Nursing Information Systems Survey

Nursing Information Systems Survey Study of Nursing Information Systems (NIS) in teaching hospital of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences Leila Erfannial Msc1,Yousef Mehdipour PhD 1,Afsaneh Karimi Msc 1,Ayeshe Zarei Bs 1,Nahid Mehrabi Msc 2 ABSTRACT Purpose: Nurses are one of the biggest providers in health industry that effect directly on health service quality and outcomes. Nurses need correct information in correct time to have an effective service for patient and other member of health society. Nursing information system (NIS) is subsystem of hospital information system that can help nurse to have better performances. The main goal of this study is evaluation of nursing information system in teaching hospital of Zahedan according standard criteria. Materials and Methods: This research is based on a descriptive – cross sectional study that has done on 2013.Nursing information system of 4 teaching hospital in Zahedan were evaluated. For data gathering, we use a checklist that its reliability and validity was verified. Results: According our result, NIS of our study has met 42.19% of priority in general scopes, 72.33% for nursing data set, none of them had classification system standards. They had 45% of nursing data register priorities and 61.12% of report requirement was met. Conclusion: According our system weakness in general aspects, data register and data classification, we propose educational package such as workshops, classes and bulletin for nurses in hospitals toward optimal using of NIS. In other hand , provide nurses with enough hardware requirements , management supervision on using system , provide NIS systems by nursing classification standards and contribution of nurses in selection and implementation of this system is suggested. Keywords: nursing information system; hospital information system; nurse INTRODUCTION There is an increasing growth in information production in different sciences and theqnics, so the management of these volumes of information is very difficult. Information technology is a useful tool for management and useful application of this information. Health industry has faced with increasing rate of information generation that are multiple and complicated in nature1. So health information technology can help this high-demanded industry to manage information. Health information systems are some kinds of tools that integrate and communicate patient data and information and also can process the data and make some new information2. Nurses are one of the biggest providers in health industry that effect directly on health service quality and outcomes. Nurses need correct information in correct time to have an effective service for patient and other member of health society3. Nursing information system (NIS) are subsystem of hospital information system that can help nurse to have better performances, more nursing knowledge and make available data and information for nurses to have a role in health policy making and also decision making around health society and patients4. Furthermore, NIS can participate in hospital information process so lead to a better communication between health care team in hospital 5 . Margaretconclude that using NIS in hospital has a positive effect on information quality that provide by nurses6 .Ammenwerth state that NIS lead to better and more complete documentation of patient information and also better quality of information process5 .Toolabi in her study conclude that optimization of hospital information system would lead to a significant progress in nursing care average and better communication between nurses , patient and health care team and consequently patient more truth to health system ,health services and nurses, more patient family satisfaction and at the end , decrease patient claims7. Zahedan, the capital city of a province in southeast of Iran uses hospital information system in teaching hospital. Nursing information system is one this system module that use in these hospitals. So the basic objective of this study is to evaluate Nursing information system according standard indexes in four sections: general specification of systems, nursing data set , nursing nomenclature and classification specification , documentation registration and reporting specification of systems. MATERIALS AND METHODS This research is based on a descriptive – cross sectional study that has done on 2013.nursing information system of 4 teaching hospital in Zahedan were evaluated. For data gathering, we use a checklist that its reliability and validity was verified. Checklist has 5 section at whole: section 1 has some questions about the system, vendor and some general information about NIS module, section 2 was about general specification of nursing information system. The questions has two answers yes or no.this section involve 23 question about patient care process,11 about ward management process, 10 about communication process and 1 question research and education process.in section 3 , we have some questions about nursing data set that involve 5 question about nursing care data specification, 15 about patient data specification and 14 about service providing data specifications. Section 4 has some question about nursing nomenclature and classification data specification with 25 questions and in section 5 nursing data, registration and reporting requirements were evaluated by 6 questions about personnelreport, 14 questions about clinical report and 3 about financial report. The researchers attended in hospitals and by deep interviewing and also direct observation of systems, gather information and register in checklists. Supervisor of hospital, health information technologist and some professional nurse who uses NIS and familiar with the potential of system was interviewed; furthermore, during interview the researchers can observe the NIS and its functions. After gathering information, we use descriptive statistics to analysis our data by using Excel 2010 tables. RESULTS According our study, general specification of our NIS was evaluated in 5 aspects and 4 hospitals.(table 1) At whole, the frequency of patient care process data specification was 44/56%, ward management data specification was 31.81%, communication process data specification 47.5% and education and research data specification was 50% in our society research. Nursing data set was evaluated in 4 aspects in 4 hospitals: nursing care data set , patient data set, service data set (table 2) According our study , nursing care data set specification was 40% , patient data set specification was 71.66% and service data set specification was 84%. None of our NIS , has nursing classification standards specification data. Data registration and reporting specification data was evaluated in 4 aspects.(table 3) DISCUSSION Information technology making a great service for nurses to perform their tasks8. According our result, by using NIS in all hospital, nurses can receive patient demographic data from admission,discharge,and transmission (ADT) system of hospitals and also can register of different request such as laboratory tests, radiology and pharmacy services. And also they can observe laboratory and radiology results. But none of NIS support nursing evidence based and alert variances from normal patterns. According Ammenwerthstudy, after using information systems, nurses report more quickly patient data documentation, better information monitoring and progress in patient information legibility5. Kossman state that electronic health record implementation in hospital lead to decrease inter-department communication and promote critical thinking between nurses9. Making electronic communication between different parts of hospital is one of the most important capabilities of hospital information systems. According our study, by using nursing information system, in all hospital, nurses can schedule the admission of patients in their wards. Nurses in hospitals can access to information in every place of hospital. In hospital Cand D , nurses can transmit all information by NIS when changing their shifts. According Hinsonstudy , using NIS would lead to the time increasethat nurses spend on patient direct care (10.66%) ,verbal communication 19.33% decrease and mean time for reviewing data 8.9% increase10. Standard NIS needs nursing concepts standards and nursing data standards3. Without unified nursing language , internal data integration and external connection of information would disappear when information are shared and also there would be some problem for clinical decision support.in other hand , nursing information are unstructured generally , so if we don’t use a standard unified language , the retrieval of information would be difficult11. Result of our study show that, none of NIS in Zahedan hospital use standard nursing classification. This issue is very similar to Ahmadi research, they suggest standard nursing classification system for standardization of nursing data and concept to facilities retrieval of information that register in nursing information system12. All NIS in our study, register patient demographic data , nursing diagnostic data and data about service provided by nurses can record ECG data.in hospital C and D , patient vital signs and input-output liquid balance data , can enter to the terminal near patient bed. Anderson state that a standard nursing data set should involve nursing diagnostic data , nursing intervention , nursing outcome and intensity of nursing services and declare , by using such standard data set , management of nursing service cost , supporting of resources that allocated to the nurses , nursing knowledge developed and at the end nursing nursing profession would be promoted13. Making different reports is one of basic management capability of nursing information system that can provide valuable information about personnel productivity, budget management and nursing workload management in different shifts14. In hospital A,B and D , NIS making schedule for personnelshifts. All NIS , can make clinical reports such as laboratory and pathology report and reports about admitted or discharged patients. In Ahmadi study, reporting specification data was met 20.4%,63.5% and 85.2% in personnel , clinical and financial reports4. CONCLUSION Nurses have a great role in health care systems so documentation of their services would be very easy by using nursing information system.so if we want to implement an effective NIS , at first , we should implement a powerful HIS as an infrastructure for any hospital ward subsystem. Nurses are the biggest group of NIS users , so nurses computer literature promotion , has an important role in success and acceptance of NIS. So educational workshop and classes for nurses in hospital would be helpful to make better utilization of nursing information system also increasing inter-hospital communication between nurses and health information technologist would have a helpful tool for transmitting professional knowledge between these groups. Using nurse’s knowledge and skills in all phase electronic system development and implementation and courage electronic health systems developer to use this knowledge in their production is an essential item for successfulness of NIS and systems li ke that. Since we don’t have any national nursing standard classification and nomenclature , prepare , provide an standard unified system according national requirements is another important factor for implementation and usage of NIS and at whole , establishment some professional workshop that has different different profession such as nursing , health information technology , policy making and so on , to start and monitored special effort about nursing information system requirement , development and implementation is very important. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors are grateful to nurses and health information technologist of educational hospital affiliated to Zahedan University of medical sciences who kindly participated in this study. REFERENCES 1.Bitaraf E, Riazy G. comprehensive hospital information system. iranian ministry of health,care and education 2006. 2.Yoder-wise PS. Leading and Managing in Nursing. second ed: St. Louis: Mosby; 1999. 3.Organization PAH, Organization WH. BuildingStandard-BasedNursing Information Systems. Washington: PAHO Library Cataloguing in Publication Data; 2000. 4.Ahmadi M, Habibi Koolaee M. Nursing Information Systems in Iran. HAKIM. 2010 5.Ammenwerth E, Rauchegger F, Ehlers F, Hirsch B, Schaubmayr C. Effect of a nursing information system on the quality of information processing in nursing: An evaluation study using the HIS-monitor instrument. International journal of medical informatics. 2011;80(1):25-38. 6.Verkerke M. Information Quality of a Nursing Information Systemdepends on the nurses: A combined quantitative andqualitative evaluation. international journal of medical informatics 2012;81:662–73. 7.Toolabi T, Vanaki Z, Memarian, improving hospital information system in cardial care unit, yafteh. 2012;14(5):83-92 8.Sadeghi R. Informatics applying in nursing; education, research and care. Iranian Quarterly of Education Strategies. 2012;5(3):199-206 9.Kossman SP. Perceptions of impact of electronic healthrecords on nurses’ work. healthtechnology information. 2006;122:337-41. 10.Hinson DK, Huether SE, Blaufuss JA, Neiswanger M, Tinker A, Meyer KJ, et al., editors. Measuring the impact of a clinical nursing information system on one nursing unit. Proceedings of the Annual Symposium onComputer Application in Medical Care; 1993: American Medical Informatics Association. 11.BowlesKH. the barriers and benefits of nursing information system. computer in nursing. 1997;15(4):191-6. 12.Ahmadi M, Rafiee F, Hosseini F, Habibi kolaee M. information and structure requirements for nursing data classification in computerized systems. hayat. 2011;17(1):16-23 13.Anderson B, Hannah KJ. A Canadian nursing minimum data set: a major priority. Canadian journal of nursing administration. 1992;6(2):7-13. 14.Sadoughi F, Ghazisaeid M, Mehraji M, Kimiafar Kh. health information management technology. first edition ed. Tehran: Jafari; 2011. Table1.frequency percentage of NIS general data specification in different hospital D C B A 17/52% 95/86% 73/21% 39/17% Patient care process 63/63% 36/36% 09/9% 18/18% Ward management process 50% 90% 30% 20% Communication process 100% 100% 0 0 Education and research process Table2.frequency percentage of nursing data set in different hospital. D C B A 60% 100% 0 0 Nursing care data set 60% 33/93% 60% 33/73% Patient data set 85/92% 57/78% 57/78% 71/85% Provided services data set Table3.frequency percentage of reporting data specification in different hospital. D C B A 33/33% 0 100% 33/83% Personnel report 71/85% 28/64% 28/64% 71/35% Clinical report 0 100% 100% 0 Financial report

Positioning of Apple, Blackberry and Nokia

Positioning of Apple, Blackberry and Nokia Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The companys best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. Apple software includes the Mac OS X operating system; the iTunes media browser; the iLife suite of multimedia and creativity software; the iWork suite of productivity software; Aperture, a professional photography package; Final Cut Studio, a suite of professional audio and film-industry software products; Logic Studio, a suite of music production tools; and iOS, a mobile operating system. As of August 2010, the company operates 301 retail stores in ten countries, and an online store where hardware and software products are sold. Established on April 1, 1976 in Cupertino, California, and incorporated January 3, 1977, the company was previously named Apple Computer, Inc., for its first 30 years, but removed the word Computer on January 9, 2007, to reflect the companys ongoing expansion into the consumer electronics market in addition to its traditional focus on personal computers. As of September 25, 2010, Apple had 46,600 full time employees and 2,800 temporary full time employees worldwide and had worldwide annual sales of $65.23 billion. For reasons as various as its philosophy of comprehensive aesthetic design to its distinctive advertising campaigns, Apple has established a unique reputation in the consumer electronics industry. This includes a customer base that is devoted to the company and its brand, particularly in the United States. Fortune magazine named Apple the most admired company in the United States in 2008 and in the world in 2008, 2009, and 2010. The company has also received widespread criticism for its contractors labor, environmental, and business practices. Segmentation: According to Michael J. Croft (1994), segmentation is to divide a market by a strategy directed at gaining a major portion of sales to a subgroup in a category, rather than a more limited share of purchases by all category users. Market segmentation is one of the steps that goes into defining and targeting specific markets. It is the process of dividing a market into a distinct group of buyers that require different products or marketing mixes. A key factor to success in todays market place is finding subtle differences to give a business the marketing edge. Businesses that target specialty markets will promote its products and services more effectively than a business aiming at the average customer. Opportunities in marketing increase when segmented groups of clients and customers with varying needs and wants are recognized. Markets can be segmented or targeted using a variety of factor. The bases for segmenting consumer markets include: Demographical bases (age, family size, life cycle, occupation) Geographical bases (states, regions, countries) Behaviour bases (product knowledge, usage, attitudes, responses) Psychographic bases (lifestyle, values, personality) A business must analyze the needs and wants of different market segments before determining their own niche. To be effective in market segmentation keeps the following things in mind: Segments or target markets should be accessible to the business Each segmented group must be large enough to provide a solid customer base. Each segmented group requires a separate marketing plan. Apple is such a band whose core competence in innovation. For apple to keep its market share it needs not only to concentrate on its research and development but also on segmenting its market efficiently and reaching them with its new products. Customers View of Segmentation: Customers segment themselves and take no notice of how companies segment their market(s). When choosing between competing products and services, customers select the proposition that meets their needs better than any other. To win market share, therefore, a company must ensure that their offers meet these needs better than any other at a price they perceive as providing superior value for money (which does not necessarily mean it has to be the cheapest). As this is how customers operate in a market, then a segmentation project should have these as its segmentation criteria. On its own this approach to segmentation, while able to provide you with an invaluable insight into how to win a customers business, still requires you to know how to reach them. The input to this part of a winning proposition, provided by a detailed understanding of who the customers are and where they are to be found, is clearly very important and plays a crucial part in our segmentation process. In addition, by really understanding what underpins a customers choice we gain an insight into their motivations, which will lead you to understand what promotional stance to take? Interestingly, all the reputable marketing books and marketing courses which look at the alternative approaches to segmenting markets include needs-based segmentation (sometimes called benefit segmentation) in their reviews. They also conclude that needs-based segmentation is by far the most successful approach. This is the approach taken by The Market Segmentation Company, for which we have developed a series of practical steps, tried and tested in numerous markets around the world, and incorporated into our segmentation process. Positioning of Apple, Blackberry and Nokia: Blackberry handset is no longer concerned with the occurrence of iPhone. Because of not all people switch off from their Blackberry handset to iPhone gadget, this statement was stated by researchers from UBS Investment Jeffrey Fan after successfully interviewed 222 people in UK and 106 people in United States when they would buy iPhone 3G. According to Cellular News, 106 of iPhone buyers in United States, only five people, or 4.7 percent are Blackberry users. In fact, three of that number doesnt intend to sell their Blackberry after buying Apple iPhone. About 30 percent of 106 people use Motorola and Samsung. With each contributing is 15 percent, said the Cellular news. In UK, from 222 people who purchased the iPhone, only eight people or 3.6 per cent claiming to have it switch from Blackberry to iPhone. Only one person is interested in using them, iPhone and Blackberry. However, 18 percent of these respondents claim to have a corporate Blackberry so that they cannot take down the handset made by Research in Motion (Rim). From 222 people in UK, the 28 percent is former Nokia users, while 20 percent is former Sony Ericsson users, Fan explained. Fan detailed more about this research, although the research is limited, but it can prove that the market segment of Blackberry and iPhone users is very different so it will not become a significant threat to Rim. In above countries, the majority of iPhone 3G buyers have used first version of iPhone. In UK is about 29 percent and in United States is about 37 percent. Even, some iPhone operator in several countries also sells Blackberry handset as alternative of iPhone by selling Blackberry with cheaper price. For example, the T-Mobile of United States reduced the price of Blackberry Curve by USD 50, to USD 99. According to Wilbur Schramm (1954), Schramms third model is based on the convergence or network approach. Due to various kinds of noise there are chances that the message gets distorted till it reaches the receiver, to overcome the problem he introduced the concept of feedback which helps the sender to modify the information from what he observes or hears from the receiver or the audience. The communication process now takes a circular form as both parties take on the roles of sender and recipient. Schramms model emphasizes on the importance of feedback for the information to reach the receiver in the same manner as desired by the sender. Feedback is essential in the business environment to ensure that the constituencies interpret the information correctly from the companies. Apple, Blackberry and Nokia: The iPhone was growing explosively, but its market share was barely a third of Nokias 68 million smart phones. Despite the massive coverage of the iPhone success in the United States, RIM with its Blackberry still leads the U.S. Smartphone market, with a share of over 30%. Apple had less than 30%, while Android-based phones (Google) were catching up fast. In the second quarter of 2010, Nokia held onto 33% of the mobile phone market. In the Smartphone market, Nokia sold 24 million such devices, up 42% from a year earlier. The overall Smartphone market grew at about the same rate, so Nokia held its share from a year ago, at 40.3%, and actually grew share slightly from the first quarter of this year. So in the global Smartphone rivalry, Nokia still had the lead, while RIM and Apple followed. The winners of the Smartphone market will be determined by global success. So is Nokia; in so much internal turmoil that it is reportedly considering replacing its CEO. Despite the softening of Nokias market share in the United States, Nokia has managed to expand its global position, especially in the high-growth large emerging markets; including China, India, Brazil and Indonesia. In a global rivalry, it would be a fatal mistake to think of these markets as second-tier. Apple is yet to open a store in India. India has such a huge market. Nokia with leading market share in India Apple should look at it if it sights at global leader in mobiles. True, until the 1980s, the lead customers in the most advanced industries were still in the United States, Western Europe and Japan. The G-7 nations dominated talks on international economics. And what was good for California was good for the world. Today, the lead customers are increasingly in the emerging world. The G-7 has been replaced by the G-20. The U.S. market is no longer enough for global leadership. In the global markets, the new mantra is, to paraphrase Frank Sinatra: If you can make it in Shanghai, you can make it in New Delhi, too. And yet, as Nokia has found out the hard way, the United States remains necessary for sustained global success. And the U.S. market is the main source of concerns about Nokias corporate future. In high-tech business, a solid presence in the United States is not just about a market share. It is about ensuring a role in cutting-edge innovation. Apple has hugely targeted youth and people having higher interest in technological products. The major setback for apple is it doesnt support office applications. Apple needs to concentrate on overseas expansion of its market. It is able to reach its target audience in some of the developed countries, but not having full length operations in a country like India is a big loss for any industry. Apple Ad Campaigning: In the past two decades, Apple Inc. has become well known for its advertisements, which are designed to reflect a plan of marketing their products to creative individuals. Their most significant ad campaigns include the 1984 Super Bowl commercial, the 1990s Think Different campaign, and the iPod people of the 2000s. Apples portable music player, the iPod, has been showcased as a piece of contemporary art in New Yorks Museum of Modern Art. Since the original Macintosh Super Bowl commercial in 1984, which mimicked imagery from George Orwells 1984, Apple has maintained a style of homage to contemporary visual art in many of its more famous ad campaigns. For example, the Think Different campaign linked Apple to famous social figures-including artist John Lennon and social activist Mahatma Gandhi. Apple has been criticized for its sometimes questionable use of modern art as an inspiration for its marketing campaigns-at times re-creating a short film or music video shot-by-shot for its commercials. Some artists have documented entering into rights-negotiations with Apple, only to have Apple pull out of the discussions, then use the artistic imagery anyway. As a result, several lawsuits have been filed against Apple by artists and corporations alike, such as visual artist Louie Psihoyos and shoe company Lugz. These claims were later confirmed. In 1997, the Think Different campaign introduced Apples new slogan, and in 2002 the Switch campaign followed. The most recent advertising strategy by Apple is the Get a Mac campaign. Today, Apple focuses much of its advertising efforts around special events, and keynotes at conferences like the MacWorld Expo and the Apple Expo. The events typically draw a large gathering of media representatives and spectators. In the past, special events have been used to announce products such as the Power Mac G5. Apple Branding: Unique design, sign, symbol, words, or a combination of these, employed in creating an image that identifies a product and differentiates it from its competitors. Over time, this image becomes associated with a level of credibility, quality, and satisfaction in the consumers mind. Thus brands help harried consumers in crowded and complex marketplace, by standing for certain benefits and value. Legal name for a brand is trademark and, when it identifies or represents a firm, it is called a brand name. Apple Computers is the epitome of self-empowerment and self-fulfilment combined in one brand. How else to describe a Cult Brand whose original slogan for the Macintosh was, the computer for the rest of us? Of course, the rest of us were those brave individuals who wanted to control their own destinies and break free of the systems controlling grip and authoritarian ways. In the eighties, Apple painted this dark controlling force as being IBM, while in the nineties it became Microsoft and Bill Gates. As Christopher Escher, former VP of Corporation Communications, noted: They turned computers, which are essentially a product for business people to crunch numbers with, into symbols of self-realization and liberation against social constraints. Apple has a branding strategy that focuses on the emotions. The Apple brand personality is about lifestyle; imagination; liberty regained; innovation; passion; hopes, dreams and aspirations; and power-to-the-people through technology. The Apple br and personality is also about simplicity and the removal of complexity from peoples lives; people-driven product design; and about being a really humanistic company with a heartfelt connection with its customers. The 2009 results of Virtues ranking of the most social brands is in, and Apple came out on top.   Apple is one of the most powerful relationship brands, so its not surprising that people talk about it across the social Web.   In fact, Apples iPhone brand took the ultimate top spot in the list of the most social brands, while Apples iTunes brand ranked 6th, and the Apple parent brand ranked 8th.   Interestingly, according to an article from Adweek, the only other companies to have multiple brands ranked in the top 20 of Virtues list were Sony (for both the parent brand and PlayStation) and Microsoft. Apple was successful till the launch of Iphone4 but after the launch of Iphone4 it faced problems regarding the signal problem. The issue relates to the mobile phone signal, with users reporting a drop in signal strength when the phone is held. After knowing from the analysts that recalling Iphone4 would cost the millions, Apple boss Steve Jobs held a meeting after the launch and tried to suppress the problem by offering free bumpers for the customers perceiving it would boost the signal. But, there were still a lot of customers left behind un-satisfied. Positioning: In marketing, positioning has come to mean the process by which marketers try to create an image or identity in the minds of their target market for its product, brand, or organization. Re-positioning involves changing the identity of a product, relative to the identity of competing products, in the collective minds of the target market. De-positioning involves attempting to change the identity of competing products, relative to the identity of your own product, in the collective minds of the target market. It is widely recognized that Apple is a premium brand that demands and earns a price premium.   This price premium spans the entire Apple product line-up encompassing the Macintosh, iPod, iPhone, software, and accessories.   Apples positioning is aligned with targeting a less price sensitive customer.   As a result, Apples culture and internal activities are structured to meet the needs of these customers; strategists call this needs-based positioning.   Apple has thus created a culture and a set of activities to differentiate it from rivals in order to meet the needs of their target customers. If Apple were to attempt to compete for all customer segments, it would have to lower product prices.   The danger with such an approach is that it would not only undermine and erode the companys premium brand image but it would also undermine the companys culture and internal activities. Andreasen and Kotler, (2008) suggest three levels of product features. They are: Core, Tangible, and Augmented (Refer to appendix 1). Core Product. What is the core benefit your product offers?. Customers who purchase a camera are buying more than just a camera they are purchasing memories. For Apple core product is its brand. Actual Product: All cameras capture memories. The aim is to ensure that your potential customers purchase your one. The strategy at this level involves organisations branding, adding features and benefits to ensure that their product offers a differential advantage from their competitors. These are tangible. IPhone come with a beautiful packing. Apple made iTunes the activation agent for the IPhone, thus making customers familiar with its product. Augmented product: What additional non-tangible benefits can you offer? Competition at this level is based around after sales service, warranties, delivery and so on. John Lewis a retail departmental store offers free five year guarantee on purchases of their Television sets, this gives their `customers the additional benefit of piece of mind over the five years should their purchase develop a fault. Apple has setup a Genius bar and offers warranty for the product. This helps its customers to have confidence in the brand thus enables them to buy their product. Apple took care that its product not reaching the decline stage. When 2G seemed to reach decline stage it came forward with 3G and it continued till 4G.Each time it kept on increasing the price which benefited the company. Competitor Actions: Brand attitude also depends on competitor actions. A downturn in Hewlett-Packards attitude occurred during two quarters in which Canon ran some hard-hitting comparison advertising about Hewlett-Packards printers, the most visible Hewlett-Packard product with respect to advertising exposure. More dramatic was the impact of Windows 95. A product intended to neutralize Apples user-friendly comparative advantage, on Apples brand attitude. For the first quarter of 1994 (when Techtel respondents, some of whom were beta version testers, first began to provide opinions about Windows 95) to the fourth quarter of 1997, we find a very strong negative interrelationship (i.e., a correlation of -.95) between the attitudes toward Apple and toward Windows 95. Conclusion: Brand is all-important. Apple is one of the most established and healthy IT brands in the World, and has a very loyal set of enthusiastic customers that advocate the brand. Such a powerful loyalty means that Ample not only recruits new customers, it retains them i.e. they come back for more products and services from Apple, and the company also has the opportunity to extend new products to them Apple is definitely perceived as a premium brand from the customers perspective. But in case of Iphone4, Apple lost reputation from its customers. It felt in a race for cannibalizing their own products and tried to skim off the profits. Even it tried to repair its lost reputation from the customers it was not acceptable from such highly perceived company. Customers expect high valued products from Apple they might take all possible measures to care about its next product. Else, they may fall behind by miles in this market competition. Biblography: Brassington, F., Pettitt, S. (2007). Essentials of Marketing. Essex: Prentice Hall. Dibb, S., Simkin, L., Pride, w. M., Ferrell, O. C. (2006). Marketing Concepts and Strategies (5th ed.). London: Houghton Mifflin. Fill, C. (2007). Communications: Contexts, Strategies and Applications. London: Financial Times Press. Johnson, G., Scholes, K. (2008). Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text and Cases. London: Prentice-Hall. Kotler, P., Armstrong, G. (2006). Principles of marketing. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.

acting like a lady :: essays research papers

So You Want To Act Like a Lady?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For years women have been waxing, plucking and beautifying themselves for one reason and one reason only; because they think that is beauty. A woman is only classified as a lady if she can walk, talk and dress the part. The way that society has viewed femininity has changed immensely over the past hundred years, but acting like a tomboy or, heaven forbid, being strong and independent is looked down upon in the eyes of men and other women. Certain standards of ladylike demeanor have become outdated in today’s society, and women should be looked at as beautiful when strong and independent. But what defines a woman to be ladylike, and can it be defined as a single type? I believe that standards of beauty have changed, and standing out is what will get you ahead in society today. Stereotypes of the ideal female must be brought down to work on achieving inner beauty and internal happiness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since the 1950’s, women have been seen as very dainty and sensitive creatures who are meant to be silent partners to their mates. A woman’s place was in the home-cooking, cleaning and watching after her children. Women were to get up every morning and prepare lunches for their breadwinning husbands, as well as wake and dress the children for school, cook breakfast, do housework and have a hot meal on the table when her husband was to return home. Women have stepped down to their traditional roles as housewife and caretaker, and it has raised many issues in society today. It was considered a woman’s job to be a good cook and be a whiz with a broom, in fact, it is what made them so darn attractive. Times, they are a changing. In fact, the U.S Department of Labor states that in the year 2008, women will make up 48% of the work force. That means that more women will be going to college and getting and education, as well as heading out into the wor kforce to make a name for themselves.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Being a lady also means dressing like a lady. But since when has the portrait of a woman relied on what she wore? I have been told all my life that high heels are a woman’s best friend, and a true treasure is finding just your shade of lipstick. The pain that women endure for a small amount of vanity will be forever a mystery to me.

Social Values in Transition: 1789-1815, Alternate Visions :: American America History

Social Values in Transition: 1789-1815, Alternate Visions Saint-Simon wanted to see scientists at the top of the political structure. He proposed the idea of a scientific priesthood of the Religion of Newton. Later he added industrialists and artists to the religion believing that emotions must be satisfied as well as reason. Francois Marie Charles Fourier wanted to liberate human nature. His theory was: What makes men happy? Their passions. What makes them miserable? The inhibition of their passions. Therefore the legislator must create a society in which men and women can indulge their passions to the full yet safely and harmoniously. Even destructive passions could be employed as butchers. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. In it he states, " We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Government is instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the government. That whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to abolish it, and to institute new Government . . . . . " Robert Owen built a model industrial community with decent housing for the worker's, schools, sanitation, and non-profit making stores. In the factories he owned the working conditions were measured against the prevailing standards. They were almost humane. He was trying to improve the worker's lot, while making a nice profit in the meantime. Owen may be regarded as the founder of co-operative socialism. Thomas Malthus argued that any attempt to feed the starving masses only increased the masses and their misery. He believed that mathematical laws presided over human affairs. However when he applied them to the procreative process, the results were glum. In his opinion the gap between the supply of food and the number of people to be fed was bound to increase, for population increased at a geometrical ratio and food at a arithmetical ratio. There was a bright side however; there would be wars, famines, epidemics and so on. But that would not be enough.

Space – Should the costing be spent?

I have chosen to write a report entitled, â€Å"Space – Can the expense be justified?†. I chose this as I had a keen interest in the matter; once we had discussed this as a class. Another reason in which why I have selected this topic is because as the world of media is advancing, this subject has been under debate for many years now, but with no final conclusion. Humans are said to have landed on the moon in 1969, however again through media many accusations have been made against this. This proves media manipulates decisions made; therefore the public should be more aware of the situation. Sources of information For this assignment, my main source of information will be the BBC news archive, due to the fact this is a government based company. Therefore the information will be very much factual and reliable, rather than opinion based data from other sources of media. Further on, I will use the British National Space Centre (BNSC) as this is Britain's main space exploration organisation. Following on, I will be using â€Å"Encarta Encyclopedia† which is a screen-based archive of various facts and figures including extended explanations of various topics. This proves I will be using a vast range of sources which I have selected, however most are screen-based as these are constantly being updated throughout key advancements. Space The universe contains everything – all of space and time and all the matter and energy within it. The universe is unknowably vast, and ever since it formed, it has been expanding, carrying some of its most distant regions forever beyond the naked eye. The universe contains everything from the smallest atom to the largest galaxy cluster and yet it seems they all have the same laws. [1] For many years, space was out of reach for humans on our planet. People thought day and night on how to make space exploration a reality. Everyone at some time in their life asks questions similar to: â€Å"Where does space begin? Where does it end? What is the difference between space and the universe?† Space is built of so little matter that we cannot consider it as empty. However on Earth, there is matter everywhere, in the form of liquid/solid/ and gas. In space there is no night or day, this is due to the fact our atmosphere scatters the sun's rays, ultimately giving the blue colour in our sky. [2] A crucial property of the universe is that it is expanding. [3] It must be growing, because distant galaxies are quickly withdrawing from Earth. Assuming that the universe has always been growing, it once must have had to be smaller and denser; this is the face which strongly supports the Big Bang theory. [4] Benefits of space exploration Space exploration has many benefits for us, which could eventually save mankind from extinction if the time came. The following examples are a handful of positive effects if we did invest more into space exploration. Population increase/Colonization Since history has been written, our population has grown rapidly with 6.5 billion people today. It is said that the world's population has quadrupled in the last one hundred years. If the population carries on dramatically increasing we will have many problems including housing issues, for the number of people. By the year 2050, from predictions, it shows that there will be eventually ten billion people living on Earth, this is a growth around 75 million people per year. [5] The graph on the left shows the predicted population grown for the next 50 years, as well as the â€Å"population boom† which has occurred earlier. The key shows different areas of the world and the population increase there. Asia seems to be increasing the most; this clearly is a developing region of the world. On the other hand a developed region such as Northern America seems to have a steady increase. For this issue to be rectified, space exploration can be extremely helpful. If we can locate a suitable area beyond the Earth then we can â€Å"Colonize†. We have determined that many materials can be available in space, however human space flight advancements and engineering is vital for this to occur. The moon seems to be a viable location for us to â€Å"Colonize†, due to the fact, it is extremely close to us compared to other planets therefore easy to transport goods and supplies. The only issue is that there seems to be low amounts of Hydrogen and Carbon. The low gravity is also a major concern. Lack of resources As above, if the population carries on increasing as predicted, Earth's resources will eventually start to run out. This will have a dramatic effect on the habitants on Earth, as many necessities we take for granted will be depleted. These items include: * Clean water * Natural resources such as Fossil fuels Experts say that seas will become emptied of fish while forests – which absorb Carbon Dioxide emissions – are completely destroyed and fresh water supplies become scarce and polluted. For example since 1970 forests have been reduced by twelve percent. This proves that if space exploration improves and is funded, we can get numerous materials from out of space. For example, on the Moon there seems to be a great deal of silicon and metals such as iron, aluminium and titanium. [6] Counter-benefits of space exploration On the other hand of this debate, there are many disadvantages against investing in space exploration. This topic has been under debate for many years now, many people feel that the money is better spent elsewhere, ultimately spent on this planet prior to exploring others. NHS and Healthcare The amount of money spent on space exploration may have better uses, as the NHS are currently in debt, this should be rectified. Spending for example à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½150m on a certain probe could instead cut the NHS's debt by a fifth. Also, there are many people who are fighting disease, however some which aren't currently curable, as the research hasn't been paid for; there is always scientist's salaries to fund. Helping cure disease ultimately seems imperative. Space exploration can't bring people's health therefore as healthcare is vital, exploration should be halted until many basic lives saving problems are treated for. The diagram on the right shows how much per year the NHS is spending, this is also projected for up till 2008.[7] They seem to be spending currently around 90 million per year. This proves to me that developing a space instrument which tends to cost 100 million plus is not needed, as this can be fund the NHS for the year (the entire nation's treatment). Human space flight Unlike robotic space exploration, human space flight costs much more however with little benefit and outcome. Additionally, sending a robotic device to space can increase the scientific knowledge attained. Robots are clearly more efficient than humans, the speed and technology is much faster. The majority of astronauts sent to space also unfortunately pass away due to the tasks being extremely difficult regardless of how much training they have completed. Conclusion After completing this report, I have clearly shown the benefits and counter-benefits of space exploration, and wherever it should be funded. I believe my main benefit is how we can search for resources elsewhere, therefore not having to worry greatly on the amount we are using, (within reason). We evidently have two sides of the debate, which can become extremely ethical; â€Å"For, or against, science†. However this would be political of me to discuss. I have used evidence from both sides of the argument, the scientific aspect as well as the ethical reasons, which have been shown mainly within the health care section. It is also debateable that why isn't the UK investing in human space flight, even though the UK holds the world's fourth largest economy however they have no presence in manned space flight, or any interest in such activities. On the other hand they have invested largely into unmanned space flight, which have been a helping hand to improve the quality of life. From this report, evidence shows that the positives unmistakably outweigh the negatives for the title â€Å"Space – Can the expense be justified?†. Personally I am supporting space exploration due to the fact I am intrigued into the question many people ask, â€Å"What is out there?† I also believe with the advancements of the modern world, during my life time I will be able to maybe benefit from space exploration in one way or another.

Littlefield Technology Game Capacity Essay

The game was held over a week and enabled us to increase our understanding of inventory management at the production stage in the supply chain. In this game, the objective was to accomplish production and delivery of the production within 3 days of lead time. Over the course of the game, we were to monitor the production numbers and make adjustments through the number of machines which we owned. Machines affected the revenues through the purchases and the goal was to obtain as much revenue as possible. Through the game, we learnt how to analyse our production numbers and plot strategies to tackle the demand that was constantly changing. Strategy Our strategy was to obtain a stable utilization rate throughout all machines to prevent incurring any late penalty. For example at Day 50, before the game started, we observed that machine 1 was running at 100% utilization for a few days before, and we predicted a bottleneck situation would occur here. Therefore we decided to purchase an additional machine immediately as the game started so as to allow continuous processing of lots to meet the demand and prevent losses in revenue. After purchasing additional machine 1, we continued observing the utilization of the machine. We were careful not to buy additional machines unnecessarily so that we can earn more revenue from the interest. On day 88, machine 1 hit 100% utilization for 4 consecutive days. However, the average revenue earned was still $1000 despite the high utilization. Therefore we decided not to purchase additional machines at station 1. This proved to our favour as the revenue earned did not drop during this period of time even though station 1 utilization continue to be close to 1. Furthermore, we continued to earn a higher interest than other teams who bought additional machines. Due to this plan, we were amongst the top few teams at this period of time. At day 120, a situation similar to day 88 began to occur; machine 1 hit 100% utilization continuously for 6 days and continue to hit close to 100% for the next few days. We had thought that we could tide through it like before without the need of an additional machine. However, this time round, a bottleneck formed at station 1 and the revenue started to drop quite severely. Therefore, we decided that an additional machine is needed at station 1 to prevent further drop in the revenue. However, the purchase of an additional machine did not salvage  our situation as the queue size at station 1 w as too large. During this period, a lot of income was lost due to our production not being able to meet the 3 days of lead time. Our revenue only stabilized on day 130 for 2 days before dipping again. This time, the bottleneck transferred to station 3 and the queue has risen drastically to about 600 jobs. Therefore, we made the decision to purchase another machine for station 3. With this, our revenue finally stabilised at day 139. In the following days, we continued the strategy of monitoring the revenue, as well as the stations’ utilization and queue size, before deciding whether to purchase additional machines. Following this strategy, we acquired a total of 4 Machine 1s, 2 Machine 2s and 2 Machine 3s. As the demand fell towards the end of the game, we decided to sell off machines at the under-utilized stations so that we could increase our revenue from the sales of the machines, as well as gain more interest, and increase our ranking before the game ends. Therefore, at the end, we were left with 3 Machine 1s, 1 Machine 2 and 2 Machine 3s. In the case of station 2, which executed steps 2 and 4 of the production, we were able to toggle between three policies: giving priority to First In First Out (FIFO), step 2 or step 4. In the early stages of the game, the utilization at station 2 maintained at a relatively safe level. However, at about day 120, the average demand began to increase and the utilization began to hit 100%. It remained at this range until we made the decision to purchase an additional machine for the station at day 150. As the performance of station 2 affects the jobs arriving at station 3, the delays in production snowballed and this drastically affected our revenue. Conclusion In hindsight, it is unfortunate that we were not able to maintain our advantage as the leading few teams. We suffered a major setback during the day 120 period due to unexpected demand spikes and poor decision making. However, we did manage to salvage our situation in the end and obtained a respectable rank of 7th place. We have learnt that we cannot assume the best of any situation and that we have to be prepared for sudden influx of demand and also that there is no one size fits all policy. The game simulates a real assembly scenario. While the strategy helped us gain revenue, the scenario does not comply with certain real life supply chain conditions such as taxes. All fixed overhead which we have no control, such as salaries,  rent, utilities, etc. are ignored. These factors will introduce more complexities into making decisions.

Tennis Research Paper

Tennis by Robin Seems Introduction First of all, tennis is a sport known all over the world. That allows you to enjoy entertainment with your friends or whatever and in addition doing some physical exercise. It also improves your coordination a lot. It can be played either at two (called single) or four (called double). As you can guess, tennis is a very difficult sport. Especially in three points: physically, mentally and technically. The rare goods players excel in these three points. About one hundred fifty players are earning their live thanks to this sport.It meaner that if you want to live with your passion, you'll need to e in the top hundred fifty of the world. Very tough. Thus, tennis is especially a game and need to stay one. Fair play and having fun are required. Of course, a lot of people are watching tennis on television, which is very loved. History First of all, tennis is a sport known all over the world. His roots came from several thousand years ago. History seems to say that the creators of tennis are the Europeans monks. As you can guess, the racket was not yet uses at this time.They were hitting the ball with their hands, and then they were wearing leather gloves. A big step came when the first ‘racket' appeared. Thus, progressively (in course of time), the racket evolved as well as the ball. To begin with, the ball was wooden. Currently the ball is in rubber, filled of air and covered with felt. About the racket, they also were wooden and very heavy compare to now. Right now, rackets don't weigh more than four hundred grams and are for most of them in synthetic fiber and aluminum. STRING STUFF ?BALL Different Shots Before talking about all the kind of shots, I would like to say that tennis require finesse, power and speed. The hardest think is to keep improving the two others skills hill working on the third one. Indeed, if you only work your power, logically your speed will decrease. It's one of the reasons why all the professionals' players are supported by a coach. Actually, more than one coach. Obviously there's one for the physical aspect, one for the tennis aspect and sometimes for the mental aspect. * Forehand and Backhand * The more important shots with the service because they are the base of your game.Almost every ball you'll hit will be a forehand or backhand. If the balls bounces before you hit them then it is called Forehand or Backhand. If you are right-handed hen the forehand is stroke on the right side and obviously the backhand on the left side. If you're left-handed then it is the opposite. It's worth for every shot. * Volley * Stroke before it bounces, volley has for purpose to win time on your opponent. Indeed, if the ball doesn't bounces, the opponent has less time to come back on the good position on the court.In addition, volley is mostly hit under your head. In the other hand, volley is a very difficult shot because it is harder to control the ball * Smash * Same characteristic than the v olley except that it is only stroke above the head. In addition, the shot is often more powerful. * Service * One of the more important shots because it's the first shot you hit to start the from the baseline in either the right or left side, it's exactly the same movement than the smash, except that you throw the ball yourself and she need to bounces in the opposite square.Rules ; court composition This website explain you the detailed rules in tennis. There's a lot of website showing the basic rules of tennis but the one I took is very clear and kind of detailed. It explains everything: the position the players must have on the court, how to count, hat's all the possible fault you can do (double fault, foot fault, etc. ) and as shown on the next page the dimension of the court. A perfect website for a beginner who want to start tennis. All about tennis To my opinion, this website is the best if you are very interested about tennis.Before all, TIFT meaner ‘International Tenni s Federation'. Also showing the very detailed rules, you can find whatever you want. Here is a list of what you can expect to find if you surf on this website: * All the news about tennis (Players, tournaments, presidents of big tournaments) * A ‘Pin online service' which meaner you can buy your own pin' which is required to play internationals tournaments Minor or senior) * A list of all the possible internationals tournaments. Articles about tennis: doping, nutrition, psychology, equipment, conditioning and many more * Headings about Feuded, Davisson, Olympic and Paralytic tennis event, etc. References: 1. Introduction -> me. 2. Http://www. Historicalness. Net/ History 3. Http://weakest. Kill 2. Oh. Us/Hilliard's/whose/tennis/tennis_rules. HTML Rules ; court composition 4. Different shots different shots 5. All about tennis All about tennis