Diabetes Mellitus-Shared Care Model and ICT

The world is fast changing: the pace of events is massive. The apparently big world is shrinking into a global village as democracy spreads, western civilizations encroach on other civilizations and globalization becomes a household concept. Technological advancements and improvements in the information and communication technology have perverted all spheres of human endeavor. While this is happening on one hand, health care delivery has not improved significantly. Many patients and clients complain of the lack of coordination in the health sector: they are not happy about the reduced utility derived from health care facility they patronize.There is a growing reduction in number of competent staff as well as insufficient fund for the health sector. These factors have made it necessary to evaluate the impact of information and communication technology on health care service. This need has become more important for chronic disease where collaboration between health care service provide rs is important. And with increasing incidence of chronic diseases and their attendant complications, this need cannot be overemphasized. Besides, the cost of managing some of the chronic diseases, for example diabetes, epilepsy and seizure disorders, with the traditional method is reasonably high.The prospect ICT brings is improved quality of care due to collaboration between health care workers through a comprehensive shared care system adequately powered by ICT solutions and reduced overall cost for the management of chronic diseases like diabetes. In this paper, diabetes is the focus chronic disease. I will attempt to evaluate the requirements for an Irish ICT system to supply the model of shared care. However, a brief review of diabetes mellitus and shared care will be undertaken to unravel areas of focus for ICT intervention.Diabetes mellitus: Review Diabetes mellitus is a syndrome of chronic hyperglycemia due to relative or absolute insulin deficiency, resistance or both. It affects over 100million people worldwide. Diabetes is usually irreversible, and patients can have a reasonably normal lifestyle; however its later complications which include macrovascular disease lead to increased risk of develop coronary artery disease, peripheral vascular resistance; and microvascular complications such as diabetic nephropathy, retinopathy and neuropathy.In a normal person, the blood glucose concentration is narrowly controlled in order to prevent the devastating complications that may follow reduced or increased blood glucose concentration. This normal glucose level is 80-90mg/100ml or 3. 5-5. 0mmol/l. This concentration usually increased to 120-140mg/100ml during the first hour after a glucose meal. The feedback mechanism of the body is alerted to reduce this level to tolerable levels by the body by the conversion of glucose to glycogen for storage under hormonal influence particularly insulin.However, in the fasting state, glucose is produced from glycogen and other substrates and released into the blood to maintain the blood glucose concentration. The various mechanisms for achieving this level of glucose control are as a result of hormonal influence, the activities of organs such as liver, skeletal muscle and the particular glucose concentration. The liver is a major metabolic organ that is important in the blood glucose buffer system: this is done by the storage of glycogen formed from glucose under the influence of insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, in the liver.It also releases glucose into the blood in the fasting state. Insulin and glucagon function as important feedback control systems for maintaining a normal blood glucose concentration. When the glucose concentration rises too high, insulin is secreted from the Islet cells of Langerhans, the endocrine portion of the pancreas; the insulin in turn causes the blood glucose concentration to decrease toward normal. Conversely a decrease in blood glucose concentration stimu lates glucagon secretion; the glucagon then functions in the opposite direction to increase the glucose concentration toward normal.Under most normal conditions, the insulin feedback mechanism is much more important than the glucagon mechanism, but in instances of starvation or excessive utilization of glucose during exercise and other stressful situations, the glucagon mechanism also becomes valuable. Diabetes mellitus is a syndrome of impaired carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism caused by either lack of insulin secretion or decreased sensitivity of the tissues to insulin.It could be primary or secondary; primary diabetes is inherent while secondary diabetes can be due to Cushing syndrome, pheochromocytoma, cystic fibrosis, chronic pancreatitis, malnutrition-related pancreatic disease, pancreatectomy, and hereditary hemochromatosis, carcinoma of the pancreas, thiazide diuretic use, corticosteroid therapy, atypical antipsychotics, congenital lipodystrophy and acromegaly. There are two general types of diabetes mellitus: Type I diabetes also called insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus [IDDM]; this is caused by lack of insulin secretion.Type II diabetes, also called non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus [NIDDM] is caused by decreased sensitivity of target tissues to the metabolic effect of insulin. This reduced sensitivity to insulin is often referred to as insulin-resistance. The basic effect of insulin lack or insulin resistance on glucose metabolism is to prevent the efficient uptake and utilization of glucose by most cells of the body, except those of the brain. As a result, blood glucose concentration increases, cell utilization of glucose falls increasingly lower and utilization of fats and proteins increases.Injury to the beta cells of the pancreas or diseases that impair insulin production can lead to type I diabetes. IDDM is immune-mediated and has been associated with other autoimmune conditions like pernicious anaemia, alopecia areata and Hashim oto disease. Viral infections or autoimmune disorders may be involved in the destruction of beta cells in many patients with type I diabetes, although heredity also plays a major role in determining the susceptibility of the beta cells to destruction by these insults. HLA-DR3 or DR4 is found in more than 90% of patients.In some instances, there may be a hereditary tendency for beta cell degeneration even without viral infections or autoimmune disorders. The usual onset of type I diabetes occurs is less than 30 years; this is why it is called juvenile-onset diabetes mellitus. Type II diabetes mellitus is caused by diminished sensitivity of target tissues to the metabolic effects of insulin, a condition referred to as insulin resistance. This syndrome, like Type I diabetes mellitus is associated with multiple metabolic abnormalities although high levels of keto-acids are usually not present in type II diabetes mellitus.Type II diabetes mellitus is far more common that type I, accounti ng for 80-90% of all cases of diabetes mellitus. In most of these cases, the onset of type II diabetes mellitus occurs after age 40. There is usually no immune disturbance. Therefore, this syndrome is often referred to as adult-onset diabetes mellitus. Patients with diabetes present with acute manifestations which include polyuria, polydipsia, weight loss and ketonuria; they also present with subacute symptoms like lethargy, reduced exercise tolerance, vulvar pruritus, and visual disturbance.They also could also present with some of the complications of the disease such as staphylococcal disease, retinopathy, polyneuropathy, erectile dysfunction and peripheral neuropathy. Investigations that are necessary in the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus include fasting plasma glucose >7. 0mmol/l, random plasma glucose >11. 1mmol/l; routine investigations include urinalysis for protein and acetone, full blood count, urea and electrolytes, liver biochemistry and random lipids. Management of diab etes mellitus: avenue for shared care The management of diabetes required community participation and patient education.The importance of glycemic control in the management of diabetic patient cannot be overemphasized: patient should adequately understand the favorable outcome associated with good glycemic control, the implication and concomitant complications that may result from poor plasma control. This is the core of self management of diabetes. Patient should also know the dietary requirement and comply with/adhere to drug use. Besides this self-care, community care is very essential as this constitutes family and general practitioner care. There is monitoring of patient’s compliance to medications and dietary advice.Essentially, the management of diabetes is multidisciplinary: dieticians, cardiologist, ophthalmologists, neurologists, internal medicine physicians, endocrine experts. There is growing need to integrate this range of practitioners. Metabolic control of diab etes can be tested by urine tests, home blood glucose testing and glycosylated hemoglobin. Urine tests are carried using dipsticks these methods are simple and give a good feedback on the blood glucose control. Patients can also be taught finger-prick and use blood glucose monitoring device to measure blood glucose.They can then interact with specialist through appropriate communication facility for automated scheduling and medication. Epidemiologically, there are 200,000 persons in Ireland with diabetes; this figure represents 3-5% of western populations. It is estimated to double by 2010. It consumes 10% of total health budgets. About â‚ ¬350 million annual cost is spent in Ireland where 59% of which is spent treating complications: 50 countries endorsed measures to reduce diabetes complications by one-third Shared Care What is shared care?Shared care is a concept where all the professionals involved in the management of a case collaborate by exchanging information on the patie nts’ care. In this way, patient also has input into the care because his/her self-management better informed from the avalanche of information provided by the care network. Shared care is an approach to care where professionals share joint responsibility with respect to an individual’s care using their skills and knowledge. It also talks about adequate monitoring and exchange of patient data within the limits of confidentiality and privacy.Shared care is both systemic and local: it collaborates the systems involved while there is local interaction between clinicians. Shared care impacts on the iron triangle of health. This triangle includes quality, access and cost. Shared care improves quality of patient care for patients with complex chronic disease like diabetes. There is increased access to patient information by health care professionals, and the patient can also easily access the professionals’ especially when the shared system is backed up by information and communication technology. Patient is also satisfied with the service rendered.This model has been suggested to be better than the conventional method of treatment afforded to patients. The treatment is appropriate because the health care givers agree on best available method based on evidence-practice. Competence is also guaranteed and services are effective and efficient. On the hand, there is improved provider satisfaction: because there is reduced contact with the utilization of tertiary level of health care service. Definitions of terms Self-management: this is about goal-setting. It is the core of self management about medication and body care.Diabetic patients need to understand the implication of self care to monitor the progress of symptoms and emergence of complications. Home care monitoring is also very useful because it helps patients to monitor their response to treatment and glycemic control. Prevention: primary prevention is important to reduce the possibility of a worsening condition especially for patients with multiple complex co-morbidities. Community of practice: this refers to the people involved in the share care. They include providers and organisations, citizens and patients with families and support groups.Models of shared care: shared care is found in Primary Care which is the emphasis of The European Forum for Primary Care (EFPC), Secondary Care, Community Based Care and mental health. The focus of shared care includes inter-professional relations and patient management. Inter-professional relations include collaborative provision of clinical services, communication and information exchange, use of treatment and referral guidelines, shared responsibility for patient care, regular face-to-face contact, and joint professional education. Patient Management is based on individual patient goals.It includes patient and family in the decision making protocol of management and patient-centered focus. There is no rigid working modality; wi th shared care, increased patient access to care reduced fragmentation of care and increased integration and continuity of care. There is a strong link at all levels of health sector-improved working relationships between providers and improved satisfaction among patients and providers. Diabetes-shared care-ICT solutions There is no doubt that information and communication technology is inevitable in the management of chronic diseases like diabetes.In order to set-up an Irish ICT unit for diabetes, the requirements will be considered within the limit of the community of practice which includes providers and organization, citizens and patients. The concept of ICT solutions is branded as eHealth. It is a promising field that will incorporate all the professionals who are directly and indirectly involved in the management of a case to properly integrate their knowledge and skills for the appropriate care of a diabetic patient while making the emphasis: glycemic control convenient for p roviders and patients.It is imperative to elucidate the aspect of health care that are relevant to ICT input: the idea of ICT use is to integration of information to improve access. This implies that patients’ information are made available at a common centre and accessible to the patient, their health care providers and researchers. The components include Clinical database: this contains the information of patient. There is a central repository of health care information of the patient. It includes the electronic patient record which is but a segment of the repository.For diabetics, the information about their presentations, clinical features, investigations, treatment plans and modalities are combined, classified and ordered in accessible manner at the clinical database centre. This database centre is secured as the confidentiality and privacy of the patient’s data has to be maintained. It is also prevented from use by third parties unless there is due consent by the patient. This central unit is fed by local diabetes databases from local hospitals. The data is made accessible to general practitioners, community health care providers and patients.Decision support tool: this is second important part of ICT solutions in shared care for diseases including diabetes. It contains specialized information guide for experts and simple algorithms of decisions for patients. Specific Requirements Providers and organization The tools that are required to have an effective shared care plan for diabetes includes: Internet: the internet has become the most influential means of connecting people, and exchanging information in this age. It is therefore unequivocal that it is useful in health information systems to achieve a collaborative network of professionals who care for diabetic patients.A large bandwidth is required for the volume of information that is processes, exchanged and implemented in shared care practice for diabetic patients. Interprofessional Co mmunication systems: Diabetic care requires effective interdisciplinary communication so that management decision is both cost-effective and evidenced based. A huge communication network is therefore required. Mobile and wireless Infrastructure: these also form ICT tools which are used in database processing, exchange and monitoring, they are required in order to facilitate the integration of the patient, and more importantly improves providers access to informationData storage: since clinical database is an integral part of ICT solutions for shared care plan for diabetics. Data must be stored in a way that is accessible to providers. This implies that strict measures and guidelines must be in place to ensure the database is well-structured. Intelligence systems: Websites must be secured. Database must be protected from intrusion by third party parties. Patient’s data must be confidential and kept private and guideline of medical ethics with respect to this must be maintained . Therefore a sophisticated intelligence network is imperative to accomplish this gargantuan task.E-learning for medical education: there is need to provide facility for providers for training and retraining. They need to update their knowledge base so that thy can offer quality service to clients. This can be achieved by making such up-to-date information available through an accessible means, for instance, the internet. Medicolegal/Ethic Issues: ICT input into health care must be maintained within the limits of ethical guidelines and mediolegal regulations for data management, exchange and implementation. It addresses problems of public interest, patient autonomy, third party involvement and international regulation against threats.Citizens and Patients The requirements for the patients include E-learning device for the patient: this will teach patient the modus operandi of the collaborative health information system, their role and why it is important they adopt it. It will also give useful information about diabetes. Decision support tools: this should contain factual information that can guide the patient to make informed choice with respect to their management. Patient home management: this includes clinical signs monitoring, automated scheduling and medication.It also comprises access to health educators and professionals. Areas of ICT use have been well documented in the literature: they are basically Teleconsultation: this is a kind of telemonitoring between patient and caregiver via phone, email, automated messaging tools and the internet Videoconferencing: this is face-to-face contact via such equipments as television, digital camera, videophone to connect between caregivers and patients. Both have proven useful in diabetic care. And this is widely reported in many papers from across the world. Issues and challengesHaving elucidates the conditions above in terms of providers and patients; it is needful to quickly mention that certain issues must be considered before initiating and implementing ICT input into shared care for diabetes. These include ? Confidentiality compromise ? Security breaches ? Territoriality and power status amongst health care providers ? Cost of ICT requirements ? Medicolegal issues These challenges will adversely affect ICT adoption for shared car in diabetes if ignored. They can be addressed by ? Adequate funding of the project by government.Intensive training for users and health care professionals ? Consensus on the modus operandi amongst health care service providers ? Intensive research into ICT implications in health care, patients’ behavior, pragmatism of project plan. Conclusion The impact of ICT on shared care plan for diabetes is indispensable. There are improved collaboration amongs health care workers and patients are ultimately satisfied with the service they get. The requirements for Irish ICT have been elucidated and concomitant issues explained. It is my hope that this will be ado pted and health care service will subsequently improve.

Guyana Defence Force in National Development

THE GUYANA DEFENCE FORCE IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: CIVILIAN-MILITARY RELATIONS – SOME PERSPECTIVES The case for the Guyana Defence Force to be involved in national development is enshrine in the birth of the Force and it is articulated as the third part of the Force’s tripartite role: 1. â€Å"Defend the  territorial integrity  of Guyana. 2. Assist the civil power in the maintenance of law and order when required to do so. 3. Contribute to the economic development of Guyana. †[1] The question then has to be, how will the Force be most effective in fulfilling this role. This essay contends that good civil-military relations with government and non-government organisations are critical to the successful fulfilment of this role. To demonstrate the relationship between successful national development activities and good civil-military relations, I will examine areas of development the Force can be most effective and show that the level of effectiveness will be driven by the quality civil-military relations in the said area. What then are the areas of development that the Guyana Defence Force can be most effective? The following areas of development were selected because the military role and level of success is easily measureable: 1. Engineering – infrastructural work; road construction, housing projects for low income earners, etc. 2. Health services – medical outreaches; military doctors, dentists providing service in hinterland areas, etc. 3. Education – military personnel both soldiers and civilians are employed as teachers in hinterland areas where there are limited schools, etc. 4. Economic – military personnel being employed on economic projects; such as the establishment of micro-industries, for example, farming. . Administrative – Officers are seconded to administrative positions in government agencies and even the other Services of the Joint Services. 6. Aviation – Augmenting the transportation of people and goods to the hinterland regions. Throughout most of its history the Force has been involved in national development by way of executing engineering projects particularly in the areas of hinterland roads and bridges construction. Also, the construction of low cost housing and airstrip rehabilitation are other areas where the Force participated in engineering works. This commitment to national development by way of executing engineering projects was highlighted in â€Å"Guyana’s Draft Second Development Plan, 1972-1976 which assigned specific responsibilities, to the Engineer Corps, for the construction of hinterland roads and bridges, the upgrading of airstrips and projects such as the rehabilitation of the hydro-electric power station at Tumatumari†[2] The success of the Force involvement in these ventures is commendable, however, the Force was unable to remain committed to such ventures as a single source agency as time progress. This was due to lack of resources; both human and mainly material. Therefore, one can argue that a civil-military relation framework by way of partnership with a government or non-government would have enhanced the Force’s longevity in its commitment to such ventures. This was not lost to the Force administration and is exemplified in the Force’s most recent commitment to engineering projects as detailed in the Stabroek News. â€Å"Five ranks of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) received keys to new homes at Tuschen Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo last week as part of a an ongoing partnership between Habitat for Humanity Guyana; the Ministry of Housing and the army to assist ranks with affordable housing. [3] Noteworthy is the commitment of government or non-government organisations to have such partnerships with the Force in this sector, as detailed in the same article, â€Å"Chairman of the Management Board at Habit for Humanity, Alex Graham remarked that the GDF has the capacity to play an integral role in various aspects of the housing response while pointing out that the army can also help in the building of homes for persons outside the GDF family. †[4] This demonstrates that there is clear recognition by non-government agencies that good civil-military relations are beneficial to both parties. Further the Force will not be required to singlehandedly seek out and forge these partnership. The Force has a rich history of providing medical services to rural and hinterland villages as part of its medical outreaches. The Force has been impressive in its support to national development in this sector by providing free medical and dental care to thousands of Guyanese. This is not surprising since common to most underdeveloped countries is the lack of capacity to provide quality medical services as you move away from the cities and main towns. This is the case in Guyana and its exasperated by our demographics, terrain in hinterland areas and the lack of adequate transportation facilities to hinterland and rural areas. The support by the Force in this sector has continued throughout its existence and remains source of kudos as highlighted in the following excerpt from Stabroek News. â€Å"Close to 200 Upper Berbice River residents benefited from dental and general medical care when a team from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Medical Corps hosted an outreach exercise there recently. According to the army, residents said they were grateful for the exercise and expressed the desire for a doctor to visit at least once per year. †[5] The quality and level of success gained in this sector can be improved with better civil-military relations with government and non-government organisation. Similar sentiments in regards to the value of these relations were expressed by the Chief of Staff in his 2011 Command Directive. â€Å"In 2011, I plan to establish statecraft partnerships with the Ministries of Education and Health. †[6] The use of military personnel to augment the efforts of the Ministry of Education to provide education at any level and in any area of the country has not been a feature of the Force for any substantive period. Notwithstanding this, one can argue that the efforts by the Force to educate its ranks directly impacts on national development. Since when members of the Force return to civilian life their level of technical and vocational education will have a direct impact on how they are integrated to the countries labour force. Therefore the Force commitment to educating its ranks underscores its efforts to national development in this sector. However, the efforts of the Force to educate its ranks have had its own challenges. The main challenge was the ability of the Force to establish a system that linked educational development with the evolution of soldier’s careers. â€Å"As part of their promotion standards, soldiers are required to attain specified levels of academic education but these standards had to be waived since no formal means existed for upgrading soldiers’ education. † [7] The importance of good civil-military relations to enhance the Force performance in this sector has been underscored by the recent efforts by the Force in launching of its Academic Education Programme. 8] This coupled with the Career Development Plan[9] and the advent of â€Å"promotion examinations for promotion up to the rank of major†[10], underscores a recognition by the Force that civilian input and to an extent civilian oversight is critical to success in this sector. Also, the aforementioned planned stat ecraft partnership with the Ministry of Education and the fact that Force Education Department is staffed primarily by civilian teachers, establishes the importance of good civil-military relation for the strengthening of the Force’s capacity in this sector. The Force direct involvement in economic activity in support of national development is demonstrated with its involvement in agriculture. The Force Agriculture Corps has the mandate to produce mainly poultry, pork and eggs to augment the Force’s ration requirements. Throughout its history from since the establishment of Agriculture Corps the Force had measured success in this sector. This success is termed measured since in Guyana’s Draft Second Development Plan, 1972-1976, the Force â€Å"was tasked with the development of farms at Onverwagt in Berbice, Butenabu in Mahaicony, Vergenoegen in the Essequibo, and at Garden of Eden in Dememerara. [11] However, presently the Force only has one farm at Garden of Eden in Dememerara. Hence, after existing in excess of three decades the Force Agriculture Corps has not achieved the capacity to provide the Force with its ration requirements of meat, eggs and vegetables. The lack of fulfilment of its potential in this sector can b e attributed to the lack resources; both human and material. The Force performance in this sector can improve via partnerships with government and non-government organisations. The establishment of such civil-military relations will impact positively on the Force performance in this sector. To this end the Force continues to pursue such partnership as demonstrated with the Force involvement in â€Å"the national pig-breeding programme, a joint effort between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Guyana Defence Force†[12]. The Force at various period of its existence seconded mainly officers and in a few cases other ranks to government and non-government organisation. Officers were primarily seconded to administrative positions in government agencies and even the other Services of the Joint Services. This practice helped in National Development by making managerial and administrative skills readily available to beneficiary government agency. The Force involvement in this sector illustrates the value of good civil-military relations both to the Force and the Nation. This is underscore by the fact that military officers have attained high ranking appointments, namely permanent secretary and currently Accountant General at the Ministry of Finance. The Force since its early days of existence played a pivotal in aviation in Guyana. The Force helped in the pioneering efforts in aviation in Guyana. Aviation is arguably the first area where the value of good civil-military relations and the capacity of the Force to positively impact on National Development were demonstrated. [13] However, as the civilian capacity developed in this sector the Force was seen has having a negative impact in the commercial viability of this sector. I am of the view that the deterioration of civil-military relations in this sector helped in fostering this perception of the Force. There remain numerous areas in this sector where the Force, the private sector, and government and non-government organisations can benefit from good relations. No one entity can satisfy the commercial, security and safety requirements for aviation support in Guyana. The wide expanse of hinterland settlements, the limited aircraft and technically trained personnel suggests that there is room for all stake holders to make a positive impact in this sector. The Guyana Defence Force recognises and accepts it has a role to play in National Development. This is exemplified in the many initiatives and projects the Force has been involved throughout its existence primarily in Engineering, Health Services, Education, Economic, Administrative and Aviation Sectors. The question of how the Force will be most effective in fulfilling its role of contributing to National Development has been answered. The Force must embrace partnership with government and non-government agencies in those sectors where we are poised to make an impact on National Development. This pursuit and ultimate realisation of good civil-military relations will enhance the Force capacity to contribute to national development activities. REFERENCES Best G. A. R. (2010) Career Development Plan Guyana Defence Force. Guyana Defence Force Best G. A. R (2011) Chief of Staff Command Directive. Guyana Defence Force Granger D. A. (1975) The new road. Guyana Defence Force. Granger D. A. (2005) A brief history of the Guyana Defence Force. Free Press. Huntington, S. (1957). The soldier and the state: theory and practice of civil-military relations. Cambridge, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Johnson, J. (1981). The role of the military in underdeveloped countries. New Jersey, Princeton University. Greenwood Press Reprint . Lehmann, D. (1979). Democracy and development in Latin America: Economics, politics and religion in the post-war period. Temple University Press. Smith, K. A. and Welch, E. C. (1974). Military role and rule. Massachusetts, Duxbury Press,. Tachau, F. (1974). The developing nations (What paths to modernization? ). New York, Dodd, Mead and Co. Thompson W. S. (1983). The third world: Premises of U. S policy. San Francisco: JOS Press. ———————– [1] Granger D. A The New Road A Short History of The Guyana Defence Force – 1966 -1976, 1975 pg 47. [2] Granger D. A A Brief History of the Guyana Defence Force, 2005 pg75. [3] Stabroek News Sunday, June 15, 2008. 4] Stabroek News Sunday, June 15, 2008. [5] Stabroek News Tuesday, August 17, 2010. [6] Best G. A. R Chief of Staff Command Directive 2011, pg 22. [7] [8] Stabroek News Saturday, April 10, 2010. [9] Best G. A. R Career Development Plan Guyana Defence Force, 2010 pg17. [10] Best G. A. R Chief of Staff Command Directive 2011, pg 39. [11] Granger D. A A Brief History of the Guyana Defence Force, 200 5 pg74. [12] http://www. gina. gov. gy/archive/daily/b080407. html 2011-10-30. [13] See Granger D. A A Brief History of the Guyana Defence Force, 2005 pg75.

Revisiting the Stanford Prison Experiment Essay

This is a critique of an article published in Chronicle of Higher Education, (v53 n30 pB6 Mar. 30, 2007) on â€Å"Revisiting the Stanford Prison Experiment: a Lesson in the Power of Situation† by Philip G. Zimbardo. This article discusses issues related to how good people can turn bad. SUMMARY In this article, Zimbardo looks at his previous social experiment on physical abuse in prison and discusses the issues related to the psychological effects of becoming a prisoner or prison guard, the social power of groups, and how people would behave if they were brought into direct confrontation; whether it would turn good people bad. The author discusses his past social experiment on physical abuse in prison that was conducted in the basement of the Stanford Psychology department. PROBLEM SPECIFIED IN THE ARTICLE One of many of studies in psychology, the Stanford Prison Experiment reveals from its usual set point, the extent to which human behavior can be transformed and are readily accepting a dehumanized conception of others. â€Å"Even to readily accepting a dehumanized conception of others, as ‘animals,’ and to accepting spurious rationales for why pain will be good for them,† (Zimbardo, 2007, p. 4). The Stanford Prison Experiment is compared to the Abu Ghraib situation, and also discussed are the implications of this research to the criminal justice system. The problems specified in the article addresses the social power of groups and as to whether a person  could be influenced to exert power over someone else. The experiment called for twenty-four student participants to act as either a prisoner or a guard in the â€Å"prison† basement,† (Zimbardo, 2007, para 5). After the first day, the guards exercised their powers with increasing authority, forcing the prisoners to do things like making them say abusive things to each other and forcing them to participate in sexual perversion. The experiment was getting out of hand; Zimbardo himself was engrossed in his role. The problem with this experiment was that Zimbardo should have appointed someone with oversight over the whole project, in which could be terminated immediately if things were to go bad. This did not happen. Zimbardo was not only over the experiment, but he played the role of prison superintendent, but nobody to watch over him. STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT COMPARED TO THE ABU GHRAIB SITUATION In the Abu Ghraib situation, U.S. soldiers abused Iraqi prisoners, in which were stripped, and forced to wear bags over their heads, and were sexually humiliated. The guards would laugh and mock the prisoners while taking pictures of them in degrading positions. This abuse is similar to what took place in the Stanford Prison Experiment but in Stanford, the experiment was ended when it became known that the student guards were starting to do this to the student prisoners, unlike that of Abu Ghraib. ANALYSIS OF THE DATA The experiment was to last fourteen days but it was an outsider that made Zimbardo realize that he had gone too far. â€Å"That powerful jolt of reality snapped back into my senses. I agreed that we had gone too far, that whatever was to be learned about situational power was already indelibly etched on our videos, data logs, and minds,† (Zimbardo, 2007, p. 3). A colleague and fellow psychologist, Christina Maslach came to visit the mock prison and became very upset at what she witnessed. She seen the emotional breakdown of the prisoners, who were â€Å"lined up with bags over their heads, their legs chained, and guards shouting abuses at them while herding them to the toilet, † (Zimbardo, 2007, p. 3). Christina became very upset, and  yelled, â€Å"It is terrible what YOU are doing to those boys,† (Zimbardo, 2007, p. 4). Zimbardo realized what he had become in his newfound role and put an end to the experiment early on day 6. The criminal-justice system largely ignores situational forces and focuses primarily on individual defendants and their state of mind. Other factors should be considered by the criminal-justice system, such as what made them want to apply physical, psychological, and emotional abuse to the prisoners. AUTHOR’S CONCLUSIONS The author claims that people alone are incapable of criminal culpability. After reviewing the videotapes, Zimbardo argues â€Å"like the horrible behavior brought out by my experiment in good, normal young men, the situation and the system creating it also must share in the responsibility for illegal and immoral behavior,† (Zimbardo, 2007, p. 4). I am in agreement with the author in that the situation and the system creating it must also share in responsibility for illegal and immoral behavior because of the pressures of groupthink. CONCLUSION The Stanford Prison Experiment came about because at that time, social-science research did not have any studies with the direct confrontation of good versus evil against the forces inherent in bad situations. Psychologist Philip Zimbardo wanted to create a situation in a controlled experimental setting with â€Å"a host of variables, such as role-playing, coercive rules, power differentials, anonymity, group dynamics, and dehumanization, (Zimbardo, 2007, p. 1). The author wanted to know who would win if brought into direct confrontation; good people or an evil situation. References Zimbardo, P. G. (2007). Revisiting the Stanford Prison Experiment: a Lesson in the Power of Situation. _The Chronicle of Higher Education_, 53(30). Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA161992127&v=2.1&u=oran95108&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w.

The Man Who Would be King Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Man Who Would be King - Essay Example But when one of the men decided to marry a native girl, their deceit became disclosed: the girl became known that Dravot was not a god, he was just an ordinary man. After that the natives "dropped Dravot to his death and crucified Carnehan between two pine trees" (The Man Who Would Be King). Carnehan survived, was revised, but soon he died of exposure to the mid-day sun. Nothing of his personal belodgings was found with him. Rudyard Kipling's The Man Who Would be King has two clear themes: British colonialism and exploitation of physical nature. These themes are directly connected to each other. Dravot and Carnehan used the politic situation in colonial India for achieving their personal mercenary goals. They wanted to use naivety and primitiveness of native tribes and untended to become their kings and gods. British soldiers, as Dravot and Carnehan, used weapons and other achievements of Western civilization, so they supposed the native tribes to consider them as kings. The main characters of the story, as the representatives of British Empire, had faith in themselves, and they wanted to spread their will on the natives. They decided to establish their own law which should be more progressive than that of the natives.

Global Environment of Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Global Environment of Business - Essay Example It would be wise to look into dividing the development into two components with an Asian software development for less critical components of the software to take care of issues with customers that are not in the same time zone as those of the software development team in the United States. The use of an Asian development team also allows for global infrastructure embracement wherein it satisfies all the components of PARC. The advantage of Option 1 is in the recruiting section that would look into recruiting outside of North America and hire international project managers to handle international projects. This could work well within the scope of not necessarily having a VP of software development in Europe, but could have the project managers report to the VP of software development within North America. Option 2, although viable in the sense that the organization needs to be streamlined between North American and European management teams it is not necessarily a wise move to move to hire additional Vice-Presidents for operations with respect to Europe and North America, but rather review the current managerial functions and fix areas of redundancy and focus on how each of the departments can be utilized in a more streamlined fashion. One of the areas that require further discussion in the area of recruitment with respect to the areas that ZAK-Squared is recruiting in. Although it is important for cultural diversity and following employment standards, it is important to look at the bottom line in hiring in the countries that have a large increase in the standard of living. In such countries as Asia, it is less expensive to hire programmers, but, there are items that are required for staff with respect to compensatory measures. For instance, in India, women are automatically driven home via taxi in the evening for safety reasons. This needs to be considered

Unemployment during the Great Recession Assignment

Unemployment during the Great Recession - Assignment Example This means that these individuals are working in low paying freelance, contractual and part time jobs and out of these individuals who constitute the 26%, 27% of the employees were only working with a retirement plan and 39% were working with a health insurance. According to Allan S. Blinder, an economist at the Princeton University stated that in the next two decades, the US employers are going to outsource and about 22% to 29% of the US jobs will be available to offshore employees. The statistics of the US Bureau of Labour Statistics show that during 1979 to 2000, the number of temporary workers working within the US rocketed up from around 0.4 million to 3.9 million which is an eye opening increase of 760 percent and during 2000, the total percentage of the workforce of the US working as temporary/part-time workers was 2%. The condition of the US work force is such that they are constantly working day and night since they are being paid in accordance to piece rate or an equal syst em. They do not have time to take part in social life and they even have to ignore their recreational side. This is because they know that the job market is in such a bad position that if they seem to produce less even as freelance or part-time workers, they will end up losing their jobs. During 20009 the government of the US increased the minimum wage of employees to $7.25 but this increase is on lower than the minimum wage paid 30 years down the road in context of real value. Another major concern is the pay accordance to education, those who were earning minimum wages during 1979 at least had a high school degree this constituted a total of 57.5% of the total workforce of 1979 (Economic Policy Institute 2012). During 2008, the number of people of the workforce who had a high school degree has increased to 71.9% but the minimum wage rate has

Feasibility study Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Feasibility study - Research Paper Example Protein is in the spotlight today because it is not only healthy, but it is also truly the essence of life. The Atkins diet hasn’t hurt the business any either but rather it has enlightened the mankind about importance of protein rich diet and ho it is healthy and valuable to the human beings. Many consumers have found cheese great for their diets and it has helped spur growth in the single-serve cheeses that are purchased in the grocery stores as an easy means of a quick snack readily available off the corner. Convenient foods are an ever growing food segment too which mostly contain cheese. Peezanoâ„ ¢ seeks to leverage and capitalize on the numerous competitive advantages its patents are able to provide in the food service (bulk cheese) and packaged cheese goods markets. In addition, the Company has identified a line of proprietary, delicious tasting, health conscious and convenient meal solutions. Peezano will initially target the domestic mozzarella cheese market as a means to leverage its advantage over the mozzarella cheese. This market represents well over 3 billion pounds of cheese produced and consumed each year which represents over pounds 4 billion in sales. The Company’s Peezanoâ„ ¢ cheese, will be marketed as a Premium level cheese with more flavor, fewer calories, less cholesterol, more tender and with a longer shelf life. Phase 1 : Product/Service Feasibility Analysis Cheese manufacturing technology developed by Peezanoâ„ ¢ allows it to produce a new kind of cheese that is better tasting than mozzarella and yet at a 30% lower cost. In 2010, the British consumers have consumed more than 2.6 billion pounds of cheese (www. .dairyco.org.uk). According to the most recent statistics, â€Å"Latest  Kantar Worldpanel  data shows that cheese volume sales have increased by 3.2% (12,649 tonnes) to 407,642 tonnes in the 52 weeks ending 26 December 2010, when compared to the same period in 2009. Spend has also increased compared t o the previous year, up by 3.6% (?84.8m) to ?2.5bn for the 52 weeks ending 26 December 2010.   The total average price stood at ?6.03/kg, 0.4% (?0.02/kg) more than the same period last year.† (www.dairyco.org.uk). Cheese is a highly nutritious and palatable food which contains protein, essential minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients found in the milk base. â€Å"Almost all households in Britain purchase cheese with the average household buying 1.5 times per week. The typical basket size was up by 4.7% over the last year with the average price paid of ?2.70 per kilogram giving a total spend per person of ?95.68.†Ã¢â‚¬  (www.flex-news-food.com) Today, British manufactures are using more than one-third of their milk production to produce cheese for the country. Concept and usability Testing:   The new technology of cheese manufacturing and the cheese quality produced was subjected to extensive consumer taste research. The concept was

Leadership and communication culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Leadership and communication culture - Essay Example A dialogic communication is one whereby a two way communication path is followed and participants defend their opinion and thoughts with justified arguments and simultaneously listen to other positions as well with the intention to understand better (Habermas 1984). Isaacs (1999) has explored numerous meaning for the term ‘dialogue’. Dialogue is not merely a normal form of conversation or a talk, but, in broader sense, it is now being used as a tool for fostering organizational learning. Coordinated actions among members of the organization could be produced through dialogue. A dialogic communication culture can be highly effective for a firm, in incorporating and facilitating continuous and sustainable change within a firm. Dialogue can open up the limited or narrow approach to work practices that most of the organizational members uphold. Dialogues can bring improvement in existing ideas and help in developing creative futuristic approach as well. With the development of the dialogic communication, organization can completely transform its culture by imbibing spirit of commitment and inculcating onus of responsibility and accountability among the members of the organization. Leaders play a vital role by dealing with unavoidable and anticipated conflicts skillfully. Thereby, existing challenges and problems can be resolved through innovative breakthroughs and cooperation of the entire team force which can be acquired through influential dialogic culture (Novak & Sellnow 2009). Sellnow 2009). DIALOGIC COMMUNICATION PROMOTES BETTER UNDERSTANDING THROUGH CONSTRUCTIVE LEADERSHIP Sustainable change can be attained only when understanding among members can be enhanced. By supporting the statement that ‘dialogues can rejuvenate organizational culture and leader’s foster development of such culture’, a study performed by Innes (2007) can be analyzed whereby the significance of dialogic communication is revealed clearly. In this study, the essence of solving group problems is highlighted. Two groups of students were allotted case studies and specific problems. The solutions to the problem allotted were analyzed later. It was found that group that had better understanding amongst them focused on the specific issue assigned whereas group

Scientic psychology cannot live with folk psychology and cannot live Essay

Scientic psychology cannot live with folk psychology and cannot live without it - Essay Example Folk psychology explains people actions in terms of their goals however scientific psychology explains actions of individuals based on what leads them to undertake these actions. Despite the distinction scientific psychology still has some normative aspects and for this reason cannot live without folk psychology. Folk psychology has been challenged by scientific psychology and this is based on how folk psychology results are achieved, in most cases folk psychology results will conflict with results of scientific psychology. For this reason therefore it is very difficult to choose which results best explain human behavior, due to conflicting results of the two disciplines scientific psychology tend to criticize the results of folk psychology and for this reason scientific psychology cannot live with folk psychology. Folk psychology assumes that people already know why they tend to believe in their actions and why they take these actions, according to scientific psychology people are not aware of why they take certain actions, this is a conflict of assumption and therefore it is evident that scientific psychology cannot live with folk psychology. According to Stephen Stitch it is possible to undertake scientific psychology without folk psychology where he gave an example using beliefs. ... gave an example of a day that had rained and the two characters X and Y are asked to narrate on what had happened, X said that the day had rained very heavily and Y said that it did not rain very heavily. He posed the question who of the two individuals was telling the truth, however Stephen Stitch said that these two persons may telling the truth but it depends on their understanding and observations on the way they have learned from the groups, that is family or friends on how they belief in a particular aspect. According to J.B Watson it is possible to identify someone's behavior at his or her current age as long as he or she is not in the childhood age but it depends on how the person behaves and socializes. For this reason therefore Watson verifies that it is only necessary to study the persons behavior without taking into consideration believes of the individuals, in his statement he states that it is possible for scientific psychology to live without folk. Folk Psychology assumes that an individual can directly explain the different feelings they experience, this is to say that individuals are well aware of what they feel and why they feel it, on the other hand scientific psychology agues that individuals feeling are based on the inferences about changes in what they are undergoing. For this reason therefore there is a conflict of assumptions that people are ware of their feelings and for this reason both disciplines will yield different results, for this reason therefore scientific psychology cannot live with folk psychology. Why scientific psychology cannot live without folk psychology: Despite the many reasons why scientific psychology cannot live with folk psychology it is evident that scientific psychology cannot live without folk psychology, folk

How and When We Use ICT Essay Example for Free

How and When We Use ICT Essay The communication system in the world is essential to modern day life. This may include mobile phones or normal household phones, which instantly allow someone to hear another persons voice from anywhere around the world, after you code in the required phone number. This saves a great deal of hassle, time and money as there no or less need to actually visit the person speaking. Furthermore, a mobile phone, performing the same tasks can be used, which can be taken anywhere and is wireless. Also with the mobile phone, instead of talking to another person, messages could be sent known as text to whomever, saving more money and time. Similarly the modern day internet- with the e-mail system, could be used, to anyone or any company around the world who also posses e-mail addresses. Again, the communication is very fast and better than mobile phone text, the information is free, easier and more of it can be sent across the world. At Howards Health centre, the communications system would be essential, as it is to modern day life. All the stock, financial systems and even customer services will require the use of these systems. These, obviously come into vital use for our company and our staff. Firstly these different methods of communication can and will be used in this company. Whether through the internet, txt message or simply talking over the mobile phone, these will all come into demand. It replaces the need of counting on unreliable snail mail which has many disadvantages, such as the speed, consistency and the time spent in order to gain something from this method. The usage of CD-ROMS has become more than common. These are readily and cheaply available in all modern day stores and retailers, becoming useful for a variety of different reasons. CD-ROMS in the form of Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs), have nearly completely replaced and taken over the famous video, displaying movies, films and other TV related programmes. Furthermore, CD-ROMS are increasing popularity, due to the demand and popularity of different types of software that would be vital for our company to have. The popularity of these CD-ROMS is increasing so rapidly that they now are included in free samples that come to the post. Howards Health centre will use the CD-ROM to make use of the software that our system needs via the CD-ROM. It also would help promote our company through advertising our goods with maybe a free CD-ROM. Also we may use CD-ROMs to store backup files, incase of a breakdown. Furthermore, to offer training to our employees of how to use various programmes on the computer, we will need the aid of a CD-ROM Another use of ICT in stores and companies such as ours is with the everyday usage of bar codes especially helpful for shops and other big stores. These are used to display the unique identities of any product which can be stored into shop computers to keep track of there own products. The benefits of bar codes are immeasurable. The most prominent of reasons include: that there is less risk of fraud and there is Quicker service in shops, for the bar code is used to display the identity and price of a product. Furthermore this method is relatively easy to use and requires little training to learn. Therefore the products sold by Howards Health centre will have the bar code on medicine and other medical facilities. The internet is increasing popularity for online shopping. In this world today, many people who are mainly occupied or too ill to go out to the supermarkets, use the internet to shop. This is an easy, quick and reliable way of shopping as the stock is delivered promptly to your doorstep. Also as this method requires little effort and is increasing in popularity, more and more varieties of goods can be brought over the internet, especially those that might be harder to purchase otherwise. However, there are many drawbacks to this method. For example, this method of shopping can create and increase health problems, as it cuts out the need of walking to the shops or the supermarket. Also it increases the risk of fraud as credit card details and other personal information may easily released into the dangerous world wide web, Electronic Funds Transfer Point of Sale (EFTPOS) technology, allows money to be paid through credit cards at tills that accept them. This involves a credit card having unique identity and direct access to the owners account, to be inserted into one of these tills, where the price of the items is taken from the bank. This greatly decreases the risk of burglary of money and stops any inconveniences caused by the carrying of money in your pocket. However, this method is not perfect as it is prone to credit card fraud and these cards can easily be lost. Furthermore, using this way for paying money makes the user less aware of the quantity of money that they spend, increasing the risk of debt and overdraft. Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS) is similar to the other method. This ensures the electronic transfer of funds at the point of sale. It used at the checkouts to provide the customer receipt and, at the same time, update the items in stock. This process is automatic, requiring little human endeavor and assistance. With the introduction of new technology, our company will start using an easier method of shopping- shop online, replacing the typical and traditional method of using our legs and arms! We also would use computers to send e-mails and for entertainment purposes using CD-ROM gaming. These games have special 3-D effects and other griping effects that keep the user interested. It is also used with interactive television. Before people had access to only four or five channels, which for the telle addict would get intimidating. With interactive television, up to 800 channels, giving a much more interesting range of channels and topics. Howards Health centre by providing them with information, education and entertainment for a variety of subjects that may be useful to this company, the staff the and the whole of Brownsville Sage payroll is a commercial system that can be brought, to automatically calculate the employers wages. It is a very quick, easy and accurate method to calculate the wages of the employees. We may make use of this in Howards Health centre, especially in the near future, once the hospital is up and running. Also this provides businesses with support and advice which obviously will come helpful. Our method, using the computer, is slightly harder to use and needs more human assistance and training. Also this method is more prone to mistakes and is less professional. However, it is cheaper to use, easier to set up and it suits the job as it is a small health centre. Working practices will obviously have to change in Howards Health centre, thanks to the newly introduced computerized system. The old typewriter, handwritten letters, huge filing cabinets and much more will have to go now the computer is introduced. The average Howards Health centre employee will have to get used to using the computer, and will find it very useful. The need for letters and stamps taking days if not weeks to come will be mostly replaced by the e-mail system taking seconds to send large amounts of info across the world. Internet shopping will reduce the need for our staff to actually go out and by the clothing and stock. Data will now, and in the future, is stored within this system that will take up far less room than before. Remember, these various hi tech systems can only be accessed by individuals and companies who have the means of accessing these technologies, like Howards Health centre. These technologies are relatively expensive to own, and thus, are mainly accessible to the industrialized and MEDC countries. These countries posses various forms and resources in order to use these systems effectively. Thus, countries that are in the developing/third world simply do not have the financial resources to implement these systems. With this revolution of our system, we will need to train the staff to use these systems. This will take time and cost money. Also we will have to find qualified teachers, which will again be a hassle. Our staff will be trained in using the computer, software and performing the necessary tasks. The trainees will also need to be aware of the law and various different acts. For instance the data protection act which provides legislations to protect data released onto the computers, especially personal data. Also the employees must be aware of privacy and copyright. It is essential that the workers should be aware of other moral implications of using ICT. Our staff must be aware of undesirable material and the misuse of computers at work. ICT systems can easily crash. In this process, all too easily, many data can be lost, and sometimes not retrieved. This often happens with unsaved data, say when there is a power cut, this data will be lost. This problem can be overcome in a variety of ways. Obviously, the primary way would be to always regularly save the data, where programmes can be loaded onto the system that will automatically save a copy of the data so that it is not lost. Also various retrieval programmes can be used, which when the user switches off with ought to saving the work, or the computer crashes, the system will automatically have a record of there work. In the long term, data backups are used, in the form of CD-ROMS or various other storage mediums, which can act as backup devices. Also, the internet can be used, where work may be uploaded on say a website, incase of a crash. Another disadvantage of using these systems, which will imply in Howards Health centre, is the various health problems they pose. Usage of the computer and to communicate via e-mail can take long to accomplish. Usage of this method of communication, along with text messages can cause eye and neck strain, aswell as a host of other problems. Using the mobile phone, although not posing a significant health risk can cost a lot of money, especially when calling when most needed- peak time. Again training and teaching about these various health problems, and how to avoid them, would help overcome this problem. Despite the expenses and hassle of training and teaching the employers, it undoubtedly would be money well spent. For ultimately the health and safety of our employers comes first.

Can Go Issues And Solutions

Can Go Issues And Solutions One of CanGo division is an online book store. Best sellers are kept in the warehouse grouped by subject, while other titles are ordered from publishers or other sources. The current process involves pickers getting lists with titles that have been ordered and then picking them from inventory. The issues with this system are that the lists are random and congestion. This is because a picker may have to go from one end of the warehouse to the other and back again when fulfilling an order. In addition, multiple pickers often end up in the same place at the same time causing congestion. If the picking process is improved, it would mean CanGo can carry more inventory and decrease the amount of time it takes to get books to customers. Solution 1 CanGo has presented a proposal to purchase an automatic storage and retrieval system (ASRS) to streamline the picking process. An ASRS is a system that uses technology for depositing and retrieving inventory from a defined storage location. There are several benefits to an ASRS including better use of both space and labor, and it improves the company control of the materials CanGo needs to consider several things when designing a system. These include the material to be moved, numbers of load to be stored, material flow description, description of operations, and architectural consideration for future expansion (ASRS, 1999). It is obvious that CanGo deals with books but it is important to know the weight and the dimensions of the books. Material flow description or flow charts illustrate how the books get from the starting point to the outbound truck, including a description of what the operator does and shows places where a logjam may occur. Architectural consideration means that the size of the building may place limits on what system CanGo uses. There are several manufactures of ASRS systems. One is Cisco Eagle and its mini storage system (Cisco eagle mini load). Material is placed in a tote, a tray or a carton. Storage can be single, double or triple deep. In conclusion a good ASRS system will lower storage costs and enable the work force to be more productive. Problem 2 CanGo continues to strive to increase their sales and to work through their growing pains that are often experienced by new companies. Like many startup companies, CanGo is faced with the prospect of large investments back into the company in order to increase production and streamline the delivery system. One issue that CanGo needs to rectify is the number of abandoned shopping carts that the company is experiencing. According to a recent survey conducted by Comscore, 76% of orders are abandoned. This is because the educated consumer of today continues to comparison shop throughout the checkout process. While CanGo has experienced a smaller percentage of abandoned orders, the problem is still prevalent. Solution 2 East Coast Consulting simulated the purchasing process on CanGos website and offers the following recommendations. Review the pricing of items that are offered. If an item is the same or similar as to what is offered on other sites, the consumer will shop by price alone. Offer a clearance or sale area in order to entice shoppers. Offer free shipping. 76% of consumers rate free shipping as a must for online orders. According to David Bell of Wharton, For whatever reason, a free shipping offer that saves customers 6.99 in shipping is more appealing to many than a discount that cuts the purchase price by $10 Eliminate the need to register in order to check out. This requires too much information from the customer and takes too much time. Provide the option of Guest check out. Remember that in order to follow up on abandoned orders, an email address must be obtained. This should be the first field presented to the customer upon checkout. Build trust and eliminate doubt with customers. This can be accomplished by addressing frequently asked questions, clearly stating the return and privacy policy and a security guarantee. Also, CanGo needs to prominently show the company information including an email and phone number. Implement Live Chat. In a recent survey, 77% of retailers listed Live Chat as critical to converting the shopping cart into sales. Offer more payment options including PayPal and Amazon Checkout. Also provide clear instructions on providing credit card information. Simplify this process as much as possible and make the checkout button a clear call to action. We feel these recommendations will greatly improve the conversion rate at CanGo. Problem 3 One of the main problem that Can Go is facing is making their website user friendly and more appealing, At this point, nearly every company has a website, and for good reason. Potential customers and clients use sites to learn about the company, but also to get a general feeling about service and culture. If Can Go makes their website user friendly and attractive then customer would definitely come back and buy the service. Solution 3 Although a fantastic-looking website can be powerful, design isnt the first place to start when it comes to user experience. Because businesses need to understand their consumers in order to develop products and marketing campaigns that appeal to their target audience, consumer psychologists often spend a great deal of time learning more about what makes shoppers tick. This often involves first figuring out the target audience for a particular product including the gender, age and socioeconomic status of the typical shopper. Next, the consumer psychologist might begin researching the types of products and marketing messages that appeal to these types of buyers. Other consumer psychologists might focus on social marketing, or how ideas and messages spread among groups. Researchers might be interested in getting out information about a product or an important public health message. Learning how beliefs andÂÂ  attitude spread among groups can help organizations learns how to better get their message out and encourage word-of-mouth marketing. Consumer psychologists often conduct research to learn more about buyer behavior. Common research methods used by these professionals include experiments, phone surveys, focus groups, direct observation and questionnaires. Chances are good that you have participated in at least one market research survey in your life. These are often conducted by phone, but may also be done online or through direct mail. In a survey, consumers are often asked to describe their past shopping behavior, factors that influenced their decision-making and their future buying plans. Researchers also typically gather details about each respondents sex, age, race, educational history and current financial situation. This type of information can be very useful, since it allows researchers to look for patterns and learn more about who buys certain products. For example, using a survey might allow researchers to discover that women between the ages of 30 and 45 who have a household income between $50,000 to $100,000 are most likely to buy a particular product or service. By knowing this, they can then begin designing marketing campaigns aimed at this target audience. Learning these aspects will definitely help Can Go to help better their business. Problem 4 CanGo has spent a lot of time trying to meet the needs of their current customers and have done very well at that. Recently, CanGo began research to understand their current customers purchasing habits and the changing and evolving ecommerce market. For CanGo to remain successful, they must understand the new target market. It is very well known that customer retention is imperative to be successful and without doing the proper research, CanGo will not be effective at holding on to their current customers or gaining new ones. This will ultimately make them a failure with the new product and it could cause them to go under for a lack of being able to gain new customers for the current market. Solution 4 CanGo needs to take a look at it current customers first. Then they need to understand what the age group of its current shoppers is and what they are purchasing. Then CanGo can identify any buying habits. This will help CanGo with their advertising and marketing. This can also help with planning so that their customers will not be impacted by a lack of product. CanGo will also need to identify the target market for online gaming. Doing market research will help CanGo by answering certain questions. What age group of people likes to play games online? What time of day do they like to play these games and how often. How much do online gamers pay for this service? What does the current competition offer? This way they can better understand the new target market as well as the old one. Problem 5 CanGo recently experienced an increase in orders from Japan. When the company received the occasional order from Japan, it was economical to send via UPS. Now, with the increase in sales to Japan, it makes sense to look into companies that specialize in business shipments to Japan. CanGo also should learn all it can about Japanese shipping regulations. Solution 5 CanGo should seek to partner with several companies that specialize in business shipments to Japan. One company is Best Shipping (Best shipping). According to their website, Best Shipping not only accepts imports, but they are licensed customer brokers. They are able to navigate the Japanese shipping rules and regulations and have its own fleet of trucks. This means that one company will have control of the shipment from the time merchandise leaves CanGo until it arrives at the customers door. Another company that specializes in shipping to Japan is Yamato Transport Inc. There office is located in Secaucus, New Jersey and specialize in air and ocean freight, international moving and import and export custom clearing services in the US. The company has several businesses that specialize in door to door shipments in a particular region of Japan. Large American based shipping companies like UPS and Fed Ex have experience serving the Japanese market and should be part of CanGos rotation of Japanese shippers. Although the shipping companies are experts in Japanese shipping rules and will handle most of the details, it is helpful to know the basics. Jetro.org, Japans external trade organization, offers useful information for US companies doing business in Japan. Problem 6 CanGo is spending time to fix all of the things that are not currently working. In doing so there has not been any update on what they are going to do to get the new product line off the ground. Has research been done to see if there is a competitor out in the online gaming market? What type of computer system is needed to handle online gamers? Is CanGos security tight enough to handle the hackers? What is needed to get the online gaming up and running? Does CanGo have enough capital to make this happen? These are all questions that have not been answered. CanGo has not assigned any specific people to the new project. This is going to be a lot of work and take a lot of time. The marketing department also needs to focus on who they are marketing to and how they are going to market to them. Solution 6 So that the team stays focused at a time like this there should be weekly meeting on what is going on with the new project what needs to be done. Deadlines need to be set. This way it is clear that CanGo has not decided not to do the project and that this needs to be done in addition to the corrections to the current process. This way it is clear to all what the goal is. This will help the workers not lose sight of what is important and what needs to be done. CanGo need to make a Gantt chart so the time line of what needs to be done. This will also help assign people to specific task. When CanGo does this it will make it clear to all what needs to be done and who is going to do it. Once it is clear to everyone who is doing what, CanGo needs to look at what they are looking to sell. A Gantt chart would be beneficial to help assign people to specific task and provide clear goals and time frame for completion. In Closing it is important for CanGo to focus on now and the future. That means looking at what is happening to maintain the current customers and drive new ones. East Coast Consulting has provided 6 problems and 6 solutions that will allow CanGo to get once set closer to getting where they want to be. References ASRS. (1999, May 27). Consideration for planning an automated storage retrieval system. Retrieved Feburary 1, 2013, from https://www.cirrelt.ca/mhmultimediabank/ApplicationGuide%5CMHIA%20-%20ASRS%20considerations.pdf Best shipping. (n.d.). Best shipping/ services. Retrieved January 30, 2013, from Best shipping: http://www.bestshipping.co.jp/english/service/index.html Cisco eagle mini load. (n.d.). Retrieved Feburary 1, 2013, from Cisco eagle: http://www.cisco-eagle.com/material-handling-systems/asrs-systems/mini_load Japanese external trade organization. (n.d.). Jetro.go.jp. Retrieved January 31, 2013, from http://www.jetro.go.jp/ Yamato transport inc. (n.d.). about us Yamato transport inc. Retrieved January 31, 2013, from Yamato transport inc: http://www.kuronekoyamato.co.jp/en/corporate/

Marketing planning

Marketing planning Introduction : This assignment is submitted in partial fulfilment of the marketing planning unit. I have been asked to conduct macro-environmental and micro environmental marketing audit to identify the current and key issues facing the organization I propose to launch a Fabindia store in Milan, Italy. The report outlines reasons for undertaking the audit and appraises the processes, models and techniques used for the audit. It also assesses the external and internal marketing environment for the organisation and summarises the impact of this analysis for the organisations marketing plan and marketing mix. Finally have proposed a marketing plan details about how it can be executed. 1.About Fabindia: 1.1 History: The first Fabindia outlet was set up in 1961 by John Bissell to provide a platform for traditional artisans and printers to market their produce to showcase diverse craft traditions of India. 1.2 Current Philosophy: Eco-friendly, ethical hand crafted Indian products. Mission: Traditional, ethnic products creating sustainable employment for craftsmen and artisans in rural India. 1.3 Current Target Audience: Retail- Age Group: Not specific Sex: Male Female Economic Class: Upper and higher middle class. Geographical Places: Metros, tier 2 tier 3 cities. Institutional Buyers: Heritage hotels, resorts corporate houses. 1.4 Current Product Range: Garments for men and women, Accessories, Home Linen and Furnishings, Home Products, Floor Coverings, Body Care Products and more recently, Organic Food Products and ethnic jewellery. 1.5 Timeline of its stores: 1976 1st retail outlet, New Delhi. By 2001 6 stores concentrated in the metro cities. By the end of 2004 20 stores. By the end of 2007 75 retail stores across India and in addition, stores in Dubai, Rome and Guangzhou in China. By 2008 99 stores. By 2009 108 stores. By 2011 Target of having 250 stores. Fabindia: Retail Snapshot 108 stores across 40 cities 6 stores abroad. Dubai, UAE, Bahrain (three stores), Doha, Qatar and in Rome, Italy. Online Shopping Exports to 34 countries 1.6 Sales Revenue: 2000-01 : Turnover of 36 crore rupees 2005-06 : Turnover of Rs 130 crore. 2007-08 : Revenue of Rs 257 crore 2008-2009 : Revenue of Rs 300 crore. but growth more than halved to 17% from 40% in 2007-08. By 2011: Target turnover Rs 1000 crore. 1.7 Future Plans: Leveraging the Organic Products section, childrens market. Expand nationally internationally. 100,000 shareholders and five-fold increase in skilled jobs in the rural sector. Reduce the number of defects in the products to a minimal which include bleeding of colours, shrinkage etc. 2. Internal Audit: 2.1 SWOT Analysis: S T R E N G T H S Differentiable products, Diverse product mix, International appeal, Eco-friendly, ethical, natural stylish, Showcases diverse Indian craft traditions contemporary styles, Creates employment for craftsmen in rural India, Different categories of stores, Products all age groups variety of economic strata, Constant development innovations product line, Partnering suppliers sourcing from 21 states across India, Big distribution network, In-house manufacturing, Customer Loyalty, Manifold growth of most artisan suppliers linked exclusively to Fabindia. No awareness about the brand, Limited channels of business, Sourcing strategy skewed towards suppliers, Competition from brands having similar product range, Inconsistent quality of products. W E A K N E S S E S T H R E A T S Time-lines and Delivery schedules dependent on too many variables, Monitoring and Supervision contemporarising and bench marking of traditional skills based products, Building Capacity time and resource intensive, Not in touch with Fashion Trends, Competition from leading Italian brands stores. In store merchandising, Promoting e-business channel, Interactive website for customized designing Organic foods market, Customer acquisition Strategies, Growth in demand : eco-friendly products, Growing interest Indian culture, handicrafts textiles, Milan host for 1 of worlds most prestigious furniture and design fairs. Milan one of worlds major financial business centres, Worlds 26th richest city by purchasing power. O P P O R T U N I T I E S 3. External Audit: 3.1 PESTEL Analysis: Political: Change in implementation of rules regulations with introduction of new government. Eg No foreign collaborations, no foreign goods and products coming in the Italian market. Changes in policies by existing Indian government. Refer RESEARCH final.doc5.1.1 Economical: Changes due to economical descend. Eg. Reduction in employment rate purchasing power of people, resulting in low sales. Social: Social acceptance towards certain colors might vary according to different cultures and stratas of society. Eg: Products in bright colors which are popular in India is not socially accepted in Milan. Refer RESEARCH final.doc5.1.3 Technological: Utilizing technology infrastructure of international standards. Eg. CRM software implemented in stores will help in maintaining centralized database. This will help Fabindia in retaining customers by building lasting relationships improving Loyalty. Environmental: Material used for making products not approved allowed by Italian Government. Eg. If products are found to be made of materials hazardous to the environment the Italian government can take strict actions against the company under the Environmental Protection Law. Refer Legal: Difference in manufacturing standards , process , trading etc. Eg. Conformity to European standards and CE marking. Taxes for businesses in Italy. Refer RESEARCH final.doc5.1.6 3.2 Impact of Porters 5 Forces : Threat of Subsitutes: There should not be threat of substitute to the products of Fabindia since they are eco-friendly organic products which have replaced the ordinary conventional products are in huge demand. Market Segmentation: 4. Market Segmentation : Age Group: All age groups. Sex: Male Female Economic Class: Not specific Geographical Place: Milan, Italy. Fabindia intends to continue expanding internationally currently 6 stores abroad. Milan very important city in Italy one of worlds major financial business centres. Main goal of Fabindia to promote vast diverse craft traditions of India. Since there is a growing interest among Europeans about Indian handcrafted products, Indian textiles, art cultures, Fabindia holds lot of potential in European market. Fabindia very ethical eco-friendly company which supports many causes Europeans like being part of such endeavours. Fabindia does not target any specific age group or any specific economic strata, has something for every one. Fiera Milano citys ExhibitionCenter and Trade Fair complex is one of most important in the world Milan is one of fashion capitals of the world. Fabindia wants to increase its global reach, since lot of international buyers visit Milan, it can prove to be great opportunity for it. The employment rate in Milanis 95-96% therefore the spending power of people is very high. Thus opening a store at Milan should prove to be beneficial. 5. Proposed Marketing Mix: Execution: They should carry out extensive market research, study kind of products established stores are selling. Meetings with designers artisans can be conducted designers give inputs on current market trends and emerging designs to weavers brainstorm innovative techniques. They can design stylish products emphasizing on Indian craftsmanship explore rich Indian fabrics with numerous surface ornamentation techniques. Range will be exclusively designed for the Milan market. They can take customer feedback through their online website know preferences of their customers design accordingly. Product range fine combinations of Indian aesthetics and western design sensibility. Farmers will supply Fabindia with organic varieties from places like Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Coorg, Tamil Nadu. They believe giving farmers fair price for their produce, and supplying very highest quality food to their customers. 5.2 Price: Products different price ranges. Products will be affordable, will give ‘value for money. It hasexpanded its range- to provide something for all its customers. Execution: Type of Products PriceRange ( Euros) Textile-based product range 5-15 Home Products range 20-300 Fabindia Organics 3 onwards Fabindia Sana 3-30 5.3 Place : Fabindia should be strategically located at Sesto San Giovanni full of commerce, restaurants, hotels, malls, rail station, red line of Metro. Brand Zara home is located there Habitat is near by. 2 eco hotels Hotel la Residenza Via Scialoia or Hotel Ariston, Galeria del Corso near Sesto San Giovanni can be considered. Piazza del Duomo is also very good location which attracts lot of people boutiques, bookstores big stores to indulge in elegant and cultural shopping. They can haveconcept stores or premium stores located in famous historical landmarks and renowned big heritage for convenience of potential buyer and creation of overall awareness. Execution: With help of Search Office Space (SOS), can find appropriate place. FREE Service They are paid by advertisers. Impartial Advice Their mission is to find space that meets YOUR requirements. They provide with tailor made options that match your specifications. They take care of entire search show options, help create a shortlist, arrange for you to view space, compare prices, make your final selection and arrange your move-in date. 5.4 Promotion: Promoting its products, mostly through posters, word of mouth and events. Placing ads in local newspapers about ongoing events organized in store to increase awareness about store locations, usinglot of in-store posters to create consumer awareness about products and rural suppliers etc., putting up hoardings, creating awareness social causes which they represent associate with, promote through website. Execution: GlobalCom PR-Network is worldwide group of full service PR and Marketing Communications agencies. It more than 40 partners and affiliated agencies cover all member states of European Union. Their strength is their local expertise in all European market. Portfolio includes: Public Analyst Relations Marketing Communications Online Marketing Market Research Media Training By engaging professional PR agency conversant with Italian Market environment, different strategies can be devised to promote store. 5.5 Process : It believes: â€Å"Delighted Customer is our Best BrandAmbassador†. It should focus on customer retention build loyal customer base. Execution: It should implement CRM software aims to help maintain centralized database to keep records of customers, details about past purchases, preferences or by having Value Customer Card gives history customer details each time, card is swiped. They should have interactive events for customers with design team, customers can get style tips, Feedback sessions between Fabindia designers customers loyal customers can be given certain privileges get special invites to events organized by Fabindia like exhibitions, concerts. will help it in retaining customers improving loyalty. 5.6 Physical Evidence: By endorsing and sponsoring events- creative communication tools innovative activities attract customers gaining maximum publicity possible. Execution: Having in store posters to create consumer awareness about dyes used in products, products and where they come from, i.e. rural suppliers Having dà ©cor and layouts highlight traditional and natural focus, having catalogues giving details current merchandise, LCD screens playing how artisans work manufacture, brochures informing Fabindia events lined up, Indianised eco-friendly stylish carry bags with personalized thank you cards, leaflets informing causes Fabindia supports eco-friendly practices it follows. 5.7 People: People working with and for Fabindia representatives of Fabindia. They should be aware of all its products, be knowledgable, friendly, helpful, attentive, speak lot of languages and develop good customer relations. Store personnel encouraged to wear clothes that reflect Fabindia ethos of traditional and natural look. Execution: Fabindia should register on website of recruiting agency help it to find its potential employees. Fabindia should train people with required knowledge and customer service. People working in store can attend regular training programmes. 6. Ansoffs Grrowth Strategy: 6.1 MARKETING STRATEGY FOR FABINDIA MILAN USING ANSOFFS GRID Milan potential market with growing interest among Europeans about Indian handcrafted products, Indian textiles cultures Fiera Milano citys Exhibition Center one of most important in world visited by manyinternational buyers, great opportunity for Fabindia help increase global reach. Fabindia very ethical eco-friendly company, supports many causes Europeans like being part of such endeavours. Currently Fabindia store in Rome, Italy has been doing well. Fabindia expand internationally to create brand awareness in new place, to launch itself in different parts it should use Market Development Strategy . Fabindia very popular for its fashion apparels mostly made of homespun cotton. But one cannot wear cotton due to climatic conditions in Milan. The colors of Fabindia products mostly very colourful, but due to gloomy weather in Milan larger population prefer pastels mid tones of all colors summers and winters black n brown rules. Milan fashion capital houses leading brands, famous for their innovative designs. It is important for Fabindia to have its merchandise designed their range planned as per market in Milan I strongly suggest Product Development Strategy. EXECUTION Core values of Fabindia to provide quality natural products, reflect the unique Indian culture hence Isuggeststore can be located infamous historical landmark have layouts highlight traditional and natural focus. Store showcases rich legacy of Indias traditional weavers, offering wide array of styles contemporary and sophisticated, must create distinct image location must be chosen with utmost care. Fabindia very ethical eco-friendly brand Ariston hotel first ecological hotel of Italy- perfect place for exclusive Fabindia store. Ariston hotel situated in heart of Milan, 500 metres from the Duomo, monuments ,few steps from Via Torino shopping area. With privileged position compared to other 3-star, near Piazza del Duomo andsubwaystops(to New Fair). Very well serviced bytram, bus. Very strategic location connected to all important places renowned museums, monuments famous shopping streets, restaurants, pizzerias movie theaters near the Duomo awareness could be created through advertising physical evidences. Since new market no awareness, needs to carry out lot of promotional activities. Can organize events like authentic Indian food festivals, , interactive workshops with Indian designers, showcasing the rich Indian culture. Fabindia associated with social causes, create awareness about involvement and brand.  · Can organize social events , sponsorships, advertise in magazines, hoardings, posters to create consumer awareness,Know what you wear Workshop. Makes customers more aware of work put in for their fabric and helps them with association with brand FabIndia. Lot of competition leading established brands in Milan selling similar products.They need to create distinct image come up product range exclusively for Milan after doing a detailed market research, products with innovative ecofriendly stylish designs with Indianised touch. Lot of importance laid on aesthetic appeal good quality. Should focus on customer retention work on strategies to build a loyal customer base. These are my recommendations for launching Fabindia in Milan. Feedback Mechanism: Mystery Shopper Program: In mystery shopper program, person hired by management goes to every store and shops there and then give feedback according to customer perspective. Store people never come to know or suspect anyone whether he is a mystery shopper or not. Detailed feedback is given to every individual shop. It consists of minute details signages outside, restrooms, behavior of staff. So it serves as a tool to provide better customer satisfaction. Feedback registers Feedback questionnaire to be filled on the website: Customer feedback by maintaining visitors register to record customer views or through questionnaires filled online. Store managers can prepare report, periodically reviewed by Product Selection Committee to know about buying pattern among consumers. CRM software Value Customer Card: CRM software can be implemented to maintain centralized database to keep customer record details or by having the Value Customer Card history details of customer each time, card is swiped. Can get to know fast slow moving products, popular styles can accordingly do range planning. Can have meeting every month to review performance discuss measures to be taken to improve sales increase consumer satisfaction.

Karl Marx and His Radical Views Essay -- History Politics Political

Karl Marx and His Radical Views Karl Marx[i] Karl Marx is among the most important and influential of all modern philosophers who expressed his ideas on humans in nature. According to the University of Dayton, â€Å"the human person is part of a larger history of life on this planet. Through technology humans have the power to have an immense effect on that life.†[ii] The people of his time found that the impact of the Industrial Revolution would further man’s success within this world and would ensure his success as a species. Marx was extremely radical in finding that this was a positive impact on humans in nature. In order to understand why his views were considered radical, it is important to understand his philosophy and the period of history during which Marx developed and formulated his views. Radical, as defined by the Webster’s New World Dictionary states, â€Å"disposed to make extreme changes in existing views, habits, conditions, or institutions†[iii]. Marx’s theories certainly fit this definition of radical. Marx was the founder of the Communist movement, and his ideas about history and economics form the basis of socialist politics throughout the world. This philosophy was developed just as the Industrial Revolution, which was based on capitalism, was beginning to spread from England to the rest of Europe. The writings of Karl Marx spell out the philosophic foundations of his radicalism. Marx’s philosophy is complicated and detailed. However, the central theme to Marx’s theories was his view that economic forces were increasingly oppressing human beings and his belief that political action and change were necessary. Marx’s thinking is a reaction to the industrial society of the mid ninete... ...pitalism (New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1988), 8. [viii] Gurley, 8. [ix] Karl Marx. Manifesto of the Communist Party, ed. Friedrich Engels (The Avalon Project at Yale Law School), Section IV. Position of the Communist In Relation to the Various Existing Opposition Parties. [x] [xi] Gurley, 31. [xii] John Elster. An Introduction to Karl Marx (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), 7. [xiii] Gurley, 27. [xiv] [xv] Gurley, 5. Other Links: http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/index.htm http://radicalacademy.com/philmarx.htm http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/marx.html http://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/marx/classics/manifesto.html http://www.marxists.org/

cuba :: essays research papers

Cuba Cuba is the country that I will research for this assignment. Cuba was found by humans in about 3500 BC. On October 27, 1492 Christopher sighted Cuba and then by 1514, Diego Velà ¡zquez de Cuà ©llar had conquered the island for the Spanish crown. In these particular countries cattle ranching became most popular for Cuban economy, but by 1592 the system was abolished. Cuba is the Caribbean’s commercialized islands and is one of the world's last bastions of communism. In Cuba US dollars are not accepted. People that travel to Cuba have to have their money converted over to Cuban money in order to buy anything, and the cost to change the money is 10% of how much you are exchanging. This issue causes problems for many people that visit the country. Cuba has about five main attractions with Havana being the most popular. Baracoa is another major attraction of Cuba that sits on a headland between two picturesque bays near Cuba's easternmost point of Cabo Maisà ­. Santiago de Cuba is another main attraction and is the second biggest city in Cuba. Trinidad is the last of the attractions in Cuba and is the only one that I am familiar with. Out of all of these attractions Havana is not only the most popular but is the center of the country of Cuba. The size of Cuba is 110,860 sq km and has a population of eleven million. The capital of the Republic of Cuba is Havana which has over 2 million people. Cuba has different races that live within the country. They have 60% Spanish descent, 22% mixed-race, 11% African descent, and 1% Chinese. This country also has different religions which have: 47% Catholic, 4% Protestant, and 2% Santerà ­a. The country has a communist government and the head of state is the President of the Council of State

Erika Villamante Padiernos Essay

Erika Villamante Padiernos is a second year AB in Language and Literature student from Poblacion Sur, Talavera, Nueva Ecija. She was born on September 2, 1996. She was the eldest among the three daughters of Mr. Ricardo Padiernos, a farmer. And Mrs. Benedicta Padiernos, a public teacher. Erika has always been fond of three things. First, she loves to write. She want to be a part of the league of the most successful writers from the top publishing company here in the Philippines. This has also been her reason why she shifted from CFY AB section to ABLL. She believes that this course could be her stepping stone on her way to her dream of becoming a writer. Second, she loves to read books. She wasn’t picky. She read books from different genre but she enjoyed romance most of the time. And lastly, she loves to watch Korean Dramas. Some of her favorites were Boys Over Flowers, To The Beautiful You, The Winter The Wind Blows and City Hunter. When Erika was asked what particular event she will always remember, she said that it would be her birthday because it was the same day that Nueva Ecija day is celebrated. She finds herself fortunate since her special day turns out to be a holiday every year. It means a lot for her that she could spend it with a complete family at her side. Because for her, family is really important. In fact, she consider it as the most valuable thing she had. When asked why, she simply answered that it was because other people didn’t get a chance to have a complete family. And thinking about that makes her feel very lucky and blessed. Someday, if Erika wouldn’t be a writer that her family would be proud of, she wish to be at least the person that can provide each of their needs. That’s how much she loves them.