Developmentally Appropriate Practice

Please answer the following questions.1. What does the acronym DAP in the field of early childhood education stand for? In one sentence, explain what the phrase means to you when you spell it out. (4 points)â€Å"DAP† – Developmentally appropriate practiceDAP refers to a framework designed to encourage young children’s optimal learning and development. Ensures that children’s goals and experiences are suited to their learning and development and challenging enough to promote their progress and interest. Best practice is based on knowledge and not on assumptions of how children learn and develop. DAP is the best practice to promote excellence in early childhood education.2. What three areas of knowledge must all early childhood professionals consider in relation to DAP? (These are outlined under the first DAP core: Knowledge to consider in making decisions.) (6 points= 2 points eac h)Below three areas of knowledge that must be considered by all early childhood professionals should consider in relation to DAP: a. Knowing about child development and learning.Knowing what is typical at each age and stage of early development is crucial. This knowledge, based on research, helps us decide which experiences are best for children’s learning and development. b. Knowing what is individually appropriate.What we learn about specific children helps us teach and care for each child as an individual. By continually observing children’s play and interaction with the physical environment and others, we learn about each child’s interests, abilities, and developmental progress. c. Knowing what is culturally important.We must make an effort to get to know the children’s families and learn about  the values, expectations, and factors that shape their lives at home and in their communities. This background information helps us provide meaningful, rele vant, and respectful learning experiences for each child and family.3. Describe an example of what a DAP activity or interaction looks like with children. (5 points)I quoted an example of teaching a Preschooler an example of DAP activity with Children: Good preschool teachers maintain appropriate expectations, providing each child with the right mix of challenge, support, sensitivity, and stimulation. With their knowledge, skill, and training, teachers can ensure that programs promote and enhance every child’s learning. DAP in preschool looks like:â€Å"In the dramatic play center, two 4-year-old girls are pretending to read menus. Jaimi, noticing that neither girl has taken on the role of waiter, takes notepad and pencil in hand and asks them, â€Å"May I take your order?† Over the next few days, more children join the restaurant play. Waiters set tables, take orders, give orders to the cook, and prepare checks for diners.† Jaimi is an observant, inventive, and intentional teacher. Her intervention sparks fresh play, tempting children to take on different roles, enrich their social and language interactions, and use writing and math for new purposes.4. List the five guidelines of DAP and explain what each one means in your own words. (10 points= 2 points each)These guidelines address five key aspects of the teacher's role:I. Creating a caring community of learnersThe early childhood setting functions as a community of learners in which all participants consider and contribute to each other's well-being and learning.Social relationships are an important context for learning. Each child has strengths or interests that contribute to the overall functioning of the  group. When children have opportunities to play together, work on projects in small groups, and talk with other children and adults, their own development and learning are enhancedII.Teaching to enhance development and learningTeachers use their knowledge about children in genera l and the particular children in the group as well as their familiarity with what children need to learn and develop in each curriculum area to organize the environment and plan curriculum and teaching strategies.Teachers develop, refine, and use a wide repertoire of teaching strategies to enhance children's learning and development.III.Planning curriculum to achieve important goalsEffective curriculum plans frequently integrate across traditional subject-matter divisions to help children make meaningful connections and provide opportunities for rich conceptual development. Curriculum promotes the development of knowledge and understanding, processes and skills, as well as the dispositions to use and apply skills and to go on learning.IV.Assessing children's development and learningAssessments are tailored to a specific purpose and used only for the purpose for which they have been demonstrated to produce reliable, valid information.Assessment of young children's progress and achiev ements is ongoing, strategic, and purposeful. The results of assessment are used to benefit children in adapting curriculum and teaching to meet the developmental and learning needs of childrenV.Establishing reciprocal relationships with familiesReciprocal relationships between teachers and families require mutual respect, cooperation, shared responsibility, and negotiation of conflicts toward achievement of shared goals.Parents are welcome in the program and participate in decisions about their children's care and education. Parents observe and participate and serve in decision making roles in the program.

American History X and Racism

American History X is a film with racism as its overarching theme. Specifically, the subject of the film focuses not on the phenomenon of racism as we know it, slavery and the Malcolm X period, but on its current trends namely the neo-Nazist, white supremacist movement of the 90’s. This paper is determined to present the overt connections between American History X and Racism, after which the discussion will present some pertinent scenes in the movie. These scenes are analyzed from a racial discrimination standpoint. Lastly, a personal reflection on the movie concludes the argumentations.The film’s treatment is like a stereo—going back and forth from the present and the flashbacks. In the same way, the major scenes will be presented here in a non-linear fashion. One of the most important scenes in this film is when the film explains why Derek is mad with minorities. The underlying reason for this hatred is when Derek’s dad is shot by a Black drug dealer. H aving felt this injustice and being helpless in expressing his anger, Derek was approached by Cameron. This scene is important in presenting racism as not existing in a vacuum.There are always reasons behind actions, that even the most bizarre or illogical of behaviors can be explained by specific past experiences. Racism is rooted in intolerance and hatred towards others. Hatred is a sowed seed and here we begin to understand that a racist perpetrator has his own reasons why he is behaving in such a way. The abuses of the Nazism in Germany—killing Jews, concentration camps, widespread hunting of people with Jewish descent—will not take place without an idea, or a good reason, that the majority of people would buy into. People would be foolish to just wake up one day and decide to decimate 6 million people.Ideas are powerful, because ideas turn into acceptance and acceptance turns into actions, actions become behavior and behavior changes into a cultural norm in the lo ng run. Ideas, moreover, are only powerful because people buy into them. This is why the scene at the grocery store with Koreans is important. The scene portrays the power of ideas and its ability to change people. Moreover, the speech of Derek at the store presents surprising parallelisms with the ideas that people bought into during the Nazi movement. In Derek’s speech, he said that Koreans are stealing the opportunities that are supposed to be for Americans.The illegal immigrants that work in America creates the joblessness of the Whites. In the same way, the Nazis of Germany argued that the Jewish refugees from a devastated nation came to Germany carrying nothing but they thrived there—owning businesses, banks, etc—and became powerful while a bulk of the German population are poor and unemployed. The grocery store scene shows just how potent a dangerous idea is. People want to follow a passionate leader. Racism became accepted because people tolerate the act and follow the dangerous norm. Similarly, people with strong moral convictions are also heard. The scene of Dr.Sweeney and Danny is significant because it shows how racism can be challenged, not through hostility, but with reason. Dialogue fosters understanding, or at least, it presents a different way of looking at things. Sweeney’s assignment makes Danny think outside the box—outside his personal stereotypes and values on racism. Sweeney challenges his ideas and in a way, becomes a counter-force to Danny’s predisposition towards racism. The anti-racism movement is laden with Sweeney types of people such as Luther King Jr. who took the non-violent path of reasoning in pointing to the evils of racism itself.Sweeney is the personification of the challenge against the neo-Nazist trend. His moral courage and convictions made people think and listen. Another important scene in the film is the presentation of Derek and his change of heart. This took place in prison, where racism is also a strong force that binds and separates inmates. In prison, Derek is still resolved in his racist convictions and he bonded with fellow racists, until he was befriended by a Black guy. His previous stereotypes regarding Blacks was challenged by the good-natured behavior of the black guy.It is essentially a realization that people of different colors are still people sharing a common humanity. When fellow racist inmates raped Derek for befriending a Black guy, he came to understand that goodness and evil are not just seen by the color of the skin. There is blackness of the heart even in the whitest of white, and a whiteness of the soul in the pitch black-colored person. Every act of kindness and every act of violence has its ripple effects beyond what a person can control. This is seen in the scenes following Derek’s return. Derek’s little brother Danny had taken where he left off.Now Danny took the same convictions as Derek by being adamantly into lerant of minorities. The small anti-Black movement that Derek started became a great massive force, and now that he had a deeper realization of the evil of racism, he sees that he is responsible for this. Undoing things are more difficult that doing them, especially when we do things mindlessly such as when we resort to hatred and violence. It is easy to sow seeds of violence because it spreads like wildfire, but sowing peace is like planting a seed that needs to be nurtured. Danny also had his turning point. His brother made him realize that racism is a useless thing.Blaming others for the death of one’s father does not solve the problem, it just makes it worse. He understood that violence will only be met with violence. The symbolic image of the brothers’ turning point is the cleaning up of their Nazi-decorated rooms. Writing the American History X paper also supports Danny’s non-violence approach towards the hostilities of the world. He writes â€Å"analyze and interpret† on the computer. Racism is phenomenal because not many people analyze and interpret before acting on something. In many cases, irrational and false interpretations create chaos.When there is no room for analysis, there is no opportunity for people to try and understand each other before rendering biased interpretations and actions. Racism presents to us that it is a very strong force, one that is rooted in hostility and intolerance. American History X depicts that degree of hostility and intolerance in the different cascading scenes of the past. When our small monsters of hostility become gigantic titans of racism, we are confronted by something intimidating. Derek’s solution is to run, leave the giant. Running from the problem of racism does not solve the fundamental personal and social issues.While running seems tempting, the reality of racism is still with us and it will never go away unless it is collectively confronted in modern-day America and ever ywhere else. Running is a temporary solution to a long-term problem. Derek runs with Danny, but eventually the giant catches on them—Danny is shot by the same guy he had a violent (although subtle) argument with the day before. What does the death of Danny imply? It tells us that violence, in all its forms and degrees, is foolishness, it is never a means to an end—thereby rendering racism not as a virtue, but as a moral evil.Racism is only one form of violence, just as making another human being bite the pavement is another. Unknowingly, many of us do not realize that violence exists both within us and also in our world. Violence does not just mean killing people, it also exists in intolerance over other people’s beliefs and skin color, it is harsh language spoken, it is a thought unspoken. Racism is not only seen but felt†¦ while America boasts of equality and human rights; racism is still seen and felt in its other subtle forms of violence. The path of no n-violence is a beautiful but difficult journey that we must all decide to take.I now end with the echoing words of Abraham Lincoln quoted during Danny’s death scene, his final words in the American History X paper†¦ â€Å"†We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearth-stone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. † Works Cited American History X. Dir. Tony Kaye. Perf. Edward Norton. New Line Cinema. 1998.

Foundations of Human Development Worksheet Essay

Write the key features, listed below, into the correct life stage of development and most significantly affected age range. In your own words, provide an explanation of the term and how it affects the developmental stage. An example is provided for reference. For the purposes of this assignment, field marked N/A do not need to be completed. Teratogens Attachment ADHD Temperament Preoperational Thought PeriodIn-Vitro Fertilization ConservationSelf-Concept Refined motor skillsZygote Positive Reinforcement Sensorimotor Period Mobility Biological DevelopmentPsychological or Cognitive DevelopmentSocial DevelopmentConception and Pre-birthExample Teratogens are substances, including drugs, that cause malformations in the fetus (Zastrow Kirst-Ashman, 2010, p.54). For example, the text states that teratogens are Certain drugs affect biological development by causing malformations of body parts and organs. Newborn children of drug addicts, for example, experience a number of potential developm ental problems such as low birth weight, muscle tremors, and physical birth defects (Zastrow Kirst-Ashman, 2010, p.54). A zygote is a single cell formed by the combination of the genetic material in a womans egg and sperm. In-Vitro Fertilization is a process in which eggs are removed from a womans body, fertilized with sperm in a laboratory dish, and then implanted in the womans uterus (Zastrow Kirst-Ashman, 2010, p.90). N/A N/AInfancy The central theme of attachment theory is that primary caregivers who are available and responsive to an infants needs allow the child to develop a sense of security. Bowlby believed that the earliest bonds formed by children with their caregivers have a tremendous impact that continues throughout life. He suggested attachment also serves to keep the infant close to the mother, thus improving the childs chances of survival.Temperament is each individuals distinguishing mental and emotional nature that results in a characteristic pattern of responses to people and situations (Zastrow Kirst-Ashman, 2010, p.125). There are three broad categories of infant temperament that are often used as guidelines for determining normal infant behavior. The three categories of infant temperament are easy, slow-to-warm-up, and difficult. N/AChildhood ADHD, a psychiatric diagnosis, is a syndrome of learning and behavioral problems beginning in childhood (Zastrow Kirst-Ashman, 2010, p.146). Children often fail to give close attention to details and make  careless mistakes in their schoolwork or in other activities. Also, they have difficulties organizing their tasks and activities. They are easily distracted by extraneous stimuli and they tend to be forgetful in their daily activities Piagets second stage of cognitive development, the preoperational thought period, extends from approximately ages 2 to 7 (Zastrow Kirst-Ashman, 2010, p.116). Increased use of verbal representation but speech is egocentric. The beginnings of symbolic rather than simple motor play. Can think about something without the object be ing present by use of language. Conservation is the idea that a substance can be changed in one way while remaining the same in another (Zastrow Kirst-Ashman, 2010, p.115). This means that the child understands that although the appearance of something changes, the thing itself does not. Fine motor skills are necessary to engage in smaller, more precise movements, normally using the hands and fingers. Fine motor skills are different than gross motor skills, which require less precision to perform. The sensorimotor period identifies a child as they progress from simple thoughtless reflex reactions to a basic understanding of the environment (Zastrow Kirst-Ashman, 2010, p.116). Behaviors are limited to simple motor responses caused by sensory stimuli. Children utilize skills and abilities they were born with (such as looking, sucking, grasping, and listening) to learn more about the environment. Baumeister provides the following self-concept definition the individuals belief about himself or herself, including the persons attributes and who and what the self is (Baumeister, 1999). The self-concept is how we think about and evaluate ourselves. To be aware of oneself is to have a concept of oneself.Positive reinforcement refers to positive events or consequences that follow a behavior and strengthen it (Zastrow Kirst-Ashman, 2010, p.169). Successful positive reinforcement results in a behavior occurring more frequently in the future. It can make learning fun, increase participation and cooperation, and help children learn valuable skills. Because of their mobility, children need constant supervision. Their interest in exploration, falling down, and getting into dangerous situations are all constant possibilities (Zastrow Kirst-Ashman, 2010, p.67). Baumeister provides the following self-concept definition the individuals belief about himself or herself, including the persons attributes and who and what the self is (Baumeister, 1999). Its psychological development due  to self-evaluation, but its also social development due to the benchmark we judge others by. References Baumeister, R. F. (Ed.) (1999). The Self in Social Psychology. Philadelphia, PA Psychology Press (Taylor Francis). Zastrow, C. H., Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2010). Understanding Human Behavior and the Social Environment (8th ed.). Mason, OH Cengage Learning Foundations of Human Development Worksheet

Warren Buffett and His Proven Strategies for Investing Research Paper

Warren Buffett and His Proven Strategies for Investing - Research Paper Example A noted philanthropist, he is contributed much of his money for notable causes via the Gates foundation. Born to a stockbroker turned congressman, he was the second of the three children. From a very young age, he displayed a keen interest in business and money. With his unique ability to calculate numbers at the top of his head, he impressed many. Just when he was six years old, he bought 6 packs of Coca Cola from his grand father’s grocery store and sold it for a nickel out of which he made five per cent profit. Although his age of friends played games such as jacks and hopscotch, Warren on the other hand was making money. When he was 11 years old, he put his foot in the world of finance. When he was 11 years old, he bought 3 shares of Cities Service preferred. It costed him and his sister $38 per share. Sometime later, the stock fell flat at a rate of $27 per share. Warren became extremely afraid but he tired to remain calm till the stock rebounded to $40. He rapidly sold i t, a mistake that he regretted when the Cities Service shot up to $200. This one was one of the most enlightening experiences of his life and he realized one of the key elements of investing- patience is virtue (Kennon) At the age of 17, he graduated from high school although he had no such plans of going to college since he had already made lots of money by going and selling newspapers. Despite all that, his father had other plans for him. He wanted him to attend the Wharton Business School situated at the University of Pennsylvania. In order to please his father, he stayed for some teachers claiming that he knew more than his teachers did. In 1948, when Howard was defeated in the Congressional race, Warren came back home and got himself enrolled in the University of Nebraska Lincoln. Apparently, with his dedication and working full time, he graduated in just three years time. Even when it came to graduate studies, he expressed similar resistance initially. After much conviction, h e applied to the Harvard Business School which was rejected on the basis that he was too young and came out to be the worst admission decision in history. After that, Warren applied to Columbia where he had an encounter with the very eminent investors,  Ben Graham  and David Dodd. While in Columbia University, he studied under the guidance of the very legendary Ben Graham who became an inspiration to Warren Buffet due to his intelligent investment strategies. This person had a major impact on Warren Buffet’s life. Ben Graham searched for stocks that were dirt cheap and completely free of risks. He also tried to acquire a job at Graham’s company but failed in the beginning. After much ado, he finally got the job and till today, he lavishly praises him for all that he has learnt about stock investment. Graham wrote a book, â€Å"The intelligent investor† which Warren also describes as the greatest book written on investment. He also published another book â₠¬Å"Security Analysis in which he talked about Intrinsic business value which was completely independent of the stock price. After some time, Graham retired and Warren started his own work whose capital was mainly provided by family and friends. The partnership proved to be very successful and Graham averaged an annual rate return of 23% which was by far leading the market rate (Kennon). Warren Buffet is also celebrated in history for being the most successful investor. He has been referred to as the, "The Oracle of Omaha" for his amazing investment techniques. In September 2007, he

Financial Economic Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Financial Economic - Case Study Example C) The choice getting 10000Kr in this coming September could resolve the exchange rate issue. In case of the other option to get paid in September and February have equal chances of gain and loss. So I will get the money in September and will keep that till the end of First so that I can get the 4% interest from the US bank. I will repeat the same for the following year. So for the first year I will get 1040$ and the next year it depends on the exchange rate. In case if the exchange rate increases say, 12Kr/$. I can convert the dollars to Sweden Kr. So that if I can put that amount in bank and I can get interest from the Sweden Bank. And If exchange rate found to decrease say 10Kr/$ then I will convert the Kr to dollars. The only risk in this type is in case after converting the dollars to Kr if the exchange rate Kr/$ does not decrease that could be a loss. But thinking in terms of interest from the Sweden bank could compensate the loss.

Promotion in Marketing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Promotion in Marketing - Research Paper Example The research paper "Promotion in Marketing" talks about the promotion strategy, advertisement, promotion mix (TV advertisement, direct selling, sales promotion and publicity) for Wal-Mart. This paper also discusses the Wal-Mart’s social marketing and promotion strategy for Nordstrom. Wal-Mart seeks to attract the middle and low-income group people. The brand sells itself towards consumer as much inexpensive compared to other brands. In advertising, the key message of Wal-Mart is â€Å"We have lower prices than anyone else†. To promote the brand the company puts a high-velocity product in a high visibility area in every division. It develops a perception that since the first product is inexpensive, the other products will be inexpensive as well. Wal-Mart focuses on advertisement through the website and in-store TV Network. The in-store network displays a continuous stream of product advertisement. Wal-Mart TV has almost 130 million observers which make it the fifth biggest television broadcasting network in America. The network of Wal-Mart can be found in almost 2600 sites. The advertisers pay 137,000 USD– 292,000 USD to place a single business advertisement. The expense of advertising is based on the length and total stores where the advertisement w ill be displayed. Wal-Mart seeks to fit the broadcasting more distinctively according to the field of store depending on regional preferences and conditions. The TV network of Wal-Mart is very sophisticated and an internet oriented system.

SOCIOLOGY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

SOCIOLOGY - Essay Example A great deal of research work has shown that violence has deep and long lasting effects (Johnson, 2008). Psychologists admit the fact that children pass 13 hours in a week (boys) and 5 hours (girls) in playing video games. Dr. Anderson and his co-workers demonstrated that violent video games develop the feelings of hostility (Anderson et al, 2003). Theorist’s stress that people should wisely think and select what they want to watch on TV. Sociologists made research and found that whatever TV news broadcast or newspapers write is all based on their own thinking knowledge. TV news has influenced people in different ways .the news of terrorism, murder, thefts and crime makes people feel hostile and aggressive. Researchers found a relationship between the media and the conduct. The principal and the foremost effect is to copy what is being shown. Secondly, it makes people insensitive making them hard-hearted about rest of the world. Others say that violent news makes people dreadful about the problems and pains of others (Johnson, 2008). Conclusion: Psychologists unite about the effects of TV news while research in this are is quite difficult to measure. A psychologist mentioned is very difficult to prove the relationship between violent media and the conduct through specific methodology. Anderson, C.A., Berkowitz, L., Donnerstein, E., Huesmann, L.R., Johnson, J., Linz, D., Malamuth, N., & Wartella, E. (2003). The influence of media violence on youth. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, Vol. 4, pp.

FACILITIES MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

FACILITIES MANAGEMENT - Essay Example Procurement, innovation and FM services 9 3.1 Innovative procurement routes based on contingency approach 9 3.2 Innovative procurement routes through e-procurement 10 3.3 Innovative procurement routes based on real options 11 3.4 Innovative procurement routes – needs and challenges 11 4. Conclusion 12 References 13 1. Introduction The increase of competition in all industries worldwide has been a phenomenon of the modern market. Under these conditions, firms that are interesting in keeping their competitive advantage need to emphasize on innovation. Traditionally, innovation has been regarded as an element of the organizational strategy; indeed, most of organizational plans include rules that promote innovation. Current paper focuses on the examination of innovation in relation to FM but also in relation to the procurement process. In order to understand the context of innovation in FM, it would be necessary to refer primarily to the definition of the above concept, as given b y Dogson et al. (2008); the above definition can be described as follows: ‘Innovation depends upon a firm’s ability to create new products and services and make and deliver them’ (Dogson et al 2008, p.235). Apart from innovation – especially in regard to Facilities Management, current study focuses on the identification of the forms of procurement – as it can being transformed, aiming to become more innovative; the requirements of procurement, especially regarding its alignment with the innovation process are critically discussed aiming to identify the terms under which innovative procurement routes can be related to improved FM services. The two key issues presented above are discussed in the sections that follow. It should be noted that the main body of the paper has been divided into two major parts – divided into sub-sections – so that the answers to each of the questions of the case study to be clear. It is concluded that innovati on can be indispensable part of Facilities management supply chain management but their relationship is likely to change continuously, such as in the case of procurement and innovation. 2. Innovation in facilities management supply chain management 2.1 Supply chain management during the innovation design In the context of innovation, FM supply chain management can be highly differentiated, aiming to support the increase of organizational competitiveness within its market. It should be noted here that the potential update of FM supply chain management using the rules of innovation would be a complex process; an indicative form of this process is presented in the study of Chan et al. (2005). In the above study reference is made to innovation as a condition for the improvement of FM supply chai

The War of 1812 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The War of 1812 - Essay Example At the same time, these military campaigns are considered to have had serious influence on the development trajectories of both Russia and USA: whereas Russia had proved to be the ruler of destinies in Europe, USA began expansion westwards. The set of causes and preconditions that had triggered the outbreak of war between United States and its former metropolis, British Empire, is rather rich. These were primarily maritime and commercial reasons related to the Napoleonic War in Europe (Tucker). Americans treated Britain with contempt, while the British disapproved their former fellow citizens for betraying the king and didn’t take the new state seriously. The period preceding the warfare was marked by the military campaign between France and British Empire, and USA keeping neutrality got between two fires. America had commercial relations with many countries including the two warring parties at that time; and American merchants got into trouble finding themselves between the Napoleonic Continental System and the British Orders in Council that did their best to prohibit the trade with the enemies (i.e. they tried to damage trade systems of each other) (Tucker). British Empire blocked French ports and demanded an additional fee from the American merchants to enter them (America’s Library). The escalation of the conflict was triggered by the search of American commercial ships and impressment of the sailors by the British Navy (McNamara). In 1807, British hostility went as far as to attacking the naval frigate Chesapeake in the coastal waters of Virginia with the intention to capture â€Å"deserters†: three sailors were killed and eighteen were wounded in this attack (Heidler). This incident triggered the outburst of cries for vengeance in the United States, and the majority demanded to declare the war to British Empire.

Military Sciences 4 Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Military Sciences 4 Questions - Essay Example On the other side, the interim government in Afghanistan was helpless because it was facing a number of internal and external problems like corruption, illegal trade of opium, underdeveloped economy and security breach. At the same time, Taliban was seeking cooperation with al-Qaida and to subdue the interim government in Afghanistan. In National Defense Strategy document, the defense secretary (2008) makes clear that â€Å"Violent extremist movements such as al-Qaeda and its associates comprise a complex and urgent challenge† (p.2). As the Middle East (say, especially Afghanistan) is considered as the core of international terrorist plots, the national interest of the United States is at risk in this area. To be specific, the 9/11 incident proves that al-Qaida in Afghanistan is behind the global spread of terrorism. So, the U.S. government must deal with the grass root level reason behind the global spread of terrorism. Almost all the world nations face the problem of terrori sm and religious fundamentalism. In addition, the problem of terrorism can be dealt with military involvement because other ways prove ineffective. Our military involvement supports the vital national interest because the ultimate aim of the US forces in Afghanistan is to interrupt and dismantle the international terrorist groups which operate from Afghanistan. ... So, one can easily identify that the situation in Afghanistan is worse and US security is at risk. Besides, military involvement in this area aims to keep pressure upon the terrorist groups like Taliban and al-Qaida. In short, military involvement in Afghanistan is unavoidable because it supports the vital national interest of the United States. 2. The Department of Defense (DoD)’s tendency to focus on conventional conflicts is based upon the Cold War strategy. One can easily identify that this strategy is not practical and is impossible to implement in irregular wars. For instance, the international terrorist groups make use of irregular warfare and conventional warfare based upon military power cannot withstand the same. So, the 2008 National Defense Strategy (NDS) is vital to counterbalance DoD’s tendency to focus on conventional conflicts. Within this context, NDS aims to implement a number of measures. One can see that the NDS provides ample importance to long-term effort by confronting the challenges faced by conventional warfare, which proved to be ineffective. From a different angle of view, NDS’s aim to adopt innovation into the context of contingency planning, development of different forces, and intelligence work are utmost important to amalgamate innovation into DoD. In National Defense Strategy document, the defense secretary (2008) makes clear that â€Å"We must tailor deterrence to fit particular actors, situations, and forms of warfare† (p.12). Besides, the NDS is aware of the importance of irregular warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan. For instance, irregular warfare tactics and partnership can be helpful to win wars in the Middle Eastern regions. One can see that NDS put forth innovative ideas to equip the security

The effect friendships have on a child's development Essay

The effect friendships have on a child's development - Essay Example However, like Roald Dahl writes beautifully in his renowned book Matilda, friendship is not really confined to one or more persons. Children are affected easily by the totality of their external environments and this also thus concludes the various kinds of interactions that they undergo in everyday life. In Matilda, the young girl befriends her books due to the lack of people that she is able to communicate with. Her brother does not prove to be a good friend and neither do her parents, thus she takes to her books and finds that those books turn her into a very gifted individual full of faith and belief in the better things in life. He writes, â€Å"Sometimes Matilda longed for a friend, somebody like the kind, courageous people in her books. But it occurred to her that talking dragons and princesses with hair long enough to climb, such people would only exist in storybooks.† (Dahl, Roald) this goes to show the kind of need that the young girl had in her life for someone that would talk back to her and give her advice and listen to her little whims and fancies as well. Children usually imitate whatever happens around them and so if a parent sees his child overdoing something or doing things that are unusual of him, they may come to the conclusion that he must have picked it up from somewhere. At the young ages between three to about ten, the kind of friends that a child has makes a great amount of difference on his mind and health. These friends help to shape the child’s character when the parents are not around and help to build a sense and level of confidence within the child. No child is able to communicate everything he or she wants to their parents, and thus, they sometimes find the comfort in doing so with their friends. Most friends even listen and try to help if someone is in some kind of trouble, but of course this stage comes in later after further development of the child’s mind. Roald Dahl wrote a book called Matilda which was about a young girl born into the wrong family in the sense that she had nothing in common with her parents or brother. Matilda was very curious about the world and loved to read and know more. She wanted to go to school and get educated and make friends. "Both Matilda and Lavender were enthralled. It was quite clear to them that they were at this moment standing in the presence of a master. Here was somebody who had brought the art of skulduggery to the highest point of perfection, somebody, moreover, who was willing to risk life and limb in pursuit of her calling. They gazed in wonder at this goddess, and suddenly even the boil on her nose was no longer a blemish but a badge of courage."  (Dahl, Roald) From these lines it is clear that Matilda had found a friend and confidante in Lavender and in doing so, they were comfortable in carrying out tasks that even they felt were wrong, however they did it anyway because of a kind of backing that they had from each other. She could conf ide in Lavender and was sure that the latter would keep her secrets. This is how children get affected by their friends and are able to do things together with a better sense of confidence. Just by having someone around them helping them, they

Foundation of Education Essay Example for Free

Foundation of Education Essay With the massive information explosion of the 21st century, the world has never moved so fast. As Patrick A Hyek (2012), Global Technology Sector Leader, Ernst Young, pointed out on technology and its impact to the world, â€Å"Ten to twenty years from now, we may look back on the present as the dawn of the Smart Era: a time when rapid and continuous innovation changed almost everything about the way we live†. The world is going virtually borderless. As of present, we can do almost everything online from shopping to banking, video conferencing in real time with people across continents as well as finding answers to almost everything we could possibly think of from online search engines. As far as education is concerned, the famous Khan Academy (www. khanacademy. org) has proved subject-based cognitive knowledge traditionally learnt in schools can be just as effectively obtained at one’s fingertips in the comfort of one’s own home. On the other hand, the unlimited flow of information has its drawbacks which cause many concerns for educators (Ornstein, A, Levine, D Gutek, G, 2010). How could we protect our children from inappropriate contents such as pornography, destructive information or violence accessible online? In addition to the overwhelming amount of information in the 21st century, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) (2012) addressed in their report that our new generation also face the crisis of depleting natural resources and global climate changes of the 21st century. As the world’s resources are depleting, people are pressured to compete against one another to survive. The reality is that there are serious problems in todays societies. Every day we hear tragic news about people killing each other, breaking the law, misconducting, corruption as well as natural disaster. As an educator, we are asking ourselves what role schools should play to prepare our next generation for these challenges posed by this information age. I believe that there has not been a more appropriate time than now to incorporate values in education as to elicit the human quality of our children in addition to the provision of academic knowledge. Since we cannot control technology and what comes with it, we should instead equip our children with the right values and inner strength which help them make the right call as to what is right and wrong in any given situation. This can be achieved by embedding human values such as respect for difference, moral, honesty, empathy and love for mankind into the school’s curriculum at all levels. As a result, our next generation will not only be knowledgeable but of a high human quality who will do the right things by themselves and others. For example, moral students would not imitate aggressive behaviour they saw on the internet or elsewhere because they consciously knew such behaviour was wrong. Moreover, it would be dangerous for schools to use subject-based curriculum which only focus on academic excellence in such a fast paced unlimited information age in which we live in today. Without moral and ethics, regardless of their intelligence, our children could grow up to be self-destructive, violent or harmful to themselves and society. Examples of destructive behaviour include that of terrorists who wrongly used their knowledge to harm other people. Teaching and Learning One of the current educational issues being discussed today concerning teaching and learning is what skills we need to teach our children for the 21st century. While many educators (Dominik Petko, 2012) worldwide have placed an emphasis on teaching information and communication technology, literacy skills that will allow students to make sense of the technology today, John Wilson (2008), former executive director of the National Education Association in Washington, DC, argued that for a world which is vastly transformed by technology, it is unpredictable what technology is coming next. Instead of focusing on the current technology which is likely to be replaced, educators should focus on developing transferable skills such as critical thinking and problem solving so that students can analyze information, apply knowledge to new situations as well as comprehend new ideas. These skills will make them capable to learn and adapt to any new technology to come. What is critical thinking? How could we teach critical thinking skills to our children? Critical Thinking as defined by Michael Scriven Richard Paul (1996), the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking is â€Å"the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action†. In essence, critical thinking is a disciplined manner of thought that a person uses to assess the validity of something, e. . statements, news stories, arguments, research, etc. (Beyer, B K, 1995). Experts (Angelo, T A, 1995, Cooper, J L, 1995, McDade, S A, 1995) asserted that critical thinking is best conveyed through constructivist learning approach such as Classroom Assessment Techniques (CAT), Cooperative Learning Strategies, Case study and discussion as well as Reciprocal Peer Questioning. An example of a Classroom Assessment Techniques is to ask students to answer questions such as What was the most important thing you learned in todays class? or â€Å"What question related to this session remains uppermost in your mind? (Angelo, T A, 1995). McDade (1995) suggested that teachers can facilitate students’ development of critical thinking through case study and discussion. A teacher may lead the class by presenting a case to the class without a conclusion. Using prepared questions, the teacher then leads students through a discussion, allowing students to construct a conclusion for the case. Reciprocal Peer Questioning is another teaching technique which fosters critical thinking (King, A, 1995). An example of Reciprocal Peer Questioning is by asking students a list of question such as, What are the strengths and weaknesses of a taught issue? † Students are asked to write questions about the lecture material. In small groups, the students ask each other the questions. Then, the whole class discusses some of the questions from each small group. Dr. Gwen Dewar (2009) suggests that critical thinking can be developed not only in school but at home where parents encourage students to questions and evaluate any everyday ife situations. In conclusion, in order for our children to cope well with the information technology age, we need to prepare our children to weed through the information and not just passively accept it (Oliver Utermohlen, 2005). They need to develop and effectively apply critical thinking skills to their academic studies, to the complex problems that they will face and to the critical choices they will be forced to make as a result of the information explosion and other rapid technological changes.

Multiple Myeloma: Causes, Signs and Treatments

Multiple Myeloma: Causes, Signs and Treatments 1.0 Introduction Human body is consisting of so many of cells, almost uncountable. Normal human body cells are growing, dividing into new cell and dying in an orderly fashion. There are different how the body cell is growing between normal cells and cancer cells. Instead of dying, cancer cell continue to grow and form news and abnormal cells. Differ from normal cells; cancer cells can invade other tissue. The cancer cells are the cell that is growing out of control and invading the other cell. When cancer cells diffuse the blood vessel or lymph vessel, the process called metastasis can happen. It is a process where the cancer cells travel, grow out and form new tumors at the other part of the body but it is always named from its origin. Different types of cancer can act very differently like they growing at different speed and respond to different treatments. Not all tumors are cancerous. They are called benign tumor. This type of tumors cannot invade others tissues and cannot metastasize. This kind of tumors are almost never life threatening. Multiple myeloma is a cancer of plasma cells. It is malignant cancer cells. The other names for multiple myeloma are plasma cell myeloma or Kahlers disease. Plasma cell is a type of white blood cells that functioning as producer of antibodies. In the human body, the interference of the production of normal blood cells happened because of multiple myeloma, when the collection of abnormal plasma cells is accumulating in the bone marrow. The multiple myeloma usually started at the bone marrow. Bone marrow is the soft, spongy tissue that can be found inside the most bone in the human body. The breastbone, spine, ribs, skull, pelvic bones, and femur are rich with marrow. The myeloma cells that accumulate in the bone marrow can destroy the solid part of the bone. It is called multiple myeloma when more than on of the bone have the collection of myeloma cells. Besides that other tissue and organ like, kidneys can be affected and damaged by this disease. This is because the myeloma cells can produce antibodies that called M protein and other protein. They can be found and collected in the blood, urine and organs. 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 CAUSES The etiology of the multiple myeloma is poorly known to the physician. According to (Multiple myeloma 2011) although the exact cause is unknown, the one thing for sure is multiple myeloma is begin with one abnormal plasma cell and its started to multiple in bone marrow (Multiple myeloma 2011). 2.2 CLINICAL FINDING Usually the multiple myeloma is found out accidently when the patients do the routine blood test for another reason. The blood test result will indicate that patients have anemia, abnormal red blood cells, high serum protein level and how levels of normal antibody. In addition, when patients do the urine test, the results will show that the calcium levels is high and same to go to blood urea nitrogen levels and creatinine levels. If the kidneys are not functioning properly, then there is high level of urea and creatinines exist in urine because the kidneys cannot eliminate these substances properly. When the protein electrophoresis is carried out, the result will shows a large M protein spike, high concentration of monoclonal lg and the Bence Jones protein also detected. The marrow is examined by using bone marrow aspiration techniques. The multiple myeloma usually shows 10%-30% of the cells are plasma cells. 2.3 INCIDENCE OF MULTIPLE MYELOMA Incidence of multiple myeloma means the annual diagnosing rate, or the number of new multiple myeloma case being diagnosed each year. According to (Multiple myeloma quick statistics 2012) multiple myelomas are seldom affected children, teenagers and young adults. The incidences of multiple myeloma are increased with age (Multiple myeloma quick statistics 2012). In 50s, 60s and 70s the incidences of the multiple myeloma is the highest (Multiple myeloma quick statistics 2012). According to (Multiple myeloma quick statistics 2012) 65 years old and above is the onset age for this disease, with an incidence rate of 28.6 per 100000 versus 1.8 per 100000 people under 65 years old. In addition, multiple myeloma is common in men and in individuals of African descent (Multiple myeloma quick statistics 2012). In Asian, about 1/100000 population/year will get multiple myeloma, while in Caucasian, 4/100000 population/ year will get multiple myeloma but, for African descent, 8-10/100000 population /year will get multiple myeloma (Multiple myeloma quick statistics 2012). According to (General information about plasma cell neoplasm 2012) the incidence of multiple myeloma in United States in 2012 is 21700. While in Canada, according to (Canadian statistics for multiple myeloma 2013) about 2300 new case of multiple myeloma is recorded in 2011. 2.4 MORTALITY OF MULTIPLE MYELOMA The mortality rate for patients with multiple myeloma is high because the cure for this disease is still unknown to the people and physicians (Multiple myeloma quick statistics 2012). The median survival rate is approximately 3 or 5 years following a diagnosis of systematic multiple myeloma (Multiple myeloma quick statistics 2012). However, there are some patients that live 10 or 20 years following their diagnosing (Multiple myeloma quick statistics 2012). It is making things so unpredictable. According to (General information about plasma cell neoplasm 2012) 10710 of people have die from multiple myeloma in the United Stated. While in Canada, according to (Canadian statistics for multiple myeloma 2013) about 1370 people had die from multiple myeloma in 2011. 2.5 Risk factors The real causes of multiple myeloma is stil unknown. physicians hardly aware why someone get the multiple myeloma and why others do not but, one thing for sure is multiple myeloma is not contangious disease. There are several risk factors that can contribute to the multiple myeloma. Age over 65 years old As the age increase, the change of developing multiple myeloma also increasing (Multiple myeloma 2013). According to (Multiple myeloma 2013) most people are diagnosed with myeloma after the age of 65 years old. Race According to (Multiple myeloma 2013) the african americans have the highest risk to get multiple myeloma while the asian americanshave the lowest risk. The reason of why this happen is unknown (Multiple myeloma 2013). Gender According to (Multiple myeloma 2013) in the United Stated, the numbers of men that are diagnosed with multiple myeloma is higher compared to women. The reason of why this happen is unknown (Multiple myeloma 2013). Personal history of (MGUS) monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance MGUS is a benign condition in which abnormal plasma cell make M proteins. Usually, its assystomatic and by running the blood test to the pateint, the abnormal M protein level can be found out (Multiple myeloma 2013). Sometimes people who have MGUS can develop certain cancers, like multiple myeloma(Multiple myeloma 2013). Family history The risk of getting multiple myeloma is increased if a close relative had the disease(Multiple myeloma 2013) . 2.6 SIGN AND SYMPTOMS Usually, depending on how advanced the disease, the symptoms of multiple myeloma may be varies (What is multiple myeloma 2013). In the earliest stages, a person may be assystomatic (What is multiple myeloma 2013). When these symptoms present, its may be obscure and similar to those of other conditions also,it is kindly hard to diffrentiate whether it is multiple myeloma or other diseases. Sometimes not all patient have all these symptoms (What is multiple myeloma 2013). Kidney problem According to (What is multiple myeloma 2013) kidney damage can happen when the kidney filtering excess protein the blood and this may lead to renal failure. The symptoms like loss of appetite, fatigue, muscle weakness,conctipation, nausea and vomiting will appear when hypercalcemia overworks the kidneys (What is multiple myeloma 2013) . Pain One of the most common early symptom of the multiple myeloma is lower back pain or pain at the ribs area (What is multiple myeloma 2013). Because of accumulation of plasma cells and weakened bone structures, there is tiny fracture in the bone and it can leads to the lower back pain ot pain in the area of the fractures(What is multiple myeloma 2013). Fatigue According to (What is multiple myeloma 2013) the number of malignant plasma cells is increases in the bone marrow caused the growth and development of red blood cells in the bone marrow lessen it can lead to anemia. unusual tiredness and abnormal paleness is the common symptoms of anemia. Recurent infection According to (What is multiple myeloma 2013) myeloma patient have higher risk, about 15 fold than a healthy person to get infection, espeacially pneumonia. the immunity of patient is reduced from infections such as bacterial pneumonia, urinary tract infection and shingles and it is happened when the blood produces fewer white blood cell that functional to fight the infection , as the number of myeloma cell increases.(What is multiple myeloma 2013) . Nervous system disfunction Because of the bone structure is weakened and collapsed, it may encroach on thenerves, produce severe pain, tingling or numbnes (What is multiple myeloma 2013). Accoding to (What is multiple myeloma 2013) the abnormal proteins that have been produce by the myeloma cellswill contribute to the appearant of the symptoms and if it is produce in the large amounts, it will cause hyperviscosity. 2.7 PATHOPHYSIOLOGY B-lymphocytes are developed from the stem cell in the bone marrow, and from them the plasma cells is being produces. The antibodies that can recognize antigen are carries by the B-cells. Antibodies are responsible in recognizing and destroying material and organisms such as bacteria. As his antibodies recognize and want to destroy the antigen, they will proliferate rapidly and become mature plasma cells. These plasma cells are monoclonal. If there is damaged to the genetic materials when stem cell is develop to B cell, multiple myeloma will begin. This is because; it will lead to the development of plasmablast. The plasmablast will bond together inside the bone marrow because of production of adhesive molecule that allows them to do so. These myeloma cells are growing out uncontrollable and did not die naturally because of interference of a growth factor that called interleukin-6. Multiple myeloma patient have higher contain of plasma cells in their bone marrow compared to normal individual. In this disease, a plasma B cell is genetically damaged and proliferated uncontrollably (Immune cells and multiple myeloma 2013). The antibodies are overproduced by cancerous cell and accumulated in bone marrow. The bone cells named osteoclasts are stimulated by altered plasma cell. The bone structure is dissolved by the enzymes that be produced by the Osteoclasts, caused some of the symptoms associated with the disease, including pain and disfigurement (Immune cells and multiple myeloma 2013). Normally, B cell is move freely around the body, that is why the cancerous cells are available in the blood stream and metastasis is a common thing. Usually, multiple tumors are available in different bones (Immune cells and multiple myeloma 2013). The malignant myeloma cell will produce identical lg (immunoglobulin). The dysfunctional immunoglobulins that produce from myeloma cell are called paraprotein. They are called monoclonal because the myeloma cells are identical clones of a single plasma cell. Multiple myeloma will depress immune system because of action of paraprotein that destroy the functional lgs and other components of immune system. The malignant plasma cells also produce monoclonal light chain or incomplete lgs that call Bence Jones protein and secreted in the urine. 2.8 HISTOPATHOLOGY OF THE MULTIPLE MYELOMA According to (Tobias 2012), plasma cells from patients with myeloma are usually immature in appearance with centrally located nuclei, distinct nucleoli and perinuclear vacuolization. There are also often multinucleated plasma cells. Immunohistochemical analysis can verify monoclonality. The plasma cells produce monoclonal lgG or lgA that can be detected through a characteristic serum protein electrophoresis pattern. Eighty percent of the patients have a complete monoclonal lg in the serum and most of them simultaneously produce light chain in the urine (bence jones protein). The light chain concentration in the urine is often so low that Hellers urinary test is negative. 3.0 IMAGING MODALITIES OF MULTIPLE MYELOMA There are several imaging modalities that can be used to rule out multiple myeloma. According to (Healy et al. 2011) the function of medical imaging in multiple myeloma is crucial in the initial staging of disease, in detection and characterization of complication and to asses patient response toward the treatment. CONVENTIONAL RADIOGRAPHY A full skeletal survey is done in order to rule out the multiple myeloma. This skeletal survey is included a frontal and lateral view of the skull, the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine, a coned down frontal view of the dens axis, as well as frontal view of ribs cage, humeri, knees and pelvis (Healy et al. 2011). Advantages According to (Healy et al. 2011) the evidence of multiple myeloma can be seen on the radiograph of skeletal survey in 80% of patient. The radiological evidence of multiple myeloma can been seen on vertebrae in 66%, ribs in 45%, skull in 40%, shoulder in 40%, and pelvis in 30% and long bones in 25% (Healy et al. 2011). The advantage of plain radiography compare to MRI is in discovering the cortical bone lesions in the radiograph. It also has the advantage of being easily available and inexpensive compare to the other imaging modalities (Healy et al. 2011). Disadvantages One of the disfavor of conventional radiography is diffusion of bone marrow, which may or may not be associated with cortical bone destruction, is cannot be evaluated by the conventional radiography (Healy et al. 2011). Furthermore, the lytic lesions become clear and appear on plain radiography if only when 30-50% of the bone mineral density is already loss (Healy et al. 2011). In addition, the causes of the diffuse osteopenia that shown on the radiograph cannot be differentiate whether it is because of multiple myeloma or because of other reason such as osteoporosis (Healy et al. 2011). According to (Healy et al. 2011)because of plain radiograph required patient to be in varied positioning that is sometimes painful for the patients who are usually elderly and disable because of pathological fracture then this plain radiograph become disfavor for the multiple myeloma patients. COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY According to (Healy et al. 2011) CT is a sensitive imaging modality in evaluating the osteolytic effects of multiple myeloma and has a higher sensitivity than conventional radiography at detecting small lytic lesions. The characteristic of myeloma disease like punched out lytic lesions, expansile lesions with soft tissue masses, diffuse osteopenia, fractures and rarely osteosclerosis can be detected by the CT scan (Healy et al. 2011). Advantages If the CT, MRI and conventional radiography is being compared in patient with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, then CT was advance than conventional radiography at defining lytic lesion and in combination with MRI, aiding in staging the extent of the disease(Healy et al. 2011). CT is more accurate than MRI in the assessing of fracture areas. According to (Healy et al. 2011) in case where MRI is negative, CT is used in identifying bone destruction, hence complementary imaging information may be provided. Furthermore, the presence and extend of extraosseous lesions is demonstrated accurately by CT scan. In image guided spinal or pelvic bone biopsy of MRI defined focal lesions; CT is preferred (Healy et al. 2011). Furthermore, CT can be done quickly and comfortable for the patient as they just need to be lying stilly. Disadvantage According to (Healy et al. 2011) a disadvantage of CT is that it typically shows persistent bone lesions throughout the trend of the disease and unlike MRI and PET/CT, it cannot evaluate continued activity of myeloma in areas of anterior to bone destruction. WHOLE BODY MRI According to (Healy et al. 2011) in detecting diffuse and focal multiple myeloma in the spine as well as the extra axial skeleton, the whole body MRI is proven to be the most sensitive imaging modalities to do it. It is crucial to know that MRI preponderantly showing bone marrow infiltration, which may or may not be related with bone destruction (Healy et al. 2011). Advantages MRI has capability to visualize large volumes of bone marrow without producing radiation exposure and in shorten time, its suitable and favorable method to evaluate disease within bone marrow (Healy et al. 2011). In addition as the number and pattern of lesions detected on MRI is mutual related very well with treatment outcome and overall survival, which is means MRI has prognostic significance (Healy et al. 2011). In patient with extraosseous lesions, it is important to define the degree of involvement and to asses for cord compression so MRI can be the best choice to do it. Disadvantages According to (Michael 2011) ,although MRI is sensitive to the existance of disease, but it it not disease particular, that is why extra test such as direct aspiration of bone marrow and measurement of gamma globulin level to asses for plasmacytosis need to be taken. It is because the signal intensity profile and enhancement pattern produce by MRI is almost the same between any muscoskeletal tumor and myeloma.(Michael 2011). That is why, MRI may give worse or better result about the disease to the patients with myeloma, in the other word it may understage the disease or overstage the disease. (Michael 2011). NUCLEAR IMAGING Myeloma is a disease that is caused by overactivity of osteoclasts, with resultant liberation of bone and suppression of osteoblasts (Michael 2011). According to (Michael 2011) nuclear medicine bone scans are depended on osteoblastic activity for diagnosing. In addition, the extend and severity of the disease is underestimated by standard tecnetium -99m (99m Tc) bone scans. So, this bone scan should not be used mundanely. Advantages According to (Michael 2011) 99m TC-MIBI can demonstrated the extend and intensity of bone marrow infiltration equally as well as MRI and its may serve as subtituition to MRI in cases in which MRI is not convenient. Disadvantages According to (Michael 2011) the fast- negative rate of standard 99m Tc bone scintigraphy is high in diagnosing multiple myeloma. Additional test is required for the confirmation if the scan is positive with normal radiograph(Michael 2011). PET/CT PET/CT is a tomographic nuclear imaging tecnique that injected labelled radiopharmaceutical such as flouro-deoxy-glucose (FDG) into the patient then, followed by tomographic scanning 10-40 minutes later. Because of tumor cell have high metabolic rate and high glucose demand, then it can be differentiate from the normal cell by using thic tecnique. in detecting early bone marrow involvement with apparent of solitary plasmacytoma, PET/CT is used. Besides that, PET/CT also used in assessing the extent of active disease, detecting extramedullary involvement or evaluating treatment response given by the doctors to the multiple myeloma patient. (Michael 2011). Advantages According to (Michael 2011) the most substantial benefits of PET/CT imaging is it has ability to differentiate between active myeloma and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermine significance (MGUS) smouldering disease. Disadvantages According to (Michael 2011) the primary drawback of PET is it have limited spatial resolution, that can cause restriction in detecting subcentumetre lytic lesions seen on conventional radiography. 4.0 DISCUSSION Multiple myeloma is known as the disease that is incurable but treaterable,. This disease is also progression slowly and can be repeated again. If this disease is in stage 1, it is very hard to diagnose this disease by the imaging modalities. Usually, in stage 1, this disease have normal bone structure or only isolated plasmacytoma. Most patient are diagnosed at stage 3. As there is no clear cause of these disease, so there is no method for preventing multiple myeloma. 5.0 TREATMENT FOR MULTIPLE MYELOMA Though multiple myeloma is incurable, but with the good treatment the patient can be as normal as healthy person. According to (Multiple myeloma 2012) standard intervention options include: Bortezomib (Velcade) (Multiple myeloma 2012) It is administered intravenously. This drug will blocking the action of proteasomes and can lead to the death of cancers cell (Multiple myeloma 2012). For the people who are newly diagnosed and previously treated myeloma, this drugs can be useful and approvable. 5.2 Thalidomide (thalomid) (Multiple myeloma 2012) This drug is suitable for the treatment of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (Multiple myeloma 2012). This drug is admitted orally. Lenalidomine (revlimid) (Multiple myeloma 2012) This drug is more potent and causes fewer side effects than thalidomide (Multiple myeloma 2012). It is given orally. This drug can be used for the patient who has previously treated with myeloma and the patient with newly diagnosed myeloma (Multiple myeloma 2012). Chemotherapy (Multiple myeloma 2012) It is involves using medicines that need to be taken orally as a pill or through intravenous injection to kill myeloma cells (Multiple myeloma 2012). Chemotherapy is carry out in a cycles over a period of months,and then followed by a rest period (Multiple myeloma 2012). melphalan, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin and liposomal dexoribicin are the most common chemothreaphy drugs that has veen used in treating myeloma (Multiple myeloma 2012). Corticosteroids (Multiple myeloma 2012) For decade the treatment of the multiple myeloma is using corticosteroids, like prednisone and dexamethasone (Multiple myeloma 2012). The corticosteroids are come in pill form. Stem cell plantation (Multiple myeloma 2012) This treatment is done by using high doses of melphalan, and the immature blood cells that have been collected are transfused to subtitute diseased or damaged marrow (Multiple myeloma 2012). The stem cell is derived from the patient or donor (Multiple myeloma 2012). Radiation therapy (Multiple myeloma 2012) This treatment applies high energy penetration waves to destroy myeloma cell and restrain their growth (Multiple myeloma 2012). In the purpose of to shrinking myeloma cells in a specific area quickly, radiation therapy may be the best choice (Multiple myeloma 2012). 6.0 PROGNOSIS OF MULTIPLE MYELOMA To see the posible outcome of a disease, prognosis is the right medical term for it. It is easy to apply the prognosis to a larger population of patients rather than to a single of patient. For example, it is easy to state that within one year, almost 35% of people in coma will be paralyzed, but its hard to accurately state when will a patient with multiple myeloma die or free from this disease because it is required a lot of patient research specifically. According to (Multiple myeloma prognosis 2011) in multiple myeloma cases by using the international staging system, the prognosis can be done. With the helps of this system, the survival of the myeloma patient can be predicted by depending on stages. The average survival of 62 months for stage one, 42 months for stage 2 and 29 months for a disease that have entered the stage 3 of the disease prognosis ranking is predicted by the international staging system (Multiple myeloma prognosis 2011). The differences of prognosis for multiple myeloma between one patient and others is the common thing. In this disease, 70 years old is the average age that people ussually get the multiple myeloma (Multiple myeloma prognosis 2011). Furthermore, based on the research, the older patient have low change of survival to be compared with younger patients as the older patient may have many other disease that can complicate the situation (Multiple myeloma prognosis 2011). 7.0 CONCLUSION As the conclusion, we can say that imaging modalities have played a big role in diagnosing and treating multiple myeloma patient. Without imaging modalities like plain xray, ct scan , MRI, and others it is hard to diagnose for sure that a patient have multiple myeloma. In addition, it is also hard for physicians to see the progression of the disease or the progression of the treatment without imaging modalities. So, we should be grateful to have so many efficient imaging modalities that can be useful to patients and physicians. By having many imaging modalities, that is mean the doctors will have several choice of use according the type of disease. Different imaging modalities is the best for different types of disease. In this assigment, I can know which imaging modalities is the best for multiple myeloma. Besides that, by doing this assigment, I can learn and differenciate between normal and abnormal appearance of anatomical structures on the radiological images.

Case Study On Strategic Analysis Management Essay

Case Study On Strategic Analysis Management Essay This will be done through analysing the variety stores industry in which Woolworth operates, the companys past, present and future growth strategies and its current performance. Using recognised strategic tools, the various options available to the company will be recommended and evaluated. METHODOLOGY: The Methodology that will be used to compile this dissertation will mainly be in the form of secondary research. This is largely because the nature of the project requires the co-operation of managers at very strategic level of the company. The Managers understand and have sufficient information on the strategic direction of the organisation. The writer was unable to arrange interviews with the management in the company, as information they have cannot be made public for confidential reasons. As a result it is deemed that the information gathering from other sources within the company would not be as reliable as desired for this topic. Informal primary research interviews will be arranged to gain general information on Woolworths PLCs policies and operations with members of Woolworths store staff. Secondary information will also be used to compile this dissertation due to the availability of reliable and valid information on Woolworths PLC and the variety retail industry. Secondary research will be conducted through examination of annual reports and accounts of the company and its main competitors. To evaluate these, sources such as Mintel Marketing Intelligence Reports and Marketing and Business trade journals will be used. Published academic books on Strategic Management will also be used to assist with the theoretical elements of this dissertation. HISTORY Woolworths is generally described as a variety store. These are organisations that concentrate their efforts on the retailing of a range of products in the lower and more popular price ranges. They provide a walk in, shop and carry facility as the major route of purchasing (home delivery and pre ordering being rare), with open display and self-service merchandising. They are unlikely to be departmentalised. Other related categories include department stores, discounters and specialist shops (also known as category killers) (Oxford English Dictionary 2001). Woolworths was first established by Frank Winfield Woolworth in 1879 with the concept of selling products costing no more than 5 cents. This proved a popular idea with the consumers and the turnover continued to grow. The concept was of no frills shopping, with a range of low priced, non-perishable items. When F.W. Woolworth died in 1919, he had built an empire of 1,081 stores with sales in excess of $118 million per year (Faulkner et al 2003). The company continued to grow and developed internal competencies in areas such as marketing, finance and estates management (Faulkner et al 2003). Faulkner et al also comment that this period of Woolworths history was characterised by the focus of its strategy: it was able to deepen its existing competencies and incrementally expand both its competency base and it knowledge of different market environments (such as suburban retailing) (Faulkner et al pp. 279 2003). However, this was to prove insufficient when discounters and category killers became more prevalent in the market. Wal-Mart had begun trading in general merchandise at low prices and specialist retailers, such a Toys- R- Us provided a destination shopping location for those consumers seeking a particular product, a wider range of products or specialist knowledge about the products. Woolworths began a decline in sales in real terms due to its lack of insight of how to capitalise on the prevalent retail preferences. They failed to take the move to expand their business either into a wider focus or a narrower one, strategies which would have given them a platform from which to take on their competitors. It wasnt until the late 1980s that Woolworths changed their strategy in the United States with their diversification into specialist areas, such as Kids Mart and Little Folks, as well as entering the discount retail business with the Woolco concept. However, they lacked the competencies and capabilities to make up for the time they had lost which had allowed their competitors to establish a strong market lead and in 1995, Kids Mart and Little Folks both closed down. This was on top of the closure of 400 stores in the USA and the sale of 122 Canadian Woolco stores to Wal-Mart (Faulkner et al 2003). One of the specialist areas they had entered into, footwear, did prove to be a success and led Woolworths in the USA to open over 7, 000 athletic footwear stores covering a range of gender and age segments by 1998. The company decided at this stage to change its operating name in the USA to the Venator Group (Faulkner et al 2003) and to reposition itself as a specialist sports footwear reta iler. The groups business in the UK moved in a different direction and kept the original company name. At present, in the UK, Woolworth currently owns around 900 stores selling toys, confectionary, house wares, seasonal products and electronic entertainment. The UK business has also moved into specialist areas with the introduction of MVC home entertainment and electronics which currently has 85 shops, E.UK, which is the largest distributor of home entertainment products in the UK, and the music and video publishing arm VCI (Cornell date unknown). Having become a public company in 1931, Woolworths was briefly taken over in 1982 by Kingfisher, but returned to public ownership again in mid-2001. Woolworths stated aim is to be at the heart of the community and the best loved retailer for kids, home and family leisure (www.woolworthsgroupplc.com). As will be seen Woolworths performance has been variable over recent years and in January 2005, they received a takeover bid from the private equity group, Apax. Although the Woolworths board rejected that offer, a higher one was received four weeks later and is currently under consideration. This means that the future for Woolworths is an uncertain one, with the possibility of a substantial cash injection, but diminished control for the current management team. Should the Apax offer be rejected again, Woolworths is likely to receive offers from its major competitors. PORTERS FIVE FORCE ANALYSIS. Threat of new entrants Despite the high number of retailers dealing with general merchandise, two areas are seen as being particularly relevant. Currently, there are only two catalogue based shopping concepts in the UK, Argos and Next. This market remains highly under-represented considering the success particularly of Argos and it could be expected that the concept will be taken up by more companies in future. These businesses offer the full range of house wares, electrical goods, toys and gifts as available from Woolworth, and have a distinct competitive advantage in their practice of minimal stock holdings in store allowing extra selling space to be released. They may face difficulties in finding the number and size of locations they would need to become a major player in this market, but this could be overcome through the acquisition of an existing retailer. Further new entrants may be seen as foreign companies try to increase their market share. These have already been seen in two main forms. Firstly the specialist retailers who started from nothing in the UK and have achieved good organic growth. Examples include Toys-R-Us, Ikea, Gap, HM, Beneton and Poundstretcher. The second group are those who gain a foothold in the UK market through acquisition. These include Wal-Mart, Brantano and Claires Stores. There is no reason to expect the level of foreign retail interest in the UK to decrease. Bargaining power of suppliers The bargaining power of suppliers has been much diminished with the development of e-commerce. Because of the vast increase in access to information between potential suppliers and buyers, the suppliers pricing strategy may be the only way to secure business. This is likely to increase as more use is made of the Internet. One recent development has been the practice of reverse auctions where a retailer specifies what they want and competing suppliers out bid each other, via a web site, by lowering the price rather than by raising it as in the traditional auction (www.gusplc.com). Once suppliers have been agreed, the large size of this retail sector also ensures buyers can act from a strong negotiating base, as they have significant control over the future health of dedicated suppliers. Recently there has been publicity around the practice of large retailers setting what are seen as unfair terms with suppliers and of insisting on price reductions even though the supplier then operates at a loss (Telegraph 2005). However, it is not expected that any legislation will bring about changes in this situation in the foreseeable future. On the negative side, specialist suppliers such as those supplying mobile phones and computer games, have an increasing amount of power due to the demand for their products. A retailer would need to ensure they have sufficient quantities of a product such as the latest Playstation, for the Christmas market, but are frequently left in the hands of suppliers who can give preferential service to other customers. Threat of substitutes Product substitutions can be used in two different ways. Firstly, as is the strategy of many of the main supermarkets, own brand labels are seen as acceptable substitutions for everyday grocery items. The cost of substitution is low to the customer i.e. they feel that there is little risk because of the loyalty they have to the store. The other type is through introducing higher priced, luxury type items. This strategy can be seen in the Marks and Spencer food sector where they market the products as being superior to other brands.For the variety retailers, the concept of substitution does not seem to have been fully exploited and it is a possible strategy for securing market share in the future. Bargaining power of customers The high level of competition amongst retailers has led to a position of power for the consumer. Having moved from seasonally driven sales events to permanent deals, the aggressiveness of these approaches has also increased. Customers now expect to be able to get three for two offers throughout the year. This puts the retailer at a disadvantage, as they will lose the potential benefits of targeting marketing promotions and means they are continually forced to take the path of competitive pricing. This can lead companies to over rely on the profits made from a limited range of products whereas the rest of the ranges operate at unsustainably low profit margins as loss leaders. Competitive rivalry within the industry The variety stores sector is highly competitive and there is no reason why this should not continue to be the case. It is suggested by retail analysts, Peters, Elworthy and Moore, that the variety store business in the UK has become saturated and that the larger stores are likely to take over or merge with the independents (cited in Potts 1996). Competition from superstores and supermarkets is expected to increase as they add to their ranges of non-food items in a bid to gain a higher share of the overall consumer market (Potts 1996). It is also expected that the differentiation between department stores, variety stores, home shopping and supermarkets will become less sharp as retailers look to alternate channels and increasing product ranges to maximise their turnover (Potts 1996). This will make it difficult for new entrants to enter the market unless they benefit from a unique selling point such as discounting, as has been seen with companies such as Wilkinsons. PEST ANALYSIS: Political Ecological/environmental issues- corporate social responsibility (csr)- The main belief around csr thinking is that the practice of businesses within the capitalist economy to concentrate their efforts on providing wealth for its shareholders, is unacceptable and that companies should take the responsibility of considering the well being of society as a whole (The Economist, January 22nd 2005). It has been countered by Lynch that failure to make a specific statement on ethical issues, does not mean that a company is not fundamentally ethical in the way that it does its business (Lynch 2003). Retailers generally are coming under increasing pressure to ensure they cannot be charged with poor practices with regard to the developing world or the environment. The activities of and publicity around the anti-globalisation movement, may dissuade organisations from expanding their markets abroad, although many see these as a small minority and it is questionable as to whether their activities would cause a company to alter their strategy. It is more likely that they will take the issues into account in terms of having a robust csr policy and when reporting to the media. Woolworths made the following statement on csr in their latest financial statement: During 2003/4, through the CSR Committee, Woolworths Group has continued to work to understand the impacts, both positive and negative, of our business. A proper understanding of the risks we must manage and the opportunities we have to be a catalyst for improvement is a fundamental part of how we do business (www.woolworthsgroupplc.com). Woolworth has specific policies on the areas of timber and chemical usage, a strict code of ethical trading and has set up its own charity (Woolworth Kids First) to provide the opportunity for their employees to help children on a local basis (www.woolworthsgroupplc.com). Whilst Woolworths are outwardly taking their csr seriously, it is an area that has come from nowhere to heavily impact organisations in the past and Woolworth would do well to bear in mind the impacts on Nestle of the baby milk episode and on Marks and Spencer of the sweat shop issues.   Legislation- a new White Paper has been announced that will give retailers the ability to offer legal advice through their own law companies. Dubbed Tesco Law, it provides a further service to encourage the one stop shop approach of the large supermarket chains (BBC D). Supermarket chains, which are one of Woolworths main sources of competition, have had a strategy of offering a one-stop shop opportunity to their customers with the introduction of such facilities as pharmacies, banking facilities and insurance. It is not yet known whether Woolworths is planning to introduce such offerings in its store. Government policies- in the recent budget, Gordon Brown announced a doubling of the threshold for stamp duty on house purchases to  £120,000. This was done to assist particularly first time buyers. Encouraging the housing market will have a beneficial effect on Woolworths house wares, furnishings and DIY ranges, but this will obviously extend to their competitors as well. Government term and change- whilst a General Election is due in the UK, the writer believes that there would be no significant impact, either positive or negative, were the political party currently in power were to remain or change. Economic Home economy situation- the current economic situation in the UK can be seen as a positive factor for Woolworths with low interest rates (2.7%) and high property values leading to record levels of borrowing. However, there are concerns over the level of borrowing as debt levels for have reached more than  £1 trillion (BBC E). It should also be noted that low interest rates would dissuade people who are living off investments from spending, although these tend to be those in retirement who are not considered to be Woolworths target consumer. They have identified that their typical customers are mothers with dependent children living at home(www.woolworthsgroupplc.com). Home economy trends. The Government states that Council tax will rise by an average of 4.1% in the next financial year, the lowest increase in more than ten years (BBC B). In the housing market, figures for changes in house prices vary by source with the Halifax quoting a 0.5% rise and the Nationwide a 0.5% fall (BBC A 2005). There is currently no solid evidence of a crash in the housing market. Should this occur, the impact on the whole retail industry would be immense. Overseas economies and trends- oil prices had risen to a high of $56.15 per barrel in mid March (BBC F). Although they are currently falling, they remain 25% higher for the year (BBC F). Long term, the situation is likely to worsen as demand for oil increases from growing economies such as China, where the economy is growing at 9% and a 10% increase in oil use is predicted for 2005 (BBC F 2005). High oil prices will affect both production and distribution costs for all retailers and will have to be passed onto the consumer through increased prices if alternative savings cannot be made in the value chain. Market and trade cycles- despite good economic factors such as low interest rates, the UK retail economy seems to be slowing down. In March Morrison, Boots and Jessops put out profit warnings and it was reported that data suggests generally poor retail sales and weak spending for the period since Christmas (Verdin 2005). The figures point to a growth in consumer spending of only 0.2% for the last quarter of 2004 the weakest figure for almost two years (Duncan 2005).No specific cause for this downturn has been identified; although the writer would suggest that the publicity around levels of personal debt and the worsening pension crisis may have some influence. Social Consumer attitudes and opinions- Mintels annual lifestyle report has found that consumers are shunning the larger supermarkets and chain stores which they find impersonal, and are much more likely to frequent local, independent shops (cited in BBC C). The implications of this for Woolworth could be positive or negative. To many people, they may be classed as a multi-site retailer and therefore avoided by the consumer. However, the history of the company, its generally high street locations and the nature of the products it sells may lead some to choose it as a shopping venue over large supermarkets. In this area, the history and reputation of Woolworths can only be beneficial. Fashion and role models- the value of celebrity endorsement is well understood by the retail industry and icons such as Jamie Oliver, Delia Smith and David Beckham have all become associated with particular brands. Woolworth identified this pattern and adopted the puppet characters, Woolly and Worth, for their 2004 Christmas campaign. Its success has encouraged them to continue the use of these characters for future advertising campaigns (www.woolworthsgrouppls.com). Technology- the rate of increase in use of cutting edge technology based items has given retailers a highly lucrative new product range. For example, mobile phone technology only became widely available in the early 1980s, but today, approximately one in six of the worlds population owns one and in most of the developed countries, market penetration exceeds 70% (The Economist 2005). As well as the phones themselves, the associated hardware and software are highly popular and unexpected markets have developed, for example, ring tones. There are no indications that these products will do anything other than maintain their growth and the continual developments in technology help to keep the market buoyant. Consumer buying mechanisms/technology- the growth of e-commerce has provided two new strategic directions for retailers. Firstly, there is the opportunity of selling the technology itself- mobile phones, personal computers, software, downloads, games- and secondly, it provides a further channel through which to sell goods. All the major retailers have web sites on which customers can research products, compare prices, order and pay for goods and, as such, there is reasonable competition to encourage consumers to visit particular web sites. An extra dimension is the number of companies who sell only through the Internet. This provides them with a competitive advantage of having lower overheads as premises and shop floor staff are not required. A good example of this is the book retailer Amazon.com who have diversified into clothing, apparel, DVDs and compact discs following their success with books. Further channels have yet to be fully utilised including ordering goods through mobile phone technology and digital television shopping channels. Whilst building their e-commerce business, Woolworths need to ensure it is based on a stable and secure foundation. Although not alone in the experience, they had to close their www.woolies.co.uk site for two months in 2000, when a customer reported that they could view other peoples credit card details on the site (Azeez 2002). Maturity of technology- Radio Frequency Identity Tagging (RFID) is seen as the way forward by many retailers who are undertaking trials of the technology. The most well known is probably Tescos who have been testing it on their high relative value, easily portable items such as razors. Woolworth had been trialing systems but has announced this year that there is no longer funding for the project (www.woolworthsgroupplc.com). They are allowing the technology to reach maturity and should then be able to capitalise on the research done by others. There are some risks with this strategy as it gives the competitors the opportunity to realise the benefits of such technology at an earlier stage. However, it also protects Woolworths from the high level of risk associated with this technology and dealing with issues raised by the Data Protection Act. STRATEGIC GROUP ANALYSIS. The competitors of Woolworth are deemed as being: Discounters those stores which offer stock at particularly low prices and have this as a unique selling point. These would include: Wilkinsons, Asda-WalMart and Poundstretcher Supermarkets stores that historically sold predominantly food items, but have now generally expanded their range to include substantial non-food categories. Examples are: Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda-WalMart and Waitrose Department stores a store which sells a range of items, usually non-food, that divides its goods into distinct areas of the store. In the UK this category includes: MS, Debenhams, House of Fraser, British Home Stores (BHS), and John Lewis Catalogue stores the retailer has a large proportion of the store space dedicated to storage rather than selling space. Few, if any goods are on display and customers select from a catalogue, usually without viewing the product first. Argos and Next are the most well known in the UK. Special ist stores those who concentrate on selling a particular product, which corresponds to part of the Woolworth range. For example, Mothercare and the Early Learning Centre for childrens clothes, BQ, Homebase and Focus DIY for DIY products. Competition is high for all segments of the retail industry which has lead to a blurring of the differences between the categories. Many companies are diversifying into new sectors or aiming for higher market penetration in their existing products. A good example are the supermarkets which have had many years of fierce competition with the main three, Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda, regularly changing places in the retailer league. Their strategy involves adopting a hybrid approach. Cost leadership to some degree by ensuring they maintained competitive pricing for generic products and then offering their own brands at a significantly lower price and differentiation in terms of the range of products they offer by branching out into greater ranges of non-food items. New entrants to the market had to have a unique selling point to appeal to the consumer and found it in terms of outperforming the established market in cost leadership. Aldi, Netto and Lidl have achieved some success in this, p roviding generally unfamiliar brand named, everyday products at a significantly lower price than the main supermarkets. The supermarkets also attempted to increase their market share through increasing their ranges of products and increasing the size of their stores to include superstores and hypermarkets. Other tactics include offering an appearance of being more exclusive (such as Waitrose and Marks and Spencer), positioning as a leader in corporate social responsibility (as in the Co-Operative stores and their Fair-trade products) and seeking new selling opportunities (for example, Marks and Spencers food outlets in service stations). The amalgamation of Asda and WalMart and Morrisons and Safeway showed that some of these strategies left companies with no clear customer focus, trying to be all things to all people, and, with decreasing sales and market share, they became attractive propositions to companies wishing to achieve a foothold in a new geographical location (the south of England in the case of Morrisons and the whole of the UK in the case of WalMart). The biggest threat to Woolworths from these stores has been through product diversification. Initially seeking to offer a one stop shop experience, with selling general merchandise, they then took on specialist stores such as Lloyds pharmacies, and non-retailers with the offerings of financial services. The specialist stores have had to recognise that as well as competing between themselves where products overlap, they are now also having to take on the supermarkets. Music retailers, such as HMV and Virgin, are experiencing pressure from supermarkets, who area able to take them on in terms of cost leadership due to economies of scale and value chain efficiencies, leaving the music stores with the only option of maximising their niche qualities. However, the increasing popularity of e-commerce, both in terms of new retailers and innovative product formats (such as downloads), has put this strategy at risk as their niche status is coming under attack. The implications for Woolworths high street stores are that they are having to rely on appealing to customers who are not seeking a specific item when they enter a store, as they cannot compete on grounds of price or specialism. Their appeal is to the impulse purchaser or those who are buying for someone else and are unsure of what they want. This merges well with the Woolworth strategy of concentrating on Kids and Celebrations. However, if they are positioning themselves as a one stop shop provider for celebration events, they are still in competition with the supermarkets who are able to provide the same items and the opportunity to purchase them whilst doing the regular grocery shopping. In areas where Woolworth has traditionally been seen as a key provider, childrens clothes, again, the supermarkets are offering a cost leader alternative with a strong fashion selling point, by employing well-known designers to support their products (such as George at Asda). Tesco recently showed their power by offering Levis jeans at a price point lower than the manufacturer. Coupled with this is the strategy of other companies to move into this line as a new product or to increase their market share. Key players are Mothercare and The Early Learning Centre. Seen as specialists for the child market, their threat to Woolworth is significant as is that of clothing retailers identifying the market for childrens clothes and exploiting it using their strength in reputation to appeal to the consumer (Gap Kids for example). Whilst all these forms of retail outlet vie for the consumers business, there is an inherent risk for all of them in terms of being able to convert their sales into profit. With competition being so fierce and coming for several different directions, most retailers have to ensure that whilst they are not necessarily the cheapest, they are competitive. The exceptions to this are those that promote themselves as exclusive, such as Waitrose. All these retailers are seeking to reduce their costs through driving savings with the value chain. This has wide reaching implications. As pressure increases to produce the goods at a lower cost, the source of production moves to countries with lower wages and poorer working conditions. As well as affecting the UK economy through increased unemployment, there have been cases where the apparent violation of human rights has produced poor publicity for the retailer. An example of this is the situation Marks and Spencer encountered in the late 1990s. On the one hand they were being accused of being too expensive, so they moved production of their clothes to developing countries. This led to an outcry in the media when companies in the UK who had been supplying them for years, could no longer operate and had to close down. Another strategy to reduce production costs is to use cheaper raw materials, but again, the negative aspects of this receive attention, with the current example being the questions raised over the nutritional value of cheap food products. Within the organisations themselves, streamlining head office personnel in terms of numbers and outsourcing support functions such as recruitment, have shown to be effective in the short term, but the long-term effects of cutting costs in areas such as research and development and training has yet to be seen. SWOT ANALYSIS. Strengths Many of Woolworths strengths come from its long history. They have a recognised internal competence in supply chain management and are able to use this both to reduce their costs and to enter into agreements with organisations that would traditionally be classed as their competitors, such as Tesco. They are using their expertise to provide additional turnover. Their contracts with other companies that utilise their strengths also allow them to minimise the risks to themselves. Having been long established, Woolworth has a good reputation in the UK and is a recognised name on the high street. They have a strong presence in toys, house wares, confectionary and seasonal products markets and due to their size can boast a dominant position over the majority of their suppliers. The perception of consumers is of a high level of corporate social responsibility, having not been subjected to significant poor publicity in any areas. The general economic conditions in the UK are promising although the recently reported slow down in consumer spending must be regarded as a risk. The locations and number of stores operated by Woolworths can be seen as a further strength, especially as consumer preference moves away from out of town shopping. They have made a good move in the adoption of advertising icons, which are considered to be a key element of their marketing campaign. Recent improvements in their stock management systems involving the introduction of an integrated replenishment system and the Kingstore till systems, gives them the ability to manage their stock levels more efficiently, thereby reducing both costs and instances of stock outages. They have undergone a recent review of how they can improve their operational efficiency and this shows a proactive strategy to take on their competition. They have a high level of understanding of customer base which they have developed through their long history in the retail market. This enables them to predict changes in consumer requirements and gives them the potential to maintain a competitive edge. Their decision to increase their use of their own brand products gives them the opportunity to heighten their market penetration in these areas, whilst their expansion of electronic entertainment offerings shows a desire to widen their range within a specific sector. These strategies seem to be successful at present.