Healthcare reforms in England issues of efficiency - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 21 Words: 6391 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Health Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? The healthcare service in England attempts to improve the overall healthcare service have been ongoing through some of the most radical reforms since its inception as a comprehensive public service since 1948. The noticeable need of a free healthcare service was essential after the state of the country due to the world war. Once the NHS was established it saw many reforms led by diverse types of governments at different times. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Healthcare reforms in England issues of efficiency" essay for you Create order Despite the scale of the reforms they have preserved their core principle of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“A free service at the point of deliveryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? 1 till this very day. Even though they have adopted the core principle they still face huge challenges; as demands and costs are still rising, the entirety of the service is increasingly being looked at. This paper looks at the reforms the NHS has been through and analyses each reform in the light of Efficiency: the capability of the NHS, whether the reform made the NHS more competent, Equity: bringing fairness and equal right for the patients as well as the staff, Quality: whether adapting the reforms improved the patientà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ability to acquire different types of healthcare services without any predicament and obtain high-quality healthcare services. Methodology This paper was conjured up by the use of reports published by NHS Publications website. Journals and studies on NHS reform via the scientific database PubMed we re also utilized. To gain info on the theories the NHS was formed on, management theory books by Max Weber, Henri Fayol and Frederic Winslow Taylor were used. Results/Discussion Each reform improvised the NHS in many ways, in relation to Efficiency the NHS since its inception has seen major investments and new hospitals built, employment of up to date technology allowing more patients to be seen within an applicable time and budgets been controlled efficiently with the aim to reduce costs each year allowing the NHS to run efficiently. In terms of Equity after the publication of the Black report, the NHS has improved on giving equal opportunities to its minor ethnic groups of staff. Also the equal treatment of patients regardless of their social class has been improved since the Blair era. The NHS in terms of quality has become one of the world leading healthcare providers. Measuring their services against standards set by the NHS ensured that they are meeting the set standards . The major investment in staff in 2000 saw a number of lives saved in the past 10 years. The NHS has met quality standards that are accepted by its patients and valued as a first class service. Conclusion Overall the NHS has seen many reforms which have lead to the NHS becoming a world class service. Since the reforms in the 1960à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s to the latest plans of the new coalition government the NHS has improved immensely in terms of efficiency, equity and quality and the future also looks bright for the NHS. Introduction: Healthcare service in England was launched in 1948 with an aim à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“to provide universal healthcare to its citizens which is free at the point of use and available to everyone based on need, not ability to payà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? 1. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The NHS was established after World War II where the country needed a stable healthcare serviceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? 2. The initial idea was that no-one should be deterred from seeking health services by a lack of resources and the founder Aneurin Bevan: Minster of Health stated à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“A free service at the point of deliveryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? 3. Till this day they have been providing free healthcare service to the citizens of England. In 1948 Sir William Beveridge, a British Economist and a Social Reformer conferred details of his radical plans for economic and social reform in post-war Britain. Sir William proposed major healthcare service changes on the basis that the country needed à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“the abolition of want before the enjo yment of comfort and suggested a scheme where every kind of medical treatment would be available for everybodyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. 1,3 Pre NHS There has been some form of state-funded provision of health and social care in England prior to the NHS for 400 years.4 Prior to a health system being formed, attaining healthcare service in Britain in the 1930s and 1940s was difficult. Life expectancy was very low and thousands of people died of infectious diseases like pneumonia, meningitis, tuberculosis, diphtheria, and polio each year.4 The poor never had access to medical treatment and they relied instead on dubious and sometimes dangerous home remedies. Either that or they relied on doctors who gave their services free to the poor patients. The Hospitals charged for treatment and although the poor were reimbursed and before they received treatment they had to pay.4 Figure 1 shows the life expectancy that has changed since the NHS was introduced. Figure 1.Life expectancy changes since 1840 5 The need for free healthcare was widely recognised, but it was impossible to achieve without the support or resources of the government. A study showed that expertà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s believed and have written extensively on the reasons of why a health service was needed.6 These included: The appearance of a view that health care was essential, not something just imparted erratically by charity The drastic effects of the war that made it possible to have a massive change of the healthcare service being provided, rather than just an incremental alteration As younger members of the country were becoming increasingly educated in the medical profession they had a view of things could be handle in a more efficient way. The hospitals having financial problems, funds not sufficing.6 Having looked at the reasons to why a health service was needed the government made plans and core principles were established: 6 Regardless of persons status they were eligible for health care, even people temporarily residing or visiting the country.   People could be referred to any hospital. The healthcare service was financed almost 100% from central taxation Care was entirely free at the point of use6 The main achievement was that the poor who in the past went without medical treatment now had access to free healthcare.6 NHS today and NHS employment NHS is one of the largest organisations in the world with an annual budget of around  £80 billion employing more than 1.7 million people and treating over one million people every 36 hours.7 In general, healthcare service being provided within England to every single citizen is a difficult commission to undertake and consequently the system needs efficient health personnelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s to help run the system economically. Today the view of the healthcare service in England is that the NHS is a world leader and provides first class service that other countries envy. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Countries all over the world seek to learn from the comprehensive system of general practice, and its role as the medical home for patients, providing continuity of care and coordinationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?.8 Other countries look at English NHS system and use them as a guideline to run their healthcare system. NHS Structure The healthcare service in England has been run in a structural way with the Secretary of state and Department of Health controlling the overall NHS in England. The secretary of state for health has the responsibility of reporting to the prime minister. There are10 Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) in England which are controlled by the Department of Health, they oversee all the activities within the NHS and the SHAs supervise all the NHS trusts in its area. Primary care plays a major role in community healthcare and is central to the NHS. Services under NHS trust (Secondary Care) include Hospitals, Mental Health services, Learning disability service s and Ambulances. The overall structure of the NHS is shown below in Figure 2. 9 Although this is the current NHS structure with the new government in power, changes are to follow. Figure.2 overall structure of the Healthcare system in England 5 NHS Reforms Since its inception in 1948 the NHS has seen many reforms in terms of managing the way they provide healthcare service. The DoH has a lot of control and influence the major decisions taken in the reforms. The overall expectations of Healthcare service in England are of a high calibre, which requisites high-quality management capacity.10 In the 1980à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s and early 1990à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s prominence was on recuperating management. The recent focal point has been on development of leadership within NHS. With the new government, new ideas and plans will be imposed to see improvements in quality of healthcare being provided, cut down on costs making it more efficient and in terms of equity provide equal servi ce to everyone. Table 1 briefly enlists the reforms that have taken place since its inception in 1948. Table.1 Reforms in the NHS: 1948-2010 Period the reformà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s were in place Reform and theory of Management 1948- 1960 Managers as diplomats 1960à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Scientific Management and the Salmon report 1970à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Classical Management, Systems Approaches and the 1974 Reorganization 1980à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s The Griffiths report and Managerialism 1990à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Working for Patients and the Internal Market 2000 The NHS Plan (DOH 2000) and the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Third Wayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. 2010 NHS White Paper 2010: Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS Healthcare service and Reforms in other Developed Countries Healthcare reforms within developed countries can be analyzed in order to compare whether the healthcare services in England have been successful in its bid to ensure efficiency, equity and quality. Attempts to handle reforms of the healthcare system in the European countries have been an ongoing process for 30 years. Although the reforms have taken throughout the 30 years in different ways, their main emphas is has been on improving the cost-effectiveness of the healthcare service. In the early 1980à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s the EU countries were looking at cost containment. The feature in the 1990à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s was to endorse efficiency in terms of introducing competition and markets in the healthcare system. Since 2000 the focus has switched to effectiveness; promoting various notions of healthcare in terms of quality.11 Over the course of the 20th century the countries of Europe have established significant success in improving the healthcare service for their citizens. However they still face challenges in the form of restraining costs, improving quality and providing universal healthcare access, these have put the European healthcare services under immense pressure.11 Looking at another OECD: USA, A report on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"A review of health care reform in the United Statesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ assessed whether the USA have been successful in providing healthcare. The findings sh owed that United States spent more per capita on health care than any other OECD country, yet its health outcomes lagged behind other countries.12 This shows they are struggling with efficiency issues and are still countering challenges in providing quality healthcare service that is expected from the citizens of the USA. Especially in the last few years Healthcare reform has been a major activity of the federal government, in order to revolutionize and develop the service overall. The 3 goals of optimizing cost, access and quality still remain a challenge within the healthcare society in the U.S.12 They concluded that USA still faced many challenges in running the national healthcare service, a key challenge they face is the utter complexity of the system, with its numerous public and private providers.12 Another OECD country reviewed in terms of healthcare service being provided and the reforms that have taken place is China. A report from on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"From a national, cen trally planned health system to a system based on the market: lessons from Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ concluded: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"China is the country that has undergone the highest number of health care reforms. Since 1978, China saw many reforms and they also followed the way as the EU countries, with the healthcare system starting from governmental, centrally planned and a collective system to ending up as a heavily market influenced system. Now, thirty years later, the Chinese government openly concede that the reforms were unsuccessful and seek innovative and fresh directions.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢13 This illustrates that China is also in a healthcare crisis and looking to implement different strategies in order to gain control of Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Healthcare system. Having reviewed the healthcare service being endowed in these developed countries, it demonstrates that they are all on an identical level as the healthcare service being provided in England and all face similar c hallenges. All these developed countries are looking to develop the countries overall healthcare service in terms of efficiency, equity and quality. NHS Plan 2000 and the future of NHS Since the last reform: The NHS plan 2000 14, a lot has transformed in terms of funding and operating the healthcare system in England. Especially with the new coalition governmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s idea of cutting budgets it is a difficult time the NHS is going through and will necessitate a lot of expertise and world class management to get through todayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s financial and economical predicament. An additional indication that will be taken into deliberation is the election of the new plans set out in the NHS White Paper 2010. As the new coalition government has come into authority there have been huge changes to overall budgets for the public services and this possibly will have a consequence on the way the NHS operates in England. 15 The reforms have encompassed a significant impact on the organisation and deliverance of health care service in England. Wide array of transformations have been pioneered in an attempt to ensure the NHS is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"managedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ more resourcefully and effectively. This report will examine whether these reforms have on the whole improved the healthcare system in England in terms of efficiency, equity and quality and if the publicà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s requirements have been convened. Aims: To examine the healthcare reforms in England since its inception and to assess whether these reforms have improved factors of efficiency, equity and quality in providing healthcare. Objectives: To review the reforms in the NHS since its inception in 1948 To examine whether these reforms improved efficiency, equity and quality of healthcare To assess the key features of healthcare reforms proposed by the current government and their implications on the NHS To put forward plans for the future of the NHS Methodology: A number of sources were consulted to conjure up this paper and examine the healthcare reforms in the NHS. Scientific search engines and databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar and Science Direct (Date accessed 20/10/10) were used to gain literature reviews but results from Google Scholar and Science Direct were dismissed as they were too vague and irrelevant to this topic. With PubMed following keywords were inserted à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Healthcareà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Reformsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Englandà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. The data was also set from 1948 to 2010 when searching for reports as this would set the inclusion criteria. The reports and journals since 1948, when the NHS was established were used. Even though history before 1948 was looked at for study purposes, reports before NHS establishment; these were regarded as the exclusion criteria as reports werenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t looked at prior to 1948. Healthcare service within Britain was looked at in general but for the results of this report, the inclusion criteria was healthcare service in England as it just looked at the healthcare service being provided within England. The exclusion criterion was healthcare service in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. For the first part of the report, the introduction: where the report looked at the history of the NHS. The resources used included looking at general management books looking at management theories. The classical theories of Max Weber, Frederic Taylor and Henri Fayol were the backbone of the NHS and that is why these were used. Another source to produce this paper was the Department of health (https://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/index.htm) where the publications and reports about the NHS in general were looked at. This paper used a lot of publications produced by the Department of health and the NHS publications as these sources are reliable; these were seen as good foundation to work fr om. One of the main publications used was à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"The NHS white paper: Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHSà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Health, this was a key entity in writing up this paper. As the paper didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t contract with experiments and clinical trials, it didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t look at a lot of statistics; the majority of its content was obtained from qualitative data. Results/ Discussion Having carried out the required literature searches and reading journals, reports and Department of Health Publications, results were gathered and have been shown below with the discussion of the key topics. The results look at each reform taken place in the NHS and then goes onto analyse the plans set by the new government. Having looked at the reforms and the new plans the paper than talks about efficiency, equity and quality related to each reform. Reforms in the healthcare service in England The healthcare service in the UK has undergone a number of reforms since its inception in 1948. Prior to 1948, healthcare service was provided in England but due to the increasing pressures for efficiency and quality in health services it lead to these developments and reforms in healthcare being provided. A more overtly management-oriented approach to the healthcare service delivery was adopted based on classical management theories to gain more control of the healthcare service in E ngland. 16,17 Classical theories and Scientific Management: 1960à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s The NHS was based on the classical theories of Frederic Winslow Taylor, Henri Fayol and Max Weber. 16-19 Table 1: Frederic Winslow Taylorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s four main scientific management principles. Replacing rule-of-work thumb methods with methods based on a scientific of the tasks Scientifically train each individual rather than leave them to train themselves Cooperate with each worker to ensure that the scientific method is being followed Divide workload equally between managers and staff Table 2: Henri Fayolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Modern Operational Management approach. Division of work- Specialization for efficiency Authority Responsibility- Both are related, the latter arising from the former. Discipline-Requires good superiors at all levels Unity of Command- Employee should receive orders from one superior only Unity of Direction- Each group of activities w ith the same objective must have one head and one plan Subordination of individual to general interest- When the two are found to differ, management must reconcile them Remuneration-Should be fair and satisfactory Centralization-Extent to which authority is concentrated or dispersed Scalar chain/line of authority-Needs to be sensible, clear and understood Order : Right thing/person in the right place Equity- Equal opportunity for everyone Stability of tenure- Unnecessary turnover is both the cause and effect of bad management Initiative- Thinking out and execution of a plan Thinking out and execution of a plan Table 3. Max Weberà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Bureaucratic approach. Power-Ability to get things done, often by the use of threats or sanctions Authority- Ability to get things done because of the position that justified someone in terms of legitimacy Formal approach Hierarchical authority Extensive roles and procedures- Uniformity of decisions and actions Job description- Clear-cut division of labour and High level of specialization Discipline These classical theories contributed a lot to the healthcare service in England and still do to this day.16-19 The classical writers thought of the NHS in terms of purpose and formal structure. They created a formal structure on which the NHS could run on. They also looked at job design, scientific selection and development of workers. The classical theories generally serve as a backbone to the present day NHS management. Although the classical theories made a big contribution to the healthcare service in England it had its limitations and wasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t the most effective way. One drawback was that it wasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t evidence based; it didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t look at the way staff did their tasks and didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t look at the well being of staff, the human and social aspects of work. It just treated them like machines. The theories didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t look at motivating the staff and developing them in their own interests, had they done this staff à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s work quality wouldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve enhanced thus providing an efficient service to patients and overall improve the quality of healthcare service in England. Overall the classical theories were too concrete and fully based on rules and procedures. In terms of efficiency the theories bought a set way of running the healthcare service in England. Once the NHS was established it introduced equity as well as healthcare service was now available to anyone. The NHS was just established and with these set in place in the 1960à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s the quality of service would improve from now with further reforms to come. Salmon Report: 1960à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s One of the first reforms took place since the NHS was established was in the 1960à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s. The Salmon Report bought findings and changes which included that workload should be equally distributed between managers and practitioners.20 The NHS would also get rid of matrons and replace them with a h ierarchy of nurse managers. The introduction of several additional layers to the management hierarchy; in order to improve efficiency in operating the NHS. This lead to responsibility being equally distributed and the service met its aims and objectives more efficiently. Another change was that nurse managers would contribute to the overall management of the service through the medium of consensus management teams and thus improve efficiency and quality within the NHS. Having nurse managers lead to them taking control of set responsibilities and helped in general running of tasks at ward level leading to an improvement in general quality in the healthcare service being provided. 1974 Reorganization: 1970à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s The aim of this reform was to attain greater integration of the healthcare service in order to provide more stability and increase efficiency. The reorganisation also introduced more central control in order to: 21 ensure policies were implemented impr ove accountability encourage delegation develop democratic decision-making process These changes lead to a more structured way for managers to follow and enhance the quality of the healthcare service. By the mid 1970à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s quality was improving but there were still concerns of equity in the NHS. There were still clear differences of health sufferers in terms of social class; figures showed that people in lower social classes more likely suffered from diseases. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“There were several possible explanations for these inequalities. Natural and social selection. This would depend on the view that people who are fittest are most likely to succeed in society, and classes reflect this degree of selection. Poverty leads to ill health, through nutrition, housing and environment. Cultural and behavioural explanations. There are differences in the diet and fitness of different social classes, and in certain habits like smokingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. 22,23 Ove rall in the 1970à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s the quality of healthcare service was still improving, equity issues were still a concern and in terms of efficiency they were recuperating the NHS. The Griffiths Report: 1980à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s This reform was a major point in NHS history, the Griffiths Report identified problems such as the healthcare service was institutionally inactive and that the local health authorities were filled with directives without being given any clear procedures to follow.24 The Griffiths report stated that changes were difficult to achieve but gave recommendations to improve the NHS. It introduced a more formal and modern way of management. It gave increased participation for managers in setting and controlling budgets. The report also gave greater emphasis on cost awareness in order to improve efficiency. A Clear and quick decision-making process was introduced to improve quality of service provided to patients. The managers in local authorities were given a more clearly defined direction and the overall staffs were better informed.24 The Internal Market Working For Patients: 1990à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Another reform in the 1990à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s took place, this bought a new dimension to the NHS; large publicly-owned hospitals could opt to become self-managed trusts. This meant that health services could be bought by private investors i.e. patients themselves thus allowing them to take control of the way they want the service. Even large GPà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s could become à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"fund holdersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ and be both purchasers and providers of care.25 This reform lead to introduction of greater flexibility thus allowing more effective matching of patients needs and care. Money à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"followed the patientsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ through the system of purchasing and providing of healthcare service, this led to equity being improved as patients had more selection of services. This reform led to higher competition in providing quality healthcare service, the costs decreased and the general quality increased. The NHS Plan 2000 The NHS Plan 2000 made key findings : the NHS is a 1940s system operating in the 21st century and that it lacked of national standards. It also said that there were barriers between staff and providing services. There were a lack of clear guidelines and the NHS structure has over-centralization.14 Plans to diminish problems and propose new plans such as introducing Modern Matronsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ to improve the management of services, a strong leader with clinical experience and with clear authority at ward level, improve efficiency by setting standards and controlling resources these were there aims.14,26 The figure below shows the comparison of the 1948 and the new NHS model outlining the key differences. Figure.4 the key difference between the 1948 model and The NHS Plan 2000 model 14 The NHS Plan 2000: Achievements This reform set out specific targets w hich were achieved in order to improve efficiency, equity and quality of healthcare service in England: Over 100 new hospitals by 2010 and 500 new one-stop primary care centres Clean wards and better hospital food 7,000 extra beds in hospitals Over 3,000 GP premises modernized Modern IT systems in every hospital and GP surgery 7,500 more consultants and 2,000 more GPs 20,000 extra nurses and 6,500 extra therapists Childcare support for NHS staff with 100 on-site nurseries.26 These targets were achieved in 2008 and it led to the improvement of efficiency as the number of GPà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s and consultants employed were increased. The modernisation of technology and IT systems led to quality of service being improved as high investment in high quality equipment made the NHS one of the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s top quality service. Since 2000 NHS has improved the overall service and met its objectives. NHS Implications: Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS With the new coalition government coming into election another set of reforms have been proposed as they hope to improve the overall healthcare service in England. The main aims and objectives to improve the healthcare service are varied and very detailed but to summarise it these are the points covered:15 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Increase health spending in real terms in each year of this Parliamentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? 15and also that there à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“goal is an NHS which achieves results that are amongst the best in the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? 15. However the government will uphold the foundation that the NHS was formed on; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“a comprehensive service, available to all, free at the point of use and based on clinical need, not the ability to payà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? 15. The government than goes into detail of what they arrange to initiate to make an efficient healthcare service: acknowledge the fact that patients come first and therefore will give them greater choice and control. An example of this is that a patient will be able to choose any GP practice, consultant, and choice of treatment consequently improving equity of the service. The government endeavours to develop the healthcare outcomes: set objectives such as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“reduce mortality and morbidity, increase safety, and improve patient experience and outcomes for allà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? 15. By doing this they are ensuring they are driving efficiency and improving the service. In order to achieve the objectives that the government sets, the ability for service providers to have more autonomy, responsibility and accountability will be a means to achieving efficient results. A big change will be the establishment of a NHS Commissioning Board. The board will be accountable for making sure health outcomes are achieved, allocate resources and have the lead on quality improvement and to tackle inequalities that exist in the NHS. Overall the reforms in the NHS Paper 2010 will provide the NHS with gre ater incentives to increase efficiency, equity and quality. Efficiency The healthcare system in England has on the whole perceived a huge improvement in terms of efficiency since its inception in 1948. A system has been established where it endows with one of the best services in the world but there are still room for improvements. An analysis of the services gives evidence such as the NHS building 100 new hospitals since 2000, therefore improving the efficiency and allowing better access for patients. 27 Even though there continue to be a lack of quality and accessibility to services across the country. The patients havenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t been able to impose enough pressure to force improvements. The NHS need to give patients more control over the health services they have access to improve efficiency. In 2008 investment in the NHS as a whole rose from  £43.9bn per year in 2000, when the NHS Plan was launched, to  £92.6bn. another measurement of efficiency is looking at numbers of early deaths from cancer, coronary heart disease an d suicide; they continue to fall as services improve; over 98% of patients at Accident and Emergency (AE) Departments are seen within 4 hours; and hospital waiting lists are lower than ever, with half a million fewer patients waiting since lists were at their peak.28 One key way to achieve the set objectives is to cut down NHS managementà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s costs by 45% over the next four years enabling them to free up investment for further improvements.28 Much has been achieved during the last five years of investment and reforms. For example, the significant investment in NHS staff, along with more flexible working, is facilitating healthcare professionals to take advantage of the freedom thus improving their commitment to the NHS. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“NHS staff working flexibly and using improved technology are better able to respond to patientsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ needs and changing expectations and are achieving improvements in quality and productivity across the systemà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? .27 Since 1948, the NHS budget on average has risen over 4% in real terms each year; this is something they hope to resolve as the NHS will face a sustained and substantial financial constraint if it continues. They hope to avoid the financial crisis that happened in the NHS in the 1970à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The NHS hopes to release up to  £20 billion of efficiency savings by 2014, which will be reinvested to support improvements in quality and outcomesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?.15 Above all, the improvements and reforms continue to be originated on and underpin the core values and principles of the NHS: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“equal access to care available at the point of need, regardless of ability to payà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?.15 Equity The NHS has overcome many inequality issues and allowed them to progress and improve their service. Examples are shown in NHSà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s history and also with new legislations coming into place. Although there have been concerns about equitable provision and financing of health care since NHS inception, these have characterised the NHS till this very day. Since the publication of the Black report 29 the issue of equity has become one of the major issues in setting health policy objectives.30 Even though the objective of achieving a reduction in health inequalities is uncontroversial, the existing of set guidelines or having actual policies to achieve this is still indistinct. Further on there is no set path to follow if there is a cause of conflict between the goals of equity and efficiency. When policies and national objectives are set, too often the equity versus efficiency dilemma31 been ignored. This has lead to conflicting judgments in the progression of health policie s.31 Another point in the NHS reforms history we can look at is the Blair era. The NHS reforms in the early to mid 2000s bestowed emphasis on hospitals to reduce waiting times and length of stay for patients of elective surgery. This form of pressure lead to harming equity practices; by imposing these new incentives to hospitals made them give less priority to select the less socio-economically disadvantaged patients. As would make it difficult for them achieve their objectives as these patients would stay longer and cost more to treat.33 This clearly shows that equity isnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t a major consideration when making decisions and taking on patients. Having looked at these examples the NHS plans for 2010 shows that the government is aiming to provide and strive for equity in the NHS. They hope to strengthen the voice of patients and the public by arranging through the local authorities, and at national level a powerful new consumer champion: HealthWatch England for pat ients to have their concerns and also their ideas put forward and heard.15 Throughout the NHSà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s history giving patient freedom allowing them to rate hospitals and clinical departments in accordance to the quality of the service being provided has been a major issue. For it to work both ways the government also require hospitals to be open about mistakes and always tell patients if something has gone wrong this will also ensure equity. Overall the NHS seeks to guarantee that anyone and everyone regardless of their need or background will benefit from these arrangements and ensure equity is achieved. Quality The NHS has strived successfully and has become one of the most flourishing healthcare providers in the whole world. The standard of quality is next to world class service but there is still room for improvement. Since 2000 when quality standards for the NHS were set it enabled the NHS to improve their overall quality and Inspection against essential quality standards. It aided the NHS in achieving aims and objectives as there were a set of guidelines the NHS could follow to ensure the quality aspect of the healthcare service was being attained. Since the very start of the NHS, emphasis was on improving quality and today the NHS is attaining this. One of the very first reforms in the NHS with the Salmon Report, the aim was to improve quality. They got rid of matrons and replace them with nurse managers that would contribute to the overall management of the service thus improve quality within the NHS. Then in the 1974 Reorganisation where the NHS ensured policies were implemen ted and accountability was improved led to a service that followed set rules and achieved targets. Then in the 1990s the internal market came into place which led to a lot of competition in taking ownership of the hospitals and services but this improved quality and ensured patients requirements were being met and the quality standards achieved. The NHS Plan 2000 was a great achievement allowing the country to build new hospitals and improve the quality of care provided in England. Over the past 20 years they have improved the basic standards of the NHS. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“In 2000, the NHS aimed to tackle major challenges they were facing. Since then the NHS has invested in 80,000 nurses and 38,000 more doctors, including 5,000 more GPs.34 they have also improve accessibility to services leading to overall improvement in healthcare outcomes: 238,000 lives have been saved in the last 11 years as a result of significant improvements in cancer and heart disease survival rates in particula r.34 The NHS believes a more personalised service responding to each individuals needs can be achieved. The NHS hopes to be better equipped to keep patients healthy and capable of giving them more control and choices over the care and the service they provide.34 With the future of NHS in England, as stated above, the NHS Paper 2010 sets objectives to improve the quality of healthcare service in England. The NHS plan of 2010 aim to achieve a world-class healthcare service;15 The NHS will focus on outcomes and the standard of quality that conveys them. The new Governmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s objectives are to reduce mortality and morbidity, increase safety, and improve patient experience and outcomes for all. Institute a self-governing and accountable NHS Commissioning Board. The Board will have the responsibilities of ensuring health outcomes are being attained, they will also have the authority and control in allocating and accounting for NHS resources. They will focus on quality improvement and patient involvement and choice. They will have a precise duty to tackle inequalities in access to healthcare. They hope to gain more authority over the ministers and hope to become major decision makers. Strengthen the role of the Care Quality Commission as an effective quality inspectorate across both health and social care. 15 Conclusion/ Summary Overall the NHS since its inception has seen many reforms. The healthcare service in England since 1948 has become one of the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s leading top quality services. It has improved every time a reform has taken place in terms of Efficiency, Equity and Quality. From the first reform of the 1960à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s of scientific management and the Salmon Report to the reforms of the NHS Plan 2000 objectives have been set and accomplished. After having many reforms and NHS being a successful healthcare provider the government seek to further the NHS for the 21st century. The future of the NHS looks bright as the new government having published their plans in the NHS White paper 2010. They hope to improve the overall quality of the healthcare service and aim to maintain constancy of purpose. The NHS White paper 2010 is a long-term plan for the NHS for the current and future governments to come. It sets out to make the NHS a coherent and stable healthcare service provi der, enduring framework for quality and service improvement. They hope to change the views of the public and aim to get rid of the continuous debate on NHS structures and processes. Instead they hope to ensure that their priorities are to progress in health improvement for all. The reforms set in the new plans will be challenging and far-reaching, that will force cultural changes in the NHS, but these will have to take place in order to achieve their set targets. The government are setting out plans for managing change, including the transitional roles of strategic health authorities and primary care trusts. Although these plans have been set out many of the commitments made in this White Paper require primary legislation and are subject to Parliamentary approval. Recommendations for the NHS to further enhance their quality of service could be by listening to patients needs by setting out questionnaires and gaining feedback and implementing them to the NHS strategies. The NHS cou ld become owned by one set committee instead of having different forms of ownerships, this would allow them to gain more control of the service they provide. Also the management of the strategic health authorities could be run by clinicians who have experience of what the patients needs, having this experience would allow them to make more effective decisions in terms of efficiency, equity and quality. In general the Healthcare service in England has been a success throughout its history in achieving its aims and objectives set out in every reform In terms of Efficiency, Equity and Quality. The future holds encouraging plans and aspire to carry on with the NHS striving as a world class healthcare provider.

Taking a Look at the Cold War - 1676 Words

The Cold War was a very scary and very horrible time between two countries after post war and each side was a very strong and had a lot of power:the USA and the USSA .At that time when everything was in tense there were some things,which they wanted to increase pulses between both the East and West but none of them where affect weapons of mass distractions was involved. In most tense moments of the Cold War was time when were due to the associate nuclear weapons.The fears of the new nuclear weapons of huge destruction which caused the Cold War which almost increased to boiling point and which changed into a hot war.The main task of the essay to investigate what affects nuclear weapons had on the Cold War.To answer this question i will be researching such areas as the development of nuclear weapons and how did nuclear weapons affect the dynamics of the Cold War. Nuclear Weapons first exploded into world of both sides military and politics world in 1945when the United States explore the first atomic bomb on Japanese ground into the city Hiroshima,after Hiroshima city United States explored another bomb on Nagasaki to say that WWII had become. Japanese government after bomb they did not had a choice,only one choose to surrender to the strong of the West.From Japanese situation the wold can see now the power and devastating affect of nuclear weapons and how is it strong and powerful. According to one author Lundestad (1999:149) saying that the use of nuclear weaponsShow MoreRelatedTaking a Look at the Cold War996 Words   |  4 Pagesof World War II in the summer of 1945. The Soviet Union and the United States, having been on the Allies fighting against the Axis, were both victorious world superpowers at the end of WWII. 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Throughout the Cold War, communistic governments were rising all over the world. In SouthRead MoreTaking a Look at the Cold War1243 Words   |  5 Pages The Cold war The cold war began in 1945 and last till 1990.It involved many nation but the two main opponents were the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The cold war was a conventional power struggle between the two greatest military powers of the age . However; the Cold War was a struggle for world influence between two ways of life. The conflict in ideologies between capitalism and communism resulted in one of the greatest conflicts of the twentieth century ². The ideologyRead MoreTaking a Look at the Cold War574 Words   |  2 PagesFollowing World War II, relations between the United States and the Soviet Union quickly deteriorated as both countries began to question the other country’s leader and political system. 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P, 3 o Nasa p. 4 o when did it occur p. 5 o COLD WAR p. 6 o pro’s and con’s p. 7 8 o Was it worthwile p. 9 o Bibliography

Floristry Industry of Australia

Question: Discuss about theFloristry Industry of Australia. Answer: Introduction to Australian Floristry Industry Floristry industry of Australia is one particular segment of the market having the long lifespan because of the perennial association of flowers with the families, friends, and the loved ones. Based on the particular fact, the identified industry enjoys a superior demand all the time in different course of the year from its wide range of customers within the country. Cook, Leon, and Nesbitt (2015) stated that large numbers of florists face tough competition due within the flower industry of Australia due to the presence of a substantial amount of market players revolving the huge demands from the target customers of different segments. Hence, the industry from the external sight might look relatively simple; but the operations performed internally are highly sophisticated and extremely oriented to the demands of target market customers (Cook, Leon, and Nesbitt 2015). This particular understanding makes it imperative to investigate key requirements associated with establishing a profo und business operation within the specific industry. From the information obtained from relevant journal linked to the industry, florist industry opens the gate for the professional flower trade involving the useful application of cultivation of flowers, their proper planning, and aligning those with the business for selling (Reid and De Little 2013). From the initial investigation to the Australian flower industry, it has been critically observed that the entire selling process is performed through both traditional and online retail process. According to Reid, Little, and Zootaxa (2013), the flower produced by the florists sell through the bricks-and-mortar stores throughout the country as part of the traditional method. Alternatively, due to the rise of technology in the modern day business environment, a significant hype in online retail sales is critically incorporated within the flower industry of the country causing a wave in the web-based selling process and facilitating over all success to the business. Growers Associated with the Industry It is indicated in the earlier paragraph that the significant growth in technology is continuously resulting enormous growth to the flower industry of Australia. Yet, the larger part of the Australian flower industry is contributed by the traditional flower business, which is also referred to as soft or exotic flower industry (Gollnow and Gerber 2015). The particular type of operations is largely influenced by the effective application of a huge number of growers responsible for producing a vast array of products. The particular kind of produces primarily involves roses, lilies, bulb crops, chrysanthemums, and the like. Based on the reference of Wei, Joyce, and Sar (2013), the significant participation of the growers is essentially observed in the Australian wildflower industry, which is accounted for holding a market share of around 10% to 15% to the entire domestic flower industry. The accurate industrial statistic is hard to find, where these growers grow flowers for exporting the m to the native Australian and South African flowers and foliages industry (Retail and Personal Services Training Council 2014). Apart from that, an important association of the markers can be observed within the sector where wholesalers obtain their advice for increasingly capitalising on the marketing opportunities. The domestic marketers are found in the Australian wholesale flower markets, which are located in most of the cities in the country. Travel, et al. (2013) proposed that the involvement of a wide range of specialist flower exporters is noted with the wholesale flower market alongside the collaboration of various grower coops and groups combining their products for exporting. Thereby, the effectual association of the specialist exporters and grower groups help to form a valuable cost effective freight arrangement along with supporting the rise of economic scale associated with the industry (Blanchon et al. 2012). Industry Magazines and Journals Out of the various news articles and magazines, the significant application of Australian Flower Industry Magazine is critically observed. The particular magazine is responsible for allowing the floristry business to submit their applications for the nomination of the Florist of the Year Award (Wei et al. 2013). Based on the suggestion obtained from Miranyi (2014), the importance of the award distributed by the magazine is based on providing adequate recognition to the businesses that have achieved a unique height regarding their performance, application of innovative concepts, growth associated with the industry and responsible approaches to the environment. The particular applicants must need to fill up the specific application form clearly reflecting a written description of how their business practices and procedures meet the requirements of each criterion specified by the award (Miranyi 2014). Apart from the particular magazine, the imperative association of journals related to The Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) is observed there the activities of the managers along with the government investment in the research and development area of the industry is strictly monitored for their assessment. Different journals are produced and published by the individual site (https://www.rirdc.gov.au/publications) containing useful information regarding the RIRDC wildflowers and the regional research activities and programs dedicated to the native plants (Gollnow and Gerber 2015). Industrial Organizations and Unions Some of the key industry bodies are grower groups, trading organizations, and florist associations. The active application of these organizations and unions provide useful advantages to the overall industry to save cost by providing valuable guidance, developing useful solutions to the various legal and employment issues, creating a collaboration of like-minded individuals, and offering useful support services to the wholesalers and retailers (Cook, Leon, and Nesbitt 2015). These mentioned organizations are well informed of the fundamental changes driving the changing conditions of the market. In addition, these unions and associations understand the need of changing approaches to be adopted by the businesses associated with the industry. As a result, many trade associations and grower organizations as part of the sector develop and run training sessions, networking events, annual conferences, and workshop programs on a regular basis for assisting the businesses embracing the contemp orary approaches (Reid and De Little 2013). Flowers and Foliages, and their Seasonal Availability Name of the Flower or Foliage Selling Process Purpose of Selling poinsettias both traditional and online retail process used to sell gardening and celebrations of birthday or various other events orchids retail stores and divisions apart from the online selling process wedding and family events during the different times of year florist chrysanthemums sold through the retail stores and divisions of throughout the country garden decoration and plantation finished florist azaleas pots and hanging baskets are often used larger specimen for office and hotel interiors foliage plants sold in pots and hanging baskets indoor and patio use References Agency, S. and Agency, S. (2016).Floraco Wholesale Cut Flowers | Flower Wholesaler Perth. [online] Floraco. Available at: https://www.floraco.com.au [Accessed 12 Sep. 2016]. Behroozy, A. and Keegel, T.G., 2014. Wet-work exposure: a main risk factor for occupational hand dermatitis.Safety and health at work,5(4), pp.175-180. Blanchon, D.J., Ennis, I.L., Lewthwaite, J.R., Large, M.F. and Bussell, W.T., 2012. New method for the devitalization of imported horsetail (Equisetum hyemale).New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science,40(1), pp.21-30. Boonroses.com.au. (2016).Home. [online] Available at: https://www.boonroses.com.au/ [Accessed 12 Sep. 2016]. Cook, F.E., Leon, C.J. and Nesbitt, M., 2015. Potpourri as a Sustainable Plant Product: Identity, Origin, and Conservation Status1.Economic Botany,69(4), pp.330-344. Everbloom.com.au. (2016).Everbloom Flowers :: Fresh Flower Wholesalers. [online] Available at: https://www.everbloom.com.au/ [Accessed 12 Sep. 2016]. Gollnow, B. and Gerber, A., 2015, August. International Protea Association: Building on Strengths and Facing the Demands of a Dynamic International Floricultural Trade to Secure a Successful Protea Industry. InVIII International Symposium on New Ornamental Crops and XII International Protea Research Symposium 1097(pp. 73-84). Miranyi, H., 2014.Factors causing frequent devitalisation non-compliance of Kenyan cut rose flower exports to Australia(Doctoral dissertation, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Nairobi). Reid, C.A. and De Little, D.W., 2013. A new species of Paropsisterna Motschulsky, 1860, a significant pest of plantation eucalypts in Tasmania and Ireland (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Chrysomelinae).Zootaxa,3681(4), pp.395-404. Retail and Personal Services Training Council (RAPS), 2014. Retail, floristry, fast food: traineeship survey 2014. Tesselaar Flowers. (2016).Flowers | Buy Fresh Flowers Online | Tesselaar Flowers. [online] Available at: https://www.tesselaarflowers.com.au [Accessed 12 Sep. 2016]. Wei, S., Joyce, D., Sar, S. and Boas-Singomat, N., 2013. Developing floricultural supply-chain strategiesPapua New Guinea case study.agricultural research in Papua New Guinea, p.85.

Racial and gender Discrimination free essay sample

The novel, The House on Mango Street is filled with race and gender discrimination. In the novel strangers come into Esperanza’s neighborhood and discriminate Esperanza and her neighbors. Also because Esperanza is a girl, she is not treated equally as the boys and must follow the traditional gender roles for females. Race and gender come into conflict when Esperanza is unable to interact with boys and people discriminate her neighborhood . Esperanza and her neighborhood are constantly racially discriminated against by people coming into her neighborhood. In the book Esperanza states, â€Å"Those who don’t know any better come into our neighborhood scared, think we’re dangerous†(8). This quote proves how people think of Esperanza and her neighborhood as being â€Å"dangerous† and â€Å"scary† just because a majority of the residents living there are hispanic, and the area is not in good shape. People come into Esperanza’s neighborhood and judge the neighborhood before getting to know the people living there first and these people are basically judging the people in her neighborhood just because of their race. We will write a custom essay sample on Racial and gender Discrimination or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Esperanza has been a victim of having to conform to traditional female gender roles and gender discrimination numerous times in the novel. In the book Esperanza says that boys and girls are treated differently when she states, â€Å"The boys and girls live live in separate worlds† (8). This quote may not say much, but it means much more. It proves how boys and girls are treated differently, and they must follow these traditional roles and it makes it seem as if they are living in different worlds. This is not fair because they are being treated differently just because of their genders which is something that they can not choose themselves. Esperanza refuses to follow these traditional roles. When Esperanza states â€Å" but I have decided not to grow up tame like the others.. †(88) and â€Å"I am the one who leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate†(89). When she said this, she is proving how she does not like the traditional roles and how they are forced upon her so she will not follow them. So instead of following these traditional female roles and act like a lady she isn’t going to be ladylike and be a housewife and find a husband. She is going to be act however she wants to act and she does not want to grow up and be housewife she will get a job and support herself. Race and gender come into conflict in the book because Esperanza could not play with the boys and people are afraid of her neighborhood. There are numerous problems with discrimination in The House on Mango Street. Esperanza will not tolerate gender and racial discrimination and will refuse to follow the typical female gender roles.

TajMahal 1852 Essay Example For Students

TajMahal 1852 Essay The two Englishmen were walking down the white marble path both holding cups of tea in china cups and saucers. One man was wearing khaki coloured clothes with round head wear with the khaki strap of his hat going down his cheeks near his white bushy moustache. The other man taller and thinner in size had a thin moustache above his thin lips and his hair was well combed into a side parting. Both men were very upper class British men admiring the culture and the carvings of the Taj Mahal walking on the smooth white marble path with patterned carvings on either side of the path. We will write a custom essay on TajMahal 1852 specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Each step was slow and steady there was no rush at dusk. The air was cool but the humidity of the afternoon could still be seen as the tropical trees in the landscape had a mist of vapour round the branches and the leaves. The atmosphere was calm and cultural the only people to be seen on the path were the men. Conversation between the men was bitter, the short stubby man wearing khaki clothes stood out, he was new to the place of beauty. The tall man stood out and had a lot more confidence and did not look around fascinated by the Mahal like the short man. He wore a black thin suite with a creamy white shirt that could be seen. The short man was very talkative and the tall man spoke the queens English. This invasion is a great achievement of Britain, here the people are very good workers and could bring wealth to Britain, the tall man spoke. I know the place is very beautiful too, the short man replied but was more interested in the culture surrounded by him. Both men walked up the stairs on the main buildings of the Taj Mahal and were ready to walk through the main entrance which was big and full of beautiful carvings. But from one of the white tall grand pillars a man sprung out from behind it. The man wore a robe and a turban white in colour he had distinctive green eyes and had native dark brown skin. He spoke, TCHAI, and in his hand he had a metal container that looked old and tacky he shook it at them he was offering them something. The short man looked around in amazement he looked confused. It means tea, this man always annoying me one of these days Im going to shoot him, Ive never taken tea off him and he comes and still says tchai, he was very annoyed. TCHAI! the Indian man wearing the turban didnt give up. The short man was calm and didnt think much of this, um No thanks chap he answered. He waved his hands in the air at about chest height and shook his head. He screwed his face. TCHAI?! the tea man wearing the turban still wanted to sell tea but he was refused again. NO! both men said at the same time. Nai Nai the vagabond was refused again by the taller man that must have picked up a bit of the foreign language. Both the men were really getting annoyed. The tea selling vagabond was blocking the mens path and kept offering something that the conceited British men did not want. The tall man had hate in his eye and anger grew within him. He reached in to the inside of his suite and pulled out a loaded hang gun. Knowing he was a British man in a British ruled country he knew that he could most probably get a way with shooting an Indian man of very little authority. The gun slowly crept out of his pocket his hand was on the trigger straight away and he pointed the gun to the vagabonds head. The vagabonds eyes were full of freight.

Free Essays on How To Eat An Oreo Cookie

How to eat an Oreo cookie Have you ever had a craving for some sort of food? And you come home after a long stressful day at school, and all you want is a big glass of milk accompanied by some Oreo cookies. Well if you ever find yourself in this situation what I have here are the steps to make sure that you savor eat and every moment as your eating your Oreo snack. Once you arrive at home, a good idea is to go drop your things off in your room and go say hello to whoever is home. After taking care of those simple things then you must go to the kitchen. Once in the kitchen your first step is to get a plate and a drinking glass. Once you have these two very important items, you should proceed to fill the glass up with fresh milk from your refrigerator. Once you have the milk glass ready your ready to and finally get your Oreo cookies. Once you go to your pantry it is very important to find out how many Oreo cookies you should take. Depending on the size of the plate, if you put your glass of milk in the center of your plate and then make a circle of cookies around the glass you should get the perfect amount of Oreo’s. What the design should look like when you’re done is sort of a flower. The glass of milk is the center and the Oreo’s would be the petals, all resting on your plate. Once you have the "flower" set up you r ready to eat your snack. In order to fully enjoy your cookies you should eat them in a room in your house that your comfortable in. Whether that is the kitchen or your TV room or your bedroom, be sure it’s a room where you can relax and enjoy your Oreo’s. In my case I go to my TV room, where there is a comfortable couch and a table in front of it perfect for putting the plate of cookies on. Now there are two good ways to eat your cookies, I will tell you both of them. The first metho... Free Essays on How To Eat An Oreo Cookie Free Essays on How To Eat An Oreo Cookie How to eat an Oreo cookie Have you ever had a craving for some sort of food? And you come home after a long stressful day at school, and all you want is a big glass of milk accompanied by some Oreo cookies. Well if you ever find yourself in this situation what I have here are the steps to make sure that you savor eat and every moment as your eating your Oreo snack. Once you arrive at home, a good idea is to go drop your things off in your room and go say hello to whoever is home. After taking care of those simple things then you must go to the kitchen. Once in the kitchen your first step is to get a plate and a drinking glass. Once you have these two very important items, you should proceed to fill the glass up with fresh milk from your refrigerator. Once you have the milk glass ready your ready to and finally get your Oreo cookies. Once you go to your pantry it is very important to find out how many Oreo cookies you should take. Depending on the size of the plate, if you put your glass of milk in the center of your plate and then make a circle of cookies around the glass you should get the perfect amount of Oreo’s. What the design should look like when you’re done is sort of a flower. The glass of milk is the center and the Oreo’s would be the petals, all resting on your plate. Once you have the "flower" set up you r ready to eat your snack. In order to fully enjoy your cookies you should eat them in a room in your house that your comfortable in. Whether that is the kitchen or your TV room or your bedroom, be sure it’s a room where you can relax and enjoy your Oreo’s. In my case I go to my TV room, where there is a comfortable couch and a table in front of it perfect for putting the plate of cookies on. Now there are two good ways to eat your cookies, I will tell you both of them. The first metho...

JAPANESE GOVERNMENT SHOULD USE GEOTHERMAL ENERGY INSTEAD OF NUCLEAR Thesis Proposal

JAPANESE GOVERNMENT SHOULD USE GEOTHERMAL ENERGY INSTEAD OF NUCLEAR ENERGY - Thesis Proposal Example Geothermal power, as an energy alternative, is safer than nuclear power and offers solutions to Japan’s energy dilemma. Japan is a nation that has for thousands of years experienced volcanic eruptions and earthquakes which are of a large scale. Ironically, it is also a country that has for a long time been lamenting on its deficiency in natural resources. The questions arising are why Japan is not tapping into its huge potential for geothermal energy capacities and whether the country will eventually start to look into the possibility of tapping into such resources in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake, nuclear crisis and tsunami. In spite of the fact that Japan is located above the third largest reserve of geothermal energy in the world, less than one per cent of its energy output is presently obtained from geothermal power. Even though the investment in nuclear energy has been high ever since the 1970s oil crisis, the Japanese government has continued to import its gas, coal and oil from overseas for a long time. Nuclear power accounted for 30% of the country’s electrical supplies at the time of the March 11 disaster and there were plans in place to increase this to 50% by 2050 (Bortz 24). Since the disaster, a shadow has been cast over the country’s nuclear plans by the government’s on-going stress testing of existing plants plus the ever growing hostile reactions by the public against nuclear energy. The government has therefore made a promise to renew energy policies of the country with a slow change towards more renewable natural energy sources such as geothermal energy. Industry leaders from Japan like Mitsubishi and Toshiba control 70% market share of geothermal technology. On the other hand, Fuji Electric had a hand in the making of the largest geothermal plant in the world last year in New Zealand, a country not its homeland. This raising the question of why Japanese companies are not investing in their home

Yoga Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Yoga - Research Paper Example But Yoga deals with the breath, mind and quite subtly, the soul. It releases the toxins in the body and harmonizes the whole body. Many people use yoga to lose weight. This is possible as Yoga makes a person calm, reduces stress and hence addictions such as overeating and alcoholism are cured to a great degree. Yoga is an ancient meditative technique proposed originally by an Indian sage called Patanjali. It is a Sanskrit word and its literal meaning is ‘union’. The word union is used because Yoga unites the lost soul of a human being back to its god. There are many types of yoga postures and these are practiced by the saints and sages in the Himalayan region of India. But ordinary people also practice it throughout the world. When I saw the various yoga postures I thought that I won’t be able to do them. This is because they look very weird and seem to be inspired from the postures of the animals. For example, there is yoga posture called ‘Singhasan’ which literally means the ‘posture of a lion’. In it one has to lie on the belly, lift the body up by hands, take the tongue out (like a lion) and make a loud noise at the top of one’s throat (roar!!). But as I gleaned through the pages I realized that there were many methods which were very simple and extremely effective. The simplest Yoga posture is ‘Shavaasan’ which means ‘The posture of a corpse’ (Mumford, 15). I know this sounds frightening but it is quite simple. Just lie down on a flat ground or floor, loosen the body, relax the mind and follow your breath. Don’t move the body and be peaceful, like a corpse. After a few minutes the mind becomes very still and the body rejuvenates. This is the magic of yoga. I have always had problems with my concentration. I find it hard to concentrate on many things especially studies. My attention span seems to be decreasing day by day. I sought for a remedy in yoga. I saw many

Integumentary System Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Integumentary System - Lab Report Example This occurs after the neuron has reached action potential and it is the time that is necessary before the neuron is ready to stimulate the movement of ions for another electrical charge. There are two different kinds of refractory periods: absolute and relative. Absolute refractory periods are when it is impossible to initiate another transmission of electrical charge after action potential is reached. Relative refractory periods are which transmission of another electrical charge is inhibited, but it is not impossible to initiate. There are three different states in which neurons must exist in order to produce neural communication: depolarization, repolarization and hyperpolarization. Depolarization is when the inside of the cell becomes more increasingly positive as ions move in and out. If there is enough movement of ions to create a large change in electrical potential, action potential will result. Repolarization occurs after depolarization and action potential have occurred. Du ring this, ions move back into the cell which causes it to be negative again. Hyperpolarization is when the cell becomes increasingly negative which can inhibit action potential from being reached which inhibits the cell from transmitting an electrochemical signal.

Anticancer Efficacy of Curcumin Analysis

Anticancer Efficacy of Curcumin Analysis Nuclear factor-ÃŽ ºB (NF-ÃŽ ºB) is a transcription factor that is essential in the regulation of immune and inflammatory responses.1 It influences a diverse target of gene expressions that regulate apoptosis, facilitate cell survival, proliferation, and differentiation.1,2 Before cell stimulation, NF-ÃŽ ºB dimers that are located in the cytoplasm are inactive.3 Prior to activation, NF-ÃŽ ºB dimers consisting of RelA, c-REL, and p50 are held in the cytoplasm by inhibitory ÃŽ ºB (IÃŽ ºB) proteins.3,8 The IÃŽ ºB kinase (IKK) complex is activated by various extracellular signals such as proinflammatory cytokines and viral infections.3,4 This IKK complex phosphorylates two conserved serine residues and targets NF-ÃŽ ºB-bound IÃŽ ºBs, which results in ubiquitin-mediated dissociation of IÃŽ ºB from NF-ÃŽ ºB, thus leading to translocation of activated NF-ÃŽ ºB into the nucleus.2,7 The activation of NF-ÃŽ ºB promotes tumor invasion, metastasis, and allows malignant cells to escape apoptosis. Consequently, many chemotherapeutic drugs have been found to activate NF-ÃŽ ºB, thus contributing to chemoresistance and chemotherapy failure.3 Increasing evidence suggests that, the inhibition of NF-ÃŽ ºB activation can reduce chemoresistance and improve the effectiveness of chemotherapeutic agents.3 Among the compounds that have been reported, curcumin was found to inhibit the activation of NF-ÃŽ ºB and thus, induce apoptosis in tumor cells.6 Unfortunately, its clinical applications remains limited due to its poor bioavailability and low potency6, these prompted researchers to chemically modify curcumin in order to increase its potency against NF-ÃŽ ºB and cancerous cells.8 In this issue, Qui et al.8 reports progress in the synthesis and identification of new 4-arylidene curcumin analogues as a potential chemotherapeutic agent. Different kinds of 4-arylidene curcumin analogues were synthesized by coupling 1, 3-diketones curcumin analogues with various aromatic aldehydes in toluene with acetic acid, using piperidine as a catalyst (figure 1). The chemotherapeutic activities of the synthesized compounds were tested on the growth of A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells with curcumin used as control. The authors reported that majority of the 4-arylidene curcumin analogues exhibited potent anticancer activities against A549 growth with GI50 in the range of 0.23 – 0.93 ÃŽ ¼M, while very poor antiproliferation activities of curcumin was observed at 15.23 ÃŽ ¼M. This shows a 10- to 60-fold increase in the potency of 4-arylidene curcumin analogues over the parent compound, curcumin. Remarkably, the cytotoxic activities of these newly designed curcumin analogues were not limited to A549 cells. The growth of other carcinoma cells H1944, squamous cells H157, and large carcinoma cells H460, were effectively inhibited by selected 4-acrylidene curcumin analogues, with GI50 values at micromolar concentrations low to 0.07 ÃŽ ¼M. Likewise, in a related study, Zambre et al.9 reported that copper(II) conjugates of Knoevenagel condensates o f curcumin analogue showed inhibitory activities against human leukemic KBM-5 cells. Taken together, these two forms of curcumin analogues offer new possibilities at both ends as potential anticancer agents. One of the key curcumin targets that is important for the survival of cancer is IÃŽ ºB kinase (IKK), which regulates NF-ÃŽ ºB activation.6 Activated NF-ÃŽ ºB is situated in the nucleus to promote transcription that is triggered by tumor-necrosis factor (TNFÃŽ ±).1,5 Thus, Qiu et al.8 used nuclear translocation of NF-ÃŽ ºB in response to TNFÃŽ ± as the main indicator to examine the mode of action of curcumin in comparison to 4-arylidene curcumin analogue. A549 cells were treated in a 384-well plate format with curcumin and its new analogue respectively, before the addition of TNFÃŽ ± to trigger nuclear translocation of NF-ÃŽ ºB p65 subunit. As a result, curcumin inhibited TNFÃŽ ±-induced nuclear translocation of NF-ÃŽ ºB with a mean IC50 of 9.5 ÃŽ ¼M, which is consistent with the work of Kasinski et al.4 Interestingly, most of the synthesized 4-arylidene curcumin analogue showed improved inhibitory activities against NF-ÃŽ ºB translocation with mean IC50 values in the range of 1.0 â⠂¬â€œ 4.9 ÃŽ ¼ÃŽÅ". This finding proved the superiority of the newly designed curcumin analogue over curcumin in blocking nuclear translocation of NF-ÃŽ ºB. Consequently, in a related paper, Zambre et al.9 developed novel curcumin analogues that were synthesized using Knoevenagel condensation to convert enolic diketones of curcumin into non-enolizable ones. The synthesized compounds were examined for their potential in blocking TNFÃŽ ±-induced NF-ÃŽ ºB activation. It was reported that copper(II) conjugates of Knoevenagel condensates of curcumin showed greater potentials in blocking TNFÃŽ ±-induced NF-ÃŽ ºB activation than curcumin, confirming the potency superiority of curcumin analogues over the parental curcumin. NF-ÃŽ ºB is principally activated by IKKÃŽ ² in its well organized signaling pathways.2,7 As a result, Qiu et al.8 choose three potent newly synthesized 4-arylidene curcumin analogues A, B and C to directly investigate their effect on IKK enzymatic activity, with curcumin used as control. Report was given that upon stimulation of A549 cells with TNFÃŽ ±, TNFÃŽ ± induced considerable IÃŽ ºB phosphorylation followed by degradation of the phosphorylated IÃŽ ºB. However, following the treatment of the cells with curcumin and its newly designed analogue, respectively, curcumin inhibited IÃŽ ºB phosphorylation and degradation at high concentrations, while the selected potent newly synthesized curcumin analogues significantly inhibited IÃŽ ºB phosphorylation and degradation at a lower concentration with IC50 values in micromolar range of 2.2 5.0 ÃŽ ¼ÃŽÅ". Again, this showed that the 4-arylidene curcumin analogues exhibited greater inhibitory activities against IÃŽ ºB than curcumin. In anot her study, Kasinski et al.4 proposed that the inhibitory activities of curcumin and its analogues may be a result of direct inhibition of IKKÃŽ ² kinase. To examine this model, the authors performed a reconstituted IKK inhibition assay with recombinant IKKÃŽ ², report showed that the addition of curcumin in various tested concentrations had no significant effect in inhibiting IKKÃŽ ².4 However, in this issue8, the selected newly synthesized curcumin analogues induced a dose dependent inhibition of IKKÃŽ ². Thus, the structural modification of these curcumin analogues results to improved inhibitory activities over curcumin in the in vitro IKK kinase assay. Furthermore, they compared the anticancer efficacy of curcumin and its newly designed analogues. The authors reported that the synthesized 4-arylidene curcumin analogues inhibited colony formation of lung cancer cells at low concentrations in the micromolar range of less than 0.2 0.4 ÃŽ ¼M.8 However, curcumin also inhibited colony formation of cancer cells at higher concentration (4 ÃŽ ¼M). Again, this finding showed the superiority in potency of 4-arylidene curcumin analogues over the parent compound as an anticancer agent. Thus, the chemical modification of the parental curcumin has led to identification of new 4-arylidene curcumin analogues as potential anticancer agents targeting NF-ÃŽ ºB signaling pathway. REFERENCES 1 Baud V, Karin M. (2009) Is NF-kB a good target for cancer therapy? Hopes and pitfalls. Nature reviews drug discovery. 8, 33-40 2 Bonizzi G, Karin M. (2004) The two NF-ÃŽ ºB activation pathways and their role in innate and adaptive immunity. Trends in immunology. 25(6), 280 – 288 3 Karin M. (2006) Nuclear factor-kappaB in cancer development and progression. Nature. 441, 431 – 436 4 Kasinski A, Du Y, Thomas S, Zhao J, Sun S, Khuri F, Wang C, Shoji M, Sun A, Snyder J, Liotta D, Fu H. (2008) Inhibition of IÃŽ ºB kinase-nuclear factor-ÃŽ ºB signaling pathway by 3,5-bis(2-flurobenzylidene)piperidine-4-one (EF24), a novel monoketone analog of curcumin. Molecular Pharmacology. 74(3), 654-661 5 Lee C, Jeon Y, Kim S, Song Y. (2007) NF-kappaB as a potential molecular target for cancer therapy. Biofactors. 29 (1), 19 -35 6 Leu T, Maa M. (2002) The molecular mechanisms for the antitumorigenic effect of curcumin. Current medical chemistry. 2(3), 357 – 370 7 Perkins N. (2007) Integrating cell-signalling pathways with NF-ÃŽ ºB and IKK function. Nature reviews molecular cell biology. 8, 49 62. 8 Qiu X, Du Y, Lou B, Zuo Y, Shao W, Huo Y, Huang J, Yu Y, Zhou B, Du J, Fu H, Bu X. (2010) Synthesis and identification of new 4-arylidene curcumin analogues as potential anticancer agents targeting nuclear factor-ÃŽ ºB signaling pathway. Journal of medicinal chemistry. 53, 8260 – 8273 9 Zambre A, Kulkarni V, Padhye S, Sandur S, Aggarwal B. (2006) Novel curcumin analogs targeting TNF-induced NF-kB activation and proliferation in human leukemic KBM-5 cells. Bioorganic and medicinal chemistry. 14, 7196 – 7204

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - Artistic Development :: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man   Artistic Development A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man had various themes which covered many areas. The primary theme of the novel is the artistic development of the artist, Stephen, and this relates specifically to the artist’s development in the life of a national language. Stephen experiences many voices of Ireland as well as those of the writers of his education. Out of all these voices emerges Stephen’s aesthetic theory and his desire to find his own manner of expression. Stephen develops his own voice as a way of escaping these constraints. One of the main constraints on the artist as Joyce depicts his life is the Roman Catholic Church. However, it is both a constraint and an enabling condition for the artist’s development. First, the Jesuit education Stephen receives, gives him a thorough grounding in the classical and medieval thinkers. It also structures Stephen’s life in such a way that it provides him with a basis for his own development as a moral and intellectual person. In relation to his eventual development of a theory of art or an aesthetic theory, Stephen fully draws on this tradition. He uses two central doctrines of the church in this theory. First, he revises the doctrine into a way of imagining the relationship between art and the world it describes. When Stephen develops his theory, he thinks of himself as taking on the role of a "priest of eternal imagination, transmuting the daily bread of experience into the radiant body of everliving life." The second use of Catholic doctrine or tradit ion relates to its creation of a priesthood, a class of men separate from the world who act as intermediaries between the deity and the people. In Stephen’s idea of the artist, he is priestlike, performing the miracle of turning life into art. Joyce is in good company when he uses techniques to drive a wedge in the totalizing authority of the church and in other forms of seriousness, even the artist’s own. When Stephen is discoursing learnedly on his aesthetic theory, his friend Lynch critisizes him. He brings lust into the picture of how and why art is created. He laughs at Stephen’s deadly serious use of the scholastics to develop a theory of art. Earlier in the novel, when Mrs. Dante Riordan is condemning Parnell and supporting his excommunication from the Catholic church, Mr.

Avon in Global Market

Avon in Global Market in 2009: Managing and Developing a Global Workforce 3. Since 70 percent of Avon’s revenues are generated outside of US, what recommendations would you provide to the company regarding dealing with a culturally diverse workforce and a multicultural marketplace in the coming years? In order to deal with this kind of diversity Avon’s Human Resource Management should focus on hiring and training local workforce to deal with local markets.By doing so, the labor force already knows the culture and social situation on each specific market, and training should be focused on developing/improving an organizational culture on the hired workforce to implement the global view and work ability according to the business strategy of the company. When doing so, Avon could lower costs on training to reduce the cultural shock (area studies, culture assimilators, language training, and field experiences) .In order to manage their workforce its important to improve the transnational management skills, which could be done with an expatriation program that results in training and developing fewer workforce but at a higher rank. This kind of structure requires a very complex use of information. Gathering important local information on each market could help the organization develop and set up business, not only before entering but also after beginning operations so that the program ends up being successful. . Avon’s future global expansion is contingent on hiring and retaining the best workforce and salespeople in the global market. What training and cross-cultural practices would you recommend to the company to deal with this area? Avon should focus on training the workforce, learning content and skills to improve interactions with host country individuals by reducing the culture shock by easing the adjustment to the new environment.The training practices that we think are vital to deal with global expansion are area studies, culture assimil ators, and language training before sending the workforce, but its really important to think of the training received once the expatriate arrives to the country, the sensitivity and field experiences may be the difference in succeeding. Along with culture sensitiveness we think it may be an option to look after motivation and loyalty, ethical standards, customer relationship and building an organizational skill training as well.

Essay Sample on the book “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom

Essay Sample on the book â€Å"Tuesdays with Morrie† by Mitch Albom Example Essay on the book Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom: How Flashbacks Give a Deeper Meaning to the Story Tuesdays with Morie â€Å"I’ve got so many people who have been involved with me in close, intimate ways. And love is how you stay alive, even after you are gone,† (Mitch 136). Mitch Albom, the novelist of the novel Tuesdays with Morrie, uses flashbacks to bring out deeper connotation to the story. The book is an account of the relationship between Mitch and his dying professor. At the heart of the narrative is the fourteen Tuesdays that marked the reunion of Mitch and his professor after a period of sixteen years. Essentially, the Tuesdays represent the days that Mitch used to visit his ailing professor after being diagnosed by the terminal ASL. Hence, the days were full of lessons about life. The book epitomizes the final days of Morrie Schwartz and how the days transformed the life of Mitch through the lessons. Hence, Mitch learnt a lot from the professor. In order to epitomize the inherent lessons that he leant from Morrie. Mitch invokes the past through the use of flashbacks. â€Å"w eve had thirty-five years of friendship. You dont need speech or hearing to feel that, (Mitch 71). The flashbacks used not only take the reader back to the background of the story but also exposes the true connotation of Mitch’s experience. Mitch makes sure that he coalesces the present amid flashbacks of the long-ago, so that the reader can appreciate the depth the liaison between Mitch Albom and Morrie Schwartz. In the course of Albom’s visits, the professor notes thatI know what a misery being young can be, so dont tell me its so great, (Mitch 117). This brings out the true essence of Morrie’s lessons to Albom. The quotes invoke the past experiences of the professor who uses his understanding to pass notable lessons to his student. Here we find a lot of wisdom in the author’s choice of flashback to complement the narration. At a certain point he states that Ive learned this much about marriage. You get tested. You find out who you are, who the other person is, and how you accommodate or dont, (Mitch 149). Perhaps this was a very significant lesson for Albom who was struggling with the issue of family (Schwartz 11). At a certain age the author had ignored his family for work thinking that his fina l happiness will come from work. The professor further consolidates his lesson by stating that, So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when theyre busy doing things they think are important. This is because theyre chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning, (Mitch 43). Mitch’s ability to combine the use of flashbacks with the narration of the story makes the reader to obtain a deeper understanding of his relationship with Schwartz Morrie. Therefore, through Morrie’s statements that recall the past, Mitch makes it possible for the reader to obtain a deeper meaning of life. He states that, In the beginning of life, when we were infants, we need others to survive, right? And at the end of life, when you get like me, you need others to survive, right? But heres the secret: in between, we need others as well. (Mitch 157). The professor recalls some of his experiences which Mitch uses to provide an intricate understanding to the entire story. Finally, as though remembering his early days, Morrie says How can I be envious of where you arewhen Ive been there myself, (Mitch 121).

The development of a web based system that provides quality data in real time, for dynamic information retrieval and display (web mobile). The WritePass Journal

The development of a web based system that provides quality data in real time, for dynamic information retrieval and display (web mobile). 1.1 Introduction The development of a web based system that provides quality data in real time, for dynamic information retrieval and display (web mobile). 1.1 Introduction1.2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Key Phrases1.3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Aims and objectives1.4 Scope and Definition1.5 Literature review1.6 Methodology1.8 Work Plan1.9   Resources1.10   Ethics and confidentialityInitial ReferencesRelated 1.1 Introduction In recent years, the Internet and World Wide Web (www) have become ubiquitous, surpassing all other technological developments in our history. Theyve also grown rapidly in their scope and extent of use, significantly affecting all aspects of our lives. Industries such as manufacturing, travel and tourism, banking, education, Olympic Games and government are Web-enabled to improve and enhance their operations. Web-based information systems (WIS) are information systems (IS) that are based on Web technology and they are integrated with conventional IS such as databases and transaction processing systems (Chen Heath, 2001; Isakowitz, Bieber, Vitali, 1998). Nowadays there is a rise in the amount of readymade web based information systems available in the form of content management systems, which can easily be integrated into an organisations existing information system to provide solutions (e-commerce, social networking, file sharing etc.) to the information needs of individuals and the organisation. Beynon-Davies 2002, states; It has become something of a truism that the success of an organisation is dependent on its information systems. As Web applications have evolved, the demands placed on Web-based systems and the complexity of designing, developing, maintaining, and managing these systems have also increased significantly. For example, Web sites such as for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, 1998 Nagano Olympics, and Wimbledon received hundreds of thousands of hits per minute (Ginige and Murugesan, 2001). They provided vast, dynamic information in multiple media formats (graphics, images, and video). Web site design for these and many other applications demand balance among information content, aesthetics, and performance. 1.2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Key Phrases Olympic Games, Web-Based Information System, Content Management System Internet, Web technology, Database, Dynamic Information, Media Formats 1.3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Aims and objectives To investigate Web-Based Information Systems with a view to understanding how they work, including concepts, methods, tools and techniques used for developing them. Activities: read literature on Web-Based Information Systems; learn how they operate and also the kind of technologies they are associated with. Deliverables: Section for report To review a selection of different Web-Based Information Systems, investigating their characteristics, similarities, mode of operation and technologies associated with them. Activities: apply for and try to gain access to a selection (open Source) of Web-Based Information Systems and compare them, with a view to understanding their characteristics and the technologies involved with them and also the applications available.Deliverables: Section for report To investigate the Olympic Games and the web technologies associated with it, to gain an understanding of the data (Content and structure), display mechanisms, data transfer methods, data retrieval mechanism’s used in their applications. Activities: apply for and try to gain access during the Internship placement, for sample data and technologies’ already in use by the company to gain a better understanding of the requirements.Deliverables: Section for report To analyse the information gathered so as to establish an adequate requirements specification for developing a Web-Based Information System.Activities: select appropriate tools and techniques to provide an initial set of requirements for the Web-Based Information System.Deliverables: Section for report To design an appropriate Web-Based Information System according to stated requirements; Activities: select appropriate tools and techniques to provide a possible design solution.Deliverables: Section for report To implement a proto-type Web-Based Information System application (for the Olympics games), according to the stated design solution.Activities: Select appropriate methods, design solution and programming language; and implement the proto-type Web-Based Information System using the chosen design solutionDeliverables: Section for report To test the Web-Based Information System application;Activities: chose appropriate test strategies and draw up test plans, and test the applicationDeliverables: Section for report To critically evaluate the work carried out against stated requirements.Activities: to critically evaluate my product and the work carried out, and compare the completed product to the stated requirements and objectives, also discuss the lessons learnt and discuss possible improvements.Deliverables: Section for report 1.4 Scope and Definition This project will focus on the development of a web-based information system for the Olympic Games. The London 2012 Olympic Games would be used as part of an internship arrangement with Atos Origin will be used as a typical example with the requirements and specifications built around its particular needs. The front end of the system will be aimed at the general users (i.e. athletes, media agencies and Journalist) with success measured by its ability to cater to their information needs in real time. The back end will be content management system for the staff (Olympic Local Organising Committee), including all the functions necessary for the smooth running of the Olympic Games. There will be no attempt to develop a full working system to be able to connect to pre-existing IT systems within the organisation, but a proto-type system using similar data types, structures and web technologies. The system will not be designed with scalability in mind however the need will be discussed in the report; As there are several legal, ethical and data right issues which would be discussed in the report, it will be assumed that the data to be used would be of dummy values and not the real thing, therefore the analysis of which applications to use will be conducted on open source software only. The web-based information system will consist of a website with the content and structure being determined by the requirements of the Olympic Games. The front end will be a mixture of both static and dynamic information content which is constantly being updated via the Olympic Local Organising Committee databases (in my case, I would create a replica database with a similar data structure) to allow customisation by the users. 1.5 Literature review The Olympic Games are a complex mix of technology, processes and people. Not only is there the scale and complexity of the project, covering many clients, sites and systems, but it is also a multi-supplier project with many varied dependencies. Furthermore, the whole event is highly visible and the world is watching. And where victory is measured by the smallest margin, there are no second chances! (Source: www.uk.atosorigin.com) The company Atos Origin’s challenge is to create an IT solution for each Olympic Games that allows the capture and reporting of every moment of the action and supports in bringing it to the world via television and the Internet, first time, every time! This requires a blend of specialist skills and experience backed up by a complete understanding of just what the organisers, competitors and audience expect. (Source: www.uk.atosorigin.com) Teams are created to work on client projects, each which have their own budgets, sets of deliverables and timescales. The management of a project is a vital task, as is the coordination of staff resources across a portfolio of current projects whilst ensuring their delivery on time and within budget. As lead integrator, project manager and IT operations manager, Atos Origin is ultimately responsible for the entire IT infrastructure of the Games. The focus is on three key IT areas: Security and Risk Management Games Management Systems Information Diffusion Systems Marchand et al (2000) note that â€Å"Information technology improves business performance only if combined with competent information management and the right behaviours and values.† They go on to conclude that   Companies with high information orientation have focused on getting IT support for key processes in place to manage customer and product information for all aspects of the Games. From this base, the company has developed sophisticated systems and databases for Security and Risk Management, Games Management and Information Diffusion. (Marchand et al 2000). The difference between modelling conventional Information Systems (IS) and modelling Web-Based Information Systems (WIS) is significant. Modelling conventional IS addresses their structured data requirements and process functions within the organisation. Its key concerns are general structured data and processes. On the other hand, a WIS operates to support networked organisations in the integration of specialised Web sites into a common set of tasks for them. Organisational computing network properties are the major focus of WIS. Since WIS and conventional business IS (i.e., data processing systems, management report systems, and decision support systems) normally overlap, the general components of ordinary IS such as structured data (databases), models (model bases), and groupware for decision making can also serve as general components of a WIS.(Wang, 2001) There is a clear difference between a set of Web pages and a WIS in that a WIS supports business process and is usually tightly integrated with other IS. The recent development of WIS suggests that they are revolutionising commerce (Tenenbaum, 1998). They have become tools for online business processing. Also, software agents, content management systems are emerging in WIS to exploit the features of online transactions (Wong, Paciorek, Moore, 1999). WIS can also be viewed as database applications for structured as well as semi-structured data (Arocena Mendelzon, 1998); in fact, the Web has become a major resource for supporting multimedia active documents and developing and sharing knowledge structure collaboratively over the Internet (Gaines Shaw, 1999). Since business IS are migrating from batch processing, time-sharing, and client-server computing to WIS, information infrastructure of the organisations has become a crucial factor in WIS development (Detlor, 2000) The benefits of this experience can be brought to this dissertation project through best practices in areas such as consortium and project management, content and knowledge management, risk driven management, change management, data centres and IT Security. 1.6 Methodology According to CMS (2008), â€Å"a system development methodology refers to the framework that is used to structure, plan, and control the process of developing an information system i.e. the waterfall model, the prototyping model, the spiral etc.† In the context of this project the waterfall model would be used as the framework for development, while an iterative prototyping approach would be used to assist the design, implementation and unit testing. (CMS, 2008) These two approaches were chosen because; The project has to be divided into sequential phases; using the waterfall model where the outcome of one phase is used as the source of input for the next phase i.e. the output from the analysis phase forms the bases of input for the design phase. This is helpful but also causes some delays, because if one phase is not completed the other cannot be started. The waterfall model would also assisted in maintaining tight control over the documentation, because each section of the report would be created as the phase was carried out and approvals and checks would be made to ensure I am on the right track before starting a new phase. (CMS, 2008) The iterative prototyping approach would helped combine both the waterfall and prototyping models allowing me go forward and also retrace my steps where needed. The iterative prototyping would also assist while implementing the product, because the coding could start while the phases are not complete as a mare prototype, which would be improved upon as the design and requirements are stated and analysed further. This would help save time lost using the waterfall model and also provide a platform for unit testing of the product, because each individual component of the system would be tested in turn before the entire application is put together and tested. (CMS, 2008) These approaches have also been justified by; Yeung and Brent Hall (2007), stating that an iterative approach is most suitable for this type of project due to the fact that specification cannot be determined precisely in advance. This would help develop, implement and test the functionality of the systems individual units before the whole system is put together. Coad and Yourdon (1991) also suggested that prototyping should be used for all object-oriented projects. 1.8 Work Plan 1.9   Resources To develop this Web-Based information system, an appropriate computing system with access to internet is required. Some Integrated development environment (Visual Studio, WAMP Server) is required for design and programming, such as CMS (for example, joomla), SQL, JavaScript, PHP server, etc. Also access to the Universities libraries would be needed and Suitable Software Development Tools. Universities computing facilities and my personal computer would be used for all aspects of development and preparing the report. Access to Atos Origins databases, facilities, applications would be needed to gain an understanding of how their existing system works and the required data structure and transfer facilities. 1.10   Ethics and confidentiality The major problem I would have is gaining access to the company’s existing databases and systems, due to the sensitive nature of the data and the company’s intellectual property right, I have opted to ask for permission only to view their data structure and create a mock up data base from it with dummy data values, which would not cause any issues for me or the company if am allowed to. Also most of my research would be done based on open-source systems which are readily available online and my design solution would only be similar in nature to the companies and not the real thing, because my role on the internship is not to help with the creation of the system to be used but to test and monitor its performance and help correct errors and develop documents. My prototype solution is not intended to be used by the company, but is for me to learn how such projects are undertaken and designed. Initial References Beynon-Davis P. (2002), Information systems An introduction to informatics in organisations, Basingstoke: Palgrave Ginige A., Murugesan S. (2001) Web Engineering: An Introduction. IEEE Multimedia, 1-3, pp. 14-18. Choo, C W (2002) Information management for the intelligent organisation, 3rd ed. Information Today, cited in Goker, A. (November 2006) ‘IKM Session 8: Information Users and Access’, City University London Detlor, B., 2000. The corporate portal as information infrastructure: Towards a framework for portal design. International Journal of Information Management 20 2, pp. 91–101. Article |   PDF (132 K) | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (48) Chen, J. Q., Heath, R. D. (2001). Building Web applications: Challenges, architecture, and methods. Information Systems Mangement, 18(1), 68–79. Marchand, D. A., Kettinger, W. 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