Business Decision Making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 3

Business Decision Making - Essay Example The move can result in either being positive or negative depending on the approach used in the new market segments. There are 3 groups that are likely to benefit from this study. The first lot consists of the company employees who may gain skills in pitching new customers in the new market niche. Identifying customer trend may help them to take the necessary actions to coup with challenges that may arise in the event of initiating business activities in the new markets. Through sharing this knowledge, the employees can act as machines to aid management in implementing appropriate marketing strategies. The second group is the employers who automatically gain insight as to how new market can actually be managed having consumer preference data. Finally, business analysts can use these findings as valuable guide whenever advising Appalachian PLC. Through analysts, the firm can be in a position to determine whether they will have a significant profit income or not. The study was limited to the real income and age of clients in China from a merchandise firm in the UK; the interest was on the type of prices that can be charged and the levels of income in China. For the purpose of this study, what constitute pricing is determined by the employer. This study was restricted to customers based in China. This sample included a range of customers evenly distributed within China Republic. Barden, a freelance writer specializing in new business ventures and a former managing editor of Commerce and Accounting, stated the importance of through market research and gave specific examples of new markets that have successfully been reached. The Company that was used in undertaking the research activity currently makes huge profits for every furniture sale by offering services such as customized furniture according to customer need, amount of cash, and customer locality.

Modern Audience Essay Example for Free

Modern Audience Essay â€Å"It is impossible for a modern audience to feel comfortable with the Taming of The Shrew† with close reference to Shakespeare’s presentation of Katharina, comic conventions and having the above question in mind, write about your response to the ending of the play In my opinion, The Taming of The Shrew tells the story of an abusive marriage and I would agree with the view that it is impossible for a modern audience to feel comfortable with the play, especially the conclusion of the story. Shakespeare’s presentation of Katharina at the end of the play seems to me to be one of a broken person; she is almost robotic in her obedience and without spirit, except for when singing the praises of wifely submission. â€Å"Thy husband is thy Lord, thy life, thy keeper, thy head, thy sovereign† is a prime example of the disturbing brainwashing Petruchio has carried out on her. This humbled ‘Kate’ is a far cry from the feisty Katharina we are first greeted by in Act 2, where she exchanges a vicious battle of words with Petruchio; â€Å"Asses are made to bear and so are you†. This phrase in itself shows that she is fearless, and defies her society’s conventions, cursing at strangers; a sad contrast to the plays ending, where she has totally conformed to what’s expected of her. The ending of the play also contains very little comedy, with the exception of the argument as to who is the real Vincentio, and the fight between Kate and the Widow. This is because the Taming of the shrew defies most Shakespearian comedy conventions, as the marriage takes place midway the play, rather than at then end as was traditional. I believe that this adds to the discomfort of the modern audience, as after the supposed ‘happy ending’ we are faced with the harsh reality of Petruchio’s treatment of Kate. Shakespeare presents Katharina as completely changed by the end of the play. At first she is wild and seemingly untameable; we see her tie up her sister and argue violently with both Petruchio and her father. â€Å"So may you lose you arms, if you strike me, you are no gentleman, and if no gentleman, why then no arms† Here, Shakespeare presents Katharina as highly skilled with word manipulation, generating humour with her insulting play on words with â€Å"arms† as she brands Petruchio simply a commoner if he would strike her. This is in stark contrast to the ending of the play where she seems to have no free will. She is practically enslaved to Petruchio, agreeing with his every thought and whim. An example of this is Act 4, Scene 5, Petruchio and Kate see Vincentio and Petruchio refers to him as a â€Å"fair and lovely maid†, instructing Kate to â€Å"embrace her for her beauty’s sake†. Shakespeare’s use of a command word clearly shows Petruchio’s power and utter control in their relationship. Vincentio is obviously a man, but despite this, and despite a warning from Hortensio that this pretence will anger Vincentio, â€Å"a will make the man mad, to make a woman of him†, Kate does indeed embrace him for his beauty’s sake; â€Å"Young budding virgin, fair fresh and sweet†. This elaborate language with its piling up of adjectives is an example of hyperbole used for comic effect. It is perhaps also, on a less humorous note, an instance of what many feminists would see as the darker side of The Taming of the Shrew, and the destruction of Katherina’s personality; this is a strong interpretation as she could be seen to be using this elaborate language due to her desperation to please Petruchio or her fear of punishment. Petruchio further exerts his power over Kate by then changing his mind and accusing Kate of madness. â€Å"I hope thou art not mad, this is a man† she readily agrees, ignoring the fact that Petruchio has undermined and humiliated her, and begs for his pardon over her stupidity. This scene is a prime example of the change Petruchio has caused from Katharina to Kate. She is not the character we met in Act 2, and this transformation could be said to be uncomfortable for a modern audience to watch. It is unpleasant to see one human being so completely at the hands of another, and whether this total obedience is due to love, fear or desperation is down to the audience to decide. I think this adds a more disquieting edge to the play as Shakespeare seems to condone Petruchio’s taming, or what most modern audiences would see as abuse. However, some critics, for instance Lucy Bailey, director for the RSC, have stated that the play is a curiously misunderstood love story, not the abusive tale of misogyny some modern audiences would see it as; Bailey says that Petruchio and Kate’s attraction is instant, and that what follows after their first meeting is simply fore-play. Nonetheless, this interpretation is hard to digest in the face of the cruelty Petruchio inflicts on Kate, why would a man in love treat the object of his affections like one of his farm animals? This treatment is particularly shown during Act 4 where Petruchio begins his ‘taming’, he attempts to train Kate as one would train a dog. EXAMPLE. Evaluate language. Other critics have explained this treatment by saying that Petruchio is driven mad by grief after the death of his father he â€Å"takes out his disaffection and anger on other people almost as an experiment. (Director David Farr) The best example of Shakespeare’s changing presentation of Katharina to Kate can be seen in the final scene, in her speech. She has not spoken for several pages, but then, on Petruchio’s command, launches into the longest speech in the entire play, expelling the virtues of being a good wife. The first reason that most modern audiences would find this scene uncomfortable to watch is the way that Petruchio instructs Kate to â€Å"Tell these headstrong women what duty they do owe to their Lords and husbands†. This phrase itself could be seen to be problematic for modern audiences to digest. In the 21st century, men and women are equal, so the way that Petruchio refers to men as â€Å"Lords†, implies a power and control over women that is uncomfortable for most modern audiences to hear. Shakespeare cleverly prioritises the word Lord over Husband in this line emphasising the debt Petruchio feels women owe their husbands, like peasants owe their Lords. In this statement, Petruchio also uses headstrong as an insult, whereas in modern Britain, although it can have negative connotations, headstrong is often a positive personality attribute, implying one knows ones own mind. The ending of The Taming of the Shrew contains very little comic elements, making it all the more uncomfortable. There is the scene in which Vincentio encounters the pedant impersonating himself . The audience has not seen Kate as impassioned during her speech since she was Katharina; we see some of her old spark when she refers to Bianca and The Widow as â€Å"froward and unable worms†. However, this insult could be seen as a sad reflection of how Petruchio has twisted her feisty nature to suit his own needs. Most modern spectators would see the entire speech as incredibly anti-feminist, and I believe that due to this it is impossible for most modern audiences to feel comfortable with The Taming of The Shrew. Kate suggests women should â€Å"kneel for peace† and â€Å"place your hands below your husband’s foot†. These phrases evoke feelings of servitude and to most modern audiences are difficult to hear. Kate’s ‘realisation’ that women are weak, their â€Å"lances nothing but straws† contrasts to her physical violence at the start of the play where she attacks Petruchio. â€Å"That I’ll try (she strikes him)†. Shakespeare uses regal imagery in this speech to show the total infatuation and obedience Kate feels towards Petruchio. She refers to husbands and ‘Lords’, ‘Sovereigns’, ‘Heads’ and ‘Princes’, and these words show the power Petruchio has over Kate and the power she believes all husbands should have over their wives: one of absolute control, akin to the monarch. Shakespeare’s effective listing of these nouns emphasises Kate’s uncanny passion towards Petruchio and wifely obedience. Similes are also widely used in Kate’s final speech; for example, â€Å"to dart a scornful glance† at ones husband â€Å"blots thy beauty as frosts do bite the meads†. Kate now believes that obedience is beauty, and for most modern audiences who live in a society where independence is valued and celebrated, it is impossible to feel comfortable with these ideas.

Essay --

With the growing number of people supporting the legalization of marijuana is it time to pass laws and make recreational use legal, or do all faults outweigh the good? The debate on whether marijuana should be legalized is currently a controversial topic. Many people have expressed their views on the topic, supporting their reasons for whether they think marijuana should be legalized. For some states it was easier to decide if the pros of legalizing marijuana outweighed the cons; such as Colorado and Washington. These states have already legalized the recreational use of marijuana. Marijuana is a fast-growing bushy plant with dense sticky flowers. It has been a part of our American culture for hundreds of years. It has been referred to as a poison, drug and narcotic. It is believed that marijuana was introduced by the Spanish in 1545 to Chile. In America the plant was first grown in Virginia and Massachusetts in the sixteen hundreds. It became a major commercial crop that was grown along with tobacco and was a source of fiber for fabric, rope and cloth. Later it was used to treat many health problems. During the 19th century many medical articles were written discussing marijuana’s value in treating conditions. The plant was considered legal from the 1600’s until the 19th century. Marijuana became popular in the mid-19th century and was in most drugstores through the beginning of the 20th century. It was around this time that recreational use of marijuana was becoming acknowledged. Marijuana has been illegal in the United States since t he Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. This is a federal law that made the possession or transfer of marijuana illegal throughout the United States. This law was the precursor to the crimina... ...ression, motivational syndrome, and even death. The brain damage has been shown to cause memory loss and difficulty in problem solving. In males, it will lower testosterone levels, lower sperm count, and may cause impotence. In females, marijuana may have some effects on pregnancy and can also cause birth defects. Legalization of marijuana could eventually lead to the legalization of harder drugs. Slowly progressing till it becomes possible for harder drugs to gain acceptance. Drugs like heroin, cocaine, and amphetamines, which many view now as unacceptable could eventually be up for legalization. Both sides give legitimate reasons whether it was for or against the legalization and should be taken into consideration. In the end when all sides of the argument are considered, it is simply a matter of opinion on whether you think marijuana should be legalized.

Large Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut

The Large Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut is a magnificent piece of art located in the Egyptian section next to many other statues of the great pharaoh Hatshepsut. Out of all the statues of Hatshepsut, the Large Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut was kept in the best shape and caught a lot of attention from the people in the room. Its great size is something truly remarkable, considering it was built in the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. More importantly, this statue is the first structure in art that depicts a woman leader. Not only is it a truly unique piece of work, but also it is a piece that is revolutionary for its time. The massive size of this statue leaves one wondering if women have always been just as powerful as men, if not more. Hatshepsut is the first recorded female pharaoh in all of time. Even though she was a queen, the Egyptians still gave her a beard, which was traditional in artworks for the pharaoh. This masculine feature gives her a solid presence. Even though she might not look like a powerful pharaoh, the beard helps her followers believe that she is just as commanding as any man. She also has on the nemes headdress typical for a pharaoh to wear. Looking into the face it is visible how old this structure is. It is very rough, rigid and is kind of hard to make out the eyes. However, the lips and nose seem very realistic and gives the viewer a sense of how much time and precision went into this piece many years ago. It can be seen that the Large Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut was carved from a block because there is no space in between the legs and the block on the bottom. All of these incredible features that are usually linked as a part of man exemplify the queen as she felt on the inside. When looking into Hatshepsut’s face, there is no visible emotion. This was probably to make her seem serious about her reign over Egypt. Also, she is a heavy and bulky structure. The size, the beauty, and the image of the sculpture were all used a to her advantage. Her people saw her no differently from the other male emperors before her. The beard and the headdress were utilized as props to make her seem like the powerful woman. Hatshepsut is holding two orbs in both of her hands. This was a way of getting the message across to her people that she was also a giver. They were probably used as offerings to the gods. The orbs seem to kind of weigh down her arms. The legs support the arms from falling on the ground. This shows how there is weight bearing down on her arms due to the orbs that she holds in her hands. In addition, Hatshepsut is perfectly balanced. This balance creates calmness, reflecting the tranquil time period she was ruler. The orbs gives off a sense of how great a pharaoh was made to look through the artwork that they were in. In the New Kingdom time period, no one was really portrayed realistically, and that can really be seen in this work of art. Hatshepsut was the first woman pharaoh ever recorded in history. Although there are a few obvious breaks, this granite sculpture was put back together nicely. Because this piece is so important, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has to be careful of what to light up on the sculpture. This does not look easy because the statue is so massive, but the Met did a good job capturing the face with light, and the top of the orbs. The shadows also reflect how angular this statue really is, and the unrealistic body of the woman pharaoh Hatshepsut. For this weighty, magnificent piece of art to be produced in such a time period makes it something to really marvel at. It gives me a feeling of awe deep inside. The size, the beauty, and the description really leave its viewers pondering how it was constructed. It is known that it was carved out of a block, but the time and effort must have been a tremendous amount. They had to use brute strength and primitive tools to build art that would be hard to build today. To construct such a sculpture at the time is baffling because technology was almost inexistent in Ancient Egypt. This makes one think if they had help from an outside source such as aliens, and if so does this mean that aliens believe women are equal to men. In the time of 1550-1070 BCE when this large statue was created, Egypt was considered to be in its New Kingdom period, one of seven different periods in Ancient Egypt. During its time, the Large Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut was praised for being a powerful leader. Today, the statue is seen in a totally different light. People look at Hatshepsut as a woman who changed the gender roles, not a woman who is doing a great job leading. The Ancient Egyptians probably didn’t think twice that their leader had a beard because that was the traditional way. Hatshepsut is sculpted with the idealized image of the pharaoh seen with a beard and the nemes headdress. This resembles another peace of art from the New Kingdom, the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut. This temple echoes what the cliff looks like just how Pharaoh Hatshepsut would echo what her followers looked like. Both peaces of art are were built to fit comfortably into their surroundings, except Hatshepsut was a woman. Menkaure and Wife Statue from the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt is also similar and different to Large Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut. This statue is more formal and very stiff. Also, the queen is in her classic pose, putting her left hand over her body. In this statue, the king is similar to Hatshepsut. Nefertiti made by Thurmost from the Amarna period of Ancient Egypt is very different from the Large Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut. Nefertiti just like many other statues from its time is more relaxed. Although she was not a queen, Nefertiti was very famous. She dressed like a beautiful woman and was the standard of beauty, unlike dressing like a man to fit in like Hatshepsut did. The Large Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut makes one have a sense of belief that women have always been as powerful as men like women are portrayed today. It is a very impressive sculpture that really makes the viewer wonder how it was created. The size, beauty, and description make it a really noticeable piece of art from its time period. The artwork is a great example of how leaders are put into the art of their country. Queen Hatshepsut utilized the fact that she can influence men into following her by dressing more like them. This made the men feel comfortable with their leader; therefore, they would give their trust into her. Pharaoh Hatshepsut was a truly unique woman.

Albatross Unit 3 Assignment

Introduction This case mainly deals with the varying types of operational challenges that Albatross Anchor is currently facing. The pricing is not a major issue for the organization and it is able to sell its products at a consistent market rate; however it is unable to realise its full profit potential due to the presence of a lot of operational inefficiencies. It is evident that if the firm is able to overcome all of these challenges, it can make the same level of profits as that of their competitors and can also facilitate their future growth exponentially. We have also analyzed two possible options which can be implemented and have assessed of which may be the most viable option for the company. We have also reached on a conclusion regarding the benefits the company can reap by implementing the strategies in their operational management plan. Question One Based on the information presented in the scenario/case study discuss Albatross Anchor’s competitiveness in relation to (please address all items in the below list and provide support for your conclusions): 1. Cost ) Cost of Production: Due to the presence of operational inefficiencies, Albatross Anchor is unable to reduce their costs as a result of which they have a lower profit margin. Therefore, they have a cost of production disadvantage as compared to their competitors. b) Economies of Scale in material purchasing: They can enjoy Economies of Scale when it comes to purchasing materials. Buying in bulk means they can get discounts from the suppliers on their purchase. c) Co st of Raw Materials Sitting Idle in the Warehouse: The increased amount of goods stored in the warehouse means that Albatross Anchor also needs to incur higher amounts of holding costs of storing the large amounts of inventory. Holding costs refers to the cost of carrying an inventory and may include costs such as, depreciation, deterioration, spoilage, taxes and insurance to name a few. d) Cost of Finished Goods Sitting Idle in the Warehouse: For the international orders the inventory of finished goods stays in the inventory along with the raw materials since the production is only done in small batches. This ultimately increases the holding cost for both the finished goods as well as the raw materials. 2. Speed of manufacturing process from order to finished product. Since the products are produced in limited quantities all the raw materials can be used more effectively. This also reduces the number of complexities during the manufacturing process. Currently their production is strictly dependent on the amount of demand for their products. 3. Flexibility in filling order(s) The manufacturing process is very constrained and is not flexible enough to house the smooth production of two different types of products. Each individual type of anchor requires their exclusive set of manufacturing line and therefore the time required to switch from one mode to another manufacturing mode requires 36 hours; which is quite a long time. 4. Technology The manufacturing process is deprived of new technology, making the process even more painstakingly slow. They are still using the traditional methods of making the anchors. 5. Capacity and facilities The current plan of their facilities is clearly insufficient for managing their operations smoothly. The space for storing the finished goods and the raw materials is located towards the far south of the entire facility and it takes a considerable amount of time and effort to ship the finish goods from there. If the manufacturing area is moved closer to the shipping area; it will save considerable amount of time in shipping these finished products. The foundry is not a part of the manufacturing department which further impairs the smooth flow of work in the production process. If the foundry is moved towards the manufacturing process it may increase the firm’s ability to cater to international orders more quickly. For having a mixed model of manufacturing process the Focused Factory process can be used. The Focused Factory aims for a narrow range of products and processes; as a result these factories are also small and quite simple and focus on only one or two products. 6. Service to customers Currently Albatross Anchors only sell their products through OEM customers and to the distributors. Apart from this, their products are of superior quality and are available to the customers in two varied forms. This not only gives Albatross Anchors greater choice, but also ensures that it leads to greater customer satisfaction. However, due to its current operational management procedures it is unable to reap the benefits of it as compared to their competitors. Question Two There are many ways that mushroom/bell anchors may be manufactured. Albatross Anchor is considering two new manufacturing processes (Process A and Process B) to reduce costs. Analysis of the information below will help determine which process has the lowest breakeven point (this validates the process is more cost effective). For each process the following fixed costs and variable costs are identified below: Anchor and Process| Process A| Process B| Sale price per anchor| $45. 00| $45. 00| Total Fixed cost | $ 650,000. 00| $950,000. 00| Variable cost per anchor| $ 36. 00| $ 29. 99| Based on the information in the table above complete the table below: Anchor and Process| Process A| Process B| (a) Fixed costs per anchor|   $9| $15. 01  | (b) The total number of anchors to attainbreak–even point for Process A and Process B|   72,222 units|   63,291 units| (c) Based on your calculations which Process (A or B) that you would recommend for adoption (you can select only one). Please make sure to explain how you arrived at your conclusion. Ans. (a)   At Break Even Point: Total revenue = Total cost i. e. p*x = v*x + F                        where, p = Sales Price per Anchor v = Variable Cost per Anchor                                       F = Total fixed Cost x = Total Anchors to be manufactured for Break Even. Since, p*x = v*x + F => (p-v)*x = F => (p-v) = F/x i. e. (p-v) = Total fixed cost per Anchor Now             Total fixed cost per anchor for Process A = (pA -vA) = (45-36) = $9 per Anchor                        Total fixed cost per anchor for Process B = (pB  -vB) = (45-29. 99) = $15. 01 per Anchor Ans. b)   (p-v)*x = F =>          x = F/(p-v)                                 Number of units to be manufactured at break even For Process A: xA = FA/(pA-vA) = 650,000/ (45-36) = 72,222. 22  ? 72,222 units to be manufactured at break even. For Process B: xB  =  FB/(pB-vB) = 950,000/ (45-29. 99) = 63,291. 14  ? 6 3,291 units to be manufactured at break even. Ans. (c)  Process B should be adopted for two reasons: (1) The break-even point for process B is 63291 units which is less than that                                 of process A at 72,222 units, so process B is more cost effective. 2) Process B is also better than Process A in terms of the Operating leverage which can be defined as the change in net income per unit increase in sales volume. Mathematically, operating leverage can be written as follows:                            Operating Leverage = F/(vx*)   where x*  is units to be manufactured at Break Even point. Operating leverage for process A = 650,000/(36*72222) = 0. 25                Operating leverage for process B = 950,000/(29. 99*63291) = 0. 5                Therefore the process B is also better in terms of the operating leverage as opposed to process A. Conclusion Although Albatross Anchors produces only two types of products; it has huge growth potential which still remains untapped. They can surely achieve more than their current growth rate. They can also undertake other important initiatives which can significantly increase their competitiveness. For instance, product diversification, improved operational processes, and greater employee satisfaction may all contribute in increasing their success in marketplace and further fuel their productivity. As clearly evident from the calculations, implementation of process B in the company can prove to be quite fruitful.

A Brief History of the Invention of Plastics

A Brief History of the Invention of Plastics The first man-made plastic was created by Alexander Parkes who publicly demonstrated it at the 1862 Great International Exhibition in London. The material, called Parkesine, was an organic material derived from cellulose that once heated could be molded and retained its shape when cooled. Celluloid Celluloid is derived from cellulose and alcoholized camphor. John Wesley Hyatt invented celluloid as a substitute for the ivory in billiard balls in 1868. He first tried using  a natural substance called collodion  after spilling a bottle of it and discovering that the material dried into a tough and flexible film. However, the material was not strong enough to be used as a billiard ball, not until the addition of camphor, a derivative of the laurel tree. The new celluloid could now be molded with heat and pressure into a durable shape. Besides billiard balls, celluloid became famous as the first flexible photographic film used for still photography and motion pictures. Hyatt created celluloid in a strip format for movie film. By 1900, movie film was an exploding market for celluloid. Formaldehyde Resins - Bakelite After cellulose nitrate, formaldehyde was the next product to advance the technology of plastic. Around 1897, efforts to manufacture white chalkboards led to casein plastics (milk protein mixed with formaldehyde) Galalith and Erinoid are two early tradename examples. In 1899, Arthur Smith received British Patent 16,275, for phenol-formaldehyde resins for use as an ebonite substitute in electrical insulation, the first patent for processing a formaldehyde resin. However, in 1907, Leo Hendrik Baekeland improved phenol-formaldehyde reaction techniques and invented the first fully synthetic resin to become commercially successful with the trade name Bakelite. Here is a brief timeline of the evolution of plastics. Timeline - Precursors 1839 - Natural Rubber - Method of processing invented by Charles Goodyear1843 - Vulcanite - Invented by Thomas Hancock1843 - Gutta-Percha - Invented by William Montgomerie1856 - Shellac - Invented by Alfred Critchlow and Samuel Peck1856 - Bois Durci - Invented by Francois Charles Lepage Timeline - Beginning of the Plastic Era With Semi-Synthetics 1839 - Polystyrene or PS - Discovered by  Eduard Simon1862 - Parkesine - Invented by Alexander Parkes1863 - Cellulose Nitrate or Celluloid - Invented by John Wesley Hyatt1872 - Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC - First created by Eugen Baumann1894 - Viscose Rayon - Invented by Charles Frederick Cross and Edward John Bevan Timeline - Thermosetting Plastics and Thermoplastics 1908 - Cellophane  - Invented by Jacques E. Brandenberger1909 - First true plastic Phenol-Formaldehyde (trade name Bakelite) - Invented by Leo Hendrik Baekeland1926 - Vinyl or PVC - Walter Semon invented a plasticized PVC1933 - Polyvinylidene chloride or Saran also called PVDC - Accidentally discovered by Ralph Wiley, a Dow Chemical lab worker1935 - Low-density polyethylene or LDPE - Invented by Reginald Gibson and Eric Fawcett1936 - Acrylic or Polymethyl Methacrylate1937 - Polyurethanes (trade-named Igamid for plastics materials and Perlon for fibers) - Otto Bayer and co-workers discovered and patented the chemistry of polyurethanes1938 - Polystyrene made practical1938 - Polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE (trade-named Teflon) - Invented by Roy Plunkett1939 - Nylon and Neoprene - Considered a replacement for silk and a synthetic rubber respectively by Wallace Hume Carothers1941 - Polyethylene Terephthalate or Pet - Invented by Whinfield and Dickson1942 - Low-Density Polyethylene1942 - Unsaturated Polyester also called PET - Patented by John Rex Whinfield and James Tennant Dickson 1951 - High-density polyethylene or HDPE (trade-named Marlex) - Invented by Paul Hogan and Robert Banks1951 - Polypropylene or PP - Invented by Paul Hogan and Robert Banks1953 - Saran Wrap introduced by Dow Chemicals1954 - Styrofoam (a type of foamed polystyrene foam) - Invented by Ray McIntire for Dow Chemicals1964 - Polyimide1970 - Thermoplastic Polyester this includes trademarked Dacron, Mylar, Melinex, Teijin, and Tetoron1978 - Linear Low-Density Polyethylene1985 - Liquid Crystal Polymers

Free Essays on Blockbuster Proposal

Main Competitors Around the North Carolina State University campus, there is not an extensive variety of places to rent movies and videogames. Besides the smaller video stores such as North American Video in Mission Valley, the main movie rental store is the Blockbuster on Avent Ferry Road. Blockbuster already has a competitive advantage around NC State’s campus because they have the biggest selection of new releases, old favorites, and the latest in video games. Smaller stores have a hard time competing against Blockbuster because of their lesser amount of financial assets and advertisements. By adding a Blockbuster onto the Papa John’s on Hillsborough Street, we will not have any main competitors in the general area. Our store should not draw any customers away from the Avent Ferry location, but should boost sales and rentals at both sites. Creating this new business is going to give Papa John’s and Blockbuster both a significant amount of publicity and new promotions. Market Segment Since the location of our business is on Hillsborough Street, our main market segment will be the students at North Carolina State University and surrounding colleges. Purchases from college students account for a large majority of the pizza and movie rentals each year, so I believe our business is strategically in a profitable location. The neighborhoods behind Hillsborough Street are occupied by off-campus students and families, which would also benefit from our business. With the vast number of single-family homes and apartments within our delivery range, customer purchases should increase at an enormous rate with the introduction of our new service. Movie delivery along with our pizza services would save our customers both time and money, two items that are very important to younger demographics. Marketing Strategy At Papa John’s, we focus an immense amount of attention on our marketing strategies, advertisement, and pro... Free Essays on Blockbuster Proposal Free Essays on Blockbuster Proposal Main Competitors Around the North Carolina State University campus, there is not an extensive variety of places to rent movies and videogames. Besides the smaller video stores such as North American Video in Mission Valley, the main movie rental store is the Blockbuster on Avent Ferry Road. Blockbuster already has a competitive advantage around NC State’s campus because they have the biggest selection of new releases, old favorites, and the latest in video games. Smaller stores have a hard time competing against Blockbuster because of their lesser amount of financial assets and advertisements. By adding a Blockbuster onto the Papa John’s on Hillsborough Street, we will not have any main competitors in the general area. Our store should not draw any customers away from the Avent Ferry location, but should boost sales and rentals at both sites. Creating this new business is going to give Papa John’s and Blockbuster both a significant amount of publicity and new promotions. Market Segment Since the location of our business is on Hillsborough Street, our main market segment will be the students at North Carolina State University and surrounding colleges. Purchases from college students account for a large majority of the pizza and movie rentals each year, so I believe our business is strategically in a profitable location. The neighborhoods behind Hillsborough Street are occupied by off-campus students and families, which would also benefit from our business. With the vast number of single-family homes and apartments within our delivery range, customer purchases should increase at an enormous rate with the introduction of our new service. Movie delivery along with our pizza services would save our customers both time and money, two items that are very important to younger demographics. Marketing Strategy At Papa John’s, we focus an immense amount of attention on our marketing strategies, advertisement, and pro...

Bare Infinitive After Certain Verbs

Bare Infinitive After Certain Verbs Bare Infinitive After Certain Verbs Bare Infinitive After Certain Verbs By Maeve Maddox An ESL speaker has two questions about the following construction: I was startled to hear a local radio announcer refer to a contest for artists to submit designs to paint â€Å"murals† on storm drains. Question 1 Can you, please, explain to me why the construction calls for the plural form of the verb â€Å"refer† rather than the singular one (refers) when the subject of this verb (a local radio announcer) is singular? Answer Refer is not inflected because it is not a main verb in this clause. It’s an infinitive. The sentence contains one main verb (â€Å"was startled†) and four infinitives. Three of the infinitives are easy to spot: to hear, to submit, and to paint. The fourth infinitive- refer- lacks the identifying to because it is a bare infinitive. A â€Å"bare infinitive† is written without the particle to. Bare infinitives are not as common as complete infinitives, but they do follow certain verbs. The modal auxiliary verbs will, shall, would, could, can, may, might, must, and should are followed by the bare infinitive. For example: We should go to bed early tonight. (bare infinitive) Can you help me? (bare infinitive) When certain verbs, such as hear, see, make, and let, are followed by an object, the object will be followed by a bare infinitive. For example: I saw him make a face. The object of saw is him. Make is a bare infinitive. She heard Charles tell a lie. The object of heard is Charles. Tell is a bare infinitive. I was startled to hear a local radio announcer refer to a contest. The object of to hear is a local radio announcer. Refer is a bare infinitive. Question 2 Would I be correct if I use the participle form of the verb; i.e., â€Å"I was startled to hear a local radio announcer referring to a contest†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ? Answer The use of refer rather than referring in this context is a stylistic choice. The original sentence is made up of two clauses: Because I am used to thinking of a  mural  as a painting on a wall, I was startled to hear a local radio announcer refer to a contest for artists to submit designs to paint â€Å"murals† on storm drains. The word refer points the reader to the words following it. Changing refer to referring would shift the emphasis from what was said to the announcer saying it. It wouldn’t be â€Å"wrong,† but it would weaken the sentence. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 English Grammar Rules You Should KnowCannot or Can Not?"To Tide You Over"

Kefauver-Harris Amendment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Kefauver-Harris Amendment - Essay Example 127-128). The communal protest caused by the Thalidomide calamity near the beginning of 1960s hastily directed to the road of new set of laws and an unusual sentiment regarding untried drugs. In an attempt to stop happening one more analogous tragedy at the rear of the Thalidomide mishap, the U.S. Parliament, in 1962, passed the Kefauver-Harris Drug Amendment, ordering austere controls on drug checking, promotion and selling. The edict asserted for the first time that hottest drugs must be made known to be helpful before being advertised. In addition, it proposed stringent regulations for sound engineering practices, the intention being to augment quality control in the manufacturing route. The new codes would step up to transform not only the approach Americans participated in drug experiments but also their anticipations for the safety of drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Kefauver-Harris Drug Amendment conceded collectively by the Congress to strengthened control over recommended and unproven drugs and to make certain greater drug protection. It was acknowledged that no drug is actually harmless unless it is also effectual. Before publicizing a drug, its manufacturers now had to demonstrate to FDA not just safety, but also provide considerable verification of effectiveness for the product's future utilization -- a milestone proceed in medical record.

Discuss the need (if any) for international environmental restriction Essay

Discuss the need (if any) for international environmental restriction and the constraints that international agreements are subject to. Use the cases of the Mo - Essay Example It can be argued that if environmental concerns are brought out of their current green image and established with economic rules, the will to enforce them and the ability to accept them could be far greater than it is at the present moment. Undoubtedly, human beings have polluted and exploited the planet that we live on and while the effects of the pollution caused by human activity can be disastrous, it might not be recognized as such until it starts to affect the urban centers of the world that we live in (VonAncken, 2006). Of course there have been successful international agreements on what steps must be taken to prevent an all out attack on the environment and measures such as the Montreal Protocol have certainly met with a lot of success (Kruger, 1999). However, a lot remains to be done in a world where countries such as the United States and Australia have not fully agreed to the more advanced Kyoto Protocol. It would be useless to deny the facts as they stand since global warming and environmental degradation is a harsh reality. According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) global temperatures have risen by 0.6 Â ± 0.2 Co in the last century. Most importantly, the cause for this rise is attributed to human activity (IPCC, 2001). However, there are those who contest the reason behind these facts and suggest that the global rise in temperatures is a natural phenomenon. At the same time, there are many who make dire predictions about the coming climatic changes. Global climate change has quickly become one of the most hotly contested issues in terms of science as well as politics. However, it is also becoming a topic for debate in terms of economics and international law where it may take center stage when new agreements are formed between nations as to how they control what they do to hurt or help

Management of Human ReSOURCES class discussion wk7 Coursework

Management of Human ReSOURCES class discussion wk7 - Coursework Example e job and there are many other applicants with similar qualifications, then the next screening stage should determine if they can be engaged employees in the company because they believe in and practice the organization’s core values and principles that shape its culture. A great example is Southwest Airlines that hires people who are fun-loving and can be team players. It is not focusing on the employee-job fit alone, but on the employee-organization fit. I believe that the elements of the employee selection process that are absolutely essential are determining valid and reliable assessment techniques because they must be able to measure the right predictors for the company. These predictors refer to skill, knowledge, ability, personality, and behavioral styles (including communication style) that are important for the organization and the job opening. For instance, the personality traits of being gregarious and exuberant are more important for a real estate broker than a computer engineer. HR must be able to use the proper assessment techniques that will predict the candidate’s employee-job fit and employee-organization fit. I think the methods of job applicant assessment that are most useful and/or provide reliable results depend on the job. I believe that, for entry-level jobs, work simulations would be useful in determining if the applicant can truly perform the job. An example is letting a call center job applicant take a mock customer call to determine if she can handle calls politely and effectively. Assessment centers are more appropriate for managerial and higher-level positions because they can observe and check the applicant’s actual knowledge, skills, and attitudes in different situations. Interviews are important for any position, nevertheless, because they can show how the candidates communicate and how they respond to different cases and

Analytical reviews Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analytical reviews - Assignment Example These factors mean that most history is skewed towards certain dominant themes and ideas, for example the Western Europeans focus during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries on â€Å"civilization† which was defined as large, metropolitan areas and excluded many smaller but equally interesting societies.1 The preoccupations of the time and place of writing influence what is written, and so, for example Victorian historians write about English Empire and foreign trade while twentieth century historians consider social history and cataclysmic events such as the two World Wars.2 Thus far Manning follows standard views of history but he also moves into novel areas when he considers the way that communications have improved, and the scope of history has widened to include the whole world and history has come to be defined as â€Å"as a field of study focusing on the historical connections among entities and systems often thought to be distinct.† (Manning, p. 7) Every moder n historian has to work in this mode because the contributions from other fields like archaeology, linguistics and climatology have now become an integral part of what it means to do history. Mazlish identifies such giants of the past as Smith, Marx, Engels and Weber as significant heralds of change in the way that we understand the world, observing that they â€Å"seem to have recognized some of the forces of globalization – science technology, capitalism – in their early manifestations and sensed their future implications.†3 Similarly, Mazlish sees himself taking in all the work of historians who have gone before, including the particularly gifted ones who detect major currents in the world, and using them to help illuminate the problems of today. Understanding the past reveals what is inevitable in human history, in the sense of what is contained embryonically and waiting to emerge. Searching for this insight is one of the main function of history, and it bec omes important in a new way, according to both Mazlish and Manning, when it is applied to the contemporary world. Mazlish helpfully explains the difference between â€Å"world history† which focuses on cultural matters and â€Å"global history† which takes in the planet and all the â€Å"amorphous forces† that operate in the new technological environment.4 Part Two Jared Diamond writes with his usual focus on biological forces in his book Guns. Germs and Steel and as usual, he gathers a mountain of evidence to prove a major line of argument, namely that natural forces are more influential in human history than we ever thought they were. His description of the way that the Americas were conquered by germs much more than by the guns and horses of the so-called conquerors from Europe highlights the importance of factors outside the control, or even in many cases the knowledge of human beings. In describing very large scale geographical events like temperature chang es and droughts he explains how chain reactions occur, including mass extinctions of key species and migrations of people in search of steady supplies of key resources. The book is an example of â€Å"world history† because it reaches across the centuries from prehistoric times, through the stone age to classical and modern periods, tracking significant innovations as they spread across the globe. He argues, much like Mazlish and Manning, that looking at human history a huge scale of time and space

The Divine Comedy. The World Structure and The Role of Virgil Essay

The Divine Comedy. The World Structure and The Role of Virgil - Essay Example Thus, there are at least 3 dimensions of Dante’s relationship with Ancient Greek and Roman culture: the poetical one, that is, the influence of the language and symbolism of the previous ages; the difference in world order in Dante’s and classic thinkers’ visions; and the most specific one, Dante’s relationship with Virgil as outlined in the Divine Comedy. This essay addresses all 3 of them. Poetical Aspect Many Dante scholars agree that the most important cultural trait of Classical poetry in the Divine Comedy is its style, that is, its verse, rhetorical topoi, strictness of composition, and the characteristics of genre (Curtius 353-358). Virgil, as well as other figures of ancient writers/rhapsodes such as Lucan and Homer, was the one of the â€Å"regulated poets† whose writing had an imprint of elaborate poetical systems (Curtius 354). Dante wanted his verse and his vision of afterlife to be systematic and logical. Dante’s structured of In ferno is even more elaborate than Virgil’s: in the Aeneid (VI), Aeneus travels through only three sectors of Hell, not shaped as circles and surrounded by different basins rather than parts of one system (Virgil). Still, the overall structure is the same: it is a descriptive journey with a powerful guide (Sybil in Aeneus’s case) beginning in the dark wood and ending on the light mountain top: â€Å"And takes a rising ground, from thence to see / The long procession of his progeny† (Aeneid VI.1024). As for merely linguistic influences, Curtius finds numerous Latinisms in the Divine Comedy , such as his use of the river (‘Fuime’) image used to demonstrate the eloquence of Dante’s speech as related to Virgil’s (Curtius 356). Most of these Latinisms are Medieval, not related to Renaissance poetics (Curtius 354). They indicate that Dante perceived Virgil’s worldview mainly through medieval lens. Thus, his ideas of human nature and th e structure of the world are different from Virgil’s and much closer to Christianity. The World Structure The meaning of Hell is strikingly different in the Divine Comedy and the Classic culture. Dante’s Hell and Purgatory are designed for sinners, being something like a disciplinary place for corrupted souls; thus, it has a strict hierarchy, and every punishment is logically connected with the crime, like the Diviners in Canto XX who are forced to walk with their heads turned back. The punishments are arranged according to the severity of crime, descending into the depth and ending with the frozen circle, like in other medieval literary descriptions of Hell (Turner 87). As the main function of Hell is punishment, the characters are described vividly, in the flesh, and usually with some moral assessment: Those spirits, faint and naked, color chang'd, And gnash'd their teeth, soon as the cruel words They heard.   God and their parents they blasphem'd, The human kind, the place, the time, and seed That did engender them and give them birth (Divine Comedy III.94-98) This is the description of the souls (disembodied!) about to be transported by Charon. In Virgil’s version, it is Charon who provokes disgust; the souls of the dead are described in a neutral if not compassionate way: An airy crowd came rushing where he stood, Which fill'd the margin of the fatal flood: Husbands and wives, boys and unmarried maids, And mighty heroes' more majestic shades, And youths, intomb'd before their fathers' eyes, With hollow groans, and shrieks, and feeble cries (Aeneid VI.422-427). Virgil’s vision of the afterlife, like that of many other Ancient Greeks and Romans, is morally neutral: it’s a fate, an important category of Ancient worldview. Like Ovid, Virgil believed that death is a

Analytical reviews Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analytical reviews - Assignment Example These factors mean that most history is skewed towards certain dominant themes and ideas, for example the Western Europeans focus during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries on â€Å"civilization† which was defined as large, metropolitan areas and excluded many smaller but equally interesting societies.1 The preoccupations of the time and place of writing influence what is written, and so, for example Victorian historians write about English Empire and foreign trade while twentieth century historians consider social history and cataclysmic events such as the two World Wars.2 Thus far Manning follows standard views of history but he also moves into novel areas when he considers the way that communications have improved, and the scope of history has widened to include the whole world and history has come to be defined as â€Å"as a field of study focusing on the historical connections among entities and systems often thought to be distinct.† (Manning, p. 7) Every moder n historian has to work in this mode because the contributions from other fields like archaeology, linguistics and climatology have now become an integral part of what it means to do history. Mazlish identifies such giants of the past as Smith, Marx, Engels and Weber as significant heralds of change in the way that we understand the world, observing that they â€Å"seem to have recognized some of the forces of globalization – science technology, capitalism – in their early manifestations and sensed their future implications.†3 Similarly, Mazlish sees himself taking in all the work of historians who have gone before, including the particularly gifted ones who detect major currents in the world, and using them to help illuminate the problems of today. Understanding the past reveals what is inevitable in human history, in the sense of what is contained embryonically and waiting to emerge. Searching for this insight is one of the main function of history, and it bec omes important in a new way, according to both Mazlish and Manning, when it is applied to the contemporary world. Mazlish helpfully explains the difference between â€Å"world history† which focuses on cultural matters and â€Å"global history† which takes in the planet and all the â€Å"amorphous forces† that operate in the new technological environment.4 Part Two Jared Diamond writes with his usual focus on biological forces in his book Guns. Germs and Steel and as usual, he gathers a mountain of evidence to prove a major line of argument, namely that natural forces are more influential in human history than we ever thought they were. His description of the way that the Americas were conquered by germs much more than by the guns and horses of the so-called conquerors from Europe highlights the importance of factors outside the control, or even in many cases the knowledge of human beings. In describing very large scale geographical events like temperature chang es and droughts he explains how chain reactions occur, including mass extinctions of key species and migrations of people in search of steady supplies of key resources. The book is an example of â€Å"world history† because it reaches across the centuries from prehistoric times, through the stone age to classical and modern periods, tracking significant innovations as they spread across the globe. He argues, much like Mazlish and Manning, that looking at human history a huge scale of time and space

Negotiation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 7

Negotiation - Essay Example This study employed the dual-concern model in order to carry out the research objective. Dual-concern model is widely used theoretical model of conflict resolution styles and has considered by many researchers in their studies. This conflict resolution model has linked with the two frequently used variables of intercultural research such as individualism-collectivism and masculinity-femininity. Dual-concern model has two main dimensions. The first dimension includes the concern for the individual own outcome and the second dimension involves the concern for outcomes of others. These two dimensions of this model give way to four basic styles of conflict resolution process. These four basic styles are avoidance, accommodation, competition and collaboration. Avoidance is basically a strategy people adopt to go the conflict unsettled or allow others to resolve the problem. In this model, avoidance has low in concern for both self and others. Accommodation is basically sacrificing owns goal in order to fulfill the necessity of others. This style of resolving conflicts is low in concern for self but high in concern for others. Competition is mainly a win-lose style. It is an attempt to fully benefit own self while forget about others therefore competition is high in concern for self but low in concern for others. Collaboration is categorized as win-win proposition. This style has high in concern for self and for others as well. Individual who are collaboration oriented will resolve the conflict if really exists in a way that both the parties are equally satisfied and compensated. People belong to individualism culture consider themselves as a distinctive body. The people belongs from this culture are highly in concern for satisfying their own personal needs. However the people from collectivism culture are totally in contrast to individualism. They are not self oriented people. They

My Philosophy of Nursing Essay Example for Free

My Philosophy of Nursing Essay The main purpose of the paper is to express my personal philosophy of nursing. The paper provides an observation of a framework of my personal practice of nursing and the reasons why I choose nursing as a profession. The issue is extremely important to be studied, researched, and analyzed as it represents the theoretical basis of each nurse and highly supports one’s life philosophy and the system of interaction the nurse has with the rest of the society. Special attention is paid to the attitude that nurses have to their patients, family members, other nurses, and health care professionals as this has the major impact on the nursing practice in general. In order to define a personal philosophy of nursing, it is very important to understand the meaning of the term â€Å"philosophy†. As for me, this issue can be perfectly addressed with the definition that presents philosophy as a specific attitude towards life and reality that evolves according to the beliefs of each nurse (Edwards, 1997). This definition is really useful as it gives the freedom to use my own beliefs and experience to talk about this issue. The real nature of nursing is quite diverse, and it has been always a subject for a discussion among professionals trying to define whether nursing is a science or an art. I see that there is a place for both these terms when we talk about real nursing practice (June, 2004). The attitude towards nursing in my personal life has been forming through the years, beginning with my first dreams of becoming a nurse that were motivated with the desire to wear white uniform like people that I saw on television. However, as the time passed, my vision of nursing has gone through serious changes. I understood that nurse is not just a person in a uniform, but a professional who can make differences in a patient’s life. During the period when I was trying to make my final decision about the future professional career, I was lucky to be able to talk to and followed by real professional nurse that was trying to teach me and my family members how to look after my grandmother. This outstanding experience showed me the real meaning of this profession; therefore, I was able to see what I was going to be in future. As it is known, some researchers see nursing as an art. This tendency began with the first comparisons trying to see nursing as an art in metaphorical sense, not in the way we see fine art. These definitions were present in the works of Florence Nightingale in the end of the 19th century, when the  scientists were trying to adhere to nursing quality. The main issue then was the question whether there is a highest and most desirable level of nursing practice (Austgard, 2006). These thoughts and ideas are now developed in the works of Benner as this researcher also evolves the importance of quality level of nursing and caring (Benner, 1984). It is extremely important to pay attention to caring and the level of interactions between professionals and patents, their family members and the other medical workers. My personal way of interacting is based on the personal experience of taking care of my grandmother; therefore, I try to build my attitude to patients on the basis of trust and partnership. I find these aspects extremely important for the successful nursing practice. The same refers to the attitude I have towards my coworkers. As it can be seen, the nursing practice is an extremely complex issue that requires close attention and proper analysis. It is crucial for every professional to develop one’s own philosophy of nursing. This process is long and can take the whole life. It also requires attention to such factor as the character of interacting with the patients, their family members, and coworkers. This issue is so important, because the successful nursing professional can play a decisive role in patients’ life. References Austgard, K. (2006). The aesthetic experience of nursing. Nursing Philosophy, 7(1), 11-19. Benner, P. (1984). From novice to expert: Excellence and power in clinical nursing practice (2 ed.). Menlo Park, CA: Addison Wesley. Edwards, S. D. (1997). What is philosophy of nursing? Journal of Advanced Nursing, 25(2), 1089-1093. June, K. F. (2004). Towards a philosophic theory of nursing. Nursing Philosophy, 5(1), 79-83.

Production Planning Incorporate with Job Rotation and Work

Production Planning Incorporate with Job Rotation and Work Thesis/Project Title: Production Planning Incorporate with Job rotation and Work Injury by  Multi-Objective Criteria Courses Taken/Grades: Course Name Grade ME 460 Automation and Robotics in Manufacturing 84 ME 887 Introduction to Microsystems 85 ME 886 Advanced Engineering Design Methodology 88 BIOE 898 Special Topic 88 STAT 845 Statistical Methods for Research 90 GSR 960 Introduction to Ethics and Integrity CR Average Grade to Date:87% ME 990 Seminar:January 27th, 2016 Expected Completion Date:December, 2016 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1.1. Background and Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1.2. Research Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 LITERATURE REVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3.1 Production Planning and Scheduling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3.2 HUMAN FACTOR IN PRODUCTION PLANNING . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 3.2.1. Human Scheduling in Technical System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 3.2.2. Human Work Related Injuries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 3.2.3. Leading Factors for Work Injuries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2.2.4. How We Reduce Work Injuries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 3.3 QUALITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 3.3.1. Manufacturing Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 3.3.2. Dimensions of Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 3.4 JOB ROTATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 3.4.1. Importance of Job Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 3.4.2. Outcomes of Job Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 3.4.3. Job Rotation as a Cost Effective Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 3.5 WORK FORCE AGING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 3.5.1. Aging Effect Worker Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 3.5.2. Workforce Aging Effect on Production Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 METHODOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 CONCLUSION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 TIMELINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background and Motivation In the last few years, the question of human well-being at the working place has come afore as a key issues in production planning and scheduling. The manufacturing productivity is affected by both the human and machine factors. However, much of the previous research has been focused on the machine aspect but the human aspect. The previous work considers not only the productivity but also the production cost, worker safety and machine utilization. Particularly, (Xu, 2015) demonstrated the significance of work injury to the total production cost. His work also showed that the effect of work injury can be reduced by designing a production system. Due to the increasing cost of work injuries as well as concern of health work place, both the government and industry have made an effort on preventing work injury occurrences. In 2005, the government of Canada paid approximately $6.8 billion dollars in benefits through its Workersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ Compensation Boards (WCBs) organization. It is being realized that the cost incurred by work injuries contributes a large portion to the total production cost, and strategies are urgently required to tackle the problem of work injury. In 2000 to 2012 period, the total costs of occupational injuries to the Canadian economy was estimated to be more than $19 billion annually. The factors other than the production system design, which lead to work injury, are: employee boredom, fatigue, lack of motivation, lack of training, and mismatch of job and workforce age. Besides design of production systems, to remove or solve the issues related to work injury, there are three kinds of techniques: Engineering solutions, Administrative solutions and Personal safety equipment (Tayyari Smith, 1997). Job rotation comes in the category of administrative solution. It is about the rotation of workers among a number of non-similar workstations, where each worker requires different skills or techniques and responsibilities to do job (Azizi, Zolfaghari Liang, 2010). It enables operators to become multi-skilled by providing them with a greater ability to handle increased demand and large product variability (Michalos et al., 2010). When many jobs of different requirements and workers of different capabilities are involved, the job rotation problem becomes very complex. Due to the complexity of job rotation, there are implications of job rotation as well. If not done properly job rotation can increase the cost of production and also reduce the quality of the manufacturing system. Cost is a factor which is widely understood and studied but Quality is one of the most important but the least understood attribute of a system. Without quality, a system cannot comply with required goals and standards. Conventionally, production planning is mainly about materials resource planning. The materials include both the material for products and the machine tools for production of the products (Krajewski et al., 2005). Many techniques have been established to improve the effectiveness of production planning, to make a plan which meets the customer demand, satisfaction and cost with other features such as continuity and resilience of a system as referred to by Zhang and Lin (2010). Zhang defines resilience as a systems post-damage property i.e. the systems ability to recover its function from some damage. In the context of enterprises, Guelfi et al. (2008) defined the resilience as the capacity of a business process to recover and reinforce itself when facing changes. This calls for a scientific approach to solving this problem. 1.2 Research Questions The following questions come up: Question 1: How may job rotation significantly affect the cost of production especially with its connection to work injury (particularly related to the worker aging)? Question 2: How to define and model the quality of the operation of a manufacturing or production system particularly in terms of resilience or system disruption? Question 3: How to define and model job rotation in production planning and scheduling so as to make a balanced improvement in terms of the cost and resilience? 2. Objectives and Scope Objective 1 To model the job rotation for incorporating them into the production planning and scheduling. The model should consider the influence of job rotation to work injury (due to aging). Objective 2 To develop a model for the resilience of a production system with planning and scheduling in place. The resilience may simply refer to operation disruption. It is assumed that by meeting the customer requirement for products or jobs, the quality of a production system is guaranteed. It is also assumed that the product delivery time is satisfied by an effective production plan and schedule. Objective 3 To develop a production planning model for achieving the lowest cost and highest resilience. In this model, besides the decision variables such as production quantity, the variable for job rotation will be included. 3. Literature Review 3.1 Production Planning and Scheduling Production planning is a planning of production and manufacturing modules in any organization or industry. It utilizes the allocation of resources (employees, material and machines) in order to achieve the organizational goals. On the other hand production scheduling differs from production planning in that a schedule includes the information such as what system components (machines and/or humans) do what jobs at what times. Ideally, one may want to be the best for all the foregoing goals but in reality this is not possible as there may be conflicts among them. For instance, low cost production may likely lead to poor product quality. Nevertheless, an optimal trade-off among these elements does make sense. In fact, from a mathematical point of view, the problem is inherently a multi-objective optimisation problem. In practice, the multi-objective optimization problem is modeled as a single objective optimization problem while the rest of elements are considered as constraints or only implicitly assumed. For instance, often the quality is assumed to be fine as long as the production meets the quantity, and the time is implicitly represented in a way that the customer demand for a period of time say T is divided into a series of time segments (ti), and then on each time segment (ti), there will be the product quantity say di. Based on the foregoing discussion, the quality, quantity, and time are modelled. This research will further consider cost and resilience. The cost goal is conventional in the mathematical model for production planning and scheduling (Cramer, 2011). Elements that incur the cost are: material cost, machine utilization cost, human cost, human work injury cost, inventory cost, penalty cost, overhead cost, and so forth (Phruksaphanrat, Ohsato Yenradee, 2006; Swamidass, 2000; Gallego, 2001; Xu, 2015; Sule, 2008). The resilience goal is less known to the literature especially a joint consideration of the cost goal and resilience goal. There are some works on job rotation, which are categorized into the human factors in planning and scheduling, and will be discussed later in this document. Broadly, according to (Laperrià ¨re et al., 2014) Production planning does not work alone, it normally approaches with other production activities (Fig. 1) such as aggregate production planning, production scheduling and production control. Aggregate Production Planning (APP) determines what, when and how much the work force levels, inventory status and production rate required to achieve the market or customer demand. APP falls between the broad decisions of long-range planning and the highly specific and detailed short-range planning decisions (Chakrabortty Hasin, 2013).Production Scheduling determines the sequence of production for planned products on daily and weekly basis (Pinedo, 2005); see also the previous discussion. Production Controldeals with the real time information from the processes such as workforce and inventory level to take decisions to remove or avoid the system from disruption (Pinedo, 2005). In this thesis research, the scope is production planning and schedu ling. 3.2 Human factors in production planning Technological developments in the production system allowed the automation of the manufacturing processes and assembly lines, but employees or human operators still remain a serious factor in every production system (Chryssolouris, 2006). Employees or workers are the most important resources of any organization. The way in which workers are allocated to tasks can meaningfully affect a companys performance or productivity (Tharmmaphornphilas Norman, 2007). Therefore non-compatibility or mismatch of humans to technical systems may even cause injuries in the humans, which is the main concern of human factor engineering in production planning. To solve this problem, job rotation is the best technique to overcome this issue and it helps to increase the production efficiency or productivity (McKay Wiers, 2006). 3.2.1 Human Scheduling in Technical System Presently, industries assign tasks to employees according to their competence, skills or experience. This method helps to increase the system productivity and quality but it can results in worker to be assigned same task every time (Tharmmaphornphilas Norman, 2007). Performing the repetitive tasks may reason for musculoskeletal disorders, accrue stress, induce boredom, create fatigue and may lead to occupational illness and injury (Hagberg et al. 1995). 3.2.2 Human Work Related Injuries The behavior of a worker can be affected by several factors such as: (Digiesi, et al. 2009). Work Environment: (physical: microclimate, ergonomics, noise; social: human relationships, communication among the group). Nature of the Task: (discrete vs. continuous, repetitive vs. non-repetitive, motor vs. cognitive). Personal factors: (psycho-physical attitude, personal skill, age, sex). 3.2.3 Leading Factors for Work Injuries It has been noticed that there are some major factors which contributes to work injuries are: Employee Boredom: It can be related with performance reduction, general dissatisfaction, and accidents (Azizi, Zolfaghari Liang, 2010). Fatigue: Accumulation of fatigue causesmusculoskeletal disorders(Asensio-Cuesta et al., 2012) Repetitive Motions: Monotonous repetitive work has been identified as a major cause of work load related disorders (Michalos et al., 2010) Workforce Aging: In very repetitive short cycle operations, work-related musculoskeletal disorders tend to be more dominant in workers aged from 40 to 60 (Boenzi, et al., 2015). 3.2.4 How We Reduce Work Injuries There are three ways to reduce or overcome the work injuries (Tayyari Smith, 1997) .These are as follows: Engineering Solutions: It includes to redesign the work place, redesign tools and redesign job. Administrative Solutions: It includes the reconsideration of work schedules, workers rotation and career changes. Personal Protective Equipment:It includes safety shoes, hats, safety glasses and safety clothes. 3.3 Quality Quality is important property of any systems and usually refers to the degree to which a system lives up to the expectation of satisfying its requirements (Ivan et al. 2014). The definition of quality, standardized by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC) in 1978, is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears on its ability to satisfy given needs. This definition suggests that we must be able to identify the features and characteristics of products and services that determine customer satisfaction and form the basis for measurement and control. 3.3.1 Manufacturing Quality In terms of manufacturing based quality, (Crosby, 1979) defined manufacturing quality as quality is about conformance to requirement. 3.3.2 Dimensions of Quality Garvin (1988) and Grady (1992) described the dimensions for quality analysis in their book are: Performance, Reliability, Conformance, Durability, Serviceability, Usability, Functionality and Supportability. Quality is often characterized in terms of attributes for system quality such as modifiability, durability, predictability (Ivan et al., 2014). 3.4 Job Rotation Job rotation is about the rotation of workers among a number of non-similar workstations where each worker requires different skills or techniques and responsibilities to do job (Azizi, Zolfaghari Liang, 2010). In other words job rotation can be defined as working at different operations or in different positions for particular set periods of time in a planned way (Jorgensen, 2005). 3.4.1 The Importance of Job Rotation Implementing Job Rotation as a manufacturing method is beneficial to increase production efficiency, operator satisfaction and helps to reduce Work-related musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs) and labor cost (Cramer, 2011). Job rotation using lateral transfers allows employees to gain a wide range of knowledge, skills and competencies (Jorgensen, 2005). It provides a benefit or increase the firms ability to deal with change (Kher et al., 1999). As a benefit of job rotation to workers, it may increase workers job satisfaction (Cunningham and Eberle, 1990). Job rotation also yields such benefits to workers as reducing the injuries due to performing repetitive tasks as well as the workers fatigue especially if the worker is exposed to various muscular loads during task operation in manufacturing (Hinnen et al., 1992; Henderson, 1992). Carnahan et al. (2000) studied several methods to integrate the safety criteria into scheduling algorithms to produce job rotation schedules that reduce the potential for work injury. Job design related applications began to take shape with a scientific management approach in the 1900s. The study of management scientists such as Taylor and Gilbreth on the subject of job design becomes a foundation for scientific management. Further, many models were developed, which are associated with job design, social information processing and job characteristics approach by Hackman and Oldman in 1976 (Hackman Oldham, 1976) and these models have enormously important effects on increasing the productivity of human resources. Job rotation prevents musculoskeletal disorders, eliminates boredom and increases job satisfaction and morale. As a result, an organization gains a skilled and motivated workforce, which leads to increases in productivity, employee loyalty and decreases in employee turnover (Asensio-Cuesta et al., 2012). Job rotation is considered as an appropriate organizational strategy to reduce physical workload (Paul et al., 1999; Boenzi et al., 2015) in human-based production systems and it is the most wide spread labor flexibility instrument in the case of repetitive assembly tasks (Paul et al., 1999). 3.4.2 Outcome of Job Rotation 3.4.3 Job Rotation as a Cost Effective Tool There are several appealing factors for job rotation but one major factor is the relatively low implementation cost. Job rotation policy is very effective tool to overcome or minimize the work injuries cost or helpful in reduction of repetitive tasks, which leads to work injuries. Job rotation itself cost effective to apply in any organization the cost which only related to job rotation is training cost. 3.5 Work Force Aging The phenomenon of population aging affects the ageing of work force which determines work force availability. Industrial and academic research are required to investigate the influence of workforce aging in formulating new working time models and job rotation planning solutions. Field investigations on the effect of workers aging on production performance were carried out at the BMW plant in Dingolfing, Bavaria (Loch CH et al., 2010). 3.5.1 Aging Effects on Worker According to (Tokarski, 2011) aging affects the workers performance in three aspects are: Physically: (physiological, perceptual and motor processes, and declines in abilities, such as dexterity, strength and endurance. Cognitive: (Decision making Skills, Learning skills and forgetting phenomena) Emotions:(Boredom, fatigue and lack of motivation) 3.5.2 Workforce Aging Effect on Production Performance Changes in workforce age structure may have an impact on production system performance or productivity. According to Sà ¼lzenbrà ¼ck et al. (2010) age-related impairments have a negative effect on working capacity and productivity. In assembly lines the higher the average age of the assemblers, the higher the risk they cannot meet all the requirements (Buck Dworschak, 2003). The effects of ageing on employees physical and cognitive performances negatively affects the flexibility of human based production system (Boenzi et al., 2015). The factors which may affect the performance of a worker with respect to ageing are: Muscular Strength. Dynamics Actions. Endurance (Aerobic Capacity). Reaction Time (Responses). Awkward Postures (Flexibility). 4. Proposed Methodology A mathematical model will be developed in terms of Production cost. Components of production cost will be work injury cost, work injury prevention cost, inventory cost and conventional production cost. Different Scenarios will be developed considering workers of different age groups and how they can be rotated between job positions, when there is a work related injury to one of them. When scenarios are made, mathematical model formulated in the earlier step will be applied on the scenarios. The mathematical model for each scenario will form the basis for the use of Multi Objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA). This Aggregate production planning problem emphases on developing a Multi objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA) method to find the optimum production plan for meeting forecasted customer demand by controlling the work injury during the production. Multi objective function will be inserted along with its constraints. A general description of steps for implementing MOGA are as follows: Step 1: Generate random population of n chromosomes (suitable solutions for the problem) Step 2: Evaluate simultaneously the Multiple fitness f(x) of each chromosome x in the population Step 3: Create a new population by repeating four steps (Selection, Crossover, Mutation and Acceptation) until the new population is complete. Step 4: Use new generated population for a further run of algorithm Step 5: If the stopping condition is satisfied, stop, and return the best solution in current population Step 6: If the stopping condition is not satisfied then go to step 2 follow loop. MOGA parameters will then be inserted. Assumptions No worker is working on full capacity. It is assumed that a worker only utilizes 60 percent of his/her work capacity to fulfil the job requirement. Material is always available during production. Trivial solutions will be ignored. No hiring and lay off during the planning horizon. It is assumed that age is not a contributing factor towards work injury. 5. Conclusion There has been some work done on the concept of production planning in terms of work injury cost. But upon doing literature review, I realized that there has been no work done when it comes to applying work injury cost and job rotation to make a production plan. My work will focus on developing a production model by considering work injury cost and job rotation. There are quite a few benefits of this approach. Firstly, it will give us a model where workers of different age can be used in an optimized way in a production based environment. Secondly, in case of any absentee or injuries, an organization can develop a plan in such a way that workers of older age (above 50) are minimally exposed to physically intensive work. Furthermore, a model for job rotation will be made considering age of the workers so as to reduce work injury by minimal exposure of aged work force to physically demanding work. Lastly, due to application of work injury and job rotation, a cost effective way to model and run a production line (in terms of manual labor) will be done. 6. Timeline MONTH ACTIVITY January (2016) Preparation of set of research objectives and scope. Literature review. Presentation preparation for Seminar ME 990. February (2016) Identification of appropriate decision variables and constraints for model. March (2016) Completion of research proposal. April- September (2016) Advisory committee Formulation of model. Validation of model. October-November (2016) Compiling the final results. Thesis preparation. December (2016) Defence of thesis 7. References Buck, H., Dworschak. B., (2003) Ageing and work in Europe. Strategies at company level and public policies in selected European countries, in: Demography and employment, IRB, DE. Carnahan, B.J., Redfern, M.S., Norman, B.A., 2000. Designing safe job rotation schedules using optimization and heuristic search. Ergonomics 43, 543-560. Chakrabortty, R., Hasin, M. (2013). Solving an aggregate production planning problem by using multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) approach. International Journal of Industrial Engineering Computations, 4(1), 1-12. Chryssolouris G (2006) Manufacturing Systems: Theory and Practice. Second edition. Cramer, Scott Douglas, Increased production capabilities by job rotation through simulation. (2011). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 287. Cunningham, B.J., Eberle, T., 1990. A guide to job enrichment and redesign. Personnel, pp. 56-61. David A. Garvin, (1988). Managing Quality. The Free press. F. Boenzi, S. Digiesi, G. Mossa, G. Mummolo, V.A. Romano, Modelling Workforce Aging in Job Rotation Problems, IFAC-PapersOnLine, Volume 48, Issue 3, 2015, Pages 604-609, Frazer, M.B., Norman, R.W., Wells, R.P., Neumann, W.P. (2003): The effects of job rotation on the risk of reporting low back pain. In: Ergonomics, (2003), vol. 46, no. 9, 904 919. Gallego, G. (2001). IEOR 4000, Production Management, Lecture 5. Columbia University. George Michalos, Sotiris Makris, Loukas Rentzos George Chryssolouris., (2010). Dynamic job rotation for workload balancing in human based assembly systems. CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology 2 (2010) 153-160. Gert Zà ¼lch, Wolfgang J. Braun, Emmerich F. Schiller, Analytical approach of determining job division in manual assembly systems, International Journal of Production Economics, Volume 51, Issues 1-2, 15 August 1997, Pages 123-134, Guelfi, N., et al., 2008. SERENE08: Proceedings of the 2008 RISE/EFTS Joint International Workshop on Software Engineering for Resilient Systems, 17-19 November 2008, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. New York, NY, USA: ACM. Hackman, J. R., Oldham, G. R. (1976). Motivation through the design of work: Test of a theory. Organizational Behavior Human Performance, 16(2), 250-279. Hagberg, M., Silverstein, B., Wells, R., Smith, M. J., Hendrick, H. W., Carayon, P., Pà ©russe, M. (1995). Work related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs): a reference book for prevention. London: Taylor Francis. Hinnen, U., Laubli, T., Guggenbuhl, U., Krueger, H., 1992. Design of check- out systems including laser scanners for sitting work posture. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health 18, 186-194. Ivo Tokarski, (2011). Health of ageing staff on success of job rotation strategy. J. Jà ³zefowska, A. Zimniak, (2008) Optimization tool for short-term production planning and scheduling, International Journal of Production Economics, Volume 112, Issue 1, March 2008, Pages 109-120. Jian-Hung Chen, Shinn-Ying Ho,(2005) A novel approach to production planning of flexible manufacturing systems using an efficient multi-objective genetic algorithm, International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture, Volume 45, Issues 7-8, Pages 949-957, Jorgensen, M. (2005): Characteristics of job rotation in the Midwest US manufacturing sector: Ergonomics, 48(15), 1721-1733. Kher, H.V., Malhotra, M.K., Philipoom, P.R., Fry, T.D., 1999. Modelling simultaneous worker learning and forgetting in dual resource constrained systems. European Journal of Operational Research 115, 158-172. Kurtulus Kaymaza. (2010): The Effects of Job Rotation Practices on Motivation: A Research on Managers in the Automotive Organizations: Journal of Business and Economic Research: Vol 1, No 3, pp. 69-85. Laperrià ¨re, L., Reinhart, G., the International Academy for Production Engineering. (2014). CIRP Encyclopedia of Production Engineering, Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Loch CH, Sting FJ, Bauer N, Mauermann H (March, 2010) How BMW is defusing the demographic time bomb. Harward Bus Rev 88(3):99-104. McKay, N. K., Wiers, C. S. V. (2006). The human factor in planning and scheduling. Handbook of production scheduling, Springer US, 23-57. Mistrik, Ivan Bahsoon, Rami Eeles, Peter Roshandel, Roshanak Stal, Michael. (2014). Relating system quality and software architecture.Books24x7 version. Nader Azizi a, Saeed Zolfaghari b, Ming Liang a., (2010). Mode

Friday :: Germanic Mythology Language Essays

Friday Every Monday at work, I hear people complaining that they wish it would be Friday already. Everyone waits for this last day of the working week with excitement and eagerness. Friday represents the completion of the week, and at the same time, the beginning of the weekend. The origins of the word "Friday" take their roots from Norse mythology, when this day signified rejuvenation, and at the same time loss, death or completion. In various cultures, this day has numerous meanings and is perceived both positively and with anxiety. The meaning of Friday was preserved through centuries, and today we still use the pagan name of Friday as well as pagan names for other days of the week in the English language. Friday has come a long way from the Anglo-Saxon frigedaeg or from the Old High German Freyja, a goddess of love and fertility. In Germanic mythology Freyja was portrayed as the goddess of youth, beauty, and sexual love. She was married to Odur, but he left her to travel around the world. Afterward, Freyja was depicted weeping, and her tears were drops of gold. Freyja's most famous possession was her necklace, Brising ("necklace of the dwarfs"), given to her by the dwarfs in exchange for her having sexual intercourse with them. Often in myths Freyja is accused of having sexual intercourse with many men and gods. Also Freyja is known as a patron of married couples and "is very fond of love ditties, and all lovers would do well to invoke her," according to the Prose Edda (Mercatante 264). However, besides being the patron of marriage and goddess of fertility, Freyja is portrayed as the goddess of battle and death. She claimed half of the dead warriors killed in battles and received them in her realm of Folkvang. Odur, her husband, received the other half of warriors at Valhalla. The fact that Friday was held sacred to this goddess of fertility and death signifies that inhabitants of ancient England perceived this day as the beginning and at the same time as the completion of their weekly activities, or possibly life. Although in various cultures the meaning of Friday differs, there are numerous similarities, which can be traced down to the common source. In Norse mythology, where paganism dominated religious and cultural settings, Friday was considered to be the day of love and a good day to put a beginning to various activities such as farming or a conception of a child.

Pain Management Essay

Joshi, G., & Kehlet, H. (2013). Procedure-specific Pain Management: The Road to Improve Postsurgical Pain Management?. Anesthesiology, 118(4), 780-782. . This article explained that good pain management is known to produce many benefits for the postoperative patient. However, the article goes on to explain that treating postoperative pain is still a major issue with inadequate postoperative patient pain relief remaining high. The article discussed how the Joint Commission declared pain the â€Å"fifth vital sign†. And that the Joint Commission has determined not all pain could be eliminated, but that goal-related therapy may be suitable. The article concluded by explaining that there was a need for evidence-based procedure specific pain management guidelines. I found this to be an interesting concept that the article presented. In summary the authors believed we could better manage pain based on knowing the type and amount of pain usually caused based on the type of surgery. Zuccaro, S., Vellucci, R., Sarzi-Puttini, P., Cherubino, P., Labianca, R., & Fornasari, D. (2012). Barriers to Pain Management. Clinical Drug Investigation, 32(S1), 11-19. This article started by showing that although there are many techniques to alleviate pain there are even more barriers to effective pain management. With these many barriers leading to a large number of patients not receiving the best pain control. The abstract went on to give examples of the different types of barriers for patients, physicians, and health care institutions. The author believed that identifying and acknowledging these barriers was the beginning to overcoming them. The abstract concluded that health care providers need to be more aware of their patient’s as well as their own cognitive, emotional, and behavioral barriers in order to achieve optimal pain management. Sinatra, R. (2010). Causes and Consequences of Inadequate Management of Acute Pain. Pain Medicine, 11(12), 1859-1871. This article started off by showing that acute pain affects millions of patients every year. This author also agreed that even with the increased  focus on pain management patients pain control continues to be subpar. The purpose of the authors’ study was also to determine barriers to effective pain management as well as consequences to ineffective pain control. This was achieved by completing a review of recent literature regarding the subject of pain management. The study determined that physicians and patients attitudes and educational barriers as well as limited available therapies lead to inadequate pain management. The authors concluded that studies on the use of multiple analgesics with different mechanisms of action could improve the efficiency as well as adverse effects over the single agent approach. Schatman, M. E. (2011). The Role of the Health Insurance Industry in Perpetuating Suboptimal Pain Management. Pain Medicine, 12(3), 415-426. This article started by sharing that pain practitioners function according to medical ethics while health care insurers operate under business ethics of cost and profit. The authors believe that the health insurance industry continues to fail at servicing those suffering from chronic pain and instead the industry stays focused on serving itself. The essay focused on the different self-serve strategies used by the health insurance industry including efforts to falsify chronic pain and its treatments. In conclusion the author felt that the future outlook for those with chronic pain was not good until a not-for-profit single payer system replaced the current self-serving health care insurance industry. Loder, E., Witkower, A., McAlary, P., Huhta, M., & Matarrazzo, J. (2003). Rehabilitation hospital staff knowledge and attitudes regarding pain. American Journal Of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation / Association Of Academic In summary this article was based on a study that focused on inpatient care staff and their knowledge related to pain. A survey was conducted with hospital staff regarding attitudes and experience related to pain care responsibilities. This study showed the staff rated personal lack of education regarding pain management as the main barrier to effective pain management. It also showed that the majority of staff surveyed felt  uncomfortable with many aspects of pain management including the use of opioids in the treatment plan. The study went on to discuss how the findings could be used to improve pain management in the hospital setting going forward including staff education. Niruban, A., Biswas, S., Willicombe, S., & Myint, P. (2010). An audit on assessment and management of pain at the time of acute hospital admission in older people. International Journal Of Clinical Practice, 64(10), 1453-1457. This study focused on pain being more prevalent in older people and how well that pain is assessed and managed in the emergency environment. The study was performed at a hospital in West Norfolk, UK on 140 patients with acute pain hospital admissions. The pain management of these patients were evaluated for 24 hours after admission. The study findings concluded that pain management was not optimal for these patients. The study also showed that management of pain would have been better with scheduled monitoring, education, and better assessment. Personal review: This review of literature has positively impacted my understanding of pain management in many ways. These articles opened my eyes to how important of a role pain control plays in the overall success of the patient. The studies showed how pain management directly effects overall patient outcome. If pain control is handled optimally then positive patient outcome goes up and vice versa. Before this review I knew pain management was important, but I didn’t realize how important with it directly being related to overall patient outcome. This literature also helped me to recognize that health insurance practices play a major role in patient care. The health insurance industry sets many guidelines that determine how and when care is given to our patients. One of the articles focused on how the insurance industry is guided by business ethics with profit being the most important focus. While care providers are guided by medical ethics with positive patient care being the priority. Finally, this review opened my eyes to the many barriers in the way of proper pain management for patients. I now realize that there are patient, provider, and institute barriers effecting optimal pain management as well as many others. And that these barriers include educational, personal attitudes, beliefs, and more. This review helped me realize that identifying and acknowledging these barriers is the first step in overcoming these barriers in order to provide the best pain control and best total care to my patients. References Joshi, G., & Kehlet, H. (2013). Procedure-specific Pain Management: The Road to Improve Postsurgical Pain Management?. Anesthesiology, 118(4), 780-782. Loder, E., Witkower, A., McAlary, P., Huhta, M., & Matarrazzo, J. (2003). Rehabilitation hospital staff knowledge and attitudes regarding pain. American Journal Of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation / Association Of Academic Niruban, A., Biswas, S., Willicombe, S., & Myint, P. (2010). An audit on assessment and management of pain at the time of acute hospital admission in older people. International Journal Of Clinical Practice, 64(10), 1453-1457. Schatman, M. E. (2011). The Role of the Health Insurance Industry in Perpetuating Suboptimal Pain Management. Pain Medicine, 12(3), 415-426. Sinatra, R. (2010). Causes and Consequences of Inadequate Management of Acute Pain. Pain Medicine, 11(12), 1859-1871. Zuccaro, S., Vellucci, R., Sarzi-Puttini, P., Cherubino, P., Labianca, R., & Fornasari, D. (2012). Barriers to Pain Management. Clinical Drug Investigation, 32(S1), 11-19.