The legal, ethical and professional aspects of record keeping relating Essay

The legal, ethical and professional aspects of record keeping relating it to team working in healthcare - Essay Example The poor quality and clarity of nursing records was marked by Susan Lowson, the advisor to the Health Service Ombudsman, during The NSG conference "Information and Litigation in Healthcare" (on 11th June 2003) at Kettering General Hospital Post Graduate Medical Centre. Therefore, there is a little work to be done in the field of record quality improvement. The detailed description of a patient's case history, condition and treatment help the members of the inter-professional health care team to communicate and cooperate. This may help when the patient receives the treatment from different specialists and the important information, such as blood group, allergic reactions, specific no compatible prescribed medicines etc. should be reported to every doctor. The records are vital in doctor-nurse cooperation as they help a nurse to follow the doctor's prescriptions and a doctor to control the smallest changes in the patient's condition without keeping him under close observation as in case of long, or life-long disease when the patient receives regular nurse care and one-day-per-month doctor's examination. Good record should be written in a clear and accurate way (intended for a particular type of the record) to present the accurate account of treatment and care planning and delivery, and the record keeper should therefore follow special rules and recommendations of the authoritative organisations. Clear and consecutive records of a patient's condition help to detect problems rather than scrappy, incomplete, and inconsequent notes.Rigorous, detailed description of case history, the changes in patient's condition, medical conclusions, recommendations, and prescriptions help not only provide the successful treatment but also to protect the rights of a doctor or a patient in case of litigation. Thus, a high level of record keeping provides patients' welfare. Good medical record keeping helps to provide continuity of care. Continuity of care is an important component of medical service. Continuity is not an attribute of providers or organisations, it is rather the way individual patients experience integration of services and coordination. Therefore, continuity of care is a significant characteristic of medical care level. According to Guidelines for Record-keeping (2005, p.7), the Audit Commission (1995) found patients were suffering as a result of poor communication between professionals, even within the same area of practice and/or ward/base. The reason for that was that records were frequently treated as the personal property of a practitioner instead of as a corporate asset to promote quality care. The Trust is committed to promoting integrated patient records to support safe and effective care. It is strongly recommended, that where possible, practitioners should use or develop records that other professionals and the patient/carer/relatives are able to use to promote continuous effective care for the patient. An example of how and where this system of integrated record keeping works is the personal child health

Limist of data indicatiors for pupblic administrators Essay

Limist of data indicatiors for pupblic administrators - Essay Example Transparency International defines corruption as â€Å"the abuse of entrusted power for private gain."1 On the other hand, freedom is defined by Freedom House as "the opportunity to act spontaneously in a variety of fields outside the control of the government and/or other centers of potential domination."2 We need to realize that both corruption and freedom have a common factor – government. According to the assumptions of the media, countries with high levels of corruption, low levels of freedom, and high levels of unemployment, specifically among young men, are the main reasons why some countries face political vulnerability and turmoil. Table 1, located in Appendix I, shows rates of corruption according to CPI investigations and questions, which are based on methodology that measures countries according to two main categories – political rights and civil liberties. Data Perceptions: An interesting line graph forms after studying the data in the Table 1 (located in Appendix I). This line graph shows how close the rates of freedom and unemployment are. More specifically, the graph shows that the country with the highest rate of freedom (least amount of freedom) is Libya (7.0). To compare this with another country, Tunisia has a rate of 6.0.

Intro Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Intro Communication - Essay Example There are many reasons for studying communication across cultures that include global diversity trends, domestic diversity trends and interpersonal learning opportunities. Global trends signify the importance of intercultural communication through understanding the world political, cultural and business environment, developing multiple cultural perspectives, being skillful in diverse cultural environment, adapting to living in different cultures and learning to interact with international colleagues. Apart from this, an increased number of individuals are employed in overseas assignments such as government service, humanitarian service, peace-corps service, and international education for which cross cultural communication is critical to success (Ting-Toomey 4). In domestic perspective, there are two sets of dimensions that contribute to the ways groups of people communicate intercultural. One set, the primary dimensions of diversity, refers to those human differences that are inborn and that exert an important impact on our early socialization and an ongoing impact throughout our lives, for example, ethnicity, gender, age, social class, physical abilities, and sexual orientation. The secondary dimensions of diversity, refers to conditions that can be changed more easily than the primary dimensions, including mutable differences that we acquire, discard, and modify throughout our lives, are less salient than those of the core, for example, educational level, work experience, and income (Ting-Toomey 5). Each intercultural contact can bring about identity dissonance or stress because of attributes such as an unfamiliar accent, way of speaking, way of doing things, and way of nonverbal expression. In a global workplace, people bring with them different work habits and cultural practices that present interpersonal learning opportunities (Ting-Toomey 7). Therefore,

Compliance Standards in Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Compliance Standards in Education - Essay Example Students will be able to immediately discuss, write about, and implement material from the classroom in everyday life. Based upon a learner-centred workshop model of classroom participation, the Lesson Plan: Weather is intended to provide students with core curriculum on climate change, environmental science management, and economic and social policies. An advanced lexicon within the English language, the universality of 'Weather Speak' as part of the mediated landscape in the late-capitalist moment, makes the topic both pertinent and timely. Pervasive and highly accessible, classroom activities on weather offer ready assimilation of key concepts, while learning vocabulary and linguistic usages. Mitigation of GHG emissions toward reductions that might decrease carbon dioxide to 1990 levels stand to have long-term effects on environmental health and social foms. From atmospheric research to new models of finance, climate change as a cultural exchange is reinforcing knowledge of our surroundings in new ways never thought possible. Indeed, something as simple as Weather, is now a site for inquiries into environmental science, poetry, and urban planning. Technologies employed within the classroom are responsive to prescriptive methodologies for teaching in the 21st century. Within present pedagogical discussion on training students in the global village, requisite inputs for a well rounded curriculum are constituted not only of the traditional verbal and mathematical proficiency models, but competency building in creative dialogues based on interpretation, critique, the semantic application of visual communications. Deep engagement in visual media has brought us to a state of sophistication in image iconography and accompanying performance. The cultivation of linguistic literacy from visual and media literacy promotes rapid assimilation of concepts familiar from both a consumption and production point of view. Innovative opportunities for skill development, and introduction to secondary sources of research that are now entirely mediated, as in the utility of satellite GIS mapping in weather monitoring, would not be possible without reliance upon media communications strategies, and the attendant lexicons of Science or other disciplinary specific terms. Visual learning models also introduce an element of application within discursive contexts dedicated to intuitive intelligence, for the furtherance of student knowledge and critical inquiry. The implementation of media methods in this course is standardized throughout, and the students become

Climate Change Essay Example for Free

Climate Change Essay Once, I visited a hospital for my health checkup,there I saw a man with shattered skin,rashes all over the body;clearcut it was the case of allergy.Doctors are rushing and making report on it.After a week I again visited that hospital for my scheduled checkup,then I came to know a shocking news-that allergy case was the case of Ganga bath!! Alas! Holy river Ganga, ancient river Ganga ,that Ganga which takes away all the sins from mankind, today causing allergy,irritation,skin rashes!!! that man has to pay price for his religious belief†¦ Also scientists got some samples from Ganga from specific places having disease causing microbes. This small case itself indicate the change we have made in our nature. Change is the law of nature,change is inevitable and change is evergoing process,but Climate Change is one of the most complex,multifaceted and serious threat that the World face. Whether you are adding your bit to the heap of garbage piling up in your locality or not become meaningless when the garbage begins to rot-the stench will reach your nose too,Climate Change induced by global warming works much the same way. World famous scientists all over the country had evaluated climate change and came to conclusion that Greenhouse Gases ,CFC, Carbondieoxide and many other toxic gases are the cause of environment degradation.Though it is true scientifically,the root lies elsewhere;that is in the greed of human being.Our greed led to adavancement of technology and led us farther from peace and prosperity of all. Increasing consumption of electricity due to intiation of several new industries,disposal of garbage without treatment to maximize profit,use of environment hazardious substances like polythene in our daily life are concrete examples of human greed. People have been influencing the Biosphere for at least 8000 years,since the invention of Agriculture,but Climate Change has proposed a threat over our Agriculture.The most affected area of Climate Change will be Agriculture and its biodiversity. The first and foremost impact of climate change is in biodiversity specially Islands biodiversity.nearly one –fourth of the worlds countries are Island and they are treasure trove of biodiversity.Also they provide food,fresh water ,wood,fibre,medicine,fuel and other raw materials. But increasing sea level has given a alarm threat to them,The New Moore Island of India in Sunderbans has been consumed recently by rising sea,many other Pacific atoll nation Island of Kiribati,Islands of Vanuatu also submerged in early history.we are loosing huge . biodiversity;these are initial cases†¦ Rather IPCC has warned that a rise in sea levels of between 18 and 59cm by 2100 would be enough to submerge many other big islands, including Maldives and make them unhabitable,also of the 724 recorded animal extinctions in 400 years about half were Island species .also climate change will bring degradation of coastal environment and natural resources on which poor rural people depend.Higher rates of erosion and coastal land loss may vanish our islands In context of Agriculture,sea level rise will also cause increased salinity due to encroachment of the sea and saltwater intrusion into freshwater lenses,contributing to an increasing shortage of water supply and loss of agriculture land.The most vulnerable section will be the poor and marginal farmers with small landholdings because ‘extreme weather events’will specially occur in tropics,fundamental changes in rainfall pattern together with rising temperature will shorten growing season and reduce crop productivity . Acco.to World Bank 75% of 1.2 billion people are trapped in extreme poverty,so they will fail to adopt new rotation practices and thus most vulnerable to climate change. World wide farming is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions accouting for 20% of total emissions.Atmospheric concentration of methane has more than doubled during the past 200 years.Natural wetlands,fossil fuels related to natural gas,coal mines coal industry,electric fermentation,rice fields,biomass burning,landfills accont for 75% of methane production in our environment. thus major source of greenhouse gases is agriculture itself. Rice fields are the most significant contributors of atmospheric methane accounting for 11-13% of the world’s total methane production. Also, rice production will need to expand by around 70% over the next 25 years to meet the demands of fast growing human population whose food demand is expected to double in developing world in next 40 years. Thus if we increase our crop area specially staple crop area in near future then the problem of global warming is likely to increase. Already in today’s era 800 million people are unnourished, in India only 30 million people suffer hunger,46% children are underweight and 17000 people are dying per day due to hunger on an average. Thus in near future we are going to face a great threat not only of climate change but also of food security†¦. However, Not all effects of climate change on agriculture are expected to be negative, most of the major food crops are C-3 plants including staple food like rice ,wheat, oat, barley will show increase in yield ranging from 25% to 64% due to increased CO2 level, also most of the noxious weed are C4 plants and their growth will be checked. But this is only one side of the coin ,increased temperature due to increase in CO2 level may rise the pest attack up to 25% and fungal disease attack up to 20% and also disturb our monsoon pattern.In an overview it can be said that it will create more and new problem rather than benefits because the worst sufferers would be farmers of Rainfed agriculture which cover 60% of all cultivable lands. Today humanbeings have become dependent on technologies which are dependent on non -renewable resources and produce illeffects in long run.nowdays we say that glaciers are shrinking;may be shrinking but more that the heart of the people and their philosophy is shrinking too.while the drastic effects of global warming has been discussed in many scientific circles,had their run on T.V. and even had well meaning Hollywood films but the need of the hour is to change ourselves,to reduce our luxurious wants. The need of the hour is to develop a) True sustainability,there should be synergies between climate mitigation strategies and development policies in areas of energy efficiency,fuel substitution,renewable ,afforestration,and land and waste management. b) The planning should not be for temporary economic gains and support,but for sustainability in future as well.There should be partnerships with communities,individuals,and private sector to frame effective measures to reduce the impact the effect of climate change. Today we all peoples of the world need to change our habbits ,not only in Agricultural practices but also in our daily life practicices†¦ Switching of fans and light before leaving room ,efficient use of water at home , proper garbage disposal at micro level, though seems to be a very minute step but the huge building of true sustainability will only form above these basic steps because this will be the 1st step against our greed, so step ahead and realize your own responsibility ,because it is not the time to curse the darkness but to light a small lamp. References: 1. â€Å"Know climate change† by Tanya Agarwal 2. â€Å"Global climate change† by Arnold J.Bloom 3. Science Reporter (CSIR) 4. IPCC website

Globalisation Has Become An Increasingly Important Phenomenon Marketing Essay

Globalisation Has Become An Increasingly Important Phenomenon Marketing Essay Abstract Globalisation has become an increasingly important phenomenon that has given firms way to be internationalised. Globalization as a foundation for adopting global strategies has during recent years been given scant attention. The importance of multinational companies cannot be overlooked with globalisation in the back of the mind. Firms are constantly adopting global strategies so as to compete on the international market and to reap the enviable advantage from economies of scale. Globalization often regarded as the pathway of internationalization has led to the development of strategies shaped to face the highly competitive global environment (Levitt 1983, Baden-Fuller, Stopford 1991). Regional strategies have often been considered as a way to become a global player, but recently regional strategies have achieved high momentum to reap global sales. The assignment aims to integrate the historical development of two big companies, Ford and Diageo and the global oriented strategies adop ted by each frim respectively at different stage of their development so as to get ahead in this competitive and dynamic global game. a) Introduction The march towards a true global economy is going forward at a ferocious pace. Globalisation has paved the way for many firms to be internationalised. According to Hood and Young (2000), globalization is a process by which the world economy is transformed from a set of national and regional markets into a set of markets that operate without regard to national boundaries. Porter (1985) highlighted that globalisation has urged many firms to divert production to international markets so as to achieve long term competitive advantage. Porter (1980) further emphasized that the main driver behind the move to international markets is to explore business opportunities. Multinational enterprises (MNEs) seem to have been the major players in this drama put on a world stage for all to view. It is noted that many big companies that compete internationally pin their hopes for success on a single worldwide strategy mainly to achieve lukewarm results. According to Ghemawat (2005) and Levitt (1983), d eveloping global strategies mainly in search of new synergies and arbitrage and a global recognition has been the hype surrounding multinational corporations since the past decades. Global powerhouses such as Ford and Diageo concentrate on regional differences and then shape strategies that will match both domestic and international markets. Both Ford and Diageo have grown over the years and become active players in the global market for cars and drinks respectively. They have adopted global strategies which are at time similar. However, given that they operate in different products, some of their strategies differ. Theoretical Background The prominent trend in international business today concerns globalisation. This notion of globalisation has been defined by Ohmae (1995) as the removal of borders and barriers to trade between nations. Trade barriers have been lifted gradually through the GATT and WTO negotiations. The drivers behind the internationalisation of the firm in the global economy include huge developments in transport and communication which has made the mobility of all factors of production a reality across the globe and the increasing role of MNC s through outsourcing and business networks are developing in many parts of the world. It is widely believed that the evolution of multinationals is due to domestic market maturation and home market saturation (Caves 1982; Porter 1990). It is widely assumed by Mintzberg (1989) that expanding globally provides firms with the opportunity to become more profitable. According the continuous increase in speed, quality coupled with improvement in communication and t echnology has led to a significant reduction in transaction costs (Porter, 1990). Moreover, markets in farflung countries have become homogeneous making international business activities to be conducted easily (Hedlund Kverneland 1985). Classical theories Growth by Penrose (1959) and Hymer model (1960), firms internalise their activities mainly for economic gains such as the profit motive. The OLI-approach by Dunning (1979, 1981) purports that ownership, location and internalisation are the factors that influence the initial act of cross border production firms. Porter (1988) suggested that internationalisation enables the transfer of some moveable resources across a national border. Many firms, on the other hand internalise for market seeking motives. This motive is related mainly to companies that are endowed with high level of technology and a good brand image that give them sustainable competitive advantage over their peers. The market seeking motive is common for European mult inationals such as Nestle and Ford which have expanded their production across borders mainly in search of new markets. The aim to achieve reduced costs of production is another factor that has triggered the internationalisation process. The removal of tariff barriers has urged many companies to outsource production mainly to benefit from low cost production and low capital cost. Moreover, the drive to benefit from scale economies and ballooning RD have also triggered the international expansion of firms making them global companies and have brought about a new set of motivations that underlay these global strategies. Globalization characterised as the true path of internationalization has bought about the development of strategies designed to meet the needs of the global environment, where standardization has been the key message to cater for the needs of the world market with global products (Levitt 1983, Baden-Fuller, Stopford 1991). During the early years, there was much complexity over the design and technology of the motorcar. The beginning of the 20th century marked the coming of cars with the latest design and technology. It was the Fordism which was the first revolution in the process technology followed by Toyota afterwards. Ford is a US automobile company which was founded in 1903 by Henry Ford in Michigan and it made its first shipment in that year itself. which produced 1708 cars in the first year. Ford is a pioneer in the automobile industry and has a portfolio of brands such as Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury. It also provides financial services. The business is divided into different segments mainly North America, ford Europe, Ford South America and Ford Asia Pacific Africa designed to serve the different markets. Diageo is the leader in premium drinks across the world. It resulted from the merger of Grand Metropolitan and Guinness in 1997. This merger has led to a complete rebranding and reimaging of the company. It took over the wine business of Seagram in 2001. In 2006, Johnnie Walker Blue Label and King GeorgeV Edition made its appearance in duty free channels of Europe. The company is now seen as an ethical company which contributing effectively to corporate social responsibility. As per the Financial Times, Diageo formed part of the 150 largest companies in the world in 2008. To increase its market, Diageo made a joint venture with and made the Diageo Kirin. The company is listed on both the London Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. For Diageo, sustainability refers to the long term success of the business while taking into consideration the needs of stakeholders, community and at the same time protecting the environment. Compared to its competitors, Diageo was among the 100 most sustainable companies in the world for their concern for the environmental and society. During the financial year 2011, the company earned revenues of  £13,232 million representing an increase of 2.1% in 2010. Strategies Ford produces a more varied product range of vehicles to attempt to tailor the needs of the different customer groups. For instance, the Ranger was designed to meet the needs of Asia pacific, Africa and South America. This new hybrid vehicle tailor-made for these regions has made Ford gone ahead of other overseas manufacturers. Ford has been able to use their window of opportunity to the full by satisfying the segments of consumers which they are targeting by providing them with the latest technology and convenient vehicles. Conversely, Diageo is involved in the production and distribution of a range of standardised products including beer, wine and spirits geared to satisfy every market in the world. Thus, compared to Ford which aims to produce a different kind of vehicles for each geographical area, Diageo on the other hand produces one type of drink to satisfy all its markets. Both firms aim towards sustainable development. Ford contributes significantly to the environment by making maximum use of recycled and renewable materials in its vehicles. It was highlighted that about 85% of materials that Ford use are recyclable. The use of recyclable and renewable materials is a prerequisite in Fords sustainability strategy mainly to decrease environmental footprint and increase the use of fuel-efficient vehicles and hence be more environment friendly. Ford has even merged with its previous rivals Chrysler and General Motors mainly to produce a car that will use less energy, cause less pollution. Diageo also contribute to a sustainable platform across its range of products through its Sustainability and Responsibility strategy. As part of this strategy, Diageo focusses on the benefits of alcohol in the society, preserves the natural resources and promotes good governance. Additionally, encouraging good drinking habits and working collaboratively with other stakeholders to combat the misuse of alcoholic drinks is of key importance in Diageos strategy. Diageo also concerned about the fact that most of its resources it uses are scarce. As a result, to contribute effectively to its environment, more water efficient, reduced use of carbon dioxide and innovative forms of packaging that is sustainable to the environment were adopted. However, what distinguishes Ford and Diageo on the sustainability issue is that Ford mainly focusses on the use of renewable and recyclable materials to undertake its production while Diageo mainly places emphasis on its community and how to promote res ponsible drinking as part of its sustainability programme. Conclusion To conclude, it is important to note that both businesses are operating in a globalised world where economic activities are very dynamic. Even if they operate in completely different lines of products, their global strategies should be similar in the sense that they have to study and react to any changes that definitely occur on this ongoing global business environment. PEST and SWOT analysis must be regularly conducted so as to analyse the changes occurring and to develop the right strategies that will strengthen the position of each business and eventually ensure sustainability in their performance. b) Introduction According to (Worthington 2003, p. 466), in a global, fast changing competitive environment, accessing international markets have become increasingly important for companies to benefit from reduction in costs and to increase their demand. Globalisation has brought about a new competitive landscape referred to as hypercompetitive markets where companies face enormous threats from their peers. So, accessing international markets has become the strategic instrument for many companies to ensure their further development. As highlighted by the OECD (2004), by moving to international markets bring about a host of opportunities such as economies of scale and technological know-how. As a result, almost every firm, be it automobile industry or alcoholic industry, are engaging their business outside the boundary of their home country. This is the case for Ford and Diageo which are deeply integrated in the process of internationalisation. The development of strategic attributes represents the c entrepiece of the internationalisation process by which a company build its position in the market. There are different modes of entry in international markets. It is argued by Root (1998) that the choice of entry mode is a crucial strategic decision for multinational firms. It was also pointed out by (Root 1998, p.15) that once a firm has set its foothold in the international markets, the modes of entry decisions will change in fairly predictable fashion. According to Hill (2007, p.486), firms are engaged in exporting when they have just started to expand their business globally and will shift to other modes in the future. Joint venture refers to an entity formed by two parties to carry out economic activities together. This is a popular form of market entry. Under licensing, an organisation gives another organisation with the right to use its intangible property in a specified geographical area for given amount of time by paying some amount in return, known as the royalty fee. In a wholly owned subsidiary, 100 percent of stock is owned by the firm. According to (Hill 2007, p.493), the firm can start a new business in that country known as greenfield investment or it can take over another business in the host country. The proliferation of mergers and acquisitions (MAs) were mostly fuelled by globalisation and increased competition. MAs are created by firms mainly to increase their global reach and competitiveness. Modes of entry of the two companies Export was considered as an indispensable complement to the development of the automobile industry, but usually the manufacturer designs a car with its home country in mind. Initially, ford was engaged in the export of cars to Europe, but with high transportation costs and tariff barriers, it started operation in Manchester. This marked the global expansion of Ford. Fords entry in the international market corresponds to a great extent by the great waves of international mergers and acquisitions. It had many alliances with local and overseas companies. The intention behind Fords collaboration with other automobile companies in the product development was mainly to share costs. It acquired hertz and Jaguar in 1987 and 1990 respectively. Its 100% stake in Hertz in 1994 clearly shows Ford as a wholly subsidiary. It also acquired the BMW and Land Rover and expanded to China under the form of joint venture. The ChanganFord then became operational in 2003 with the production of Fiesta. In 2 005, it made several acquisitions mainly reacquisition of Visteons 23 to protect its supply of components. By 2009, the automobile industry became a network of collaborative arrangements. So, we can say that ford is a growing company expanding into the global automotive market. Moreover, another factor that can classify ford as a global company is that it is engaged in the production of a standardised vehicle, which can be sold in multiple markets. According to WILKINS and HILL (1964), Fords trajectory can be seen as a model especially to the high position that it occupies in the industry and its allegedly outstanding process internationalisation. Ford is a pioneer in the automobile industry given the vast number of overseas manufacturing it handles and also since the very beginning of its operation it had developed strategies that were applicable worldwide. In addition, Ford source suppliers and choose assembly locations depending on costs. An increase in competition in the automobile industry has further increased the quest to reduce costs. The intention behind Fords collaboration with other automobile companies in the product development was mainly to share costs. The production system at Ford was backward integrated. Ford possessed rubber plantation in the amazon basin. Outsourcing of materials and components were the main trend for the past 30 years. The main objective behind this was to be cost effective and more flexible in its operations. The executives at ford have in mind to implement a strategy that involves three important elements such as globalisation, reengineering and market expansion. They are to develop vehicles platforms that can serve the needs of different markets. The objective behind this is a reduction in design and product development costs, to avoid repetitions and inefficiencies and to continue maintain their activities globally. Furthermore, Fords market share increased from 14.2% in 2008 to 16.5% in 2011 in the US. It is also a leader in other markets such as Canada with market share of 17.1%, Turkey with 15.8% amongst others. The high market share enables it get competitive advantage over its peers and as such it can increase its bargaining power and makes it a global company. The operational network of Ford is a highly diversified one with a variety of sectors such as assembly facilities, distribution centres and warehouses. It also has about 11,790 dealerships worldwide. In addition, in order to increase its production capacity, ford is investing in other countries mainly china, Thailand and India. This diverse range of operations enables it to meet the needs of customers round the world profitably. Similarly in the alcoholic drink industry, the creation of the global economy at the end of the 1960s helped to boost up the consumption of alcohol consumption and the expansion in sales in new geographical markets. Improvement in technologies captured scale economies which then translated in more effective distribution of alcoholic drinks. Mergers and acquisitions in this industry arose mainly because of competition. The large companies were competing mainly in the local market by producing a single product but along a portfolio of brands. The stagnation of the western market and increasingly global competition, firms felt the need to engage into mergers and acquisitions. In 1997, Diageo company following the merger of Grand Metropolitain and Guiness. The result of this merger was attributed not only to get the ownership of successful brands but also the rationalisation of costs. This merger has led to a complete rebranding and reimaging of the company. It took over the wine busines s of Seagram in 2001. Diageo made several acquisitions mainly with the Chalone Wine Group and the Whiskey business of Bushmills in 2005, Rosenblum Cellars a US firm producing wine in 2008. In 2006, Johnnie Walker Blue Label and King GeorgeV Edition made its appearance in duty free channels of Europe. In 2008, Diageo was involved in a licensing agreement with Korea to conduct its operation in the country and it also got involved in a joint venture in the same year with Namibia Breweries. Diageo was also engaged in partnership. Moreover, what makes Diageo a global company is that it is involved in several acquisitions to expand its market. Recently, it has invested about  £ 1billion to establish a market in Africa. Moreover, in order to meet the growing demand for Vodka in Vietnam, Diageo has acquired a stake of 45.52% in June 2012 Halico. By taking over other companies around the world enable Diageo to increase its market position. Moreover, its wine market has experienced high gro wth recently. For instance, in 2011 the market grew by 3.1% and it is expected that there will be an increase of 17.9% in 2016 from that of 2011. 65% of the wine market is in Europe which helps the company increase its presence in the market. Furthermore, Diageo has 106 production facilities in different countries like the UK, Ireland, Italy, the US, Canada, Jamaica, Australia, and Philippines. This wide range of production facilities situated in different countries provides Diageo with the opportunity to cater for the needs of the market more efficiently. So we can see that Diageo company is highly polarized between different markets of the world such as North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Africa, Latin America, and most of Asia Pacific. By making a presence in these markets, Diageo was able to gratify the benefits of scale economies and contribution. As per the Financial Times, Diageo formed part of the 150 largest companies in the world in 2008. This indeed makes Diage o a global company. We can say that Diageo has a specific strategic direction which has enabled it to achieve success in the European markets, established a foothold in North America and other international markets and gain a global recognition in Asia- pacific. The strategy of Diageos included selective acquisitions of popular brands coupled with a strong customer base and retaining current brands. Conclusion Hence, being both global, create conditions for both companies to become highly vulnerable to any slight change in the global economic environment. Following the recent economic crisis, Ford Company has faced severe downturn in Europe with a drastic fall in sales which seems to have no end in sight to the slump which is of great concern to the economy. As per the financial times in September 2012, Ford had experienced a fall of 29 per cent in its sales in Europe and a slowdown in the market for the 11th consecutive month. This has led to a fall in its market share by 1.6 percentage points to 6.5 per cent. According to the chief executive officer of ford, the only way ford to restructure its business and continue its investment is to cut production capacity to keep with demand. This in turn entails closing one of its plants to reduce costs. Last October 2012, ford has decided to close two plants in the UK which it hoped to improve the profitability of the company amid of the crisis. O n the other side, Diageo seems to be less affected by the economic crisis because alcoholic drinks have inelastic demand compared to cars. The recession usually causes consumers to cut their demand of luxury items first and in the long run may attempt to reduce their consumption of drinks. So, I believe that global changes might have less adverse effects on Diageo as compared to Ford.

Primary school sex education in Malaysia

Primary school sex education in Malaysia 1.1 Introduction â€Å"Pedophiles’ blackmail victims into sex acts†, â€Å"Lustful minors†, these are the recent news titles published in newspapers in 2013 from New Straits Times. Sex education has always been a sensitive issue, in a particular in a country like Malaysia; and the issue has been brought into discussion since January 1991 until the latest on November 2008 (Sunday Times, 2010). There are rising of cases of unwanted pregnancies, baby dumping and minors raping minors where in most of situations involved consensual sex. In worst situation, some of the minors do not understand what they are doing. This proved the need of sex education in schools. Nevertheless, Malaysia still refused to implement a complete sex education in schools. While recent reported cases revealed that sexual misconduct among children not only occurred among teenagers or secondary school, but also at young age involving primary school children; thus painted a serious outlook for Malaysia. According to the Principal Assistant Director of the Sexual Crimes, Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Investigations Division of Royal Malaysian Police, a number of 22 cases of sexual misconduct involving children were reported from 2011 until September 2013—this number involved children aged below 13 years old (source: Royal Malaysian Police 2013). Interestingly, there were no cases on sexual misconduct of minors against minors reported before 2011; this may not mean that there was no cases of sexual misconduct among children in the country, perhaps, it exist, but not reported to the authority or the children’s parents or guardian remain silent about the situation. Most of the serious reported cases were publicized in the local newspapers; however, there still a number of unreported cases remain unknown. The human rights commissioner, James Nayagam believes that the schools have failed teaching the students to respect the human right of girls. He also claims that schools need to start implementing two important topics, which are on human rights and preventive sex education (The Star, 2010). Curiosity among children regarding sex is rising; this is influenced by what they observed in the internet. In some situation, children are more expert than the adult in term of using advanced gadget to browse through the internet. These children are not always monitored by their parents or guardian. This is one of the negative consequences of internet to our young generation. Further, when the children don’t have their own gadget to browse the internet, they also can go to cyber cafe nearest their house. They are not only playing computer games, but they are also browsing the internet, especially the popular YouTube websites. Computers in the cyber cafà © are usually not safe for the children, because sometimes the computers at the cafe are not restricted from certain â€Å"bad websites†, where illicit pictures of half-naked men and women can suddenly pop up from the computer screen. According to an article from the Canadian Council on Learning (January, 2008), most young people stumble upon pornography while searching for something else. Recent study conducted among British children ages from 9 to 19 proved that most whom encountered online pornography did not give further attention, some get disgust by it and small number of them expressed an interest in it. However, the small amount of them is the one that need to be controlled as this may trigger the kids to click on the pop ups which, later brings them to the â€Å"bad websites†. While a few developed countries such as Australia, United Kingdom and others have implemented sex education; Malaysia still in the early stage of implementing sex education in secondary school, yet it is still not completely implemented. Young children need to be educated about this matter. Without education, they might not be able to decide and defend for themselves especially the girls. Children who are in the process of growing up usually do not receive adequate information, knowledge and preparation for safe sexual life. The community often avoid from having an open conversation about sexual matters. At that particular age, these kids are crucially in need of conversation about sexual matters with the reliable person. Unfortunately, most parents think that it is not necessary to have sexuality education at school. Based on a report written by Lee Choon Fai, Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) executive director, Ivy Josiah, stated that open discussion about sex is often seen as an inappropriate in Malaysia, especially in the conservative communities (Selangor Times, 2012). They tend to think that sexuality education is one of the way or factor that could lead to social problem. For them, the children wouldn’t know and won’t involve in sex problem if the syllabus is not being teach at school. A primary teacher from Johor claimed that parents think that sexuality education teaches students how to have sex and all (The Star Online, 2012). But what they do not know is that sexuality education actually helps provide their children with knowledge and information about the effect of the immoral act such as the diseases, unwanted pregnancies and other social problem. This shows the need to have sex education in Malaysian primary schools; however, how ready of Malaysian parents to accept sex education for their children? 1.2 Problem Statement The issue of having/implementing sex education in Malaysian schools is not new. It arises as one of the solutions to deal with the rising number of baby dumping in Malaysia. Baby dumping issue, which strongly related to other social problems in Malaysia such as illegal sex, teenage pregnancy, unwanted pregnancy, pregnant out of wedlock and others, pressure the government and relevant parties in Malaysia to propose for solutions. While a few solutions have been accepted, though with some challenges, such as the implementation of baby hatches (Gunaratnam and Agustin, 2010), school for pregnant teenagers (School of Hope in Malacca) (Ram and Elis, 2010), encourage young couples to get married; solution to have sex education among children is still partially implemented. Instead of agreeing to have a complete sex education in schools, Malaysian government argues that information about sex has been covered in several subjects in school such as in Biology and Social and Reproductive Health Studies. The reluctant to implement sex education among school children may come with the idea of not exposing and encouraging teenagers to sex; on the other hand, this may means that Malaysian society is still in denial in accepting sex is happening among our teenagers. Thus, sex education is important to teach our children about sex and its consequences. However, the issue of sexual misconduct is not only happened among teenagers, but also involving young children. While the implementation of sex education in Malaysian secondary schools are not well accepted by many parties; this study attempt to explore Malaysian parents’ readiness to accept sex education in primary schools due to the rising number of sexual misconduct among young children in the country. The introduction of sex education in primary school is not new. Developed countries such as Australia and United Kingdom have implemented sex education among primary school children and it’s proved to be effective in dealing with sexual misconduct among children in their countries. 1.3 Research Questions The questions that arise while the research is conducted are as follows: What is the level of readiness and acceptance of having sex education as part of primary school syllabus? What are the relationship between conservative thinking, taboo subject, lack of expertise in schools and parents’ role, and the implementation of sex education among primary school children? What are the main factor that hinder the implementation of sex education among primary school children? 1.4 Research Objectives The main objective of this study is to find out the readiness and acceptance of the parents on the issue of implementing sex education in schools, especially in primary schools. To achieve the objective, the process of planning and implementing the subject should be done thoroughly so that it can be fully accepted by the parents. The specific objectives of the study include: To study the parents’ level of readiness and acceptance of having sex education as part of primary school syllabus To explore the relationship between conservative thinking, taboo subject, lack of expertise in schools and parents’ role, and the implementation of sex education among primary school children. To examine the parents’ perception on main factors that hinders the implementation of sex education among the primary school children in Klang Valley 1.5 Scope of Study Level This research will focus on parents’ readiness and acceptance on sex education among school children. The scope of this study is narrowed to parents because they play important role in their children’s’ life. Furthermore, in school, there is also an association that require parents’ involvement. For example, there is Parents and Teacher Association (PTA) where both parents and teachers will sit together discussing about the development of children and all problems associated with the students. Thus, parents’ voice will be taken into account if they agree to have and feel the need of sex education to be taught in schools. 1.6 Significance of the Study The study is necessary to bring the awareness of the community towards the importance of having sex education as part of school syllabus and the benefits that it will bring to the country. The findings of this study are important to help the affected parties to realize what sex education is all about and related knowledge that comes with the implementation of the subject. The subject will mostly affect the teenagers which are the students of the secondary school and other involved parties include the parents, school counsellor, teachers, the community and the government. Sex education may help to overcome social problems among teenagers such as teenage pregnancy, pre-marital sex and under age sex. With the right module, sex education also provide the students the right information about sex and its related issues and at the same time, correct any inaccurate and insufficient information about sex that they learnt from the Internet or mass media. Apart from that, the introduction of the subject will help to educate teenagers about health issues related to sex namely ways to prevent pregnancies, unsafe abortions, abandoned babies, and sexually-transmitted diseases. 1.7 Definition of Terms, Terminology and Concepts Sex Education Science Daily described sex education as a broad term used to describe education about human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse and other aspects of human sexual behaviour. Children With reference to Child Act 2001, child is define as a person under the age of eighteen years. Primary School Macmillan Dictionary defines primary school as a school for children between the ages of four or five and eleven. In UK primary schools are sometimes divided into an infant school for the youngest children and a junior school. Same it goes to Malaysia, we have kindergarten for children age 5 and 6 and primary school with student age from 7 to 12. Social Problem We take definition on social problem from Maxwell School. It describes social problem as a condition that at least some people in a community view as being undesirable. Teenage Pregnancy According to UNICEF, teenage pregnancy is defined as teenage girl, usually within the ages of 13-19, becoming pregnant. The term that is being used in the everyday speech frequently refers to girls who have not yet reached legal adulthood, which varies across the world, become pregnant.