Was Ford to blame in the Pinto case?
Is American industry at too much risks for lawsuits to remain competitive?
Should lawsuits such as the one against Ford be disallowed or limited? Why or why not?
Should we try to restrain, in this and other product liability situations, the litigiousness that seems to characterize American life? How might we do this?

Prepare to discuss the ethical considerations and support your position using one of the ethical theories we studied in Module 2 (egoism, libertarianism, utilitarianism and Rawlsianism). List the questions and then your responses to each question. Cite all sources using the APA.

Shaw, W. H. & Barry, V. (2007). Moral issues in business. (10th ed.). USA: Thomson Wadsworth
Up to page 274

JRN 670 Final Paper Requirements

For your final paper, your goal is to demonstrate the following (2) points:
1) you understand public relations as a management function
2) you understand how public relations serves as part of the communication mix and supports an organizations marketing, advertising, interpersonal, and promotional efforts

You have (2) options from which to choose to fulfill this assignment:

OPTION #1: you are able to apply what you have learned to an actual organizational setting/situation
OR
OPTION #2: you are able to educate the reader (your instructor) about a particular public relations concept, theory, or principle by substantiating its relevance in the business environment.
__________________

OPTION #1: [write an analysis that focuses on the following requirements]:

Using the *RACE model (research, action planning, communication, evaluation), APPLY these principles and concepts to an actual organizational situation. Yes, it may be your OWN company in fact, I encourage it. However, it is not required. You may opt to focus on an organization that is in the news or another organization of choice as opposed to your own organization. It may be a problem (or opportunity) that focuses on either an internal (employees, management, etc.) or external public (stockholders, customers, guests, patients, etc.)

More info. regarding the RACE model is located in chapters 10-13 in the Cutlip text. Each chapter is devoted to one aspect of this 4-step PR Process.

EXAMPLES: an organization has just restructured and you are analyzing the situation and suggesting ways to enhance relationships during the post-transition period (internal public).
Or, an organization is experiencing much negative publicity due to a recent crisis situation in which it was involved. Your paper can analyze the situation based on how you propose to diffuse this negativity (which focuses on external public perceptions).

OPTION #2: [write an educational paper/critique that focuses on the following requirements]:

Refer to Effective Public Relations by Cutlip, Center, & Broom and identify 1-2 key public relations concepts, principles, and/or theoretical underpinnings you have learned about in this course. You are also welcome to choose a concept, theory, or principle you learned from your supplemental readings and/or accompanying web site links.

EXAMPLE: if I were completing this assignment, I might examine social responsibility concepts discussed by Cutlip, Center, and Broom. Then Id use Reis and Reis material to explain how part of a public relations professionals commitment to society is to reinforce that the organization he/she represents is socially responsible, gives back to the community, etc.
Then Id use my own organization to demonstrate HOW we actually do that by
giving back to the Knoxville community via public relations-oriented activities.

PLEASE NOTE: Not only is this a graduate course ~ but it is also a journalism graduate course.
Therefore, this assignment, like others, must demonstrate the rigor of a well-written document. Hence, students will be graded on grammar as well as content/style. I encourage you to have someone proof your paper before submitting it for a final grade.

Overall Requirements (regardless of which option you choose):

Format: double-spaced, 1 margins, 12 pt. font in Times New Roman
Style: Use either APA or MLA for both in-text citations AND end-of-paper referencing. BE consistent in you usage (e.g., dont switch back and forth from one style to another)
FAILURE TO USE INTEXT CITATIONS WILL RESULT IN A ZERO FOR THIS PAPER. (Technically, if you dont cite your authors with your paper/text, this is a form of plagiarism because you have acknowledged that you used these authors materials, but then you failed to give them credit in the body of your copy/document! ?
See: http://www.ocls.cmich.edu/ [look under help section, then click on citing sources
Length: 5-7 pages (excluding cover page, references, appendices, etc.)
hence: 5-7 pages of COPY
Required citations: Use the required textbook (see above). ALSO you are required to incorporate at least (5) additional outside sources all of which must be from
*academic / scholarly journals and/or scholarly web sites (e.g., an author posted his/her
article on his/her web site)

Note: finding articles from electronic data bases (e.g., First Search ABI Inform, Wilson Select Business, etc.) DO count as non Internet-based sources. What I mean by Internet source information is what you might find while conducting a Google/Yahoo search (e.g., information from a company web site such as http://www.e911.com or http://www.PRSA.org)

*Refer to the online article below if you are not clear on what constitutes scholarly journals: http://www.csusm.edu/Getting_Published/papers/gpjournals.html

Due date: The last day of the CMU online term (see particular term deadlines)
Where/how to send: via attachment in MS word to my email address ([email protected]). Always copy yourself for safety / backup measures!

General Content Guidelines: Please include the following information

? alluring, catchy title with your name/ course section number on the cover page
? introductory paragraph (to include a purpose statement so we know, up front, what you propose to demonstrate and then justify via the content, sources, etc. throughout this paper)
? at least (3) main points to substantiate this point throughout the body of your paper
? abstract (no more than 500 words) is not included in required 5-7 page length
? a short, clear and concise conclusion paragraph
? a reference page/s using APA or MLA style
? page numbering throughout the report
? ALWAYS substantiate your claims with outside sources; this is NOT an opinion paper!!

Other Specifics:
1. Use third person throughout (e.g., the writer, the author of this paper, etc.) not I.
2. Oryou may opt not to use personal pronouns at all, except when referencing sources
3. Always cite the persons title/organization when using direct quotes from a personal interview you have conducted
4. When using direct quotes, always cite the page number with your in-text reference
5. Points will be deducted from the final paper for grammatical mistakes
6. Proof, proof, proof before turning in this final assignment; it is worth 20% of your final grade!!

This is an applied project of analysis. Students are responsible for completing two project reports (essays, ca. 7-10 pages each) as outlined below. Each of the two will count as 10% of your course grade (20% total). Submit each project, when due, via email attachment.
Project (1)
Students will perform a project applying the concepts and skills developed in this course to an actual business situation, ideally applying it to their company. Possible topics could include developing a performance measurement system for your firm, pricing a product at your company, developing a profit plan/budget for your division, a rationale/request for new equipment in your department, explanation of how product costing works at your firm, analysis of customer (or customer segment) profitability for your company, etc. Students will organize the project topic, but it must be approved by the Instructor; the topic must be related to chapter content.

I work at a hospital.

Hello, after trying another service and being really disappointed, the only thing I got was a waste of time, I have been referred to you by a freind who says you guys are VERY GOOD, I hope you guys can help me out so here we go.

I am writing a dissertation with very little time on my hand, I cannot take more time because of really tough situations, but I really appreciate your survice and hope you will do a great job for me.

The dissertation must be about 15,000 words long, Master Level, and is about strategic planning.

Remember that citation style is Harvard, and it's in British English.

Ive started writing sections of the dissertation(Below), but having no experience in Dissertation writing, I come to you as experts in academic writing to help me get an A. I have done a good part, I hope its clear, the first section that I need your help in is writing the pre-interview section, meaning chapters 1 until 4 inclusive, linking those in a way that it focuses the dissertation on answering the question, some sections you will find good others maybe missing, and yet others can be in a different order, or may need to go altogether, you're the pros.


Meanwhile I will conduct the interviews with multiple companies and send the results of the transcripts to you for writing the remaining chapters.

Please find below the work Ive done, Ive enclosed my comments between [square brackets]
Dissertation title:


The Importance of Strategic Planning for Training Companies the case of SMEs in the UAE
Title and content
1 Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Overview
1.2 Aims and Objectives
1.3 Statement of the research question
2 Chapter 2 Background and context of the research
2.1 Background
2.2 The theoretical base
3 Chapter 3 Literature review
3.1 The history and evolution of training services
3.2 Training services in the UAE
4 Chapter 4 Methodology
4.1 Research strategy for primary research
4.2 Limits and restrictions to the study
4.3 The impact of strategic planning on the companys performance (the empirical study)
4.4 Overview of survey sample
4.5 Strategic planning in SMEs: The Questionnaire (go through questionnaire and explain the significance for each question)
5 Chapter 5: Discussion - Analysis and interpretation
5.1 Survey findings and results (also include Description on how the results were collected)
5.2 Defining success in strategic planning
5.3 Best practices
6 Chapter 6: Conclusion & Recommendations
References
Appendix 1: The Survey
Appendix 2: The list of participating companies:
Appendix 3: the selection criteria for the companies in the sample.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
[Now in Detail ]
Abstract
Acknowledgment
1 Introduction

1.1 Overview
[overview of the and what it involves goes here.]
1.2 Aim and objectives
The aim of this paper is to determine the impact of strategic planning on the performance of small to medium size training companies in the UAE.
The objectives are:
- To identify the use of strategic planning with the companys performance (turnover, number of employees, number of customers);
- To relate the use of strategic planning with the international activity;
- To determine the use of strategic planning with the use of high tech methods;
- To correlate the use of strategic planning with the managers characteristics (age, education, gender, foreign language proficiency, prior experience [general or specific]);
- To evaluate the use of strategic planning with the companys age and the mangers experience.
- Identify future development opportunities.

I am hoping that these objectives will be useful in determining what impact strategic planning has on the training companies chosen to participate in this study.

1.3 Statement of the research question
Is strategic planning essential for training companies (those that offer training for businesses) in order to remain competitive in providing relevant training for businesses with changing needs, from a sample of companies?
Chapter 2 Background and context of the research
2.1 Background
This will show a general background on the significance of the research, where the need became clear, and what promoted the research.
2.2 The theoretical base
Whats the theory behind the research and in what context is it intended, critically evaluating different views on the subject along with the citations.

Chapter 3. Literature review
Literature review must be extensive and cover all grounds with regard to relevant literature in this field, it should also include personal planning, professional planning; how training is the better option to keep employees motivated and decrease employee replacement in general, specifically it should cover:
The history and evolution of training services:
How it all started, this section contains references from the learning organisation and the organisational learning, in addition to how corporate or company learning became popular in spite of the spending involved that the lack of training may be even more costly; highlights with regards to the emerging need for training in time.

Training services in the UAE:
If you dont have any references on this please write in general.
4. Methodology
4.1 Research strategy for primary research
Using data provided by the Ministry of Labour, a sample of 20 training companies across the UAE was defined, these companies profiles correspond the profile targeted by the dissertation (a comprehensive list is in Appendix2 Listing the companies that were included in the research), of those companies that request to remain anonymous will not be mentioned; however a place holder mentioning a code will be in the list to denote that a company did participate.
The option of purchasing data from industry associations was avoided due to the potential questionable nature of data that might be provided and its effect on the research authenticity, instead direct collection of data will be used, through interviews with the companies leaders (GMs or other personnel directly involved in planning), through structured or semi-structured interviews; in order to make this proposition attractive to companies, I will offer the benefit of sharing the research findings as a thank you for your contribution.
Further relevant leads might be obtained from interviewees that appear adequately informed and it is assumed therefore that their referrals will also be as informed and therefore are likely to add very useful contributions to the study.
Once the data is collected it has to be analysed. Excel was chosen for this task. Data from excel can be transported in a large number of statistical applications to be analysed and it is easy to manipulate.
Charts will be used to make the results more comprehensive for the reader, as this thesis is addressed to all training companies. Since some of the managers may not have experience with interpreting statistical results, pie and bar charts were chosen to help with this by presenting the results in a visual manner.
[Also mention how we took the sample and why? In appendix 2]
4.2 Limits and restrictions to the study
The main limitations are related to data collection as the timeline for this stage is quite short and because of that the response rate may to be low. That is why secondary sources were chosen to complement this task.
Also, given the size of the sample, it will be very unlikely to interview all the managers which would have been otherwise ideal to obtain more accurate data. to facilitate mitigating this effect, careful selection for personnel who are more likely to contribute relevant data will be set in a selection criteria document (see Appendix3), it will focus on those who will have the factors that will give them precedence over other candidates to be interviewed, such as experience in setting strategy, or implementing strategy... and etc.
One other challenge that may be encountered is the refusal of some companies from the sample to cooperate. Some companies refuse to disclose information about their internal processes because theythink it may damage their activity, or it might be leaked to competitors for example. To address this problem, every measure will be taken to the extent of offering to sign a non-disclosure agreement with those companies if deemed necessary and requesting the University to treat my dissertation as Confidential.
4.3 The impact of strategic planning on the companys performance (the empirical study)
This section is going to:
+ Give more details on how the researcher is going to apply the techniques to the research
E.g., exactly which data is going to be collected and how is it going to be analysed?
- collecting the data will depend primarily on the interviews with around 20 companies and this will allow to form a representative sample as the sizes of the companies will differ from small to medium to bigger companies.
+How will the findings help to address the stated research question?
4.4 Overview of survey sample
4.5 Strategic planning in SMEs: The Questionnaire (go through questionnaire and explain the significance for each question)

5 Chapter 5: Discussion - Analysis and interpretation
5.1 Survey findings and results (Description of the results and the findings)
5.2 Defining success in strategic planning
5.3 Best practices

6 Chapter 6: Conclusion & recommendations

7 References and bibliography
[The resources will be divided in two sections: one section for the theoretical part and the other is for the empirical part. The section for the theoretical part includes strategic planning related books and articles, such as:]
- Bamberg, R. & Layman, E.J. (2005). Environmental scanning and the health care manager. The Health Care Manager. 24, 200-208.
- David, F (2005), Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases, 10th Edition, Prentice Hall.
- Goetsch, D (2006) Effective Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage: Ten Steps for Technical Professions (NetEffect), Prentice Hall.
- Hunger, J and Wheelen Tom (2007) Essentials of Strategic Management, 4th Edition, Prentice Hall.
- Kaufman, R, Oakley-Browne, H, Watkins, R and Leigh D (2003) Strategic Planning For Success: Aligning People, Performance, and Payoffs, Wiley&Sons.
- Mintzberg, H (1993), The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning, Free Press.
- Porter, M (1998), Competitive Strategy Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors, Free Press.
- Senge, P. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art & practice of the learning organization. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Doubleday.
- more resources will be sent by email.
[Please add more resources and references as necessary]

[The section for the empirical part should include books and articles related to different methods of strategic planning and how to build the empirical part of an academic research, such as:]
- Gujarati, Damodar N. (1995) Basic Econometrics, 3rd Edition, McGraw-Hill International Editions.
- Kaplan, R and Norton, D (2001) The Strategy Focused Organization How balanced scorecard organizations thrive in the new business, Harvard Business School Press.
- Welkowitz, J, Cohen, B and Ewen, B (2006), Introductory Statistics for the Behavioural Sciences, 6th Edition, Wiley & Sons.
[Please add more resources and references as necessary]


Appendix 1: The Survey
[Important NOTE: Building the questionnaire must be based on the literature review and must be inter-linked with the rest of the dissertation, so that it makes a sound basis for data collection. The purpose of this is to run the interview by 20 different companies (some bigger others medium and smaller companies) in order to get a good cross-section analysis.
When asking these questions, the questionnaire will be produced in two versions; one will remain with the researcher which will contain probing questions while the questionnaire given to the interviewee will contain open ended questions in general to allow the interviewee to speak his/her mind. The purpose of this is to allow the interview to answer the questions as spontaneous as possible without interference and will allow the interviewer to probe further with questions that will reveal a wealth of information.

[Here is an example of the questions I would ask in the interviews:
Following is my thinking on my questionnaire building so that takes into consideration it all standard practices and regulations to conducting surveys, since this is my first time to do such a survey, please help out constructing a structured interview questionnaire here are the sections I thought of, please modify add/remove as necessary in accordance with what is accepted and correct academically]
Section One - About the company:
(Company Name: Address: Website: contact: please introduce yourself:
When was it established?
Where was it established?
Is the company International or local?
How many branches?
How many Staff members?
How many years in operation?
Who are your specific target markets-Sectors (finance, construction, etc.)?
Is the company authorised by the Ministry of Education?
How many clients do you have?
Can you share any declared and publicly available records on the performance of the company?)
What is the company turnover year to year? And since implementing strategic planning if it were not before?

Section two About your services?
(Do you offer any other services or products besides training?
What is your training portfolio? What courses do you offer?
Who are your courses directed to/prepared for?
How many trainers/ lecturers work in each branch?
If the company is international and has branches in the UAE, then the questions follow: do you operate the branches in the UAE with the same way you do in other locations world wide?)

Section three About your standard running of the business:
(What are the most popular means of communicating internally or with your clients, [meaning email, and online or paper and interoffice memo circulation?]
Where does the demand come from? Does it come from supply bases (what we have to deliver) or is it does it come in response to customer requests in designing custom made courses according to special requests, or have a portfolio of courses that customers can choose from?

Section four About the manager interviewed:
(Tell me about your responsibility? What do you do?
How long have you been there?
Do you have previous experience in planning? Please mention?
Would you say that the experience you have is relevant and directly or indirectly applicable to your role here?
Are you currently directly involved in Strategic planning?
Who else would you recommend that I see in this organisation who is also involved in Strategic Planning?
If you dont mind please state your age, education, foreign languages you know fluently speak that you use at work?)

Section five About strategic planning:
How does your organisation understand planning? [Looking for definition]
(Can I obtain a copy of your vision and mission statements?
Does the company have a strategic plan?
If so, can you share it with me, I assure you of complete confidentiality and am prepared to sign a non-disclosure agreement
How is the organisations strategy created?
How often is the strategic plan revisited/updated?
What determines the re-evaluation of the strategic plan? [periodic or based on events])
Can you describe the process?)
- What potential training can you incorporate in the future?
Miscellaneous questions:
- What key areas does implementing your strategic plans make a significant impact in your organisation success?

- Were those key areas different in the past? And if so, how did they change?

- Looking at the trend of change of the effect of strategic planning from its early implementations to date, what will the key areas be in the future, in your view?

- When implementing the strategy, what measures do you employ to ensure things are going as planned?

- What are the challenges that face your organisation when implementing strategic planning, and how does your organisation deal with them?

- Based on your organisations experience, should strategic plnning be given a more important role or a less important role in deciding the future of the organisation?

Appendix 2: The list of participating companies:
[please ignore this section as I will provide this information]

Appendix 3: the selection criteria for the companies in the sample.
Selection Criteria:
- All companies in the sample selected for our study must possess the following criteria:
o Company is registered in the Ministry of Education
o Company offers training to other companies.
o Has more than one employee.
o Has training facilities
o Does training on more than one subject
o Has been in operation for at least one year.
- All candidates chosen for the interviews must posses the following criteria:
o Member of the board of directors,
o Contributes to setting the strategy
o A Prominent decision maker in the company



++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Whats really very important is:
- Ensuring that the statement of area, objective(s) is Precise. And assessing the boundaries of the dissertation.
- Searching a wide range of sources methodically. Identifying and referring most relevant texts. Pinpointing references in Harvard style.
- Having a detailed discussion of methodology
- Focusing on originality of the idea; giving objective evidence relevant to the area
- Analysis consistent with evidence.


please let me know if you have any questions or need any clarifications,

Best regards,
George

Develop a lesson plan that one could use to introduce the 12 principles of green chemistry to students in a 7-9 grade general science class. Include a hands-on component and relate it to science standards from Massachusetts Science Curriculum Frameworks.
? Name of the lesson
? Who wrote this lesson ??" name of all the people in your group
? Teacher Background Information: What lesson or lab does this activity replace?
? Safety information:
? Educational Goal: To understand
? Student Objectives: Students will
? Materials: (per lab group -3 students)
? Time required:
? National Standards Met: These standards are located in the front of your binder
? Green Chemistry Principles Addressed: The principles are listed in the front of your binder
? Teacher Prep:
? Procedure: Explain how the teacher will present the lesson here

There are faxes for this order.

Compare and contrast the approach that a project manager would take in planning and managing two very different types of projects as described in the appended project charters. The projects are:

? Highway Expansion Project (HEP)
? Next Generation Cell Phone Product (NGP)


Suggested approach:

The following approach to organizing and writing this assignment is strongly suggested. Consider the project planning process that the project manager would need to generate for each of these charters considering the very different objectives of the two projects.

Compare the similarities and differences for the planning processes and elements discussed in each of the Chapters 2 - 6. For example,

? for Chapter 2 how would your company go about selecting these projects (vs. other alternatives) and identify the appropriate success measures for each of these projects. Compare / contrast.

? for Chapter 3, what specific skills sets would the ideal PM have for each of these project types. Compare / contrast.

? For Chapter 4, discuss/ analyze any implications for conflict resolution and negotiations for the two projects. Compare/ contrast.

? For Chapter 5, compare/ contrast an optimal project organization for both projects

? for Chapter 6, compare the elements of the project plan including WBS, schedule, scope management and risk management plans. Do not do an actual project plans for each of the projects. Compare / contrast.





Project Charter: Highway Expansion Project (HEP)


Project Manager: MGT609 Student

Business Need:
Due to increase vehicular traffic, the NJ Department of Transportation has awarded Stevens Construction a contract to expand the NJ Turnpike from 6 lanes to 8 lanes between interchanges 11 and13.


Product Description:

Stevens Construction will expand the current highway by two lanes in each direction. The roadway will meet all relevant Federal and State requirements for asphalt highway construction and safety.

Most of the actual construction will be conducted off-hours to minimize the impact on current traffic.

Constraints:
? Budget not to exceed $87,000,000
? Construction complete no later than April 30, 2017
?

Assumptions:
? Contract signed no later than September, 2011
? A $500,000 bonus will be paid for each month that the highway is completed before March 1, 2016.


Exclusions:
None







Project Charter: Next Generation Cell Phone Product (NGP)

Project Manager: MGT609 Student

Business Need:

Motorokia, a global producer of mobile telephony products has decided to develop and produce a next generation touch-screen based cell phone to compete with Apple?s and RIM?s latest products. Without this new generation of product, we are concerned about significant loss of market share.

In order to respond to this competitive threat we need to develop and market our own next generation product within six months from today; our new product must exceed the performance of the competitive products.


Product Description:

Since we do not currently have a competitive product, the NGP must leap-frog available technologies and as such we are planning to use new hardware and software technologies (fluorescent flat screen, Web x.0 software) that have never been used in similar products. Motorokia has very limited experience in the use of these technologies.

Constraints:

? The product must be available for shipment, six months after project funding.

Assumptions:
? The required new technologies will be available no later than 90 days before required product shipment.

Exclusions:
None

COURSE: Technology, Strategy and Innovation (The University of Manchester, Manchester Business School)
COURSEWORK ESSAY
Ten years ago Nike found that some solvents used in making shoes were toxic enough to require factory workers to wear protective gear. But not all workers did. To guarantee their safety, Nike could either increase monitoring or make a harmless solvent. It did the latter and shared the recipe for the new solvent across its industry. Nike has found huge benefits to collaboration, resulting in a shift in the architecture of where Nike competes and where it collaborates.

Describe the key elements of Nikes open innovation strategy. In presenting this strategy you must analyse how Nike can benefit from open innovation and what are the potential drawbacks of this approach? Illustrate your answer with specific examples where Nike competes and where it collaborates in the context of the open innovation business model.

NOTE: You are expected to refer to academic literature sources (journal articles/ books) in answering ANY of the above questions, in addition to any company/ business sources that you decide to utilise.
There are faxes for this order.

Prepare a 700- 1050 word (2-3 page) paper analyzing a professional dilemma and values conflict (Profession is Lead Return Material Authorization Technician - responsible for failure investigations of defective product). Be sure to complete all three sections of the assignment and apply it to the one dilemma you are addressing. Please do not generalize and try to look at several different types of dilemmas and values conflicts ? be specific and choose just one professional dilemma. Describe the experience:

a. What was the ethical issues you experienced?
b. Who was involved? (Please use only the first names or initials for the participants.)
c. What was the relationship of the other individual(s) to you?

Analyze the ethical dilemma:
a. Was there a difference in power and authority? Explain.
b. What were the ethics in question?
c. What personal values were in conflict?
d. What were the potential outcomes?
e. What were the potential consequences to you and the other parties involved?

Evaluate the outcome:
a. What was the outcome at the time?
b. What were the consequences to you and the other parties involved?

Consider the following cases:

Two police officers were patrolling in a high-crime neighborhood. They noticed a parked car with two people inside (a driver and a passenger). The officers saw a young woman leaning into the passenger's window and handing the passenger an object, which they could not identify. At this point they approached the car and the woman began to walk away.
One of the officers noticed the passenger making a "shoving down" motion, leading the officer to believe that the passenger might be armed. The officer drew his gun and shouted "let me see your hands." After making more shoving down motions, the passenger complied. The officer reached into the car and touched a bulge in the passenger's pocket. He felt large, hard objects which he believed to be rocks of crack cocaine. He then removed a plastic bag from the pocket. It contained several rocks of crack cocaine that, together with another rock found in the passenger's clothing, totaled almost 100 grams. The passenger was arrested, but the driver and the woman standing outside it were not.

Should the passenger's motion to suppress the seized evidence be granted?

On a routine patrol, an officer noticed a parked car. Two people were inside, and they were in a high crime area near a bar that was known for gang activity. In the past, the officer had responded to calls from the bar for everything from murder to public intoxication. The officer testified that he stopped to see if the individuals were committing a crime, lived in the area, or had some other concern. When the officer pulled behind the car and illuminated the car with his spotlight, he observed the passenger fumbling with something on the floorboard. As the officer was checking for identification, he noticed a bullet on top of the console of the car. The officer had the individuals step out of the car to ensure that they did not have any weapons. After frisking them for weapons, the officer looked in the area where he observed the passenger fumbling with something to see if he was hiding a gun. The officer said he was checking this area for his safety and to make sure that nobody would get hurt. The officer observed a twelve-pack of beer on the floorboard and checked inside for a gun. When he moved the carton, he found a small baggy underneath it containing a controlled substance.
Should the passenger's motion to suppress the controlled substance be granted?

Answer the following questions and support your answers with evidence. Be sure to cite the sources or cases you reference.

Syllabus Summer 2005
The course objectives are to understand cultural, social, infrastructurial, and international
elements that impact the building, engaging, and facilitiating of business exchanges between the U.S. and various European countries.
Students are expected to write a term paper that demonstrates their understanding of and skills
at analyzing opportunities and threats as well as sources of competitive advantage, appreciating
different styles of management, and comparing the socio-cultural differences and political para-
meters when 'doing business' with the European countries.

This paper should provide a foundation for understanding 'doing business' in Europe, including:
o Issues related to the European Union and its impact on Trade and Businesses in the EU
o Laws and regulations related to doing business with European countries
o The role of European Central Banks in maintaining stability in the money supply
o Intern'l Finance issues, e.g. financing international trade, foreign currency fluctuation risks
o Differences in organized labor & managing with different types of labor unions in Europe
o 'Comparative' Marketing, e.g. comparing the 4 Ps for a product (e.g. Champaign vs. Sekt, tourism, insurance etc. across Europe or between a European country and the equivalent in the USA
o Ethics
- Corp. Governance or, say,, Democracy in European Businesses (e.g. 'Mitbestimmung')
- Environmental Issues
- Age, gender, and other factors regarding employees
o Cultural Differences and their impact on management style
- Rituals, e.g. greetings, styles of meetings, decision-making processes, negotiating
- Gender roles at work and family structures across Europe
- Interpersonal relationships at work, e.g. between layers of mgmt. hierarchy
- Values and their impact on organizational structures and behavior, e.g. being process vs. results oriented, having higher or lower power distance
- Other

o Competitive advantages of a European area in a chosen industry (based on M. E. Porter?s Diamond of National Competitive Advantage), e.g. comparing two European regional clusters & industries, such as steel production in the greater Lille region with automotive production in 'Southern' Germany; or life sciences in Switzerland with luxury goods in France, such as LVMH, Dior, CHANEL, Christian Luxcriox; or private or central banking with banking systems/cultures across Europe (UK, Germany, Switzerland, and possibly, the USA)

o Alternatively, exploring the general attractiveness a particular industrial sector (including Porter's five Forces) in one or two European countries and thereby analyze the PESTEL categories in that country regarding opportunities and threats for doing business there.
************************************************************

REQUIREMENTS:
Length: Approximately 15 to 20 pages. Typed, double-spaced.
Contents: Paper should be complete with:
1. Title page
2. Table of contents
3. Executive summary (single spaced, no more than one page)
4. Introduction
5. Body of paper (see outline below)
6. Conclusion
7. Bibliography
8. Appendices
PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED AS EMAIL ATTACHMENTS ONLY.
Information sources:
additional secondary research (the requirement is 10 (ten) additional
sources)
Topics:
1. European Union (required for all)
2. Two elective topics from the list provided in the syllabus
3. Personal Statement: overview
Suggested Outline:
* Title page
* Table of contents
* Executive summary (single spaced, no more than one page)
* Introduction
* Body of paper
* European Union
* Topic 1 (elective)
* Topic 2 (elective)
* Personal impressions and reflections on what was learned
* Conclusion
* Bibliography
* Appendices
____________________________________________________________

My Message:
For the last 2 bulleted points on the syllabus, my prefered 2 elective topic would be on either the steel industry and car industry OR steel industry and the luxury industry, whichever way the writer thinks would be good, I trust in your ability more than mine. For the steel industry, please mention Arcelor, the prof was asking for it as it is massive in Europe though it's not written on the syllabus. If writing about the car industry please mention Porche and Daimler Chrysler as Daimler has a lot of major brands underneath its wings, such as Mercedes, Maybac etc. And VW too, apparently it's a major thing in Europe. In whichever way, the management tools such a PESTEL, 5 forces, diamond etc is required to be applied to them. For example, explaining why Germany is pretty good in car making and how attractive this industry currently is (great problems due to huge overcapacities...).
I'm not too sure about the citation style, though MLA is the only one i know. Is that the standard for undergraduate? I will leave it in your professional hands.

I'm required to write a minimum of 15 pages. After title page, content page, executive summary, bibliography and appendices, that's 10. Also minus the overview of personal statement, that's 9, so the body of the paper would be 9. I'm sure you will be charging for contents, summary and appendices but i'm wondering would you charge me for title page as well? If you do please let me know, i will send the payment as soon as possible. For now, i'm calculating everything to be 12 pages.

THANK YOU!!!
There are faxes for this order.

Discussion:
The case analysis is meant to be evaluative and persuasive. Rather than restating the facts in an objective fashion, strive to convince the reader to share your perspective on the solution to the case. Present the conclusions of your analysis instead of providing a narrative of your thought process. Use specific and relevant examples from the case to support your analysis.

One common problem in writing case analyses is the tendency to decide the action plan first and then to try to make the problem analysis lead to the recommended action plan.

You may find it helpful to ?role-play? when writing your analysis. You may choose to assume the role of a consultant or of a character in the case and address your write-up to another character. This approach may help you clarify your argument and make it more concise and persuasive.

Your analysis should be no more than 10-typed pages (12 pitch, double-spaced, one-inch margins), plus any relevant appendices. If appendices are included, make sure that the text clearly identifies the information relevant to your argument. Formatting techniques such as headings and subheadings will enhance clarity and organization of ideas. Remember that brevity is a virtue - make every word count!

Format:
Case analyses usually follow a traditional format: problem, analysis, and recommendation. This format should be adapted to the specifics of the case as needed.

Introduction/Problem Identification:
The problem statement should be focused and exact, and the analysis of the cause should be concise. Do not paraphrase the case itself or give unnecessary background information. This section should:
* Identify the central problem(s) faced; and
* Specify causes or explain why the problem exists

Situation and Problem Analysis:
The problem analysis should interpret the causes specified, attribute causes to specific elements discussed in the case, and highlight relevant facts which will have a bearing on the action plan proposed. This section should evaluate the 3 C?s along the following standards:
* Consumer Analysis
- Evaluate how consumer perceptions & behaviors affect the problem cited
- Identify the implications of consumer behavior for any action plan

Situation and Problem Analysis (continued):
* Company Analysis
- Identify the strengths and weakness of the company
- Evaluate the company/product fit
- Isolate specific facts about the company which the action plan must address to be feasible

* Competitor Analysis
- Identify major competitors
- Specify competitive threats and opportunities
- Isolate the source of competitive advantage/disadvantages given the facts of the case

Identify Alternatives and Best Action Plan:
Offer possible solutions to the problems in general terms. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each option. Rule out unworkable alternatives. While it is possible to offer an infinite number of solutions, concentrate on providing 3 or 4 general approaches in a concise manner.

Identify the best strategy or action plan. Be sure you have clearly explained why it is the best strategy. Keep in mind that the plan of action must be feasible for the company to implement, and must solve the central problems identified in earlier in the write-up. Make sure all assumptions are documented in the write-up and that there is no missing analysis which undermines your recommendation.

Evaluate Action Plan:
In this section, your goal is to evaluate how well your best strategy will work. If you feel the plan of action is not adequate, then explain why. If there are still some risks that are worth taking, identify them, explain why the company should still proceed, and offer contingency plans if appropriate. Be sure to:
* Evaluate the action plan by linking the solution to the problem cited
* Discuss the potential effects of implementation, specifying benefits to the company
* Identify risks of the proposed plan of action and offer contingency plans

Conclusion:
The conclusion should reinforce to the reader that your recommendation logically follows from your analysis.
? Compose a persuasive analysis of the problem(s) described in the case study
? Analyze the problem
? Determine causes
? Consider possible alternatives
? Recommend a preferred plan of action
? Describe steps toward implementing the action plan

There are faxes for this order.

Paper needs to discuss how the coal companies evade the law. How they file bankruptcy. Their practices on reclaiming the land. Changing the name of the company and continue running the business once they have been sanctioned. The safety regulations that govern the coal industry. Possible resources include American Lung Association and OSHA.

Case Study Discussion & Executive Summary
Objetives
Identify ethical problems faced by managers.
Apply the steps of ethical and moral decision-making to address management issues.
Use different ethical perspectives to make management decisions.

Discuss the following with your team:

? Discuss the key factors surrounding the Ford Pinto case.
? Research Ford?s current mission, values, and guiding principles.
? Discuss with each member of the team how your personal values align with Ford?s values.

Write a 500- to 1,050-word executive summary of the conclusions.

Include the following in your summary:

? Discussion of the role people, products, and profits played in the decisions made regarding the Ford Pinto.

? Imagine that in the 1970?s Ford had the same mission, values, and guiding principles as they have today. What is the relationship between the stated mission, values, and guiding principles and the organizational culture as reflected in the Pinto case?

? Summarize the discussion of the alignment between your team?s values and Ford?s values. Cite specific examples of how each team member?s values compare with Ford?s values.

Assignment scenario: Tesco.
The business environment comprises of both tangible and intangible (service) products provided by both public and private sector organisation which are vital for global economic growth. Hence, it is important for an organisation to focus on its survival due to the influence of internal and external environmental forces and its stakeholders as this is vital in decision making and when formulating strategies, policies and business objectives.
You are advised to select an organisation of your choice from either the public, private or third sector within the UK economy and write a strategic planning report taking into account the following (I prefer to do the assignment on TESCO as a chosen organisation):
LO1 - Understand the process of strategic planning:
1.1 Explain the mission, vision, objectives, goals and core competence of chosen organisation.
1.2 Highlight issues such as internal and external stakeholders'interests in strategic planning.
1.3 Select and explain an ideal strategic planning technique (e.g. Ansoffs' and BCG growth matrices) in achieving business growth or portfolio analysis respectively.
LO2 - Be able to formulate a new strategy:
2.1 Carry out an organisation audit using SWOT analysis.
2.2 Carry out both macro and micro environmental audits using STEEPLE and SWOT analysis respectively.
2.3 Explain the significance of stakeholder analysis in your chosen organisation.
LO3 - Understand approaches to strategy evaluation and selection:
3.1 Analyse possible alternative strategies relating to substantial growth, limited growth or retrenchment in the business.
3.2 Select an appropriate future strategy for your chosen organisation.
LO4 - Understand how to implement a chosen strategy:
4.1 Compare the roles and responsibilities for strategy implementation in an organisation.
4.2 Evaluate the organisation's resources and capabilities requirements in implementing a new strategy.
4.3 Why is monitoring the targets or business objectives of an organisation within timescales important in achieving a selected strategy.

Usability Analysis
Electronic Health Record may cause unintended consequences, and even patient harm. Use the following case study to form a paper. Answer the following questions:

1. How could the design of the system be changed to prevent such in errors in the
future?

2. How do EHR usability(" is the study of the ease which people can employ a
particular tool or other human-made object to achieve a particular goal) errors
impact patient safety and care?

3. Using the principles of usability, make at least 5 recommendations to correct this
problem in the future.

a. recommendations should link back to a specific failure point in the case
study and be reasonable in application
b. recommendations should also incorporate technical and clinical workflow
failures/ improvements


Usability Requirements

1. performance: response time 8. serviceability
2. scalability 9. security
3. capacity 10.regulatory
4. availability 11. manageability
5. reliability 12. environmental
6. recoverability 13. data integrity
7. maintainability 14. interoperability



Components of Usability

1. learnability
2. efficiency
3. memorability
4. errors
5. satisfaction
6. utility


Case Study

A patient presented to his primary care physician(PCP) for the treatment of headaches and episodes of altered consciousness. The PCP prescribed amitripyline at 10mg nightly. The PCP told the patient to escalate the dosage by 10 mg every three to four days until the pain was relieved, but not to exceed 50 mgs without consulting him.

When creating the prescription, the PCP intended to check off the 10mg box in the computerized physician order entry(CPOE), but inadvertently checked the 100 mg box, which was right above it, in the medication instructions section, he indicated that five pills could be taken per night, so the patient would not to return to the pharmacy and pay additional co-pay if he ultimately needed the larger the dose.

The pharmacist had noticed that the dose seemed high and requested that a call be
made to the PCP prior to it being dispensed. A nurse at the PCP's office picked up the call, and because she was very busy that day, told the pharmacy to dispense the medication as it had ordered- she did not check the dose. Three days later, the patient took five of the 100 mg pills together. early the next morning, the PCP was contacted by an emergency department(ED) physician who erported that the patient was in the ED reporting dizziness, an altered state of consciousness, an inability to coordinate his movements and a rapid heartbeat.

He was furher informed by the ED physician that the patient had taken five 100 mg amitripuline tablets. The PCP then checked the patient's record and realize his mistake.

12 font Proper citations

OI/466 week 1

Individual
Innovation Business Design Model (IBDM) Summary
Complete the IBDM and SPPS PhxKlips found on the student website.
Prepare a 350- to 700-word overview explaining the five steps of IBDM as it relates to innovation, the business environment, and SPPS. Include a summary of your learning decisions based on the completion of the PhxKlips tutorials.

Additional Information Below:
Tenney Electronics has been specializing in audio electronics since the mid-1960. Originally founded as a store for radio enthusiasts to purchase electronic parts and equipment, the business has grown over the years and now produces a variety of electronics under the ?TE? brand name. Since its launch in 2001, the ?TE? line of electronics has been very successful. In several markets, ?TE? is currently the dominant brand for customer electronics and consumer audio equipment. Tenney Electronics control both the manufacturing of ?TE? products, as well as operate several stores throughout the United States. With the success of the ?TE? brand, executive management is more and more concerned about the new competitors and possible government regulations. Because of this, Tenney Electronics is looking for innovative ways of growing the business. This includes exploring creative opportunities to innovate the organization?s Strategies, Processes, Products, and Services (SPPS). As a result of your new found expertise with the principles of innovation, design, and creativity, Tenney Electronics has decided to hire you as an innovation consultant. You decide that Tenney Electronics could benefit from applying the innovation Business Design Model (IBDM).
You meet with Mr. Tenney and outline the five steps of the IBDM process:
1. Assess the situation. 2). Identify problems and opportunities. 3). Creative concept development. 4). Prototype development. 5). Implementation, validation, and refinement.
The first step in the IBDM process is to examine the internal and external environment looking for opportunities to innovate in order to create a competitive advantage. Since time is limited, you must decide where to focus your attention. And internal review could focus on the core capabilities of the business. And external review would look at your customers and the needs or wants of the market.
External Review-
When conducting an external review, there are several questions that need to be considered:
Are ?Te? customers? early adopters of new technology?
What potential customers want from ?Te? products?
What opportunities for innovation in strategic planning development exist for the organization?s external considerations?
What processes could the business alter to create new efficiencies that attract and keep customers?
You spend the time interviewing different groups of customers, asking these questions, and observing everything from customers in the stores to customers shopping at the other electronic retail retailers.
Based on the feedback on your survey questions, you have determined the following:
Most customers view Tenney Electronics as only moderately expensive and not very innovative. Those that knew about the ?Te?brand considered it to slightly more innovative and more expensive than comparable brands. Further research also showed that customers are willing to pay more for products that utilize newer technologies rather than ?last year?s model?. Lastly, many people didn?t know that Tenney Electronics sold anything else than radios.
The next step of the IBDM process is to identify specific and or unmet problems and opportunities. In this stage you will examine lifecycles of competitive ideas and potential new concepts for the organization. This may include innovative strategy process development, or a detailed exploration for products and services. Once again you must decide where to focus your attention. You can choose to focus on possible problems or potential opportunities for the company. By using the IBDM process, you have learned a lot about the external opportunities for Tenney Electronics. The biggest opportunity in the market has to do with the perception of the ?Re? brand and Tenney Electronics as less expensive than the desired position of the most other high-tech products. Even though Tenney Electronics is also considered less innovative than the desired position, the ?Te? brand is recognized as being more innovative than the average tech product.
You have decided to focus on the opportunities available on your external review. Now it is up to you to apply what you learned. Mr. Tenney is counting on you to find a new innovative way of growing the business. This means that you will need to explore different possibilities for new strategies, Products, processes, and services (SPPS). You can focus your new innovate ideas on any one of the four SPPS categories. Product: The (TE-HD) combines both the features found on current radios with the added benefit of being able to use HD-radio technology for superior quality. This will help to raise perception of Tenney Electronics in the market place.
Step three in the IBDM process is to use creative thinking techniques and inspirations to develop innovative and practical concepts to address the identified problems and opportunities. It is up to you to distill what you have learned about Tenney Electronics. Your creative concept needs to be innovative and practical for the business. You also may want to consider the potential market for the innovation. In completing the research, you have developed two possible options. Either to Develop HD radio or Develop MP3 player.
Prototype A or Prototype X-I choose Prototype X-.
Step four in the IBDM process is to develop prototypes.
In this stage you will design and develop innovative, practical concepts to serve as models for testing and evaluation.
The TE-HD prototype is too expensive.
The final step in the IBDM process is to evaluate the outcomes of the creative concept development in order to determine appropriate enhancements, improvements, or exit strategies.
The innovative process is not complete until thorough market-testing has been completed and evaluated. Industry and regulatory standards must be exceeded. All safety considerations must also be evaluated. Once production begins, the company must plan for the required maintenance and services that are required.
Lesson Learned-
Mr. Tenney is very pleased with your work and recommendations. By applying the principles of the IBDM process, you were able to logically and methodically develop a new and innovative solution for the business.
Tools for problems solving-assess the situation; identify problems and opportunities, creative concept development, prototype development, and implementation, validation, and refinement. It is always best to consider both internal and external factors as well as both problems and opportunities that affect the business.

Below are the 10 related questions that require short eaasy answers (approx 300 words per question). The textbook associated with this course is also noted below; please use references from this text for at least one of the references. The number of references relate to the need to ensure that there are at least 3-4 references PER question. Please be sure to note the associated references following each essay. Thanks!

Course Name: Operations and Supply Chain Management
Textbook: Operations and Supply Chain Management; by F. Robert Jacobs and ichard B. Chase 13th edition


Please Note: These questions require between 250-350 word responses (inclusive of applicable references). So a single page response for EACH one should suffice. Please be sure to group the references by question (see further instructions within order). Wikipedia references are strictly prohibited.

1. Assume you are building custom motorcycles. All custom bikes use some standard parts. Part number HD-60 is stocked in your inventory of component parts. Each year you use about 2,000 HD-60 components at a cost of $25 each. Storage costs, which include insurance and cost of capital, amount to $5 per unit of average inventory. Every time an order is placed for HD-60 components, it costs $10. (a) How many items of HD-60 should be ordered at a time? (b) What are the annual costs of ordering HD-60 components? (c) What is the annual cost of storing HD-60 components?

2. You are responsible for an operation that has 12 distinct jobs. Seven of those jobs must be processed in two operations: D and E. All seven jobs must go through D and E in that sequence, i.e., D first and then E. Determine the optimal order in which the jobs should be sequenced through the process using the following times:
Job Process D Time Process E Time
1 9 6
2 8 5
3 7 7
4 6 3
5 1 2
6 2 6
7 4 7

3. A work center has five jobs assigned to it. They are labeled, in the order of their arrival in the shop, as jobs A, B, C, D, and E. The work center may work on only one job at a time and must complete any job it starts before starting another job. Job A has a processing time of 6 days and is due to the customer in 9 days. Job B has a processing time of 2 days and is due in 16 days. Job C has a processing time of 4 days and is due in 10 days. Job D has a processing time of 3 days and is due in 7 days. Job E has a processing time of 5 days and is due in 12 days. Using the earliest due date (EDD) priority rule, what will be the average lateness of these orders?

4. Dunstreets Department Store would like to develop an inventory ordering policy with a 95 percent probability of not stocking out. To illustrate your recommended procedure, use as an example the ordering policy for white percale sheets. Demand for white percale sheets is 5,000 per year. The store is open 365 days per year. Every two weeks inventory is counted and a new order is placed. It takes 10 days for the sheets to be delivered. Standard deviation of demand for the sheets is five per day. There are currently 150 sheets on hand. How many sheets should you order?

5. Discuss the importance of the master production schedule in an MRP system

6. Product A is an end item and is made from two units of B and four of C. B is made of three units of D and two of E. C is made of two units of F and two of E. A has a lead-time of one week. B, C, and E have lead times of two weeks, and D and F have lead times of three weeks. Show the bill of materials (product tree structure).

7. As described in the textbook, validation of a simulation involves insuring that the simulation yields correct results when compared to the results of the actual real-world system. If this is so, why run simulations at all? Why not just use the results of the actual situation which we obviously already know?

8. In cases where demand is difficult to predict, which probability models would you use so that the risk associated with stock out is managed? Briefly describe how each model would be used.

9. You have a product in which inventory is taken frequently, rather than once or twice per year. Under what situations could your inventory of this product be computerized? Explain in detail

10. The question of flexibility within a master production schedule depends on several factors. Unless some operating rules are established and adhered to, the system could become chaotic. What techniques does management use to maintain a reasonably controlled flow through the production system?

Customer is requesting that (infoceo) completes this order.

Efficiency of antibiotic resistance gene transfer mechanisms upon exposure to triclosan

Abstract:

Humans live in constant contact with microbes, the vast majority of which do not cause disease. Pathogenic bacteria have frequent contact with commensal bacteria from human, animals, plants, fish, soil and water. These commensal bacteria, which often provide a benefit to the host, can serve as reservoirs for resistance genes; collecting them and holding them for future transmission of other organisms[1]. Ultimately, one of the recipients for this genetic largesse can be a disease causing bacterium.
Bacteria in every environment are constantly evolving aided in part by exchange of genetic material. Evidence is growing that extensive horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance genes occur in nature between clinical and nonclinical bacteria [2]. Hence the commensal reservoir bacteria may be important players in the spread of antibiotic resistance genes. Methods of DNA transfer between organisms include transformation by naked DNA, viral transduction, and bacterial conjugation.
All mechanisms of DNA transfer involve the cell membrane. Since triclosan disrupts the microbial cell membrane, it is important to examine whether triclosan affects the acquisition of antibiotic resistance genes. Experiments would measure the efficiency of gene transfer between different classes of bacteria upon exposure of triclosan. Plasmids carrying marker genes such as those coding for tetracycline and kanamycin resistance will be introduced into several hosts (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimurium, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa). The efficiency of transformation by naked DNA and gene transfer between bacteria vial bacterial conjugation can be examined upon exposure to various levels of triclosan. Likewise the ability of triclosan to inhibit bacteriophage infection, another common method of gene transfer will be analysed. Our focus on the alterations in the efficiencies of gene transfer mechanisms upon exposure to triclosan may elucidate novel physiological effects.






Works cited:

[1] Mazodier, P. and J. Davies. Gene Transfer Between Distantly Related Bacteria
Annu. Rev. Genet. 1991, Vol. 25: 147-171.

[2] Roberts, M. C. Tetracycline resistance determinants: mechanisms of action, regulation of expression, genetic mobility, and distribution, Pages 1-24
FEMS Microbiol. Rev., 1996. 19:p. 1-24.

Articles that may be relevant:
Tan L, Nielsen NH, Young DC, Trizna Z.
Use of antimicrobial agents in consumer products.
Arch Dermatol. 2002 Aug;138(8):1082-6.
PMID: 12164747 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Fraise AP.
Susceptibility of antibiotic-resistant cocci to biocides.
J Appl Microbiol. 2002;92 Suppl:158S-62S.
PMID: 12000624 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Russell AD.
Introduction of biocides into clinical practice and the impact on antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
J Appl Microbiol. 2002;92 Suppl:121S-35S. Review.
PMID: 12000621 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


Levy SB.
Active efflux, a common mechanism for biocide and antibiotic resistance.
J Appl Microbiol. 2002;92 Suppl:65S-71S. Review.
PMID: 12000614 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


Poole K.
Mechanisms of bacterial biocide and antibiotic resistance.
J Appl Microbiol. 2002;92 Suppl:55S-64S. Review.
PMID: 12000613 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Loughlin MF, Jones MV, Lambert PA.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells adapted to benzalkonium chloride show resistance to other membrane-active agents but not to clinically relevant antibiotics.
J Antimicrob Chemother. 2002 Apr;49(4):631-9.
PMID: 11909837 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Schweizer HP.
Triclosan: a widely used biocide and its link to antibiotics.
FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2001 Aug 7;202(1):1-7. Review.
PMID: 11506900 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Levy SB.
Antibacterial household products: cause for concern.
Emerg Infect Dis. 2001;7(3 Suppl):512-5.
PMID: 11485643 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Susman E.
Too clean for comfort.
Environ Health Perspect. 2001 Jan;109(1):A18. No abstract available.
PMID: 11171537 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


Chuanchuen R, Beinlich K, Hoang TT, Becher A, Karkhoff-Schweizer RR, Schweizer HP.
Cross-resistance between triclosan and antibiotics in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is mediated by multidrug efflux pumps: exposure of a susceptible mutant strain to triclosan selects nfxB mutants overexpressing MexCD-OprJ.
Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2001 Feb;45(2):428-32.
PMID: 11158736 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Levy SB.
Antibiotic and antiseptic resistance: impact on public health.
Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2000 Oct;19(10 Suppl):S120-2. Review.
PMID: 11052402 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Suller MT, Russell AD.
Triclosan and antibiotic resistance in staphylococcus aureus.
J Antimicrob Chemother. 2000 Jul;46(1):11-8.
PMID: 10882683 [PubMed - in process]

Jones RD, Jampani HB, Newman JL, Lee AS.
Triclosan: a review of effectiveness and safety in health care settings.
Am J Infect Control. 2000 Apr;28(2):184-96. Review.
PMID: 10760227 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Russell AD.
Do biocides select for antibiotic resistance?
J Pharm Pharmacol. 2000 Feb;52(2):227-33.
PMID: 10714955 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Levy CW, Roujeinikova A, Sedelnikova S, Baker PJ, Stuitje AR, Slabas AR, Rice DW, Rafferty JB.
Molecular basis of triclosan activity.
Nature. 1999 Apr 1;398(6726):383-4. No abstract available.
PMID: 10201369 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Tierno PM Jr.
Efficacy of triclosan.
Am J Infect Control. 1999 Feb;27(1):71-2; discussion 72-4. No abstract available.
PMID: 9949382 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

McMurry LM, Oethinger M, Levy SB.
Triclosan targets lipid synthesis.
Nature. 1998 Aug 6;394(6693):531-2. No abstract available.
PMID: 9707111 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

i have most of a research proposal done i need 4 pages . conclusion project
management and limitations aprox 500 or less words. ineed 2 more pages on
data analysis most important. following is the proposal. number of sources
not important. i hope this is of help.

Introduction

The use of restraint is a problem that arises regularly in nursing the older
adult. It has all kinds of affect for the patient, their relatives and
nurses. A restraint is described as ?a device which limits or prevents
freedom of movement?, (Oxford Dictionary, 2001).
Any definition of restraint must take into account the involuntary nature of
the action with respect to the person being restrained. By its very
definition restraint brings to mind a negative picture. Restraint is
normally thought of as being involuntary although this is not always the
case. This literature review aims to address the area of restraint and its
use / misuse in care of the elderly. Restraint is a moral, ethical, legal
and human rights issue. Restraint exists in many different forms, and it
includes measures particular to an individual and other methods, which
inhibit all patients within a building or a ward (Stuart, 1996). The next
section of this literature review will look at types and prevalence of
restraint used.


Types of restraint used
Hantikainen (1998) describes bed rails, tying the resident to a regular
chair and using a safety vest in bed as the most common forms of restraint.
The most obvious individual measures include the tying of residents to
chairs or to beds. Buxton chairs, which can be tilted, and cot sides are
less shocking but similarly prevailing methods of restraint. Side rails are
frequently and indiscriminately used in U.K hospitals. The placing of a
heavy table next to a person?s chair is a very subtle form of restraining
that person. On a more general level restraints which prevent a person from
exiting a ward or building including door locks and electronic tagging are
infringements on the persons freedom and therefore constitute restraint
(Stuart, 1996). The practice of dressing residents in indoor or bedtime
clothing so that wandering into the open are is not feasible is also a form
of restraint. Akid (2002) refers to a report by the English charity
?Counsel and Care? in which home care staff admitted in a series of
seminars, that older people are locked up, imprisoned at night by bed rails
and have their walking frames and call buzzers removed.

Prevalence of restraint used

Prevalence rates range between 6% and 86% depending on the setting (Evans,
1989). In a study carried out in St. Columcille?s Hospital, Loughlinstown,
Co. Dublin in March 1997, the results demonstrated that cot sides were used
on 16% of patients. A further 4% had trays attached as restraints to
special chairs. In this study 132 patients were observed for 2 periods of 2
hours and 3 hours respectively, over a single 24-hour period. The short
periods of time over which the patients were observed in this study might
have influenced the data collected. It would be worth repeating the study
over a longer period of time and perhaps on a continuum rather than at
selected times.
Meanwhile 68% of the patients observed by Gallinagh et al (2001) were
subjected to some form of physical restraint, side rails being the most
commonly observed method.
Karlsson et al (2000) refers to a figure of between 24% and 85% in relation
to the use of restraint in elderly care. Until 1990 physical restraint was
commonly used on long-term care settings in the United States. In October
1990 the federal government enacted the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of
1987 (OBRA). This act said amongst other things that residents have the
right to be free from physical and chemical restraints, this act led to
significant reduction in the use of physical restraints in nursing homes.
The restraint rate decreased nationally from 41% pre-OBRA to 21% by early
1995 (Cohen et al, 1996). However a national rate of 21% still suggests
that many staff are commonly using methods of restraint both physical and
chemical (Cohen et al, 1996).
Considering the above data and percentages the use of restraint continues to
be commonplace in care of the elderly. The author will now proceed and
discuss rational for restraining a patient.

Rationale for restraining a person

A major reason cited for continued restraint use in American nursing homes
is the widely held conviction that restraint reduction will lead to
fall-related incidents and injuries (Capezuti, 1998).
Gallinagh et al (2002) in a study carried out in 4 rehabilitation wards in
Northern Ireland found that nurses claimed to use restraints with 58% of
patients surveyed in order to prevent falls. It is interesting to note that
a history of falls was not a strong determining factor for the use of
restraint. Gallinagh et al carried out this study in 4 rehabilitation wards
over a 3-day period. They observed 102 patients in the 4 centres, 68% of
the patients observed were subjected to some form of physical restraint.
Content validity was assured through 2 nurse academics and 2 gerontological
nurse specialists who were unassociated with the study. Staff experienced
in both research and gerontology collected the data. In order to prevent
sensitisation, staff were only informed that the researches were observing
an aspect of care. The results of the study are however not generalisable
as the observations were carried out only on selected days. Also the
brevity of the study may have had an impact on what was observed or could
have been observed given more time.
In a pilot study conducted to identify resident characteristics and
environmental factors associated with initiation of physical restraint,
Sullivan-Marx et al (1999) identified that restraint initiation occurs when
a nursing home resident is cognitively impaired. In the same study a higher
rate of licensed nursing personnel in a home were predictive of restraint
initiation. (Licensed nurses are not registered nurses).
In another study by Karlsson et al (2000) carried out in order to highlight
nurses? reasons for using physical restraint a correlation is again drawn
between staffs concern for their patients? safety and the use of restraint.
In this study thirty registered nurses working in 2 nursing homes in Sweden
were asked to read a written clinical vignette describing a fall-prone
person with dementia who refused to be physically restrained. The
association between the decision made and the nurses? attitude towards
restraint use were measured. Each nurse was interviewed and completed a
questionnaire. Nurses? identified lack of time, a duty to obey
prescription, acting in the best interests of the patient and acting in
accordance with the will of others as rationale for using restraint. Again
these results are comparable with the previous studies. There are some
limitations in using this vignette technique as it merely poses a
hypothetical situation. As with most people nurses when responding to a
hypothetical question may interpret the context in a different way thus
putting a different slant on the data from what is the reality.
Middleton et al (1999) in a study examining the effects of education on the
attitudes and practices of long-term care staff towards use of restraints
noted that the most common rationale for the use of pharmacological
restraints were violence, confusion, poor judgement, interference with
treatment, and falls.
The above studies cite risk of falls and patient safety as reasons for use
of restraint. It is also a widely held belief in American nursing homes
that restraint reduction will lead to fall-related incidents and injuries
(Capezuti, 1998). This conclusion was drawn from a study of data collected
in a clinical trial by Capezuti et al (1998) in which 633 people in 3
nursing homes were observed. The relationship between physical restraint
removal and falls/injuries in the 3 nursing homes, with varying rates of
restraint reduction was studied. There was no indication of increased risk
of falls or injuries with restraint removal. It was also demonstrated that
the nursing home that had the least restraint reduction 11%, had a 50%
higher rate of falls and more than twice the rate of fall-related minor
injuries; when compared to homes who has a 23% and 56% restraint reduction
respectively. Despite strong beliefs efficacy of restraints for safe
guarding patients from falls and injuries has not been clinically
demonstrated (Evans, 1989). Because of this evidence the ethical issue of
restraint will now be explored.



Ethical issues regarding restraint use.

There is a strong and rapidly growing awareness that elderly people like
everyone else, have a right to take risks as a part of normal living, and
that this right should not be denied them because they are in need of care
(Norman, 1987). Karlsson et al (2000) identified nurses in their study who
were willing to take risks in order to avoid the use of restraint. Contrary
to this statement is the fact that uppermost in the minds of most nurses is
likely to be the consequence of failing to restrain patients. Strumpf and
Evans (1991) refer to the elements identified in care settings where
restraints are rarely if ever used. These elements include awareness of the
needs of the individual resident, continuous monitoring of individual health
status and appropriate adjustments in the care plan. Strumpf and Evans
(1991) also identified fundamental issues regarding use of physical
restraint in older adults as being those concerned with effects of the
restraints, ethical questions of human dignity and individuals? legal
rights. Nurses concern for safety and control of behaviour form a
foundation of belief for restraint use that stands in contrast to the
efficacy and ethical arguments against such use.
Hanitainem (1998) performed a study looking at reasons for using physical
restraint their prevalence and nurses experiences of their use. This
questionnaire study was carried out to provide basic information and a
general overview because the author was of the opinion that there is a lack
of research data on the use of physical restraint in Switzerland. He cites
that evidence from earlier research indicates that in nursing practice more
importance is attached to safety than to resident''s rights of physical
freedom. The nursing home residents consisted of elderly people with
physical frailties and/ or moderate cognitive impairments associated with
ageing. The convenience sampling method was used to recruit 300
professional trained nurses trained nurses aids and auxiliary staff from
seven Swiss nursing homes for the elderly .The sample criteria were based on
strictly voluntary participation and ability to understand the German
language. One hundred and eighty questionnaires were returned and 173 were
accepted foe analysis. Giving a response rate of 58%. The low response
rate may been due to a number of reasons some being the ethically
problematic subject and the large number of foreign nursing personnel who
may have had difficulty understanding the German language.
The respondents expressed several emotions that were related to ethical
conflicts. The respondents affirmed residents? rights to freedom and the
right to express their feelings such as aggressiveness. The respondents
felt that they were infringing on these rights by using restraint. This
study also identified the ethical predicament of promoting good and avoiding
harm where the use of restraint has potential benefits but still violates a
person?s autonomy.
Ethically the nurse faces a substantial decision if restraint is considered
essential in the care of a patient. While nurses may be adverse to the use
of restraints from a professional and ethical stance, it is interesting that
the practice still exists. Molassiotis (1995) in a cross-cultural study,
examined awareness of restraint use among 50 nurses from Britain and Greece.
They discovered that while respondents disagreed with the use of physical
restraints in principle 44% of the British nurses and 100% of the Greek
nurses did claim that they were used within their practice. Furthermore,
Brennan (1999) revealed that 53% of UK nurses, admitted to personally
restraining a patient.

Consequences of restraint use

Restraint has physical and psychological repercussions and these are
particularly harsh in older people. The principal problem with the use of
restraint seems to arise from the immobilisation of the patient
(Molassiotis, 1995). Elderly patients with a sustained degree of
immobilisation are prone to develop contractures of the muscles, oedema of
the lower limbs and pressure sores (Molassiotis, 1995).
Watson (2001) agrees with this data and adds incontinence as another
consequence of physical restraint. Prolonged enforcement of the sitting
position results in first weakness and unsteadiness, which progresses to an
inability to ambulate (Brower, 1991). Immobilisation can also lead to
changes in body chemistry, basal metabolic rate, total blood volume, bone
demineralisation and electrolyte losses (Evans and Strumpf, 1989).
Molassiotis (1995) showed that the physical effects of restraint use, as
identified in a restraint evaluation questionnaire for nursing staff, were
injury, discomfort, pressure sores and skin trauma. Almost 15% of nurses in
this study however believed that there are no effects from the use of
physical restraints. This may indicate that the use of restraint has become
a routine procedure in the provision of care for the older person. It may
also indicate a lack of awareness on the behalf of the nurse of the effects
of restraint use or of its ethical implications. It would be interesting to
repeat this study and observe any change in attitude.
The psychological consequences of restraint are equally debilitating to the
patient. Strumpf et al (1988) studied the perceptions of 20 patients who
had experienced physical restraint. Eleven of these patients had their
responses categorised in terms of anger, humiliation, demoralisation and
learned helplessness. Molassiotis (1995) maintained that use of restraint
could cause confusion, psychosis, depression, and loss of self-esteem
resulting in prolonged hospital stays. Restraint far from relieving
confusion ? which may be the underlying cause of the behaviour, which has
led to the person being restrained ? will exacerbate it. Consequently the
restrained person is likely to become depressed and suffer from the effects
of sensory deprivation, because normal social intercourse and other stimuli
will be reduced (Watson, 2001).
Karlsson et al (2000) quotes nurses in their study as saying that the
patients? will suffer a great deal from being restrained in chairs and the
restraints should be removed if the patients feel unhappy about them.
Another argument used for the removal of a restraint on the same study was
that the patient became agitated when restrained. These statements
demonstrate the nurse''s awareness of the negative psychological implications
of the use of restraint on the patient. This is in contrast to the 15% of
nurses in Molassiotis study 1995, who believed there are no detrimental
effects from the use of restraints.
Gallinagh et al (2001) writes of the negative physical and psychological
outcomes from using cot sides. These outcomes include fatalities, loss of
dignity, sense of being jailed and a feeling of entrapment. This research
concurs with that of Noone and Fleming (1998) in which cot sides are
described as creating a sense of being trapped or jailed. Cot sides also
separate the care receiver from the caregiver and more importantly from
family and friends (Noone and Fleming, 1998. This literature review will
now continue and consider the prevalence of restraint.
Considering the consequences the ethical and moral implications, and that
restraint continues to be used in care of the elderly settings the nurse
must consider the practice of restraint and be aware of its implications
before proceeding with any of its forms. She must also consider
alternatives to restraint. This involves education research based practice
and nurse driven policies and guidelines. This literature review will now
consider the advances in restraint free care and alternatives to restraint.



Avoiding restraint
Avoiding restraint usually comprises an element of risk and it also involves
a willingness to undertake these risks in order to preserve the freedom and
dignity of older people (Watson, 2001). Raising awareness of restraint as
an issue in the care of older people is an essential first step in reducing
its use. Strumpf and Evans (1988) go further and state that restraint free
care should be established as the standard of care for older adults in all
settings.
The final section of this literature review will analysis the evidence for
the achievement of restraint reduction and its implementation by the nurse.
Most of the literature on restraint reduction emerges from America; this is
also the case regarding studies on the use of restraint. This is possibly
due to the litigious culture that traditionally exists in America; this
however is rapidly becoming the case in Ireland and the UK.
Individual and institutional accountability is increasingly coming under the
spotlight of the legal profession seeking compensation for poor standards of
care (Watson, 2001). Restraint free care is best achieved through an
individualised approach to care (Sullivan-Marx, 2001). In this study
Sullivan-Marx discovered that acute confusion together with restraint-use
magnified the need to promote restraint-free care, and therefore improve
patient outcomes. It is also suggested that further research involving
controlled analysis of these risks factors and evaluating outcomes of care,
as a means of adding to the understanding of the care of hospitalised older
people be conducted. Watson (2001) identifies 3 common themes to
restraint-free care, these being, policy change, in-service education and
individualised care.

Restraint free care through individualised care and nurse driven protocols
Sullivan-Marx et al (1999) in their study state that efforts to reduce or
eliminate physical restraint use requires greater effort to educate staff in
the assessment and analysis of fall risk, along with targeted interventions,
particularly when cognition is also impaired. In another study conducted by
Sullivan-Marx (2001) it is suggested that restraint free care is best
achieved by an individualised approach to care.
Brower (1991) also supports a thorough interdisciplinary assessment of
patients in order to reduce the prevalence of restraints, including gait,
balance and nutritional data.
Winston et al (1999) advocates the usage of nurse-driven restraint
protocols, in order to improve patient care. As part of their study Winston
et al monitored nurse managers over a 9-month period. These nurse managers
performed ongoing daily monitoring of practice relating to management of
restrained patients. As a follow on from this study the intense monitoring
has served to support daily interaction between management and staff to
reinforce standard requirements. A high level of compliance was achieved
with the nurse driven protocol, which in turn has led to consistent
protection of the patients? health and safety while preserving their
dignity, rights and well being. This study supports the fact that nurse
driven protocols are a valuable tool in achieving restraint free care.
Sullivan-Marx (1996) also points out that development of knowledge,
accountability and autonomy in registered nursing staff is key to creating
alternatives to restraints.





Effects of education on restraint

Middleton et al (1999) conducted a study that examined the effects of
education on the attitudes and practices of long-term staff towards the use
of restraint. Staff attended a 1-day educational seminar. The seminar
goals were 3 fold, first to provide information about best practices for
managing behaviours of individuals with dementia in long-term care settings,
secondly to provide an explanation of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
regulations pertaining to restraint use and thirdly to present alternative
strategies to link best practice guidelines to the provision of care. The
most important finding from the questionnaire was the belief that fewer
residents needed to be physically and chemically restrained. 51% of
participants reported changes in personal practice. 36% of participants
reported that their organisation implemented changes in the use of
restraints as a result of the seminar. Participants also believed
pharmacological restraints were more likely to increase undesirable side
effects. In listing alternatives to restraint use, the seminar
significantly altered opinions regarding alternatives to pharmacological
restraints.
The four alternatives seen as more viable interventions to restraint use
were an increase in recreational activities, consideration of a differential
diagnosis, reassessment of residents? needs for pharmacological restraint
and increased staff training. The findings of this study suggest that an
educational program based on best practice guidelines complemented by an
exploration of alternatives to restraint; provides an effective medium for
altering staff attitudes toward use of restraint in nursing homes.
Cruz et al (1997) conducted a research utilisation project the purpose of
which was to select and implement a research-based restraint education
programme, for reducing the use of restraints, by changing the perceptions
of the multidisciplinary team about restraints, towards the decreased
importance of their use. Following a review of the literature on restraint
education programmes the committee concluded that education was the key
component in decreasing the use of physical restraints. Education sessions
were developed and a pilot study was conducted with restraint co-ordinators.
A questionnaire was administered before and after the education sessions.
A key element of the programme and an important part of the restraint
procedure was a strategy to guide an individually tailored approach to care
with use of physical restraints. A total of 38 co-ordinators attended the
programme. Post-test results indicated that the education programme made a
significant change in the co-ordinators perceptions about restraints on the
management of patient care. However this positive result may be because of
response bias. Attending such an education programme could heighten ones
sensitivity for patient safety resulting in an increase in post-test results
for some items. Following this programme and to out rule response bias the
researcher suggested that the multidisciplinary team follow up the
co-ordinators? perception about the use of restraint in 3 months and again
at 6 months.
The results of this exercise would establish if there was a commitment to
continued decreased use of restraints. Again this study outlines the
importance of education and patient assessment when considering restraint.
During their research it is important to note that the researchers
discovered that nurses who did not attend an education programme on
gerontology placed more importance on the use of restraints in cases where
patients exhibited confusion, uncooperativeness, wandering, dementia and
alcohol abuse, than did the nurse who had attended a programme of
gerontological education.

Considering all of the above research the key factor in implementing
restraint reduction is education of the staff. This education should aim to
heighten nurses? awareness of the risks associated with restraint, the human
rights dimension, and the legal and ethical implications of restraining
actions.

Conclusion

Following this review it may be concluded that restraint usage whether
physical or pharmacological continues to be prevalent in nursing. From the
very subtle to the more blatant, older people are subjected to restraint in
its many forms. The use of restraint when caring for older people has many
implications for nurses?- not least ethical and legal implications. Common
reasons documented for the use of restraint relate to the persons protection
and safety and the protection of the other residents and staff. Fear of
litigation is also an element to be considered especially when reviewing the
literature from the U.S.A. Guideline and policies need to be formulated and
developed and the literature suggests that nurse-driven protocols are a
valuable tool on achieving restraint free care. However education of staff
plays a major role in achieving alternatives to restraint and ultimately
restraint free care. Further studies on the effects that education has on
staff in striving towards restraint free care would be valuable.





Abstract
The practice of restraint in long-term care facilities has come under
critical examination in recent years. Education is seen as one of the ways
to change established practices of nurses in long term care facilities.
Strumpf and associates (1992) have developed a comprehensive and structured
restraint use education programme (REP). They have tested this programme in
nursing home and clinical settings and found substantial changes in staff
perceptions of physical restraint and alternative approaches. They also
stated a reduction in the actual use of restraint. However they only
evaluated the short-term impact of their programme. This proposal is set
out to look at the long-term impact of this educational programme on the
actual reduction of restraint. The design is quasi-experimental using the
interrupted time series (ITC). The population of 100 nurses working in a
long term care of the elderly facility will be randomly sampled and a sample
of 50 nurses recruited to partake in the educational sessions. The data
will be collected using the perception of restraint use questionnaire (PRUQ)
and reasons for using alternatives questionnaire (RALT). The sample will be
tested immediately after the educational sessions at three months and again
at six months. The prevalence of restraint will be tested throughout the
study with the use of a restraint log.







Hypothesis
 Restraint education programme will reduce restraint in long-term
care facilities.
 Staff''s perception of reasons for using restraint will be reduced.
 Staff''s perception of reasons for using alternatives will be
increased
 Staff''s knowledge of alternatives to restraint and perceived use of
alternatives will be increased.
 The effects of the educational programme will be evident three /six
months after the educational programme.
Null hypothesis


Aims and objectives
To introduce an educational programme and test its effects on the reduction
of restraint in long term care facilities. To test staffs perception of
reasons for using restraint staffs perception of reasons for using
alternatives and staffs knowledge of alternatives to restraint and perceived
use of alternatives.









Methodology
The design of this study is quantitative and employs a quasi-experimental
design to deliver an educational program and test its impacts. Quantitative
approach is used as the author concurs with Parahoo (1997) who states that
"quantitative research is believed to be the only scientific method capable
of advancing nursing knowledge because it provides hard, objective facts
that can be statistically analysed and interpreted". This points to the
value of objective systematic observation of nursing practice Parahoo
(1997). The limitations of the quantitative approach are said to provide
only partial views of the phenomena it tries to investigate. This is where
qualitative approach claims to focus on the experiences of people and
stresses the uniqueness of the individual. Parahoo (1997) suggests that
because the researcher gets so involved they cannot be objective and are
more likely to be subjective.
However the author would recognise that both qualitative and quantitative
approaches are important and contribute to nursing knowledge despite their
limitations. Research is to provide up to date information and improve
quality of care; the knowledge gained depends on the quality of the research
and the beliefs of the researcher.

Quasi -Experimental

Experiments examine and establish casual links between variables (Parahoo
1997). It is considered to be the most powerful quantitative method because
of rigorous control and variables (Cormac 1991). However it may not always
be practical or ethical to carry out true experiments in nursing. Quasi
experiments are appropriate in this case as the research seeks to cause
minimum disruption in a natural setting. Parahoo (1997) suggests that
because the experiments take place in a natural setting, the findings are
more generalisable those are those of true experiments. There are a variety
of quasi -experimental designs. One is where the researcher introduces a
new intervention into a group and measures the outcome. The intervention
being the restraint education programmes and measures staff''s perception of
reasons for using restraint, staff''s perception of reasons for using
alternatives, staffs knowledge of alternatives to restraint and perceived
use of alternatives. However Parahoo (1997) state that this is the weakest
form of experiment because there is no base line score (pre test) and no
other groups with which to compare the final scores. To be more certain the
researcher has decided to test the group before and after the intervention
and also do a series of measurements at different time intervals after the
intervention selected by the researcher. Parahoo (1991) states that one of
the strengths of time series measurements is that it can give a more
accurate representation of phenomena that fluctuate. However Parahoo (1991)
does also site one of its main weaknesses as having an increased opportunity
for extraneous variables to creep in due to the extended period of time
required for the multiple measurements. This will be expanded upon in
greater detail in latter sections.


Dependant and independent variables
Quantitative research is concerned with the measurement of variables and
subsequent investigations, using a variety of statistical methods, of the
relationship between variables (Polit and Hungler 1995, cited by Watson
1998). Watson (1998) describes variables as being dependant or independent
and the dependence or independence of variables depends on the research
design.
This experiment is set up to test if a restraint education program is
introduced to nurses in care of the elderly then restraint will be reduced.
It is also set up to measure staffs perception of reasons for using
restraint, staff''s perception of reasons for using alternatives and staffs
knowledge of alternatives to restraint and perceived use of alternatives.
Here the researcher sets up the experiment so that she can deliberately
manipulate or control one major factor or variable, the educational
programme this is refereed to as the independent variable. This is done in
order to assess it effects on another factor, levels of restraint used
staffs perception of reasons for using restraint, staffs perception of
reasons for using alternatives and staffs knowledge of alternatives to
restraint and perceived use of alternatives, this is referred to as the
dependant variable.

Internal and external validity of experiments

Internal validity is the extent to which changes, if any, in the dependant
variable can be said to have been caused by the independent variable alone
(Parahoo, 1997). In discussing internal validity bias and confounding
variables are two terms central to its understanding. In planning studies
the researcher must try to identify and control for confounding variables.
Parahoo (1997), sate that random allocation of subjects should remove
possible confounding variables. Beyea (1997) states that sometimes despite
the best planning researchers may not be aware of extraneous variables until
they have collected the data and analysed it.
External validity is the extent to which the findings of an experiment can
be applied or generalised to other similar population settings (Parahoo
1997). For this to be possible the population and setting of the experiment
must closely approximate the population and setting where the findings are
to be used.

Sampling
One of the crucial tasks in designing the research proposal is in deciding
the number and the characteristics of the respondents who will be invited to
partake in the study (Parahoo 1997). Cormac (1991) suggest that the
characteristics of the participants in a study are the most common
extraneous variables. Such variables as educational level and age might be
extraneous variables. To avoid this random sampling will be used to select
the participants of the study. This involves randomly sampling nurses from
the selected hospital. The district hospital partaking in the study has a
cluster of nurses working in care of the elderly. The size of the
population of registered nurses is 100 nurses. Parahoo (1997) defines a
population as the total number of potential respondents from whom to collect
data. The total number of registered nurses working in the selected
hospital is 100. However the researcher believes that it is not feasible to
collect data from this number of nurses due to the cost involved and
secondly the life span of the project would be potentially increased. The
researcher also believes it would be easier and more in depth data would be
collected form a smaller size. For these reasons the researcher has decided
to collect data from a proportion of the population this is known as the
sample. Parahoo (1997) defines a sample as a subset of the target
population. The size of this sample is 50 nurses
To be included in the study the nurses have to be employed full time on day
evening or rotating night shift, and also have direct patient care
responsibilities in the units partaking.
The process of simple random sampling will be used. The reason for this is
because the population is more or less homogeneous. The implication of this
is any sample drawn is unlikely to be seriously biased. All potential
participants are female and white, work in care of the elderly. A computer
package will be used to draw a random sample of 50 nurses from a population
of 100 nurses.

Sites
The proposed restraint education programme will be conducted in a long-term
care facility in the north cork region. This community hospital is located
in a semi- rural area in a small town. Total bed capacity of this unit is
100 beds. Nearly all residents are aged over 80 years. About two thirds
have some form of dementia.


Measures and instruments
Two questionnaires will be used to measure staff''s perceptions of reasons
for using restraint, staff''s perception of reasons for using alternatives
and staffs knowledge of alternatives to restraint and perceived use of
alternatives. A restraint log will be used to actually measure the
prevalence of restraint. Parahoo (1997) describes a questionnaire as a
method that seeks written response from people to a written set of questions
or statements. It is a research method when it is designed and administered
solely for the purpose of collecting data as part of a research study. The
primary request of the questionnaire is that it asks the suitable questions
so that data can be collected and the hypothesis of the study can be
accepted or rejected.


Staff perception of reasons for using restraint
The perception of restraint use questionnaire (PRUQ) was developed by
Strumpf et.al (1992). This instrument is going to be used to obtain data on
respondent''s beliefs and attitude''s about the efficiency of restraint. It
is a 17- item Likert-type questionnaire with each item rated on a 5- point
scale. High scores on the PRUQ index indicate strong beliefs about the
efficiency of physical restraint as a safety measure and a readiness to use
them. PRUQ has been shown to be a reliable research instrument, with an
alpha coefficient of .94 (Bradley 1995). (See appendix 1). The PRUQ
questionnaire does ask the appropriate question in relation to reasons why
one might restraint people. The language is comprehensive and not
patronising, this avoids confusion or upsetting people. However for further
content validity the researcher will submit the questionnaire to a nurse in
education who is expert in research and 2 other specialists in the area of
gerontological nursing.




Staff perception of reasons for using alternatives
A 9- item questionnaire, reasons for using alternatives (RALT), will be
used. This was specifically designed for a study done by Bradley (1993).
It is used to collect data on staff perception of alternative approaches to
elderly care. These items cover several important socio-psychological and
physical reasons, which one might offer for using alternatives for example
1. Provide free choice and control for the resident
2. Decrease feelings of fear and anger
3. Provide for individualised approaches to problem solving
Each RALT item is rated on a 5-point scale, ranging from least to most
important. (See appendix 2). The researcher will also submit this to the
panel of experts identified previously for content validity.
Pilot testing the questionnaire.
This is done by giving the questionnaire to a small group of five people who
are similar in characteristic to the sample group. Parahoo (1997) states
that it is the most efficient way to teat questionnaires, this is done to
further refine the questionnaires.



The restraint education program.
The restraint education program offered in this project is adapted from an
educational package developed by strumpf and collages (1992). This
programme is very comprehensive and has a significant multidisciplinary
component. The manual has ten sections, which may be presented in a
combination of ways. Two hour sessions to half day sessions. For this
project the restraint reduction program will be offered in one hour and
two-hour long sessions.
For this project the length and times of the sessions would be negotiated
with the directors of nursing and /or the clinical nurse managers of the
participating units.
It is proposed that the sessions would be delivered and conducted by a
registered nurse with a higher diploma in gerontological nursing.
Specific areas covered in the programme
1. Introductory sessions- providing a critical review of the prevalence of
physical restraint their effects .myths about restraint use ,legal and
ethical issues in the use of restraint
2. Alternatives to physical and chemical restraint and proposed measures to
advance alternative approaches examined
3. Individualised care without using physical restraint
4. Examination of the need for assessment of each patients physical and
mental health.
5. Examination of functional abilities personal resources and social
circumstances
6. Care of the person at risk from falling
7. Care of the person with agitation/ restlessness behaviour
8. Different intervention strategies for specific clinical problems
9. Open discussion for participants of the programme can part take and
present cases from their own work environment. (See appendix 3)
Delivery of the programme
1. The programme will be delivered in a combination of ways lectures with
the use of overhead projector
2. Hand outs prepared by the researcher and nurse delivering the programme
3. Group discussion

Restraint log
A restraint log designed to monitor the use of restraint at the site will be
filled out for phase 1, phase2 phase3, and phase 4 of the study. A physical
restraint is defined as any device, which restricts a resident''s mobility or
movement. One nurse partaking in the study will fill the log out daily.
(See appendix 4)

Gaining access to the research site.
This part of the study is a vital stage, and needs a lot of planning.
It is necessary to gain confidence and knowledge in the subject of research
before seeking access to the research site (Cormac 1991). This way the
researcher can be prepared for any questions, and come across as confident
and knowledgeable in her field. Firstly the researcher will send a written
letter of introduction to the director of nursing of the proposed site. This
letter will also state what the researcher proposes to do and request
permission to gain access to the site. This will be followed by a telephone
call and a meeting arranged with the director and senior nursing staff. For
the first meeting with the director of nursing and senior staff several
copies of the proposal will be made available. The researcher will give
clear explanation of the proposed research. This will involve explanations
of who will be asked to partake how they will be selected and how long the
proposed research study will take. Consent will be required from the nurses
selected for the study and again clear and full explanations given to them.
A more detailed explanation of informed consent is given in the next section
where ethical considerations are discussed.
The attending general practitioners within the site will be sent a letter to
inform them of the study and request for their approval. (See appendix 5and
6)
Finally an application to the ethics committee we also be made. The
chairman and secretary will be contacted personally to gain specific
information and introduce one self to them
Cormac (1991) states that anonymity of data should be assured particularly
for staff where their work practice is being assessed in some way. The
researcher will reassure the committee and the participants of this and
respect the generosity of those who permit access.

Ethical considerations



This section will
examine the ethical issues that will arise at different stages of the
research process.
Beneficence
The research project should benefit the participating individual and society
in general (Parahoo 1997). The researcher believes that partaking in this
study will benefit the nurse in gaining knowledge about the use of
restraint, alternatives to restraint and the prevalence of restraint in
their unit. This can be achieved by giving feedback throughout the study
and presenting the final findings to the staff in the unit. The benefit to
patients is through knowledge less restraint will be used and autonomy will
be restored.
Confidentiality
The confidentiality of the information gathered from the participants must
be respected (Parahoo 1997). The researcher will give the participants
reassurance of confidentiality there will be no names required on any of the
questionnaires provided, for participants this will maintain confidentiality
and privacy. Parahoo (1997) that the questionnaires must be administered to
the participants alone and in a private place. The questionnaires will be
handed out to the participants and they will be given an opportunity to fill
them out in a private place and return them to the researcher at a given
time. Knowledge questions can be threatening to health professionals
however the researcher will ensure absolute confidentiality and anonymity.
The findings of the study will be made available to the nurses in the
hospital. It will at all times be stressed to the participants that any
time they feel uncomfortable with the study they are free to withdraw and
there will be no negative consequences.
The nurses partaking will be required to fill out a consent form. (See
appendix 7)
Rees (1997) states that informed consent is to be achieved the following
should be included
 Full disclosure of details of the study
 A statement that there is no obligation to take part and there is
no consequence if the decision is "no"
 Assurance that individuals can withdraw at any time without any
negative consequences
 Confirmation of confidentiality and anonymity
 Care that all the information is understood
 provision of an opportunity to ask questions
 Absence of pressure, unfair coercion to take part.


Procedure
Base line data will be collected from the site one month before the
restraint education programme commences. Each nurse partaking in the study
will be asked to fill out the perception of restraint use questionnaire
(PRUQ) and reasons for using alternatives (RALT) questionnaire. The
restraint log will also commence at this stage. The educational programme
that will be run in the hospital will be referred to as phase two. The ten
restraint education sessions will be given over a period of ten weeks, each
session lasting one-hour long. When these sessions are complete evaluation
data will be collected this will be phase three of the study. For phase
three all the nurses will be asked to fill out the RALT and PRUQ
questionnaires. Phase four take place three months after phase three and
phase five will take place three months after phase four. For these final
phases the nurses will be requested to fill out the RALT and PRUQ
questionnaires and the restraint log will be collected at the end of phase
five. The total time scale for this study will be nine and a half months.


Data analysis

I am ordering a dissertation proposal (include questionnaire) now, if this dissertation proposal could pass with my dissertation committees smoothly, I certainly will order my whole dissertation with you very soon (maybe around 160 pages). It is very important to make sure you could have right direction and good thoughts to develop the proposal from the beginning (After you finish, I need to discuss with my committee to make sure this proposal is on the right track); otherwise we will need more time to revise it (I hope not because the limitation of the time). I also request hardcopies of all the sources you have used in the proposal because I need all the references to attend the proposal defense meeting in our school (you told me the hardcopies are free, right? If you have any concern, please contact me ASAP).
.
Thank You!


In my dissertation proposal, I have some RESQUEST as below:

1.My Dissertation Topic is:
The Impact of Web Site Design on Consumers?? Purchase Intentions and Loyalty in the Business-to- Consumer Internet Commerce: A Rhetorical Approach

Please check the article: Wendy Winn & Kati Beck. (2002). The persuasive power of design elements on an e-commerce Web site. Technical Communication, Vol.49, p 17-35. Feb 2002.

My dissertation idea mainly based on this article (Make sure you read and understand this article totally before you start to write the proposal). I would like use the independent variables that the authors mentioned in this article (Logos, Pathos, and Ethos) to measure the dependent variables (Consumers?? Purchase Intentions and Loyalty). This article used qualitative research method (do not follow the methodology of this article); however, I will use quantitative research method to develop my whole research structure. I hope use the online questionnaire survey to understand the relationship between independent variables and dependent variables, and how strong the persuasive power of design elements on an e-commerce Web site, how do design elements carry out the rhetorical function of persuasion, or how design elements appeal to the online shoppers. Please base on these thinking to develop a few research questions for objectives of my dissertation, and then design the research method to answer these research questions.

2.Please make sure you have a Ph.D. level writing

3.Do not plagiarize! (Very Importation!!!)

4.Please develop 30 pages (the references pages should not be included!) for my proposal (include survey questionnaire) in 13 days. Please on time?K

5.Use the APA style during whole writing, APA style will include 23 lines?? words in one page. Do not leave any space between paragraphs. (you do not need to follow the APA style in Survey Questionnaire)

6.My dissertation will use Quantitative Research Method to do the whole study. You must give each variable accurate definition in the proposal.

7.To write the proposal, please make sure you exactly follow every criteria in the GUIDELINE QUANTITATIVE DOCTORAL PROPOSAL below, and make sure that you will mention every parts when you are writing the proposal in order to fit our school??s rules.( It is very important, please make sure mention every details!)

8.The proposal outline would be( you can check more detail below):

I. INTRODUCTION (please write around 4 pages)

II. SCHOLARSHIP (please write around 10 pages)
A.Literature Review
B. Theory
C. Contribution, Originality

III. RESEARCH DESIGN (please write around 10 pages)
A.Research Question
B. Design
C. Instrumentation
D. Population & Sample
E. Data Collection
F. Data Analysis
G. Ethics

IV. Summary (please write around 1 page)

V. Reference

VI. Appendix(ces)
A. Questionnaire (please layout all the questions around 2-3 pages)

9.In this proposal, the most important thing is to develop a future dissertation outline and make sure the content will support the study totally. For example, the outline may like the table of content of the real dissertation. After that, you could follow the outline to write down some important paragraphs for every part in this dissertation proposal to let my professors understand what I am going to do.

10.Please cite at least 60 sources or above in this proposal. Do not cite the same article too many times.

11.After you finish the dissertation proposal, I need the hardcopies of all the references (books or articles) that you have used in this proposal. I need all the references to attend the proposal defense meeting in our school.

12.In this quantitative research proposal, the most important part could be the Charter III: Research Design (My committees will critically review the Chapter III: RESEARCH DESIGN in this proposal.). Please make sure to develop a good research design for future dissertation research. It is very important that you could explain such questions as: how to reduce biases (researcher bias) on data-collection method, source, analyst, or theory in the proposal to show you have good plan.

13.Please develop questionnaire! The questionnaire is a part of proposal; however, it will be included in the Appendix. I hope can use Internet online survey to collect all the data in the future. You must give each variable accurate definition in the proposal, and then develop appropriate survey questions to make sure they can accord with the definition of the variables. You also need to make sure the questionnaire can answer all the research questions in this study after the data is collected. You need to develop around 30-40 questions or more in the questionnaire to measure the different independent and dependent variables for this study. After you develop the questionnaire, you better do the pilot test to make sure this questionnaire can be clearly understand and work?K Do not layout the questionnaire for too many pages because participants may feel too tired to answer all the questions (you do not need to follow the APA style here, and you can use smaller size words, single-spacing to layout the questionnaire.) I hope the visual layout of questionnaire can look professional.

14.In order to develop the future Web survey instrument. There is something you need to have plan in the proposal such as; who will come to the site to do the questionnaire? How many people will come? For how long?

15.Please use an open ended Likert scale rated from one to one hundred to develop the questionnaire. Develop 1 to 100 Likert-scale types for every question in the questionnaire.
For example:
How would you rate your interest in online shopping on a scale of 1 to 100, where 1 means ??Not at all interest, and 100 means ??Very Strongly Interest??. You can use any number from 1 to 100 to indicate the extent of your interest.
________ Number chosen

(This is just an example for you to understand what kind of style I need for the questionnaire; I believe you can develop better than me.)

16.I have some rough idea about my proposal, please read it to understand what I really want (you will find it below). However, you can change some of the content, if you think it is not appropriate for the future development.

17.If you have any extra questions about the proposal, please contact with me as soon as possible. Thank you!




GUIDELINES FOR QUANTITATIVE DOCTORAL DISSERTATION PROPOSALS

I. INTRODUCTION (please write around 4 pages)

The Introduction section provides an overview of your study. It describes the problem area your study will focus on, the rationale or need for an investigation in this area, the need for answering your particular research questions, and a basic overview of the design of your study. You must clearly describe
-The Background of the study (describe the background, including human subject research and references that are relevant to the design and conduct of the study.); -Purpose and key research questions;
-Importance of study;
-Objectives of study (state the objectives of the study as research questions and/or hypotheses, research question is clearly delimited, bounded, specified; has conceptual integrity.);
-Limitations of study;
-Structure of dissertation.

a. Describe the Who, What Where, When, Why and How of the Problem. Be Specific! What is the problem? Why is it a Problem? Who is involved? What is the environmental context? What is the historical context of the problem? Why is it important? (Just a brief overview here but this is more fully done in a later section)? Are there policy implications? Are there practice implications?

b. Enumerate and briefly explain the research question(s) to be answered and identify the policy, practice, or theory issues to be addressed. List specifically the major research questions, and any sub-questions under each major question.

c. Describe the frame of reference & identify the theoretica1/conceptual (or other) frame of reference, which is the context of the study. Summarize the elements of the rationale for the study and its design briefly here.

d. Provide a brief overview of your date sources and data analysis plans (research design), including procedures for collecting, organizing, and analyzing the data. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria- list specific eligibility requirements for subjects, including those criteria which would exclude otherwise acceptable subjects.

e. State your expected results ?V provide a brief summary of what findings are expected.

f. Fully discuss the significance/importance of the study:
1. Indicate how your research will refine, revise, or extend existing knowledge. Note that such refinements, revisions, or extensions may have both substantive and methodological significance.
2. Almost all studies have two potential audiences: practitioners and professional peers (scholars). Include statements relating the research to both groups.
3. Indicate what the research means for your institution or organization, e.g., it fits in with an institutional research program; it will contribute to renewed interest in research on the part of colleagues, etc.
4. Indicate what significance the research has in your own development.

g. Describe the scope and delimitation of your study (What will it include and why? What will be left out & why?

h. Outline the contents of the rest of the proposal.


II. SCHOLARSHIP (please write around 10 pages)

A. LITERATURE REVIEW
1. Pertinent literature, conceptual & empirical, has been reviewed.
2. If there is little or limited literature on the topic, writer has reviewed material close to the problem.
3. Literature review demonstrates sound knowledge of, synthesis of, and critical thinking about the literature.
4. Diversity issues are documented and discussed as appropriate to the study topic.

B. THEORY
1. An epistemological position is stated and expanded upon.
2. A theoretical framework or perspective is articulated or developed and articulated.
3. Competing theories are identified and a rationale offered for the choice of the selected theory or why a new theory is being developed.
4. Strengths and weaknesses of the selected theory are identified (a critique using relevant literature).
5. The selected theory is appropriate to the research question.
6. Integration of theory and empirical data is evident in the discussion and development of the theoretical framework to be used.

C. CONTRIBUTION, ORIGINALITY
1.The researcher identifies ways the study, substantively or methodologically, will make an original contribution; how the proposed study provides, in the definition of the problem/question, the theoretical perspective, the methods to be employed some contribution that is different from previous work and distinctly reflects the researcher??s own thinking.



III. RESEARCH DESIGN (please write around 10 pages)

B.RESEARCH QUESTION
1. Questions are appropriate to quantitative methods and clearly flow from the literature.
2. Rationale and assumptions underlying the study are explicit.
3. Questions & sub questions clearly articulated.

B. DESIGN
1. Design of study is clearly identified (experiment, cross-sectional survey, longitudinal survey, content analysis, secondary analysis, multi-method, etc.)
2. Design of study is appropriate to research questions/hypotheses and epistemological position.
3. Operational definitions given for all important terms and concepts in hypotheses.
4. Variables used are clearly specified (definition each variable).
5. If independent variables (treatments, interventions, and exposure to programs) are/are to be manipulated, this is clearly described.
6. If a treatment/intervention is the independent variable, there is evidence that it will be/has been delivered in a uniform, standardized way.
7. Confounding variables are identified and methods of control well described.
8. In replication studies, special attention is given to maintaining equivalent conditions for all critical variables.
9. Strengths and limitations of the design are identified and discussed. How to reduce biases (researcher bias) on data-collection method, source, analyst, or theory in the proposal to show you have good plan.
10. Describe the involvement of human subjects including initial evaluation procedures and screening tests, phases, procedures and sequence of the study.
11. Address the experience of investigators if procedures are to be performed for which the investigators have not been specifically credentialed.
12. Describe any costs related to the research procedures that are over and above those incurred by standard treatment, and indicate who will be responsible for them.
13. Analysis of the Study
a.Delineate the precise outcomes (variables) to be measured.
b.Describe how data will be analyzed, including statistical analysis.
c.Describe methods used to estimate the required number of subjects.


C. INSTRUMENTATION

1. Instruments and other measurement devices and procedures are clearly linked to each defined variable.
2. Instruments/measurement protocols are justified as appropriate for the study population (in terms of age and other diversity parameters).
3. Rationale for selection of each instrument is presented, along with supporting literature on the psychometrics of instruments, including reliability and validity.
4. Reliability and validity of standardized instruments will be or is re-established for study sample/population.
5. If instruments are used for which psychometric properties are unknown, a clear rationale for their choice is presented.
6. If original instruments or procedures are used, their development is described and justified.
7. If original scales are to be developed, a plan to establish their psychometric properties (reliability, validity) is developed. (You must describe the reliability and validity about your study. How do you build the reliability and validity about your study?)
8. Monitoring Subjects and Criteria for Withdrawal of Subjects from the Study
a.Describe the types, frequency and duration of tests, admissions (inpatient) outpatient visits. Consider specifying a monitor if the study involves a blinded design.
b. Define stop points and criteria for withdrawing subjects from the study.

D. POPULATION & SAMPLE

1. If a population is used/is to be used, the rationale for its use and its parameters are clearly described.
2. If a sample is used/is to be used, the population (of people, case records, text, etc.), method of sampling and rationale for the sampling method are well described.

3. Rationale for the sample size is indicated, preferably based on a power analysis or other acceptable criterion (e.g., confidence level/confidence interval justification).
4. External validity/transferability/generalizability of the study is addressed.
5. The sampling plan is consistent with the design, method and statistical procedures to be used in the analysis.
6. Sources of and procedures for recruitment of participants are detailed.
7. Procedures to enhance response rates and participant retention in the study are specified.
8. Attrition rate is anticipated and a strategy to handle it is specified.
9. Strengths and limitations of the population/sampling strategy are identified and discussed.

E. DATA COLLECTION

1. Methods/protocols of data collection are clearly described: how data are to be collected, by whom, under what conditions are clear.
2. Methods/protocols of data collection are appropriate to the research questions and design.
3. Methods of data collection are appropriate to the participants on gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation and other diversity dimensions.
4. Pre-test/pilot test plan is adequately described and is appropriate.
5. If applicable/appropriate, pilot data results are presented.
6. Strengths and limitations of the data collection strategy are identified and discussed.

F. DATA ANALYSIS
1. The nature/approach of the data analysis is clearly described and justified.
2. Analysis is consistent with questions, hypotheses, level of variable measure, and design.
3. If assumptions of chosen statistical models are violated, protective measures are indicated.
4. Data analysis demonstrates sound knowledge of the techniques used and their alternatives.
5. Strengths and limitations of the data analysis strategy are identified and discussed.

G. ETHICS

1. Research goals are consistent with the principles of working toward improving the situation of individuals and/or groups in society.
2. If this study involves human participants, the benefits and risks are clearly identified and communicated to participants.
3. If this study involves human participants, threats to free & informed consent are addressed.
4. Confidentiality of the data is adequately ensured.
5. The researcher has made provisions to share findings with participants.
6. The research clearly can be expected to receive clearance from the IRB.
7. Ownership of the data is clear.
8. Where the data will be stored and for how long is clear.
Any factors related to participant coercion, even if unintentional, and the researcher-participant power differentials are addressed.

9.Human Subject Protections:
a.Rationale for Subject Selection:
(1). Strategies/procedures for recruitment

b.Evaluation of Benefits and Risks/Discomforts:
(1). Potential Benefits: Describe the potential benefits to subjects or to others (benefits to society) that may reasonably be expected from the research.
(2). Potential Risks: Describe any potential risks -- physical, psychological, social, legal, drug toxicity or other associated with the proposed procedures and assess their likelihood and seriousness.
(3). Risk/Benefit: Discuss why the risks to subjects are reasonable in relation to the anticipated benefits and in relation to the importance of the knowledge that may reasonably be expected to result. Consider the following in your discussion:
a. In research involving an intervention expected to provide direct benefit to the subject, a certain amount of risk is justifiable.

c. Adverse Event Reporting and Data Monitoring
(1).Provide a plan for reporting adverse events to the IRB.
(2).Describe the provisions for monitoring the data collected to ensure the safety of subjects.

d. Consent and Assent Processes and Documents
Consent Procedures: Describe the consent procedures to be followed, including the circumstances in which consent will be sought and obtained, who will seek it, the nature of the information to be provided to prospective subjects, and the method of documenting consent.


IV. Summary (Could also serve as the Abstract) (please write around 1pages)

The final section of your dissertation proposal should provide an overview and summary of your research proposal. You should provide a summary statement of virtually every section of the proposal. The reader should be able to read the summary section and have a good understanding of what you are going to do and why.

V. Reference:

VI.Appendix(ces)(please write around 2-3 pages)
Survey Questionnaire




MY ROUGH IDEA:

1.To successful launch an e-commerce Web site, the question is not just about ??if we build it, will they come??? but also ??if we build it, will they come to purchase and repeat purchase??? A scenario closer to the truth is that many online companies experience disappointment in converting consumers?? clicks into purchases. It means attracting a large number of shoppers to the site is not the only ultimate measure of success. The true measure of success should be included retaining customers and converting them into repeat buyers. Positive shopping experiences on the site can help online buyers make an effective decision. It means positive feeling is the optimal experience that consumers will desire to repeat buying online. Therefore, marketers need to create effective Web sites for winning consumer satisfaction. Since Web sites are often the main contact with consumer in the Internet market, a company??s Web site elements may include some persuasive components that has impact on consumers?? positive experience. To evaluate what visual design elements constitute the persuasive power for the customers to have positive experience on a Web site, it is expected that increased levels of the consumers?? positive experience would lead consumers to have more optimistic attitudes toward Web sites, stronger purchase intention, and loyalty. If consumers ??feel good??, marketers can have better chance to win the battle on an e-commerce Web site. We know shopping online is almost exclusively a visual experience; therefore, there may exist persuasive powers in the visual image of design elements in an e-commerce Web site. Little research, however, directly addresses the issue of visual design- the persuasive power on influencing online consumers?? experience of willing to purchase and loyalty.
Logo+Pathos+Ethos = Positive experience ?? Purchase intention and loyalty. (Positive experience comes from satisfy consumers?? Logo, Pathos, and Ethos. To satisfy these variables can lead to purchase intention and loyalty.

2.Independent Variable(11 independent variables):
-Logo (logic): price, variety, product information, and accessibility.
-Pathos (emotion):playfulness, tangibility, and empathy
-Ethos (credibility):recognizability, assurance, and reliability.

Dependent Variable (2 dependent variables):
-Purchase intention
-Loyalty (repeat purchase and word-of-mouth referrals)

Methodology:
-Use online survey instrument.
-Create a questionnaire to measure variables.
-Create a Website, put questionnaires on it. Sent email to people who I know to announce the information. Ask them send the information to their friends also. (I am not clear about this sample selected procedure, please help me develop a better way to select sample)
-Use one month to do the online survey and collect data.
-The researcher will try to recruit a group of 200 subjects from Internet Web site.
-Participates must have online shopping experiences to do the online survey.
-Use likert scales to evaluate all the factors
- Quantitative Research.

3.In charter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW, I hope you can mention some theoretical background such as: rhetorical theory: three means of persuasion; customer purchase behavior; user-center design?K You also can write some different paragraphs in related literature review such as: the difference between traditional commerce and Internet commerce; the importance of visual design to an e-commerce Web site; the importance of purchase and loyalty to an e-commerce Web site; the benefits and challenge to company and consumer in the B2C commerce?K (These are just my suggestions, you can add more or you can change it, if you think it is not appropriate for the future development!)

4.In charter 3: RESEARCH DESIGN, maybe you can develop a framework of persuasive Web site Design to explain and construct the whole study: (you can check the article: Pairin Katerattanakul (2002). Framework of effective web site design for business-to-consumer Internet commerce. INFOR vol.40, no.1 Feb.2002.)

My idea comes from this article and I changed it little bit. Based on the proposed definition of persuasive Web site in my proposal, my study maybe can propose three persuasive design concepts as a framework of persuasive Web site design for business-to-consumer Internet commerce: (1) Design to support consumer logos (logical) experience. (2) Design to support consumer pathos (emotional) experience. (3) Design to support consumer ethos (credibility) experience. So the outline may look like below:

III.Research Design

A.Research question

B.Design
1. Introduction
Previous research on visual design, customer value, and User-center design;
Characteristics of previous researches (strengths and weakness).

2.The framework of a persuasive Web site design
Persuasive Web site: the three design concept- logos, pathos, and ethos
2.1 Research taxonomy: Framework of a persuasive Web site design for business-to-consumer Internet commerce: (1) Design to support consumer logos (logical) experience. (2) Design to support consumer pathos (emotional) experience. (3) Design to support consumer ethos (credibility) experience

3. Design to support consumer logos (logical) experience
3.1 Prices (price presentation)
3.2 Variety (product structure and display)
3.3 Product information (product information display)
3.4 Effort (Intuitiveness of navigation)

4. Design to support consumer pathos (emotional) experience
4.1 Playfulness (entertainment potential of the site)
4.2 Tangibility (sensory appeal through visual, audio or other means) (visual design)
4.3 Empathy (personalization features)

5. Design to support consumer ethos (credibility-trustworthy) experience
5.1 Recogizability (corporate image and branding)
5.2 Compatibility (community building)
5.3 Assurance (privacy and security)
5.4 Reliability (channels to customer service)

C. Instrumentation
Use online survey instrument. Create a questionnaire to measure variables. Build a Website, put the questionnaire on it. Email the information to related organizations or friends.

D. Population & Sample
The population is the online shoppers.

E. Data Collection
The researcher will collect all the raw data from online survey, and then the researcher will develop a coding system to transfer all of the data to the SPSS.

F.Data Analysis
The techniques for data analysis will include: descriptive statistics, regression analysis, and multiple regression analysis.

ORDER FOR "FOR HOPHEAD"








So I am working as part of a group and assigned a specific part of the paper that I need your help with. It is a CREATIVITY and INNOVATION class. So we needed to find a creative thing that we will be presenting and writing about. It is just VERY IMPORTANT to be creative in both the paper and the presentation. That?s why I need your help in writing down my part please.

My assigned task is:
?marketplace research & competitive analysis? I need you to use the pages I ordered to write about this. It is just a small portion of the project

The product we will be writing about is the following: I have attached a paragraph that explains it too. Please let me know if it is unclear.

Idea is: A watch or jewelry for children to wear that is linked to an app that notifies parents when they wander away too far instead of the leash

EXPLANATION OF IDEA that you need to create and write a marketplace research and competitive analysis about


?We set out to come up with a new solution for child monitoring. We wanted to eliminate the embarrassing child leash that some parents have to refer to due to their child constantly running off. We have all seen the difficulties parents have when with their children in a public place. If the children are too old or big for strollers it is difficult for parents to monitor them. We have all heard or seen the parent that has to call for the child every 30 seconds because they are running around, as well as the parents who have to hold the squirming child that wants to be put down that makes shopping difficult. Our solution is a wireless monitoring watch or bracelet linked to a ?smart? device to keep track of children in public areas. the watch or bracelet will have bluetooth or wireless connectivity linked to an app downloadable for smart phones or app enabled devices. When a child wanders off the parent set distance an alert will be sent and the app will open to provide tracking information until the child is found. We also want to employ local security in malls, amusement parks and other public venues to help find children more quickly within these areas. We hope to eventually to be able to link to amber alerts for children missing more than a few hours. Child monitoring is a challenge for parents, chaperones, and babysitters by providing a method that helps track and monitor children we hope to ease the stress and fear for these members in public areas. ?

Global Logistics Management

Written Assignment 1: Apple ? Outsourcing manufacturing operations
I will need 3 references, I added 2 below, see if they are helpful. I will prefer if you keep these two and add one on your side to support any views. I have to list them ahead, try not to change them.

1. How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/business/apple-america-and-a-squeezed-middle-class.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

2. Outsourcing to China
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&ved=0CF8QFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dfma.com%2Ftruecost%2Frevisited.pdf&ei=1m4EVPXwN_PT7Abds4HoDg&usg=AFQjCNGMD9er830pqHwo4Ld5RAUu1Q1xUA

3. Open ? For writer to research article or report to support view

Below are the instructions for the written Assignment. It is all for the same report but I am required to submit in the below formats by the weeks due.

Assignment 1: Pick a company from the syllabus, a topic you would like to write about that company and list your references. Keep your topic narrow in focus and dive deeply into it. I decided for: Apple ? Outsourcing manufacturing operations, no action on your part required.

Assignment 2: Draft an outline of your paper and submit that as your assignment. Use headings and bullet points to show this outline.
Work 1: Paper Outline: 1 page; Intro or thesis; background; major and minor points; conclusion, etc.

Assignment 3: Submit a rough draft of your paper.
Work 2: 2 pages: draft of paper; abstract and maybe some of the discussion ideas, etc.

Assignment 4: Submit the final draft of your paper.
Work 3: Final product of the paper, 4 pages not including cover sheet and references.

The paper should be a minimum of 4 pages in length, for a total of 7 pages for the entire job. Feel free to use charts and graphs as appropriate to make your point. A chart or graph should not take up more than a half page of paper.

I need all 3 works done at the same time no later than 6 Sept at 9am. I am overseas at the moment with 7 hours time difference (ahead), e-mail is the best way to communicate with me. Should the writer have to modify anything please ask him/her to try to stick to this the best possible way, but I am somewhat flexible.

This final case involves an analysis of strategy implementation at the Kraft Foods Group. You will use the resources you identified in the SLP to gather information about the company and relate that information to your work in the previous four cases.

The Case in this course is an ongoing exercise, meaning that we will be taking an intensive look at one company over the course of our five modules. This term, we are conducting a strategic analysis of the Kraft Foods Group. The best preparation for doing well on the Case Assignments is to complete the Background information reading and the SLP before writing the Case.

Required Reading

Refer to the required and optional reading on strategic controls, the theme for this module.

Case Assignment

In Module 5, we will conclude the case study process by researching the Kraft Foods Group's strategic controls and their fit with the company's chosen strategy.

Keys to the Assignment
?Step One: Review your Case papers from Modules 1-4 so that you are familiar with the mission, vision, SWOT, strategy, and strategic choices you have identified over the course of the class.
?Step Two: Research the structure, systems, people, and culture at the Kraft Foods Group. Use the responses you provided in the SLP as a guideline. You will not be able to get answers to every single question, but you will need to answer at least one or two for each component.
?Step Three: Describe the Kraft Foods Group's organizational design, key strategic control systems, primary human resources concerns, and cultural factors, and the effect that these have had on the implementation of the Kraft Foods Group's strategy.
?Step Four: In a 5- to 7-page paper, critically evaluate the fit?or the lack of fit?between the company's mission, strategy, and organizational components crucial to implementation. Do these components complement the strategy? Why or why not?
?Step Five: What changes would you?as the CEO?make to better assure the success of the company's strategy?
?Step Six: Consider the Case as a formal business report that you are developing for the Board of Directors and CEO as the Kraft Foods Group's consultant. This is a professionaldocument. Follow the format below: ?Executive summary: This is a synopsis of the main points, conclusions and recommendations made in the longer report. If you would like a refresher on writing an executive summary, check this website: http://www.highendfinance.com/CommercialLoans/Docs/07-4%20ES%20Guidelines.doc
?Introduction: State the main purpose of the paper (thesis statement), what you hope to accomplish, and how you will go about doing it.
?Main Body: The "meat" of the paper. Emphasize analysis, not just description. Delineate separate topics or sections with headings.
?Conclusion: Summarize your paper in the light of your thesis statement.


Assignment Expectations

Your paper will be evaluated using the following five (5) criteria:
?Assignment-Driven Criteria (Precision and Breadth): Does the paper fully address all Keys to the Assignment? Are the concepts behind the Keys to the Assignment addressed accurately and precisely using sound logic? Does the paper meet minimum length requirements?
?Critical Thinking (Critical Thinking and Depth): Does the paper demonstrate graduate-level analysis, in which information derived from multiple sources, expert opinions, and assumptions has been critically evaluated and synthesized in the formulation of a logical set of conclusions? Does the paper address the topic with sufficient depth of discussion and analysis?
?Business Writing (Clarity and Organization): Is the paper well written (clear, developed logically, and well organized)? Are the grammar, spelling, and vocabulary appropriate for graduate-level work? Are section headings included in all papers? Are paraphrasing and synthesis of concepts the primary means of responding to the Keys to the Assignment, or is justification/support instead conveyed through excessive use of direct quotations?
?Effective Use of Information (Information Literacy and References): Does the paper demonstrate that the student has read, understood and can apply the background materials for the module? If required, has the student demonstrated effective research, as evidenced by student?s use of relevant and quality (library?) sources? Do additional sources used in paper provide strong support for conclusions drawn, and do they help in shaping the overall paper?
?Citing Sources: Does the student demonstrate understanding of APA Style of referencing, by inclusion of proper end references and in-text citations (for paraphrased text and direct quotations) as appropriate? Have all sources (e.g., references used from the Background page, the assignment readings, and outside research) been included, and are these properly cited? Have all end references been included within the body of the paper as in-text citations?

Tips and Suggestions

Note the following tips and suggestions:
?Business school case-study assignments are meant to offer practice opportunities for future businesspeople who are earning their MBA degrees. Consider yourself a consultant hired by the company to make these critical assessments. There are no right or wrong answers to the Case question, as long as your position is well defended.
?Study the theoretical concepts provided in the Background materials section of the module, and identify main strategy concepts.
?Include a cover page and reference page, in addition to the 5-7 pages of analysis described above.
?Include headings for all papers longer than two pages.
?Cite and reference all sources, including those you paraphrase. This means include citations and quotation marks for direct quotes of more than five words, and citations for information you have "borrowed" or paraphrased from other sources.

Background:

Strategy is implemented using organizational design (structure), people, culture, and control systems. Strategy must successfully work through these elements in order to produce performance. No matter how well a strategy is conceived, if an organization's people cannot implement it, if the culture cannot support it, if the structure cannot coordinate it, and if the systems cannot measure and control it?the strategy will fail.

We will start by considering how of each of these components individually link to strategy. By way of the Case analysis, we will examine the integration or "fit" between the various components and strategy.

Structure

Organizational structure refers to the manner in which the lines of communication of authority are established, the manner in which work is divided up among organizational members, and the way that communication and work are coordinated. Different types of structures support different types of strategies. The key elements of structure that have the greatest effect on the success or failure of strategy implementation are centralization, boundaries, networks, and virtual organization.

Centralization
?Centralization refers to the level of concentration of decision making. In a highly centralized organization, decisions are made by a relatively small number of people, usually concentrated at the highest levels of the organization. Standardization is common in centralized organizations, thus favoring economies of scale and efficient value chains.
?Decentralized organizations are characterized by flexible and autonomous decision-making groups at operational levels in the organization. Such groups have the ability to rapidly adjust to changes in the marketplace and are well-suited to strategies that require innovation. However, because of duplication, economies of scale are difficult to achieve.

Emerging Structures
?Borderless Organizations: Taking cross-functional teams to a new level, the borderless organization does not just assemble teams with members from different organizational levels and functions. Instead, the borderless organization removes barriers both vertically (between levels) and horizontally (between functions or departments). The implications for strategy implementation include increased information, transparency, and flexibility.
?Alliance Networks: These are collections of suppliers, distributors, customers, and even competitors who have the ability to bring needed assets to bear on an urgent problem where there is insufficient time to develop the needed resources and capacities in-house. Organized and coordinated online, these networks can be mobilized and put to work instantaneously.
?Virtual Corporations: An extension of Alliance Networks, the virtual corporation is an extra-organizational coalition of people and organizations brought together expressly to work on a specific problem or project. They can be assembled rapidly and dispersed as soon as the project is over, representing the ultimate in flexibility and speed in strategy implementation.

The following reading is an exposition of how various types of teams can be useful in strategy implementation:

Pryor, M.G, Singleton, L.P., Taneja, S. and Toobs, L.A. (2009). Teaming as a strategic and tactical tool: An analysis with recommendations. International Journal of Management, 26 (2), 320-334. Retrieved on November 6, 2012, from EBSCO.

For a presentation on Organizational Design by Professor Anastasia M. Luca, Ph.D. MBA

Strategic Controls (Systems)

Three organizational systems are essential to controlling strategy implementation:

Accounting and budgeting systems: These systems can be complex and not easily adapted. If a new strategy requires data that is not easily accessible through existing accounting systems, implementation can be slowed, and a potentially successful implementation can be jeopardized. If a new proposed strategy does not fit a familiar pattern, decision making can be become risky and unpredictable.

Information Systems: Information technology is playing an ever greater role in strategy implementation. IT provides point-of-sale information between retailers and manufacturers, streamlines logistics and distribution, and controls inventories. IT systems must be capable of providing the right information in the right format to the right people at the right time.

Measurement and Reward Systems: Rewards can be used to shape behavior in the direction of meeting strategic objectives. Rewards must be connected to measures of goal attainment (e.g., specific increases in market share), and proper time horizons (future rewards for future goals).

For a presentation on Strategic Controls by Professor Anastasia M. Luca, PhD MBA

People

Strategies that are based on distinctive competencies or unique capabilities are often dependent on people and their skills to carry them out. Thus, for successful implementation, sufficient numbers of people with the right skill sets are essential.

In-house or Import?: Hiring raw talent and growing employees with the needed qualifications maximizes fit, but it can take years. Retraining existing workers with new skills can be problematic when old employees resist "learning new tricks." Hiring employees with needed skills external to the organization is faster, but there is no guarantee that even they will fit well within the organization?s culture.

Motivation: It is not enough to have the right number of people with the right skills; people must also be motivated to work toward successful strategy implementation. Much is known about motivation, and many tools are available; these include tangible rewards (e.g., bonuses) and intangible rewards such as self-fulfillment. Perhaps the motivator with the most potential for eliciting long-term commitment to fulfilling the firm's strategic goals is that of empowerment, which gives employees the discretion and autonomy to use their initiative.

The following article highlights the importance of having the right people in place to achieve strategic goals:

Garrow, V. and Hirsh, W. (2008). Talent management: Issues of focus and fit. Public Personnel Management, 37(4), 389-403. Retrieved on November 6, 2012, EBSCO.

Culture

The fit between an organization?s culture and its strategy is critical. If a firm is depending on innovation to achieve differentiation, but the culture is risk averse or has a tendency to punish mistakes, the strategy will in all likelihood fail. Culture can support the strategy when three elements are in alignment:
?Shared values that are aligned with the corporate vision and strategic focus along with a management style that fosters behavior that will support the competencies that confer competitive advantage.
?Norms can act as strong controls for strategic implementation. They encourage behavior that is in alignment with shared values. People can circumvent rules, and they cannot be watched all of the time, but norms can promote the desired behavior even when nobody is watching.
?Symbols model for employees what values and norms are important. Some important symbols include the vision and style of the founder of the company and folklore or stories that embody company values, rituals, and routines, and which reinforce the types of events and behaviors that are most desired and celebrated.

The following reading ties together the importance of systems, strategy, structure, and culture. It is highly readable and will help you see how all of these elements are interdependent and must align to achieve successful implementation:

Heneman, R. L., Fisher, M. M., and Dixon, K. E. (2001). Reward and organizational systems alignment: An expert system. Compensation & Benefits Review, 33(6), 18-29. Retrieved on November 6, 2012, from ProQuest.

Required Reading

Garrow, V. and Hirsh, W. (2008). Talent management: Issues of focus and fit. Public Personnel Management, 37(4), 389-403. Retrieved on November 6, 2012, from EBSCO.

Heneman, R. L., Fisher, M. M., and Dixon, K. E. (2001). Reward and organizational systems alignment: An expert system. Compensation & Benefits Review, 33(6), 18-29. Retrieved on November 6, 2012, from ProQuest.

Pryor, M. G, Singleton, L. P., Taneja, S. and Toobs, L. A. (2009). Teaming as a strategic and tactical tool: An analysis with recommendations. International Journal of Management, 26 (2), 320-334. Retrieved on November 6, 2012, from EBSCO.

Luca, A., M. (2006). Organizational Design. Power Point Presentation.

Luca, A., M. (2006). Strategic Controls. Power Point Presentation.

SLP Below:

Kraft Summary
The author of this response is to find out some details and information about the company Kraft Foods. Indeed, the facets and characteristics that will be summarized and described will include the organization?s structure, how centralized it is or is not, the lines of authority and communication as well as the teams, committees and task forces that make up the organization. Next up will be the systems of Kraft including how the budgets are set, how the planning is done and what measures are used to evaluate performance. After that, the people of Kraft will be discussed. The facets of the people will include the skills, experience and knowledge of the employees, their depth and quality and their attitudes about the company itself and their jobs within in. Finally, there will be a description of the culture of Kraft. Topics for the culture will include their values, their key norms, their symbols, their dominant management style and how conflicts are resolved. While Kraft is not the most dominant company in the United States or the wider global corporate world, they are certainly near the top of the list.
Analysis
Through its acquisitions and expansions, Kraft is actually a company with a lot of irons in the fire. Indeed, Kraft?s business and subsidiary portfolio includes the Kraft name in particular, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Velveeta, Jell-O and A-1 Steak Sauce, just to name a few. They actually have more than half a dozen high-level categories of products including baking/desserts, cheese and dairy, coffee and beverages, deli meat, hot dogs, bacon, causes and condiments, side dishes and meal helpers, snacks and other miscellaneous goods. The company is centralized in that Kraft itself has its own power structure but it is also decentralized in that the member brands of the company exert their own level of command and control. Indeed, Kraft itself is based out of Northfield, Illinois which is a suburb of Chicago nestled in right along the western edge of Lake Michigan. In terms of corporate structure, there was actually a ?de-merger? that occurred just two years ago whereby Kraft Foods spun off from Kraft Foods Inc., the latter of which was renamed to Mondelez. Mondelez is still an international distributor and disseminator of Kraft goods but Mondelez and Kraft are entirely separate companies. This further decentralizes the power structure of Kraft but keeps Kraft competitive at the same time. In all, Kraft has revenues of about $18 billion (but it is falling) and has about 23,000 employees. For all its expansion, Kraft has actually divested a number of companies as it has sold off brand names Breyer?s, Birds Eye, its frozen dinner market (to Heinz) and its foodservice unit (Kraft, 2014).
As with most public firms, as Kraft is traded on the NASDAQ market, the budget is set by the Board of Directors and the C-level executives of Kraft. The big names to know with Kraft are Chief Executive Officer W. Anthony Vernon, Executive Vice President of Corporate and Legal Affairs Kim Rucker, Executive VP of Integrated Supply Chain Robert Gorski, Chief Financial Officer Teri List-Stoll and Principal Accounting Officer Melinda Whittington(Yahoo, 2014). John Cahill serves as the Chairman of the Board (Kraft, 2014). The Board and Kraft in general also include a compensation committee, an audit committee, a governance committee and independent people that keep the company?s internal personnel honest. These internal and external people work in concert to keep the operations and actions of the company ?above board?. These people, both internal and external, do the evaluations. There are also the shareholders and analysts that monitor publicly traded companies (Yahoo, 2014).
The people of Kraft are shown on their website. Their people of focus include one of their district sales managers, the President of their Wal-Mart sales, their Military Major Account manager and others. The values and opportunities explained by Kraft include a foundational curriculum, a general business academy and a leadership academy. The Kraft website openly touts its people as it source of success. They also confirm the above about decentralization in that they have 17 different brands that range in revenue from $100 million to $1 billion USD each. Their depth and quality are confirmed by a lot of external agencies and organizations that tout its adeptness and attractiveness as a company to work out. These awards include 50 Best Employers for Latinas (ten years running?from Latina Style Magazine), top 50 companies for Diversity (Diversity Inc. Magazine), 100 Best places to work in IT (ComputerWorld), best place to work for multi-cultural women (Working Mother) and Canada?s Top 100 Employers Award (Kraft, 2012).
There is also a lot of information about Kraft?s culture as an employer. The major parts of this culture, as explained on their website and other places, includes community involvement, compliance and integrity, corporate governance, food safety and quality, nutrition and well-being, sustainability and workplace culture. The workplace culture is itself further divided into safety, wellness and people/diversity. When drilling down further, Kraft portends themselves to be a company that encourages and welcomes diversity, they seek to develop strategic relationships with external organizations so that they can connect with a ?broad range of consumers? as well as prospective employees. They also assert that they want a diversity in suppliers for their raw materials and other goods and services that Kraft needs to then serve its own clients (Kraft, 2014).
In keeping with the theme thus far, Kraft?s management style can be described as ?cross-cultural?. Indeed, they have people and infrastructure all over the world. Indeed, the management styles of the United Kingdom (UK), Canada, the United States and New Zealand (just to name a few) are all quite different. Indeed, Ben Clarke is a Kraft Foods Vice President and he himself is from England (Clarke, 2014). The key norms of behavior and performance at Kraft include inclusiveness, diversity and innovation. The innovation end of things has not always been the case as the company was in a bit of a rut for a time, per even the employees themselves. Kraft employees even suggested that being part of the ?innovation? field of the company was a ?career killer? as attaining buy-in and acceptance of suggested changes was extreme;y hard to pull off. However, 2013 reflected a sea-change moment for Kraft and even national publications and news sites like Forbes began to take note (Kotter, 2013)
Conclusion
Kraft?s a conglomerate and this means that their array of products is going to change a lot over the years as they absorb and divest companies from time to time. Their inclusiveness and overall culture seem to be very solid. However, Kraft needs to focus on its core competencies and stick to them as they seem to be a little unsure of what products they should focus on and stick with and which ones they should not. Not being simpatico and under the same corporate structure as their distributors may be a miscalculation but finding an effective third party to do the job may very well keep costs down over the long run which would justify its use by Kraft.









References
Clarke, B. (2014, October 11). Cross-cultural management: Kraft's - CEO Forum Group.
Cross-cultural management: Kraft's - CEO Forum Group. Retrieved October 11,
2014, from http://www.ceoforum.com.au/article-detail.cfm?cid=6063&t=/Ben-
Clarke-Kraft/Crosscultural-management-Krafts-
Kotter, J. (2013, March 22). How Kraft Changed the "Change" Perception. Forbes.
Retrieved October 11, 2014, from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2013/03/22/3822/
Kraft. (2014, October 10). Great Recipes, Dinner Ideas and Quick & Easy Meals from
Kraft Foods - Kraft Recipes. Great Recipes, Dinner Ideas and Quick & Easy
Meals from Kraft Foods - Kraft Recipes. Retrieved October 10, 2014, from
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/home.aspx
Yahoo. (2014, October 11). Kraft Foods Profile. Yahoo Finance. Retrieved October 11,
2014, from http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=KRFT+Profile

Topic of paper: The Role of Government in Taxing and Subsidizing the Tobacco Industry. Has it been for the better or the worse?

Suggested Intro/Thesis:

The Federal Government has been regulating the tobacco industry since the great depression. In 2004 that all ended when President Bush signed into law the Fair and Equitable Tobacco Reform Act. The act essentially eliminated government subsidies that tobacco growers received since the new deal era. This research paper will cover not only the subsidies that tobacco growers received but also the taxes placed on tobacco products by the government. The paper will also cover how the tobacco industry has transitioned from losing the government subsidies they had relied on for decades in combination with the effect that the heavy taxation of tobacco products has on the industry and the public. Ultimately, the goal of the paper will be to analyze the decisions made by the government and whether they have been in favor or to the detriment of the tobacco industry and the public.

Proposed Outline:

I. Introduction

a. Brief History
b. Government's role

II. Subsidies for tobacco industry

a. The end of subsidies for tobacco farmers
b. Effect of no subsidies on tobacco market

III. Taxing tobacco

a. Effects of increasing taxes on tobacco use
b. Taxation as a means to discourage use

IV. Conclusion

a. Government intervention in tobacco - Good or Bad?


Instructions for preparing this assignment follows:

1. Each paper is to be an analysis on the recent economic events or economic reports from the supplemental resources or references (see topic). The focus of this assignment is to relate and analyze current events to basic principles of microeconomics covered in this course. It is not acceptable to just regurgitate statistics. The paper should indicate that you have a clear understanding of theory learned in class and its application/operation in the ?outside world.?

2. Use standard file format (.doc or .docx) for all deliverables (topic, draft, and final paper). Standard margins apply. Papers should contain proper documentation of the article(s) or other references used. If direct quotes are used (not contained in the article), appropriate footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical citations must accompany the quotes. Since a part of the paper will come from published sources, Internet references, etc., there should be sufficient evidence of where the information for the paper originated. Paper length should be a few pages - short enough to qualify as a commentary but long enough to adequately address the subject. Typically, six to eight double spaced pages are sufficient. Papers are graded on quality of content, not quantity. Standard APA style rules apply and clarity is important.

3. It is critical that both theoretical and quantitative information be integrated into the analysis of the paper. Please use economic graphs, charts, and tables as being a key component in the paper. Note, the paper will be reviewed by the SafeAssign process for plagiarism, please be sure to appropriately cite the resources and ensure that no more than 30% of the content in the paper represent non-original thought.

4. Refer to Rubric for additional info

Purpose of Assignment
This assignment is designed to help students understand the interrelationships between brand strategy and the communication message to the target audience. It is a continuation of the marketing plan and students should review the Week 3 Learning Team Assignment for assistance in product brand strategies the team has developed. (AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY)
Assignment Steps

Develop a minimum 700-word branding strategy and marketing communication plan in Microsoft? Word. This document should address at least 5 elements of the Situational Analysis and the Product, Place/Distribution, Promotion, and Price Strategies (modified below) sections of the marketing plan (from the Situational Analysis and the Product, Place/Distribution, Promotion, and Price Strategies lists below). The five elements you select should only come from the options provided below. You must include a measurement of customer loyalty and retention in your strategy document. You may include more than the minimum to provide clarity and coherence to your document.

Situational Analysis:
Vision , Mission, Strategic objectives, Values
Strengths/Weaknesses
Competitor's Strengths/Weaknesses
Market Segments
Product, Place/Distribution, Promotion, and Price Strategies:
Creating a Brand Image
Maintaining Brand Image
Branding Concerns
Promotion/Integrated Marketing Communication
Advertising Strategy/Objectives
Push and Pull
Media Strategy
Advertising Execution
Public Relations/Strategies

Cite a minimum of three peer-reviewed references


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