Cybercrime and its impact on International Business

Cyber crime can be referred to any illegal activity that is executed with the help of a computer. Such kinds of crimes have always been executed ever since the computer technology was introduced (Cross, F 2007). With the advent of Internet, these crimes have gained an even faster pace. These thefts are not limited to enclosed vicinity. Accessing to data of an organization while sitting in another part of the world through internet has now become extremely effortless. This has drastic affects on organizations.Stealing sensitive information such as data of the stock exchange, profits of a financial institution and even identities of individuals (Cross, F 2007) to access into their personal accounts are crimes that are increasing rapidly. This has led to many connotations for businesses worldwide; taking better security measures. Cyber crimes committed are unique in such a way that no physical existence of material or equipment is needed. Everything is done through the use of a computer (Nag, D & Bajaj, K 2005). This has made these crimes even more dangerous and difficult to control. Opportunities for cyber criminalsThe increasing globalization has led to the merger of activities all over the world. Banks, stock markets, multi nationals all have become connected with each other and technology has become the life and blood for all organizations. Used for various purposes such as enhanced communication mediums and information sharing, technological advancements have also made businesses worldwide more susceptible to frauds and misuse of information (Grabosky, P 2005). Amongst all technological developments of the 20th century the internet is a widely used instrument for information sharing all over the world.Between the year 2001 and 2002 there has been an increase of $6501 billion revenue being generated from business executed online (Grabosky, P2005). This means there are greater chances for individuals to commit cyber crimes that are both dangerous and risky to t he business and also illegal in nature (ibid). Businesses worldwide make use of electronic communication means particularly those in the Western World and hence computer and cyber crimes have exploded after the 1990’s (Chamely, H 2003).The use of internet has fuelled the globalization process and hence the world has become smaller. People across the globe can now connect to each other easily though electronic means. However this advantage also carries perils to security. Issues such as fraud over the internet and piracy have been facilitated with the internet development (ibid). Multinationals have offices all over the world that are connected providing cyber criminals with the opportunity to act. It could be someone from within the employees or even a third party criminal.With the pace of technological development, e-commerce has come into existence and businesses are shifting not only their single operations online but transferring their complete business processes online ( Edin, M 2002). Bank for instances have started to offer international fund transfers from branches in two different parts of the worlds through internet which provides criminal opportunity for fund embezzlement which could mean loss of huge amounts of money for the banks. Online businesses such as Amazon. com deal in online shopping and purchasing of goods without dealing in any brick and mortar business.All such organizations function globally and hence are at a greater chance of cyber fraud then a business that only has one office in a single country and hence a smaller network and system. Impact of cyber crimes on business activities All businesses internationally have started to rely on electronic means of doing work and hence dependence on internet and technological sources has gained immense importance. Break down or illegal access to business information system and data base can have severe repercussions:†¢ Hindrance in day to day operations of a business like communicat ion with employees across the borders. Some companies function internationally with employees connected through means of video conferencing or emails etc (Grabosky, P 2005). †¢ A complete shutdown of business for instance organizations such as Wal-Mart function on a real time inventory management system and illegal access gained by a competitor means sharing of sensitive inventory data and customer preferences. †¢ E commerce business entails developing of relation online with suppliers as well.This affect is multiplied when cyber crimes not only gives access to financial data of the targeted organization but even its suppliers who may be functioning in another part of the world (Grabosky, P 2005). †¢ Another great loss that the company might face is the declining confidence level of customers. Consumer have less trust in the business functions especially online retailing like online shopping, purchases and electronic banking. And with the increasing rate of such crime s companies might lose on their customers.Thus companies must ensure that they do not loose on any important customers due lack of trust in the company’s system (Smith, A 2004). †¢ Economic losses to business resultant of frauds have also increased. These are measured in terms of declining profits or fraudulent transactions. An example could be the Russian TOC efforts to steal $10 million dollars from Citi Bank in the USA through forty unlawful fund usage (Jones, DM 2004). Another institution which has had to face the impact of cyber crimes in terms of economic losses is the stock market where traders trade online.Company information (functioning in L. A. ) available to individuals has been misused where wrong information was posted onto the internet leading to stock price increase and hence investors all over the world were affected (ibid). Types of cyber crimes and their impacts According to David Carter’s research (Grabosky, P 2005), there are three acts which can be labeled as cyber crime; entering into some one’s computer through illegal means and mishandling or damaging data, doing something illegal through means of the net or computer like piracy and thirdly, usage of computers to store some illegal information.Cyber crimes that generally take place within an organization take place through emails, viruses transferred through email or through software being used by the company, access to company database for employee or customer information (Nag, D & Bajaj, K 2005). Further detailed classifications of cyber crimes and how they affect organizations is explained below: Fraud in telecom services: Such a crime is committed by gaining access to the organizations switchboard and making use of call time.Not only does this cause the organization to be expensed with the bill worth the talk time used, is also a hassle for the individual subscribers using that particular service for instance an engineer in India was caught thieving hundre d Internet hours from a particular customer (Grabosky, P 2005). Criminals of such sort also gain access to calling card data for customers and hence they can make their calls on the expense of the customers who then have to pay larger bills and in return blame the company for poor device (ibid).Hacking into computers to gain access to data: Hacking into company data which is password protected is another form of cyber crime that is very common. This has caused the most extensive damage to organizations especially organizations which mostly deal in financial data example banks. For instance, the accountant of a bank who is computer literate can gain access to finances of the bank and transfer funds in his name causing economic losses to the his organization (Cross, F 2007)Cyber Terrorists: There work is very much similar to the terrorists that are a threat to national and international security of an individual nation and global relations. Cyber terrorists pose a threat to the nation al security of organizations by accessing into the central processing system (Cross, F 2007). This is particularly useful for business competitors to gain access to their competitors’ financial or future plans and monitor their activities to gain competitive edge (ibid).Piracy issues and counterfeiting: Reproducing products or services of various businesses without legal rights is another classic case of cyber crime. This is most extensively found in the media industry where movies are pirated without any legal rights and sold at even lower prices This has served as a problem for media producers example the movie â€Å"The world is not enough† starring James Bond was distributed over the internet even before it was available for public by the officials (Grabosky, P 2005). Implications for businesses: what businesses need to do?Cyber crime activities have caused losses of millions of dollars for companies however many companies do not prefer to report such incidents due to protection of their reputation and hence the data on cyber crimes is still incomplete (Grabosky, P 2005). The massive exploitation of these crimes has led businesses to take action. Global organization are making use of further technology to strengthen their systems of information sharing such as their data bases which contains customer information and financial data.Focus is now on IT itself to develop such products, services and solutions that do not promote the risk of cyber thefts and frauds (Edin, M 2002) Along with the governments of various nations coupled with investments from individual organizations in the corporate world, efforts are being made create more secure systems that could prevent cyber crimes (ibid). Venture in IT infrastructure and security According to a report of the Internet association Industry in Australia, on an average thirty five different cyber crime attempts are made on an individual organization’s system (Grabosky, P 2005).One of the great est actions that companies have now started to take is focus on their IT teams in order to build a strong and secure network and data base. This team must not only focus on building an internal secure system but also focus on cross border security as most businesses now function globally (ibid). Investing money in infrastructure and training related to IT development against cybercrime protection is becoming a necessity for all organizations and this investment is no longer considered to be an expense (Edin, M 2002).Such work was once and still is considered by some organizations as a function of purely IT engineers however this is not the case. As discussed how threatening the consequences of cyber frauds can be for any business, whether functioning online in a physical environment, it is important that a collaborative effort of all members of the organization is made to avoid these risks (Edin, M 2002).With this, development of a new concept has emerged; â€Å"cyber space securit y† (Smith, A 2004) which focuses on protecting not only business systems but also consumer information. Access to consumer information like their pin number and account information in a bank means risk of losing their money if their personal information is lost. Assessing financial impact of cyber frauds Another important analysis being conducted by companies across the world is the cost of security frauds being carried out within their organizations (Cashell, B et.Al. 2004). Such an analysis provides the companies with the facts of how risky such crime attacks can be for them in terms of risks of information sharing with competitors, risk of alteration of consumer perceptions (Smith, A 2004) and risk of economic losses (Miller, R 2007) being incurred by the firm I case of the system being damaged and information extracted. The fact that these frauds and thefts have led to losses in monetary terms has generated the focus of the organizations in this regard.According to survey conducted by a computer science institute, there has been an increase in financial losses reported by organizations due to cyber fraud in US in the past three consecutive years. Every year the percentage increase in frauds rises. According to that survey, corporations are not able to comprehend the danger that such frauds expose the organizations to and hence they misjudge the consequences (â€Å"Cyber crime bleeds US corporations: Financial losses from attacks climb for three years in a row† as reported in Koletar, J 2003).The increase in such acts has not only forced businesses but also government of individual nations to act to promote business especially that of e-commerce. The IT Act introduced in India in the year 2000, also incorporated certain activities related to cyber crime in e-commerce business and activities such as hacking into computer systems, affecting privacy of consumer information and disrupting computer system encryptions and codes (Nag, D & Bajaj, K 200 5). The basic reason was to instill trust amongst customers of e-commerce.The use of Internet is a two way tunnel for organizations. They must it to enhance relations with business partners, suppliers and customers. At the same time, it has given a chance to hackers for committing crimes of mass scale that require the attention of policymakers in the organization and individual employees too (Salifu, A 2008). Thus internet frauds have become a problem not only for the developing nations who face a shortage of technological skills but en the developed world (ibid). ConclusionSumming up the former discussion leads us to a conclusion that cyber frauds and risks have increased with the level of globalization and thus pose major threats to international business in the form of information loss, access of grave information by the wrong hands, threats to intellectual property right and to business operations, financial losses and wrong information being leaked out regarding a certain compa ny (Edin, M 2002). With the development of global business, more data is transferred and shared online through electronic means and hence cyber fraud has been motivated to a dangerous level.The threat of such risks has lead businesses and even governments to develop solutions ensuring that customer and company information I not leaked out and does not reach the wrong hands. Companies are focusing on developing risk management solutions and are â€Å"digitizing† (Edin, M, 2002, p. 17) their systems introducing stronger security checks and encryptions to protect the company against cyber frauds. Bibliography Cashell, B, Jackson, WD & Jickling, M, Webel, B 2004, Economic Impact of Cyber attacks, Congressional Research Service, Retrieved from scholar.google. com, Retrieved on 8th April 2010 Chamely, H 2003, Cybercrime and Society, Geo-Sciences, Environment and Man, Retrieved from books. google. com, Retrieved on 8th April 2010 Cross, F & Miller, R 2007, West’s legal enviro nment of business, 6th edition, Cengage Learning, Thomson West, USA Edin, M, Smith, B & Chiozza, E 2002, Challenges and Achievements in E-business and E-work, IOS Press, Netherlands Gobrasky, P & Broadhurst, R 2005 (eds), Cyber Crime: The challenge in Asia, Hong Kong University Press Jones, DM 2004 (ed.), Globalization and the new terror, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, UK Koletar, J 2003, Fraud exposed, John Wiley and Sons Inc , New Jersey. Miller, R and Jentz, G 2007, Fundamentals of business law, 2nd edition, South Western Cengage Learning, USA Nag, D & Kamlesh, B 2005, E-commerce, the cutting edge of business, Tata McGraw Hill, India Salifu, A, 2008, The impact of internet crime on development, Journal of Financial Crime, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 432-443. Smith, A 2004, Cybercriminal impacts on online business and consumer confidence, Online Information Review, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 224-234.

Company Analysis of General Electric Essay

Running a company often centers on the idea of considering both positive and negative factors in order to then hand down executive decisions accordingly. To best understand the strengths and weakness of any given company, one must understand its base operations and the scope of industry in which the firm exists. In doing so, one would have a bigger picture of how the company operates and how success has been fostered in, as well as highlight in areas in which the organization could stand to see improvement. In this vein, a full analysis of General Electric was conducted, which includes an overview of the company including background and position in the manufacturing industry, as well as insight into the company’s management structure. Additionally, the company’s financials will be examined so that a recommendation can be made. Overview of Company According to the company website (2014) General Electric’s slogan is â€Å"Imagination at Work† and to this extent, the organization has been fostering in imagination for quite some time. According to the research, the company was founded in 1878 by Thomas Edison in Menlo Park. Edison is most notable for inventing the light bulb, and as such, this corporation is one of the largest companies on Earth more than a hundred years later (General Electric, 2014). After getting its start in the 1800s the company, being a leader in the industry of manufacturing and resting solely on the idea of innovation and inventions, began to manufacture different items across a wide variety of industries. According to the GE company website (2014) these inventions were primarily Edison’s own, and by the early 1900s the company, even against the Great Depression, the organization continued to make appliances for the home, delved into aviation technology, and began to further expand into new markets. As the research notes, because of this the company began to break up into several subdivisions such as GE Consumer Finance or GE energy in order to fully control its wide scope of offerings (General Electric, 2014). By the 2000s, the corporate website notes that the company further expanded into new markets, both online and for various infrastructures and industries around the world. Today, the company has  also delved into clean energy technology and pulls in an estimated $2 billion for electronics and home appliance sales alone (General Electric, 2014). Management Structure Looking to research conducted by Abetti (2011) one can see that the organization has one of the most complex management structures of all major conglomerates. In addition, as the company website (2014) points out, this structure has been in effect since the 1920s and instead of reevaluating this system; the company has only expanded upon it. According to Abetti (2011) at the top of the management structure, governing all areas is the Chairman and CEO, as well as the board of directors. Next, according to the research are two specific divisions: external and internal company functions. Internally, the company has global research, human resources, and its finance department, while externally; the company has commercial and public relations, business development, and its legal department. As noted by the company website (2014) next the company has its specific divisions or sectors, which this breakup is most notable for. These are as followed: Global Growth and Operations, Energy, Capital, home and Business Solutions, Healthcare, Aviation, and Transportation. It should be noted that each of these organizations exist as their own subdivision and entity, following the GE name. For instance, there is GE Energy, GE Home & Business Solutions, and so forth. This kind of management structure is beneficial to the company in two different ways. To start, it allows the organization to have each subdivision hand down its own division and be more or less contained within its own scope of industry, however, it also ensures that a high level of guidance will still ensure that upper-management is still well aware of what kind of decisions and operations these subdivisions will invest into. In this vein, according to research that has been conducted by Souraj (2010) each of these divisions utilize a lean manufacturing type of approach in order to ensure that all waste is eliminated and the sectors are utilizing the resources to the fullest. This ensures that the company is being cost effective in its approach and it allows the company to be innovative, without creating the potential problem of being extremely wasteful, which would then cut back on the organization’s profitability (Souraj, 2010). Moreover, each division also utilizes a six sigma approach in order to achieve near perfection. Essentially, this process rests on considering how each sector is doing in its own industry. For instance, despite the fact that GE Energy has seen slowed economic growth, this does not mean that GE Home & Business Solutions has as well. As such, utilizing a six sigma approach will allow the organization to consider the needs and goals of GE Energy before planning for solutions accordingly. Financial Overview According to research that has been drafted by Abetti (2011) by the year 2000 â€Å"General Electric was the world’s most valuable company with a market capitalization of $520 billion.† However, as the research points out, by 2008, after the U.S. recession led to a national economic downtown this figure had fallen 69% percent to $163 billion (Abetti, 2011). In addition, the global financial system has been equally a cause of concern and if one can consider the U.S. economic downturn the cause of the decrease in market capitalization, the world’s economy is the factor that has kept the company’s overall financial state lower than usual (Abetti, 2011). Although, the research points out that the organization has began to see a small increase, and thus, the company has hopes that these numbers will turn around, growth and expansion has not been seen as it had prior to 2008 (Abetti, 2011). This is largely attributed to the belief that the world’s financial system will see an upwards swing as a natural flow and with the idea that expansion can be considered a way for the company to cut back losses in some areas, while gaining them in others. According to research conducted by Abetti (2011) this line of thinking will not lead to the company to success and instead the company should â€Å"go back to GE’s traditional core competencies and divest non-core businesses.† Moreover, the company should also expand its globalization efforts, rebuild trust between employees and the company, strengthen financial and auditing function authority, and continue to invest in R & D. Although, many of these considerations are subjective, they bear a great deal of consideration when examining the company’s financials going forward. Conclusion General Electric remains one of the largest companies in the world, despite some of the misgivings mentioned previously. The company has a number of strengths including a diverse portfolio, existing in a wide range of industries, and its ability to be industry-leaders when it comes to innovation and gauging what products will be a success in the future. With this in mind, however, one recommendation that can be made to the company, based on the available research is for the organization to focus on current offerings, rather than continue to seek after non-traditional competencies. Moreover, the company must consider R & D efforts in order to continue to be the forbearers in innovation and creativity. Doing so will open the company to new markets, rather than the company attempting to slip into them and then compete with others in the market as a smaller entrant. If the company commits to these factors than there remains little doubt that General Electric will go back to being one of the world’s most valuable and innovative companies. References Abetti, P.A. (2011). General Electric at the crossroads: the end of the last US conglomerate? International Journal of Technology Management, 54(4), 345-368. General Electric. (2014). From Inspiration to Industry. Retrieved from http://www.ge.com/about-us/history/1878-1904. Souraj, S. (2010). The integration of Six Sigma and Lean Management. International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, 2040-4166.

Human Memory and Knowledge Construction: Increases in Student Learning Essay

It is essential to help students effectively store and retrieve information from their long-term memory. Human memory is related to the way information is received, interpreted, stored, and retrieved. In short, information is brought into the sensory register. The stimulus then moves into the working memory and is then stored in the long-term memory. An understanding of Piaget’s theory of knowledge construction helps teachers to guide meaningful lessons and conversations that maximize student learning. It is therefore crucial that teachers understand human memory and learning as well as strategies to enhance these aspects in the classroom to support student learning. An understanding of memory is essential for teaching students. Memory is the process of storing and retrieving information and behaviors. Human memory has several components that are essential for effective storage and retrieval. Storage is the process of taking what was presented and placing it in a location in the brain’s storage space for later retrieval. Retrieval is the process of recalling the information that was previously stored. One way to think about this part of memory is to think of the brain like a file system. Although it is not entirely accurate, this analogy works to describe parts of the storage and retrieval process. In this way, the brain is like a filing cabinet. There are files for many concepts and the information is stored according to these files. This is a person’s schema; Schema is an organized set of information about a topic. For example, a person could have a schema for beaches. This schema would contain information such as white sand, the sound of seagulls, and tide pools. If this was a file system, there would be a file labeled beaches, and inside of that file would be information, pictures, and memorabilia related to beaches. One way that human memory is different from a filing system is that one piece of information could be stored in connection to more than one schema. One way to think about this is like a web, where the central idea is in the center, and ideas and information come from the center into sub categories. These subcategories can also have other subcategories, and can be connected to other ideas and concepts. Retrieval is related to the filing system, also. In this way, when a person is looking for information, they go to the file where the information is stored and pull out what they need. When a person is retrieving information for their memory, they use retrieval cues in a similar manner. Retrieval cues are stimuli that help people recall information. This too is related to a person’s schema as well as the web analogy. In this way, when a person smells a certain scent, like pine trees, they pull forward all the schemas that contain the smell of pine trees. This allows the brain to go through a smaller amount of stored information for a faster retrieval. In this example, schemas of Christmas, the woods, and grandma’s house may be brought forward. When information is not stored in an appropriate schema, retrieval is more difficult and slower than if it were stored in a memorable place. This is important for student education and the teaching process. It is important for teachers to help students to store information learned in class in order to improve retrieval and make connections across schemas. There are three places that a stimulus can go. The first is the sensory register. This is where the brain decides whether or not the stimulus is necessary for a person to consciously consider. This means that some things make it to the working memory and some things are ignored. This is important because people are exposed to many stimuli at the same time and if attention was paid to all of them, the person would not be able to concentrate on any given stimulus. This is often a large problem for students with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Students who have ADD are viewed as being unable to concentrate on their school work. The actual problem is that students with ADD are paying attention to many stimuli making it difficult to concentrate on a single stimulus. Students who have ADD often have trouble with their sensory register because it does not ignore the unnecessary stimuli of their surroundings, such as noise in the hallway, leaves quivering on a tree outside, or the sound of a noisy heater. Once a stimulus has been deemed worthy of consideration by the sensory register it moves into the working memory. This is where meaningful thinking occurs and connections are made, before the information is stored in the long term memory. This is where students need help making sense of information. The working memory is like a Post-it note. The initial idea is placed on the Post-it. Information can then be added to the Post-it, attached to other Post-its, or moved to another place to make a connection. Students need to be guided to make connections and understand the presented information. Long term memory is where the information is stored for later retrieval. Once a person has processed the information in the working memory and made connections to prior knowledge and experiences, the brain then stores the information accordingly. Effective storage requires that the information is stored according to schemas for retrieval. For example, when I was traveling in Misiones, Argentina, I came across a strange animal. Looking at this animal, it looked like a mix of a raccoon and an anteater. It had a long tail like a lemur and sat like a bear cub. Later I discovered that this animal is called a Coatà ­. The Coatà ­, therefore, is stored in my long term memory, in relation to schemas about Misiones, Argentina, animals, and tropical forests. In chapter two of Ormrod’s (2012) book, Essentials of Educational Psychology Big Ideas to Guide Effective Teaching, Ormrod describes three processes for effectively storing information in long term memory. These processes will be discussed in relation to the case study. The case study involved a teacher, Mrs. Dennison, and her class, as they discovered endangered species. Mrs. Dennison uses many different techniques to help her students to learn this material. The first process is elaboration. This is where the receiver takes the information that they have been presented with and supplements it with realistic hypotheses to more deeply understand the concept. These hypotheses come from relationships with other prior knowledge. Ms. Dennison shows the class a video to introduce the concept of endangered species. She begins with a video on manatees. This is an unfamiliar topic for students. She then guides the students through questioning, to elaborate on the presented information. The students are then able to make connections to what they already know about animals. For example, Ms. Dennison asks â€Å"is the manatee like anything you’ve ever seen before?† and â€Å"How big is the manatee compared to you?† She also asks her students how they think that manatees swim and later asks why manatees do not live as far north as Canada. The second process is organization. The process of organization is where a person makes connections between ideas. Under the umbrella of endangered species, Ms. Dennison introduces manatees. She then introduces loggerhead turtles. Using a matrix, Ms. Dennison guides her students to comparing and contrasting the two endangered animals. She also does this using the maps. This map shows the overlap of the habitats of the two animals and also where the loggerhead turtle can live that manatees cannot. The final storage process suggested by Ormrod is visual imagery. This process involves a person creating a picture in his or her mind either from the way he or she imagines it looks or from being exposed to images of the concept. Ms. Dennison helps her students to use this process by using videos and images. In the beginning of the unit, Ms. Dennison uses a video on manatees to introduce students to manatees and endangered species. She asks students to relate what the manatee looked like in the video to something else that they had seen before. She shows a video about loggerhead turtles as well as tapes a picture of the loggerhead turtle in the description column of the matrix. Ms. Dennison used these strategies for storing information in conjunction with the three component memory system. Initially the information is brought into the sensory register. This comes from the videos. The information is deemed as important and therefore moves to the working memory. To help students take the information from the sensory register to the working memory, the teacher asks students to make observations. Here the teacher guides the students to organize and elaborate on the information to be stored in long term memory. The teacher helps the students to make connections to prior knowledge, create new knowledge through hypotheses, and organize the information for effective storage and retrieval. She does this through class discussions, the use of the matrix and map, and making meaningful connections to the things the students were already familiar with. The teacher leads the students to move the information from the working memory to the long-term memory. By helping students to organize the information into appropriate schemas, the teacher helps the students to successfully store the information into their long-term memory. She is doing this by using the matrix and maps as well as comparing and contrasting the animals. She also helps the students to practice their retrieval skills when she asks them to recall the previously discussed definitions such as habitat. The methods used by Ms. Dennison will be effective for long-term memory storage and successful retrieval because she uses all three methods for long-term memory storage. She helps the students to create meaningful connections allowing the information to be stored in many different schemas. She also helped students to create their own schema for endangered species. Within that schema, using the matrix, classroom discussions, and map, she is able to guide students to create subcategories of the schema for each animal as well as the environmental implications. The systemized organization of the schema will help students perform effective and efficient retrieval for future reference. Piaget, a researcher from Switzerland, devoted his life to understanding the way children develop cognitively. Piaget’s theory of knowledge construction is based in the notion that children are motivated to learn by disequilibrium. Piaget explained that when a student is in disequilibrium he or she feels uncomfortable and needs to return to equilibrium. This shift is made through accommodation and assimilation. Assimilation is when a person takes an unknown stimulus and fits it to an existing schema. For example, when a young child is presented with an unknown animal, such as a zebra, he or she is in disequilibrium because he or she is unsure what kind of animal it is. After observing the zebra, the child discovers that the zebra has many characteristics of a horse. In order to get back into equilibrium, the child decides that the zebra is a horse. Here the child assimilates the information into the existing schema of horse. Accommodation is when a person creates a new schema or reorganizes an existing schema to harbor the new information. Returning to the child who sees a zebra for the first time, to accommodate this new animal into a schema the child decides that the zebra is not a horse but a new animal all together. The child then creates a new schema for zebras that contains information regarding how the zebra is similar to and different than a horse. Piaget’s theory of knowledge construction is apparent in the case study. Ms. Dennison recognizes that because of the geographic location of her students, manatees, loggerhead turtles, and other endangered species may not be something that the students are familiar with, thus causing disequilibrium. In order to help her students to get back into equilibrium Ms. Dennison helps her students to accommodate the information. One way that she does this is by asking the student to relate the manatee to something that they are familiar with. Keri suggests that a manatee is like a cow. Being from Wisconsin, this is something that many students can relate to. Ms. Dennison explains that manatees are often called sea cows. If she would have stopped the discussion there students may have assimilated the information. She does not, however. Instead, she discusses the differences between manatees and cows with the students. One example is that cows have legs and manatees do not. This leads students to accommodate the new information; This helps students to create a new schema for manatees. This brings students back to equilibrium. She then discusses the characteristics and habitat of manatees and organizes this information into a matrix. The students are then able to add this information to their new schema. This organization will help students to retrieve the information later. There are other strategies that would be helpful for Ms. Dennison to use that would help to increase her students’ learning, as suggested by Ormrod. One thing that she could do would be to suggest mnemonics for information that may be difficult to remember later. One example of a mnemonic that she could use in this unit would be HIPPO. This acronym is used to remember the causes of extinction for animals. It stands for habitat, introduction of an exotic species, pollution, population, and over consumption. Another way that Ms. Dennison could help her students would be to provide a hands-on experience to relate to the concept. This could be done within this unit by having students think of ways to conserve their environment, raise money to save a species, or write letters to government officials expressing their concern about the wellbeing of the species. Human memory has many aspects. Storage and retrieval are both essential in this process. The use of schemas can improve storage and retrieval. The three-component model of memory is a good descriptor of the process. A stimulus is initially taken into the sensory register, when it is deemed important the stimuli then moves into the working memory where it is organized, interpreted, and connected to other prior knowledge. The information is then stored in long-term memory, where it awaits retrieval. There are three significant processes that are useful for storing information in long-term memory: organization, elaboration, and visual imagery. Piaget’s theory of knowledge construction is an essential understanding for teachers to perceive student learning through accommodation and assimilation as students move from disequilibrium to equilibrium. There are many strategies that help students effectively learn, store, and retrieve information. It is imperative that teachers help students to complete this process in order for meaningful learning to take place. References Ormrod, J. (2012). Learning, cognition, and memory. In Essentials of educational psychology: big ideas to guide effective teaching (3rd ed., pp. 16-55). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

African history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

African history - Essay Example Ethiopian Christianity endured but did not expand missionary vision elsewhere in Africa or beyond. The 7th century saw retreatment of Christianity under the advance of Islam. However, it remained the chosen religion in Ethiopia and most of the North Africa regions (Olupona 95). Furthermore, the arrival of Portuguese in 15th introduced Christianity in the Sub-Saharan Africa. In 1652, the Dutch founded the beginnings of the Dutch Reform Church in the South of the Africa. In the rest of Africa, Christianity did not spread much in the 18th century. Rulers in the West Africa mildly received Christianity, seeing it as something to supplement their religions. Later, these rulers grew hostile when told they had to make a choice to take Christianity or traditional religion. South Africa had greater Christian Missionary activity. In 1737, the Moravian Brethren of Eastern Europe a mission and in 1799, the London Missionary Society followed their traditional religions until the 19th Century. At this time, Christian missionaries in Africa were driven by antislavery crusade and the Europeans interest of colonizing Africa. In areas where people had already converted to Islam, Christianity had little success. Missionaries who came in 19th century, hoping to convert the lo cal people, found the natives practicing their own Africanized Christianity (Olupona 100). The difference between the eastern (Swahili) and the western coasts of Africa as noted by early Portuguese explorers was very clear. This is because, in terms of city and empire configurations, the East Coast was subdivided up into three sections, that is, Barbar which was the horn of Africa’s Cushitic-speaking inhabitants, Zandj; which is found between the Lamu archipelago and the coastal point opposite Zanzibar and Sofala found between south of Zanzibar and southern Mozambique. Most of these coastal settlements appointed chiefs, either Arabs or Persians. The inter-mixing and

Loan modification rules Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Loan modification rules - Essay Example The Home Affordable Modification Program The Home Affordable Modification Program is intended to help as many as 3 to 4 million economically stressed homeowners prevent foreclosure by altering mortgage loan payments that is reasonable (â€Å"Home Affordable Modification Program†). The program attempts to alter the mortgage payment to 31% of the homeowner’s monthly income. Reducing the mortgage payment to 31% of pretax income is achieved first by having the interest rate for the mortgage decreased to as low as 2%. The second step will be to lengthen the term of the loan to 40 years and if the payment still has not reached the targeted threshold, the lender can withhold principal and charge interest on a part of the loan. Qualifications The qualifications to decrease the monthly mortgage payment to 31% of the homeowner’s income are uniform throughout the mortgage industry. The Home Affordable Modification Program offers homeowner’s mortgage payment changes i f they are have trouble making mortgage payments because of a hardship.

Goal for the Case Study Assessment Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Goal for the Case Study Assessment - Coursework Example Some of the interventions undertaken include teaching directly to him and practicing with long patterns of vowels and having Chris to read short passages loudly daily to work on his fluency. Goal: Given a level 2 expository text, Chris would be in a position to read fluently at an 80WPM rate with a total accuracy of 90% to 93% on two out of the three tries measured by the QRI-5 by the time the year ends. Goal: Given an expository prompt of writing, Chris will comfortably move up[ from level to three and above on proper organization by using a proper structure of the text to help in answering the writing prompt measured by beginners writing continuum rubric. Objective: when writing his expository paper, Chris will use various graphic organizers as a pre-writing organizer to identify correctly the prompt’s text structure 2 out of the three consecutive opportunities (Brown-Chidsey & Andren,  2013).

Critical Evaluation and Application for the Anaesthesia and Post Anaes Assignment

Critical Evaluation and Application for the Anaesthesia and Post Anaesthesia Practice - Assignment Example The search was limited to the article that was published within the last five years in order to obtain the latest study that has been done on anesthesia practices. Moreover, the research settled on articles that were published in English because the language is easy and convenient to understand. From 102 articles, 6 articles were analyzed in relation to the study of anesthesia (Halligan 2003, p. 671) Additionally, the literature reviews help in determining how these two clinical instruments may influence the performance of all the involved experts, particularly anesthetist among other clinical technicians. The framework by Moule et al. (2003, p. 201) for critical appraisal of the article will be used to follow logical guidance process towards critical review (Appendix3). The paper is completed by analyzing the Kauffman et al (2013, p. 302) study on pediatric anesthesia (Appendix 2). The research also reviews other secondary data with the intention of understanding other author’s ideas on pediatric anesthesia. The study population selected for this study consisted of 100 pediatric patients who were less than seven years of age. These children were to undergo elective surgery with endotracheal intubation (Rose 2009, p. 665). The study excluded patients having the previous history of mask ventilation or intubation since these sets of patients are usually exposed to anesthesia medical practices. Other exclusion criteria included a Cormack and Lehane grade of >2 during the direct laryngoscopy DL with the main aim of determining equality of visualization, particularly of the larynx. Similarly, patients who had higher risk classification more than ASA II were also excluded from the research (Divatia and Bhowmick, 2005, p. 315). Therefore, the study requires the application of the technique on pediatric and infant cases which show difficulty in intubation, or that show deviance from  normal laryngeal anatomy (Divatia and Bhowmick, 2005, p. 89). Visualization in such cases is crucial, and methodology suggested in this study can be of extreme benefit in clinical practice.  

None Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

None - Essay Example In order to understand the poem properly, one needs to pay attention to its key words. According to Elizabeth Bishop, every word in poetry matters. The need for close poetry reading reading is conditioned by the value of each meaning for the general picture (Bishop). Since there are not many words in each poem, one needs to have a clear understanding of every word used by poets in their woks. Aftermath by Longfellow consists of only two stanzas; the word choices are very accurate and clear. The title is crucial in this case so it is necessary to define what aftermath means and research the etymology of this word. In the Online Etymology Dictionary, it is stated that the origin of the word aftermath dates back to 1520-s. It meant â€Å"a second crop of grass grown after the first had been harvested † and consisted of two parts after + an Old English word mà ¦Ãƒ ° that was defines as cutting grass (â€Å"Aftermath†). The figurative meaning of this word appeared later in 1650-s. Contrary to this original meaning, now aftermath is defines as â€Å"the consequences of significant unpleasant event† in the Oxford Dictionary. Obviously, Longfellow uses both meanings to intensify the overall impression after reading the poem and give readers a hint about its content. The first line of the poem underpins the etymology of the word aftermath, â€Å"When the su mmer fields are mown† (Longfellow). In the next line Longfellow moves to a short description of the next season, â€Å"When the birds are fledged and flown† (Longfellow). The word fledged means that birds have already grown up and their wings are ready to fly long distances. With the next line â€Å"And the dry leaves strew the path† readers understand that the poet talks about autumn when nature fades out and birds fly away to warmer places (Longfellow). The transformation of nature is continued further in the next lines where the fields covered with snow continue the cycle of lead to new grass and its

Ebusiness Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ebusiness - Research Paper Example II. Competitor assessment The nearest competitor of the business is Dell Computers that also allow customization of personal computers to some extent. Dell Computers however rely too much on its own brand and suppliers that charge premium prices which is its disadvantage. This is where the business will position against Dell Computers to gain market share. The company will customize computers at a much lower cost because the parts that will make up the assembled computers will be coming from different suppliers affording customers greater latitude in terms specification and price. Other popular brands that sells online are also competitors but serves a different niche of customers who are not into customization of budget computers and such, not direct competitors. The traditional brick and mortar computer stores are also competitors only that the company can readily beat them in terms of price due to company’s lower overhead cost. III. Online marketing strategy The best way to gain market share is to differentiate from other competitors and serve a particular niche. In case of the proposed company, the product will cater to two types of customer. First, the technical users who would like to customize the performance of their computers. Second, the budget conscious users or business that are looking for ways on how to save on their computer purchase To be able to reach this target customers, the company must be able attract their attention. This can be done in several ways. First, the company can post ads in technical websites such as PC magazine, or even business websites such as The Economist where a link in such sites can land to the company’s homepage. It can also advertise with Google and even Amazon. Initially, it may suffice that the target customers has been informed of the company’s presence. But succeding marketing efforts should translate these product awareness into sales. Second, the company can sponsor popular blogs for review of certain computer parts that would lead the customers to visit the company’s website in their effort to know more about the product. If they are interested with the particular product, they can order it right there and then increasing the company’s sales. The company can also offer free online publication to those who would visit and register in the website to keep in touch with these potential customers. IV. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Strategy There are several methods to optimize SEO for the site that would increase traffic and eventually to an increased sales. First, key words that is best associated with the company such as customized computers, computers, pc etch that would link popular search engines such as google, yahoo, bing etch to the site due to the usage of spiders that associate certain words to certain website. V. Social media integration Social media integration is now a need for business especially for online businesses where it has to make its presence felt by the customers. It also serves as a free advertisement of the company and can be taken as an extension of its official website where customers can inquire or look for information. Facebook would be an ideal venue because of its universal appeal. Twitter can be used for short

Race in Turn of the Century America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Race in Turn of the Century America - Essay Example The racial discrimination has been in the society and continues to be the main problem in the society. Racial discrimination is still prevalent in the American society as witnessed by some of the comments aired after the re-election of president Obama. Discrimination may not be at a high magnitude as it as in the 1900s, but still exists in the society in a minimal form (University, US Immigration). Discrimination and immigrants The slavery and colonial era led to the development of the legally sanctioned racism which impacted negatively in the society especially on the African American, Native Americans, Asian Americans and Latin American. The law offered the privilege to the Europeans Americans in issues of education, immigration, citizenship and voting rights. Additionally, the ownership rights were also a privilege for the European Americans. The legal protection led to increased discrimination of population based on race. The criminal procedures over the 17th century to the 20th century treated the Anglo European American better while discriminating other races. Many races suffered xenophobic exclusion and segregation in the American society. The laws encourage the discrimination based on the race by treating the white or Anglo European immigrants as better citizens than the natives. These laws made it impossible for immigrant of other descend to obtain the necessary services that they require, leading to a serious problem in the process especially when handling issues of equity in the population. The failure to address the various issues was spearheaded by the discriminatory laws developed to protect the right of the Anglo European Americans (University, Imperialism, 2010). The role of the bill of rights The bill of rights was initially applied to the federal government, but has been held to apply to the other states. The change was achieved through the fourteenth amendment. 10 amendments of the constitution that is collective referred to the bill of right s occurred in December 15th 1791. The amendments captured issues of freedom of speech religion and association, rights to keep and bear arms, and conditions for quarters among of the soldiers. Rights of search and seizure was also regulated (Burgan, 2006). The unnecessary searches by police and arrests were regulated by the amendments of the bill of rights. Additionally, the amendments were influential in the defining the bill of rights of the citizens. Initially, the bill protected only the American white farmers, by offering protection to their land and property until amended by James Madison and the United States Congress. The ten amendments helped in the development of the new way of protecting citizens rights (Patterson, 2004). An amendment to be evaluated is the provisions concerning prosecution, right to a speedy trial, right to trial by a jury, excessive bail and cruel punishment, rule of construction of the constitution and Rights of states under the constitution. The role of unions in equity development The formation of workers union and the relationship with the employers has changed significantly. During the 1900s, when the book was written, employers would shut down their plan if workers chose to unionize. Employers could make it difficult for those individuals to get work or even get hours during the work. Had Wagner Act existed, the problem could have been solved through empowering the unions

Old Testament Literary Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Old Testament Literary Analysis - Research Paper Example As the symbol of the Israelite’s enemies, Goliath is represented as being the taunt of the Israelites; Goliath also is against the God of the Israelites and he actually cursed David by his gods. Goliath believed that physical strength is all what matters and he was sure of killing David and giving his flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the world. On the other hand, David is presented in this narrative as a symbol of faith, trust, and loyalty to the living God of the Israelites. And through this faithfulness, David managed to defeat Goliath, the enemy of the Israelites. The main insight that I gain from this narrative is that, David’s God, Yahweh, is indeed the true God and that Yahweh protects and saves His people. This is because, through his faith in Yahweh, David managed to kill Goliath, who was far stronger to David physically in every respect. The defeat of Goliath, the symbol of the Philistines, is a proof that yeah is the true God. The second major literary feature used in this narrative is metaphor. In this narrative, Goliath asks David while taunting him, â€Å"Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks†1. In this question, dog is used as a metaphor of a weak and helpless person who can easily be beaten to submission by his enemy. This metaphor helps to bring out clearly how David’s weapons were so inferior to the weapons of Goliath. Through this metaphor I learn that it is possible to overcome any manner of challenge in life, as long as we rely on Yahweh, the God of David. David overcame the great challenge ahead of him through very simple weapons because he had faith in Yahweh. One of the main interpretative problem in this narrative is in reconciling 1Samuel 17: 55-58, with 1 Samuel 16:21-22. In 1Samuel 17: 55-58, King Saul did not know the identity of David, and he actually asked Abner, the commander of the Israelites army, whom the father of David was. The main

Walden Two by B.F. Skinner Essay Example for Free

Walden Two by B.F. Skinner Essay B. F Skinner published Walden Two in 1948. The novel takes place in the United States shortly after the end of World War II. Rodge Rogers, whose first name is not given and Steve Jamnik became friends while serving in the military during the war. After the war, they find that it is difficult to return to a normal life, Jamnik and I are like a lot of other young people right now. We cant make up our minds. We dont know what we want to do (Skinner, 1948, p. 7). In an attempt to find the life they want to lead they visit Professor Burris, one of Rodges former professors, to discuss his ideas about utopia. Ironically Burris barely remembers mentioning the subject but finally recalls a fellow student he knew in graduate school named Frazier who had designed a utopian community named Walden Two. Burris contacts Frazier and arranges the three of them, as well as Castle, a colleague of Burris, Barbara Macklin, Rogers girlfriend, and Mary Grove, Jamniks girlfriend, to visit Walden Two (Skinner, 1948, pp. 7-15). When they arrive, Frazier shows them around the community and explains how it operates. They meet some of its approximate 1,000 inhabitants. The people appear to be happy. They live in communal quarters, share meals at communal dining halls and share the facilities of the community. Each of the adults works about four hours each day to provide for the needs of the community. They are not paid a salary because money is not used within Walden Two. The people in roles of leadership carefully monitor life in the community. If there is evidence suggesting a change should be made for the communitys good, it is made and its consequences carefully evaluated (Skinner, 1948). During their three-day visit, Burris and the others experience the community lifestyle. At the end of their visit, Steve Jamnik and Mary Grove love life at Walden Two so much the decide to stay. Rodge also likes the life there and wants to stay, but his girlfriend Barbara refuses to say so they both return to society. Castle likes nothing about Walden Two and returns to his regular lifestyle as a college professor. Professor Burris finds himself intrigued with life in the commune, but decides to return to his academic life. However, once he is at the station, he changes his mind and returns to Walden Two to live and gives up his life as a professor. I found this book disturbing, even threatening. As I read through the book, I found myself thinking of Orwells 1984 and Aldous Huxleys Brave New World. I felt like this even though 1984 wasnt published until the same year as Walden Two so it couldnt have influenced Skinners writing, and Skinner explicitly denies this with a vague reference to Huxleys work, I suppose you put phonographs in your dormitories which repeat I like to work in sewers. Sewers are lots of fun, said Castle. No, Walden Two isnt that kind of brave new world, said Frazier. We dont propagandize' (Skinner, 1948, p. 53). Although Walden Two was an insolated community, there is a latent undertone of expansion and trying to convert society as a whole to the Walden Two model. Castle argues with Frazier, Ill bet you have designs on the political machinery too . . . [youll] want to get the offices yourself, . . .. Yes, [Frazier responds] I must admit youre right. . . . As soon as were in the majority in any locality, we shall exercise our rights under a democratic form of government and take control' (Skinner, 1948, p. 231). As disturbing as the thought of communities such as Walden Two taking over the government is, this isnt really what disturbs me. Throughout the three-day visit, whenever anyone challenges Frazier about a point or questions something about the life in Walden Two, he always has what feels like a dispassionate, rehearsed response. Frazier is reminiscent of a used car salesmen who can deflect any criticism of the car he is trying to sell. He always has an answer at the ready that he delivers with a confidence and authority that appear to brush away the visitors objections as if they are unfounded and insignificant. It feels as if he is running a con game and the six visitors are the marks. According to Frazier Walden Two provides an ideal, satisfying lifestyle. It appears that all of the needs of Walden Twos inhabitants are provided with everything they need, they work only four hours per day, have recreation, and appear to have a great deal more freedom than people enjoy in the United States today. Despite this assurance, I would not want to live there. What Frazier has done has removed the individual person from consideration. There is a paternalistic quality that implies the managers of Walden Two know best and the inhabitants should just agree and enjoy the life there. In effect, Frazier/Skinner has reduced people to their basic responses to both internal and external stimuli. Of course this is precisely what Skinner, as a behaviorist, wants to do. For my part I prefer to think of myself as an adult person with a free will who takes an active part in living his own life. I would rather believe this, even if it is incorrect, than to submit to Skinners philosophy even if his theories were correct. References Skinner, B. F. (1948). Walden Two. New York: Macmillan.

Secondary Malignancies in Pediatric Population

Secondary Malignancies in Pediatric Population Secondary malignancies in pediatric population: a case series and literature review Introduction Advances in medical care therapies and early diagnosis has fulfilled the hope for normal life expectancy in many cancerous patients with a 5 year survival rate for at least 75% in childhood (1). Although expecting 70% long-term survive in children with diagnosed cancer, 60-70% of them will develop a consequential disability by the primary cancer treatment as a cost(2). Development of second cancer (a new cancer following the first after a complete treatment , whether the onset is in childhood or as an adult, however histologically different from the origin) is a grieving expected side- effect embracing 6% of all diagnosed cancers in Unites states (3), as a result of the carcinogenic effects of chemotherapy drugs and radiation on both normal and cancerous cells (4). When major risk factors for developing the secondary malignancies in childhood survivors such as the primary origin, early diagnosis , onset age, duration of therapy , dose received and familial history of the cancer are c onsidered , radiation associated solid tumors as well as hematologic malignancies account for the most probable types in secondary cancers (5-8). Despite the excellent prognosis for long-term survival in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia, retinoblastoma and Hodgkin lymphoma , radiation associated secondary solid tumors almost covers two-thirds of all cases in long term (4, 9, 10). The increased risk of the incidence persists for at least 30 years after the primary treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma (11). Chemotherapy agents, such as alkylating agents have been proposed to play role in secondary cancers incidence. Although studies in field of secondary cancers and their relationship with administered treatment protocols have been a field of interest for researchers, data regarding this topic is rather inconclusive because of variety of factors involved (12, 13). In present case series study, a series of pediatric secondary malignancies with different primary cancers and subsequent treatment protocol are presented. Methods: In this case series study, 11 samples were selected retrospectively from patients attending at Mahak Pediatric Cancer Treatment and Research Center (Tehran, Iran) from 2007 to 2016, who were diagnosed with a secondary cancer. All a patients had been already diagnosed with a primary cancer and had received standard treatment protocol of primary cancer. Clinical information was obtained by the authors or provided by referring physicians. Using patients records, past medical history, type of primary and secondary cancer including method of diagnosis, cumulative doses of cytotoxic drugs and treatment outcome was extracted. In case of any missing records, patients were contacted to acquire required data. All patients had already undergone required diagnostic modalities to diagnose malignancies properly. A literature search in Ovid, Medline and PubMed was carried out using the terms secondary cancer, chemotherapy and radiotherapy to provide enough material to discuss findings. A medical in formation scientist performed the literature retrieval and the initial screening of relevant studies. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 16. Quantitative data was expressed as mean  ± standard deviation and frequency (percentage). Case history Patients primary malignancies type and administered therapy are shown in Table 1. Patients Secondary cancer type and features of therapy administered is shown in Table 2. Patients No.1 was a 15 years old girl, who presented with pain in buttocks when she was 4 years old, then following bone marrow biopsy. She was first diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma. During 1 year of treatment, She underwent VAC/IE (vincristine (VCR) + doxorubicin (ADR) + cyclophosphamide (CPA) alternating with ifosfamide (IF) + etoposide) regimen. This treatment protocol led to complete remission. After 1 year, during a routine laboratory test, elevated levels of white blood cell was detected. Following flow-cytometry and cytogenetic studies, pre-B cell precursor ALL diagnosis was confirmed, which was associated with central nervous system involvement according to lumbar puncture examination. During 3 years, she was administered with X regimen. Also, complete CNS prophylaxis protocol was also administered. Complete remission was confirmed for her after treatment. During 6 years of follow-up, she has not had any signs of relapse. Patient No.2 was a 12 years old boy, who attended clinic presenting with balance disorder. Following 24-hour urine catecholamine test and MIBG scan neuroblastoma diagnosis was made. He underwent OPEC regimen (vincristine, cisplatin, etoposide and cyclophosphamide) and daunorubicin, which led to remission. When he was 6 years old, in a routine laboratory test, elevated white blood cells were detected. Flow-cytometry studies indicated ALL(L1), so the patient was administered with standard regimen and intrathecal chemotherapy. This treatment led to complete remission. During 2 years of follow-up patients has no sign of relapse. Patient No.3 was a 14 year old, who had first presented with headache. Following imaging, meduloblastoma diagnosis was made. After 10 months of chemotherapy and radiation, patient had complete remission. Patient had a history of heart failure. Two years later, an elevated white blood cells were detected in complete blood count. Flow-cytometry studies revealed non-M3 AML. Despite chemotherapy, patient was expired after 12 days of treatment initiation. Patients No.4 was 12 years old girl, who presented with intermittent coughs. So, bronchoscopy was performed, which revealed small cell lung tumor. She underwent 4 months of chemotherapy , radiotherapy and pulmonary lobectomy. During this period, when she had been receiving chemotherapy for 3 months, she presented altered level of consciousness. Following lumbar puncture and cerebrospinal fluid flowcytometry AML diagnosis was made. She underwent CNS prophylaxis. Despite 3 months of treatment, patient was expired. Patient No.5 is a 21 year old girl, who first presented with right sided pre-orbital swelling when she was 12 years old. Following biopsy, histiocytosis X diagnosis was made. After treatment she was in complete remission, but two years later a brain CT scan revealed signs of disease relapse. when 15 years old, due to the elevated white blood cells count and flow-cytometry AML(M1) diagnosis was made. Although patient underwent 2 years of chemotherapy, she did not continue the treatment process, so she was lost to follow-up. Patient No.6 is a 13 year old girl, who was first diagnosed with retinoblastoma when she was 4 months old. She underwent VEC (vincristine+etoposide+carboplatin) chemotherapy protocol and radiotherapy. Enucleation was performed for both eyes when she was 2 years old. At last, patient had complete remission. When she was 11 years old, she attended clinic with right-sided face pain. After biopsy, osteosarcoma diagnosis was made. She underwent MAP protocol (High-dose methotrexate, cisplatin, and doxorubicin), ifosfamide and etoposide for 40 weeks. After complete remission, she has had no sign of relapse so far. Patient No.7 is a 12 years old boy, who was first diagnosed with actrocytoma grade II-III shown as a supratentorial mass in brain imaging which was confirmed by biopsy. Then, patient underwent PCV (lomustine + procarbazine + vincristine) plus temozolomide protocol and radiotherapy. After 6 courses of chemotherapy, patients underwent gross total resection of tumor. One year after complete remission, patient presented with backache. Biopsy indicated gliosarcoma. So far patient has undergone radiotherapy and surgery, also he is still going through chemotherapy. Based on the literature review, Discussion Based on information from the U.S. Surveillance Epidemiology, about 16 percent of cancers are in persons with a prior history of cancer. It is thought that the main point behind this phenomenon is that patients after treatment of cancer, patients live long enough to have second cancer (14). But as matter of fact, the cancer experience does not finish as treatment does. Cancer and the administered treatment (including radiation, chemotherapy, surgery, hormonal therapy, and newer drug therapies) can affect almost every aspect of an individuals life. Besides, not considering the secondary cancers as a part of natural incidences of time course, secondary cancers might be due to the treatments received by the patients at time of primary cancer treatment (15). Most of the therapies used in cancer, aim at destroying cancerous cells by affecting their genetic structures, but in therapy process normal cell are also involved just as malignant cells. This involvement will consequently lead to a poptosis, mutation or recovery. Mutations are tried to be minimized by the corrective mechanisms defined in cells and immune system (16). When these mechanisms fail a newly established malignancy is unavoidable. Current study presents 7 patients with secondary cancers (5 hematological malignancies, 1 osteosarcoma and 1 gliosarcoma). All secondary malignancies in current study had mesanchymal components, also both localized secondary malignancies (gliosarcoma and osteosarcoma) were in previous radiotherapy field. Vincristine, etopside and alkylating agents (such as ifosfamide and cyclophosphamide) were the most used cytotoxic drugs. Both patients No.3 and 4 who were expired, had undergone chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Based on the literature review, alkylating agents such as ifosfamide and cyclophosphamide are know of mainstays of treatments for hematologic malignancies, solid tumors and preconditioning regiments for hematologic stem cell transplantation, but it has been shown that they are important risk factors for development of secondary malignancies as they increase in the relative risk for a secondary malignancy of 1.5-2.5 (17-21). Especially, exposure to alkylating agents has been associated with an increased risk hematologic malignancies development, often referred to as therapy-related acute myelogenous leukemia (22, 23). Therapy-related AML seems to have an onset within 5-7 years after therapy for primary cancer, and this risk appears to increase further with the concomitant use of epipodophyllotoxins such as etopside (24). In present case series, patients No. 1,2 and 4 had also received a combination of alkylating agents and etopside, which could have been a major risk factor for the se condary malignancy. In a study by Bhatia et al. investigating Therapy-related myelodysplasia and acute myeloid leukemia after Ewing sarcoma and primitive neuroectodermal tumor of bone, it was concluded that exposure to ifosfamide from 90 to 140 g/m2, cyclophosphamide from 9.6 to 17.6 g/m2, and doxorubicin from 375 to 450 mg/m2 increased the risk of tharapy related myelodysplasia and acute myeloid leukemia significantly (25). Patient No. 1 had also received doxorubicin, ifosfamide and cyclophosphamide , but the cumulative doses were not that much of what Bhatia et al.(25) mentioned. In a study by Granowetter et al. about comparing dose-Intensified with standard chemotherapy for non-metastatic Ewing sarcoma, it was concluded that dose escalation of alkylating agents do not improve the outcome for patients with Ewing sarcoma of bone or soft tissue (25). So, by taking this into account, more cautious approaches should be chosen when deciding about chemotherapy doses, especially alkylating agents. Topoisomerase II inhibitors as another well-known chemotherapeutic agents are widely used treatment of pediatric malignancies. This category includes anthracyclines (e.g. doxorubicin) , anthracenediones as well as epipodophyllotoxins (e.g. etoposide and tenoposide)(26). Therapy related AMLs due to topoisomerase II inhibitors are known as an entity of therapy and incidence varies in literature, but has been reported as high as 9% (27-29). In contrast to the latency period after exposure to alkylating agents which was about 5-7 years, therapy related AMLs after topoisomerase II exposures have a more early onset, usually within 2-3 years after primary malignancy chemotherapy (24). In present case series, the time interval between secondary AMLs and primary therapy were less than 2 years, which is less than what mentioned for alkylating agents and topoisomerase II inhibitors; this might be due to the combination of these categories in our therapy protocols. Based on studies, the most eff ective agents against secondary hematologic malignancies due to top topoisomerase II inhibitors are cytarabine, dactinomycin, daunorubicin, docetazel, mitoxantrone, gemcitabine, mitomycin C, etoposide, teniposide, topotecan, triethylnemelamine, and vinblastine (30-32). Also, in present case series, following agents were used for secondary malignancy chemotherapy. Ionizing radiation as a standard of care for many pediatric malignancies is used in many conditions such as CNS malignancies, Hodgkins lymphoma, solid tumors and as part of preconditioning regimens for hematologic stem cell transplantation (33). Carcinogen role of ionizing radiation is reported in detail in the literature. According to The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, ionizing radiation exposure was accompanied with a relative risk of developing secondary malignancy of 2.7, and was also the strongest independent risk factor for secondary malignancy development (34). In a study based on German Childhood Cancer Registry, it was concluded that ionizing radiation after adjustment for various chemotherapy was associated with an odds ratio of developing a secondary malignancy at 2.05 (35). For the development of secondary malignancy after radiation the latency period is typically 10-15 years after primary treatment is typically 10-15 years after primary treatment (36). Common secondary malignancies seen in pediatric population with prior cancer history include bone tumors, breast and thyroid carcinoma, non-melanoma skin cancer and benign CNS tumors. These tumors are often associated with previously irradiated treatment region (4, 37-39); in present case series, patients No. 3, 4, 6 and 7 had received radiotherapy, and in patients No. 6 and 7 had the secondary malignancies where the prior field of radiotherapy was, although incidence of these malignancies are far less than the latency period mentioned. Radiotherapy is the most important therapeutic modality in the treatment of many primary CNS tumors, so this have brought secondary malignancies as an undeniable component of this modality (40). In a study by Packer et al. studying survival and secondary tumors in children with medulloblastoma receiving radiotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy, reported on 359 children with medulloblastoma treated with 2,340 cGy of craniospinal radiation with 5,580 cGy of posterior fossa radiotherapy and chemotherapy, also it was reported that 5 percent of patients developed a secondary malignancy, with a majority of them being highly aggressive gliomas. The median time to a secondary malignancy was 5.8 years, with an estimated cumulative incidence rate at 5 and 10 years of 1.1 percent and 4.2% percent, respectively (41); similar to this study, in present case series, patient No. 7 who had undergone radiotherapy due to astrocytoma, developed gliosarcoma as the secondary tumor. Fortunately this patients is currently under treatment and his condition is improving. Conclusion Present case series study, presented a series of patients with secondary neoplasms with their administered cumulative doses of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Considering this , these information might lead to a more cautious approach in selecting chemotherapy and radiotherapy protocols. Further studies should focus on comparing different treatment protocols with adequate follow-up period not also to evaluate treatment efficacy, but to assess long term consequences. Also, studies with more detailed treatment protocol of patients with secondary malignancies should be performed to make a more precise conclusion. References: 1.Bhatia S, Sklar C. Second cancers in survivors of childhood cancer. Nature Reviews Cancer. 2002;2(2):124-32. 2.Hall EJ. Intensity-modulated radiation therapy, protons, and the risk of second cancers. International Journal of Radiation Oncology* Biology* Physics. 2006;65(1):1-7. 3.Siegel RL, Miller KD, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2015. 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Risk factors for the development of secondary malignancy after high-dose chemotherapy and autograft, with or without rituximab: a 20-year retrospective follow-up study in patients with lymphoma. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2010:JCO. 2010.28. 9777. 8.Neglia JP, Friedman DL, Yasui Y, Mertens AC, Hammond S, Stovall M, et al. Second malignant neoplasms in five-year survivors of childhood cancer: childhood cancer survivor study. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2001;93(8):618-29. 9.Kleinerman RA, Tucker MA, Tarone RE, Abramson DH, Seddon JM, Stovall M, et al. Risk of new cancers after radiotherapy in long-term survivors of retinoblastoma: an extended follow-up. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2005;23(10):2272-9. 10.Miralbell R, Lomax A, Cella L, Schneider U. Potential reduction of the incidence of radiation-induced second cancers by using proton beams in the treatment of pediatric tumors. International Journal of Radiation Oncology* Biology* Physics. 2002;54(3):824-9. 11.Tward JD, Wendland MM, Shrieve DC, Szabo A, Gaffney DK. The risk of secondary malignancies over 30 years after the treatment of nonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Hodgkin lymphoma. Cancer. 2006;107(1):108-15. 12.Travis LB, Gospodarowicz M, Curtis RE, Aileen Clarke E, Andersson M, Glimelius B, et al. Lung Cancer Following Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy for Hodgkins Disease. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2002;94(3):182-92. 13.Veiga LHS, Bhatti P, Ronckers CM, Sigurdson AJ, Stovall M, Smith SA, et al. Chemotherapy and Thyroid Cancer Risk: A Report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention. 2012;21(1):92-101. 14.Andrykowski MA. Physical and mental health status of survivors of multiple cancer diagnoses. Cancer. 2012;118(14):3645-53. 15.Boffetta P, Kaldor JM. Secondary malignancies following cancer chemotherapy. 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Mutations of AML1 are common in therapy-related myelodysplasia following therapy with alkylating agents and are significantly associated with deletion or loss of chromosome arm 7q and with subsequent leukemic transformation. Blood. 2004;104(5):1474-81. 20.Davies SM. Therapyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ related leukemia associated with alkylating agents. Medical and pediatric oncology. 2001;36(5):536-40. 21.Pedersen-Bjergaard J. Insights into leukemogenesis from therapy-related leukemia. New England Journal of Medicine. 2005;352(15):1591-4. 22.Schoch C, Kern W, Schnittger S, Hiddemann W, Haferlach T. Karyotype is an independent prognostic parameter in therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia (t-AML): an analysis of 93 patients with t-AML in comparison to 1091 patients with de novo AML. Leukemia. 2004;18(1):120-5. 23.Linassier C, Barin C, Calais G, Letortorec S, Bremond J-L, Delain M, et al. Early secondary acute myelogenous leukemia in breast cancer patients after treatment with mitoxantrone, cyclophosphamide, fluorouracil and radiation therapy. Annals of oncology. 2000;11(10):1289-94. 24.Hijiya N, Ness KK, Ribeiro RC, Hudson MM. Acute leukemia as a secondary malignancy in children and adolescents: current findings and issues. Cancer. 2009;115(1):23-35. 25.Bhatia S, Krailo MD, Chen Z, Burden L, Askin FB, Dickman PS, et al. Therapy-related myelodysplasia and acute myeloid leukemia after Ewing sarcoma and primitive neuroectodermal tumor of bone: a report from the Childrens Oncology Group. Blood. 2007;109(1):46-51. 26.Hande KR. Topoisomerase II inhibitors. update on cancer therapeutics. 2008;3(1):13-26. 27.Hijiya N, Hudson MM, Lensing S, Zacher M, Onciu M, Behm FG, et al. Cumulative incidence of secondary neoplasms as a first event after childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Jama. 2007;297(11):1207-15. 28.Pui CH, Relling MV. Topoisomerase II inhibitorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ related acute myeloid leukaemia. British journal of haematology. 2000;109(1):13-23. 29.Ezoe S. Secondary leukemia associated with the anti-cancer agent, etoposide, a topoisomerase II inhibitor. International journal of environmental research and public health. 2012;9(7):2444-53. 30.Hoeksema KA, Jayanthan A, Cooper T, Gore L, Trippett T, Boklan J, et al. Systematic in-vitro evaluation of the NCI/NIH Developmental Therapeutics Program Approved Oncology Drug Set for the identification of a candidate drug repertoire for MLL-rearranged leukemia. Onco Targets Ther. 2011;4:149-68. 31.De Boer J, Walf-Vorderwà ¼lbecke V, Williams O. In focus: MLL-rearranged leukemia. Leukemia. 2013;27(6):1224-8. 32.Bernt KM, Armstrong SA. Targeting epigenetic programs in MLL-rearranged leukemias. ASH Education Program Book. 2011;2011(1):354-60. 33.Brenner DJ, Doll R, Goodhead DT, Hall EJ, Land CE, Little JB, et al. Cancer risks attributable to low doses of ionizing radiation: assessing what we really know. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2003;100(24):13761-6. 34.Friedman DL, Whitton J, Leisenring W, Mertens AC, Hammond S, Stovall M, et al. Subsequent neoplasms in 5-year survivors of childhood cancer: the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2010;102(14):1083-95. 35.Kaatsch P, Reinisch I, Spix C, Berthold F, Janka-Schaub G, Mergenthaler A, et al. Case-control study on the therapy of childhood cancer and the occurrence of second malignant neoplasms in Germany. Cancer causes control. 2009;20(6):965-80. 36.Goldsby R, Burke C, Nagarajan R, Zhou T, Chen Z, Marina N, et al. Second solid malignancies among children, adolescents, and young adults diagnosed with malignant bone tumors after 1976. Cancer. 2008;113(9):2597-604. 37.Constine LS, Tarbell N, Hudson MM, Schwartz C, Fisher SG, Muhs AG, et al. Subsequent malignancies in children treated for Hodgkins disease: associations with gender and radiation dose. International Journal of Radiation Oncology* Biology* Physics. 2008;72(1):24-33. 38.Kry SF, Salehpour M, Followill DS, Stovall M, Kuban DA, White RA, et al. The calculated risk of fatal secondary malignancies from intensity-modulated radiation therapy. International Journal of Radiation Oncology* Biology* Physics. 2005;62(4):1195-203. 39.Werner-Wasik M, Swann RS, Bradley J, Graham M, Emami B, Purdy J, et al. Increasing tumor volume is predictive of poor overall and progression-free survival: Secondary analysis of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 93-11 phase I-II radiation dose-escalation study in patients with inoperable non-small-cell lung cancer. International Journal of Radiation Oncology* Biology* Physics. 2008;70(2):385-90. 40.Soussain C, Ricard D, Fike JR, Mazeron J-J, Psimaras D, Delattre J-Y. CNS complications of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The Lancet. 2009;374(9701):1639-51. 41.Packer RJ, Zhou T, Holmes E, Vezina G, Gajjar A. Survival and secondary tumors in children with medulloblastoma receiving radiotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy: results of Childrens Oncology Group trial A9961. Neuro-Oncology. 2012. Table 1- Primary malignancies, administered cytotoxic and radiation therapies administered to patients . Patient No. Primary malignancy Age at diagnosis Treatment duration Chemotherapy (cumulative doses) Radiotherapy (cumulative doses) 1 Ewing sarcoma 4 y/o 1 year VCR 9.9 mg VP16 3630 mg IF 55 gr ADR 140 mg CPA 7 gr 2 Neuroblastoma 18 mo. 22 mo. VCR 9 mg CPA 3.5 gr VP16 400 mg ADR 60 mg Cisplatin 160 mg 3 Meduloblastoma 10 10 months VCR 24 mg CCNU 320 mg 360 Gy and 180 Gy (posterior fossa) 4 Small round cell tumor 12 4 months VCR 12 mg IF 60 gr VP16 3.9 gr 8 Gy 5 Histiocytosis X 12 1 year Vinblastine 135 mg 6 Retinoblastoma 4 mo. 14 months VCR 14 mg VP16 700 mg Carboplatin 3.5 gr 60 Gy 7 Astrocytoma 2 months 6 months months<

Analysis of Marks and Spencers Marketing Mix Executive Summary

Analysis of Marks and Spencers Marketing Mix Executive Summary Marks Spencer is one of the most renowned and oldest retailers of Britain. It was found in 1894 through the partnership of Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer. The first store was opened in Manchester and the company was based on primary values emphasizing on high quality, value for money, service, innovation, and trust. Due to these corollaries, the organization experienced a great success which led to national and global expansions. Today, it is one of the largest clothing retailers with 895 stores in more than 40 countries around the world. Its also listed on the London stock Exchange and FTSE 100 index. The companys current main products include clothing range, home ware and food products with a supply chain of more than 2000 suppliers globally. Nevertheless, the company started facing problems due to the various reasons such as outdated fashion products that were not on par with the fashion trends. This was primarily due to the fact that it lost focus on their central business by introducing a wide range of products that were not compatible with their core competencies. This led rivals to steal the market share. In order to tackle these issues MS decided to move into the Chinese market where they saw better and wider opportunities. Why Chinese market? China is the worlds third largest economy (behind the USA and Japan in US$ terms) and the country has the largest population of 1.3 billion (in 2008) making it one of the fastest growing economies. When the recession hit the worlds economy and the leading retail markets like US and Europe the companies were looking for opportunities to expand and diversify the risk. China was one of these markets that were not affected by the economic downturn. In 2009 its retail sales hit  ¥12.5 trillion ($1.8 trillion), an increase of 15.5% from the previous year. This was due to the continuous rise in the same year of the per capita disposable income which amounted to  ¥17,175 ($2,515). http://chinabusinessreview.net/public/1005/lu.html In 2008, MS opened its flagship store in Nanjing Road, Shanghai. However, the outcome of this venture was not as successful as expected due to several problems ranging from product incompatibilities to superstitious beliefs. The first section of the paper highlights the current financial performance of the company. This is followed by an exploration of the problematic marketing mix that contributed to the failure of the firm in China. After which, recommendations will be provided for MS to use as a turn around strategy. othman Financial highlights: The financial and trading performance is the measurement of the results of a firms policies and operations in monetary terms. These results are reflected in the firms return on investment, debt to equity ratio and many other ratios (Dictionary, 2010). A ratio is one value divided by another. The result is representative of the value of one quantity in term of another (Ross, Westerfield, Jordan, 2006). During this section the light will be put on the financial aspect of Marks and Spencers business to assess whether its financial situation is adequate or if there is any loopholes that the company might have to consider in the future. For a matter of better understanding, the financial key performance indicators will be compared to TESCOs ratios. Income: From these figures, it can be seen that Marks and Spencer has be gradually increasing its net revenues. However, even if they increased, its net income and earnings per share decreased. This can be explained by the investments that have been carried out by the company to realize its internationalization strategy. Not all of these investments have been successful as some did not succeed like in France for instance where the company decided to close all its stores and exit the market. Indeed, they abandoned their opportunity to expand in France but the cost to exist was relatively expensive mainly because of the labor force protection by the French Government (Global Oneness, 2010). Revenue by region: Stock performance: Ratios: In short term solvency, it can be said that the company is managing normally its activities in an inefficient way. Indeed, if it was to pay its short term debt immediately, the company would just be able to cover around 80% of them. If Tesco is taken as an example, its current ratio is 345% (Yahoo Finance, 2010) which means that Tesco is more secure financially than Marks and Spencer. Thus, investors would be willing to invest more in Tesco. This situation also spread bad image for the company in its financial circle which can have the effect of reducing the investing power of the company. Regarding the long term situation, the level of Asset-to-equity and Debt-to-equity ratios show that the company have a large part of its assets financed by Debt. Consequently, it highlights a high level of financial leverage, approximately 64%; which is supported more by the debt ratio. Problematic areas of Business: nafisa Marketing mix Porduct: Clothing It is crucial in fashion industry to get the product right. In the past decade, MS had downturns of business and brand image related to its apparel getting old fashioned. Although analysts say they have recovered, they seem repeating product mistakes in Chinese market as well. Experts in fashion, have identified key issues that may lead a fashion product to fail. According to Jackson and Shaw (2009), here are the common reasons why fashion products fail: poor or outdated design; poor sizing or fit; unfashionable or irrelevant styles/prints/colours; poor positioning or in-store presentation; poor value or uncompetitive price; poor or non-existent consumer awareness of the product and/or its availability; hyper strong competitive offers elsewhere. Researches and analyses on the MS expansion to Chinese market indicate that all above points were relevant to their products. 4.1.2 Sizing Each clothing retail brand has its basic pattern block that probably has been made after studying target groups measurements and taking the average from that. Marks Spencers typical apparel customer is a woman after 40s who prefers comfortable fit and quality. This has affected MS fashion and sizing as well. Customers complain MS clothes and underwear are larger compared to the same sized item from another shops. In mass production of several thousands of pieces of garments, shrinking the measurement in to unnoticeable 1 cm may make noticeable reduction in cost. Therefore fashion is created according to feasibility, cost effectiveness of the designs and it is influencing the way clothes fit and the sizing as well. The reason why MS clothes seem greater compared to cheaper rivals is actually can be explained by the philosophy of not compromising on quality. Average size in Chinese apparel industry is smaller than European size in every dimensions. It is shorter; sleeves are 2 inches shorter, sizes up to 16-18. In Europe it is up to 26. When a fashion retailer enters a new market, it is important to research consumers sizes, body structure, and culture. Because these things influence peoples fashion tastes and clothing culture. Style and Fashion: In the Chinese market, MS offering large size garments that pleased expatriates who struggle to find their size in shops, which target average Chinese women. However, Chinese customers showed very low interest, as the clothes are too big and too simple. MS is a department store that tries to meet the needs of all age groups with different needs. Where as competitors try to focus on one segment and one fashion concept and therefore perform effectively. The brands failure of drawing young Chinese peoples attention could be due the failure of Everything for all positioning in general. Fast fashion requires the retailer to focus on certain, preferable well-specified segment (like Zaras, classy chic over 20s). May be it is time for MS to give in-house brands independence and expose number of different brands, keeping MS just a store name. Diversified products result in bigger and slower supply chain. Because competitors are adopting efficient and quick product turnover, smaller and faster batches, MS clothes, when arrived to stores cannot stand the competition. Costumers find them out of fashion. Brand value is a key for success in fashion industry. Fast moving, better-positioned and low price competitors are jeopardizing brand value of once famous clothing retailer with heritage. Celebrating its 125 birthday, MS resembles older generation fashion and in store brands and young celebrities used as brand ambassadors not helping to attract 20-25 year olds although they are helping to retain more customers whod switch to competitors otherwise. According to research by Datamonitor, more than 75% of shoppers in the food halls of MS, are over 45. In the fashion department the problem is worse: 65% of its main clothing shoppers were aged over 55, as were those who accounted for 48% of spending on MS clothing last year. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/nov/22/bolland-marks-spencer-problems ) hassan Food: Limited range and Long life food products: Marks and Spencer has been criticized by its Chinese customers that the food products in shelves were produced a long time ago from the date of purchase. So there is only a small portion of fresh products and also the range and variety is limited. Majority of products are approaching towards expiry date. The food items contain preservatives that effect taste of products. Further research shows that a large amount of products were destroyed due to expiry, spoilage and bad conditions. Almost all products are made in UK so this leads to customers perception of Marks Spencer as a British store. Research shows that the main reason for above mentioned problems is that Marks and Spencer imports its products from UK. It takes a significant time in shipment of goods from UK to China due to enlarged supply chain cycle involved. A portion of products is deteriorated due to inefficiencies in handling, storing and transportation procedures. Branding issue Marks and Spencer brands all its products under its trade name MS. this brand name appear strange to Chinese people and they have translated it into a Chinese term. Also this brand name has no direct linkage with products. This is due to company policy towards branding and trends in UK market as much of retailers such as Tesco brands their products under their trade name. 4.2.3 Packaging issue: Marks Spencer customers are finding product packs confusing and misleading. Research reveals a customer complains that he bought a packet assuming it to be biscuits but when he opened it were snacks. The above problem is a result of standardized strategy towards packaging and labeling. The labeling lacks Chinese description and also rich in text and without product images. othman Marketing Mix Price: When setting the price of a product, the company must understand perfectly its cost and the customer value perception for the product (Armstrong, Harker, Kotler, Brennan, 2009). Marks and Spencer did surely understand these points when operating in UK and in other successful countries but not when it came to China as the company failed to set the price correctly. Normally, the price the company charges will fall somewhere between one that is too high to produce any demand and one that is too low to generate any revenue (Armstrong, Harker, Kotler, Brennan, 2009). These are the extremes and Marks and Spencer leaned far too much to the high price end. As a result, the company found it very hard to sell its product and generate profit for a viable business in China. One example would be the cashmere scarves that Marks and Spencer was selling or pretending to sell, as no one bought them, at  £50 where it was possible to get them for far less at nearby stores (Moore, 2009). However, in some cases the prices of products were convenient but the customers still did not buy them. The reason is primarily that Marks and Spencer did come late. Indeed, Wal-Mart and Carrefour were there before and had more than enough time to impose their respective brands and enjoy the lions part (Crabbe, 2010). Marketing Mix Place: When entering a new market, one of the crucial decision that a company has to make is choosing the right location to open in. indeed, the location is one of the key factors to a business success firstly due to of being the least flexible of the strategic retailing issues and secondly, because the location set the geographical boundaries of the trading area from which the store draws its customers (William Ferrell, 2010). As a result, in the following paragraph will discuss the problems related to the Marks and Spencer stores in China. Marks and Spencer has opened since 2008 two stores in China, one in Huaihai Road in Shanghai, the equivalent of Londons Oxford Street (City Focus, 2010). And the other one is in Yuyuan Garden, Shanghai major attraction and commercial hub (City in pulse, 2010). These stored, especially the first one, has suffered poor trading in the last months. This was due to many factors but the discussion will only focus on location related issues. The first issue concerning the location was the first store opened. Marks and Spencer had chosen one of the most popular streets in Shanghai because it wanted to show its brand reputation and refined stores. But at the same time, the company wanted to expand quickly and as a result the store was not ready to welcome the new Chinese customers. Indeed the walls were scuffed and the paint job was poor (Moore, 2009). As the old adage confirm, the first impression is the last impression and by failing to make a good one in the Grand opening of its first store, Marks and Spencer condemned itself of having a bad image in China. The second issue was that the company underestimated the differences in operating in China and Hong Kong, therefore using the same strategy to find the store location in China. Indeed, Sir Stuart Rose admitted to the Financial Times during his visit to the Shanghai store that Marks and Spencer did misunderstood the Chinese mainland market, assuming that its experience in Hong Kong could be directly transferred to this market (News, 2009). vaishali Marketing Mix Promotion: Brand awareness: One of the major problems with Marks and Spencers (MS) venture into China is the fact that many local people were not aware of the brand. In fact, one of the articles regarding MS in China talks about local men saying weve never heard of this company. Many female shoppers also claimed to be unfamiliar with the brand. Although it is a well-known British company with many outlets overseas, it is fairly unknown amongst Chinas local public. This means that there is a lack of brand awareness and advertising as the locals do not have much knowledge of its history. As a result of this, many customers would not be instantly drawn to it as they do not recognize it. Lack of familiarity discourages people to enter the stores which will inherently affect sales. Other issues: teja Supply chain: Global supply chain management is an important area for MS in its expansion to China. Global supply chain management involves the companys worldwide interests. In Chinas expansion it is noticeable that the supply chain related issues are based on the following areas. Timing Proper timing in approaching a market gives advantages for a company. For example first movers in a market always have advantages in gaining profits. Chinas retail industry has grown rapidly during the recent history. The move of MS to China was taken during the recession. Even though China was less affected by recession due to its closed financial system, the worldwide demand for Chinese exports were decreasing. It was a time when cash strapped consumers were moving away from expensive ready cooked meals and thinking about buying the cheaper substitutes instead of the expensive. Luxury ready prepared meal that is the mainstay of Marks and Spencers offering. Marks and Spencer dont have enough flexibility to move  their offerings at the time of Moving to China.   The result is loss of customers to competitors and it will become difficult to recover them when economic times get better. Institutional Factors Product controls, government regulations, tariffs affects supply chains. When MS initially started the business in China the company had lots of difficulties in getting products into the country. Chinese custom officials blocked MS goods. This situation created empty shelves in the food department of the store. (http://www.jddchina.com, 2010) Corruption and government bureaucracy remain a major issue in China. Business activities and financial related activities can take a lot more time than comparing with UK and the administration costs remain extremely high. The higher amount of control in the economy by the government creates policy uncertainty. This uncertainty exists as a major challenge for businesses operating in China. Integration According to the experience of successful international businesses in China such as Sara, HM and Tesco, it is necessary to take a long view in China. Existing products should not be transplanted into Chinese markets without making them localized. In the localization process it is necessary to have a proper integration with the local talents that can create better customer links. Nilesh Superstitious beliefs: Although China is one of the big and a great country in all the aspects of the world but still they have lots of superstitious beliefs. Marks and Spencer in china has suffered from these kinds of beliefs. China has a main impact of Feng Shui. Feng Shui is widely used to orient buildings. According to the retail competitors of Marks Spencer the main store is at a cursed location of the city. This superstitious gossip was because just at the four days of opening of the Chinas main MS store there was a death of one of the man named Harshit Shah. He got killed accidently while leaning over the side of escalator (The Telegraph, 2010). As MS is in China we cant neglect these things that could have been one of the reasons of the failure for Marks Spencer in China. Most of the Chinese people have some traditional beliefs about the numbers. They consider no. 4 is associated with the death so most of the times they dont even buy products that price starting or ending by number 4. They consider number 8 for prosperity and good luck. They also skip the 4th floor in many of the buildings. Different styles forms of the Feng Shui are often used to block or reduce the negative energies that occur. According to some believers of the Feng Shui the structure of the Marks Spencers store was wrong and that led think of superstitions as one of the problems for MS in China. Recommendations: nafisa Marketing Mix Product: Clothing Researches show Chinese consumers are not familiar with MS brand. This gives an opportunity of positioning the brand differently than it is positioned in home country. The construction of store image, comprising both tangible and intangible dimensions, compounds problems of moving into international markets as consumers in the host environment are less familiar with the intangible dimensions of image, which have been built up over time with exposure to the retail company. Retail companies therefore need to fully understand the importance of image in competitive positioning and the components of store image before attempting to replicate this image and positioning overseas. Repositioning the brand can give a chance to reach the desired customer, 25-35 year old Chinese consumer with higher disposable income. With current strategy MS cannot be as successful in china as in the UK. Because older generation in China do not have high disposable income unlike their European peers. BCG researches indicated that Chinese consumer is very young. Although fashion has become global already, it still needs localization when entering a new market. Jessica Lo, of the China Market Research Group warns that western brands should not bank on Chinese consumers directly paralleling European and American shoppers when it comes to taste and aesthetic appetites. Many western companies forget to localise both their styles as well as advertising. They use celebrities and images that work in the UK and Europe, but that dont resonate with Chinese consumers. It is critical that companies get the right product selection and style and advertising image. (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6objectid=10650170 ) Marks Spencer can increase its Petite range products and bring it to Chinese market with different, localized brand. When petite sizes are average, its better to replace the name, because it may sound offensive rather than just size attribute. It is recommended that MS researches fashion preferences, consumer behaviour of Chinese people and then create an in-house brand customized for Chinese market. Similar brand should be created for menswear as well. hassan Food: Limited range and long life products: Chinese people are very conscious about their food selection because they link it directly to their good health and long life. So we recommend the following actions to be taken and implemented. Marks and Spencer should develop local production facilities so that products are produced and processed in china than importing from UK. So as a result people will get fresh products at best taste. This will also change its image from a British retailer to a local manufacturer. Develop methods and improve conditions so the preservatives are not added in the products. This can be achieved by improving packaging, storage conditions and efficient supply chain and product replacement cycle. Re-engineer the import process so the inefficiencies in handling, packaging, storing and transportation are removed to ensure minimum wastage. The freshness and pureness (no preservatives) features will be used for promotion of products as it is a successful practice now days used by high profile food manufacturers. The company executives can perceive local production as a costly operation when comparing to demand but it will increase demand in long term by bettering product image. We can also export our made in china products to other near locations like India and other markets. It will also lower the cost and will drive prices in a competitive range. Packaging: The packaging is a core area of concern as it acts in a multiple way by communicating product information and brand character. It is the first point of contact of product with customer so it should be attractive in terms of design and colour. The Chinese link longness to long life so package should be designed in long shapes and the colour are also important. As they will be attracted towards red packs which is a symbol of prosperity and avoid using black colour as it is for bad luck.( http://chinasearch.co.uk/buy/marks-and-spencer/) Package should be functional and clear so it shows the true picture and nature of product. It should be convenient for Chinese people to open as they avoid cutting things with scissors and knives. Package should be well labeled about product, brand and all relevant information. Marks and spencer should label products using a bilingual approach. Using both Chinese language and English so it will be useful for customers to read all information they need. The label can be made more attractive and functional by adding Chinese recipes. othman Marketing Mix Price: To make the prices of products more affordable and competitive, one solution would be that Marks and Spencer improves its supply chain to reduce cost: First, by exploiting the technology in its stores by introducing hand held communicators to track clothes from the distribution to the sales floor which helps to know exactly what is in the stores. The result would be a more efficient and cost effective delivery system Second, by introducing a technology that consists of counting the number of items sold by kind automatically when the transaction is handled; For clothes especially to know what items are better sold and what are the ones that have to be removed. Another suggestion would be to carry out a consumer shopping experience research to know what kind of design Chinese prefer, and what products should go together in order to get rid of unwanted products and consequently reducing the cost of unsold goods The last but not least is to make enough space between clothes and food so that the stores looks more attractive thus reducing the concern about price. Marketing Mix Place: As it was said at the beginning, the location is the less flexible asset. Consequently the suggested solution will focus more on upcoming stores. The ideal location for these future stores would be places that people can access more easily, also MS should think about starting to open small stores to catch also the low volume buyers as this type of potential customers are willing to become loyal clients but are not going to waste time in a supermarket just to buy few items. For future stores, Marks and Spencer should evaluate the relative ease if movement to and from the site, including factors such as pedestrian and vehicular traffic, parking and transportation (William Ferrell, 2010). The company should also evaluate the characteristics if the site itself: types of stores in the area and the visibility of the lot under consideration (William Ferrell, 2010). One last thing to do is to look for compatibility with neighboring stores merely because stores that complement one another d raw more customers for everyone (William Ferrell, 2010). vaishali Marketing Mix Promotion: Re-branding and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Due to the fact that the company has been battling with bad press and negative public views due to several reasons such as offering products that do not cater the needs of the market, lack of products, providing wrong sizes and superstitions due to the occurrence of a death during the opening week, MS needs to re-brand itself in order to move away from the negative connotations, erase the past image and start afresh. This can be done by changing the store look and layout. It should have colours and products that exude vibrancy and freshness. The MS logo should be re-designed in order to bring a sense of novelty. The focal signboard outside the store should grab attention and be vibrant. It can be designed with neon lights and a different shade of green, together with black in order to make it look noticeable. The window displays should also be creatively designed with mannequins dressed up in vibrant colours and innovative designs. The arrangement should grab hold of the passerbyà ¢ â‚ ¬Ã… ¸s interest, especially the female youth- which will be MSà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s new target market. Although this is an advertising technique, it primarily falls under re-branding the store and giving the brand a new image. All these efforts should be concentrated towards recreating a store that does not remind the customers of the old store or their views of it- it should feel new to the customers and help develop positive impressions. Another way of erasing bad memories and creating a positive image in the minds of the public is by engaging in CSR (corporate social responsibilities) activities. MS should consider taking up a project that can prove to be beneficial for Shanghai and its people. One such way is by engaging in charitable causes that help raise funds to help out some of Shanghaià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s poor population. Such activities should have proper news coverage so as to disseminate the message amongst the people about MSà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s good, unselfish deed. This will help change the minds of at least some of the people and help develop an optimistic view of the brand. Increasing brand awareness: Due to the fact that many people were unfamiliar with the brand, MS should engage in heavy advertising. It can include various mediums, some suggestions for MS are as follows:  · Television: This is the most successful way of reaching mass-market, especially in China where it is very popular. MS should consider buying slot times during programs that have the highest viewership. For example, the China Central Television (CCTV) claims to have 600 million viewers for its daily evening news- making it the most watched news program in the world. Adverts can also be shown during the running of popular programs like the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Spring Festival Galaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ (one of the highest rated show in China), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Fashion Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ (on Gungxi TV, which shows the highlight from fashion shows around the world- also one of the top-rated shows) or during famous soap operas like à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Wo Juà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸. MS should create eye-catching ads with catchy tunes and cool graphics and also make use of famous local celebrities like Yao Ming, Zhang Ziyi and Jay Chou to establish a connection with the local people. Famous international celebri ties, like David Beckham or singer Rihanna, can also be used for TV ads to catch the attention of the expats, and these ads will still manage to get the attention of the Chinese people who also like and recognise them (celebrity branding).  · Print advertising: Newspapers are also Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s most popular advertising medium. Papers like à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Jiefang Ribaoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ (Liberation Daily) and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Jingji Ribaoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ (Economic Daily) have high readership rates- nevertheless, these are mainly read by the working class people. In order to reach out to the youth market, MS can advertise in the popular Chinese Youth Magazine known as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Zhongguo Qing Nian Baoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸. Popular female magazines like à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Elle Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ or à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Harperà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s Bazaar Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ can also feature MS adverts and it will help reach out to middle-upper class women interested in fashion. Also, television-based brochures also have high circulation rates. MS can feature its ads in the Shanghai Weekly Radio Broadcasting and TV known as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Meizhou Guangbo Dianshià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸, which has a circulation of 2.8 million in Shanghai.  · Online advertising: This is the usage of the World Wide Web in order to get the message across and build interest for your brand. In China, 1/3 of the population is found online, this makes it the second largest à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾internet communityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ in the world. Internet is a good way of reaching out to young people, and this is important to note as they will be MSà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s target market for the clothing department. In China, Facebook is not as popular as websites called à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾QQà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾360 Quanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ (Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s largest social networking sites). Whereby companies today are creating facebook pages to reach out to the youth market (e.g. Burberry), MS should try and join the aforementioned sites to create awareness, inform the youth about the brand and its products and encourage them to buy them. This is also a good way to connect with the