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Sir Alex Ferguson Case

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Sir Alex Ferguson Case

Indeed Sir Alex Ferguson is undeniably the most successful manager in British football antiquity. It is undisputable that Ferguson led Manchester United to success despite the challenges he underwent at the start of his career in the club. Coaching a team without winning any tittle is not an easy thing (Elberse & Dye 1-3). Ferguson’s greatness and achievement can be linked with his patience at the club. Also it may possible that Fergusson’s style of play that he instilled in his players that was purely attacking football earned him a place in the football world.

Claim that Fergusson prioritized youth player development may not actually define his preference and style of football. With the likes of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and the transfer of Robin Van Persie from Arsenal football club, who according to football profession, was not a young player are some of the indications that Fergusson did not prioritize youth development. In fact youth development should not be linked with his success. Instead, Fergusson preferred quality players and it can therefore be said that he was a manager who fully understood the kind of employees he wanted to keep the fire burning. Nevertheless, Fergusson literally succeeded in the English Premier League by making Manchester United club scoop nineteen league titles and two champions’ league trophies (Elberse & Dye 2-5).

Sir Alex Fergusson’s success in the football world can further be measured in terms of the fierce rivals he faced both in the English Premier League and globally. Actually, knocking out clubs like Liverpool football club was not an easy task but through hard work and better strategies, Fergusson managed to topple Liverpool. He was also faced by clubs whose owners had very strong financial muscles such as their neighboring Manchester City and the Russian’s billionaires, London based Chelsea football club. It therefore apparent that Sir Alex Fergusson’s strategies were superior to the finances and some great football styles played by clubs such as Arsenal. Indeed, Fergusson achieved what may not be easy for any manager to achieve in the football world (Elberse & Dye 4-8).

Football is really the most popular sport in the world with a good number of players, viewers and heavy financial investment. Additionally, English premier League is regarded superior to other League’s globally because of the ability to contribute a lot of revenue as well as the popular support it enjoys worldwide. English premier League football clubs have a larger worldwide support thus increasing their global viewers. on the other hand, the Champions League is the most lucrative tournament which, for sure, earned Manchester united $72 million in prize money for being runner up in the 2010-2011 season. Nonetheless it was not easy for Fergusson to successfully and simultaneously win both the Champions League and the English Premier League. Fergusson claims that Pressure and competition placed on him by the local clubs and tribalism to be the main reason behind the inability to win more Champions League trophies as he won English Premier League titles. This may not be genuine reason behind failure to severally capture the most lucrative global football tournament (Elberse & Dye 5-9).

Other football clubs like Barcelona and Bayern Munich have managed to reach the peak of the tournament or even win the Champions League titles and their local League trophies easily. It is obvious that the main hindrance was the intense competition from other European clubs. Fergusson’s role in Manchester united was wider than any other football manager because his degree of control was wider. He also allowed open communication with the Manchester united director as a way of getting things done smoothly and efficiently. He had his own policies and beliefs that guided his actions and eventually great performance in Manchester United (Elberse & Dye 4-7).

Fergusson is an individual who learned from his previous mistakes and improve of his successes. After his clash with the chairman of St. Mirren FC, he later developed a good and strong relationship with Aberdeen FC’s chairman thus leading to his success at the club, including winning European Cup defeating European giants such as Bayern Munich ad Real Madrid. His success as a professional footballer however cannot be linked with his achievements as a manager. There is a great distinction between a great manager and a good player particularly as far as management skills is concerned. Fergusson simply possessed wonderful management skills that made his career as a football manager more successful than his career as a player (Elberse & Dye 5-10).

Fergusson’s entrance in Manchester United in 1986 evidently reflected his management style of instituting discipline and family wood in the club. This resulted into many successes that included five EPL tittles out of six probable occasions between 1995 and 2001. He encouraged team spirit and understood his opponents before any game. He dwelt on expansion of talent centers and the club’s scouts in order to nature young talents. Indeed Ferguson initially believed in youth talents as was seen when he consistently played young David Beckham, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes despite complaints from fans which eventually earned the club a tittle in the EPL. It is however likely that this trend did not continue for a very long time (Elberse & Dye 7-10).

Fergusson largely depended on a strategy that encouraged and corrected players whenever they did not perform well. This was actually a great disciplinary action which propelled the players to up their performance particularly in the last fifteen minutes. He always believed and instilled belief that Manchester United would win despite employing tactics that encouraged gradual buildup. He admitted his mistakes and forged ahead without waste of time. Ferguson strategically managed Manchester united in such a way that the key players would play significant games while other young players were played in less important games. This is however not a big issue because every manager would certainly do the trade off to avoid embarrassment and somehow maintain positive performance (Elberse & Dye 9-13).

Sir Alex Ferguson was also very consistent when it came to training sessions. He maintained skills and tactics which he deemed important although he left his assistants to lead the sessions as he observed the players performance from a distance. This was actually very unique of his strategy because most coaches would not delegate such kind of activities to their subordinates for fear of making mistakes or just disbelief (Elberse & Dye 11-14). It is undisputable that Sir Alex Ferguson has left a mark, not only in English Premier League but also in the football coaching and in the Manchester united fraternity.

Works Cited

Elberse, Anita & Dye, Tom. “Sir Alex Ferguson; managing Manchester United.” Harvard Business School 513.51 (2012):1-25. Print

CPG for reducing medical errors

Executive summary

This document covers the definitional aspects and nature of medication errors and adverse drug events (ADEs) affecting hospitals in New Zealand and Australia. The document contains the clinical aspects of medication errors prevention via an elaborate evidence-based approach that takes into account the role and involvement of all relevant stakeholders. The documents also contain details for the assessment, features, investigation, management, and discharge of medication error cases.

This guideline applies to all hospital staff. Some of the people it applies to include;

Medical Staff

Nursing and Midwifery staff

Pharmacy staff

All the Allied Health Care Professionals as well as Health Care Scientists who are involved in the administration of medication.

This policy also affects the operation of Pre-registration Healthcare Professionals Students such as Pharmacy, Nursing and Medical students who are directly or indirectly involved in any given medication process while under direct supervisions.

The policy also affects the operations of all staff members who are involved in the prescription, dispensing as well as administration of drugs.

Any staffs who take the initiative to promptly report any case of medication error will not in any way be subject to any form of disciplinary action unless of course it’s under any of the following conditions.

Where the staff member behaved in a malicious or criminal manner

Where the staff is guilty of gross negligence and carelessnes

Introduction

The development of elaborate clinical procedure guidelines for use in reducing medication errors is important for the assurance of quality health care and safety within the medical health facilities. According to Grober and Bohnen (2004,p.39), medication errors are a major source of public health concern and pose a great threat to the safety of patients. As healthcare institutions seek to contain the “errors” as a matter of both research and clinical priority, the answer to one of the most daunting clinical equations still remain: What set of clinical procedures exists for handling or reducing medical errors? In order to reduce medication errors, a systematic measurements of its various incidents on the basis of a clear and yet consistent definitions of its constituents are a necessary prerequisite for an effective and holistic solution to be devised.

The definition of the concept of medication error has remained elusive. In this regard, we shall roughly define it as any event that is preventable but could cause or lead to the prescription and taking of inappropriate medication that mat lead or cause inappropriate use of medication or harm to patient while in the control of a given health application or patient harm while under control of a health care professional, consumer or patient (Porché , 2008, p. 16)

The issue of patient safety is of utmost importance in health care. Its importance is further amplified by a growing number of literature showing high incidence of medication errors (Brennan et al,1994; Leape et al, 1991; Wilson et al, 1995; Wilson et al,1999; Thomas et al.,1999).This is coupled with the rising number of highly publicized cases of medical errors that have raised the level of public concern on the very safety of our modern healthcare delivery systems.

According to Nichols et al (2008, p.276) adverse drug events (ADEs) are at the moment associated with between 2.4 % to 3.6 % of all admissions to Australian health care facilities. Preventable errors in prescribing, dispensing, as well as administration of drugs in the Australian hospitals contribute to 24% of ADEs (Runciman et al, 2003; Bates et al,1995; Barber & Dean,1998). In a study conducted in the UK, close to 1.5 percent of medication orders had clearly identifiable errors out of which 0.4 percent were deemed to be potentially serious (Dean et al, 2002).

Types of medication errors

According to Nichols et al (2008, 277), three types of medication errors are the most common. They include errors due to slips in intention in memory lapse, errors of judgment in medication planning (also called rule-based errors), and finally, errors due to a general lack of knowledge (commonly referred to as knowledge-based errors) (Reason, 1990). According to Reason (1990), the systems approach to cases of human errors clearly distinguishes between the active mistakes committed by hospital staff and the latent (related to the system) conditions that inherently makes mistakes more likely like fatigue and busy workload. All in all, medication-related activities in health care facilities are usually carried out within very busy and quite potentially distracting environments, a scenario that seemingly increases with latent conditions that may further predispose medical staff to errors.

In order to reduce cases of medical errors, healthcare providers must accurately identify their main causes, come up with solutions, as well as measure the success of the installed improvement initiatives. At the same time, accurate evaluations of the incidents of medication errors on the basis of clear and yet consistent definitions are necessary for the best route of action to be taken.

Scope and purpose of this document

This guideline applies to all hospital staff. Some of the people it applies to include;

Medical Staff

Nursing and Midwifery staff

Pharmacy staff

All the Allied Health Care Professionals as well as Health Care Scientists who are involved in the administration of medication.

This policy also affects the operation of Pre-registration Healthcare Professionals Students such as Pharmacy, Nursing and Medical students who are directly or indirectly involved in any given medication process while under direct supervisions.

The policy also affects the operations of all staff members who are involved in the prescription, dispensing as well as administration of drugs.

Any staffs who take the initiative to promptly report any case of medication error will not in any way be subject to any form of disciplinary action unless of course it’s under any of the following conditions.

Where the staff member behaved in a malicious or criminal manner

Where the staff is guilty of gross negligence and carelessness

This document covers the definitional aspects and nature of medication errors and adverse drug events (ADEs) affecting hospitals in New Zealand and Australia. The document contains the clinical aspects of medication errors prevention via an elaborate evidence-based approach that takes into account the role and involvement of all relevant stakeholders. The documents also contain details for the assessment, features, investigation, management, and discharge of medication error cases.

Definitions of a Medication Error

The following list gives examples of scenarios where medication errors can occur. Near Misses in any of the sections below should also be considered. The definitions have been divided into sections according to the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) Safety in doses: medication safety incidences in the NHS (2007).

This is not a conclusive list, therefore managers, clinicians, and Clinical Governance

Managers must use professional judgment before addressing the issue at hand.

Prescribing Errors

• Deviation from Policy and Guidelines relating to Management of Medicines

• Medication prescribed to the wrong patient

• Transcription errors

• Prescribing without taking into account the patients clinical condition

• Prescribing without taking into account patients clinical parameters e.g. weight

• Prescription not signed

• wrong medication/rate/dose/route prescribed to the patients

Dispensing Errors

• Dispensation of medication to the wrong patient

• Patient dispensed wrong medication / dose / route

• Patient dispensed an out of date medicine

• Deviation from Policy and Guidelines relating to Management of Medicines

• Incorrect labeling of medication

Preparation and Administration Errors

• Wrong infusion rate

• Patient administered an out of date medicine

• Medication administered to the wrong patient

• Medication omitted without a clinical rationale

• Medication incorrectly prepared

• Patient administered the wrong medication / dose / route

• Wrong timing of medication administration

• Deviation from Policy and Guidelines relating to Management of Medicines

Monitoring Errors

•Deviation from policy and guidelines relating to management medicine

•Failure to provide the patient with correct information regarding their medication e.g. when to take, what it is for, side effects

• Failure to monitor therapeutic levels

• Failure to monitor patient / carer who is undertaking self medication

• Patient allergic to medication but the medication was prescribed and/or dispensed and/or administered

Actions to be taken on discovery of a medication error

Immediate actions to be taken

Assess the condition of the patients ad then take the necessary actions for maintaining their stability (see appendix)

Immediate reporting of the error to the nurse in-charge/ person in-charge or line manager

Seek immediate advise from the institution’s Pharmacy on the possible outcomes of the given medication error

In case of a dispensing error, the manager of the local pharmacy must be informed and the incorrect medication should be returned to the pharmacy for correct re-dispensing.

The incident report form must then be completed following the hospital’s policy for the management of staff and patient safety. All relevant charts must be photocopied and statements obtained. The incident must then be documented in the facility’s patient case notes

The line manager must ensure that the incident form is appropriately completed and the situation/case escalated appropriately (such as to the Clinical Governance manager, Matron or Education and Practice Development Teams). It is necessary that this take place in an expeditious manner in order to allow for a more timely investigation in cases of more serious events.

The out of hours facility Duty Manager must then be informed.

Medium Term Actions

Medium term actions involve the systematic review of the main or root causes of the medication error. The necessary Root Cause Analysis checklist must be used with the involved staff available. For errors that are of moderate nature, the Patient Safety Team as well as Senior Pharmacy staff must be involved.

After the Root Cause Analysis and by means of an incident tree, the line manager may deem it necessary to stop the involved staff member from taking part in any medication prescribing, dispensing as well as administration duties until thorough critical incident reflective exercise has been conducted.In such a case, the Head Nurse must be consulted by the line manager.

Suspension of affected staff and ways of addressing competency concerns

There are instances when it becomes necessary to stop staff from prescribing, dispensing or administration of medication. This issue must be respected and taken care of within the existing the critical incident reflective exercise.

The line manager while working with the Clinical Tutors and Matron must undertake a thorough critical incident reflective exercise with the affected medical, clinical or pharmaceutical member of staff. This must be carried out in less than a week after the error is reported.

A signed copy of the agreed actions as indicated in the critical incident reflective exercise must be kept on the affected staff member’s personal record/file and then reviewed according to the laid down appraisal procedures

Long Term Actions

As a major part of the long term actions after medication error, the Directorate Senior Management team comprising of the Clinical Director , Clinical Governance Manager and Head of Nursing must put in place clear proicedures for reviewing information on medication errors (obtained from Datix) to be used for the identification of common trends and themes. Any concerns regarding medication errors must then be pointed out and then be appropriately escalated.

A copy of the Root Cause Analysis Checklists must then be mailed/sent to the Principal Pharmacist in charge of Clinical Governance. The results will then be entered in special database and then appropriately analyzed for common themes and trends. The outcome would then be reported to Australia Medicines management Board.

Informing the affected Patient

The hospital acknowledges that open communication is important whenever things go wrong.

The affected patient must be informed by the nurse in-charge or the consultant team and an appropriate apology given. That apology must never be treated as an admission of liability

The patient’ consent must be sort before informing other mebers of the family or any other third party for that matter

If the Senior Nursing or Consultant feels that there is a compelling medical reason not to discuss the medication error event with the patient or relative, then a clear record must be made of such decision in the patient’s case notes.

There are instances when it becomes necessary to stop staff from prescribing, dispensing, or administration of medication. This issue must be respected and taken care of within the existing the critical incident reflective exercise.

The line manager while working with the Clinical Tutors and Matron must undertake a thorough critical incident reflective exercise with the affected medical, clinical, or pharmaceutical member of staff. This must be carried out in less than a week after the error is reported.

A signed copy of the agreed actions as indicated in the critical incident reflective exercise must be kept on the affected staff member’s personal record/file and then reviewed according to the laid down appraisal procedures

Discussion

Management of Medical Errors

Several empirical research suggest that error in clinical medicine results in grater harm, it is estimated that more than quarter of all medical errors around the world can be prevented. Additionally, effective error management strategies are available especially in clinical practice. This can best be done by involving individuals from all relevant professional groups.

Stakeholder Involvement

Medical stakeholders can come up with several interventions to mitigate medical errors in clinical practice. For instance, they can test existing systems to ensure they actually catch errors that injure patients; improve regulation and remove disincentives for vendors to provide clinical decision support; implement clinical decision support judiciously; make existing quality structures meaningful; consider consequent actions when designing systems; promote adoption of standards for data and systems; develop systems that communicate with each other; and use systems in new ways; to measure and prevent adverse consequences;

Specific recommendations should be; to implement bar-coding for medications, blood, devices, and patients; to implement provider order entry systems, especially computerized prescribing; and to utilize modern electronic systems to communicate key pieces of related data such as markedly abnormal laboratory values. Increases in the use of information technology appropriately, in the health care especially the introduction of clinical decision support and better linkages in and among systems, resulting in process simplification, could result in substantial improvement in the safety of patient.

References

Bates DW, Cullen DJ, Laird N, et al.1995 Incidence of adverse drug events and potential adverse drug events. Implications for prevention. JAMA; 274: 29-34. HYPERLINK “http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7791255&dopt=Abstract” t “pubmed” <PubMed>

Barber ND, Dean BS.1998, The incidence of medication errors and ways to reduce them. Clin Risk 1998; 4: 103-106.

Dean B, Schachter M, Vincent C, Barber N. 2002Prescribing errors in hospital inpatients: their incidence and clinical significance. Qual Saf Health Care 2002; 11: 340-344. HYPERLINK “http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12468694&dopt=Abstract” t “pubmed” <PubMed>

Grober, E.D and J.M.A. Bohnen. 2005. “Defining Medical Error.” Canadian Journal of Surgery48: 39–44.

Nichols et al ,2008.Learning from error: identifying contributory causes of medication errors in an Australian hospital.Med J Aust; 188 (5): 276-279.

Reason J.1990. Human error. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990

Runciman WB, Roughead EE, Semple SJ, Adams RJ.2003. Adverse drug events and medication errors in Australia. Int J Qual Health Care 2; 15 Suppl 1: i49-i59. HYPERLINK “http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=14660523&dopt=Abstract” t “pubmed” <PubMed>

Appendix

Assessment

Medical errors are manifested in patients as adverse medical events. Before event thinking on how to reduce medical errors, it is important for this guideline to outline ways of assessing the genuine cases of medical errors as evidenced from patients admitted as a result of adverse medical events.

What is an adverse event?

An adverse event (AE) or side effect is any unfavorable and yet unrelated change in the function, structure, as well as chemistry of a patient’s body that is temporarily associated with the use of a given drug/medicine. In other words, it is the undesired or harmful affects that result from the use of a given medication.

Serious adverse events must be treated as a matter of MEDICAL ERMERGENCY. This is because it can lead to:

Death

Hospitalization

Significant disability/ patient incapacitation

Discomfort and pain

Congenital anomaly

Cancer

Overdose

A principal investigator (trained physician) must be involved in the assessment of the nature of care that an adverse medical event patient requires. Physical symptoms must be evaluated together with laboratory results.

Treatment should never be unblinded unless under emergency conditions

The emergency unblinding procedures must be followed as prescribed in the existing hospital protocol

The unblinding process should be discussed with the sponsor if conditions allow

Subject’s safety is paramount

Documentation

The cases of adverse events must be documented. There must be;

A description of the patient’s experience

The onset, the duration as well as date of resolution

Assessment of causality

Treatment given

Outcome of the treatment

All the relevant documentations must be obtained. These include;

Hospital admissions, notes and discharge summaries

Lab reports

Medication data

Procedure reports

All these documents should always be completed and then forwarded to the relevant sponsor representatives.

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CQIs IMPACT ON MEDICARE AND PUBLIC HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS

CQI’S IMPACT ON MEDICARE AND PUBLIC HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS

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This article explores the fundamental healthcare quality approaches that have been advanced by various researchers. In this case Quality improvement (QI) is at center stage as the new found concept focused on realizing quality healthcare (McLaughlin & Kaluzny, 2006). The impacts of this healthcare quality approach in the society has been discussed with great terms and convincing diction. The following terms are critical in understanding the idea of Quality improvement in healthcare management across United States and the world at large.

Quality improvement: This is a healthcare concept that involves systematically evaluating public health programs, practices, and policies and addressing areas that need to be improved to increase healthy results.

Multi-State Learning Collaborative (MLC):This is an approach within the quality improvement (QI) that aims to inform the national accreditation program, incorporate quality improvement practice into public health systems, promote collaborative learning across states and partners, and expand the knowledge base in public health (Hill & Howlett, 2013).

Public Health Systems and Services Research (PHSSR): This is an institution that offers the potential to contribute to and support QI efforts in public health (McLaughlin & Kaluzny, 2006).

Besides the above highlighted terms there are others that seek to back up understanding and effective implementation of quality improvement in healthcare sector. A critical evaluation of the findings on the study exposes positive outcomes. From the article, it can be established that quality improvement has significantly boosted the evidence-based learning culture among healthcare professionals. This works alongside improving training curriculum that will impart better ethical nursing practices (Hill & Howlett, 2013). Another positive outcome of this programme is improved collaboration of different healthcare agencies, the government, private sector and the general community towards one direction in regard to improving quality of healthcare. The two case studies provides a springboard on which further tests and investigative research will be conducted with emphasis on mobilizing resources and human factor input in advocating quality healthcare. Minnesota and South Carolina has registered significant quality of service delivery which would be used to generalize on the feasibility of this quality improvement methodology.

The next steps in this concept explore the best implementation procedures and further collaborative approaches. Proposed pursuit for evidence-based learning in nursing as a way of improving the culture of quality service delivery among the healthcare professionals is a positive move (Hill & Howlett, 2013).

References

McLaughlin, C. P., & Kaluzny, A. D. (2006). Continuous quality improvement in health care. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett.

Hill, S. S., & Howlett, H. A. (2013). Success in practical/vocational nursing: From student to leader. St. Louis, Mo: Elsevier.

Quality Improvement in Public Health. Retrieved from http://www.academyhealth.org/files/interestgroups/phsr/AH_RI_Quality_Improvement.pdf

Turkey, the savior of the Middle East

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Turkey, the savior of the Middle East

Introduction

Middle East has experienced turbulence and upheavals in the recent past but the most interesting issue is Syria which has acted as the focal point of various contradictions in the region. As these conflicts increase in Syria, there are powerful forces that concentrate their interest may further steer the turbulence to another higher level. Turkey is one of the countries whose relationship with her neighbors such as Iran, Russia and Iraq thus forcing it to reinstate her relations with the neighboring countries (Balci Web). Turkey has been relating very well with most of her neighbors and acts as a model of moderation and mediation in the Middle East. This writing focusses on the position of Turkey regarding Syria as well as her relation with other countries in the region.

Turkey is a contiguous transcontinental country lying between Western Asia and Southern Europe making it to act as a link between the Western region and the Middle East region. Turkey has had an increasing involvement with the Middle East in her broader frame of her foreign policy which extends to her relation with Western Allies. Turkey represents a n Islamic democracy which is integral for Western and the Islamic powers. Turkey’s position in the Middle East is seen by some other leaders as unwavering and does not represent the true spirit and opinions of many Turkish (Balci Web).

Turkey is one of the powerhouses in that geographical location and neighboring countries wants to better their relationship but we have an unstable and volatile Prime Minister who is drunk and deranged with power so Turkey should not get physically involved with Syria or interfere with their internal affairs.

Turkey is such an important nation not only in the Middle East because of her position to expend pronounced efforts to enhance peace, stability, democracy and tolerance in the Middle East. Turkey is has introduced foreign policies aimed at promoting peace, stability and mediation between the Islamic world and the Western region. The country is also a member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization and has very good relationship with The United States of America (Balci Web). The country’s strategic position between Asia, Europe and the Middle East is another significant aspect that plays a big role in bringing stability. The country further plays a major role in distributing energy from Middle East to Europe which is very critical in the global economy. Also Turkey is seen as promoting Islamic democracy because it stands as a modern Islamic country which connects both the Western and the Islamic world (Demirtas Web).

Turkey has always acted as a mediator and peace facilitator with her neighbors. It has attempted to democratize the Muslim world in the Middle East. Although seems to be uncertainty concerning her relations with neighbor after the introduction of the “zero problem with the neighbors” by the AKP regime, Turkey’s conflicts with her neighbors happen to eliminate the doctrine (Demirtas Web). The country has had several concerns which have seen it in an international unwarrantable situation by the fact that Europe tries to ignore her interests such as request for membership in the European Union. Even as Turkey was using her economic and political predominant role amongst her Muslim neighbors to enhance peace in the region, her neighbors feel that Turkey is alienating them. For instance there has been deterioration of relations between Turkey and Syria, Iraq, Iran and Russia which may negatively impact the country (Candar Web).

Entrance of Erdogen as a Prime Minister in 2004 was a major comeback for turkey as it tried to court her neighbors such as Syria and Iran and Ankara too reconciled with Damascus. However, tie between turkey and Syria was very close such that their forces conducted joint maneuvers while their foreign ministers came up with strategic cooperation council (Candar Web). They even signed huge economic contracts but the relationship did not last long after unrest broke in Syria and Turkey supported the opposition and announced sanctions against Syria. Additionally, it proposed a regime change in Damascus and this acted as the end of her transformative diplomacy. It started to openly provoking and confronting her neighbors whom it had spent years developing relations with. Turkey is also seen to confront the Nouri al Malik’s government in Iraq by pushing for her own agenda. Lately, Turkey’s relations with her neighbors seem to deteriorate (Demirtas Web).

Turkey has been unable to play a meaningful role in the Middle East particularly regarding Syria’s position because of the Syria’s strong relationship with other countries such as Iran. Furthermore, Syria tends to compete for Iraq, Palestinian and Lebanese influences which include Hamas and Hezbollah and this greatly limits turkey’s capacity in decision making. Turkey does not seem to impose military intervention in Syria’s issue because it is likely to suffer most. Additionally, Russia and China does not support West’s action especially repeating the Libyan scenario in Syria and this further imposes great obstacle to Turkey (Balci Web).

Turkey has a robust economic advantage in the Middle East because of her big market. Turkey plays an important role in energy supply to the EU. It enjoys developing technology associated with entrepreneurship as well as great economic relationship with the West. Generally, Turkish economy is very stable in the Middle East and this is what makes it dominate the Middle East. Because of Turkey’s stand against the Damascus regime it took advantage of her robust economy to impose economic and financial sanctions as a tool to force Assad to negotiate with the opposition. Turkey decided to freeze her commercial transactions with Assad’s government which. This has really brought to a standstill, a once flourishing economy after the agreement between Syria and Turkey (Candar Web).

There has been a significant decline in the export as well as transportation sector incentives which was the main industry that was utilized by most Syrians at the border. Moreover, tourism industry has gone very low because most Syrians no longer visit Turkey as well as other industries which have really affected the Syrian economy (Demirtas Web). Nonetheless, the impact may not be that large because the Turkish foreign earnings did not go that low due to availability of other trading partners such as Germany. But it is worth noting that some regions in Turkey such as Gaziantep which is at the border of Turkey and Syria have really been hit by the sanctions imposed by Turkey. This economic challenge may go for long as long as the tension between Turkey and Syria continues. Syria tends to influence some other neighbors not to support Turkey and this may further deteriorate the economic dominance of Turkey in the Middle East (Balci Web).

Turkey, although suffers most in the current affairs going on in Syria should not be involved in military intervention because of the possible serious consequences. There are so many threats to turkey than benefits when they engage in the war. It is not easy for Turkey to cope up with the current situations in Syria which may really limit her dominance in the Middle East. There is he issue of political deterioration and economic effects that may arise when Turkey gets into this war. Moreover, turkey may continue to lose its relationship with her neighbors as well as lose of public support which is very critical (Demirtas Web).

Conclusion

Indeed, Turkey is one of the powerhouses in middle and neighboring countries wants to better their relationship but we have an unstable and volatile Prime Minister who is drunk and deranged with power so Turkey should not get physically involved with Syria or interfere with their internal affairs (Balci Web). It should reconsider her foreign policies and attitude towards her neighbors. Turkey is a very strong country whose Agenda has been creation of peace and should therefore not divert this great agenda. It should reconsider her position in Syria and the Prime Minister should organize for effective dialogue which will not affect the country’s relations with the Middle East.

Works Cited

Balci, Baram. Does the Syrian crisis imply the end of the Turkish dream in the Middle East. Heinrich Boll Stiftung Turkei, 2013. Web. 15 Oct. 2013. <http://www.tr.boell.org/web/51-1461.html>

Candar, Cengiz. What Will Turkey Do If West Attacks Syria? Almonitor, 24 Aug. 2013. Web. 15 Oct. 2013. <http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2013/08/turkey-syria-potential-strike-erdogan.html>

Demirtas, Serkan. Turkey, Syria ‘attack after the process’ plans. BBC, 27 AUGUST 2013. Web. 15 Oct. 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/turkce/haberler/2013/08/130827_turkiye_suriye.shtml>

Cradle Mountain Sewerage Scheme

Cradle Mountain Sewerage Scheme

Robert Ristevski

Institutional Affiliation

Table of Contents

TOC o “1-3” h z u HYPERLINK l “_Toc388522926″Summary PAGEREF _Toc388522926 h 3

HYPERLINK l “_Toc388522927″Quality plan PAGEREF _Toc388522927 h 4

HYPERLINK l “_Toc388522928″Project Schedule PAGEREF _Toc388522928 h 5

HYPERLINK l “_Toc388522929″Risk plan PAGEREF _Toc388522929 h 7

HYPERLINK l “_Toc388522930″Risk from Materials and Equipment PAGEREF _Toc388522930 h 8

HYPERLINK l “_Toc388522931″Risk Evaluation PAGEREF _Toc388522931 h 9

HYPERLINK l “_Toc388522932″Risk Analysis of Equipment Delivery PAGEREF _Toc388522932 h 9

HYPERLINK l “_Toc388522933″Risk Mitigation PAGEREF _Toc388522933 h 9

HYPERLINK l “_Toc388522934″Communication PAGEREF _Toc388522934 h 10

HYPERLINK l “_Toc388522935″Audience: PAGEREF _Toc388522935 h 10

HYPERLINK l “_Toc388522936″Communication Frequency PAGEREF _Toc388522936 h 11

HYPERLINK l “_Toc388522937″Information Needs: PAGEREF _Toc388522937 h 12

HYPERLINK l “_Toc388522938″Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc388522938 h 14

HYPERLINK l “_Toc388522939″References PAGEREF _Toc388522939 h 16

Summary

The goal of the project was to expand the existing sewerage and drainage system in Tasmania. The entire project entailed overhauling the Cradle Mountain Sewerage and Drainage system, at an initial cost of $5 million. After further consideration and deliberation plus assessment of the risks involved, the project cost went up to $12 million. The entire project involved about 7.5 km of work. As per the specific features of the project, it encompassed constructing two sewerage treatment plants to replace the existing ones, a Membrane Bioreactor (MBR), shared trench from treatment zone to discharge, construction of untreated effluent pipe from Cradle Valley region to the treatment plant, two pump stations, treated effluent pipeline from the treatment zone and treated effluent header tank.. The main objective of the project was to develop a centralized drainage and sewerage system at Cradle Mountain in northern Tasmania will help protect the national park from waste seeping out into streams and rivers. This project was to further support effective surface water and waste management in the Cradle Mountain region amidst the ever-increasing concerns that the WHA could be at threat. This Project was dubbed “Cradle Mountain Sewerage Scheme” and this tag was put conspicuously on the billboard under which Treloar Transport Pty was indicated as the contractor.

Treloar Transport Pty has had a long history of delivering such projects (Treloar Transport 2014) to the exact specifications and expectations of the customer and therefore this particular project did not pose any risk of uncertainty. On that basis, the company’s project database provided a rich resource for determining many aspects of this sewerage and drainage system project. In addition, the company easily met the financial needs of completing it. However, the greatest risk lay in the fact that the project involved installing the sewerage system in an environmentally sensitive location (the Cradle Mountain) and thus called for the use of most up to date technology hence increased costs of the project.

Major assumptions made related to the scheduling and budget constraints. First of all, it was assumed that that the prices of external supplies will not change significantly over the period of the project execution until completion and that if any changes happen due to external factors such as changes in exchange rates, they would fall within the estimates. Construction projects that involve excavation generally have a risk of causing environmental damage. This was a particular concern for the company though not because the company does not have mechanisms in place but due to lobby groups that were thought to pose a risk of causing scope creep due to halting of project.

Quality planAmong the measures put in place to ensure quality of the project were four principles that guided the quality assurance, control and audit processes and practices (PMBoK 3, 2013). The first aspect was that customer satisfaction was taken as an utmost goal and this was done by taking the client’s representative team as part of the consulting team to ensure that project specifications are clearly stated and elaborated upon. For instance, the client stated that the trenches had to pass on the side of the road and streets and this was adhered to. However, where it was felt that by by-passing this requirement it would be done as a necessary and cost-effective measure for the project and ensure timely completion, then this had to be liaised with the project consulting. The team comprised members from the client’s side, the contracting firm and the communities, who were mainly represented by a lobby group. The members of the environmentalist lobby group were included when they halted the initial environmental inspection exercise and it was felt imperative to include one representative for purposes of communication. The requirements laid down by the Tasmanian Government were used as the primary guideline for quality assurance and control.

Another tenet that was used as a quality assurance guideline was that mistakes were to be prevented by all means feasible and this is also supported by the Project Management Institute’s Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK 3, p 181) which notes that preventing mistakes is a vital quality assurance principle because it is better than later carrying out inspection and repairing defects since it ensures that mistakes are avoided during the construction process and expected quality is delivered at the end of the project. With respect to the quality of specific deliverables, the table below provides an overview of quality expectations the main deliverables.

Deliverable Quality Expectations Cost Estimates ($)

Property Sewerage System should handle at least 30% of wastewater discharging into Pencil Pine Creek 295,000

Treatment Plant MBR capable of 24hr/day operation

Installed with UV disinfection system 3,724,000

Storage Pond Dam able to handle minimum dilution ratio for a flow of 350kL/d

Able to achieve discharge flow of 56L/s 465,000

Treated Effluent Pump Station Able to achieve a 180 to 1 dilution at the discharge point 140,000

Table SEQ Table * ARABIC 1: Quality of Deliverables

Costs approval is an important part of the company’s quality assurance process and practice for all projects it handles. To guarantee quality through this practice, all costs incurred in the project must be approved by the management thereby respecting management responsibility. This closely ties with the cost-benefit-analysis that a special team from the company’s management carries out to establish if the desired quality standards should be paid for. Quality is also closely tied to costs such that quality standards are only approved if the benefits that accrue to the quality standards wished outweigh the costs.

Another measure for quality control is benchmarking. This was primarily achieved through the use of data from the database for previous similar projects as a way of comparing the Cradle Mountain Sewerage and Drainage project against other projects (PM4DEV, 2008). This benchmarking was used to provide grounds for measuring performance in the current and helping in generation of more ideas for improvement.

Project ScheduleAn element that was essentially important in the project scheduling was the development of a work breakdown structure that provided flexibility and had room for change including the capacity to insert, delete and amend work plans that came as a result of revised project requirements such as amendments in the technical scope of the project as was witnessed and also changes in schedule. For this matter, the following schedule related to the project:

Assemblage of equipment

The equipment needed for the project were all assembled in centralized location to ensure that all equipment needed for initial stages of the project were readily available and would not lead to delays. Assembly of necessary equipment was a critical process as well as preparation of materials and preparation of the construction site. As the critical path diagram below illustrates, these activities consumed the first 12 months of the project schedule. All the activities were on the critical path. However, time for completion was not a big issue, but rather the main issue for consideration was delivery of a final product that matched the initial strict requirements of quality. Resources were allocated based on cost allocation estimation method for every activity.

Figure SEQ Figure * ARABIC 1: Project’s Critical Path

Risk planThe risk profile of the project revealed risks that could be grouped in 10 categories. Some of the categories presented higher risks while risks from other risk categories were minor.

Sources of risks to the project included among others construction materials, World Heritage Area rules and conditions, construction equipment, project design and environment. In terms of the ten risk categories identified in the project, the first category comprised the technical part, and then another significant category was environmental. The other categories are as follows:

Cost

Schedule

Design

Contractual

Weather

Financial

Political

Social

The greatest risk of the project related to three areas: design, environmental and cost. Design was a considerable source of risk for the contractor because the contractor (Treloar Transport Pty) was solely responsible for coming up with the design from scratch in consideration of the fact that the Cradle Mountain is a designated World Heritage Area hence the design had to be one that considered minimum negative impact on the environment. Meanwhile, the objectives of the project were set by the sponsor of the project (the Government of Tasmania) and it meant that the design had to consider these objectives as utmost predictors of the final quality yardstick. The first objective of the Cradle Mountain Centralized Sewerage System was to rejuvenate the Cradle Mountain area’s sewerage system in a way that reduces the overall environmental, visual and social impacts as much as possible while using effective design solutions with established technology to minimize operations costs. Secondly, another objective was to assimilate the sewerage system with other services, where feasibility allows with respect to design, construction, operation and maintenance.

Risk from Materials and EquipmentDue to the high sensitivity of the Cradle Mountain National Park, the quality of equipment and materials had to be a paramount factor that greatly determined the quality of the end product hence the quality control and management process also involved ensuring that the materials used are of the right quality (PM4DEV, 2008). A special team was in charge of ensuring that the materials are of the right quality and any material that did not meet the stipulated quality level was excluded from the construction materials. Since the equipment to be used was only hi-tech, the special team was also responsible for evaluating different equipment suppliers based on their quality and reliability. This need for and stress on the quality of materials and equipment had a significant impact on the cost of the project. Initially, the Tasmanian Government had estimated and projected the costs to be $5 million. However, when the sensitivity of the environment was made a strict factor for consideration requiring special equipment and skilled manpower, the cost was revised upward to $12 million. This clearly illustrates the risk factor that accompanied the cost issue (Khumpaisal 2007).

The social risk part of the project related to the fact that the Cradle Mountain region (the national park), being a World Heritage Area, attracted a lot of interest and it is an attraction for tourism and changing the landscape would have a significant impact on all that.

Risk EvaluationRisk Analysis of Equipment DeliveryDue to the special nature of the equipment needed in the project process, the project team analysed the risk of some important equipment not being availed to the project on time since some of the equipment needed to be customized to the specifics of the project and the terrain. In addition, the team identified three bits of equipment that were decisive to the project and would notably increase the costs of the sewerage and drainage scheme if they were late in arriving. Among the selected vendors, one had a history of not complying strictly with deadlines hence being late on projects. This risk received a rating of high and the impact from the risk also received a rating of high. This meant that there was a high probability (that is it had a probability of 0.65 and above on a scale of 0 to 1) of it happening and the impact from it would have a considerable impact on the project.

Risk MitigationAfter the risks had been assessed and evaluated, the project team developed a risk mitigation plan, which incorporated two main aspects of risk mitigation. The first was risk reduction. Risk sharing was another one. Moreover, an element of risk avoidance could also be pinpointed in the strategy. In respect to the risk sharing strategy, government representatives were incorporated as part of designing process and this implied that the risk resulting from design was shared between the contracting company and the Tasmanian Government.

With respect to the risk that would result from the environmental aspect in terms of dereliction and corruption of a World Heritage Area, the company invested in high technology equipment in order to reduce that risk below the minimum levels accepted. By using high tech equipment it became possible to achieve the required precision with respect to measurement and excavation and project execution. This take is supported by Parker and Mobey (2004) who point out that risk that relates to the quality of product can be reduced by investing in higher quality material and equipment but these have to be reflected in the project cost.

When it came to the mitigation of the risk related to late delivery of materials and equipment, this risk was handled by engaging five suppliers. In addition, the suppliers signed contractual agreements to absorb responsibilities in case of late delivery of materials to the project.

CommunicationTo guarantee that information flows smooth, the following communication plan was used in the Cradle Mountain Sewerage and Drainage System. The communication plan identifies the audience of the communication, information needs, the media used in communicating the information, timing or frequency of the communication and responsibilities singling out the individual or individuals responsible for the communication. In this case, a team within the project will be responsible for the project communications. The overall aim of the project communication plan was to ensure smooth flow of information for ultimate success of the project by meeting the information needs of the various project stakeholders.

Audience:The communication audience for the Cradle Mountain Sewerage and Drainage System was the project manager, the entire project team, the Government of Tasmania of the project, the communities around the Cradle Mountain region and the Cradle Mountain National Park. For the audience of the communication plan for the project, considering that the project was a highly sensitive one, constant communication was necessary and constant check of the project requirements and deliverables.

Various critical factors were considered and these included the name of stakeholder or audience to whom the communication was addressed, the title of the audience, their contact information, the type of communication to be used and any other information that may increase the value and efficiency of the communication. The full table 1 below provides more information.

Name Title Contact Communication Vehicle Comments

Treloar Transport Pty Project Manager Project Manager Phone and e-mail available in contact book Status Reports and Internal Project Status Meeting Through phone and mail Two-way communication with feedback needed

The Government of Tasmania Project Sponsor Phone, e-mail and official address Initial Communication on project commencement Through e-mail, phone call and official letter Communication to inform

Project Team Project Team Phone, e-mails, Deliverables and project expectations Through mail, phone calls and SMS Communication to inform and clarify

Environmentalist Lobby Groups External Stakeholders Posters, e-mails, local media Addressing concerns on environment Through newspaper, posters and e-mail Posters and newspaper ads for general community, e-mail for lobbyists

Table SEQ Table * ARABIC 2: Project Communication Plan

Communication FrequencyWith the above plan set, the following communication matrix was used in addressing further effectiveness and directive in the project communication needs. In terms of communication frequency, the communication with all stakeholders began at the start of the project after which the frequency of communication was adjusted depending on the stakeholder and respective information needs.

Vehicle Target DescriptionPurpose Frequency Owner DistributionVehicle Internal/External

Status Report All Internal Stakeholders Communication of project progress and deliverable status Weekly Project Manager e-mail and organization chart Internal

Status Report The Government of Tasmania Communication of project Progress and deliverables Bi-Weekly Project Manager Official letter External

Status Report Environmentalist Groups Communication of project Progress and deliverables Monthly Project Manager e-mail and posters External

Table SEQ Table * ARABIC 3: Communication Plan for Frequency

Information Needs:The communication plan is made with consideration that the various stakeholders have differing information needs hence the need for communication varies from one stakeholder to another. The Tasmanian Government being the project sponsor was keen on establishing that every stage of the project’s progress considers is mainly concerned by being informed that the project is progressing successfully and the progress is in line with the objectives. Therefore since the sponsor is interested is interested in knowing that every stage of the project goes in line with the laid down procedures as per the contract sheet, communication will be very frequent and the subsequent communications will mainly be to inform the sponsor hence one-way communication unless where the sponsor makes scope change requests.

Another group that required frequent communication was the project team which had to be informed whether the project progress is on track or not, on schedule or behind schedule and whether it is within the laid down budgetary parameters or not. This frequent communication to the project team was also vital and pivotal in guaranteeing successful supervision of resources; both human and non-human.

During the environmental inspection of the Cradle Mountain region, it became obvious that the adjacent national park was a vital aspect of the project since it is part of the World Heritage Area. The concern that needed to be strictly considered was that the project would lead to environmental degradation and have immense negative environmental and social impact. The project team had to provide assurance that the project would not leave the environment in dereliction. That assurance was communicated at the beginning, in the middle of the project and at the end of the project.

The following communication flow chart was applied:

Figure SEQ Figure * ARABIC 2: Communication Flow Chart

From the communication flow chart above, stakeholder needs identification was carefully aligned with development of objectives and key objectives and definition of information item. These were communicated to the project team, which handled the development of communications plan, methods and materials.

With respect to the lines of communication between and among the project stakeholders, the following chart provides the flow of information during the project execution.

Figure SEQ Figure * ARABIC 3: Communication Flowchart

The communication link between the project manager and the Government of Tasmania (the project sponsor and customer) was two-way while the link between the project manager and the other stakeholders such as the environmentalists and the communities was one-directional since these stakeholders mainly needed to be informed of the progress of the project or fed with information for awareness purposes.

ConclusionThe Cradle Mountain Sewerage and Drainage Scheme is a good example of how risk has an immense impact on the project cost. The initial allocation was $5 million but after further consideration for the risks involved, the cost more than doubled to $12 million. Elements of risk that were critical to the project included environmental since the area is a WHA region hence environmentally sensitive. Social source of risk sprouted from the fact that the area attracts human visitors due to the adjacent National Park and the risk of damaging the environment would further lead to considerable social implications. These aspects demanded for special design, which had to be achieved using specific equipment and high quality materials. Maintaining a well-defined communication plan was essential in mitigating risks. Moreover, risks were mainly handled through risk reduction, sharing and avoidance. Avoidance was exhibited through investment in high-tech equipment and high quality materials.

ReferencesBowman, D. (2009). Requirements Traceability Matrix. Information-management-architect.com. Retrieved 14 May 2014, from http://www.information-management-architect.com/requirements-traceability-matrix.html

D.M. Dilts, K.R. Pence (2006), “Critical factors in Project Failure”, Journal of Operations Management, 24 378–396

David Hillson, “Using a Risk Breakdown Structure in Project Management,” Journal of Facilities Management 2, no. 1 (2003): 85–97.

David Parker and Alison Mobey, “Action Research to Explore Perceptions of Risk in Project Management,” International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management 53, no. 1 (2004): 18–32.

Ibbs, C., Wong, C., &Kwak, Y. (2001), “Project change management system”Journal of Management in Engineering ASCE，17/3, 159-165

Khumpaisal, S., (2007) Risks in the Construction Project Procurement Process and the Mitigation Methods. Journal of Architectural/Planning Research and Studies Volume 5. Issue 2.

Lee, M., Hanna, A., &Loh, W. (2004), Decision tree approach to classify and quantify cumulative impact of change orders on productivity”, Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering ASCE, 18/2, 132-144

Lee, S., Pena-Mora, F., & Park, M. (2006), “Dynamic planning and control methodology for strategic and operational construction project management”, Automation in construction, 15, 84-97

Love, P., Li, H., & Mandal, P. (1999), “Rework: a symptom of a dysfunctional supply chain”, European Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, 5/1 , 1-11

Love, P., Mandal, P., Smith, J., & Li, H. (2000), “Modelling the dynamics of design error induced rework in construction”, ConstructionManagement and Economics, 18/5, 575-586

Lyneis, J., & Cooper, K. (2001), “Strategic Management of Complex Projects: A Case Study using System Dynamics”, System Dynamics Review, System Dynamics Society, 237-260

Meredith, R. Jack and Mantel, Jr., Samuel J., (2008) Project Management: A Managerial Approach, 7th edition, Wiley, ISBN 0-470-22621-8

Motawa, I., Anumba, C., & El-Hamalawi, A. (2006), “A fuzzy system for evaluating the risk of change in construction projects”, Advances in Engineering Software, 37, 583-591

Nahod M.M. (2010), Change Management in the Realization Phase of Construction Projects, Published MSc Thesis, Construction Management Department

Nahod, M. (2012). Scope Control Through Managing Changes in Construction Projects. Organization, Technology & Management In Construction: An International Journal, 4(1), 438–447.

Pinto, J. K. (2007) Project Management: Achieving Competitive Advantage. Pearson/ Prentice Hall

PM4DEV, (2008) PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS: A methodology to manage development projects for international humanitarian assistance and relief organizations –management for development series

Project Management Institute- PMI (2013, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge: (PMBOK’s Guide), 5th edition, PMI,

Project Management Professional (2012) Introducing Project Cost Management: Chapter 7

Stackpole, Cynthia Snyder, (2009) A Project Manager’s Book of Forms: A Companion to the PMBOK’s Guide, Wiley, ISBN 978-0470389843

Types of Advertising

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Types of Advertising

Businesses use their resources heavily in advertising for them to drive up their sales. Advertising evolves into a vastly complex form of communication thus providing various mediums for business to reach their consumers. Advertising remains a complex field of study involving faster rate of innovation and creativity. Actually, advertising uses almost every media available. There are vast array of choices available for advertisers to communicate their intended messages. Modern advertising is full of internet related contents and use of other wireless gadgets. Most businesses are faced with challenges of finding the most appropriate form of advertising amongst the many alternatives. This writing highlights some of the traditional and modern types of advertising.

Traditional advertising

Traditional advertising includes print advertising, billboards, kiosks, trade fairs, television and radio.

Television advertising has been in existent for a very long time and still remains the most sought after mode of advertising because of its wider coverage. Television has several program schedules that can be successfully used in reaching a good number of people in building awareness and pounding away messages. However, television advertising must always be done right to attract attention of viewers. Because of its extensive coverage, it remains ideal if the business targets a larger market. It involves a lot of things such as movement, pictures and sound thus making it adequate when there is a need for demonstration (Khan 246-250).

Radio advertising is another mode of advertising with far-reaching coverage particularly because radio is accessible to many people. Although still used, radio advertising losses its utilization because of the advancement of technology which has introduced satellite, iPods and mobile phones which have rendered radio insignificant. Impact of radio advertising may also be lost because there must be certainty whether the target audience listens to radio channel used and the need to repeat the message regularly which is also very expensive (Khan 246-250).

Print advertising is another form of common advertising with several advertising options and very easy to execute. Print media have wide readership base and it includes magazines, directories, brochures and fliers. Magazines and newspapers normally charge space and the cost also largely depend on the quality of the paper used as well as the supplement that the advertising appears. Unfortunately, print advertising cannot be tracked making most of the advertising ineffective (Altstiel and Jean 195-205).

Also, there are billboards, kiosks, trade fairs and events which are part of traditional type of advertising that utilize many tools and techniques to attract the customers outdoors. Billboard advertising is very common type of advertising and is required to be extremely concise and catchy to grab attention of onlookers however digital billboards are very effective compared to print billboards. Kiosks can also be efficiently used by the businesses to endorse their products. Outdoor advertising such as organizing of special events or sponsoring events such as football may provide a very good ground of advertising (Khan 246-250).

Modern advertising

Online advertisement has really gained popularity due to wider use of the internet and it includes websites, E-mails, banner advertising, social media and business to business network. There are also mobile advertising where advertising messages are sent through the cell phones. This is one of the most appropriate forms of advertising because a text message will always be noticed by the phone users. Businesses send ads to the customers whom they have their numbers and other potential customers.

Another type of modern advertising is public relations advertising that enable businesses to maintain their goodwill within the society through building a brand image and identity. In this form of advertising, accompany attempts to put itself in the public eye by elevating her good qualities to the public. Moreover, there is web banner advertising which is used on the web pages linked to the content on the existing website and are normally constructed by either images, JavaScript, objects or images. Promotional advertising is also a modern type of advertising that involves give away goods or garnering public attention through the use of promotional media events (DeBray and Mustafa 71-77).

Bandwagon advertising is another interesting form of modern advertising that attempts to convince the targeted audience that the product is widely used by many and has really transformed the users thus compelling the consumer to try the product and be part of the bandwagon. This form of advertising largely uses the consumer psychology in luring him to purchase a product simply because everyone uses it. Furthermore, there is surrogate advertising which is used in advertising products that are prohibited by the national laws from being advertised such as alcohol and cigarettes (DeBray and Mustafa 71-77). A business would therefore use an umbrella brand name that advertises the prohibited product indirectly. There is also contextual advertising is another effective internet marketing method where advertisements are chosen by the automated system depending on the viewed by a specific user. There are more other modern advertising such as bathroom, blog, keyword and pixel advertising.

Works Cited

Altstiel, Tom, and Jean Grow. Advertising Strategy: Creative Tactics from the Outside/in. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications, 2006. Print.

DeBray, Blake E., and Mustafa Kamal. “Customer Focused Advertising through Server Based Broadcast.” Journal of Business & Economics Research 9.1 (2011): 71-7. ProQuest. Web. 9 Oct. 2013.

Khan, Matin A. Consumer Behaviour and Advertising Management. New Delhi: New Age International (P) Ltd., Publishers, 2006. Internet resource.

Crafting and Executing Diversification Strategy of Spectrum Brand

Crafting and Executing Diversification Strategy of Spectrum Brand

Different companies have different strategies that they embark on as their game plan to grow with time. A sound strategy should enable the company plan out how they can achieve customer satisfaction, conduct operations while competing successfully and all in all achieve their set out objectives with time to grow their business. A good manager should be able to come up with a strategy that enables the company to grow and keep the company in the market (Pisnar 2008).

David Jones outlined a strategy plan which was about Spectrum Brands globalizing and diversifying in order for the company to stay in the map. Jones diversified the battery and flashlight manufacturing industry to indulge in more products. These included venturing into personal grooming line products home appliance, lawn and garden utilities and products, insect repellants and pet care products. The company also diversified to having companies and expanding their market to US, Europe, North and Latin America.

The strategy the company picked has a couple of factors working for them. These are factors such as creation of market opportunities in new boundaries and new fields. Venturing into different products and globalizing enabled them to meet different customer needs. The challenges that spectrum brand faced were market competitions arising from different other companies in the market. The products that the company did venture in as a diversification strategy, portable lighting products, electric personal care products and household insect control also did not make sales or add more profits to the company.

The diversification strategy that Spectrum brands embarked on was indeed a good strategy. It incurred additional costs due to marketing employed for different products but employed a business structure that was bound to eliminate double functions therefore cutting salary costs and in turn operating efficiently and profitably.

References

Pisnar M. (2008). Strategic Management: Management Policy and System Analysis. HYPERLINK “http://homepages.bw.edu/~mpisnar/2008%20Text.pdf” http://homepages.bw.edu/~mpisnar/2008%20Text.pdf

U.S Economies

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U.S Economies

Currently, years after recession the GDP per capita and unemployment are very low instead of growing because the crisis was caused by systematic banking. Systematic financial crisis tends to deeply influence a nation’s financial system compared with borderline crises. Economic recovery for a normal recession takes shorter time especially in a V-shaped recovery where the economy returns to trend within a year or two. The post WWII systematic crisis took four and half years to recover. The Great Depression’s recovery was the strongest in U.S history unlike the current 8% growth which is considered as low.

Moreover, there is another issue of cumulative population growth where a 2% real GDP growth did not have any effect on an average person’s income. However, presently, 2% annual GDP growth implied a more than 1% increase in real income per individual. Reinhart and Rogoff argue that the vigorous recovery that followed post WWII crisis returned to its peak faster yet the current financial crisis is still hitting U.S so hard since 2007 (Web). Aftermath of US financial crisis is different from the post war systematic financial crisis that was experienced around the world.

The post war recovery preceded the creation of deposit insurance in 1933 as well as the establishment of a central bank in the U.S. The government played a major role in the economic recovery during the post-World War II leading to faster recovery. According to Reinhart and Rogoff, U.S has fared well compared to other advanced economies which underwent borderline episodes when assessed in terms of GDP per capita (Web). Systematic financial crisis has however made U.S track worse than the countries that did not experience it. Post WWII saw a huge contraction in per capita GDP when compared with the recent crisis. Vigorous growth in output per capita had hardly been experienced in the historic systematic financial crises.

Also, unemployment rate is meaningfully low and may closely be associated with lower rates after 1907 panic when compared with the post WWII unemployment rates. Reinhart and Rogoff assert that unemployment rate during the post WWII was not that serious even though it involved a severe systematic financial crisis (Web). Employment recovery is weaker in the post-WWII compared with the current recovery. The unemployment rate has remained constantly high since 2007-2008 crises unlike post WWII when employment peaked off immediately. Generally, the recent recovery is slower than the post-WWII.

Works Cited

Reinhart And Rogoff. This Time Is Different, Again? The US Five Years after the Onset Of Subprime. VOX, 22 Oct. 2012. Web. 29 Oct. 2013. <http://www.voxeu.org/article/time-different-again-us-five-years-after-onset-subprime-0>.

Craig, Anderson, et al the influence of media violence on youth, psychological science in the public interest, 2003, Vol.4 (3

Craig, Anderson, et al the influence of media violence on youth, psychological science in the public interest, 2003, Vol.4 (3) p. 81-110.

The article “the influence of media violence on youth” was published for the National Institute of Mental Health but due alterations effected by the surgeon general without prior knowledge of these authors; they opted to publish it on their own. They modified the report and updated several sections before publishing it in the psychological science in the public interest. The report was then availed to the public through the periodical’s site.

There are a total of eight authors who have served in different capacities in the department of psychology from their respective universities and colleges. The lead author, Craig Anderson has been awarded a Fellow status by the American Psychological Society and the American Psychological Association. The other authors have diverse knowledge on psychology and other related areas as they have written several publications on psychological issues. Present among them is the dean of the college of communication thus providing great assistance in the area of communication and its impact on the society. One can therefore say that the article was written from an expert’s point of view since a great deal of consideration was taken before the publication was made public. The fact that they felt the Surgeon General’s copy was mere representation and not an actual publication was clear indication that they took their time and would not provide anything less than the actual report.

The authors have taken a new method of looking at media violence and whether adverse effects are as a consequence of these games. They look at scientific methods within which they can either prove or disapprove the previous studies that have implicated media violence on causing aggression among the viewers. They also want to look for ways within which they can create mitigating measures for any adverse effects that may be perpetuated by these games or interactive media. They begin by classifying the different types of aggression that are possibly not well elaborated in the many researches that are carried out. Several federal agencies like the 2000 federal commission report; professional groups like the Eron, Gentry & Schlegel’s 1994 report for the American psychological association; and individual researchers like John Steinfield have all in one way or the dealt with the issue of media violence and its effect on the youth (p.82).

The purpose of these authors is to bring out the scientific conclusion on the effects of media violence on the youth by answering five critical questions (p.82). First, what does research say about the relationship of violence, aggression and the media? Secondly, the theoretical explanations on how media violence produces its effect on aggressive and violent behavior. Third, what moderator effects can be applied to reduce the influence of the characteristics that are most influential? Who are most susceptible to the characteristics? Fourthly, how accessible and widespread is violence media especially to the youth? Last but not least, how can the society counteract the effect of media violence on the individuals most susceptible? These questions provided a basis for their research and the basis for this report. They prepared this report to suite all types of audiences that may be interested in reading such a research. Whether professionals or not, the audience can readily understand what is being relayed by the authors. The research carried out by these authors is conclusively detailed to fit the audience that comes across these findings.

The most important aspect that is perpetuated by these authors is that there are several factors that should not be overlooked by other researchers who would like to venture in this area of psychology. They also serve to dispel allegations that media is the sole cause of aggression but reiterate that there are a number of factors that come to play when violence is looked at greater details. Violence is as a result of various effects that come from long term conditions placed on an individual. Other than media, other factors come alive when an individual becomes aggressive (p.84). The authors try to look at these other aspects and alienate the ones that are directly linked to the media and violent interactive media. They look at the meta-analysis of different researches that have been carried out over the last four decades and look for evidence that directly links media to aggressive behavior. The authors try to distinguish between inherent factors and external factors that lead to aggression and look for intervention measures that would otherwise be used for moderating these behaviors. Sparse reviews suggest counter-attitudinal and parental mediations as core interventions that could be used to reduce these characteristics. They cite reports that have been published earlier to show just how different researchers perceived violence depicted by the media (p.90). As a basis for their discussion, they look at the meaning of different aspects portrayed by other researchers on the area of violence and tend to delineate the media from being the major cause of violence. Though studies show that children who watch other children fighting in the media are less likely to call an adult when faced with a similar situation, the authors contemplate that an individual who takes violence as a means of settling quarrels will definitely accept violence as a solution.

The authors’ approach on this topic is very insightful they offer new directions on the way the media can be involved and how certain measures can be taken to drastically reduce the expected results. They look at a myriad of solutions that distinguish the major types of aggression and how they can be detected and solved. They term short term effects of violence as coming as a result of observational learning, imitation, arousal and excitation, and priming. This may be true but according to social cognition, these imitations could only occur if an individual has had a pressing issue that he sees solved particularly via violence. If there are any issues at home and an individual sees someone in the same situation solving it through murder, the individual will then take that as an option. If a male adolescent has in any way been harassed by a female and then sees a violent treatment of women in a movie, then there are higher chances of the individual being assaultive in the way they handle women (p.95). Long-term effects are seen as a result of observational learning, atomization of aggressive schematic processing and emotional habituation. So far, the authors agree with my point of view that the media is not the direct cause of violence and aggression but a recipe for an aggravated individual who has not found a way of dealing with their own problems.

My idea is that violent media does not lead to aggressive behavior and these authors have just proved that. They suggestive that violence will only be a result if the model used is attractive or similar to the viewer in that they can identify with the situations presented. Only associated stimuli cause resultant behavior which in this case is aggression. This, the authors cite, is critical especially when the society is involved. If the society condones violence, then the situations affecting the individual could be related to that environment and solved in such ways. They answer questions concerning the use of scientific research to quantify behavioral practices in a way that is easy to understand and digest information therein. They tackle the critical questions adequately and provide detailed information that is helpful for other researchers willing to carry out extensive research in this area. They also provide a basis for others who would like to use this information as their foundational argument. For the readers, they aid them in understanding the various ways in which they can assist individuals addicted to these games and different ways in which they can help reduce cases of aggression especially among the youth.

Works cited:

Craig, Anderson, et al the influence of media violence on youth, psychological science in the public interest, 2003, Vol.4 (3) p. 81-110.