Key issues facing my organization over the next five years

Amwal was formed in 1998 as a financial planning firm for the women of Qatar under the patronage of HE Shiekha Mozah, the wife of the Emir of Qatar.   As a result of Amwal’s success and reputation it was transformed into a fully licensed investment bank in 2005.Amwal, like most of the investment banks and asset management firms in the region, has benefitted from the unprecedented economic growth, high oil prices, and surplus wealth. The GCC countries are expected to grow over seven percent in the next five years. Qatar is one of the top GCC countries in economic performance.   As such, Qatar’s economy is expected to grow 13% in 2008 as a result of sustained oil prices and the country’s ambitious gas industrialization initiatives.Following Russia and Iran, Qatar has the world’s third largest gas reserves. In terms of energy, these reserves are expected to last for more than 200 years. This growth is not temporary in nature and is expected to continue ov er the long run. During former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan’s recent visit o Jeddah, he was quoted saying that the oil boom would â€Å"go on forever†.All of these factors have resulted in a mushroom effect on the growth of different kinds of financial institutions in the region.   Existing banks are expanding rapidly, new banks are being set up, and many international players from US, Europe, and Asia are setting up shop in this region. In the last two years nearly 280 financial intuitions have surfaced in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).In the current market scenario, I believe that Amwal will face the following challenged as it strives to become a world class investment bank:  Carving its own identity and differentiating from its regional peersAmwal has a very strong shareholder base that includes prominent local and regional organizations.   For this reason Amwal’s identity sometimes is overshadowed by affiliation with one of i ts shareholders in the multiple   transactions that Amwal actually facilitates.   As a new investment bank Amwal leveraged its shareholder base to its benefit.   However as we grow it is imperative that we carve out our own identity that will build a strong brand recognition in the region. This is important because it will help Amwal to differentiate itself from its regional competitors, who often operate on similar grounds and similar strengths.   This will occur over the mid   to long range period as Amwal builds on successful deals, takes steps to increase social responsibility, and invests in its employee resources.Competing with global names such as Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and Goldman SachsDue to economic growth and initiatives to develop the capital markets, GCC countries have been successful in attracting global names such as Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Barclays etc. This presents a unique challenge for a local bank like Amwal to remain compe titive due to its relative inexperience as compared to the multinational investment banks. GCC countries have embarked on a major capital expenditure initiative, developing their infrastructure and other major projects. Qatar alone will spend over $100 billion(U.S.) over the next five years.   This will help to position Amwal as a local expert with global capabilities.Hiring and retaining key staffDue to the spur in new market entrants, banks are competing for the best human resources and often find themselves short of a healthy bench-strength. This has been mainly due to the high turnover, shortage of seasoned professionals, and a general preference to employ western educated professionals with regional experience. This problem is more prevalent for local banks with limited resources.These local banks are rely heavily on key staff such as the senior manages of investment banking and asset management. Amwal is not immune to this problem and has recently developed a policy of retai ning good employees and encouraging its staff to develop further expertise by sending them for training and allowing time off from work for academic studies.   Amwal will face a key challenge of retaining staff and hiring more professionals due to circumstances beyond its control including regional factors such as increased competition and the higher cost of living.Need for a better corporate governanceAnother challenge is creating the right balance of power and accountability between the board of directors, senior management, shareholders,   and internal operating departments.   Amwal has grown tremendously over the last few years and is now planning for its own Initial Public Offering (IPO) early next year to support its current growth and future goals. During the initial years of operation, Amwal’s management style was very centralized with authorities and powers limited to a few key individuals. While this is very common among most local and regional institutions li ke Amwal, this structure usually leads to a financial and strategic gap upon the exit of these key individuals.Amwal has come a long way since its transformation into an investment bank and have developed business policy principles, guidelines, internal and external regulations and monitoring mechanisms. However, as we continue to grow, expand our global reach, and prepare for the IPO, I believe these measures would need to be constantly reviewed and enhanced as they are critical for conducting proper corporate accountability and enhancing business prosperity. Another prevailing impediment is the lack of proactiveness of the local governing bodies that need to substantially enhance the regulatory framework, develop stricter industry guidelines, and encourage transparency.   As an industry leader, Amwal is in a unique position to have a positive effect on the creation of the regulatory industry in the region.ConclusionThese observations are not only unique to Amwal.   Since we ar e in a constantly changing environment it is critical that local and regional institutions identify these challenges and develop a strategic plan to respond to them.   I believe that Amwal is well placed and uniquely positioned for this challenge with its sound business model and comprehensive long range strategic plan.

Crm Banking Sector Essay

A study of customer perception of CRM initiatives in the Indian Banking Sector Vanisha Oogarah-Hanuman Lecturer Faculty of Law and Management University of Mauritius Sharmila Pudaruth Lecturer Faculty of Law and Management University of Mauritius Vinod Kumar Research Scholar Department of Management Studies School of Management Pondicherry University Victor Anandkumar Reader Department of Management Studies School of Management Pondicherry University ABSTRACT Purpose: To investigate the front-end effectiveness of CRM strategies in the banking sector in India by studying the customer perception of CRM initiatives. This is an empirical research which is descriptive in nature and relied mainly on primary data collected through a structured questionnaire to study the perception of Indian customers. Findings: Banks operating in India have failed to impress their customers on their CRM efforts. Various CRM initiates and dimensions measured in this study report unfavorable response. This under-performance has occurred in spite of technological developments and new processes in place Practical implications: The findings will have useful implications for Banks operating in India in order to think in line with the customers’ response. The study emphasizes the importance of retaining profitable customers for a lifetime and the growing importance of CRM in order to better satisfy customers in the Indian Banking Industry. Originality/value: Crucial aspects pertaining to CRM in the Indian banking sector had been under-researched and the aim of the present study is to have a broadened investigation of the CRM initiatives adopted by Indian banks. The study provides a discussion on the concept of CRM in the Indian banking sector and proposes recommendations to assist the banking sector on how to nurture profitable, long-term relationships with the customers Volume:01, Number:04, August-2011 www. theinternationaljournal. org Page 1 1. Introduction In today’s banking environment, it is becoming difficult to build and maintain strong and lasting relationships with customers. In fact, the challenges of building strong customer relationships have become even greater for banks with the emergence of e-business, diffusion of innovations and agile new competitors in the banking sector. The introduction of Customer Relationship Management has provided banks with a driving philosophy, a reoriented information system and a communication tool that helps to create invaluable and knowledge based relationships. Therefore, banks are developing a continuing long-term business relationship with customers and they are shifting their focus from market share to mind share of customers. The literature review has focused on the importance of CRM in the banking sector and the importance of maintaining profitable relationships with banking customers, which in turn leads to profitability through customer loyalty. Close relationship with customers will require a strong coordination between IT and marketing departments to provide a long-term retention of selected customers. Accordingly, this paper will aim to investigate important attributes which customers value as far as customer relationships in the Indian banking sector is concerned. No doubt, considerable literature on CRM is available worldwide but there is limited research throwing light over the importance of CRM in the Indian banking sector. Therefore, the paper reviews pertinent literature on CRM in the banking sector. Then, the methodology employed to collect and analyse data is outlined. Then the findings are discussed, implications are described and the paper further makes strategic recommendations towards enhancing customer relationships in the Indian banking sector. Directions for future research are also proposed in the arena of customer relationship management and banking sector. 2. The Indian Banking Sector and CRM The economic reforms initiated by the Government of India roughly about a decade ago have changed the landscape of several sectors of the Indian economy [1]. The Indian banking sector is no exception. The economic reforms have also generated new and powerful customers (huge Indian middle class) and new mix of players (public sector units, private banks, and foreign banks). The emerging competition has generated new expectations from the existing and the new customers. The new rules of competition require recognition of the importance of consumers and the necessity to address the needs through innovative products supported by new technology. Perceptions and expectations of the customers have undergone a sea change, with the innovative and modern banking services offered to the customers. This necessitates banks to include a customer-oriented approach whereby they build, maintain and manage longstanding relationships with their profitable customers in order to gain sustainable competitive edge. 3. Conceptual background Over the past two decades, the literature has argued that businesses across all sectors will have to change their approach to marketing, which should now be carried out through relationships, networks, and interactions [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. Such a marketing approach is very Volume:01, Number:04, August-2011 www. theinternationaljournal. rg Page 2 different from the more traditional one based on transactions affecting the Four Ps (product, price, place and promotion). 3. 1. CRM in the Banking sector Customer relationship management (CRM) has been as important to the banking industry at the start of the 21st century as it has been to any other industry. Many banks have used CRM tools to acquire more customers and to improve relationships with them. A key aspect in banks embracing technological platforms and delivery systems is the impact this will have on bank-customer relationships. Therefore, in order to achieve banking excellence, meeting customer needs and offering innovative products is not sufficient in itself. The balance between relatively high costs of relationships with customers and the need to maintain profit growth needs to be finely tuned, if marketing is not to revert back to a transactional paradigm [8]. Likewise, increased customer expectations have created a competitive climate whereby the quality of the relationship between the customer and the institution has taken a greater significance [9, 10]. The development of effective customer relationships is widely advocated as a key element of marketing strategies in the service sector (Ennew, 1996). Therefore a binding and long-term customer relationship seems to be necessary for many banks to react to the changed conditions and to guarantee the continuity. For many customers, a strong banking relationship is as vital as any other business relationship they maintain. This gives CRM-driven banks an advantage in that customers want the benefits of a solid relationship. Common benefits for customers of banks using CRM include wider access with branch locations, Internet and ATMs; access to service and support; discount credit rates and enhanced savings; and other customization opportunities. Attracting new customers should be viewed only as an intermediate step in the marketing process. Developing close relationships with these customers and turning them into loyal ones are equal aspects of marketing. Thus relationship marketing ought to be perceived as attracting, maintaining, and in multi service organizations, enhancing customer relationships [12, 13, 14, 15]. Another important facet of CRM is customer selectivity. As several research studies have shown not all customers are equally profitable for an individual company [16]. 3. 2. Role of Service Providers in the Banking Sector Although CRM has become widely recognized as an important business approach, there is no universally accepted definition of CRM. Swift defined CRM as an ‘enterprise approach to understanding and influencing customer behaviour through meaningful communications in order to improve customer acquisition, customer retention, customer loyalty, and customer profitability’ [17]. Kincaid viewed CRM as ‘the strategic use of information, processes, technology, and people to manage the customer’s relationship with your company (Marketing, Sales, Services, and Support) across the whole customer life cycle’ [18]. Parvatiyar and Sheth defined CRM as ‘a comprehensive strategy and process of acquiring, retaining, and partnering with selective customers to create superior value for the company and the customer [19]. 3. 3. Customer Loyalty, Customer Retention and Customer Relationships Customer satisfaction and loyalty are some key elements of business success and profitability. The more satisfied the customer, the more loyal the customer and the more Volume:01, Number:04, August-2011 www. theinternationaljournal. org Page 3 durable the relationship. And the longer this lasts, the more profit the company stands to make and the higher the market share. Getting existing customers to provide referrals should be one of the effective ways to add new business [20]. A referral from a customer can often open the gates and allow a salesperson access to previously unreachable prospects. Huntley found that when the quality of relationship is high, customers are more willing to recommend the seller’s offerings to colleagues and they purchase more from the seller [21]. Maintaining high-quality relationships with customers appears to increase their willingness to provide referrals [22]. Customer satisfaction and loyalty are highly correlated [23], but they form two distinct constructs [24]. Customer satisfaction with a bank relationship is a good basis for loyalty [25, 26], although it does not guarantee it, because even satisfied customers switch banks [27]. One important reason for switching is pricing [28, 29]. Hence, banks have launched customer loyalty programmes that provide economic incentives. Although the effectiveness of loyalty programmes has been questioned [30, 31, 32], research has shown that they have a significant, positive impact on customer retention and share of customer purchases [33, 34]. In a similar vein, Reinartz and Kumar suggest that customers can be grouped according to share-of-wallet and profitable lifetime duration, and that each customer group should be targeted with a specific strategy [35]. By adopting such a customer focused strategy, organisations can maximise the lifetime value of each customer by anticipating needs and offering timely solutions [36]. Likewise, according to Hartfeil, ‘Products are not profitable; customers are, and we analysed our customer base, segment by segment, we found that each required a different strategy to maximize its profitability to the bank [37]. For instance, every customer (both business and personal) is assigned to a banker at National Australia Bank Ltd whereby bankers are required to actively manage their portfolios according to volume of business, interest margin spread, fee income, profitability, customer retention, and the acquisition of new customers [38]. While ample literature is available on generic CRM today, hardly any information is forthcoming on the gains from CRM initiatives in the Indian banking sector. There is scarce literature on how the customers respond to the CRM measures adopted by the banks. This research has attempted to study the customer perceptions pertaining to the CRM initiatives adopted by the banks in India. Thus it helps to investigate the front-end effectives of CRM strategies in the banking sector. 4. Research Methodology This is a descriptive study using primary data collected through an experience survey. The data collection instrument used was a 3-part structured questionnaire using a 5-point Likert Scale. Part-1 was pertaining to the relationship building aspect of CRM and it had 19 questions which were framed using the relevant variables identified from literature review. Part-2 focused specifically on the interaction with the customer service representatives. Part-3 was concerned with customer perceptions on complaint handling and his/her behavioural intentions. Necessary demographic details were also collected to serve as categorizing variables. Prior to data collection, a pilot test was conducted to ensure comprehensiveness, clarity and reliability of the questionnaire. The pretesting of the questionnaire was done among 10 customers randomly, resulting in some minor modifications of the wordings of some survey Volume:01, Number:04, August-2011 www. theinternationaljournal. rg Page 4 items. The method used to administer the questionnaire was through a personal interview so as to obtain more accurate, reliable and valid information and to make the respondents at ease by maintaining a social rapport with them. The target population to be sampled was the individual customers of the Indian banking sector. Owing to the need for a relatively large sample size while at the same time keeping the research costs down, the sample size of this study amounted to 150 customers and the quota sampling technique was adopted based on the net profit and market share figure as shown in Table-1 below.

Module 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Module 1 - Essay Example It focuses on how people live and survive in particular places and how they govern themselves, organize themselves, and create meaning. It bases its discussion on gender, social classes, the different races, nationality of individuals and sexuality. Sociocultural anthropology analyses findings from many areas of the economy. These include work, health, ecology, education, agriculture, social change and environment (Nanda & Warms, 2011). Sociocultural anthropology is a good area of study as it is the study of the most important part of human life. Such areas as work, education, and health form the base of human activities. Study of such areas has many advantages. It helps a person to understand others and know exactly how to handle different groups of people (Nanda & Warms, 2011). This will help a lot in my career as it will help me in handling my colleagues at the place of work. When in a position such a manager or a supervisor, it will help one to know how to handle the different em ployees at the place of work. It also helps one to understand all the differences between the different societies. One is able to know the strengths and weaknesses of the way of life of the different communities that exist (Ferraro & Andreatta, 2012). This will then help one in his career to know how to handle colleagues and managers. ... From the study, one is also able to understand the meaning of religion, community and family. This helps to appreciate the reaction of individuals in different situations at the place of work (Ferraro & Andreatta, 2012). This also equips one with knowledge on how to deal with the community members at the place of work. This may include the customers at the place of work and all other associates to the place of work. It enables for the presence of good understanding between community members and the business people (Jacoby & Kibbee, 2007). This includes the managers at the place of work and the employees. This understanding and integration boosts the smooth running of business activities and acquisition of necessary good for business. This can include such things as workers, business partners, investors into to business, raw materials and assets such as land for the expansion of the business (Nanda & Warms, 2011). Cultural lens is an approach of analyzing culture in different dimensio ns. It is an analytical system that helps experts to analyze and understand the cultural values, structures and assets in different cultural setups (Ferraro & Andreatta, 2012). This analysis helps in the understanding of the weaknesses and strengths in the different cultures. Use of cultural lens tries to clarify sociocultural assets and realities of societies in focus. It also explains the internal cultural tensions in conjunctions with the objectives of the various sub cultures (Ferraro & Andreatta, 2012). This study can then help the analyst to develop many skills on how to deal with the different communities. It helps one to develop skills on how to deal with communities, individuals and interest groups in a particular culture.

The Individual and the State Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Individual and the State - Essay Example In toerh ways, citizens give up some freedoms in return for the state guaranteeing much larger freedoms such as the right to live safely and to own personal property without it being stolen. Within this context, it would appear that "civil disobedience" would not be allowed. For civil disobedience would not bow to the general will, it would be an expression of natural right. This is only the case when the government of a country genuinely adheres to the general will, and when the social contract is being honored. Thus if a despotic ruler takes control, or if the citizens start to tyrannize their fellow people, then disobedience would be in order. This seems a sensible point of view. Most of the most advanced countries of the world adhere to the idea of the social contract, and thus civil disobedience is not needed. However, when the laws are demonstrably unjust (such as race laws in the American South in the 1950's) then a degree of "civil disobedience" (such as Rosa Parks) is legitimate. Rousseau would support such actions. In The Death of Socrates David portrays the last seconds in the life of Socrates, who had been condemned to death by the Athenian state for corrupting the morals of young men by his teaching methods. These teaching methods essentially enabled them to think for themselves and to question the logic of authority through the Socratic method of questioning. The main feature of the painting is the contrast between the powerful-looking, animated and yet controlled Socrates who is about to drink the hemlock with those of the young men surrounding him who seem miserable in their inability to accept the situation. Formally, Socrates is placed just to the right of center of the picture, and has a kind of light exuding from him. This makes him the most powerful figure in the painting. In contrast, his disciples are painted in a darker manner, and they are looking away from the figure of Socrates, even as one of the young men is handing him the hemlock. In this situation David is suggesting that the individual must stand up for what he believes in against the forces of the state. The masses are represented by the apparent anger of the old man looking at Socrates on the right. Two young men look at him like timid animals, while an old man sits at the end of the bed, apparently impotent to do anything. It is only Socrates who is facing the reality of the situation, as an individual must if he is to take on the state. c)What areas of shared concern can you identify between Rousseau's argument in The Social Contract and David in The Death of Socrates One major area of shared concern is what the individual should do when he/she is about to take on the state. Thus within The Social Contract the individual should in nearly all cases give up the "natural right" for the good of the whole mass of people. Essentially Socrates has demanded his freedom to assert his natural right through teaching the young men of Athens as he sees fit, rather as the state sees fit. The background to the scene in the painting is that Socrates has in fact refused to escape his death sentence, but rather voluntarily drinks the

Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle - Research Paper Example This essay discusses the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, that is aimed for two main functions. First, transport a Marine Corps Rifle Squad from the sea to the shore and second - to provide armor operational capabilities on land. The assault vehicles are transported in ships and can be launched beyond the visual horizon. The visual horizon is the visible limit to detect presence of ships at sea from the shore line. This distance is translated as 25 kilometers as per the planning and development of the program. The supporters of this program argue and justify the flexibility that the assault vehicles provide to the Marines. The over the horizon launch capability provides protection to the amphibious ships till 25 kilometers from the shore. Furthermore, once deployed the vehicles have enough speed to make enemy tracking and defensive measures in the sea difficult. The time to reach the shore has also been shortened. The researcher then concluds that Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle was an ambitious program that provided lethal capabilities and its design matured over years. The program, however, could not prove its reliability and did not come up to the desired standards of the Marine Corps. The in service Amphibious Assault Vehicle has gone through various life extension programs and upgraded over time to meet operational requirement. The termination of the program was a serious setback to the Marine Corps and its replacement must provide with upgraded hardware to cope with the evolving Marine Corps strategy and doctrines.

Political science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Political science - Essay Example It can also be said to have been a mother’s attempt to protest against the racism in the south and a bid to appeal for justice for her son. The media all over the world spread the news of Emmett’s death and this ensured that the story became quite common not only at the local level but also at the international level. The injustice of this story is that an all-Caucasian jury acquitted those who had committed this heinous crime and as a result, there was no justice for Emmett Till. It is indirectly because of this incident that the civil rights movement came to develop and it can be said that it is due to Emmett’s sacrifice that this movement developed in strength. African Americans have for a long time been depicted in a negative light in which they have been presented in a way that has made them to be considered a race of criminals, or worse, animals. African Americans, for instance, are portrayed as being some of the most violent people in the United States, an d this has created a stereotype where all African Americans are often profiled as being potential criminals, an allegation which does not hold any truth in the reality of this nation. In addition, the view of African Americans in American society has been influenced by the long history of racial relations in the United States where the Caucasian dominated hierarchy tended to look down upon it. In addition, because of the unconscious Caucasian belief that African Americans are inferior, this has formed a mentality where individuals look upon this minority group as being the enemy of the public. It is a fact that the presentation of African Americans by the media has to be brought under control because at the moment, it has developed into a fierce social problem that has to be dealt with firmly. This is because of the fact that the development of equal rights for all human beings has become a fundamental aspect of human lie and to deny African Americans their own would be to go agains t the ideals of the society. One of the most noteworthy cases that have raised the same emotions as that of Emmett Till that have developed in the current world is the Zimmerman case which, through the media, has gained the attention of people not only in America but also the entire world. Almost the same events, which took place in the Emmett case recurred in the Trayvon Martin, case where the jury despite the fact that he had murdered an innocent African American teenager freed the perpetrator, Zimmerman. One of the issues that have been given prominence by the most of the individuals following this case has been the fact that this is not the first time that such a crime has been committed in the United States and the murderer has gotten away with it. Despite this being the situation, it can be said that these cases tend to be made more prominent than normal by the media. This has ensured that many of the people in the world have come to the realization that despite the developmen t of Affirmative action, the racial situation in the United States has remained more or less the same. In addition, this situation has also developed into a negative one because of the media’s tendency to sensationalize the news concerning the murders of such African American individuals such as Emmett Till and this has made it difficult for juries to provide justice because of the racial tensions that come about as a result. Therefore, instead of coming up with solutions

Public participation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Public participation - Essay Example All members of the committee nominated the chair and his deputy through voting. Free and fair elections were held with willing members of the committee being among the nominees. Free elections mean that citizens can go to polls without terror of reprisal, and for elections to be fair; they must be count with equality (Dahl 89). All the votes were counted as equal in front of the members to assure that their judgements were counted without biasness. The chair and his deputy were then announced to the members and residents immediately after the counting. One of the residents offered a suggestion on poor lighting of the streets. He advised on the installation of LED street lights. The resident also asked whether the poor drainage conditions are solved. Weaste ward councilor answered the question that the drainage and plumbing company was informed. The health improvement officer asked for suggestions on the re-housing of the rehabilitation center. It was advised that the center was to be moved from the current location. Citizens must be active in forming the actual agenda. They should be permitted to suggest on both specific and general matters that are to be discussed and finally decided on (Dahl 123). A resident suggested on a cleanup day, the individual suggested Saturday. The city council was to provide the gloves, in bags, and litter pickers. Citizens must be knowledgeable and should be given a chance to express themselves (Dahl 216). Notes on any disabled individual who wanted to participate in the meeting was to call the any of the ward’s clerk for accommodation. A disabled resident on a wheel chair suggested on building of ramps in public places like the city halls to make the movement for the less privileged easier and efficient. Everyone in the society should be given a chance to have the freedom of speech. Democracy is important in a community and country. Elections help hold a government responsible and let the people

Contingency plan for sailing yachts charter Essay - 2

Contingency plan for sailing yachts charter - Essay Example It includes fire prevention, fire fighting practices, and pirating activities as they might impact business operations or the well-being of ship and crew. Because this represents a luxury market, kidnapping and resource plundering as the result of pirating activities, which are on the rise, must be recognized. Fire represents the largest assessed risk for the business’ disaster management programme. In the event of disaster situations, the vessel and its associated dispatch and control teams will establish an incident control system modelled after that in use by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The ICS structure â€Å"establishes common terminology that allows diverse incident management and support entities to work together across a wide variety of incident management functions and hazard scenarios† (thebreakingnews.com, 2004, p.16). ICS modelling for incident control provides an organizational framework by which to handle different real-time disaster situations. Dispatch efforts will include making appropriate contact with local coast guard authorities if the situation cannot be controlled effectively by the officer in charge as well as the Fire Brigade. ______________________ The existence of rogue waves and other atmospheric phenomenon is a genuine risk to operating the business and pose potential risks to the health and safety on crew and customers. There are no appropriate mitigation risks in the event of these scenarios, however wave measurement technology includes fully-functional measurement systems to identify risk (chl.erdc.army.mil, 2009). It is the responsibility of the information technology support team to ensure these technologies are implemented on board and functioning properly for ongoing risk mitigation. This is controlled at the operational and organizational levels and will be run through diagnostic systems checks periodically as mandated by technology needs. In the event of

Strategic Management Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Strategic Management Analysis - Essay Example t PESTEL analysis is generally a tool that assists the organisations to make the strategies by helping them to comprehend the external environment where they operate now or might operate in the near future. PESTEL analysis will assist Thomas Cook in understanding its environment in which it operates and will assist them to build certain strategies in order to overcome the threats that it possesses (Renewal Associates, 2003). The head of the political system of Britain is a monarch. The three arms of the state as stated in the classical political theory are the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. There are three political parties in the UK system of politics namely the Labour Party, the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrat Party (Roger Darlington, 2010). The government of the UK doesn’t permits spending its money in countries abroad and prefers its citizens to spend their money in the UK itself and take their holidays in the UK instead of abroad in order to promote domestic tourism. This might have an adverse impact upon the Thomas Cook. The economic crisis of Greece had an adverse affect on the holiday booking in the country. In addition to this it was evident that the currency rate fluctuation also has an adverse impact upon the outbound as well as inbound tourist. The value of sterling or pound in opposition to another currency has an impact upon the cost of coming to the UK for the inbound tourists. The fluctuation of currency rates may affect the tourism in other ways as well. The tour operators may find out that the charges that have been decided with hoteliers as well as transporters in different nations might increase as well as decrease because of the ‘currency movements’. There has been a trend of accessing the internet and buying the necessary goods online in the UK. People of the UK love to listen to music and radio; and like to socialise by entertaining families and friends at home rather than going outside. They are more

NewCorp Scenarios of Workers Protection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

NewCorp Scenarios of Workers Protection - Essay Example The essay "NewCorp Scenarios of Workers Protection" talks about the employment laws that stipulate rights of workers and it is the duty of all employers to ensure that they safeguard the rights of their workers by offering good working conditions. In the case of NewCorp, Paul has been exposed to work in a dangerous environment, which has made him be claustrophobic. He explains that the condition arose because of working in the confined spaces and if this issue is taken to court and he proves this, the court will rule in his favor and compensation will have to be made. The working environment has had a case before of another worker who was injured while doing his job and this proves that the environment is not conducive. The occupational safety act requires that employers provide safe working environment for all employees. The specific duty standards set rules that guard employees from being exposed to the hazardous working environment and in this case the confined spaces. NewCorp has exposed its workers to the hazardous working environment, and this has resulted to one of the employees being injured and Paul becoming claustrophobic. The organization has the responsibility of ensuring that it sets down safety standards for all workers and failure to do this means that it has violated the set rules, which will require them to pay compensation in the event that an employee is injured. NewCorp has also violated the Occupational Safety Act that gives it a general duty to provide an environment.

Finding the Exception Essay Example for Free

Finding the Exception Essay â€Å"I remember riding my bike to school every day and seeing those two men working on their bicycles in their garage, little did I know that they would be the founders of the Trek Bicycle Corporation.† My mother told this to me a few months back when we were reminiscing on the good ol days. Waterloo, one of the smallest towns I have ever been too, is home to the success of French history. Its Trek bicycles are now the Tour de France winning frames that brought Lance Armstrong his victories and brought the midwest its spotlight on making the first American bike frames to win the worlds most prestigious bicycle race. By 1984, Trek was at its peak and sales were around $20,000 with approximately fifty thousand Treks being sold in the United States (Burke, 2012). However â€Å"Trek had grown arrogant, and the problems were starting to show† (Burke, 2012). Within business success lies problems and for this company the early years presented many because Trek did not like the bicycle retailers that they were dealing with, they had no brand strategy, and they had no money to advertise It seems that the most successful businesses start with the passion of at least one person. For Trek it was the vision of Richard Burke and Bevel Hogg. Burke was a former accountant that took interest in investments. Hogg was the owner of a Midwestern chain of bicycle stores. While Burke spent 15 years perfecting his business skills with Roth Corporation in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Hogg was growing tired of the retail business while keeping his heart with bicycles. Burke had a passion for outdoor recreation which drove him toward the bicycle market. During a meeting between the two men in 1975 when they sought to solve the issue of foreign made product. Their main competitor at the time was Schwinn bu this company dominated the specialty retail market but their bikes were Japanese made. Burke and Hogg wanted to sell American-made product for the same specialty. The company began as a five-person operation in a barn and is now a globally oriented company with distribution in 65 countries and over 1500 employees worldwide. What made the Trek bicycle so unique? Their mission was and still is simple, build the best bikes in the world. The frame sets were handmade from steel. The style was adopted from a European brazing style with its own American flavor. Tim Issac, an early frame engineer, said that a Trek bicycle could be identified without any paint on it. The company was blessed with the right designers and tolling infrastructure to use exactly the right materials to create such unique frame sets. The company had successfully found a way to distinguish itself. â€Å"In order to succeed, you cannot just sell any brand; you need to produce something special† (Burke, 2012, p. 4). Once this is established its time to settle on a distribution channel to ensure customers are being reached. At the time, Penn Cycle, outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota was Treks dealer. What attracted this dealer to Trek was that not only did this bicycle manufacturer provide lightweight, advanced bicycles, but they were also made in the United States. Market shares were quickly gaining from the Japanese and European competitors and the company was gaining dealers from Madison to San Francisco and sales had grown to over $1,000,000. After expanding the facility to allow for assembly lines and paint factories, reshaping the entire business, the company was able to hire its first true sales representatives and there in lies its customer service foundation. In 1981, sales doubles and again in 1982. In 1983, the company was already building additions to the factory. The business growth inspired a movements on the West Coast in corporations like Gary Fisher. Then in 1985, sales were over $20,000,000 But, as with any fast lane growth, Trek was facing a net loss for the second year straight. The totals sales in 1984 did not meet expectations and quality control was lacking which angered retailers. The assembly line was built but   it seemed as thought the company didnt know how to keep it moving forward. On top of that the turn over rate was lacking. John Burke, the son of Richard Burke, who worked for his fathers business remembers writing orders and them showing up at the customer two weeks later but yet having other orders written on prior sales call that still were not arriving to the customers (Burke, 2012, p. 10). The quality in the company was deteriorating. There were paint problems, frames were out of alignment, credits that were promised were not going through, etc. â€Å"I worked hard and sold a lot of product but the problems from the home office kept mounting† (Burke, 2012). Retailers were becoming more and more upset which pushed Trek even harder and the company was falling apart. Customer services makes or brakes a company in the retail world and Treks mission was to make every customer happy. It was up to their customer service department to bring this company back up and that is exactly what John Burke did. He knew that they needed to regain their focus, and that he needed to take a more active role in the companies day-to-day operations. A lot of options were being faced which included closing the operation and liquidating the business, sell the company, or turn it around. â€Å"We decided to roll up our sleeves and get it done (Burke, 2012). There is one method in business that seems to always prevail and that is the back-to-basics approach. Build a quality product, at a competitive value, that can be delivered on time while maintaining a positive work environment for customers and employees. Most importantly, deliver profit. The company first needed to start shipping orders on the same day. Cross training is always an excellent tool and this was a perfect opportunity for the business-suited employees to start putting their hand in on the factory work. The factory would get backed up and so the office workers would go into the warehouse and make sure that orders were fulfilled. Saturdays may seem like a day of rest for some but for Trek to succeed it had to require work on the weekends. Not only were deadlines met but lousy product needed to stop making it out the door. This truly shows the customer that their needs are  being met no matter what it takes. Organizational buying process is such an important business practice. With the many years of developed partnerships Trek has established, the company now has suppliers around the world that allow the fulfillment of demands of the product line. In the 1980s, when Trek was struggling, they were overlooking one very important aspect of their customer relationships-what is the actual value of their product? They were not going to their buyers and simply asking if they could help them find a vendor based on the value they were proposing. One a vendor is found there is some research that is to be done as well. Does this vendor have good history? Who has worked with them in the past? Is there opportunity to save some money in the mean time? Reliable quality product is what businesses thrive on. Any product that is overpriced needs to be discontinued and new products need to be developed that hit the right price points. â€Å"When potential suppliers are identified, theyre evaluated on four criteria: quality, delivery, capability, price, and environmental impact of their production process† (Kerin, 2005). In an industry such as bicycle production, the operational approach to management is essential. This approach is dedicated to improving efficiency, cutting waste, and improving quality (Kreitner Cassidy, 2011). By staying in line with business ethics, the manager of Trek would have put more energy into building better product so that it would support the challenges faced today such as limited mobility, issues with the environment, and now more than ever, issues with health. Essentially the bike must work well. If the name Trek is one it then there is quality behind it and this quality needs to be adhered to in the warehouse during production. At the time, Trek probably could not have seen that the bicycle would become the simple solution to all of these things but just as we embrace the availability of such innovation, managers of any business should be at least two steps ahead as to almost predict the future, therefore focusing on sustaining the reputable quality product that the c ompany originated from. In 1988, Trek introduced the Model 1200 aluminum road bike. This was the turning point for the company. This was true quality at a very competitive price. The original dollar amount was $500. Originally the company planned to sell 3,000 of these models but at the end of the year 12,000 were sold. This is when a business needs to reevaluate its retail margin. What goals are being made to improve the amount of retailers and what is the target date? Buyer centers then need to help the company find vendors to find the right place to sell new product. New strategic visions for new models and components builds a better business. Trek was learning, slowly but surely, that they needed to look at their own processes, understand how they make their product, how they source their product, and how they will continue to bring their product to the market and maybe at the end of the day, saving a dollar or two. How could Trek build bicycles that last longer, maybe even use recycles tires. Every business has room for improvement. Business owners should always be looking for ways to bring new technology and solutions into the marketplace. By 1996 Trek was now over $300 million in sales. At this point in the time the company was expanded in Europe to include Japan. However, when there is sunshine expect rain and when there is rain expect for sun. After Trek ramped up their budgets by 20 percent in 1996, 20% more product was to be produced. Sales forecasts were starting to get missed which left inventory levels shooting through the roof. The company was yet again out of balance. There were more bikes in inventory than sales. Every year bicycle products are expected to change, therefore this high inventory of product needed to be discounted heavily in order for sales to continue. This only hurts profit margins. Basically what happened was that Trek grew too big too fast. Just about an hour away form Waterloo is the Whitewater Trek manufacturing plant. When this plant was first opened in 1995, the goal seemed to still be manufacturing low-price point bikes. â€Å"We got out of 1996 making a profit, but the future was no longer bright, and storm clouds were on the horizon† (Burke, 2012). Then numbers continued to look worse and worse as the years went on. Finally in 1998, Tim Callahan was hired on to Trek to take over manufacturing. He turned over Trek manufacturing that essentially saved the business, yet another time. The concept of Kaizen, Japanese for â€Å"continuous improvement† was used first to turn the Trek factories around. â€Å"In the gift-that-keeps-on-giving department, we took Kaizen to our dealer network and it has continued to make an amazing difference to this day† (Burke, 2012). Businesses to do not There was one other thing that added to Treks new found momentum in success. Trek signed a sponsorship deal with the US Postal Service to sponsor a bike team. Thanks to Lance Armstrong, who had a good group of riders, Trek appeared in the 1999 Tour de France. Lances winnings gave Trek the opportunity to show up on the front of Sports Illustrated and The New York Times, as well as on the Letterman show (Burke, 2012). Business was great until the year 2006. Production needed a facelift. How do you keep a product backed for years by consumers by maintaining its quality and reputation? For consumers of Trek bicycles, there is customer loyalty. Just like with Apple computer or Smart phones. Why such dedication from the customer? Trek figure out that to continue this relationship they would not only have to continue to build quality bicycles-the best in the world but they would provide their customers with quality products at competitive value that would be delivered on time. Just as with Apple computers, the product continues to prove itself in quality, never leaving the customer unsatisfied. IF there is a problem for whatever reason, dedication to customer sanctification shines the most by fixing whatever issue there may be in a timely fashion. When Senior Burke fired the management team and asked John to move back to Wisconsin to run Treks customer service department, he learned the value of maintaining relationships with retailers and customers.

The marketing plan on levemir

The marketing plan on levemir The marketing plan on levemir 1.0 Executive Summary The marketing plan on Levemir for the Indian market presents the approach to increase market share of Levemir in basal analogue to 50% and in the basal insulin categories to 30% by 2012. We think that this target is achievable because of improving economy, market growth and our competitive advantage. In doing so we would retard the growth of Lantus and upgrade our existing patients on Insulatard (basal human insulin) to Levemir and would position Levemir the preferred basal insulin of choice for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. 2.0 Corporate Vision We will be the worlds leading diabetes care company. We will offer products and services in other areas where we can make a difference. We will achieve competitive business results A job here is never just a job Our values are expressed in all our actions Our history tells us, it can be done There was no mission statement but Novo Nordisk (NN) had the vision statement as mentioned above. Ideally a mission statement should cover the firms priorities in terms of customer focus, value provided, market scope, guiding values and core competencies. The vision statement of NN is fair enough to clarify all these aspects, may be they could have added or modified more about their core competencies. 3.0 Current Marketing Situation Information about Indian Pharmaceutical, Diabetes Care and Insulin market is described in the appendix p 24. 3.1 The Basal Insulin Insulin Analogue Market The insulin analogue market is growing at 27%, predominantly contributed by the multinational pharmaceutical firms including NN, Eli Lilly and Sanofi-Aventis (fig 1). NN is leading the insulin analogue market with 54% market share followed by Eli Lilly and Sanofi-Aventis (fig 2). Figure 1: Insulin Analogue Market Growth Figure 2: Insulin Analogue Market Share Basal Insulin market can be categorised as animal, human and analogues and it offers a total market of Rs.58 crores and growing at 57%. In terms of volumes the total basal market is 810.4 million units (MU) and NN is the market leader in this segment with 46% market share. However, this share is largely because of high contributions coming from human basal. In the category of basal analogue, Sanofi-Aventis is a clear leader with ~77% market share and NN with 23% market share (fig 3). The key market insights from the basal analogue segment are as follows: The total basal analogue is worth Rs. 58 crores Lantus (insulin glargine): Rs. 45 crores Levemir (insulin detemir): Rs. 13 crores Lantus has ~77% market share and Levemir has 23% market share. Figure 3: Basal Insulin Analogue Value Market Share 3.2 Internal Sales Trend Total sales in 2007 and 2008 were Rs. 309 crs (23.6% growth) and Rs. 363 crs (17.5% growth) respectively. With respect to Levemir, sales were Rs. 8.88 crs (94% growth) and Rs. 16 crs (81%) in 2007 and 2008 respectively. The sale of Levemir until YTD November 2009 is 28 crores. The planned growth for Levemir next year (2010) would be 70%. Introduction of Levemir PenFill will further strengthen Levemirs stand against Lantus. 3.3 External Environment India is a growing economy with a stable government and Indian Pharmaceutical Market is also growing rapidly at 15%. Moreover, India has the highest number of diabetes population (51 million) in the world and is growing with westernization. Hence, its a dream of every Pharmaceutical company with diabetes products to be present in India. High market attractiveness and no barriers to entry so number of players in diabetes and insulin are growing. NN is focussed in shifting the patients to insulin analogues from human insulins as the analogue market has barriers to entry due to patents in place, less competition, no price war and has high profit margin. It is discussed in detail in the appendix p 27. 3.4 Market Size (Patient Population) India has the worlds largest population of people with diabetes, with an estimated 51 million people suffering from the disease. According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), India is expected to have 87 million people ailing from diabetes by 2030. India is considered as the diabetes capital of the world with a patient population of more than 50 million. Diabetes strikes the Indian population a decade earlier than the west. The reasons for the pandemic are attributed to genetic predisposition, changing lifestyle and urbanization. Treatment data (Table 1) suggests that out of 51 million, only 13 million people are diagnosed with diabetes but only: 7 million people are on medication Only 1.7 million are on insulin alone or in combination with OADs 3.5 Competitor Mapping Analysis The main competitors for NN India are: Eli Lily Sanofi-Aventis Wockhardt Biocon USV 3.6 Novo Nordisk SWOT Analysis (Internal Audit) Table 4: NN in the insulin market Strengths Diabetes is the core focus since 1920s esp. Insulin therapy Strong RD Well established in Indian market Developed the insulin market in india Continuous innovations Strong partnership with the Key Opinion Leaders in diabetes Large sales force > 500 dedicated for insulin products Weaknesses Lantus was the first basal analogue to launch in India, Levemir is not able to grow faster Higher attrition rate in the sales force Products are costly Opportunities India is the diabetes capital of the world with 51 million diabetic population Huge market for growth Develop the analogue market Threats Entry of local players Lantus patent expired launch of biosimilars, price cutting New therapeutic product launch such as GLP-1 analogues, DPP-IV inhibitors 3.7 Growth Strategy As per the Ansoffs matrix, NN is developing a new market for analogues. Hence, it is in the market development phase. As the human insulin market is crowded by generic players and more local players are entering due to market attractiveness and no barriers to entry, NN is focussing on creating and developing a new insulin analogue market so that the patients can be shifted to insulin analogues. The model is depicted pictorially in the appendix p34. 3.8 Portfolio Analysis Among the various diabetes care products, the insulin analogues including NovoMix, Levemir and NovoRapid are growing very fast and star as per the matrix. The human insulins (Mixtard, Actrapid Insulatard) are cash cows. The only OAD of NN is in the Dog stage and this maybe due to that we are not focusing in this product as we want to grow the insulin analogue market. As per NN strategy, we want to develop the analogue market, hence heavy investment and more noise level would be the key to our success. 4.0 Marketing Objectives Levemir the preferred basal insulin of choice for the treatment of both type 1 2 diabetes. Acceptance of Levemir as once-daily insulin by the doctors. To increase the value market share of Levemir in basal analogue category to 50% in next 3 years. To achieve a value market share of 30% in the basal human insulin category by 2012. To make Levemir a 30 crores brand by 2012. To launch Levemir Penfills by March 2010. To counter the growth of Lantus. To upgrade 50% of the patients on Insulatard (human insulin) to Levemir by 2012 To increase NovoRapid sales by copromotion with Levemir. 5.0 Marketing Strategy The complete range of insulin analogues, along with various delivery devices, in the Indian diabetes care market will be available only from NN. With NovoMix we will drive the analogue category in India which is predominantly a premix market (~80%). Levemir will be a part of this intensive offering, to shake up the market share occupied by Lantus. Being the only company with a full analogue portfolio, gives us the ability to initiate people with diabetes on a full analogue basal oral regimen. Levemir would be placed in the minds of the customers as the basal insulin of choice for intensive treatment for type 1 and type 2 diabetes. In both type 1 and type 2 patients, Levemir will be a once daily dose available in FlexPen. 5.1 Segmentation Prescribing doctors were divided into different categories on the basis of their prescription behaviour, qualification and influence on other peers, society or key decision maker in large institutions of repute (table 6). Prescription pattern was found out by market research (external agency) and internal data obtained from the sales team. The number of sales call, expenditure on the Dr for research purpose, international sponsorships, exposure to international forums and advisory board membership would vary for each category of physician. Levemir prescription would be generated primarily from the A and B class doctor. Hence, segmentation will help the sales force to focus better on the key customers and less cannibalisation into premix analogue segment. 5.2 Targeting Patients: Levemir will be targeted at the following categories of patients: Type 1 Diabetes: For intensive control Type 2 Diabetes: For patients on basal-oral therapy The main patient benefit will be improved control and safety coupled with no undesirable weight gain compared to Insulatard and Lantus. These benefits will be offered together with a far superior delivery device the FlexPen. Majority of the patients will come from basal-bolus to Levemir. As can be seen from the figure 5, 40% of the patients will come from basal-bolus therapy followed by basal only (20%). It will be important to focus on these two segments to ensure rapid market penetration. Prescribers: Levemir will be targeted at the following categories of doctors and prescribers (table 7): The target doctors for Levemir will be Diabetologists, Endocrinologists, Cardiologists and Physicians particularly Lantus prescribers. Key customers are described in detail in appendix p32. 5.3 Positioning The product proposition or the key to owning the positioning in the doctors mind is based on better glycaemic control and positive differentiation of Levemir over both Insulatard and Lantus. The positioning line for Levemir in India will be as follows: Add Levemir once-daily, reduce weight gain Weight neutrality assists the physician to achieve optimal control with fewer hypoglycaemic episodes and no undesirable weight gain. Levemir once-daily with OADs has to be ingrained in the doctors mind. Key messages: The key messages will aim to reinforce good glycaemic control and weight neutrality would be the key differentiator from Lantus: Weight neutral property Good glycaemic control with once-daily dosing with OADs. Controlling Diabesity leads to better quality of life and safety Levemir together with NovoRapid and NovoMix 30 are the only insulin analogues available in the advanced delivery system the FlexPen. Ultimate Control Key Messages are described in detail in the appendix p 35. 5.4 Critical Success Factors To block the growth of Lantus that has now been in the market for over 5 years Manage neutralize the entry of newer players such as Apidra (Sanofi) and Glargine from Wockhardt and Biocon. Ability of NN field force to effectively create awareness and brand acceptability for Levemir among prescribers will be crucial in establishing Levemirs position in the market. The benefits of basal-oral in type 2 and basal-bolus therapy in type 1 patients will have to clearly emerge. This will help in reinforcing the benefits of Levemir and strengthening the brand among the doctor and patient communities. Acceptance of the price point by the prescriber and the purchaser/ patient is critical for Levemir to gain prescriptions as well as market shares. Clear targeting of Levemir to Class A B doctors. Successful launch of Levemir Penfills in March 2010. 6.0 Marketing Mix 6.1 Product Levemir is a solution for injection that contains the active substance insulin detemir. It is available in pre-filled pens (FlexPen). Levemir is used to treat adults, adolescents and children over the age of six years who have diabetes. The medicine can only be obtained with a prescription. Levemir is imported to India from the manufacturing plant in Copenhagen (Denmark). Levemir is an insulin analogue prescribed to patients with diabetes for meeting the basal insulin requirement. Other insulin analogues of NN are NovoRapid and NovoMix 30. All the insulin analogues including Levemir are patented product of NN. 6.1.1 Product Life Cycle Management Source: mbarreiro.wordpress.com/ Levemir was launched in May 2006 in the Indian market. Levemir was second to Lantus in basal insulin analogue category in India. Although Levemir is 3 years old in Indian market, still it has not grown as expected compared to the global market. As per the product life cycle graph, Levemir is in the initial part of growth phase, needs more attention and intensive promotion to reach the peak. Hence the focus will be on the single biggest benefit of Levemir i.e. Less undesired weight gain and Once-daily therapy with OADs in all our communications. This will ensure that Levemirs key differentiator of Weight Advantage is completely understood and appreciated by the prescriber base. The integration of Levemir with NovoRapid will be extremely important to establish Levemir as the key part of basal-bolus therapy. This will be achieved with joint promotion and communication activities with NovoRapid with the key objective being the importance of basal-bolus therapy in the proper treatment of diabetes. Strong brand showcasing in all reputed diabetes journals, conferences and meetings with leading Key Opinion Leaders endorsements will be the key to success of Levemir so that Levemir reaches the peak of growth phase. 6.2 Price Pricing in India has to be extremely competitive as it is a very price sensitive market. Pricing here follows certain regulatory procedures. Since insulin falls under the price controlled drugs and pharmaceutical products category there is a maximum selling price which needs to be approved from the pricing authority NPPA (National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority). They would evaluate the recommendation on the following parameters: Affordability for the masses and criticality of making this product available to all if Life saving (Insulin comes under this category). Manufacturing cost the pharmaceutical company claims to incur Competitive pricing Post this NPPA gives clear approval based on which a license to market is procured. The following price was approved by NPPA after our recommendation. Product Type MRP (Rs) Levemir FlexPen 988 NN is a market leader in diabetes market globally including India and is known for its strong research and development activities. Levemir is an innovative patented product; the pricing is based on the value perceived by the customers (doctors). The pricing decision has also been done taking into account on the price of the competitor that existed during launch, Lantus Optiset Pen (MRP = Rs 801). 6.3 Promotion NN would adopt both Push strategy and Pull strategy as promotional tools. The Push strategy would be through promotional activities target at the prescribers (doctors), whereas the Pull strategy would be through increasing awareness of the end consumer (diabetic patients) about good glycaemic control, less undesired weight gain, less hypoglycaemia and easy to use insulin pens. Advertising Sales Promotion Public Relations Personal Selling Sampling The promotional tools are described in detail in the appendix p35. 6.4 Place Distribution channel structure: Levemir will be distributed via wholesalers through our channel partner M/S. Abbott India Limited. There will be no change in the distribution channel for Levemir. We will focus on Metros and larger cities to gain market volumes. Levemir will be made available in select retail outlets. The pharmaceutical distribution channel in India is described pictorially in figure 7. Figure 7: The Pharmaceutical Distribution Channel in India Note Figures in %age indicate %age of medicines supplied to the entity Acknowledgement: I am grateful to Mr Devdutt Dash, Senior Product Manager Levemir, Novo Nordisk India for providing the market data on Indian Pharmaceutical Industry, Diabetes Care, Insulin Insulin analogues and internal sales data of NN, Levemir and Lantus. 7.0 References and Bibliography 1. Kotler, P, Armstrong, G, Wong, V Saunders, J. ed. 2008. Principles of Marketing. Pearson Education Ltd: Prentice Hall. 2. mbarreiro.wordpress.com/ 3. Roger, J. B. 2nd ed. 2000. Market-Based Management: Strategies for Growing Customer Value and Profitability, (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall), p.127. 4. tutor2u.net/business/strategy/ansoff_matrix.htm 5. Wood, M.B. ed. 2007. Essential guide to marketing planning. Pearson Education Ltd: Prentice Hall. 6. www.financialexpress.com//indias-gdp200910/435703/ 7. www.IDF.org 8. www.novonordisk.com

Isolation and Identification of Listeria Species

Isolation and Identification of Listeria Species Alesha Coleman-McCallum Title: Isolation and Identification of Listeria species from chicken sample using Palcam broth (pre-enrichment), UVM 11 broth (selective enrichment), Palcam and Oxford agars (selective plating) also confirmation using biochemical tests. Objectives: To isolate Listeria species from chicken sample To observe the reaction of listeria on selective medium To confirm the Listeria species using biochemical tests Introduction Listeria is a genus of aerobic parasitic, gram positive rod-shaped bacterium (Define, n.d). This genus has more than 10 species with the commonly encountered being: Listeria monocytogenes, Listeria innocua, Listeria ivanovii, Listeria welshimeri, Listeria seeligeri, Listeria grayi, Listeria murrayi. Members of this genus are extensively spread in the environment and maybe found in soil, plants, gastrointestinal tract of animal and humans. Listeria monocytogenes species is of great concern because it is pathogenic to humans and causes Listeriosis. Listeriosis is a foodborne illness (Hardy Diagnostics, 1996). Listeria monocytogenes is different from most bacteria since it can grow in the cold, salt, acid and air-tight conditions. The increased demand of ready to eat foods especially in first world countries has the potential of listeriosis more eminent. Pregnant women, older adults, young children and immunocompromised persons are more susceptible to Listeriosis infections. Therefore cooking, pasteurization/applying heating steps to food, avoiding raw meat and milk/ moist or processed food and washing hands regularly may reduce the risk of infections. (FDA, 2004). According to Food Quality Safety USA [4] a dry and clean work environment is crucial in avoiding listeria outbreaks in the food industry. Methods for Identification Methods used in BI208 lab for identification of Listeria were Palcam broth (pre-enrichment) then UVM 11 broth for selective enrichment step, Palcam (selective agent) and Oxford agars (selective and differential agent). For confirmation of species: organism was plated on a blood agar to check for hemolysis. Biochemical test included SIM tube for motility, mannitol, D Xylose and L Rhamnose reactions obtained. Other methods that could be used to identify listeria species are: Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), Rapid Identification Kits and Serological tests (MFHPB-07, 2012). Results Table showing results obtained from Listeria media reaction Media Observations Reaction Palcam Agar Shiny, smooth, circular, convex colonies. No fermentation No Hydrolsis Oxford Agar Black colour around colonies Esculin Reduction Blood Cream, hilly,glistening colonies No Beta-hemolysis Mannitol Transparent colonies Negative D Xylose Transparent colonies Negative L Rhamnose Light yellow fermentation around colonies Positive SIM Tube Umbrella shaped growth Positive Gram Stain gram positive rods Assuming Listeria monocytogenes control was used: Media Expected Results Palcam Broth Cloudy UVM 11 Cloudy Palcam Agar No fermentation Positive Hydrolysis Oxford Agar Esculin Reduction Blood Beta-hemolysis Mannitol Negative D Xylose Negative L Rhamnose Positive SIM Tube Positive Discussion Listeria innocua was isolated from the chicken sample. Listeria innocua is not usually implicated in food born-illnesses however an isolated death in an elderly patient was reported (Perrin, Bemer and Delamare, 2003). Portions of chicken sample were first placed in pre-enrichment broth in order for stressed cells to become viable and all other bacterial cells to multiply.   Enrichment stage is to partially suppress unwanted organisms and allow listeria to thrive. Oxford agar (OXA) is both selective and differential. The selective properties of OXA agar will not allow gram negative organisms to grow while suppressing most gram positive organisms (Oxoid, n.d). The different property of OXA agar will allow some species of Listeria to be totally inhibited, growth with or without blackened colonies (MFHPB-07, 2012). Palcam agar   utilizes two indicator systems: esculin and mannitol.   Listeria monocytogenes changes esculin to a black complex around colonies but does not ferment mannitol. Therefore some gram positive organisms such as enterococci and staphylococci will ferment mannitol hence can be ruled out as contaminants (Oxoid, n.d). Blood agar was used to determine if the organ ism is beta-hemolytic. Other Biochemical tests were mannitol, D Xylose, L Rhamnose and SIM Tube to differentiate and confirm the species. Since Listeria monocytogenes is pathogenic to humans a 2 Class Sampling Plan would be used to asses if the chicken is fit for consumption. Different species of an organism may exhibit variable characteristics and maybe mistaken. Listeria species were found and should be deemed unacceptable for consumption. Further testing such as PCR which is very specific could be used to conclusively identify the species present. Conclusions Based on the objectives previously outlined, isolation and Identification of Listeria species from chicken sample using Palcam broth method was very effective. References Define,n.d. Listeria Genus. Retrieved February 22, 2017 from http://www.dictionary.com/browse/listeria Hardy Diagnostics, 1996. Food Borne-illneses Retrieved February 22, 2017 from https://catalog.hardydiagnostics.com/cp_prod/Content/hugo/Listeria.htm FDA, 2004. Food-Borne Pathogenic Microorganisms and Natural Toxins Handbook: The Bad Bug Book U.S. FDA/CFSAN. Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration, College park, MD. Food Quality Safety (formerly Food Quality),2007.   Retrieved February 20, 2017 from http://www.foodqualityandsafety.com/article/prevent-and-control-listeria Jay, J.M.,Loessner, M.J. Golden, D. A. (2005). Modern Food Microbiology: Indicator of Food Microbial Quality and Safety, 476-477. United States of America: Springer Science+Business Media LLC . MFHPB-07 Method, November, 2012. The isolation of Listeria monocytogenes and other listeria species from food and environment samples using Palcam broth. Retrieved February 20, 2017 from  http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/res-rech/analy-meth/microbio/volume2-eng.php Monique Perrin, Michel Bemer and Catherine Delamare, 2003. Fatal Case of Listeria innocua Bacteremia: Journal of Clinical Microbiology Oxoid, n.d. Enrichment Media for Listeria. Retrieved February 20, 2017 from  http://www.oxoid.com/uk/blue/prod_detail/prod_detail.asp?pr=CM0856org=91c=uklang=EN US Government, n.d. Retrieved February 20, 2017 from https://www.foodsafety.gov/poisoning/causes/bacteriaviruses/listeria/ Zimbro, M.J., Power D.A., Miller,M.M., Wilson, G.E., Johnson, J.A., (Revised 2009). Difco BBL Manual: Palcam and Oxford Agar, Culture Media for Specific Groups of Microorganisms. United States of America: Becton, Dickinson and Company.

Canadas Brain Drain Issue Essay example -- essays papers

Canadas Brain Drain Issue What is a brain drain? It is the emigration of highly educated and skilled Canadians to the United States. Does Canada suffer from a Brain Drain? This is a question that economists have been trying to answer for a decade now and have conducted different studies resulting to different conclusions about this issue. There are some economists that believe that yes Canada is suffering from a brain drain if not now it will be soon, amongst those economists are Don DeVortez and Samuel Laryea who prepared a study of C.D howe Institute. They claimed that Brain Drain is real and is costing Canada Tax Payers millions of dollars. Then on the other side of the debate we have economists like John Helliwell, who compares the current perceptions to past movements of educated Canadians to the United States, and the past and current immigration to Canada from other countries, concluding that the 90’s movement of educated Canadians to the United States, is relatively small. He strongly beli eves that the existing data and analysis provides no evidence of a current crisis or any great changes in the tax system. So why is it that the media are convinced that there is a brain drain? This â€Å"brain drain† leads to the conclusions that there must be something wrong with Canada and that if nothing is done the nation is doomed. A brain drain means that Canadian productivity will slip even further behind American, that will cause even more of Canadians to leave, and the cycle will continue. Although brain drain believers don’t have much data to back them up, they have two strong arguments 1. The apparently small numbers of emigrants are a catastrophic loss for Canada, cause the issue is not how many we are losing, but who we are losing. 2. A definite crisis will come unless governments do something -cut taxes- for example. The main concern economists have is the future outcome of this brain drain. They understand and even some might agree that Canada is not currently suffering from a brain drain but there definitely is a problem and if it is not addressed by the government fast then there will be a major threat to the economy of Canada and then there will definitely be a BRAIN DRAIN. McKinsey & Company describes the Brain Drain as â€Å"WAR FOR TALEN†, it is a battle of quality rather than quantity so even though the statistical eviden... ...ment does not lower taxes and other economic forces such as post secondary educational subsidies, then we will not only lose our brains but also our most reputable companies (Nortel) will move and establish themselves someplace where talent is found. Bibliography:  · William Watson. (1999) â€Å"The Brain Drain Campaign† Policy Options Politiques. September.  · John F. Helliwell. (1999) â€Å"Checking The Brain Drain:Evidence and implications† September.  · D.J. DeVoretz. (1999) â€Å" The brain drain is real and it costs us† September.  · Herb Emery. (1999) â€Å" The evidence VS. The tax-cutters† September.  · David Stewart-Patterson. (1999) â€Å" The drain will be a torrent if we don’t staunch it now† September.  · Mahmood Iqbal. (1999) â€Å" Are we losing our minds† September.  · Globe and Mail. (1999) â€Å"The Brain Drain: truth and consequences† Editorial. May 8  · Reguly, Eric. (1999) â€Å"Dollar union fails a reality check† The Globe and Mail. June 26: B2  · Lewington, Jennifer. (1999) â€Å"Is Canada really losing its brains?† The Globe and Mail. January 4.  · Canadian Association of University Teachers www.caut.ca â€Å"There is little evidence that Canada is experiencing a brain drain†

Jim Morrison :: essays research papers

Mr. Mojo Risin’ and Fallin’: The Life and Death of Jim Morrison He is often referred to as the "electric poet" for his tantalizing words and mesmerizing music, and called to be the "Lizard King" for his deep obsession for all creatures of nature. His name is James Douglas Morrison. Jim Morrison is one of the most influential artists in history. His life brought inspiration to many young people’s lives, and his death continues to weave us into the mysteries that he left behind for us to break through. One certain mystery happened the night his soul passed on. No one really knows what happened to Jim that made him leave the world that night. There are rumors of death from natural causes, a heroin overdose, or even that he is still alive and well keeping the rest of his life a secret to us all. To better understand Jim Morrison himself, a background of his life and especially his character is necessary. James Douglas Morrison was born on December 8, 1943, in Melbourne, Florida (Hopkins 5). He was the first child of George Stephen Morrison and Clara Clark Morrison. He had two younger siblings, Anne and Andrew ("James" 1). His father was an officer in the United States Navy and his mother remained a housewife to act as the "dominant parent" over the three kids (Hopkins 22). After graduating from Florida State University, he attended film school at the University of California at Los Angeles in 1964, where he met Ray Manzarek. A year later, the two form a band called The Doors with Robbie Krieger and John Densmore after Jim reveals to Ray some songs that he had written (Rocco 172). Jim Morrison was on vocals, Ray Manzarek on organ, Robbie Krieger on guitar, and John Densmore on the drums. The Doors became a very successful band, recording fourteen albums al together, not including bootleg recordings (Rocco 184). In 1971, the four Doors break up after Jim decides to move to Paris to pursue a writing career. Jim Morrison was intelligent, intimidating, sensitive, wild, just about everything a person could be rolled into one. In a publicity bio recorded by Elektra, Jim says, I’ve always been attracted to ideas that were about revolt against authority-- when you make your peace with authority, you become an authority. I like ideas about the breaking away or overthrowing of established order---I am interested in anything about revolt, disorder, chaos, especially activity that seems to have no meaning (Hopkins 107).

Guenevers Love Triangle Essay -- Literary Analysis, The Once and Futu

Nowadays you hear about people cheating on each other and think of it as nothing. In the time period T.H. White’s, The Once and Future King was set, it was a crime as sinful as killing a person. Guenever is a heartless and conniving woman, who gets away with ‘murder’, just because she is the Queen of England. Throughout the book, Guenever is characterized as weak and evil, because her decisions and behavior affect Arthur, Lancelot, and herself negatively. To begin, Guenever manipulates Lancelot’s feelings. She is the majority of his problems and dilemmas. Lancelot tries not to betray Arthur’s trust and save his virtue, but his love for Guenever is making his decisions that much harder. She would tell him to â€Å"’Come back soon’† (340) and leave as she pleased. It affects Lancelot’s ability to maintain his integrity, because Guenever is confusing him, by giving him mixed signals. She makes him think about going against Christianity and the idea of chivalry, two things that he lives by. â€Å"You have won him, and you have broken him. What will you do with him next?† said Elaine (396). Lancelot is confused and he can’t focus on anything other than Guenever, no matter where he is. She is breaking him down emotionally, to the extent where he starts hating himself for loving her. Then, when Guenever finds out about Lancelot and Elaine sleeping together in her castle, she goes ballis tic. â€Å"’Get out of my castle,’ screamed the queen at the top of her voice. ‘Never show your face in it again, your evil, ugly, beastlike face,’† (395). Having his beloved say this to him causes him to lose it, leading him to jump out of the window. No one knew what happened to him. A couple of years later when Lancelot was living with Elaine, the mother of his child... ...y close friends. In all, twenty knights were killed, including Gaheris and Gareth, who were unarmed. Their deaths and the Guenever’s illegitimate relationship are grounds to begin a war on. This war eventually leads to King Arthur’s death. Guenever made Arthur’s life more difficult, rather than supporting him like a good wife should have. Guenever not only affects Arthur and Lancelot negatively throughout their lives, but also numerous people around her. She is Arthur’s and Lancelot’s largest weakness. Guenever gets herself and the people around her into trouble, and makes their lives miserable in some way or another. Ultimately Guenever’s bad judgment and decisions made she was the source of a lot of problems and controversies. Cheating on someone you love was much more scandalous in that period of time than it is now, but it is still not the right thing to do.

Neil Postman Essay

I think Postman’s main argument is that Television is not meant for education solely which is reflected in various different academic studies in his article. That tv can have educational qualities while being entertaining but that it is not the means to end, edutainment is what Postman dubs Sesame street early on. As seen with the research he has duly noted is very conclusive. When we watch tv the average tv watcher only retains 20 percent of what they have watched. Just from reading that it made me realize how many hours I have wasted on Netflix binge watching certain tv shows just to find out what happens. To know I only have retained 20 percent of what I have watched, from each episode is sad. Another point Postman points are that once an hour has passed we retain even less. Which means if I was to go back and re-watch all of the tv shows I have binge watched on Netflix that I would find things I had totally forgotten and possibly forget them again later on after not watchi ng them. Which to me seems like wasted time for entertainment. Even though at the time it doesn’t seem like a waste of time. As Postman points out in the topic of â€Å"The Voyage Of The Mimi†, the government was willing to shell out massive amounts of moment. A few million actually to get a new program going that is using books as a supplemental visual aid along with video games. While the main attraction is the tv program. Visual aids are usual a snippet of a specially made tv program or movie. To think that books are supplemental visual aids are very sad. Postman also argues that even though he does not find Sesame Street non educational he is the unpopular opinion that â€Å"kids will only learn to love learning and school if school is like tv.† Education has taken many hits then and even today. With social media easily at our fingertips it is easy for us even to think that by watching videos we can learn, when really it takes much more than that. Books can be opened and reread over and over again at your own pace. Tv programs where education a paramount can be re-watched but it isnâ€⠄¢t the same and cannot necessarily be slowed down to the pace we always need. Another student pointed out in class their child  has a v-tech tablet, which I agree with her, is useful and helps very much to young children. The classmate also pointed out how the time on it is monitored which is very important as well. An educational tablet is a fun and useful took for kids and I think can be a great learning tool, like Sesame Street. Except, I think that it is more educational, than say a tv program. It is entertaining but it is reminiscent of a children’s toy that helps kids to learn as they grow which has always been sold in the market place for years. Many parents are always looking out for the latest and greatest to help their young children learn as early as possibly before even entering school. â€Å"Thou Shalt Have No Prerequisites† a tongue in cheek commandment but very true as well shows that while a class may have prerequisites a tv show does that, showing that continuity and sequence does not matter for tv programming. Integrating â€Å"Three Media†, or more commonly known as â€Å"multi media presentation†, is not new has always been used modestly to enhance learners education. Years ago the Office of Education supplied funds to WNET for a program titled â€Å"Watch Your Mouth†, which is a series of televised dramatizations of students having programs with the English language while having social issues. While the show was very good, there exists that solid fundamental evidence that the show in any way helped the learners to improve their use of English where in writing or speaking. Which serves as further proof that the Education system was deeply flawed for believing that a tv series specially made for the classes would show any sort of improvement. Leading back to the point that while television is fun and can be educational it is best to leave the majority of tv watching outside of the classroom, except in specific cases where it does not take up too much of the valuable class time. Can social media be used for the greater good in the classroom and to help political and environmental awareness while not taking away from the learning process if used in a high school social experiment? If so explain how?

American Fashion

Since the advent of globalization, there has been an eruption of fashion trends that break the barriers of clothing design like never before. American clothing apparel and other foreign products are now able to share and adopt each other’s styles, giving them unlimited opportunities to constantly innovate in order for them to remain on the top of the business. The latest technologies also allow them to mass produce and sell their products with much ease. The developments in today’s fashion industry have allowed it to become one of the biggest economic institutions in the world.But fashion will not have become what it is today without the influences of its past. Therefore it is only but necessary to discuss American fashion’s history and the changes it had gone through to become what it is today. American fashion first took shape during the colonial era. Although the clothes were noticeably copied from the British, this laid the foundation to what will become the distinct American style. America saw a different picture during this time. Although trade had already become an everyday activity to them, there was hardly any technology that offered them the assortment of clothes we have today.Only natural fabrics were available for them at that time and the clothing the people used were usually sewn by the female members of the family. Wool and linen were the most common as they were readily available. Farmers obtained their wool from the sheep they own, and linen which was regularly used by the more deprived people came from a field crop called Flax plant. Although the soil in America was suitable for growing cotton crops, they were forbidden by the British government to grow them.The British had the monopoly over the cotton industry as one of their other colonies- India was the leading producer of cotton. The importation of British cotton to America made it expensive and was only patronized mostly by the rich as they were the only ones who coul d really afford them. Silk which mainly came from China was a prized commodity as it was also uncommon. Wealthy men included silk as well as cotton in their attire as replacements to the regular wool and linen. On ordinary days, men typically wore coats and tight trousers while women usually wore long sleeved dresses.It is interesting to note that the Americans during this period still did not consider undergarments as part of their wardrobe. During the late 1880’s, wave after wave of immigrants came to the United States as its booming economy presented opportunities to them. The spate of immigrants caused American fashion to evolve as their influences were no longer limited to the British fashion. The different styles from different countries were now being introduced as well. American fashion became more distinct in the 1920’s as the Americans became less conservative.The changing views within the society also gave the women the opportunity to express themselves. The y were increasingly being part of the work force, they were now allowed to vote and they were now also granted the independence to do the activities that they weren’t usually allowed to do before. To simply put it, the women in the 20’s were beginning to play more active roles in the society. Dancing was popular in the 20’s so the women wore shorter skirts for these allowed them to swing freely as they moved.The chemise dress and the coat dress were common during this period. Women also sported short hairstyles to suit their cloches- a type of hat which became trendy among women toward the end of the 1920’s. The great depression in the late 1920s that went on until the early 30s almost brought America to its knees if it was not for their determination to become a World power once more. During this time, buying new clothes was not a priority as the majority of the people barely had enough money to get them through the days. But this did not stop American f ashion from evolving.America’s economic breakdown brought about simpler, yet creative designs which were practical and relatively cheaper to make. Gowns with bow ties on the back and fur accessories were popular among women while men wore striped suits with padding and straight pants which was considered the early design of today’s business suits. Blazers were also popular among men as they were in England. Americans returned to being conservative in the 50s as they became more and more anti-communism. The Americans wanted to instill to the rest of the world their religious, conservative side.Girls started wearing longer skirts again while men wore jeans and denim jackets on top of plain white shirt like James Dean who happened to be a very popular actor during this time. A new fabric called nylon also found its way in the clothing industry right after World War 2. From being used in parachutes, nylon became the fabric used in women’s stockings as well as other apparels. The 60s and the 70s were very significant to the transformation of American fashion, and of course the American culture as the youth had the urge to free themselves from the current conventions of the society.The new perspective on life brought about by the emerging hippie movement also carried with it a new sense of style. The hippies often sported American-Indian inspired outfits in earth tones. This supported their image as ‘tree-huggers and peace defenders. But other than the hippie fashion, Punk also came into play in the fashion scene. The extreme styles reflected the radical ethos of the youth. The 80’s was the period when Americans attempted to fully utilize technology and incorporate it in their everyday lives. This was the time when the people seemed so eager to turn the stuff from sci-fi movies into reality.Synthesizers became a staple musical instrument as new wave became popular, the designs of the cars became more aerodynamic, and there were also important innovations in video technology which gave way to home movies. Spandex outfits in bright neon colors were very fashionable as their being stretchable matched the athletic lifestyles of the people, not to mention that the material also had the ‘futuristic’ look to it. Outrageous hairstyles which were ‘big’ and ‘heavy’ were also very fashionable during this period.Although bright colors from the past decade were still tolerated, the dawn of the 90’s was greatly in contrast to the flamboyant 80s. It was the time when the youth chose a simpler lifestyle. Rubber shoes, T-shirts and jeans were regularly worn by the teenagers. Grunge, a popular musical genre during this period was a huge factor in the 90’s fashion scene. Grunge bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam despised the loud costumes rock stars wore on stage and chose to wear simple clothes instead. Their fans followed suit and the new grunge style soon turned out to be ver y popular and stayed its place all through out the 90’s.The simplistic style from the 90’s is still carried on today. And now that globalization is in full throttle, foreign styles are playing their parts in American fashion. The modern American outfit incorporate the classy designs from fashion hubs like Italy and Paris, and the simplistic style form the 90’s that is still carried on today. 2000 onwards saw a subtler approach to fashion, and at the same time offered the people a larger variety of styles to choose from. A certain style is no longer exclusive to a certain place. Trends in fashion are now shared by people all over the globe, may it be in Japan, Italy or America.But even without the technologies we have today, even without the kind of business we have today, it is still inherent in us to share our progress to each other, may it be new devices or clothes. It has occurred since the dawn of civilization and it without a doubt will continue occurring i n the present and the future. And now that we are fast becoming more and more of a global community, it is only but certain that the different concepts from every culture will influence us in the way we dress, the way we think and the way we do things.No one is really certain of what the future of American fashion is. But it certainly promises a lot of changes. Better fabrics will continue to be developed. Someday we might not need to wash our clothes anymore as microscopic chemicals or robots sewn in our shirts will automatically remove the stains. Nanotechnology is now becoming a big part in our lives, and will most definitely be utilized in the future. And as technology furthers itself, nanotechnology will start finding its way in the clothes of the future. But as for now, we can only imagine the wonders of what the future will bring us.

General Biology Ii Study Guide (Online Class)

1. Is the gametophyte stage dominant in Bryophytes? Yes or No 2. Most plants have vascular tissue; these constitute the ________ plants. Vascular 3. Seeds can lie dormant for many years. True 4. Bryophytes are small because they lack ______. Vascular Tissue 5. Leaves increase the surface area for photosynthesis. True 6. Seeds contain _____ inside of a protective coat. Nutrient supply, embryo 7. Angiosperms produce seeds that are often enclosed by _____. Fruit 8. _____ transports water in vascular plant. Xylem 9. Pollen is usually dispersed by _____. Wind 10. A ________________ is an embryo and nutrients surrounded by a protective coat.Seed11. Which phylum includes ferns? Phylum Pterophyta12. ________________ are organs that anchor vascular plants. Roots13. What is the difference in reproduction between a blueberry bush and a pine tree? Pine trees do not produce flowers and produce seeds that are not enclosed by fruit. Blueberry bushes produce flowers and produce seeds enclosed by fruit.14. Seedless vascular plants reproduce via spores contained inside seeds. False15. Experiment 2 in lab showed that _____. Plants take up carbon dioxide.16. Non-vascular plants are commonly called ______. Bryophytes17. Which phylum are the moss in?Bryophyta18. Bryophytes require _____ for fertilization to occur. Water19. A fern is a seedless vascular plant. True20. Lab experiment 1 for this week clearly showed that _____. Aquatic plants will produce gas when exposed to light.21. Gymnosperms do not produce seeds. False22. _____ transports sugars in vascu lar plants. Phloem23. Describe two things that are unique to angiosperms that help them in reproduction. They have flowers and the ability of â€Å"double fertilization†.24. A ______ is a passageway for oxygen and carbon dioxide. They are holes in the underside of a leaf. toma (pl. stomata)25. Vascular tissue arrangement is directly related to the stem’s ability for _______________ growth. Secondary26. Trichomes can protect a plant from predation by herbivores. True27. The ground tissue cells called _____ cells are the most common type of plant cell and carry out photosynthesis. Parenchyma28. Which part of the root would you look in if you wanted to find a cell going through mitosis (cell reproduction)? Zone of cell division29. Which type of vascular tissue allows the movement of water and nutrients from the roots to the leaves? Xylem30. What structure protects the root as it pushes its way through the soil? Root cap31. All plant cells contain secondary cell walls. Fal se32. _______________ meristems are located at the tips of stems and roots. Apical33. Which type of plant tissue is for protection? Dermal34. Which type of vascular tissue carries sugars to all parts of the plant. Phloem35. The alternate form of leaf arrangement is the most common of the three types of leaf arrangement. True36. What are plant cell walls made of? Cellulose37. Vascular plants have a have a specialized circulation system composed of [x] and [y]. X=Xylem, Y=Phloem38. Which plant organ is a beet? Root39. Guard cells are responsible for closing and opening the lenticellular maculation. False40. The diffusion of water vapor from a plant is called ____. Transpiration41. Some kinds of plants live without ever making contact with the soil. True42. Which plant organ helps to anchor them in the soil and absorb water and minerals? Roots43. Explain why the carnation changed colors in Experiment #2 in the Plant Circulation lab. The process of water moving through the vascular tiss ue of the plant. As the water moved through the flower it carried the dye with it.44. Lateral meristems are found in plants that exhibit ____ growth. Secondary45. The shoot system consists of the underground portion of the plant. False46. Secondary growth is an increase in the _____ of the plant. Width or girth47. _____ are members of the phylum _____ and feed by _____. Sea anemones †¦ Cnidaria †¦ using stinging cells to capture small animals that venture too close to them48. Planarians lack dedicated respiratory and circulatory systems because none of their cells are far removed from the gastrovascular cavity or from the external environment because they are flat.49. Annelids _____. have a mouth that is separate from the anus and segments50. A sponge's structural materials (spicules, spongin) are manufactured by the Amoebocytes51. In sponges which cell captures food? Choanocyte or collar cell52. In most insects, gas exchange is accomplished by _____. A tracheal system wit h spiracles, trachea, and tracheoles53. A land snail, a clam, and an octopus all share Membership in Phylum Mollusca54. A major characteristic of arthropods is _____. A chitinous exoskeleton and jointed appendages55. In arthropods, molting is necessary because _____.The hard exoskeleton cannot grow.56. Humans most frequently acquire trichinosis (infection by Trichinella spiralis) by Eating undercooked pork57. Which of the following describe(s) echinoderms? Tubefeet provide motility in most species58. Which clade in the phylum Cnidaria includes â€Å"jellies† with rounded (as opposed to boxlike) medusae? Scyphozoa59. Sponges are most accurately described as Aquatic filter feeders60. Sponges lack _____. All of the listed responses are correct.61. Consider the following list of animals: giant squid, earthworm, largemouth bass, snail, tapeworm, coral, and starfish.The two that belong to the same phylum are the _____, and their phylum is _____. giant squid and snail †¦ Mollus ca62. Corals are most closely related to which group? Sea anemones63. Which letter is pointing to the part of the flower that attracts insects? H64. Which letter is pointing to the stamen? A65. An unidentified species of animal displays the following characteristics: bilateral symmetry, a complete digestive system, an open circulatory system, distinct body segmentation, it has six jointed walking legs, and it molts when it grows.To which of the following animal phyla does this species most likely belong? Arthropoda66. Jellies and corals are members of the same _____, all members of which _____. phylum †¦ have special stinging cells on their tentacles67. A terrestrial mollusc without a shell would be called a _____. Slug68. Leeches are members of the phylum _____. Annelida69. Tapeworms are highly specialized worms that make their living as endoparasites. To which of the following phyla do the tapeworms belong? Phylum Platyhelminthes70. Sponges feed by _____. Filtering small part icles from water Read also Lab 2 Biology71. An active marine predator is found possessing these characteristics: a series of tentacles (eight of them modified from the foot) on its head, a highly developed nervous system, and elaborate eyes. To which of the following animal classes does this organism most likely belong? Cephalopoda72. List the four key characteristics of chordates. Notochord Dorsal hollow nerve cord Muscular post anal tail Pharyngeal slits73. What is the single unique characteristic that distinguishes extant birds from other extant vertebrates? Feathers74. Most reptiles are ______ which means they cannot regulate their own body temperature.Cold-blooded and ectothermic75. How would you tell the difference between a reptile egg and a bird egg? The reptile egg will have a flexible leathery shell and the bird egg will have a hard shell.76. A sea star is an invertebrate. True77. If an animal has hair, feeds its young milk, an lays eggs it is a ______. monotreme platypus echidna spiny ante ater78. Why is the amniotic egg considered an important evolutionary breakthrough? It allows deposition of eggs in a terrestrial environment.79. Turtles are reptiles. True80. What is the main difference between the skeleton of a shark and a trout?The shark has a skeleton made of cartilage, while a trout has a skeleton made of bone.81. Sharks are classified in which class? Chondrichthyes82. Birds _____. Warm-blooded83. Chordates have ___________ symmetry. Bilateral84. The gill flap, or operculum, was an important adaptation for fish because it helps with _____. Maintaining a supply of action85. Which of these characteristics added most to vertebrate success in relatively dry environments? The shelled, amniotic egg86. A frog is an invertebrate. False87. Amphibians can lay their eggs on land without fear of them drying out because they lay eggs with a flexible shell.False88. The opossum is an example of a(n) _____ mammal. Marsupial89. Which of the following animals is an amphibian? Cae cilian90. A kangaroo or an opossum is a ______. Marsupial91. All mammals _____. Nourish their offspring through mammary glands92. The swim bladder of ray-finned fishes Provides for regulation of buoyancy.93. Habitat loss, the spread of a fungal disease, climate change, and pollution are causing severe population declines and extinction in _____. Amphibians94. Pick the example of the invertebrate chordate from the list below. Lancelet95. Some sharks are viviparous, which means that _____.The young develop within the female’s body.96. Which of the six major types of connective tissue has a rigid matrix that contains collagen and calcium salts? Bone97. In vertebrates the space between cells if filled with blood. False98. Tissues are composed of cells, and tissues functioning together make up Organs99. __________ animals generate heat by metabolism. Endothermic100. Food processing, absorption, and distribution in your body are mainly accomplished by the _____ systems. Digestive a nd circulatory101. Do hormone signals functions faster than nerve signals? No102. Ligaments are what kind of connective tissue? A type of fibrous connective tissue103. Positive feedback differs from negative feedback in that The positive feedback's effector responses are in the same direction as the initiating stimulus rather than opposite to it.104. Food moves along the digestive tract as the result of contractions by Smooth muscle105. Fibroblasts secrete Proteins for connective fibers106. Hormones _____. All of the listed responses are correct.107. __________ is the study of the biological functions an organism performs. Physiology108. EndothermyIs a characteristic of animals that have a fairly constant body temperature.109. What covers the outside of the body and lines the organs and cavities within the body? Epithelial tissue110. _____ feedback most directly maintains homeostasis because it _____. Negative †¦ tends to keep a system at a desirable â€Å"set point†111. Which of the following are connective tissues? Adipose tissue, cartilage, bone, and blood112. The cells lining the air sacs in the lungs make up a Simple squamous epithelium.113. Explain what happened to your egg or bone in lab this week, why it happened, and what caused it.The egg shell or bone softened and became flexible because the calcium salts were removed from the egg shell or bone by the vinegar (mild acid).114. Tendons connect bones at joints. False115. If we could only carry out digestion but not absorption we would die. True116. List the three major types of blood vessels. Arteries, veins, and capillaries117. When you shiver your muscular system is _____. Producing heat118. Interstitial fluid once it has entered the lymphatic vessels is called ____. Lymph119. Which system eliminates nitrogenous wastes from the body? Urinary system120. Which type of muscle is voluntary?Skeletal121. Weight bearing exercise will do what for the skeleton? Strengthen it122. The organs that pr oduce sperm are the ovaries. False.123. When your body needs calcium for the blood where does it come from assuming the diet is inadequate? The bones or skeletal system.124. The organ level of structural organization comes before the tissue level of structural organization. False125. The integration and command center of the body is the _____. Central nervous system126. Which pigment is most responsible for dark skin color? Melanin127. One function of the integumentary system is to make vitamin _____. D128. The tube that leads into the lungs is called the ____. Trachea129. Which type of blood vessel carries blood away from the heart? Arteries130. Which type of muscle would propel food through the digestive tract? Smooth131. Place the following regions of the skin in the correct order from top (most superficial) to bottom (deepest). Epidermis, dermis, hypodermis132. List the two components of the central nervous system. Brain and spinal cord133. The digestive process depends on _____ . Enzymes134. The kidneys are part of which system? Urinary135. The body system that forms the external body covering is called the ____ system.Integumentary136. What kinds of cells does the skeletal system make? Blood cells137. The system that returns interstitial fluid back to the blood is the ___ system. Lymphatic138. The liver is part of the digestive system. True 139. Mammary glands are specialized sweat glands that produce milk. True140. How are humans altering the carbon cycle? Burning fossil fuels141. The phosphorous cycle depends on the weathering of ____. Rock142. Herbivores eat ____. Plants143. The nitrogen cycle relies heavily on ____. Bacteria144. Fertilizer use will alter the nitrogen cycle balance. True145.The competitive exclusion principle states that two species cannot coexist in a community if their niches are identical. True146. Deforestation and herbicide use will increase the loss of nutrients from the soil. True147. Which type of consumer preys on the producer s? Primary consumer148. Acid rain will remove calcium from the soil just like it removed calcium from the egg or bone in lab. True149. What drives the global water cycle? Solar energy150. Competition may limit the growth of both species involved. True151. A ______ includes all the organisms inhabiting a particular area. Community152. The type of symbiotic relationship where one organism benefits and the other is not significantly affected is called ____. Commensalism153. The gradual colonization of barren rocks is called _____. Primary succession154. ________ may occur when a shared resource is limited. Competition155. Which of the following trophic levels would have the lowest population size? Tertiary consumer156. What two processes does the carbon cycle depend on? Cellular respiration and photosynthesis157. Energy flows into ecosystems in the form of _____ and exits in the form of ______. Light energy, heat158. Which pH did the radish seeds grow best at? The radish seeds would ha ve grown best at a pH near neutral (pH 7)159. Predation can lead to adaptations like _______ and ________ such as poisons. Camouflage and chemical defenses160. Food chains interconnect forming _____. Food webs161. What process is essential for recycling nutrients in an ecosystem? Decomposition162. How much of the energy stored at each trophic level is available to the next level? 10%163. Thorns and poisons are a defense against ______. Herbivores164. List the three types of symbiotic relationships. Parasitism, commensalism, mutualism.165. Dams alter ecosystems both upstream and downstream. True166. Which type of resource cannot be replenished? Non-renewable167. _______ is the variety of life on earth. Biodiversity168. Wetlands filter pollution and limit flooding. True169. Modern farming practices reduce the loss of ____. Topsoil170. Alien species in an area can cause ____. Extinction171. Popcorn trees are an example of an alien species. True172. Desertification removes the base of t he food chain. True173. Light pollution can affect ecosystems. True174. ______ ______ produce greenhouse gases. Fossil Fuels