Research Proposal on Noise Pollution Essay Example

Research Proposal on Noise Pollution Essay Noise pollution is one of the forms of wave and sound pollution, which is characterized with the impossibility of adaptation of the human and animal organism towards it. Noise is the complex of sounds of various lengths which can cause much harm to the live organisms. Strong noise causes serious physical and psychological consequences on the nervous system, sleep, emotions and productiveness. It is obvious that the relevance of noise pollution is extremely visual nowadays, especially in big cities. With the growth of population and rapid growth of the human settlements and other objects of the anthropogenic origin, the frequency and danger of noise pollution becomes higher and higher. People have not thought about the negative impact of noise on their health till the latest decades and have not treated it like a form of pollution. Due to the professional surveys the rates of noise pollution have increased in five times for the latest 20 years. The most obvious sources of noise pollution are the increase of the means of transport, especially automobiles, railway transport (trams, metro, etc). Big cities are full of cars and there are areas where one can not hear anything because of the huge flow of transport. Then, nearly every big city has its own airport, and it does not worth mentioning that the areas belonging close to the airport have enormous problems with noise. With the development of high technologies the number of the devices which produce sound has increased in hundreds of times. Nearly everyone listens to music, plays music instruments, watches TV, etc. Every big house is equipped with the elevator, air-conditioning systems, etc which also produce much sound. We will write a custom essay sample on Research Proposal on Noise Pollution specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Research Proposal on Noise Pollution specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Research Proposal on Noise Pollution specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Noise pollution is an urgent problem which has to be solved effectively; otherwise more and more people will suffer from stress and face nervous breakdowns. The developed countries already apply the protecting boards and other systems which reduce noise pollution in the settlements. The student has the chance to broaden the idea further and suggest more methods for the solution of the problem and present them in the well-structured persuasive research proposal. The paper should contain informative facts, the plan of the research and the methods which have been used in the process of investigation. The aim of a research proposal is to convince the professor in the quality of the generated topic, so one is able to prepare an effective text relying on the free example research proposal on noise pollution written by the qualified expert. It is a plus to pay attention to a free sample research proposal on noise pollution in the Internet and learn about the approach towards formatting and composition of the logical text.

Free Essays on Global Perspectives of Sept. 11

On September 11 2001, Americans awoke to find our country under attack. The country went into a state of shock. Many including myself kept on asking, who could of done such a thing to the United States and why? After the initial shock Americas next step was to find a way to respond to these acts of war. But how can this be done, and what will be the response of the rest of the world? Well as every paper, or TV. Newscast shows, the rest of the world is reacting in many different fashions, either through global unity, state primacy or cultural pluralism. In the following paper I will show how these responses are already evident in the responses of various acts, and also how I think the proper way of responding to the acts of war using these perspectives. The first perspective that I will examine is Global Unity. Global unity is very important in the way the United States is responding to the acts of terrorism against them. Presidents from across the globe including Britain, France, Germany, and Saudi Arabia, among others, have come to America about forming an alliance against terrorism (6). I feel this is essential to the success on ending the taliban, and other terrorist groups through out the country. However these alliances are not very highly looked upon by many extreme Muslim groups who have already promised violence against countries such as Indonesia if support is given to the United States (6). Another way that global unity has affected the way the United States has responded to the attacks is through America’s tendency to bully around other countries through a form of global unity referred to as paternalism (13). Countries like Pakistan for instance were told they risked â€Å"very grave consequences† in they didn’t support the United States campaign to go after Osama bin Laden, the alleged organizer of the attacks on the United States (11). President W bush went as far as to warn other countries of the consequence... Free Essays on Global Perspectives of Sept. 11 Free Essays on Global Perspectives of Sept. 11 On September 11 2001, Americans awoke to find our country under attack. The country went into a state of shock. Many including myself kept on asking, who could of done such a thing to the United States and why? After the initial shock Americas next step was to find a way to respond to these acts of war. But how can this be done, and what will be the response of the rest of the world? Well as every paper, or TV. Newscast shows, the rest of the world is reacting in many different fashions, either through global unity, state primacy or cultural pluralism. In the following paper I will show how these responses are already evident in the responses of various acts, and also how I think the proper way of responding to the acts of war using these perspectives. The first perspective that I will examine is Global Unity. Global unity is very important in the way the United States is responding to the acts of terrorism against them. Presidents from across the globe including Britain, France, Germany, and Saudi Arabia, among others, have come to America about forming an alliance against terrorism (6). I feel this is essential to the success on ending the taliban, and other terrorist groups through out the country. However these alliances are not very highly looked upon by many extreme Muslim groups who have already promised violence against countries such as Indonesia if support is given to the United States (6). Another way that global unity has affected the way the United States has responded to the attacks is through America’s tendency to bully around other countries through a form of global unity referred to as paternalism (13). Countries like Pakistan for instance were told they risked â€Å"very grave consequences† in they didn’t support the United States campaign to go after Osama bin Laden, the alleged organizer of the attacks on the United States (11). President W bush went as far as to warn other countries of the consequence...

Explain how Germany OR Denmark has sought to have both some security Essay

Explain how Germany OR Denmark has sought to have both some security and flexibility in its labour markets. Have these approach - Essay Example These market factors may include the compensation packages, daily wage rates, additional benefits and the most important one is the involvement of technology involved in the industry. As much as there is technology involvement the demand of labor will be affected by this. The fluctuation of labor market also indicates the unemployment or the employment rate of any economy. This unemployment rate is high if more technology is involved in any industry otherwise it will be low. There are certain numbers of economies who have maintained their employment rates by utilizing the entire available workforce. Germany is one of the economies who have managed their available and also potential labor and thus maintaining the labor market also. Main Body: Due to the involvement of technology in almost each and every sector, now the conditions or we can say the requirements of the labor market are very much changed. Now the companies need a highly skilled and capable work force which can be a sourc e of competitive advantage for them. The available labor at the lowest possible cost can be a foundation of competitive advantage. The quantity of labor and the capabilities of labor may be inversely related to each other. ... This willingness or the eagerness can take them even across the boundaries also. Germany is at fourth position among the largest economies in the world and also has a strong industrial base. It is also included in the list of those economies that enjoy a major part of revenues from foreign trade. There are certain medium and even small companies that cover almost two third of the workforce of the country. Germany is currently included in the list of those countries that are enjoying the lowest unemployment rates as compare to the other economies of the world. Particularly there is a variety of job availability for the young professionals also. For maintaining the labor work force, Germany is doing a good job among European Union Countries also. Even in some regions of the Germany, specifically in Southern parts there is a full employment situation also just because of managing the work force availability at a proper and right time. Companies try to utilize the fresh and energetic you ng professionals by giving them apprenticeship during or just after their studies and thus giving them training also (Germany’s Vibrant Labor Market). If the companies find the required talents during the apprenticeship then they may also hire these young individuals as a permanent employee for their organization. This managed work force or we can say the developed labor market is not very old in the Germany. In 2005 the unemployment rate of German economy was the highest one as compare to other countries. But then the Government officials handle it. And now they have excelled over it. There can be two reasons for this almost full employment situation. One can be the Government economic

Leadership and management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Leadership and management - Assignment Example This particular report is based on a case study that involves a hospital trust that has been encountering severe problems with regard to its management and leadership at all levels, thus affecting the overall performance and effectiveness of the organization. A change in the organizational structure and leadership has been proposed where I being the Learning & Development (L&D) manager, along with the selected HR Director, would determine the impact of the current structure on the new changes that are being proposed, thereby trying to recommend measures to reduce the effects of such risks and impacts. Some of the major issues that are reflected from the case include the ineffectiveness of the trust’s leadership, management and hierarchical structure of organization, the culture of divisive inward looking, as well as the ineffectiveness of the doctors and generalist managers to deal with budgets and personnel. The new changes would include increased engagement of the employees, improved customer services, reformation of human resource management and development, and also focus more on the function of learning and development. 2. Impact of the Present Structure and Culture on the Changes Being Proposed: The Need and Positive Effects of the Changes: Considering the role of the leaders and the human resources (HR) managers, it is needed to be mentioned here that practices of HR within an organization determine to a large extent the activities and measurement of performances and decide on the styles of leadership that need to be followed within the organization. With changes in the organizational structure, leadership, culture there are significant effects on the organization and its employees that are associated with the changes. For example, for existing employees, adaptation to new organizational structure, leadership, HR practices and new culture become difficult (Searle and Skinner 2011). Downsizing and redundancy are two major issues occurring as a resu lt that has been in the case of the hospital trust in concern. With different work experience, the efficiency of work by the existing employees is likely to be further affected (Searle and Skinner 2011). As far as codes of National Health Service (NHS) are concerned, it is essential that all personnel can act accountably for all their acts and performances. Honesty is a major factor that every employee should follow. Without such accountability, professional standards among the hospital trust cannot be achieved (Code of Conduct- Code of Accountability in the NHS n.d.). With the case of the hospital trust in concern, it can be realized that an inward-looking culture that prevails in the trust where doctors do not find themselves being ineffective in dealing with budgets and people, thus not being accountable. In addition they consider the generalist managers as ineffective and look down to them. Such actions reflect very less chances of improvement unless the behaviors of the members change. However, as the new team of HR and I, together plan for new recruitment, the problem that can arise is with the negative performances of those employees who stay. There is also

Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Research Proposal Example Exemplary programs that effectively accomplish this goal can be seen as a model for others educational agencies in the area to follow. Due to the explosive growth of the at-risk population over the past few decades, it is now time to reflect on the successes and failures of various initiatives and policies designed to reverse the trend and help young people in this population graduate. Providing a wide range of educational options to at-risk youth is a relatively new concept in American education, but one that is gaining momentum nationwide. Educators and other interested stakeholders are now working hard to determine the types of programs that, if properly implemented, can help at-risk youth to be successful. The knowledge gained from this research study will be useful in providing much needed information to the public and private educational sectors. This study will, therefore, provide information that individuals associated with educating at-risk youth can use to implement more ef fective programs that reach this population in a positive way. Statement of the Problem The problem is that high school students around the country are dropping out of school at alarming rates (Bracy, 2006). ... 270). Many strategies being implemented today focus on the needs of students at-risk of dropping out of school prior to graduation. Community members and concerned stakeholders, namely the public at large, sincerely hope that these new initiatives will provide a much needed spark to the role that education plays in society and, in particular, to the at-risk student population. Significance of the Problem This proposed study is important because it will examine avenues that local and state governments can explore to encourage young people to graduate high school. Because many areas of the country have historically encountered great difficulty in this area, various programs have been introduced and developed over time to help address the problem. Current data indicates, however, that these programs are not having much, if any, impact on graduation rates in many areas (Quach, 2005, p. 71). This study will then focus on discovering those initiatives that proving effective and can serve a s models for future at-risk education in other localities across the country. American society has long feared the implications of an uneducated populace. The purpose of the educational system in this country has been predicated on the premise that teachers prepare young people to become positive contributors to society (Sadker & Sadker, 2010). The significance of this reality is that educated people tend to offer their community more valuable services and skills and are less likely to exhibit negative behaviors. Currently, however, America is suffering from high drop out rates and some states are beginning to see a significant decrease in the number of at-risk youth going on to

The Ideology Of The Ruling Party Politics Essay

The Ideology Of The Ruling Party Politics Essay India with a population of around a billion and an electorate of over 700 million is the worlds largest democracy and, for all its faults and flaws, this democratic system stands in marked contrast to the democratic failures of Pakistan and Bangladesh which were part of India until 1947. Unlike the American political system and the British political system which essentially have existed in their current form for centuries, the Indian political system is a much more recent construct dating from Indias independence from Britain in 1947. The current constitution came into force on 26 November 1950 and advocates the trinity of justice, liberty and equality for all citizens. In stark contrast with the current constitution of Japan which has remained unchanged, the constitution of India has been one of the most amended national documents in the world with more than 80 changes. Many of these amendments have resulted from a long-running dispute involving the Parliament and the Supreme Court over the rights of parliamentary sovereignty as they clash with those of judicial review of laws and constitutional amendments. Indias lower house, the Lok Sabha, is modelled on the British House of Commons, but its federal system of government borrows from the experience of the United States, Canada and Australia. THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH The head of state in India is the President. This is normally a ceremonial role, originally modelled on the British monarch to advise, encourage and warn the elected government on constitutional matters. The President can return a Parliamentary Bill once for reconsideration and, in times of crisis such as a hung Parliament, the role is pivotal. The President can declare a state of emergency which enables the Lok Sabha to extend its life beyond the normal five-year term. As members of an electoral college, around 4,500 members of the national parliament and state legislators are eligible to vote in the election of the President. The Indian Presidency has recently attracted special attention because for the first time a woman now occupies the role: Pratibha Patil who was formerly governor of the northern Indian state of Rajasthan. There is also the post of Vice-President who is elected by the members of an electoral college consisting of both houses of parliament. The Vice-President chairs the the upper house called the Rajya Sabh. The head of the government is the Prime Minister who is appointed by the President on the nomination of the majority party in the lower house or Lok Sabha. Currently the Prime Minister is Manmohan Singh of the ruling United Progressive Alliance. Key features of the Prime Minister (head of government): Commander in Chief of the military and acts as ultimate military authority. Through the cabinet proposes the bulk of legislation to the House of the People Acts as the head of the Majority party in the House of the people and is installed. No term limit and can be removed through a vote of no confidence. Key Features of the President (head of state) key features: elected to 5 year terms. Ceremonially appoints the Prime Minister Appoints the Cabinet Ministers Can dissolve the Lok Sabha after the Prime minister loses a vote of no confidence. Can declare national state of emergency or Presidential rule of a state. Ministers are then appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Prime Minister and these ministers collectively comprise the Council of Ministers. THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH The lower house in the Indian political system is the Lok Sabha or House of the People. As set out in the Constitution, the maximum size of the Lok Sabha is 552 members, made up of up to 530 members representing people from the states of India, up to 20 members representing people from the Union Territories, and two members to represent the Anglo-Indian community if it does not have adequate representation in the house according to the President. Currently the size of the house is 545 made up of 530 elected from the states, 13 elected from the territories, and two nominated from the Anglo-Indian community. By far the largest state representation is that of Uttar Pradesh with 80 members. At the other end of the scale, three states have only one representative each. There are certain constituencies where only candidates from scheduled casts and scheduled tribes are allowed to stand. Each member except the two nominated ones represents a geographical single-member constituency as in the British model for the House of Commons. Each Lok Sabha is formed for a five year term, after which it is automatically dissolved, unless extended by a Proclamation of Emergency which may extend the term in one year increments. This has happened on three occasions: 1962-1968, 1971 and 1975-1977. Elections are a huge and complex affair which nationwide are held in five seperate rounds taking a total of 28 days. Link: Lok Sabha The upper house in the Indian political system is the Rajya Sabha or Council of States. As set out in the Constitution, the Rajya Sabhahas has up to 250 members. 12 of these members are chosen by the President for their expertise in specific fields of art, literature, science, and social services. These members are known as nominated members. The remainder of the house currently comprising 238 members is elected indirectly by the state and territorial legislatures in proportion to the units population. Again, of course, the largest state representation is that of Uttar Pradesh with 31 members. The method of election in the local legislatures is the single transferable vote. Terms of office are for six years, with one third of the members facing re-election every two years. The Rajya Sabha meets in continuous session and, unlike the Lok Sabha, it is not subject to dissolution. Link: Rajya Sabha The two houses share legislative powers, except in the area of supply (money) where the Lok Sabha has overriding powers. In the case of conflicting legislation, a joint sitting of the two houses is held. If there is a conflict which cannot be resolved even by the joint committee of the two houses, it is solved in the joint session of the Parliament, where the will of the Lok Sabha almost always prevails, since the Lok Sabha is more than twice as large as the Rajya Sabha. POLITICAL PARTIES In India, political parties are either a National Party of a State Party. To be considered a National Party, a political party has to be recognised in four or more states and to be either the ruling party or in the opposition in those states. Ever since its formation in 1885, the Indian National Congress (INC) and its successor has been the dominant political party in India. For its first six decades, its focus was on campaigning for Indian independence from Britain. Since independence in 1947, it has sought to be the governing party of the nation with repeated success. As a result, for most of its democratic history, the Lok Sabha has been dominated by the Indian Congress Party which has been in power for a great deal of the time. However, since the Congress Party lost power in 1989, no single party has been able to secure an overal majority in the Lok Sabha, making coalitions inevitable. Also, unlike Japan where the Liberal Democrat Party has been in power almost continuously, Congress has had (usually short) periods out of power, between 1977-1980, 1989-1991 and 1996-2004. The original Congress Party espoused moderate socialism and a planned, mixed economy. However, its spin-off and successor, Congress (I) I in honour of Indira Gandhi now supports deregulation, privatisation and foreign investment. While the Congress Party has historically dominated Indian politics, the leadership of the Congress Party in turn has been dominated by one family: Jawaharlal Nehru, Indias first Prime Minister, served for 17 years; his daughter Indira Gandhi later became Prime Minister; his grandson Rajiv Gandhi was also Prime Minister; currently the widow of Rajiv Gandhi, the Italian-born Sonia Gandhi holds the position as Congress President although she has refused to accept the post of Prime Minister; and her son Rahul Gandhi is a Member of Parliament, while her daughter Priyanka Gandhi is an active political campaigner. The Indian Congress Party is the leading party in the Centre-Left political coalition called the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) which embraces a total of 16 parties. The other major, but more recently-established, political party in India is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Created in 1980, it represents itself as a champion of the socio-religious cultural values of the countrys Hindu majority and advocates conservative social policies and strong national defence. The BJP, in alliance with several other parties, led the government between 1998-2004. The Bharatiya Janata Party is the leading party in the Right-wing political coalition called the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). When it was originally founded in 1998, there were 13 parties in the coalition but currently there are eight. A Third Front is a grouping centred on the Communists. THE JUDICIAL BRANCH The Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in civil, criminal and constitutional cases. The court consists of up to 26 judges, including the Chief Justice of India, all of whom are appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. They serve until the age of 65. THE STATES India is a huge country both demographically and geographically and consequently it operates a federal system of government. Below the national level, there are 28 States and seven Union Territories. The largest of Indias states is Uttar Pradesh (UP) in the north of the country. With over 175 million inhabitants, UP is the most populous state in India and is also the most populous country subdivision in the world. On its own, if it was an independent nation, this state would be the worlds sixth biggest country. Only China, India itself, the United States, Indonesia and Brazil have a higher population. In Indian general elections, it fills more than one-seventh of the seats in Indias Parliament and, such is the states caste-based and sometimes violent politics that, currently a quarter of UPs MPs face criminal charges. Over the years, India has evolved from a highly centralised state dominated by one political party to an increasingly fragmented nation, more and more influenced by regional parties and more and more governed locally by unstable multi-party alliances. In the General Election of 2009, Congress and the BJP faced each other in only seven of the 28 States; elsewhere, one of the two national parties faced a regional party. CONCLUSION Politics in India is much rougher and much more corrupt that in the democracies of Europe and North America. Political assassination is not uncommon: the revered Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, and the Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 were all killed by assassins. Communal, caste and regional tensions continue to haunt Indian politics, sometimes threatening its long-standing democratic and secular ethos. Recent years have seen the emergence of so-called RTI activists tens of thousands of citizens, often poor, sometimes almost illiterate, frequently highly motivated who use the Right To Information legislation of 2005 to promote transparency and attack corruption in public institutions. In the first five years of the legislation, over a million RTI requests were filed and so threatening to authority have some of the RTI activists become that a number of have been murdered. (B) The ideology of the ruling party Political parties in India love to talk about ideology. Each political party is supposed to have an ideology. So even if a political party does not have any ideology, it will never say so. If you were to ask probing questions about a partys ideology to a staunch loyalist of the party, you would either be bombarded with a short, nebulous and high-sounding label or be told that the ideology is too complex for anyone to understand so quickly and one would need to spend a few years in the party to really understand the ideology of the party. The mystification of ideology goes back in Indian history to Gandhi. From around 1920 to 1947, Gandhi ruled over Indian political scene through the ideological direction that he provided to Congress. Gandhian ideology was supposed to be very simple, based as it was on just two simple principles of truth and non-violence. Yet, it was not so simple. Nobody, during Gandhis time (and even after his death), could claim to have understood Gandhian ideology completely. Followers of Gandhi would claim their degree of understanding of the ideology based on the years they had spent with Gandhi. Ideology of Gandhi consisted of all that he spoke over the years. If there was an internal inconsistency or contradiction in his utterances or actions, it was not for a Gandhian to question it. All that an ordinary mortal could do was to just look with reverence at all that Gandhi did. If Gandhi deviated from what he had said in the past, it was hailed as development of Gandhian thought and was acclaime d as an experiment with truth. On the other hand, if anyone else moved a step beyond literal words of Gandhi, it was condemned. Gandhi was surely a great leader. But his ideology did not live past him. Even his brightest follower, whom he liked most, did not follow his ideology. Nehrus dreams of modern India had nothing Gandhian about them. As long as Gandhi lived, for Congressmen, sole source of ideology was Gandhi. After Gandhis death this position passed on to Nehru. After Nehru, there was a brief interlude when Lal Bahadur Shastri in his position as the sole fountainhead of Congress ideology proclaimed Jai Jawan, Jai Kissan. Soon after the interlude, Indira Gandhi stepped in. Her vision of socialism was a departure from Gandhi, Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri. Such departures did not bother Congressmen who, by that time, knew only one ideology Boss is always right. Less than a decade after Indira Gandhis death, a Congress Prime Minister initiated reforms and demolished licence-permit-quota-raj built assiduously by Indira Gandhi and Nehru. The same Congressmen, who had been declaring their unflinching loyalty to Nehru-Indira ideology, now were the champions of economic reforms, liberalization and globalization. Temples of modern India, built as part of Nehrus vision, were to be sold as part of disinvestment and Congress was applauding. The irony is that the author of economic reforms has now become the prime minister of India with support of socialist and communist parties. He continues to talk of reforms in the same breath as reservations for backward classes in private sector. Ideological contradictions have never bothered Congress. The party has evolved through contradictions and probably that is its greatest strength. Irrespective of all that Congress leaders may shout from public platforms, the essential ideology of Congress is pragmatism. Cynics might say that pragmatism is a lofty word for collective unbridled pursuit of self-interest. But that is just another way of looking at Congress, which claims to be a party that knows how to rule. It is a party that knows how to mould itself to suit the circumstances. If it sees wide support for Hindutwa, it will jump to the Hindu bandwagon. One cannot forget that Rajiv Gandhi took the lead in production of TV serials like Ramayan and Mahabharat; and Sardar Patel took the initiative for reconstruction of Somnath temple. On the other hand if Muslim fundamentalism is the flavour of the month, Congress can even get parliament to pass a law that overrules a Supreme Court judgement. Being on the right side of the ideological divide, in line with changing times, is a natural gift of the Congress. The party can be different things to different persons and no one can afford to make a categorical statement about the ideology of Congress. As they say, it is so profound and complex that you will need to devote a lifetime to understand it and may be even then you would still not have understood it. Of course, if you are fortunate enough to become President of All India Congress Committee and Prime Minister of India, every statement you make will be accorded the status of Biblical truth. There are a large number of Indian parties, which are just clones of Congress. Most of them are regional parties. They have failed to become national parties because (a) they are unable to match the brand goodwill that Congress enjoys and (b) they do not have the resources that Congress commands. Many of them are successful in their region because their leaders are able to maintain a closer (compared to Congress and other national parties) contact with local aspirations and are able to better satisfy the collective unbridled pursuit of self-interest of the breed that is known in todays India as political workers. The importance of this breed cannot be overemphasized. Socialist thinkers (Ram Manohar Lohia and others) drew from this breed and created a sub-breed called socialists. This sub-segment is characterized by extreme individualism. For socialists, the pursuit of self-interest is hardly collective. Socialists get together and separate at such a quick pace that one loses track of who is in which party. Their individualism gets a collective tinge in the form of catering to family ties and caste interests. India is probably the only country where all socialist parties are casteist. There are also caste-based parties whose only ideological commitment is catering to the interests of one or more set of castes. Such caste-based parties also often paint themselves with socialist colours. Caste as a reality of Indian politics has not spared even the communists. Yet, it must be admitted that communists remain the only group in Indian political jungle with a fairly well defined ideology. Of course, having an ideology is different from following it. Communism, as propounded by Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin or Mao Tse Tung, is a dictatorship of the proletariat. Its existence in a free democracy with mixed economy is an anachronism. For the past five decades, Indian communist parties have been trying to come to terms with existence in a democratic society. Till the collapse of Soviet Union, at least one of the Communist parties received indirect financial and moral support from Soviet Union. The fall of Soviet Union was a big blow for Indian communists in more ways than one. To survive, almost all communist parties have turned lobbyists for organized labour. Most public sector units and a few large private sector industries have communist trade unions. These trade unions pro vide the funds for running of communist parties in India. Dictatorship of the proletariat has, hence, turned into pressure tactics and lobbying for more and more benefits for the pampered unproductive workers of unprofitable public sector industries. If providing these benefits makes it necessary to impose higher taxes on the proletariat, the communists do not mind it. According to Marx, industrialization was a necessary perquisite for communism. Indian communists have, however, led to a virtual stoppage of industrialization in the two states of Kerala and West Bengal where they have ruled for a long time. The communist political worker is not much different from the general breed of self-interest driven political workers. A few years back, an erstwhile close friend moved from being a full time worker of a communist trade union to Bharatiya Janata Party via Hindujas (a well-known business family). He was welcomed with open arms by the top brass of BJP. Today, he is part of the topmost echelons of BJP. Most people are surprised by, what they see as, his ideological somersault. The fact is that in the ideology-less world of Indian politics, there is a good demand for expert players who can play this game with aplomb without any pangs of conscience. Till a few years back, BJP did not recruit from the floating pool of such expert players. RSS used to provide BJP with all the manpower that it needed. Even today bulk of BJPs manpower needs are met by supplies from RSS. For past seven decades or so, the organizational structure of RSS with its roots spread across the length and breadth of the country has been inspiring a new and different set of volunteers to step into public life. This set did not come into public life for the gains of power or for amassing wealth. Before BJPs rise to power in some states, they used to endure great hardships. The zeal and commitment of RSS workers was praised by even their adversaries and critics. RSS workers were fired by an ideology, often called as Hindu nationalism, that could best be described as a mix of nationalism and strong religious sentiments. RSS did not invent Hindu nationalism. The ideology is more than a century old. Towards the end of nineteenth century, Swami Dayanand Saraswati and Swami Vivekanand, working independently, built a religious-political movement that in due course became the foundation of Indias freedom struggle. Both of them were bitterly opposed by the orthodox elements of Hinduism at that time. They espoused a version of Hinduism, which was progressive and reformist. This was unacceptable to Shankaracharyas and other authorities of Hindu community. In a way, Dayanand-Vivekanand combine represented one ideology and Shankaracharyas represented quite an opposite ideology. In the initial years, RSS represented the former, but it never spelled its ideology in explicit terms. To an extent, RSS felt that ideological confusion would help it attract all sections of Hindu society, so all ideological debates were forbidden. Its aim to become an omnibus diluted its ideological focus. RSS chose to replace ideology with emotion. Senior leaders of RSS preached that organizations are built on the basis of bonds of heart and not on the basis of intellectual debate. Bonds of heart are useful for building a large voluntary organization, but they are of no use when one has to govern or take key decisions in fields of economic or strategic policy. This explains the floundering of BJP as a party of governance. RSS was built to be a fighting machine. The operating software of this machine does not have the capability to deliberate on profound complicated issues. Action rather than thought is the key focus of RSS as well as BJP. It is hence not surprising that RSS, as well as BJP, lacks clarity on all ideological issues. As an example, let us take the case of Common Civil Code. For more than five decades, RSS and all its offshoots have been demanding a common civil code. In this long period it has never occurred to them to prepare a draft of the proposed common civil code. I have asked senior leaders of Sangh clan about what they want in the common civil code. Their stock reply is that as and when they are in a position to pass such legislation, they will appoint a group to prepare such a draft. In other words they acknowledge that they do not even know what should be the broad contours of the code for which they have been shouting for half a century. Lack of depth marks every single ideological plank that RSS and BJP claim as their essential identity. Of course, I have not spent a lifetime working with the Sangh clan and Sangh loyalists would be quick to shout that I lack the essential qualification to comment on their ideology. Have we heard that before? Yes, Congressmen say the same. In a way, BJP has just become a clone of Congress. What Gandhi is to Congress, Guru Golwalkar and Dr. Hedgewar are to BJP. BJP officially claims to follow the ideology of EKATM MANAVWAD (translated by them as Integrated Humanism), propounded by Deendayal Upadhyay. I have yet to meet a BJP leader who can explain the ideology in some depth. You may, of course, try to work as an apprentice with some BJP leaders and hopefully before the end of your life you would know what integrated humanism is all about. The ideological vacuum in BJP is filled by one universal ideology Boss is always right. So, just as Congressmen look up to Sonia Gandhi as the fountainhead of ideology, BJP cadres look up to Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani. RSS, which claims to be the mother organization of BJP, has lost its moral high ground. RSS still supplies bulk of manpower for BJP. But, for a BJP leader, utterances of Atal-Advani are more important than the noises coming from RSS headquarters at Nagpur. Ideological somersaults committed by Atal-Advani have often confused laymen. Diehard BJP loyalists have, however, been quick to change tacks as and when the bosses jumped. These loyalists have risen in BJP hierarchy and live a life of luxury with all the trappings of power. As BJP leaders have got used to a life of luxury, a major change has come about. Word has gone around that the right channel to get into BJP goes via RSS. As a result, the profile of volunteers entering RSS has undergone a sea change. Emotionally charged, ideologically inspired zeal and commitment are now history. Career-oriented would-be politicians with dreams of power and luxury are entering RSS en route to BJP. They ask no questions and are too willing to jump with every somersault of the leadership. The conversion of BJP into a Congress-clone or a club for collective unbridled pursuit of self-interest signals a national crisis. A decade back, BJP (and Sangh clan) was seen to be the great hope for India. Today, BJP is just another party of petty politicians. India has lost all hopes from her political class, which is intellectually, morally and ideologically bankrupt. A country without hope is in a danger zone. India cannot remain in this zone for long. A new ideology and a new political party, which will be the torchbearer of the new ideology, is the need of the hour. As the new ideology and party take shape, we can either curse our luck for living in this hour of crisis of ideology or we can work for heralding the new sunrise. (C) The strength of opposition The opposition in a democracy plays as important a role as the government. For a strong and sensible government to work in a proper way, according to the will of the people, and equally strong and sensible opposition is a must. Such an opposition is the secret of the success of democracy in England, the oldest democracy of the word. There is mainly one strong political party is opposition. In this lies the strength of democracy in that country. On the other hand, in Indian there are a number of opposition parties constantly quarreling among themselves. This is the greatest weakness of Indian democracy. In India there is no strong, united and healthy opposition. There are various reasons for it. No industrial revolution has taken place in this country. The result is that the working class is not politically conscious and, therefore, it is disunited and weak. The opposition parties do not have any clear cut programmes and policies. Their approach is often communal, sectarian or regional. Their leaders are confused and have no idea of their aims and objectives. They quarrel for power and there are frequent splits. There are often defections on a large scale. People do not have faith in such parties, and so they fail to secure a majority in the elections. In the legislature itself, their leaders indulge in destructive criticism to gain their political ends. They keep party interest above national interest. The role of opposition in a democracy is very important. The opposition accelerates the growth of the county or retards its growth by untimely agitations. For example, the violent agitations in Gujarat, Bihar, Assam and Punjab resulted in great loss of life and propensity and failed entirely to gain their objectives. The Governments policy of State Trading in Food grains was wrongly criticized for political reasons. The result was that procurement targets could not be reached and wheat had to be imported to build up comfortable buffer stock. This was essential to hold the price-line. Such a destructive approach is against the national interest. The role of opposition in a democracy should be healthy. It should criticize the Government policies in the national interest and not for part gains. The opposition parties must come together and merge on the basic of similarity in their ideologies. Universal illiteracy and universal poverty, unhealthy linguist, regionalism, racism and casteism characterize Indian life. They are all obstacles in the way of the growth of a cohesive social and political life in the country. There is a mushroom growth of political parties due to the selfishness and lack of far sightedness of their leaders. Parties can come together on the basis of common ideology. But in India the party alliances are opportunistic, the only common ground between them being their hostility to the Government. Obviously, such alliances are bound to be short lived. For example, the Janta Party was a coalition of a number of political parties. So it, could not rule the nation for any length of time. It was thrown out of power due to the inter-quarreling of the opposition parties. In a democracy the aims of the Government and the opposition should be the same- the good of the people. The opposition should criticize the government to implement its manifesto. It should criticize the government only to make it more efficient and honest. Criticism should be based on sound principles. Opposition parties should keep in mind that they may be called upon by the people to form the Government by any time. They should, therefore, function in a responsible way. Prior to 1967, the opposition was divided into an array of small parties. While the Congress garnered between 45 percent and 48 percent of the vote, no opposition party gained as much as 11 percent, and during the entire period, only two parties won 10 percent. Furthermore, in each election, independent candidates won between 12 percent and 20 percent of the vote. The oppositions first significant attempt to achieve electoral unity occurred during the 1967 elections when opposition party alliances won control of their state governments in Bihar, Kerala, Orissa, Punjab, and West Bengal. In Rajasthan an opposition coalition prevented the Congress from winning a majority in the state legislature and forced it to recruit independents to form a government. The Congress electoral debacle encouraged even more dissidence within the party, and in a matter of weeks after the elections, defections brought down Congress governments in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. By July 1967, state governments of two-thirds of the country were under opposition rule. However, opposition rule in many cases was short-lived. The aftermath of the 1967 elections initiated a climate of politics by defection in which the Congress, and to a lesser extent the opposition, attempted to overthrow governments by winning over their state legislators with promises of grea ter political power and outright bribes. Needless to say, this period seriously undermined the ability of most parties to discipline their members. The increase in opposition-ruled state governments after 1967 also prompted the Congress to use Presidents Rule to dismiss opposition-led state governments with increasing frequency (see Emergency Provisions and Authoritarian Powers, this ch.). Although the centrist and right-wing opposition formed a grand alliance during the 1971 parliamentary elections, it was not until the general elections of 197

Bladder Ultrasound Technology Essay

The study conducted by Frederickson et al. was able to show the need to use a Bladder Scanner for the accurate and efficient assessment of bladder volume in postoperative care. The bladder distention that will be experienced by the patients can cause complications and health problems if appropriate measures will not be taken. The traditional solution which is to insert a catheter into the urethra of the patient is no longer a viable option because it increases patient discomfort as well as increases the rate of infections. The solution therefore is to use ultrasound technology such as the Bladder Scanner that will accurately and efficiently assess bladder volume. The accurate assessment will lead to the reduced usage of catheterization in postoperative care this will also allow for the reduction in the rates of infection, the cost of treating UTI, increase the efficiency of the nurses. This will ease the burden of the nurses and make them more effective in focusing on other tasks this will also ease the psychological and physical discomfort of the patients. The Implementation of Bedside Bladder Ultrasound Technology: Effects on Patient and Cost Postoperative Outcomes in Tertiary Care: A Critique of the Study In postoperative care it is common to encounter the problem of urinary retention. It can be said that one of the side effects of drugs, especially the use of anesthesia is bladder distention. This is characterized by the patient’s inability to distinguish if he or she has a full bladder and need to empty it. Bladder distention can cause complications and needless to say health workers must do their best to regularly empty the bladder. Since there is no way of knowing if the bladder is about to be void or not the usual method of dealing with this problem is intermittent catheterization but it is an invasive procedure that is not only a cause for discomfort for the patient, added cost to healthcare and demands more time from the nurses. Aside from all these problems, catheterization can also cause urinary tract information or UTI. There is therefore the need to have another alternative solution to urinary retention and distention. One of the most practical solutions is the use of a Bladder Scan It was determined that in postoperative care the effects of anesthesia and medication can cause distention. The patient loses the ability to feel that his or her bladder is already full and therefore realizes that it is time to empty the bladder. There is no need to elaborate on the fact that if this will continue then there would be harmful effects on the body as the bladder is a major component of the excretory system. Without the capability to â€Å"void† then the patient will increase the risk of developing complications. The solution was to use catheterization. This is a procedure where tubes are inserted into the urethra of the patient. This is a painful process not to mention that it can humiliate the patient especially those who are not comfortable with the procedure. Aside from that the procedure is known to be the major cause of urinary tract infections. As a foreign object is inserted into the human body there is an increase in the probability that microorganisms can also be introduced into the system. This is the reason why the rate of infections shoots up whenever catheterization is regularly used in postoperative care. Health workers created a solution to this problem and it is to apply â€Å"timed intermittent catheterization. † This simply means that a catheter is not permanently attached to the patient but only in a prescribed time. The period when it is optimal to insert a catheter can be divided into two. The first one is called â€Å"due to void† meaning that after a long period of time the bladder can be expected to be full. The second time when catheterization is expected is called â€Å"void with residual† this means that the patient was able to empty the bladder but there is still a â€Å"residual† and since there is no way to determine the exact volume of the residual, catheterization is required. The solution therefore is ultrasound technology. This allows for the accurate assessment of bladder volume to determine if catheterization is required or not. The Bladder Scan comes in two models the Bladder Volume Instrument BVI 2000 and BVI 2500. It uses ultrasound technology and this simply means that the device emits waves in the same way that a submarine uses sonar or a bat emits sound to determine the distance and shape of solid objects that cannot be seen by the naked eye. Therefore, when the Bladder Scan is placed near the bladder area the machine can generate a three dimensional image that will allow the health care worker to assess bladder volume. If there is a way for an accurate assessment of bladder volume then the number of catheterization can be reduced and therefore one can also reduce the rate of infections, the cost of treating UTI, and increase the productivity of nurses. 1. What is the study problem? Intermittent catheterization is the major intervention used to ensure that the bladder is emptied in â€Å"due to void† cases and in cases where there is postvoid residual and yet incomplete emptying has occurred. But there is one only problem, catheterization increases the rate of UTI. It is also a waste of nurse’s time and effort not to mention that patients complain of psychological and physical discomfort when catheterization is used. There is therefore a need to find a way to minimize unnecessary catheterization. A bladder scan VBI 2500 will be tested for its effectiveness and efficiency in tertiary postoperative populations. 2. What is the study purpose? It was determined that one possible solution is to use bedside bladder ultrasound technology, specifically, the BVI 2500 Bladder Volume Instrument. In this regard the purpose of the study was to determine the effect of ultrasound assessment of bladder volume on patient and cost outcomes for patients needing postoperative catheterization. 3. Is the literature review presented? Previous studies were identified and cited as a basis for the research. The most significant review of literature was a study made using a similar instrument. Ouslander and associates were cited as having performed an experiment using the Bladder Volume Instrument BVI 2000 and BVI 2500. The relevance of the review of literature was also seen in the discussion on the accuracy of the BVI 2000 and BVI 2500 in measuring bladder volume. It can also be seen from the discussion of the accuracy of the instrument when measuring postvoid residual. Aside from the relevance of the literature it was also ascertained that the references were current. Moreover, the author did not only discuss what were the pertinent information that can be found in the said references but also critiqued the said studies by saying that although results favor the use of a bladder scanner but a clinical study is needed to determine its effectiveness and cost in tertiary postoperative populations. The author was able to do this by making a summary of the current knowledge provided by the references cited. As stated earlier part of the summary includes the discussion on the success of the bladder scanner in nursing homes and in an outpatient clinic but there is no data when it comes to its effectiveness and efficiency in tertiary postoperative settings. 4. Is a study framework identified? The study framework was identified and listed in the form of research questions: ? What is the accuracy of ultrasound assessment of bladder volume? ? Does ultrasound assessment of bladder volume result in less frequent catheterization for â€Å"due to void† and â€Å"residual† events? ? Is there a difference in frequency of catheterization when bladder ultrasound assessment is used rather than standard catheterization procedure? ? Does ultrasound assessment of bladder volume versus standard catheterization result in decreased tract infections? ? Does ultrasound assessment of bladder fullness versus standard catheterization result in decreased health care cost? ? What is the patient and staff satisfaction with bladder ultrasound technology? 5. Are research objectives, questions or hypotheses used to direct the conduct of the study? The aforementioned research objectives can be used to direct the conduct of the study. Its main focus is the determination of the accuracy and efficiency of the BVI 2500 bladder scanner in tertiary postoperative populations as well as to find out the satisfaction levels of patients and the nurses. 6. Are the major variables or concepts identified and defined (conceptually and operationally? Identify and define the appropriate variables. The variables were: 1) the number of catheterizations avoided; 2)infection rates; 3) cost analysis of catheter acquisition; and 4) patient/provider satisfaction. The dependent variable is the number of catheterizations while the independent variable is the use of the bladder scanner as a tool to assess bladder fullness. Another dependent variable is the rate of UTI infections, the cost analysis of catheterization equipment and the satisfaction of patient and provider. 7. What attribute or demographic variables are examined in the study? An example of a demographic variable is the age of the subjects, age and surgical procedure that they had to go through. 8. Is the research design clearly addressed? The research design was clearly addressed because the author made clear from the onset that this study is about an intervention, specifically the avoidance of catheterization which in turn will reduce the rate of infections. The author was also able to clarify how this can be achieved – by using a bladders scanner and for the control group the use of straight timed intermittent catheterization. The subjects were not randomly assigned there was a deliberate plan to use four surgical units as data collection sites. From these four surgical units the proponents of the study divided the 132 samples into two groups. The first group contains 50 samples who had urologic, colon and gynecologic surgery while the second group contains 82 having total joint replacement and spine surgery. It is clear that the subjects were divided based on the type of surgeries that they went through. An explanation for this can be extracted from the review of literature wherein it says that bladder distention can be caused by anesthesia and medication. Thus, in order to minimize error it is best to group the subjects into the type of surgery that they went through. But this type of grouping can result in the creation of extraneous variables. For instance even though there are surgeries that fall under general surgery such as urology and operation on the colon these two deal with different parts of the body. Urology for instance deal with the urinary tracts of males and females therefore it can have an effect on the bladder or the rate of infections in the urinary tracts of the patients. Another extraneous variable is the skill level of the nurses that were assigned to operate the bladder scanner. There were no pilot studies conducted beforehand. All the necessary information needed for the design of the study were taken from the review of related literature. 9. Are the following elements of the sample described? The inclusion criteria includes patients who had undergone general and orthopaedic surgery. Exclusion criteria includes patients that had dermal ulcers, nephrotomy, obesity, confirmed pregnancy, in incision in a location that precludes ultrasound exam, or a known pelvic mass greater than 2 cm. The sampling frame includes only those who are patients in a particular large tertiary care hospital chosen by the proponents and satisfy the following conditions: ? they had undergone general surgery; or ? they had undergone orthopaedic surgery. Based on the sample frame the sample size was determined to be 132. Power analysis was done after the experiment. The proponents wanted to find out if there age, gender and type of surgery had an effect on the test results. They were able to determine that only age and type of surgery had an impact on the test results whereas there was no significant difference when it comes to gender. With the general surgical unit all were approved but with the orthopedic surgical unit only 53 was approved and therefor the attrition rate for the orthopaedic surgical unit was 39%. Before the patients were allowed to participate in the experiment the hospital’s Human Subjects Review Board had to approve the study protocol and all patients who had the stated surgeries and were â€Å"due to void† or â€Å"void with residual† assessment were screened for exclusion criteria and then approached for consent. All consenting patients on the general surgical unit were cleared to undergo ultrasound assessment of bladder volume. Those who were approved to participate from the orthopaedic surgical unit were catheterized or assessed with the ultrasound technology. The setting was appropriate for the conduct of the study because it is a large tertiary postoperative facility and that the patients under their care needed to be catheterized especially those who are due to void or void with residual. 10. Are the measurements strategies described? The study used the Likert format having five anchors ranging from not satisfied to very satisfied. This measurement strategy was developed by Rensis Likert and this was used to determine the level of satisfaction felt by the patient as well as the provider when it comes to the usage of bladder scanner. Another measurement strategy utilized in the study was the t-test, Chi Square and Pearson correlation. The t-test and Chi Square were used to examine difference between groups while the Pearson correlation was used to examine relationships between two variables. In the Likert system the level of measurement was ordinal. While the rest of the measurement strategies that were used in the study, the level of measurement was a ratio. The measurement strategies used in this study were all reliable especially when it was reinforced by the use of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences – a computer program that allows for quick but accurate computations. In the previous study or the experiment described in the literature review, the proponents used Test-Retest Reliability measurement. This measurement strategy is not as reliable as the measurement strategies used in the current study. It is simply a retesting of the same subjects but at a different time period. If the design of the experiment was flawed to begin with the Test-Retest Reliability measurement will not be able to determine this type of error. 11. How were study procedures implemented and date collected during the study? The study procedures were implemented using standard timed intermittent catheterization protocol as well as ultrasound protocols. In the former there was a strict schedule to be followed and in the latter bladder scanners were used to assess bladder volume and from there make a decision to catheterize the patient or refrain from doing so. 12. What statistical analyses are included in the research report? The Statistical Package fro the Social Sciences was used for analysis and an alpha level of 0. 5 was chosen as a level of significance. 13. What is the researcher’s interpretation of the findings? The researcher was pleased with the findings. Aside from the fact that the proponent was very confident of the reliability and accuracy of the data, the result also closely resembled the results of previous studies as seen in the literature review. 14. Are the limitations of the study identified by the researcher? The researchers were able to point out the limitations of the study. First of all there was a problem with the sampling. The sample size was very small and because of this predicament the proponent of the stud was unable to make random selection of patients. For instance there were 50 patients in the general surgical unit and everyone were included in the experiment. There were also other factors that needed to be tested such as the type of surgeries that the subjects went through were varied especially in the general surgery group. 15. What conclusions did the researcher identify based on this study and previous research? The proponent of the study was able to determine that ultrasound technology is an accurate and efficient way to assess bladder volume. But they were also able to ascertain that it would be better if a portable scanner will be used instead of a bigger and bulkier machine. 16. How does the researcher generalize the findings? The researcher made the generalization that the Bladder scanner is accurate and efficient. This is based on the results that say it was able to detect even low levels of urine in the â€Å"void with residual† category. Researchers were also able to generalize that patient and provider were both highly satisfied with the use of the Bladder Scanner. 17. What implications do the findings have for nursing practice? This device can definitely help health workers to maximize their time and be more efficient. Standard timed intermittent catheterization requires for the insertion of a catheter on a regular basis and this will easily consume their time as well as increase the discomfort of the patients. 18. What suggestions are made for further studies? There is a need to look into the age difference of the subjects. The researcher pointed out that age is a demographic factor that is significantly related to number of catheterizations required. In future studies there is a need to have a larger sample to so that the age of the subjects can be varied. 19. What are the missing elements of the study? One missing element is that there was no discussion regarding the warranty of the device. There was a generalization that it is cost-efficient to use the Bladder Scanner because it reduced the number of catheterization, the rates of infection and reduces the time needed for nurses to take care of UTI and intermittent catheterizations. But there was no discussion regarding the ability of the Bladder Scanner to withstand repeated abuse. It was made clear that it would take 2. 9 years of continuous usage before one can recover the investment on the Bladder Scanner, there is a need to know if it is sturdy enough to last beyond a three-year period. 20. Is the description of the study sufficiently clear to allow for replication? The description of the study is sufficiently clear to allow for replication. The protocols that were established beforehand is a major reason why this study can be replicated. The study conducted by Frederickson et al. was able to show the need for a Bladder Scanner or similar device in postoperative care. The bladder distention that will be experienced by the patients can cause complications and health problems if appropriate measures will not be taken. The traditional solution which is to insert a catheter into the urethra of the patient is no longer a viable option because it increases patient discomfort as well as increases the rate of infections. The innovate solution of using standard time intermittent catheterization is not a very good solution because it still cannot eliminate the problems discussed earlier although it can slightly reduce the total amount of time that catheterization is used. The solution therefore is to use ultrasound technology such as the Bladder Scanner that will accurately and efficiently assess bladder volume. The accurate assessment will lead to the reduced usage of catheterization in postoperative care this will also allow for the reduction in the rates of infection, the cost of treating UTI, increase the efficiency of the nurses. This will ease the burden of the nurses and make them more effective in focusing on other tasks this will also ease the psychological and physical discomfort of the patients. References Frederickson, M. et al. The Implementation of Bedside Bladder Ultrasound Technology: Effects on Patient and Cost postoperative Outcomes in Tertiary Care. Orthopaedic Nursing. 19(3): 79-87. Warner, A. J. et al. Postoperative Bladder Distention Measurement with Bladder Ultrasonograph. Journal of Perianesthesia Nursing 15(1): 20-5.

Tesco Bank Marketing

The research draws attention to the fact that the current product life cycle of Tesco Bank is in the Maturity stage. And now Tesco Bank is a question mark according to Boston’s Matrix. The target market of Tesco Bank includes Tesco Clubcard holders, families with children, pet and car. By Geographic segmentation, Brislington in the North East, Coventry in the Midlands and Blackpool in the North West are its target market. By Demographic segmentation, the age should be targeted from 18 to 50 and over 50s. By Behavioural segmentation, its loyal customers are targeted.Further investigations reveal that the Tesco Clubcard Credit Card’s position in the market is not enough good and the repositioning makes this product become more competitive in the market. The main price strategy is competition-based pricing. A new Good-value pricing strategy is made for the repositioning product. Moreover, an A3 size poster for Tesco Clubcard Credit Card is designed for advertisement. It is recommended: ? The future market strategy of Tesco Bank should focus on strengthening its customer base and service improvement. Innovation of products is important. * Tesco supermarkets are good platforms for Tesco Bank to advertise itself. TASK 1 AREA OF STUDY Tesco Bank is a subsidiary company of Tesco (the UK’s largest supermarket) in the UK. This bank was ever named Tesco Personal Finance. Initially, Tesco Personal Finance (TPF) was a joint venture business between Tesco and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) (Datamonitor, 2011). Then, Tesco took full control of Tesco Personal Finance, by an agreement with RBS to buy its 50% shareholding in TPF in 2008 (Sky News, 2008).TPF was renamed Tesco Bank in 2009 and it was a signal that Tesco would like to join into the high street banking sector (The Telegraph, 2009). Tesco Bank has continuously made good progress in 2011. For example, savings, the number of credit cards and insurance sales have strongly increased (Tesco plc webs ite, 2012). As a new entrant with great brand awareness that was untainted by the banking crisis, Tesco Bank has great potential to boost sales in the UK because the current customer dissatisfaction with banks is serious in the UK (MarketWatch, 2009).However, it is necessary to focus on this area for improvement because the infrastructure of Tesco bank is not enough and it should have a better market strategy to attract more customers as a new entrant. TASK 2 PLC STAGE Kotler and Armstrong (2012) define product life cycle (PLC) as a development trajectory of a product based on its sales and profits over its lifetime. The five distinct stages (product development stage, introduction stage, growth stage, maturity stage and decline stage) of PLC describe how products and markets work.The Figure 2 shows the sales and profits of Tesco Bank from 2002 to 2010 (See Appendix 1). It is hard to analyze the trend of sales from 2009 to 2011. The sales fluctuated during this period. The profit in creased rapidly from 2002 to 2005, then declined gradually due to the possible reasons of the bad global economy situation and the financial crisis. After Tesco Bank was entirely owned by Tesco, the profit boosted remarkably again such as the growth rate was 65. 625% in 2009 and the average growth rate of profit from 2008 to 2011 was 29. 72%. However, the growth rate declined year by year.Based on the evidence above, it can be inferred that Tesco Bank is now at the maturity stage. According to the trend of profit, the product achieved acceptance by customers for a period of time, then the big change in 2008 led to rejuvenation of its business. At the same time, the sales growth was slowdown but it seems to increase in the future. These points match to the characteristics of maturity stage (Kotler and Armstrong, 2012). Boston’s Matrix is a chart to evaluate a company’s market strategy and situation according to its relative market share and market growth rate (Kotler an d Armstrong, 2012).It can be described as Figure 3. The market growth rate of Tesco Bank was high in recent years but the relative market share is still low based on the data above. Pettinger (2011) states that Tesco Bank is a smaller bank in the UK which ranks 10th of 10 Largest UK Retail Banks. Question marks means a company has relative low market share and high market growth rate (Kotler and Armstrong, 2012). Thus, now Tesco Bank should be a question mark. It is time to think about the future direction of Tesco Bank.Datamonitor (2010) reveals that the current consumer dissatisfaction with banks is a good chance for Tesco Bank to gain market share by the similar way Tesco is successful in the grocery sector. Tesco Bank announced it has targeted to win 10% market share of the UK’s financial services market in the future (Halime, 2010). It seems that Tesco Bank is expected to be a star in future years. TASK 3 TARGET MARKET Target market is defined as a set of customers who h ave common needs or characteristics that companies would like to give service to (Kotler and Armstrong, 2012).Now All Tesco Bank’ products have a common characteristic that every product purchased can get points and discount with a Tesco Clubcard. This is not only a fantastic way to attract customers, but also all Tesco customers who have a Clubcard have been targeted. Tesco states that the most loyal shoppers (15 million Tesco Club card holders) are initially targeted by Tesco Bank (Aldrick, 2009). Credit cards and loans are only available to UK residents and over 18s. All Tesco Bank’s products such as home insurance, pet insurance, travel money and credit card are relative to the needs of families and daily life. Geographic segmentationThis segmentation divides market into several geographical areas. Tesco planned to open Tesco Bank branches in 30 of its stores in the UK in 2009 and branches would open in Brislington in the North East, Coventry in the Midlands and Bl ackpool in the North West (Clews, 2009) Demographic segmentation This segmentation divides market into segments such as age, family, income, occupation, religion and nationality. According to bank’s insurance classification (car, home, pet, travel, life, over 50s, health, dental, breakdown), credit cards and loans condition, the age should be targeted from 18 to 50 and over 50s.Tesco Bank also has child trust fund, Tesco Baby & Toddler club and Tesco Child Health Plan, so the target of family life cycle should be families with children, pets and cars. Behavioural segmentation This segmentation divides market into segments such as knowledge, attitudes, uses, or responses. As Tesco Bank’s products can all be linked to its Tesco Clubcard, loyalty status should be strong in this case. Consumers are loyal to Tesco brand for its great brand awareness. On the other hand, the Clubcard enhances the loyalty of consumers with its benefits. TASK 4 PRODUCT REPOSITIONINGProduct positioning means products are considered by consumers when purchase, consumers will identify the products compared with competing products (Kotler and Armstrong, 2012). This assignment will choose Tesco Bank’s Clubcard credit card as main product compare with its competitors by perceptual map, then reposition this credit card to a more competitive position. The Figure 4 shows a positioning map for four types of credit cards from Tesco Bank, Sainsbury’s Bank, Halifax and HSBC on two dimensions: months of balance transfers for 0% and months of purchase for 0% (See Appendix 2) (Tescocompare, 2012).Thus, customers’ view of Tesco Clubcard Credit Card is very different from others. Its 15 months of purchase for 0% is significantly more than others, but the months of balance transfers are the least of all cards. The main advantage of Tesco Clubcard Credit Card is that customers have a very long length of time for 0% interest rate credit so that the fewer months of bal ance transfers for 0% is acceptable. By contrast, the credit cards of Sainsbury’s, Halifax and HSBC focus on the months of balance transfers for 0%, but there is a transaction fee when customers transfer the debts.However, Tesco Clubcard Credit Card has the lowest fee (2. 9% fee) compared with others (Sainsbury’s 3% fee, Halifax 3% fee, and HSBC 3. 3% fee) (See Appendix 2). In order to reposition Tesco Clubcard Credit Card to a more competitive position, it is better to extend the months of balance transfers for 0% as the figure 5 shows. Now Tesco Clubcard Credit Card is more attractive to customers. Beside its advantage of purchase, its balance transfers aspect is no longer weak compared with others. Tesco Bank may generate fewer profits from this product due to its long period of time for zero interest rate and less transaction fee.However, this change will attract more customers to enhance its customer base in the short-term. The strong customer base will increase t otal consumption and is good for entire business performance in the long-term. TASK 5 PRICING STRATEGIES Pricing strategy is that a company sets a right price strategy in order to generate profits and be successful in the market. The main pricing strategies are customer value-based pricing, cost-based pricing and competition-based pricing (Kotler and Armstrong, 2012).Competition-based pricing means the price is set based on competitors’ pricing strategies, cost, and marketing offering (Kotler and Armstrong, 2012). The main pricing strategy of Tesco Bank is competition-based pricing. Because most of the retail banks offer the similar products such as loans, credit cards, savings and insurance, Tesco Bank set a more competitive price to attract customers according to its Tescocompare. com system (a system compare Tesco Bank’s products with other banks’ products). For example, the interest rate of loans and credit cards is second lowest of all the similar products (See Appendix 2 and 3).The reason may be that Tesco Bank is a new entrant and faces numerous experienced competitors setting slightly high prices relative to the value they deliver, charging a relative low price would be better for Tesco Bank to attract customers and gain more market share. In addition, Tesco Bank also uses discount pricing and promotional pricing. For example, new customers could save up to 20% with a Clubcard when they buy car insurance online. New customers with a Clubcard who quote and buy a Tesco Bank Pet Insurance policy directly from Tesco Bank between 12 April and 22 May 2012 can get a free ? 0 Tesco Gift Card (Tesco Bank website, 2012). New pricing strategies for repositioned product As the Tesco Clubcard Credit Card has repositioned, it has more competitive advantages. Then this assignment will develop a good-value pricing strategy for Tesco Clubcard Credit Card. Good-value pricing strategy means a company provides a combo of good quality and service at a reasonable price (Kotler and Armstrong, 2012). Cooperation with other retailers or restaurants in the UK to offer some benefits is a good idea to use this strategy.For example, Tesco Bank can cooperate with Zara that every purchase in Zara by only using Tesco Clubcard Credit Card can get 5% discount. Thus, more people would like to use this credit card so that it would strengthen Tesco Bank’s customer base. On the other hand, Zara’s sales might increase because of the discount. In addition, customers get benefits. TASK 6 POSTER DESIGN FOR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN It is a poster for advertising Tesco Clubcard Credit Card of Tesco Bank (See the A3 poster). In the white area, the credit card image and a red circle with words are striking.Customers can know what the product is at the first sight. â€Å"1 card, 3 great benefits† tell customers this credit card is outstanding because this card has 3 great benefit for customers if they use this card. These show the main pa rt of poster that creates a general impression to customers and attracts them. The first three lines of words in the blue area are the details of the three great benefits. â€Å"0% on all purchases for 15 months† and â€Å"0% on balance transfers for 15 months† reflect its competition-based pricing strategy because this set of interest has an advantage compared with other products when customers make a decision. Balance transfers for 15 months† shows the repositioning feature discussed above. It makes this card be more attractive to customers. â€Å"Every little helps† is the slogan of Tesco enhancing the Tesco Brand. â€Å"Over 18s, UK residents† shows the segments which this product is available for, reflecting its target market as well. The collecting points also reflect the Tesco Clubcard customers are included in its target segment. â€Å"Ask at the customer service desk for more details† is guidance for further steps if customers want t o know more. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION Tesco Bank has already done well as a new entrant into bank industry.However, it still has some space for improvement according to the analysis above. It has the potential to boost sales in the future due to its particular advantages such as little influence by financial crisis and strong brand awareness. The low price advantage is also easy for Tesco Bank to attract customers. If Tesco Bank continues to adjust its market strategy in the future, it could reach the top of UK banks. The future market strategy of Tesco Bank should focus on strengthening its customer base and service improvement. Service quality is an important factor to determine customer satisfaction (Maddern, H et al, 2007).Innovation of products is important. If the product has an available special characteristic, bank would have more power to generate profits and set slight high price. Tesco supermarkets are good platforms for Tesco Bank to advertise itself, and take full advantage of them. Appendix Appendix 1: Source: Tesco Annual Report from 2002 to 2011 Appendix 2: Source: http://tesco. lovemoney. com/creditcards Appendix 3: Source: http://www. tescocompare. com/loans. shtml Bibliography Aldrick, P (2009). Tesco moves closer to full banking. The Telegraph. [Online] Available from: http://www. telegraph. co. k/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/6617485/Tesco-moves-closer-to-full-banking-with-IT-system. html. (Accessed 13 April 2012) Bell, S (2010). UK's Tesco Offers 0% Interest Rate For 13 Months On Clubcard Credit Card. CardLine; Vol. 10 Issue 31, p10-10, 1p. Clews, M (2009). Tesco to open bank branches in 30 stores. Marketing Week (01419285); 3/26/2009, Vol. 32 Issue 13, p44-44, 1p. Datamonitor (2010). Tesco Bank set to play with the big boys and be a top 10 bank. [Online] Available from: http://about. datamonitor. com/media/archives/3705. (accessed 13 April 2012) Datamonitor (2011). Tesco PLC company profile. Online] Available from: http://www . datamonitor. com/. (Accessed 13 April 2012) Halime, F (2010). Tesco Bank eyes 10% of UK market share. Retail Bank International. [Online] Available from: http://www. vrl-financial-news. com/retail-banking/retail-banker-intl/issues/rbi-2010/rbi-629/tesco-bank-eyes-10-of-uk-mark. aspx. (Accessed 13 April 2012) Kotler, P;amp; Armstrong, G (2012). Principles of Marketing (14th ed. ). Pearson Education. p 66-67, 224-230, 231-232, 297-303, 315-324. Maddern, H et al (2007). Customer satisfaction and service quality in UK financial services. International Journal of Operations ;amp; Production Management. Vol. 7 Issue 9, p998-1019, 22p. MarketWatch (2009). Industry Comment: Tesco: becoming the Tesco of financial services. Vol. 8 Issue 4, p5-5, 2/3p. MarketWatch (2009). Tesco: renaming of banking division heralds a renewed attack on Britain's players. Vol. 8 Issue 11, p11-12, 2p. Pettinger, T (2011). Top 10 British Banks. Economicshelp. [Online] Available from: http://www. economicshelp. o rg. (Accessed 14 April 2012) Sky News (2008). Tesco Pays ? 950m To Become Bank. [Online] Available from: http://news. sky. com/home/business/article/15058484. (Accessed 14 April 2012) The Telegraph (2009). Tesco Bank to offer current accounts and mortgages. Online] Available from: http://www. telegraph. co. uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/banking/6266043/Tesco-Bank-to-offer-current-accounts-and-mortgages. html. (Accessed 14 April 2012) Tesco plc website (2012). Annual reports. Investors. [Online] Available from: http://www. tescoplc. com/index. asp? pageid=166. (Accessed 13 April 2012) Tescocompare (2012). Credit Cards. Money. [Online] Available from: http://tesco. lovemoney. com/creditcards. (Accessed 15 April 2012) Tesco Bank website (2012). Insurance. [Online] Available from: http://www. tescobank. com/personal/finance/home. html. (Accessed 15 April 2012)

Logic in Daily Life Sociology Essay Sample

Logic in Daily Life Sociology Essay Sample Logic in Daily Life Sociology Essay Logic in Daily Life Sociology Essay It is believed that a person can think properly without knowing the exact rules and laws of logic, using them only on an intuitive level. After all, there are musicians who can play any musical instrument, without knowing the printed music. However, these musicians are limited in their creativity. They cannot fulfill the work written with the help of printed music or record a melody composed by them. The person who has mastered logic thinks more clearly, his/her arguments are more convincing than of those who do not have logical thinking. People constantly use logic in everyday life. Logic is a study of methods of evidence and refutation. The author Patrick Hurley (2011) gives the following definition â€Å"Logic may be defined as the organized body of knowledge or science that evaluates arguments† (p. 1). It is a set of scientific theories, each of which addresses specific ways of evidence and refutation. In the book Being Logical: A Guide to Good Thinking, it is mentioned that â€Å"Logic is about clear and effective thinking† (McInerny, 2004, p. 1). Logic is a science of forms and laws of correct thinking. The word logic is derived from the Greek word logos, which can be translated as a concept, reason, and argument (Maldonato Dell’Orco, 2011). Currently, it is used in the following principal values; firstly, these words represent regularities in change and development of things and phenomena of the objective world (Maldonato Dell’Orco, 2011). Patterns of change and development of things and phenomena of the objective world are ca lled objective logic. Secondly, the word ‘logic’ refers to special regularities in the connections and the development of thought (Maldonato Dell’Orco, 2011). These laws are called subjective logic. Patterns in the development of relations and thoughts are a reflection of objective laws. Logic is also known as a science of laws of the development of connections and thoughts. This science appeared approximately in the V century BC in ancient Greece (Shenefelt White, 2013). A famous Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle is considered to be the creator of this science (Hurley, 2011). Logic is an ancient science. Nevertheless, it still retains its practical significance. Many different sciences and arts of the ancient world have forever gone in the past and present only a museum value and are interesting as monuments of the past only. However, some of them have survived the centuries and people continue to use them these days. They include Euclidean geometry and the logic of Aristotle (Hurley, 2011). In the XIX century, a new science appeared and began to develop rapidly (Hurley, 2011). It is symbolic – mathematical or modern – logic, which is a branch of higher mathematics. The comprehension of foundations of any science is a complex and painstaking work that requires much time. Logic is a special world, which opens not for everyone, but only for those who make great efforts for this. In other words, knowledge of the basics of science is a treasure in the receptacle of an educated person. Logic is an extremely important part of everyone’s life. It helps people to properly build their thoughts and express them, convince others, better understand the interlocutor, explain and defend the points of view, and avoid errors in reasoning. On the content, human mind is infinitely diverse, as people can think about anything, for example, about the world and the origin of life on Earth, the past of mankind and its future, books and movies, today’s affairs, and coming holidays. Each person has a certain logical culture, the level of which is characterized by the set of logical methods and ways of reasoning that a person understands, as well as a set of logical tools that he/she uses in the course of learning and practice (Shenefelt White, 2013). Logical culture is acquired in the course of communication, learning, and reading literature. Logic is not all about the content of thinking, but it examines only the forms of thoughts. It is not interested in what people think, but how they think. Thus, it is often called formal logic. Aristotelian logic is also often called traditional. Logic deals with a form of thinking. A form of thinking is a way of expression of thoughts or the scheme of their construction. There are only three types of thinking. The first one is the concept. It is a form of thinking, which represents an object or an attribute of object. The second type of thinking is judgment. This form consists of concepts related to each other. Judgment always claims or denies. The last type of thinking is inference. It is a form of thinking, in which a new proposition or a conclusion follows from two or more initial judgments (Hurley, 2011). In addition to the forms of thinking, logic is also engaged in the laws of thinking. The laws of thinking are the objective principles or rules of thought, the observance of which always leads the argument, regardless of the content to the real conclusions on the condition of truth of initial judgments. There are four basic laws of thought. They include identity, contradictions, the excluded middle, and sufficient reason. Violation of these laws leads to different logical errors and false conclusions. Sometimes, the laws of logic are violated unintentionally and out of ignorance (Hurley, 2011). However, it is sometimes done deliberately to confuse the interlocutor and present a false idea. Knowledge of logic increases the culture of thinking, develops skills to think more intelligently, and develops a critical attitude. Logic teaches one to argue correctly. It allows people to correctly defend their opinion, refute the erroneous belief of the opponent, find compromises, and expose the unfair practices and tricks. Finally, logic adopts the habit of thinking. Modernity forces people to know much. In such a way, school and higher education systems seek to enclose much information in students. In the book Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking, the author Merrilee Salmon (2012) states that â€Å"Information must be processed – understood, sorted for relevance, checked for accuracy and completeness, balanced against competing information, organized coherently, and analyzed for its application† (p. 2). However, they do not teach one to think. They do not tend to develop this human ability. Nevertheless, thinking is an extremely important aspect in personâ €™s life. Therefore, the notion that the study of logic does not have a practical significance is untenable. Many great philosophers and prominent figures of science and culture, such as Plato, Hobbes, and others attached great importance to the study of logic, knowledge of its laws, and pointed to the need to develop the ability to think logically. Logic is a necessary tool by releasing extra and unnecessary memorization. It helps to find the necessary notions in the mass of information. Knowledge of logic is necessary to any expert – mathematician, physician, biologist, and others. To some extent, logic was necessary for people at the most different historical epochs. However, it is especially necessary for precision of thought in the modern era. It is associated with the fact that the higher the level of society’s development, the greater are the requirements for the men, the own level of development, general, and special culture. In such a way, the need for the ability to think and reason and deeply understand the processes, occurring in public life, becomes extremely urgent. Accordingly, the role and importance of logic, as a science of thinking, is enhanced. Due to its extreme generality and abstraction, it is relevant to virtually all specific industries of science and technology. Despite the fact that these industries are different and unique, the laws and regulations of thinking, on which they are based, are united. Knowledge of logic is required for all people. However, there are sectors of human activity, professions, and specialties, where this knowledge is particularly necessary. Thus, logic knowledge is especially important for employees of public education (Sinnott, 2013). After all, these people are involved in an extremely important social process – the transfer of knowledge accumulated by mankind from one generation to another. Their activities are also largely associated with the formation of younger generation’s thinking. For them, it is important not only to think clearly, but also to teach thinking clearly and form a logical culture of students. Knowledge of logic is imperative to the workers of press and me dia. After all, their thoughts and words are addressed to the vast masses of population and can cause serious social consequences. Therefore, it is extremely important that information is strictly calibrated, balanced, and accurate. The need for knowledge of logic is obvious for health professionals (Sinnott, 2013). They deal with life and health. Therefore, logic errors are especially dangerous in analysis of the signs of the disease and diagnosis, and, thus, the determination of treatments. Knowledge of the laws and regulations of normally proceeding thinking is used in psychiatry as a mean of detecting violations of mental activity in psychiatric patients. Such logical methods as analysis, synthesis, generalization, and classification are usually used (Sinnott, 2013). Logic is of particular importance in the activities of lawyers. Cicero speaking of the court cases advised the speaker to carefully and thoroughly understand all the cases. In today’s legal practice, substantially all the arsenal of logical means is widely used. It includes definition, division, summing up under a concept, the version as a kind of hypothesis, inference, proof, and refutation (Sinnott, 2013). Thinking logically means to think accurately and consistently. Contradictions in arguments should be avoided. These qualities of thought are important in any field of scientific and practical activities, requiring the precision of thought and the validity of conclusions. Logic plays an extremely important role in everyday life. It organizes the correct methods of reasoning, as well as common errors in reasoning. It provides logical means for a clear expression of thoughts, without which, any intellectual activity is ineffective. Knowledge of logic raises the culture of thinking, advanced skills of thinking, and develops a critical attitude towards people’s thoughts. Knowledge of the rules and laws of logic is not the ultimate goal of its research. The ultimate goal is the ability to use its rules and laws in the process of thinking. The truth and logic are interconnected. Therefore, knowledge of logic is impossible to overestimate. Logic helps to justify the true judgment and to refute the false one. It teaches people to think correctly and succinctly. Thus, logic is a philosophical science of forms of human thinking and laws, to which it is subject. In such a way, logic is necessary for all people.

Shouldice Hospital Case Essays

Shouldice Hospital Case Essays Shouldice Hospital Case Paper Shouldice Hospital Case Paper 1. ) How well is the hospital currently utilizing its bed? 90 beds x 7 days/ week = 630 beds available in a week 30 patients x 3 days x 5 days per week = 450 beds utilized 450 beds utilized / 630 availble beds = 71. 43% The hospital is currently utilizing 71. 43% of their beds, this is actually an ideal operating point. To increase its rate of utilization might decrease the service quality. 2. ) Develop a similar table to show the effects of adding operations on Saturday. (Assume that 30 operations would still be performed each day. ) Check-in DayMondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturdaySunday Monday303030. Tuesday303030 Wednesday303030 Thursday303030 Friday303030 Saturday Sunday303030 Total60909090906060 How would this affect the utilization of the bed capacity? Is this capacity sufficient for the additonal patients? 90 beds x 7 days/ week = 630 beds available in a week 30 patients x 3 days x 6 days per week = 540 beds utilized 540 beds utilized / 630 beds available = 85. 71% Adding operations on Saturday will improved the utilization rate of beds from 71. 43% to 85. 71%. It is still sufficient; however, we might risk the service quality. 3. ) Now look at the effect of increasing the number of beds by 50%. How many operations could the hospital perform per day before running out of bed capacity? (Assume operations are performed five days per week, with the same number performed on each day). 90 beds x 1. 50 = 135 beds 135 beds x 7 days = 945 beds available in a week 945 beds / 3 days x 5 days in a week = 63 operations per day The hospital could perform a maximum of 63 operations per day if the beds are increase by 50%. How well would the new resources be utilized relative to the current operation? 30 patients x 3 days x 5 days per week = 450 beds utilized 135 beds x 7 days = 945 beds available in a week 450 beds utilized / 945 beds available = 47. 62% With the current operation, the utilization rate would only be 47. 62% if the beds would be increased by 50%. If we would add additional beds, we also need to accept more patients to fully utilize the investment. Could the hospital really perform this many operations? Why? (Hint: Look at the capacity of the 12 surgeons and the five operating rooms. ) Operating room maximum capacity: 8 operations (7:30- 4:00) (one operation per hour) x 5 operating rooms = 40 operations 12 surgeons x 4 operations per surgeon = 48 operations 7 assitant surgeons x 4 operations per surgeon = 28 operations. The case states that surgeons operate on 4 patients per. If surgeons means all the full time surgeons only, we have a maximum of 40 possible operations; thus the 30 operations per day is feasible. However, if we would include the part-time surgeons as surgeons that operates 4 patients per day, only 28 operations is feasible. 4. ) Although financial data are sketchy, an estimate from a construction company indicates that adding bed capacity would cost about $100,000 per bed. In addition, the rate charged for the hernia surgery varies between about $900 and $2,000, with an average rate of $1,300 per operation. Due to all uncertainties in government health care legislation, Shouldice would like to justify an expansion within a five-year time period. Option 1 Add 50% more beds Investment cost in adding 50% more beds : 45 beds x $100,000 = $4,500,000 Revenue: Maximum of 40 operations per days (maximum capacity for 5 operating rooms) x 5 days per week x 52 weeks per year = maximum 10,400 operations per year 10,400 operations x $1,300 = $13,520,000 Surgeon cost: (Assuming $600 for the full-time surgeon, payment for assistant surgeon is not given /included. ) 10,400 operations x $600 = $ 6,240,000 Maximum Annual Profit = $7,280,000 For five years = $36,400,000 Five years profit less the 45 beds investment = $31,900,000 Option 2 Add 1 more operating day (Saturday) Revenue: Maximum of 40 operations per days (maximum capacity for 5 operating rooms) x 6 days per week x 52 weeks per year = maximum 12,480 operations per year 12,480 operations x $1,300 = $16,224,000. Surgeon cost: (Assuming $600 for the full-time surgeon, payment for assistant surgeon is not given /included. ) 12,480 operations x $600 = $ 7,488,000 Annual Profit = $8,736,000 Five years profit = $43,680,000 Recommendation: With 90 beds and the current operation, the hospital is doing well. Their existing system and reputation have already set them apart as a market leader and has proven to be a profitable setup. However, there is still an unmet demand. Option 1 to add 50% more beds may not be beneficial if we dont also increase operation. Increasing the number of bed by 50% would not be advisable unless they would add more surgeons and operating rooms because the existing operating rooms capacity and number of surgeons could not fill an addition of 45 beds. They would be operating the surgery rooms at over capacity. Option 2 that involves adding one more day of operation is also valid as it would utilize resource capacity. However, adding a Saturday can also have a negative impact on the work force that drive down the service quality that gives the hospital a competitive advantage. This could be offset by hiring addition staff and consequently adding operating rooms. Adding more surgeons only and thinking they could extend operating hours beyond 4:00pm to fully utilized operating rooms is not a good option as this may disturb the scheduled dinner at 6:00pm. This get-together by patients is a major factor that contributes to the hospitals success. Between the two options given, option 2 to add one more operating day is more profitable. I would recommend combining the two options plus hiring more staffs and adding more operating rooms. However, due to limited information given by the case. We cant compute if this option is indeed more profitable than the rest.