Chips Food Industry: Marketing Analysis

Chips Food Industry: Marketing Analysis Integrated marketing communication program for CHIPS: Executive summary: Various CHIPS industry such as Lays, Uncle chips, and fun pop etc. design various integrated marketing program. Although common objective of all IMC program is increase brand awareness, sale and design a unique image in customers mind. In order to address and attract customer all chips industry launch various campaign. To communicate with public and customers they advertise their campaign on TV, magazine, online and radio. Through their advertisement they want to design their brand image in customer mind. Besides advertisement, they also carried out promotion activity, public relation, direct marketing etc. Direct marketing is although time consuming but most effective tool for communication. Various chips industry also organizes various events in order to communicate properly with customers, for example Lays company was planning to launch a new taste called â€Å"GIVE US YOUR DILLICIOUS FLAVOR† for their customers. Main purpose of this event is to increase the variety of chips . Before designing IMC program this company carried out market research in order to judge customers behaviors and taste toward chips. For research they design the strategy for chips event. During the event they decided to get feedback from customer who visits retail outlet so that appropriate primary data can be collected for designing IMC strategy for â€Å"The HUB†. Before designing integrated marketing communication program it is necessary to judge consumers behavior toward chips , it is necessary to known customers liking and disliking, these data provide various support during designing of IMC program. Although there are various media available for communicating but Print ads in magazine and news paper is seen most effective medium followed by television. After Research survey done by various chips company, it has been found that oldest peoples were less brand conscious than youths. There is no particular taste trend about chips among oldest peoples, but youths are more conscious towards chips market. â€Å"Tastes† and â€Å"varieties† are the major attributes considered by customer while buying chips. Marketing plan plan Situation Analysis: Every organization faces a lot of problem at present time so it became necessary for every organization that before setting any objective carried out situation analysis in order to recognize strength, weakness, opportunities and threat present in our organization. According to Sally and John, marketing plans are â€Å"the written document or blueprint for implementing and controlling an organizations marketing activities related to a particular marketing strategy†. A successful marketing plan is able to improve organizations profits and growth, uses in objective setting and monitors results. So to gain a successful market plan it is necessary to understand the current situation comprehensively and trends affecting the future of the organization. There are two major reasons to explain why situation analysis plays a vital role in developing marketing plan. Firstly, dynamic marketing environment will lead to uncertainty, threats and opportunities for marketers. Marketing managers who success to know changes in environment through situation analysis can lead their companies to capitalize on opportunities and cope with threats created by changes. Then, systematically analyzing situational environments in order to identify our customers and understand their needs and taste. There are certain opportunities in chips industry, such as increase people taste, increase market and market share through integrated PR, and advertisement and promotional campaign. Besides opportunities there is a lot of threat that create barrier for entry in chips industry. These threats are as follow: Too much competitors in the market Mainly prefer to old brand. High price and loyalty decrease loyalty toward brand Main objective behind situation analysis is to known analyze customer, competitor and there strategy. Marketing objective: After situation analysis we became able to known our organization strength, weakness, opportunities and threat present in environment. It provides a lot of support in setting of objective. There may be a lot of marketing objective, some are as follow: Increase market share To Launch new variety chips with new flavors. Increase sale by 50% in 6 month from the launch of public campaign Create awareness among target audience. Use excessive advertising especially using media preferred by the target market. Create product belonging and position among buyers mind Marketing strategies : To achieve these objective we implement various strategy. Target market: Urban personality: Affluent institutes Prosperous young professional Students and cosmopolitan Mainly for the youth Gender: male and female Age: 5 to 40 years Marketing Mix Strategies : Main aim of various chips industry to produce high quality chips in different-different ingredients such as SPICY, BUTTER, SALTED, LEMON. This is mostly done to capture youth attention. They produce chips in different ingredients to capture more market share. Must of chips brand such as lays, uncle chips, bingo, fun pop jump in to Indian market by producing high quality of chips. Form that alls lays captured very high share in the market. Pricing range from 3 to 40. Chips do not need too much promotion. It is done mostly by fair, E commerce and agent The distribution channels for chips industry are as follows. MANUFACTURER (COMPANY) WHOLESELLER CHIPS SEND TO RETAILER CUSTOMER Internal Process It is as follows. Import Potato Cutting Fried Wrapped flavors Withdraw wastage Finishing Dispatched to store Packing and containers Samples of Product; Implementation tactics : Launch a blind ad campaign on billboards and magazines in all A class areas of major cities and magazine. Heavy advertising on TV, newspapers and magazines Set displays in buses and major dealer outlets in all cities. Reduce number of billboards, television and magazines advertisements. Continue Advertising Evaluation, Monitoring and Control: Goal of marketing plan is to achieve market objective that are established before implementation of marketing plan. We evaluate and control our strategic tactic by comparing our result with standard established before setting of plan, by measuring customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. If result is less than our standard than there any is default in implementation and monitoring. The people who are responsible for the monitoring and control of the marketing plan involves, the Marketing Executives, Sales Managers, Media Managers, Market Research Departments, and the Production Managers. Some activities must be carried out for precisely and closely evaluating the effectiveness of the strategies and tactics for example the gathering and structuring of data regarding market, product, consumers and the pricing trends, then the generation of daily sales report should be maintained and then in the end continuous reconfirming of the marketing budget and activities by the managers of different divisions. The Integrated Marketing Communication Plan Integrated Marketing Communications is a term used to describe a holistic approach to marketing communication. It aims to ensure consistency of message and the complementary use of media. The concept includes online and offline marketing channels. Online marketing channels include any e-marketing campaigns or programs, pay-per-click, affiliate, email, banner to latest web related channels for webinar, blog, micro-blogging, RSS, podcast, and Internet TV. Offline marketing channels are traditional print (newspaper, magazine), mail order, public relations, industry relations, billboard, radio, and television. A company develops its integrated marketing communication programme using all the elements of the marketing mix (product, price, place, and promotion) So Integrated marketing communication is integration of all marketing tools, approaches, and resources within a company which maximizes impact on consumer mind and which results into maximum profit at minimum cost. Promotional activities include Advertising, sales promotion, and personal selling activities. It also includes internet marketing, sponsorship marketing, direct marketing, database marketing and public relations. And integration of all these promotional tools along with other components of marketing mix to gain edge over competitor is called Integrated Marketing Communication. Situational analysis : First of all we carried out we carried out situation analysis in order to understood problem. In this we identify our competitors and their strategy for example Lays carried out competitor analysis and find out various strategy adopted by other chips companies e.g. lays, uncle chips, kurkure , Fun pop, oho yes . After situation analysis Lays company found that customer wants a new taste in chips and needed a change in strategic direction. Management responded to the increase its manufacturing plants offshore and by introducing a new taste of chips in the market. Under situation analysis we also analyze financial position of company. IMC objective : There are various IMC objective set by jeans company after situation analysis in order to accomplish their goal. Some of objective are as follow: To Increase sale by 50% in six month To Increase brand awareness To Increase customer loyalty To Increase desire of customer To Increase repeat purchase To measure customer satisfaction To create relationship with customer on personal level To control and observe public opinion To receive feedback from customer on regular basis Media objectives state the impact that you expect to have on an audience in terms of reach and frequency. Objectives must meet the following criteria: Measurability Quantifiability Realism time-specificity Budget determination: We need to establish what amount of money will be needed to achieve the IMC objectives.Although there is various methods present to determine what amount of money invest on IMC. These methods are as follow: Affordable Method Percentage of Sales Method Unit of Sales Method Zero Budgeting Method In affordable method we invest money on IMC as soon as we can afford. However in Percentage of Sales Method amount of money invest on IMC tool depend on what amount of sale we expect to achieve during course of year. These percentages are mostly adhoc and sometime based on judgment. In Unit of Sales Method Company allocate a certain proportion of cost of product to promotion. Thus say if ex factory cost of the product is say Rs 10/ the company will allot Rs.100/- toward promotion cost. Hence if company expects sale 30000 unit of the product, thus allocated IMC budget will be Rs.30,00,000/-. In Zero Budgeting Method, company determine what need to achieve in term of sale and then rework backward in term of what money will be needed to be allocate to deliver those customers. Thus if company believe that in order to achieve their sales, 30,000 customers need to purchase their chips once during the planning period than it will work out what number of prospective customers will needed to be targeted through ATL and BTL activity, in order to achieve that result. IMC Methodologies There are various component of integrated marketing communication that is as follow: Advertisement Advertisement is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas or products by an identified sponsor. Objective of any ads is to increase brand awareness. Objectives: There are mostly three objective of advertisement campaign, that are as follow: Inform Persuade Remind 1. Inform: Informative advertising, seeks to tell the market about the chips, explain the new quality added in chips, provide information on pricing, and build awareness of both the chips quality and the company. Such objectives are normally pursued at the launch of a new quality chips, or re-launch / up-date of an existing chips. 2. Persuade: Here objectives are to encourage the target audience to switch brands, make the purchase, and create a preference in the market for the chips as opposed to its competition. Advertising of this nature is required in highly competitive markets, where a ingredient of chips flavor competes directly with each other. In such circumstances businesses often seek to differentiate theirs chips through Comparison Advertising either directly or indirectly comparing its chips to that of its competitors. 3. Remind: Reminder Advertising, is used to maintain interest and awareness of a well established chips brand in the market, often in the latter stages of its product life cycle. It is often used at the Point-of-Purchase to remind consumers of the Brand. Advertisement budget: Having identified advertising objectives, the advertising budget must be set. Determining exactly how much a business should spend on advertising to achieve the desired level of sales. Commonly, the decision is based on past experience of expenditure on advertising, and the sales subsequently achieved. There are however a number of factors that can be considered in setting the advertising budget Factors influencing the setting of advertising Budgets: Product life cycle stage: New products in the Launch stage of their Product Life Cycle, will normally require greater expenditure on advertising to create product awareness, and encourage consumers to trial the product. Whilst products that have reached Maturity in their product life cycle, will often require smaller advertising budgets to achieve the level of sales required. Competition: The number of competitors in the market, and their expenditure on advertising competing products, will influence a business to spend to a similar or higher degree. Product Differentiation: A product very similar to other products on the market may require greater expenditure on advertising to differentiate it from its competitors. Advertising Strategy: Developing an Advertising Strategy to achieve the objectives of a campaign, requires that consideration be given to both the ‘Message which will be communicated and the ‘Media through which it will be sent Advertising Message An advertising campaign, no matter how much money is spent, no matter what media is used, will only be successful if the Message appeals to the target audience. Given the level of advertising which bombards the average consumer, a successful advertising message must stand out amongst the advertising clutter. Thus marketing professionals are required to be creative, imaginative and innovative in developing the advertising message, both in terms of what is said, and How it is said? What is said This is often referred to as the ‘Big Idea, and will normally address the key benefits sought by the target audience, motivating the audience to pay attention. Given the constant search for new ways to appeal to target audiences, it is difficult to categories the content of advertising messages which a business may send.. How they say it During delivery of advertisement massage in customer mind take the taste symbol, and various flavors as consideration. In addition the tone of the advertisement will need to be established, which can be either positive or negative. The advert may therefore promote positive feelings of fun, contentment, and happiness or take on a more negative, somber, or even threatening tone. Selecting Advertising Media: In addition to deciding upon the content, style and tone of the advertising message, the media through which the message will be communicated to the target audience must also be selected. Mostly for chips advertisement we select media such as magazine, newspaper and outdoor. TV rarely used for advertisement of chips. In order to select the most appropriate media, consideration must should be given to various advantage and disadvantage of various media. Strengths and weakness of various media are as given below: Television : Strengths Dynamic attention getting media, combining visual, sound and animated stimulus. Strong potential Impact High market coverage Good at demonstrating products Weaknesses: Highly expensive Poor at communicating lengthy technical information Newspapers: Strengths: Targeting is possible through profiling readership Good level of market coverage Weaknesses: Static media, not suitable for product demonstration Potential for poor reproduction, sometimes limited to black and white print Short-life span, i.e. todays newspapers become tomorrows rubbish Magazines: Strengths: High quality reproduction, of color images Targeting is possible through specialist publications Good pass on readership Weaknesses: Static media, not suitable for product demonstration Lengthy lead-time between advert being placed and magazine being published Outdoor: Strengths: High repeat exposure to advert Relatively low cost Low levels of competition, in terms of advertising clutter Weaknesses: Limited audience selectivity / targeting possible Static media, not suitable for product demonstrations Difficult to monitor effectiveness Sale promotion: Sale promotion is collection of various consumers and trade promotional tool such as rebate, discount, gift, contest, coupons, price deal, contest game, sampling etc. to increase sale of products. There are certain objectives of sale promotion. However main objective is to increase immediate sale because Sales Managers are under great pressure to produce results quickly. Objective: There are certain objectives of sale promotion that are as follow: To increase immediate customer sale To increase support among the marketers sales force. To gain the support of the trade in marketing the product Reasons for Growth of Sales Promotion: There are number of reason for growth of company in sale promotion some are as follow: 1. Increasing Competition Due to increase in competition, companies are finding it increasingly difficult to compete on quality. They are therefore resorting to more innovative methods of sales promotion. In order to have a competitive advantage over its competitors like lays, uncle chips, kurkure, oho yes, fun pops once a year has a grand sale of up to 50%. 2. Customers Have Become More Price Sensitive: The increase price sensitivity is direct result of rampant inflation. Economic support this trend further, as a result customers and dealer became more sensitive toward price. If the customers believes in on lays then he definitely buy the new chips but customer buy it when our product provide high quality with cheap rates. 3. Sales Promotions Generally Create an Immediate Positive Impact on Sales: Advertising, personal selling and other methods of promotion produce slower impact on sales in compared to sales promotion. Sales promotions are mostly for short duration, for a specified period, leading to a sense of urgency in consumers to buy now. This creates an immediate positive impact on sales. 4. Products have become more standardized: In many product categories there is proliferation of brand or line extension and me too many brands. Most of brand perceived by consumer varies little in price. Due to this it became very difficult for advertiser to reposition their product in customers mind. Due to which they focus on more and more on sale promotion to get immediate result. 6. Advertising Has Become More Expensive and Less Effective: All the advertising media have become quite expensive. Audio-visual medium, which is considered as the most effective for short-duration ads, may cost in excess of Rs. 1 lakh for a 10 second exposure during prime time. In many cases, consumers have reached a point of boredom due to excessive advertising on TV. Firms with small budgets cannot compete with big companies, which spend huge sums of money on advertising. For these small budget firms, sales promotion is a more cost-effective promotion method to produce sales results. 7. Trade Has Become More Powerful: At present time Retailers and wholesalers have became more powerful and demand extra facility from company to promote their product. Company has no other alternative. Besides these there are also various kind reason such as Excess Stocks, Impulse Buying Is Increasing, Sales Promotions Maximize Profits etc. Promotion Strategies: Promotional strategy is mostly run to change consumers behavior, to increase brand image, to increase profit, to increase sale of various good. There are mostly two kind of sale promotion, one is directed toward consumer and other one is directed toward trade such as dealer, supplier, retailer etc. Consumer sale promotion tool: there are a lot of promotional tool used to increase sale. Consumer sale promotion is directed toward consumer. It stimulate consumer to purchase their product rapidly. There are a lot of tool that are as follow: Price deal: Price deal is temporary reduction in price of product. There are two type of deal: one is buy in bulk and second is extra quantity. Coupon: A coupon is typically a printed certificate giving the bearer a stated price reduction or special value on a specific product, generally for a specific period. Various company issue various kind of coupon that contain various discount price , customer get the advantage of this discount and get chips at free of cost. Offer: There are various kind of offers given by various chips industry. For example buy 2 chips and get 1 free. or buy 3 and pay for 2. That types of schemes provided by the chips industries. Premium: sometime various companies like Lays, kurkure etc. offer some gift inside the chips packet or at bargain price to encourage customer buying. Sampling: Some companies when launch a new taste of chips in the market, before the launching, sample of chips is to be taste in the market. If that sample is being liked by the peoples then it launch in the market. Advertising Specialities: Advertising specialities also call a promotional product. It mostly given to our loyal customers. It includes various card like birthday card, New Year card. It is mostly done to retain old customer. And this cards is provide to retailers for the customers. Trade sale promotion tool: Objectives of Trade Sales Promotion: Gain/maintain distribution Influence resellers to promote product Influence resellers to offer price discount Increase reseller inventory Defend against competitors Avoid reduction of normal prices There are various sale promotion tools that stimulate trade to promote company product. There are a lot of trade sale promotion tools some are as discussed below: Trade Allowances: Trade allowances are short-term special allowances, discounts, or deals granted to resellers to stimulate reseller to rapid purchase of their product. Point-of-Purchase Display: Point-of-purchase displays are generally used at the retail level to call customer attention to a featured product. In this company employees observe every retail shop and those retail shop that display more company product will be winner of special gift or prizes. Trade Shows: A trade show is periodic, semi periodic public event at which supplier displays their chips product and provides information about chips quality and price to buyers. After implementing these different techniques of sale promotion we monitor result and evaluate these by comparing with objective set before implementation of plan. Public relation Public relation is nothing but creating a favorable relation for organization and product which is done through used of various communication channel and tool. So public relation is mostly done to improve the image of company and build good image in customers mind. So public relation may be define as â€Å"Public Relations is a set of management, supervisory, and technical functions that foster an organizations ability to strategically listen to, appreciate, and respond to those persons whose mutually beneficial relationships with the organization are necessary if it is to achieve its missions and values. Objective: like other aspect of marketing, public relation is also used to address several broad aspect of marketing like: Building Product Awareness When introducing a new product or relaunching an existing product, marketers can use a PR element that generates consumer attention and awareness through media placements and special events. Creating Interest: Public Relation create public interest to used the product at least for once time. Providing Information: Through the Public relation we can provide a lot of information about company activity and their product feature and service provided by company. This information is delivered to public through newspaper, article website, collateral material; PR helps in delivering information that helps to public in understanding the product feature. Stimulating Demand: A positive article in a newspaper, on TV, news show or mentioned on the Internet, often results in a discernable increase in product sales. Reinforcing the Brand: In many companies like lays, kurkure company the public relations function is also involved with brand reinforcement by maintaining positive relationships with key audiences, and thereby aiding in building a strong image. Direct Marketing Direct marketing is business of selling company product directly to customers through mail order, telephone, fax, e-mails, or web selling, rather than through retailers. Objective: There are mostly to objective for which direct marketing is carried out these are as follow: Convert not user to user. It is mostly done to obtain new client. The identification of new potential clients is very crucial when it comes to recruit new prospects and transformed them into your clients. The perpetual loyalty of customers. A loyal consumer cost less than new customers. Strategy: Various chips industry like Lays, kurkure involved in direct marketing to get more market share. These companies sent a mail-order catalog to approximately prospective customers. 100-page catalog, developed in-house, targets childrens, men and women and also contains 10 pages devoted to home products. There are various tools for direct marketing these are as : Direct mail, Telemarketing, Email Marketing ,faxing, Voicemail, Couponing, Direct response television marketing. Measuring and Evaluate the Planning process: Reason for measuring IMC performance: There are various reason, due to which it became more necessary to measure performance of IMC. These reasons are as follow: Since a lot of money is required for advertisement and promotion and other marketing activity. So it became necessary to evaluate whether such invest generate any return or not. After measuring the performance it became able to understand where I am. So it help in choosing the most effective alternative. We carried out IMC performance evaluation to eliminate unproductive strategy. It also helps in estimating whether objectives are achieved or not. Evaluation of IMC planning process: Evaluation of an IMC plan is not easy because often communications effects are difficult to measure. At times they may not even have a direct impact on sales or profitability; effects may be delayed, etc. Therefore it is important to set the objective or â€Å"standards for measuring performance† in specific, measurable terms to make the evaluation possible. After doing all these now its time to evaluate the performance, the performance is satisfactory as they have imagined because its quit difficult to enter into the chips industry but after this they have achieved their objectives and satisfy their customer by providing the new taste with reasonable price, different flavors, and ingredients. Manager has to measure the actual performance either through consumer surveys or sales figure. Sales have been increasing day by day. Their market share also increased. Brand image is increasing because their strategies are up to the mark so they got success to satisfy their customer towards their new product Manager got to know these outcomes by comparing actual performance with set standards of new product. These steps also helped out to take further decision or plans.

Wellness :: essays research papers

Freshman seminar Wellness paper 101 Ways of doing It With Out Actually doing it This program totally wasn’t what I expected it to be. To my surprise the whole thing was actually about relationships, and what to do on dates without having sex, and or sexual influence.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Attending college is a very different experience. It’s when most of us experience life situations and learn to make our own decisions. The problem is that many students, due to the influence of our society, decide to have sex because â€Å"everybody else is doing it†. But what many students don’t realize is that there both rewards and consequences when dealing with sexual intercourse. This is an important issue, especially when most of my fellow peers believe in â€Å"casual sex†. I personally believe that sex is something that shouldn’t be taking lightly†¦in other words, I’m not anybody’s booty call!!!!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Anyways, back to the seminar. In the discussion, many of us realized that dates seem to be a thing of the past. No one really goes on a â€Å"one on one† date anymore. Its always a group thing, going out to a party or just hanging out. I can’t even remember if I’ve ever been on a real date myself. Relationships lack that solid foundation of one to one communication, which is probably why most teens have sex: it’s what’s expected, yet nobody talks about it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the seminar, we were educated in finding other ways to express ourselves and feelings to each other. Even though some were far-fetched and unrealistic (for example: a grave yard walk), some were actually feasible (example: a picnic). A few of the other suggestions included a K-mart party, which I personally would’ve evr thought of, but I guess it is another alternative to sex. Some of the more realistic ones included walks on the beach, athletic activities, dinner and a movie. Hopefully some of these ideas will be used around campus instead of sex. Many attending the meeting suggested other dating ideas such as horseback riding, test driving cars and playing golf. I didn’t quite agree with them because a.) horses are big animals b.) I don’t have a license and c.) I HATE golf!!!! Also during the seminar, we participated in an activity. We were split into groups, based on gender. The girls that attended the seminar wrote down some of the things they like to do and some of the things they hate, the boys in the room did the same.

Elder Abuse and Neglect: Trends and Implications Essay

Considering the growing number of elder population in the world, and more specifically in the US, the reality of elder abuse or mistreatment has increasingly become a cause of concern specially for the health sector. Political and social forums have lent a stage for policy debates related to elder abuse. Though statistics show that elder abuse is common in many households and health care facilities, it is still considered as an underreported type of family violence. The International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and the World Health Organization define elder abuse as â€Å"a single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action occurring within a relationship where there is an expectation of trust which causes harm or distress to an older person† (as cited by Perel-Levin, 2005). Abuse of elderly people occurs in several ways, and often the types of abuse overlap with one another. The five commonly identified categories of elder abuse are physical abuse, psychological or emotional abuse, financial or material abuse, sexual abuse and neglect. (Bergeron, 2005; Dyer and Rowe, 1999; Kingston & Penhale, 1995; Perel-Levin, 2005). Elder abuse is a violation of human rights Perel-Levin (2005) and it constitutes potentially serious health and social problems (Kingston & Penhale, 1995). Perel-Levin (2005) assert that because of the speed of population ageing worldwide, elder abuse will also increase unless interventions are done to address it. A study made by the National Center for Elder revealed that 1996 saw more than 500,000 victims of elder abuse in America and that the great majority (84%) were not reported. This implies that there are several millions of elder abuse victims who continue to suffer in silence and without due recourse or help from authorities (NCEA, 1996). In the UK, at least half a million older persons are abused each year, yet it is believed that most such abuse remains unreported because its victims are too frightened, ashamed or embarrassed to come forward (Department of Health, 2007; as cited in Cronin, 2007). Health professionals as well as researchers agree that elder abuse and neglect often take place in the context of illness and caretaking issues (Bergeron, 2005). It is ironic because these facilities should instead safeguard the welfare and well-being of patients and wards instead of condoning abuse and neglect or turning a blind eye. It is commonly believed that the risk factors for elder abuse are present caretaking facilities that are tasked to safeguard the welfare of the elders. These settings include home health care, mental health clinics, emergency departments, and acute settings, as well as in long-term institutional care (Bergeron, 2005). These contentions support the critical argument of this paper that the reality of elder abuse and its still blurred status in institutional policy orientations augurs many pejoratives and adverse implications for older adults particularly those residing in nursing facilities. A victim of elder abuse would most likely suffer from worsening health condition which could very well adversely affect his social relationships, mental health and life endeavours. Trends Various sectors of the society have taken the cudgel to win the battle against elder abuse, mistreatment and neglect. Heading the cry for eradication of the problem is the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) which is under the auspices of the US Administration for Aging. It is working closely with many other advocates. NCEA is composed of a consortium of professionals and experts from various disciplines, most of them being researchers, practitioners and educators (NCEA website). Addressing the elder abuse dilemma has also been pacing up at the World Health Organization and has commissioned researches to gather information about the problem for it to come up with working solutions and interventions on a global scale. The mandate of the NCEA gives an overview of the efforts of practitioners and advocates to solve the problem on elder abuse and to promote the dignity of elder persons. Elder abuse is studied and dissected in many aspects focusing on 1) causes and risk factors, 2) prevalence and incidence of elder abuse in various contexts (e. g. , the home and health care facilities), 3) clinical screening and abuse identification, 4) evaluation of risk assessment tools and elder abuse instruments, and 5) prevention and treatment protocols with emphasis on evidence-based practice, among others (NCEA website). In a research partly sponsored by the Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education and the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, it is asserted that family violence which includes child abuse, partnership violence and elder mistreatment has become a â€Å"major social, health and law enforcement issue† as it continues to impact on policy directions as well as strain the capability of law enforcement agencies, judicial bodies, social service agencies, and health care centers (Chalk & King, 1998). Elder abuse and neglect issues have been taken in political agenda. In a remarkable eye-opening testimony by Catherine Hawes (Professor and Director of the Southwest Rural Health Research Center at the School of Rural Public Health, Texas A&M University System Health Science Center), she confirmed to the US Senate that indeed elder abuse is a sad reality in residential long-term care settings. The gist of her testimony contends that patients in such residential facilities are very vulnerable to mistreatment and abuse, that the problem elder abuse and neglect are caused by â€Å"low staffing levels and inadequate staff training†, that evidence suggests to the effectiveness of existing guidelines and practices to minimize the problem in residential facilities, and that the elder abuse problem in such settings have not been given the right attention (Hawes, 2002). Elder abuse and neglect has also become a critical issue in the fields of criminology and law enforcement. The number of elder abuse related studies in the field of criminal justice have escalated. A project conducted by the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging, with the assistance of the University of California , Irvine School of Medicine by virtue of a grant made by the National Institute of Justice, highlights several recommendations relating to medical forensic issues on elder abuse were presented and which may be used as a guide in research and policy endeavors of other practitioners. In another research, Blake & Dolon (2006) gives a comprehensive and methodical approach to the abuse and neglect issue that will be of great use to the criminal justice system and the social services sector, among others. Practical examples and situations are given to illustrate their concepts and to describe proposed interventions in the legal context (e. g. , establishment of guardianship), for the health sector (e. g. , diagnosis and treatment), and in the social services sector (e. g. , home care or counselling). Forensic studies also provide guidance in conducting research-based forensic interviews. One such study is that Cooper and King (2006), which set up clear interview guidelines in aid of forensic investigation of an offender who committed sexual assault against an elderly. An evaluation of the criminal justice response to elder abuse in nursing homes was conducted by Payne & Gainey (2006). Analyzing 801 cases of elder abuse in nursing homes revealed that physical assault is the most common form of abuse and that work stress contributes to elder abuse incidence. The researchers suggest that preventative measures should be implemented forthwith in nursing homes. Implications The health and medical sciences as well as occupational science are linked together because they focus on the health and well-being of human beings. Implications of elder abuse to the health sector come from different perspectives, but the essence of occupational science and justice are mostly integrated in these perspectives. For health care providers, they are not only in an ideal position to engage in early identification, support and referral of persons experiencing elder abuse but should also recognize and accept it as their responsibility to address the risks of elder abuse (Kingston & Penhale, 1995). However, Fulmer, et al (2004) say that the health care sector experience difficulty fulfilling these roles. Citing several studies, it was asserted that elder abuse treatment attitudes among nurses with older patients tend to be negative (McLafferty & Morrison, 2004) and that ignorance in hospitals of the problem of elder abuse is characteristic of the situation in general (Cohen, et al, 2006). Richardson, et al; (2002) found that at baseline, staff often do not recognize, record and report abuse. Still, Nahmiash and Reis (2000) found in their study that the most accepted and successful strategies for abused older adults are concrete: nursing and other medical care and homemaking assistance, thus health professionals, especially nurses, are likely to be among those accepted by abused adults. Accident and emergency departments are often the first point of contact for an abused older person (Dyer & Rowe, 1999). Notwithstanding the problems in recognising abuse and the complexities of dealing with older people, emergency nurses need not prove or disprove it is present; it is their responsibility though to act if they suspect it (Cronin, 2007) and they should not be afraid to seek help if they are suspicious of abuse, lest they fall short of their responsibility. (Dyer and Rowe, 1999). For the occupational therapist, an acute understanding of elder abuse and its symptoms could help him screen and identify elder abuse, refer incidence to authorities or to enhance therapeutic protocols to restore health and well-being of an abused elder. Knowledge of the experiences of an elderly patient will give the practitioner valuable insights on the patient’s physical state and mental condition and which will help the patient-therapist partnership in designing and implementing therapeutic programs. Conclusion The sad reality of elder abuse stares us into the face and we can’t help but stare back in terror and fear. The face of an old person with beaten black and blue or a disposition that showed the heartbreaking misery of being attacked or robbed by one’s own family are indeed not only poignant pictures but terrifying as well. Imagine millions of faces like these. It would be a terrible world to live in. As already underscored earlier, elder abuse is underreported. Even as statistics show that millions of abuse cases have been reported, there are millions more who are hidden and kept secret. The reported statistics is just the tip of the iceberg. As also discussed, elder abuse is committed in residential facilities by no less than the health professionals who are supposed to be the protectors of their health and well-being. This is a cause of panic. This is an issue that should not escape the judicious eyes and ears of law and government. Occupational science could contribute so much in policy-making as well as designing protocols to prevent or treat elder abuse. References Bergeron, L. R. (2005). Elder abuse: Clinical assessment and obligation to report. In K. A. Kendall-Tackett (Ed. ), Health consequences of abuse in the family: A clinical guide for evidence based practice.. Washington DC: American Psychological Association. pp. 109-128. Blakely, B. & Dolon, R. (2006). Elder mistreatment (from Crisis Intervention in Criminal Justice/Social Service). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas Publisher Ltd. Chalk, R. and King, PA, eds. (1998). Violence in families: Assessing prevention and treatment programs.. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Cohen, M. , et al. (2006). Risk of abuse by their caregivers: development of a screening tool for identifying elderly people at risk of abuse by their caregivers. The Journal of Aging and Health. Retrieved Sept 25 2008 from ttp://jah. sagepub. com/cgi/content/abstract/18/5/660 Cronin, G. (2007). Elder abuse: the same old story? Emergency Nurse. Vol 15, No 3 June 2007. Dyer, C. & Rowe, J. 1999. Elder abuse. Trauma 1999; 1: 163-169 Arnold Publishers Fulmer, T. (2004). Progress in elder abuse screening and assessment instruments. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Vol 52, No 2. Retrieved January 10, 2009 from http://www. hartfordign. org/publications/trythis/issue15. pdf. Fulmer, T. , Paveza, G. , Abraham, I. , & Fairchild, S. (2000). Elder neglect assessment in the emergency department. Journal of Emergency Nursing, 26, 436-443. Hawes, Catherine. (2002). Elder abuse in residential long-term care facilities: What is known about prevalence, causes, and prevention. Testimony before the U. S. Senate Committee on Finance, June 18, 2002. Retrieved April 13, 2009 from http://finance. senate. gov/hearings/testimony/061802chtest. pdf.

Free Essays on Oboe History

The first type of reed instrument was created by the Egyptians in B.C. times. The primitive form was barley straws pressed flat and placed in a small pipe. These Egyptian reed-pipes later had three to four holes added. They varied in length. The Romans had similar instruments which they called tibiae. A short double-reeded instrument had been developed by the 12th century. It had a conical bore with a wide bell. It was brought to Europe during the Crusades from the East. It was named the shawm. The 14th century brought modifications and the discant shawm was invented. The treble shawm was soon produced. The oboe was developed from this instrument in the 17th century. It was made to be performed indoors. The oboe was produced by the Hotteterre family. It was first used in the court of Louis XVI. The original name was the French word hautbois, meaning "high-wood". The oboe was made of three sections with six keys and hole. Developments in the 18th century included making different sizes. One such model was the oboe di caccia. This is the ancestor of the English horn. More key mechanisms were developed in the 19th century. Nine keys were used by 1825 with the fingering similar to the flute and bassoon. The reed was also improved upon. The oboe is 1 foot 11.5 inches long, not including the reed. It is made with a conical bore that is larger towards the end. The English horn is 2 feet 7.5 inches long, not including the short metal tube to which the reed is attached. They are made of ebonite. The English horn has a lower, richer sound than the oboe. The oboe has been a favorite among composers for the last 300 years. The appeal is the reedy sound which is good for staccato melodies. The English horn is used for the lower sounds. Sound is produced by the player drawing the lips between the teeth into the mouth. The player then focuses the air through the reed at high pressure. The reeds vibrate against each other. This sets th... Free Essays on Oboe History Free Essays on Oboe History The first type of reed instrument was created by the Egyptians in B.C. times. The primitive form was barley straws pressed flat and placed in a small pipe. These Egyptian reed-pipes later had three to four holes added. They varied in length. The Romans had similar instruments which they called tibiae. A short double-reeded instrument had been developed by the 12th century. It had a conical bore with a wide bell. It was brought to Europe during the Crusades from the East. It was named the shawm. The 14th century brought modifications and the discant shawm was invented. The treble shawm was soon produced. The oboe was developed from this instrument in the 17th century. It was made to be performed indoors. The oboe was produced by the Hotteterre family. It was first used in the court of Louis XVI. The original name was the French word hautbois, meaning "high-wood". The oboe was made of three sections with six keys and hole. Developments in the 18th century included making different sizes. One such model was the oboe di caccia. This is the ancestor of the English horn. More key mechanisms were developed in the 19th century. Nine keys were used by 1825 with the fingering similar to the flute and bassoon. The reed was also improved upon. The oboe is 1 foot 11.5 inches long, not including the reed. It is made with a conical bore that is larger towards the end. The English horn is 2 feet 7.5 inches long, not including the short metal tube to which the reed is attached. They are made of ebonite. The English horn has a lower, richer sound than the oboe. The oboe has been a favorite among composers for the last 300 years. The appeal is the reedy sound which is good for staccato melodies. The English horn is used for the lower sounds. Sound is produced by the player drawing the lips between the teeth into the mouth. The player then focuses the air through the reed at high pressure. The reeds vibrate against each other. This sets th...

Video Games Violence essays

Video Games Violence essays Nearly all teenagers play video games. A 2008 study conducted by Pew Internet and American Life Project showed that 97% of teenagers ages from twelve to seventeen years old play computer, web, and portable or game console games. Cheryl K. Olsons main point in her article, Its Perverse, but its Also Pretended, is that there is not enough evidence or research that shows violent video games can cause childrens psychological or neurological harm to make them more aggressive to others. She goes on to argue that many people assume that video game violence is bad for children, even though they have never played any video games and therefore they might not be that educated on the subject. Olson also points out even though teenage boys may be more interested in violent video games; there is no evidence that shows a connection to violent behavior in real life. I disagree with Cheryl K. Olsons claim that there is not enough evidence on how violent video games can affect a childs psychological or neurological harm to make them more aggressive to others. Recent research shows teenagers who play violent video games over a number of years become more aggressive towards others; not only can it make teens more aggressive, but it can also generate negative affects in a teens life, and individuals who argue that video game violence has no affect on a childs life tend to have fewer credentials than the opposing side. Teenagers who have been playing violent video games for several years tend to react more aggressively to accidental provocations. According to a newspaper article from the Daily Mail, Violent Video Games Make Teenagers More Aggressive Towards Other People. A long term study done by the Brock University in Canada, suggests that long term players of violent video game tend to react more aggressively to accidental provocations. The study involved one thousand four hun...

Is Debt Relief Possible to Poor Countries Article

Is Debt Relief Possible to Poor Countries - Article Example I will present the article from Stanford University done by Marguerite Religioso that goes to prove in her article†¦ that debt relief is possible only for some poor nations. She cited that the International Monetary fund has been continuing its efforts to come up with an instrument that would help the poor countries who are heavily indebted. Her theory of â€Å"Is debt relief a viable solution to worldwide poverty or a waste of time and money† has pros and cons which she cited in the article. To evaluate the rationality of arguments, the author cited the study done by Stanford graduate students Henry and Arslanalp who used the stock market as a reliable source of the economic indicator. The significant result of the study proved that the stock market of the countries that obtained debt relief from the Brady plan (named after the U. S. Government Treasurer) showed 60% appreciation in 1989 to 1995 in real dollar terms even before debt relief was formally accepted. This is t he period that debt relief is being studied for implementation in sixteen countries identified in Brady Plan. The study confirmed Henry’s theory that the behavior of the stock market is an accurate predictor of economic movement/ Henry says, â€Å"within a year of each country’s Brady agreement, foreign capital began flowing back in, and robust economic growth resumed† that only goes to show debt relief is beneficial. Religiose referred to the study of Henry that explains a debt relief situation that is usually happening when a country suffers temporary difficulty of debt servicing. Its creditors get to be apprehensive and quickly collect their loans all at once. Since no one could be paid at all, a complete economic standstill occurs. When some of the debts are relieved, new funds will come to stimulate growth and investment. While the basic objective of debt relief is supposed to be applied to all poor countries, Regiglioso reported that debt relief doesn†™t work for the poorest of the poor.  

Sexism in Criminal Justice System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Sexism in Criminal Justice System - Essay Example Gender differences describe those differences described by the society and relate to the given social roles. Sex differences are biologically defined. Viewing the intrinsic societal perceptions, the notable notion of sexism is a leading social concern concerning different ideologies held by the society. Sexism entails the oppressive ideologies, attitudes, and behaviors held and propagated at either sex (Thompson, 2012).   The establishment of the social community is a notable advancement in the understanding of social discrimination issues and creating mitigation for the same accordingly. Hence, the understanding of sexism as an evil in the criminal justice system is a defining step towards establishing mitigation for such undesirable occurrences in the very system meant to maintain social order.  It is apparent there is inconsistent progress in improving the fight against the sexism issue. The issue of sexism and related discrimination acts Sexist remarks and actions are an ever yday occurrence, although most cases it occurs naturally at the subconscious level of the human conceptualization depending on the ideologies of that given system. The occurrence within the justice system is an illustration of such perpetuation of the subject of sexism in the society (Belknap, 2007). The women in the criminal justice system continue to face marginalization as they find it remarkably difficult to achieve the senior positions within the system.  The very subject that women are ineligible to hold the senior positions in the system because of their gender is evidence of the propagation of the evil of sexism. Another observable occurrence is that women victims and offenders continue to face heightened levels of marginalization in the criminal justice systems designed for men. The system fails to facilitate the women with support, safety, and justice (Thompson, 2012).  Ã‚