Report on Compare and Contrasts approaches to Operations management at Dell and Tesco - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1548 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Compare and contrast essay Did you like this example? Operations management focuses on carefully managing the processes to produce and distribute products and services. Major, overall activities often include product creation, development, production and distribution. Related activities include managing purchases, inventory control, quality control, storage, logistics and evaluations of processes. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Report on Compare and Contrasts approaches to Operations management at Dell and Tesco" essay for you Create order A great deal of focus is on efficiency and effectiveness of processes. Identify the types of Operations/transformation process in each organisation and analyse each organisation operation/transformation activities are adequately designed to meet its customers needs. Dell Computer Corporation Dell assembles desktop computers, laptop computers, servers, enterprise storage devices and workstations. All of these products are assembled to custom specifications afters orders have been placed; therefore, dell holds essentially no finished goods inventory. All of the components that go into these products are purchased from other companies. Even the Dell labelled chasses, keyboards, and mice are manufactured by other companies on contract. Therefore, Dell is quite different from traditional manufacturers in that it does not own or operate any injection moulders, pick and place circuit board assemblers, or sheet metal stamping machines. In addition to its computing products, Dell sel ls branded computer peripherals and consumer electronics such as monitors, printers, PDAs, MP3 players, and LCD televisions, all of which are made by contract manufacturers. Dells operations Selling directly to consumer Single point of Accountability get solutions quickly Build to order production Being the low cost leader in the industry Use of standard based technology The key competencies of Dell are customer focus, manufacturing processes, supply chain management, customer selection, acquisition and retention, customer service and human capital management. Dells strategy has been to match its core competencies with key industry success factors. Dells direct-selling business model revolutionized the computer industry. The organization has maintained a massive marketing budget to push its customized PCs. Although most orders are placed via Dells website, customers may also place customized orders by phone, fax or through limited retail locations. Those ord ers, which now include printers and consumer electronics, are then shipped within one week for significantly less cost than its competitors. Dells differentiation stems from process innovation. The company is very successful in leveraging and harnessing the value of its suppliers and partners technology innovation. This allows Dell to minimize RD spending and improve the cost structure, a strategy that is rarely matched by competitors DellsÂÂ  mission is to be the most successful computer company in the world at delivering the best customer experience in markets we serve (Frequently, 2011). In doing so, Dell will meet customer expectations of: Highest quality Leading technology Competitive pricing Individual and company accountability Best-in-class service and support Flexible customization capability Superior corporate citizenship Financial stability The exceptional performance of Dell Computer in recent years illustrates an innovative respo nse to a fundamental competitive factor in the personal computer industry-the value of time. Organisations set out to perform the same basic function: to transform resources into finished goods. To perform this function in todays business environment, manufacturers must continually strive to improve operational efficiency. They must fine-tune their production processes to focus on quality, to hold down the costs of materials and labour, and to eliminate all costs that add no value to the finished product The PC industry is driven by rapid technological improvements in components, particularly microprocessors, other semiconductors, and storage devices. The improved performance of hardware has been matched historically by increased complexity of software, creating demand for the latest hardware. This means that time is a critical competitive factor in the industry in two ways: First, excess inventory loses value and costs money; second, products incorporating the most advanced t echnologies are in high demand and carry a price premium. As a result, companies that minimize inventory and bring new products to market faster can reduce costs, increase market share, and maintain higher margins. The traditional distribution system of the PC industry is an indirect model. The PC maker sells its products to distributors, who buy products from many manufacturers and then sell them to a variety of retailers, resellers, system integrators, and others, who sell products and services to the final customer. This distribution system was an effective means for distributing high volumes of PCs with a variety of configurations to reach a broad customer base. Dells strategies of direct sales and build-to-order production have proven successful in minimizing inventory and bringing new products to market quickly, enabling it to increase market share and achieve high returns on investment in a highly competitive industry. The impact on the industry of Dells success is seen in the efforts of other leading PC makers and distributors to develop their own direct sales and/or build-to-order capabilities. Dell marketing strategy was simple and basic. Cut out the middleman and sell the product cheaper. Offer great customer service by giving the customer exactly what they want. That is how Dell is about to become the largest company in the world selling computers. They did it by building computers made to order for the customer. By handling all the sales (retail) themselves. If you want a Dell computer you can only get it from Dell. Their marketing strategy allowed them to pass the savings onto the customer. Dell Competitive Priorities on Cost, Quality, Time, and Flexibility by providing customized PC configuration, with short delivery times and affordable prices. Supporting DELLs Competitive advantages through a new operational model Focused on strategic partnerships: down suppliers from 200 to 47 Supplier maintains nearby ship points; del ivery time 15 minutes to 1 hour. Suppliers own inventory until used in productions. Demand pull through value chain. TESCO Tesco PLC is a Retail Company based in the UK. It is the most recognised retailer of groceries in the UK. Tesco mainly deals in the provision of foodstuffs. In addition to these, it also engages in the sale of clothes, electronics, financial services, insurance services, internet services and sale of houses this is its latest business venture. (Slack, N 2007) The operation section of Tesco can fulfil all the above requirements, and then marketers can coordinate between promotions and service delivery. (Ruffian 2000) Customers who come to buy products or goods directly from the Tesco store. They also include those who order for goods and services online or those who have secured a deal with the Tesco to deliver the goods to them personally. (Ruffian et al 2000) ÂÂ  Such customers expect to find most of the goods that they need in the st ore or delivered promptly. They also expect to find a lot of variety in the store. Tesco sets its objectives with the following categories; the first are the customers because these are the main people that bring in revenue to the organisation. Then there are the suppliers; the operations section depends on these groups of people to perform adequately. (Tesco, 2007) Tesco Competitive Priorities Speed: delivery time. Tesco values this because customers can get what they require when they need it. This establishes a good record and makes them come back for more business. Flexibility: different variety of products. Flexibility also applies to the way services or products are delivered. Flexibility applies to creation of new types of products in line with changing customer preferences. Flexibility also enhances dependability within the organisation because speed will have been improved. Cost: is because if an operation process is dependable, flexible, and fast and full of quality then less resources will be spent trying to nullify mistakes. Quality: actually means that the products or services offered by any given Company conform to international or local standards. This aspect is important for two main reasons. Customers expectation: Effectiveness through reduction of costs, increasing dependability and speed. Dependability: is essential because it dictates what kind of image the organisation presents to customers and consequently whether the organisation can be counted on the next time a customer comes back. Conclusion Tesco is an extremely successful retailer that has succeeded through use of technology and finances. Tesco is dynamic and offered varied services and products in the UK and Europe, the chain store will expand as the market is large. Tesco has a highly structured way of choosing its suppliers who ought to have ability to deliver. (Tesco, 2007) The operation management of the chain store is effective and Tesco has a highly structured distribution chain for its products and services. All the above goes to show that the Companys production process is efficient although improvements like performance measurements and encouraging creativity can be able to improve the process further. The basis of analysis should be any two from Competitive Priorities Corporate Strategy: specifies the businesses that the company will pursue, isolates new opportunities and threats in the environment, and identifies the growth objective. Differentiate itself from the competition Choices includ e producing standardized versus customized products and services or competing on the basis of cost advantage versus responsive service delivery. Corporate strategy provides an overall direction that serves as the framework for carrying out all the organizations functions An organisation product or service strategy addresses certain competitive priorities that will win orders from customers such competitive priority is variety. Mass Customization and Marketing Strategy Discuss how theoretical principles, concepts/framework covered in Capacity planning Inventory management Supply chain design Performance measures and Total quality management are appropriate/ inappropriate for managing operations at each of the organisations. Evaluate the mix of concepts/frameworks are discussed

Management and Lithuanian Managers - 1611 Words

VILNIUS UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ECONOMICS DOMANTAS TRACEVIÄÅ'IUS, ELENA Ã… ½ILYTÄâ€", GEDIMINAS RICKEVIÄÅ'IUS, URTÄâ€" RUPÃ…  YTÄâ€" Cross-cultural comparative management Developing Cross-Cultural Effectiveness Lithuania and China Comparison Prof. DanutÄâ€" DiskienÄâ€" Vilnius, 2012 1. Lithuania‘s cultural profile Parameter Time focus Time orientation Space Power Structure Competition Communication Action Value=1 monochronic past private equality individualism co-operative low-context being Value=5 polychronic future public hierarchy collectivism competitive high-context doing Lithuania 3 4 3 3 2 4 2 4 2. Comparison between China and Lithuania Parameter Time focus Time orientation Space Power Structure Competition Communication Action Value=1†¦show more content†¦Chinese people are used to a relatively strong hierarchical structure. Promotions at work are in many cases based on age before ability. The young, in turn, are deferential and respectful to their older co-workers and business associate, the advice and opinions of an older worker are generally valued more than the words of a younger person. In Lithuania there are differences between young entrepreneurs and older businesspeople. Younger businesspeople generally have a less bureaucratic approach. Management style in China tends towards the directive, with the senior manager giving instructions to their direct reports who in turn pass on the instructions down the line. It is not expected that subordinates will question the decisions of superiors - that would be to show disrespect and be the direct cause of loss of face (mianzi) for all concerned. In a business negotiation or meeting setting space orientation will be private - more physical distance between individual participants and no physical contact but office situation space is more - large open spaces are filled with many desks. ï‚ · Management strategies As a manager you should act in a more flexibl e, improvised manner. If one wants to successfully coordinate work with a Chinese, one tends to have more communication to stay in his mind. They tend to be conservative in management and slow to change those things that are tied to the past. Lithuanian managersShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Arcadia Group Ltd.1331 Words   |  6 PagesKingdom department stores for example Debenhams, House of Fraser and Selfridges and also have several hundreds of franchises in foreign countries. The company was primarily founded before World War 2, by an 18 years old boy named Montague Burton a Lithuanian immigrant in Chesterfield in 1903. 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The origins of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle stem in 1906, and follows the plight of a Lithuanian family and the miseries that plague them upon their arrival in the United States. Here was a population, low-class and mostly foreign, hanging always on the verge of starvation, and dependent for its opportunities of life upon the whim of men everyRead MoreTypes of Organizations and Leadership Styles5738 Words   |  23 Pagesenvironment as well as identify what leadership can mean to an organization’s bottom line. Most importantly, the desire to accomplish the organization’s goals is crucial to both the leader and the manager in the organization, yet how they achieve them varies. â€Å"Leaders provide vision and inspiration† while â€Å"managers provide the resources and expect results† (Ofori Toor, 65). Effective leaders are often referred to as being coaches that guide employees along the way. The mere presence of a leader encourages

Death, Dying and Other Ethical Dilemmas Free Essays

Death, dying and other ethical dilemmas are issues that all Intensive Care Units (ICUs) throughout the world have to face and address. In the Current Opinion in Critical Care, Vol 16, No 6, December 2010, p. 640, Dixon-Woods and Bosk, writing on the topic of â€Å"Death, dying and other ethical dilemmas† under the journal’s section of ‘Ethical, legal and organizational issues in the ICU’, have stated that â€Å"Recent ethnographic work suggests that ethical dilemmas associated with end-of-life care in ICU clearly persist, even if clinicians are now more open about patients’ chances of surviving. We will write a custom essay sample on Death, Dying and Other Ethical Dilemmas or any similar topic only for you Order Now An Australian study identified how decisions and actions made outside the ICU—such as proceeding with surgical procedures with very poor prognosis or admitting moribund patients who had sustained severe respiratory or cardiac arrest—led to a higher than expected rate of non-booked admissions. Staff believed these to be the result of futile interventions by staff outside the ICU that then resulted in ICU staff having to manage the patient and family through the dying process. ICU staff believed that this practice was detrimental to families by offering false hope of recovery, and that they were left to ‘clear up the unfinished work of medical staff’. Other studies have also documented the problems faced by staff confronted by patients whose potential for recovery is, at best, marginal, or when patients’ ‘significant others’ seek to influence ICU priorities and distribution of resources. Tensions exist between the critical care clinician’s view of the ICU as a place for caring for patients who can be salvaged, and an external view of the ICU as a place appropriate to send desperately ill, dying patients. Patients admitted to ICU despite ICU staff’s belief that they are not candidates for intensive care lead to role conflicts and other dilemmas for staff. The conflict is embedded in whom ICUs serve, the relative ease with which non-ICU clinicians can ‘turf’ their most critical patients to ICUs, the tensions ICU clinicians experience when delivering what they believe to be futile care, and the despair that family and clinicians share when having to abandon hope. † This administrative ethics paper takes a look at the issues contained in the article of the aforementioned journal, Current Opinion in Critical Care, Vol 16, No 6, December 2010, and applies these issues to the situations faced by ICUs today and in particular, the ICU healthcare personnel at the 6-bedded ICU at the San-Fernando General Hospital (SFGH), a general multi-disciplinary 680-bedded hospital situated in the south of the island of Trinidad and which serves a catchment area of 600,000 people. Trinidad and Tobago is a twin-island republic in the West Indies, south of the archipelago with a population of 1. million people. The SFGH also has a 4-bedded HDU (high-dependency unit). Brainstem death The future plan for brain-dead patients whose hearts have been resuscitated by doctors in the Emergency Department (ED) of the SFGH following a cardiac and or respiratory arrest at home, poses an ethical dilemma for the healthcare personnel at the SFGH. Should these patients be admitted t o the ICU which has only six beds to serve a population of 600,000? Shouldn’t these ICU beds be kept for patients with potentially reversible and salvageable pathology? Emergency physicians at the SFGH defend their decision to resuscitate such patients on the grounds that they cannot predict with any certainty which patients have reversible brain function and which do not. The present practice at the SFGH to provide ventilator support for these patients in the ED instead of the ICU while tests of brainstem function are being carried out, is frequently met with severe criticisms from relatives and loved ones who claim that the best is not being, and cannot be, done for such patients in the ED as opposed to the ICU. And to a certain extent, this is true bearing in mind the chronic shortage of doctors and nurses in the ED. Frequently therefore, here in Trinidad, the ICU personnel have no choice but to transfer such patients to the ICU for monitoring and cardio-respiratory support. Passive Euthanasia â€Å"While active euthanasia is illegal, passive euthanasia, or allowing a patient to die naturally, is legal everywhere. Passive euthanasia includes withdrawing basic needs such as hydration and nutritional feeding† (Fremgen, 2009, p. 304). The Ministry of Health, an arm of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, has issued a written protocol/policy for the discontinuation of life-support from patients on whom the diagnosis of brainstem death is confirmed but, for such discontinuation, written consent is required from the relatives. â€Å"The person should be pronounced dead, and there is no need for the permission of the surrogates to cease treatment, although there are still questions about consent for donation† (Garett, Baillie, McGeehan and Garett, 2010, p. 253). But intensivists here in Trinidad face an ethical dilemma because forty-five percent of the population consists of people of East Indian descent who, because of their religious and cultural background, do not readily agree to the discontinuation of ventilator support from their loved ones who have been pronounced brain-dead. For similar reasons, they do not readily agree to the donation of organs while the heart is still beating, a situation that has stymied the development of transplant programs here in Trinidad and Tobago. The Surrogate’s Obligation Patient-physician relationship is at the heart of patient management. The trend over the recent years has been towards promoting patients’ autonomy. This model falls apart, however, when the patient loses decision-making capacity. Surrogacy is one means of preserving patient autonomy. Several European countries have recently developed laws defining the physician’s role, as well as patients’ and surrogatesâ₠¬â„¢ rights† (Lautrette, Peigne, Watts, Souweine and Azoulay, 2008, p. 714). â€Å"Each of the principles (the best interests principle and the rational choice principle) entails problems. The best interests principle asks the surrogate to do what is nearly impossible—to judge what is best for another. Furthermore, it does not address the fact that the interests of the patient and the interests of the surrogate may be in conflict. The rational choice principle assumes that we know what the patient would have chosen when competent and after having considered every relevant factor. This is a very broad assumption. We doubt that anyone can know what a person would have done in all circumstances† (Garett, Baillie, McGeehan and Garett, 2010, p. 2). When surrogates refuse to give permission for their brain-dead loved ones to be disconnected from the ventilator, intensivists at the SFGH in Trinidad, well aware of the limitations and constraints of the situation that exists at the SFGH, choose the ethical route and not only discontinue all drug and intravenous fluid therapy but also reduce the settings on, and oxygen therapy going to, the ventilator to as low as i s possible, so as to satisfy the family that the patient has not been disconnected from the ventilator. A do-not-resuscitate order (DNR) is not only written, but is also verbally communicated to the nurses by the doctors in the event of a cardiac arrest. The Cost Factor â€Å"Critical care medicine is expensive and its high cost has been a concern for many years. † (Halpern, 2009, p. 591). Canada’s health care system, including its delivery of hospital-based critical care services, is changing due to fiscal pressures. â€Å"Critical care services should be delivered to those who can benefit from them. Limiting therapy in patients with a poor prognosis may help redirect resources† (Leasa and Sibald, 1997, p. 320). Trinidad and Tobago, like the rest of the world, is currently facing an economic recession and so the Government of the day has to be very prudent in its fiscal spending. The Ministry of Health which is responsible for providing the financial resources for running the health system in the twin-island republic simply does not have the money required for the provision of quality healthcare at this time. ICUs are expensive and as such all attempts must be made by all stakeholders involved in the ICU to ensure that monies spent in this area of the hospital are spent wisely, ethically, effectively and efficiently. Conclusion This administrative ethics paper took a look at various challenges faced by healthcare personnel in ICUs today as they deal with death, dying and other ethical dilemmas. Particular reference was made to the ICU at the San Fernando General Hospital, Trinidad, West Indies. How to cite Death, Dying and Other Ethical Dilemmas, Papers

Sugar Is Not Sugar the Dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup free essay sample

The Dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup Rhonda Sullivan DeVry University Sugar is Not Sugar: The Dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup Every one has seen the infamous TV commercial with the young couple sitting in a park on a blanket, innocently sharing a Popsicle made out of High Fructose Corn Syrup. The female offers her male cohort a portion of the frozen treat, responding to his hesitance with the disreputable claim hosted by the corn industry, â€Å"sugar is sugar. Ironic, this commercial enticing the general public to accept the ill-fated ingredient of High Fructose Corn Syrup, is the epitome of Eve offering Adam the apple in The Garden of Eden. High Fructose Corn Syrup has seemed to invade even the most discrete products in the current day kitchen. Hiding in ketchup, soups, and meats, to name only a few, this overused sweetener has wreaked havoc on the American people; much less the unfortunate, overweight, diseased, diabetic rats that fell victim to its studies. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is  a man made, chemically altered, and potentially neurotoxic byproduct, largely at fault for our nation’s health epidemics of obesity diabetes and cardiac disease, but if eradicated from our diet the sequelae of its morbid effects  could be alleviated. Problems Although society is starting to hear more controversial information about the ill health effects of HFCS consumption, what they are not aware of is the dangerous contaminates within it. Chemicals and enzymes used in the processing of corn into HFCS are polluting it with unsafe levels of mercury, and since this heavy metal is neurotoxic, it could very well be to blame for the rapid rise in Autism and other neurological disorders amongst our youth (Geier, King, Sykes, Geier, 2008). To first understand how mercury ends up invading the Nation’s processed food sources, people need to understand how HFCS is developed. As described by Wallinga, Sorensen, and Yablon (2009), through an industrial process, enzymes and caustic soda are used to synthesis the sweetener from corn. Caustic soda is used throughout  the process for many reasons, including its initial employment in the separation of the starch from the corn kernel (Wallinga, Sorensen Yablon, 2009). The problem is, caustic soda is produced in industrial chlorine plants, which many still use a technology relying on the use of mercury, allowing the heavy metal to seep into goods made from its use in processin g (Wallinga, Sorensen Yablon, 2009). Multiple studies done by the Environmental Health and Food and Drug Administration have found commercial HFCS, and many name brand food items with HFCS in their ingredient list, contaminated with mercury (Wallinga, Sorensen Yablon, 2009). An article written by Hyman (2011), presents us with an interesting case, in which a FDA researcher was denied a request for barrels of HFCS in order to test for contaminants. Once she represented herself as an entrepreneur to a new soft drink company, a large vat of the sweetener was sent and used as a part of her study, showing toxic levels of mercury present in some of the samples. The importance one could gather from these findings is that mercury has invaded our food sources, and in all of its forms, it is toxic to the brain (Wallinga, Sorensen Yablon, 2009). Studies show that maternal antenatal consumption of mercury-contaminated food â€Å"adversely affected the IQ, language development, visual-spacial skills, gross motor skills, memory and attention in their offspring† (Schettler, 2001 p. 814). All of these symptoms are similar to conditions of Autism, or Attention Deficit Disorder. An article, supporting mercury provocation of Autism, written by Geier, King, Sykes, and Geier (2008), provides evidence that Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) may result from exposure to mercury at critical times of brain development. It goes so far as to state â€Å"mercury has been found to cause immune, sensory, neurological, motor, and behavioral dysfunctions similar to traits defining ASDs,† and these â€Å"patients who undergo protocols to reduce mercury show significant clinical improvements in some cases† (Geier, King, Sykes, Geier, 2008 p. 383). Also, it is well known through research that mercury can cause neuronal degeneration, and cell death; something that is observed in the brain of ASDs patients (Geier, King, Sykes, Geier, 2008). Schettler (2001) notes a growing rate in the incidence of developmental disabilities corresponding to the increasing prevalence of ADD and ASDs diagnoses. HFCS was first produced on a commercial scale in the 1970s, but became more widely used in the 1980s, when Coca Cola and other soda drink manufacturers started using it in their sweetened drinks (Reshanov, 2012). Bascian, Federico, and Adeli (2005) reveal alarming statistics, stating the use of HFCS has increase 1,000% between 1970 and 1990. Similarly staggering, childhood Autism diagnoses increased 800% from 1990 to 2003 (Rudy, 2009). The consumption rate of HFCS among children has mimicked the increased rate of our youth’s neurologic diagnoses, HFCS consumption is also a major contributor to the increasing numbers of people with obesity, diabetes, and elevated triglyceride levels. Just as every action has a reaction, the intake of HFCS causes a physiological strain of affects that negatively impacts the body. The digestion, metabolism, and absorption of HFCS, differ from that of table sugar, or glucose since biochemically they are different. Because the molecules that comprise HFCS are not bonded, digestion is not necessary, causing rapid metabolism in the liver (Elliott, Keim, Stern, Teff, Havel, 2002). The liver finds storage for these molecules as fat cells, and becoming overwhelmed, releases many in the blood stream. These are known as triglycerides. Elevated triglycerides inhibit insulin production (Kelpe, Johnson, Poitout, 2002), the chemical responsible for controlling our blood sugars. Leptin, our satiety hormone, is regulated by insulin, so when insulin levels are low so are leptin levels (Bascian, Federico, Adeli, 2005 Bray, Nielsen, Popkin, 2004). Obesity seems to be the most obvious epidemic as it related to HFCS consumption. It should be credited to the result of over eating due to HFCSs influence on the appetite suppression hormone leptin. When sufficient levels of leptin are circulating throughout the blood stream, the brain tells the body to no longer eat. When that hormone is diminished, the urge to continue eating is influential. As cited in Parker (2010), Bart Hoebel, who specializes in the neurosciences of appetite, weight, and sugar addiction states, â€Å"when rats are drinking high fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they’re becoming obese – every single one, across the board. † He continues to add to the discussion by saying even rats that are fed a high fat diet, don’t all gain weight (Parker, 2010). Supportive studies using rats show that when fructose was injected into the cerebroventricles of the animals, enhanced food intake was observed, while the same concentrations of glucose injections resulted in a suppression of  appetite (Bascian, Federico, Adeli, 2005. Further, the accumulation of readily converted fat cells, especially in the abdomen (Parker, 2010), doubles as a cause to obesity. When these processes are understood, it is apparent how HFCS contributes to America’s obesity issue. Elevated triglycerides have been well known for a long time in the health community to be a great risk factor for cardiac disease. When a bolus of unbounded molecules directly enter the liver for metabolizing, lipogenesis occurs, causing nonfat food products to be turned directly into fat and fatty acids (Bascian, Federico, Adeli, 2005.  ) Fatty acids, or triglycerides accumulate in the blood stream, at levels that can be considered dangerous, predisposing the person to coronary artery diseases and strokes. Multiple studies done on rats have provided evidence showing the contributory nature consumption of HFCS has on triglyceride levels. For example, a study cited in Bascian, Federico, and Adeli, (2005) showed that when rats were fed a 32% fructose, glucose, or sucrose solution, the fructose fed rats had an elevated triglyceride level. Insulin resistance is directly related to the intake of HFCS. â€Å"Because fructose does not stimulate insulin secretion from pancreatic ? cells, the consumption of foods and beverages containing fructose produces smaller postprandial insulin excursions than does consumption of glucose-containing carbohydrate† (Elliott, Keim, Stern, Teff, Havel, 2002 p. 911). Therefore, if large amounts of HFCS were being consumed that insulin was not acting to control, the result would be uncontrolled circulating blood sugars. In human studies done by Johnson et al. (2009), with high levels of fructose ingestion, it took just one week for the subjects to develop insulin resistance. People that were already predisposed to obesity or unhealthy diets, exhibited insulin resistance after very small amounts of fructose were taken in. Again, the prevalence of these epidemics seems to mirror the widespread utilization of HFCS as a sweetener. Bray, Nielsen, and Popkin (2004) analyzed the relationship of increased HFCS consumption with the development of obesity stating that ironically, the increased use of the sweetener in the United States has mirrored the rapidity of America’s obesity. Cited in Parker (2010), The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recognizes that in the last 40 years, since the introduction of HFCS in the American diet, rates of obesity have â€Å"skyrocketed. † They report that in 1970, about 15% of the American population was afflicted with obesity, but as of now, roughly one third of our adult population is considered obese. The increase in fructose intake in the last twenty years is also associated with the astonishing increase in diabetes diagnoses according to Johnson et al. (2009). These discoveries are beyond coincidental, and highly recognized among experts in the field of nutrition and health. Solutions By abolishing high fructose corn syrup from our diets, we could alleviate the morbidities affiliated with its use. Because of the backlash HFCS is receiving recently, many food manufactures are removing the sweetener from their products. Even though still widely found, reading food labels will allow consumers to purchase goods without HFCS in its ingredient list. Buy products that are not processed, or advertised as â€Å"organic. † Prepare meals at home using whole foods, not prepackaged. Most manufacturers have contact information on their products, allowing consumers to notify them of their discontent with the presence of HFCS in our food. People can contact elected officials, asking for hearings that address why the FDA does not protect our nation from the mercury contamination of HFCS (Wallinga, Soreson, Yablon, 2009). One step New York City’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is taking, will propose a stop to all sweetened drinks greater than 16 ounces in size, hoping managed portions will reduce the intake of these drinks (Reshanov, 2012). This appears to be an important step in diet modification for decreased incidents of obesity, diabetes and coronary artery disease, but its presence in even small portions may not change the risk of mercury exposure to developing brains. Just don’t eat it, drink it, or support HFCS in any manner. Although sugar has a bad rap when consumed beyond moderation, it could be reclaimed into our nations diet as a primary sweetener, since it has not shown to have the detrimental effects on health that high fructose corn syrup has. Researchers from the Department of Science and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute report that male rats given HFCS sweetened water in addition to a rat chow diet gained much more weight than those that received water sweetened with basic table sugar along with the chow (Parker, 2010). Many favorite food brands have provided an alternative using sugar to sweeten a product as opposed to HFCS. Examples of these are Pepsi â€Å"Throwback,† and â€Å"Simply† Heinz. To alleviate an extensive craving, many health food stores provide candy sweetened only with cane sugar. Trader Joes is a whole foods store that has a jellybean product with flavors similar to the famous â€Å"Jelly Belly’s† jellybeans, sweetened with only cane sugar. Making home cooked goodies with sugar, also gives the option of adding some additional ingredients with nutritive value while satisfying a weak yearning. Although sugar in excess can still have some unhealthy effects, in moderation it is recognized, metabolized and processed in the body without detriment, and is unknown to harbor neurotoxic mercury or other damaging contaminants. In previously cited findings by Parker (2010), it is apparent when comparing the outcomes of fructose fed rats as opposed to rats fed typical table sugar, that the rats eating fructose suffered ill effects to their health, unlike their glucose fed counterparts. Call to Action . Without actions on behalf of our food and drug administration (FDA), the statistics for obesity, diabetes, and cardiac disease, as well as what may be the contributing factor to the rise in our nation’s neurotoxic afflictions will continue to rise. Mercury contamination in HFCS is completely avoidable, with current technology allowing most chlorine plants to no longer use it (Wallinga, Soreson, Yablon, 2009). Since HFCS was first introduced in the 1970s, its use and consumption by the American people has continued to climb with the Average American eating an estimated 60 pounds per person per year, all concurrent with the â€Å"tripling of obesity rates and a seven-fold increase in diabetes diagnoses† (Hyman, 2011 p. 1). When comparing the ingredient list from a French based McDonalds, to an American McDonalds, there is no HFCS or multiple other unhealthy ingredients in the foreign food choices (Beardsley, 2012). Why does our nation allow poor quality, harmful food additives, disregarding years of well researched information? What makes American’s settle for less, knowing the potential ill health effects? The FDA needs to recognize the negative impacts HFCS is having on the American people, and protect them. Our nation must write, call, or email legislators and representatives to make the FDA aware .

Purchase and Product Involvement when Buying

Introduction Consumer involvement refers to that â€Å"state of mind that motivates a consumer to identify with a product or service offerings, their consumption patterns and consumption behavior†.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Purchase and Product Involvement when Buying specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Involvement enables consumers to develop the urge to search for or think about the available product categories before selecting a preferred brand and purchasing a product. Involvement reflects the amount of effort (physical and mental) that a person invests in the process of making a purchase decision. Involvement creates a level of relevance to the product or service offering and this, prompts the consumer to collect and interpret relevant information about the product before making a purchase decision (Schiffman and Hansen, 2011, p. 89).Thus, it influences the consumer’s decision making process , as well as, the process of searching, processing and transmitting information. Involvement varies across persons, situations, product offerings and time. The strength and intensity of involvement determines the consumer’s level of involvement. Thus, involvement can be high or low (East, Wright and Vanhucle, 2008, p. 132). Involvement can also be short-term and situational or long-term and enduring. Additionally, involvement is often directed at the elements of marketing mix. This paper focuses on purchase involvement and the process of consumer decision making. Purchase Involvement Purchase involvement refers to the â€Å"level of concern for or interest in the purchase process, once the purchase process has been triggered by the need to consider a particular purchase† (Quester, Pettigrew and Hawkins, 2011, p. 67). Purchase involvement is a temporary state that is typical of a consumer, and exists in a process. Purchase involvement is influenced by current external v ariables which include the product, situation, and communication. It is also influenced by past external factors such as enduring, ego, as well as, central values. Thus, purchase involvement reflects the time, thought, as well as, the energy that consumers dedicate to the process of purchasing a given product.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Difference between Purchase Involvement and Product Involvement Purchase involvement differs from product involvement in the following ways. First, purchase involvement refers to the consumer’s interest in the buying or purchase process (Kim and Sung, 2009, pp. 504-519). This interest is initiated by the need to purchase a product. Product involvement, on the other hand, refers to a consumer’s or a person’s interest in purchasing a given product and the consumer’s commitment to purchase a particular brand (Que ster and Lim, 2008, pp. 22-38). Thus, purchase involvement focuses on the interest in the purchase process, whereas product involvement focuses on the interest in a particular product or brand. In the context of product involvement, the arousal, interest, as well as, emotional attachment is evoked by the product, whereas in purchase involvement, these attachments are evoked by the need to purchase the product. Second, purchase involvement is situational, whereas product involvement is enduring. Situational involvement occurs when the consumer attaches relevance to a product in the short-term. Thus, it is temporary in nature. Purchasing a computer as a gift to a student on his birthday is an example of situational involvement. In this case, the involvement disappears as soon as the purchase is completed. Enduring involvement, on the other hand, occurs when the relevance attached to a particular product last for a long period. A high school student planning to purchase a computer to u se in collage three years from now is an example of enduring involvement. In this case, the student has three years to get involved with the product offering and plan for the purchase. Finally, consumers can have a high purchase involvement in a product without necessarily having a high product involvement. For example, a person purchasing a dish washing machine may have a high purchase involvement due to the high cost of the product. However, he may have a low product involvement due to band loyalty.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Purchase and Product Involvement when Buying specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Factors Influencing Purchase Involvement The factors influencing purchase involvement includes the following. First, the consumer and his personal characteristics such as interests, lifestyle, attitude and motives/ needs determine the level of purchase involvement (Bezenco and Blili, 2011, pp. 682-708). A p rudent consumer will always explore and evaluate the available alternatives before deciding on what to buy. A shrewd consumer tends to search for more information in adverts, and sale offers. Additionally, they are willing to spend more time in shopping in order to obtain the product with the lowest price. A consumer who is price conscious gives priority to price when making a purchase decision (Harari and Hornik, 2010, pp. 499-506). The consumer’s cognitive ability determines the extent to which he or she can process, as well as, draw conclusions before purchasing a product. These characteristics lead to high purchase involvement. In general, products associated with the consumer’s image and personality normally leads to high purchase involvement. Consumers associated with high levels of apathy and hassle-free attitudes tend to be less concerned with the shopping process. Thus, their levels of purchase involvement tend to be low. Second, purchase involvement is determ ined by the product or service to be purchased. The features or benefits associated with the product will influence the level of purchase involvement (Harari and Hornik, 2010, pp. 499-506). Thus, a consumer who is concerned about quality will be willing to spend more time comparing brands with varying benefits and features. Additionally, purchase involvement can be low if the consumer is loyal to a particular brand. The amount of risk associated with the consumption or purchase of the product will also determine the level of purchase involvement. The level of involvement will be high if the product is associated with high risk levels (Radder and Huang, 2008, pp. 232-243).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Third, purchase involvement is determined by the situation under which the act of purchasing a product is undertaken (Ozdipciner, Li and Muzaffer, 2012, pp. 34-43). For example, a person purchasing a gift for a loved one will tend to be highly involved in the purchase process in order to obtain the best product or brand. Social pressures such as shopping in the presence of friends also influence the level of purchase involvement. Socially, individuals tend to be more conscious of the products or brands they buy in the presence of their friends as compared to when they are alone. The amount of time devoted to the purchase process also has a bearing on the level of purchase involvement (Benerjee, Koshy and Shobha, 2007, pp. 746-763). In this case, the available time determines the consumer’s ability to collect and process or interpret the information about the product to be purchased. The level of purchase involvement will be low if the time to be spent in shopping is little an d vice versa. Consumer Decision Making Consumer purchasing decisions â€Å"fall along a continuum of three categories namely, habitual decisions-making, limited decision making and extended decision making† (Neal and Quester, 2007, p. 56). This continuum is anchored by habitual response behavior on one end and extended decision making process on the other extreme. The categories of decision making are influenced by, the level of involvement, available time, information, and the availability of alternatives. The difference between the three decision making categories can be explained as follows. Habitual Decision Making In habitual decision making, the consumers do not make any decisions regarding the purchase of a product (Quester, Pettigrew and Hawkins, 2011, p. 67). In this case, the consumers simply purchase a given product whenever there is a need to consume that particular product. The consumers normally depend on their long-term memory to identify the preferred band (Ch ang and Ling, 2003, pp. 94-107). Thus, no effort is devoted to the process of searching for information about the product. In habitual decision making, post-purchase evaluations are rarely done. In most cases, the consumers evaluate the product or brand only when it fails to function as expected. Habitual decisions are often made when the level of purchase involvement is very low. Additionally, the option of not purchasing the product is hardly considered by the consumer. For example, a person whose body lotion has run out may purchase the same brand. In this case, the decision is habitual since, the consumer is loyal to a particular band which she purchases without much thought or consideration of all available alternatives. Habitual consumer decision making can be classified into two categories namely, â€Å"brand loyalty and repeat purchase decisions† (Parsons and Maclaran, 2008, p. 88) Repeat purchase decisions occur when the consumer buys a particular brand repeatedly wi thout being committed to that particular brand. Repeat purchase can be made as a result of apathy. Apathy is a situation in which the consumer is indifferent towards the available brands (Grebila, Colson and Menapare, 2011, pp. 112-115). Consequently, the consumer can settle for any brand that is readily available. For example, a student can be indifferent towards the brands of pens available at a local store. Thus, the student will buy the pen she or he finds in the store. Repeat purchase decisions can also be made due to non-availability of alternative brands. For example, a student can continually purchase locally made pens if the government restrict importation of pens. In the context of brand loyalty, the consumer is usually committed to a particular brand. This usually occurs when the consumer is emotionally attached to a product due to the actual and perceived superior qualities of the product (Gunjan and Amitava, 2011, pp. 430-432). Due to the high level of loyalty, the cons umer will always prefer a particular brand over the rest in the market. For instance, a consumer can consistently purchase a particular brand of soft drink until a better brand is launched in the market. Limited Consumer Decision Making Limited consumer decision-making occurs or exists between the habitual and the extended decision making categories (Quester, Pettigrew and Hawkins, 2011, p. 69). The difference between limited and habitual decision making is that the former involves a limited search for information prior to making the purchase decision. For example, a consumer who is interested in purchasing coffee may spare some time to compare the prices of various coffee brands. The consumer may also be interested in trying a new coffee brand. Hence, he or she will have to seek information on the quality and prices of the available coffee brands. Limited decision making is likely to occur if the consumer has past experience with the product. For instance, a consumer interested in trying a new toothpaste brand may allocate limited time to compare available brands. Limited decision making can also occur if the risk associated with the product or making the wrong choice is moderate. In this case, failing to search for some basic information about the product may be costly to the customer (Broderick, Graley, and Dentiste, 2007, pp. 678-681). However, the consumer may not devote a lot of time and resources in searching for product information since the risk associated with the product is moderate. Lack of knowledge about the available brands can also lead to limited decision making. With limited decision-making, consumers tend to depend on personal information rather than external sources of information. Limited decision making is also associated with low levels of purchase involvement. This is because the consumers devote limited time and effort to searching information or comparing available alternatives. Additionally, the post-purchase evaluations are hardly d one. Extended Decision Making This is the most complex purchase decision making process. Extended consumer decision making occurs when the consumer intends to buy a new product. In this case, lack of knowledge about the product will prompt the consumer to consider external sources of information (Torres-Moraga, Vasquez-Parraga and Zamora-Gonzalez, 2008, pp. 302-313). Extended decision making also occurs when the product is very expensive or the product is one that is seldom bought. For example, the purchase of a house involves extended decision making. The person intending to purchase the house must extensively search for information about the house, the financing options and the quality of the environment in which the house is located. Since a house is a very expensive product, purchasing it involves a high risk. This is because the consumer is likely to lose a large potion of his or her investments if the wrong choice is made. In order to avoid these risks, the consumer must engag e in extensive information search, as well as, evaluation of available options (Dobbelstein and Zielke, 2007, pp. 112-121). The evaluation normally involves reviewing the attributes of each brand at a time. The attributes of each brand are then matched to the desired characteristics or expectations of the consumer. The consumer will depend mainly on external sources of information to make the right decision, especially, if the consumer has no past experience with the product. The internal search or the consumer’s memory is also considered an important source of information in extended decision making. Other products that involve extended decision making include cars, and plasma TVs. Extended decision making involves high level of purchase involvement. The extended decision making differs from limited and habitual decision making in the following ways. First, limited and habitual decision making are characterized with low risk products and low purchase involvement. The extende d decision making on the other hand is characterized with high risk products and high purchase involvement. Second, limited and habitual decision-making involve little or no information search. The acquired information is often processed passively, and the consumer is likely to make in-store decisions. Extended decision making, on the other hand, involves extensive search for information about the product’s quality, price, promotions and discounts. In extended decision making, information is often processed actively. Additionally, the consumer usually consults multiple sources before settling on a preferred brand or product. Finally, habitual and limited decision making involves limited shopping time. The shopping process is normally self-service in nature with little or no help required from the store attendants. Additionally, the choice of products or brands is often influenced by the store or shop displays (Delgado-Ballester and Munuera-Allemon, 2001, pp. 1238-1258). The e xtended decision making, on the other hand, involves visiting several outlets in order to find the best shopping deal. Communication or assistance from the store personnel is normally required to help the consumer to make the right choice. Conclusion Consumer involvement is a high state of awareness that stimulates a person to search for, attend to, as well as, think about a product’s information before purchasing the product. It reflects the interest, as well as, the importance that a person attaches to the process of acquiring and consuming a given product. In this context, involvement can be conceptualized in terms of product and purchase involvement. Product involvement refers to the interest a person has in purchasing a product and the person’s commitment to a particular brand. Purchase involvement, on the other hand, refers to the consumer’s interest in the purchase process. The level of involvement influences the purchase decision making process. Consumer decision making can be classified into three categories namely, habitual, limited and extended decision making. Habitual decision making does not involve any decision. In limited decision making, the consumer searches for limited information before making any decision (Quester, Pettigrew and Hawkins, 2011, p. 69). Habitual and limited decision making are associated with low purchase involvement. Extended decision making, however, involves extensive search for information and high purchase involvement. References Benerjee, B., Koshy, A., and Shobha, G., 2007. Brand Specific Association and Consumer Involvement in the Evaluation of Brand Extension. Journal of International Business Studies, 28(5), pp. 746-763. Bezenco, V., and Blili, S., 2011. Segmenting the Market Through the Determinants of Involvement: the Case of Fair Trade. Psychology and Marketing, 28(7), pp. 682-708. Broderick, A., Graley, L., and Dentiste, R., 2007. The Behavioral Homogeneity Evaluation Framework: Multi-Level Evaluation of Consumer Involvement in International Segementation. Journal of International Business Studies, 38(5), pp. 678-681. Chang, L., and Ling, Y., 2003. Determinants of Habitual Behavior for National and Leading Brands in China. Journal of Product and Brand Management, 12(2), pp. 94-107. Delgado-Ballester, E., and Munuera-Allemon, J., 2001. Brand Trust in the Context of Consumer Loyalty. European Journal of Marketing, 35(1), pp. 1238-1258. Dholakia, U., 2001. A Motivational Porcess Model Product Involevement and Consumer Risk Perception. European Journal of Marketing, 35(11), pp.1340-1362. Dobbelstein, T., and Zielke, S., 2007. Consumers’ Willingness to Purchase New Store Brands. Journal of Porduct and Brand Management, 16(2), pp. 112-121. East, R., Wright, M., and Vanhucle, M., 2008. Consumer Behavior: Appliocations in Marketing. New York: Routledge. Foxall, G., 2002. Consumer Behavior Analysis. New York: McGraw-Hill. Grebila, C., Colson, G., and Menapare, L., 2011. Analyzing Pork Purchase at the Point of Sale: the Role of Consumer Involvement. Advances in Management, 3(2), pp. 112-115. Gunjan, M., and Amitava, M., 2011. Consumer Behavior Towards Mobile Phone Services Provider. Advances in Management, 4(6), pp. 430-432. Harari, T., and Hornik, J., 2010. Factros Influencing Product Involvement among Young Consumers. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 27(6), pp. 499-506. Hawkins, D., 2010. Consumer Behavior. New York: McGraw-Hill. Hoyer, W., 1984. An Examination of Consumer Decision Making for a Common Repeat Purchase Product. Journal of Consumer Research, 11(3), pp. 822-829. Kim, J., and Sung, Y., 2009. Dimensions of Purchase Decision Involvement:Affective and Cognitive Involvement in Product and Brand. Journla of Brand Management, 16(1), pp. 504-519. Laaksonen, P., 2004. Consumer Involvement. New York: Routledge. Mittal, B., 1989. Meaeuring Purchase-Decision Involevement. Psychology and Marketing, 6(2), pp. 147-162. Neal, C., and Quester, P., 2007 . Consumer Behavior. New York: Cengage Learning. Ozdipciner, N., Li, X., and Muzaffer, U., 2012. Cross-Cultural Differences in Purchase-Decision Making Criteria. International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Reserach, 6(1), pp. 34-43. Parsons, E., and Maclaran, P., 2008. Contemporary Issues in Marketing and Consumer Behavior. New York: Cengage learning. Quester, P., and Lim, L., 2008. Product Involvement/ Brand Loyalty: Is there a Link. Journal fo Product and Brand Mangement, 12(1), pp. 22-38. Quester, P., Pettigrew, S., and Hawkins, D., 2011. Consumer Behavior: Implications for Marketing Startegy. New York: MaGraw-Hill. Radder, L., and Huang, W., 2008. High Involvement and Low Involvement Products: A Comperision of Brand Awareness among Students in a South Afriocan University. Journal of Fashion and Marketing Management, 12(2), pp. 232-243. Schiffman, L., and Hansen, H., 2011. Consumer Behavior: A European Outlook. London: John Wiley and Sons. Torres-Moraga, E., Vasquez -Parraga, A., and Zamora-Gonzalez, J., 2008. Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Starts with the Product Culminates with the Brand. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 25(5), pp. 302-313. This essay on Purchase and Product Involvement when Buying was written and submitted by user Kamden Sullivan to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

War and Violence Throughout History essays

War and Violence Throughout History essays Throughout this course, there were many eras as well as events that were dissected and examined, resulting in great findings of the history of the world. One specific theme that seemed to be recurrent in many events and time periods is that of war and violence. This was seen through the effects of WWI, Adolf Hitler's reign over Germany, and the use of the atomic bomb by the U.S. against Japan. It may be observed then, that change was brought about as a result of war and violence, but in both positive and negative ways. When looking at WWI, it was falsely perceived that this would be a short war, giving the countries involved grief instead of victory by the end. One negative aspect as a result of the war is that there was financial debt throughout Europe due to warfare needs, which in turn, caused them to borrow money. While the countries were wasting away their money, as well as the borrowed money, on firearms and war provisions to prove they were the better country, in the long run, they were putting themselves in financial debt that would take years to pay off. There were some positive outcomes as a result of the war, one being the change in women's roles. During the war, women were forced to come in and take over the roles of the men while they were off fighting. When the war ended and the men returned, women were seen as more equal because it was recognized that they were able to sustain everyday life without the men. This included taking over their jobs, as well as helping out with nursing i n the war, and maintaining the war industry. Finally, one change that was important and resulted from the war had both a positive and negative effect, this being the shift of the West's wealth from Europe to the U.S and Asia. After the war, the countries involved were preoccupied with repairing their countries, so the U.S. and some countries in Asia saw this as an opportunity to benefit their own countries economically. Therefore, as a resu...

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Online Banking Services: Benefits and Risks

Online Banking Services: Benefits and Risks Internet banking ABSTRACT Internet banking started in 80s and nowadays its considered globally as an essential need of todays modern banking facilities. The debate about moving secure investment and banking transaction to the web is indeed over because they are already in progress but analysis of the dimensions of this revolution are far from complete. This research is done to reveal the views/perceptions of todays modern day customers about online banking. The main objectives were (a) customers perceptions of the benefits of online banking (b) customers perceptions of the risks/the issues/threats/problems associated with the online banking. The outcome of the study may help the higher management of banks to plan and implement more secure and effective online banking services. The researcher collected the primary data through questionnaires and then data was analyzed through frequency analysis and mean score analysis. 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And last two centuries can easily be called as the era of technological revolution. And during the process of this modern technological era the innovation of computer has totally changed the landscape of todays modern world. Rapid technology advancements in this field have totally changed the world wide economic and business atmosphere. Same way innovation of internet banking in the banking sector has opened a new and totally different platform for speed up communication and transactions of financial transactions for the customers (Booz et al, 1997). It is essential to introduce this latest banking tool to customers in a positive way and create awareness in customers minds to get the most out of this new innovation for both the customers and the service providers. Internet banking started some 20 years back and at the moment millions of people access their bank accounts online every single day and this number is increasing day by day. You can access accounts, make payments, can transfer funds online, pay bills, view your account statements, change your personal details etc online. Instead of traditional operating boundaries, in online banking financial institutions suddenly find themselves in a different kind of environment where they compete for the customer loyalty and liquidity. Starting of this new-era of online banking facility has helped customers in many ways but it has also introduced a number of risks which were never there before in any other generation both for the customers and the banks. Although internet banking has attracted hundreds of thousands of customers around the world but still the customer satisfaction/acceptance level, security issues and the future growth of the industry are still challenged. Online banking has develo ped at a tremendous rate and now even banks/financial institutions are competition each other in providing online services. But only those companies who will provide more value-added services will win the customer loyalty. Some of the barriers/drawbacks of internet banking are continuing investment that banks have to do to make sure that their online system is secure. These investments are mostly done in expensive, proprietary networks and software solutions to make their server secure from hackers and viruses. Although online banking has already completed more than twenty five years but analysis of the dimensions and the direction and the degree of risk involved in this revolution are far from complete. As every body knows that customer satisfaction is one of the basic requirements for the success of any business in any sector around the world (Welch et al., 2005, Terblanche, 2006, Perreault et al., 2006, Cohen, 2006, Athanassopoulos and lliakopoulos, 2003) The main reason to this is that high customer satisfaction in return gives higher market share and higher level of profits (Szymankski and Henard, 2001). Satisfaction levels with online banking are improving over the years. In this study the benefits that the customers are getting from using the online banking services are evaluated and the risk they are facing by using this service as well. In past few years, the margin of profits in banking sector has increased a lot. And online has also contributed to it. Although the ratio of accepting this new technology is different in different countries but still people are accepting it almost all over the globe. One of the positive aspects of todays modern world of commercial banking sector is the formation of new deliverance channels for customer satisfaction and most recent of them is online banking (Daniel, E. 1999). Traditional way of providing services only by bank branches is not enough to meet the needs of todays customers (Bradley, L et al, 2003). Adoption of online banking is increasing day by day although the level of adoption could be different in different countries. Online/Internet banking can be defined as an alternative to traditional banking system which allows the customers to perform almost all financial transactions e.g. balance checking, money transfer, account upgrades, bank statement printing etc on the banks secure website which otherwise can be performed only by visiting the banks branch. History of Internet Banking in UK Online banking services started from the early 80s in New York and in 1981. In the beginning Citibank, Chase Manhattan,Chemical and Manufacturers Hanover offered home banking services by using the videotex system but at that time videotex system didnt became popular except in France and UK where they used videotex minitel and prestel.Now we are going to discuss the history of online banknig in UK which started in 1983 and Nottingham Building Society was the first one to start this service at that time. It was based on the UKs prestel system and used a computer such as the BBC Micro or keyboard connected to the telephone system and television set. So, the customers had the facility to view their bank statements, bank transfers and also had the facility of making online bill payments. And at that time some part of it was done manually as well e.g. if any customers likes to make bank transfers or bill payments, (includeing details of the recipient)washad to be sent to the Nottingham Bui lding Society had to be notified in written form who set the details up on the Homelink system. Usually people used it for paying their gas, electricity and telephone bills. While Stanford Federal Credit Union also joined NBS in October 1994 and started online banking services to its customers and was the first one to do this. Types of Online Banking Online banking is divided into three types and this division is done on the basis of functional level of online banking that is currently employed in the market. Informational Communicative Transactional Informational (Websites) This has been identified as the first level of internet banking. Typically the bank has the marketing information about the banks products and services on a stand alone server. The risk is very low as informational systems typically have no path between the server and the banks internal network. Communicative/Simple transactional (Websites) This type of internet banking allows some interaction between the banks systems and the customer. The interaction is limited to e-mail, account inquiry, loan application or static file updates (name and address). It does not permit any funds transfers. Advanced Transactional (Websites) This level of internet banking allows bank customers to electronically transfer funds to/from their accounts, pay bills and conduct other banking transaction online like CABS in Zimbabwe. Features of Online Banking Online banking consists of many characteristics and some of them are listed below: Transactional Features: Features which are used to perform a financial transaction are called transactional features such as money transfer from one account to another account of either the same customer or different customers, paying bills,applying online for a credit card or for a loan or a new account etc Non-transactional Features: These features include online viewing or printing of account statement, checking links, cobrowsing, chat, wire transfer, sending mail to banks/financial institution administration. Different ways of attacking Online Banking Websites There are a number of ways used these days to directly attack either the banks websites providing the facility or their customers. But it is much easier to deceive the customers, most of the attackers try to deceive the user to steal his/her login id and password. Two of the most used methods for such kind of attacks are phishing and pharming. Other methods used to steal login information includes cross-site scripting and key logger or trojan horses. Even hackers try to attack signature based online banking method as well and they try to manipulate the software. By using this method real and genuine transactions are seen on the front page by the user to deceive him/her and faked transactions take place in the background. A recent report by FDIC Technology Incident Report tells that around 536 cases of computer crimes related to hacking and phishing and data loss have been registerd. And if we calcute the worth of these losses it goes around $30,000 per incident . And the grand total could be up to $16-million loss within 2007. Such kind of money loss due to computer crime have already increased at a rate more than 100 percent in last 2 to 3 years. And in most of these cases the attacker cannot be identified and the targeted custormers are those who are using online services in one way or the other. The latest method used by the hackers to attack is that a trojan horse allows the hacker to change both the destination account number and the amount of the user. Security Measures by the Banks In online banking increasing number of security issues day by day as compared to conventional banking is one of the major worries of banks. The most basic method used by the banks to provide security to the customers is allowing the customers to access the data by using a one time password authentication method. Most of the secure Internet shopping sites use this method for providing security to the customers. But using this method for online banking is not secure way of doing things online. Banks/financial institutions use two different security measures to fail the attacks by the hackers. The first one is the PIN/TAN system in which users are given new passwords every time they login and do the financial transactions. And mostly these passwords are sent to the customers by post. The most appropriate way of using TANs is to generate them only when customer needs them. This is basically a two-factor authentication way and the positive aspect of adopting this method is that no additional encryption is required. The second method is also a commonly used method and this method used is Signature based in which all transactions are signed and encrypted digitally. And the digital signatures of the custoemrs are then stored either on any kind of memory storage disks or smartcards. Countermeasures for failing such attacks Banks and financial institutions are using several countermeasures techniques to avoid all these kinds of attacks which have been discussed in previous heading e.g. to stop attacks that are done by both phishing and pharming, digital certificates have been introduced. On the other hand, class-3 card readers are introduced to fail those attacks which target signature based online banking. While on the users end, they should use virus scanners to be on the safe side against different ways of hacking tools like phishing, pharming, Trojan horses etc. It is also been observed that when people download material from internet, many times some hacking files also enter the systems and later those files are either used directly by the hackers to steal data or those files simply start sharing and sending your data with the hackers computer. Another step taken is the multifactor authentication (MFA) process. History of Banking The earliest of all banks in old age were the temples of that time. This practice started around third millennium B.C. And if we think that the culture of having banks in a society only started with the invention of money, then we are wrong because they started even before this. At that time instead of money people used to deposit grain. But after sometime at a later stage, people started depositing cattles and agricultural implements. Eventually comes the deposits in the form of gold, precious stones, metals etc in the form of compressed plates were used as deposits. One of the strongest reason of using temples and palaces to keep the precious goods were that they were the safest places to store gold at that time because they were almost always full of monks or worshippers and were well built as well. On the other hand, temples were sacred places so temples give an extra protection to precious goods from robbers. Even the culture of giving loans is as old as around 18th century BC i n Babylon. And most of the times those loans were given by priests/monks of that time and mostly to the businessman community of that time. Ancient Greece also has a history of banking. Most of the transcations at that time were giving loans, deposits, exchaning the currency. And proofs have been found that rather than giving money in cash which was taken as a loan, a credit note is given to the customer in one city and the customer used to take cash in another city by showing that note. And the advantage of doing it is that it was saving the customers from getting robbed on their way from one city to another. And this technique of credit-based banking was very common in 4th century B.C.in the Mediterranean world. Egyptian people also used to use grain as an alternative of money. By the fall of Egypt, the no. of different government based financial institutes of that time were combined into a single network of grain banks and their head office was in Alexandria from where they were monitored and the transactions of grains and other stuff from all the state granary banks were recorded. And even at that time paymets were done from one account to the other without actually moving money from one place to another. During last few decades of 3rd century B.C., an island of Delos, known for its magnificent harbor and famous temple of Apollo, became a leading and well known banking hub of that time due to the temple of Apollp and excellent harbour. Same way in Egypt, without moving cash from one place to another financial transactions used to take place by just writing a credit receipt. Ancient Rome took this art of doing financial transactions to a new level and started forming some rules and regulations and a set infrastructure for the system and formed and practice d many regulations for banks/financial institutions. Although interest charging was an old traditions but make it more structured. But further growth of Roman banks was limited because they used to do cash transactions more frequently. And even in Christinaity practice of charging interest is considered immoral, so the further development haulted at that time. And the last but not the least point to add here is that due to the fall of Roman empire banking also diminished and didnt came on screen until the start of the crusades. Western Banking History Modern Western banking history initiated in London with the formation of London Royal Exchange in 1565. At that time their offices where they used to sit and do financial work were called banks. There exsisted also a hierarchical order among professionals at that time. The list included bankers, city exchanges and pawn shops respectively.Before the Industrial Revoultion Amsterdam was the financial capita of the world in 1609. And during last decade of 17th century Amsterdam, London, and Hamburg were like the central banks of the world. And the famous East India Trade company was the most stable of that time. Global Banking In the 1970s and 1980s there was a wave of deregulation and privatization of government enterprises. The basic reason for doing so is to improve economic growth of the countries and it was private-sector at that time which was given the responsibility to participate positively in the growth and development of the country. Even the developed countries of today were facing the issues of economic growth at that time. This gave a chance to large companied to expand their business internationally. During this phase of globalization and expansion banking sector also grew tremendously. And U.S. emerged as the largest stock market in the world. And their economy and assessts grew twice the rate of the rest of the world. But they didnt enjoyed that kind of growth rate during last twenty years. And U.S. Foreign investments also play a part in this decline. And the other factor is growth of foreign financial markets. For example Japan where ratio of savings has gone up in last two decades and t hen the deregulation in other parts of the world is also a factor influencing U.S. growth rate. Such growing trend of globalization and the avaliability of opportunities of economic growth abroad has totally changed the traditional banking and now many banks have shown keen interests and preference for the universal banking model. And these banks can perform all kinds of financial services. And Internet banking is used as a major tool to meet the ever growing and changing demands of todays modern customers and so internet banking also expanded its wings globally under this new era of global banking. Such is a proof of global banking setup that by the end of 2000 around $10.5 trillion worth of financial activities were recorded breaking all the previous records. The top ten leading banks holding most of that market share was 80%. Among ten top ranked banks of the year the seven of them were multi-national bank who are doing business all around the globe and among them were three American and four European banks. Benefits of Online Banking Electronic Banking has many benefits and we are going to discuss them in detail now. First of all you can transfer funds from one account to another. And this could be done either between different accounts of the same person or vice versa. You can pay bills online, apply for a loan or a new account etc.Other features include printing of bank statement, changing personal details, contacting bank administration. Now if we go further in detail, we are going to examine more benefits of online banking. , service, technology, change, knowledge about computer usage and internet are a main Thornton and White (2001) found that there are many electronic distribution channels available for banks in US and then they compared them all and concluded that customer orientation towards convenience source of usage of different channels. And online banking is playing an important role to minimize the queues in branches which in turn increases efficiency of bank employees because if they got fewer cust omers in bank they can give them enough time and could solve their problems in a better way rather than looking at the long queue and getting stressed and under pressure (Thornton and White, 2001). Howcroft et al., (2002) found that the most important factors which are helpful in an increased number of usage of electronic banking are less fees and the reducing paper work and removal of the factor of human error.(Kiang et al., 2000). One more important factor which was concluded by Byers and Lederer, (2001) was that due to a rapid change in technology during last one century consumer attitudes have changed as well and people like to go for the usage of latest technology rather than bank cost a structure that determines the changes in distribution channels. Now users can do banking outside normal banking hours as well. Normally users can only do banking only between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. And this amount of time is only 8 to 9 hours per day. Now they have got the facility of 24 hours a day and 7 days a week to do banking operations. And this is one of the most important reasons for the adoption of online banking. Banks provide customers convenient, inexpensive access to the bank 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Another point is also found in this scenario that ATM machines are contributing a lot as well in this new era of technology and these machines are performing the same kind of transactions as do a member of the staff at a bank will do. And the point to note in this sentence is that the ATM is performing these transactions at half the cost a human can do and with a four-to-one advantage in productivity. Gerrard and Cunningham (2003) found a positive correlation about the factor of convenience and online banking because you can now do all the banking transactions even from the ease of your home and you dont need to go to branch and wait in a queue to be served. Multi-functionality of this IT technology is also contributing feature to higher the customer satis faction level which is not an easy task in a highly competitive time of today. With the availability of self-service machines or channels, banks can reduce their branch network and to some extend number of staffs as well. Because if people are being served by machines in the same way as by an employee and in return the customers are satisfied as well, so it means that these alternative channels are helping banks in improving their efficiency and reducing their branch network or the number of employees. And that number of staffs can be used in some other profitable venture by the bank (Birch and Young, 1997). And this thing can ultimately help towards achieving improved customer satisfaction and increasing the institutions efficiency level (Thornton and White, 2001). Nowadays banks are even competing over providing better and secure online services and even non-banking financial institution are involved in this race. With more usage of online system customers now can compare differen t prices by different suppliers easily and quickly. The Internet increases the power of the customer to make price comparisons across suppliers quickly and easily. And as a result this stabilizes the prices of different products and the customers can have a better product in reasonable price. Yakhlef (2001) found out that almost all banks are responding different to this new fast growing and adopting technology. He also found that those banks which are taking it in a positive way are achieving better communication levels with customers. This point has also been discussed that by providing financial services to them right into their home/office is strengthing the bond and trust level between cutomers and the banks. As a result banks are enjoying increased customers loyalty and satisfaction. Nancy et al. (2001) took forward this debate in a different way and viewed that customers still like and prefer to go to branch and interact with a human to solve their banking problems rather than choosing machines to solve their problem. Because they found that there are more possibilities of asking a same question in a different way or asking many different questions at a same time. And the bank clerks are less vulnerable to machines with a quick level of response to all possible questions. This increases the probability of offering customer a new product or a best suitable product to customer and at the end it leaves a good image on the customer and enhances customer loyalty. We should note another point over here that level of usage and popularity of online banking is not the same in different countries around the world and the level of response in many developing countries around the world is less than the level of response in developed countries. There are many factors which p lay role in such kind of response. It includes ignorance, illiteracy, insufficient security measures by the banks and the government for online banking, preference for banking in branches rather than on internet etc. For example Polatoglu and Ekin (2001) studied about online usage in Turkey and found the same reasons as described above for the low level of usage of online banking. They found that ignorance to the usage of email system and preference of doing everyday banking at bank branches are some of the main reasons of low level of adoption of online banking in Turkey. So as a result e-banking is not that famous and in use in Turkey. Risks Associated with Electronic Banking Now it is time to discuss the risk factor included in the usage of electronic banking. Now we are going to discuss that although customers are getting a lot of benefits by using online banking services but by using online services they are exposing them to a number of risks that should be considered before using online banking on regular basis. One of the most basic and first point in this debate is that although we accept that online banking is providing a lot of opportunities for the banks in terms of efficiency and time and money saving and customer loyalty but it also limits this whole system and its future and current growth due to security issues, complexity of the system and technical problems involved (Sathye, 1999: Mols, 1999). Now these issues can be viewed in different ways. Some people will view them as an issue related to the level of trust on ones bank. Even Hewer and Howcroft (1999) in their studies defined these risk issues as level of trust to a measure the amount of risk. A number of previous studies have concluded that level of trust in case of electronic banking and perceived risks have a positive impact on commitment and customer loyalty and trust which ultimately leads towards overall satisfaction level of the customer about electronic banking. In this scenario, we can say that reputation of the service provider also affects the customers level of trust on the financial institution/bank. Doney and Cannon (1997) defined reputation as the safety of customers money and privacy. Because if the customers are not sure of the honesty or loyalty of their service provider they will simply quit that service provider and move to some other service provider which they think is better and more honest and concerned about the security of their financial transactions. Level of trust is the first and the most basic step of doing any kind of business with any firm/institution or service provider. Tyler and Stanley (1999) also argued on the same thing that b y showing commitment, honesty and cooperation between them and the customers, they can win customer loyalty. In some cases it is found that customers do have complains about the longer logon times consumed during online banking transactions rather than using any other medium for communication e.g. phone call etc. Min and Galle (1999) found one of the common factor in their survey which is the disruption of information access to be one of the most common factor which draws the customers away from using Internet channels for commerce. Similar results have been found by Liao and Cheung (2002) in their research and they also suggested that customers expect the online system to be always accurate, friendly, fully secure, level of service should be good i.e. response time. If these factors are there then we can say that online banking can grow and it does hold a future otherwise the future is a bit doubtful and some positive changes are needed in the online system. Confidentiality or privacy of data is also one the major factors to be considered in adoption of online banking because a large number of customers feel unsecured about sharing their personal information by this medium and feel that their personal information could be used in a way to exploit them or to share with someone without have the right to share their personal information. (Gerrard and Cunningham, 2003). In the same scenario a research was conducted in UK by White and Nteli (2004) about the number of internet users n the country and the number of on line banking users in the country. And the major factor which came up at the end of the study was that people in UK are vary of sharing their personal information on Internet and they are still not satisfied about the laws by the government about internet banking and the frauds and hacking. This is an example of unfair or incomplete and unprotected system available to be used by everybody from a genuine customer to a hacker. In some cases people are not sure that in case of a dispute whether electronic documents and records are enough to prove their point or they ar not acceptable. And if a dispute arises in case of a fraud then what is going to the result of it, whether they will have enough material or not to prove their point. Other similar kind of risks include loss of job for many employees because of more frequent use of machines for financial transactions rather than going to bank branch. They it affects the social part of the society as well. because if people are doing all such things at home then they will not go out and contact with other people will reduce which will reduce the opportunities for people to socialize and interact with other people and to some extent can add up to a less active society (Black at al., 2001). LITERATURE REVIEW How Banks perceive Online banking in developing countries Online banking provides substitutes of fast services of banking to a large number of customers. Online banking services are fast becoming popular both among academics and practitioner. Rapid advancement in banking industry has brought a lot of amendments in the sector. Public banks dominated the financial markets before 1990. After 1990 the privatization of banking sector started. Many amendments and improvements came after the privatization of banking sector. Even the electronic banking started after the privatization of the sector. Out of many technological wonders electronic banking is one of the wonders. Quite a lot of online services are being provided by different banks in Pakistan i.e. checking account statement, account balance, checking current balance, transfer of funds, credit cards payments, direct payments, utility bills payments, cheque book requests, stop payments requests, demand draft requests, new fixed deposit requests, statement download, other information and gui delines download. This study describes the risks and benefits of online banking in Pakistan. It minimizes inconvenience, reduces transaction cost and saves time. It also reduces the risk of cash carrying. But it leads to data access to public which leads to data insecurity and enhances the chances of fraud and embezzlement. Electronic banking involves lower fee and less paper work and human error. O Crisis Management: Impact of a Crisis Crisis Management: Impact of a Crisis JAMES WALKER INTRODUCTION Crisis management will most likely require more than being remorseful to the press or the CEO of some organization appearing on the news. We know the news that is broadcasted goes viral quick. Organizations must be vigilant to respond to a crisis quickly and decisively utilizing all platforms of communication to speak to the public. Furthermore, the most important thing is for organizations to accept responsibility for the actions and not distant themselves from the crisis or from the public. Its given there is no fix for all methods to remedy a crisis, but the lessons learned should be important. In this assignment, it will allow chance to analyze a major crisis and the impact on a community, nation, and the world when bearing in mind crisis management. The assignment will discuss the threat or hazard to the organization, elements of surprise, decision making of leadership with timelines of event and decisions made, successful and unsuccessful decision making, and changes resulted or should be considered. THREAT TO ORGANIZATION The New York Times accused Coca-Cola, stating that the company was funding obesity research that attempted to disprove the link between obesity and diet and shifted the problem to lack of exercise. It was said that Coca-Cola financed the new nonprofit Global Energy Balance Network and it advocated propaganda and deflects the role of soft drinks in the spread of obesity and Type 2 diabetes. (reference COCA). The accusation had a huge impact to the company to a point it was losing in the market sales. It was a first-class type of crisis for Coca-Cola and it was caught off guard, especially the intent was to fund scientific researches for health and well-being programs. The idea was misconstrued from the publics and social medias eyes. LEADERSHIP DECISION-MAKING EVENTS During the crisis that could cripple Coca-Cola, the CEO (Muhtar Kent) had professionally managed the crisis and to act quickly to make decisions. He assumed responsibility, owned up to it through the whole ordeal. He understood the businesss level of reputation and if he left the crisis to take its course, the business could have lost it reputation and the market sale of the products. The CEO is the best spokesperson to rectify the issue and that person is who you want out front telling the truth or the intent. In most public relations (PR) incidents, the CEO is shielded and it portrays that the CEO has no interest to the issue. The making of an outsized response is crucial to the crisis. Overreacting is preferred to a small measure or ignoring the critics helps as well, since it is all about opinions. CEO Muhtar Kent led Coca-Cola to initiate a management committee of impartial experts to give governance on the investments of the business from an academic research and appoint profes sionals to investigate opportunities for research and health initiatives. The bottom line is that Coca-Colas response to the allegations that it finances a group to protects it interests at the expense of public health is a case study in PR crisis management. The explanation by CEO Muhtar Kent characterizes a business response that encompasses the important elements of effective business PR crisis management. SUCCESSFUL/UNSUCCESSFUL DECISION-MAKING The successful outcome for Coca-Cola over this accusation was all due to the CEOs professional decision-making. He provided guidance when responding to occurrences and apologies. CEO Muhtar Kents first successful decision was admitting the companys mistake while not really apologizing in his explanation, Well Do Better. Furthermore, he took this accusation in a resilient way, at the source, which was acknowledging the accusations that were deceiving the publics and social medias eyes about its support for scientific research. In return, he defends the company by attempting to confront the global obesity epidemic and that the company had good intentions. However, CEO Muhtar Kent admits the intention is not working. Additionally, the actions that were taken to support the research for health and well-being were misconstrued and it caused a lot of confusion and mistrust. In the CEOs explanation, the company will act forward and with more transparency. It will put on the website the list of health and well-being partnerships and research activities it supported in the past five years and updating bi-annually. CEO Muhtar Kent stated that efforts will be made to continue to support the healthy options by having lower sugar and calorie drinks to include his company will stay committed to fight obesity. The unsuccessful decision-making by the leaders was broadcasting their intent and ensuring it wasnt misleading to allow the intent to make out that Coke was averting criticism about the role sugary drinks have played in the spread of obesity and Type 2 diabetes. The support was in good intentions with health and well-being, but how the public and social media viewed it was the opposite. It became a huge PR crisis as it seemed that Coca-Cola was trying to save their sales by funding an alleged cover up. CONSIDERATIONS AND RESULTS FOR CHANGES The businesses or organizations can save themselves from potential crisis is the highpoint of their element. In the event the organization is faced with these crisis, its ability to rise from the bottom and reveal the strength shows its crisis management plan. Additionally, the organizations do have practice something called the Conflict Management Life Cycle. It is a cycle that supports organizations to remain stable during or after a crisis. The Conflict Management Life Cycle is the cycle that gives the know how to manage a conflict or crisis. The cycle deals with being proactive (environmental scanning, issue tracking, issue management, and crisis planning), strategic (risk communication, conflict positioning, and crisis management), reactive (crisis communications, litigation PR, and conflict resolution), and recovery (reputation management and image restoration). Coca Cola had a Crisis Management Plan and the CEO Muhtar Kent utilized the Conflict Management Life Cycle. The considerations that was discussed for Coca-Cola was dealing with issue management, plan for communications, and how to respond to a crisis. For issue management, the key steps were to identify the issue (accusation of supporting for the wrong intention), evaluate the facts (support for the right reasons), priorities (reputation and sale), response (response from CEO with the real facts), and implementation (plan to gain trust and show intentions were good). The communication plan that CEO Muhtar Kent (Coca-Cola) had allowed for anticipation (identify the threat and monitor risks), prepare (define the key information in advance and anticipate information), and response (react quickly and efficiently, utilize the organizations processes and procedures, and practice potential events). CEO Muhtar Kent responded with Coca-Cola supporting health and well-being programs was in goo d intentions and not to be misconstrued. He responded with the 5Cs (confidence, clarity, control, concern, and competence). CONCLUSION Crisis management requires more than being remorseful to the press or the CEO of some organization appearing on the news. Organizations must be vigilant to respond to a crisis quickly and decisively utilizing all platforms of communication to speak to the public. Furthermore, the most important thing is for organizations to accept responsibility for the actions and not distant themselves from the crisis or from the public. Its given there is no fix for all methods to remedy a crisis, but the lessons learned should be important. Coca-Colas CEO, Muhtar Kent, quickly addressed the accusations professionally into the reactive phase of the Conflict Management Cycle. Furthermore, he made statements acknowledging accusations and the strategies is not working. Even though he did not completely express regret, he disclosed the company did not choose the best way to fight obesity and assuring they would be transparent from now on. The CEO benefits from this approach to move on to the reputation management part of the recovery phase by promising that Coca-Cola will update frequently a list of its well-being partnerships and research activities. In this manner, the publics trust will be salvaged and the companys image will be restored. Coca-Cola did a noble thing when they took responsibility for their unsuccessful decision-making. The company showed interest and sent their CEO to address the problem that had good intentions by following the Conflict Management Life Cycle and their Crisis Management Plan. The importance of the CEO speaking out is critical since communication plays a relevant part in not identifying the crisis and the impact. A crisis can damage the organizations products or services, threat public safety, harm employees, customers and stakeholders (physically, emotionally, and financially). Furthermore, it can cause operational, financial and reputational loss to include the impacting the future probability and growth. The frameworks, Conflict Management Life Cycle and Crisis Management Plans, are essential when it comes to being proactive to a crisis, using strategy for a crisis, being reactive to a crisis, and recovering from a crisis. BIBLIOGRPAHY Bernstein, Jonathan (N/A) Free Management Library, All About Crisis Management, Retrieved from: http://managementhelp.org/crisismanagement/. Cantoria, Ciel S. (2011). Bright Hub Project Management, Great Real-Life Examples of Successful Crisis Management, Retrieved from: http://www.brighthubpm.com/risk- management/104704-great-real-life-examples-of-successful-crisis-management/, January 29, 2011. Comcowich, W. (2015). Cyber Alert, Case Study: Coca-Cola PR Crisis Management, Retrieved from: http://www.cyberalert.com/blog/index.php/case-study-coca-cola-pr-crisis- management/. Preach (N/A). How do you act in crisis?, Public Relations, Retrieved from: https://bronk002.wordpress.com /2016/10/25/how-do-act-in-crisis/. Poston, Leslie (2012). Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Shining examples of excellent social media crisis management, Retrieved from: https://www.marketingcloud.com/blog/shining-examples- of-excellent-social-media-crisis-management, September 21, 2012. OConnor, A. (2015). The New York Times, Coca-Cola Funds Scientists Who Shift Blame for Obesity Away From Bad Diets, Retrieved from: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/08/09 /coca-cola-funds-scientists-who-shift-blame-for-obesity-away-from-bad-diets/?_r=1. Prevention is Better than Cure: BCC- An Ultimate Life Saver Prevention is Better than Cure: BCC- An Ultimate Life Saver Sudipta Paul Introduction: India in global stage is aspiring to be a powerful country with its potential powers in various field but the policy makers and governments ended acting a feeble role due to lack of providing the basic amenities to people. Average poor people struggle to get basic health facilities and proper sanitation. Most of them are unaware of various health hazards, for example, about the unsafe cause of open defecation. Population explosion, high maternal mortality and infant mortality rate were observed in India. Lower rate of health literacy and cultural taboos made worsen the situations. There were urgent needs felt to enhance the health literacy among marginalised people and empowering them. Thus, government health policies are made to harness BCC strategies to fight the superstitions and myths from society. In 1951, policy makers recognised health education as one of the major components of health care delivery system. â€Å"In 1946, the Health Survey and Development Committee, headed by Sir Joseph Bhore recommended the establishment of a well- structured and comprehensive health service with a sound primary health care infrastructure. It was in this context that the concept of health promotion and health education were introduced to achieve desired outcomes† (Public Health Resource Network, Book 05, 2007, p. 6). Empowerment of rural folks on health education was named as IEC (information, education, communication) which in course of time harnessed with BCC programmes (Behavior change communication). BCC strategies are mainly part of development support communication and involve participatory action research which came out as critique of dominant paradigm of development communication. â€Å"Criticism of earlier approaches to health communication has resulted in development of the term â€Å"behavior change communication† (BCC), but so rapidly is the term BCC becoming associated with persisting past practices that one would not be surprised if there is done- from its current approach to an approach which involves the active participation of the community in directing the design of a strategy appropriate to social and cultural contexts which promotes good health and reduces their risk for ill health† (Public Health Resource Network, Book 05, 2007, p. 7). The book, Public Health Resource Network (2007, p. 2-3) defines BCC as, â€Å"understanding people’s situation and influences, developing messages that respond to the concerns within those situations and using communication processes and media to persuade people to increase their knowledge and change the behaviors and practices that place them at risk†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ In the BCC approach, there is more conscious focus on the receiver- rather than the sender- as the center of communication. Earlier IEC programmes tended to see their purpose as having to â€Å"sell† a particular message or idea. The BCC approach recognises individuals within the intended audiences as active, rather than as passive receivers of information and messages, who act on messages only if they are seen as advantageous or useful. In BCC approach there is greater appreciation that the audience may need new skills and social support to make and maintain behavior change.† One way process of communication of IEC compelled to introduce BCC process as a part of development process of communication. Neill Mckee (2002), defines BCC as, â€Å"research based consultative process of addressing knowledge, attitudes and practices through identifying, analysing, and segmenting audiences and participants in programmes and by providing them with relevant in formation and motivation through well-defined strategies, using an appropriate mix of interpersonal, group and mass media channels, including participatory methods† (cited in BCC strategy for NRHM in Uttar Pradesh, 2008, p. 9). BCC analyses the socio- demographic profiles of a particular target community and tries to remove the social and behavioral barriers with discussions, interpersonal communications. â€Å"It is about understanding the communities, context and environments in which behaviors occur. BCC is also about using persuasive techniques to demand health rights and to make public sector health services available and accessible to the neediest. BCC is about integrating new practices into long standing social, cultural and communication systems† (Nandita Kapadia-Kundu, 2008, as cited in BCC strategy for NRHM in Uttar Pradesh, p. 9). BCC uses mass media, interpersonal communication, community mobilisation for change of behaviors of community for improvement of health status and development of future. Behavior Change Communication is used to generate knowledge, tries to bring changes in attitude, behavior, intentions of people. BCC along with other strategies advocates adopting a healthy behavior and overcoming barriers- whether it is mental block or physical block such as difficulty in accessibility of health facilities. Behavior Change Communication helps to bring a sustainable change in health behavior of community. Conceptual framework of BCC: (Source: http://www.cpc.unc.edu/measure/prh/rh_indicators/crosscutting/bcc) Need of BCC: BCC tools are used to increase the intervention of the promotive and preventive aspect of health among people. â€Å"BCC is a process that motivates people to adopt and sustain healthy behaviors and lifestyles† (INFO Reports, January 2008, Issue no. 16, p. 1). Needs of BCC (Public Health Resource Network, Book 05, 2007, p. 11) are: â€Å"BCC alone can: Increase the intended participant’s knowledge and awareness of a health issue, problem, or solution Influence perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes that may change social norms Facilitate building of social/community norms that are facilitative and supportive to desired changes of behaviors/practices Motivate and provide the confidence and optimism needed for community action Demonstrate or illustrate healthy skills Reinforce knowledge, attitudes, or behaviors that are promotive of good health Show the benefit of behavior change Advocate a position on a health issue or policy Increase demand or support for health services Refute myths and misconceptions† Goal of BCC strategies: â€Å"Empowering the family and individuals to take health related decisions based on information and analysis. Motivating the community to play a proactive role in improving their health status. Effecting greater utilisation of health services through an improved public understanding of health care. Creating competencies and enabling environment to assist with the above objectives† (Public Health Resource Network, Book 05, 2007, p. 14). Tools of BCC: Tools of BCC are intended to delineate planning, implementation, development of BCC strategies of any programme. Major BCC tools for strategic plan are: Situation analysis: This stage involes identification of social determinants, mental blocks or areas which need to adopt a healthy behaviour or change of habits or attitudes of people. The reasons behind the particular health issue are identified in this stage. Research should done on audience analysis- demographic and attitudal profile of the audience; idenitification of the knowledge, attitude, behaviour, beliefs and values of people; identification of primary and secondary audience; availability of health services in the locality; available media or peer groups in the area. Strategic design: Strategic design should contain a ‘SMART’ objective- The strategic design contains the objectives of the BCC plan- the desired change in the behaviours, knowledge, attitude and practice of the target audience and also develops a conceptual framework of BCC plan to work out the objectives. Implementation plan is sketched in this stage. Drawing out a BCC plan involves these six steps- â€Å"Identifying key behaviors that need to be changed and analysisng their determinants. Stating the mix of audience- message- media and communicators. Deciding the monitoring and evaluation startegy- especially the indicators that help us assess whether communication occurred and whether it was effective in securing behavior change. Deciding the plans needed to build capacity to implement this plan. Deciding the budgetary requirements.† (Public Health Resource Network, Book 05, 2007, p. 16). Message development: Appropriate message should be developed for target group. ‘Type of appeal’ applicable for a particular group should be decided in this stage. Pretest: Pretesting the messages is required for modification of messages based on the reactions of the target groups. Implementation of the programme: According to Public Health Resource Network, Book 05, 2007, p. 15, key components of implementation framework are: â€Å"Message, media and communicators Monitoring, evaluation and feedback Institutional structure and functions Capacity building Management Budgetary aspect† Monitoring and Evaluation: Programme implementers should keep eye on the proper implementation of the programme and if needed, they may modify a change in the mid term of the programme after evaluation of the programme based on reactions and feedback from the target groups. BCC along with IEC helps to eradicate many killer diseases. The example of such success stories are given here: Success story Part-1: The Polio eradication in India (along with several other countries) is considered as one of the most successful campaigns in the field of public health, globally. In the year 1988 global leaders and countries decided to end polio and started initiatives to reach to every child in every country for immunization (although India introduced the oral polio vaccine in 1985 in an Immunisation Programme in the backdrop of over 200,000 cases of polio annually (as per estimates of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics). India committed itself fully into this mission which was globally led by UNICEF and WHO partnering with various international bodies and countries. It was no doubt a massive challenge for a country like India to achieve a zero-polio status as India has been contributor of almost half of Polio cases globally at some point of time. For a country as populated, as diverse, as difficult to reach out to rural areas there was a need for dedicated efforts on the part of the health workers, vaccinators the whole public health machinery supported by a communication strategy through which the message of polio vaccination and its importance needs to reach every Indian- from the Metro cities to remotest villages of country. Each year twice national level immunization campaign are held with an intent to cover all children under the age of five (http://www.unicef.org/india/health_3729.htm). In every campaign around 2.3 million lakh vaccinators are involved directly in the process led by 155,000 supervisors. To make all this fruitful in achieving the Zero-polio status an effective awareness campaign including inter personal communication component is vital. For each campaign awareness is done by IEC materials viz. banners, posters, leaflets, hoardings also through television, radio and newspapers along with extensive loudspeaker announcements. The vaccinators along with other health personnels were also trained to enhance their interpersonal skills, so they could mobilise communities better. There were in initiatives to make resistant communities, individuals understand accept the vaccination for the children. Mention of two different incidents during such campaign gives an idea of how both awareness initiatives and service delivery efforts complement each other. The Christian Science Monitor shared the story of Setarah Khatoon of Bihar, India (Taghavi, 2013, http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2013/0504/Could-India-s-polio-eradication-success-story-be-a-model-for-its-other-health-issues). She got married at the age of 16 and by the age of 20 she had 3 miscarriages. She had one baby girl and one day she saw Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchans TV advertisement telling parents advocating do boond zindagi ki (two drops of life) actually during the polio campaign celebrities are engaged to spread the message that two drops of polio vaccine can save the life of a child. After watching the advertisement in her small Mumbai house she went to a pharmacy for getting her child vaccinated, the pharmacist directed her to a nearby clinic run by an NGO Doctors for you where her child got vaccinated (free of cost of-course). Her baby girl became the first in her family to get vaccinations and apart from that she got access to regular medical che ck-ups, advice on nutrition and about birth control options too. In another incident shared by UNICEF (http://www.unicef.org/india/reallives_7444.htm) in another part of the country millions of people were on their way to the annual Urs in Ajmer Rajasthan at a time of the year 2011. Before proceeding to Ajmer via Delhi the devotees need to make a stop over at Bareily, UP to pay homage to a local dargah. The local administration, along with gearing up to host over 200,000 devotees from West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Nepal, decided to administer oral polio vaccine to children upto 5 years of age travelling amongst the devotees. The administration with the health department and other NGOs were able to immunize 10,414 children as a result of this effort. The above two incidents show how the awareness IEC component go hand in hand with the service delivery component in achieving the desired output. Success story Part 2: Challenges of BCC: Gap between health education and BCC: Conclusion: In India especially in North East due to inaccessible geographical areas, cultural diversity and other reasons, access to health care services especially secondary and tartiary is limited to the large group of rural population. To make up for that gap the promotion of preventive aspect (PPA) of health plays a vital role. When it comes to saving life it becomes the ultimate life saver. But all the facilities in health system have to be lined up equally along with BCC efforts to provide health education to the masses. Service providers have to ensure the quality services to the people in the hospitals when people visit to them. It is more important to fruitful utilisation of services along with demand generated through IEC and BCC. Otherwise, the effort of health education would go haywire definitely. BCC successfully helps to create a demand of health seeking behavior among individuals and communities. References: Behavior Change Communication (BCC) strategy for NRHM in Uttar Pradesh. (2008). Available at https://www.google.co.in/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instantrlz=1C1AVSX_enIN408IN438ion=1espv=2ie=UTF-8# accessed on 18/ 06/2014 at 9.58 PM. David, Rohit. (2014, May 26). India’s Success In Polio Eradication Is A Model To The World: Dr. Nata Minabde. The Times of India. Available at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/interviews/Indias-success-in-polio-eradication-is-a-model-to-the-world-Dr-Nata-Menabde/articleshow/32680701.cms, accessed on 19/06/2014 at 08:15 PM. Measure Evaluation and Polpulation Health’s Behavior Change Communication. (n. d.). Available at http://www.cpc.unc.edu/measure/prh/rh_indicators/crosscutting/bcc on 18/06/2014 at 10. 45 PM. Public Health Resource Network’s Behavior Change Communication and Training for Health (Book 05). (2007). Raipur: Surya Offset Printers (I) Pvt. Ltd. Taghavi, Roshanak. (2013, May 4). Could India’s Polio Eradication Success Be A Model For It’s Other Health Issues? The Christian Science Monitor. Available at http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2013/0504/Could-India-s-polio-eradication-success-story-be-a-model-for-its-other-health-issues, accessed on 19/06/2014 at 08:18 PM. Tools For Behavior Change Communication. (2008, January). INFO Reports, John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Issue no. 16. Available at http://www.k4health.org/sites/default/files/INFO Reports_Tools for BCC_0.pdf#sthash.2xvFcwSi.dpuf accessed on 18/ 06/2014 at 10.03 PM. UNICEF India’s Polio Eradication. India Celebrates Victory over Polio.(n.d.). Available at http://www.unicef.org/india/health_3729.htm accessed on 19/06/2014 at 08:19 PM. UNICEF India’s Time To Take Stock, Time To Discuss RTE. (n.d.). Available at http://www.unicef.org/india/reallives_7444.htm accessed on 19/06/2014 at 08:20 PM. UNICEF’s The Story of The End of Polio. (n.d.). Available at http://www.unicef.org/immunization/files/The_Story_of_the_End_of_Polio.pdf accessed on 19/06/2014 at 10:04 PM.