Foundations of Human Development in the Social Environment

The foundation of human development, responds to the breakdown of its commitment to the development of attitudes and skills, which facilitate authentic personal, spiritual, and social development and the transformation throughout an individual’s life span. During an individual’s life span, the foundations of human development begin to change, as the direct result of the social environment. Contact within the social environment, such as various relationships with others, causes growth and change in human development.The understanding of culture and the importance of cultural competency are major factors in the development of humans in a social environment. Various aspects of development are combined together to make up an individual’s growth and development. The basics of human development in the social environment must focus on the dynamic interactions among biological, psychological, and social aspects of development. The understanding of human development requi res the comprehension of the various ranges of issues, people are facing as they continue progressing in life.This understanding includes the entire life span of an individual. The life span includes infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Each individual may face different situations in each of the different groups of the life span, which could cause alternative responses depending on physical appearance, knowledge base, or even socializing. The focus of understanding of human development in the social environment includes these three theories, biological development, psychological development, and social development.These signs of development together can be referred to as bio-psycho-social development. Biological development includes the physical aspects of the individual’s personal life. Psychological development is the individuals functioning and cognitive processes. The social development brings out the individuals interaction with others around them. In this er a, diversity and cultural competence are extremely important to understand, regarding the foundations of human development in the social environment. Diversity can alter or affect an individual’s behavior in many ways.Diversity is considered when an individual is different, or composed of differing elements. Therefore, diversity can include different nationality, gender, sexual orientation, age, class, disability, gender identity, immigration status, political ideology, and religion. At any time, an individual is determined as belonging to another group, different from the majority, the individual is considered to be subject to the effects of diversity. Many children coming from different countries have a problem with language.Not being able to speak the language of the community can cause huge barriers for the children to overcome. Many parents believe that the key to a successful life and fulfillment is to get an education. These parents encourage their kids, that with an e ducation nothing can defeat you. It is also very important for the social worker, or human service provider to be comfortable with diversity, and is culturally competent. Cross-cultured means the individual appreciates and compares the differences and the similarities of different cultures as well as their own.The general systems theory based on order, explains why the scenario is what it is. The study of social systems perspective gives the identified assumption that there is an underlying intelligible general order in the world to which all matter relates. Therefore, social order is a subset of general systems, and works together to form the theory of order. General systems theory has become more than just a theory; it has become a way of life, and a part of how we communicate.This system begins by using a reduction method, breaking down the individual by parts, which is what we may call simplification. This idea ensures each part of the whole is more manageable, and understandabl e. In this conclusion, the human development in the social environment can be changed by the stimuli of the environment or subjects surrounding them. The interaction between the bio-psycho-social dimensions of development, the concept of human diversity, and the cultural competence are all part of the general systems theory and social order.Explaining the reason why we do the things we do, challenges we face while pursuing our goals, and the changes in our personality and human development in regards to our social environment. Although, there are many factors that affect individuals as they pursue a life full of dreams, one thing is for sure, education is very important, and the environment in which an individual surrounds himself or herself with will influence decision, actions, and development of each individual.

Information Use

The design of Information flow and security Is a major concern In any enterprise. Without consistent and proper flow then statistical or decisional errors may occur. Therefore, the design of the information stream is a chief concern of the Information technologist. It is also important to safeguard the data from inappropriate viewing. To that end, it is important to map out the pattern. This example uses a doctor- patient visit in a medical clinic of the twenty-first century.The first bit of the whole comes at the front desk confirming the patient identity and insurance Information. This must be with human Interaction and scanning equipment. Staff verify the ID cards and scan Insurance cards Into the record. There is a lot of personal information just in this step alone. This information proceeds to the triage nurse who takes the vital signs. Then the data and the patient proceed to the provider for the actual visit. Currently, there are already three people who can compromise the in formation and its security.Incorrect data entry and wrong patient are the most common information errors. The remediation for these Is double-checking the information at the point of entry or using more automated means such as vital signs sensors connected to the data system. The security is physical in nature. The identification must be assured in the first place, and the insurance records accurate and safeguarded. Remember, the patient's complaints or diagnosis shall be utterly confidential. If the insurance data is incorrect or not collected, billing will be incorrect and delayed.This is inconvenient and costly. If the vitals are not correct, it wastes time retaking them. The data must be present and accurate prior to seeing the clinician. The doctor has the responsibility to enter complete Information Into the patient's medical record accurately. This will include deliverables to the pharmacy, laboratory, radiology, the insurer, and others. Each of these risks a potential for in put error increasing time usage and the ultimate cost. The provider enters diagnosis codes in as an alphanumeric decimal fashion.One incorrect character will cause the insurance company not to pay for the visit, the medicine or the procedure. Storage of the data Is for billing, statistics and historical record. The database Is not onsite for the smaller clinics, necessitating network link to a server. The flow of the Information Is simplistic. It moves from the clinic information, to the server storage with five or six data entry points in the clinic. The data input is the most important aspect. Would it be reasonable for the patient to pay for prescriptions when an input error caused insurance not to cover it?Of course, this is wrong, but it happens all the time. What would happen If entry of the procedure code were for an uninsured technique? If his happened repetitively, the patients would stop using the practice. The security mentioned above is a physical issue during the patien t visit. However, patient privacy and data security is the penultimate concern in the medical profession. This applies to the billing and insurance data and the diagnosis. Consider this: a hacker changes the mentioned coding. Alternatively, the hacker changes the amount due to the practice.Finally, the hacker determines the patient Is chronically taking narcotics; this makes the patient a target for theft. These are all examples of crimes In recent the tools used. The medical profession has a unique security framework. Most medical offices have an independent system for the medical and billing data; as opposed to their communications system (if they even have one). The notion of not having internet in the office is foreign to most, but it does improve the security of records. Therefore, the transmission phase of the figures to the server is the weak link in the chain.Virtual Private Networks (VPN, Tunneling) ensure secure transmission if partnered with encryption. The information ar rives securely at the data farm where physical and virtual protection is by the best possible applications and structures. It is accessible only by the firm who stored it and via VPN. Stored data security is easy when there is not an internet connection. However, data transfer is over a VPN, which utilizes the internet, subjects the data to interception. It also means the server is susceptible to intrusion. Therefore, the server farm maintains high security for the files.A fence and gate with security checkpoints and guards round the building. Additionally, the server room has cipher-key locks and security doors. Remember, physical security is as important and virtual security. Therefore, the servers have exceptional mallard protection. There are both physical and virtual firewalls and monitoring software. These form a fortress of protection for the medical data. The final piece of fortification is a honey pot. This attracts the hackers and makes them believe they have found the rea l servers. This is a good defensive strategy for the medical data.The data flows from the patient through the clinic staff and into the server under heavy guard. Specified personnel retrieve data for billing, auditing and statistical analysis. The entered data is double-checked and passes down the chain of care in the clinic and eventually transmitted to and stored in the server farm. Trained professionals, computer structure and applications keep the data from misuse during this process. Though this scheme is bulky and expensive, it effectively ensures data accuracy and integrity from source to archive.

Communication to Internal Publicity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Communication to Internal Publicity - Essay Example According to a current Gallop Poll, 78 percent -a larger part - parents of children show their satisfaction with the quality of education their kids are getting, at the same time as only 18 percent are discontented. On the other hand, 61 percent of all Americans say they are frustrated with the level of school education in the United States nowadays. This illustrates a nine-percentage-point increase in disappointment from 2004th. Furthermore, only 20 percent of the public has kids in secondary schools (the ones who are content with the quality of education), whereas about 80 percent (the ones who are discontented) don't have any children in school. In 1994, the U.S. Census discovered that 360,000 children in this United States were receiving their education at home. In 1996, the U.S. Department of Education estimated that the quantity had almost doubled to 640,000. A research published this summer by the U.S. Government puts the number of American kids who are getting their education at home today at 850,000 (or 1.7 percent). ... Is secondary education really not working Most scientists don't agree with that. They do recognize education is not ideal, and there are some aspects in it which are to be corrected immediately. It is also possible to find a number of things secondary education is doing correctly. The proof is overpowering that teaching and training are taking place all over the United States and that American children are more educated than those from other countries (Pawlas, 2004). Contrary to this statement Business week expresses the need of fixing public education and gives statistic evidence as a proof.  

Dissertation topic in Science Education, PhD Research Paper

Dissertation topic in Science Education, PhD - Research Paper Example Beneze et al identify that â€Å"for most students, school science is like being chained inside Platos cave, only able to experience or interpret the world of science from flickering shadowy images† (2003, p. 285). In a study of 3 years of large scale analysis of the teaching of science, they concluded that children do not get so familiar with the use of abstract ideas and they do better with practice. In an old journal that examined the evolution of the teaching of science in elementary schools, it was apparent that the original approach of teaching science in the 1800s was to get children to perceive nature â€Å"from the childs standpoint† (Curtis, 1950). However, further investigations indicated that as times evolved and institutions of higher learning got structured and teaching methods were institutionalized, middle schools were required to prepare their pupils for advanced courses in science (Curtis, 1950). Thus, although practical studies and practical teaching is important and vital, there is the need for the teaching methods to be relevant to higher education and the real world. The teacher will have to draw a balance between three main things in the teaching of science: Internships for teachers are normally conducted in an academic or school-setting. There is limited exposure to the industry and other institutions of higher learning (Minuskin, 2009). There is an inherent challenge in the funding of these internships. Hence, if it is going to be upgraded to a system that will involve institutions of higher learning, the industry and the development of practical ideas, there will be more cost constraints. This can be reasonably spread through the use of online methods and other developed systems that can be conveniently replicated (Nadarajan, 2011). Also, partnerships between the community and institutions can help to share the costs (Hogue, 2012). The aim of the

Abstract and bibliography Annotated Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Abstract and - Annotated Bibliography Example In this article suitable frequencies and time periods for using vibrating plate are discussed. In the first section diseases like osteoporosis[1], sarcopenia[2], BMD[3] etc., are discussed. In the second section old methods for the treatment of these diseases and for the purpose of losing weight[4] are presented. Draw backs of those old treatments are presented in the subsequent section. The effects of using vibrating plates are presented in section five. Then we describe the most effective ways of using vibrating plates, selection of appropriate frequency of vibration and selection of time limit of using vibrating plates, first for the pupose of losing weight, then for osteoporosis and in the end for enhancing the Bone Mineral Density (BMD) of the femoral neck and encumber/lumber and reduce persistent back pain in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. In the end conclusions are drawn on the basis of discussion in the paper. This article will prove helpful to vibrating plates manuf acturing companies to prepare user manuals as well as to the users in using vibrating plates. [3] Xiang-yan R, Feng-yu JIN, Yu-lan LIU, Zhou-li PENG, Yun-gao SUN, â€Å"Effects of vibration therapy on bone mineral density in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis†, Chinese Medical Journal, vol. 121, No. 13, pp. 115-1158, 2008. [4] N Gusi, A Raimundo, A Leal, â€Å"Low-frequency vibratory exercise reduces the risk of bone fracture more than walking: a randomized controlled trial†, [Online document] Nov. 2006, Available at

Personal Letter To University Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Letter To University - Personal Statement Example My preferred area of study is Social Work and I am applying for Bachelor of Social Work at the York University. Significantly, my work experiences and outside activities, along with my personal interests, offered me courage to pursue a post-secondary education in BSW Bachelor of Social work which will be highly constructive a career according to my beliefs and purposes. Anyone who is familiar with my career goals, personal interests, personal study, accomplishments, volunteer activities etc would not be surprised to know my decision to pursue a post-secondary education in Social Work and, instead, he/she will be convinced that I will be successful at the University. One of the basic factors that have contributed to my decision to pursue a post-secondary education in Bachelor of Social Work is my conviction about my personal goals and interests which were made clear to me by my work experiences and outside activities. As an individual born in Afghanistan during the latter half of the 20th Century, which is (in)famous for politically motivated strife, war torn cities, and poor conditions of the citizens, I have realized that Afghanistan has been unfortunate enough for being at the receiving end of the ambitions of a number of people and forces which have translated into the suffering of the Afghani people. Now that I have moved to Canada, there still remains the urge in me to make a material difference in the lives of others. Thus, the most important motivation for my decision to do social work is my personal interest in easing the suffering of others and my family has been a significant influence in this regard. I was brought up as a child with great attitude for social services which gave me immense pleasure and determination to help the poor. As I came face to face with the reality of inequality in our society, I pledged to make use of every opportunity in life to lessen

Research in public policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Research in public policy - Essay Example The first can be an assessment of the situation based on scientific method of investigation. The second method can be based on observation wherein the person does not make use of systematic process to make a generalization. In real life, there are other ways to find solutions to problems. Sometimes, even gut feel or intuition is used as a method in finding answers to queries. In some areas in the east, people rely on the wisdom of old people to answer most of the complex problems in life. To summarize the above definitions, research then is a method of inquiry for the purpose of obtaining facts in response to questions raised (Bautista, 1998). Bautista further added that research differs from other modes of knowing in the sensed that it is a systematic process of gaining information or knowledge. It is more that intuition, gut feel or tradition. 3) It is precise. Research usually aims at estimating the exact count of the event that has occurred or may yet occur. Statistics are helpful since the thrust is to quantify the incidence of the event being observed. However, there are instances when accuracy is not possible, especially if the objective of the research is mainly to characterize what is happening and not really to determine the frequency of the event. 6) Observations are usually undertaken under controlled conditions. ... 3) It is precise. Research usually aims at estimating the exact count of the event that has occurred or may yet occur. Statistics are helpful since the thrust is to quantify the incidence of the event being observed. However, there are instances when accuracy is not possible, especially if the objective of the research is mainly to characterize what is happening and not really to determine the frequency of the event. 4) Observations are recorded. Research necessitates the documentation of observations with the aid of instruments such as questionnaires, tape recorders for interviews, and many more. 5) Observation follows the rule of objectivity. Observations must not be influenced by personal preferences, prejudices, biases, attitudes, and feelings. 6) Observations are usually undertaken under controlled conditions. Researchers aspire to eliminate other factors or variables that might intrude into the observation of the major factors of variables that are being investigated. PURPOSES AND USES OF RESEARCH Any research, if correctly designed and undertaken, will build knowledge because it represents an objective investigation of facts about a certain subject (http://www.ryerson.ca/mjoppe/ResearchProcess/WhyConductResearch.htm). Research gathers facts that help people such as policy makers make decisions. A research becomes significant when it is used to show the interrelatedness of a variety of concepts and not simply describes how events take place. Research then is both fact-finding and theory building. According to Cresswell (994), "a theory is an interrelated set of constructs (or variables) formed into propositions or hypotheses that specify the relationship among variables (typically in terms of magnitude or direction). The

Historical Perspectives in Christianity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Historical Perspectives in Christianity - Essay Example However, the Lutheran church was further divided into several denominations due to doctrinal differences. Some retained some rituals conducted by catholic faith while some did away with them altogether. Divisions continued and up to date many denominations continue to crop up. The birth of Pentecostalism however, can be attributed to the Azusa street revival led by William J. Seymour an African American preacher in 1906.2 Seymour was born in a catholic family but was later converted into born again Christian owing to his numerous travels. He believed in the baptism of individuals with the Holy Spirit and the filling of individuals with the Holy Ghost as stated in the book of Acts: 2 by Apostle Luke.3 The Pentecost was thus a renewal of the church and was referred as a revival. There are many events that led to the Azusa street revival that affected and continue to influence the church even today. These will be the focus of attention in this paper but first, a short history of the chu rch will be given. The rest of the paper will be based on the events in the life of William Seymour which led to the revival. Brief History of Christianity The early church mostly was comprised of the Jews hence was regarded as Jewish Christianity. Its roots can be traced in the New Testament where Jesus used to walk with His disciples preaching the gospel to all nations. When He ascended to Heaven, He promised the Apostles He would send them a helper in the name of the Holy Spirit to enable them to preach the gospel widely and this was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost.4 The apostles established a church and spread the gospel far and wide. However, they were all persecuted for holding on to their faith but this did not stop the gospel from spreading. These early churches practiced hymn singing and also believed in miracles such as healing. According to Noll, the Jews were attacked by Romans on 66AD and the war continued for seven years.5 This resulted in taking over of Jerusalem wh ich was the centre of Christianity’s communication, organization and authority and consequently replacing it with Rome. This according to Noll served to expand Christianity from Jewish Christianity to universal Christianity, that is, from Judaism to Christianity. The church became independent and creeds were established to â€Å"mark out boundaries of Christian faith.† 6 Christian reform did not end with transformation from Judaism to Christianity; rather, more reforms were in the offing. The Roman Catholic was the dominant denomination and followed the structure that was used by the apostles with the pope as the head of the church. However, the church entangled itself with politics and materialism leading to decay of some moral values. The congregation was supposed to pay taxes, women were not allowed to preach, indulgencies.7 Besides, some people were not happy with the doctrine of celibacy. As such, the protestant movement cropped up and led to reformation of the ch urch. In the protestant church, women were allowed to preach and clergy were allowed to marry. The doctrine of repentance or confession was done away with as people could communicate directly with God instead of confessing sins to priests.8 The protestant church also differed on several issues leading to formation of many other denominations such as Calvinists, Anabaptist, Lutherans and Anglicans.9 The ruling king decided on the denomination to be adopted by the country; some countries were

Media analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Media analysis - Essay Example They often perceive that marriage is the only way that a man and woman may get to know each other sexually (MacQueen, 2003). That was God’s wish. However, today, it is not hard to see even married couples looking for pleasure outside their marriage. That is the aim of this poster. It is not fair to assume that it is promoting promiscuity rather trying to find a safe way in which people engaging in sex, have the safest method to do this. From a gender perspective, it is likely to hear very many judgemental things about this poster. The first thing that will be talked about will be the girl’s willing nature to get to the point of getting in the poster. Society has a mentality about how women or girls should behave. They do this not knowing that they have a part to play in the growing of society as much as the male species (Nelson, 1999). A gender perspective can be termed as the analysis of a situation, mostly sociological, based on the sex of the parties involved. In the above poster, there is the presence of both sexes. The male position in such a poster is considered as being normal (Nelson, 2001). However, the female role is looked at as being wrong. When a woman is seen to appear in such poster and/or advertisements, it is often attributed to where she is coming from. It is often understood that they are as a result of broken homes. For example, an alcoholic and abusive father, a mother who does not pay attention to her and all sorts of things (Okely, 1996). This is a common misconception that many people in society have. It is otherwise known as stereotyping. Not all people who appear in such advertisements came from such homes. Some people appear in them due to the feeling of creating change among their peers. It is some of these thoughts that are often misconstrued. Society thinks that they are out to benefit themselves or to make their parents feel guilty for something. The generation present now is referred to as the microwave

Inefficiency Within a Stock Market Create Barrier to Fulfilment of its Assignment

Inefficiency Within a Stock Market Create Barrier to Fulfilment of its Main Function - Assignment Example As the paper stresses the main functions of the stock market includes evaluation of the securities those are listed in the stock market which in turn help the companies to get more capital for production, thus the chances of industrial growth increase. The functions of the stock market also includes the marketing of the government securities, also provide safety in the dealings as the companies have to abide by the rules. The stock market is also the index of the economy; the banks also provide loans against the stock market securities. From the above discussion the importance of the stock market can be understood. But when the stock market which is the economical indicator is not performing as it should be then it would be a problem for the community associated with that stock market. This discussion declares that the common people who are the investors of the securities they would face problem as the stock market is not reflecting the right information, they may invest in the wrong place. The foreign investors and the government would not get the right information as the stock market is not efficient, not the actual information is available in the market. The managers of the firms also get it tough to take the right decision in the current situation. May be they are thinking that their firm is performing well but their firm is valued less in the stock market. So it will be tough for them to take the decision as they find it confusing as two different valuations of the firm are in front of them. The paper is an attempt to analyze the effect of the inefficient stock market, how it creates barrier to fulfil the main functions of the stock market and cause difficulties for the managers of the firms for taking a suitable decision. The researcher has taken the help of some theories like efficient market hypothesis and uses some articles for conducting the research. Stock Market Efficiency As per Professor Eugene F. Fama an efficient market fully reflect the information available to the investors. The research of Fama was divided in 3 parts on the basis of the information available. In the weak form of efficiency in the EHM claims that the past prices of the security are reflected in the price of the security today. No one can beat the market by doing the fundamental analysis. The semi strong form of tests implies that all the public information available reflects in the current market price of the stock, no one can beat the market by doing the fundamental analysis or the technical analysis. The other degree of efficiency is the strong form of efficiency which implies that even using the insider information the investor can’t have the advantage (Fama, 1970, p.399-412). The accepted view about the efficient market hypothesis is that when the information is available about a specific company then the information spread fast among the investors of the company

Procter and Gamble Europe Essay Example for Free

Procter and Gamble Europe Essay I. Introduction Since the end of World War II, business organizations in the United States are becoming closer together with businesses in the European region. There are several reasons of this business behavior. First is the geographical location. Geographically speaking, Europe is the next logical step for foreign expansion after the North American continent has been fully explored. Second is the cultural and technological situation in Europe. Reports indicated that some nations in Europe has became more Americanized in technology and more importantly, culture (Hilger, 2006). Procter and Gamble, one of the most acknowledged companies in the United States have also had a significant presence in the European market today, particularly in Germany. In this paper, we will discuss Procter and Gamble’s decision to expand their business into the European continent and how the decision relates to Procter and Gamble’s corporate strategy. II. P G Corporate Culture In the company’s annual report and reports from external observers, there are actually various traits in Procter and Gamble’s operations that define their uniqueness in the global market. However, some of those corporate cultures are more in line with the European expansion strategy, compare to the others. Some of them are:  · Diversity In the company’s official website, it is mentioned that people at Procter and Gamble are united by the commonality and of corporate values and goals. Diversity is considered as the uniqueness of each of them that will help fulfilling corporate goals. The company has a human resource system that is designed to ensure that everything works for everyone and as the company became more diverse, the company encourage collaboration even more and stresses the importance of fully utilize individualities of people at Procter and Gamble. This culture should work well to support Procter and Gamble’s decisions to perform international expansion.  · Innovation The group also relies heavily on its capability to innovate and create new things from merely ideas. The group applies about a dozen core technologies to amplify this particular competitive advantage. Furthermore, the group has connected its internal innovation capability to vast external network of scientists, technology problem solvers and corporate inventors. Procter and Gamble treat innovation as a process that can be refined continuously to produce more robust and reliable results. This particular capability to inn ovate has also been a contributive factor to Procter and Gamble’s decision to expand abroad. By tapping into this capability, the company can adapt to local environments and create new and innovative products.  · Market Leadership Spokesperson of the company has once said in the middle of a launching campaign that Procter and Gamble put forth many competitive advantages like consumer oriented strategy and innovation, but most importantly, the company also stresses heavily on market leadership. In its annual report, it is repeatedly stated that the company is designed to win in various aspects of the global business competition. The company spends huge percentages of their earnings each financial period on marketing campaigns because they believe in being a winner in every market they get themselves into. Analysts believed that this value also makes it more appealing for Procter and Gamble to expand their business into Europe, especially after the war was over and created a more positive atmosphere for international expansions.  · Focus on Growth Procter and Gamble also stated in its annual report that the company as a whole, is designed for growth. In other words, corporate management is always looking for growth opportunity whether internally or externally. Thus, a chance to develop business into a new market will obviously be perceived as another way to secure growth. III. Strategy by PG III.1.  Ã‚   Human Resource Management Investments Despite the cultures of the company that supported corporate expansion into Europe, the group must still adapt to the changes between American business culture and European. One of the greatest changes in Procter and Gamble is within the human resource department. As the company entered the new market, management has formed a project team to compare between the current employee services and the expectations of Procter and Gamble. In the case of Europe expansion, Procter and Gamble has also developed a strategic alliance with IBM and transferred this value into corporate competitive advantage.   Procter and Gamble also uses their HR account managers to organized how the business is performed within the company. Across the whole Europe, management have organized the HR business accounts to mirror the way the business is organized, and the HR account manager is responsible for ensuring that the team delivers business results in a way that generates growth. Overall, Procter and Gamble has made huge investments in its Europe HP structure, but the new model has now become a significant source of operational and strategic competitive advantages within the continent (Mandiese, 2006). III.2.  Ã‚   Communication strategy changes Along with the European expansion, Procter and Gamble has also invested heavily in changing its information technology. One of the changes Procter and Gamble has made is shifting from media planning to communication planning. This was as much as an industry effort as it is an internal initiative. Procter and Gamble might not be the only company embracing the consumer-centric approach to the media, but Procter and Gamble did it in quite a high-profile fashion that the marketing world surrounding the company must pay attention to the new philosophy. The company maintained a consistent focus on media creativity and also pushed to develop a broadband video upfront marketplace. IV. The Vizir Launch (no data) V. Change Management Model The change management model that can be suggested to Procter and Gamble is the three step change model. This change model basically contains three steps, which are: unfreezing, moving and re-freezing. These steps however, can be modified according to the extent of change that must be performed. For small projects, companies generally go for the light model. The Medium-Sized Model on the other hand is created for the majority of project. For complicated projects, people generally use the Complex Model. When the element of time is crucial, then the suitable modification is the quick model. The last variation is the one designed for a slow type of change, which is the Day-by-day model (Baekdal, 2006). For Procter and Gamble on the other hand, which contains various products for various customer segment, the Complex model is the most suitable. In the Complex model, the unfreezing step contains phases like: analyzing the problem to understand what is really going on and the reason of it, and then understanding the cost and benefits of a change. Afterwards, the company should explain the situation to members of the company and listen to their comments. The next phase includes invalidating the present rules and policies and defines new visions, new goals and finally generate a plan. The move step in the Complex model includes explaining the logics of the new vision, mission and goals and getting everyone on board. Afterwards, the team should listen to everyone’s comment, evaluate the plan and adjust the plan based on the feedbacks. In the re-freezing step, management should define new rules and policies and define the new way of living for the company. This step includes constantly renewing the energy and evaluating the results (Baekdal, 2006).

Overview Of Project Quality Management

Overview Of Project Quality Management Project Quality Management is a crucial element in 9 knowledge areas as the victory of any project is dependent on its quality and it is equally essential for Project Manager. In Project Management Domain, every person demands quality. The endeavor of this paper is to evaluate quality in project management domain by considering quality management in terms of following the quality planning, quality assurance and quality control processes by exploring the practices to success by maintaining cost, time and scope constraints. We will survey how quality affects the system and people associated with it and how to meet targets of any organization through better quality management. Keywords- Project Quality Management, Project Management Domain, Quality Planning, Quality assurance, Quality Control, Project Implementation. Introduction To Domain Project Quality Management is the most difficult knowledge area to define. The ISO defines quality as the totality of characteristics of an entity that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs (ISO8402:1994) or the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfils requirements. Different experts have different views about quality. In software project management, Research have shown that most common reasons behind projects failure are schedule overruns, over budgets and the scope creep, these triple constraints (time, cost and scope) are termed as quality angle by Microsoft and changes made to any of these three sides probably effects the quality as quality is not a side of a triangle but is a outcome of what you do with time, cost and scope therefore these angles must be met for achieving quality of any project in the project management domain. The reason for failure can also be measured to be the eagerness of project managers in adopting new methodologies, tools, techniques, skills and knowledge for achieving success of any project but not focusing on the quality itself. Quality has different definitions in different organizations depending upon its standards but a basic one is that whatever is delivered should be according to the customer or organizations expectations. According to Howard Gitlow and Shelley Gitlow Quality is defined as surpassing customer needs and expectations throughout the life of the product. The quality of any project can be judged from different viewpoints e.g. business and technical. From business viewpoint the focus is on completing the project on time, within specified budget and according to the needs. From technical viewpoint quality verifies that the project conforms to the business standards e.g. documentation, user interfaces and the naming standards and the system to be produced should be maintainable. Therefore, the main principle of Project Quality Management is to guarantee customer satisfaction. To understand quality of any project, the project team must spend time and build up good relationships with stakeholders to realize what quality is according to them as only customer can decide if product quality is acceptable. Problem Description Many technical projects fail because the project managers mostly emphasize on written requirements rather than stakeholders expectations. For example, the project manager and his team must understand the importance of delivering 50 Intel Laptops to customer successfully. Changes are unavoidable during any project implementation, which may have a major or minor impact on projects estimated schedule, budget and defined constraints if not planned accordingly; it can lead to project failure. A 2002 survey of IT organizations shows that about 67% of the disputes on the functionality of the systems were that they did not meet up to claims of the developer and 56% of the disputes were due to slipped delivery dates which eventually ended in litigation.[13] For the management of project quality, quality planning, quality assurance and quality control holds an important point in the management domain. Every project must have a quality plan as it is a basic input for quality assurance and quality control but many organizations dont bother to produce a plan because of its complexity which often results in undesirable product outcomes. Scope There are certain tools and techniques used in the project quality management area but the main processes to be followed for the achievement of quality products are the Quality Planning Quality Assurance Quality Control A concise analysis of these processes would elaborate various inputs involved with these processes and the tools and techniques used to generate the required outputs that lead to the accomplishment of better quality products. In this paper, the success of quality will be discussed in terms of meeting defined time, cost and scope and how quality management processes leads to achieve targets of an organization. Proposed Approach The systematic approach that would be followed to achieve quality in projects is the quality management processes and the Re planning of cost, scope and time depending upon which module is more constraint in a particular project. Process Project Phase Key Deliverables Plan Quality Planning Quality Management Plan, Quality Metrics Quality Assurance Execution Change Requests Quality Control Monitoring and Controlling Quality control measurements Quality Re-Planning Re-Planning Trade-off between Quality Angle Table 1: Quality Processes [12] These processes usually take place at least once in any project to maintain the projects quality as mentioned in PMBOK8 but plan should not be fixed in any case, it changes as the project progresses and is monitored in Quality control phase by getting the customer feedback and evaluating its conformance to requirements and fitness for use, Re-planning is done if the Quality assurance is not performed as previously planned. A brief elaboration of each process is given highlighting IT Projects Quality. Quality Planning Planning Quality involves implementation of organizations quality standards and policies which should be followed in that particular organization.[3] A quality plan needs to cover a number of elements: [3] What work needs to go through a quality check? Tools and Techniques for quality planning? When should it be carried out and what resources are allocated? Who is responsible for the required quality? What should be the output? What work needs to go through quality check? The Quality of deliverables of project are checked for example a requirements document is checked if it is according to the customer demands similarly the quality check is carried our for other deliverables. For the milestones or checkpoints, a standard is followed to check their functionality. For the project itself, it may be appropriate to have the project management practices reviewed for quality once the project is initially established. This may be useful to give the Sponsor and top management a level of confidence in the team. Tools and Techniques for quality planning? Cost gain study- This study assures that gain should overweigh the cost. The productivity should be high with lower cost which satisfies customer requirements. Benchmarking- The performance of the project is measured in terms of planned performance or by comparing its performance with other projects in same application areas [4][5]. Quality Diagrams- Different charts and diagrams help in predicting quality problems and build up methods to deal with them. [7] When should it be carried out and what resources are allocated? Quality measurements are held prior to the delivery of product when there are long development times for a deliverable and the resources required for the development of project are allocated such as human resources, financial and material resources. For example, if four milestones of the project are estimated to be completed in 8 weeks but after the completion of 2 milestones the time left is only 3 weeks, it may be worth holding the inspection after each milestone to identify any problems early and reduce rework by reshuffling of resources and optimization of plan. Who is responsible for the required quality? The developers of the product as well as the customer both are responsible for the quality. In fact customer requirements define quality, not processes. For example a customer goes to a garments shop for purchasing a jersey, he would typically check its fabric, color, size and price if its according to his requirements than he would say its of good quality. He will not consider what processes are used to make it and how much time it took. In other words, it is not what you do or how you do it but who uses it that counts. Using the quality example again you can make the best clothing that was ever made, using the optimum materials and applying efficient processes but if no body needs it than it is just a waste. Hence, it is not only the project manager but the one essential to project success. [6] What should be the outputs of quality planning? The output includes the understanding of implementing quality policy by project management team. The quality plan should focus on Quality assurance (Execution), Quality Control (monitoring) and Quality improvement (Re-planning) of the project. Metrics and the checklists are most common outputs. Metrics describes what something is and how it is measured by quality control process for example the project management team makes a detailed schedule of start and end of every activity in the form of metrics. Many organizations use standard checklists to measure quality of activities performed. Quality Assurance (QA) In Quality Assurance (QA), the quality of a project is guaranteed by performing all the activities that are being planned from design to servicing and documentation that satisfies customer demands. It is a process of ensuring that the project meets quality standards which is also defined as quality measurements. [6][7] Quality Audit- is an important tool for quality assurance. These audits help to improve performance of future projects by learning lessons from previous projects. Quality audits are performed by many engineering industries by first designing a quality metrics for a project and then analyzing the metrics throughout the project development. Quality Audits are usually performed by internal (in-house) auditors or external (third parties) customer involved in the project. Audits can be conducted on schedule basis for example, after each milestone or they can be performed on random whenever there is a need or as ordered by top management. The main goal of Quality Audits is to identify ineffective standards and policies used and replace them with best practices. Quality audit verify the execution of approved change requests, corrective and preventive action and defect repairs. [6] Quality Assurance Plan- Large projects usually involve thousands of activities which becomes complex for quality assurance to track them. So they should be collected in quality assurance plan for their efficient management. A standard for Quality assurance plan is developed for an organization and it is the responsibility of project team members to develop one which should include the following elements [6] WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) User Requirements and Specification Activity to be performed When to perform the activity Who will perform the activity Quality Assurance Output- Quality Improvement improves the value and usefulness of a project and provides benefits to the project stakeholders [6]. Quality improvement not only improves the quality of project management but also it improves the quality of a product by following a continuous cycle known as The Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle [1] which is the source of Quality Improvement. As customer needs changes with time so this process helps to meet their new requirements by getting their feedback on regular basis, it may also help to reduce costs by providing long-term benefits for customer satisfaction. Plan a change in the right process for getting for improving it and getting beneficial results. Do apply the change as a test case to test if it gives the desired results. Check the effect of the applied changes in the entire system by analyzing it thoroughly. Act to apply the change to the entire system based on the result of test cases if it provides the desired result. [6] Follow the cycle for other processes for an improved change. Barriers to Quality Improvement- Quality improvement bring changes in a product to improve its quality but because of its complexity it is not always considered significant to be followed in every project. It is the responsibility of top management and due to the risk that an improvement change would not produce the desired results prevents the management from applying this policy. On the other hand, long-term benefits produce by the improvement would overcome the short-term risk. Quality control Quality Control is the process for monitoring specific project results to determine whether the comply with relevant quality standards and identifying ways to eliminate causes of unsatisfactory performance (comp. PMBOK3) [8] The Project results are usually monitored throughout this phase and if an inconsistency is observed in the planned specification and the actual results, the project team takes corrective actions to repair that variation and take precautionary steps to avoid this variation from reoccurring. These results are generally examined by Quality Audits and the Quality Assurance Plan and Activities are improved according to the requirement. [11] The Quality Control, therefore strives on the Project Results, checklists and the quality management plan for monitoring actual results. Various Tools are being used for the measurement of Quality control. Through the use of Inspection and Statistical Sampling, data about the performance of actual system is compared with the quality standards. Cause and Effect Diagrams provides knowledge about the reasons of any deficiencies. Many other tools are used to display performance data such as Control Charts, Flowcharts, Histograms, Pareto Charts, Run Charts, and Scatter Diagrams,[10] the data is not simply displayed but gives an insight of useful information about the products conformance to requirements and illustrates whether the quality standards are met. If the quality is not acceptable, a Change Request will be made. If the deliverables are acceptable, the output of Validated Deliverables goes to the Verify Scope process for final approval. [7] Quality Re-Planning The nature of Project Quality management must focus on the product of project as well as the management of project because severe consequences can result for project stakeholders from failure to meet quality requirements in any of these dimensions. [7] Re-Planning is done when the actual target about project management that is defined in the Quality Planning phase seems to fluctuate concerning scope, time and cost of the project which can be measured at anytime at the completion of any deliverables and milestones during the product development. It is the responsibility of Project Manager that he should balance both dimensions, the product goals and the management goals. The project team should not overwork to achieve product quality as it reduces the management quality by resulting in Employee turnover [7]. Similarly, the three elements of management dimension must be balanced by project manager throughout the development activity. For example, the information technology teamwork project has a preliminary scope of generating a sixty to seventy pages report and one and a half hour presentation on any twenty five prospective IT projects. The preliminary time and cost of this project is set as two months and $65,000. This estimation provides the targets to be achieved for scope, time and cost at the start of Project. Balancing them through the end of the project is fairly an ideal situation which is not always possible as a result trade-offs are made between these triple elements depending upon the importance of that particula r element in the given situation and the experienced project manager. For example, to collect at least twenty five good ideas about the IT teamwork project, a survey is planned online to be done within a week with a cost of approximately $4,000 and suppose the survey produced only few good ideas in the given time and cost. In this situation, the collection of ideas is most essential as it is the key input so the time and cost are adjusted for the achieving the desired scope [2]. Re-planning is therefore, changing the initial plans if it is desirable for the accomplishment of Projects Management. Fig 4. Managing Quality APPLICATION AREAS Enterprise wide Quality Management Systems Due to the latest developments in information technologies and system design, advance quality management software has been established with the ability to incorporate quality software applications with business processing systems. The open architecture and object-oriented technology is the source of these new systems, incorporated quality management can be attained by connecting system components to the enterprise management system. The modules are associated through a standard interface structure that enables different applications to exchange information. Integrating the quality management system with business automation systems can considerably affect profitability. Such integration reduces the time and effort related with data entry. An incorporated quality management system offers online access of data stored within each system component. Through associating this data into automated reporting systems, management can carry out assessments on serious processes that states a compan ys victory. [14] Automotive Industry Automotive sector has been active in inventing new manufacturing strategies having to current high level of competition. With this scenario the challenges faced by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) have also increased over the years. Due to this high level of competition, companies have indeed emphasized to increase the quality in all aspects of products and services within their management system. Therefore quality management (QM) has become increasingly popular as one of the managerial devices in ensuring continuous improvement as to improve customer satisfaction and to ensure its product or service quality. Another dare tackled by automotive industry is the stress to reduce delivery period and cost. Quality Management element with support for advanced features like TQM will help to uphold quality from basis. This receives importance owing to the continuous pressure exerted to cut cost and improve quality. [15] Airline Business The safety of airplanes in service is critical in the aviation business, both in terms of accident avoidance and economic performance. The recent valuation of consequences to the airlines by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has highlighted the challenges faced by the airlines. Lack of compliance tools and insufficient quality management is bullying an unparalleled crisis in the airline business. An operational program to handle FAA ordinance to be used by airlines business requires an incorporated, enterprise-wide quality management solution that includes a dominant acquiescence platform which provides strong domain expertise in airline and aerospace equipment. The best examples counted in providing world-class acquiescence and quality solutions is the Tata Consultancy Services and MetricStream which includes a best solution for airline business in the form of global corroboration and support services [16]. E-Service Quality Management Todays Society emphasizes more on the use of modern communication and information technologies. E-services is an example of modern computer application that provides access to online services. Quality Management Systems are required to offer a reliable way to select, analyze, rank and design the right eservices. The growing consumption of e-services has elevated the requirement to state principles and means to evaluate and assure quality. Investment in e-services is a significant step towards improving the quality of life in our vigorous society. A Quality Management Framework in the context of e-services has the following components: e-service as object (entity), e-service development and delivery process as process, business and consumer as users, specific service request as request as requirements, evaluation and measurement of the e-service to determine its quality. E-Service Quality Management Framework provides benchmarking capabilities and comparative assessment of e-services. It also supports making decisions in improving the quality of service and overall customer satisfaction. [17] POTENTIAL RESEARCH AREAS Improve Quality Management for modern development methodologies: RAD, Agile and Extreme Programming Rapid Application Development (RAD) refers to a type of software development methodology that uses minimal planning in favor of rapid prototyping. The planning of software developed using RAD is interleaved with writing the software itself.[18] However, there can be real difficulties with this approach. Frequent change tends to corrupt software structure making it more expensive to change and evolve to meet new requirements. Progress can be hard to evaluate and problems can be hard to find because there is no documentation to reveal what has been done. Therefore quality of the software may suffer. Without a specification it may be difficult to validate the system. [19] Improve Quality through Customer Involvement Quality is not determined or defined by the producing company. Quality is determined by the customer. Thus quality of a product or a service is the customers perception of the degree to which the product or service meets his or her expectations. [20] New Techniques for developing a strategic quality plan Organizations face a continuous barrage of requests to improve quality. Every quality management plan can, and must be tied to key business process performance indicators in order to have any real impact on productivity and the bottom-line. However, strategic plans are rarely translated into the quality strategies needed to ensure overall performance improvement gains. [21] CONCLUSION Project Quality management is becoming a part of every project from information technology to enterprise and different industries for the achievement of high quality products and services. By following the quality processes in systems, the quality can be greatly improved and in order to attain efficient Project Quality Management, the concepts of Project Quality management are also incorporated with the quality processes. The project manager and team should have the clear conception about management for managing quality processes. The Proposed Quality Processes cover both aspects of Quality, the product of the project as well as the management of project in the light of scope, time and cost. Project Quality Management is suitable for applications related to IT and Management systems. REFRENCES Frank J. Koksis, Project Quality Management, November 15, 2006. Kathy Schwalbe, Information Technology Project Management 4th Edition pp 289-337. Neville Turbit, Project Quality Planning in the Project Perfect White Paper Collection. June 2005 (Available at http://www.projectperfect.com.au ) Pawan Kumar, Quality Planning Tools PMI Westchester Quality SIG. November 2007. MJ ODwyer, Quality Planning tools and techniques in Quality Planning for a Project. April 23, 2010. Kenneth H. Rose, Project Quality Management Why, What and How J Ross Publishing Inc. 2005. pp 40-72. King Fahad University of Petroleum Minerals, Project Quality Management Virtual Course, Project Quality Management (Available at http://www.pmeducate.info_sample ) Microsoft Quality Angle (Available at http://www.maxwideman.com/musings/triangles.htm) TapUniversity, Perform Quality Control Process. June 15, 2009. (Available at http://blog.tapuniversity.com/2009/06/15/perform-quality-control-process/) Project Management Institute, PMBOK8 (Available at http://www.softwareresearch.net/fileadmin/src/docs/teaching/SS06/PM/PMBOK8.pdf) Project Quality Management in Project Management (Available at http://www.slideshare.net/guest4408ddc/project-management-3289318 ) Ian Sommerville, A brief overview of Software Engineering in Software Engineering-7th edition. 2004. Ned Greenberg and Leonard Hemphill, Enterprise Wide Quality Management Systems (Available at http://www.qualitydigest.com/feb99/html/body_enterprize.html ) Significance of TQM in price sensitive automotive industry in ERP categories (Available at http://www.eresourceerp.com/Significance-of-TQM-in-automotive-market.html ) Effective Safety and Quality Management in the Airline Industry for Improved Business Performance(Available at http://www.metricstream.com/webinars/webinar_05june08_TCS.htm ) Lorena Batagan, E-Service Quality Management in Software Analysis, Journal of Applied Quantitative Methods. (Available at http://jaqm.ro/issues/volume-4,issue-3/pdfs/batagan_pocovnicu_capisizu.pdf) Rapid Application Development as used in software development/management (Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_application_development) Agile Software Quality Assurance (Available at http://www.sqa.net/agile-software-quality.html) Total Quality management (Available athttp://www.promptpapers.com/free_term_papers.php?term_paper=2674386title=Total-Quality-Management) Develop a strategic quality plan (Available at http://www.bia.ca/strategic-quality-planning.htm)

Psychology Essays Hysteria

Psychology Essays Hysteria Hysteria has been seen as both a form of political protest and as the failure to negotiate and resolve the Oedipus complex. Discuss with reference to the Dora case. In many ways, hysteria and the hysteric patient go right to the very heart of psychoanalysis. It was after all, as we shall see, the basis of Freud and Breuers assertions on the validity of psychoanalysis and psychodynamic treatment and has been used ever since by theorists and practitioners as a test case with which to continually asses those initial findings. In the late nineteenth century, as now, the hysteric patient exists in a kind of hinterland of diagnosis, being appropriated for the good, sometimes, of not themselves but the larger discourse of psychiatry or critical theory. The many case histories that litter the canonical texts of psychoanalysis are testament to the wide variety of symptoms and manifestations of hysteria that are as numerous as are the patients themselves. Karl Abraham, in his essay on Hysterical Dream States (1988) gives us this same sense as early as 1910: these states differ greatly in degree, exhibit considerable variations in their duration, are often associated with the affect of anxiety(and)I myself have come across these state sin a number of patients whom I have treated with psychoanalysis. (Abraham, 1988: 90) With this in mind, in this essay I would like to look at two of the most important aetiological views of hysteria of the last hundred and twenty years; those of Freud and the non-resolution of the Oedipus complex and those of the French and American feminists who viewed hysteria as being, not only a manifestation of phallocentric social registers but also a protest against them. In order to centre this study within an existing analytical framework I will constantly refer both views back to Freuds case history of Dora (Freud, 1977), itself of course, one of the seminal early works on the formation of psychoanalysis and thinking of hysteria and hysterical symptoms. One can only appreciate the impact of Freuds work on hysteria, I think, if one first places it into the context of contemporary and preceding medical theory. Niel Micklem in his The Nature of Hysteria (1996) details the conditions long history: The lively interest for medicine that hysteria has aroused since it was first recorded in ancient Egypt more than 3,000 years ago has yielded a substantial amount of writing(and)the most accomplished research worker would be hard pressed to account for all the literature. (Micklem, 1996: 1) As Micklem suggests, hysteria is a protean and multifaceted disease (Micklem, 1996: 3) that is difficult to discern both by the physician and the historian. However right from its earliest beginnings, the notion of hysteria has always been associated with the notion of sexual development and, in particular, that of women. Greek myth is littered with countless examples of phantasmatic conditions brought on by either sexual excess or repression; from the mythological portrait of Demeter to Platos assertions in Timaeus that: When (sexual) desire is unsatisfied the man is over-mastered by the power of the generative organs, and the woman is subjected to disorders from the obstruction of the passages of the breath, until the two meet and pluck the fruit of the tree. (Plato, trans. Howett, 1970, steph.91) As Micklem suggests, this swing between repression and nymphomania has been a constant leitmotif in aetiological thinking regarding hysteria since Plato and Homer. However, in the nineteenth century work of Pierre Briquet and, later Jean Martin Charcot, the reliance upon sex and frustration as a central feature of hysteria was abandoned in favour of an approach that concerned itself far more with genetic and hereditary factors. It was at this time, also, that the psychiatric profession began to take hysteria seriously as a condition and it was chiefly through this that it was twinned with neurosis; a factor that was to have a marked impact on Freuds interest in it as a basis for psychoanalysis. Around the end of the nineteenth century, then, the work of Briquet and Charcot had instilled hysteria into the annals of neurological illness. Charcots work on hysteria concretized the condition as one that could be studied through recognition of underlying psychopathological causes rather than physical symptoms, as Stanley Finger asserts: Charcot hypothesized that mental events can act as agents provocateurs, or triggers, for hysterical reactions, at least in an individuals with weak constitutions. He found provoking agents in the loss of a loved one, fears about a real illness, and work-related trauma. (Finger, 2000: 194) This notion, as Ernest Jones suggests in his The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud (1961: 208) was to have a profound effect on Freud and form the basis of his and Breuers Studies on Hysteria (1972). The case history of Dora stands, along with Anna O, Little Hans and the Rat Man, as seminal texts in the history of psychoanalysis. Freud prefaces his study with the caution that it represents only part of the over all research, however it is a remarkably illuminating and complete record of the early applications of psychoanalysis. The case itself surrounds Dora, an eighteen year old woman who suffered a variety of neurotic illness including shortness of breath (dyspnoea), lose of voice, paralysis, fainting spells, depression and threats of suicide. In analysis, Dora revealed that she had been pursued by Herr K. a family friend, whose wife was conducting a sexual affair with Doras father; Doras mother was an ineffectual figure in the story who was marginalized both by Dora and, subsequently by Freud himself. Doras bouts of hysteria coincided with real and imaginary contact with Herr K. and reveal themselves through a series of paraparaxes and dreams that provide material for Freuds interpretation. For Freud, of course, hysteria existed as a psychic rather than a physical condition (Freud, 1972: 25). His and Breuers Studies in Hysteria and his own case notes on Dora follows, in some senses, what we have seen as Charcoldian lines of thought, tracing the source of the patients hysterical symptoms back to some childhood event or trauma. In the first dream analysis, for instance, Freud links Doras dream concerning the burning of a house in which she stays with childhood memories of bedwetting and being woken up by her father: Think of the expressions you used: that an accident might happen in the night, and that it might be necessary to leave the room. Surely the allusion must be to a physical need? And if you transpose the accident into childhood what can it be but bedwetting? (Freud, 1977: 108) The Dora study is interesting, I think, in that it provides us with an ideal fulcrum around which to place Freuds thought. We can note echoes still of Charcot in the analysis and of Freuds earlier insistence on childhood trauma but, of course, by the studys publication in 1905 Freud had formulated his concept of the Oedipus complex (Jones, 1961) and it is this, along with transference perhaps, that provides much of the analytical undercurrent of the text. The symbolism of Doras first dream, for instance, is suffused with Oedipal imagery and reference. It details the dreamer trapped in a burning house whereupon she is awoken by her father. Her Mother, in the meantime, attempts to save her jewelry box but is stopped again by her father; as Dora exists the house she awakens. Freud interprets this dream as an indication of Doras repressed sexual desires for her father; the jewelry box becoming symbolic of both her womb and the favour of her father for her mother. The dream reoccurred whilst the subject was visiting the lakeside holiday home that became the scene of the attempted seduction by Herr K. and this was seen by Freud as an indication that Doras repressed sexual desires for her father were being awakened in order to further suppress her mature desire for her suitor: My interpretation was that she had at that point summoned up an infantile affection for her father so as to be able to keep her repressed love for Herr K. in its state of repression. This same revulsion in the patients mental life was reflected in the dream. (Freud, 1977: 124) Here we have two important features of Freuds notion of the importance of the Oedipus complex in the formation of neurosis, firstly that this manifests itself in dreams and secondly that Dora unconsciously drew upon her unresolved Oedipal or Electra complex in order to repress mature sexual desire. If we return again to the first dream we note tropes and Oedipal leitmotifs that even Freud did not discover. The locking of the jewelry box, for instance, is linked with the locking of her brothers room by her mother: My brothers room, you see, has no separate entrance, but can only be reached through the dining-room. Father does not want my brother to be locked in like that. (Freud, 1977: 101) We can detect quite clearly here the extent of the Oedipal reference in the dream. Commensurate with Freuds notions of condensation (Freud, 1965: 312) and displacement (Freud, 1965: 340), Dora suggests that her brother is, in fact the treasure or jewel that her Mother wants to lock away; by not allowing this, her Father both displays his own Oedipal affect (in reality) and strengthens Doras Oedipal attachment to him (in her dream). For Freud, of course, this unresolved complex is repressed and manifests itself as hysteria. Of course, the third element of Oedipal attachment here (after her father and Herr K) is the transference onto Freud himself and the Dora case history stands, perhaps, as one of the greatest stories of seduction, of reader by author, in psychoanalysis. In Freud and the Passions, John ONeil suggests that: Listening with the third ear to Dora meant taking on the part of a hysterical daughter caught in a series of transgressive erotic triangles, while at the same time, attempting to preserve his own discrete boundary as analyst-father. It meant supplementing a fractured verbal narration (her story) with meanings he read into her physical symptoms (his story), joining them together as a single story. (ONeill, 1996: 101) Whereas, as many commentators have pointed out (Blass, 1992; Krohn and Krohn, 1982) there is a wealth of Oedipal content in the Dora case and Freuds interpretation it has also been the basis for much criticism. Much of this criticism, in recent years has centered around Freuds phallocentric interpretation of Doras symptoms (Horrocks, 2001). Freuds assertions that Doras revulsion upon being kissed by Herr K. is reflective of her repressed desires, be they Oedipal in the first instance or for Herr K in the second, is for instance refuted by Roger Horrocks in Freud Revisited: Psychoanalytic Themes in a Postmodern Age (2001), who sees her actions as merely the understandable reactions of a woman caught up in a, mainly masculine, play of power. In her essay The Hysterical Woman: Sex Roles and Role Conflict in 19th Century America (1992), Carroll Smith Rosenberg highlights this phaollocentric construction of the hysterical patient: Contemporaries noted routinely in the 1870s, 1880s and 1890s that middle class American girls seemed ill-prepared to assume the responsibilities and trials of marriage, motherhood and maturation. Frequently women, especially married women with children, complained of isolation, loneliness and depression. (Smith Rosenberg, 1992: 26) This views hysteria as the outcome of an oppressive masculine society that both controls and diagnoses. Dora, for instance, is defined by the wishes of her father, as daughter; as lover by Herr K. and as hysteric by Freud. The phallocentric construction of the feminine binary in the text, displaying on the one hand the ineffectual housewife in the shape of Doras mother and the cause of desire in the form of Frau K. traps Dora who fits into neither and so is labeled neurotic. Smith Rosenberg (and others such as Elaine Showalter in The Female Malady [1987]) also point to the adoption of hysterical symptoms as a sociopolitical protest by the women against the impossible situation that they found themselves in: It is quite possible that many women experienced a significant level of anxiety when forced to confront or adapt in one way or another to these changes. Thus hysteria may have served as one option to tactic offering particular women otherwise unable to respond to changes (Smith Rosenberg, 1992: 26) We can note, for instance, that there is a distinct link between the concept of illness in the case of Dora and the inability to accept social roles. Her Fathers illness precludes him from satisfactorily fulfilling his role as father, lover and husband and Doras hysterical attacks seems to occur at times of stress, when she is being forced, either by her father, Herr. K or Freud to adopt an external, clearly defined feminine role to which she is not accustomed. In fact Freud mentions but then glosses over this very point in his early analysis (Freud, 1977: 74-75). Caught within a binary of feminization, Dora exists as the projections of the male presences around her and, in order to protest against this, withdraws into hysteria, and as Mari Jo Buhle suggests: Freuds most acclaimed study of a hysteric discloses such a huge blind spot that the celebrated case of Dora documents more clearly the authors own avoidance mechanisms. (Buhle, 1998: 30) As we have see, then, there are cases to made for hysteria to be based in both Freudian notions of the unresolved Oedipus complex and the creation of feminine ideals and social norms by a largely masculine society. Freuds case study is as interesting to the student of the development of Freudian psychoanalysis, I think, as the psychoanalyst him or herself. Of course, we have here looked briefly at only two of the many psychoanalytical frameworks that have been designed to study hysteria. We might mention, for instance Lacans discussion of the Dora case in essay Function and Field of Speech and Language (Lacan, 2004) or Kleins notions of the father as good object in the aetiology of feminine sexuality and how it relates to the resolving of the Oedipus complex. What we can assert, by looking at these two specific instances, is the extent that psychoanalytic and socio-political interpretations of hysteria say as much about the wider culture than they do about the condition itself. This view, of course, is commensurate with Foucaults concept of enunciative discourses in his Madness and Civilization (2004) and The Archaeology of Knowledge (1989) The case of Dora provides us with an interesting picture of Freud struggling to come to terms with not only concepts such as hysteria and the Oedipus complex but transference, negative transference and, in fact, the whole basis of modern psychoanalysis. As we have seen, the criticism of the second wave feminists was, perhaps, well founded. The case study, whilst being an exemplar in the ways that analysis can be used is also just as indicative of its problems and shortfalls. References Abraham, Karl (1988), Hysterical Dream States, published in Selected Papers on Psychoanalysis, (London: Karnac) Adler, Alfred (1956), The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler, (London: Harper Torchbooks) Beizer, Janet (1994), Ventriloquized Bodies: Narratives of Hysteria in Nineteenth Century France, (Ithaca: Cornell University Press) Buhle, Mary Jo (1998), Feminism and its Discontents: A Century of Struggle with Psychoanalysis, (London: Harvard University) Finger, Stanley (2000), Minds Behind the Brain, (Oxford: Oxford University Press) Freud, Sigmund (1977), Case Histories 1: Dora and Little Hans, (London: Penguin) Freud, Sigmund (1965), The Interpretation of Dreams, (London: Discus Books) Freud, Sigmund and Breuer, Joseph (1972), Studies in Hysteria, (London: William Benton) Freud, Sigmund (1976), The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, (London: Penguin) Freud, Sigmund (1974), Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis, (London: Penguin) Foucault, Michel (2004), Madness and Civilization, (London: Routledge) Foucault, Michel (1989), Archaeology of Knowledge, (London: Routledge) Foucault, Michel (1990), The History of Sexuality: Vol. 3: The Care of the Self, (London: Penguin) Horrocks, Roger (2001), Freud Revisited: Psychoanalytic Themes in the Postmodern Age, (London: Palgrave) Jones, Ernest (1961), The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud, (London: Pelican) Kahane, Claire (1990), In Doras Case: Freud, Hysteria, Feminism, (New York: Columbia University Press) Klein, Melanie (1997), The Psycho Analysis of Children, (London: Verso) Lacan, Jacques (2004), Ecrits: A Selection, (London: Routledge) Micklem, Niel (1996), The Nature of Hysteria, (London: Routledge) Murohy, Sean and Popay, Jennie (eds), Health and Disease: A Reader, (Milton Keynes: Open University Press) ONeill, John (1996), Freud and the Passions, (Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University) Plato (1970), Dialogues of Plato, (trans. B. Jowett), (London: Sphere) Showalter, Elaine (1987), The Female Malady, (London: Virago) Smith Rosenberg, Carroll (1992), The Hysterical Woman: Sex Roles and Role Conflict in 19th Century America, published in Black, Nick, Boswell, David, Gray, Alastair, Wolheim, Richard (1971), Freud, (London: Fontana|)

People’s Republic of China Country Analysis Essay -- mao zedong, china,

Located in Southeast Asia along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, China is one of the oldest countries in the world, comprising of a culture that has continuously shaped itself over the past 4,000 years to form what is known today as, the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Known as the father of the PRC, Mao Zedong formed the PRC on 1Oth October 1949, ending a long process of governmental upheaval that began with the Chinese Revolution of 1911. Currently, China is one of the worlds few socialist states openly endorsing communism, ruled by the Communist Party of China (CPC), and endorses substantial constraints on its people, such as restrictions on access to the internet, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, formation of social organizations, freedom of religion, and even the right to have children . Though, the principles of China greatly differ from those of the United States of America, the U.S. seeks to build a partnership with China, based on mutual benefit and resp ect. China has held a seat at the UN since 1971, and is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, allowing it to work with the international community to address threats to global security. China is one of the world’s top exporters, and has a fast growing major economy, with growth rates rising at an average of 10% over the past decade . In February of 2011, China became the world’s second largest economy, overtaking the country of Japan, which held the title for the past 40 years . China’s rapid and unprecedented economic growth is a boon to the country; however, it may prove unsustainable and become a detriment to the overall well being of the nation. One of the principal problems incurred by China’s hurried economic growth is a dangerous incre... ...losing credibility amongst members of the international community. Another major event in China transpired in March 2013 when the governmental leadership changed, both a new Premier Li Keqiang, and a new President Xi Jinping were appointed. Neither man is a stranger to China’s political atmosphere, having held significant power and influence within the government from other political positions in the past. One of the biggest expected changes brought on by their rise to power, is China’s continued role in the International Community. The new administration hold’s the belief that China’s swift rise to an economic superpower represents a shift in global power from ‘West’ to ‘East’. The U.S. entered into a recession in lasting from late 2007 until early 2009 , while China’s economy was reaching all time highs, challenging global models of economic governance.

Existentialism :: essays research papers

Existentialism Like "rationalism" and "empiricism," "existentialism" is a term that belongs to intellectual history. Its definition is thus to some extent one of historical convenience. The term was explicitly adopted as a self-description by Jean-Paul Sartre, and through the wide dissemination of the postwar literary and philosophical output of Sartre and his associates — notably Simone de Beauvoir, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Albert Camus — existentialism became identified with a cultural movement that flourished in Europe in the 1940s and 1950s. Among the major philosophers identified as existentialists (many of whom — for instance Camus and Heidegger — repudiated the label) were Karl Jaspers, Martin Heidegger, and Martin Buber in Germany, Jean Wahl and Gabriel Marcel in France, the Spaniards Josà © Ortega y Gasset and Miguel de Unamuno, and the Russians Nicholai Berdyaev and Lev Shestov. The nineteenth century philosophers, Soren Kierkeg aard and Friedrich Nietzsche, came to be seen as precursors of the movement. Existentialism was as much a literary phenomenon as a philosophical one. Sartre's own ideas were and are better known through his fictional works (such as Nausea and No Exit) than through his more purely philosophical ones (such as Being and Nothingness and Critique of Dialectical Reason), and the postwar years found a very diverse coterie of writers and artists linked under the term: retrospectively, Dostoevsky, Ibsen, and Kafka were conscripted; in Paris there were Jean Genet, Andrà © Gide, Andrà © Malraux, and the expatriate Samuel Beckett; the Norwegian Knut Hamsen and the Romanian Eugene Ionesco belong to the club; artists such as Alberto Giacommeti and even Abstract Expressionists such as Jackson Pollock, Arshile Gorky, and Willem de Kooning, and filmmakers such as Jean-Luc Godard and Ingmar Bergman were understood in existential terms. By the mid 1970s the cultural image of existentialism had becom e a clichà ©, parodized in countless books and films by Woody Allen. It is sometimes suggested, therefore, that existentialism just is this bygone cultural movement rather than an identifiable philosophical position; or, alternatively, that the term should be restricted to Sartre's philosophy alone. But while a philosophical definition of existentialism may not entirely ignore the cultural fate of the term, and while Sartre's thought must loom large in any account of existentialism, the concept does pick out a distinctive cluster of philosophical problems and helpfully identifies a relatively distinct current of twentieth- and now twenty-first century philosophical inquiry, one that has had significant impact on fields such as theology (through Rudolf Bultmann, Paul Tillich, Karl Barth, and others) and psychology (from Ludwig Binswanger and Medard Boss to Otto Rank, R.

Essay --

Tiffany Rivera Prior to 1860 there was great sectionalism in the United States between the northern and southern states. The Southern states and Northern states were always in competition for power. Various compromises were proposed by the opposing sides but eventually failed. The Civil War, election of President Lincoln and Reconstruction Era caused great change in the US. Constitutional developments such as the Emancipation Proclamation, three civil rights bills, and the Reconstruction Era impacted the lives on freedmen. Social developments such as the Freedmen's Bureau, the Black Codes, and the Ku Klux Klan were also revolutionary especially to the lives of the freedmen. One may say the election of President Lincoln was revolutionary. When the southern states realized their insignificance in terms of political power compared to the northern states, the southern states seceded from the union. South Carolina believed they had the constitutional right to secede from the Union because it was not stated in the Constitution it was illegal to do so and should be left to state power. (Doc A) The southern states also feared that if the North gained enough power they would abolish slavery completely. The fear of the northern states becoming too powerful and failure of compromise between the northern and southern states had led to the Civil War. An outcome of this conflict would be the Emancipation Proclamation, 13th-15th Amendments, and the abolition of slavery in the South. This angered southerners since it endangered their Agrarian economy through the use of slavery. Another outcome would be President Lincoln adding an amendment which made it illegal for a ny state to secede from the Union, helping preserve the Union of the nation af... ...articipation in government politically. (Doc. G) This was due to the passing of the three civil rights bills. During the Reconstruction Era, blacks were also offered education, which increased opportunity for the blacks. Some whites from the south disliked the Klu Klux Klan Act and felt that it gave the federal government too much power. (Doc H) The Force Acts were however essential during this time. Thomas Nast shows that the Klu Klux Klan was endangering the lives of the former slaves. (Doc I) All of these events greatly impacted the lives of the freedmen of the nation. This also affected the nation as a whole in terms of rights and power and in many ways strengthened the federal government. During the years 1860-1877, many constitutional and social developments were revolutionary. This changed the nation as a whole including the lives of the freedmen and whites.

Personal Attitude Speech FAA Medication Essay

Thesis Statement: I believe all pilots should avoid any type of medications that may slow the thinking process or reaction times before they fly. Introduction I. Many common medications are known to slow the thinking process and slow reaction times. II. I believe all pilots should avoid any type of medications that may slow the thinking process or reaction times before they fly. Body I. Slowness caused by medication can have a substantial negative impact on critical times of flight. a. When encountering bad weather, an unfamiliar area, or even just an unexpected flight event, the slowness caused by some medication could be the final determining factor that causes an accident. b. When encountering these types of conditions, a pilots mind must be clear to make split second decisions. II. Pilots have a great amount of responsibility placed on them with each and every flight. a. Some pilots may have the lives of several passengers behind their every move. b. Other pilots may be flying solo, but in a mishap can still cause danger to themselves or innocent bystanders on the ground. III. The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) has compiled a list of prohibited medications, recognizing that some medications are valid for concern. a. In 12% of all fatal accidents in General Aviation prohibited medications were found to be a contributing factor (According to analysis of data by the FAA from the past decade). b. A valid point for concern that many pilots are still using impairing medications while operating aircraft, maybe unknowingly. i. Many OTC medications have a ubiquitous presence of sedating antihistamines. Conclusion I. A safe pilot should utilize the IMSAFE (which stands for Illness, Medications, Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue, and Emotions) to ensure they are safe prior to every flight, paying particular attention to the medications part of the checklist. II. I believe all pilots should avoid any type of medications that may slow the thinking process or reaction times before they fly.

Brita Marketing

Contents Introduction1 Background1 Situational Analysis1 P. E. S. T. L. E Analysis2 S. W. O. T Analysis3 Porter Five Forces Analysis3 STP Analysis4 Possible Options Available5 Do nothing5 Manage decline5 Develop and implement a marketing strategy for growth5 Short term – Expand existing market5 Long term – Increase Market Share6 Conclusion6 Introduction This document represents The i-Fusions Consultant’s Report on BRITA. The company’s current business situation is analysed and various options for action considered.The report aims to identify a clear marketing strategy for Brita in order to address the current issues facing the company the associated falling sales. The report is broadly comprised of three main sections: 1. Background 2. Situational Analysis 3. Options open to Brita 4. Recommended Strategy Background Brita, after an extended period of success and dominance in the filtered water market is facing increasing competition, new market entrants and falling sales. After various failed initiatives to reverse the resultant decline, the company is seeking a new strategy that will restore double-digit growth.History In terms of product history, Brita has been very successful with 2 key water filtration products, Pitchers and Faucet Mounted filters. On launching the filtration pitchers, initial efforts to build awareness and create a market were successful, teaching consumers the benefits of filtered water and creating awareness. Subsequent efforts to develop and broaden the market based on taste were also successful (Tap water Transformed campaign). Brita was the market leader for many years and defended that market share successfully for some time.However, the market is now made up of more than 70 competitors and more recent strategies are failing to deliver growth and profits and Brita sales are now actually falling. Situational Analysis The documentation provided can assist in identifying various problems. The key business issu es identified by i-Fusions are: * Brita failed to recognise and correctly identify the competitive market they are in * Brita were too slow to innovate and more agile competitors have entered the market and taken share * The company reaction has been overly product-focused Brita has considered and/or launched various reactive advertising campaigns based on competitor action, rather than considering a holistic marketing strategy built on market analysis. * Brita’s organisational structure is top-heavy with multiple reporting lines and no clear chain of responsibility. The result is a lack of clarity as everyone is responsible yet nobody is responsible. * The net result of all of the above is that Brita sales are falling. P. E. S. T. L. E Analysis Political: There are no significant external political issues affecting Brita’s business.Economical: The Economy during 1980s & 1990s showed no indications of recession and the emergence of the Internet and the evolution of the global economy generated unprecedented economic prosperity in the United States that lifted consumer purchasing power to better standards. The mid-2000’s marked the end of this boom cycle and the economy is starting to contract. Social: The primary social trends in the late 1980s and 1990s, as faced by Brita were: * People shifting towards a more healthy lifestyle * Workers working longer hours to gain more salary Shift of workforce from Agriculture to Industry & IT Sectors Technology: The beginning of the 1990’s marked the beginning of the Internet revolution and this has affected people’s lives and lifestyles significantly. The impact on business is that communications are faster and customer expectations are for a more personalised approach (e,g, Emails, Mobile Phones etc). Legal: During 1980s & 1990s, Public Water Hygiene laws & regulations were not enforced effectively to prevent water-borne diseases outbreaks that occurred during that period of time.Durin g the 12 year period (1991 – 2002), Public Water contamination outbreaks came from community & non-community water supply (78%) compared to 22% from private/individual water supply systems as report by the â€Å"Journal of Water and Health† published in 2006 Environmental: During the late 1980s and 1990’s, Environment Friendly organisations & NGOs (such as Greenpeace) were not creating an influential awareness of drinking water health issues. As a result, people were not possessing self-awareness of dangers contributing to drinking impure & contaminated water. Porter Five Forces AnalysisRivalry: The market is very competitive and the threat of competition is high. Many companies are present and they are more successful than Brita. It seems to appear a rivalry both in terms of product and location Barriers to Entry: The entry barriers in the market are relatively low, making it easy to access. However, as the market is saturated it could be unlikely for new compa nies to decide to start new enterprises in this field. Threat of substitutes: This represents one of the main threats for Brita. Both tap water and soft drinks are potential substitutes for the product that Brita offers.Supplier power: The suppliers do not play a major role for Brita growth. The product offered is relatively simple and its components are easy to procure. Buyer power: The consumers have a high decision power which can drastically affect the performances of Brita. Depending what type of drink they decide to consume (filtered water, tap water or soft drinks), the sales will increase or decrease. The Five Forces analysis tool highlights that Brita has to focus its attention on what consumers want in order to achieve success (appendix A ).The product is neither significantly unique nor essential to ensure success on its own and taken in the context of a large number of substitutes, consumers therefore hold significant purchasing power. Simultaneously, Brita has to take i n consideration the highly competitive nature of the market. If Brita does not update its product benefits, and then position themselves in such a way that they offers customers a unique benefit vis-a-vis competitors, it is likely further lose market share. Therefore, customers and matching their lifestyle choices should be the focal point of Brita strategy if double growth has to be gained.S. W. O. T Analysis STP Analysis Segmentation Using Behavioural Segmentation, i-Fusions have considered 6 predominant market segments. See Appendix B and C Tap Traditionalists: Slow to change, like the convenience and cheapness of tap water. Weary Tap Users: Low involvement in their water drinking decisions. Like tap water and unlikely to change. They are also the lowest consumers of total water per day. Principled Filter Fans: High involvement in their water consumption decisions and believe filtered water is more healthy.Affluent Fridge Fans: Highly involved in their water consumption decisions and associate water with health and weight control. Assertive Self Improvers: Highly involved in their water consumption decisions and drinks a lot of water for health. This group has the highest overall daily intake of water and drinks most of their water at home. Bottled Water Indulgers: Highly involved in their water consumption decisions and use bottled water as a reward for effort. They are highly attached to bottled water. Of the 6 categories of consumers, 3 have been pointed as the target market – PFF, ASI and AFF.Target Market Analysis In terms of water consumption patterns, tap water is still the most utilised (35. 4%) with filtered water also popular (33. 3%). Bottled water is increasingly popular and currently holds 21. 7% of the market. See Appendix D The main perceived issues customers have with Tap Water are Quality and Portability. Most consumers believe that using water filters improves the taste of the water  and using fridge filters makes it more convenie nt to consume filtered water. Out of a total of 59. 6% people owning the Pitcher Filter system, 50. % own the Brita product standing higher in comparison to the PuR Product. Brita faces some perception challenges as the Faucet Mount and Pitcher do not currently have any stand out features for customers and the Filtering Pitcher is seen as time-consuming and less simple when compared to Bottled water. In terms of good flavour of the water, 77% consumers support BW whereas only 32% support Pitchers. In terms of pureness, 63% consumers support BW and 44% consumers support Pitchers. Positioning Analysis Brita has strong brand recognition and is currently viewed in the key segments as a healthy water option.There is a loyal customer base dedicated to filtered water which represents a growth opportunity if Brita can meet the changing consumer needs. i-Fusions would therefore recommend that Brita builds on this brand strength with a marketing strategy that highlights health and wellness an d sustainability and believes that Brita has strong advantages over its competition to fulfil these targets. Possible Options Available Brita faces a difficult market and there are three broad business options they can consider. 1. Do nothing 2. Manage decline 3.Develop and implement a marketing strategy for growth Do nothing i-Fusions recognise that occasionally it may be acceptable for firms to take a â€Å"wait and see† approach† to their business but we do not recommend this as a course of action to Brita. The risk of inaction is too great in a market with such high competition and falling market share. Brita’s cautious approach to date is reflected in their current situation. Manage decline Brita could continue with their current emphasis on pitchers and faucets and manage decline – cutting costs aggressively as sales fall.It is the view of i-Fusions that, given the high number of competing brands, there is a risk that adopting any low cost/low price strategy would merely lead to a race to the bottom. In any case, Brita is unlikely to be able to undercut its smaller, more nimble rivals due to its size and structure. Additionally, this strategy does not fit with the stated requirement for double-digit growth. However, the current product mix and their current specification are in the mature stage of the product life-cycle so Brita needs to seek ways to add value to maintain current sales and to consider new products to drive growth.Our recommendations are therefore predicated on the value that the brand has in the eyes of its customers and to leverage the reputation for quality that the company has built up. Develop and implement a marketing strategy for growth The advice of i-Fusions is for Brita to follow a growth strategy, focused on meeting the needs of key identified market segments with clear product offers, consistent messaging, via the optimal distribution channels and at the appropriate price. Short term – Expand existing marketProduct: Existing users – Brita should aggressively target existing filtered water users (Principled Filter Fans and Assertive Self Improvers) with Pitchers and Faucets with improved ability to remove impurities and taste. Brita should therefore focus R&D effort on improving the purity capability of its filters, reinforcing the key brand messages of health and purity. Price: Maintain existing pricing strategy Place: Brita should continue with the mass distribution strategy as changes in the past have quickly translated in lost sales.Promotion: Find new uses – Brita can create new uses of existing products through promotion of additional activites such as using filtered water for cooking, an activity that is important to key segments Strong single brand messaging around Health/Purity/Sustainability using a mix of targeted TV and radio, social media, lifestyle magazines (home, food, well-being), demonstrations and tasting instore and at gyms/yoga-chains et c Brita is in a position to add complementary messaging around its green/sustainable credentials, which fits with target segment values and has the additional benefit of reaching other segments in the water consumption market. Long term – Increase Market Share Product: Change product mix in the longer term. Brita should look at expanding its product mix to better meet the behaviour patterns of its identified segments.For example, developing a filter for fridge water dispensers is highly advisable. Form alliances: i-Fusions strongly recommend that Brita forms strategic alliances with quality white goods manufacturers in order to jointly develop a product that meets the needs of the key market segments identified. It is recommended that quality brands are identified and targeted in order to maintain Brita’s brand image and support the growth strategy. Additional alliances with yoga-chains/gyms for joint marketing opportunities should also be explored. Finally, alliances with home-builders/plumbing providers was considered as an option but i-Fusions do not recommend this for Brita as it is effectively a new and very different market.Price: Reduce costs: Information on reducing overall capital costs is scarce but spend on R&D is likely to increase in the short/medium term. In terms of Fixed Costs, Brita should review its organisational structure, both to clarify reporting lines and reduce management overhead. Finally, it would make sense for Brita to have a single brand, with clear associated brand messages, managing their product lines within that brand. Promotion: New users – Brita should aggressively target consumers in the Affluent Fridge Followers category, given the high consumption of water at home and their fit with the key Brita health messages. Maintain green credentials with targeted messaging.Place: Brita should continue with the mass distribution strategy as changes in the past have quickly translated in lost sales. People: Brita should implement clearer communication channels with clearly identified lines of authority. Conclusion On analysing the information available i-Fusions believe that Brita needs to refocus its attention on the market, using short and long term strategies that target appropriate segments with specific products, messaging and distribution channels to best meet their requirements, aspirations and life-styles. We believe that the marketing strategy recommended will assist in driving double-digit top line growth.