Globe Telecom Essay

I. INTRODUCTION Globe Telecom (PSE: GLO), commonly shortened as Globe, is a major provider of telecommunications services in the Philippines. Formed out of a partnership between Ayala Corporation and Singapore Telecom, the company operates one of the largest and most technologically advanced mobile, fixed line, and broadband networks in the country, and maintains a large distributor and over-the-air reload network of retailers, distributors, suppliers, and business partners nationwide. In 1928, Congress passed Act No. 3495 granting the Robert Dollar Company, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of California, a franchise to operate wireless long-distance message services in the Philippines. The Robert Dollar Company subsequently incorporated in the Philippines as Globe Wireless Limited and in 1934, Congress passed Act No. 4150 transferring the franchise and privileges of the Robert Dollar Company to Globe Wireless Limited. Globe Wireless Limited was subsequently renamed G lobe Mackay Cable and Radio Corporation. Congress, through Republic Act 4630 enacted in 1965, further expanded its franchise to allow it to operate international communications systems. Globe Mackay Cable and Radio Corporation was closed in the Philippines by Martial law. Shortly before the expiration of its franchise, the Batasan Pambansa in 1980 enacted Batas Pambansa 95 granting Globe Mackay Cable and Radio Corporation a new franchise. In 2013 Globe Telecom open its new corporate headquarters in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) (Formerly Located In Pioneer Highlands InMandaluyong City) last August 6, 2013. To mark its arrival in BGC, a part of the commercial hub (known as Bonificio High Street) was turned into an amusement park in August 2–4, 2013. As of December 2013, Globe Telecom has a total of 14,952 base stations and 9,012 cell sites nationwide to support its 2G, 3G, 4G HSPA+, LTE and WiMAX services. The Globe Telecom Headquarters at 32nd Street in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, II. STRATEGIC PLATFORM A. Vision Globe is indispensable to people’s lives- We provide our customers with superior experience, We are center of excellence for innovation wolrdwide, We create a rewarding environment where people strive for excellence and grow, We attract people who are innovative, passionate and result-oriented, We create superior value to our shareholders We make great things possible. B. Mission Transform the lives of people, businesses and communities through innovative solutions. STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT METHODOLOGY a. SHAREHOLDERS Attractive Dividend Yield For Shareholders Globe Telecom’s sustained revenue momentum and improved market position were reflected in the financial valuation metrics. The company’s market capitalization remained relatively steady at â‚ ±144.6 billion by the end of 2012. Globe likewise maintained an attractive dividend yield of 5.8%. Globe paid dividends totaling â‚ ±8.6 billion in 2012, representing a pay-out rate of 86% of 2011 core net income. This is consistent with its recently updated dividend pay-out policy of distributing 75% to 90% of prior year’s core net income. Continued Commitment To Creating Shared Value For All Stakeholders In addition to our commitment to ensure the sustainability of our core business, we continue to develop opportunities in adjacent spaces. In the area of mobile banking and microfinance, under BPI Globe BanKO Inc. (BanKO), (our mobile microfinance joint venture with Ayala Corporation and the Bank of the Philippine Islands) Globe’s mobile money platform and BPIà ¢â‚¬â„¢s banking infrastructure combined to deliver affordable microfinance services to the unbanked segments of the population. Through 2012, BanKO has continued to expand its network of partner outlets, which today number 2,000. Its wholesale loan portfolio has grown to more than â‚ ±2.4 billion, spread across microfinance institutions, including non-government organizations, rural  banks, cooperatives and financing companies. Within two years of operations, BanKO has gained over 261,000 retail customers and increased its retail loan portfolio nine-fold. Business Incubator Program Another pioneering initiative by Globe is the launch of its business incubator program through Kickstart Ventures, Inc. (Kickstart). Designed to support and develop the Philippines’ dynamic and growing technopreneur community, Kickstart is envisioned to provide aspiring technopreneurs with needed funds, facilities, infrastructure, mentorship and market access to build new businesses. By providing the tools needed to build and test ideas, by providing seed funding, and by providing training and mentorship as well as connecting technopreneurs with partner companies within the Globe, Singtel, and Ayala networks in the Philippines and abroad, Kickstart provides selected startups increased chances to succeed and scale faster. Since its launch last April 2012, Kickstart already has 10 companies in its portfolio covering the digital media and technology, and web/mobile platform space. b. EMPLOYEES A. Employment Diversity Globe Telecom believes in the potential of the Filipino workforce. That is why the company welcomes every employee regardless of gender, age, religion or ethnicity. Any form of discrimination is never acceptable and embracing every unique worker is part of the company’s philosophy. Currently, Globe employs close to 6,000 male and female workers from staff to senior management levels. The table below shows the summary of the company’s total workforce by employment type, contract and region. B. Employee Remuneration The lowest actual salary of Globe Telecom employees covered by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is 15% above the minimum wage mandated by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). As per ratio of basic salary, male employees have a slightly higher rate compared to female employees due to the varied responsibilities undertaken by male employees compared to female employees. however there is no discrimination for a given job profile  based on the gender. The variance in comparative salary is due to the varying job profile undertaken by male and female employees. a. Employee Benefits b. Employee Health And Safety Affirming its commitment to quality health and safety practices in the workplace, Globe obtained an Occupational health and Safety Management System (OhSAS) 18001 certification for the Valero Telepark. Steps are being undertaken for other Globe Telecom locations which aim to achieve the OhSAS certification. To strengthen ensure employee health and safety, the company employs a dedicated health and safety committee. 10.06% of the Globe workforce provides hands-on commitment on health and safety practices covering all areas – nationwide in areas where Globe Telecom operates. For the year 2012, 5.04% employee accident rate was recorded, mostly due to vehicle driving-related incidents. however, no fatalities causing death or permanent disability were recorded. In order to minimize these incidents, the company conducts several trainings and awareness programs for the relevant employees, on safe driving and fuel economy. 1. Defensive Driving Course 2. Construction Safety 3. Confined Space Entry 4. Electrical Safety 5. Industrial First Aid and Basic Life Support 6. Industrial Climbing, hauling & Rope Access Guaranteeing employee safety and security, qualified licensed security guards are hired by Globe to provide protection in case of uncontrolled events. Globe ensures all security staff undergoes trainings every three years. This includes a two-day course on RA 5487 – Private Security Agency Law which discusses professional conduct and ethics that must be performed by the security. Laws on arrests, searches, seizures, strike and lock-outs are also tackled. Furthermore, a one-day course on RA 9372 – human Security Act of 2007 is also undertaken, as well as a half-day course on Gender Sensitivity Awareness. C. Strategic Objectives A. PROFITABILITY B. PRODUCTIVITY C. COMPETITIVE POSITION a. Faster and Better Network Business In 2011, in line with the vision of a differentiated customer experience, Globe shifted beyond the regular Customer Satisfaction mindset and created the total customer experience, which would allow the company to engage not only its customers but also the employees and shareholders who are at the forefront of Globe Telecom’s priorities. Faster customer service feedback was put in place truly making the customers satisfied with the improved modifications. The company’s commercial transformation in the year 2012 focused on changing the very foundations of its back office systems, including the corporate support and internal processes. By allowing changes to ripple out from within, the customers and stakeholders could see past the change in the faà §ade and overall ambiance of its stores. The customers can actually experience the difference with each transaction and interaction in every Globe Store. The company’s strength is its dynamism and boldness to ch ange for its customers, employees and shareholders. In order to fully become a catalyst of change, Globe understands its need to be relentless in the quest for excellence and continuously transforming the company from within. In 2012, Globe continued with the transformation programs under the 5-pillar transformation plan which was started in 2011. b. Network As an innovator in the telecommunications industry, a constant part of Globe Telecom’s transformation includes the continuous development of the network. Invested a total of $700M for its network modernization program which envisioned delivering faster and unparalleled customer experience in the country while positioning itself as the leader and one of the best telecommunications providers in Asia. People have started to rely more and more on social networking to stay connected. Also, with the growing number of smartphone users, Globe saw the need to future-proof the network to accommodate the constant increase in network traffic especially on data. Phase 1 of the Network Transformation is the upgrading of the network system’s access portion. The company replaced the old hardware and technology in its cellular sites, power sources, base stations and switches allowing the access portion to become more powerful and energy-efficient. At the end of 2012, Globe was able to modernize more than 80% of its cellular sites and upgrade its network system nationwide. Starting within the National Capital Region (NCR), Makati City, being the country’s premier business area, significantly benefitted from the network transformation. The network development coverage includes key locations of the city and are now enjoying stronger Globe signal. Aside from Makati, other areas such as Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela (CAMANAVA), Marikina, Manila, San Juan and Mandaluyong were completed in the last quarter of 2012. Taguig, Pasig, Paranaque, Pasay, Las Pià ±as and Pateros followed after. In the Visayas region, Cebu took the lead in equipment modernization. Other Visayan key provinces lined-up for the transformation are Leyte, Samar, Bohol, Iloilo and Roxas, consecutively. Meanwhile in the Mindanao region, the major modernization took place in Davao as well as in Zamboanga and Misamis Oriental. Improved mobile connectivity was achieved through the modernized facilities. Improvements for the province of Sulu, cities of Surigao and Butuan were carried out during the last quarter of 2012 and in Agusan del Sur by early 2013. In addition to the upgrades, Globe installed more resilient fiber optic cables in more areas to serve more customers and greatly improve voice and text messaging quality as well as provide faster internet services. An installation of a submarine cable in Boracay was also completed and the same facility is being worked on in Palawan, which is due for completion during the first quarter of 2013.All in all, the nationwide improvements allowed  clearer voice call quality, easier connection, on-time delivery of text messages and faster mobile surfing and downloading. Globe has successfully upgraded 4,000 cell sites to 4G – LTE, hSPA+ and WIMAX providing better network experience to 91% of its customers. As the transformation program continues to take place in the year 2013, Globe would be able to provide greater network availability, impressive quality on voice calls, instantaneous delivery of SMS, improved call set-up rates and faster browsing with minimal buffering of multimedia content to every Filipino mobile user. D. EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT GROW AT GLOBE Globe continues to invest in its people through various professional training and development activities. Globe follows a 70/20/10 Development Plan – 70 % of the learning occurs on-the-job, 20% from others and 10% from formal training. The 70% on-the-job experience includes the regular employee tasks based on their office function. Others are their committee participation, customer immersion and job rotation. Meanwhile for the 20% learning from others, the development comes through the coaching or mentoring of the immediate superiors and other colleagues. Job shadowing and observation also help as well as knowledge transfer from other professionals and consultants. Last but not least, the 10% formal training and learning is expanded through the offered training programs and courses offered by Globe. A. Integrated Leadership Development Programs a. iLeadGlobe iLeadGlobe aims to develop key talents into future leaders who role-model the Globe Way and practice the 7 Globe Leadership Competencies, namely, customer orientation, people orientation, personal values, entrepreneurial mindset, execution excellence, innovation and strategic thinking. The programs are all highly selective with eligibility criteria relevant to the participants that are handpicked by the Senior Leadership Team through a stringent talent review and nomination process. The series of trainings include the Executive Development Program (for the next generation of senior leaders), Fast Tracker Program (for the mid-career talents) and Young Leaders Program (for emerging talents). b. University Partnerships Globe Telecom partnered with the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) and the Ateneo de Manila – Center for Continuing Education and opened programs for the employees who are interested to develop their leadership and management skills the Globe way. The series of trainings include the Globe-AIM Management Development Program (for managers who aspire to hone and apply management skills), Globe-Ateneo Empowering Leader program (for mid-career to seasoned career employee who has the potential of a Globe Leader) and the Globe-Ateneo Emerging Leader Program (for junior leaders with the potential of evolving as a Globe Leader). To date, more training are being developed by Globe to ensure coverage and eligibility of all employees and grant them more learning and knowledge to future-proof their careers. Course descriptions for Sales and Marketing Academies are presently under development at the time of production of this report. c. Junior Mobile Wizard The Junior Mobile Wizard Program is a one-month summer program offered to Globe employees’ high school children, providing them the opportunity to better understand the Philippine telecommunications industry. Pioneered in 2012, 18 high school students joined the program to assist in selected Globe concept stores in Metro Manila. They were tasked to demo the latest gadgets and mobile data services, as well as sell other Globe offers and services. d. Graduate 2 Globe Graduate 2 Globe (G2G) Program is a development program for high potential, future talents of Globe in partnership with top colleges and universities. Activities include the Get-to- know-Globe (Company Orientation), Singtel Undergraduate Scholarship, Globe Summer Internship and Post Graduate Internship Program, Cadetship and Management Development Program. e. Customer First Circle (CFC) Program Customer First Circle is a continuous improvement program that ultimately  aims to foster and create a customer-centric culture within Globe. In order to achieve this, CFC uses the Lean Six Sigma Methodology as a vehicle to drive down cost, improve customer experience and increase revenue. To date there has been over a thousand employees participating actively with over a hundred projects and billions of financial benefit. B. TECHNOLOGICAL LEADERSHIP C. PUBLIC RESPONSIBILITY Globe Telecom continues to aspire growth in all facets of the business but at the same time in fully taking care of the planet. The efforts to minimize impacts persist through the Environmental Management System being implemented in the workplace. The system already began in 2011 for the Valero Telepark office as certified by the ISO 14001 (Environmental Management System) while certification of GT-IT Plaza in Cebu started in 2012 with completion in 2014. Such initiatives and environmental system in place contribute to a greener and more sustainable Globe Telecom. a. Environmental Sustainability Policy We are committed to promote environmental sustainability by reducing the impact of our business operations to environment and we shall achieve this together with the help of our employees, business partners and clients. We have robust systems in place to manage our environment impact and integrate them into our corporate social responsibility management. We commit to: †¢ Consciously move towards the continuous reduction of our ecological footprints from our operations. Where possible, we will move beyond regularly compliance and apply best practices and global voluntary standards on environmental and social responsibility. †¢ Manage emissions from our energy use, particularly to our networks and ensure that we carry out regular assessments on how energy is consumed within our network to monitor our climate impact and identify opportunities to reduce it. †¢ Comply with all environmental laws and other laws relevant to our business. †¢ Encourage and train our employees and business partners to help us reduce our environment impact by communicating our policies and programs. †¢ Partner with organizations which share the same environmental values and  find ways of cooperation to protect the environment. †¢ Conduct a review of our environmental management system to ensure that the commitment of this policy are delivered and that we strive for continuous improvement. †¢ Report our environmental performance to our stakeholders. b. Globe telecom Environmental Strategy c. Globe Brigding Communities Globe BridgeCom Pillars 1. i-Prosper The i-Prosper program works with social enterprises and micro-entrepreneurs to establish sustainable forms of livelihood for bottom of the pyramid (BOP) sectors nationwide. Applying the same philosophy of Globe Telecom’s triple bottom-line approach of doing business, the program aims to introduce socially responsible income- generating opportunities for the entrepreneurial poor through capacity development, provision of capital and market access. 2. i-Lead The i-Lead pillar is dedicated to the establishment of peaceful, orderly and progressive communities through the advancement of good governance and excellence in public service. It aims to promote accountability, transparency and increase one’s participation in governance through infrastructure support capacity development. More importantly, the program intends to empower barangay officials and the youth to become transformational leaders and active citizens. 3. i-Conserve i-Conserve is the environmental protection and sustainability pillar of the Globe Bridging Communities, a strategic venture to characterize the commitment of Globe to business and environmental sustainability through the use of its ICT competencies. 4. i-Access The i-Access pillar supports a portfolio of programs harnessing mobile and broadband technologies to improve access to and delivery of social services to help national government agencies, local government units and other development players achieve equitable and responsive delivery of mandates to citizens and disadvantaged communities through sustainable and relevant ICT-enabled content and technology solutions. 5. i-Give The program aims to mobilize Globe employees to be active citizens through volunteerism, whereby its employees are encouraged and supported to volunteer during relief operations, fundraising for Globe Bridging Communities projects, and mentoring the youth, teachers, micro-entrepreneurs, barangay leaders and other non- government organizations. Globe BridgeCom Projects Sagot Ka ni Kap! The â€Å"Sagot Ka ni Kap!† program hinges on the core business and competencies of Globe Telecom—mobile communication and broadband services. More than just equipping the community watch volunteers with mobile phones and hand-held radios, Globe also provides capacity-building workshops designed to inspire and enable them to be more proactive in community development. The workshop includes modules on community leadership, conflict resolution, and crisis management. The beneficiaries also receive a one-year comprehensive personal accident insurance package. The â€Å"Sagot Ka ni Kap!† program also strengthens the local security infrastructure and inspires the essential set of capabilities needed for effective leadership and at the same time, develop their capacities as future community leaders. My Fair Share ProgramIn 2012, Globe Bridging Communities inked partnerships with social enterprises Gifts & Graces Inc. to produce eco-bags for the Globe M y Fair Share program. The bags are made by the Bulacan-based Kaibhan Women’s Association, Caritas Manila, and Pamana ng Pag-asa and are sold for â‚ ±99 each. The program transforms the way Globe gives back—not only by aiding partners and beneficiary communities with capital, funds for capacity and skills development and ICT tools—but also by empowering them with livelihood opportunities and by bringing them into the Globe value chain. Globe Cordillera Challenge 3 Bigger in scale than the previous Globe Cordillera biking events held in 2010 and 2011, the Globe Cordillera Challenge 3 targeted not only Globe employees, members of the media, and stakeholders, but also a broader audience of recreational bikers  and triathletes nationwide to bike a total of 27 kilometer-trail along the Cordillera mountain range from Baguio City to Mount Cabuyao and Mount Sto. Tomas in Benguet. Together with Cordillera Conservation Trust (CCT), Globe Bridging Communities changed the game by creating three different bike trails following the theme, â€Å"Choose your trail, Bike your way, Save the Cordilleras†. Bikers were given the freedom to decide which route to take based on their skill level, bike discipline and bike set-up. Total registered bikers for the Globe Cordillera Challenge 3 reached 319, while 222 bikers were in attendance on the event day, May 5. The event raised a total of â‚ ±800,000 from online registration, corporate sponsorship, and from the pooled donations of Globe Telecom employees’ own fundraising activities. The Globe Cordillera Challenge 3 also raised the bar in employee volunteerism: Globe Telecom bikers from Manila, Negros, and La Union joined the event in Baguio. Since May 2012, the Roots and Shoots nursery program of CCT has established seedling nurseries in twenty-one (21) public elementary schools in the Cordillera area. Global Filipino Teacher (GFT) ProgramThrough the Global Filipino Teacher program (GFT), educators are trained to integrate ICT in teaching basic subjects like English, Science, Math, and heKaSi. GFT is done in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Coalition for Better Education, a Cebu-based non-profit organization composed of various education stakeholders from the academe, students, parents, non- government and business organizations. The GFT training program equips teachers with knowledge using the project- based learning approach and will train 100 new teachers and existing GFT teachers to become peer coaches to their co-teachers on the use of project-based learning (PBL), creating a community-based ripple effect of 21st century learning. Volunteaming. Volunteaming encourages employees to customize their volunteering projects and promote camaraderie in their communities of choice. As part of i-Give’s commitment to support corporate citizenship, Globe Bridging Communities matches the project with minimal funding. This project is open to all Globe employees nationwide who can form a group of five and is willing to commit eight (8) volunteer hours each. Volunteaming  allows employees to be vigilant with the social issues of the communities nearest to them. They are able to customize the assistance needed according to the needs of their communities or charity of choice. Through volunteaming, Globe employees are given access to Corporate Social Responsibility projects regardless of their work location and expertise by simply volunteering their time and talents.

Best Buy Case Study Write Up Essay

1. How does Best Buy define customer centricity? The idea behind customer centricity was to be the customer’s smart friend and give a full solution. The sales people stand by the customers and try to find what they really need and what they want. The opposite of this would be product centricity. At this time the electronics were getting easier to use, their interaction required specific knowledge that only a fraction of the client base possessed. In this situation, the used to be advantage of best buy disappeared, and the company tested the first version of customer-centricity by setting up 12 laboratory stores and then rolling out tested concepts in 32 pilot stores. The test were successful very successful. Best buy changed its segments from products such as MP3, TV, or PC to customers like Barry. All these make customers more convenient to shop in the store. Compared to the other stores, Best Buy did not focus on brands but usage. The sales person never asked what do you want to buy, but rather ask what you want to do. In launching customer centricity, Anderson used an autocratic set of power tools and expected swift support from his top team to execute his vision. 2. Is Customer-Centricity the same as customer services? No, the customer-Centricity is not the same as customer service. The difference is that they can contour their sales and service pitch to each individual after they know which category that they fall into. They know from past company stastistics and knowledge about the different types and what their shopping style is like. Customer service is about trying to sell your existing products. The case states also that customer service may be in response to its competitors, and not its customers. Customer centricity mainly focuses on research of customers buying power, purchase preference and customer behavior. It is based on the research that Best Buy has gathered over time. From here, the company can redesign its products, and develop a new marketing strategy and give more suitable service. 3. How does it relate to Consumer behavior? Chapter 10 touches upon things that could be related to consumer behavior. In store decision making talks about spontaneous shopping which is unplanned buying and impulse buying. Point of purchase stimuli is product display or demonstration that draws attention. The salesperson also can create exchange process. This involves commercial friendships. This is basically what customer centricity is about, forming commercial friendships. Chapter 10 also talks post purchase satisfaction which is the overall feeling about a product after someone has purchased it. Chapter 13 discusses income and social class and this is directly correlated to the customer centricity model. The model puts people in different classes. They were Jill, Barry, angles and devils. Chapter 13 goes into detail and talks about how people can be put in classes based on income, education, age, religion, gender, just like Best Buy put these four people into classes to segment them. Best Buy, in essence, used consumer behavior to classify these people. 4. Finally, do you agree with this new strategy for Best Buy? What is its impact on the financial performance? We think that it was a good idea for Best Buy to implement this. It has worked financially and it seemed to have made the company more profitable. From looking at the financials from 2002 to 2004, it appears as though the strategy seems to be working. Best Buy remains at the top of the list for Consumer electronics companies in the United States. Its revenue was 49.7 billion dollars in 2010, which is 18% of North American market share. In the last 5 years, it keeps 25% of gross profit growth. It seemed like it was known that Wal Mart would catch Best Buy as the number one store at that time, but I think this was because of different reasons, like its building of so many new stores and supply chain capability.

Challenges and Opportunities of the Global Insurance Industry

Introduction The global insurance industry seems to have escaped the worst of the financial crisis in comparison to other financial institutions. Day to day business has been relatively unaffected but the area that gave the most cause for concern has arisen from exposures to risky financial instruments. â€Å"The Reactions Magazine’s Global Insurance Conference 2009† was held in Swissotel, Zurich, Switzerland. At this conference the financial services industry tried to re set itself following the worst crisis for years. (www. euromoneyseminars. com). Insurance is an established industry. Like other companies insurance is facing increased competition from global players. It has been difficult for insurers to accomplish profitable growth, so they need to improve this. They will need to adopt new advanced approaches to expand their distribution networks. This essay is divided into two sections. The first talks about the types of risks that are present in the global insurance industry. I will take each of these points and discuss them in detail: growth, governance and risk management, market reporting, mergers and acquisitions, human capital and lastly compliance and regulation. The second section looks at the opportunities that are available to the global insurance industry within the next twelve to twenty – four months. They include: disaster modelling, disaster planning, managing the industry’s reputation, grow globally, innovative products and delivery and Focus on readdressing product and distribution strategies. The insurance industry is always looking for new opportunities in different services and geographies. To take advantage of these opportunities insurance companies need to re-examine their strategies and be prepared to drive basic changes in the way they work. The primary function of insurance is to act as a risk transfer mechanism. The basic principle of insurance is that the losses of the few are paid by the many. Its underlying purpose is to provide protection against the risk of financial loss, thus giving peace of mind to the policyholders. † (www. peerpapers. com) Challenges are getting bigger for insurers as an increas e in pressure for bigger profit margins. This means taking a hard look at reducing costs and top line revenue growth. Making a profit is due to the ability to accurately assess risk and look after customer relationships over time in order to get financial success. I am going to look at the following six challenges. 1. 1 Growth After a spell of cost cutting and readjustment, insurers are again moving up a gear and trying to strive for managed growth. While growth is valued by investors, it is hard to find in the fairly mature insurance industry. To be successful in the future companies will need to create and design new products and services, cross – sell more effectively, strengthen their ties with brokers and agents and avail of any opportunities presented by emerging markets such as China and India. (www. pwc. com). Further demand for pensions and health insurance is likely to rise in the Western world as the population ages and lives to enjoy a longer retirement. Costs will remain critical however to meet the ever exacting demands of today’s customers is liable to be the main point of contention. There are new openings from the increasing wealth of customers in new markets e. g. China. As their insurance industry is one of the fastest growing in the world with GDP at 3. 2% and the end of December 2008, they stand far behind the global average of insurance industry which stands at 7%. www. lloyds. com) Saturation of insurance markets in the developed world has made the Indian market more attractive for international insurers according to â€Å"Booming Insurance Market in India (2008-2011)†. This is due to its huge population base and large untapped market. (www. newsblaze. com) 1. 2 Governance and Risk Management Natural calamities are another challenge facing the industry. Global warming has caused a change in weather patterns which have caused a shift in the underlying probability of insured loss by storms, floods, wind and heatwaves. Natural disasters like hurricanes Katrina and Rita whose losses amounted to $61. 5 billion (www. duncansadviceonmmoney. vox. com) These disasters posed some very serious problems for the insurance industry as they are faced by difficult and uncertain financial burdens because of this this has shown the importance of quality data and calibration of model outputs, effective validation and also the experience and initiation of the underwriter. Structures will have to be put in place to tackle the threat of climate change. The development of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) capabilities help to protect insurers from damages to their reputation and provide a platform for strengthening governance, decision making and compliance with regulations. Pricewaterhouse- Coopeus (ERM for the insurance industry) revealed that many insurers have difficulty implementing and enforcing ERM in the face of containing data, systems and governance challenges. Also found in this study were examples of how resourceful and efficient management and helping to overcome these hurdles and bring greater insight to the insurers ERM missions. www. pwc. com) 1. 3 Market Reporting Insurers are facing a major overhaul of market reporting. This contains the launch of the market Casistent Embedded Value Principle, a planned move to a finalised IFRS level for insurance contracts and the increased risk and capital management disclosure foreseen by EU Solvency II â€Å"Scheduled for implementation in 2012, it is a new regulatory regime de signed to provide a principles-based supervisory framework for European insurers and reinsures. Solvency II is a risk-based system and is being built to meet the challenges of rapidly developing financial markets. It will also bring an increased level of transparency and harmonisation to the sectorâ€Å". (www. towersperrin. com). These changes are likely to set a model for global disclosure for others to follow in relation to risk. The key elements , include the possible adoption of IFRS(International Financial Reporting Standards) in the US form 2014. Implementation of Solvency II and IFRS reporting will be demanding. The good news is that corresponding timings and basis of valuation could open up cost – savings in areas like data, modelling and reconciliation. These changes help to increase stakeholder confidence by enabling insurers to show a single view of their business that shows more clearly how it is run on the inside. A survey by (IFRS 2007) insurance states that companies will need to provide more risk information and explanation to meet the exacting expectations that have come about from market events. (www. pwc. com) 1. 4 Mergers and Acquisitions Although funding is a challenge from time to time. Mergers and Acquisitions is vital for business to expand complementary earnings streams, realise opportunities for cost saving synergies and reinforce their existence in fast increasing emerging markets. Emerging markets are underinsured and these present potential business for the insurance market. Within ten years China is expected to become a leader in the global insurance market, while India is set to double its digits in the growth rate. However, due to cultural conflicts and protectionism could stop growth in economies. In the near future, the insurance industry is liable to be a very active period for mergers and acquisitions. US insurance companies attractive evaluation will make it easier for insurers in the EU to infiltrate the US market. (www. pwc. com) 1. 5 Human Capital All organisations in the world realise the importance of people in the conduct of their business therefore the trend of classifying their employees as assets. The human resource management school of thought tends to focus on the enrichment of the knowledgeable worker in terms of its theory. Human resource planning should be part of the total resource planning equal to planning devoted to capital development and materials and equipment purposes. Many insurers are facing an skills shortage in their workforce. Training and development of staff is now on the agenda as a rule in all organisations. Improved productivity is expected to result in trained and motivated workers. The employee training programs are intended to provide them with more knowledge and skills so they can do their job to the best of their ability. Training is a visible pay-off and is seen immediately whereas development is future- orientated.. Lessons are being learnt on a continuous basis in the requirement of human capital in the new economy in comparison to the old economic labour force. M Morley et al 2004). This investment in recruitment and career development lags behind other financial sectors. They look at short term fixes rather than looking at the long term prospects. However, looking to the future demographic shifts accelerating globalisation look set to change the shape of the labour market and make it more difficult to attract and retain good peo ple. (www. pwc. com) 1. 6 Compliance and Regulation Growing regulatory demands are bringing increased problems to insurers. Solvency II is included to require a critical check of capital and risk management along with sustaining information and documentation. The EU Reinsurance Directive gives a standard system of regulation and mutual recognition across Europe. This includes an ease of the regulatory limitations on securitisation which could give way for a large increase in risk transfer to the capital markets. Also they give a new definition of reinsurance that will prevent several contracts. Insurers are also facing a ceiling on regulatory changes including anti-money laundering and harder conditions on consumer protection. A key challenge is to know how to include these requirements into â€Å"business as usual†. Enterprise wide risk management can assist in providing ways to do so. They can help by giving a greater understanding of the trade off between reward and risk which will result in a brighter capital allocation. (www. pwc. com) As I have discussed in the challenges previously opportunities in the next twelve to twenty-four months can be found by global expansion adopting the latest technologies to give better service delivery and provide services to meet the exacting requirements of the next generation of retirees. The insurance industry is in the process of undergoing transformation as a result of the following three factors : sector specific, macro and operational. Increased regulation requirements outsourcing, globalisation, new distribution channels, more modern IT systems and climate change are adding to the increased volatility in the insurance industry today and they are now positioning themselves to be successful in the future that requires many changes in the way they do their business. China is one of the fastest growing insurance industries in the globe. â€Å"China Insurance sector forecast 2013† is the outcome of much research and in – depth study of the insurance market in China. Between 2009 and 2013 it is expected to grow CAGR of 28% – 30%. Chinas insurance industry is already out of the financial crisis and is expected to make great headway in the coming years. In 2008, the industry grew in the fastest pace since 2002, due to the rising insurance awareness level and government support. Insurance products which include life, health, and personal accidents accounts for the majority of growth. Property insurance products are also growing rapidly and are basically divided into two segments â€Å"motor and commercial property insurance†. Non life insurance products i. e. that is product liability, credit and marine insurance etc. These will decide the long term viability of the non- life insurance market. 2. 1 Disaster Modelling The tragic impact of the Asian Tsunami, as well as the worst Japanese typoon in 2004 was the year of improbable disasters. As a result, this forces us to look at how we prepare for such risks. Hurricane forecasting began in the 1980's, forecasters have tried for many decades despite being unsuccessful to deliver accurate predictions, and landfall activities. Scientists of tropical storm risk in London announced that they had developed a new model which represents a major step forward.. (www. lloyds. om) Insurers also use models developed by companies e. g. Air Worldwide Corporation to predict the damages caused by storms so that insurers can forecast the payouts to be made. (www. informationweek. com). This reminds us of the importance of investing in scientific research to help our understanding of risk and its impact 2. 2 Disaster Planning Insurance and disaster planning are closely related as they both deal with the risk of the disaster happening and the after math. Due to the upward trend of catastrophe events we see the need for robust and effective disaster planning for the future. Part of the solution must be insurance markets and their regulators working together sharing their respective knowledge and expertise. By doing this, we can be sure that response procedures are well tested and run as smooth as possible for when the next disaster strikes. In terms of claim handling, lessons can be learnt. The shortage of adjustors on the ground and the mishandling of claims by some shows how important the relationship between the insurer, the adjustor and the regulator is. As the frequency and cost of disasters goes upwards it will be very important to have a relationship based on trust and flexibility. (www. lloyds. om) 2. 3 Managing the Industry's reputation Improving transparency and disclosure are two issues which are needed to manage and improve the industries reputation that has been rocked by high profile developments. For instance in the USA the New York State Attorney Generals investigation sparked very close scrutiny of the commercial insurance market. In th e minds of customers, commentators and regulators the financial service industry has been left with a very poor image, after the recent investigations. These investigations highlighted the lack of transparency and accountability that are expected of a 21st century business environment. These issues can no longer be ignored. In a survey, by Lloyds of a hundred underwriters, one third admitted that the industries reputation is tarnished. Transparency and disclosure as well as good communication appears to be the answer to those outside the industry globally. Basically more time communicating and building bridges with consumers, economic leaders and world politicians initially means less problems down the line. (www. lloyds. com) 2. 4 Grow Globally Sales in new markets or by new acquisitions insurance companies need to grow globally more than ever before. Growth in the European and American market is slowing down while growth in India and China is increasing. The aging population presents insurers with a dilemma. The industry has great difficulty in attracting and retaining talent than other sectors of the financial services industry.. This situation is going to get worse as there are more retirees and fewer graduates moving into the top jobs. There is also a loss of graduates to banking and other financial institutions. Concern is expressed about the career path from insurance company hire to insurance agent. If this problem is not addressed the industry’s sale force would diminish. By moving into the European and American markets, insurers can grow a less risky strategy rather than expanding into new product lines. Those who do go overseas have to look at the various business lines in different markets. Chinas middle class and aging population with long term care and security needed make it a very viable option for foreign insurance companies. By 2010 China will be a major player on the insurance market. The same is also said of India. (www. rmislab. com) 2. 5 Innovate Products and delivery Innovation is seen as the main driver of profit over the next three and five years both in delivery and product innovation. By building relationships with customers moving them for example form car insurance to other insurances as they become asset rich. By providing better service and delivery insurers can strengthen their customer base. Technology can strengthen relationships with intermediaries which helps them run more efficiently and reduce their running costs. Insurers must look to cut cost they can do this by cost reduction initiatives like outsourcing and use of shared services, rationalizing product portfolios . Companies need original approaches and to continue to invest in this very complicated environment. (www. rmislab. com). â€Å"In 2007, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Co introduced a variety of enhancements to its variable annuities including an expanded choice of â€Å"living benefits† and the upbundling of optional income and death benefits† (www. deloitte. com) 2. 6 Focus on readdressing product and Distribution Strategies As the economy continues to even out, insurers need to evaluate their decisions and distribution channels. These decisions are vital in assisting insurers rebuild capital as well as positioning themselves for future growth. (www. ey. com). Insurance companies that sell directly through call centres, internet and direct mail have been performing better and this is due to lower costs because of their economies of scale and strong internet capabilities. Compared to independent insurance agents who lack these advantages have been put under pressure they require support and further development. Insurers need to find ways to work more effectively across product lines e. . give a customer packages that reward him/her for being a good driver. (www. deloitte. com) Conclusion In my findings I have found that the insurance industry has survived the financial crisis much better in comparison to the banking sector. This is due to its strong focus on risk management and long term prospects. Even though capital markets have decreased downwards their insurance assets, insurers are optimistic about the fu ture and some are expecting an improvement in prospects in mergers and acquisition over the next twelve to twenty – four months. The global insurance industry faces many challenges but despite these that they are being faced with the majority of insurers must move into fast growing markets i. e. India and China or find new innovative ways to get more businesses out of slower growing developed markets. China with its huge population is an obvious choice while the latter options include diversification, new products and speciality products. Insurers need to improve their risk management especially in the areas of disaster modelling and managing the industries reputation as it is vital to have a tarnished free reputation. Finally insurers need to work effectively and efficiently to develop and market a range of products aimed at older customers. In this intensely competitive market, employers will need to develop an excellent human resource management capable of responding to business needs and the workforce expectations. They will need to be able to identify and realise opportunities for career development prospects and other key areas of their employment. (www. pwc. com) With this knowledge insurers will be able to position their business models to optimize investment returns and control operations using the most effective and efficient methods available.

UAE Shoe online Business Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

UAE Shoe online Business Plan - Assignment Example Nevertheless, the supplemental funding is needed to start work on web design, purchase of server, computers and software, brand marketing and modifications, and to clear expenses incurred during the initial year of management. Additional funding has already been obtained from; firstly $50,000 from the Local Entrepreneurs Funds; Secondly $700,000 are personal savings, thirdly; $1,200,000 from two investors, and lastly $10,500 as a short-term loan. UAE shoe online will be included as a Limited Liability Company category. This will cushion the proprietor and the two outside investors from matters of personal liability as well as double taxation. Nonetheless, the investors will get the treatment accorded to shareholders and hence will not be given anything more than their personal investment worth $600,000 each. The funding, an extra amount of the capital contributions invested by the proprietor, shareholders as well as the LEF, will enable UAE shoe online to successfully start and susta in operations throughout the first year. Nevertheless, the large initial capital investment will enable UAE shoe online to avail to its customer’s absolute an online shop for shoes of its kind in UAE. A unique, fashionable, and innovative atmosphere is needed to present the customers with a setting that will enhance easy shoe buying. Successful business at the end of the first year will provide UAE shoe online Company with a consumer base that will enable it to be self-reliant in the following year (Evans & Brown, 2009). Objectives- UAE shoe online company’s objectives for the initial three years of business encompass the establishment of an upscale, unique, innovative setting that will distinguish the company from local shoe sellers. Keys to Success- The setting up of a matchless, innovative, fashionable atmosphere that will separate the firm from other domestic establishments and future shoe sellers; the creation of UAE shoe online Company as a fashionable shoe compa ny; and the establishment of an opportunity that is user-friendly in the execution of duties. Mission- As the fame of the Internet grows exponentially, affordability and proximity of resources of the online medium are significant. UAE shoe online company provides individuals, first online shop for shoes, regardless of where they are, purposely to advertise and ensure the continuation of education. Introduction We are now looking to provide our services online. UAE shoe online will provide shoe products and supplies to be consumed by the general population. UAE shoe online also promises to provide quality products at affordable prices with efficient processes. Our mission is to exceed customer expectations with the vision of being the best online shoe supply company. UAE online shoe’s operations are to include online services and marketing will allow the company to keep pace and exceed the performance of its competition. UAE shoe online will provide a wide variety of shoe prod ucts with our focus being on the general population. We offer everything one may need for a shoe in the home from incontinence men, women to children. In today’s society with many people choosing to make their purchases online we are also going to market ourselves to the online world.

Math Disablities in 4th & 5th Graders Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Math Disablities in 4th & 5th Graders - Essay Example It is an important issue never the less and teachers need to be aware of the complexities of dyscalculia and how to work with students. Using appropriate interventions will make the difference for the student. To do this is not as easy as there is a wide range of math disabilities and the difficulties vary from student to student. What is math disability? Even attempting to define math disability is not straightforward. Definitions vary. Wadlington and Wadlington (2008) defined dyscalculia as â€Å"a neurologically based disorder of mathematical abilities†. They further explain that it â€Å"originates as a genetic or congenital disorder of the brain and causes a discrepancy between an individual’s general cognitive level and mathematical abilities† (p. ). Vaidya (2004) states that dyscalculia is â€Å"characterized by a poor understanding of the number concept and the number system†. (p.717). She presents some of the common areas where math disability is manifested including counting, giving and receiving change, learning abstract concepts of time and direction. Developmental dyscalculia is the term sometimes used to describe math disabilities. Shalev (2004) defines developmental dyscalculia as â€Å"a specific learning disability affecting the normal acquisition of arithmetic sk ills in spite of normal intelligence, emotional stability, scholastic opportunity and motivation†. (p.766). Three subtypes of dyscalculia have been identified. One is the difficulty retrieving arithmetic facts, called semantic memory; another is the difficulty in understanding and applying math procedures, called procedural memory; and the third is difficulty understanding spatially represented numerical information, called visuospatial memory. (Wadlington and Wadlington, 2008). In general children with dyscalculia find learning and recalling number facts difficult. As a consequence of the difficulty in defining math disabilities, diagnosing is also a

Brewer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Brewer - Essay Example The companies in both countries also expand through the acquisition, cooperation as well as licensing with the local parties. There is also a pest analysis which can further help in highlighting the biggest influences on the company’s organizational strategies both currently as well as in the future. Similarly these influences can either be positive or even negative but the key issue in the analysis is identifying and concentrating upon the trends and factors which will most likely have the greatest impact upon the future of the organization. (Kenneth, 1992) The beer markets in Germany have always been one of the key export markets in Europe even though the marketing of beer in the UK is primarily affected by the trade marketing activities in the cooperation with the key customers in the European Union. The company Oetker has however been aiming to enter the UK market and it has laid down its clear objectives towards the achievement of its goal. This will however have major consequences to the Burton on Trent brewing company which already enjoys its presence in the UK market. Since Germany is the largest beer company in Europe it has the highest per capita consumption of beer in the world and with the prospects of the new entrant Oetker in the market segment there are prospects of the consumption levels not increasing especially because of the existence of other beer companies like Burton on Brent in the market. (Kenneth, 1992) Oekter is one of the largest drinks companies in Europe and its entry in the European market will pose a particular challenge to its competitor Burton on Trent. Oetker continues to further seek ways of expanding into the new markets while it still moves towards the expansion to new markets and the increased market share domination in the areas it already occupies. The market for beers in their various guises is

Sustainability Accounting & Reporting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sustainability Accounting & Reporting - Essay Example Process of dealing with the environmental problems accounting is very necessary. Companies need to maintain corporate social responsibility to keep in check stakeholder reasoning. Moreover, different companies normally set uniquely the stakeholders patterns of influence encompassing the stakeholders in the general operation is important. Setting effective base for the CSR the corporations must maintain proper accounts and descriptive theories in explaining CSR, which encompasses managerialist, middle of the road and theoretical model. There exist several means of enhancing the practice of CSR that have evolved over time from the small aspects in business to become key component of business activity. Each industry sets the outline in handling CSR. Triple bottom line reporting provides good start towards sustainability. Process of dealing with social and environmental problems internal organizational perspective is important. Moreover, the consequent development in triple reporting is normally integrated reporting that presents many benefits and possess some few challenges. Most business is naturally unsustainable creating questions while trying to satisfy the social and environmental problems. Therefore, the process ought to allow for sustainability the society that ought to change their perceptions. Partnerships are new dew developments that bring about joint ideas in operations and networking. Moreover, public are good drivers of sustainability than the corporations. Proper costing of carbon is driven by the NGER act; several implications can be identified with the

Problem list Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Problem list - Assignment Example 17). Unfavorable material price variance is majorly caused by the purchase of better quality and expensive raw materials than the budgeted ones, damage of materials after arrival requiring an urgent reorder on a rush basis. All these factors work to raise the price of raw materials causing an unfavorable price variance. The individuals who should be held responsible for unfavorable material price variance is the purchase manager since he is the one having control over price paid for goods and any other price variations. Unfavorable labor efficiency variance on the other hand is caused by poor quality of raw materials, poorly trained workers, faulty equipments, poor supervision of workers, and poorly motivated workers among others. The person responsible for labor efficiency variance is the production manager, production manager in case he orders the purchase of poor materials and the work center managers responsible for workers in the various departments. Ethical principles of confidentiality and integrity require that employees of the organization should act in the utmost benefit of the company’s interest. In addition the management accountants of any organization are required to maintain the highest standards of ethical conduct in their duties. In this respect they should not use any information about their company for their selfish gain, since confidentiality principle requires them not to disclose any confidential information they have acquired from the company in the course of their work with them. Being Tastee Fruit Company’s Accountant, Adams is exposed to some vital information about the company for example the prices in which it buys its raw materials. By the fact he disclosed this information to his friend; Adams has appeared to and has used the confidential information about the company for an unethical advantage of his friend, a third party to the organization. In addition, if he were to suggest a cheaper supply of

Apple Computer's International Business Strategy Essay

Apple Computer's International Business Strategy - Essay Example Company was known for the production of software and computer technologies but now it has widened its areas of productions. As a way of diversification, Apple contributes so significantly in the field of entertainment for instance through the introduction of mp3 mobile player and the iTunes Music Store. Diversification is very significant as it meets the customers’ demands, especially in this digital era. Apple has proved to its clients that it can respond to their needs and also provide for the quality products and services. Diversification of the Apple Company also avails a variety of the product and services to the customers and being that most of its products operates almost under the same operating system thus gives users easy time. Differentiation strategy has also contributed to the success of the Apple Company. It does this by concentrating on both the esthetic and the quality value of its products. The hardware and the software that it uses meet high stands of manufac turing. Because Apple exclusively entrust Mac computers for producing it products, it can easily, monitor and make necessary corrections. Lastly flexibility and cost leadership have also contributed towards meeting the global market. Apple has always been flexible in some of the decisions that they make. When the marketing leaders realize that the price they have set forward for the product does not meet the demand in the market, they always change. There are also able managers in the company who brings about the invention and innovation in the company.

GDP Growth of Apple Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

GDP Growth of Apple Company - Essay Example nd services are primarily a luxury good for individuals within relatively developed nations, the focus that Apple should take is upon representing the main focus of their strategy and advertising to those that can afford such products and services. Naturally, this will encourage Apple to take a broad overview of GDP and purchasing power parity that exists within many different economies as a means of understanding what socio-demographic sectors and regions will most likely represent their consumer base. Taking the case of Europe as an example, one might be inclined to understand that the established and powerful Western European economies are the main areas in which Apple should focus its marketing. However, this is not quite the case. Due to the resurgence of Eastern Europe over the past decade, the overall purchasing power of these individuals cannot and should not be discounted. As figure 1 denotes, counties such as Latvia , Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland have noted some of the most drastic GDP growth figures over the past few years. As such, Apple would be highly remiss if it did not recognize these emerging markets and seek to represent a strategic focus on selling products and services to individuals within them. However, with that being said, it should also be noted that the economies of Western Europe cannot and should not be ignored either. As figure 2 denotes, after the 2007/2008 financial collapse that saw most of the world’s economies slow down significantly, Western European nations have posted impressive numbers for overall GDP growth. As such, a dual strategy should be employed by the firm as can be engaged through a relevant understanding of the statistics that have thus far been represented. One such approach would be to offer lower price products and services within the Eastern European markets while offering higher priced goods and service offerings to those individuals within Western Europe. What is being described and defined is not

Weapons proliferation and conflict Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Weapons proliferation and conflict - Essay Example The last one is Type IV that now entails the spread of WMD into other nations such as theft of Pakistan of nuclear secrets from Holland. The government is in a social dilemma when tasked to either spend on guns or butter. This is because spending only on guns has both potential benefits but also grave pitfalls. The benefits involve security of a country’s borders because the armed forces are better armed. Additionally, the presence of prestige is a motivating factor for with guns instead of butter. However, too many guns in the wrong hands increases violence as noted in the US. It equally distracts the government from spending on the most important things (Khan 134). I think the best approach involves giving the citizens more butter and not guns because it is enhance their lives. I think the Barefoot Gen film serves as a testament of the atrocities that war causes to vulnerable civilians. By basing its story on Hiroshima, it challenges our consciousness to stop war at all

Moral Dilemmas Essay Example for Free

Moral Dilemmas Essay Moral Dilemmas, Moral Strategies, and the Transformation of Gender Lessons from Two Generations of Work and Family Change Women seek personal development by caring for others and men care for others by sharing the rewards of independent achievement are the traditional social norm in the 20th century. In the 21st century, people started to question whether women and men should really be separated into two distinct, opposed and unchanging moral categories. Women and men now have conflicts and tensions between family and work, public and private, autonomy and commitment, for these, gender dichotomy cannot be used to solve as in the past. Undoubtedly, gender dichotomy in moral orientation can resolve the universal tension to certain extent, but it is only prescriptive rather than descriptive. Gender is a social institution rather than an inherent trait and it is now transforming. Women now seek self-sufficiency economically and socially, they seek personal and social commitment outside the home, while men’s breadwinning role and obligation to support women and children diminish. Women and men are now facing socially structured moral dilemma. Investigating how the new generation thinks, the interview reveals that the young generation believes that it is difficult to keep a relationship with balanced autonomy and commitment. They believed that it is not morally wrong to end the relationship if the two do not get along well. Ending the relationship would be better than keeping a bad relationship, not only to the couple, but also to their children. Also, they appreciated their mothers if they work and think that both women and men should care for the family both financially and emotionally. As it seems difficult to apportion moral labor by gender-neutral strategies, women and men diverge in their opinion in gender role. Men prefer the Neotraditionalism, that is, the couple share the breadwinning but the women have to place family first, but this collide with what the women long for, autonomy before commitment, and they want to be economically independent. In my opinion, this gender transformation has significant importance to people in the 21st century, especially to women. In the past, because of the gender dichotomy, women are restrained from work and are expected to stay at home to manage the household, e. g. look after the children, do the household chores, they have to devote all their time to the family and have to give up their dreams, even if they are talented or have potential in some fields, they do not have the opportunity to explore into their careers. Also, they have to be tolerant to the household violence just because they are economically dependent and they rely on their husbands for living. They do not have the working ability because they have spent most of their time in the family and they have already been detached from the outside work society. It is also difficult for them to find jobs because of the social and cultural environment that do not encourage women working. As a result, women are trapped in the marriage for their whole life. On the other hand, the traditional gender dichotomy does not only give disadvantages to the women, men also suffer from that. Men are the sole breadwinner in the family and they have to bear the pressure to earn the living for the whole family. Because they have to work hard to support the family financially, always with long working hours, they may not have time to care for their children. They have less time and opportunity to communicate with the children and build good relationships with them. Men have no choice but to sacrifice the time with their family. Now, we are lucky that the gender difference is getting smaller and the moral obligation for men and women are not so obviously divided. Though there are still structural and cultural contradictions in the society nowadays, women and men now enjoy more freedom to choose what they want to do to attain a balance between family and work, autonomy and commitment. To help with the transformation, more family-friendly elements should be added to the society and in the workplace to help women and men to strive for their success in both their careers and their families.

Case Study of Diabetes Mellitus and Community Health Nurse

Case Study of Diabetes Mellitus and Community Health Nurse This paper is going to illustrate a case study, which has been chosen during the two weeks of clinical practicum. It will present the medical history of the patient, focus on current health status and discuss the main responsibilities of community health nurse. H.S is a 74 years old Emirati, female, married and has 3 daughters and 5 sons. She has been referred to health home care setting on 24/2/2011. The patients past medical history included mild intermittent asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, acute gastritis, esophageal reflux, acquired hypothyroidism, generalized anxiety disorder, essential hypertension, diabetes mellitus type-1, chronic diastolic failure, blurred vision and impaired hearing. The patient has allergies from dust and medication like penicillin. Her surgical history was significant for cholecystectomy. Also, she had grafting surgery that done to repair the wound at right forearm which resulted from road traffic accident. Current medications include montelukast (singulair); 10mg orally once daily, steroids 500mg orally once per day, insulin 34 units in the morning and 32 units on evening, and cozaar 50mg once daily. Currently, the patient is suffering from uncontrolled diabetes. The fasting blood glucose ranged from 239-455 mg/dl and the past prandial glucose and bed time glucose ranged from 240-598 mg/dl. This assignment will shed light on one of the chronic disease which the patient has, diabetes, including pathophysiology, sign and symptoms, risk factors, epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment. In addition, it will illustrate the community health nurse roles regarding diabetic patient. Diabetes mellitus is a worldwide epidemic disease. It is a metabolic disorder manifested by elevation of blood glucose level due to an absolute shortage of insulin production and action (American Diabetes Association, 2004). The two main classification of diabetes are type 1, this type represents insulin dependent diabetes, and type 2, non-insulin dependent diabetes (Meetoo Allen, 2010). Additional types of diabetes mellitus include gestational diabetes, maturity once diabetes of the young, diabetes resulted from cystic fibrosis, and cushings syndrome diabetes (Meetoo Allen, 2010). As our patient is suffering from diabetes type-1, the nurse must understand the pathophysiology of this type in order to provide optimal care. Type-1 diabetes is found to be a result of an autoimmune mediated damaging of B-cells, pancreatic cells responsible for insulin production. Destruction of these cells will lead to insulin deficiency, which will result in increase of blood glucose and glycosuria. Mainly it is symptomatic disorder unlike type-2 diabetes (Meetoo Allen, 2010). Type-2 diabetes is considered silent killer; most people with such disease are unaware because it is asymptomatic in many cases. It is characterized by abnormal insulin production, insulin resistance, and alteration in glucagon synthesis (Casey, 2011). Elevation in blood glucose caused by limitation of insulin in transporting glucose into the cells for energy synthesis. High glucose level enhances insulin production. So that, people with this type of diabetes often characterized by excessive insulin product ion (Casey, 2010). Diabetes symptoms might slightly vary according to the type. Hyperglycemia manifested by a number of symptoms such as polyuria, polydipsia, weight loss, in some cases associated with polyghagia; feeling hungry as a result of cellular starvation, and blurred vision. Polyuria occurs when the amount of glucose filtration by the kidney overwhelms reabsorption mechanism (American Diabetes Association, 2004). Fatigue may be presented due to metabolic changes (Casey, 2011). These symptoms could not be severe in type-2 diabetes as much as type-1 (Casey, 2011). Uncontrolled diabetes like in H.S case might lead to unpleasant consequences. These complications include retinopathy with loss of vision, nephropathy; which results in renal failure, peripheral nephropathy with high risk of foot ulcer and cardiovascular symptoms (American Diabetes Association, 2004). There are many risk factors that lead to hyperglycemia. Some of these factors are non-modifiable such as heredity and race factors. Other modifiable factors include obesity, lack of exercise, impaired glucose tolerance, cardiovascular disorder, and high level of triglycerides (Rodbard et al, 2007). Diabetes mellitus accounts for high epidemic percentage throughout the world. The total number of people with diabetes was significantly increased from 124 million in 1997 to 221 million in 2010 (Meetoo Allen, 2010). From a global thought, the highest three countries estimated to have the highest number of people with diabetes in 2000 and 2030 are India, China, and the United State of America. The most affected groups are people between 45-64 years old (Meetoo Allen, 2010). The risk of death for people with diabetes mellitus is twice that among individuals without diabetes of similar age (Rodbard et al, 2007). If patient diagnosed before age 40 years, the average reduction in life expectancy is 12 years for men and 19 years for women (Rodbard et al, 2007). There are a number of diagnostic procedures that have been used to determine the blood glucose level. These strategies include observation the symptoms of diabetes such as polyuria, polydipsia, and weight loss (Rodbard et al, 2007). In addition, diabetic patient could be identified with fasting plasma glucose concentration more than or equal 126mg/dl or plasma glucose concentration more than or equal 200 mg/dl in normal status. These measurements taken by using a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (Rodbard et al, 2007). Applying appropriate intervention for patient with chronic disease like diabetes is an essential strategy to prevent any complications that might result from unstable condition (Pimouguet, Goff, Thiebaut, Dartigues Halmer, 2011). The aims of diabetes treatment are to control blood glucose level to reduce the risk of long term complications and to help the patient with diabetes to live normal healthy life (Meetoo Allen, 2010). The choice of treatment depends on the type of diabetes. For instance, patient with type 1 and some cases with type 2, insulin is an appropriate treatment in maintaining nearly normal level of blood glucose (Meetoo Allen, 2010). Unlike type-2 diabetes, in which management processes are based mainly on life style modifications. For example, regular food intake, regular exercise, weight management and limited alcohol intake. Also, oral anti-diabetic agents are used to maintain normal level of blood glucose and to enhance the action of pancreatic cells (Meetoo Allen, 2010). Furthermore, one of the most effective methods which are essential for patients with type-2 diabetes or for people who are at high risk is regular monitoring of blood glucose level .This method helps to prevent acquiring diabetes for people who are at increased risk of hyperglycemia or for those who have poor glycemic control (Grant, 2010). The role of the nurse in delivering community health care is considered an essential part in managing patients condition at home sitting. As nurses working in community care, a number of responsibilities are involved in care of patient with diabetes including assessment and providing optimal intervention (Carey Courtenay, 2008). The nurse is considered the only professional who has a complete knowledge about patients medical status (OReilly, 2005). Effective assessment will enable the nurse to create appropriate plan regarding patients condition and provide best care (World Health Organization, 2001). For optimal care, the community nurse should has enough knowledge regarding patients health disorder include functional limitations, patients medical history, prognosis, physical assessment for all body systems and behavioral status (OReilly, 2005). In addition, it is important to assess other factors that could affect patients health such as safety of living environment, types of dail y living activities, medication awareness and compliance, equipment availability such as oxygen, intravenous therapy, and parenteral nutrition (Smeltzer, Bare, Hinkle Cheever, 2008). For diabetic patient, the nurse is responsible to assess specific factors that might interfere with glycemic control. One of these factors is age- related changes such as physiological functions. For instance, loss of taste and olfactory functions may lead to malnutrition intake. So, that will lead to abnormal metabolism and blood glucose maintenance (OReilly, 2005). Dehydration is also one of the complication that might occur due to loss of thirst perception which affected by age factor. The nurse must evaluate the condition carefully in order to meet the needs (OReilly, 2005). Also, the nurse must assess for the presence of neuropathies, because it increase the risk of fall and infection (Smeltzer, Bare, Hinkle Cheever, 2008). Furthermore, visual deficits and retinopathy must be assessed because the patient may be at risk of taking medication inaccurately and become unable to perform regular blood glucose test (OReilly, 2005). The nurse should ensure that the patient is aware about all medications and being compliance with. Also, identification and investigation of any complications are very crucial to protect the patient from life threatening condition (Diabetes Specialist Nurses, 2007). If the patient has diabetic foot, the nurse should assess the wound, regular dressing must be done and monitor for any further complications (Smeltzer, Bare, Hinkle Cheever, 2008). Moreover, accurate documentation is necessary to ensure patients need correctly (OReilly, 2005). Diabetes mellitus requires regular self care behaviors. Nurse is responsible to teach the patient about appropriate self management (Smeltzer, Bare, Hinkle Cheever, 2008). Physical and emotional stress could affect glycemic control negatively, so patients must learn how to balance among such factors. They should learn daily self care skills to prevent instability of blood glucose. In addition, patients must be aware about good nutrition by following a calorie- controlled diet (Smeltzer, Bare, Hinkle Cheever, 2008). They should know that they might need additional meals and snacks during various exercises or at bedtime to prevent hypoglycemia. Also, patients must have knowledge regarding medications side effects and disease progression. Patients and family members should be taught about the symptoms of both hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia in order to be able to provide a required care (Smeltzer, Bare, Hinkle Cheever, 2008). In conclusion, this essay has discussed a case study that has been chosen during the clinical practicum time. Mainly, it focused on one of current health problem in which the patient is suffering from, diabetes mellitus. It discussed the pathophysiology of the two types of diabetes, type-1 and type-2. Diabetes is characterized by a number of symptoms such as polyuria, polydipsia, weight loss, and polyghagia. There are many risk factors might cause diabetes such as obesity and sedentary life style. This paper has also presented statistical information regarding diabetes disorder throughout the world, it found that India is the highest country that account for the highest number of people with diabetes. Moreover, there are various diagnostic methods that are used to identify and investigate patients with diabetes or who are at high risk. Treatment strategies are varying with different types of diabetes. Type-1 is insulin dependent diabetes while type-2 is non-insulin dependent. Diabete s mellitus is considered a chronic disease that required regular appropriate care at home sitting. Community health nurse has a number of responsibilities regarding diabetic patients care include effective assessment and providing teaching plan that help the patient to maintain controlled blood sugar level. Finally, diabetic patients should be aware about daily self care.

Play in Early Childhood | Theories

Play in Early Childhood | Theories Nature and role of play in early childhood. Not only play therapists, early interventionists, social workers or sociocultural researchers like for example Gà ¶ncà ¼ (1999) have focused in the last four decades on child play but also all major developmental theorists like Piaget, (1962), Vygotksy, (1976), Bruner (1972) or Erikson, (1977). Today, therefore the essential role that play possesses in the development of an infant during childhood has been acknowledged by most theorists and developmental psychologists strive to help mentally ill children with different play therapy techniques. Despite the fact that there is neither a satisfactory definition of play nor consent about its purpose, as maintained by Bundy (2001), one can describe and define children’s play behaviour as pleasurable, personally directed, intrinsically motivated and voluntary activities which are conducted in a safe, spontaneous, goalless context (Hughes, 2001) and which involve â€Å"much repetition and variation as the child explores the range of possibilities of behaviour† (Butterworth Harris, 1998, p.140) in contents and intents where the child possess a sense of control. Child play is both performed in solitary or in social groups and it is always more intrinsically then extrinsically motivated even when children are eagerly and seriously engaged in play activities which are rule governed. It also may to serve to explore inanimate objects or to explore human relationships and social roles (see Butterworth Harris, 1998). Thus, child play is not only a straightforward term for simple actions but includes manifold activities with manifold purposes. It also has many diverse facets as it for, instance, represents reality in as-if or what-if term (symbolic nature of play) while at the same time connecting or linking different experiences (meaningful nature of play). As it includes so many diverse aspects many definitions have arose in the past with each definition providing a different understanding and interpretation of children’s play. In general, the play theories are divided into classical theories of play (e.g. Hall’s Recapitulation Theory, 1920; Groos’ Pre-Exercise Theory, 1984) and modern theories of play (Mellou, 1994). Classical theories of play originated in the nineteenth century and tried to explain the existence and purpose of play (Mellou, 1994). However, this brief paper intends to investigate and discuss the nature and role of play in early childhood with reference to theories of development and will focus on contemporary theories (e.g. Psychoanalytic theory, Cognitive theories) which were mainly devised after the 1920s and which try to explain the role of play in child development (Saracho and Spodek, 1995). Psychoanalytic Theory Freud (1938) and colleagues developed the Psychoanalytic theory of play which arose through therapies which examined repressed memories of patients. In this sense, Freud concluded that child play is a way of replacing negative feelings and emotions in a cathartic way with positive emotions. Thus, accordingly, children who do not play sufficiently will remain traumatized and possess destructively negative feelings throughout the rest of their lives. Freud (1938) believed that playing represents not only a catalyst of negative feelings but serves also as a facilitator for grasping and comprehending unpleasant and agonizing experiences and represents, additionally, a tool for children to express their feelings and emotions (Wehman and Abramson, 1976). Psychotherapists like Takhvar (1988) or Erikson (1963) have modified and altered Freud’s initial theory by relating ego processes, fear, anxiety, and wish fulfillment to play activities in children. Conflict solving and the dramatisation of both past, present and future were, additionally, identified by Erikson (1950) as the main characteristics of play and he, consequently, transformed Freud’s psychosexual development stages into psychosocially relevant stages. Peller (1952) concluded that adult roles are imitated in children’s fantasy play which, in turn, provides children with a sense of mastery that empowers them to deal with difficult real life situations an d experiences. It was Murphy (1962) who concluded that in addition to all the mentioned benefits of child play, the acting out elements of play enable children not only to understand negative experiences from the past but allow for processing of positive or everyday experiences (see Saracho Spodek, 1995). Play Therapy Acting out is one of the pivotal elements of play therapy which can be regarded as an offspring of these psychoanalytic ideas (Axline, 1974). Play therapy has been predominantly employed in children with emotional difficulties and distortions and intends to minimise and diminish children’s mainly destructive emotions (e.g. anxiety, fear, insecurity) through acting out these emotions. Observation of a child during guided play situations provides the therapists with insights about the emotional problems and difficulties faced by the child and enables the therapists to explore ways for reestablishing the child’s security and mastery of self, situation and sentiments. Cognitive Theories From Piaget to Vygotski The most influential figures for cognitive theories are Piaget (1962) and Vygotsky (1978) who both attempted to comprehend the precise relationship between cognitive developments and play behaviour in a child. In order to understand Piaget’s ideas on child play one has to be first acquainted with his cognitive development theory in which assimilation and accommodation are the two most important and prevailing factors. Assimilation involves the process of a child assimilating and integrating external information from the outside world into pre-existent mental structures while the ultimate goal is to obtain a state of equilibrium where the cognitive balance is maintained. This is reached by children continuously adapting and accommodating their imperfect and imbalanced mental structures in order to improve their reception of real world information. This explains partly why children enjoy playing as they do not need to adapt their cognitive schemes to the world anymore when they play but rather the world has to accommodate to the universe which they have created according to their own simple rules. Playing can be consequently seen as opposed by imitating where in contrast assimilation predominates over accommodation.   Piaget (1962) has, in total, identified three stages of play and has described the sensorimotor stage as the first followed by the symbolic and games with rules stages. A child experiences the different stages in a sequential order while every single stage includes different types of play (see Stagnitti, 2004). According to Piaget (1964) children indulge more in physical activities (e.g. play fighting) in the sensorimotor stage which often involve objects but since playing with objects is too practical as to be concerned for the symbolic stage it solely occurs in the first stage of play development. The second stage evolves when children are approximately two years old and involves symbolic or making-believe play. One object representing another is a characteristic of symbolic play and represents a qualitatively new form of behaviour which is a pivotal evidence for the transition from early childhood to a new stage. Symbolic processes also enter into the playful exploration of social roles, as when children play at being bus drivers, nurses, teachers, or mothers and fathers. Unlike the simple practice of physical skills, symbolic play therefore involves imaginary reality. According to Baldwin (1905; in Butterworth and Harris, 1998), imagination is the general power of having mental images. Baldwin distinguished reconstructive imagination (as when one imagines a man on a horse from previous experience) from compounded imagination (as when one imagines a centaur from the previously separate memories of a man and a horse). Children enter the â€Å"games with rules† stage when they are about seven years old and this end stage of child play is complementary to Piaget’s concrete operational stage of development.   In this stage, children become more and more interested in having social interactions while playing (e.g. chess, cards), according to Piaget (1968), and choose writing down fictional stories instead of dramatic play. Physical or symbolic games are still played throughout one’s life although one chooses predominantly to play games which have tangible rules and which also satisfy the need in everyone to socialise and which come as close as possible to reality (see Goldman, 1998). Nevertheless, referring to Lloyd and Howe (2003) one of today’s principal and chief theoretical debates in the study of play is whether solitary play represents either an advanced or immature type of play. As a matter of fact, Piaget’s (1968) view that the frequency of solitary play does significantly decline with age is not supported anymore. Moore and colleagues (1974) have rather discovered that solitary play persists throughout different stages and becomes even more mentally mature with age In a similar vein, Rubin and collaborators (1983) reported that children below 5 years of age were yet not able to engage themselves in sophisticated solitary games as much as 5-year-olds were and while children going to kindergarten were found to prefer solitary-constructive play, preschoolers play observably more functional solitary games. Consequently, in contrast to what has been assumed by Piaget (1968) one can impossible one’s social maturity by purely looking at the amount of social interaction and neglecting relevant cognitive aspects (Lloyd and Howe, 2003, Stagnitti and Unsworth, 2000). In sum, Piaget (1968) believed that changes in cognitive development underlie changes in forms of play with only mirroring the achieved cognitive developmental stage but without play helping to lead to more mature cognitive developmental stages. He was recently criticised by Elkonin (2005) as he did not offer any details about the essential child-adult interactions during his experiements but completely omitted them. Piaget’s (1968) viewpoint stands in stark contrast to Vygotsky (1976) who strongly believed that play facilitates and accelerates cognitive development in children. Vygotski’s approach was not only dissimilar to that of Piaget but also to those of Freud as he focused on normal problems in children’s development whereas Freud took more the extreme cases of traumatised children into consideration. His ideas were, nevertheless, in accordance with many other well-known theorists like for instance Bruner (1972, 1999) or Russ (1995) who like him saw sociodramatic play which is discovered by 2-year-oldsas essential for emotional, cognitive and emotional development. In his eyes, sociodramatic play serves as a tool to imitate the adults and thus enabled children to experience situations and activities for which they were actually too immature in order to experience them in real life situations. â€Å"In play the child functions above his average age, above his usual eve ryday behaviour, in play he is head high above himself† (Vygotsky, 1976, p.552). Similarly, in sociodramatically play situations objects can be better defined by children and social norms are more successfully internalised and behaviour can be steadily accommodated according to these norms. An existing imaginary situation and rules are the two factors that distinguish this self-regulatory play from other early childhood behaviour (see Elias and Berk, 2001). The imaginary situation includes children acquiring the skill to make a distinction between cognitive mind and physical action from external stimuli. As a consequence, children control external stimuli and objects in play situations as they voluntarily determine the significance and identity of the situations and stimuli. The child, for example, decides independently whether a stick represents a telephone, a sparrow, a snake or anything else which he or she uses in make-believe situations. This independent power to select and create one’s own universe above the existing reality transforms impulsive actions of a child into self-regulation (Vygotsky, 1978). According to Elias and Berk (2002) with increased age the children’s imagination becomes stronger and stronger and the more they grow up the less they need an object to be as similar as possible to the real world in play situations and thus they can correspond in more self-regulatory ways with both the real and fantasy world. The obeying of rules during play is congruent with the child’s desire to adapt to the social environment which demands acting alongside socially accepted and internalised norms and values. Hence, Vygotsky (1978) concluded that the adherence to rules during play is a central catalyst of satisfaction which children gain from playing. In sum, one conclude that sociodramatic play provides children with the â€Å"greatest self-control† possible (Vygotski, 1978, p. 99) as it demands from children to steadily fight against prompt and incarnated impulses while stressing â€Å"social rules and coordination of goals and behaviour with those of others† (Elias and Berk, 2002, p. 218). Many researchers have attempted to test Vygotsky’s (1978) sociadramatic play theory. The results of Elias and Berk’s (2001) study, for instance, in which they investigated complex sociodramatic play (CSD), solitary dramatic play, and dramatic play in preschool children, demonstrated that those infants are benefiting significantly from CSD play who are most in need of improving their self-regulatory abilities. This finding was congruent to Vygotsky’s claim that self-restraint is very strongly related to sociodramatic play and that playing children constantly resist present impulses in order to adhere social norms that exists in the make-believe context. Kraft and Berk (1998) offered more support for this theory in revealing that infants try to control their behaviour to act according to their thoughts and mental images as CSD was positively correlated to the utilisation of self-guiding private speech. In sum, one can say that today Vygotsky’s notions about play in early childhood have received significantly more support than Piaget’s ideas. However these are by far not the only influential figures in developmental psychology and many theorists hypothesis about child play had to be left out due to the brief nature of this paper (Gà ¶ncà ¼, 1999). Another major idea of Vygotski (1978) which had great influence on child play research concerns the so-called zone of proximal development (ZND) which can be described as the difference between what a child can achieve with and without the help of parents (adults or peer groups). Vygotski viewed the adults as facilitating and potentialising opportunites for the child to learn quicker and more effective in play situations as infants’ knowledge evolves much better through experience of parents leading and directing the child towards more ideal and mature solutions to problems (see Butterworth and Harris, 1998). However cognitive development is limited to a limited time span in one’s life which falls precisely into the ZND. This theory has been very influential in the language acquisition research. As children interact and play with peers particular models of expression, explanation and communication are developed. This generated language use is regarded by many (e.g. Good man and Goodman, 1990, Tharp and Gallimore, 1988) as the foundation for literacy. Jerome Bruner (1973, 1999) basically agrees with this notion that cognitive development is highly related to the systematic social interaction between a child and a parent, peer or teacher. Nevertheless, Bruners theory of cognitive development can be more linked to Piaget’s theory. Bruners postulated the idea that children evolve through different modes of represention in their intellectual development. He introduced three modes of representing understanding, namely, enactive, iconic and symbolic. The iconic representation stage involves using images, pictures or photos that encapsulate or outline action to represent knowledge while the more primitive enactive mode involves representing knowledge solely through physical actions and thus is very compatible to Piaget’s sensorimotor stage. The symbolic mode, however, includes using, for example, symbolic or pretend play for representing cognitive advancement. Bruner’s theories have been very influential in child pla y and music instructing sessions and represent a conclusive bridge between Piaget and Vygotski’s theories (Atterbury and Richardson, 1995). References Atterbury, B. W., Richardson, C. P. (1995). The experience of teaching general music. New York: McGraw-Hill. Axline, V.M. (1947). Play Therapy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Baldwin, J.M. (1905). Dictionary of philosophy and psychology. London: Macmillan. Bruner, J.S. (1972). Nature and Uses of Immaturity. American Psychologist, 8, 687–708. Bruner, J. S. (1973). The growth of representation processes in childhood. In J. Anlin (Ed.), Beyond the information given: Studies in the psychology of knowing (pp. 313-324). New York: Norton. Bruner, J. (1999) Folk Pedagogies. In J. Leach and B. Moon (eds) Learners and Pedagogy. London: Paul Chapman. Bundy, A. (2001). 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