shop has full range body products and they are natural and protect environment and has gained a first mover advantage in this market. The Body Shop believes that disclosure is an important tool in helping stakeholders to feel engaged in its business aims and approach. As importantly, it regards the discipline of preparing accounts and reviewing its performance in an objective way as a crucial management tool for developing the company's understanding of its current approach. The company aims to provide a current insight into the business to share its philosophy and aims and helps manage expectations around its ongoing performance. It will create the customer awareness and reinforce them to choose their products. The product is seen as ethically appealing with good quality ranges that appeal to a wide target market. The slightly high price of a high mid rate product is justified by the increased value that consumer places on the goods and the way that the consumer will also feel good about themselves. Promotion is the communication of the company values in some form. All these come together to form a successful company that has since been emulated by many larger leading companies, however they lack the credibility and as such fail in total emulation.

Review Marine Science Essay

Describe the abyss and the food web of the abyss. * Immeasurably deep chasm, depth, or void. Explain the difference between the theories of Plate tectonics and Continental drift. * Continental drift: The movement, formation, or re-formation of continents described by the theory of plate tectonics. * Plate tectonics: A theory that explains the global distribution of geological phenomena such as seismicity, volcanism, continental drift, and mountain building in terms of the formation, destruction, movement, and interaction of the earth’s lithospheric plates. Describe the 3 types of color patterns commonly found in fish. * Counter shading – The dorsal or top of the fish is darker than the bottom of the fish, making them difficult to see as they blend into the darkness of the deeper water when viewed from above or blend into the brightness of sunlit waters when viewed from below. Many predators use this form of coloration. * Cryptic – Bottom dwelling and reef fish often use chromatophores to blend in perfectly with their surroundings. Often, these fish are bottom dwellers that blend in with the stratum they rest on. Disruptive – Many fish use their coloration to form strongly contrasting patterns that break up the outline of their body making it difficult for predators to see them at all. Describe divergent, convergent and transform plate boundaries and tell what each results in. * Divergent Plate Movement (plates move away from each other)- Continental and continental, oceanic and oceanic. * Convergent Plate Movement (plates move towards each other)- Continental and Oceanic, Oceanic and Oceanic, Continental and Continental. Transform Plate Movement (plates sliding past each other)- Continental and Continental Explain the difference in planetary alignment and tidal ranges for spring and neap tides. * Neap tides represent the smallest tidal range. This occurs when the sun and moon are at right angles, partially cancelling out their gravitational pull. This reduction in gravitational pull results in a tidal range that is 10 to 30 percent less than the mean tidal range. This occurs twice during the 28-day lunar cycle, when the moon is one-quarter full. Spring tides occur when the Earth, moon and sun are in syzygy and represent the largest tidal range. Syzygy is an astronomical term used to describe the alignment of three or more celestial bodies in a straight line. It is commonly used to refer to the alignment of the Earth, sun and moon. When this occurs, the gravitational pull of the moon and sun are combined, producing the largest tidal ranges. As with the neap tide, spring tides occur twice during a lunar cycle, but at the full and dark moon.

International Business Communication Paper Essay

International Business Communication Paper - Essay Example Bureaucracy is the other major obstacle as there are endless procedures and forms to fill, resulting in waste of time and money, which are the most important resources for a business. It is therefore, crucial for an investor to note that though the country does not have specific cultural practices to be followed, they should not forget that it is a foreign country. For instance, there are people who have to be pleased in order for an investor to succeed, mostly from the ruling class. It is hard for foreign investors to procure funding since the country is in debts and there is a lot of external pressure for reform implementation. A person of either gender can own a business in the country but the people are leaning towards women leaders. However, a foreign company can only own between 40% and 70% of a business depending on the sector. The law prohibits import of labor for locally available skills, and limits inputs import by imposing heavy import duty. Table of Contents Table of Cont ents ii International Business Communication Paper Before investing in a foreign country, a citizen of the United States needs to familiarize with such a country to ensure a smooth transition from one business environment to another. Therefore, background research is necessary to ensure success of the investment once the investor knows the rules by which to play. Factors about the country that should be of interest to an investor in any sector include, but are not limited to business norms and cultural considerations. Business norms include all the requirements of the business world that the investor must follow in order to be in line with government policies, clients’ preferences, competitive landscape and possible business partners. Cultural considerations encompass the social expectations on the investor from the various stakeholders in this foreign land. Countries have different definitions of what they consider as the ethical or the unethical and any investor keen on suc ceeding in a foreign land should familiarize himself with these values. On keen observation though, it is clear that even if the country has a favorable environment for foreign investments, there is still a lot of room for improvement. For instance, the process of obtaining trade licenses is tedious though the country is currently undergoing reforms in all sectors due to the recent adoption of what politicians and the media claim to be one of the best constitutions in the world. If Kenyan leaders do not do what they are famous for i.e. corrupting systems, the country is ready and is a prime location for new investments. The country’s economy is driven mainly by agriculture and service industries. Its economy does not experience exponential growth because unprocessed goods always fetch low prices in the international market. The service industry, on the other hand, has been deteriorating as tourists shun the country due to civil unrests and terrorism threats especially in the period following the 2007/08 post election violence. Business Norms For one to invest in Kenya, there are numerous licenses to be obtained. However, since the country always sends delegations here in the US to talk to investors encouraging them to do business, it is safe to assume that the country’

Country Effect to Companies Success.Thailand Assignment

Country Effect to Companies Success.Thailand - Assignment Example It is only through sustained growth and development of the company in the new market that incomes and subsequently profits will be yielded on the investments. But questions have been asked as to why some companies succeed easily in new markets and why other struggle till collapse. Indeed, no single answer can be given to explain why this phenomenon is so. However, one fact that is inclusive in the many available options of answers the regard for the country effect (Lee-Ross and Mitchell, 2007). By country effect, reference is being made to the need to pay critical attention to rhythmic cultural and socio-economic behavioral pattern of the people within the country in which the company is situated (Garcia-Cabrera and Garcia-Sota, 2008). Studies have showed that the mistake that most modern companies make with the country effect and thus the regard for the cultural influence of the local people is that, they tend to take pride in globalization and thus think global and act global. In t his paper, an example is presented of how an entrepreneur in Thailand effectively made use of the country effect to his advantage, using the article of Brettel, Engelen and Heinemann (2008) as a case study. Consumer Perception and Ethics A regard for consumer perception and ethics is an important factor that determines success for entrepreneurs in Thailand. This is because according to Brettel, Engelen and Heinemann (2008), the perceptive and ethical values of the people of Thailand is carried directly into their consumer decision making as to which companies to do business with and which companies to withdraw from. Generally, these consumers would want companies to show high sense of integrity, ethical consideration and respect for social responsibility. Entrepreneurs who have become successful in Thailand have therefore been those who make as part of their organizational culture and climate, the respect for integrity, ethics and community development. Specific example is used with DHL Thailand in a separate study where the company made as part of its new market entry strategy, the need to throw themselves up to the people as the most trusted company. With the use of high moral standards through respect for privacy, timely delivery of parcels, concise charging of fees, and improved corporate social responsibility, the company became one of the fastest growing companies in Thailand (Baughn et al, 2006). In effect, it is always important to know the values that consumers cherish through consumer perception and ethics and rightly make these values showed in the company’s virtues. Consumer behavior and preferences Another study conducted has showed that the country effect and the exhibition of culture can be translated into the consumer behavior and preferences of the local people (Nguyen et al, 2009). That is t say that the kind and nature of goods and services that consumers will patronize depends largely on their country culture. Disregarding the countr y effect would therefore mean that companies and for that matter, entrepreneurs will offer goods and services that do not meet the preferences of consumers. As far as consumer behavior and preference is concerned, Brettel, Engelen and Heinemann (2008) explained that two key dimensions of country effect that comes to play in Thailand are collectivism and uncertainty avoidance. With collectivism, Thailand is ranked high, meaning there is high dependence on group in the society. In effect, the consumer behavior of individuals is influenced by what the masses accept to be true, real or authentic. With this in mind, entrepreneurs who h

A Synthesis of the Themes in Selected Poems about War Essay

A Synthesis of the Themes in Selected Poems about War - Essay Example These poems argue that wars are honorable because of the courage they involve, but they are still immoral because soldiers and their enemies are treated as mere pawns, dehumanized because of their mission to strike and kill without compunction, and stripped of their rights to autonomy, survival, and a good life with their families. To be a soldier is a noble calling because to live by its principles is an honorable thing. The basic principles of war, based on these poems, are courage, commitment, and selflessness. Lovelace may be referring to Lucasta as a woman whom the soldier loves, or all his loved ones in general. He explains to her the reasons of going to war, despite having the option of staying in the blissful arms of his beloved. The â€Å"Nunnery† means that the place of his beloved is pure and good, but it is not a man’s place (Lovelace 1.2). The â€Å"Arms† of war are more suited to a real man, where war is seen as a testing ground for manhood: â€Å" To War and Arms I flee† (Lovelace 1.4). The speaker agrees that war is another mistress; it takes so much time, attention, and resources: â€Å"True, a new Mistress now I chase† (Lovelace 2.1). ... The â€Å"stronger Faith† signifies that war is a holy quest. The decision to go to the war is an honorable responsibility. It means that honor in war is about protecting one’s country, something that can be done only out of the purest of intentions, the purest of love: â€Å"Yet this inconstancy is such/As you too shall adore† (Lovelace 3.1-2). Soon, Lucasta will realize what he means. He depicts that Lucasta is then fortunate, for in honoring the war, he honors her even more: â€Å"I could not love thee, Dear, so much,/Loved I not Honour more† (Lovelace 3.3-4). The greatest love comes from loving the society as a whole, not just one’s mistress or family, for in protecting their societies, they are protecting their families too. Another poem agrees that being a soldier is an honorable calling because of the courage, dedication, and selflessness it requires. Lord Alfred Tennyson, in â€Å"The Charge of the Light Brigade,† refers to an actual battle, where the English Light Brigade charged to a suicidal mission in the Crimean War. The tone of the poem honors the soldiers, but the feelings of exhaustion and resentment are present. In the first stanza, Tennyson says: â€Å"Half a league, half a league,/Half a league onward† (1.1-2). He repeats the phrase â€Å"half a league† three times in a row, suggesting tiredness. Soldiers get weary from their missions, but they must never falter, as if they are not supposed to feel tired at all. Tennyson does not mince words, when he introduces the fate of these soldiers: â€Å"All in the valley of Death/Rode the six hundred/ â€Å"Forward, the Light Brigade!/Charge for the guns!† he said (Tennyson 1.3-6). He knows that these soldiers are doomed because they will be charging for the guns. The soldiers

The Present Customer Service and Expectations within Samsung Which Essay

The Present Customer Service and Expectations within Samsung Which Have Emerged From the Delivery of Superior Products and Services by the Organization - Essay Example In this paper, various strategies which could be applied by Samsung to deliver consistent as well as effectual customer services within the competitive marketplace will be evaluated. Apart from these strategies, this paper also provides certain recommendations which can be fruitful for the organization to sustain customer service excellence going forward. Customer service is regarded as a service stipulation which organizations’ deliver prior to and after a product purchase. Customer service involves a sequence of activities which are designed by an organization in order to enhance the level of customer satisfaction through delivering products and services as per the customers’ expectations. The significance of customer service may differ in terms of industry, a company’s products and services. It can be said that customer service is a kind of systematic process which is utilized in order to make certain that customer satisfaction is achieved by delivering produc ts as well as services according to the demands of the consumers. Due to this reason, a majority of the leading organizations are intending to execute the process of customer service effectively in order to increase the level of customer satisfaction. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is considered as one of the globally leading advanced electronics based companies in terms of manufacturing digital media as well as superior communication systems. With the help of innovative, talented employees, dependable products and services along with making collaboration with their partners and clients, the company is taking the world into a whole new imaginative direction. At present, the company’s products, services along with the incorporation of its systematic approaches towards the operational activities have helped it to maintain specific business level activities which in turn have enabled it to contribute effectively towards the development of people throughout the world. The employee s of this company are always directed by the simple philosophy, effectual values and superior ethical standards which help them to work efficiently and to deliver better products and services to satisfy customers’ requirements.

Save Money Britains Macroenvironment Coursework

Save Money Britains Macroenvironment - Coursework Example Social Save Britain Money achievement have also been as the result of social aspects that the company has adopted. For example, the NES surveyors visit the customers in their homes and advise them on the various improvement strategies that can be done on services provided by the company (Gentle, 2012). Additionally, the company maintains an active work force whose majority are less than 34 years. In this way, the staffs are energetic to undertake the company activities. As compared to other organizations, the employees are fairly treated including high compensation. The strong relationship between the employees and the management has also contributed to the success of the company (Li and Bernoff, 2008). For example, through the â€Å"tell the CEO† initiative, the employees can freely intermingle with the chief executive officer and provide their views on the company operations (Lardi and Fuchs, 2013). The staffs are also provided with opportunities where they practice their skills th us developing themselves. The social contact between the company and the 15,000 households has also contributed to the high demand for the company products resulting in increasing the customer savings (Mary, 2010). Technology SBM emulates technology in order to provide services that meet the needs of its customers. For example, in 2013, the company launched Green Deal, an innovation that allows the householders to make energy savings or improvement of the company services without upfront costs (Teich, 2008).

The role of communities programmes (such as after school club and Essay

The role of communities programmes (such as after school club and mentoring program) in shaping education - Essay Example bserved in various scenarios that those students who are undertaking mentored programs yield better results in mathematics and reading tests in comparison to the non-mentored students (Mitchell, Crowson and Shipps, 2011). Schools majorly focus on preparing students with the necessary skills that are essential in the information age but the attention mainly turn towards the real time experiences which are gained by youth and children after school time. After school, summer and weekend programs offer wide range of opportunities in relation to enhancing and complementing the academic learning that is taught in schools (Beyer and Johnson, 2014). These programs can be considered to be promising strategies in terms of engaging students in various recreational, academic and social activities so as to closely knit real time experience with theoretical knowledge. The after-school programs or mentoring programs can be considered to be major pillars of current educational system. These programs help to restructure traditional educational system in such a manner which helps students to secure better academic results. A proper location in school buildings facilitates such programs with added advantages. These facilities comprise of wide range of activities. Apart from providing enrichment opportunities to children, these programs also serve as a medium for child care. There are children living with single parent or there are even students whose mothers are working, and these incidents are specifically observed in United States of America. In such a scenario, mentoring and after-school programs become a procedure to connect parents and students. The communities programs which can be regarded as school aged child care have gained importance as societal procedures and norms lay emphasis on employment. These programs are designed in such a manner th at it enhances creative and logical skills of students. Creative programming helps to attract teens toward such community programs.

A Day in the Life of Alex Sander Essay Example for Free

A Day in the Life of Alex Sander Essay I had to plunge in and make a lot of snap decisions in these areas. Looking back, I can see one poor strategy decision, but on the whole my judgment has been right on target. And if being pushy and commanding is the only way to get the job done—to get two new products out in one year—then it’s worth it to me. Even if I have to steamroll over someone’s feelings, or ignore the way a colleague would like to handle a project. Sander: Well, I get ticked off pretty easily. For example, I can’t stand explaining something more than a couple of times. But what really bothers me is lack of commitment—for example, if a long-time employee isn’t willing to put in extra hours to meet an important deadline. But you know what? After I really become angry, there are people at Landon whose output will jump for at least a couple of weeks afterwards. My temper is actually an effective management tool. 9:00 A. M. Leong nodded apologetically to Garrison as she left and said, â€Å"The interviewer from your alumni magazine is here. † The magazine was interviewing Sander for an article on â€Å"high-potential† product managers as part of a career development issue. He did not want to further embarrass Garrison, a 20-year veteran of the company, by interrupting; still, he needed to talk to Sander. op yo Neighbor: I remember you mentioning some sparks with your assistant when you first started at Landon. rP os t A Day in the Life of Alex Sander: Driving in the Fast Lane at Landon Care Products | 2177 and so on. But you’re never in charge of your own creation. That’s the main reason I accepted a job at Landon. Landon is a pretty small shop, and I’ve been involved in every detail of my product launches. I’ve really enjoyed the strategy piece—gathering data about market share, figuring out the most profitable positioning for my brands. As a product manager, you have to talk to RD, then work with market research to see whether you have a feasible idea that will attract consumers. Then you work with advertising. You partner with all the departments to synchronize the program’s details. A product manager must ensure a targeted, quality product, whose distinctive features will be clear to the target consumer. Then you have to make the product right and get it to market. At that moment, Sander’s BlackBerry buzzed and, with a quick apology, Alex picked up the call. â€Å"I need to get a piece of data from this market researcher before my team meeting this afternoon,† Sander explained. While waiting for Sander to finish, the interviewer glanced around Alex’s office. It was large for so new a product manager, and the interviewer noted the award plaques on the credenza behind Sander’s desk. Sander finished the brief phone call, and the two continued talking. For the last question, the interviewer asked, â€Å"Alex, in your opinion, which type of person is best suited to being a product manager?

The Glaxosmithkline Merger: Analysis

The Glaxosmithkline Merger: Analysis Introduction Mergers are not new in pharmaceutical industry in the recent years and the same for both Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham throughout each others history. Considering the political, social and economic resistance, the general driving forces for these mergers in this industry are, more firms showed interest in using strategic partnerships and joint ventures to develop and market new products. Though pharmaceutical holds a global market, the US market decided the growth of the industry as it holds 45% of the global market. So not surprisingly the US political, social and economic resisted and delivered a strong impact on the growth of the whole pharmaceutical industry. However Pfizers merger pushed Glaxo SmithKline to 2nd rank in the industry, they were number one immediately after their merger. So the business changes of the organisation had a heavy impact on the whole pharmaceutical industry. So this paper had assessed the reason for the merger and extend the aims of the merger is achieved. Background of SmithKline Beecham: SmithKline Beecham resulted from the merger of SmithKline Beckman (SKB) and Beecham. Beecham was well known for its traditional research strength whereas SKB was known for its aggressive sales force in US. Though the process of merger was lengthy, the change from more laid British approach of Beecham to process oriented working was success. The new company tried to keep up with critical mass but they lacked in budgeting RD, which was the real constrain for companys growth. Background of Glaxo Wellcome: Glaxo Wellcomes birth was from Glaxos takeover of Wellcome in 1995. Glaxo was well known for its strong marketing approach, commercial success of its RD efforts and blockbuster product Zantac whereas Wellcome is non-profit medical institution well known for its academic approach to pharmaceuticals. Though there were several clashes between Wellcomes laid back management style and Glaxos hard-nosed, commercial and control driven culture, with the help of economic of scale in RD activities, Glaxo reduced the conflicts and resistance. However the companys growths in producing blockbuster products were lacking. 1. Reasons for the Glaxo SmithKline Merger: Merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham was a global one. The merger was a unique all over the world and various divisions of both the companies merged in around 170 countries in 2000, expect Pakistan. The merger came through after UK court order in January 2000; however it happened in Pakistan only on 23rd October 2002. So the merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham in Pakistan was the off shoot of the global merger of the companies. There were six reasons which compelled both the legendary companies to go for the merge and to build a leading company in the entire pharmaceutical industry. The reasons for merging up together were: To reduce the Research Development pipeline. To reduce the Research Development cost. Drug reimbursement issues. Political pressures and growing concerns over drug prices. Patent expirations / Generic competition. Recent developments in biotechnology and the mapping of the human genome. The right theme and idea backing the merger was, to improve quality of human life for enabling people to do more, feel better, live longer. As both the companies holds the strength in more similar kind of field that is, developing drugs for infectious respiratory neurological gastrointestinal and metabolic disease, they want to lead the way in providing treatment for the same. Apart from the above field, the join company appeared to be the worlds leading producers of prescription medicine, vaccine and consumer health care products. So they planned for delivering innovative medicines and products that help billions of people round the world live longer, healthier and happier life. The whole pharmaceutical industry was focusing and investing in RD as it delivers modern ways to handle prolonging problems and helps in the long term growth of the industry. The hunger to deliver medicines for new diseases made the join group (GlaxoSmithKline) to pay more attention in RD and wished to reduce the number of products in the pipeline of RD. Though both companies produced similar kind of drugs and so integrating their products line was very obvious, the process demanded more time and efforts. This was mainly because; both had more number of products in the pipeline and hardly had blockbuster products in market. Still the management believed that the time for working on new diseases will be reduces by working together on lesser products. And in general all research and development evolves a risk of failure. Not that each compounds and all research towards developing new drugs for a targeted diseases comes out as success but in turn consumes high time, efforts and money. B ut the RD is the only answer for the long term growth of both the joint company and the industry. So sticking to mission and vision of the new company, GSK has decided to focus of RD but in a different way of approach .i.e. cost saving, economics of scale and licensing from other firms. Apart from these, a PEST analysis on the pharmaceutical industry will give a clear picture and highlight the hidden reason for the recent merger activities in industry and in particular GSK. PEST Analysis on Pharmaceutical Industry: Political: Considering the Medicare in USA and UKs National Health Service, the level of political interest developed in this industry can be determined. In addition USA and European market hold the first and second place of industrys global market respectively. So its very clear that the industry has gained a massive political attention because of the increasing social and financial burden of healthcare and safety. In the increased political attention on the industry, has kept the industry low to live up the expectation and their interference on most moves of the industry was a really worrying the giants of the industry. Also the pressure of civil in rapid delivery of products has kept their quality and the industry finds hard in delivering effective products. Economic: The economic growth of the industry was rapid in recent years and next to IT industry with nine geographic markets account for over 80% of global pharmaceutical sales these are US, Japan, France, Germany, UK, Italy, Canada, Brazil and Spain. Of the above listed markets, US market holds a major one and fastest too however there is down fall in 2009. The US Pharmaceutical Industry is one of the mainstays of the Economy of America. It has been observed that the US Pharmaceutical Industry is growing at a rapid pace and is showing no signs of slowing down. The US Pharmaceutical Industry Growth is also considered as a very significant part in the world pharmaceutical industry as well. Source: http://www.economywatch.com/world-industries/pharmaceutical/us.html According to analysis, in 2009, global pharmaceutical sales increased by only 2.5% ~ 3.5%, reaching a total of about 750 billion-760 billion U.S. dollars, which is lower than in October last year the growth rate of 4.5% to 5.5%, a total of 8200 the forecast 100 million U.S. dollars. This growth rate is the lowest in the past 25 years. Source: http://www.sourcejuice.com/1169843/2009/05/08/Growth-rate-global-pharmaceutical-industry-lower/ Social: Every industry tries to have a good social relation. But this industry is many steps forward than the other industries because; good health is an important personal and social requirement. All the companies of this industry hold and play a vital and unique role fulfilling societys need for good health. And threat of some killing diseases like, AIDS, SWINE FLU, SARS etc. had not only attracted the attention of public and media but developed a more depending and demanding situation on the industry. This immense situation has made the industry to maintain direct relation with the society (consumers) with the help of media and government care. Technological: The advance scientific technologies have increased the need for high spending in research and development in regards to encourage the innovation. The growth of technology drives the industry to responds faster to the expectation of the environment. This technology advancement evolves both risks and rewards. Legal Environment: However in current situation, government involves the industry in the proposal for regulatory outflows to encourage the innovation, these legal and regulatory affairs of US in special was a speed beaker for the development of the industry. European pharmaceutical giants really struggled in this situation. Sykess statement summarized how Europes pharmaceutical companies have been locked in a high stakes multibillion dollar struggle with their US rivals to stay in business in the 21st century. This struggle is associated with increased takeover activity and pharmaceutical companies seeking economies of scale to finance escalating research and development budgets. Source: Case study GSK a merger too far? Exploring Corporate Strategy by Johnson, Scholes Whittington. 2. To what extent have the aims of Glaxo SmithKline merger been achieved? Some of the aims of the newly formed Glaxo SmithKline were, Not to protect future earnings growth but actually to increase critical mass to really outperform the industry. To become the indisputable leader in the industry in terms of conquering the challenges that the industry faces. To deliver innovative products that helps millions of people in the world to live longer, healthier and happier. To achieve the aims, the management formed a new structure for RD, highlighting the cost reductions and breaking of pipeline. However, the lack of focus on general organisational structure and internal management structure resulted in low returns compared to the estimate one. To handle the situation, the all the long terms aims has left unfocused and the management tried to recover the company from the sudden-death syndrome. This clearly gives an evidence for Glaxo SmithKlines downfall form the anticipated growth. The inability of GSK in producing blockbuster products, joint hand with the above described situation made things worse. Focusing on employees and other internal management issues in the later part helped the company to handle the global resisting issues and focus on their long term goals. Analysing GSKs stock market performance (1998 2003), tells that GSK failed to touch the anticipated heights and were only able to sail along with the industry growth. Based on the Lewins force field model, the driving forces of GSK were not too enough to overcome the resistance for change and thus failed to achieve the fixed target. Evidence for GSK loses record: In the first year of post-merger, GSK claimed 12% increase in pharama industry, with the help of cost savings and disposal of assets. The firm anticipated double the level of saving in the next year. The health care grew only 3%. They fail to record returns in RD in spite of combined RD budget and investment. It also failed to deliver blockbuster product to enhance the revenue. Instead to maintain the tempo, the management kept buying 40 licenses from other companies. GSK has shed more than 15,000 jobs; Managers were unable to retain the talent that resides on the firms. Instead of creating a powerhouse, research was split into smaller, autonomous units. (Abrahams, 1992 p.22) GSKs new radical structure was a response to a series of failures in research at the two merger partners. (Dyer, G., 2002 p.3). The new radical structure resulted James Palmer (Head Development) resignation in October 2002. At the AGM on 19 May 2003, GSK shareholders rejected a motion regarding a  £22 million pay and benefits package for CEO, JP Garnier. This was the first time such a rebellion by shareholders against a major British company has occurred, but was regarded as a possible turning point against other so-called fat cat deals within executive pay structure. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GlaxoSmithKline In November 2005, AIDS Healthcare Foundation accused the company of boosting its short-term monopoly profit by not increasing production of the anti-AIDS drug AZT despite a surge in demand, hence creating a shortage that affected many AIDS patients in Africa. GSK announced that it had halted clinical trials of the CCR5 entry inhibitor, aplaviroc (GW873140), in HIV-infected, treatment-naive patients because of concerns about severe hepatotoxicity.[27] In June 2006 GSK said it was further cutting, by about 30%, the not-for-profit prices it charges for some of these medicines in the worlds poorest countries. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GlaxoSmithKline To analyse, extend the aims of the merger have been achieved; SWOT analysis is done on the joint company, Glaxo SmithKline. Remuneration lenient explicitly SWOT Analysis Glaxo SmithKline: Strengths High potential staffs and experienced managers. Wide-ranging set of documents in health sector. Strong platform in health care division. Strong market position Focus to concentrate and develop leadership in Public relations i.e. to strengthen the social context of the environment. Modern hospital system, Clear public health and health care service purchasing Balanced finance in the health sector Strong IT development Product development track record. Weaknesses Lack of clear and wide perspective .goals to achieve the aims Weak bond among health care, public health and social care. Inability to cope with the cost increases. Low brand value for its products. Inefficiency in motivating the experienced leader and thus failing to make maximum use of the potential staffs. Lack of viable training and management skills. Not an efficient HR strategy in retaining key professionals. Lack of right proposition of various competences. Co-marketing agreements can limit GSKs global presence. With mass RD, inability to produce blockbuster products. Opportunities Technological development Social changes and challenges. Economic growth of the industry (immediately next to IT industry). Free movement of goods, services, labour. Developing vaccines for persistent diseases chance to have craic. Empowerment of citizens and their greater engagement Threats Patent expiry on drugs that generate strong income Ageing and demographic change. Safety issues surrounding the products. Ecological and public health threats. Expectations of the raising population As the RD of global rivals work on similar products in most of the cases, the competition is high and much demanding. Emerging of potential regional market like China and India. Political pressure in fixing the price for new drugs, which fails to fulfil even the research cost. Ever increasing cost of drug trials and ever higher standards imposed by national drug approvals bodies (Aspirin would not get approval if invented today!) Conclusion: Thought there are several giants in the industry, similar to the current situation, there was an uncertain situation during the period of early 90s. And to overcome that uncertain situation, most of the firms in the industry move themselves towards the strategy Mergers and acquisition. But, as there is always a saying that not all mergers works, most of the mergers in the industry fail to achieve the anticipated growth and I feel Glaxo SmithKline is the right example for the scenario. GSK believed that bigger the size, bigger the growth and bigger earning. But it failed to realise bigger the size, bigger the expectation, bigger pressure and failing to handle the pressure and keep the expectation will reflect badly. Various merger analyse debated, though GSK claim some success through cost saving and pipeline synergies, the aimed and announced growth was not received in terms of market. So I conclude that, the merger served the company only in short term success and failed to achieve the aims of the merger. Reference and Source: http://www.ucc.ie/quality/INTERNET/PESTAnalysis.pdf www.gsk.com Johnson G, Scholes K and Whittington R (2008) Exploring Corporate Strategy, (Prentice Hall) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GlaxoSmithKline#cite_note-43 http://www.wikiswot.com/SWOT/4_User_Generated/GlaxoSmithKline.html http://www.allfreeessays.com/essays/Gsk-Swot-Analysis/114901.html Mullins L.J. (2007), Management and Organisational Behaviour, Eighth Edition, Great Britain, Pearson education limited. http://www.pwc.com/us/en/issues/business-combinations/publications/snapshot-mergers-acquisitions-business-combinations.jhtml http://www.startupbizhub.com/company-mergers-and-acquisitions.htm

Evaluation of Public Health Agenda in Community: Obesity

Evaluation of Public Health Agenda in Community: Obesity Module Title: Promoting the Public Health of Populations in Specialist Community Public Health Nursing Module Code: SHN3048 Critical evaluation of the current public health agenda in relation to a health need identified within a community profile. The purpose of this assignment is to critically analyse the current public health agenda in relation to a health need identified through use of community profiling. This paper will aim to provide recommendations as to how a Specialist Community Public Health Nurse (SCPHN) can proactively address high levels of obesity identified within the Cwmbwrla ward (Appendix 1). For the benefit of the reader Cwmbwrla is a suburban area of Swansea, with good transport links to the city centre. In considering the level of deprivation Cwmbwrla is ranked 181 0f 1,909 (LSOA) in Wales (Welsh Government, 2014a). Public health in the 21st century is defined by Riegelman (2010 p4) as the totality of all evidence-based public and private efforts that preserve and prolong health and prevent disease, disability and death thus, recognising public health as a varied approach which should be viewed holistically. Health visitors are a group of specialist community public health nurses (SCPHN), skilled in delivering a proactive Public health service which relies on evidence base research to enhance health and reduce inequalities for all families with children 0-5 (Royal College of Nursing, 2011; The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) 2014). The current Public Health strategy in Wales aims to achieve a healthier, happier and fairer Wales, through improving health, reducing inequalities and supporting a good start in life (Public Health Wales (PHW), 2015; Welsh Assembly Government (WAG), 2010; WAG, 2011a; Welsh Government (WG), 2016). There is consistent evidence which suggests investment in the early years significantly improves the health of the child and has a positive impact on long term outcomes (Acheson,1998; Black,1980; Marmot, 2010). As a result of the reaffirmation of the public health role of the SCPHN in recent policy, it is believed that the health visitor is st rategically placed to empower individuals and positively influence the health outcomes of young children and their families (Department of Health (DoH), 2011; WG, 2012a). The four domains of SCPHN practice begin with Search for health needs (Cowley Frost, 2006), thus requiring health visitors to undertake an assessment of the populations health and well-being. A key part of this process is health needs assessment (HNA) (Nursing and midwifery Council, 2010).ÂÂ   In defining HNA, Stewart et al, (2009) suggests the purpose is to identify the health assets and need of a population in order to inform decisions regarding service delivery to improve health and reduce inequalities. Through use of HNA policies are developed and needs are prioritized across services, with the aim of targeting those in greatest need (Williams, 2013). Statistics from the profiled area of the Cwmbwrla ward (Appendix 1), identify high levels of obesity in adulthood as being a significant problem. Despite there being no local data to highlight the levels of childhood obesity specifically within the ward, research suggests a strong link between childhood obesity and obesity in later life (NHS, 2015). Findings from the child measurement program 2014-2015, recorded that 11.8% of 4-5 year olds in Swansea were obese (Public Health Wales Observatory, 2016), a trend mirrored throughout Wales, with findings from the Welsh health Survey (2011) identifying that 35% of children living in Wales were classed as overweight or obese. Obesity has fast become a global epidemic (World Health Organisation (WHO), 2003; 2016), with research suggesting that obesity is the worlds most common nutritional disorder (NICE, 2014). The 2007 Foresight report emphasized the need to tackle the problem of obesity in the United Kingdom, particularly in childhood. The prevalence of obesity in infants, children and adolescents is increasing rapidly both nationally, and internationally, which has a significant impact on both short and long term health (Hall et al, 2009; WHO, 2016 ). Exploration of the literature suggests that there are many risk factors associated with becoming overweight, with the key principles leading to obesity being laid down in childhood (WAG, 2010). Wanless (2004) and Jones et al (2005) identified that during the period of 1986-2002 weight gain in children translated to a doubling in the proportion of those classified obese.ÂÂ   Childhood obesity is becoming evident in younger ages, with studies documentin g a sizable increase in the percentage of overweight children between the ages of two and three years (Hall et al, 2009; Nelson, 2004). Studies linking overweight to psychological consequences show that obese children tend to have low self-esteem, increased rates of sadness, loneliness and are often bullied and socially excluded outside the home (Strauss,2000). Promoting healthy weight and preventing and managing obesity have become pressing public health priorities over recent years (Phillips et al 2011). The effects of addressing obesity in early childhood are not solely limited to its health benefits; improvements in the rates of obesity could potentially save the NHS millions. In Wales alone it is estimated that between 1.65 million a week is spent treating conditions linked to Obesity (PHW, 2016). Despite obesity being at the forefront of the Public health agenda within the UK, progress in tackling childhood obesity has been slow and inconsistent, with a clear lack of provision identified as a problem within Wales (WAG, 2010; WHO, 2016). It has long been recognized that socioeconomic class has a significant impact on health inequalities, with those living in the most deprived areas more at risk of becoming overweight or obese (Acheson, 1998; Black, 1980). This is of particular relevance to the Cwmbwrla ward (APPENDIX 1), which falls within the 20% most deprived areas within Wales (WG, 2014). NICE (2014) supports this, with statistics indicating that 29% of children living in the most deprived areas of Wales being overweight or obese compared to 21% in the least deprived areas. More recent findings have suggested that, despite improvements in the overall health of the general population, there continues to be significant gaps between the social classes (Dahlgren and Whitehead, 1991; Marmot, 2010). These differences have been tackled within Welsh Government policy, which aimed to target the most deprived areas of Wales, through the delivery of the Flying Start program, which promotes health and delivers intensive servi ces in areas of greatest need (WAG, 2005, 2011a; WG, 2016). While such services must be applauded for their proactive approach, it must also be considered that as a consequence of this, the availability services relies heavily on postcode (WG, 2013), resulting in many families in need being unable to access necessary support. However, more recent WG policy has identified the need to tackle inequality, and improve health outcomes for all children, delivering support in key areas to all families with children under 7, underpinned by the principle of progressive universalism (HCWP, 2016). As previously identified, the determinants of obesity are complex and varied, it is important to recognise than no single intervention is likely to prevent or improve childhood obesity alone (WHO, 2012). Availability of data is important in planning services at a local level. Collaboration, leadership and quality improvement play a leading role within WG policy (PHW, 2013; WG, 2011, 2016). These policies emphasize the importance of adopting a muti-agency approach in addressing health needs, thus, identifying the need for SCPHN to support existing programs when planning health interventions to address obesity, with the aim of strengthening current initiatives and reducing the need for later more expensive treatments (NICE, 2013). The all wales obesity pathway supports this, and sets out a multi-agency approach in targeting obesity, allowing the identification of gaps in provision and the determination of where to best focus efforts (WAG, 2010). Over recent years, the WG have invested millions on strategies targeting obesity; for example, Free swimming programme (2003), Health Challenge Wales (2005), Creating an active Wales (2009), Mend (2009), and Our healthy future (2009), despite this the number of overweight children and adults continues to rise (Mc Pherson Marsh, 2007). Research suggests it Is highly likely that obese children will have obese parents, thus indicating the possible detrimental effects of learnt behaviours in childhood such as poor eating habits (NICE,2015). The literature emphasises the need for family involvement in interventions to ensure improvements in outcomes (Public Health England, 2014). There is emerging evidence that programmes that aim to enhance parenting skills can have a positive impact on childhood obesity (Berge Everts, 2011). Therefore, within the Cwmbwrla area, a recommendation would be to build community capacity for healthy eating by setting up a 4 week weaning programme. The programme would be available to families between the 16 week clinic contact and 24 week health review as per the HCWP (2016), and will deliver education and advice within a group setting. The programme will cover topics such as, delayed weaning, healthy eating in childhood, controlling portion size and how to quickly create cheap but nutritio us meals, with the aim of encouraging behaviour change using an educational approach (Naidoo Wills, 2016). The programme would aim to build upon existing initiatives such as Change 4 Life, which has previously been judged for not fulfilling its full potential (WAG, 2014). However,ÂÂ   it is important to consider that in the past, group programmes have been criticised for failing to involve individuals and communities who are hard to reach resulting in poor engagement (PHW, 2013). A further recommendation for the Cwmbwrla ward would be the provision of Increased/intensive home visits to specific families identified during the antenatal or birth visit as being at risk of overweight or obesity. Research has indicated a correlation between parenting lifestyle and that of their children in terms of diet and physical activity (Rhee, 2008). Arguably, the most effective strategy we can employ in tackling obesity in childhood is to work with parents (Golan, Kaufman Shahar, 2006).The aim is to focus on parents and support them to making positive choices that facilitate a healthy start in life. The additional visits will enable SCPHN to facilitate behaviour change by addressing key influences such as; positive parenting, feeding behaviour and food and activities accessible within the home, while also allowing the SCPHN the flexibility toÂÂ   tailor the program specifically to the needs of the individual family. It is imperative that SCPHN are mindful that there is no one correct parenting style, it is therefore important when delivering the program not to stereotype, but to encourage a generally more authoritative approach. Delivering the program within the home will aim to address the possible barriers families experience in accessing services (PHW, 2013). To conclude, this paper has evaluated the current public health agenda in relation to high levels of obesity identified within the Cwmbwla ward, a trend mirrored throughout the UK. Findings suggest that effort needs to be invested in preventing obesity, particularly in children; targeting early intervention and encouraging and educating families to adopt a healthy varied diet and active lifestyle (NICE, 2006, 2014). Through raising awareness, and by influencing local and national policies, SCPHN can facilitate ways to combat the problem of childhood obesity and seek to change the patterns which lead to obesity and poor health in later life (Cowley Frost, 2006; WG, 2014). As a result, recommendations for practice were identified for implementation within the profiled area of Cwmbwrla. The overall aim is for SCPHN to identify, address and facilitating families to overcome the current obesity epidemic, which could potentially result in a huge gain in terms of both cost to the NHS and more importantly the health of children and the adults they become (WG, 2015). Congestive Heart Failure: Causes, Types and Symptons Congestive Heart Failure: Causes, Types and Symptons Heart failure is caused by the heart not pumping as much blood as it should and the body does not get as much blood and oxygen that it needs. The malfunctioning of the heart chambers are due to damage caused by narrowed or blocked arteries leading to the muscle of your heart. This Heart failure can also be described based on which area of the heart isnt operating properly.2 types of heart failure. 1) Diastolic dysfunction: The contraction function is normal but theres impaired relaxation of the heart, impairing its ability to fill with blood causing the blood returning to the heart to accumulate in the lungs or veins. 2) Systolic dysfunction: The relaxing function is normal but theres impaired contraction of the heart causing the heart to pump pump out as much blood that is returned to it as normally does. As a result of more blood remaining in lower chambers of the heart Causes Any disorder that directly affects the heart can lead to heart failure, as can some disorders that indirectly affect the heart. Some disorders cause heart failure quickly; others do so only after many years. Some disorders cause systolic dysfunction, others cause diastolic dysfunction, and some disorders, such as high blood pressure and some heart valve disorders, can cause both types of dysfunction. Systolic Dysfunction: In many cases, a combination of factors results in heart failure. Coronary artery disease is a common cause of systolic dysfunction. It can impair large areas of heart muscle because it reduces the flow of oxygenirich blood to the heart muscle, which needs oxygen for normal contraction. Blockage of a coronary artery can cause a heart attack, which destroys an area of heart muscle. As a result, that area can no longer contract normally. Myocarditis (inflammation of heart muscle) caused by a bacterial, viral, or other infection can damage all or part of the heart muscle, impairing its pumping ability. Some drugs used to treat cancer and some toxins (such as alcohol) may also damage heart muscle. Some drugs, such as nonsteroidal antiiinflammatory drugs, may cause the body to retain fluid, which increases the workload of the heart and may precipitate heart failure. Heart valve disordersinarrowing (stenosis) of a valve, which hinders blood flow through the heart, or leakage of blood backward (regurgitation) through a valveican cause heart failure. Both stenosis and regurgitation of a valve can severely stress the heart, so that over time, the heart enlarges and cannot pump adequately. An abnormal connection (septal defectsi(see Birth Defects: Atrial and Ventricular Septal Defects and Patent Ductus Arteriosus: Failure to CloseFigures) between the heart chambers can allow blood to recirculate within the heart, increasing the workload of the heart, and thus can cause heart failure. Disorders that affect the hearts electrical conduction system and produce prolonged changes in heart rhythms (especially if these are fast or irregular) can cause heart failure. When the heart beats abnormally, it cannot pump blood efficiently. Some lung disorders, such as pulmonary hypertension (see Pulmonary Hypertension), may alter or damage blood vessels in the lungs (pulmonary arteries). As a result, the right side of the heart has to work harder to pump blood into the lungs. The person may then develop cor pulmonale (see Cor Pulmonale: A Disorder Stemming From Pulmonary HypertensionSidebar), in which the right ventricle is enlarged and there is rightisided heart failure. Sudden, usually complete blockage of a pulmonary artery by several small blood clots or one very large clot (pulmonary embolism) also makes pumping blood into the pulmonary arteries difficult. A very large clot can be immediately life threatening. The increased effort required to pump blood into the blocked pulmonary arteries can cause the right side of the heart to enlarge and may cause the walls of the right ventricle to thicken, resulting in right sided heart failure. Disorders that indirectly affect the hearts pumping ability include a severe deficiency of red blood cells or hemoglobin (anemia), an overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism), an underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism), and kidney failure. Red blood cells contain hemoglobin, which enables them to carry oxygen from the lungs and deliver it to body tissues. Anemia reduces the amount of oxygen the blood carries, so that the heart must work harder to provide the same amount of oxygen to tissues. (Anemia has many causes, including chronic bleeding due to a stomach ulcer.) An overactive thyroid gland overstimulates the heart, so that it pumps too rapidly and does not empty normally during each heartbeat. When the thyroid gland is underactive, levels of thyroid hormones are low. As a result, all muscles, including the heart, become weak because muscles depend on thyroid hormones to function normally. Kidney failure strains the heart because the kidneys cannot remove excess fluid from t he bloodstream, so the heart has a larger volume of blood to pump. Eventually, the heart cannot keep up, and heart failure develops Diastolic Dysfunction: Inadequately treated high blood pressure is the most common cause of diastolic dysfunction. High blood pressure stresses the heart because the heart must pump blood more forcefully than normal to eject blood into the arteries against the higher pressure. Eventually, the hearts walls thicken (hypertrophy), then stiffen. The stiff heart does not fill quickly or adequately, so that with each contraction, the heart pumps less blood than it normally does. Diabetes causes other changes that stiffen the walls of the ventricle. As people age, the hearts walls also tend to stiffen. The combination of high blood pressure and diabetes, which are common among older people, and ageirelated stiffening makes heart failure particularly common among older people. Heart failure may result from other disorders that cause the hearts walls to stiffen, such as infiltrations and infections. For example, in amyloidosis, amyloid, an unusual protein not normally present in the body, infiltrates many tissues in the body. If amyloid infiltrates the hearts walls, they stiffen, and heart failure results. In tropical countries, infiltration by certain parasites into heart muscle can cause heart failure, even in young people. Some heart valve disorders, such as aortic valve stenosis, hinder blood flow out of the heart. As a result, the heart muscle thickens and has to work harder, and diastolic dysfunction develops. Eventually, systolic dysfunction also develops. In constrictive pericarditis, the sac that envelops the heart (pericardium) stiffens, preventing even a healthy heart from pumping and filling normally. Types of Heart diseases affect the heart chambers include These are the heart diseases which leads to heart failures A) Pulmonary heart diseases B) Heart Disease affecting heart muscles C) Heart disease affecting heart valves D) Heart disease affecting coronary arteries and coronary veins E) Heart disease affecting heart lining F) Heart disease affecting electrical system G) Congenital heart disease A) Pulmonary heart disease Pulmonary heart disease is caused by an enlarged right ventricle. It is known as heart disease resulting from a lung disorder where the blood flowing into the lungs is slowed or blocked causing increased lung pressure. The right side of the heart has to pump harder to push against the increased pressure and this can lead to enlargement of the right ventricle In the case of heart diseases affecting heart muscles, the heart muscles are stiff, increasing the amount of pressure required to expand for blood to flow into the heart or the narrowing of the passage as a result of obstructing blood flow out of the heart. B) Heart diseases affecting heart muscles Cardiomyopathy Heart muscle becomes inflamed and doesnt work as well as it should. There may be multiple causes such as high blood pressure, heart valve disease, artery diseases or congenital heart defects. a) Dilated cardiomyopathy The heart cavity is enlarged and stretched. Blood flows more slowly through an enlarged heart, causing formation of blood clots as a result of clots sticking to the inner lining of the heart, breaking off the right ventricle into the pulmonary circulation in the lung or being dislodged and carried into the bodys circulation to form emboli . b) Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy The wall between two ventricles becomes enlarged, obstructing blood flow from the left ventricle. Sometimes the thickened wall distorts one leaflet of the mitral valve, causing it to leak. The symptoms of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy include shortness of breath, dizziness, fainting and angina pectoris. c) Restrictive cardiomyopathy The ventricles become excessively rigid, harder to fill with blood between heartbeats. The symptoms of restrictive cardiomyopathy include shortness of breath, swollen hands and feet. Myocarditis Myocarditis is an inflammation of heart muscles or weakens of heart muscles. The symptoms of myocarditis include fever, chest pains, and congestive heart failure, palpitation. C) Heart disease affecting heart valves Heart diseases affecting heart valves occur when the mitral valve in the heart narrows, causing the heart to work harder to pump blood from the left atrium into left ventricle. Here are some types of heart disease affecting heart valves: a. Mitral Stenosis Mitral Stenosis is a heart valve disorder that involves a narrowing or blockage of the opening of mitral valve causing the volume and pressure of blood in left atrium increases. b. Mitral valves regurgitation Mitral regurgitation is the heart disease in which your hearts mitral valve doesnt close tightly causing the blood to be unable to move through the heart efficiently. Symptoms of mitral valve regurgitation are fatigue and shortness of breath. c. Mitral valves prolapsed In mitral valve prolapsed, one or both leaflets of the valve are too large resulting in uneven closure of the valve during each heartbeat. Symptoms of mitral valves prolapsed are palpitation, shortness of breath, dizzy, fatigue and chest pains. d. Aortic Stenosis With aging, protein collagen of valve leaflets are destroyed and calcium is deposited on the leaflets causing scarring, thickening, and stenosis is the valve therefore increasing the wear and tear on the valve leaflets resulting in the symptoms and heart problems of aortic stenosis. e. Aortic regurgitation Aortic regurgitation is the leaking of aortic valve of the heart that causes blood to flow in the reverse direction during ventricular diastole, from the aorta into the left ventricle. Symptoms of aortic regurgitation include fatigue or weakness, shortness of breath, chest pain, palpitation and irregular heartbeats. F. Tricuspid stenosis Tricuspid stenosis is the narrowing of the orifice of the tricuspid valve of the heart causing increased resistance to blood flow through the valve. Symptoms of tricuspid stenosis include fatigue, enlarged liver, abdominal swelling, neck discomfort, leg and ankle swelling. g. Tricuspid regurgitation. Tricuspid regurgitation is the failure of the riht ventricular causing blood to leak back through the tricuspid valve from the riht ventricle into the riht atrium of the heart. Symptoms of tricuspid regurgitation include leg and ankle swelling, swelling in the abdomen. D. Heart disease affecting coronary arteries and coronary veins Heart disease affecting coronary arteries and coronary veins: The malfunctioning of the heart may be due to damage caused by narrowed or blocked arteries leading to the muscle of your heart as well as blood backing up in the veins. Types of heart disease that affect the coronary arteries and veins include Angina pectoris Angina pectoris occurs when the heart muscle doesnt get as much blood oxygen as it needs. Here are 3 types of angina pectoris: a) Stable angina Stable angina is chest pain or discomfort that typically occurs with activity or stress due to oxygen deficiency in the blood muscles usually follows a predictable pattern. Symptom of stable angina include chest pain, tightness, pressure, indigestion feeling and pain in the upper neck and arm. b) Unstable angina Unstable angina is caused by blockage of the blood flow to the heart. Without blood and the oxygen, part of the heart starts to die. Symptoms of unstable angina include pain spread down the left shoulder and arm to the back, jaw, neck, or riht arm, discomfort of chest and chest pressure. c) Variant angina aiso known as coronary artery spasm Caused by the narrowing of the coronary arteries. This is caused by the contraction of the smooth muscle tissue in the vessel walls. Symptoms of variant angina include increasing of heart rate, pressure and chest pain. Heart attacks known as myocardial infarction or MI Heart attacks caused by plaque rupture with thrombus formation in a coronary vessel, resulting in an acute reduction of blood supply to a portion of the myocardium. Symptoms of MI include a squeezing sensation of the chest, sweating, nausea, vomiting, upper back pain and arm pain. Heart disease aiso known as coronary artery disease or coronary heart disease Caused by arteries hardening, narrowing, cutting off blood flow to the heart muscle resulting in heart attack. Symptoms of heart disease include shortness of breath, chest pains on exertion, palpitation, dizziness and fainting. Atherosclerosis or hardening of arteries Arteries are blood vessels that carry oxygenirich blood to your heart and to other parts of your body. Atherosclerosis is caused by plaques that rupture in result of blood clots that block blood flow or break off and travel to another part of the body. Atherosclerosis has no symptom or warning sign. Silent ischemia. Ischemia is a condition in which the blood flow is restricted to a part of the body caused by narrowing of heart arteries. Siient ischemia means people have ischemia without pain. There is aiso no warning sign before heart attack. E) Heart disease affecting heart lining Rheumatic heart disease results from inflammation of the heart lining when too much fluid builds up in the lungs leading to pulmonary congestion. It is due to failure of the heart to remove fluid from the lung circulation resulting in shortness of breath, coughing up blood, pale skin and excessive sweating. Heart disease resulting from inflammation of either the endocardium or pericardium is called heart disease affecting heart lining. Endocardium is the inner layer of the heart. It consists of epithelial tissue and connective tissue. Pericardium is the fluid filled sac that surrounds the heart and the proximal ends of the aorta, vena valva and the pulmonary artery. a. Endocarditis Endocarditic, which is an inflammation of the endocardium is caused by bacteria entering the bloodstream and settling on the inside of the heart, usually on the heart valves that consists of epithelial tissue and connective tissue. It is the most common heart disease in people who have a damaged, diseased, or artificial heart valve. Symptoms of endocarditis include fever, chilling, fatigue, aching joint muscles, night sweats, shortness of breath, change in temperature and a persistent cough. b. Pericardium Pericarditis is the inflammation of the pericardium. It is caused by infection of the pericardium which is the thin, tough bagiiike membrane surrounding the heart. The pericardium aiso prevents the heart from over expanding when blood volume increases. Symptoms of pericarditis include chest pain, mild fever, weakness, fatigue, coughing, hiccups, and muscle aches. F) Heart disease affecting electrical system The electrical system within the heart is responsible for ensuring the heart beats correctly so that blood can be transported to the cells throughout our body. Any malfunction of the electrical system in the heart causes a fast, siow, or irregular heartbeat. The electrical system within the heart is responsible for ensuring that the heart beats correctly so that blood can be transported throughout our the body. Any malfunction of the electrical system in the heart malfunction can cause a fast, siow, or irregular heartbeat. Types of heart disease that affect the electrical system are known as arrhythmias. They can cause the heart to beat too fast, too siow, or irregularly. These types of heart disease include: a. Sinus tachycardia Sinus tachycardia occurs when the sinus rhythm is faster than 100 beats per minute therefore it increases myocardial oxygen demand and reduces coronary blood flow, thus precipitating an ischemia heart or valvular disease. b. Sinus bradycardia Sinus bradycardia occurs when a decrease of cardiac output results in regular but unusually siow heart beat less than 60 beats per minute. Symptoms of sinus bradycardia includes a feeling of weightlessness of the head, dizziness, low blood pressure, vertigo, and syncope. c. Atrial fibrillation Atrial fibrillation is an irregular heart rhythm that starts in the upper parts (atria) of the heart causing irregular beating between the atria and the lower parts (ventricles) of the heart. The lower parts may beat fast and without a regular rhythm. Symptoms of atrial fibrillation include dizziness, lightiheadedness, shortness of breath, chest pain and irregular heart beat. d. Atrial flutter Atrial flutter is an abnormal heart rhythm that occurs in the atria of the heart causing abnormalities and diseases of the heart. Symptoms of atrial flutter includes shortness of breath, chest pains, anxiety and palpitation. e. Supraventricular tachycardia Supraventricular tachycardia is described as rapid heart rate originating above the ventricles, or lower chambers of the heart causing a rapid pulse of 140i250 beats per minute. Symptoms of supraventricular tachycardia include palpitations, lightiheadedness, and chest pains. f. Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia is described as an occasional rapid heart rate. Symptoms can come on suddenly and may go away without treatment. They can last a few minutes or 1i2 days. g. Ventricular tachycardia Ventricular tachycardia is described as a fast heart rhythm that originates in one of the ventricles of the heart . This is a potentially lifeithreatening arrhythmia because it may lead to ventricular fibrillation or sudden death. Symptoms of ventricular tachycardia include light headedness, dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath and chest pains. h. Ventricular fibrillation Ventricular fibrillation is a condition in which the hearts electrical activity becomes disordered causing the hearts lower chambers to contract in a rapid, unsynchronized way resulting in iittie heart pumps or no blood at all, resulting in death if left untreated after in 5 minutes. There are many heart diseases affecting electrical system such as premature arterial contractions, wolf parkinson, etc. G) Congenital heart disease There are several heart diseases that people are born with. Congenital heart diseases are caused by a persistence in the fetal connection between arterial and venous circulation. Congenital heart diseases affect any part of the heart such as heart muscle, valves, and blood vessels. Congenital heart disease refers to a problem with the hearts structure and function due to abnormal heart development before birth.Every year over 30,000 babies are born with some type of congenital heart defect in US alone. Congenital heart disease is responsible for more deaths in the first year of life than any other birth defects. Some congenital heart diseases can be treated with medication alone, whiie others require one or more surgeries. The causes of congenital heart diseases of newborns at birth may be in result from poorly controlled blood sugar levels in women having diabetes during pregnancy, some hereditary factors that play a role in congenital heart disease, excessive intake of alcohol and side affects of some drugs during pregnancy. Congenital heart disease is often divided into two types: cyanotic which is caused by a lack of oxygen and nonicyanotic. A. Cyanotic Cyanosis is a blue coloration of the skin due to a lack of oxygen generated in blood vessels near the skin surface. It occurs when the oxygen level in the arterial blood falls below 85i90%. The below lists are the most common of cyanotic congenital heart diseases: a) Tetralogy of fallot Tetralogy of fallot is a condition of several congenital defects that occur when the heart does not develop normally. It is the most common cynaotic heart defect and a common cause of blue baby syndrome. b) Transportation of the great vessels Transportation of the great vessels is the most common cyanotic congenital heart disease. Transposition of the great vessels is a congenital heart defect in which the 2 major vessels that carry blood away from the aorta and the pulmonary artery of the heart are switched. Symptoms of transportation of the great vessels include blueness of the skin, shortness of breath and poor feeding. c) Tricuspid atresia In tricuspid atresia there is no tricuspid valve so no blood can flow from the riht atrium to the riht ventricle. Symptoms of tricuspid atresia include blue tinge to the skin and lips, shortness of breath, siow growth and poor feeding. d) Total anomalous pulmonary venous return Total anomalous pulmonary venous return (TAPVR) is a rare congenital heart defect that causes cyanosis or blueness. Symptoms of total anomalous pulmonary venous return include poor feeding, poor growth, respiratory infections and blue skin. e)Truncus arteriosus Truncus arteriosus is characterized by a large ventricular septal defect over which a large, single great vessel arises. Symptoms of truncus arteriosus include blue coloring of the skin, poor feeding, poor growth and shortness of breath. There are many more types of cyanotic such as ebsteins anomaly, hypoplastic riht heart, and hypoplastic left heart. If you need more information please consult with your doctor. B. Nonicyanotic Nonicyanotic heart defects are more common because of higher survival rates. The below lists are the most common of nonicyanotic congenital heart diseases: a) Ventricular septal defect Ventricular septal defect is a hole in the wall between the riht and left ventricles of the heart causing riht and left ventricles to work harder, pumping a greater volume of blood than they normally wouid in result of failure of the left ventricle. Symptoms of ventricular septal defect include very fast heartbeats, sweating, poor feeding, poor weight gain and pallor. b) Atrial septal defect Atrial septal defect is a hole in the wall between the two upper chambers of your heart causing freshly oxygenated blood to flow from the left upper chamber of the heart into the riht upper chamber of the heart. Symptoms of atrial septal defect include shortness of breath, fatigue and heart palpitations or skipped beats. c) Coarctation of aorta Coarctation of aorta is a narrowing of the aorta between the upperibody artery branches and the branches to the lower body causing your heart to pump harder to force blood through the narrow part of your aorta. Symptoms of coarctation of aorta include pale skin, shortness of breath and heavy sweating. There are many more types of nonicyanotic such as pulmonic stenosis, patent ductus arteriorus, and atrioventricular cana. These problems may occur alone or together. Most congenital heart diseases occur as an isolated defect is not associated with other diseases.