Thursday, October 31, 2019

Minimising the risk in shipping operation. A Case study comparing two Essay

Minimising the risk in shipping operation. A Case study comparing two shipping lines (Maersk and NYK) - Essay Example The risk of piracy has continued to dominate the list of shipping risks for most organisations, sometimes superseding other risks in terms of frequency of occurrence, and the intensity of loss or/and liability. As a direct result of piracy, the costs of operating shipping lines have significantly increased. Insurance costs for sea vessels, for example, have continuously soared to greater heights while vessels are required to install certain security features to help reduce the risk of loss resulting from piracy. Owing to the importance assigned to the shipping industry in international trade, and considering the risks it faces, it would only be wise to consider finding ways of mitigating the effects of such risks or altogether eliminating them. This work is dedicated to the analysis of piracy as a main shipping risk and is aimed at coming up with strategies and techniques for combating this specific risk. According to the International Maritime organisation (IMO), approximately 90 percent of the world’s trade is transported by the international shipping industry. Transportation of bulk raw materials and manufactured goods, and intercontinental trade would practically be impossible without international shipping. Better said, without the international shipping industry, one half of the world would ultimately freeze while the other half would starve. Under close analysis, ships are high value and sophisticated assets. Merchant ships in their annual operations generate income in excess of 380 billion USD dollars in freight rates alone. In reality, this accounts for about five percent of the world’s entire economy. This percentage no shows how vital the industry contributes to investors, governments, employees, organisations and by extension the global economy. In this sense, it is important for all stakeholders to join forces and

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Dream Job Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Dream Job - Research Paper Example There are various opportunities in different fields. All we need to do is focus on a specific post in a company and try to reach the position by dedication and a little smart work. My dream job is to become a production manager in a software industry. Being in a software industry I will have the opportunity to handle different projects that are helpful in modernization of technology. This assignment will discuss about a job description of a manager along with compensation, benefits and appraisal program in a software company. Most of the software companies in the world hire people with skills in programming and software testing. Being a production manager my responsibility will be to take over the challenges required in completion of a project successfully. A manager in a software company is responsible for selecting a project that can be completed by the team, explaining the details about the project, managing manpower and completion of the project in time. These are the key specifications that a manager needs to take care of while an on-going assignment. There are two major challenges for a manager in a software company. First is to select an appropriate project that the assigned team can handle. The project selected must be easy for the team members so that can complete it in time without any errors. The second most important challenge is to motivate the team members so that they do not take a leave between the crucial days. Lack of proper workforce can lead to delay of job which might not be accepted by a company. Hence these are the two major challenges to take care of being a manager of a software company. Another important responsibility of a manager is to communicate with the management about any threats his team may come across while handling an important assignment. It is a manager’s duty to balance and bridge the gap between employees and management

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Implementation Of New Product Service Or Process Purpose Marketing Essay

Implementation Of New Product Service Or Process Purpose Marketing Essay KELLOGG is the worlds leading producer of cereal products with total sales volume of nearly $13 billion during 2008. Kellogg products are manufactured in 19 countries and marketed in more than 180 countries around the world. Major Kelloggs products include crackers, Toaster pastries, cereal bars, fruit-flavored snacks, frozen waffles and vegetarian foods (http://www.kelloggs.co.uk/ Accessed on March 03, 2011). The company famous brands include all- bran, corn flakes, keebler, pop-tarts, eggo, cheez-it, nutri-grain, rice krispies, bearnaked, morningstar farms, famous amos, special K, and frosted mini-wheats. Mission statement: Kellogg is a global company committed to building long-term growth in volume and profit and to enhancing its worldwide leadership position by providing nutritious food products of superior value http://www.kelloggs.co.uk/ Accessed on March 03, 2011) In a rapidly changing and competitive business environment, it is not easy to predict: future trends in consumer tastes and preferences competitors actions market conditions. Creating new products or making changes to existing brands involves making investment decisions, in the hope of making a return. Weighing up future returns against an investment is crucial and involves an element of risk, because the future is never certain. Previous experience, together with market research information helps to predict future events and outcomes. However, all business activities involve some element of risk. There is often a link between risk and return. More the risk, the higher the likely returns (or profits); however, a balance needs to be struck. In making a decision to develop a new brand, it needs to decide how much investment to make and to forecast the likelihood of a successful outcome. Decision makers aim to develop a long-term strategy to meet a range of objectives such as: growing market share developing a unique market position creating consumer or brand loyalty generating a targeted level of profit. This case study describes a major investment in Kelloggs All-Bran. It illustrates business case for the new product and identifies how the companys investment in new product development serves to strengthen a global brand. Later part of the essay will reflect an outline plan which identifies resources required for the project that is materials, equipment, labour, and training and development of staff 2. LAUNCHING OF KELLOGGs ALL-BRAN 2.1) NEED IDENTIFICATION AND ANALYSIS: In an uncertain world where the organisations strategy is to focus on products and brands that are either the market leader or in a strong position the company believes that this focus upon core and successful products enables it to provide consistent and reliable returns and rewards for its stakeholders. Before proceeding with the change, Kellogg carried out some detailed market research with consumers to discover their thoughts and feelings. There are two main approaches to market research i.e.: qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative research involves working in detail with a relatively small number of consumers e.g. observing and listening to them talking in small groups in which they discuss the brand, products, packaging, advertising ideas, etc. The qualitative research helped Kellogg to develop the concept of a family of fibre brands. The advertising and promotional materials with which the consumer groups worked were very similar to the end promotions that Kellogg wished to communicate. Quantitative research involved using questionnaire and survey approaches with a much larger sample of targeted consumers to estimate the impact on sales if these changes were put into market. Kelloggs undertook market research by answering the questions as per questionaire-1 in Appendix. In September 2004, Kellogg planned to introduce a new product i.e. All-Bran to make the benefits more relevant to consumers. Promotion of feel great message was featured on 8 million packs and on the All-Bran website. It focused on the fact that high-fibre diets may help people to feel lighter and more energetic as well as aiding the digestive system. Bran which is high in fiber is needed in a humans diet. It is best to be used in moderation to gain the positive health it promotes. The high bran, high fibre cereal has been designed to aid a healthy digestive system and to help people control their morning eating habits; without compromising on taste! Research showed that consumers see cereals as a natural product. This is a strong selling point. It makes it vital to feature the ingredients on the packaging. This is because All-Bran range can be seen as part of a daily healthy diet (http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/case-studybuilding-brand-order-to-sustain-its-life-cycle Accessed on March 03, 2011). 2.2) OBJECTIVES: By setting up SMART (specific, measurable, achievable or agreed, realistic and time-related) objectives Kellogg would know whether each objective for launching All-Bran had been achieved. The objectives were clear and were communicated to all staff. This made sure that all staff agreed to follow certain actions to achieve the stated aims. By setting these objectives Kellogg set a direction that would take the business to where it wanted to be three years into the future. Major objectives include; encourage and support physical activity among all sections of the population use resources to sponsor activities and run physical activity focused community programmes for its consumers and the public in general increase the association between Kellogg and physical activity use the cereal packs to communicate the balance message to consumers introduce food labeling that would enable consumers to make decisions about the right balance of food 2.3) TARGET MARKET: It is the process of evaluating each market segment and select one or more segments to enter. Premiums and gifts are outstanding tools for call to mind initial trial, brand switching, and repeat purchase. Now and then company is able to target because they are financially strong and they can arrange a vast product line. People aged 55 and over are the target markets of Kelloggs ALL BRAN .Kelloggs ALL BRAN are easily available in urban and rural areas all over the country. It has been targeted every segment and we can say that Kellogg has a fragmented market. Market attractiveness factors for All-bran include market, size, differentiation possibilities, bargaining power of customers, seasonality, distribution, product growth and stage in product life cycle Main factors influencing marketing of a product are; a) Economic and technological factors i.e. Investment intensity, Industry capacity, Technology, Barriers to entry and exit and Access to supplies b) Competitive i.e. competitive structure, competitive groupings, substitute products, price, and Individual competitor analysis 3. PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE The product life cycle is the period over which it appeals to customers and can be illustrated in a series of stages showing how consumer interest, and hence sales, has altered over time. Kelloggs All-Bran has a long and distinguished history. Like many other famous products, however, it is important from time to time to re-energize its life cycle. To prolong the life cycle of a brand or product an organisation needs to use skilful marketing techniques to inject new life into the product. The traditional product life-cycle shows how a product goes through 4 stages during its life in the market place. At each stage in the product life-cycle, there is a close relationship between sales and profit so when a product goes into decline, profit decreases. When a product is introduced to the market, growth is slow due to limited awareness. As the product is establishing itself, sales will start to increase during the period of growth. As the product reaches maturity, the company needs to inject new life into the product; either by creating brand extensions or variants otherwise the product will reach maturity and start to decline. All-Bran is standing on the maturity stage with 65% of total market share. To stay spirited in the market it needs to introduce time to time new offers and flavors and different promotional schemes. Manufacturing capability is another key issue. If launches of new products are successful in global markets, Kelloggs must have the manufacturing capaci ty to meet consumer demand as well as the supply chain necessary to reach those consumers. When a company like Kelloggs is investigating a change in its marketing it can consider four elements (http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/case-studyusing-new-product-development-to-grow-a-brand Accessed on May 03, 2011) of marketing mix or 4Ps: 3.1) PRODUCT: This is about meeting changing needs and wants of customers through offers. The growth in healthier lifestyles creates opportunities for Kelloggs to increase the number of products for this segment. In case of ALL BRAN, the product is the cereal production by the company. Core Product is cereal, for breakfast and as a snack. Actual product is high quality level; different tastes, flavors, packaging and the symbol K. Augmented product provides tastes and energy as well as nutritional ingredients. 3.2) PRICE: Pricing decision is very important because the survival of a company in the market depends upon pricing decision. Pricing strategy depends on pricing objectives. The amount a company charges for its product is important in determining sales. Super brands like Kelloggs can charge a premium because of the strength of the brand and product quality. 3.3) PLACE: Where customers can purchase the product is also an important factor in determining sales. If a brand like All-Bran is not stocked in supermarkets where most purchases are made, sales will be lost. 3.4) PROMOTION: The marketing mix activities of a product planning, pricing, and distribution are performed mainly within the organization or between the organization and its marketing partners. However, with promotional activities, the firm communicates directly with potential customers. Kelloggs uses above the line promotion like TV advertising as well as below the line promotion like on-pack promotions and sampling. The market research revealed several matters that Kellogg needed to address when alerting the public to changes in the brand family. 1. Some consumers might find the act of placing a range of separate products under the All-Bran brand confusing. The solution was to ensure that packs clearly display both the power brand name (All-Bran) and also the product name (e.g. Bran Flakes). 2. Research showed that consumers see cereals as a natural product. This is a strong selling point. It makes it vital to feature the ingredients on the packaging. 3. To give the campaign maximum impact, Kellogg carefully co-ordinated television and radio advertising, PR and in-store promotions. These encouraged consumers to try out and reappraise the revamped products. A products life cycle may last only a few months (e.g. with a fad, or craze) or, as with Special K, for many years. Although it was a successful product, Kelloggs recognised the opportunity to stretch the brand by investments that would: revitalize it extend and further develop its growth phase and Help to delay the onset of the maturity phase. 4. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MARKET 4.1) MARKETING ENVIRONMENT: This can be divided into two broad categories; a) Micro Environment: The Micro Environment of the Kellog consists off; The Company: has to take other groups or departments of company into account. Such as finance, research and development, purchasing, operation, accounting department. Suppliers: Kelloggs obtains its raw materials of wheat, corn, cocoa, rice and sugar from primary suppliers around the world. It is a large-scale manufacturer and stores sufficient stocks to meet customer orders. Marketing Intermediaries Kelloggs does not sell its breakfast cereals directly to consumers. It uses intermediaries like wholesalers, supermarkets, high street stores and hotels. Kelloggs has major relationships in the tertiary sector. These include the major retail supermarkets such as Tesco and ASDA and some of the wholesale sector such as Makro. Customers: The Kelloggs Company mainly focuses on customer market that consists of people aged 55 and over and weight conscious people. Competitors: Nestle is the only competitor of Kellogg. b. Macro Environment: The external factors which affect a companys planning and performance, and are beyond its control: for example, socio-economic, legal and technological change (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_macro_environment_of_Kellogg) There are many environmental issues which should be looked at to get the broader picture of Kelloggs Company. These issues can be grouped into six categories: political, economical, social-demographic, technological, legal and ethical. The acronym for this is a Pestle analysis. Political /Legal Environment: UK has a stable political environment hence, private enterprise is encouraged, which gives Kellogg an opportunity to introduce new products and improve the existing ones. Economic Environment: Economic factors are those that affect consumer buying behavior. As this is an era of great depression, there is a change in the income of the consumer so the sales of Kellogg are affected by this. Natural Environment: The natural environment of Kelloggs involves all the natural resources that are needed as inputs by the company and are affected by market activities. Theyve set themselves a number of targets to meet by 2015, and are constantly checking their progress along the way so they can see how theyre doing. By 2015 they aim to have reduced all of the following by 15-20% per metric tonne of food produced since 2005. Energy use Greenhouse gas emissions Water use Waste sent to landfill (For waste to landfill, they achieved a 41.5% reduction by 2009 and have set themselves a new target of a further 20% reduction by 2015 against a 2009 baseline.) Socio-cultural Environment: UK has a tradition of eating cereal as a breakfast so Kellogg has got high market. Technological Environment:: UK has good infrastructure and distribution channel which again is highly favorable for Kellogg to grow further. Responding to the Marketing Environment: Kelloggs has utilized integrated business units and compensation incentive systems to increase the accountability of the cash expenditure and improve the functionality of the organization. Products sales have been increasing in the UK as well as in other countries. The pricing and availability of the product determines the profitability of a product. Streamlining many of the operations in recent times has helped the Kellogg increase the profit margin. More resources could therefore be spent on the marketing and advertisement of products. In addition, Kelloggs also increased the number and frequency of promotional offers more toys and DVDs in cereal boxes, tie-ins with movies and charitable donations to local schools and charities. In 2002, a new strategy of Volume to Value was introduced throughout the company. 4.2) MARKET SEGMENTATION PROCESS The process of defining and subdividing a large homogenous market into clearly identifiable segments having similar needs, wants, or demand characteristics. Its objective is to design a marketing mix that precisely matches the expectations of customers in the targeted segment. Today Kelloggs is doing its business in United states, China, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, United Kingdom, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam. In this project we are only discussing its market segmentation in United Kingdom. They are segmenting the market in the form of geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral. All-Bran Original is available in Australia, Somalia, USA, Canada, Colombia, UK, Italy, Mexico, France, Japan, Latin America, and South Africa 4.3) MARKET TARGETTING PROCESS After dividing the market into various segments, the Kellogg Company has to decide which segment it can serve better. So first they evaluated each segments. They want the sets of buyers who share common needs and characteristics to serve. Kellogg mainly used undifferentiated (mass) marketing strategy because cereal will always be mass marketed. They have to do business on large scale so Kellogg Company is using mass marketing. 4.4) PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS New product development process of product starts with idea generation. Commercialization Product Development Marketing Strategy Development Idea Generation Test Marketing Business Analysis Concept Development Testing Idea Screening 5. USE OF INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL RESOURCES Use of internal and external resources is crucial in the launch of a new product. 5.1) INTERNAL RESOURCES: Idea of Kelloggs came from; Product development teams Formal research and development (asked consumers through questionnaires ) Brains of its executives, scientists, engineers, manufacturing staff and salespeople Companies successful entrepreneurial programs (encourages employee to think about new cereal product ) Value innovation program 5.2) EXTERNAL RESOURCES: Customers (through questionnaires) Competitors (Kelloggs get clue about their new product by watching competitors ads, analyze the sales, and then decide). Distributors Suppliers (tell company about new concepts, techniques and materials that can be used to develop new products). 6. SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGTHS: a) Kellogg All Bran is the only large, very high fibre brand in the market place. Private label provides the main competition. b) The general public remains highly aware of ALL BRAN c) The ALL BRAN brand is strong; consumers associate it with healthy activity. WEAKNESS: a) Awareness of the brand had been declining because of little promotional (e.g. advertising) activity in recent years. b) Compared with leading brands such as Kellogg corn flakes, the individual fibre products have limited scale, making it hard to make advertising investment economic. c) The preposition that a fibre cereal keeps you regular is less motivating to consumers than in the past. Consumers now more interested in products inner health OPPORTUNITIES a) People are looking to eat more healthily b) The rapid growth of non cereal products that meet inner health need (pro biotic drinks and yogurts) c) In the UK the number of people over 55(the products main consumers) continues to increase. THREATS: a) The sales of private labels fibre cereal is growing. b) There is a consumers trend towards the tastier cereal 7. CONCLUSION By creating the power brand All-Bran and providing the right sort of well researched promotional support, Kellogg has been able to inject renewed vigor into a family of related products. Through appropriate promotional activities and more relevant messages, Kellogg has re-awakened consumers interest in products that can play an important part in developing a healthy diet in a health-conscious world. Regular campaigns of promotional activity are helpful in enabling all organizations to sustain their own life cycle and those of their brands and products. It is early days in evaluating the success of the marketing activity supporting All-Bran but the signs are good. Appendix: Primary Research: Survey questionnaire-1 What changes taking place in society are likely to affect the product? How might new technologies affect our business? What are likely to be the future market trends? Where are the opportunities within the market place? What new categories would appeal to the target market? How far do consumers think the brand could stretch into the market for different product categories? Survey questionnaire-2 1. What is age bracket do you belong to? 13-16 yrs 17-30 yrs 31-39 yrs 39 yrs or above 2. Which income bracket do you belong to? GBP 50-200 GBP 200-500 GBP 500-1000 GBP 1000 above 3. What is your marital status? Single Married 4. What is the brand of the cereal that you usually purchase? Nestle Kellogg 5. Is ALL BRAN your favorite cereal? Yes No 6. How often do you purchase cereal? Everyday Once a week Once a month 7. Please rank accordingly to the characteristics of ALL BRANS: a) Taste b)Price c) Flavor d) Packaging 1=least preferred 5=most preferred 1 2 3 4 5 8. Do you like the ads of ALL BRAN? Yes No 9. What flavors of Kellogg do you like the most? Corn flakes All bran Rice kripsies Special K

Friday, October 25, 2019

Garden for the Blind :: Architecture Design Essays

Garden for the Blind In Sensory Design by Joy Malnar and Frank Vodvarka, a great garden is said to unfold like a narrative, a journey or a piece of music. My hope is that the Garden for the Blind located on the land south of Hume Hall will be such a garden. I think the Garden should be entered through the parking lot, since the ground there is the most level. I think there should be a wooden path with railings on both sides until the garden reaches it’s full width. The path should then change to asphalt or rock, but the wood railing should be continued for a few more feet. There could be an archway over the wooden path, wrapped in Jasmine vines, so that the entrance to the garden can be marked by such a smell. The unrailed but broad path should then travel through the garden. Although unrailed, a system, such as raised edges, should be set in place on both sides of the path, to indicate where it ends and the grass begins. The path will eventually lead to a substantially large fountain in the middle of the Garden. One will know when he or she is in the heart of the Garden when one hears the water, or even feels the mist on his or her face. The fountain should have a ledge wide enough to sit on, with railings to keep one from falling in. The fountain will be in the middle of a paved circle. The circle will have railings around it, except for when it is met up by one of the three main paths: the path from the entrance, the path to the gazebo, and the path to the exit. On the right side of the fountain (when facing it from the entrance) there will be a Gazebo. There will be steps leading up to the Gazebo, since it will be situated on the steep side of the hill. The Gazebo can be a center for

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Business Environment in India Essay

1. How have businesses in India developed differently from their western counter parts? India, from 1947 to 1991 followed the socialist system of industrial development, wherein the major industries were controlled by the state. The western countries have followed a policy of free market and capitalism during the same time period. The Indian economy was restricted by the License – Permit – Quota Raj, due to which the opportunities of developing new businesses were minimal. This policy insulated the Indian economy from the outside world , and led to monopolies in the public sector which were inefficient, similar to the U.S.S.R. Post liberalisation, with removal of these restrictions, the businesses in India, free from the shackles of the permit system have grown as a fast pace with improving efficiencies. However several businesses, which could not cope with the competition, fell by the wayside. The western economies have in the capitalistic environment, graduated from family run businesses to control by institutional investors to control by private equity firms in many cases, whereas, their Indian counterparts still have a large proportion run by family run businesses and institutional investors controlled by the government. Many of the PSU’s in India which have survived the post – liberalisation opening up of the economy are monopolies in their respective markets and today are quite competitive on the global stage. The family run businesses compete fiercely with each other and look for opportunities in newer areas, including global markets. In the western world, there is a growing trend of consolidation with oligopolies emerging in almost all industries, which are being controlled by PE firms. Overall, India’s form of ownership has barely changed over the past decade. The division of profits made by family firms between those in their first, second and third or older generations has stayed pretty constant. 2. Why has Indian business developed in this way? Indian businesses have developed this way mainly because of two reasons: 1. India followed the socialist policy post independence, which converted the British legacy to public run institutions, and followed a policy of nationalization whereby control of industrial output was controlled by the government. The license – quota – permit raj severely restricted the Indian entrepreneurs from developing new businesses. The family run businesses with deep pockets and good political connections expanded their sphere of influence from their core businesses into unrelated areas where they saw an opportunity to grow. With reforms taking place post 1991 in a gradual manner, many new and existing businesses managed very well to adapt to the changing environment, taking advantage of the technology advances which had already taken place in the western world. 2. With a largely agricultural based economy, the Indian government had focussed on related infrastructure, leading to a weak over all infrastructure for industry. This has led to difficulties in starting new businesses. Similarly, regulations involved in starting new businesses are severely restrictive and cumbersome which is discouraging to entrepreneurs 3. Will it continue to? Major reforms in several areas are sorely required if Indian businesses and the Indian economy are to maintain the growth trajectory. If these happen, Indian businesses will transform into real global players in a few years. If reforms are soft-pedalled there is a very good chance the Indian business growth story will come to an early end. 4. Can the aspirations it has raised be met? Yes, the aspirations it has raised can be met. There is every reason to believe that the decision makers in Indian governance recognize what needs to be done and will act accordingly, although not at the pace required. The overall momentum generated by India Inc. should carry it through the current set of problems it is facing. The pool of skilled professionals combined with a large population with a growing purchasing power will project India to the big league. The relatively slower growth rates in the developed economies will give Indian firms the opportunity to scale up to global level at a fairly rapid pace. 5. And is this new form of capitalism good for India—and the world? The new form of capitalism called capindialism is good for India, at least for the coming generation. As India transforms into one of the largest economies of the world, the moderate growth rates as compared with China, and somewhat controlled, India will be able to protect itself and therefore the world from unexpected shocks. If the country maintains its current rate of growth it is expected to become the world’s third-largest economy sometime after 2030, and hundreds of millions of people will lift them out of poverty. The Indian businesses which survive the growth will be transformed into world class and be controlled indirectly by the Indian public.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Slasher Films in the Pakistani Cinema

Pakistan is a developing country that has been struggling for decades in its many eras, ranging from business to the cinema. Despite the tussle, it has managed to develop its film and television industry rapidly. â€Å"Lollywood† is a term that was coined back in the day to glamorously describe the cinema culture of Pakistan. Though, as we all know, in comparison to Bollywood and Hollywood, Lollywood, in majority has not been much popular. Nevertheless, upon profoundly observing the television industry of Pakistan, one learns that it is much more refined and efficacious in contrast to the film sector.Particularly, in the present times, the drama or television industry, as you may call it, is flourishing not just locally but all around the globe, reaching out to many Pakistanis and providing them with twenty four hours of fruitful entertainment. Pakistani Cinema has touched upon a variety of genres which predominantly revolve around documentaries, dramas, thrillers, horror, rom ance and action. This paper will, however, depict and deliberate upon a subgenre of horror films; slasher films in Pakistan.A slasher film is preeminently defined as a horror film which involves the use of an unearthly weapon such as an axe by a psychopathic slaughterer who mainly pertains to aggressively slaying a number of victims. These movies follow specific cinematic techniques where close-ups and special effects are used in a variety of ways, primarily representing women as sexual objects. The conception of showing the â€Å"Final Girl† rescuing herself is the foremost ideology a slasher film ordinarily focuses on.Over the years, Lollywood has managed to accomplish the two most successful horror films using the true slasher and storyline techniques; Zinda Laash (â€Å"Dracula in Pakistan/The Living Corpse†) and Zibah Khana (â€Å"Hell’s Ground†) produced in 1967 and 2007 respectively. It is interesting to know that the recent production; Hellâ€℠¢s Ground makes continuous relations with the thirty year old film; Zinda Laash. However, the two devour excessive amount of differences; in regard to the slasher film techniques and gender based critique which will be discussed in this essay. Dracula in Pakistan† was filmed in the late 60’s; however, when released, it sprang a cascade of fear amongst the Pakistanis. According to (The Indian Express, 2012), a woman from the audience was agonized by a heart attack. It was also the first movie produced in Pakistan to be categorized as â€Å"X-rated† along with being screened at two international film festivals. (IMDB) Zinda Laash is considered as a plagiarized production; an elucidation of Hammer’s Classic â€Å"Dracula. † (The HotSpot Online) The plot begins with a scientist; Dr.Tabani accomplishing his test experiment to gain immortality followed by the introduction of his assistant; a buxom woman who discovers the â€Å"dead body† of the sci entist and decides to store it in a coffin. To her astonishment, the corpse comes to life and she is his first victim. The story continues with a somnolent traveller, Dr. Aqil who does not consider the rumors of the existence of the immortals to be true, entering the mansion of the â€Å"Khabees Rooh†. Though, he soon discovers the veracity and chooses to end the cycle of plague, but is evidently futile.The film further revolves around a Dr. Aqil’s wife-to-be; Shabnam, who is also a victim of Dr. Tabani and how immortality fails her appallingly. As petrifying Zinda Laash might have been in the 60’s, it most certainly isn’t disturbing in relation to the modern day standards. One might find it rigorously monotonous but humorous at the same time as it depicts alluring and peculiar dances by women. Zinda Laash strongly caters to the â€Å"Male Gaze† throughout the hundred minutes of its run time; from the introduction to the climax and the conclusion.T hroughout the course, the audience experiences a range of dance numbers by either one or many women. The initial portrayal of the sexuality of women instigates when the assistant is lured by her â€Å"dead† boss in the middle of the dark hours. The woman is dressed in a knee length night gown with revealed skin and cleavage; identifying her as a sex object. For being a Pakistani production of the 60’s era, the cinematic techniques capturing the body of the woman can definitely be labeled as â€Å"obscene. The attack demonstrates sensuality in the facial expressions of the woman with the sluggish movement of closeness between the victim and the attacker pouring a sense of sexual tension amongst the audience. Followed by the frightening shrieks of the woman, violence against women is highlighted significantly; a woman is powerless in front of a man. Later, as the weary traveller arrives and adjusts comfortably at the mansion after a warm welcome by Dr. Tabani, one notic es Dr. Aqil setting a photo frame of his beloved fiancee he truly misses. Dr.Tabani enters his room to ensure comfort and malignly admires the photo by calling it â€Å"Khoobsurat. † It is enigmatically bizarre how Dr. Tabani ignores to make Dr. Aqil his next victim who is right there and instead wishes to suck blood out of a woman. Malevolent thoughts instantly stutter through the attacker’s head about the woman; further enhancing the violence against women. As the night gets gloomy and murky, one notices Dr. Aqil being effortlessly distracted by the giggles of a woman; the vampire bride. He gets up to follow the chuckles; his facial expressions visibly expose his urge for sexual desire.Discovering the origin of the chortles, Dr. Aqil finds a mysterious female, dancing with â€Å"voluptuous sensuality† (The HotSpot Online) dressed in a lightly lined white dress to attract him towards her. There is undeniably a connotation attached to the actions of the woman in this scene; she uses her sexuality to fulfill her need to feed upon the man for survival. The man finally submits himself to her and is attacked by the vampire bride. This explains how the religion of Islam fears the power of female sexual attraction over men.Imam Ghazali’s interpretation is also highlighted during this part of the film; female aggression is tuned outwards and she sexually entices men. Captivatingly, this occurrence is intermittent by Dr. Tabani; the vampire, who pushes the woman; once again showing the physical power of man over woman. Wretchedly, Dr. Aqil is masticated and is fated to earn immortality. Nonetheless, before fronting his destiny, he tries to put an end to the outrageous veracity by using a â€Å"knife† as the weapon of destruction, but fails terribly. Incongruously, a dance number is presented right after Dr.Aqil becomes a casualty of immortality. This dance sequence is similar to the many others shown during the film at odd intervals. This particular sequence comprised of a woman dancing dressed in a half sleeve top and pants in front of a crowd of men in majority. Vulgarity strikes not only in her clothing this time, but in the movement of her physique in sync with the song lyrics which were chanted by a man as he made hand gestures pointing towards the dancer; â€Å"Udhar Jawani, Idhar Nasha. † The lyrics clearly indicate the drunken men relishing the â€Å"jawaani† of the female performing.The theme of sexuality is reinforced with the entrance of Dr. Aqil’s brother as he is interrupted with another dance number, this time comprising of many women dancing for their own entertainment instead of one woman dancing to entertain a crowd. This dance comprises of Dr. Aqil’s fiancee, Shabnam dressed in shalwar kameez; the national dress of Pakistan, dancing with her friends. However, the fitting of the clothing catered to the male gaze once again. The shirts are of normal length but tremend ously body-hugging from the hip, hence outlining he body shape. These women also wore perfectly winged eyeliners and hair done gracefully, further emphasizing the gender socialization of women; how they are required to dress up. The theme of men giving in for the sexuality of women is reversed when Shabnam desperately waits for Dr. Tabani to suck her blood. On his arrival, Shabnam lies down on her bed in an inviting posture outlining her curvaceous body and reveals her neck; women objectification. Once again, sexual tension is built as Dr. Tabani goes close to her neck and feeds on her.The difference between the earlier attacks and this once is that Shabnam was willingly letting Dr. Tabani feed on her; she felt pleasure. The photograph below shows her exact position on the bed. (The HotSpot Online) There is also a female child in the narrative who Shabnam intends to feed on. The question here evolves as to why there was not a male child instead of a female child named â€Å"Babyâ⠂¬ ? Baby constantly made relations with Shabnam throughout the course of the film, for example, she teased Shabnam by snatching Dr. Aqil’s photograph from her hand and ran away.The film comes towards a climax where the family discovers the Dracula Shabnam who intended to trick Baby and suck her blood out. Shabnam’s brother confronts her as she convinces him to hug her; she decides to feed on him. This plot comes to an end when Aqil’s brother acts as the macho man and pushes Shabnam away and stabs her to death by a dagger. Patriarchy is promoted via this prospect as well. Nonetheless, a dance sequence is a must input at the pinnacle; this time a female wearing a sequin dress entertaining a group of men by dancing. Most importantly, we notice that the dupatta in many of these dance numbers is eliminated.The movie further progresses with the development of an aim to eradicate the immortals by Shabnam’s brother and Dr. Aqil’s brother. Zibah Khaana or Hell’s Ground, on the other hand, follows a completely different narrative with underlining various subjects such as Gender Roles, Social Concerns and Pakistani Culture. It truly depicts the use of slasher film techniques like showing the world from the eyes of the attacker and use of the â€Å"Final Girl† notion. It is an Urdu-English slasher film directed by Omar Khan in only 30 days and has won many awards at Film Festivals around the Globe. Wikipedia) Zibah Khaana is a journey of five teenage friends who decide to take a short cut through a place known as â€Å"Dozakh Pur† to attend a rock concert. On their way, they face many difficulties such as the toxic water, zombies, a daunting hitchhiker, a witch and a man dressed in a burkha with an ancient spiky weapon which makes the movie a modern gore flick. The diversity in characters chosen makes the film even more exhilarating. The movie begins with a boy having an accident upon seeing a Burkha Man standing i n the middle of the road with a medieval weapon.However, the first victim is massacred with a spade, in comparison to Zinda Laash, where the first victim was a woman attacked by fangs. In the case of Hell’s Ground, woman objectification is hardly given any attention. The film sets the surroundings of Pakistan by showing detailed shots about the culture of Pakistan; daily activities. Gender socialization is highlighted when Roxy, a modern American girl is introduced and specifically asks her maid for a â€Å"pink† colored shirt to wear as she has to spend the night at her friend â€Å"Ayesha’s† house.Pakistani culture is further laid stress upon when the maid reacts in astonishment to Roxy, being a girl and spending the night at a friends’ house. Next, a low class Christian boy, Simon is presented with his parents; where the father uses abusive language to degrade his son. In relation to Zinda Laash, here we experience that the wife; Simon’s mother screams back to her husband in support of her child. Patriarchy is not laid stress upon; it does exist but not to a critical extent in the modern day and this is what Zibah Khaana probably aimed to demonstrate.As the introduction progresses, the audience meets the Final Girl, Ayesha. Her first appearance in a traditional shalwar kameez serving her mother tea immediately clicks; she is different from the previous two characters introduced. Once more, the Pakistani Culture and Gender Bias are tinted when Ayesha seeks permission from her mother to go on a â€Å"school trip† for the night. Receiving a hesitant reaction from her mother and commentary upon how her father would be against this act if he were alive, instantaneously converses with the Pakistani audience as to how girls should not be let out for the night.It emphasizes upon traditional beliefs on gender socialization; girls should spend the night at their own house and not elsewhere. However, there are a lot of modern families in today’s time who are also against girls spending the night elsewhere. In the Pakistani society, it is definitely considered as indecent. Inevitably, Ayesha lies to stay out for the night to go to a rock concert. However, her socialization restricts her from doing things that she has been taught are wrong; for example later in the film all her friends smoke hashish, but she doesn’t.Ayesha also wears an â€Å"Allah Hu Akbar† necklace throughout the course of the film. We also observe, upon exiting the house Ayesha gets rid of her books and grabs a pair of jeans and t-shirt to change later for the trip; Ayesha belongs to a local ordinary family. Later, when she changes her attire from a traditional one to modern, her friends are surprised. Roxy, Ayesha, Simon and another boy OJ meet at the ice cream parlor, â€Å"Hot Spot† and wait for the last character of the film; Vicky to arrive with transport. He brings a van with old fashioned Pakist ani Horror Film Paintings, one of which consisted of a plump woman posing.Pointing out the sexuality in the old times; OJ instantly reacts to the painting of the woman as â€Å"sexy. † This shows that young boys are easily drawn towards sexuality with being open about their desires. The friends continue to head out and on their way are disturbed by a group of transgenders while waiting for the traffic signal to go green. An effective use of queer theory has been applied as the reaction of the teenagers is shown. Transgenders are a huge part of the Pakistani society and are treated with disgrace.They are usually perceived as infuriating while they beg at the traffic signals; the reaction of Vicky and the body language of the transgenders have clearly been captured. As the transgenders approached and touched Vicky, his facial expressions stressed upon irritation and repulsion. Youth culture has been shown via sarcastic conversations amongst the five friends. Roxy is an American -Pakistani modern girl who did not hesitate to smoke hashish in comparison to the Final Girl, Ayesha who denies the offer and feels uncomfortable. Roxy and OJ have a conversation about the socio-economic situation of Pakistan.This was amusing to observe as women in the earlier day were not included in such conversations, and today we see a positive change in the role of women. In Roxy’s imaginary world, she â€Å"can’t wait to get out of this sticky shithole. † Use of abusive language by both the genders has been highlighted, which serves as a change in the norm of our society as all such instances are censored by the censor board of Pakistan. Hell’s Ground, was however, successful in mirroring the reality. From zombies, a freaky hitchhiker and a witch to the serial killer in a burkha, Zibah Khana covers it all.Generally, older women are always associated with darkness, magic and evil. Hell’s ground uses the same ideology and uses an unusual strang e woman in the story who is involved in the village killings. The hitchhiker and the main psychopathic killer Burkhaman which the teenagers come across are the old woman’s children. Earlier in the film, the teenagers have managed to escape from the creepy hitchhiker by throwing him out of the van and crushing him in the process. Motherly instincts are shown when the mother finds her injured son and commands the Burkhaman to cut them up into â€Å"botis. The old woman also continuously addressed the Burkhaman as her daughter; further highlighting the use of queer theory. The Burkhaman is in reality a man, but is continuously referred as a female; this is because the old woman always wanted a daughter but never had one. I believe, the use of such a dogma is an indirect reference to the LGBT community in Pakistan. Throughout the film, the serial killer being the main lead remains silent. According to my analogy, it has been done purposely to lay stress upon the fact that societ y wants the LGBT community to remain silent and act as the underdog of the society.Being a slasher film, the plot revolves around The Final Girl throughout. Before the zombie attacks, she senses incongruity but chooses to ignore and stays determined. This is the most ideal strategy used in the production of slasher films. Her psychological turmoil is continuously tested till the very end where she saves herself. In completion, Ayesha is the only individual left who has not been successfully victimized. Slasher films intend to show women in terror, and Zibah Khana explicitly follows this rule. It shows both the women, Roxy and Ayesha, in terror, running for their lives and screaming.The only difference is that Ayesha is the final girl and remains determined to save herself. Another stratagem used in Zibah Khana is the eradication of all the irrelevant characters one by one leaving the Final Girl as the last victim. This is to build tension amongst the audience to experience the rever sal of gender roles. When Ayesha faces the Burkhaman, she fights back for herself and saves herself by getting hold of a spade and a stone, and smashes the head of the man dressed in a Burkha. There is no man to rescue her; she is her own hero. A hidden side of the innocent girl is shown; she makes sure to kill the attacker.Typically, in slasher films, the Final Girl is given intense strength and masculinity all of a sudden with the urge to protect her rather than being dependent upon a man to save the day. There are many differences we observe between the two films. Firstly, we notice that the first victim in Zinda Laash is a woman where she is shown as a sexual object. However, in Zibah Khana, the first victim is a boy; OJ. Secondly, Zibah Khana adopts the technique of showing the world from the attacker’s eyes to its fullest whereas Zinda Laash hardly makes use of it.Thirdly, another distinctive feature of a slasher film is to show women in terror; building the tension and finally reaching the climax. Zibah Khana renders this trepidation to a great extent in comparison to Zinda Laash, where the women feeling fear is shown minimally in comparison to Zibah Khana. Lastly, the concept of Final Girl is completely ignored in Zinda Laash, assuming that Shabnam was the main girl who was expected to save herself and not enter the realm of death; that too by being stabbed by a man. Zibah Khana, on the other hand, stresses all the attention on the Final Girl, Ayesha.In the end she is the only survivor. Horror film is a genre which has come a long way in the Pakistani Cinema. It started off with showing women as sex objects to the girl becoming the main lead and surviving on her own terms. To conclude, I absolutely agree with Omar Khan, the director of Zibah Khana as he claims, â€Å"Horror is at its most effective when it taps into real fears. Our real fears are connected to things that are sensitive politically and difficult to discuss. † (Telegraph, UK , 2007) 3286 Words Bibliography (n. d. ). Retrieved November 27, 2012, from IMDB: http://www. imdb. om/title/tt0360232/trivia Telegraph, UK. (2007, August 11). Retrieved December 4, 2012, from http://www. telegraph. co. uk/culture/film/starsandstories/3667146/Zibahkhana-Beware-zombies-wearing-saris. html The Indian Express. (2012, July 2). Retrieved December 4, 2012, from The Indian Express: http://www. indianexpress. com/news/be-scared-very-scared/969038/0 The HotSpot Online. (n. d. ). Retrieved December 4, 2012, from http://www. thehotspotonline. com/moviespot/bolly/reviews/xyz/zindalaash. htm Wikipedia. (n. d. ). Retrieved December 4, 2012, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Zibahkhana

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

American Busniess in the Gilded age essays

American Busniess in the Gilded age essays American businessmen will ultimately accept such demands as the eight hour day and forty hour week, not because they were forced to do so, but because it was good for business. I agree with this statement 100%. During the first years of the 20th century, the companies had total control over their workers. Take the coal mining industry for example. It started the workers off young, often around the age of 8! This made sure that for the rest of their life, theyd never know anything other than mining, therefore keeping them down. The people who grew up in the mining community were downtrodden, and kept that way. Sure, they were afforded luxurys, such as housing and free heat (a monthly supply of coal). This may seem great on the surface, until you realized that the housing was often poorly built, and often just a shanty town set up to pacify the crys of the employees. The coal was often the stuff left over after the good coal was sold to industry. Sometimes it was nothing more than rock. But this is what they worked for. This is what these people were forced to, most of the time for their whole life. But then something happened. The factories that the coal companies sold their product too started to close. Why, you may ask? BECAUSE EVERYONE WAS TO POOR TO BUY ANYTHING FROM THEM! This got the bosses thinking. If they dont work the people so hard, they wont be so tired that they may go shopping. And if they pay the people more, so that way they get compensated for fact that their working less hours, theyll have that money to spend on the products, this keeping the economy rolling. After many years of changing schedules, the standard 8 hour day and 40 hour work week were adopted. Now, Ive worked an 8 hour day and a 40 hour week during the summer, and I did not like it! It was very long and dragging, and now I think about what these people had to go through with, and I realize that I ...

Monday, October 21, 2019

When the Tripods Came essays

When the Tripods Came essays Tripods. Have you ever seen one? Have you ever experienced an actually encounter with aliens? If you enjoy fun filled tales about aliens from outerspace, you might like this book. You dont think aliens can be that harmful to us humans, until you read this Science Fiction book. The story begins with Laurie and his friend Andy. They are young boys who get lost on their way home. When they decide to spend the night in a barn until morning, they discover a Tripod standing over a farmhouse about 100 feet away from them. The Tripod was soon destroyed by military and armed forced. The boys are then interviewed on t.v. and the radio as the first people ever to spot a Tripod. Lauries younger sister is named Angela. She is a spoiled 7 year old that always gets her way. Angela finds a new and interesting t.v. show that she has never seen before called The Trippy Show. Children all over the world watched this show, and began to break out in violent attacks. The children are said to be under Trippy control. Aliens, or as they call them, Trippies, have been giving signals to satellites and are controlling this show. When t.v. is no longer being shown anywhere in the world, the Trippies send special helmets down to Earth. Anyone who puts one on is now controlled by the Trippies. Laurie and his family are able to disable some of the helmets and act like Trippies long enough to get on an airplane to Switzerland where his Grandma owns land. They gather there with other non Trippy people and live together. Although this story didnt have a usual happy ending, they did manage to stay out of the Tripods control. I enjoyed this story because it was fun filled and I thought the Grandma was really funny. I hope you decide to read this book. You might enjoy the rest of the series too, called The Tripod Series. ...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

The Whig Party and its Presidents

The Whig Party and its Presidents The Whig Party was an early American political party organized in the 1830s to oppose the principles and policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic Party. Along with the Democratic Party, the Whig Party played a key role in the Second Party System that prevailed until the middle 1860s. Drawing from the traditions of the Federalist Party, the Whigs stood for the supremacy of the legislative branch over the executive branch, a modern banking system, and economic protectionism through trade restrictions and tariffs. The Whigs were strongly opposed to Jackson’s â€Å"Trail of Tears† American Indian removal plan forcing the relocation of southern Indian tribes to federally-owned lands west of the Mississippi River. Among voters, the Whig Party drew support from entrepreneurs, plantation owners, and the urban middle class, while enjoying little support among farmers and unskilled workers. Prominent founders of the Whig Party included politician Henry Clay, future 9th president William H. Harrison, politician Daniel Webster, and newspaper mogul Horace Greeley. Though he would later be elected president as a Republican, Abraham Lincoln was an early Whig organizer in frontier Illinois. What Did the Whigs Want? Party founders chose the name â€Å"Whig† to reflect the beliefs of the American Whigs- the group of colonial period patriots who rallied the people to fight for independence from England in 1776. Associating their name with the anti-monarchist group of English Whigs allowed Whig Party supporters to derisively depict President Andrew Jackson as â€Å"King Andrew.† As it was originally organized, the Whig Party supported a balance of powers between state and national government, compromise in legislative disputes, the protection of American manufacturing from foreign competition, and the development of a federal transportation system. The Whigs were generally opposed to rapid westward territorial expansion as embodied in the doctrine of â€Å"manifest destiny.†Ã‚   In an 1843 letter to a fellow Kentuckian, Whig leader Henry Clay stated, â€Å"It is much more important that we unite, harmonize, and improve what we have than attempt to acquire more.† Ultimately, however, it would be the inability of its own leaders to agree on many of the issues making up its overly-diverse platform that would lead to its demise. The Whig Party Presidents and Nominees While the Whig Party nominated several candidates between 1836 and 1852, only two- William H. Harrison in 1840 and Zachary Taylor in 1848- were ever elected president on their own and they both died during their first terms in office. In the 1836 election won by Democratic-Republican Martin Van Buren, the still loosely-organized Whig Party nominated four presidential candidates: William Henry Harrison appeared on ballots in the Northern and border states, Hugh Lawson White ran in several Southern states, Willie P. Mangum ran in South Carolina, while Daniel Webster ran in Massachusetts. Two other Whigs became president through the process of succession. John Tyler succeeded to the presidency after Harrisons death in 1841 but was expelled from the party shortly afterward. The last Whig president, Millard Fillmore, assumed the office after Zachary Taylors death in 1850.   As president, John Tyler’s support of manifest destiny and the annexation of Texas angered Whig leadership. Believing much of the Whig legislative agenda to be unconstitutional, he vetoed several of his own partys bills. When most of his Cabinet resigned a few weeks into his second term, Whig leaders, dubbing him â€Å"His Accidency,† expelled him from the party. After its last presidential nominee, General Winfield Scott of New Jersey was soundly defeated by Democrat Franklin Pierce in the 1852 election, the days of the Whig Party were numbered. The Downfall of the Whig Party Throughout its history, the Whig Party suffered politically from the inability of its leaders to agree on high-profile issues of the day. While its founders had been united in their opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson, when it came to other matters, it was too often a case of Whig vs. Whig. While most other Whigs generally opposed Catholicism, eventual Whig Party founder Henry Clay had joined the party’s arch-enemy Andrew Jackson in becoming the nation’s first presidential candidates to openly seek the votes of Catholics in the election of 1832. On other issues, top Whig leaders including Henry Clay and Daniel Webster would express disparate opinions as they campaigned in different states. More critically, Whig leaders split over the festering issue of slavery as embodied by the annexation of Texas as a slave state and California as a free state. In the 1852 election, its leadership’s inability to agree on slavery prevented the party from nominating its own incumbent President Millard Fillmore. Instead, the Whigs nominated General Winfield Scott who went on to lose by an embarrassing landslide. So upset by the drubbing was Whig U.S. Representative Lewis D. Campbell that he exclaimed, â€Å"We are slayed. The party is dead- dead- dead!† Indeed, in its attempt to be too many things to too many voters, the Whig Party proved to be its own worst enemy. The Whig Legacy After their embarrassingly ill-fated run in 1852 election, many former Whigs joined the Republican Party, eventually dominating it during the administration of Whig-turned-Republican President Abraham Lincoln from 1861 to 1865. After the Civil War, it was Southern Whigs who led the white response to Reconstruction. Eventually, post-Civil War American government adopted many Whig conservative economic policies. Today, the phrase â€Å"going the way of the Whigs† is used by politicians and political scientists to refer to political parties destined to fail due to their fractured identity and lack of a unified platform. The Modern Whig Party In 2007, the Modern Whig Party was organized as a â€Å"middle-of-the-road,† grassroots third political party dedicated to â€Å"the restoration of representative government in our nation.† Reportedly founded by a group of U.S. soldiers while on combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, the party generally supports fiscal conservatism, a strong military, and integrity and pragmatism in creating policy and legislation. According to the party’s platform statement, its overarching goal is to assist the American people â€Å"in returning control of their government to their hands.† Following the 2008 presidential election won by Democrat Barack Obama, the Modern Whigs launched a campaign to attract moderate and conservative Democrats, as well as moderate Republicans who felt disenfranchised by what they perceived as their party’s shift to the extreme-right as expressed by the Tea Party movement. While some members of the Modern Whig Party have so far been elected to a few local offices, they ran as Republicans or independents. Despite undergoing a major structural and leadership facelift in 2014, as of 2018, the party had yet to nominate any candidates for  a major federal office. Whig Party Key Points The Whig Party was an early American political party active from the 1830s to the 1860sThe Whig Party was formed to oppose the policies of President Andrew Jackson and the Democratic Party.Whigs favored a strong Congress, a modernized national banking system, and conservative fiscal policy.The Whigs generally opposed westward expansion and manifest destiny.Only two Whigs, William H. Harrison, and Zachary Taylor were ever elected president on their own. Whig presidents John Tyler and Millard Fillmore assumed the presidency through succession.The inability of its leaders to agree on key national issues such as slavery confused voters and led to the eventual breakup of the party. Sources Whig Party: Facts and Summary, History.comBrown, Thomas (1985). Politics and Statesmanship: Essays on the American Whig Party. ISBN 0-231-05602-8.Cole, Arthur Charles (1913). The Whig Party in the South, online versionFoner, Eric (1970). Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party before the Civil War. ISBN 0-19-501352-2.Holt, Michael F. (1992). Political Parties and American Political Development: From the Age of Jackson to the Age of Lincoln. ISBN 0-8071-2609-8.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Information Assurance and security (secure Online payments) Term Paper

Information Assurance and security (secure Online payments) - Term Paper Example First and foremost, my utmost gratitude to Dr. Zhixiong Chen, Professor and Director, Cyber Security at Mercy College whose sincerity and encouragement I will never forget. Dr. Chen has been my inspiration as I hurdle all the obstacles in the completion this research work; Esmeralda Guzman, Head Director of Social Workers, Head Start, for the moral support despite his just being newly appointed; Tim Coyle., Director of Software Projects at Insurance Service Office, Inc., for his patience and steadfast encouragement to complete this study; I would also like to thank my parents, two elder sisters, and elder brother. They were always supporting me and encouraging me with their best wishes; Last but not the least, my family and the one above all of us, the omnipresent God, for answering my prayers for giving me the strength to plod on despite my constitution wanting to give up and thrown in the towel, thank you so much. Abstract Online payments have been gaining greater impetus in the re cent years. Along with this fact, it has also been observed that e-commerce is also rapidly gaining huge popularity. Although the traditional modes of payments such as cash and checks are still in use, however the modern methods of payments such as online payment system has become more well-liked because of the benefits that it offers to the people. Despite numerous benefits offered by the online payment systems, it has been identified that there are certain lacuna and risks associated with the online payment systems. One such risk is related to the security and privacy of the user’s information. There are many rules and regulations that have been practiced by the regulatory bodies in various countries in order to combat such risks. It is also significant to improve the online payment system by protecting the information provided by the users in a proper manner. Introduction The demand for quick, suitable and safe payment substitutes is increasing rapidly. Along with this, th ere is an alteration in the way commerce takes place in the recent times. One of the easiest ways to identify the significance of electronic payments is to imagine a world without them. In other words, if electronic payments come to a sudden pause then in such circumstances most of the facets of commerce such as trade, travel and internet might confront terrible consequences. Although cash and checks still play a vital role in making payments, there are many problems associated with these payment options such as lack of speed and convenience. These also face issues related to safety demanded by the consumers, governments as well as businesses in today’s fast-paced and ever-dwindling world. It can be mentioned that the extensive utilization of the electronic payments along with the sophisticated network that interconnects many consumers, financial institution and merchants in the world are at the center of commerce (OECD, 2012). The significance of the electronic payments is a pparent not only in industrialized countries but in developing countries as well. There are certain costs associated with the electronic payment systems as well (OECD, 2012). One of such costs is related with interchange where a comparatively small fee is offered to the card issuers by card acquirers. It is worthy of stating that interchange comprises part of most of the expenses that issues are supposed to bear for the purpose of creating the advantage that merchants

Friday, October 18, 2019

Transnational Movements and Ideologies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Transnational Movements and Ideologies - Essay Example Civil unrest and internal conflicts threatens the calm in most Arab countries such as Syria, Egypt owing to disunity exerted by the activities of the Islamic movements, each of the Arab nations comprise of different ethnic and cultural values with unique tribal makeup. Each of these tribes has different preferences with regard to governance and community demands. As such, the groups form movements with unique goals and objectives regardless of the ideology adopted. The goals range from demand for various social freedoms such as speech, religion among others to national recognition. Most are the times that the movements are at war with each other following differences that emerge over supremacy. The major concern lies with the tension created among citizens resulting in clashes within the Arab states. The high levels of polarisation in the countries have seen loss of lives, destruction of property among other social and economic consequences. Civil unrest has been demonstrated in vari ous Arab countries such as Egypt, Libya, Syria following the wide spread Arab uprising. For instance, Syria is entangled in a civil war from January to April 2012 after mass protests seeking to establish political reforms. The evolution of Islam to a political front has seen growing radicalisation and extremism among the masses calling for reforms. This has been seen as the democratisation of the Arab world, which has deepened erosion of governance triggering the aforementioned Arab uprisings. These creates a concern among Arab states on the role of religion in politics and in an effort to separate the two, rifts emerge among those seeking to maintain the status quo and those seeking reforms. As such, the governance by the elite is threatened by the notion of a harmonious existence of Islam and democracy, which has seen different reactions to the same (Rubin 412). For instance, the government Turkey has been in the forefront to promote tolerance and address socio-economic issues such as unemployment. This is seen as a move to curb the radicalisation of transnational movements and the proliferation of related ideologies in the country. The extent of radicalisation, organisation, and funding of the transnational movements may see calls for independence. This is especially so with political groups that set up military organisation to assert their control over a region. As such, the affected country is faced with calls for cessation and recognition of independence of the regi on failure to which, rebellion and violence may result. The onset of the 2012 Tuareg Rebellion in Mali sought to emulate the Arab uprising, but resulted in a coup d'etat in March 2012 (BBC). The conflict has seen the rebel group declare independence from Mali and demand recognition in spite of rejection by the African Union and the European Union. This has seen sustained conflicts in the affected countries, and should independence be granted; other movements may emerge to claim

Better Place Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Better Place Company - Essay Example The headquarters of the company is located in Israel at the R&D center, at Palo Alto and also in California. The use of such vehicles will reduce the risks that are caused by the harmful emissions of carbon. It is as a result of this that most of the governments, organizations and businesses have prioritised the need for reducing the effects of carbon emissions. Mission. To be a company that is able to hasten the change in the automobile industry from the use of vehicles that are oil based and promote the adoption of vehicles that use electricity- renewable energy. Vision Better Place vision is to be able to create linkages among car companies, utilities, battery companies and also consumers in order to successful promote the adoption of EVs. Stakeholders Stakeholders in a company are mainly the people, groups or organizations that draw certain interest towards the business strategy of a company. Better Place Company is supported by majority stakeholders who have interest in the prod uct that is being generated by the company (Johnson, p153). Stakeholder’s expectations are a major concern that the manager of Better Place had to deal with due to the fact that the success of the adoption of the Electric Vehicles depended on the decisions that were made by the stakeholders. Being an automobile company Better Place stakeholders include car companies, automobile manufacturers, governments, utility companies, battery manufacturers, investors and potential consumers for the Electric Vehicles. Better Place stakeholders can be classified into three groups (Johnson, p155): Technological stakeholders-This group of stakeholders involve the competitors that bring up new technologies with an aim of making improvements in the standards of the industry. Economic stakeholders-They involve the competitors, the suppliers and the manufacturers. In the case of the company it involves the car companies, automobile manufacturers and the battery manufacturers. Socio/political st akeholders-such stakeholders include governments as well as various agencies that are interested in the business strategy of the company. The rollout strategy of Better Place was adopted by various governments such as Japan, Australia, Hawaii, Toronto, Israel and Canada. Despite the go ahead by most stakeholders Better place faced a number of challenges while trying to affect the use of their business model. The first challenge focussed on the company’s reputation: Better Place lacked a convincing marketing strategy and as a result it was quite hard for consumers to adopt its product. The other challenge was focused on the company trying to convince the various stakeholders that the adoption of the EVs as a mode of transport that would be viable. The figure below shows the stakeholder mapping of the power/interest matrix: The customers in segment B are those that are largely supportive of Better Place business strategy. Customers in segment C are those that are hostile and th e customers in segment D are those that are indifferent. The investors, car companies and the government in segment D are of major importance to the company due to the fact that acceptability of the strategy depends solely on them and thus they hold the highest power as the key players. Utility Companies also hold vital role as key players for instance governments were offering rebates imposed on tax on the electric vehicles in order to achieve renewable energy objectives. Manufacturers of batteries and automobile in segment B play the role of ensuring there are adequate supplies of the components required by the EVs. Industry and scenario Analyses

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Clarkes the Influence of Arthur Schomburg on My Concept of Africana Essay

Clarkes the Influence of Arthur Schomburg on My Concept of Africana Studies - Essay Example The author relates to how Schomburg says that scholars should approach the study of African history in various ways. First and foremost, John Clarke turns out to be a teacher due to the influence of Arthur A. Schomburg (Clarke 4). John quotes that Arthur was the person who influenced him in setting the establishment of his career as an educator, as a Socialist and a Pan Africanist. According to John Clarke, Arthur A. Schomburg was responsible for influencing him to become an individual who sees no problem in being a Pan-Africanist and a Socialist at the same time and an African World Nationalist at an early age of his life. Also, Clarke relates to Schomburg’s statement by studying through other cultures and understanding how they relate to the African American culture. According to Schomburg, in order to understand the African American culture, it is vital to understand the origin of African oppressors first (Clarke 6). Also, it was vital for a scholar to understand what led t o the Africans being oppressed by the whites as this would be the only way people such as Clarke would understand the African American culture. Question 2 Some of the organizations that focused on the African history during the 30’s and the 40’s include the Harlem History Club and the National League of Negro Youth. Individuals, on the other hand, who focused on the African history during the 30’s and the 40’s, include Willis N. Huggins, John G. Jackson, Eugene Orr and the author of the article himself, John Clarke.

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 57

Case Study Example in Blacks position, I would persistently grow the remunerations of the female directors more than a sizable long period as raising it suddenly will disturb the male managers whose pay rates ought to be unfaltering in the midst of the compass. (Yellin & E. S. 2013).  Whats more, to keep up a fundamental separation from any clear division or biases in the middle of the system of alertly extending the pay rates, it would in like manner consider conferencing the HR boss, the three female supervisors, and an in number senior from the male accomplice. While the critical part will be to enlighten them about the paid course of action change, their points of view and proposals will be investigated to bring sex value, legitimization of remuneration and fortify the solidarity that is dominant for Acmes triumph (Yellin & E. S. 2013).   Regardless, the association got into this terrible situation due to wrong presumptions, underestimation of the female workers and a startling absence of mindfulness in occupation assessment. As the president, George by and large added to Acmes accessible issue firstly by tolerating that women had working mates consequently did not require goliath remunerations, besides be conceding pay enlargement in perspective of his association with a laborer apparent through the individual arrangements general in the midst of his organization. The HR boss too much held the presumption that the female agents should be paid less since they control less gifted and competent specialists when appeared differently about their male accomplices. The area culture exceedingly affected the payment process. Whether the mate is salaried or not cannot avoid being not the bit of the master compensation game plan, but instead in Acme, the organization allowed such a supposition to drive the association into iss ues. Furthermore, considering the sheer reality that the association was encircled 35 years back when underestimation of people was the standard, and Acme was

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Foundations of Business Knowledge Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Foundations of Business Knowledge - Essay Example In any working environment, the implementation of management as well as the establishment of communication and relationships becomes more effective if there is a complete understanding of each individual’s traits and capabilities so every working person can be further managed, motivated and developed. Understanding one’s personality and becoming familiar with his or her learning style is an effective means of determining ambivalent qualities that are hard to pin down (Spender & Scherer, 2007). Through the use of self-assessment tests, learning styles indicators and personality tests, individuals are helped in developing self-awareness that is extremely essential when working with any organization (Atherton, 2003). Consequently, companies will be able to support others in achieving self-awareness and working further towards development. They will also be able to improve their level of knowledge of how they can understand and motivate their employees, which will eventuall y aid them to function better in the workplace and even within their personal lives. In turn, these organizations may attain benefits from the improved performance and effectiveness of their employees; desirable outcomes for the organization include increased productivity, enhanced sense of collaboration, and sustained efforts towards self-development. To understand various personality types has been proven valuable for any company as they are able to appreciate their value, strengths and qualities in relation to their contribution to the organization’s goals (Malone, Crowstone & Herman, 2003). Organizational members develop an understanding that their differences are primarily based on their personalities and thus have to find ways of leveraging on such differences rather than allowing these to deter them from reaching organizational goals. Furthermore, aside from managing

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 57

Case Study Example in Blacks position, I would persistently grow the remunerations of the female directors more than a sizable long period as raising it suddenly will disturb the male managers whose pay rates ought to be unfaltering in the midst of the compass. (Yellin & E. S. 2013).  Whats more, to keep up a fundamental separation from any clear division or biases in the middle of the system of alertly extending the pay rates, it would in like manner consider conferencing the HR boss, the three female supervisors, and an in number senior from the male accomplice. While the critical part will be to enlighten them about the paid course of action change, their points of view and proposals will be investigated to bring sex value, legitimization of remuneration and fortify the solidarity that is dominant for Acmes triumph (Yellin & E. S. 2013).   Regardless, the association got into this terrible situation due to wrong presumptions, underestimation of the female workers and a startling absence of mindfulness in occupation assessment. As the president, George by and large added to Acmes accessible issue firstly by tolerating that women had working mates consequently did not require goliath remunerations, besides be conceding pay enlargement in perspective of his association with a laborer apparent through the individual arrangements general in the midst of his organization. The HR boss too much held the presumption that the female agents should be paid less since they control less gifted and competent specialists when appeared differently about their male accomplices. The area culture exceedingly affected the payment process. Whether the mate is salaried or not cannot avoid being not the bit of the master compensation game plan, but instead in Acme, the organization allowed such a supposition to drive the association into iss ues. Furthermore, considering the sheer reality that the association was encircled 35 years back when underestimation of people was the standard, and Acme was

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Mickey and Eddie Essay Example for Free

Mickey and Eddie Essay As part of our Drama GCSE unit on Blood |Brothers we were requires to use a vast amount of sills and drama techniques in order to improve our understanding of Blood Brothers; in order to do this we completed various exercises to develop our explorative skills. One of the improvisations we had to partake in was the re-enactment of the finale scene in Blood Brothers. As we had already seen the Blood Brothers production, this acted as both an advantage and a hindrance. This acted as an advantage as we had an idea of both characters and therefore an insight into how we could perform this re-enactment, however the disadvantage was that this may prevent us from having our control over the character, this may also prevent us from using our own imagination to interpret the character and their actions as we would have been heavily influenced to mimic what we had already seen. However though we already had familiarity with the production, as it had been a considerable amount of time from when we had seen the production, our drama teachers refreshed our memories by establishing a class discussion on the subject, and the main themes of Blood Brothers. As a group discussed the main themes, scenes and then discussed the finale scene into depth; while doing this we discussed what body language and facial expressions were used and what we all found particularly effective in the scene. Once we had completed our discussion, we were then given a time frame to work towards. Once we had dispersed into our groups we divided the roles in the scene amongst ourselves; Adrian as Eddie, I was Mickey, Tamara was Mrs Johnston and both Zion and Emma acted as the police officers. I felt that this particular exercise was particularly interesting and beneficial for us all; this is as we had a new insight and understanding of Blood Brothers on a higher level. Through the re-enactment of the Blood Brothers production I also found a new knowledge of each character, particular Mickey (the character I played), this is because as you take on the role and youre in a maximum involvement level you absorb the character and believe in the scene although it is actually happening. This lead to me felling more empathetic towards Mickey as I really felt able to relate to his feelings and his situation, therefore understanding what made him react in the way he did. Mickey reacted in the way he did as he was angry and felt completely betrayed by Eddie, his feelings werent helped by what hed already been through in prison and with him now having to be on medication. Our own re-enactment was fairly accurate to what we had seen in the reduction, however I genuinely feel that we added our own input and originality into the way the final scene was devised and appeared to be (this is inevitable as when you relate to a character, your own feelings and opinions are bound to show through). In our own finale, Adrian (Eddie) opened the scene by thanking the audience for being elected as councillor, while doing so my character then interrupts by running down the stairs and onto the stage. I felt that y my character (Mickey) running down the tiered seating stairs, the audience became more involved in the scene. My character then started pushing Eddie and shouting about his infidelity with Lynda, Eddie then tries to reassure Mickey and justify himself by claiming that both him and Linda are only friends. At this point my character becomes enraged and grabs him by his collar. In our re-enactment there was more physical violence and confrontation on Mickeys part, I felt that this would portray his rage more effectively. I also took a conscious decision to make Mickeys tone of voice, behaviour and body language very erratic; this was in order to portray t the audience that he wasnt in a completely stable state of mind. As b5h character continued in their confrontation, Eddie continues to try and make peace with Mickey and when it reaches the heightened tension of Mickey raising a gun to Eddies head, Mrs Johnston shouts stop and runs onto the scene. At this point both police officers run to the bottom of the stage from separate sides, a voice then circulates the room, saying we have you surrounded, put the gun down. At this point my character then starts to look around, suspicious about where the noise is emerging from; at this point I lower the gun. I feel this part of our re-enactment is particularly effective and original as all the other groups used the same approach as the one used in the production whereas in our own improvisation we devised it to appear as though the police have surrounded the building on the outside and are ready to burst in at any time. At this not Mrs Johnston (Tamara) then reveals to both Mickey and Eddie that they are literally Blood Brothers as they are twins that were separated at birth, at this point both brothers ask why, at this point Mrs Johnston continues to explain. However in the middle of her explanation Mickey makes his final outburst screaming that because of being with her hes ended up with no career or money whereas Eddie has managed to become some great councillor; Mrs Johnston then tries to calm Mickey down and t this point his voice raises, as does his hand and gun and he screams It should be me, at this point the gun goes off and Eddies killed. Meanwhile at the same point one of the police officers (Emma) emerges on scene and reacts to the sound of the bullet by shooting Mickey. I felt particular sympathy for the police offer that shot Mickey as she only reacted to the gun shot she had heard. I also feel that this particular situation gives the audience a real understanding into how difficult the job of a police officer can really be as they are often put in compromising situations in which quick instinct decisions have to be made. Another improvisation we re-enacted was the kids play scene. Our drama teachers explained that the purpose of this is to enable us to lose all inhibitions and feel in essence what its like to be a child again. We were then told about Starkravskis theory on the three essential skills tat needed in order for a person to be a god actor, the most important factor being that of naivatiae. This means to be in a child like state, oblivious to anyone there and t feel completely free, this is as children are extremely nai ve and innocent and with this they can believe in anything, allowing them to have a vivid imagination.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Factors Can Affect Validity Reliability Of Systematic Review Nursing Essay

Factors Can Affect Validity Reliability Of Systematic Review Nursing Essay Systematic review with meta-analysis are considered more objective than other types of reviews such as traditional reviews because it involve the application of scientific strategies in ways that limit the bias but the interpretation of the systematic process like any other type of research is subject to bias and this articles will illustrate the sources of bias in every step of conducting a systematic review and what is its types and ways. Keywords: Systematic review, Bias, Meta-analysis Introduction A systematic review is an overview of many studies that used clear and reproducible methods while a meta-analysis is a mathematical synthesis of the results of two or more primary studies that address the same hypothesis in the same way. Systematic reviews are very popular so about 2500 new English language systematic reviews are indexed in Medline annually (Mother D, Tetzlaff J, Tricco a, et al). While the number is impressive ,the quality of their reporting is not always ideal which lead to some kind of biased results and thus shrink their usefulness. Although meta-analysis can increase the precision of a result, it is important to ensure that the methods used for the review were valid and reliable. (Greenhangh. 1997) Speaking generally,there are two sources -at least- can generate bias in systematic reviews: the risk of bias in the included studies which it can exaggerate the results of a treatments effectiveness by 18% (Pidal J, Hrobjartsson A, Jorgensen KJ, et al) and the review itself as it has a little control over the reporting of RTCs but it can apply considrable control over conducting and reporting the review, thereby minimizing the bias of review itself. In this article we will try to spot the sources of bias in every step of conducting a systematic review and what is its types and ways and after that we will talk in details about each factor might cause a bias including publication bias, time lag bias, citation bias, the influence of external funding on the validity of systematic review and outcome reporting bias. Assessing the Quality of a Systematic Review General Tips (step-by-step) Fundamentally, the quality of a systematic review and the reliability of its result are contingent on both the quality of the included studies and the quality of the methodology used to produce the systematic review. The first most important step in conducting systematic review is proposing a clear, specific,focused and concise question which will guide the review process after. Searching for articles to be included can be retrieved by electronic databases, searching by hands through appropriate journals and by contacting researchers in the area of interest. To avoid the bias in the retrieval of articles the search strategy specified in the protocol must include as much details as possible. In most cases this amounts of to a list of keywords and how they will be combined for use in electronic search engines. Some knowledge of the capability of each subject specific database is important at this point, as some databases operate a thesaurus search system and others operate on the basis of keywords only. Next step, selective inclusion studies may bias the results of systematic reviews if selected based on report characteristics which called Biased inclusion criteria and low methodological quality of studies included in a systematic review is another important source of bias (Strerne JAC, Egger M, Smith GD 2001) and inclusion of data from sources other than randomized trials reduces the reliability of the conclusions of a systematic review on issues of prevention and treatment, so they should be thoroughly considered and properly defined to avoid ambiguity and to inform the validity of the review. As protocol availability may decrease the biased post-hoc changes to methods and selective outcome reporting, this information should be included in the review protocol to minimize this bias. Even if the study has high internal validity, it may not to be generalizable(high external validity). There is often a trad-off between internal and external validity. To decide about the generalizability of the study is to explore whether the study population appears to be representative of the population to which you wish to apply the results and even in similar populations, differences in the settings and in culture or other contextual factors, should also be considered.(Petticrew M, Robert, H 2008) Reviewing the results of a number of studies of course itself provides a est of generalizability, if the results have been replicated in several settings with different population, then this gives an indication of whether the results are transferable. If the number of studies is large enough, it can suggest the range of effect sizes to be expected in different settings. Generalizability is not often assessed separately in systematic reviews, though consideration of the issue is included in some critical appraisal checklists. (Deeks J, Dinnes J, DAmico R, Sowden A, Sakarovitch C. 2003) The risk of bias of a particular study is a key component in the assessment of studies that affect the validity of the results of a systematic review. Therefore, reducing the risk of bias assessment can be completed by using scales, checklists and every individual component should be reported for each study.(Sandrson S, Tatt ID, Higgins JP 2007). As the protocol developing, all the outcomes derived from the included studies should be considered and the outcome of primary importance should be differentiated from the secondary outcomes as recent surveys have showed that the outcomes selectively reported in final reports were significantly more likely to be statistically significant than those omitted (Chan AW, Hrobjartsson A, Haahr MT, et al 2004). Therefore, if a review does not identify important variables clearly, the review risks being subject to bias. So, the reviewer might select statistically significant variables and ignore the ones were initially important by the reviewer. When it comes to analysing data, the analysing method is determined by the review question and the type of data collected and it should include a narrative synthesis for describing the results and risk of bias. The next step is usually determining if statistical synthesis is appropriate to apply or not. Indeed, such forced analysis might in the axiom garbage in garbage out, providing useless results which it will discussed Later. When the results of the analysis are ready, there are many different way to represent them but sufficient details should be presented to dtermine the potential threats to validity. As conclusion in the review, the reviewer should discuss the risk of bias, strength, limitation, weakness and applicability of the evidence for each main outcome to ensure that clinicians have all the information to interpret the results. A table outlining the users guides to the Medical Literature highlight critical appraisal questions for systematic reviews and meta-analyses may help to reduce the bias in every step when conducting a systematic review.(Table 1) Table 1. Questions should be considered in determining if the results of systematic review are valid. ( adapted from Crowther, MA. Cook, DJ 2007) Did the overview address a focused clinical question? Were the criteria used to select articles for inclusion both defined and appropriate? What is the likelihood that relevant studies were missed? Was the validity of the included studies assessed? Were the assessment reproducible? How precise were the results of the overview? In assessing the value the review, it is important to consider the following question: Can the results be applied to my patients, and will the results help me care for my patients? Are the benefits worth the harms and costs? Garbage in garbage out? The quality of component trails is important as an example if the raw material is not that quality, then the findings of reviews may also be the same. So what we put in exactly what we get out. Clearly, the studies included in systematic reviews should ideally be of high methodological quality and free of bias as possible. The biases that threaten the validity of clinical trials are relate to systematic differences in the patients characteristics at baseline (selection bias), unequal provision of care apart from the treatment under evaluation (performance bias), biased assessment of outcomes (detection bias) , and bias due to exclusion of patients after they have been allocated to treatment groups (attrition bias).(Altman 1991) Some reviews produced discordant results precisely because the authors chose to ignore the quality of component trails. The same reviewers were considerably more thorough in their attempt to identify all-relevant trails,Independent of publication statue or language of publication. Although the quality of component trails happened to be more important in this particular situation, the dissemination of findings from clinical trials is known to be biased, and a comprehensive literature search is an essential intergradient of high-quality reviews. (Eddger,M. Dickersin, K. Smith,G, S 2001) Putting the light on dissemination of research findings, Scherer et al. showed that only about half of abstracts presented at conferences are later published in full. The fact that sustainable proportion of studies remains unpublished after the study had been completed must be a concern as a large information remains hidden from reviewers. Making things worse, the dissemination of research findings is not a random process, rather it is strongly influenced by the nature and direction of results. (Eddger,M. Dickersin, K. Smith,G, S 2001) Type of reporting bias Definition Publication bias The publication or non-puplication of research findings, depending on the nature and direction of results Time lag bias The rapid or delayed publication of research findings, depending on the nature and direction of results Duplicate publication bias The multiple or singular publication of research findings, depending on the nature and direction of results Citation bias The citation or non-citation of research findings, depending on the nature and direction of results Language bias The publication of research findings in particular language, depending on the nature and direction of results Outcome reporting bias The selecting reporting of some outcomes but not others, depending on the nature and direction of results Figure 1.2 (Adapted from Eddger,M. Dickersin, K. Smith,G, S 2001) Publication Bias In a 1979 article on the file drawer problem and tolerance for null results Rosenthal said, where the journals are filled with the 5 per cent of the studies that show type I errors, while the file drawers back at the lab are filled with the 95 per cent of the studies that show non significant results. (Rosenthal R. 1979). The file drawer problem has long been recognized in the social sciences: as a review of psychology journals found that of 294 studies published in 1970s, 97% rejected the null hypothesis at the 5% level.(Sterling TD.1980) It is thus possible that studies which suggest a beneficial treatment effect are published, while an equal mass of data pointing the other way remains unpublished. In this situation, a systematic review of the published trails could identify a spurious beneficial treatment effect, or miss an important adverse effect of a treatment. In the field of cancer chemotherapy such publication has been demonstrated by comparing the result from studies identified in a literature search with those contained in an international trials registry (see figure 1.2). (Simes RJ. 1986) Time lag bias Published studies continued to appear many years after approval by the ethic committee. Among proposals submitted to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Ethics Committee in Sydney, 85% of studies with significant results as compared to 65% of studies with null results had been published after 10 years (Stern JM, Simes RJ. 1997). The average time to publication was 4.8 years for studies with significant results comparing to 8.0 years for studies with null results. In fact, the time lag was attributable to differences in the time from completion to publication.(Eddger,M. Dickersin, K. Smith,G, S 2001) 0.7 1.0 1.3 Published 16 (1908) Registered 13 (2491) Survival ratio (95% confidence interval) Figure 1.2 (adapted from Simes) These findings indicate that time lag bias may be introduced in systematic reviews even when most or all trails will eventually be published. Trails with positive results will dominate the literature and introduce bias for several years until the negative results finally appear. The influence of external funding and commercial interests Many systematic reviews are funded by organizations such as pharmaceutical companies. As in the design of randomized trials, the design of systematic reviews can be influenced (particularly through manipulation of inclusion and exclusion criteria) to select a particular set of studies. As a result, such systematic reviews may present a biased viewpoint. Careful assessment of the quality of the systematic review should reveal the flaws in their design. Another way in which bias can be introduced is through biased interpretation of the results of a systematic review funded by industry or authored by investigators who are influenced by industry.(Crowther, MA. Cook, DJ 2007) External funding was associated with publication independently of the statistical significance of the results. Funding by government agencies was significantly associated with publication in three cohorts of proposals submitted to ethics committees whereas pharmaceutical industry sponsored studies were less likely to be published in two studies. Indeed, the pharmaceutical industry tends to discourage the publication of negative studies which it has funded. (Eddger,M. Dickersin, K. Smith,G, S 2001). Duplicate publication bias Once a list of articles is obtained, they should be reviewed by two or more individuals and compared with a list of pre-developed inclusion and exclusion criteria The production of multiple publications from single studies can lead to bias in a number of ways. Two or more systematic reviews on the same topic may arrive at different conclusion, which raise concern about validity. Studies with significant results are more likely to lead to multiple publications, which makes it more likely that they will be located and included in a meta-analysis. Moher and Johansen and Gotzsche described the difficulties caused by redundancy and the disaggregation of medical research when results from multicentre trail are presented in several publications. It may be impossible for reviewers to determine whether two papers represent duplicate publications of one trail or two separate trails, since example exist where two articals reporting the same trail do not share a single common author. (Eddger,M. Dickersin, K. Smith,G, S 2001). Citation bias The perusal of the reference lists of articles is used to identify additional articles that may be relevant. The problem with this approach is that the act of citing previous work is far from objective and retrieving literature by scanning references lists for many possible motivations such as decoration and showing up-to-dateness and knowledge may thus produce a biased sample of studies. (Eddger,M. Dickersin, K. Smith,G, S 2001) Language bias Language bias still evident in many reviews (Hearther, 2009). Reviewers are often exclusively based on trails published in English. For example, among 36 meta-analyses reported in leading English-language general medicine journals from 1991 to 1993, 26 had restricted their search to studies in English language. Reviewers in other countries will published their work in local journals as well as English language journal if their results are positive while negative results will just be published in local journals. This is demonstrated for the German language literature when comparing articles published by the same author, 63% of trails published in English had produced significant results as compared to 35% of trails published in German. Thus bias could be introduced in meta-analyses exclusively based on English-language reports.(Figure 1.3) (Eddger,M. Dickersin, K. Smith,G, S 2001) Figure 1.3 (adapted from Egger et al.) Outcome reporting bias Reporting the outcome can be influenced by the results: the outcome with the most favorable findings will generally be reported. (Eddger,M. Dickersin, K. Smith,G, S 2001). The future of unbiased, systematic reviewing Reporting biases is potentially serious problem for systematic review. While the Cochrane Collaboration has a simple aim -help people to make well informed dicisions about healthcare-, there are many challenges that must be met to achieve this aim. Ethical and social challenges include finding ways to continue to build on enthusiasm while avoiding duplication and minimizing bias, to ensure sustainability and to accommodate diversity. Logistical challenges include finding ways to identify efficiently trails and manage criticisms and updates of reviews. Methodological challenges include developing sound guidelines for deciding what types of studies to include in reviews, effective ways of communicating the results of reviews and summarizing the strength of evidence for specific effects. (Eddger,M. Dickersin, K. Smith,G, S 2001). Conclusion and Summary points In summary, There are numerous ways in which bias can be introduced in reviews and meta-analysis of controlled clinical trials. All these biases are more likely to affect small studies therefore, their results need large treatment effect to be significant. On the other side, the large studies invest more money and time that means they are more likely to be high methodological quality and published even if their results are negative. Bias in a systematic review may become evident through an association between the size of the treatment effect and study size. Reliability and validity often not established within quality assessment instrument (Heather, 2009).If the methodological quality of trials is inadequate the findings of reviews of this materials may also be compromised. Publication bias can distort findings because trials with statically significant results are more likely to be published, and without delay, than trials without significant results. Among published trails, those w ith significant results are more likely to get published in English, more likely to be cited, and more likely to be published more than once which means that they will also be more likely to identified and included in reviews. The choice of the outcome that is reported can be influenced by the results. The outcome with the most favorable findings will generally be reported, which may introduced bias. Criteria for inclusion of studies into a review may be influenced by knowledge of the results of the set of potential studies. The definition of eligibility criteria for trails to be included, a comprehensive search for such tails, and an assessment of their methodological quality are central to systematic reviews. Systematic reviews are thus more likely to avoid bias than traditional, narrative reviews.(Eddger,M. Dickersin, K. Smith,G, S 2001) Nevertheless, the systematic review is a powerful research methodology which answers question on the the basis of good evidence and provides researchers with a valuable, impartial, comprehensive and up-to-date summary of the work conducted in a specific area.