Cross Cultural Management Case Study 1500words exc Essay

Cross Cultural Management Case Study 1500words exc. ReferencingBibliography - Essay Example The decision to enter markets outside the home country depends on a company's resources, managerial mindset and the nature of opportunity and threat. Mattel's best-known brand Barbie and its enviable global position has resulted in part from the company's willingness and ability to back its flag ship product with a strong local marketing effort. Mattel has positioned its brand 'Barbie' as a global brand, independent of any country of origin link. Barbie is a Barbie wherever it is made. Mattel has adopted a geocentric orientation i. e., it is adopting a worldview that sees similarity and differences in markets and countries and seeks to create a global strategy that is fully responsive to local needs and wants. Mattel's global marketing strategies for Barbie converges to market needs and wants, technologies advancements and socio-culture integration. A global marketing strategy is built on an information system that scans the world business environment to identify opportunities, trend s, threats and resources. A truly global company leverages its skills and focuses its resource to create superior perceived value for customers and achieve competitive advantage. Mattel has adopted the above strategies to become successful in global market. 2. As Theodore Levitt (1983) in his article" the globalization of markets" in the Harvard Business review argued that around the globe using standardized high quality world products and market then around the global using standardized advertising, pricing and distribution. But most of the organization found it, just a bunk. However success is not solely based on a standardization of marketing elements. To be successful in different market could be achieved only by spending a great deal of time and money to become an insider. That is, the company built a complete local infrastructure with its sales force. Now exactly the same path Mattel has adopted to become successful in Japanese market. Initially Mettle's Barbie has failed is John W. Amerman former CEO of Mattel state 'they did not know what that product was, and it didn't work" (Golab, 1994). Even availing the services of the consultant and modification of product looks do not have sufficient effect. Even the second partnership wi th Bandai didn't worked property. Finally in 1991, Mattel's own sales and marketing staff and office plays the trick and after spending more time and money, in 1994, Mattel has achieved some success and made profit in Japan with sales almost doubling since reintroduction (Golab, 1994). Mattel introduced its own American Barbie with long hair " Star princess Barbie" which becomes one of the top selling dolls in Japan (Thornton, 1994). Apart from time and marketing infrastructure development Mattel has conducted a consumer research in the Japanese market to understand the actual likings of the target customers. To survive in this new globally competitive world we had to modernize. Information technology is the glue for everything we do. For global marketer, information is one of the most essential requirements for decision-making (Reid, 1995; Green and Eric, 1975; Mullen, 1995). So market

Charles Darwin & theory of evolution Essay Example for Free

Charles Darwin theory of evolution Essay Charles Darwin in his theory of evolution suggests that man evolved from ape-like creatures. In this theory, there is an indication that the early man was distinct from apes. Hence, some discovery have pointed out the early man could stand upright while apes could not. The hands of the apes were made for climbing and clinging while the early mans hands were jointed in such a way that he could use and make tools. Despite the little evidence on the tool-making affair of early man, remains of polished bones suggest that he made simple digging tools from bone. Generally, the early man appeared about 3 million years ago. However, the 1932 discovery by Louis Leaky in South Western Kenya reveal that Ramapitheticus is probably the oldest man known to date. Ramapitheticus is believed to have lived 12 to 14 years ago. Astralopitheticus, also known as the southern ape, were first discovered in South Africa. The creature had human-like maxillary form and walked upright. The teeth resembled that of human being and it has a full face, jaws and an endocranial bone. Some scientist believes that this creature was the first branch of apes that evolved into modern man. Other evidences of Australopithecines have been unearthed at Kromdraii, Makapansgat and Swartkrans. The Homo habilis also known as the handy man are believed to be the first true humans. Discovered in 1915 by Mary Leaky, it lived 1. 8 millions ago in Africa. Homo habilis are credited with making stone tools and basic weapons. They were taller than their ancestors. Homo habilis had huge non-human molars, a small brain, and a large sagital crest. Their main diet was probably wild fruits, nuts, roots, and vegetables. Although, the handy man did not have skills to make fire they built fire camps out of existing fires. The Homo erectus succeeded the Homo sabilis. They existed between 1. 6 million BCE to 30 000 BCE. He was about the same size as the modern man although the size of their brain was two third the size of human brain. Their tool making skills improved considerably; they made stone axes and knives. Homo erectus made fire and cooked their food. Besides fire camping, fire brought about social occasions in. Homo erectus had much semblance with human especially their teeth and jaws. They walked upright. Scientist discovered that these early men skeleton was shaped like modern man. Their skulls grew forward for their brain to develop. Besides, creating stone tools, and bone needles and fish hooks, the Homo sapiens sew clothes from animal skins. The Homo sapiens were also hunters and gatherers. In conclusion, several other discoveries that purport the existence of early man lack credibility. Piltdown man, also known as the dawn man and scientifically referred as Eanthropus dawsoni was discovered by Charles Dawson in 1912. He concluded that Piltdown man existed in 500 000 million years ago, had ape-like jawbone but the teeth and the skull resembled that of human being. However, after forty years of discovery, Kenneth Oakley, Joseph Weiner and Wilfred Le Gros Clark termed the discovery as a hoax. They claimed that the skull was indeed human and the jawbone was of a modern ape whose teeth were filed to resemble that of human. Again, Nebraska scientifically known as Hesperopithecus haroldcookii was discovered in Pliocene deposits of Nebraska in 1922 by Mr. Cook. It was publicized by Henry Osborn who likened its teeth to that of man. Unfortunately, he failed to conclude whether Hesperopithecus was an ape or human ancestor. References: Muller, H. J. (1959). One Hundred Years Without Darwin Are Enough. Osborn, H. F. (1926). The Evolution of Human Races, Natural History. Spielvogel, J. J. Western Civilization, Volume 1, Sixth Edition.

advantages of presidential systems

advantages of presidential systems One of the advantages of a presidential system is that the head of state is usually elected through a direct mandate. In terms of democracy, this makes the presidents authority more legitimate as he is elected directly by the people as oppose to being appointed indirectly. Another advantage of a presidential system is the stability it brings as presidents are usually elected to fixed terms while a prime ministers government can fall at anytime. An example of this is in Canada; where in a minority government the leader of the opposition, Michael Ignatieff, could bring down Stephen Harpers government and has threatened to do so several times. This is in contrast to President Obamas tenure which is secure till the elections of 2012. Additionally, presidential system allow for the separation of powers as the legislature is a completely different structure and institution. This allows a system of checks and balances to be created, allowing one to monitor the other. Speed and decisiveness can be seen as a positive characteristic of a presidential system, as presidents usually have stronger constitutional powers allowing them to spearhead reform and enact change swiftly. Conversely, one advantage of a parliamentary system is that its faster and easier to pass legislation. This is because the executive branch is part of the legislative branch and is dependent upon the direct or indirect support of it as it usually comprised of members of the legislature. This can be seen in the Canadian system of government where the prime minister and his cabinet is also Member of Parliament. This segues into the advantage that parliamentary systems usually have a higher propensity for having unified governments, as minority governments are the minority. This adds to the governments ability to pass legislation more quickly, as it is rare for a majority government to have their own legislation defeated, as parliamentary system usually have greater party discipline. Moreover, the lack of a head of states veto power also allows legislation to pass more swiftly. Another advantage of a parliamentary system is that power is more evenly diverged. Constitutionally, the prime minister rarely has such high importance of a president. An example of this is how parliamentary systems allow MPs to directly question the prime minister and his government. Also, lower individual importance on the prime minster position can be seen through elections tendencies as there is a higher focus on political party ideas than on the actual person. Lastly, the advantage of the government technically being able to dissolve at any time allows the government to be more accountable and viable. This allows parliament to replace a government or a prime minister if he or she has been lackluster or detrimental to the country. This allows for practicable governments to continue governing while ineffective ones can be disposed of. Disadvantages to a presidential system include tendencies towards authoritarianism. Because of the overarching power given to one person, presidential systems could quickly transform into authoritarian regimes if circumstances permit. Also the centralization of authority could lead to the president becoming a more influential figure in society and the media. This high priority on the president could lower and undermine civic participation as people might feel they cannot play an active role in lawmaking or place a lower significance on the legislative branches of government relative to the executive. Furthermore, separation of powers is also seen as a disadvantage of the presidential system as it might create gridlock and stalemates within the government. One example of this could be if the President continues to veto bills that the legislature ratifies, impeding government from passing laws. This can be seen in 1995 when Democrat Bill Clinton was president with a Republican controll ed Congress. The government could not get consensus on anything, not even on a budget. Lastly, impediments to leadership change can be seen as another disadvantage as it can be more difficult to remove an unsuitable president from office before her term is concluded, creating a potential situation where an idol or unhelpful president could not be removed and be replaced a better alternative. On the other hand, disadvantages to a parliamentary system include that the head of government is usually not directly elected. This is because the prime minister is typically elected by the legislature or the party in power, which normally means the party leadership. In addition, another disadvantage in the parliamentary system is that there is no independent body to oppose and veto legislation approved by parliament, and thus a lack of a cohesive checks and balance system. Also, because of the shortage in the separation of powers, parliamentary systems could instill too much power in the executive. This is because MPs usually have to adhere to parliamentary discipline, and cannot vote based on their own judgments or constituencies. Furthermore, as elections in parliamentary systems usually result in a majority government, this could lead to the tyranny of the majority resulting in the minority parties to be marginalized as they would have little to no input in government legislatio n. Moreover, parliamentary systems can be seen as inherently unstable, if minority governments are elected and coalition governments are formed as the government can be brought down at any time. Opponents of the parliamentary system point to Japans recent instabilities and constant replacing of prime ministers as well as Weimar Germany as examples where unstable coalitions, belligerent minority parties, and constant threats of the government being voted down by opposition parties. Lastly, the parliamentary system lack of a definite election calendar can be mistreated to allow parties to gain political advantages. The governing party can schedule elections with relative freedom, and avoid elections when it is unpopular. Indeed, in a Canadian context, Prime Minister Stephen Harper defeated his own government because polls showed that he had the ability to win a majority at the time. This gives an unfair advantage to ruling parties who can stave off defeat or increase their mandate at the expense of the opposition parties. The influence of a presidential system on politics can be seen through the stronger role of the president i as well as the gridlock that can be experienced when passing legislation. This is opposed to the parliamentary system and how a prime minister usually has a smaller role in politics while parliament is typically quick in passing legislation and avoiding gridlock. First, the president usually becomes a national figure, which represents the government regardless of the effectiveness of legislation. As policies are harder to pinpoint compared to parliamentary systems, a president usually receives all criticism and blame on legislation passed, regardless if the party passed it or not. However in parliamentary systems, the governing party usually receives praise and criticism for legislation passed with not everything being placed upon the prime minister. This segues into the president is the head of state, and performing ceremonial roles as well as being the commander in chief of t he armed forces. He also plays an active role in the government by setting out a governments agenda especially if her party is also in control of the legislature. This differs from parliamentary system as there is a more visible separation of head of state and head of government. An example of this is the Queen in the UK who almost exclusively performs ceremonial roles. The Queen by convention does not veto any legislation passed by the government, as she does not have that legitimacy given through the electorate. This differs from the prime minister who is directly involved in the lawmaking organs of parliament. The president in a presidential system is almost like the center part of a venn-diagram as she possesses the ceremonial part of the head of state while playing active role in the government process like a prime minister. Another influence that a president has on parliament is his role in the checks in balance system. The United States government is must more used to gridloc k and stalemates between the levels of government and even between to the two houses as that is how the system is set up to me. This is in contrast where legislation is Canada can be passed rather rapidly especially if the party has a majority government. This presidential system influences the way representatives behave as they

Assisi, Italy Essay example -- Observation Essays, Descriptive Essays

Assisi Before and After Francis and Clare? Assisi is a town located in the province of Perugia and Umbrian region of central Italy (?Assisi?).? It is located at the foot of Monte Subasio, which is 1300 feet or 400 meters above sea level. The narrow, winding streets and the surrounding city walls are indicative of the region?s medieval history (?Assisi?).? Although the town is primarily known as the birthplace of St. Francis, it was an important location for the Umbrians, Etruscans, and Romans (?Assisi?).? As an ancient Umbrian center, the townspeople fought with the neighboring Etruscan cities.? In 89 BC, Assisi became a confederated Roman city and a municipium named Asisium (?12. Franciscan Sanctuaries?).? Today the remains of the Roman forum, the amphitheater, and most noticeably the Temple of Minerva serve as a testament to this city's ancient Roman origins.? In the early Middle Ages, the town was subject to the dukes of Spoleto, and in the 12th century, Assisi became an independent commune involved in internal dispu tes and wars with Perugia.? It joined the Papal States in the 16th century and the Italian kingdom in 1860 (?Assisi?).? The medieval architecture and religious artwork left by the various inhabitants of Assisi have given this town a timeless quality.? Although it is a town of the twenty-first century, millions of tourists and religious pilgrims flock to the area seeking simplicity, reflection, and peace. From Paganism to Christianity Under the Romans Under the Roman Emperor Augustus, the grand Forum was constructed; various temples were built; the city walls were completed; the baths and healing springs of mineral waters were opened; and the theater was constructed along side the amphitheatre.? T... .... Connor, Mary OSC. Personal Interview. 10 November 2003. ?Earthquake Jolts Assisi.? Franciscans and St. Anthony Press. 16 Nov. 2003. . Lattin, Don.? ?A Renaissance in Assisi; St. Francis? Hometowns Rebuilds After 1997 Quakes.? The San Francisco Chronicle. 12-23-99, A-1. Miller, Ramona, O.S.F. In the Footsteps of Saint Clare - A Pilgirms Guide Book. St. Bonaventure, NY: The Franciscan Institute, 1993. ?Temple of Minvera.? Convento S. Antonio. 16 Nov. 2003. . ?1. St. Francis and St. Clare ? Life and Times.? Franciscan Institute Outreach ? Malta. 19 Nov. 2003. < http://198.62.75.1/www1/ofm/fra/FRAlife1.html>. ? 12. Franciscan Sanctuaries.? Franciscan Institute Outreach ? Malta. 19 Nov. 2003. .

Engineering Education in Ghana

2.2.4 EducationEducation serves as an engine for economic growing through the accretion of human capital. Education is strongly associated with boosting degrees of societal capital ( Campbell, 2006 ) . the act or procedure of leaving or geting general cognition, developing the powers of concluding and judgement, and by and large of fixing oneself or others intellectually for mature life ( Dictionary.com, 2014 ) .2.2.5 ENGINEERING EducationEngineering instruction is the activity of learning cognition and rules related to the professional pattern of technology. It includes the initial instruction for going an applied scientist and any advanced instruction and specialisations that follow. Engineering instruction is typically accompanied by extra scrutinies and supervised preparation as the demands for a professional technology licence.2.3 Technology Education IN GHANA OVER THE YEARSEngineering instruction in the so Gold Coast dates back to the 1930’s. In August 1931, the Colonial Government requested Achimota College in Accra to form an technology class to develop Africans for senior assignments in the Public Works Department, the railroads and subsequently, the mines. The class, which was based on the external grade course of study of the University of London, consisted of four and a half old ages of survey at Achimota, followed by between three and four old ages of structured post-graduation practical preparation. Initially, the class offered at Achimota led to grades in electrical, mechanical and civil technology, but with the enlargement of activities in the excavation sector in the Gold Coast, it became necessary for the School to spread out its class offerings to include excavation technology. In malice of the troubles it experienced, the Achimota Engineering School managed to turn out a sum of 25 applied scientists before the start of the Second World War compelled it to close down. These applied scientists were to play cardinal functions in the imme diate post-independence development of Ghana and besides served in other African states every bit good as working for international bureaus. With the constitution of the University College of the Gold Coast in Legon, Accra in 1948, university instruction was phased out of the Achimota College campus. Unfortunately, no proviso was made for the transportation of the technology classs to the new University College, therefore the preparation of applied scientists was interrupted between 1948 and 1952 when a School of Engineering was once more established as portion of the new Kumasi College of Technology and the equipment, and some staff of the Achimota Engineering School transferred to Kumasi to organize the karyon of the new school. From 1952 to 1955, the School of Engineering prepared its pupils for rank of the assorted Professional Institutions in the United Kingdom. The formal preparation of alumnus applied scientists of assorted specialisations commenced in 1955 in particular rela tionship with the University of London and pupils were prepared to take Partss I, II and III of the University of London Bachelor of Science ( Engineering ) External grade scrutinies. The first professional applied scientists produced by the Kumasi School of Engineering, who were all civil applied scientists, graduated with the university of London External B.Sc. ( Eng. ) grade in June 1959. The School of Engineering began to present its ain technology grades in June 1964.2.3.1 Technology Education FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENTRelevance of technology plans to the demands of industry has sometimes been interpreted as a state of affairs in which the merchandises of an technology plan are to be trained to be of immediate usage to industry after small or no post-graduation preparation. Pressures, hence, be given to be put on African technology modules to cut down on the content of the theoretical facets of their classs in favour of vocational facets – force per unit areas which are, i n bend, frequently ferociously resisted by technology pedagogues. Yet, technology plans in African Universities stand to derive enormously when there is active co-operation between technology pedagogues and the chief consumers of technology work force based on common regard and clear grasp of the functions of the assorted stakeholders. It is besides anticipated that the technological spread between the developed and the underdeveloped universe will go even wider in the twenty-first Century, therefore, doing technology preparation even more situation-specific. This will intend that Ghana will hold to depend even more on her national establishments for the preparation of the technology work force relevant to their development demands. It will, hence, be necessary for the professional associations and the preparation establishments in Africa to co-operate even more closely in specifying the content of the technology course of study of the twenty-first Century.2.4 DESIGNING AN ENGINEERI NG SCHOOL2.4.1CONDUSIVE TEACHING EnvironmentTo forestall the assorted jobs pupils and lectors face in the schoolroom, it is of import to set into consideration the agreement of the schoolroom. Savage 2009 indicates that, the physical agreement of schoolrooms plays a prima function in the character defining of pupils and goes a long manner in bettering the academic public presentation of pupils. If a schoolroom is non good designed, it affects the end product of pupils, hence hindering on the intent for which talks are intended. The research on schoolroom environments suggests that schoolrooms should be organized to suit a assortment of activities throughout the twenty-four hours and to run into the teacher’s instructional ends ( Savage, 1999 ; Weinstein, 1992 ) . The criterions for finding what spacial lay-out is most appropriate to carry through these maps include: ways to maximise the teacher’s ability to see and be seen by all his or her pupils ; ease easiness of mo tion throughout the schoolroom ; minimize distractions so that pupils are best able to actively prosecute in faculty members ; supply each pupil and the instructor with his or her ain personal infinite ; and guaranting that each pupil can see presentations and stuffs posted in the schoolroom. Seating agreement in talk halls are really important since it indicates whether there will be societal exchanges in the category is task behaviorally delighting. It is besides really important to forestall high traffic countries in schoolroom designs, such as waste basket countries. Critically, it is really of import that, pupils have a clear position of the lector at every point in clip ( Quin et al. , 2000 ) . In making so, the lector should besides be giving freedom in his motion through the talk room or schoolroom. There is some grounds that it is utile to restrict ocular and audile stimulation that may deflect pupils with attending and behaviour jobs ( Bettenhausen, 1998 ; Cummings, Quinn et al. , 2000 ) . The physical agreement of the schoolroom can function as a powerful setting event for supplying pupils effectual direction and facilitate ( or inhibit ) positive instruction or learning interactions. As with other facets of direction, the physical agreement of the schoolroom should be brooding of the diverse cultural and lingual features of the pupils and be consistent with specific scholar demands.2.4.2 STAIRWAYSStairwaies are seen as connections between at least two different degrees. Vertical risers and horizontal paces are connected to stairss over a incline. It can besides be defined as a system of stairss by which people and objects may go through from one degree of a edifice to another. One of the most critical parts of school traffic design is the staircase, which should be located in relation to the inclusive traffic form, maintaining in head burden distribution, safety, finish of pupils between periods and riddance of cross traffic. The staircases should be designed for unsophisticated, fast, and safe motion of male childs and misss. Stairways non merely supply entree to and from assorted floor degrees, but they are used at every period for the perpendicular circulation of pupils altering categories. It is of import that staircases should be designed to guarantee that male childs and misss with books under their weaponries may walk side by side to avoid congestion ; a breadth of 4 pess 8 inches to 5 pess between bannisters is recommended. Stairwaies should be of fireproof building, taking straight to the out-of-doorss. They should be equipped with smoke-control installations, dividing the stairwells from the corridors which they serve.2.4.3 CorridorA well-designed school has corridors that accommodate the free and informal motion of pupils. The narrow corridor normally requires formal, regimented, and supervised traffic flow. The walls of corridors should be free of all projections. Heat units, imbibing fountains, fire asphyxiators, cabinets, doors, and show instances should be recessed in the involvement of pupil safety. Acoustic belongingss are desirable to cut down hall noise. Corridors should be good lighted, with exigency proviso in the event of chief power failure. Floor covering should be lasting, nonskid, and easy to keep. The maximal length of unbroken corridors should non transcend 150 pess to 200 pess longer subdivisions give an unwanted position.2.5 FORMAL SPACES2.5.1 CLASSROOMSClassrooms have comparatively straightforward demands: line of sight, good acoustics, and a focal point at the forepart of the room helping as the platform for instructors to talk. Physical restraints such as the ability of pupils to turn around in their seats, can restrict the success of a designed schoolroom infinite. The room may be designed for pupil coaction. Seatings may be arranged in mated rows with specially design chairs that allow pupils to confront each other for coaction. Apart from the schoolroom and formal infinites, educational establishments are besides designed with the proviso of informal infinites in head.2.5.2 OfficesThe finding of whether an office or cell will be assigned is based on an person ‘s occupation description and place within the organisation. Factors such as confidentiality or security demands, figure of employees supervised and particular equipment demands will be evaluated. Offices should be placed near the inside nucleus infinite. This increases the incursion of natural visible radiation into the edifice. When it is impractical to turn up offices near the inside nucleus, door running lights and borrowed visible radiations should be considered to convey daytime into the interior infinites. Translucent glazing such as frosted or patterned glass can be used if there is a ocular privateness demand. Offices located in the inside of the edifice infinite should be provided with a door or running light assembly or a borrowed visi ble radiation ( interior window ) in at least one wall at a tallness above the finished floor that allows ocular privateness while conveying visible radiation from the exterior.2.6 REQUIREMENTS OF LECTURE HALL SPACES( The followers demands of a schoolroom design have been taken from the â€Å"University of Maryland, Baltimore County General Lecture Hall Design Guidelines, and Revised August 25, 2000 ) . Physical Access and Movement – The design shall take into history the flow of pupils both in and out of the infinite and within the infinite every bit good as the demand for the teacher to travel about in the forepart of the room. 1. Sufficient infinite is needed near the forepart of the room for puting up audiovisual equipment, such as projection screens and charts. 2. Ceilings should be a upper limit of 9.5 pess high. 3. Light from Windowss should, if possible, come over a student ‘s left shoulder. No lector should be required to confront the Windowss when turn toing the category from the normal teaching place. 4. Ceilings and/or walls should be acoustically treated. 5. Floors should hold a cushioning stuff. 6. The schoolroom should hold as quiet a location as possible, off from noisy out-of-door countries. Ease of entree to specialise installations outside the academic unit should be ensured.2.6.1 DOORSThe flow of pupils should be the major factor in finding the location of entrywaies. Entrances should be located to avoid pupil traffic go throughing through non-instructional countries. In add-on, big Numberss of pupils going in corridors and hallways can bring forth unwanted noise. In finding the size of entrywaies and issues, constructing codifications should non be the lone standard. The flow of pupils in and out of suites can hold a major impact on size of entrywaies and issues. The design of entrywaies, issues, stepss, corridors, and exterior waies should take into history between-class pupil traffic. For illustration, it is non realistic to presume that a room will be wholly vacant when pupils begin geting for the following category. Provision should hence be made for vision panels in entryway doors. They could be tinted. Besides, proviso should be made for door Michigans to protect the wall surface.2.6.2 FLOOR, WALLS AND CEILINGSIn smaller schoolrooms, it is common to utilize vinyl composing tile or rug. Rug should be provided in all suites unless subject particular related classs dictate otherwise. The ceiling tallness is another of import consideration when planing the infinite. For illustration, because a projection screen must be big plenty to expose images of equal size, it must be placed high plenty from the floor to supply unobstructed sight lines. This normally requires a ceiling tallness higher than the standard eight pess.2.6.3 NOISE CONTROLOther of import factors must be considered in the design. To avoid the noise generated by their operation and usage, peddling machines must be located as far off as possible. Trash and recycling containers should be located near the peddling machines. Restrooms and imbibing fountains should be located nearby and should be designed to manage pupil usage between categories. To forestall unwanted noise transmittal, public toilets should non portion common walls, floors, or ceilings with instructional infinites

The health of individuals Essays

The health of individuals Essays The health of individuals Essay The health of individuals Essay There are many factors that influence both positively and negatively to a persons environment such as social, economical, employment, education, ethnicity, gender, age and location. Many of these characteristics are linked and throughout my research in this essay, I will focus on education, employment and social support and examine the detrimental effects these three factors have on ones health due to the particular environment they inhabit within these determinants. Empirical studies of populations based on these categories form the basis for socioeconomic analysis, as hey demonstrate the extent to which structural inequalities exist in any society (Carson et al. , 2007, p. 88). In addition, we investigate the substantial impact these three factors have on the state of health of the aboriginal population of Australia. Health and illness are of great social importance to ourselves, our family and the community as a whole. The state of ones health can have a big impact on the economy through loss of productivity and costs involved with maintaining health or illness (Woods, 2009). When studying health and illness, people are not merely illogical beings, they are also psychological and social creatures, and state of health is affected by all three aspects (Weiss et al. , 2009, p. 113). Therefore, it is important to analyze these determinants in order to convey how simple everyday issues in a persons life impacts on their well being and influences their family and community. In saying that, the research in this essay aims to illustrate that health professionals should not Just focus on the clinical medicine diagnoses to promote good health but go beyond this by exploring the underlying social conditions within ones unique environment. The educational qualification a person has obtained plays a large role in determining lifes pathway. From early childhood, if you are provided with all the basic material needs, your mental and physical health is more likely to thrive, than a child growing up with few choices and not have their basic needs met. This is where education intervenes by influencing the childs self-confidence and impacting on their interaction with their environment (Macdonald, 2005). It has been well documented that educated people are more likely to be employed full-time in a gratifying Job, to eave a good income with little economic hardship, to have higher levels of social support and to be healthier through eating nutritious food and making positive behavioral choices in regards to smoking, alcohol and drug consumption (Weiss, et al. , 2009). While people that are less educated are at greater risk of chronic disease and dying prematurely (Boucher et al, 2007). For example, one study in Canada revealed that people with more than 12 years of education are less likely to suffer health problems such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or to be overweight (Macdonald, 2005). Bevel can determine whether a person, firstly, can gain employment in a competitive market and then may govern the grade of income they can receive due to their knowledge and the hazards involved with their profession. When examining at the working conditions of laborers between 1998-2000, they had 104% more people die within these industries than people employed in managerial or administrative roles, due to occupational illness and injury (Bam, 2008), this shows the significant impact that work environment has on health. On the other hand, The National Health Survey ported that the unemployed were more likely to suffer from mental and behavioral problems and were more likely to smoke, have a poorer diet and be obese (Bam, 2008). In contrast to this, there is now evidence that Psychosocial factors at work influence risk of physical and mental illness and may play a role in contributing to the social gradient in ill health (Marmot et al. , 2006, p. 97). Therefore, the evidence shows that both groups, employed lower class workers and the unemployed are facing considerable health problems within both environments. Never the less, employment status still has substantial influence on ones health. One study in the I-J, suggested that if there were more equality of income we would see a dramatic improvement in the health of the lower class; this is the practice used in Sweden, where the lowest social class has a better mortality rate than the highest class in England (Merchant, 2007). Furthermore, if you then look at women in the work force the majority are receiving a lower income than their male counterparts, and are often employed only on a casual basis and dominate low paid occupations due to their raring responsibilities (Koehler, 2009), this research in itself shows the inequities of employment in regards to gender. Another view on this, is due to the high costs of living both parents are pressured into working which in turn reduces time for family (Bam, 2008) and a work-life balance this in itself may have a carry on effect for future generations well-being. Beyond the benefits of a regular income, a persons occupation is essential for solicitation and unfortunately these days one would not stay in the same Job for life like they once did, therefore social support from work is less common (Bam, 2008). Social cohesion among people who would normally remain isolated in their home, has shown to provide protection against ill health, this explains how some escape the poor health profile experienced by others in a similar socio-economic position (Carson et al. , 2007, p. 10). Building and maintaining a stable emotional environment is essential as human well being is nourished not only by food, but by supportive engagement with other people, by the knowledge and experience of being cared for and valued (Macdonald, 2005, p. 5). Having these connections between individuals and community groups provide a source information, emotional and financial support (IHA, 2007). Therefore, social support regardless of the other factors can have a positive impact on an individuals health and can provide participation in social networks, personal growth and aid development (Marmot et al. , 2006) by giving individuals a sense belonging and value within a community loneliness and unhappiness, which can c ause high levels of stress and depression (Koehler, 2009). One way in which we can bring the communities together and encourage social networks is by community capacity building. Individuals need to feel empowered by making changes in their social structure and process, this can result in increase of resources and opportunities and in turn give individuals the social support needed to make a positive difference in their health (Verity, 2007). A further area that we can examine in regards to social factors, is the indigenous population of Australia, it is clear that their environment is having a significantly negative impact on their health. If you look at the number of Indigenous people on welfare payments this reflects the rate of unemployment and the low rates of labor racket participation within this group (Carson et al. , 2007). This may be due to the lack of education, as a far higher proportion of Aboriginal Australians have not attended school at all, compared with non Indigenous Australians, and are unlikely to participate in any education after they are 1 5 years old. Aboriginal adolescents are often alienated by the education system as not being able to achieve a good education and have high levels of failure, absenteeism and behavior problems (Bam, 2008). Therefore, they become a burden to the school and consequently, they eave or are expelled. As social networks weaken due to perception of inequality, a person can become sensitive to their situation and experience feelings of inferior, this leads to chronic stress and increased vulnerability to infection and cardiovascular diseases, or even suicide (Carson et al. , 2007), all resulting from a lack of social support and belonging. A stark reminder of the combined effect of entrenched racism, deprivation and discrimination is in the profoundly disadvantaged health status of Indigenous Australians, which is essentially the result f extreme social exclusion policies and practices (Koehler, 2009, p. 167). The above analysis highlights that there have been significant negative impacts on individuals health due to their social environment including education level, employment status and social support. The evidence clearly shows these environments play a significant part in determining the health of an individual.

Displaying a PDF File in a VB.NET Form

Displaying a PDF File in a VB.NET Form PDF files have an internal document format that requires a software object that understands the format. Since many of you might have used the functions of Office in your VB code, lets look briefly at Microsoft Word as an example of processing a formatted document to make sure we understand the concept. If you want to work with a Word document, you have to add a Reference to the Microsoft Word 12.0 Object Library (for Word 2007) and then instantiate the Word Application object in your code. Dim myWord As Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.ApplicationClass Start Word and open the document. myWord CreateObject(Word.Application) myWord.Visible True myWord.Documents.Open(C:\myWordDocument.docx) ( must be replaced with the actual path to the document to make this code work on your PC.) Microsoft uses the Word Object Library to provide other methods and properties for your use. Read the article COM -.NET Interoperability in Visual Basic to understand more about Office COM interop. But PDF files arent a Microsoft technology. PDF - Portable Document Format - is a file format created by Adobe Systems for document exchange. For years, it was totally proprietary and you had to get software that could process a PDF file from Adobe. On July 1, 2008, PDF was finalized as a published international standard. Now, anyone is permitted to create applications that can read and write PDF files without having to pay royalties to Adobe Systems. If you plan on selling your software, you still may be required to get a license, but Adobe provides them royalty-free. (Microsoft created a different format called XPS that is based on XML. Adobes PDF format is based on Postscript. XPS became a published international standard on June 16, 2009.) The Uses of PDF Since the PDF format is a competitor to Microsofts technology, they dont provide a lot of support and you have to get a software object that understands the PDF format from someone other than Microsoft right now. Adobe returns the favor. They dont support Microsoft technology all that well either. Quoting from the latest (October 2009) Adobe Acrobat 9.1 documentation, There is currently no support for the development of plug-ins using managed languages such as C# or VB.NET. (A plug-in is an on-demand software component. Adobes plug-in is used to display PDFs in a browser.) Since PDF is a standard, several companies have developed software for sale that you can add to your project that will do the job, including Adobe. There are also a number of open-source systems available. You could also use the Word (or Visio) object libraries to read and write PDF files but using these large systems for just this one thing will require extra programming, also has license issues, and will make your program bigger than it has to be. Just as you need to buy Office before you can take advantage of Word, you also have to buy the full version of Acrobat before you can take advantage of more than just the Reader. You would use the full Acrobat product in about the same way that other object libraries, like Word 2007 above, are used. I dont happen to have the full Acrobat product installed so I couldnt provide any tested examples here. How To But if you only need to display PDF files in your program, Adobe provides an ActiveX COM control that you can add to the VB.NET Toolbox. It will do the job for free. Its the same one you probably use to display PDF files anyway: the free Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader. To use the Reader control, first make sure that you have downloaded and installed the free Acrobat Reader from Adobe. Step 2 is to add the control to the VB.NET Toolbox. Open VB.NET and start a standard Windows application. (Microsofts next generation of presentation, WPF, doesnt work with this control yet. Sorry!) To do that, right-click on any tab (such as Common Controls) and select Choose Items ... from the context menu that pops up. Select the COM Components tab and click the checkbox beside Adobe PDF Reader and click OK. You should be able to scroll down to the Controls tab in the Toolbox and see the Adobe PDF Reader there. Now just drag the control to your Windows Form in the design window and size it appropriately. For this quick example, Im not going to add any other logic, but the control has lots of flexibility that Ill tell you how to find out about later. For this example, Im just going to load a simple PDF that I created in Word 2007. To do that, add this code to the form Load event procedure: Console.WriteLine(AxAcroPDF1.LoadFile( _   Ã‚  Ã‚  C:\Users\Temp\SamplePDF.pdf)) Substitute the path and file name of a PDF file on your own computer to run this code. I displayed the result of the call in the Output windows only to show how that works. Heres the result: Click Here to display the illustrationClick the Back button on your browser to return If you want to control the Reader, there are methods and properties for that in the control too. But the good folks at Adobe have done a better job than I could. Download the Adobe Acrobat SDK from their developer center (adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/). The AcrobatActiveXVB program in the VBSamples directory of the SDK shows you how to navigate in a document, get the version numbers of the Adobe software you are using, and much more. If you dont have the full Acrobat system installed - which must be purchased from Adobe - you wont be able to run other examples.