The Adoration of Jenna Fox

The Adoration of Jenna Fox- Essay Would your conscience be clear knowing that you illegally modified someone to save their life? This choice was made by parents Claire and Mathew Fox. The Adoration of Jenna Fox tells the story of a parent’s hard decision to genetically modify their daughter Jenna with BioGel. With this major decision, comes many side effects, including the loss of most her memory, therefore she questions what it is to be human. This essay discusses the effect on not only Jenna, but her parents, her grandmother Lily and her new friend Allys.Jenna develops anger towards her parents, not for their decision to her modify, but the fact they lied to her. In Details (130), Jenna asks her parents â€Å"Why didn’t you tell me? The minute I woke up? Didn’t I deserve to know? † This series of short rhetorical questions release a lot of Jenna’s feelings of being confused and angry. She also answers her own questions because she doesn’t w ant to hear the answer. When her parents won’t discuss what happened, Jenna starts digging to find answers. In Denied (134), Jenna says: â€Å"The pieces speak, but there are not enough.Yet† Jenna says this to herself to reassure her that she will eventually belong in society. This line also contains hidden meanings including the fact that she cannot understand the events that occurred. Similarly, the line; â€Å"Uploaded? You uploaded my brain? † (Father -117) also uses rhetorical questions. The use of the word â€Å"you† once again, shows her anger towards her parents in a direct manner. It makes them feel bad for their lies and the secrets they kept, therefore Jenna starts to question humanity and what are human qualities.Throughout the book, Jenna questions whether her parents’ decision was right or wrong- not legally, but morally. She constantly asks herself whether the choice to modify her was for her or her parents’ benefit, or whethe r she was just a lab pet for her father’s experiments. In Lily (126), Lily and Jenna have one of their first real conversations; â€Å"’I said good-bye. I grieved. Then a few hours later, your parents told me what they had done. ’ ’And you thought it was wrong? ’ ’I’m not like your parents.I think there are worse things than dying. ’† Jenna is very surprised of Lily’s honesty and starts to appreciate their relationship. Lily is obviously against the Fox’s decision to modify Jenna and believes that Jenna has the right to know. This leaves Jenna to believe that her parents’ decision was for their benefit only. As Lily and Jenna’s relationship strengthens, Jenna is more open to listen to Lily’s onion and what she has to say. One example of this is from The Greenhouse (142). â€Å"’I’m sorry,’ she says. But I’m not sorry I told you. It just isn’t right. à ¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬  This is another example of the Fox’s wrong decisions and how Lily and Jenna’s relationship tightens. By this time, Jenna becomes certain that modifying her was for her parents’ benefit and in Control; Jenna confronts her parents to find they are only making excuses. Another bad choice is expressed in Backup (189). ‘I know, Father’. I sit down in the chair opposite him. ‘There’s those three people in the closet, too. Now that’s what I call a disability. † Jenna says this in a sarcastic way. This is when Jenna starts to build anger towards her parents because they are continuing to lie and make excuses. She is at the point where she doesn’t trust her parents and believes that have done everything wrong. Jenna starts to take action against her parents in A Plan (239), and with the help of Lily, they free the minds of Kara, Locke and herself. By this time, Jenna believes that Claire and Mathew have broken any relationship they ever had with her.With the Fox’s decision, they didn’t hesitate to break the law to save their daughter- but at what consequences. An example of this is in Father (121). â€Å"I’m illegal aren’t I? That’s why we live here. We’re hiding out†. Jenna questions bio-medical ethics and the nature of the soul. She not only questions whether bio-engineering legally right, but morally. As soon as Jenna’s parents’ modified her, they pushed their relationship. In Day One/ New Jenna, the following paragraph discusses moral ethics. â€Å"Does that make you an authority on everything?What about a soul, Father? When you were busy implanting all your neural chips, did you think about that? Did you snip my soul from my old body too? Where did you put it? Show me! Where? Where in all this groundbreaking technology did you insert my soul? † This shows one of the consequences of her parents’ decision. Jen na hates them for lying and their choice to modify her. She starts to realise that there’s more to being human and that the choice to engineer her has taken away all humanity within.Similarly, the line; â€Å"At least with the FSEB’s current point system in place, right? † (Viewpoint 200) expresses Allys’ view towards bio-engineering. Both Allys and Jenna question whether the FSEB can regulate humanity and whether it considers emotions from the soul. In conclusion, Claire and Mathew Fox’s decision to modify Jenna had many consequences including the destruction of relationships. Jenna believes that her modification was only for her parents’ benefit and it was humanely wrong. This is expressed through Jenna, Lily, Allys and Claire and Mathew Fox.

Good Hotel Doing Good Doing Well

Good Hotel:Doing Good Doing Well Introduction: Joie De Vivre Hotels Company was found in back in 1987 in San Francisco by Chip Conley. Conley started from opening a Phoeonix Hotel in San Franciso. His first priority or targeted customer were of rock bands, musicians and film makers who mostyly travels for their projects and he me travel agents through out the America and proposed some free massage for tour manager during their stay in the hotel to attract the customer and make them stay in his hotel. And this worked and Conley was successful in making some of nationally known entertainers stay in his hotel.Joie De Vivre is a company which has entire business based in San Francisco and because of which it was negatively impacted by the incident of 9/11 and there was substantial turndown. Joie De Vivre began to expand its network out of San Franciso from 2005 by opening Hotel Angeleno in Los Angeles likewise in 2009 they opened other hotel in different place to spread the market of the ir company more wider. They opened Shorebreak hotel in Huntington Beach,Hotel Erwin in Venice Beach and Pacific Edge Hotel in Laguna Beach. Strategy Plan Of Joie De Vivre'sENVIRONMENTAL POLICY The mission of Joie De Vivre Green Dreams is to prevent the environment and educate not only emplyees but also cutomer to reduce waste and toxins,make the environment a eco-friendly environment and always true to reuse,recylce and reduce the waste. Joie De Vivre is also working to get their hotels a green certificate by their local city or country to show their commitment for the environment and Green Dreams. Joie De Vivre uses the following policies and practices for the Green Dreams to come true: Reduce,Reuse and RecyclePurchasing Environmental Friendly Products Conserve Energy,water and natural resources Generate clean energy through on-site solar production Reduce, Reuse and Recycle: Joie de Vivre try to reduce the wastage by reusing and recycying all the papers,cans,bottles and all the wa ste food and landscape waste. Even when they donates to the charutable organizations they donate those items which can be reused so that they can make other people also play a role in Dream Green project. Toxics Reduction and Environmentally Preferable PurchasingJoie De Vivre always are on the side of not using toxic materials to protect the health of the both employee and guest as well as the environmental health also. They reduce the use of toxic materials as much as they can and they safely recycle the toxic products for reusing it again. They minimize the use of mercury lamps and try not to use them whenever it is possible. They always try to purchase the recycled products. Conserve They conserve the fossil fuels by encouraging the use of public transport rather then private transport to their guest as well as their employee which make thems save fuel.They encourage carpooling among their staff and also by taking part in spare the air campaigns they are conserving the environmen t. Employee Education They train and educate their staff how to reuse,recyle and reduce the cost. This will not only help in making the Green Dream success but it will alse make their employee in their daily life as well . Not only in work but this will help them in their home to reduce,recycle and reuse the waste which they can.

Why Stay Connected

To stay connected with people we love, admire or simply want to do business with is not as hard as it seems. Thanks to social media we have the ability to communicate through the social web with Just a click of a button. With so much information to share, I believe people use computers everyday for social relationships, functionality, colonization, context and commerce because it provides a user friendly experience that's inviting and receptive. In today's society, social networking has become like an operating system where every experience can be social and user friendly.For most people, the web is a viable tool that is used everyday of the week from the sounding of the alarm clock, until television puts us to sleep. This tool is capable of transporting information through text, audio, video or graphics across the world and can go virtually in an instant to and from anyone with a device and web access. It's beneficial sharing personalized and accurate content with friends, family or business associates who rely on the web and value staying connected while developing social relationships. When developing social relationships it's important to stay open and accessible at all times.Since people can now enjoy connecting with family and friends for free on social sites like Backbone, it allows loved ones from other countries to communicate without incurring expensive phone bills. Sometimes Internet use can cause a decline in face-to face time with families. In the article Successful Farming, A 2009 survey of 2,000 households by the University of Southern Californians Enablers Center for the Digital Future reveals that 28% of Americans admit that they spend less time with members of their household. During the past decade, Merganser survey show that shared family time ranged from 22. 6 to 29. 8 hours per month (Devise, C. 09 pig. 61). These statistics coincides with the explosion of social networks. The article also goes on to mention that Passbooks user base catapu lted to 200 million in 2009 from 140 million in 2008. The survey points out that 52% of users say the Internet is â€Å"important† or â€Å"very important† in sustaining relationships. But how important does the functionality play in business relationships? When considering the sites purpose for users through Functionality, the function of the site must be fulfilled. When a business positions itself to sell products, the site must be able to describe these items along with a summary about the company.According to the article, Web Site Functionality (Barnes, 2010), it lists three rules of function for companies to have success in selling their products. The first rule is to â€Å"be quick and to the point. † Companies shouldn't subject their visitors to flash and distracting images on the sales page of the site. The goal here is not to loose your visitor before you sell them. The second rule is â€Å"think like a visitor, not like yourself. † This particul ar strategy helps the visitor to better understand what you are selling because of how simple it is to read and access the product. Simplicity her is the key.The third rule is â€Å"assist, don't constrain. † What this rule is clearly stating is treat your visitors like guess in your house. Show courtesy in the way you respond on your site, if visitors type an invalid quantity field. Instead of saying â€Å"Invalid Quantity,† say, â€Å"Please enter only whole numbers in Quantity. † This approach helps the visitors relax and feel comfortable, as they will have a better overall experience on the site. Delta Air Lines is a good example of a company that has taking strides to accommodate their customers without going through the technicalities of booking lights and hectic checking-inn's.According to (NYSE: DEAL) Delta was named â€Å"Top Tech- Friendly U. S. Airlines† by Popcorn magazine for its airport recharging stations (Technology & Business Journal, 201 2). This recognition was based on Delta having in-flight Wi-If on more domestic flights than any other carrier and smartened APS with innovative features including baggage tracking, airport check-in and the ability to book tickets directly from Backbone, while enjoying 24-hour customer service via Twitter. Since customer service is first class for some companies is there a way for there company sites to become more social?I believe one of the best ways for every page to have a social experience, is through Colonization. Identity technologies like Backbone Connect, Opened, as well as existing identities will soon colonize the web in the near future, making every webbing a social experience even if they don't want to participate. Using Backbone for example, if you look at majority of television and radio adverts, you are quickly directed to the company's Backbone address. This call of action is a form of branding, which allows a company to communicate in a timely and informal manner.T his teeth invites feedback and interaction with customers. Many brands are taking advantage of corporate pages like Coca Cola, which is the leading product on Backbone with over 20 million people â€Å"liking† its page (Towns, 2011). This style of Colonizing allows companies to inject their personality onto a web page, pushing employee's to post comments, photographs and videos to promote a company's personality in a genuine way. A company would not move in the right direction if the context weren't complete.This is why content is so important because it personalizes an accurate account of the company's marketing campaign. Content is the fuel of the social web in that it brings a product launch to life through short films, videos, commercials, and emails by the product developer all-starting with a simple concept. According to the NYSE, Nielsen released results of a new research study revealing online content as a connective tissue for Internet users with 27 million pieces of content shared on a daily basis (NYSE: AOL, 2011).The results also show that 53% time spent on the Internet is directly attributed to content consumption, and consumer social graphs play a key role in sharing content with email as the primary sharing tool. Nearly one-quarter of all social media messages contain links to content (NYSE: AOL, 2011). In the web search world, one of the most undocumented forms of Content is word- of-mouth. According to the Keller Fay Group's Talk Track, as much as 90% of word-of- mouth takes place offline (Hawthorne, Chromic, 2012). This form of content is dispersed and sporadic across the Internet.Many agencies and research companies pull their information from multiple sources, which focus on finding online word-of- mouth and tone in posts to blobs, chat rooms, consumer review sites, social networking sites, and viral videos. Depending on the clientele of a website, the reviews and overall impressions of a product may be marketed differently. So how c an word-of-mouth be leveraged through social commerce? When communities define different products and services, you are speaking of Commerce, which is online and already social.A Nielsen report (2011) highlighted that 90% of consumers trust the opinions of people they know. 70% trust anonymous ratings and reviews posted online, compared to Just 33% who trust online banner ads. Many brands have shied away from social media when asking for the sale. For example, Mobile Web has become a key focus for developers as a recent survey points out that 66% of the developers rate Mobile Web support as a top priority for 2012 (Computers, Networks ; Computers, 2012). The article goes on to say that Bloodmobile's one-click purchase flow will help developers to accelerate revenue through direct carrier billing.This offers customers a simple and easy payment flow, which translates directly to higher revenue. Another example of how commerce solutions are becoming easier for consumers is the partners hip with Ecocide, Inc. , producer of the worlds first platform-neutral, rope-in store builder widget and website builder Yolk to provide its e-commerce solution to Yolk customers. Yolk is the leading website builder that lets individuals and small businesses create websites with no technical expertise required (Computer Weekly New, 2012).Yolk's Online Store package powered by Ecocide allows users to quickly create a store by setting it up in their Yolk dashboard and dropping it into any page of a new and existing site. This all-in-one solution is for customers looking to create a website and start selling online. When you look at the many brands that use social applications, it's not only in erect support of e-commerce activities, but also its in anticipation that it will deliver on the bottom line at some point in the near future.Such brands like Dell, who use Twitter for sales promotions, Trapdoors who uses Backbone to funnel sales and Matter, the giant toy store who launched Shop Together which enables people in different locations to see what each other see's and talks about different products using an onscreen chat window. This social application has generated billions of dollars to major companies who understand the importance of social networking. In conclusion, we now understand better the need to connect and share with people globally and how cost effective and easy it is to stay in touch with friends, family and businesses through the social web.Social relationships are birthed from social networks, which become operating systems that provide services to customers who are looking for a social experience online. Without a sites purpose being as simple and easy to follow, consumers will be lost in translation. That's why it is so important for networking sites to create a user-friendly atmosphere that's inviting and receptive. The reasons why people use the web are simply for the benefits. Without social relationships, functionality, colonization, cont ext and commerce, there will be no desire to stay connected online.

Sensory Memory, Retrieval Failure and Aphasia Essay

Sensory Memory, Retrieval Failure and Aphasia - Essay Example This memory usually comes off in a short while. For visual sensory memory, or iconic memory, the length of the memory is usually less than half a second (Lynch). Iconic memory usually includes instances where one sees something ordinary like a woman walking down the street. Even after the woman passes by and is not anymore in sight, the memory of this woman remains in the mind. If not attended to, iconic memory, just like any other sensory memory, is gone, but if attention is given, it becomes a working memory and thus stays relatively longer than a sensory memory (â€Å"Human Memory†). This happens if that woman is beautiful and the man who sees her wishes to remember her. On the other hand, for echoic memory, which is auditory sensory memory, the memory of the sound usually lasts a few seconds (Lynch). This usually happens when someone hears something like some particular news on TV while the listener is doing something else, then right after the TV is turned off, the memory stays in the mind for a few seconds. If the news was about an approaching typhoon, the listener may suddenly tell his mom, â€Å"Hey mom, it said on TV that the typhoon is coming at 6 p.m. and it’s gonna bring with it some hail and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  So far, the echoic memory is gone the moment you do not remember anymore. Still, another type of sensory memory is haptic memory, or tactile sensory memory (â€Å"Memory Class†). ... Echoic memory is what I often experience whenever I listen to the radio and turn it off before I turn in for the night. I have noticed that even as I am beginning to close my eyes I can still hear myself singing the chorus part of the last song I heard playing on the radio, but ask me about it when I wake up and I can seldom if ever recall what it is. Haptic memory is also one thing I experience at times. At the office, sometimes I shake hands with a client and I could feel either the wetness of his hand or the tightness of his grip. Nevertheless, after a short while, when we have got down to business, I honestly do not have any more memory of such a grip nor do I even remember shaking hands with that person. As to sensory memories, my experiences are just the same as everyone else’s. Retrieval Failure In psychology, retrieval failure refers to one of the theories of forgetting. In retrieval failure, â€Å"information is not lost, but that the right cues are not being usedâ⠂¬  (â€Å"Memory,† BBC). According to the retrieval failure theory of forgetting, a person may have stored a particular information in his brain but has obviously perhaps not gone back to it for quite some time. Therefore, when the moment arises for him to retrieve it, he cannot because the cues are just not right. Usually a person knows that he knows the information but just simply cannot bring himself to say it. At this particular point, he searches not exactly for the information but for the right cues that will make him remember it. In my case, I usually experience retrieval failure when the cues just cannot bring out a particular piece of information. I usually experience something like what I am about

Strategic Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Strategic Planning - Essay Example a. Demographic Trends Demographic patters offer a description of the changes, which involve sizes, age structure, geographic distribution, ethnic mix, and distribution of income (Ireland el at, 2009). These patterns enable the business to focus on understanding demographics of a certain area. Apparently, Wells Fargo Bank needs to understand alterations, which occur in different parts of America. Nevertheless, Wells Fargo has focused on the ability customize their market; for instance, numerous bankers are multi-lingual in order to increase their ability to deal with diverse population. b. Economic Trends Increasing rate of unemployment has been associated with high rates of interests and foreclosures. Well Fargo is focusing on avoiding the subprime market, which they feared more compared to their competitors during economy downfall. Moreover, the bank was able to pay the â€Å"bailout†, which was provided by the government and led to substantial profitability in 2010. During t his recession, the Well Fargo identified ways of assisting their customers and remaining profitable despite these economic conditions. c. Political Trends There are strict political and legal implications in the banking and mortgaging industry in which Wells Fargo Bank operates. In fact, these implications have effects, which lead to financial reforms laws. On the other hand, there are resent issues, which are influencing the trading in the financial industry. d. Social Trends Wells Fargo has depicted increased interest in taking their social responsibility; in fact, they have a vision of building their corporate vision to assist their customers and ensure that everyone is succeeding in the community. On the other hand, they focus on offering members of the society equal chances of opportunities and prosperity for different walks of life. Therefore, they are struggling in being socially responsible through their financial services. e. Technological Trends There are technological pat ters, which have become prevalent in banking industry; through in other situations it poses threat to financial businesses. There are numerous programs and firms that are operating online and they are exploiting technology as a source of competitive advantage. f. Global Trends Apparently, Wells Fargo does not operate in the global market; through they deal with customers from different counties and ethical background. In this case, the bank has identified the need for understanding the global perspective, which is highly applicable in to their business. g. Physical Trends The company runs efficiently, whereby they take numerous steps of protecting the natural resources, and this has significant benefits to the future generation. On the other hand, they Wells Fargo bank has gained ability to engage their customers and communities in stewardship effort, through which they achieve significant impact (Wells Fargo, 2009). h. Industry Environment The industry environment entails the barri ers to entry into the market, suppliers bargaining power, buyers bargaining power, availability of substitutes and competitive rivalry; in this case, industry environment is perceived in these dimensions. i. Operating Environment Operating environment entails five segments, which include competitors, creditors, customers, labor, and supplies. In this case, the competition has decreased significantly due to four choices in the financial

Advantages and Limitations of Traditional Research and Action Research Essay - 1

Advantages and Limitations of Traditional Research and Action Research - Essay Example This is very necessary as teachers strive to align the learning experience with technological evolution in the digital era. The use of technology standards (NETS) for teachers would be very appropriate for an action research study. This is on the grounds that one of the center standards of NETS is that instructors ought to have the capacity to outline, create, and evaluate genuine learning and educating encounters. Subsequently, assessments that join contemporary mechanical devices and assets is valuable (Smaldino, Lowther, & Russell, 2012). Thus, the results of an action research study will provide teachers with invaluable insight on planning and adjust the applicable learning encounters that use computerized assets and devices in advancing understudy innovativeness and learning. It will also enable the teachers to develop technology-based learning background (Smaldino, Lowther & Russell, 2012). Students will also be enabled to cope with their education skill and assess their progress. The study will also dwell on how teachers can focus on different learning activities. Finally, a research on the techno logy standards will enlighten teachers on ways of giving their understudies changed and different summative and developmental evaluations. These are the one adjusted to mechanical and substance gauges, and apply the ensuing data to educate the showing and learning methodology. One of the external decisions that greatly affected my classroom practice was the introduction of high stakes tests, as well as a grading policy by the head of the department. The directive stipulated that teachers were expected to conform to standardized rubric assessment criteria in all subjects. I considered this decision as inappropriate and one that would affect teaching practice in a negative way.

Governance Regulations and Ethics in the UK Essay

Governance Regulations and Ethics in the UK - Essay Example Governance Regulations and Ethics Task 1: Economic Recession 1.0 Introduction In the book, in chapter one, there is a lot of emphasis on corporate responsibility towards ethical issues in management so as to conform to international set standards where the guidelines and management principles that conform across countries and cultures. In the film, it is clear that most countries especially America made attempts to set into place control mechanisms through various acts so as to ensure honest and moral conduct in business. The book brings into focus the dishonest by the investment companies when they undertook to promote internet stock companies they were quite aware would fail. This was in an attempt to precipitate the crisis by, in fact, defrauding innocent investors. This resulted in derivatives. This is an outright case of dishonest as business terms require such loyalty and obligation in the management of the corporations by people charged with the responsibility whether CEOs or employees. 2.0 Issues in the Movie Covered in the Existing Corporate Codes 2.1 The UK Corporate Governance Code of the year 2010 The UK Cooperate Governance Code of the year 2010 is mainly included with the aim of establishing a well a created board of governors for accompany or corporation through principles and rules, as opposed to rigid rules. The main Aim of the code is to ensure proper directorship of companies through the underlying principles of accountability, transparency, probity, and insight into sustainable success. It is clear that the financial crisis as reported in the movie, â€Å"The Inside Job’ was as a result of management of the business with the aim of success but without consideration of the eventual effect of such practices, which were fraudulent, in nature. This is in the book which defines better and acceptable ethical practices in the corporate world 2.2 Flaws in the Implementation of the Code Although the code in section 4 about governance sets out the moral practices of an organization through sound and upright board behavior, implementation, and adherence are not a guarantee. This is evident in the movie since the CEOs of the investment companies did not actually follow the guidelines, though they existed. The Lehman Brothers, for instance, ignored the moral and ethical guidelines and continued promoting borrowing to firms without the capability to remain in the market with that clearly in their knowledge. The firm had to crumble and come down in 2008. 2.3 Role of corporate Leadership in Disregarding the Code Leadership of the chairman of a board, the support is given to and by the chief executive officer and the openness and frankness to discussions by the directors is the key in this endeavor according to the governance code.

Consumer Chemistry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Consumer Chemistry - Essay Example Land degradation, global warming and resistant organisms have limited the adequate food supply through traditional plant breeding (McKinney & Schoch, 322). These problems have called for the introduction and development of genetically modified food or transgenic crops, which are resistant to disease causing micro-organisms and drought. However, this technology has met strong critics due to the health risks it has on the population. This limitation has slowed down the rate of its adoption and implementation in several countries, especially in the third world countries (McKinney & Schoch, 322). Most people, including some biotechnology specialists, feels GM foods are potential inducers of new allergen in the human body. This is evident in some people and children who are highly resistant to GM foods and peanuts (Jensen & Malter 2). Genes can originate from different species, for example, when an animal gene is introduced into plan genome. With the GM foods, the human body is at risk of developing resistant bacteria, which may become extremely difficult to control using the normal antibiotics. This can lead to increased spread of diseases (Jensen & Malter 2). In conclusion, despite the health risks imposed by the GM foods, it should be understood that it only has negative effects on a small percentage of the population. Most of the supermarkets are stocked with GM foods, and only a small percentage of shoppers complain of their side effects. This, therefore, is an indication that GM foods are the future sources of food. Biotechnology advancements should be supported, and adopted by all nations, so as to address the problems of drought and crop resistant organisms on the traditional plant breeding method. This will ensure adequate and better food is supplied to the ever-growing population (Evenson & Santaniello

Why Incentive Plans Cannot Work Article by Kohn Alfie

Why Incentive Plans Cannot Work by Kohn Alfie - Article Example Most of organizations in the United States have implemented programs with the aim of motivating employees through compensation. The belief that individuals will perform better in the workplace if they are rewarded has not been thoroughly examined. However, there are findings that indicate the failure of these incentive programs due to various reasons (Kohn 2). Research indicates that rewards are effective in securing temporary compliance. Just like punishment, rewards do not effectively produce lasting change in behavior and attitudes. Individuals go back to their old behaviors when the rewards run out. Psychologists regard incentives as extrinsic motivators and they state that they do not change the attitudes that accompany people’s behaviors. Incentives do not develop a lasting commitment to any action or value. Rather, they simply and temporarily change what individual do. In regard to productivity, research shows that rewards do not produce better work. Thus, there is no c orrelation between performance and pay (Kohn 3). The main reason why most executives continue relying on the incentive programs is that few individuals have taken the step to assess the link between incentive programs and problems associated with workplace morale and productivity. The author asserts that rewards only buy temporary compliance (Kohn 4). Kohn gives six frameworks that give the exact cost of the incentive programs. Firstly, pay is not a motivator. Though individuals are very concerned with what they get as salaries, this is not an indication that money is the motivator. There is no solid basis that when people are paid more, it will motivate them to perform better at work. Secondly, rewards punish. Just like punishment, rewards are manipulative. In both situations, individuals are being caught (that is, if one is found doing the right thing he will be rewarded, if he is caught doing the wrong thing he will be punished). The managers are making the people feel controlled in the workplace instead of making the environment suitable for progress, learning, and exploration. Thirdly, rewards destroy relationships. Employee relationships are destroyed when they scramble for rewards. Cooperation and organizational excellence is destroyed when individuals are forced to compete for recognition or rewards. Individual who cannot win feel worthless and the more these awards are exposed, the more destructive their effect can be. Additionally, competition for limited incentives among the employees can make them view each other as hindrance to their success. Fourthly, reasons are ignored by rewards. For the managers to solve workplace problems, they must know what caused them. Each problem in the organization requires a different response. Reliance on incentives to improve productivity does not address the problems and cannot bring about significant change. At times, managers usually use incentive systems as an alternative for providing workers with what they req uire in order to do a good job. Research shows that paying for performance hinders the capability of the managers to manage. Fifthly, risk-taking is discouraged by rewards. When individuals are motivated to think about what they will receive for getting involved in a task, they will less likely explore possibilities or take risks. Some of the individuals will participate in illegal and unethical behavior because they want to benefit from the incentive program. Studies show that people will tend to minimize challenges when working for a reward (Kohn 6). Lastly, interest is undermined by reward. Like punishment, rewards undermine the intrinsic stimulus that leads to optimal performance. The employee becomes less interested in the work when the manager keeps on emphasizing on what the employee can

Disruptive Technologies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Disruptive Technologies - Essay Example Perhaps the most ancient material for writing devised by man was the clay tablet. The Sumerians and the inhabitants of Babylonians were the first ones to use clay tablets. These were basically square shaped flat bricks of clay that were inscribed by writing while they were wet. (â€Å"Britannica†, n.d.). People by that time had devised a form of written language through symbols. These were obviously written symbols, and were engraved on wet clay bricks or tablets which were then baked in the sun and preserved. They used a devise called ‘stylus’ for imprinting the symbols in clay. The most logical problem with clay tablets was their size and breaking risk. Therefore, the people came up with something that met what they needed, which was the scrolls. The scrolls were made from a form of parchment, papyrus, or paper. These were actually small pieces of parchment attached to one another by some form of glue to form a long writing space. These were kept all rolled up in form of scrolls. In a scroll, The scrolls were found in Europe and western side of Asia. These were used by inhabitants of Egypt who used Arabic language that is written from right to left and were later adopted by other civilizations who wrote from left to right. Even in the current date, scrolls are used by Jews in their religious ceremonies. Even though many people liked the usage of the scrolls, yet, they were looking for something smaller, lighter and flexible to be used. Therefore, they came up with the codex. Codex, according to Wikipedia is: Romans were the pioneers in codex. Codex was definitely superior to scrolls. It was much easier to handle as compared to scrolls. Codex made it possible for the reader to read while holding the pages almost spread out flat in front of him. With the spread of codex, scrolls became almost obsolete. The modern form of codex is the book in print as the modern world knows it. Printed books are still popular. Initially, all pages of a

Critique of King's theory of the goal of attainment Research Paper

Critique of King's theory of the goal of attainment - Research Paper Example This extensive work in the nursing field contributed greatly in the theory because of her experience in the nursing field research (King, 2007). The Theory of Goal Attainment describes the relationship between people working together to attain a certain goal. In this case, a patient and a nurse, communicate when working together, to achieve a goal, the patient’s health. The theory looks at interpersonal systems, personal systems and social systems, how human beings use these aspects in their daily life while trying to attain their goals. The theory uses concepts to show how each system works. The concepts are defined in both theoretical and operational terms describing the systems and their application. The concepts for personal system are; growth and development, body image, space, time, self, and perception. The concepts for interpersonal system are; transaction, role, interaction, communication and stress. The social system concepts are; Authority, power, organization and status and decision making (King, 1991). The theory enlists the explicit and implicit assumptions underlying it: the nursing focus, its goal, the goal of nurses, nursing process, plan, implementing and evaluating nursing care. Nurses and patients communicate, set goals mutually, and then work to attain those goals. In life situation, people interact, perceive and enter into situations and in the process, each participant is changed (King, 2007). The theory also describes the four Metaparadigm concepts of nursing, which are: a human being, health, environment and nursing. The theory reflect clarity of thought process in that a human being is rational, perceive, think, feel, choose, set goals, select means to achieve goals and make decisions. The theory explains the logical congruence of the internal structure of the theory by showing how the systems come together and the attainment of goals. The theory does not give an indication that help predict or control

Thomas Green Essay Example for Free

Thomas Green Essay The case starts with the result of a problem that has been brewing for months-Thomas Green’s faltering career has transitioned from the fast track to a destination of potential unemployment. We sought to analyze the factors leading up to this rapid downward spiral and what other challenges were present in the situation. We identified some of the underlying causes, and developed potential solutions and how to apply them to rectify the challenges Green is experiencing. Current Problems:  The tension has developed between Davis and Green in part because of Green’s very public opposition to Davis’s next year’s projections of the 10% market growth, and in part because Green did not meet Davis’s expectations for the person who will be holding his previous position. According to Davis, Green has failed. Both in 1:1 meetings with Green and in interactions with his boss Shannon McDonald his ‘surface’ story has remained the same. He says Green is doing a poor job of communicating; not keeping his boss updated of his travel plans and current location. He also complains that when Green is on the road he doesn’t check in with the office enough and fails to send Davis information he has requested in a timely manner. Moreover, Davis feels that Green’s strategies and way of working with clients needs to be more concrete; that Green needs to provide factual data and reports to his clients instead of just ideas. In addition, Davis refers to Green’s negative attitude (as expressed at the goal-setting meeting) indicated that Green lacked the enthusiasm needed for the job. Deeper Problems Underlying Causes for the Conflict: 1. Power Politics Dynamics at Work: Davis’s public complaints do not reflect the full story. His perspective seems to be skewed by some common fallacies of thought that often plague business organizations. Davis has seen Thomass objection in front of the other employees as challenging him. This may be a case of Schadenfreude where Davis, who now has reason to dislike Green, finds everything possible wrong with his work as a way to discredit him. He may be jealous that Green jumped a few rungs on the corporate ladder, and incensed that he wasn’t consulted in the hiring decisions. Attribution can come into play where, instead of believing that there is a reason Green was promoted and maybe he did have value to bring to the table, a cognitive bias making him think Green’s previous successes were due to luck, and that he is a rookie who can’t be relied upon. That becomes a self fulfilling prophecy of perception, where Davis sees all the little things Green does wrong as insurmountable flaws confirming his original opinion of Green being the wrong man for the job. Many tenured workers feel that ‘paying ones dues’ is an important part of building a career, and that those on the fast track aren’t truly deserving of their positions. Since Green took over Davis’s former position, projection can also come into play, where Davis compares everything Green does to how he would have handled it. Davis does seem to be biased against Green, and rather than helping him to be the most successful he can, he appears to prefer firing him and starting over. A reverse halo effect has come into play, where nothing Green does is right. 2. Structural Problems in Hiring/Training. There are some structural problems in terms of chain of command and in how Dynamic Displays does their hiring and training. McDonald even identified this huge jump in positions and expressed her reservations. She openly admitted that her biggest concern was the increased level of managerial responsibility with no experience. This huge jump bypassed positions of needed training and practical work experience. Upper management had not initially counseled Green on expectations of communication, direction, report, and etc. Davis was not giving Green any real direction and guidance on how he wanted the reports until after it was identified as a problem. Davis did finally show how the other senior market analyst generated her reports and the approved method for relaying data. Another critical error was the fact that McDonald endorsed Greens promotion with no input from Davis. The relationship between Green and Davis was to some extent doomed from the start. When on Green’s first day Division VP McDonald tells him â€Å"Tom, you are walking into a tricky situation with Frank Davis. Frank had expected to choose the new senior market specialist and it would not have been you. You’ll have to deal with any fallout that might result from that. † Davis was not able to pick the person who he may have been molding for the position. This is demonstrated in the incompatibility of work styles and no working relationship between Davis and Green. McDonald did not set Green up for success when it came to working under Davis. The last thing she mentioned to Green on that first day was â€Å"don’t let me down. It would have been more effective should McDonald have included Davis in the hiring process, and meeting with both Davis and Green before or during Green’s first week so they could discuss expectations, and what McDonald viewed as Green’s strengths and areas of opportunity so a plan could immediately be put in place to address them and get him properly trained. 3. Thomas Green is not a blameless victim in this circumstance. There are a few areas in which he tripped up that have contributed to the severity of the current situation. This is an excellent case identifying the Peter principle where a great salesman is identified for exemplar performance and promoted to a position of incompetence within the company. Perhaps because (aptly named) Green was so new, he did not fully understand the dynamic of the specific situation he walked into. The 2008 Budget Plan Meeting did not appear to be an open forum, and Green misjudged it. Normally applicable to managers and coaches, the ‘Praise in public, criticize in private’ concept would have been useful in this case as well. Many of the most successful corporate climbers recognize the benefit of making ones higher-ups look good. Publically disagreeing with Davis in that open meeting was an act of insubordination. If Green knew the subject of the meeting and that Davis would be speaking for him, a certain onus fell on his shoulders to know what the goals were being set at ahead of time and giving him a chance to discuss in a more appropriate setting with Davis. Power conflict/ Stylistic Differences: Communication between Davis and Green was not the only issue. There were multiple misunderstandings between Davis, Green, and McDonald in terms of really acknowledging the issues at play. Green was a bit misled with regard to what was most important to his direct manager. The sample PowerPoint slides and organizational charts one of the other market supervisors had created should be something Davis showed Green early on, while setting expectations of those types of reports being created on weekly or monthly basis. Going over communication expectations is also really important, as that varies widely from manager to manager. Green’s autonomous â€Å"I’ll get it done my way† attitude clouded his ability to see why it might be important to keep communication up with Davis. He should have asked Davis the best way to check in with him and how often that was expected. Davis should be more clear-if he asks for a report while Green is on the road, be specific about the expected turnaround time or due date for the information. Green’s ego and inexperience hurt him in the transition to such a responsible and politically sensitive role. He is intelligent and talented but he was also over confident and he abused his â€Å"Legitimate Power which is defined as the position power based on a person’s holding of a managerial positions rather than anything the manager is or does as a person† (Phillips Gully, 2012). Green did things his way rather than respecting the path laid before him, and the superiors with tenure who had legitimate advice to give. Davis possessed a mix of Expert and Coercive powers. Expert power is a personal power based on an individual expertise in some area† Davis has done the same job in the past and he presented the successful projections for the company marketing future. â€Å"Coercive is a position power based on fear or a desire to avoid punishment† Green did not follow directions and rules, Davis reported this to McDonalds and threatened to end Green’s position. McDonald holds the ‘Reward power’: â€Å"A position power that involves the use of rewards to influence and motivate followers. She is the one who appointed Green at this position based on his intelligence and talent. Phillips Gully, 2012). Applicable OB Theory Two of the most fundamental aspects of Organizational Behavior are process, where there was a communication breakdown, and behavior in terms of evaluating, rewarding, and managing, as well as managing conflict/power and politics. Because Green wasn’t properly trained and mentored he was unable to do the job according to Davis’s preferences. The company seems to have a classic Scalar chain of hierarchy in place, that was upset by McDonald hiring Green for a position he wasn’t prepared for. The chain of command started off broken because it jumped over Davis. Innacurate assumptions followed, as Green thought McDonald would look out for him and retained a direct connection to his career, where in fact the traditional hierarchy was back in place without Green realizing how he fit in. The other thing that is easy to miss when analyzing this case is the positive opportunities that exist. McDonald ‘took a chance’ on Green because she felt the group needed a new perspective. The company did have the chance to improve results from what Green brought to the table, but his natural talent needed to be harnessed to take best advantage of that potential. Davis’s initial dislike and distrust of Green set the relationship off on the wrong foot, and at some point Green was more focused on keeping his job than on improving sales and helping the company. If Davis were focusing on making the most of Green as an employee, he would work on ways to accomplish multiple goals while encouraging Green to do his best work. Green is motivated by success as measured by his relationships with clients, ability to connect with company higher-ups, and having the autonomy to keep up that momentum. Davis’s management style does not reward Green’s independent thinking. Also it is interesting that one of Davis’s criticisms of Green is that he is â€Å"thinking like an account executive† when in fact most of their struggles stem from Green being a ‘big-picture’ thinker, and from Davis taking a detailed line-by-line approach. Solutions: There are two angles that should be addressed: both how the key players in this case should have handled things, and what can be done now and going forward. Green should have handled the Budget Meeting differently. He was wrong to talk about the issue to others in the company in that forum, even if unintentional; it did appear like he wanted to make Davis look bad. Green should have requested a one-on-one meeting with Davis to talk about the issue and to try to understand why things went so wrong. Because he feels strongly that those projections are unreasonable, he will also need to collect information to support his opinion about the numbers. He must try to build a relationship with Davis; recognizing that he put his boss in a bad position and what that did to him politically, he needs to eat some crow and work to rebuild a strong working relationship with Davis. This is the time to take McDonald’s original advice to heart, and ask for help. His going to Davis might feed into Davis’s ego enough to help: he can re-tie his success to the experience and knowledge base of his boss. Only then will the two of them be able to communicate and will Green have a chance to have his opinions heard. 1. Mentoring/training Both for Thomas Green at this moment, and for employees in the future, there needs to be a priority of setting up a more formal manager training and mentoring program. Part of Expectancy Theory states that the first level requirement of managers is to ensure employees are adequately trained and ave a clear understanding of what is expected of them. It seems Davis and Green were consistently not on the same page because of a failure to properly lay the groundwork during Green’s first few weeks on the job. For Green, McDonald’s advice of â€Å"I am hoping you compensate for your lack of experience by seeking out guidance from some of your more seasoned managers† was lacking in form and direction. A more formal mentoring program put in place could be very successful. Managerial training that includes working for a short time in the positions that were bypassed by the promotion would be particularly effective. The company should also assign one of the other senior market analyst as a mentor. Green could shadow with that senior market analyst for a short time to get a feel for company politics and best practices. In the future when a candidate is promoted from a sales role into management, they should be assigned a mentor who can help and guide them in the realities and expectations of the new position. There should also be a transition period if at all possible to easy the new manager into a position before giving him free reign. 2. Level setting  Because of Green’s nontraditional career path, additional guidance on the front end was required to set him up for success. Initial counseling on performance and work ethic expectations was a necessary piece that was missing in Davis and Green’s interactions early on. Clear expectations on preferred communication methods such as report presentations including charts and graphs should have been given to Green right away. Green should have been provided a thorough job description and clearly defined goals. The first few weeks in the new position were critical in showing Green what was important to upper management. Davis bringing Green on joint client appointments emphasized being hands on and meeting the right people. Davis missed an opportunity to show Green the type of detailed numbers and reports he would like to see. Also, rather than thinking Green needed reports to present at those meetings, should have partnered with him to create the concrete data he feels is most effective to use in working with a potential client. That was the only training Green received, and it was unfair to expect he would inherently understand an expectation that was not expressed to him by his boss. Davis should also have coached Green on his other expectations including form and frequency of communication. Assumptions were detrimental to the relationship; some of which may have been due to generational differences leading to varying expectations. This could have helped with the communication issues between all three parties due to their age differences. 3. Structural changes within Dynamic Displays In the future Dynamic Displays needs to adjust its hiring practices to set everyone involved up for success. It is short-sighted to think that employees must always take the most traditional path, as out of the box candidates come up at times and can benefit the company. They should make the hiring process more structured to avoid this type of issue in the future. The promotion process needs to be reviewed and improved upon. All parties who will be affected by the promotion should have input on the decision. Had Davis been included in that choice and in brainstorming on ways to get Green up and running, this issue may have been avoided altogether. Work relationships clearly can have a huge impact of production.

Malnutrition in Older Hospitalised Patients

Malnutrition in Older Hospitalised Patients Malnutrition has significantly increased in the ageing population resulting in a major health problem in the United Kingdom and is a cause and consequence of ill health. This essay will seek to critique three research papers based on Malnutrition in older hospitalised patient. It will include evaluation of strengths, limitations of the research and a reflection on how the researched was undertaken. Evidence has shown that malnutrition cost the National Health Service around thirteen billons a year resulting in one of the highest spend in health care (British Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, 2009).Dunne (2009) also states that one in five people ranging from 65 and over will be affected by malnutrition by the year 2020. Malnutrition is therefore â€Å"a state in which a deficiency of nutrients such as energy, protein, vitamins, and mineral causes measurable adverse effects on body composition function or clinical outcome† (National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence, 2006). In light of the information above, this had stimulated an interest to conduct a research to analyse what is being done and what can be done to reduce the prevalence of malnutrition in older patient. Whilst out in placement, I witness nutrition fell low on the list of nursing priorities of care, not by choice but nurses have so many tasks to complete in a given day. I observe both nurses and health care assistant struggled to cope during meal times and expressed their frustration on the subject on few occasion. Also looking at it from a professional stand point, malnutrition can affect every system in the body leading patients to become vulnerable to illness. This can lead to complication and in the worst case death, it also increases patient’s length of stay in hospital and readmission of patients to hospital. It is vital that information that is used to address malnutrition is extracted from evidence based sources as this aims to provide care in a suitable and efficient way to patient (Craig Smyth, 2007). I used critical appraisal skills programme to analyse my research paper as this model helped me to ascertain the relevance and importance a particular research topic relates to practice as well as conduct a systematic review of the article .It assess whether the three research paper was worth reading and helped me to make sense of the qualitative information (Cutcliffe Ward, 2007). I obtained my three research paper by using search engine such as CINAHL, INTERNURSE and PUBMED. I searched CINAHL (2007 to 2013), INTERNURSE (2005 to 2013) and PUBMED (2007 to 2013) for articles published in English. The search strategy will be explained in details in the reflection section part of the essay and will be demonstrated in Table 1 and Table 2. Table three comprises of the three research which can be found in the appendix. Reflection is seen as an important aspect of nursing, as it improves the quality of care we give to patient as well as it can enhance practice and greater competence. Ghaye, Gillespie and Lillyman (2000) point out that, reflection is a central part of experiential learning and the improvement of practical knowledge. I have chosen to use Rolfe et al model over John’s model because it gave me a better understanding in comparison with John model. It consists of three simple questions which are what, so what and now what. This helped me to organise my thought process. In the next sections of the essay two tables will be shown to depict my search strategy along with the critical appraisal of the three research paper. SEARCH STRATEGY Table 1. Inclusion and exclusion criteria Table 2. Identifying and selecting relevant articles The first research paper was written by Angela Dickinson, Carol Welch, Laurie Ager, entitled No longer hungry in hospital: Improving the hospital mealtime experience for older people through action research, published in the year 2007. The title reflected the content of the research and was clear, specific and concise. It seeks to draw the reader attention to the exact area of study conducted. Marshall (2005) states that a research article should accurately and succinctly reflect the content of the work allowing the reader to be stimulated by the content. This is important as a title that is long and ambiguous can lead to misunderstanding and somewhat misleading. The abstract was excellent, in that it was succinct, containing no jargon and clearly written in a coherent manner that gave a satisfactory overview of the study. It was able to stand on its own as it includes brief summary of the Aims and objectives of the research, the background surrounding the study, the methods used, results collated, the conclusion and the relevance to clinical practice. Paratoo, (2006) points out that the information provided in an abstracts should aids readers to decide whether to obtain the entire article or not. Although evidence shown that ethical approval was granted, no mention of consent of the subjects taken part in the research as in accordance with the Nursing and midwifery council code of professional conduct (2008) which states that consent should be obtained before undertaking any task. Also the authors stipulated that they were unaware of other studies available that addresses meal time care in the way they have carried out the research. A more thorough search could have been conducted to rule out this assumption as this research paper might just be adding to knowledge and understanding already available or it could have been compared and contrasted to better understand the issue or to establish new truths The second research paper was written by Heaven, B, Bamford, C, May, C and Moynihan P entitled Food work and feeding assistance on hospital ward and published in the year 2012. The Authors gave a timely overview into the prevalence of malnutrition in the introduction extracted from reputable sources and demonstrate a good critiquing ability by identifying a gap in a previous related study of which they concluded that little is recounted on the practicalities of the provision of food in hospital and how feeding assistance is seen alongside other nursing priorities which lead them to justified their rationale for undertaking the research. Wigen (2003) states that an introduction should illuminate the rational for the research and highlight any previous research that was conducted on the similar topic. The Authors used a qualitative paradigm research that made it straight forward to follow and was applicable for the intended research. Methods such as interview and focus group was utilised to investigate malnutrition in older hospitalised patient. They provide evidences illustrating that interviews, allowed them to get close to their subject to glean information and to clarify questions that were not fully understand. The focus group they find helped them create an atmosphere where discussion and brain storming can occur to establish the problems surrounding malnutrition in older hospitalised patient and finding measures that can help to resolve the problem. Ellis (2010) suggests that the relationship between the researcher and the researched is part of the research process and is essential to gain the insider perspective that qualitative research seeks to pursue. In addition qualitative research is more suited for nursing as it can focus more on the care a patient receive as well a s their experiences (Jolley , 2010). The author took ethical issues into consideration as appropriate measures were put in place to obtain consent and prevent physical harm, hunger, discomfort or psychological suffering by not carrying out observation on feeding assistance. Ellis, 2010 highlights that ethics should saturate all that nurses do in the delivery of health and social care. However the implication of using method such as interviews can sometimes be hard to replicate as people tend to give their views, attitude, ideals ,pre-existing ideas and their beliefs which does not necessary explains the point to why malnutrition does occur (Ellis, 2010). In addition, they can be take up vast amount of time and can be expensive (Jolley, 2010). The third research paper was written by Vanderwee, K, Clays, E, Bocquaert, I, Verhaeghe, S, Lardennois, M, Gobert, M and Defloor, T, entitled Malnutrition and Nutrition care practices in hospital wards for older people, published in the year 2010. This research was conducted in a hospital ward for older people in Belgium. Although the research was not conducted in the UK, this paper gave insights that suggest that malnutrition in older hospitalised patient is not only a reoccurring problem in the UK but a wide spread problem. The sample selection process was adequately described, stating the intended process of the research by using precision in information provided such as, the time period the research was carried out, the age restriction of patient involved in the research process. Consent was also obtained and adhered as specified by the Department of health (2009) which states that consent must be given unless stated or proven otherwise that they do not have the mental capacity to do so. The authors did an exceptional job in the discussion by highlighting information that was already known about the topic extracted from a wide range of credible evidence based sources that support the importance of nutrition. It contains the findings of the research which identify a balance argument into the meaning of the result and provide recommendation that was developed from the finding. Lastly, it highlights some thought-provoking lines of enquiry for future studies to be undertaken to tackle the problem and to extend knowledge of malnutrition in older hospitalised patient. . The limitation of this study indicates that the authors use a cross sectional study where all information of nutrition status and nutritional care practices of the ward was collated at the same time. Hence, no casual connection could be identified and patients and health care professionals could not express their views on malnutrition, leading to results that could not be quantified. (ref give reason as to why quantitative study)The author or researcher could have carried out a longitudinal study to research and analyse the impact that malnutrition has on older hospitalised patient .Ref (back up the benefits of longitudinal study) . Collectively, these three research paper provide concrete evidence on the prevalence of Malnutrition and the dire consequent it has on the aging population and Health Service. They mention the benefits that can be derived from the prevention of malnutrition and practical steps that need to put in place to help tack malnutrition extracted from NICE guidelines (2006). A general consensus among the authors of the respective paper that for true progress to be achieve in preventing malnutrition all health professional needs to understands the pervasiveness of malnutrition in hospital and the effect patient nutrition care may have on whole clinical outcome. Lastly they conclude that nutrition intervention greatly improved clinical outcome and reduce cost of care, predominantly in patient 65 years of age and above and challenge health care professional to address the barriers and change the paradigm of nutrition care. However, authors from one of the research paper went as far as to say that health professional have often failed to prioritise understanding the enormity of malnutrition in their respective hospital and the impact on cost and quality of care and was backed up by the Bapen ,2009 ) that states that nurses are at time removes from the task of assisting patient at meal time and has been delegated to less qualified staff which further strengthen the notion that mealtime care is unskilled and not important. My first challenge in conducting a research was to identify a topic or area of interest. This was obtained by looking at websites such as Royal College of Nursing, talking with my lecturers, students and staffs on placement as well as reflecting on issues that I was personally interested in. After Collating all the information, I sift through interests, experiences and ideas that had been discussed eventually leading me to conduct a research on Malnutrition and consolidated by the use of the Rolfe et al reflective model. I undertake my research by using a selection of different sources such as Cinahl, internurse, PubMed, Cochrane library but instantaneously found out using these data base on their own can produce a wide variety of information. The search strategies was very instrumental as it helped me to effectively narrow my search down to a manageable number and furthermore it was less time consuming .The search strategy includes Boolean operator, key words that encapsulate malnutrition , peer reviewed and limiters of inclusion and exclusion outline in table 1 and table 2 . For example, when I type malnutrition into Cinahl without using the search strategy I obtained an exhaustive result of 6461. I did another search this time with a more specific aim and objective of a topic and the usage of the different search strategy which includes peer reviewed article , date restrictions (2007- 2013) which eliminate old article , key words (malnutrition and nutrition, hospital and older people) this refined my search down to 11 papers. My aim is to obtained three paper for my research ,so I read through the abstract eliminating paper that had no relevance to my chosen topic . I also found that the Abstract was a good indicator to identify relevant keywords to help with my search. I was now short of one paper so I check the Cochrane library which did not produce any relevant article followed by PubMed which produced 112389 at first. I included my search strategy using key words such as malnutrition, older people, hospital, feeding and a time period of 5 years, this further reduced my number down to 10 hits .I also examine the abstract with a critical eye and scan through literature to find the appropriate research articles. Although I did not use wild card and truncation I know the importance of their uses and I am quite positive they will come in handy in the future. Part of the aim of this assignment was to gain information and understanding of malnutrition in older hospitalised patient by examining the evidence that is already available and seek to find new knowledge on what can be done to reduce malnutrition among the target group. This has put me in good stead as I have gain tremendous amount of insight into the evidence I found from the three research article as well information glean from books and journals that can be applied into practice. For example It was interesting to read nutrition now 2007, who took on a proactive approach in dealing with malnutrition by educating all members of the multidisplinary team to better understand the primacy of good nutritional care and the pivotal role they play in providing it and also implementing ways to work effectively as a team to eliminate the problem of malnutrition. Age concern (2006) also implemented seven steps to end the scandal of malnutrition in hospital, evidence was also shown how variou s hospital took on the initiative, saw a significant improvement in their quest to reduce malnutrition in their hospitals. The ultimate key is to systematically recognise patients who are malnourished or at risk and quickly intervene (Dunne, 2009) The implication of the research papers showed that although research had been carried out and the accessibility of validated screening tools malnutrition still continues to go unnoticed and untreated in many older hospitalised patients (Bapen, 2009). As a student nurse it is important that refection is part of my daily routine as this can enhance my effectiveness as an individual that enhances the quality of care I give to patient. I identify that malnutrition is every one responsibility and requires the collaboration of a multidisplinary team to leverage success in tackling malnutrition and that preventing malnutrition is a pivotal role in my nursing practice Undertaking this assignment I was able to identify my shortfall and limitation and has taught me effectively ways to conduct a search and access academically evidence based resources. This illustrated to me the importance of not taking information at face value but adhering to the correct procedure to obtain articles and examining articles with a critical and analytical mind to decide the credibility of the article. As the profession Nursing, cannot agree to any research at face value and need to be able to ascertain strengths and limitations of the research when evaluating the information available on the research topic (Ryan et al 2007). Conclusion To above information has demonstrated APPENDIX Table 3 Research studies critically appraised REFERENCES

China’s Economic Expansion: Implications for U.S. Trade and Hegemonic Stability

China’s Economic Expansion: Implications for U.S. Trade and Hegemonic Stability A Changing Global Landscape China is very rapidly approaching economic parity with the United States, which may lead to significant global shifts in power.   Hegemonic stability theory suggests that an international system is more likely to remain stable if a single player is a dominant world power, thus the global equilibrium tends toward a hegemonic state.[1]   The United States emerged as the global hegemon after World War II, specifically in terms of economic power, and has largely provided stability for the global economic system since that time.   While the U.S. has been able to maintain this position throughout most of the 20th Century, China is rapidly rising as an influential economic player and could potentially displace the United States as the global economic leader.   China’s ambitious economic expansion projects, including the New Silk Road initiative and Made in China 2025, have the potential to shift the nexus of economic power from the United States’ and the West toward a Europe-China-centric scenario.   Additionally, the rise of populist-nationalist political rhetoric within the United States could portend a policy shift toward economic protectionism, which would further accelerate the demise of the U.S. economic hegemon and the rise of China as its successor.   It would be in the best interest of the United States to engage with China in a cooperative and mutually beneficial way, perhaps even as a partner in China’s economic development initiatives, in order to preserve American economic prosperity. China’s Economy: An Historic Overview Insight into China’s modern strategy for economic expansion is only possible within the context of China’s past.   Throughout most of China’s history, the Chinese economy was barely able to meet the basic needs of the country’s huge population, including its basic nutritional needs.[2]   Drought, war and social unrest often led to periods of famine and mass starvation before 1949, when the Chinese Communist Party came to power.[3]   After this transition, food storage became centrally controlled by the government.   This method allowed the country to successfully avert famine, and food production grew rapidly after 1949.   This increase in productivity was largely matched by population growth until the one-child policy was instituted in the 1980’s, thus the increased production capacity was not able to outpace essential consumption needs, and very little surplus was produced.[4] The long-term goal of the Communist party was to transform China into a modern, industrialized nation with improved living standards and minimal economic disparity (i.e. a classless society), and to modernize military equipment.   The government leadership initially adopted the Soviet economic model, which focused on achieving a high rate of economic growth that emphasized industrial development at the expense of agricultural development.   Through this process, a solid foundation was created in iron and steel manufacturing, coal mining, cement making and other modern industrial technologies.   Although the government also endeavored to facilitate the mobilization of agricultural resources by encouraging farmers to organize into increasingly large and socialized collective units, the results were not as dramatic as the level of growth within the industrial sectors.[5] In response to the tepid growth in the agricultural sector, in 1957 the Chinese government largely shifted authority for economic decision making to the provincial, county, and local level.   During this time, the Chinese leadership abandoned the Soviet model and instead adopted an approach that relied on spontaneous efforts by the entire population to induce a â€Å"great leap† within all economic sectors at once, which helped to stimulate agricultural growth.   The initial problem with this approach was the lack of sufficient capital to invest in both industrial development and agriculture simultaneously.   To overcome this problem, the leadership attempted to create capital within the agricultural sector by building vast irrigation systems, employing huge teams of underemployed farmers.[6] Despite these advances, the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s under Mao Zedong severely stifled technological innovation within China.[7]   This was largely a political phenomenon, where the Communist Party attempted to consolidate power by expelling any hint of budding capitalist ideas, Chinese traditionalists, and intellectuals.   However, it had a pronounced effect on the growing Chinese economy.   Factory managers were largely replaced with Communist Party operatives who had very little knowledge of management or of the enterprise they were supposed to run.   Engineers, scientists, and other professional personnel were sent to the countryside as laborers, or were jailed as dissidents.   Additionally, the Cultural Revolution forced the closing of Universities, which severely hindered China’s ability to develop new technology.   This loss of key knowledge resulted in a 14% decline in industrial production by 1967.[8] In the late 1970’s, after the death of Mao, the Chinese government reaffirmed the modernization program espoused prior to the Cultural Revolution.[9]   The Chinese leaders determined that the centrally planned economy had failed to produce sufficient economic growth, and had caused China to fall behind the industrialized powers of the West and the newly industrialized Asian nations.   While the Communist leadership did not want to completely abandon the centrally planned economy idea, it strived to make it work better by increasing the role of market mechanisms and by reducing the level of centralized government control.   For industry, this included increased autonomy and the ability of managers to keep profits instead of remitting everything earned to the state.   While some key industries were still centrally controlled, individual enterprise was allowed (to an extent) as a means to incentivize economic growth and to reduce unemployment.[10] In recent history, China has been less of an innovator and more of an imitator of foreign technology and innovations.   China’s modern industrial development paradigm lags behind that of the developed world.   While the Chinese government has policy initiatives to encourage internal research and development and technology transfer from outside economies, shortcomings from the pre-reform, planned economy era have constrained China’s ability to efficiently innovate.   China’s Modern Innovation Strategy   In order for any economy to innovate and grow, individual firms must focus on a combination of internal research and development efforts and external technology acquisition.   In this context, the definition of â€Å"technology† is expanded from the vernacular to include processes and ideas that enhance a firm or organization’s ability to compete.[11]   Establishing a strategy that combines these efforts most efficiently is necessary to maximize overall economic development.[12]   In modern microeconomic theory, internal research and development and external technology acquisition are considered to be complimentary innovation strategies.   Economic activities are complimentary if the adoption of one does not preclude the other, and if the sum benefit of implementing both activities concurrently is greater than the benefit of implementing just one or the other.[13]   Assuming the complementarity of internal research and development and external technology a cquisition, authors Fu, Pietrobelli and Soete argue that the absorptive capacity of any small or medium firm within a developing economy is the limiting factor to successfully executing technology transfer.[14]   The authors define absorptive capacity as â€Å"a firm’s ability to recognize the value of new information, assimilate it, and apply it to commercial ends.†[15] In another study, Authors Hou and Mohnen[16] tested the complementarity of internal research and development and external technology transfer in Chinese firms and found that the two technology acquisition strategies are indeed complimentary, but that external technology acquisition yielded higher returns than internal research and development for small and medium firms.   Additionally, the authors found that state-ownership of firms correlated with both product and process innovation, presumably because of increased access to financial and policy support from the central government.   This relationship would likely increase the absorptive capacity of the firm.   This suggests that small and medium firms with no government connection may be at a disadvantage due to a reduced absorptive capacity, and may be incentivized to work closely with the central Chinese government in order to acquire the necessary resources to compete within the Chinese and global marketplace.[17]   Thus , while China’s modern economic development strategy is ostensibly about supporting the expansion of small, private firms, state-connections are highly incentivized by the market. The New Silk Road China’s New Silk Road initiative is a logical extension of China’s economic expansion and modernization efforts.   This initiative is an allusion to its namesake trade network stretching from China to Central Asia and the Middle East, which was established over 2,000 years ago.[18]   In 2013, China proposed establishing a modern analog to the ancient Silk Road; however, instead of transporting silk and spices, this would build a network of railways, pipelines and utility grids to link China to the Middle East and Eastern Europe via Central Asia.[19]   Also known as the One Belt One Road Initiative (OBOR), this massive infrastructure project aims to create the world’s largest network for economic cooperation.   This development would make it much more efficient for China to trade with 65 countries, representing 60 percent of the global population.[20]   China markets the initiative as a net win for all parties involved, and host governments see the New S ilk Road as an opportunity for job creation, economic development, and participation in the global supply chain.[21]   The New Silk Road initiative would allow China to more efficiently project soft power within Asia, Africa and Europe, which could have significant trade and national security implications for the United States.   Chinese firms have increased their foreign investment within partner countries in order to pave the way for the New Silk Road.   According to the Economist, several economic research organizations predict that the total Chinese investment abroad could rise to $2 trillion USD by 2020.[22]   For comparison, this figure was less than $800 billion USD at the end of 2014.[23]   As stated previously, Chinese firms are strongly incentivized to maintain connections with Chinese state-owned entities (or to be state-owned entities themselves), thus it stands to reason that much of the value earned through this investment will directly benefit the Chinese government.   The Chinese regime’s entanglement within the region will likely introduce significant hurdles to U.S. activities, and may diminish U.S. influence in Central Asia, the Middle East, and possibly Europe.   It is worth noting that Beijing established $100 billion USD Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIID), a multinational funding body, to support New Silk Road investments. [24]   The AIID currently has 57 members, including Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Russia.[25]   Notably absent is the United States. Made in China 2025 Not only is China expanding its economic reach and soft power influence within Eurasia via the New Silk Road, but it is also working to shift its overall production upmarket from low level manufacturing to advanced technology development.[26]   Made in China 2025 is an effort to completely upgrade Chinese industry.   The Chinese government has outlined clear principles establishing the goals of the initiative, including a desire to comprehensively upgrade Chinese industry by making it more efficient so that it can participate in the highest-level global production chains.   It also strives to create more innovation-driven manufacturing that emphasizes quality over quantity, environmentally sustainable development, and human capital management.[27]   While these are worthy goals for any country, China’s upmarket shift from manufacturing large quantities of inexpensive, low-quality goods to high-tech, high-quality products could disrupt the global market for high-tech go ods because of China’s large production capacity.   In the same way that inexpensive Chinese manufacturing has shifted labor from the United States to China, an upmarket shift in China’s manufacturing may have the same effect on highly skilled workers within the United States. Implications for the United States In order to mitigate the global effects of China’s economic expansion that may be detrimental to the U.S. strategic position, it is imperative for the United States to engage with China in a cooperative and mutually beneficial way.   President Donald Trump has been a vocal critic of trade deals, and has been especially harsh on Beijing, effectively blaming low Chinese labor costs for the perceived lack of American jobs.[28]   According to the United States Trade Representative, two-way trade with China was $598 billion USD in 2015, thus making China the United States’ largest trading partner.[29]   If the anti-Chinese rhetoric manifests as higher tariffs on Chinese imports, China may focus its trade efforts away from the United States and toward its New Silk Road partners, thus significantly reducing U.S. international trade.[30] The impact of arresting trade with China on U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) is difficult to ascertain due to competing variables, but it is likely to have a net negative effect.   While tariffs would increase the net exports variable used in calculating GDP (the U.S. is a net importer from China), they may adversely affect other factors that contribute to GDP.   For example, Chinese goods are less expensive to produce than U.S. and most European goods.   Thus, if the United States diverts its import activities from China to Europe or increases domestic production, these goods will likely be more expensive than the Chinese alternatives, thus reducing overall domestic consumption within the United States.   This new equilibrium would also affect the supply of domestic goods as demand decreases, thus also reducing U.S. investment in domestic production (and a subsequent reduction in demand for labor).   Overall, this may lead to a net decrease in the U.S. GDP and a reduction in available jobs within the United States.   This American jobs loss would be exacerbated further as China shifts its manufacturing capabilities upmarket via the Made in China 2025 initiative, which may induce the offshoring highly skilled U.S. jobs in addition to skilled labor.   Not only would tariffs further incentivize China to focus its trade efforts on its New Silk Road partners, but they may evoke the second order effect of encouraging Europe to look to China for economic leadership.   This could occur if China responds to U.S. tariffs by accelerating its economic expansion into Eastern Europe.   This would likely reduce U.S. economic influence in Europe, and thus limit the U.S. ability to project soft power within the region.   This would further shift the hegemon toward China as the global economic leader.   In conclusion, Chinese economic expansion activities, including the New Silk Road Initiative and Made in China 2025, could lead to a global hegemonic shift.   This is especially true as China expands its influence toward Europe.   As the United States’ global influence wanes, Europe and U.S. allies within Central Asia may turn to China as the new hegemon – a new global economic leader.   Global power structures are dynamic, and it is unlikely that the future global power landscape will encompass a unipolar U.S. hegemon as it has in the past.   However, a multipolar hegemon including both the United States and China is surely possible.   It would benefit the United States to engage China in a cooperative and mutually beneficial way by preserving economically liberal trade arrangements.   Additionally, the U.S should strive to maintain its position as a major soft power player in Asia and Europe and work diligently to maintain its trade relationships withi n Europe and Central Asia, possibly through partnering with China on the New Silk Road.   This is of great strategic importance not only for the U.S. national security, but also for continued American economic prosperity. Bibliography Buck, John.   China’s Farm Economy. (University of Chicago Press, 1930). Carbaugh, Robert. Contemporary Economics: An Applications Approach. (Cengage Learning, 2006). Christensen, Clayton M.   The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail (Management of Innovation and Change).   Harvard Business Review Press.   January 5, 2016. Cohen, Tyler.   â€Å"Seeing China Through its Economic History.† Bloomberg (July 25, 2016), Accessed 4 April 2017. https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-07-25/seeing-china-through-its-economic-history Cohen, Wesley M. and Levinthal, Daniel A., Absorptive capacity: A new perspective on learning and innovation, Administrative Science Quarterly 35, no 1 (1990):128-152. Elisseeff, Vadime.   The Silk Roads: Highways of Culture and Commerce.   Berghahn Books, 2000. Fu, Xiaolan, et al., â€Å"The Role of Foreign Technology and Indigenous Innovation in the Emerging Economies: Technological Change and Catching-up†, World Development 39, no 7 (July 2011): 1204-1212. Gramer, Robbie.   â€Å"All aboard China’s ‘New Silk Road’ Express.† Foreign Policy.   4 January 2017. Guluzian, Christine R. â€Å"Making Inroads: China’s New Silk Road Initiative.†Ã‚   Cato Journal, Vol. 37, No. 1 (Winter 2017). Heilmann, Sebastian.   â€Å"China’s Technology Grab.† The International Economy.   Spring 2016. Hou, Jun and Mohnen, Pierre, â€Å"Complementarity between in-house R&D and technology purchasing: evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms†, United Nations University Working Paper, (August 2011). Jinchen, Tian. ‘One Belt and One Road’: Connecting China and the World. McKinsey&Company: Capital Projects and Infrastructure.   July 2016. â€Å"Made in China 2025.†Ã‚   Center for Strategic and International Studies.   Accessed 31 March 2017. http://www.csis.org/analysis/made-in-china-2025. Miller, Berkshire, J.   â€Å"Dissecting Trump’s Hardline Rhetoric on China.† China U.S. Focus.   Accessed 4 April 2017.   http://www.chinausfocus.com/foreign-policy/dissecting-trumps-hardline-rhetoric-on-china. Morrison, Wayne M.   â€Å"China’s Economic Rise: History, Trends, Challenges and Implications for the United States.† Congressional Research Service Report. (October 21, 2015). Oatley, Thomas.   International Political Economy, 5th Edition.   New York: Routledge, 2016. Office of the United States Trade Representative.   The People’s Republic of China.   Accessed 4 April 2017.   https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/china-mongolia-taiwan/peoples-republic-china. Slate, Robert. â€Å"Competing with Intelligence: New Directions in China’s Quest for Intangible Property and Implications for Homeland Security,† Homeland Security Affairs 5, no 1 (January 2009):1-27. â€Å"The New Silk Road.†Ã‚   The Economist Special Report. September 2015. Worde, Robert, et al., ed, China: A Country Study (Federal Research Division, U.S. Library of Congress, 1987). [1] Thomas Oatley.   International Political Economy, 5th Edition.   New York: Routledge, 2016. [2] John Buck.   China’s Farm Economy. (University of Chicago Press, 1930). [3] Robert Worde, et al., ed, China: A Country Study (Federal Research Division, U.S. Library of Congress, 1987), 207. [4] Ibid, 207. [5] Ibid, 215. [6] Ibid, 216. [7] Tyler Cohen.   â€Å"Seeing China Through its Economic History.† Bloomberg (July 25, 2016), Accessed 4 April 2017. https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-07-25/seeing-china-through-its-economic-history [8] Ibid, 220. [9] Wayne M. Morrison.   â€Å"China’s Economic Rise: History, Trends, Challenges and Implications for the United States.† Congressional Research Service Report. (October 21, 2015). [10] Ibid, 223. [11] Clayton M. Christensen.   The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail (Management of Innovation and Change).   Harvard Business Review Press.   January 5, 2016. [12] Jun Hou and Pierre Mohnen, â€Å"Complementarity between in-house R&D and technology purchasing: evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms†, United Nations University Working Paper, (August 2011): 1-23. [13] Robert Carbaugh. Contemporary Economics: An Applications Approach. (Cengage Learning, 2006), 35. [14] Xiaolan Fu, Carlo Pietrobelli, Luc Soete, â€Å"The Role of Foreign Technology and Indigenous Innovation in the Emerging Economies: Technological Change and Catching-up†, World Development 39, no 7 (July 2011): 1204-1212. [15] Wesley M. Cohen and Daniel A. Levinthal, Absorptive capacity: A new perspective on learning and innovation, Administrative Science Quarterly 35, no 1 (1990):128-152. [16] Hou and Mohnen. [17] Robert Slate, â€Å"Competing with Intelligence: New Directions in China’s Quest for Intangible Property and Implications for Homeland Security,† Homeland Security Affairs 5, no 1 (January 2009):1-27. [18] Vadime Elisseeff.   The Silk Roads: Highways of Culture and Commerce.   Berghahn Books, 2000. [19] Tian Jinchen, ‘One Belt and One Road’: Connecting China and the World. McKinsey&Company: Capital Projects and Infrastructure.   July 2016. [20] Robbie Gramer.   â€Å"All aboard China’s ‘New Silk Road’ Express.† Foreign Policy.   4 January 2017. [21] Christine R. Guluzian. â€Å"Making Inroads: China’s New Silk Road Initiative.†Ã‚   Cato Journal, Vol. 37, No. 1 (Winter 2017). [22] â€Å"The New Silk Road.†Ã‚   The Economist Special Report. September 2015. [23] Ibid. [24] Guluzian, Cato Journal. [25] Ibid. [26] Sebastian Heilmann.   â€Å"China’s Technology Grab.† The International Economy.   Spring 2016. [27] â€Å"Made in China 2025.†Ã‚   Center for Strategic and International Studies.   Accessed 31 March 2017. http://www.csis.org/analysis/made-in-china-2025 [28] J. Berkshire Miller.   â€Å"Dissecting Trump’s Hardline Rhetoric on China.† China U.S. Focus.   Accessed 4 April 2017.   http://www.chinausfocus.com/foreign-policy/dissecting-trumps-hardline-rhetoric-on-china [29] Office of the United States Trade Representative.   The People’s Republic of China.   Accessed 4 April 2017.   https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/china-mongolia-taiwan/peoples-republic-china [30] Gramer, Foreign Policy.

Technology for Primus Securities Essay -- Business Management Technolo

Technology for Primus Securities Summary The use of technology will be very important in the projected growth of Primus Securities. With a multitude of technologies available, choosing the correct ones that maximize capability with future expansion will be a priority. Primus Securities, much like its industry brethren, E-trade Securities and Charles Schwab, is attempting to provide successful online investing via their website. Using technology, Primus has at their disposal many online products, tools, and services to choose from that would provide a unique and satisfying online investment experience for its customers. Primus wishes to expand their site to include more frequent and faster investment opportunity for customers. An incremental implementation of technological infrastructure will allow for future expansion and will provide savings throughout future operation. In addition, this technology will provide customers a more secure and satisfying shopping experience and will increase their confidence level. It will be necessary to incur a large expense on infrastructure installation at the beginning of the development. This infrastructure investment along with a subsequent investment in human resources to staff it will make future expansion cheaper and easier to accomplish. Finally, outsourcing key aspects of the operation will achieve maximum cost savings. Infrastructure   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The purpose of a well-designed infrastructure is to ensure that an e-business is able to run effectively while safely being scaled within a budget. For a company like Primus Securities, a cost effective infrastructure will be implemented remaining functional and adequate for their purposes. The important aspect of a new e-business is to add technology without disturbing business operations and aligning information systems with the organizational strategy. In this paper, Team B will examine a viable infrastructure for a new e-business venture undertaken by Primus Securities. Hardware Decision   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The company needs to invest in equipment such as servers, workstations laptops, PDAs and cell phones to keep up with the competitive edge of technology. The online trading industry is a fast-paced business, where customer information must be readily available to all key employees. Primus Securities main objective is to operate efficiently and effectively. Part of... ... all content is created and managed as separate assets. These are then published to the run-time rendering system. The CM implementation includes DB2 storage, Library Server, and Asset Manager. The Schwab application uses CM versioning, workflow, ACL and its API. (Marshak, 2003) Conclusion References Chan, Isabelle. Dec 2004. The Other Side of Outsourcing. Retrieved August 26, 2005 from http://asia.cnet.com/news/specialreports/0,39037117,39209632,00.htm Charles Schwab web site (http://www.schwab.com) Retrieved August 27, 2005 http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid7_gci212495,00.html Retrieved August 25, 2005 Marshak, D. (2003, December). Charles Schwab Responds to Market Conditions and Customer Needs: Services-Oriented Architecture Improves Time to Market and Leverages Existing Investments. Retrieved August 26, 2005, from http://www.306.ibm.com/software/htp/cics/library/whitepapers/Charles_Schwab.pdf#search='schwab%20online%20infrastructure' Trava Soft, (2003). Services-e-business. Retrieved August 26, 2005, from Information Technology Outsourcing Web site: http://www.tatvasoft.com/offshore-outsourcing-services/offshore-outsourcing-eBusiness.asp