Jean Kilbourne: Own This Child Essay

Advertisers are targeting youth, â€Å"Own This Child† Written by Jean Kilbourne an informative article on this matter. Major corporations have recently begun using gaming [web] sites to create an image and â€Å"brand loyalty† early on in today’s youth as young as four years of age. Although The United States is an industrialized nation it is one of the few that entire campaigns are designed to target children. These same corporations are working with major television networks advertising products that pertain to program that is being viewed; with the intent to get them as a present consumer but also well into the future. In addition to television ads one company has initiated a program for advertisers to distribute coupons and promotional materials to a network with more than two thousand day care centers and about two million preschool kids. Companies are even going as far advertising in our schools ads are emblazoned on school buses, yearbooks and even scoreboards. Each day eight million students are successfully reached by advertisers. As schools become increasingly cash-strapped and underfunded, the more the schools except funding from corporations eager for a captive audience in exchange for their financial support. Educational programs have increased by 25% from 1965 to present putting more pressure on the schools to accept the funds from the more than willing companies and causing advertisement to become so over the top that when an spoof program offering students money to get tattoos of company logos many people believed it was an actual program. Big consequences are the result for any student doing anything to jeopardize funding from corporate sponsored events; such as wearing a competitor’s logo to company sponsored rally. Schools are going to the extremes of signing long-term contracts in exchange for millions of dollars and exclusive rights to place vending machine where students all-day can access them. Companies even push the school to increase sales even though large consumption of soda can lead to health problems later in life.

People Today Move to New Cities Essay

People today move to new cities or new countries more then ever before.what challenges do they experience ?what strateges are there to meet these challenges? Moving to a new place, either within a country or overseas, is a very hard situation. One must take several considerations before leaving the home where a person grew and live for many years. People who are planning to relocate should know the big challenges ahead and they must also learn to take note of the strategies in facing these upcoming changes. Humankind has many reasons for leaving their hometown and trying to mix and mingle with other races. Most if them will move temporarily for the sake of their career, for them to be able to gain new experiences, to search for a high paying job or simply for promotion. While others relocate permanently to be with their husband and wife. Some search for a new place to live in just to try different locations and environment. Most of the expatriates claimed that they had a hard time adapting to a new world. It is not really that easy to move away from one’s family and work without knowing how long one would stay far away from home. One of the big challenges in these kind of situation is homesickness. The family is celebrating a simple event and friends are having their new routines without one’s presence. Having a phone call is becoming hard for them, making the separated loved one sad and lonely. Another thing to take in consider is the location of the new soon to be haven. If it is safe, as well as the people and environment that surrounds it. If there will be a near department stores, groceries, bank and other daily things to be needed. Before moving to a different site, one must first search for the specific details of that place. Like for example, the cost of living, a person might not want to be surprise with a high cost of living, especially to those who have kids. Furthermore, to a career-oriented ones, they should know if the city or a country has a good economy for them to anticipate a good pay. As well as learning in advance the culture of the place in order for them to avoid culture shock and deal with it easily. relocating to a new world is a bad idea to some people. So, a person must be prepared to face the major changes and open-mindedly accept the inevitable challenges to make a successful transfer.

Night World : Spellbinder Chapter 6

Kevin howled, clapping a hand to his cheek. â€Å"He cut me! This guy cut me!† Blood ran between his fingers. Randy lifted the razor again. Thea reached out with her mind. Not reached. She leaped. It was completely instinctive; she was scared to death, and all she could think of was that he was going to kill Kevin, and maybe Blaise, too. She caught-something. Pain and grief and fury that seemed to be bouncing around like a baboon in a cage. She could hold it for only an instant, but in that instant Eric threw two cups of punch in Randy's face. Randy yelled and turned away from Kevin, toward Eric. Thea felt a surge of pure terror. Randy slashed with the razor, but Eric was fast; he jumped back out of the way, circling to get behind Randy. Randy wheeled and slashed again. They were doing a macabre dance, going round and round. Thea felt as if the fear was winding tighter inside her with each turn. But Eric kept out of the way of the flashing razor until a rush of movement on the dance floor caught her eye. It was Mr. Adkins and two other teachers. They converged on Randy and there was a lot of confusion. When it was over, Randy was on the ground. Sirens wailed outside, coming closer. Eric stepped away from the pile on the floor. Breathing hard, he looked at Thea. She nodded that she was all right, then shut her eyes. She felt limp and wrung out and awful. They were going to take Randy away now, and she didn't think there was much help for him. He definitely seemed too far gone. At that moment she was ashamed of being a witch. â€Å"All right, people,† Mr. Adkins was saying. â€Å"Let's move out of here. Let's get this place cleared.† He looked at Blaise, who was bending over a seated Kevin, holding a napkin to his cheek. â€Å"You two can stay.† Then he put a hand on Blaise's shoulder. â€Å"Are you okay here?† Blaise looked up with wide, tragic gray eyes. â€Å"I think so,† she said bravely. Mr. Adkins swallowed. His hand on Blaise's shoulder squeezed. Thea heard him mutter something like, â€Å"Poor kid.† Oh, give me a break, Thea thought. But a small, selfish part of her was relieved. Blaise wasn't going to get in trouble over this one; neither of them was going to get expelled. Grandma wasn't going to be disgraced in front of the Inner Circle. And Blaise did seem worried about Kevin. She was bending over him again solicitously. As if she really cared. Thea slipped past a teacher's outstretched arm. â€Å"Are you okay?† she whispered to Blaise. Blaise looked up enigmatically. That was when Thea saw that she had a tiny vial concealed in the napkin. It was full of blood. â€Å"You†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Thea couldn't find the words. Blaise made a slight grimace that meant: I know. But it was just too good a chance to miss. Thea backed up and ran into Eric. He put a steadying arm around her. â€Å"Is she all right?† â€Å"She's fine. I have to get out of here.† Eric looked into her face. He was rumpled: his hair mussed, his eyes dark. All he said was, â€Å"Let's go.† They passed Vivienne and Selene on the way out. Thea had to give them credit; they both looked shocked and unhappy. The question was, would it last? Dani was in the parking lot with John Finkelstein. â€Å"I'm going home,† she said significantly to Thea, and tossed something into a clump of bitterbrush. It was an empty vial. Thea felt a tiny uncoiling of relief. She touched Dani's arm lightly. â€Å"Thanks.† Dani looked back at the cafeteria. â€Å"I wonder what it was he wanted to know?† she murmured. And just then a howl came from the lighted doorway, as if answering her question. It didn't sound like a person; it sounded like an animal in anguish. â€Å"Whyyyyyy?† Thea turned blindly and almost ran for Eric's jeep. When they were driving on darkened streets, Eric said quietly, â€Å"I'm presuming he was an old boyfriend?† â€Å"Last month's.† Eric glanced at her. â€Å"He was pretty messed up, poor guy.† And that, Thea thought, summed it up nicely. He was pretty messed up forever. Poor guy. â€Å"It's Blaise,† she said. She hadn't meant to talk to him about this, but the words were so crowded in her throat that she thought she'd burst if she didn't let them out. â€Å"She does this and does this, and I can't stop her. She picks guys up everywhere, and they fall in love with her, and then she dumps them.† â€Å"Love? Hm,† Eric said. Thea looked at him, astonished. He was looking straight ahead, his long, supple fingers steady on the wheel. Well. And I thought you were so naive. Maybe you see more than I realized. â€Å"It's a kind of love,† she said. â€Å"It's like-do you know, in ancient Greece they worshiped the goddess Aphrodite. She was the goddess of love-and the thing about her was that she was absolutely merciless.† Thea shook her head. â€Å"I saw this play once about a queen named Phaedra. And Aphrodite made her fall in love with her own stepson, and by the end of the play just about everybody was dead on the stage. But Aphrodite just kept smiling. Because she was just doing what a goddess does-the same way that a tornado rips houses apart or a fire burns down a forest.† She stopped. Her chest was aching and she didn't have any breath left. But in a way she felt better, as if some pressure had been relieved. â€Å"And you think Blaise is like that.† â€Å"Yes. Sort of a natural force that can't help itself. Does that sound completely crazy?† â€Å"Actually, no.† Eric gave a wry smile. â€Å"Nature's rough. Hawks grab rabbits. Male lions kill cubs. It's a jungle out there.† â€Å"But that doesn't make it right. Maybe for goddesses and animals, but not when it gets to the level of humans.† It was a moment before she realized what she'd said. She was using â€Å"humans† to mean â€Å"people.† â€Å"Well, humans aren't very far from animals, after all,† Eric said softly. Thea sagged back against the seat. She was still confused and unhappy, but what scared her most was that she felt a strong urge to keep talking to Eric about it. He seemed to understand so well†¦ better than anybody else ever had. And not only to understand, but to care. â€Å"I know what you need,† Eric said suddenly, brightening. â€Å"I was going to suggest we go to the late buffet at Harrah's, but I know something better.† Thea glanced at the clock, saw that it was almost eleven: â€Å"What?† â€Å"Puppy therapy.† â€Å"What?† He just grinned and turned the jeep south. They pulled up at a modest gray building with a sign that read sun city animal hospital. â€Å"This is where you work.† â€Å"Yup. We can let Pilar off early,† Eric said, getting out and unlocking the front door of the building. â€Å"Come on.† A pretty girl with shoulder-length brown hair looked up from behind the office counter. Thea recognized her as Pilar Osorio from school. A quiet girl who looked like a good student. â€Å"How was the dance?† she said. Thea thought her eyes lingered on Eric wistfully as she said it. Eric shrugged. â€Å"Pretty awful, to tell the truth. There was a fight and we left.† Thea noticed he didn't mention his part in stopping the fight. â€Å"How awful,† Pilar said sympathetically-but Thea thought she wasn't entirely sorry that the dance hadn't gone well. â€Å"Yeah. So how's our boy?† â€Å"Okay-a little hyper. You might want to take him for a walk later.† Pilar picked up her jacket. She nodded politely to Thea as she headed for the door. â€Å"See you Monday.† She likes him. When the door was shut, Thea looked around the office. â€Å"So the clinic's not open.† â€Å"No, but somebody has to stay overnight when we've got animals boarding here.† He gave her the grin again. â€Å"Follow me.† He led her through an exam room into a corridor and then to a kennel room at the back. Thea looked around with interest. She'd never been in the inner sanctum of an animal hospital before. There were several dog runs. Eager whining was coming from the last. Eric looked at her mischievously. â€Å"Three, two, one†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He opened the cage. A big Labrador puppy tumbled out, tail wagging frantically. He was a beautiful color that ranged from deep gold on his back to almost white on his legs and paws. â€Å"Hey, Bud,† Eric said. â€Å"Hey, pal; who's a good boy?† He looked at Thea solemnly. â€Å"This is the ultimate cuddle dog.† Thea collapsed on the sheet vinyl floor and made a lap, holding both arms out. â€Å"Uh-your dress-† Eric began mildly, but the puppy was already in midair. Thea caught him and he crawled up her, legs on her shoulders, hot breath blowing in her ear. â€Å"I think I'm in love,† Thea gasped, her arms full of warm, heavy puppy sweetness. Happiness surrounded her. She didn't have to try to merge with the puppy's mind; he practically took over by force. All his thoughts were good ones, and they were all about now. About how terrific everything smelled this minute, and how great that scratch behind the ear felt on a fleabite. Good feelings, happy feelings†¦ I really like this big bald dog†¦ Wonder which of us is dominant? The puppy bit her and Thea play-bit him back. â€Å"Wrong; I'm the pack leader,† she informed him, holding his jowls. There was only one odd thing. She could see the way the world looked to the pup-and there was nothing on the right. Just a void. â€Å"Is there something wrong with his eyes?† â€Å"You noticed the cataract. Lots of people don't see that right away. Yeah, he's blind in the right eye. When he gets older he may come back for surgery.† Eric sat back against the wall, grinning madly. â€Å"You've really got a way with animals,† he said. â€Å"But you don't own any pets?† The question was gentle, not intrusive. Thea said absently, â€Å"Well, usually just temporary ones. I pick them up and when they're cured I put them back- or find homes for them if they want to be pets.† â€Å"You cure them.† Once again, the question was gentle, but Thea felt a little shock. Why couldn't she guard her tongue around this guy? She looked up and found he was looking at her steadily and searchingly, his green eyes alert. She took a breath. â€Å"I feed them, take them to the vet if they need it. Then I wait until they heal up.† He nodded, but the searching look didn't go away. â€Å"Did you ever think of being a vet yourself?† Thea had to look down. She bluffed by kissing the puppy. â€Å"Uh, not really,† she muttered into blond fur. â€Å"But you've got a gift. Look, I've got some material on U.C. Davis. They have a great undergraduate program-and their graduate school is one of the best in the country. It's not easy to get in, but you could do it. I know you could.† â€Å"I wouldn't bet on it,† Thea muttered. She had several dramatic blotches on her academic record- like four expulsions. But that wasn't the real problem. The real problem was that witches weren't veterinarians. They just weren't. She could choose to specialize in gems or herbs or ritual clothing; in chants or runes or research or amulets†¦ in hundreds of things, but nothing taught at U.C. Davis. â€Å"It's hard to explain,† Thea said. She didn't have much room left to be surprised, or she'd have been surprised to find she wanted to explain to a human. â€Å"It's just-my family wouldn't really approve. They want me to be something else.† Eric opened his mouth, then shut it again. The puppy sneezed. â€Å"Well-maybe you could help me with my application sometime,† Eric said at last. â€Å"I'm trying to do the essay question and dying.† You sneak, Thea thought. â€Å"Maybe,† she said. At that moment a buzzer sounded-far away but insistent. Bud barked. â€Å"What the†¦ that's the outside buzzer,† Eric said. â€Å"But nobody should be here at this time of night.† He got up and headed for the front of the building. Thea followed, her fingertips just brushing Bud's head to control him. Eric opened the door, then stepped back in surprise. â€Å"Rosamund†¦ what are you doing here? Does Mom know you're out?† Something like a miniature whirlwind entered the waiting room. It was a kid, a little girl with a mop of sandy hair sticking out from under a baseball cap. She was carrying a rolled-up blue blanket, and what could be seen of her expression under the hair was ferocious. â€Å"Mom said Madame Curie wasn't really sick, but she is. Call Dr. Joan.† With that, the kid marched into the office and dumped the blue blanket on the counter, pushing aside a clipboard and some vaccination reminder cards. â€Å"Hey. Don't.† When she ignored him, Eric looked at Thea. â€Å"Uh, this is my sister Rosamund. And I don't know how she got here-â€Å" â€Å"I rode my bike and I want Madame Curie fixed now.† Bud was rearing up and trying to sniff the blue blanket. Thea pushed him down gently. â€Å"Who's Madame Curie?† â€Å"Madame Curie is a guinea pig,† Eric said. He touched the blanket. â€Å"Roz-Dr. Joan is gone. She's out of town at a conference.† Rosamund's ferocious expression never wavered, but her chin began to quiver. â€Å"Okay, listen. I'll take a look at Madame Curie now, see if I can see anything. But first we have to call Mom and let her know you're alive.† He reached for the phone. â€Å"I'll take Bud back,† Thea said. â€Å"I think he thinks Madame Curie is lunch.† She led the puppy into the back room and coaxed him into the run with a promise of extra petting later. When she came back to the office, Eric was bent over a small brown-and-white guinea pig. He looked frustrated. â€Å"Well, there's something wrong with her-I guess. She seems weaker than usual and sort of lethargic___† Suddenly he jerked his hand back with a yelp. â€Å"Not too lethargic,† he said, eyeing the blood welling up from his thumb. He wiped it on a tissue and bent over the guinea pig again. â€Å"She's in a bad mood,† Rosamund said. â€Å"And she's not eating right. I told you yesterday she was sick.† â€Å"No, you didn't,† Eric said calmly. â€Å"You told me she was tired of living under patriarchy.† â€Å"Well, she is tired. And she's sick. Do something.† â€Å"Kid, I don't know what to do yet. Hang on.† He bent closer to the little animal, muttering to himself. â€Å"She's not coughing†¦ so it's not strep. Her lymph nodes are okay†¦ but her joints seem swollen. Now, that's weird.† Rosamund was watching him, her green eyes full of fierce trust. Eyes like Eric's, Thea realized. She reached out gently and just touched the guinea pig's soft fur with her fingers. Her mind reached gently, too. Frightened-little-animal thoughts. The guinea pig didn't like being here, wanted the sawdust of her cage, wanted safety. She didn't like the clinical smells, didn't like huge, strange fingers descending from the sky. Home-place, nest-place, she was thinking. And then, something odd. A concept-more smell and taste than picture. Madame Curie was imagining eating something†¦ something crunchy and slightly sharp. Eating and eating and eating. â€Å"Is there some treat she really likes?† Thea asked doubtfully. â€Å"Something like cabbage?† Eric blinked, then straightened up as if he'd gotten an electric shock. His green eyes stared straight into hers. â€Å"That's it! You're brilliant!† â€Å"What's it?† â€Å"What you said. She's got scurvy!† He dashed out of the office and came back with a thick book full of small print. â€Å"Yeah-here it is. Anorexia, lethargy, enlarged limb joints†¦ she's got all the symptoms.† He turned pages feverishly and then said triumphantly, â€Å"All we have to do is give her some of those veggies, or maybe some ascorbic acid in her water.† Scurvy-wasn't that a disease sailors used to get? When they were on long trips with no fresh fruits or vegetables? And ascorbic acid was†¦ â€Å"Vitamin C!† â€Å"Yeah! It's been hot and we've got hard water at our house-all that could deplete the vitamin C in her diet. But it's easy to fix.† Then Eric looked at Thea and shook his head wonderingly. â€Å"I've been studying for years, besides working here, and you just look at the animal and you know. How do you do that?† â€Å"She asked Madame Curie,† Rosamund said flatly. Thea gave her a wary glance. How come this whole family was so observant? â€Å"Ha ha,† she said, her voice light. â€Å"I like you,† Rosamund said, just as flatly as before. â€Å"Now where can I get some cabbage?† â€Å"Go look in the vaccine fridge in back,† Eric said. â€Å"If there isn't any, we can always use vitamin drops.† Rosamund trotted off. Eric watched her, openly fond. â€Å"She's an interesting kid,† Thea said. â€Å"She's sort of a genius. Also the world's smallest militant feminist. She's suing the local Boy Trekkers, you know. They won't let her in, and the Girl Trekkers don't trek. They do macrame.† Thea looked at him. â€Å"And what do you think of that?† â€Å"Me? I drive her to the lawyer's office whenever Mom can't make it. I figure it stops her griping. Besides, she's right.† Simple as that, Thea thought. She watched Eric as he folded the blue blanket, and heard a voice in her mind like the voice of an announcer describing a game-show prize. Now. Look at this guy. He's tender but intense. Brave. Profoundly insightful. Shy but with a wicked sense of humor. He's smart, he's honest, he's an animal lover†¦. He's human. I don't care. She was feeling-well, strange. As if she'd been breathing too much yemonja root. The air seemed sweet and heavy and tingly somehow, as if laced with tropical electricity. â€Å"Eric†¦Ã¢â‚¬  And she found herself touching the back of his hand. He let go of the blanket instantly and turned his hand to close on hers. He wasn't looking at her, though. He was still staring at the office desk. His chest heaved. â€Å"Eric?† â€Å"Sometimes I think if I blink, you'll disappear.† Oh, Eileithyia, Thea thought. Oh, Aphrodite. I'm in terrible trouble. The thing was, it was terrible and wonderful. She felt awkward and tremendously safe at once, scared to death and not scared of anything. And what she wanted was so simple. If he only felt the same, everything would be all right. â€Å"I just can't even imagine life without you anymore, but I'm so afraid you'll go away,† Eric said, still looking fatalistically at the computer on the desk. Then he turned to her. â€Å"Are you mad?† Thea shook her head. Her heart was threatening to leave her body. When she met his eyes it was as if some circuit had closed. They were connected, now, and being pulled together as if Aphrodite herself was gathering them into her arms. And then everything was warm and wonderful. Better than holding the puppy, because Eric could hold her, too. And the thrills of fear that had been shooting through her seemed somehow to burst like fireworks and turn into exhilaration. Her cheek was against Eric's. And she'd never felt anything so blissful before. Eric's cheek was smooth and firm-and she was safe here, loved here. She could rest like this forever. Peace filled her like cool water. They were two birds enfolding each other with their wings. Swans mate for life†¦ and when they see their mate, they know, she thought. That's what happened in the desert. We knew each other; it was as if we each could see the other one's soul. Once you see into someone's soul, you're attached forever. Yeah, and there's a word for it in the Night World, part of her mind said, trying to shatter her peace. The soulmate principle. You're trying to say that your one and only is a human? But Thea couldn't be frightened, not now. She felt insulated from the Night World and the human world both. She and Eric formed their own reality; and it was enough just to stand here and breathe and to feel his breathing, without worrying about the future†¦. A door creaked and a blast of cool air blew in. Thea's eyes were startled open. And then her heart gave a terrible lurch and started thudding painfully. It wasn't the door that Rosamund had gone through. It was the front door, which Eric must have left unlocked. And Blaise was standing there in the waiting room.

Marketing of Guest Activities Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

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DQ1cc, DQ2ab, DQ3CC - Essay Example A probability can be defined as a numerical measure of the likelihood that a specific event will occur or not (Mann, 1995). Some of the different approaches to probability include classical probability, relative frequency concept of probability, and subjective probability. The use of probability is widely applied in the business world due to the fact that probability is a statistical method of a numerical chance of the occurrence of an event. For instance a company can use probability to determine whether to invest in a derivative instrument based on the changes of a commodity going up. For the application of probability to be valid the data inserted into the model must be up to date and accurate. For instance if a governmental agency attempts to predict the future behavior of the unemployment rate it would not be wise to use data from the 1950’s to insert into the probability model. The correct approach would be to use current unemployment data. â€Å"From principles is deri ved probability, but truth or certainty is obtained only from facts† (Stoppard, 2012). Probability can be used by individuals and managers in different scenarios. A place where probability is constantly used by players is in casinos. Casino games have different probabilities of winning. For instance the casino game that has the higher probability for the player is blackjack which offers a probability of 51% for the house and 49% for the player. Managers should use probability in their decision making process. A manager should not accept any decisions that have a probability of less than 50% of occurrence. Companies can establish decision making policies based on a minimum probability threshold. If I was choosing between two options one which had high probability and one with a low probability I would choose the option with the high probability due to the fact that chances of that option occurring are higher. The option with

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Knowledge of Organizational Communication Concepts and Skills - Essay Example This paper presents an analysis of each communication concepts and provides suggestions to implement it in the organization. Active listening is a very important part of communication structure. In order to build an effective business communication structure there is need to improve listening skill. This section outlines the importance of active listening and suggests ways to improve this skill. Both speaking and listening are very important part of verbal communication. Without a doubt, in any firm (small, medium or large), listening plays a significant role in effective working associations and communications among employees and between staff and administration. In the same way, this skill is also important in communicating with business customers and other organizations. The importance of listening cannot be underestimated if a business really wants to survive in this ever-increasing competitive world. In fact, listening has the power to make or break someone’s success in management, or customer relationships. Hence, improving listening skills means increasing the chances of business success (Hatter, 2013; Kati, 2011; More-For-Small-Business, 2012; Tingum, 2013). In addition, there are many important tips that can be used to improve listening skills. However, the first rule is to pay the speakers full attention and try to keep eye contact. In this scenario, the speaker can be a colleague, an employee, customer or management. Additionally, when they have completed this process, put another way their words and confirm whether you understand them in the approved manner. If you have any confusion then keep continue asking questions to increase understanding of their speech. Actually, listening cautiously while someone speaks to you can improve the quality of business communication. However, in order to improve listening power there is a need for effective concentration, which can only be attained with endeavor and practice. Without a

Briefly characterise neoliberalism and discuss its likely Essay

Briefly characterise neoliberalism and discuss its likely contributions to the mutiple contemporary crises---food,environment,finance and energy - Essay Example Liberal paradigm stems from the studies of Adam Smith, an outstanding economist of the late 18th century, who argued that minimization of government’s role in economic relations would facilitation growth of trade. The liberal economic model had dominated in national and international economic relations for almost two centuries until the new Keynesian model took over in the 1930s. This model advocated interventions of the state in economic relations and proved its efficiency helping effectively rebuild European economies after the devastating world wars. However, despite the apparent success of Keynesian paradigm liberalism resurrected in the early 1970s with increasing numbers of economists supporting the claim that deregulation of markets, privatization and minimization of government intervention would foster further growth of the international economics. That resurrected model of economic liberalism was called neoliberalismii. Also known as ‘economic rationalism’, the neoliberal model â€Å"†¦has an interest †¦ to provide reason to limit government in relation to the market†iii and incorporates the â€Å"†¦beliefs in the efficacy of the free market and the adoption of policies that prioritize deregulation, foreign debt reduction, privatization of the public sector...and a (new) orthodoxy of individual responsibility and the â€Å"emergency† safety net - thus replacing collective provision through a more residualist welfare state†iv. In other words, neoliberalism stresses the role of self-conduct in economic relations requiring individuals to exercise more power and control over their life and well-being. This is often called ‘the entrepreneurial self’v. Government that promotes neoliberalism stimulates individual to adopt highly practical and rational relationships to themselves without limiting their freedom in economic relations. Therefore, this model

How the general Motors Global Manufacturing Systems (GM GMS) are Essay

How the general Motors Global Manufacturing Systems (GM GMS) are implemented in Poland, in Comparison with the UK - Essay Example The objective of this discussion seeks to provide on means of exposing managers to organisational and market developments relevant to their own and their organisations development opportunities. This discussion will analyze and take all of these factors into consideration, provide a comparison and recommendations. This discussion will focus on the international context of strategic issues in business and provide for a means of developing client-consulting skills. An analytical approach will be used to compare the implementation of GM global manufacturing systems in both Poland and the United Kingdom. The international auto industry is significant to economies across the globe. (Aho and Levinson, 1988) The international auto industry is a paramount industry and both Poland and the United Kingdom are significant components of it. The worlds leading vehicle and automotive component companies have long seen the UK as being an important location for manufacturing. Following the setting up of a number of UK-based companies, US-owned Ford first established a plant here in 1911,  since joined by other investors including General Motors, BMW, Honda, Nissan, Peugeot and Toyota.  (Burrough and Helyar, 1990) According to Burrough and Helyar, â€Å"The automotive manufacturing sector contributes around  £8.4bn added value to the economy, and accounts for 1.1% of GDP, 5.8% of manufacturing value-added and 9.5% of total UK exports of goods. Some 237,000 people are employed in the design and manufacture of vehicles and components. The West Midlands remains the heart of the industry in the UK with around 30% of the industry being based in the region. The UK is home to the worlds most successful motorsport industry as well as a range of smaller producers serving specialist markets such as sports and luxury cars, and London taxis. 17 of the top tier one suppliers and around 20 leading independent automotive design firms also have a base in the UK.†

Old Guard or Avant Garde Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Old Guard or Avant Garde - Research Paper Example It builds on the concept whether certain music set a different pace or keeps on track with the previous songs. In addition, the analysis gets basis on the concept whether music followed a trend of a given period. In this scenario, it is indispensable to exploit examples of famous composers who experienced an influence in their times. In the analysis, it is essential to ensure that the music posses detectable and noticeable compositions. This paper takes into consideration of two kinds of music by different artists that posse the qualities examined. Minimalism, a song by John Adams is one of the most serious and contemporary composers of the 21st century (Johnson 2011). Adams work is quite different from his previous forebears like Terry Riley and La Monte Young. This is because the work is vibrant, exuberant, muscular and propulsive making his song one of the favorites of many people. Designed to work and come up with the best music, Adams uses repetition as one of the qualities of h is song (Sanchez-Behar 2007). The repetition used in the song emphasizes different aspects of the message derived thereby reaching the message of the artist. The repetitive thyme present in the song, which does not only pass the intended message but portrays Adams as a post minimalist. At the age of ten, Adams showed interests in music and begun composing. His first music got notice at the age of 13 years, which got more attention because of the talent he possessed. Adams had a substantial interest in music after graduating at Harvard University where he studied composition earning two degrees BA 1971 and MA1972 (Johnson 2011). Some of the areas where he specified in the early times include shaker loops, which used string septet. This included three violins, two cellos, one bass and one viola not forgetting a group of string players. From this vantage point, Adams gets depicted as an old guard; considering the fact that the instruments used of mass production contrapuntal music (San chez-Behar 2007). For large pitch, chorus and Orchestra Adams used the Harmonium the piece of starts that required insistent repetitions of one syllable –no- and –D-. The harmonium made Adams prosper to the top of American music landscape judged as an established musician in a larger framework. In addition, Adams used Dueling Pianos, Valhalla brass, Cooing Sirens, Gospel Triads, Thwacking bass drums and Niagara of cascading Keys. In this instance, minimalism found its use in the whole music mixed with orchestral gestures. From the analysis, Adams piece of work gets considered an old guard (Adams 2012). This is argued because his dovetailing instrumentation and wordings in his piece of work. In addition, he encounters pattern completion in his music. Adam’s piece of art, minimalism, in addition, depicts various characters for instance, the dynamic shifts in the song. His works moreover, show stylistic differences from other composers in terms of pitch-class, whil e at the same time giving how diversity fits in the minimalist aesthetic (Adams 2012). A tonal variation is another characteristic of Adam’s songs a factor used to capture the attention of neo romantic listeners. This is a feature found in many songs of the previous ages raising a question as the legibility of Adam’s songs. When compared to Michael Buchler index of CSATSIM a similarity gets noticed signifying an old guard (Johnson 2011). Not forgetting is the

Children with special needs can be cured Thesis

Children with special needs can be cured - Thesis Example mmended for the improvement that the children with special need positioned in inclusion classrooms, there is nothing more imperative than the educational benefits. According to different research studies children with developmental disabilities positioned in inclusion classrooms create immense developments in language, mental and motor development that are beyond their peers in individual education classrooms. Poor children are exposed to significantly more social and physical toxicities in the environment that cause or exacerbate chronic health conditions.  These exposures are due to the risk behaviors of their parents, other adults around them, and their living environment.  Substance use by their mothers during pregnancy; poor nutrition pre- and post-natal; exposure to second hand tobacco smoke; substandard housing with potentially increased levels of toxins. Once diagnosed with a chronic condition, poor children and their families generally have more limited access to health services, (McManus & Newacheck, 1040; Miller, 430) and often the services they receive are of lower quality.  In some places, health providers are subtly directed to limit their therapeutic time with a child covered by Medicaid because the reimbursement is too low to cover their time. Just as medical technology has prolonged more childrens lives, scientific advances have increased knowledge about treatments, equipment and technological devices designed to improve the function and quality of life of Children With Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN).  For example, early intervention services are guaranteed by law for children with or at risk of developmental disabilities as a way to maximize their potential (Ramey & Ramey, 110).  Adapted computer technology and new therapies can increase functional abilities for children with motor and sensory impairments.  However, both the increased prevalence of CSHCN and increased treatment options are occurring in the context of a national effort to

Oliver Twist Essay Example for Free

Oliver Twist Essay In Oliver Twist Bill Sykes brings terror to the novel, which adds to the suspense and makes you want to read on. Bill Sykes is brutal which you soon realise when he delights in beating his dog or girlfriend, Nancy. Many novels of this time were full of such characters and Dickens, a playwright and an actor as well as a novelist, knew then well. The orphan Oliver Twist escapes from the workhouse by running away to London. Oliver is introduced to Fagin who trains him to be a thief and he is then taken on a burglary with Sykes, Oliver recovers from being shot in the burglary and Nancy nurses Sykes back to full health. Sykes kills Nancy, which has a terrible effect on him, and he later kills himself. Bill Sykes brings the real terror to the novel but he is also extremely unpredictable. Rarely he can seem quite reasonable and occasionally shows kindness to his dog and girlfriends, but generally he keeps everyone in fear of what he is going to do next. We see evidence of this when Fagin says, You wont be too violent Bill? This statement shows that they have no trust in him. Bill Sykes also has a problem with alcohol, he drinks far too much, and this probably accounts for some of his unpredictable behaviour. We see evidence of his drinking problem when he says, to prevent my standing treat for a pint of so. This shows that he thinks that he thinks drinking is a treat and does not himself think that he has a drinking problem. Bill Sykes us the archetypal Victorian villain. To be a real villain Sykes must show no compassion for anyone and we see that on many occasions. When Nancy has nursed him back to health, staying up for nights looking after him, he turns on her the moment he wakes up. This shows he is very ungrateful for any sympathy given to him. Illness had not improved Mr Sykes temper, for as the girl raised him up and led him to a chair, he struck her . He is also quite ready to send Nancy out to work and possibly profit from what she does. From all of this we can gather further evidence that he is ungrateful for any help he received. Sykes treats his dog very badly, it receives regular kicks and is threatened constantly. At one time when he was going to escape he contemplates killing, The dog, though. If any descriptions of him were out, it would not be forgotten that the dog was missing. Sykes is a typical bully who shows no remorse for what he does to others. We see evidence of this when he takes Oliver on the burglary with him and does not care whether Oliver gets injured. Sykes has no respect for Fagin and you can tell this by the way he speaks to him. You can see Fagin is afraid of him but Fagin does like to have the last word. If Sykes does not get his own way he will turn to violence as we see with the arguments over Oliver, looking sternly at him, and ostentatiously passing a pistol into a more convenient pocket. Thats lucky for one of us. This shows again Sykes is unpredictable and a bully and brings more tension. When Bill Sykes sees Fagin, Fagin changes the tone of his voice at once. Fagin is obviously afraid of the physical strength of Sykes but Sykes is still wary of Fagin.

Engineering Practice Review Report

Engineering Practice Review Report Introduction I worked for Christie Civil during both of my Internships and received a wide variety of experience during both of these six-month blocks. I worked on several different sites, which included the upgrade of an RTA owned road to the renovation and construction of parts of the Holsworthy Army Barracks. I found out about Christie Civil through the university-run website I2MS. I applied for the advertised position, as well as many others as soon as they became available online. Although I didnt receive a reply as soon as I would have liked. About 2 and a half months after I applied for the job, I received a phone call and an invitation to have an interview with the companies Sydney manager, Martin Carey. I felt the interview went very well and I was initially happy with my first impressions of the place and the people. One week later I was one of the two successful applicants and began work on the 1st of August 2007. In the semester before my second internship, I contacted Christie Civil in the hope of obtaining some information about a site I had previously worked on, for a university assignment. It was then when the Project Manager I was talking to, inquired about where I was working for my second internship and invited me to come back and work for them. Since I enjoyed working there, and I felt that I previously hadnt learnt as much as I could have, I decided to return to the company. About the company Christie Civil is a medium sized construction company that specializes in civil contracting within the Sydney region. For over 40 years, Christie Civil has worked as a Quality Endorsed company whose typical scope of works includes: Foundations (piles, footings, underground structures, shoring and underpinning) Bulk and detailed Earthworks Subdivisions (Site clearance, roads and drainage, services) Concrete Structures (Bridges, water and wastewater treatment tanks, detention tanks) Integrated Services (mechanical/ electrical/ hydraulics/ utilities) Retaining Walls Car parks and Pavements Environmental Remediation Christie Civil employs over 35 people including many Civil engineers, Project Managers and Foreman. On a typical site, Christie Civil provides the On Site Over Heads (OSOH) and usually subcontracts skilled labour (such as carpenters, plumbers and electricians) to professional companies with a good reputation and a proven record. The company also often works in conjunction with a labour hire company called Christies People, as both companies were founded by the same person. First Internship 2007/2008 During my first internship, I worked with Christie Civil for over 6 months between August 2007 and February 2008. Throughout this time, my role varied significantly as the Christie Civil management team placed me in several different positions so that I might gain experience within different aspects of the company (see Figure 1a). The major roles I had are explored below: Figure 1a) Site Engineer As a site engineer I was given the responsibility of preparing and maintaining all of the Quality Assurance (QA) documentation regarding the construction sites to which I was assigned. The QA documents basically provide a system in which to monitor the progress and quality of the construction processes ensuring that it is done in a safe manor, to an acceptable standard. Regularly I was required to: Conduct site inductions, which were aimed at highlighting the important safety rules and regulations for anyone new to the site. Prepare and maintain Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) which describes the appropriate precautions that must be taken in order expose potential hazards and minimize their risks. Give toolbox talks to the subcontractors and laborers. These talks outline current safety issues and highlight the appropriate action that is to be taken in order to maintain a safe workplace. Conduct Safety and Environmental Checklists. These checklists highlight any potential hazards that may have come about during construction. E.g. Excavations greater than 1.5m that require fencing. Prepare, maintain and sign off on Inspection and Test Plans. Record and monitor the location of newly placed concrete batches. Correspond with the Client Aid the project manager Aid the laborers I was assigned to two main sites during my first internship, the first of these being the construction of a sewerage overflow tank just off Gunnamatta Bay in Cronulla, NSW. This site basically involved the removal of an existing retaining wall, the excavation of the pit for the tank, the construction of the 5m x 3m tank and the restoration of the wall and the surrounding plants. It was only a fairly small, two month job with a budget of about $300,000. The second site I was assigned to on my first internship was a huge multi-million dollar construction and renovation project of the Holsworthy Army Barracks. On this site, several companies were subcontracted to John Holland to complete specific aspects of the job. Christie Civil had the role of excavating the trenches, laying the storm water pipes and the construction of the roads throughout the site. Systems Engineer As a Systems Engineer I was based in the head office, but was regularly required to visit the different sites and conduct Project Review Meetings (PRMs) with the Foreman or Project Managers. The data from these PRMs were collected and collated to form a set of OHS statistics which aim to compare the number of hours worked, with the number of Work Related Incidents (WRIs) and loss time injuries sustained. This allowed the company to gain an overall picture of performance with a focus on Occupational Health and Safety. Also it is a necessary procedure to prove the companies safety records and to build the companies reputation as a safe working company. This is done for the sake of tendering and as documentation in case an authority audits the company. Estimator As an estimator I assisted the estimating division in calculating the price of the different jobs for which we were tendering. This involved communicating with the Senior Estimator and referring to several engineering drawings in order to calculate the cost of the processes involved with the different jobs. For example from the engineering drawings we could calculate the approximate volume of material to be excavated. We could then approximate the time this would take for a certain excavator to complete, and then we would get several quotes from our subcontractors in order to compile a competitive tender for the prospective client. Other In conjunction with the major positions explored above I also had many other less specific roles within the company. Regularly I was required to drop off tenders, buy tools, conduct dilapidation reports, collect information regarding potential work sites, print and interpret engineering drawings and follow instructions as needed. Second Internship 2009/2010 After my first Internship I felt that I had not learnt as much as I could have at Christie Civil, hence I took up an offer to return to the company for my second internship. During this time, I worked for Christies for over 7 months between July 2009 and February 2010. As a result of my previous experience, I spent less time learning the ins and outs of my role within the company, but rather, was put out on one of the companys major job sites straight away. Throughout the course of my second internship I worked on two major sites, the first site involved the upgrade of Hillsborough Rd, a fairly major RTA road located in the heart of Warners Bay near Newcastle. As a site engineer on this particular job I was required to do much of the same work I had done during my first internship, although having a period of about one and a half years away from the company I was fortunate to have another site engineer with me for the first few weeks to remind me of my role. This particular site was unlike any other job I had worked on prior, because the construction client was the RTA. This meant that I was required to read through and understand many RTA specifications to do with the correct process for the construction of an RTA road, and submit all the testing and evidence that was need to prove to the RTA that the construction complied with the specifications. Specifically, this involved submitting Hold Point Release Forms (See Appendix A), to the RTA at particular stages of the construction process, and waiting for them to approve the quality of particular aspects of the current construction, before we could continue. Learning Outcomes The learning outcomes addressed below were chosen because they are not directly looked at elsewhere in the report. Eg. I didnt include the learning outcome about ethics, because it is directly addresses in the Ethics section. to review past experience, so as to plan and prepare for future workplace participation at a graduate and professional level. After reviewing both of my internships, and my university experience as a whole, I think that in the immediate future after graduation, I would like to get a job as a design engineer to experience a different side of my profession. An older civil engineer said to me when I first began my degree was that in his experience, the best design engineers are the ones who had worked in construction beforehand, because they know the practical workings of the job and can apply their experience while designing. So I deliberately went about looking for a job a site engineer for my first and second internships. At university I have enjoyed and found satisfying, the design subjects such as concrete design and steel and timber design, and could honestly see myself pursuing that sort of thing as a career. I would also like to achieve Chartered Professional Engineering Status to further open up opportunities for my career throughout my life. to refine and develop your approach to securing employment for professional engineering practice Since both of my internships were in construction, I hope to eventually get into engineering design, where I can incorporate the practical experience gained from working on site with the designs I am required to complete. As a result I have been looking out for, and focusing my attention to companies which are actively involved in both the design and construction aspects of engineering. I could use my construction experience to get into the company, and then hopefully move on to more of a design role within the company. to extend your knowledge of workplace cultures and organizational behavior Working in the construction industry, gave me the opportunity to learn about and be amongst two very different workplace cultures. The difference between the cultures on site and in the office is extravagant. Workplace culture in the office was professional which meant we were required to wear pants and a collared shirt. The atmosphere in the office was serious compared to the site as most of the people I worked with in the office were skilled engineers and project managers. In the same way, this was confirmed by the fact that everyone worked in their own office, quietly without fuss. On site however, there was many practical jokes and a lot of swearing. Work was done to keep on schedule, but there wasnt a major push for completion. Most days were relatively stress-free and for the most part everyone got along. There was no set time for lunch breaks, and sometimes the opportunity to work through lunch and finish early. to develop a critical basis for understanding principles of management, and of planning and design Throughout my work experience I have had much more to do with planning and construction rather than design. I have worked closely alongside a few different construction managers. I have seen and helped with much of the work they do and seen what is required of them to get the job done. Similarly I have been assigned to construction projects from their beginning, and have been involved in the initial planning of a job. My work experience also has been complimented with subjects I have studied at university, such as Construction and Engineering Project Management, whereas subjects like Concrete Design and Steel and Timber Design, have introduced me to the foundational concepts behind design, which I hope will someday come into use in the near future during my career. to develop and demonstrate effective communication skills appropriate to professional engineering Communication was one of the essential skills I needed in order to complete my job properly. As explored above, working in the different workplace cultures of site and the office, required me to be able to communicate effectively, with different types of people. Typically, when in the office I would be talking to engineers and Project Managers. As a result, the conversations were generally more technically based often referring to specific design specifications and engineering drawings. On site however, conversations, if about work, were regarding the practical aspects of the construction such as getting the grader to trim the road base down 20mm. to relate the theoretical knowledge gained in your experience to your studies, so as to be able to apply it in your capstone project During my internships, I found that a lot of the material and engineering knowledge I had gained at university was reinforced through my practical experience. Subjects such as Surveying, Construction and Engineering Project Management provided invaluable preparation for what I was to learn while working on construction sites throughout Sydney. Working on site, however, helped me to see the bigger picture of civil engineering and how each stage of the engineering process †¦ from initial conception, to design and finally construction of a project, is just as important as each other. Other subjects such as Steel and Timber Design and Concrete Design also introduced me to the other side of engineering, which I am yet to experience in a workplace environment. All of this experience will prove to be a great resource to draw from when completing my Capstone. to identify opportunities to extend your engineering knowledge Since I have had all of my experience within the construction aspect of Civil Engineering, I would like to initially pursue a career within a design consulting company so I can broaden my experience. I have enjoyed completing subjects such as steel and timber design, and concrete design and would love the challenge of applying the skills I have learnt in those subjects, as well as getting a more detailed understanding of engineering design within the real world. Also I love the idea of residential design, and hopefully one day with enough experience, I might be able to design my own house. to develop strategies for collaborative and life-long learning I have found that one of the most simple and beneficial practices to undertake for lifelong learning are to asking questions. The field of Civil Engineering is so broad, that it is rare to find an engineer that can be an expert at it all. Hence, during my internships, I needed to ask questions, not only to understand what I needed to do as a site engineer, but also to understand the reasons for doing such things like environmental inspection reports, or for using material such as heavily bound road base, as opposed to crushed sandstone, during the construction of roads. to develop strategies to secure mentoring and to promote team work While working for Christie Civil, I was basically assigned to assisting one particular project manager on all of his sites. The Project Manager became sort of a mentor to me, as he would be the first person I would contact if I had any questions or issues. In the same way, I have an uncle and a few friends whom are experienced Civil Engineers, and I have often asked for their advice while unsure about particular assignments while at university. During my career, if the company I work for doesnt assign me to a mentor specifically, I would go about seeking someone within the company who would be happy to sit down with me to answer any questions I might have, also I hopefully would still be able to talk to my uncle and civil engineering friends if they work within the same sector of civil engineering. to reflect on, and constructively review, your colleagues practice to help them in their academic, professional and personal development The main place I have been in a position to constructively review colleagues work is at university. As an intern I certainly wasnt in a position to constructively review my Project Managers work, however, I was required to train up another intern, and in doing so I needed to teach him how, and to review the work he had done. In particular, there was one occasion where he completed a Project Review Meeting but it was not done in enough detail, so I had to review it with him, and highlight the main areas of concern before filing the report. At university however I have worked on plenty of group assignments, where I have been required to constructively review members of my groups work. Recently, I found a mistake in one of the other group members work for a computer modeling and design assignment. I went over and gently pointed out the mistake, but it still took further explanation to convince her that she was wrong. Career Episode Reports Career Episode Title: Road Extension, Templar Rd Erskine Park Dates of Career Episode: 01.11.09 to 01.12.09 Length of Career Episode: 30 days Competency Element Claimed This project involved the extension of Templar Rd, Erskine Park further into an industrial area, to accommodate for the increase in traffic to the area as a result of new major industrial developments in the area. My role as a site engineer was basically to act as a bridge between the office and this site, maintain and upkeep of the QA Documentation, collaborate with the foreman and laborers and liaise with the project manager. While I was working here, I was regularly required to manage my own time and processes. I often would move between the office and the site to attend meetings, run errands and deliver items of significance such as inspection reports. To make the most out of each day, I would plan my time and route accordingly to avoid peak hour traffic and determine the most efficient way to complete my tasks. Often during the day, I would be required to cope with change, both in my own daily schedule or in the final design of the project. Sometimes I would be on site and I would get a call from the company manager asking if I could run an errand for him. On one particular occasion, I was asked to drive back to the company office to pick up some important tender documents and drop them off at the Sydney Water head office. I was required to re-adjust my schedule for that day, and prioritize my tasks and complete them accordingly. Similarly, throughout the project there were several design changes. Initially as part of the project we were required to build a large turning bay towards the end of the road, which was designed so large trucks would have easy access in and out of the surrounding industrial warehouses. Just as we were preparing to begin the excavation for this part of the road, the client changed the design and totally removed the turning bay. I was required to adapt and change a lot of the QA documentation such as Inspection Test Plans (ITPs) and the Lot Plans, in order to accommodate for the design change. On site, I was required to complete surveying and leveling tasks in a timely manner. Due to the nature of the site, the client, Penrith City Council, would send out a senior engineer to inspect the levels of each layer of the road to ensure that we were building the road to the design levels. I was responsible for ensuring these levels were correct before the senior engineer arrived to inspect. I did this by calculating the design levels from the engineering drawings and then using a laser level to check the actual road level. If the actual level did not match the design level I would ask the grader operator to adjust the actual levels appropriately, all before the arrival of the Penrith City Councils Senior Engineer. C3.1: Manages Self C3.1a C3.1e C3.1c Signature of Candidate: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Candidates Verifier/s Name: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Verifier Engineering Qualifications: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. I verify that the above narrative is a true account of the candidates own work Verifier Signature: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Career Episode Title: Hillsborough Rd Upgrade, Warners Bay (part 1) Dates of Career Episode: 05.07.09 to 20.08.09 Length of Career Episode: 45 days Competency Element Claimed This project involved the upgrade of Hillsborough Rd, Warners Bay to coincide and accommodate for the construction of a new shopping complex which serviced the Warners Bay and greater Newcastle area. As a site engineer on this site I was required to travel up to Newcastle and spend several days a week supervising, and maintaining all the QA Documentation, whilst collaborating with the client to ensure that the road was constructed according to the design. My role in particular required a lot of communication. I was constantly asking questions, writing emails, sending reports and confirming meetings with my Project Manager, the client and the site foreman. This in itself required me to change the way I communicate, depending on whom I was talking to. For example, there is a very different workplace culture on site with the foreman and laborers on site, compared to the office with the Project Managers and Engineers. I would have to change my approach to communication and language I would use, depending on the context. When talking to my project manager, or the client, I generally would talk with technical terminology, talking about specific aspects of testing such as the RTA approved NAASRA Road Roughness Test or I would make reference to specific reports such as ITPs (Inspection Test Plan) or Hold Points which were required by the client at the end of the job. On one particular occasion, I was required to prepare all the site documentation for an external audit conducted by a company called SAI Global. It took about a week to get everything in order, and I was quite nervous because the auditor was basically going to be rating the organization and completeness of the site documentation and hence, my performance as a site engineer. At the end of the audit, the SAI Global representative highlighted only 2 minor areas which could be improved. My Project Manager turned around and shook my hand and said good job and that he was not really concerned about the minor issues. This event helped me to develop and maintain the trust of and confidence of my project manager and the other staff involved, that I was capable of performing to the required standard. As an Intern working on this site, I came across many new and different materials and processes used to build this road, compared to what I had encountered before. As an RTA road, the material was generally to be of higher quality, with better materials used and significantly more rigorous testing done during construction. As a result I consistently needed to seek answers from internal (my project manager), and the external (the client representative) sources. I asked questions about the benefits of using particular materials (such as Heavily Bound Base, a road base with fly ash and other cement-like properties.) C3.2: Works Effectively with People Signature of Candidate: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Candidates Verifier/s Name: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Verifier Engineering Qualifications: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. I verify that the above narrative is a true account of the candidates own work Verifier Signature: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Career Episode Title: Hillsborough Rd Upgrade, Warners Bay (part 2) Dates of Career Episode: 21.08.09 to 15.10.09 Length of Career Episode: 60 days Competency Element Claimed This project involved the upgrade of Hillsborough Rd, Warners Bay to coincide and accommodate for the construction of a new shopping complex which serviced the Warners Bay and greater Newcastle area. For the second half of this project I continued working as a site engineer, however as the job neared its conclusion, I was required to focus more on finalizing the official documentation to be submitted to and signed off by the RTA representative. In order to understand what exactly was required by the RTA, I need to read through, understand and constantly refer to the RTA Road Construction specifications. Whenever I found the specifications to be ambiguous, I contacted the RTA Rep for clarification as to what he actually required, hence I identified the clients needs. These specifications required me to regularly complete and submit Hold Point and Witness Point Forms to the RTA Representative at critical stages of the construction process. On one occasion the hold points were sent back before being signed off because they did not contain enough detail. For example, A hold point form was required to be submitted before the construction of each new layer of the road. On this particular instant I submitted the hold point form outlining that the previously completed layer (e.g. the crushed sandstone) had passed all the geotechnical tests and asking for permission to continue with the next layer. The RTA rep then sent the hold poi nt from back and outlined that I needed to be more specific about the chainages where the crushed sandstone had been tested and passed. One of the major set of documents I was required to submit to the RTA was the ITPs or Inspection Test Plans. These were Christie Civil Documents that detailed the methods of construction and testing of each construction process throughout the entire job, e.g., Heavily bound base, Storm water, Asphalt etc. It also required the site engineer and client to sign off after each process had been completed. For example, the ITP for the Heavily Bound Base stated the specific type of material to be used, the level of compaction which was to be achieved and the methods of testing among other things. As the job went on, it was my role to sign off on each of the ITP processes once they had been completed. I then regularly submitted these reports to the client to document the companys progress, before finally submitting the entire completed set of ITPs, along with all of the Hold points and Witness Points, and other required documents, as one complete record of the job. C3.5: Maintains customer focus and relationships with clients Signature of Candidate: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Candidates Verifier/s Name: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Verifier Engineering Qualifications: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. I verify that the above narrative is a true account of the candidates own work Verifier Signature: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Social Responsibility Social Responsibility has become one of, if not the forefront issue in engineering in the last twenty years. A civil engineer is responsible and accountable to rest of society for designing, engineering and constructing in a way which will not harm or have dire consequences for the surrounding environment and its occupants. During my internships I found that the two major ways in which Christie Civil work towards a sustainable future is firstly through the prevention of pollution, and secondly through recycling. On almost every site I went on, there were different measures taken to prevent the pollution of the surrounding areas. While I worked in Cronulla, we temporarily installed a silt boom in the section of the lake nearest to the site. This was to prevent dust and silt and any other form of pollution from the site, from leaking into the natural environment. Similarly, on the Holsworthy site, we temporarily installed small silt filters above all the stormwater drains in the area for the same reason. The use of a water cart to keep the ground moist was a common tool to prevent the spread of dust, whereas every truck (including its wheels) needed to be relatively clean before leaving site, so that any mud or other material on the truck would not get accidentally dropped in public. In the same way, on the Warners Bay and Erskine Park sites I worked on silt fences were installed around all the storm water drains in the area, so as to prevent dirt and dust and other materials from entering the drain and being spread into the environment. On these sites in particular, Christie Civil hired a bobcat with a sweeper extension to continually sweep the existing road of any debris and excess material carried off by delivery vehicles, to prevent the material being spread into the natural environment. During my experience, I found that engineers also generally prefer to recycle materials, not only for sustainable reasons, but because it saves money. For example, on the Holsworthy site we were required to construct roads. This involved the detailed excavation, laying and compaction of road base and then finally the laying and compaction of asphalt. In this instance, on another one of the companys sites, they were getting rid of tonnes of sandstone. Fortunately for us, the sandstone complied with the Australian Standards for a road base. Consequently, the project manager at Holsworthy recycled the sandstone from another site, by re-using it as road base. Ethical Practice Ethics is basically the moral code or set of standards to which someone has been shaped as a result of their culture, religion or society. As a result, ethics is a totally subjective concept, in that something that I might consider wrong or inappropriate might be ok for someone else. Nevertheless the seriousness of ethics cannot be underestimated. I believe that ethics is an especially important topic for the civil engineer, as what they do has a direct impact on society as a whole. Thus, the consequences of bad decisions could possibly have huge ramifications. For me personally, my ethical framework has been predominantly shaped by my Christian faith. One of the major ethical issue I faced while on my internship, involved the project manager and project foreman asking everyone to sign a Safe Work Method Statement which they had changed but dated it as if it was months earlier. The incident arose after an excavator nearly hit some overhead power lines. Upon realizing that this issue had not been highlighted in the Safe Work Method Statement (which should be signed upon induction), the project manager edited the document, including the new issue and re-printed it. He then asked all the laborers and other people involved to sign the SWMS as if it were months earlier, when they signed the original document. In my integrity, I couldnt sign the document and lie about the date on which it had been signed. Fortunately since the document outlined the process for bulk and detailed excavation, it wasnt too important that I didnt sign it, as I had little to do with the physical work in this area. On a similar occasion, while I was working on the Hillsborough Rd, Warners Bay site, one of the young laborers was caught by the police, driving a work truck without a licence on a small public ro

Prospects of Outsourcing Clinical Research Projects

Prospects of Outsourcing Clinical Research Projects A STUDY OF OUTSOURCING CLINICAL RESEARCH PROJECTS TO ASIAN COUNTRIES (INDIA): ITS GROWTH AND FUTURE PROSPECTS ABSTRACT Outsourcing is increasingly becoming a trend within the clinical research industry. The pharmaceutical and biotechnological spend on outsourcing was estimated to be $48 million in the year 2008 and is expected to increase to $48 million by 2010 [Bloch et al, 2006]. The concept of outsourcing for the development and global studies on new drugs has become widely accepted in the pharmaceutical industry due to its cost and uncertainty. India is going to be the most preferred location for contract pharma research and development due to its huge treatment naà ¯ve population, human resources, technical skills, adoption/amendment/implementation of rules/laws by regulatory authorities, and changing economic environment. But still ‘miles to go to fulfil the pre-requisites to ensure Indias success. In spite of all the pitfalls, the country is ambitious and optimist to attract multinational pharmaceutical companies to conduct their clinical trials in India. The research methodology is done mixing the quantitative and qualitative methods as explained by Creswell (Creswell, J. W., 2003). The questionnaires designed for collecting data had open-and-closed ended questions to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data for the analysis. An extensive literature review of existing trend of outsourcing clinical research project was carried out. Six interviews were conducted; two interviews to gain an understanding of the process and the activities outsourced by the pharmaceutical industry, benefits and risks involve in outsourcing, why Indian CRO are considered better to outsource the clinical research projects and four interviews to evaluate the strategies employed by the CRO in order to improve the relationship with key clients. The primary conclusion from this study is that outsourcing is a necessity within the clinical research industry. The study concluded that the many pharmaceuticals from UK are outsourcing their clinical research mainly to Asian countries for fast, cost effective and quality results. The study concluded that the relationship between the client and the CRO is the key element for the future of outsourcing clinical research projects. Chapter 1- Introduction and Background 1 INTRODUCTION â€Å"Outsourcing allows companies to reduce costs, benefits consumers with lower cost goods and services, and causes economic expansion that reduces unemployment, and increases productivity and job creation.† [Elder, 2009] According to the American heritage dictionary outsourcing is defined as the â€Å"procurement of services or products from an outside supplier or manufacturer in order to cut costs† [Amiti, 2004] This chapter aims to understand the rationale behind this project which is on understanding the process of outsourcing within the clinical research industry. The cost of drug development has been consistently on the rise, which has led to the pharmaceutical industry looking for new methods for conducting clinical research [Jayshree, 2005]. These companies have also been trying to develop strategies in order to identify and focus on their core competencies [McIvor, 2000]. This has now been achieved by the process of outsourcing. Contract research was initially limited to pre-clinical studies and clinical trial services; however it now covers a varied range of activities. [Jayshree, 2005] Outsourcing therefore has become a customary business strategy. [Editors, May 2005]. As time progresses a number of activities are outsourced to service providers such as Contract Research Organisations (CRO). It has been estimated that there are 1200 organisations which are involved in clinical research; these include pharmaceutical and biotechnological in-house clinical management, site management organisations (SMOs), academic and medical centres, private research sites and contract research organisations. These organisations aid in completion of the projects within the stipulated timelines and thereby increase the profit margins of the pharmaceutical companies. In the US, 60% of the clinical research activities were outsourced to CROs, in the year 2001. The CRO market has been growing rapidly ($1 billion in 1992 to $8 billion in 2002). This growth is evident not only in terms of revenue generation; but also in the number of patients being recruited in clinical trials (7 million in 1992 to 20 million in 2001). Therefore there is an increasing demand in the pharmaceutical industry for outsourcing activities to these service providers. [Jayshree, 2005] In order to meet the project requirements and timelines the pharmaceutical companies attempt to select the best service provider from several CROs. There is an intense competition between these organisations. I.1 illustrates the results of a survey conducted by Contract Pharma in 2005 wherein the respondents have graded the various characteristics they expect from a CRO in terms of very important and / or important. 1.2 RESEARCH TITLE A study of outsourcing clinical research project to Asian countries (India), its growth future prospects 1.3 RESEARCH BACKGROUND As time progresses a number of activities are outsourced to service providers such as Contract Research Organisations (CRO). It has been estimated that there are 1200 organisations which are involved in clinical research; these include pharmaceutical and biotechnological in-house clinical management, site management organisations (SMOs), academic and medical centres, private research sites and contract research organisations. These organisations aid in completion of the projects within the stipulated timelines and thereby increase the profit margins of the pharmaceutical companies. In the US, 60% of the clinical research activities were outsourced to CROs, in the year 2001. The CRO market has been growing rapidly ($1 billion in 1992 to $8 billion in 2002). This growth is evident not only in terms of revenue generation; but also in the number of patients being recruited in clinical trials (7 million in 1992 to 20 million in 2001). Therefore there is an increasing demand in the pharmaceutical industry for outsourcing activities to these service providers. [Jayshree, 2005] Clinical trials are designed to help us find out how to give a new treatment safely and effectively to people. With escalating pressure on research and development (RD) cost-containment across the global pharmaceutical industry, there is increased focus on reducing the cost of clinical development. The additional problem of delayed development is also affecting new drug introductions, losing incremental revenues. This dual challenge of accelerating clinical development and reducing costs has forced major pharma companies to look at alternative destinations for sourcing patients for their global studies. Exploration on these lines guides pharma industry to take interest in the countries like Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia. Amongst Asian countries, India stands out prominently due to its huge treatment-naà ¯ve patients population, English speaking doctors and a large pharmaceutical presence that has dominated the world market due to cheap generics. As the multinational drug co mpanies in the United States and Western Europe look east to outsource research and clinical trial activities, countries such as India will gain proficiency and expertise, assisting its move from generic and speciality contract manufacturing to innovative drug discovery and development in its own right, setting the stage for increased global competition. [Unknown, website:http://www.cyfuture.com/history-ofoutsourcing.htm]. India has emerged as a strong base for clinical trials in recent times. Due to the multitude of benefits it offers, the country is fast growing as a centre of conducting clinical trials for many international companies. India, with its huge patient base, low cost advantage, completion of cilia trial on time, improving infrastructure, and with a strong government support is witnessing a double digit growth in its clinical trial market. All major pharmaceutical companies and Clinical Research Organisation (CROs) have already started conducting their clinical trials in India, and with improving infrastructure, industry friendly regulations and trained workforce, the growth is only likely to increase in future. 1.4 RATIONALE FOR CHOSEN TOPIC I decided to do my research on outsourcing because my personal interest and also clinical research outsourcing became the most important factor in the economic growth of many developing countries. I strongly believe that this paper provide some good literature along with some organizational evidences which will be beneficial to other pharmaceutical industry to outsource their clinical trials to India. Further as I have chosen my area as a clinical research outsourcing from European countries to many developing Asian countries along with the risk involvement in it so I will be collecting theories and information from pharmaceutical companies which will provide some evidence to the topic. In addition to the theories, I will be interviewing the mangers of pharmaceutical companies to find out their opinion and on that basis I will further review my topic. Also my personal interest in this topic is that I have worked in the clinical research industry for around 3.5 years. I know many of the processes and whole flow of the study completion. I have worked in CRO for top pharma companies like Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline so I know all the insights of clinical research its importance, criticality and confidentiality. Also by working on this thesis I will get to know UK pharmaceutical market and how they carry out their clinical research. It will definitely help me in my job search as I want to work in clinical data management field in UK pharma or CRO. 1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS: They are a means to structure, focus and direct the dissertation and to reconcile the objectives with the primary research. (I need your inputs regarding how to reference this portion of work as I have taken it from your notes) Research is an organised and systematic way of finding answers to questions. Questions are central to research. If there is no question, then the answer is of no use. Research is focused on relevant, useful, and important questions. Without a question, research has no focus, drive, or purpose. Research questions:- 1) To understand the UK pharmaceutical/clinical research Industry. 2) To define the nature and characteristics of outsourcing 3) What is the importance of Clinical Research industry? 4) What is the relationship between pharmaceutical industry and CR industry? 5) Why outsource clinical research? 6) Why outsource clinical research mainly to Asian countries? 7) What are the effects of outsourcing clinical research on a pharmaceutical industry? 8) How to improve relationship between pharma and CRO in the process of outsourcing? 9) Which elements are most important for relationship between pharma and CRO both now and in future? 10) How to manage performance throughout the outsourcing process to improve its future? 1.6 RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Outsourcing is a fascinating field which now forms a core component of business within the clinical research industry. This chapter aims to understand the aims and objectives which are intend to be completed during the course of this project. 1.6.1 Aim: To understand the growth and future prospects in outsourcing of clinical research projects from UK Pharma to Clinical Research Organisation in Asian countries. This research was conducted in order to understand the process of outsourcing within the clinical research industry. This research is mainly based on pharmaceutical companies in UK and Europe who outsources their most of the clinical trial work to overseas companies mainly in Asian countries .The actual aim of this research is to find out why there is an increase in outsourcing of clinical trials to Asian countries and what are the future prospects for both pharma companies and CRO where the projects are getting outsourced. This research also talks about what benefits the companies have due to outsourcing its clinical trials to developing countries. 1.6.2 Objectives: The following are the objectives of the research 1. To understand the current scenario of outsourcing within the clinical research industry. 2. Analysis of UKs Pharmaceutical industries where companies are going for outsourcing 3. What are the various reasons behind outsourcing? 4. Analysis of Clinical Research Organisations in Asian countries were outsourced jobs get done. 5. Overlook on the procedure of outsourcing and the basis on which selection outsource company is being done. 6. To identify the risks and benefits involved in outsourcing from the perspective of a client and service provider. 7. To develop a questionnaire in order to establish the internal views of a leading Pharmaceutical (Client) and CRO (service provider) on outsourcing. 1.7 THE STRUCTURE OF DISSERTATION This paper consists of following chapters which are, Dissertation document structure: Chapter 1: Introduction In chapter 1, an introduction to outsourcing and clinical research industry was given in order to provide the reader a good background of outsourcing and clinical research industry. The Chapter also addresses why UK Pharma companies choose CRO in Asian countries (India) for outsourcing and the relationship between them. Chapter 2: Literature review This chapter provides background information on the processes of outsourcing as well as gives an overview of outsourcing within the clinical research industry. Chapter 3: A structured research methodology A background on the research methodologies, knowledge claims, research strategies, and data collection was given as the first part of this chapter. The implemented research process and methodology for this research study was explained subsequently. The last part of the chapter addressed the validation process and the objectives achieved through the research study. The author of this thesis selected a research methodology mixing the quantitative and qualitative methods as explained by Creswell (Creswell, J. W., 2003). The questionnaires designed for collecting data had open-and-closed ended questions to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data for the analysis. An extensive literature review of existing trend of outsourcing clinical research project was carried out. Chapter 4: Company Case Chapter 5: Data Collection and Analysis of the project Six interview were conducted from the UK Pharma and CRO in India to gain an understanding of the process and the activities outsourced by the pharmaceutical industry, benefits and risks involve in outsourcing, why Indian CRO are considered better to outsource the clinical research projects and what is the future prospects of outsourcing clinical research by developing good relationship between client and CRO. Chapter 6: Conclusions and Recommendations The primary conclusion from this study is that outsourcing is a necessity within in the clinical research industry. The study concluded that the many pharmaceuticals from UK are outsourcing their clinical research to Asian countries for fast, cost effective and quality results. The study also concluded that the relationship between the client and the CRO is the key element for the future of outsourcing clinical research. CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 INTRODUCTION In the previous chapters I have presented the overall background to the topic and also supportive literature to the outsourcing of clinical research along with relationship building in between CRO and pharma. The main aim of this chapter is to outline the research methodology used for this topic. In this chapter we will provide and discuss the content of the research approach towards the topic and designing of it used throughout the study of it. 3.2 RESEARCH PROCESS This is traditional and highly structured view of research process. This model also provides research as neat and orderly process, with one stage leading logically on to the other. As provided in step 1 research topic can be identified as a result of your course, work, job, interest area or general experience. On the basis of research topic in order to narrow down the research area, research problem is defined which focuses on particular research problem with small enough of investigation. Next step is to tell how exactly the research is to be conducted which is followed by the collection of the data which includes primary and secondary data. After analyzing and interpreting this collected data final report is being written. 3.3 NATURE OF RESEARCH PROBLEM Conducting research in the real world was a challenge for dissertation due to the lack of a central body/authority to provide information related to pharmaceutical and CRO confidential data regarding outsourcing of clinical research. The followings are some of the key challenges faced during the research process: 3.3.1 Lack of transparency An effort was made to address some questions through the questionnaires related to the outsourcing of clinical research and its benefits, the risks you face when you outsource processes to the CRO, the key issues that lead to a loss of business from the clients, and the competencies that differentiate the CRO from its competitors. These questions were either not answered or answered with uncertainties by some respondents. The author has to take out the information through indirect ways of addressing the questions over the interviews conducted with some of the Operational managers and employees in person or through phone interviews. This indeed increased the time and effort in the data collection phase in the research process but was overcome with certain limitations. 3.3.2 Inadequate references: The author had struggled to find good references or documents related to outsourcing clinical research, its future and all the other relevant data was offered either through the common portal or the business departments sites. The lack of academic case studies on information security, publications, or white papers was a challenge for the extraction of information in the literature review and data analysis. Despite the above challenges, the objectives of the research as mentioned in Section 1.4 were the pillars of the research methodology and the research process was implemented to achieve them. 3.4 RESEARCH METHOD Research method tells about the methodologies used for the research topic. The main aim of this method is to discuss and select the appropriate method to achieve the research objectives which also provide the structured and systematic way throughout the process to perform the research. A Research Method is nothing but a way in which the data is arranged to get desired output. It can also be defines as a systematic and orderly approach to the collection and analysis of data. In any research collected or gathered is always called as samples or data, which is raw, specific, untreated, undigested and therefore largely meaningless. The analysis arranges the data in a meaningful manner and resolves research questions. So it is very important to select a correct analysis method on the correct set of data to get accurate results and outputs for the research problem. There are several different analytical methods, which are commonly used in business and management research works. These methods vary according to the nature and scope of the topic and thesis, the sources of data to be used, the purposes of gathering data, the amount of control in obtaining the data, and assumptions to be made in analyzing the data. 3.5 RESEARCH DESIGN Research design is a ‘Science of planning procedures for conducting studies so as to get the most valid findings (Vogt, 1993, P.196). Research design will give you detailed plan and guide about focus of your research. Research design is a strategic research approach which is adopted to answer the research questions. The research approaches are classified as exploratory, descriptive or analytical research. Exploratory research is generally conducted for the topics where hardly any few or nothing to refer for the researcher in terms of work done by previous researcher. Researcher conducts the exploratory research for three main purposes a) diagnosing a situation, b) Screening alternatives, C) Discovering new ideas.(Zikmund,200). In general exploratory research is meaningful in any kind of situation where there is not a exact understanding in order to proceed with research (malhotra, 2004). Research conducted for this project was largely exploratory, which involved brand equity research; a research wherein the researcher determines the favorability of a particular brand among its customers [Trochim, W.M.K, 2006]. In order to fulfill the aims and objectives set for this project a schedule of tasks to be completed was drawn up: 1. A comprehensive study of article and reports which dealt with basic outsourcing as a concept. 2. A study of articles and reports related to outsourcing within the clinical research industry to provide an insight into the functioning of pharmaceutical companies. 3. Evaluation of the information gathered so as to compile a literature review. 4. Preparation of questionnaires as tools to obtain the generic information about outsourcing within a leading pharmaceutical company. 5. Selecting relevant interviewees for conducting the interview. 6. Preparation of questionnaires in order to interview key people within the organisation who were responsible for ensuring that deliverables are met in a timely manner. 7. Conducting the interviews 8. Transcription of the responses obtained during the interviews 9. Analysing the responses obtained and generating the results. 10. Conclusions and recommendations from the results obtained. These tasks required a comprehensive collection of information from various sources. The collection of data for analysis and interpretation was done in two phases: 1. Desk Research 2. Field Research 3.5.1 Desk Research The desk research comprised a comprehensive and extensive literature review in order to gain a thorough understanding of the industry, outsourcing. This took place during the first four weeks of the project. The reading material covered a range of internet articles and industrial reports. The majority of the articles were found by using internet research. This method of research involved the extensive use of the Internet especially the World Wide Web [Berry, D. M. (2004)]. The search engines used to look for information included Google, Yahoo, MSN, Google Scholar and the UWIC library search hub. Some reports were also provided by the Industry Supervisor. The articles were read and the information which was relevant to the project aims was reviewed and included in the literature review which forms the second chapter of the thesis. Some of the well known reports such as the Tufts reports and a report by Alison Sahoo, (2006) on Pharmaceutical Outsourcing Strategies did not only provide very good background information but also provided a plethora of information on outsourcing. Name of report Kind of information provided McKinsey Reports These reports provide comprehensive information on issues such as consolidation, licensing, biotechnology pipeline, outsourcing within the industry etc [McKinsey company website, accessed on 12 Dec 2009] Tufts Reports Strategic information for drug developers, regulator and academic researchers to help improve the quality of pharmaceutical development, review and utilisation [Tufts website, accessed on 15 Dec 2009] International Biopharmaceutical Association Publications The publications give information on product updates, news and industry trends, these journals have articles on the current issues related to the industry [IBPA website, accessed on 20 Dec 2009] William Blair Company reports These reports provide information on research providers and high quality growth companies. [William Blair and Company website, accessed on 22 Dec 2009] International Monetary Fund reports These reports provide information on high quality research and publish articles by a variety of guests on a number of topics [IMF Staff Papers, accessed on 27 Dec 2009] 3.5.2 Field Research The research on the subject of outsourcing included the construction of questionnaires and interviewing internal members of a leading CRO in order to fulfil the aim of the project. There are two types of research classified on the basis of type of questioning: 1. Quantitative research 2. Qualitative research Quantitative research is research which uses a combination of inferential statistics and descriptive statistics as tools to analyze data and draw conclusions. It involves random sampling techniques to enable valid and credible sampling from a particular population. This kind of market research includes surveys and questionnaires which express a statistically significant result. [Bradburn et. Al. 1988] Qualitative research, on the other hand, generally precedes the quantitative research. It aids in understanding a problem, setting up a hypothesis and determining the route to be taken for the quantitative research. This type of research is expensive and does not progress as rapidly as its counterpart. The number of respondents in this type of research is few and therefore the results of such a research cannot be extrapolated to the entire population [Malhotra, 2006]. The essential guide to doing research The research carried out in this study was qualitative in nature and hence did not generate a large amount of statistical information. It was decided, with the consent of the University and the Industry Supervisors, that the aims and objectives of the project could be fulfilled by interviewing relevant people within the CRO itself. There were four interviews, in total, which were conducted. Two interviews were conducted from the members which belong to pharmaceutical company and other two were conducted from CRO, which is service provider for this pharmaceutical company. 3.6 Data collection There are two main types of data collection primary data collection and secondary data collection. Primary data is the one which can be obtained by researcher directly, by observation or measurement of phenomenon in a real world without any disturbance of third party involvement. (walliman,2005). In every case researcher is answerable for his sources and should be able to argue in defense of quality of his sources. In secondary data the information is subjected to the source of reference. The main difference between primary and secondary data is, Primary data is originated by researcher for specific purpose of addressing the problem where as secondary data have been already collected for the purpose of other than problem (Malhotra, 2005). In the data collection process, both questionnaires and interviewing methods were adopted. The interview data were analyzed using the immersion approach (Robson, C., 2002) The questionnaires were designed to include open ended questions and closed ended questions in order to give the participants the flexibility to add more comments and points and not be restricted to the answers provided for any question (Creswell, J. W., 2003). 3.6.1 Review of secondary resources: * Related research papers, journals, industrial white papers, and surveys were researched, collected, indexed, and reviewed by the author. The objective of this step was to have a good repository of all journals and conference proceeds addressing the topic of outsourcing, different methods of outsourcing, clinical research industry, pharmaceutical industry , and increase in the outsourcing of CRO projects to developing countries like India , china etc. * During the course of the research, the author had either read or skimmed through more than 50 journals, whitepapers, conference proceedings, and books. Only 50 references regarded useful to the research were indexed and documented. 3.6.2 Identifying Interviewees: It was of paramount importance to select the right people to interview from a plethora of people, each skilled in their own field. With the intention of obtaining the maximum amount of information from the interviewees about outsourcing within the clinical research industry, people who were crucial to increasing the business opportunities for the leading pharmaceutical were chosen for these interviews. These people form a bridge between the top pharmaceutical companies and the CRO; hence it was decided that they were the best in the field of outsourcing within the CRO and therefore were selected for the interview. The questionnaires for the interviews were prepared accordingly. The field research was carried out in two phases: 1. Phase I: Preparation of questionnaires 2. Phase II: Conducting the interviews Phase I (the preparation of the questionnaire) required the author of this thesis to have an appreciation of the challenges of the industry and the current state of the art with respect to outsourcing in order to be able to target the questions in the most appropriate manner. There were two different questionnaires employed and these were directed at two different business activities that could be outsourced. These were: 1. Questionnaire for members belonging to pharmaceutical company. 2. Questionnaire for members who are part of CRO Structured interviews: Two questionnaires (A and B) were created and were sent to Pharmaceutical Company (Pharma) and the CRO (Clinical Research organisation) respectively with specific and direct questions related to the areas of research interest. A preliminary interview with the head of Outsourcing Department in the pharmaceutical company was conducted to explain the purpose of the research and seek his opinion on the questionnaires and their objectives. Some of the heads of the departments did not have the chance to fill questionnaire and requested the author to fill them during their interviews. Mailed/Online questionnaire Both questionnaires A B were sent to the appropriate participants. The participants were invited based on their management involvement and based on their strong background on the outsourcing issues. The questionnaires were sent via email to them and the feedbacks were received through email. Both questionnaires A and B were developed as an output of this phase with different sets of questions addressed to the two categories of respondents (pharmaceutical company and Clinical Research Organisation). The questionnaires were sent and assistance offered to clarify the questionnaires questions if needed. The background information was obtained by a comprehensive study of the available literature and that has been reported in Chapter III. This chapter aims to report the results obtained during the interviews which were conducted as part of the research. 3.6.3 Questionnaire for members belonging to pharmaceutical company related to outsourcing This questionnaire was designed to obtain informat