Presidential election of 2012 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Presidential election of 2012 - Essay Example However, the Republican Party in support of Romney managed to maintain control of the house representation at 233 seats, while the democrats were the majority in the senate representation with 53 seats (BBC bbc.co.uk). The 2012 U.S. elections came at a time that required special attention due to slow economic recovery, and the New Jersey Superstorm Sandy that gave people an opportunity to criticize the existing leadership. The catastrophe had called for the previous Obama government and Democratic Party to act wisely, maintain balance, and a good image before the nation that paid close attention. The quick move taken by the President Obama with the New Jersey governor, Chris Christie of the Republican Party to provide aid to the affected East Coast society, benefitted President Barack Obama in gathering support from people of New Jersey, for handling the emergency with integrity. During the last days of the campaign, the two presidential candidates had to perfect their actions and im ages towards the New Jersey disaster but as usual, it was up to the voter to decide how they related and viewed the actions of both candidates. The disaster seemed to be the last determinant of the voters’ motivation in support of their favorable candidate. Mitt Romney in his campaign marked the last Tuesday to the elections as ‘Storm Relief Events’ where he took blankets and food to the affected victims, while Obama rescheduled his activities on the following Wednesday, forfeiting the valuable time he would have had campaigning for his re-election, to focus on immediate management of the crisis, talking with the affected society and viewing the storm damage one on one (Fischer, spiegel.de). This strategy was well rewarded for Obama who Acquired 58 % of the votes in the state of New Jersey (â€Å"US election 2012† telegraph.co.uk). 1. Social Welfare Politics in North America have had along history with differentiated support of the leading political partie s that seem to be divided along racial and religious voters. Certain people tend to be associated with Democratic Party and not republican, based on their religious belief and race which end up into political debates, and in turn affect the voting pattern. The 2012 U.S. elections had a major issue surrounding the personal religious identities of the two leading presidential candidates, which well connects with the divisive social issues within religious dimensions. According to Wade, the Republican Party has more support from the whites than black based on their catholic and protestant religious faith (thesocietypages.org). There was little support for the Republican from the blacks and religiously unaffiliated (see fig. 1). Fig. 1. Republican composition based on religion from Lisa Wade. ; â€Å"Religion and Race among Democrats and Republicans†; thesocietypages.org. 15 September, 2012; Web; 12 November, 2012. On the other hand, democrats have most of their stronghold from t he societies dominated by black people and those religiously unassociated than in republican support (Wade thesocietypages.org ). Certain issues like permission of same sex marriages, the legality of abortion, inclusion of the word God on Parties platform and critical controversy of the Muslim video, set the differences between the parties and their support (see fig. 2). Fig. 2. Democrates composition based on religion from Lisa Wade. ; â€Å"Religion and Race among Democrats and Republicans†; thesocietypages.org. 15 September, 2012; Web; 12 November, 2012. Mitt Romney was initially satisfied by women making their decision on abortion, but following

Organisations and Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Organisations and Behaviour - Essay Example The company was established in the year 1846. It is a listed company in the London Stock Exchange. 1.1 Organizational Structure and Culture and its Impact on the Performance of the Businesses The organizational structure has a great influence on the performance of the organization. The organization structure is considered as the anatomy of an organization, offering a foundation lying within which the organization performs its functions. This organization structure affects the behaviour of the organizational members. The organizational structure of BT Plc is based on two main internal divisions named BT Operate and BT Design. These two divisions support the rest four ‘customer facing’ divisions of the organization. BT Operate has the responsibility of deployment and operation whereas BT Design has the responsibility related to the design and the development of services. The divisions help the organization in delivering ‘software driven products’ associated wi th the next generation network and also achieve the target of cost savings. The organizational structure helps in the systematic functioning of the business operations. ... BT Plc is an integrated company with two main departments. In both the departments, separate procedures are conducted for the completion of the business processes. The organization has a huge scope of proving its excellence in the future as well. The values, policies, collection of traditions, attitudes and beliefs constitute the organizational culture of BT Plc. High values encourage the employees and increase their efficiency thereby increasing the performance of the organization (Yeo and Li, 2011). Ryan Air Ltd being one of the low cost airlines in Fingal, Ireland possesses a functional organizational structure. It is one of the most successful examples of the low cost business models. There are different levels of management. The values act as the core of the organization including reliability, quality, action, feedback and informal communication. The functional organization structure separates the series of activities in different segments. Ryan Air Plc changes the organizationa l structure by expanding the business operations for the allocation of responsibilities to all the employees in appropriate manner. The main success behind the successful organization structure is the coordination in different departments within the organization. The organization was launched with the aim to achieve the low cost leadership model. But at the same time, Ryan Air Ltd did not want that the name of the organization to get associated with anything cheap. The airline has built and maintained a work culture which is said to be an exciting place to work in. The cost cutting strategies are implemented in each and every aspect of the organization. The employees in the organization are awarded for their excellent performances and at the same time, reprimanded on

How Does Diversity and Immigration Impact Innovation?

How Does Diversity and Immigration Impact Innovation? Anca Pop Nowadays, due to the increasingly competitive economic environment, and the constant danger of economic turn-downs, innovation has come into great prominence not only as an important source of competitive advantage, but also as a powerful driver of economic growth and prosperity. In this new context, attention has been drawn to the role that cultural diversity and immigration play in fostering innovation. Thus, the aim of this essay is to assess the impact of immigration on innovation. Furthermore, the question regarding whether or not a culturally diverse society represents an enabling environment for innovativeness shall be discussed. Nevertheless, a number of evidences and empirical data which support the linkage between cultural diversity, immigration and the innovation process shall be analysed. Statistical reports have shown that at the turn of the century â€Å"4.6% of world population was born in a different country from the one where it currently lived†. (Bratti and Conti, 2012:2). Given the size of this phenomenon, immigration has come into sharp focus on the global agenda, currently being at the centre of many economic and political debates and its economic consequences giving rise to a high level of research activity. Thus, it would be of highly importance to consider the contribution of increasingly cultural diversity in many societies to the innovation system especially when dealing with economic analysis and policy. However, in order to be able to analyse the effects of immigration and cultural diversity on innovation, firstly, the meaning of „innovation† as a concept along with its indicators should be tackled. Defining â€Å"innovation† could be rather a difficult task as it is a â€Å"multi-faceted phenomenon†, and a widely used concept in various ways and different contexts. (Venturini, 2005: 1) However, it could be generally agreed that †Innovation is different from pure invention. Innovation involves the successful implementation of a new product, service or process, which for most activities entails their commercial success.† (Gordon and McCann, 2005: 3). In addition to this, Ozgen, Nijkamp and Poot (2013: 3) state that innovation is achieved â€Å"by means of analytical knowledge† and argue that â€Å"The improvement of an existing product or the modification of an existing process or organizational arrangement can also be viewed as an innovation.† Regarding the measures of innovation, the most prominent ones are the number of patent applications and the Total Factor Productivity, used as proxies of technological growth and effective innovation s at both firm and country levels. Having now defined this process, leads the analysis further, to establishing how does immigration affect innovation. In recent years, research activities have demonstrated a rather positive correlation between migration and innovativeness, as â€Å"individuals coming from different countries usually have different, complementary skills with respect to natives, and the production of new ideas may be positively influenced by contacts and interchanges between culturally diverse individuals† (Bratti and Conti, 2012: 4). In addition to this, â€Å"migration brings youth to ageing countries, and allows ideas to circulate in millions of mobile minds. That is good both for those who arrive with suitcases and dreams and for those who should welcome them†. (The Economist, 2011) A rather more technical research on this matter is conducted by Ozgen, Nijkamp and Poot (2012) who study the impact of size, skills and diversity of immigration on the innovativeness of host regions using the number of patent applications per million inhabitants from 170 regions in Europe for the periods 1991-1995 and 2001-2005. According to this study, there are five mechanisms through which immigration may boost innovation: â€Å"the population size effect†; â€Å"the population density effect†; â€Å"the migrant share effect†; â€Å"the skill composition effect† and â€Å"the migrant diversity effect†. (Ozgen, Nijkamp and Poot, 2011:2). The first three mechanisms result from the fact that immigration increases the local aggregate demand. This boost in the aggregate demand could be met through an increase in the level and diversity of local production, which in the long run might need additional investment and thereby will encourage product and process innovation. Furthermore, local economy prosperity not only will generate firm growth but will also encourage additional start-up firms resulting into an innovation lift. Moreover, usually attracted to the large metropolitan areas with better job opportunities, migrants increase the urban population and thereby strengthen the forces of agglomeration which leads to greater innovation. (Ozgen, Nijkamp and Poot, 2011: 3). A more debated way through which the innovation system is enhanced by immigration refers to the skill composition effect on innovation. Given that the modern economy is in a constant quest for fresh ideas and better goods that would accelerate business growth, the global competition for highly-skilled migrants has gained magnitude. â€Å"Their role in innovation may seem obvious: the more clever people there are the more ideas are likely to flourish, especially if they can be commercialised.† (The Economist, 2009) Considerable empirical evidence for this is provided by Kerr who gathered data about the 8 million scientists who had acquired an American patent between 1975 and 2004. Hence, he found that the share of patents given to American-born scientists fell while the share of all patents awarded to immigrant scientists from China and India increased from 4.1% in the late 1970s to 13.9% between 2000 and 2004. (The Economist, 2009) Moreover, Kerr and William Lincoln (2008) ana lysed the way changes in the number of H-1B visa admissions reflected on patents in the years between 1995 and 2006. It is imperious to mention that H-1B visa is the United States work visa for skilled immigrants, which allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise as well as the attainment of a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent as a minimum. Thus, they point out that â€Å"the estimates suggest that a 10% growth in the H-1B worker population is associated with a 2% increase in patenting† (Kerr and Lincoln, 2008: 20) Bosetti, Cattaneo and Verdolini (2013: 1) predict that skilled immigration has a significant positive contribution not only to the knowledge creation in host countries as â€Å"they add to the pool of skills in destination markets†, but also enhances natives ‘productivity as the interaction of diverse cultures and approaches in problem solving and brain storming situations might give birth to new, original ideas. In order to support these predictions, they have studied the effect of skilled migrants on the number of patents applied for through the Patent Cooperation Treaty and citations of scientific publications, as proxies of innovation in a panel of twenty European countries from 1995 to 2008. Thus, in accordance with their initial prediction, Bosetti, Cattaneo and Verdolini (2013:11) found out that â€Å"the variable measuring the stock of knowledge in a given country (stock of RD expenditure) exerts a positive and statistically significant effect on innovation. A 1 percent increase in the stock of RD expenditures is associated with a 0.6 percent and a 0.4 percent increase in patent application and citation, respectively†. In a similar vein, Hunt and Gauthier-Loiselle (2009) measure the likeness of skilled immigrants to enrich innovation and at what extent. They do so by evaluating the differences in patenting behaviour between immigrants and natives as well as the state-level determinants of patenting using a panel of data from 1940-2000 in the Unites States. The results show that a 1% increase in the college graduate immigrants implied 6.1% rise in patents per capita while 1% increase in the share of college natives raise patents per capita only by 3.5%. Furthermore, â€Å"1.3 percentage point increase in the share of the population composed of immigrant college graduates and the 0.7 percentage point increase in the share of post-college immigrants both increased patenting per capita by about 12% (..). The 0.45 percentage point increase in immigrant scientists and engineers increased patenting per capita by about 13%.† (Hunt and Gauthier-Loiselle, 2009:20). Hence they discover that one way ski lled immigrants could boost patenting per capita is by engaging in science and engineering as the knowledge and skills these occupations request are more easily transferable across countries. Skilled immigrants could also enrich patenting per capita, if an immigration policy regarding immigrants’ selection according to their abilities and knowledge levels was introduced. This would attract more science and engineering orientated migrants and would encourage less skilled migrants to acquire higher education and engage themselves more into the innovation process. (Hunt and Gauthier-Loiselle, 2009: 2). Nevertheless, due to migration and globalisation, diversity has become an increasingly outstanding feature of today’s world. This brings into discussion the fifth mechanism through which immigration can boost the innovation system, the migrant diversity effect, as an important link to innovation. A say on this matter had the European Commission (2008: 8), in their work regarding the diversity journey in search for talent, competitiveness and innovation: â€Å"as innovation processes depend on harnessing creativity, and while dynamic as well as supportive systems of management can elicit the best from staff, like-minded people will usually produce like-minded results. Diversity in the workforce can, however, help companies to break this mould and the cycle of limited unilateral thinking and, in so doing, set them free to discover new products, markets, and ways of doing or leading business†. Empirical evidence that confirms the positive linkage between cultural diversity and innovation is provided by Niebuhr (2006). She investigates the impact of a cultural diverse labour force in German regions on innovation, using a sample of 200 different nationalities. The results show cultural diversity to be beneficial to innovation: â€Å"Due to their different cultural backgrounds, it is likely that migrants and native workers have fairly diverse abilities and knowledge. Thus, there might be skill complementarities between foreign workers and native in addition to those among workers of different qualification levels.† (Niebuhr, 2006: 564). But are cultural diversity and immigration always beneficial to innovation? According to Bratti and Conti (2012: 4), cultural diversity might also cause difficulties in communication, especially when natives and immigrants do not speak the same language. This might reduce social capital and therefore act as an impediment to innovation and economic performance. In addition, Ozgen (2013: 92) finds as outcomes of cultural diversity, lower levels of trust and higher discrimination within firms, â€Å"non-transferability of skills† or â€Å"non-recognition of qualifications† which play as impediments in ideas exchange or the formation of new knowledge. Similarly, â€Å"co-ethnic networks can lead to spatial or occupational segregation and clustering of migrant groups, which may also impede the contribution of immigrants to firm innovation†. Moreover, a few other situations which lie on the negative side of immigration could be observed. That would be the case of areas experiencing higher inflows of low-skilled or low educated migrants: â€Å"unskilled immigration can have a negative effect by reducing social capital, creating communication problems among workers or pushing firms to lower their efforts to introduce product and process innovations†. (Bratti and Conti, 2012:16). In order to uphold this statement, Bratti and Conti (2012: 22) evaluate the effect of low-skilled immigrants in Italian provinces on patent applications, as a proxy for innovativeness. Thus, they find evidence that there is a significant negative effect not only of low-skilled migrants, but also an overall negative effect of large inflows of immigrants on innovation: â€Å"rising immigrants’ share by 1 p.p. produces a 0.064 percent reduction in patents’ applications per 1,000 inhabitants.† This negative effect is proved to be mostly driven by the characteristics of immigrants who â€Å"mainly appear as a source of low-skilled and cheap labour force, which is employed in traditional economic sectors† (Bratti and Conti, 2012:11). Although it focuses especially on Italy, Bratti and Conti’s study is not necessarily a particular case, as their findings are also consistent with the Lewis’ work (2011: 1031) who has proved that areas rich in low-skilled immigrants areas adopted less machinery, giving technological change a slower evolution and: â€Å"plants added technology more slowly between 1988 and 1993 where immigration induced the ratio of high school dropouts to graduates to grow more quickly†. Hence, the substantial immigration boom from the end of the last century had a negative impact of knowledge formation and actively led to a slow growth in the supply of skills in the United States: â€Å"only after the large wave of immigration in the 1980s did high-immigration ci ties become more unskilled than low immigration cities.† (Lewis, 2011: 1031). On the other hand, there are also claims that even low-skill immigrants can indirectly enhance productivity gains and innovation: â€Å"Even low-skill immigrants who start small businesses that stay small are important to the American economy. They provide low cost services and access to more goods. There are also second-order effects, for example someone who provides child or elder care cheaply provide an invaluable service. This allows natives to works outside of their home† (The Economist, 2010). Similarly, Peri (2009: 17) has found a positive linkage between productivity gains and immigration in the United States in the years between 1960 and 2006, although the most majority of the immigrants in his sample were low-skilled and engaged in menial work. He proves that the inflow of unskilled migrants resulted in a more efficient allocation of skills and education to jobs amongst natives, thereby leading to an increase in the total factor productivity. Additionally, the negati ve effects of cultural diversity and unskilled immigrants could be overcome by properly exploiting the competencies of skilled immigrants as well as by attracting more highly educated immigrants. This could be achieved by introducing favourable immigration policies for high-skilled immigrants, in order to foster innovation and economic growth. Furthermore, free language courses and job-related training programs could be provided for immigrants in order to reduce language barriers and allow them to develop or upgrade their skills. To conclude, on theoretical grounds, there are several ways in which immigration and cultural diversity can affect both positively and negatively the innovation system. Given such a mixture of positive and negative effects, the overall impact of immigration on innovation should be considered in terms of empirical evidences. In this sense, this essay has presented a number of different studies and approaches from European countries, but also from the United States. What is more, five mechanisms through which immigration can boost innovation have been analysed. As opposed to this, several negative effects of cultural diversity and immigration with regards to the innovation process have been considered along with several ways these drawbacks could be overcome. Thus, all things considered, it could be consented that migration and cultural diversity represent an opportunity as much as a challenge, but if managed carefully it would lead to positive outcomes such as innovation, technologica l change, increasing productivity gains and ultimately to economic growth. References Bosetti V., Cattaneo C. and Verdolini E. (2012) â€Å"Migration, Cultural Diversity and Innovation: A European Perspective†, FEEM Working Paper No. 69.2012. Online at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2162836 (Accessed 14 January 2014) Bratti M. and Conti C. (2012) â€Å"Immigration, Population Diversity and Innovation of Italian regions† Online at: www.ecostat.unical.it/rd2013/Papers/Bratti_Conti.pdf‎ (Accessed 12 January 2014) European Commission (2008) â€Å"Continuing The Diversity Journey: Business Practices, Perspectives And Benefits† European Union Publications Office, Luxembourg. Gordon I.R. and McCann P. (2005) â€Å"Clusters, Innovation and Regional Development: An Analysis of Current Theories and Evidence†, in Johansson B., Karlsson C. and Stough R., (eds.), â€Å"Entrepreneurship, Spatial Industrial Clusters and Inter-Firm Network†s , Edward Elgar, Cheltenham Hunt, J. and M. Gauthier-Loiselle (2008) â€Å"How Much Does Immigration Boost Innovation?† NBER Working Paper14312, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge Mass. Online at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp3921.pdf (Accessed 12 January 2014) Kerr W.R.andLincoln W. F. (2008)â€Å"TheSupplySideofInnovation:Hà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 1BVisaReformsandU.S.EthnicInvention†JournalofLaborEconomics. Online at: http://www.nber.org/papers/w15768 (Accessed 13th January 2014) Lewis, E. (2011) â€Å"Immigration, skill mix, and capital skill complementarity†. The Quarterly Journal of Economics 126, 1029–1069. Online at: http://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/qjecon/v126y2011i2p1029-1069.html (Accessed 9 January 2014) Niebuhr A. (2006): â€Å"Migration and innovation: Does cultural diversity matter for regional RD activity?† IAB discussion paper, No. 2006,14. Online at: http://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/31908 (Accessed 11 January 2014) Ozgen C. (2013) â€Å"Impacts of immigration and cultural diversity on innovation and economic growth† Online at: http://dare.ubvu.vu.nl/bitstream/handle/1871/47948/dissertation.pdf?sequence=1 (Accessed 13 January 2014) Ozgen, C., Nijkamp, P., Poot, J. (2011) Immigration and Innovation in European Regions IZA Discussion Papers 5676, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). Online at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp5676.pdf (Accessed 12 January 2014) Peri, G. (2009) â€Å"The Effect of Immigration on Productivity: Evidence from US States† NBER working paper September 2009. Online at: http://www.nber.org/papers/w15507 Accessed 14 January 2014 The Economist (17 September 2010) â€Å"Importing job growth† Online at: http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2010/09/economic_growth (Accessed 10 January 2014) The Economist (19 November 2011) â€Å"The magic of diasporas†. Online at: http://www.economist.com/node/21538742 (Accessed 10 January 2014) The Economist (5 March 2009) â€Å"Give me your scientists†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , Online at : http://www.economist.com/node/13234953 (Accessed10 January 2014) Venturini A. (2012) â€Å"Innovation and Migration† co-authored with F. Montobbio, C. Fassio, MPC Analytical Note, 2012/05. Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, San Domenico di Fiesole (FI): European University Institute, 2012. Pluripotent Stem Cells: Benefits, Properties and Uses Pluripotent Stem Cells: Benefits, Properties and Uses INTRODUCTION Pluripotent stem cells give rise to nearly all cells types of the body, like, muscle, nerve, heart, and blood. They hold huge promise for both research health care. The advance in human biology continues to generate interest among scientists, patients suffering from a wide range of diseases, including cancer, heart disease and diabetes, their families. Embryonic stem (ES) cells, is derived from inner cell mass of mammalian blastocysts they have the ability to grow for an indefinite period while maintaining pluripotency. These properties have led to hope that human Embryonic Stem cells might be useful to understand the disease mechanisms, to monitor effective and safe drugs, to treat patients of various diseases and injuries, such as juvenile diabetes and spinal cord injury. Cell culture is the one of the most important basic biomedical research. From many decades, many innumerable insights into both normal pathologic cellular processes have been gleaned by the study of human cells explanted in vitro. Primary human cells have a small life span in culture, there is a regulation of tissue formation, regeneration, and repair. Many human cell types have never closely been adapted for the expansion in vitro, and the lack of available models of normal pathologic tissue structure has render many new important questions in human growth and disease pathogenesis and it is hard to find. At present three types of methods have been reported to induce pluripotency artificially in mouse somatic cells. Embryonic stem like cells can also be recognized by long-term culture of bone marrow cells, and pluripotent stem cells can be generate adult germ cells, either by vitro culture of spermatogonial cells or by the parthenogenesis of unfertilized eggs. The capability to reprogram cells from the human blood will let the generation of patient-spec ific stem cells for the diseases. In this disease-causing somatic mutations are then restricted to the cells of the hematopoietic lineage. Depending on methods used, reprogramming of the adult cells to gain iPSCs may pose significant risk those could limit their use in humans. Many scientists around the world, announced the discovery of the method that could eliminate oncogenes after the induction of pluripotency, which will increase the potential use of iPSC in human disease. In April 2009, it was verified that generation of iPS cells is feasible without any genetic modification of the adult cell: a repetitive treatment of cells by means of certain proteins channelled into the cells viapoly-arginine anchorswas sufficient to induce pluripotency. Pluripotent stem cells are a unique scientific and medical source.The pluripotent stem cells are derived using non-Federal funds 8yat the beginning, embryos donated voluntarily by couples who are undergo fertility treatment in an vitro ferti lization clinic. Human embryonic stem cells isolated from more surplus embryos from in vitro fertilization clinics represent an immortal circulation of pluripotent cells that can theoretically generate any cell type inside the human body. PLURIPOTENT STEM CELLS PLURIPOTENT STEM CELLS are generated from adults cells where induced pluripotent stem cells is the part of pluripotent stem cells and it is also called as iPS cells or iPSC’s. Pluripotent stem cells give rise to nearly all of the cells types of body, like muscle, nerve, heart, and blood. Pluripotent stem cells are called master cells because they are able to make cells from all three body layers, so they can produce any cells or body needs to repair itself, it is called pluripotency. Pluripotent stem have promising future in the area of regenerative medicine because it it is different in effect on the cells of the body which are neurons, heart, pancreatic liver cells. It can help in the representation of single cell which can remain to lost the damage or diseased cells. IPSC they are similar to natural pluripotent stem cells, like embryonic stem cells in many ways, like the appearance of certain stem cell genes proteins,  chromatin methylation  patterns, doubling time,  embryoid body  formation,  teratoma  formation, viable  chimera  formation, and potency and differentiability. Pluripotent stem cells EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS Embryonic stem cells is the most important type of pluripotent cells. Embryonic stem cells(ES cells) arepluripotentstem cellsthat are derived from theinner cell massof ablastocyst an early-stage preimplantation  embryo. Humanembryos reach the  blastocyst  stage 4–5 days postfertilization, at which time they consist of 50–150 cells. From adult tissue iPSC has been derived. They cannot by pass the need of embryos but they can be matched in the patients which mean that pluripotent stem cells line will be present in the each individual. Without any risk of immune rejection autologous cells can be used for recognising the basic behaviour of disease present in the patients therapeutic transplants are not safe in iPSC technology. ESC that are appeared which have large domains of the genome that have a specific histone code, that are not found in more mature cells, which allows very fast inactivation or activation of gene expression. Embryonic stem cells arepluripotent th at are able todifferentiatein all derivatives of the three germ layers:ectoderm, endoderm, andmesoderm. It includes more than 220 cell types in the adult  body. Pluripotency distinguishes embryonic stem cells from  adult stem cells  found in  adults; while embryonic stem cells can produce all cell types in body, adult stem cells they are multipotent  and they can create only limited number of cell type. Human embryonic stem cell structure SOMATIC CELL NUCLEAR TRANSFER The somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) means, transferring the nucleus from a somatic cell, any cell of the body, to an other cell, in this case it’s an egg cell. This kind of pluripotent stem cell called ntES cell, which has only been made successfully in the inferior animals. To make ntES cells in the human patients, an egg donor, would be needed. The process of transferring a differentnucleusinto the egg â€Å"reprograms† it to a pluripotent condition, reactivating full set of genes for creating all the tissues of the body. PRODUCTION OF INDUCED PLURIPOTENT STEM CELLS iPSCs are introduced in a set of pluripotency associated genes or reprogramming factors in to a given cell kind. The original set of reprogramming factor are genes Oct4 (Pou5f1), Sox2, cMyc, and Klf4. It is a slow and unsufficient process which takes 1-2 weeks in mouse cells 3-4 weeks in human. It has efficiency of 0.01%- 0.1%. For improving the efficiency and time taken to get ipsc considerable changes have been done. In reprogramming factor, cell start to make colonies that look like pluripotent stem cells. Pluripotency is maintained by a combination of epigenetic, transcriptional and posttranscriptional mechanisms. PRODUCTION OF Ipsc CELLS GENERATION OF INDUCED PLURIPOTENT STEM cells. They divide culture donor cells. Transfect the stem cell-associated genes into cells by viral vectors. Harvest and culture the cells according to the Embryoic Stem cell culture by the use of mitotically in feeder cells. A small set of transfected cells become iPS cells generate ES-like colonies Generation of IPS cells Types of Pluripotent Stem Cells There are several types of pluripotent stem cells are Embryonic stem cells which are joined from the inner cell mass of blastocyst the embryos are produced from in vitro fertilisation, although this is important cause it eliminates the embryo, which could have been implanted for the formation of a baby. Embryonic germ cells which are obtained from the aborted foetuses and these pluripotent cells are copied from past cells. These past cells are those which can form sperm eggs. Embryonic carcinoma or the cancer cells which are cosset from tumour that sometimes are prevalent in a a foetus. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TOTIPOTENT,   PLURIPOTENT, AND MULTIPOTENT Totipotent cells can form all the kind of cell in a body, in addition the extraembryonic, or the placental cells. Embryonic cells, the 1st couple of cell divisions following fertilization are the only cells that are totipotent cells. Pluripotent cells can also give rise to all of the type of cells that make up the body. Embryonic stem cells are called pluripotent. Multipotent cells can expand into more than 1 cell type, but they are more limited than the pluripotent cells, adult stem cells cord blood stem cells are often considered as multipotent. BENEFITS OF PLURIPOTENT STEM CELLS Pluripotent stem cells give a renewable basis of healthy cells tissues to treat many type of diseases similar to heart disease and diabetes. People who are burn those patients who suffer from autoimmune diseases like Parkinsons can give advantage from the usage of pluripotent stem cells. Pluripotent stem cells have large potential for treatment of diseases, because they give rise to majority of cell types in human body,which include muscle, blood, heart nerve cells. The use for pluripotent stem cells include the generation of cells tissues that are use in transplantation. Drug study research next method that pluripotent stem cells are beneficial. Animals are mostly used to measure the safety and use of drugs. Those drugs which are secure and used in development for testing on animals. TURNING PLURIPOTENT CELL INTO TREATMENT Over time, many techniques are developed, pluripotent stem cells could any one of the day allow doctors to create form, rejection-proof transplant to patch a scarred heart, revitalize damaged nerves or reboot an immune system which is not able of fighting infection. Doctors have first obtained  pluripotent  stem cells that match the patient genetically through genetic  reprogramming,  nuclear transfer, or parthenogenesis. There are four critical steps: To grow  pluripotent  stem cells that create a large quantity of healthy cells. Restore faulty genes,this would be needed if the cells are carrying a genetic disorder, such as sickle cell anemia which turn the stem cells into a specific cell kind or a tissue.A genetically healthy line of  pluripotent  cells is recognized, they must be creating specialized kinds of cells and this process is called as differentiation. To transplant cells or tissue to the diseased or damaged organ or tissue,the cells will require to reach right part of the body, take hold and start to function. Scientists know how to deliver blood to the stem cells, but they still need to develop some effective delivery method for other cell types. Getting the pluripotent stem cell The cells can be made in one of several ways: Nuclear transfer— By using a patient’s skin cell and then transferring it into an egg (possibly the patient’s own, or of an egg donor). Genetic  reprogramming— By transforming a skin cell or blood cell or other cell from the patient to a  pluripotent  stem cell. Parthenogenesis— This is done by using unfertilized eggs. A woman may be able to give her own eggs to make stem cells that match her genetically, or draw on master banks of stem cells which are made from eggs. WHY ARE PLURIPOTENT STEM CELLS IMPORTANT? Pluripotent stem cells can be used to produce any cell or tissue the body might need to challenge a wide range of diseases, from diabetes to spinal cord injury, to childhood leukemia,or to heart disease. Pluripotent  stem cells can potentially be modified to provide a perfect genetic match for any patient. It means that the patient could get transplants of tissue and cells without matching tissue and tissue rejection problems. There is also no need to take powerful immune-suppressing drugs for the rest of their lives. Although there is time in achieving this, researchers have treated mouse models of human disease by using this strategy and hope that same can be done with human patients. Disease in a dish: Pluripotent stem cells create excellent laboratory models for studying how a disease unfolds, which further helps scientists to locate and track, very earliest disease-causing actions in cells. Immune deficiencies like type1 diabetes, muscular dystrophy, and myriad other disorders which are embedded in fetal development. In the lab, researchers monitor from where the first muscle cell comes from, or the first blood cell, and how this is different when the patient has a genetic disease. By the use of this information, doctors are able to correct the genetic defect before the disease advances. Applications: Pluripotent  stem cell has different characteristics that make it useful in different ways : Induced pluripotent cells(iPS cells) offer a unique chance to model many human disease and are already being used to make a lot of new discoveries about premature aging, disease,cancer, and more. They are made from a person’s own cells, they can be potentially manipulated to fix the defects that are causing disease and then used to create healthy cells for transplant that won’t be rejected by the immune system. Embryonic stem cells(ES cells) are standard for the biological theory of pluripotency. Scientists are continuosly working with Embryonic Stem cells to study more about a cell with pluripotency and discover safe better ways to create iPS cells. Each type of ES cell is important for different reasons: ES cells made from donating early embryos are unique tools for the understanding of earliest stages of human development specific tissues form, because they’re not modified to individual patients, their value is mainly in research. MEDICAL RESEARCH Disease modeling and drug development An attractive feature of the human iPS cells is their ability to derive them from adult patients for the study of cellular basis of human diseases. Since iPS cells have property of self-renewing and are pluripotent, they stand for a theoretically unlimited source of patient-derived cells which further can be turned into any kind of cell in the body. This is important because many other types of human cells which are derived from patients tend to stop rising after a few passages in laboratory culture. iPS have been generated for a broad variety of human genetic diseases, including common disorders such as Down syndrome and polycystic kidney disease. Organ synthesis A proof-of-concept by induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to make human organ for the transplantation  was reported by researchers of Japan. Human ‘liver  buds’ (iPSC-LBs) were grown from a mixture of three different types of stem cells: Hepatocytes  (for liver function) coaxed from iPSCs Endothelial stem cells  (to form lining of  blood vessels) from  umbilical cord blood Mesenchymal stem cells  (to form  connective tissue). This new approach allows different cell types to self-organize into complex organ, mimicking the process in  fetal development. After growing in vitro for few days, the liver buds were transplanted into mice where the ‘liver’ quickly connected with host blood vessels and then continued to grow. Tissue repair Embryonic cord-blood cells were induced to pluripotent stem cells by the use of plasmid DNA. Using cell surface endothelial/pericytic markers  CD31  and  CD146, researchers have identified vascular progenitor, which is high-quality, multipotent vascular stem cells. After the iPS cells were directly injected into the  vitreous  of damaged  retina  of mice, the stem cells then engrafted into retina, grow repaired the  vascular vessels. Red blood cells In 2014,  type O  red blood cells  were synthesized at Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service from iPSC. The cells were induced to become a  mesoderm   then  blood cells   then red blood cells. The final step was making them eject their nuclei mature properly. Type O rbc’s can be transfused into all patients. Each pint of the blood contain about 2 trillion red blood cells, although some 107 million blood donations are collected globally each year. Human transfusions were not expected to begin until 2016.

Listening is a Form of Love Essay -- Personal Narrative

Listening is a Form of Love Listening can be defined as the act of hearing attentively. Love can be defined as a strong redilection or enthusiasm. Listening is indeed a form of love. In my opinion, when you listen to someone or something, that means you are interested in what is being said. I also think listening is a form of caring and of respect. You may care about the person you are listening to or what you are listening to. Listening to a family member can be a form of love. For example, my great-grandfather, Nathaniel Hudson, 92, feels very lonely now because he lives in a nursing home and his family only comes to see him once or twice weekly. He does not really have anyone to talk to. When he comes to my house on the weekends, he is very talkative, telling me everything about his childhood. Most of the time he is boring and he repeats himself often, but I know it is because of his age. It is difficult for him to hear me when I respond to him. However, just by me taking a few minutes to listen to his stories makes him feel good because he had someone to talk to. I made hi...

Study of Lg

[pic] In partial fulfillment Of BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [pic] Submitted to: Submitted by: SWARNITA SRIVASTAVA bb Asst Professor BBA 4sem Roll no SUN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT & TECHNOLOGY 7 Km,Milestone Bareilly Road NH-24, Haji Nagla,Shahjahanpur (U. P) [pic] DECLARATIONI, ANJU MISHRA , hereby declare that the work titled Comparative Analysis of Employee`s perspective towards â€Å"COMPARATIVE STUDY OF LG AND VIEDOCON AIR CONDITIONERS† embodied in this report has been carried out by me as an original work. I declare that no part of it has been submitted for any degree of any institution previously. Date: 30 APIRL, 2013 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to all those who, directly or indirectly made this project possible. I have got considerable help and support in making this project report a reality from many people.I would like to thank Mr. ABHIJEET MISHRA, SIMT,SHAHJAHANPUR whose endeavor for perfection, under fat igable zeal, innovation and dynamism contributed in a big way in completing this project. This work is the reflection of his thought, ideas, concept and above all his modest effort. PREFACE This is the project about profiling the brand personality of air conditioner brands. The project involves the study of the whole Air Conditioner market. In this study we have studied the two of the major players in AC that is LG, Videocon.The report included the survey of the customer’s of these particular brands and then analyzing what kind of their customers are, the brand targets which segment of the customers, the customer’s age group, income group, their education level. Indian Consumer durables market used to be dominated by few domestic players like Godrej, Samsung, Hitachi Voltas and Kalvinator. But post liberalization much foreign company have entered into Indian market dethroning the Indian player and dominating Indian market the major categories in the market AIR CONDTION ERS CONTENT 1. INTRODUCTION †¢ COMPANY PROFILE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT COMPANY †¢ OBJECTIVE OF THE SURVEY 2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY †¢ COLLECTION OF DATA †¢ QUESTIONNAIER 3. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 4. CONCLUSION 5. FINDING AND SUGGESSION 6. BIBLIOGRAPHY RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ? To identify the two major player of AC market and their market share, products and the players within this segment. ? We Have taken the major competitors in AC segment as LG, Videocon, and did an in depth comparison of the same on certain parameters, which will be ? defined in the due course of the proposal. ? To ascertain potential market and competition. Ascertain the consumer preferences and satisfaction factor ? To highlight the perception of the consumers for the Air Conditioners. ? To do the brand profiling. ? To know the personality traits, likings of the customers for individual brands. ? To know which customer prefer which brand. ? Why do they purchase this brand only? ? How does this brand matches to their personality. ? Which brand targets or is liked by the customers of which age group ? Which brand is affordable by which income group. ? Do the customers want to repurchase this brand? If yes, then why so. What are the characteristics of the customer the brand targets? COMPANY PROFILE OF LG History [pic] When Willis Carrier invented the first system for â€Å"manufactured weather† in 1902, he sparked an industry that revolutionized the way in which we live, work and play. From that defining moment – and through to the present day – Carrier has been a company built on a legacy of innovation. For more than a century, our research, expertise and forethought have resulted in market-leading innovations and â€Å"firsts† that have shaped and defined the heating, air conditioning and refrigeration industry.Through our history of product excellence and committed customer service, we have evolved into a global company serving millions of peo ple and businesses in 172 countries on six continents around the world. [pic] Carrier India Vision: To be recognized as the leader in every segment we operate in by ? Being ‘customer focused’ in everything we do and following ACE diligently. Delivering ‘best in class’ quality in the product as well as aftermarket service. ? Being ‘environmentally conscious’ in areas of energy efficiency and pollution. Establishing a performance culture that respects human values & team work remain embedded in our core values of EH&S and ethics Thereby growing profitably and ahead of the market every year, making Carrier a destination of choice for all within HVAC&R industry. LG Electronics Is one of the leading companies in the field of electronics with a global presence in many countries. .Before briefing, I have divided the introduction part into three main sub parts. †¢ LG Global †¢ LG India †¢ LG Pune History of companyThe company was origina lly established in 1958 as Gold Star, producing radios, TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners. The LG Group was a merger of two Korean companies, Lucky and Gold Star, from which the abbreviation of LG was derived. The current â€Å"Life's good† slogan is a backronym. Before the corporate Name change to LG, household products were sold under the Brand name of Lucky, while electronic products were sold under the brand name of Gold Star. The Gold Star brand is still perceived as a discount brand. In 1995, Gold Star was renamed LG Electronics, and acquired Zenith Electronics of the United States. pic] Global Operation LG Electronics is playing an active role in the world market with its assertive global business policy. As a result, LG Electronics controls 110 local subsidiaries in the world with around 82,000 executive and employees. LG Group †¢ LG. Philips LCD †¢ LG Chemical †¢ LG Telecom †¢ LG Powercom †¢ LG Twins †¢ LG Dacom Business areas and main products Mobile communications [pic] a) CDMA Handsets, b) GSM Handsets, c) 3G Handsets, d) Cellular Phones Digital appliance[pic] a) Air Conditioners, b) Refrigerators, c) Microwave Ovens, d) Washing Machines, e) Vacuum Cleaners, f) Home Net, ) Compressors for Air Conditioners and Refrigerators Digital display[pic] a) Plasma TVs, b) LCD TVs, c) Micro Display Panel TVs, d) Monitors, e) PDP Modules, f) OLED Panels, g) USB Memory, h) Flat Panel Computer Monitors Digital media a) Home Theater Systems, b) DVD Recorders, c) Super Multi DVD Rewriters, d) CD ±RW, e) Notebook PCs, f) Desktop PCs, g) PDAs, h) PDA Phones, i) MP3 Players, j) New Karaoke Systems, [pic] Vision Global Top 3 by 2010 Global Top 3 Electronic/Telecommunication company Growth strategy â€Å"Fast innovation, Fast growth† Core competency â€Å"Product leadership, Market leadership, People leadership†Corporate culture No excuse, â€Å"we† not â€Å"I†, Fun workplace TA G LINE â€Å"Life's Good† represents LG's determination to provide delightfully smart products that will make your life good. The LG Electronics Life's Good signature consists of the LG logo, seal, and the slogan, â€Å"Life's Good† set in Charlotte sans typeface curved around the LG symbol. The curving of the slogan reinforces LG's personality and uniqueness. The consistent usage of this signature clearly establishes the unique identity of the company and unifies every division and product from LG Electronics across the globe.The Symbol The symbol of LG is the face of future. The letter â€Å"L† and â€Å"G† in a circle symbolizes world, future, youth, humanity & technology . LG philosophy is based on humanity. [pic] It also represents LG’s efforts to keep close relationship with our customers around the world. The symbol consists of two elements. 1. The logo in LG gray 2. The stylized image of human face in the unique LG red color. Red color repr esents our friendliness and gives a strong impression of LG’s commitment to deliver the best. The circle symbolizes The Globe.The stylized image of a smiling face in the symbol conveys â€Å"Friendliness and Approachability†. The one eye on the symbol represents â€Å"Goal-oriented, Focused & Confident†. The slogan of LG is â€Å"Life’s Good†. It expresses â€Å"Brand’s Value, Promises, Benefits, Personality. The Partnership LG Electronics chooses to promote harmony and build constructively on a labor-management relationship rather than an employee-employer relationship. This illustrates that management and workers are not in a vertical relationship, but in a horizontal one.This culture is necessary for LG Electronics as it strives to become one of the world's top companies. Such a relationship is transformed into a value-creation relationship whereby both parties endeavor to address mutual problems and create new values together. Strategic alliance LG Electronics is making technical advances and identifying business opportunities through various associative relationships with some of the world's leading companies. LG Electronics is striving to become number one in the world by mingling in various business and technological fields and making strategic alliances with world famous companies. Strategic association between corporations,† In which companies with different infrastructures cooperate in the fast-developing 21st century business field, Is of key significance in terms of strengthening the existing industry and creating a new one. [pic] LG Electronics will do its best to create new products and services with an open mind, while developing new technologies and business fields through various associations with some of the world's most successful companies. 1. 3M 2. SUN 3. YAHOO 4. PHILLIPS 5. TOYOTA 6. MICROSOFT 7. HP 8. GOOGLE 9. GE 10. INTEL 11.NORTEL 12. HITACHI 13. PRADA 14. RENESAS 15. TOSHIBA 16. BESTB UY And the number follows many more†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. In Feb. 2007 LG Electronics and Yahoo formed a strategic alliance. Yahoo mobile services will be available from LG mobile. This service is targeting 10 million LG mobile phones in over 70 countries. In Mar. 2007 LG Electronics and Google formed a strategic alliance. Both companies will work together to release, market, and offer LG mobile phones with Google services (search engine, map, email, and blogs. ) LG BRAND IDENTITY:- The brand of LG is delightfully smart.LG strives to enhance the customer’s life and lifestyle with intelligent features, institutive functionality and exceptional performance. The brand platform:- The LG brand is composed of four basic elements – 1. Value 2. Promise 3. Benefits 4. Personality The Brands core Value that never changes. a. Trust, b. Innovation, c. People d. Passion The benefits that are consistently delivered to the customer in cludes Reliable products Simple design Ease of useExtraordinary Experience Personality describes the human characteristic that are expressed to the customer through Trustworthy, Considerate Practical, Friendly The Internal Culture of LG: LG practices four cultures 1. Learning Culture 2. Boundary less Environment 3. A Carrier 4. Growth According to LG, the Learning Culture continuously helps the employee to learn more and more to develop the habit of continuous learning. Boundary less Environment:- It means that there is no difference between the levels of employees.There is transparency between the work and mutual understanding between all the employees. A carrier is highly growing in LG and one who is the employee can develop their carrier largely. A new comer will feel fully comfortable in the company and for a new comer the company is very helpful in the overall growth of personality. Growth in LG is very high for those who are in the company and for those who want to join in LG. The company is growing with fast innovation and the BLUE Ocean strategy is one of the examples of growth. Mission The mission of LG is to provide the customers with utmost satisfaction through leadership.The fundamental policy of development is to secure product leadership that the Customers may have the utmost satisfaction. Product Leadership We are focusing on six development areas to become the product leader. 1. New Machine 2. Reliability 3. Conventional Installation 4. Environment Friendly Product 5. Low Noise & Vibration 6. Energy Saving Quality Innovation The policy of quality assurance is to provide customers with utmost satisfaction by supplying zero defects. [pic] LG proceeds in a hierarchal manner. It is named as â€Å"LG WAY†. From top to bottom: No. 1 LG – is the VISION Jeong-DO† Management is LG’s unique application to ethics. LG will succeed through fair management practices and constantly developing our business skill. A) Honest with our c ustomer b) Providing great values to customer through constant innovation & and development. c) Equal opportunities d) Equal Treatment e) Management Principle – Creating value for customer Code of conduct of LG: 1. Responsibility and obligations to customers : †¢ Respect for Customers †¢ Creating Value †¢ Providing Value 2. Fair competition: †¢ Pursuit of Free Competition †¢ Compliance with Laws and Regulations . Fair Transaction : †¢ Equal Opportunity †¢ Fair Transaction Procedure †¢ Support and Aid for Business Partners 4. Basic Ethics for Employees: †¢ Basic Ethics †¢ Completion of Duty †¢ Self Development †¢ Fairness in Performance †¢ Avoidance of conflict with company interest 5 Corporate Responsibilities to employees: †¢ Respect for human dignity †¢ Fair Treatment †¢ Promoting Creativity 6 Responsibilities to society and country: †¢ Rational Business Development †¢ Protection of st ock holder interest †¢ Contribution to social development †¢ Environmental Conservation LG INDIALG Electronics India Pvt. Ltd. , a wholly owned subsidiary of LG Electronics, South Korea was established in January 1997 after clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). LG set up a state-of-the art manufacturing facility at Greater Noida, near Delhi, in 1998, with an investment of Rs 500 Crores. LG corporate office is located at Plot no. 51, Udyog Vihar, Kasna Road, Greater Noida, India. This facility manufactured Color Televisions, Washing Machines, Air-Conditioners and Microwave Ovens. †Company is setting up a chain of exclusive premium showrooms.LG plans to launch 60 premium Brand Shoppes by the end of the first quarter of this year. At present, LG has a total of 83 LG stores across the country, of which 45 are shoppes and 38 are exclusive stores. Brand shoppes will be placed in the premium segment and the target audience will comprise buyers intere sted in premium and high end products. LG Brand Shoppe goes beyond the concept of a normal exclusive store by having a more interactive environment and additional lifestyle orientation on display so that the customer can actually experience the LG products in his or her own home settings.LG Electronics India Ltd (LGEIL), consumer durables leader with 27% market share, is planning a brand new image. To attract inspirational and young consumers across India, company will roll out a new marketing strategy. The exercise will cost the company Rs 360 crore. LG Electronics India is the fastest growing company in the consumer electronics, home appliances, and computer peripherals industry today. LG Electronics is continually providing, superior technology products & value for money to more than 50 lakh households in India. LGEIL is celebrating the 11th anniversary this year.LG Soft India the innovation wing of LG Electronics in Bangalore is LG Electronics' largest R centre outside Korea. We at LGSI focus on niche technology areas such as mobile application development, digital video broadcast and biometrics software and support LG Electronics with our expertise. Motivated by a passion for technology, a strong work culture and loyalty to the organization, we are determined to see LG become one of the top three brands globally. Prominent consumer electronic company, LG Electronics Inc. has said that it expects the sale of its products in India to up by 15 per cent in 2008.Moon Bum Shin, managing director of LG Electronics India has said that the company has earmarked 4. 8 billion rupees for investment purpose in India this year. The said money will be used to market as well as manufacture new products. LG Electronics, which is originally a South Korean Company with branch in India, informed that its sales of GSM mobile phones, color televisions, air conditioners and other household goods in the Indian market was to the tune of 95 billion rupees ($2. 4 billion) in 2007. As per Shin's estimate, the sales in 2008 would be around 110 billion rupees.In order to achieve its target, Shin said LG Electronics will concentrate on catering to the high-end consumer market which will help boost sales this year. India churns out six (6) per cent of LG Electronics global revenues of $42 billion. The Indian branch of LG exports to 40 countries. India challenges The challenges faced by LG when entered in Indian market 1. Low brand awareness about LG in India. 2. One of the last MNCs entered in India (Samsung, Panasonic entered in 1995 in India). 3. High import duty 4. Compitition from local market players and other MNCs in consumer durable segment. 5. Price sensitiveness of the Indian consumerLGEI over comes these challenges to emerge as innovative marketing strategy:- 1. Launch new technologies in consumer electronic and home appliances. 2. LG was the first brand to enter in cricket in big way a way, by sponsoring the 1999 world cup followed it up in 2003 as well . 3. LG brought in four captains of the Indian cricket team to endorse its products. LG invested more then US$ 8 million on advertising and marketing in this sport. 4. LG has differentiated its product using technology and health benefits. 5. CTV has â€Å"Golden eye technology† Air conditioner has â€Å"Health air system† and microwave ovens have the â€Å"Health wave system†.Local and efficient manufacturing to reduce the cost. To overcome high import duties LG manufactures TV refrigerator in India at manufacturing facility at Noida and Pune. LGEI had already commissioned contract manufacturing at Mohali Kolkata and Bhopal for CTVs. This has helped LGEI to reduce cost. LGEI implementing the â€Å"Digital manufacturing system† (DMS) as the cost cutting innovation this system is follow-up to the six sigma exercise LGEI had initiate earlier. R&D potential LG has the research and development facilities in Bangalore and Pune.Both the unit carry out R&D depar tment for the domestic as well as the parent company it also dose customize R&D for the specific countries to which it export product. Regional channel and wide distribution network 1. LG has adopted the regional distribution channel in India. All the distributers work directly with the company. This has resulted in quicker rotation of the stock and better penetration into B, C, D, class market. 2. LG also follows the stock rotation policy rather then dumping stock on channel partners. 3. Product localization:- 1. Product localization is the key strategy used by the LG 2.LG came out with Hindi and regional language menus on its TVs. 3. Introduced the low-priced â€Å"Cineplus† and â€Å"sampooma† for the rural market. 4. LG was the first brand to introduce gaming in TVs in continuations of its association with cricket LG introduce cricket game in CTVs MAJOR KEY SUCCESS FACTORS Innovative marketing – LG was the first brand to enter cricket in a big way, by sponso ring the 1999 World Cup and followed it up in 2003 as well. 1. Local and efficient manufacturing to reduce cost – To overcome high import duties, LG manufactures PC monitors and refrigerators in India at its manufacturing facility at Noida, Delhi. . Commissioned contract manufacturing at Mohali, Kolkata and Bhopal for CTVs. 3. Product localization – Product localization is a key strategy used by LG. It came out with Hindi and regional language menus on its TV. 4. Regional distribution model – This has resulted in quicker rotation of stocks and better penetration into the B, C and D class markets. 5. Leveraging India’s IT advantage – LG Electronics has awarded a contract to develop IT solutions to LG Soft India (LGSI). The project involves development and support for ERP, SCM, CRM and IT-enabled services for LG.Strategies adopted by the organization LG follows 10 commandments which are as follows. 1. Foster working environment-5S Environment 2. Fast execution is key to success 3. Transparent and fast communication-open communication 4. Update market -knowledge –Demographics 5. Win –Win relationship with the trade partners 6. Customer is the king 7. Even Billing –Road to ach supplier A 8. Be in touch with the market (70% Market, 30% Office). 9. Plan and Execute annual marketing Calendar-Time to market 10. Display share of 50% -to get 50% consumer share.AIRCONDITIONERS FROM LG |INVERTER |[pic] | | |ART COOL | |Technology that delivers | | |precise cooling or heating power as per your choice. Where art meets intelligence | |It works faster and saves energy while ensuring uniform temperature. |. Fine art is no longer confined to museums. Grace your interiors | | |with the finest in technology and choicest of paintings.Decorate | |[pic] |your rooms with your mood and | | |sense of style | | | | | | |[pic] [pic] | |FLOOR STANDING |MULTI SPLIT | | | | |Air Throw that reaches every corner. Time to move on to cooling two rooms with a single outdoor unit. | |Get the advantage of mobility and the purest of air. | | |Ideal for homes and small offices and most effective in saving power. | | |The powerful motor can give a reach upto 21 ft too. | | | | | | |[pic] |[pic] | |HOT AND COLD AC |SPLIT AC | | | | |Optimum indoor weather management 365 days a year. Presenting the wide | | |range of Star Rated Split | | |Air Conditioner which not only | | |save power but also provide faster cooling, | | | | WINDOW AC [pic] Presenting the wide range of Star Rated Window Air Conditioner which not only save power but also provide faster cooling [pic] COMPANY PROFILE OF VIDEOCON Videocon is an industrial conglomerate with interests all over the world and based in India. The group has 17 manufacturing sites in India and plants in China, Poland, Italy and Mexico. It is also the third largest picture tube manufacturer in the world. Corporate profile The Videocon group has an annual turnove r of US$ 4. 1 billion, making it one of the largest consumer electronic and home appliance companies in India.Since 1998, it has expanded its operations globally, especially in the Middle East. Today the group operates through three key sectors: Consumer electronics In India the group sells consumer products like Colour Televisions, Washing Machines, Air Conditioners, Refrigerators, Microwave ovens and many other home appliances, selling them through a Multi-Brand strategy with the largest sales and service network in India. Videocon Group brands include Sansui, Toshiba, Electrolux, Kenstar, Next etc. Colour picture tube glass Videocon is one of the largest CPT Glass manufacturers in the world, operating in Mexico, Italy, Poland and China. Oil and GasAn important asset for the group is its Ravva oil field with one of the lowest operating costs in the world producing 50,000 barrels of oil per day. Acquisition of Thomson SA Videocon through its Wholly Owned Offshore Subsidiary acquire d the Color Picture Tube (CPT) businesses from Thomson S. A having manufacturing facilities in Poland, Italy, Mexico and China along with support research and development facilities. Videocon in its pursuit of mission to become a global major in consumer electronics and home appliances with large scale and low cost base for critical components, made its first footprint in acquiring global sized color picture tube manufacturing facilities across the world from Thomson SA.It had already formulated a â€Å"2010 road map† which outlines the group's strategy of being one among the top five in both branded consumer electronics and contract manufacturing in the world by 2010. Acquisition Rationale The acquisition came at a time when Thomson was facing a fall in demand in developed markets for television with CPTs and was moving more towards Flat-screen and Plasma Television. However, Videocon saw an opportunity in the emerging countries for CPTs and hence pursued with the acquisitio n. Besides, the acquisition gave Videocon, the access to advanced technology giving the company control over an R facility in Agnani, Italy. The major reasons behind this acquisition were:- Cost cuttingVideocon was better positioned to shift the activities to low-cost locations and also it could integrate the operations with the glass panel facility in India with the CPT manufacturing facilities acquired from Thomson S. A Videocon wanted to leverage its position in the existing parts of the business and this acquisition would give it a strong negotiation position and could reduce impact of glass pricing volatility. Videocon could also reduce the costs by upgrading and improving the existing production lines. Vertical Integration The acquisition helped Videocon in vertically integrating its existing glass-shell business where it had been enjoying substantially high margins. Videocon’s glass division had the largest glass shell plant in a single location.This gave the company a n unrivalled advantage in terms of economies of scale and a leadership position in the glass shell industry. The acquisition also gave Videocon a ready-market for its glass business and it was part of Videocon’s long-term strategy to have a global vertically-integrated manufacturing facility. Rationalization of Product Profile Videocon modified its product profile to cater to the changing market needs like moving away from very large size picture tubes to smaller ones. [6] Apart from the overall strategy Videocon also had a plan on the technological front. It wanted to improve the setup for the production line and line speed post-merger.Its focus was to increase sales while reducing the costs and thereby improving the productivity of the existing line. The company also wanted to foray in a big way into LCD panels back-end assembly On the sales front the company wanted to leverage on the existing clients of Thomson and build relation as a preferred supplier to maximise sales. Also, Videocon could benefit from OEM CTV business with the help of Videocon’s CTV division, invest for new models and introduction of new technologies. Thomson’s perspective In 2004 Thomson planned entry into the high-growth digital media and technology business. Also, Thomson wanted to exit consumer and electronics businesses as they were incurring significant losses.After sale of its TV business to Chinese group TCL, and Tubes to Videocon, Thomson divested from the audio/video accessories business which was the last unit of its consumer electronics business. The need to divest are quite evident from the losses that it incurred in these businesses particularly that the unit that it sold off to Videocon, the Optical Modules activity, and the Audio/Video & Accessories businesses which totalled around â‚ ¬749 million for 2005. Moreover Thomson had done some acquisitions that were in line with boosting their revenues in the following years. Other Competitors for the A cquisition When Videocon entered the race for the colour picture tubes manufacturing capacity of Thomson SA in November 2004, there were 16 other bidders.Videocon stood slim chances given the fact that it had to battle it out with players like LG,Philips, Samsung and Matsushita, Daewoo and several Chinese manufacturers but finally managed to close the deal. The deal catapulted Videocon into the No. 3 slot in the global pecking order for CPTs. An official of Videocon said on the deal † The word is out in the world that India and Indian companies are not just a good bet by themselves, but also a hedge against China. â€Å" Pre-merger negotiations The price that Thomson wanted for the deal was euro 240 million (Rs 1,248 Crore) and Videocon agreed to the same without much negotiations (Under the deal the debt continued to be of Thomson’s). A special purpose vehicle, Eagle Electronics was used to complete the acquisition. As a part of the acquisition, Thomson also agreed to acquire 13.   % stake in Videocon for 1250 Crore in which 10% was locked for the first three years. Thomson SA has divested the 3. 5% stake that was outside the lock-in clause to overseas institutional investors. For the remaining 10% Dhoots retained a right of first refusal(recently this 10% has been sold to the Dhoots). During the process of negotiations Videocon was less affected by the capital cost component. Dhoot believed that Thomson CPT’s losses arising out from high capital cost of its Mexican Plant could be reduced once the television market in India moved to bigger screen sizes and slims .Videocon could import those from its global factories and hence cut on the losses of Thomson. Pre-merger scenario analysisCPT industry is affected by many competitive factors such as change in the consumer preferences ,the product offer strategy of retailers, the progress made by alternative technology manufacturers ,capacity adjustment facility of competitors etc. Based on all of these factors there were two scenarios that emerged from the 2005 budget of Videocon. The first scenario is a conservative one. It mainly assumes Price pressures similar to those in the past(-8 to -12%),capacity reduction over a period of two years, a gradual shift to newer technologies like True Flat and good amount of growth for LCD makers. [pic] The second scenario is a more aggressive one in term of trends predicted.It assumes that the switch to TrueFlat would be faster, more overcapacity, more competition from LCD manufacturers and rising price strategy pressures in general. The second scenario obviously requires an industrial strategy which is more adapted to the environment. However even if the second scenario arises,Videocon believes there is an opportunity in the CRT business. Though it is very obvious that in the developed markets of the western world the demand is shifting towards the flat panel side(FPD it is expected to contribute 70% of TV market in these regions), in the emerging markets like BRIC CRT still holds fort. CRT holds a dominant 70% share in these markets.When translated into number of units the demand is more than 100 million units. As Videocon is primarily based in these countries, it hopes to harness the value of the Thomson acquisition in the coming years. Post merger situation (2010) Videocon has not been able to turn the plant around in Italy still. However it is getting support from the local government(which want to prevent job cuts) in form of grants. The government is in fact trying to set up a Greenfield venture in form of a LCD manufacturing facility in partnership with Videocon. The banks are also supporting Videocon and with help from all these quarters Videocon expects to turn around the plant in Italy.The Thomson plant has not turned around in Mexixo as well and in fact production has been reduced over there. In Poland,the situation is more promising and Videocon hopes that plant over there will get in black in the very near future. However the surprise has been in the Chinese market . Despite of facing a highly competitive market Videocon has managed to turn a plant around while the other is on its way. In China Videocon is adopting a different strategy for manufacturing CTVs as the local players dominate the market . It plans to supply these players by taking advantage of low-cost nature of mainland(the number targeted by it about 6 million CPTs).Role of local government in the acquired units The LCD television segment is one of the fastest in terms of growth rate in Italy. The compounded growth rate is projected to be around 70% in the next few years. Videocon in partnership with the local government is going for a Greenfield venture in this segment. The Italian central government is giving a euro 180 million grant whereas the regional authorities are giving a 40 million grant. Videocon would itself pitch in with about euro 300 million whereas bank loans would provide a further 700 million. In the Thomson plant located in China the local Chinese Government is the minority shareholder.When Videocon acquired Thomson’s CPT business, it also gained control of Thomson’s Mexican plants. However Videocon Industries has a view that it would expand in the country only if the government gives it enough incentives. Videocon is demanding a 25-30% cash benefits from the authorities who are currently ready to give only about 20%. Thomson’s exit from Videocon Thomson is looking to sell out its stake in Videocon (a 10 percent stake via GDRs) and in most likelihood it would be bought by Videocon itself. Thomson would be exiting at a loss as it had acquired the stake at around Rs 400 per share (approximately equal to $10 per share). The deal is expected to happen at current market prices.Videocon’s GDR is currently traded at around $5. 06 on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. On the Bombay stock exchange its trading around Rs 150 against the 52 week high of Rs 8 68 in Jan 2008. Another point to be noted is that this won’t attract the market regulator’s â€Å"creeping acquisition† norm which comes into force once they acquire more than 5% stake,as the deal would be an overseas one. Possible purchase of General Electric's Appliance division On May 23, 2008, Videocon announced that it is studying an invitation from General Electric (GE) to bid for its century-old appliances division, which it has put up for sale. [pic] PRODUCTS OF VIDEOCON | |[pic] | | |[pic] | | |[pic] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |[pic] | | |[pic] | | |[pic] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | [pic] [pic] | | | | |[pic] |[pic] |[pic] | |[pic] |[pic] |[pic] | | | | | | |[pic] | | | | | |[pic] | | | |Split AC | |   | |[pic] |VS 2C-5233I / | | |VS C-7033B | | |INTEGRA | | |1. 5/2. TON | | |2 Star Power Saving | | |Ioniser | | |Turbo Speed | | |Sleep Mode | | |On/Off Timer | | |Self Diagnos is | | |Hydrophilic Coating – Evaporator | | |LCD Remote | | |4 Way Air Circulation | | |Buy now & get Exciting Offers. pic] Request To Quote | | | | |   | |[pic] | |   | |[pic] |VS 3C-2644/ VS 3C-3544 | | |INTEGRA | | |0. 8/1. TON | | |3 Star Power Saving | | |Deodorising Filter | | |Turbo Speed | | |Sleep Mode | | |On/Off Timer | | |Self Diagnosis | | |Hydrophilic Coating – Evaporator & Condenser | | |Auto Restart | | |4 Way Air Circulation | | |Buy now & get Exciting Offers. [pic] Request To Quote | | | |   | |[pic] | |   | |[pic] |VS 3R-3544/ VS R-5233 | | |GRACE | | |1. 0/1. TON | | |3 Star Power Saving | | |Catechin Filter | | |Sleep Mode | | |On/Off Timer | | |Self Diagnosis | | |Hydrophilic Coating – Evaporator | | |6 Step Air Swing | | |LCD Remote | | | | | |Buy now & get Exciting Offers. pic] Request To Quote | | | | |   | |[pic] | |   | |[pic] |VS G-5222/ VS G-7033 | | |GRACE | | |1. 5/2. TON | | |20 Micron Anti-Bacterial Fil ter | | |Sleep Mode | | |On/Off Timer | | |Auto Restart | | |Anti Freeze Sensor | | |LCD Remote | | | | | | | | |Buy now & get Exciting Offers. pic] Request To Quote | | | | |   | |[pic] | |   | |[pic] |VS T-2644/ VS T-3544 | | |SPLENDOUR | | |0. 8/1. 0/1. 5/1. 6 TON | | |20 Micron Anti-Bacterial Filter | |Turbo Speed | | |Sleep Mode | | |Self Diagnosis | | |Hydrophilic Coating – Condenser | | |Hydrophilic Coating – Evaporator | | |LCD Remote | | | | | |Buy now & get Exciting Offers. pic] Request To Quote | | | | |   | |[pic] | |   | |[pic] |VS T-5233M | | |VISTA | | |1. TON | | |20 Micron Anti-Bacterial Filter | | |Turbo Speed | | |Sleep Mode | | |Self Diagnosis | | |Hydrophilic Coating – Evaporator | | |6 Step Air Swing | | |LCD Remote | | | | | | |Window AC | |   | |[pic] |VW 1R-5244 | | |INTEGRA | | |1. TON | | |1 Star Power Saving | | |20 Micron Anti-Bacterial Filter | | |Turbo Speed | | |Sleep Mode | | |Real Time Clock in the Remote | | |LCD Remote | | |Hydrophilic Coating – Evaporator | | |On/Off Timer | | |Buy now & get Exciting Offers. [pic] Request To Quote | | | |   | | | |   | |[pic] |VW S-5223/ VW S-5222B | | |SPLENDOUR | | |1. 5 TON | | |20 Micron Anti-Bacterial Filter | | |24 Hrs.On/Off Timer | | |Sleep Mode | | |Auto Restart | | |Full Functional Remote(LCD Optional) | | |Fan Speed (Turbo/Quite) | | |Soft Touch Digital Panel | | |Auto Air Swing | | |2Ãâ€"3/2X2 Row Coil with 9. 5 c. u. mm Tube | | |Buy now & get Exciting Offers. pic] Request To Quote | | | | |   | | | |   | |[pic] |VW M-2644 | | |VISTA | | |0. TON | | |20 Micron Anti-Bacterial Filter | | |Sleep Mode | | |On/Off Timer | | |LCD Remote | | |Soft Touch Digital Panel | | |3 Min. Time Delay | | |Auto Restart | | |Buy now & get Exciting Offers. pic] Request To Quote | | | | |   | |[pic] | |   | |[pic] |VW F-2622/ VW F-3522 | | |VISTA | | |0. 8/1. 0/1. 6/2. 0 TON | | |20 Micron Anti-Bacterial Filter | | |Ioniser (VW F-5233I) | | |Sleep Mode | |LCD Remote(Optional) | | |On/Off Timer Auto Restart | | |Soft Touch Digital Panel (VW F-2622/VW F-3522/VW F-7034) | | |Anti Freeze Sensor (VW F-5233I/VW F-7034) | | |Auto Air Swing (VW F-2622/VW F-3522) | | |Other Available Models VW F-5233I/ VW F-7034 | | |Buy now & get Exciting Offers. pic] Request To Quote | | | | |   | | | |   | |[pic] |VW H-5222B | | |GRACE | | |1. TON | | |20 Micron Anti-Bacterial Filter | | |On/Off Timer | | |Sleep Mode | | |LCD Remote | | |Self Diagnosis | | |Hydrophilic Coating – Evaporator | | |Anti Freeze Sensor | RESEARCH METHODOLGY Meaning of Research-Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. Research can also be defined as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. In fact, research is an art of scientific investigation. According to Redman & Mory research is a â€Å"systematized effort to gain new knowledge. † Objectives of research: †¢ To gain familiarity with the phenomenon or to achieve new insights into it. †¢ * To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual, situation or a group. †¢ To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which it is associated with something else.To test a hypothesis of a casual relationship between variables. Type of Research: †¢ Descriptive Research It includes surveys and fact-finding enquiries of different kinds. The major purpose of descriptive research is description of the state of affairs as it exists at present. The main characteristic of this method is that the researcher has no control over th

Care Values and Communication in a Hospital setting Essay

The care values are a set of rules and guidelines that every care practitioner has to follow in order to provide services to their clients. The overall aim of the standards is to improve client’s quality of life by ensuring that each person gets the care that is most appropriate for them as an individual. The three main care values are Confidentiality, Equality and Diversity and Individual rights and beliefs. By achieving these care values we can improve the quality of care and allow all patients to be treated as an individual with respect. Slideshare.net (2012) http://www.slideshare.net/j.slack/what-is-the-care-value-base (Accessed: 22 January 2013) Confidentiality is an important principle in health and social care as it imposes boundaries on the amount of personal information and data that can be disclosed without consent. Confidentiality is where a person disclosing personal information expects their privacy to be protected, such as in a relationship of trust. However in some situations confidentiality can be countered, when there is public interest in others being protected from harm. UCeL (2012_ http://www.ucel.ac.uk/rlos/confidentiality/ (Accessed: 22 January 2013) Confidentiality is very important because as healthcare workers our ability to correctly diagnose and treat our patients depends on getting a correct medical and social history, and having our patients trusts us. If a patients feels that the professional would share this information they may not give them the truth and without that important information they could make the wrong diagnosis and wrong treatment. Yahoo answers (2012) http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070820014312AAuFE9q (Accessed: 25 January 2013) Confidentiality can be used in oral communication in a hospital setting, For example if a patients approached their GP about a private and embarrassing problem they would be expected to show that patient respect and not to share the information given with anyone else. An example of a time where this could be shared is if their GP wanted to send them for tests and had to inform a specialist about their condition. Another type of communication is written this could be used to promote confidentiality as all paper based records must be locked away in a filing cabinet and only be accessed by those authorised to. Also to access your own records you must write a letter and wait approval for this. Also for documents written on the computer there are various passwords and back up options for if the server goes down or a records is deleted. An example of how confidentiality can be used in computerised communication would be having passwords and automatic locks on staff’s computers and email accounts so only they can access their own patient’s information and no other members of staff or unauthorised persons. The last type of communication is specialist one example of how this can be used in confidentiality is if a person has hearing barriers and has to use sign language to communicate with their doctor. If their doctor is giving those results or information on their health and has to use sign language they may need an interpreter and the patients may want to use a quiet and enclosed room with the blinds shut just in case anybody else can see the sign language being used and understands it. Another care value is Equality and Diversity. This means treating everyone equally regardless of their colour, age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability etc. This is different to treating people the same as different people have different needs, so individuality should be taken in to account. For example, it would not be equal treatment to provide two different people with information about the services available written in English, if one of those people spoke another language and could not understand English. Wiki.Answers (2012) http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_equality_and_diversity_mean_in_health_and_social_care (Accessed: 22 January 2013) We live in an increasingly diverse society and need to be able to respond appropriately and sensitively to this diversity. Learners in the healthcare setting will reflect this diversity around gender, race and ethnicity, disability, religion, sexuality, class and age. Successful implementation of equality and diversity in all aspects of work ensures that colleagues, staff and students are valued, motivated and treated fairly. London Deanery (2012) http://www.faculty.londondeanery.ac.uk/e-learning/diversity-equal-opportunities-and-human-rights/what-is-equality-and-diversity (Accessed: 25 January 2013) One example of how Equality and Diversity can be used in oral communication in a hospital setting is that a doctor would speak differently to a child than they would to an adult as children may not be able to understand some of the information they are being told if they used big words and medical jargon. Doctors should also use a slower pace and soft tone when speaking to younger patients and ask them regularly if they understand what is being said although they normally have a parent or guardian to accompany them. An example of how Equality and Diversity can be used in written communication would be if a patient cannot read or speak English they may have to produce leaflets in their language so they understand their condition or illness and what treatment is needed more clearly. An example of how Equality and Diversity can be used in computerised communication would be having audio descriptions and talking pages on the NHS website so that people with sight barriers can still access the information they have to offer. The last type of communication is specialist and an example of how this can promote equality and Diversity is if a patient doesn’t speak English they may need a translator to assist the patient in talking to the doctor and to assist the doctor diagnosing the patient. This allows the patient to get the medical attention they require and are entitled to without them learning a second language which makes them equal but also individual. Individual’s rights and Beliefs means being treated as an individual according to our own needs, every individual wants to be treated fairly, in the care sector it is of the utmost importance that a service user is treated fairly and also treated with love, care and respect. The individual rights are respect, choice, dignity, protection, and equality, access to information, non-discrimination, and effective communication. They also have the right to their own beliefs and a doctor must respect a patients beliefs and choice’s when treating them. Wiki.Answers (2012) http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_individual_rights_in_health_and_social_care (Accessed: 22 January 2013) When working within a health and social care sector based environment is to ensure that each service user feels that they can trust you as the service provider.