Saturday, October 5, 2019
Case 4-1 McDonald's Great Britain -The Turnaround Study
4-1 McDonald's Great Britain -The Turnaround - Case Study Example There was a further fall in McDonald’s UK’s sales in 2005 alongside those of other European McDonald’s outlets. In 2007, the company’s sales went up by 4.6 percent and it increased its market share. Inadequate localization, negative perception, and competition are some of the reasons for McDonald’s UK lagging behind. The most critical problem confronting McDonald’s UK is inadequate localization. This manifests in the way its Britain customers were repulsed by its use of the red color on its company logo. The second most critical problem facing McDonald’s UK is negative perception and the Greenpeace lawsuit, low quality food, lack of variety on its menu and the low pay that the company offers its employees are responsible for the company’s negative perception. The least critical problem facing McDonald’s UK is competition. Some emerging coffee shops are competing with McDonald’s UK and other fast food businesses are offering more variety for what is considered healthy foods by Britain’s customers (Krishna & Chaudhuri 658). Question 2: Some problems you identified in Question 1 may require a â€Å"quick fix†in the short run, while others may require a major shift in company strategy. Assuming that you cannot focus on all the problems at once, suggest the order in which the issues should be addressed and suggest an approach to solving each problem. The problem of competition that is confronting McDonald’s UK is one that needs a quick fix. McDonald’s UK has the capacity to liaise with its parent firm to offer coffee as a primary item in its menu. Its initiative to introduce freshly ground Kenco beans suffices to introduce a coffee brand that is unique. The problem of negative perception should be the second problem that McDonald’s UK should address. The company can address this problem by making peace with Greenpeace activists in order to reassure the Britons that it takes responsibility for its mistakes. The problem of
Friday, October 4, 2019
The Information Age 1960-Present Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
The Information Age 1960-Present - Essay Example The start of the information age began in 1962 by the invention of the first communications satellite called Telstar by Bell Laboratories. This satellite was deployed into space using a Thor-Delta rocket and was the first satellite to successfully relay the first television pictures, fax images, and telephone calls. The ability to transmit images via satellite allows for the sharing of art throughout the world and at a very first rate. This later led to the development of the Internet in 1968 by the US Army. A vital component that led to the development of the Internet was the invention of the computer. The advent of the packet-switching network is what led to the birth of the Internet. Packet switched network called ARPANET especially led to the development of procedures for internetworking in which several detached networks could be linked together. The Internet contains all the information one would like to know about art. Furthermore, it acts as a storage of images of art which individuals can enjoy without seeing the actual art. The Introduction of Fiber Optic communications occurred in 1970 and it was invented by Robert Lauren, Donald Kreck, and Peter Schultz. This fibre is a strand of silica based glass, and its dimensions are similar to human hair, surrounded by a transparent shield. Light is able to be transmitted through the fibre over long distances at a very high rate so as to transport information. The invention of the Compact Disk was in 1987 by a scientist called James T. Russell. The CD as it is commonly known is an optical disc used for the storage of digital information. This was originally developed for the storage of music and later evolved for the storage of even films. The invention of the Microprocessor was done by Marcain Hoff in 1971. This integrated chip greatly improved the use of transistors, however, it could only perform the function it was originally programmed
Thursday, October 3, 2019
How employee engagement has been forgotten by many andor remembered by few Essay Example for Free
How employee engagement has been forgotten by many andor remembered by few Essay How employee engagement has been forgotten by many and/or remembered by few Introduction            It is believed that any company which unlocks the secrets of engaging their employees is likely to get very high profits. However, this has never been the case. There are always challenges and confusions which leads to misdirection hence the failure of the employee engagement. The main cause of this is the lack of congruity when talking about the definition and also measurement of the employee engagement. Furthermore, there is also lack of clear distinction between employee engagement and other closely related concepts. This paper’s aim is to conduct an in depth analysis on the importance of engaging employees in any activities of a business activity. It will also give recommendations where the importance found from the managers who practice this will be given.            Lack of clear definition is one of the glaring issues that concern the concept of employee engagement. Different categories of individuals ranging academic researchers, corporations, practitioners and many more have extensive variations on how they give meanings. The harnessing of an organization’s member’s selves with aim of making them work their role; in engagement, people always express themselves physically, emotionally and cognitively during their role performance (Kahn, 1990).            An organization which is always widely associated with employee engagement because of their best-selling book, First, Break all the Rules, The Gallup Organization, have a different definition. They define engaged employee as one who works with passion and feel a profound connection to the company he or she is working for and have a drive innovation to move the organization forward. Employee engagement may also be defined as a process through which an organization aims to increase commitment of its employees as well as continuation to aid in the achievement of superior results. This definition is according to the International Survey Research. This definition however looks at employees’ commitment in three different ways. They may include affective, cognitive, and lastly behavioural which incorporates actions, feelings and thoughts.            The last definition that is taken into consideration by this paper is the process of translating the employees’ potentials into the employee performance as well as business success.            This as a result changes the ways in which employees perform their duty through utilizing the tools found within the armory of internal communication professional (Shaw, 2005).            Before indulging further into the issue of employee engagement, it’s prudent a proper understanding of how employee engagement measurement is done. There are reliable metrics that are used to measure the employee engagement despite the rational and emotional components available. There exists several survey instruments that have been used in measuring the employee engagement. This paper however uses the Q12 survey system which was developed by the Gallup Corporation.            The Q12 survey involves asking 12 questions which had strong linkages to high performance and measured how well the companies were meeting core requirements for the employees. According to this survey, a high score on the 12 items always reflected the underlying emotional engagement among the employees who took the survey. This engagement leads to improvement in business results, as well as increased levels of productivity, employee retention and profitability (Walker, 2012)            When dealing with employee engagement, there are a number of related concepts which must be put into consideration. The four related areas with the employee engagement include organizational citizenship behaviour, job satisfaction, work engagement and organizational commitment. These four go hand in hand to ensure that proper understanding of the employee engagement as well as its importance.            Organizational citizenship behaviour for a long time has always been referred to as the extra role behaviour. The organizational citizenship behaviour can be defined as the behaviour of an individual which is not explicitly recognized by the formal reward system and in the end promotes the efficient and effective functioning of the organization concerned. Practically, the organizational citizenship behaviour improves efficiency and the effectiveness of an organization by supplying support to transformations, adaptations and innovations within the organization. Studying the organizational citizenship behaviour from a macro perspective, it’s found out that it helps to supply direct support to the organization and the individuals found in the organization. This indirectly supports the organization (Anderson Williams, 1991).            The organizational citizenship behaviour can be divided into many subcategories that gives a common dimension. The sub components includes self-development, organizational loyalty, sportsmanship, helping behaviour, civic virtue, individual initiative and organizational compliance. When a critical review is done on the definitions of the components mentioned above, it’s realized that their definitions is more or less the same as that of employee engagement. The helping behaviour talked about shows or implies an act of voluntary helping others and thus preventing the occurrence of any work related problem. Organizational loyalty on the other hand aims at remaining committed to an individual’s work even during tough situations.            However, the component which tends to show strong relationship with the employee engagement is the individual initiative. It can be defined as the persistence one puts on a job with extra enthusiasm or it can be said to be volunteering to perform extra responsibilities as well as encouraging others within the same organization to follow suit (Podsakoff et al, 2000).            Job satisfaction, is also another concept related to the employee engagement. A number of scholars have tried to come up with a wholesome definition of job satisfaction. According to Brief and Weiss, 2002, they described it as pleasurable or the positive and emotional state that results from recognizing one’s job or the experience from the job. There existed a number of disagreements whether the initially presumed definition was the exact one. It was found that there were so many shortcomings with the Brief and Weiss definition. This made Weiss to modify the definition. Job satisfaction came to be described as the positive or negative evaluation that a person makes about his or her job situation (Weiss, 2002). From time to time, the definition has always updated so as to include a cognitive component in the measurement of job satisfaction.            Work engagement is the third component related to the employee engagement. Work engagement of employees measured or looked at into different categories. It involves vigor, absorption and dedication. Starting with vigour, it can be described as being fully charged with energy as well as resilience in job even during the days when nothing serious happens. Dedication involves one being proud of their work and getting convinced that whatever activity an individual undertakes is significant. Lastly, absorption as a concept means being carried away work to the extent that one forgets everything in the surrounding (Hallberg, 2005).            Lastly, the fourth concept related to the employee engagement is the organizational commitment. This concept entails the process that is gone through when obtaining the goals of an organization’s multiple constituencies. The goals ranges from a broad organizational goals and their values to a more specific formulation. Organizational commitment may also be defined as the willingness to persist in a course of action as well as the reluctance to change plans while keeping the main goal to stay on course. Both the definitions highlight the fact that people are committed to multiple entities. These multiple entities involve emotional and rational components (Vance, 2005). The emotional concept is defined as the positive feeling towards an entity while thee rational component means the state of being conscious as well as thoughtful in planning and executing actions that fulfill commitments.            Having dealt with that, it’s crucial that factors which keep employee engaged are looked into in details. There are three main vital ingredients that make employee engaged. First is the leadership of any particular business organization. The leaders any an organization must set standards that in terms of dedication and then rubs it off to the rest of the employees. The leaders must be able to make difficult decisions correctly and fairly. Furthermore, they should be competent and show consistency in whatever they do. In areas where this is not displayed by the leaders, the employee always feels looked and upon and as result they are always not engaged in whatever activity they undertake. The employees always talk and so poor leadership may be used as the stepping stone to quit any particular job. Good leadership makes an organization to have a very strong employee engagement hence better results (Taylor, 2014).            Secondly, communication and transparency is also a factor or an ingredient that may make your employee engaged or not. This factor however has been underestimated by many and taken for granted. Senior people in an organization always have a notion that employees concern themselves with earning their wages to a larger extent and care very little for other things (Taylor, 2014). The truth of the matter however is that large majority of employees put a lot of emphasis on whether they are regularly being kept in the loop. It always doesn’t matter to them whether it concerns their own development or big decisions of the organization. What actually matters is that it concerns everyone. Openness and good communication makes the employees to feel highly appreciated and hence part of the organization. They don’t feel detached. This makes the organization a better place to be in.            Lastly, enjoyment is also a key ingredient for engaging employees. The most important aspect of employee engagement is considering the fact that they are human beings. The organization does not run at a loss when they introduce elements of fun in the work place. The fun and enjoyment may range from a number of activities like a dress down party on Fridays, monthly trips, or any other thing that appeals to your employees.            The aim of such enjoyment is to make employees feel like they want to work. This will thus make them stay as long as they want. This is however not the case with many jobs. Not many employees always want to make their employees have fun. This makes people have negative attitude towards such jobs leading to very few people doing such jobs. On many occasions, work does not necessarily have to be done with a serious mood at all times. The only way an employer can make the employees feel engaged it to make them feel as if work is something that should be enjoyed rather than being a chore (Taylor, 2014).            It’s therefore clear that employee engagement can be grouped into two main broad categories or rather approach. There is the philosophical approach and the pragmatic approach. The philosophical approach deals with the management philosophy that are considered when making overall decisions of a human resource. The pragmatic approach on the other hand deals with the dedication programmes for employee engagement. Here, measurement of engagement is done. None of the approaches either is stated to provide a clear winner when trying to achieve an engaged work force (Shaw, 2005).            Having placed more emphasis on the engaged employees, it’s now prudent to talk about the disengaged employees. It’s documented that stress is one of the factors that can dislodge a highly engaged worker from conducting his or her duties without other workers or the organization getting aware of the in depth of the problem. Historically, many organizations have not done an in depth survey on how to deal with stress or other emotional problems.            The former acting manager of the Freddie Mae, David Kellerman, committed suicide due to stress April 22, 2009. His death was attributed to the organizations failure to respond to the signs he was showing. The government seized his company after running at a loss of $108 billion. The work environment was also stressing. As if that was not enough, he always received so much criticism from the media. All these prompted him to commit suicide. This is the worst that happens when employees are not engaged. Recommendations for managers            From the readings and research done, the following are some of the recommendations that ought to be considered by managers to ensure a proper way of promoting customer engagement.            The managers should take specific actions or steps to achieve success. While doing this, they must always remember that each and every company is unique and therefore the action they take should be specific to that particular company. The customers should always be provided with as much information as possible to help make them engaged.            The managers should always know the approach that their organization ought to take and why that approach is important. The employees should also be given the approach used by the organization. When this is done, it makes them know why it’s done. This makes them feel part and parcel of the organization and hence promotes the level of employee engagement. Mutual agreement should also be made with the employees. This makes them know what is expected of them.            Rechanneling of extensive time and resources should be done by the employers. This always forms the basis of creating a new employee engagement initiative. A company may be working on the already made initiatives. These initiatives may be giving forth good results. Coming up with a whole new initiative might lead to misdirection in a healthy focus which has been in existence for a long time and thus would lower the progress of a company. Engaging in such activities should be avoided at all cost. Conclusion            The concept of employee engagement is one that is very wide. The engagement of employees affects different levels of an organization ranging from micro and macro levels. So as to reduce the existing ambiguity when it comes to matters of the employee engagement, a lot more need to be done in this area. Any organization willing to get better results from applying the issue of employee engagement should do so with a lot of caution. Anything done be based on the strengths and weaknesses found, any related concept as well as all the unveiled fields in the issue of employee engagemen References (2006). Gallup Study: Engaged employees inspire company innovation. Gallup Management Journal, retrieved from http://gmj.gallup.com/content/defaut.aspx?ci=24880pg=1. Hagerty, J. Fields, G. (2009). A Fallen Mortgage Titan, Tragedy amid the Turmoil. Wall Street Journal 6- 5-2009 Hallberg, U. (2005). A thesis on fire: Studies of work engagement, type a behaviour and burnout. Department of Psychology, Stockhlom University, ISBN 91-7155-171-9 Podsakoff, P., Mackenzie, S., Paine, J., Bachrach, D. (2000). Organizational citizenship behavours: A critical review of the theoretical and Empirical literature suggestions for future research. Journal of Management, 26, 51, 1-56. Shaw, K. (2005). Employment engagement, how to build a high performance workforce. Journal on Human Resource, 0-9547741-3-2.Taylor, R. (2014). Maximising employee engagement. Journal of Leadership. 23-05, 47474 Walker, S. (2012). Employee engagement and communication research measurement, strategy and action. London: Kogan Page. Williams, L. Anderson, S. (1991). Job satisfaction and organizational commitment as predictors of organizational citizenship and in role behaviours. Journal of Management, 17, 3, 601-617 Source document
Case study: ANXIETY DISORDER
Case study: ANXIETY DISORDER Feeling anxious is a normal part of our life. We all feel anxious every now and then, at one time or another. For example, having to present a project in front of a class, having dinner for the first time with the in-laws, or expecting a baby may make anyone feel anxious. Its perfectly okay. It is when the anxiety is persistent, unexplainable, and intense that it interferes with an individual from having a normal day and disrupts ones life goals, then it becomes a disorder. Its when the autonomic nervous system is stimulated (Warren and Zgourides, 164). It is when a person worry so much that its difficult on ones concentration because the focus goes from worrying about one thing to worrying about another thing (Myers, 462). To protect themselves from the anxiety, the people then builds up mechanisms for avoidance by thinking of the things over and over, or perform a ritual. According to Sherman, environmental conditions, and psychological is a factor combinations that include social and genetic disposition, (Widerhold, 31). Somatic symptoms of an anxiety disorder are dizziness, insomnia, weakness, fatigue, dry mouth, palpitations, diarrhea, nausea, hyperventilation, chest pain, rapid heart rate, paresthesias, restlessness, and frequent urinating (Widerhold, 33). Anxiety disorder is an exaggerated and excessive feeling of worry. (Warren and Zgourides, 164). The worries are often unrealistic and unreasonable. The person often worries about family, money, health, or work excessively (p165). It really is an unpleasant feeling. High level of an anxiety disorder leads to hypertension, fatal heart attack, coronary heart disease, and a risk of myocardial infarction. In addition, there is a correlation between sudden death on heart attack and high anxiety. (Widerhold, 33). Anxiety disorder is considered the one with the biggest health problem in the United State (Winning Ghinassi, 7). People in the United States who suffered from an anxiety disorder at one point in their life are about 60 million and counting (Winning Ghinnassi, 7). Two-thirds of women have an anxiety disorder (Myers, 462). Groups that are in lower socioeconomic, divorced or separated women, who are below the age of 45 have the largest incidence of the illness (Widerhold, 4). According to Sherman, ones who had suffered with an anxiety disorder have had abdominal pain, insomnia, or chest pain by 33%. As well as joint or limb pain, fatigue, or headache (Widerhold, 4). Treatments for an anxiety disorder are exposure, role-play or modeling, which are behavioral. Thought stopping/recording, mental distraction, psychodynamic, medication, biofeedback, and family therapy are all cognitive, which is also another type of treatment, according to Goisman (p5). According to Moffitt, children who were inhibited and maltreated often develop an anxiety disorder when they get older. However, the anxiety disorder becomes rare by the age of 50. Emotions tend to mellow as years passes according to Rubio and Lopez-Ibor. (Myers, 462). According to Sigmund Freud, there are two types of anxiety disorders: anxiety hysteria and anxiety neurosis. The difference between the two is that the cause of anxiety hysteria is psychogenic, and the cause of anxiety neurosis isnt psychogenic. Anxiety neurosis is extremely painful from the start, which is also known as panic attack or panic anxiety. And there is free-floating anxiety, which is when the anxiety happens slowly (Wolfe, 15). Moreover, phobic reaction and anxiety reaction are the two disorders of the anxiety hysteria and anxiety neurosis (Wolfe, 18). Phobic neurosis means phobic reaction, which is an extreme fear of a situation or of an object (p18). Agoraphobia, an irrational fear of open spaces or public is a type of a phobic disorder (p18). On the other hand, panic disorder is a state of an anxiety (p18). Panic attacks, anticipatory anxiety, and phobic avoidance behavior are what behavioral theorists consider as what agoraphobia consist of. Anticipatory anxiety and phobic avoidance are the main focus of behavioral theorists over panic attacks when treating an individual. It was discovered that panic attacks were able to block off without affecting generalized anxiety by antidepressant migraine (Wolfe, 18). Furthermore, other types of anxiety disorders are obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (Wininning Ghinassi, 7). Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a repetitive thoughts and actions (Myers, 463). Phobia is an irrational persistent fear and avoids certain object, situation, or activity (p462). Post-traumatic stress disorder is when a person is haunted by memories and has nightmares after a traumatic experience (p464). The common treatment for an anxiety disorder is pharmacological. But cognitive therapy, medication, behavioral therapy or a combination of them are the most effective treatment for an anxiety disorder. Prozac, a serotonin reuptake inhibitor is the most common choice because its not that addictive. Also, it has only a few of side effects. An anxiety may not be completely be eliminated by medication, but it reduces the anxietys level of intensity (Widerhold, 38) Furthermore, beta blockers, anticonvulsants, such as gabapentin, antipsychotic, anxiolytics, such as benzodiazepines and azapirones are the other effective medications (Winning Ghinassi, 98). Theyre just as effective as antidepressants, such as serotonin-norephinphrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), SSRIs and retricyclics. In addition, the new miracle drug is Prozac. Prozac also helps patients deal with lifes stresses aside from treating depressive and anxiety disorders. It has become more popular than Valium. Then theres also Paxil, but it has an unpleasant withdrawal syndrome (p99). Clearly, it takes more than willpower of an individual to overcome an anxiety disorder. Also, understanding of anxiety disorder has progressed throughout the years and has led to more options for effective treatment, as well as for comprehensive assessment. Why is intellectual property important? Why is intellectual property important? Intellectual property (IP) refers to a number of distinct types of legal monopolies over creations, both artistic and commercial, and to corresponding fields of law and other types of rights that the law gives for the protection of investment in creative effort and knowledge creation. Under intellectual property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a variety of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs. Copyrights, trademarks, patents, industrial design rights and trade secrets in some jurisdictions are some common types of intellectual property. Although, there have been several evolution of many of the legal principles governing intellectual property over centuries, it was only in the 19th century that the term intellectual property began to be used, and became a commonplace in the late 20th century in the United States. The Origin of copyright and patent law originate from The British Statute of Anne 1710 and the Statute of monopolies 1623 respectively. However, intellectual property rights differ in one fundamental respect. The intangible, abstract objects constituting intellectual property have no natural, self-defining boundaries like physical objects do. In fact, they do not even exist until they are created by explicit definition and designation. For this reason, in addition to general property legislation, IPRs are covered by specific legal systems, and most forms of IPR require a specific registration procedure. Applications need to be made and examined by specialists in order for an IPR to be established. Frequently, the exact boundaries of an IPR subsequently become the subject of litigation between the holder and holders of related IPRs. In short, the transaction costs of acquiring and holding IPRs are much higher than for ordinary physical property. While the subject matter of intellectual property is intangible objects such as information, knowledge or ideas, intellectual property rights are expressed in practice as righ ts over the tangible products resulting from those intangible objects. For example, an industrial patent confers the exclusive right to manufacture the protected product or use the protected process, and copyright the exclusive right to perform the protected work of art or multiply it in the form of books, compact discs, etc. 1.2 TYPES OF INTELLECTUAL PROPRETY RIGHTS The main categories of intellectual property rights are: Patents: As the strongest form of IPR, patents are awarded subject to a thorough examination procedure. They confer a very high level of exclusive rights over an invention for a period of 20 years from the date of the application. Any use of the patented matter, except strictly private use, requires permission (license) from the owner. To receive a patent, an invention must fulfill three main criteria: novelty, non-obviousness (inventive step) and industrial applicability (usefulness). A detailed description of the invention must be submitted, which becomes public after the grant of the patent. Copyrights: As the name implies, and in contrast to patents, copyrights do not protect the intellectual content itself, only the reproduction of that content in tangible form. Copyright is granted without any registration or application procedure to authors of original works, and also to computer software and databases. A copyright holder cannot prevent others from using the copyrighted material in development of other original works, as long as it is not directly copied. The period of protection is normally granted by adding 50 years to the life of the author, or 50 years only when the author is a corporate body. Trademarks: Names, signs and symbols used to identify goods or services can be registered as trademarks. There is no limit to the period of protection given the trademark continues to be used. Trade secrets: The right to keep trade secrets (confidential business information, undisclosed information) is protected through civil and/or criminal law. In the nature of the case, there is no registration procedure, nor is there any exclusive right guaranteed. Industrial designs: The form of an industrial product can be protected. Exact requirements for protection vary widely between countries. Layout designs (topographies) of integrated circuits: A recently created Sui generis2 IPR similar to copyright, although with much shorter term of protection, typically 10 years. Only the right to reproduction and distribution is protected, not use in further research and development. Plant breeders right: A Sui generis IPR specifically created to protect new plant varieties. Varieties can be registered provided they are new, stable, homogenous and distinguishable. Protection is similar to a copyright in that it protects the rights to sell and distribute propagating material, while use of the protected variety in further breeding and development is not restricted. The term of protection is comparable to that for patents, around 20 years. Geographical indications: Typically used for food products and in particular for wines and spirits, these are signs or names which indicate that a product or service originates from a particular geographical location. Utility model: Sometimes referred to as petty patents, this more unusual form of IPR provides protection for models and designs. Although there are normally requirements for novelty and inventive step, these are less strict than for patents, and examination is simpler or sometimes nonexistent. The term of protection is correspondingly shorter, typically less than 10 years. Expanding IPRs in Developing countries is still a major concern for policy makers and a constant topic of discussion and debate among the civil society. There is considerable speculation on the impact that expansion in IPRs will have on Research Development, technology transfer, and economic development in developing countries. 2.1 DEFINING DEVELOPING COUNTRIES Developing countries a term referring a nation with a low level of material well being. There is no one single agreed upon internationally-recognized definition of developed country, where the levels of development may vary widely within some developing countries, which result in some developing countries having high average standards of living. Some international organizations like the World Bank strictly use numerical classifications. The World Bank considers all low- and middle- income countries as developing. In its most recent classification, economies were divided using 2008 Gross National Income per capita. In 2008, countries with GNI per capita below US$11,905 were considered as developing countries. While other institutions use less specific definitions. Newly industrialised countries are those countries with a more advanced economy than other developing nations, but which have not yet completely demonstrated the signs of developed country. Therefore,it seems quite difficult to get an exact definition for developing nations. The characteristics of developing countries can vary from one person or organization to another. The World Trade Organization (WTO), for example, recognizes some nations as developing countries but mainly allows the members to classify themselves. Therefore for each, the standards and definition could differ. Generally, everyone agrees that developing countries are poor. But what is the meaning of poor? The range of poverty found greatly varies in developing nations. A person from one developing country may travel to another which seems richer and may not realize that the two nations carry the same status. This reveals a common misconception; which is ,people believe that in developing nations everyone is poor. In almost every developing country, we can find wealth and luxury. However, these wealth and luxury is usually concentrated only among a small portion of the population, thus, the majority of the people are usually poor. The lack of income, skills and knowledge often affect the source of revenue and standard of living of the average citizens; Leaving large portions of the population, without water or electricity in their homes, and limited access to quality medical care. There may be inadequate military resources to protect the population during times of attack or unrest. Developing countries generally suffer from inadequate social services programs, if they have them at all. For that reason, it is common to find aid groups active in developing countries which provide the citizens with items, such as food, medicine, and education, which would be inaccessible to them otherwise. Other aid groups work is to protect human rights, which are commonly violated. In the following sections, we present a conceptual analysis of the issues, challenges and options faced by developing countries in expanding their IPR framework. For a long time, Developing countries have been facing demand from developed nations to implement intellectual property rights. The main concern by the developed countries was to protect the inventions or innovations in the developing countries from the dishonest replication and copying. The debate among both developed and developing nations is getting more prevailing since the last two decades. The protection for the innovation has been extended from innovation to discovery, from mechanical devices to living organisms (Bystrà ¶m et al., 1999; chakravathi,1999); from privately funded research and development to publicly funded scientific and technological results; from information technology to information about scientific information (David, 2000); from industrial products and technological processes to services,financial and administrative methods (Lerner, 2000) and from `brick to `click trademarks (Bubert and B ning, 2001).However the emerging countries are divided on the basi s of their economic situation, foreign direct investment and technological sophistication. The concern for the developing countries is the economic implications for the execution of such intellectual property regimes in their respective countries. The case can be even more harsh for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), where intellectual property rights are seen as the driver for the high technology cost, difficulties to access technology by the public. On the other hand, higher technology transfer with foreign direct investment may somehow excuse such establishment. However such `lucrative offers in exchange for intellectual property rights in the developing countries, are according to some developing countries, in view of the developed nations benefits and not to raise the economic conditions of those developing countries from their present states. The debate for the introduction of `proper intellectual property rights in the developed countries is motivated since the modern c ountries faced a menace to their innovative technological and non-technological inventions and their commercialization in the emergent countries. Until now, several measures, particularly led by the United States have indeed enforced the implementation of intellectual property rights in the developing countries, specifically backed by the strong business communities in the United States. 3.1 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Intellectual Property Rights are among those sensitive areas for developing countries whose correct execution and timing could boost the socio-economical situation of the developing countries. However, debates on the policies on intellectual property rights in the developing country have followed a pendulum like movement (Forero-Pineda, 2006). United Nations took the responsibility to highlight the importance of technology in trade and development, cooperated by independent economists from developing countries. The main dispute was the problem of monopoly and oligopoly in the technology markets thus preventing developing countries from having fair access to technology (Cruz, 1998) and its associated benefits. Penrose in 1951 also stressed that it is virtually inevitable for the developing countries to benefit from the strong intellectual property rights owned by inventors in the urbanized countries. From global welfare perspective, arguments on the fact that developing countrie s having weaker intellectual property necessarily means that inventors in industrialised countries would lose is not true, however only the relative economic benefits associated with such inventions could be less. From the years 1950s to 1980s, developing countries were able to abstain from the implementation of intellectual property rights, maintaining a special status in the IPR system (David, 1993, p.19). Regional trading blocs like Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA), the Andean Pact, and other pacts among the developing countries pursued the common system of intellectual property rights. In 1970, India was the first developing country to adopt a patent law with substantial restrictions on the patent holders (SUNS/IPS, 1995)3. Raghavan in 2001 argued that the choice of process patents rather than product patents allowed local production of imported products given that the use of a different process was demonstrated. Such legislation in India had the biggest impact on its pharmaceutical industry, making it one of most competitive in pharmaceutical research and development. Those practices were carried out in Brazil and Argentina which set up their own national offices which wer e charge of controlling technology transfer and contracting. Yet those practices and initiatives could not pilot a consolidated intellectual property and technology transfer offices, in lines to the European countries (Cruz, 1998). In the mid 1980s, a shift in this scenario began to occur on the United States Government initiative. Responding to the concerns of the US based firms, and in context to the agreements with advanced countries, David, in the year 1993, concluded that US followed `a direct, unilateral course of action, instead of renegotiating the international intellectual property rights agreements i.e., Paris or Bern Conventions. Such type of intellectual property regulation was further enacted in Uruguay round of 1990s negotiations, as part of conditions to join the World Trade Organization. In developing countries, the terms of the debate changed beyond what could be expected; Local interests in support of enforcing stronger intellectual property protection had emerged, together with the commercialization of imported goods and with the development of local technology. Products such as software, video films and music are easier to copy than traditional industrial products are to copy. For this reason, copyrights have been the focal point of debate for less developed countries, whereas in newly industrialized countries, both in Asia and Latin America, patents and trademarks are issues. Passing from 1970s and 1980s, very recently the debate for introduction of intellectual property rights in different systems within different regions of developing countries have spurred. The main concern, as obvious was raised by the highly influential business lobbies and association in most the developed nations, led by United States. As discussed earlier, United States rebound to the similar kind of strategy by offering market access, technology transfers and foreign direct investments in the (developing) countries, which will successfully implement the intellectual property regimes. Somehow, this was and still a very lucrative incentive for the developing countries, which would definitely raise their present economical conditions, however the policy makers in these countries have different perspective. The u-turn in the developed countries strategy is to position differently the impact of implementation of intellectual property protection in developing countries, as it was do ne in negotiations at Doha Round of the WTO on the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The Doha Round of discussion was meant to exclude the development related IPR issues as the cost of medicines, agricultural products, bio-diversity or genetic materials (Lall, 2003). Doha Declaration classified the countries based on their domestic technological imports, research and development and their innovation system. 4.1 IPR IS IT A BENEFIT OR A DETRIMENT FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES? According to World Bank Global Economic Perspective, there are certain specific reasons for developed countries, and interestingly for the developing countries to follow the TRIPS agreement, i.e., it may provide developing countries better access to agricultural and apparel markets in rich nations, an expectation that stronger IPRs would also encourage additional technology transfer and innovation. However, according to World Bank, the promise for long-term benefits seems uncertain and costly to achieve in many nations, especially the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). In addition, the administrative costs and problems with higher prices for medicines and key technological inputs loom large in minds of policy makers in developing countries. Many are pushing for significant provisions in the agreement. Certain developing countries also applied for the provisions in implementation for the patent protection, particularly in pharmaceutical industry. Certainly there are specific short-term costs associated with intellectual property rights for the developing countries, like higher prices for the technology and protected products. Given this, the case for stronger intellectual property rights in these countries must rest on long term benefits like larger technology or foreign direct investment inflows and stronger stimuli to local innovation. This would be an economic case only if the present value of these benefits is more than the present value of these costs. Given the mechanics of the compound interest, this means that the long-term benefits would have to be very large indeed, particularly if they accrue after some time. Some countries have also agreed to support TRIPS in return for the concessions in other (non technological) spheres of economic activity, such as larger aid, freer access to developed country markets for primary exports and so on. Whether they actually benefited in these ways remains an open question, since neither the costs nor the benefits of TRIPS related concessions have been properly measured. However the discussion might be fruitful, if the implementation of intellectual property rights are associated with the state of economy of the country in which it is being implemented, for instance in the case of developing countries. One main fact regarding the IPR is the certainness of the benefits to developed countries by implementing the intellectual property rights in developing countries. Nevertheless such implementation would also stimulate the local innovation in the developing countries, allowing them to import the foreign technologies and have hands-on experience in learning and using the technologies. The state in which present developing countries is analogy of the state in which the developed countries were in the era of their industrialization, by having weak intellectual property rights, to promote, build and foster the development of local firms and industries. Theory also suggests that the benefits of IPRs rise with income and that at very low levels the costs o f strengthening IPRs may well outweigh the gains. In a world where so many industrial country firms are acquiring strong intellectual property rights, often covering fundamental research tools (e.g., tools used for genetic transformation) and marketable products, it is becoming difficult for developing countries to play isolationist and ignore IPR policies. Given the concerns highlighted in the previous sections, the challenge for policy makers in developing countries is to strike a balance between their need to access modern technologies and developed countries need to access the markets and biodiversity. Policy makers in developing countries need to also ensure that the Research and Development sector serves the country well and safeguard the interests of local companies Scope of protection Policy makers face the difficult task of defining the scope and breadth of protection (within the minimum standards framework defined by WTO) so as to maximize social welfare and to achieve certain distributional objectives. Too weak protection may lead firms to invest less than socially desirable in the creation of new knowledge. Overly stringent protection may lead to wasteful research spending as firms compete to be first to innovate, which may make public research more socially desirable than private Research Development. Only rarely will a single level of protection for all technologies or sectors maximize domestic welfare as the trade-off between the economic benefits of innovation and imitation will depend upon the sector involved. Complying with various international treaties. Developing countries are under pressures of not only the TRIPS Agreement but also other international treaties and conventions such as CBD, which have conflicting requirements in terms of protecting a countrys natural resources and intellectual property. The laws and regulations for intellectual property protection in developing countries have to meet the international standards and practices specified in the TRIPS Agreement and, the CBD (if they are members of both treaties). If they chose to join UPOV they will also be bound to accept the requirements of the UPOV Convention. Social and Administrative costs. IPRs may have social costs if the granting of temporary monopolies, lead to excessive rent seeking by firms. To minimize these social costs, governments will need to ensure competition from both private and public sector. The public sector may have to play an important role in continuing research in traditional crops and technologies and strengthening capacity in modern biotechnology research. Legislation without implementation is of little value; and implementing the IPR system involves a number of administrative and institutional costs to the society. These include the costs involved in developing the appropriate laws and enforcement mechanisms within each country. Patent examiners need special training to deal with biotechnological applications or countries need to hire new examiners with degrees in biology and biotechnology. For PVP, an appropriate administrative system must be established. WIPO and UPOV operate training schemes for developing countries and provide assistance to those seeking to implement the TRIPS Agreement. Empirical evidence suggests that these direct costs to the society could be particularly large in a developing country. Enforcement legislation. TRIPS is the first agreement in the IPR field to create direct obligations to enforce the protection granted. It sets standards both for civil and criminal law. In the fields of copyrights and trademarks, it also requires that customs authorities assist right holders in preventing trade with counterfeited or pirated goods. For most developing countries, there will be a need both for new legislation and perhaps even more for strengthening capacity in the judiciary, in customs, and in the police force. Particularly in countries where illegal trade in copyrighted or trademarked goods is widespread, this may be a major implication of TRIPS. Infrastructure and human capacity. In many cases, TRIPS will entail a considerable need for investment in infrastructure and human capacity. New forms of IPR, as well as expansion of existing systems to new fields of protection, will require increased numbers of staff, better training, and new computer and administrative systems. The expansion of IPRs to living organisms will require access to systems for deposition of biological material and facilities for identification of plant varieties, both entirely new branches of activity for most developing country IPR administrations. Costs of implementation. Apparently, no attempts at estimating the costs of TRIPS implementation were made prior to the finalization of the agreement. Some rough estimates done later by UNCTAD and the World Bank (UNCTAD 1996, Finger Schuler 1999) have not yielded reliable figures but indicate that the costs may be substantial, in the magnitude of 10 or more million dollars per country. Costs can be expected to be relatively higher in less developed countries, because they start from a lower level of IPR legislation. It is likely that in many developing countries, much of this cost will need to be covered by development assistance funds, at least the initial investment in new legislation, infrastructure and human capacity. At any rate, especially in LDCs, TRIPS implementation will directly compete for resources with other development needs. However, IPRs can also be beneficial to Developing countries.It is widely assumed, especially at the policy level in developed countries, that strengthened IPR protection will generate economic benefits for developing countries. It has also been argued that this will more than offset the cost of TRIPS implementation. In particular, the importance of strong IPRs for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) is routinely cited as a key mechanism to this effect. The scientific literature is however inconclusive on this point. There are studies which demonstrate some correlation. But there are also studies which document substantial increases in FDI despite weak IPR protection (Kirim 1985, cited in South Centre 1997), and studies which show little correlation between strengthened IPR protection and changes in FDI. The provisional scientific consensus appears to be that the level of IPR protection most likely is one factor influencing FDI decisions, but far from the only one and not usually the decisive one. With standardization of IPR protection under TRIPS, differences in this respect will no longer exist and other factors will decide FDI choices. Moreover, it has been argued that the TRIPS agreement may also lead to reductions in the flow of FDI (South Centre, 1997); with stronger IP protection, the risk of imitation will be lower and title-holders may prefer export of products rather than local production in export market countries. It has also been pointed out that any benefits will likely be concentrated in NICs, while LDCs and other countries at the opposite end of the development scale will risk net costs even over the longer term (UNCTAD 1996). Strictly speaking, however, even if economic benefits from strengthened IPR protection could be conclusively demonstrated, they would not be benefits of TRIPS implementation, but of IPR implementation. Also before TRIPS, developing countries were free to implement TRIPS levels of IPR protection, or indeed higher levels, if they saw fit. None of the potential benefits of IPRs depend on the existence of TRIPS. What would need to be demonstrated are benefits of having mandatory minimum standards of IPR protection, which is the only new contribution of TRIPS. These administrative costs may only be partially borne by governments.Patent and trademark offices can be self-financing operations through the levies from application and renewal fees. A careful balance has to be struck, however, between generating revenues for the administrative office and keeping fees sufficiently low so as not to exclude small-scale inventors from the IPR system. An alternative to reduce administrative costs is to contract researchers at universities and other institutions to provide technical reports (the cost of which should be borne by the applicants). Another alternative is to provide for a deferred system (which exists in many countries), whereby a special request for examination needs to be made by the applicant during a certain period (UNCTAD 1996). The rationale for this system is that some inventors may decide to abandon the application, thus reducing the number of applications to be examined by the patent office. Yet another option for keeping the costs of running the patent system down, as is the case in South Africa, is to not require any patent examinations and let the patent holders defend their patents in court. 5.1 FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED Administrative costs are likely to increase with the implementation of the IPR framework. But these should be viewed in light of the costs of alternatives. Thus, an important question that policy makers need to address is whether the costs of setting up a patent or a PVP system are large relative to the cost of strengthening public sector research and development in agriculture? Intellectual property protection provides greater benefits than costs in the advancement of science, technology, and economic performance. However, the benefits of intellectual property protection often accrue in the future, thereby making the near-term costs seem large. The protection benefits both private and the public sectors and it is the allocation of the return, which is determined by public policy. Yet another factor that policy makers need to consider in establishing an IP system is the cost of protection to the innovators as well. The standard system of patenting would be inaccessible for many small entrepreneurs and grassroots innovators due to limited resources and their risk-averse nature. National governments may have to think about establishing innovative low cost system like Petty Patents that can ensure protection for shorter time at lower cost (Gupta 1999).12 Petty patent will help small entrepreneurs to explore the commercial application of their invention in a given (shorter) time. Later they can choose to go for regular patent or else their petty patent expires and their invention becomes part of regular prior art. Some recommendations on how developing countries can reduce the cost of implementing IPR: Developing countries need to be given a greater sense of ownership and involvement in the IPR system. Many see TRIPs as primarily a mechanism for shifting profits to creative interests in rich countries. Thus it is important for developed countries and multilateral organizations to provide adequate technical and financial assistance for implementation of the new standards in developing nations, to remove impediments to future technology flows, and to meet and extend their own commitments to liberalize market access for products of interest to poorer countries (notably apparel and agriculture). Assistance should aim to develop rights and opportunities suitable to the needs of entrepreneurs, inventors, and artists in poor economies. Analysis is also needed of potential mechanisms for securing the rights of developing countries to export interests of their own such as geographical indications, traditional knowledge, and genetic resources. Sensible methods need to be found for balancing rights of patent holders in pharmaceuticals against users needs for product availability at reasonable cost. Evidence in the book points to potentially large increases in drug prices in developing countries as patents are implemented. Governments should work to offset these impacts by using innovative procurement programs. In particular, development and transfer of treatments and vaccines for diseases in the poorest countries should be expanded via public-private partnerships. WTO members should not rush to expand multilateral protection in controversial areas until we know more about how new systems function. Requiring broad scope for biotechnology patents, and extending them to plant and animal varieties, could damage the interests of lagging countries in return for little gain in innovation. Many countries need to adopt or strengthen systems of plant breeders rights and it would be premature to req
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Classification Essay - PTA Personalities -- Classification Essays
PTA Personalities Many public institutions rely on the generosity and help of volunteers in order to run smoothly. One of the more important institutions is the school, and one of the most visible volunteers in the school is the PTA volunteer. These volunteers fulfill a necessary role, especially for the elementary schools, by augmenting the work of the principal and teachers with extras that the school ordinarily would not have. The people who do the volunteer work are varied, but the PTA seems to act as a magnet for three types of personalities: the power seeker, the eager beaver, and the dependable worker. Dominating Dora, the "power seeker," usually starts off as a committee chairman and almost always ends up as the PTA president. She feels she must run the PTA her way because only she knows the best way to do it. She calls board meetings often and is incensed and hurt if someone misses the meeting. All jobs must be done her way, and she frequently organizes half of the job before it is delegated. She then checks up to see if it is being done precisely as she organized it. On the other hand, she may not delegate anything at all, preferring to do most of the work herself. Not delegating the work ensures that it will be done properly, namely her way. Dominating Dora usually follows an unacknowledged personal agenda to gain status, prestige, influence, and authority; she often has no idea that she is following a personal agenda. The school personnel are wary of her since she is very bossy in her dealings with everyone. She even goes so far as to tell the principal and teacher s how to go about their own jobs. Dominating Dora also promotes programs within the PTA that the principal often ... ...ant to what she is doing. The "dependable worker" like Normal Nancy does not burn out because she paces herself, works steadily, and fills in the gaps where needed. Doras and Ritas may come and go, but Nancys "keep going and going and going." The interesting thing about the "power seeker," the "eager beaver," and the "dependable worker" is that they are all necessary to run the PTA organization. Their quirks are what make them important in getting the activities planned, the prizes made, the playground equipment ordered, and the book fair organized. Another noteworthy fact is that, when necessary, any PTA volunteer can become any one of these three types of people. The fact that a "power seeker," an "eager beaver," and a "dependable worker" can fit together like a puzzle to form a bigger picture is the miracle of the PTA volunteer organization.
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Style: Strunk & White vs. Williams :: Comapre Contrast Comparison Essays
Style: Strunk & White vs. Williams Writing correctly is something that many people find hard to do! I know this, because I use to feel the same way. I have had many English classes in my time, where teachers would sit next to me, and correct my errors sentence by sentence as I went along. All the while asking me if I understood what why what I did was wrong. I remember saying that I understood, but I really didn't. That was something that I didn't like at the time, but I am now very appreciative of the fact that someone was there. With today's kids, most teachers don't take that needed time and help them to get on track with their writing. Because of this, I find that both Strunk and White, The Elements of Style, and Williams, Style: Toward Clarity and Grace to be very helpful. After reading them, I know that they can both be used as "handy" reference tools for today's writers. The one thing that stuck out in my mind about both of these books is that they both agree that there are rules. The difference between them is that Williams explains in his version of the rules in a much more through manner; he provides detailed examples. Whereas Strunk and White, their book is much shorter. The examples that they use are pretty straight forward, and the book in general is easy to follow. After I was done reading both of these books, I was immediately ready to argue that the better of the two was The Elements of Style by Strunk and white. My feeling now is that Williams is the better of the two. A factor that I took into consideration was the tone and layout of both books. Strunk and white has a better layout, but the tone is directed to a certain type of reader. The profile of the reader that would fit The Elements of Style is an upper class, educated, Caucasian man. In Williams, the layout is something that can be tweaked, but the tone is for everyone. At first, I was not looking forward to reading either of these books; in the end I am glad that I did. I know that I have problems, when it comes to my own writing and I liked that both of these books wrote about things that I was able to relate to.
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Essay
â€Å"As he is about to clasp her he feels a stunning blow upon the back of the neck; a blinding white light blazes all around him with a sound like the shock of a cannonâ€â€then all is darkness and silence†. Ambrose Bierce has a unique way of captivating reader’s attention and it is perfectly shown in his short story â€Å"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge†. The story tells about a man in southern Alabama during the Civil War, which is about to be hanged by a group of Union soldiers. This man to be hanged is identified as a gentleman named Peyton Farquhar who attempted to destroy the Owl Creek Bridge, the same one they are standing on. Suddenly, the rope snaps and he falls into the river where he somehow manages to swim ashore in order to escape from the Union soldiers. As he pulls himself ashore, he now starts the long journey home. After walking all day and night without feeling â€Å"the roadway beneath his feet†he arrives home and as he is about to hug his wife, he feels a strong pain in his neck and hears a loud noise. Farquhar was now dead by hanging, and all of his escape was just a dream of his. It is set in the Owl Creek Bridge in Alabama where Peyton Farquhar is about to be hanged early in the morning. The whole story happens just in one day, even though the author mentions flashbacks of Peyton’s past. On one side of the creek there is forest and on the other is a group of Union Soldiers. There is a cannon hiding in a line of trees and the soldiers are preparing to execute Farquhar with a rope around his neck. There is only one main character in the story and three secondary characters. Peyton Farquhar is a plantation owner who comes from a wealthy family from the south. However he is a strong supporter of the Southern cause. He is arrested and is to be hanged by the Union soldiers because he attempted to destroy Owl Creek Bridge so that the Union soldiers wouldn’t pass by his hometown. There is also Mrs. Farquhar, Peyton’s wife who was a small but significant role in the story. She is the one who alerts Peyton of the arrival of the Union soldiers to their town. The groups of Union soldiers include executioners, a Lieutenant who gives the final orders; there are sentinels, officers and also soldiers along the shore. There is also a Union Scout, which is mentioned in one of Farquhar’s flashback, who is a soldier that rides onto Farquhar’s plantation asking for a glass of water wearing Confederate gray. He later on turns out to be the one who warns the Union soldiers about Farquhar’s plan to burn down Owl Creek Bridge. The story is divided in three parts. None of them are written in first person. Most of the story is told in a third person point of view. The storyteller can observe events but cannot enter the mind of ant character and cannot change ant of his or her thoughts. However in some parts of the story, the narration changes to omniscient third person point of view. We know this because the author takes the reader inside Farquhar’s mind to show how his mind interprets reality. When it comes to talking about the theme, Peyton Farquhar denies reality. He avoids it. This is why he enters into the delusional state of mind. While being hanged he dreams that he escapes after the weight of he’s body breaks the rope and he swims to safety, and long after he returns to his home. Even though this dream lasts only seconds, in Farquhar’s mind it lasts the whole day. This could be a way of the author to say that Farquhar refuses to accept the reality that is going on during the civil war, where even gentlemen like him who support the Southern cause can be victims of what the barbarous Union soldiers can do. The story was published in 1891 right after the civil war in the United States of America. Bierce tries to express how the cruelty took place during the years of the Civil war, how slaves were treated and condemned. By Farquhar’s character Bierce expresses how anybody who opposed the Union to support the Southern cause was seen as a rebellious person no matter his social position. There is a controversy between critics when it comes to categorizing this short story into a literary form. Some critics say that the story is a narration: it has a beginning, a middle and an end. However some critics believe that because of the ending, the story is more of a thriller, suspense or even mystery. Bierce uses a unique way to shift from different tones during the story. He changes from an authorial realistic voice, to a fantastic tone in order to immerse into Farquhar’s mind. â€Å"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge†is a very interesting story with a surprising twist. Ambrose Bierce uses many different techniques to show the reader how brutal and savage the Civil war was like and how people was treated. This short story changed the American culture.
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