A critical appraisal of the 2011 E.coli outbreak of food poisoning in Germany Essay

A critical appraisal of the 2011 E.coli outbreak of food poisoning in Germany Introduction            E. coli is an abbreviation that stands for Escherichia coli which is a rod shaped, facultative, Gram negative bacterium. This bacterium is very common in the lower intestines of warm blooded animals. Although not all types E.coli bacterium are harmful, there are some stains that are known to cause serious food poisoning in human beings. The harmless E.coli strains are components of normal flora and produce vitamin k2. Moreover, they are important to humans because they inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria in the intestines (Bill & Clark 2012:74). The gut flora is made up of 0.1% of E.coli and other related bacteria and is mainly transmitted through fecal-oral means. Many of E.coli cells can only survive for a short time outside the body making them good indicator organisms for testing environmental samples of fecal infection. However, recent research has discovered some strains of the E.coli bacteria that can survive for long periods of time outside the body.            The first case of E.coli outbreak in Germany was reported between May and June in 2011 and was largely concentrated in the northern parts of the country. According to German health officials, the foodborne illness was caused by a new strain of the E.coli bacteria known as O104:H4. The disease was mainly characterized by a number of complications like hemolytic-uremic syndrome  (HUS) and bloody diarrhea (Lan & Reeves 2002:84). The high number of deaths was mainly caused by hemolytic-uremic syndromes which require quick treatment. Initially, the outbreak was believed to have been caused by a strain of E.coli known as enterohemorrhagic (EHEC) but future research found that the outbreak was in fact caused by enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC). Moreover, this strain of E.coli was found to have the ability to produce Shiga toxins. Initial epidemiological research had suggested that vegetables were the main source of infection. More specifically, the German agricultural m inisters identified one organic farm in Bienenbà ¼ttel as the most likely source of the infection. As a means of controlling the outbreak, the German government ordered for its immediate closure. Despite the fact that laboratories in Bienenbà ¼ttel did not detect the E.coli bacteria in produce, one laboratory in North Rhine-Westphalia later established that the outbreak strain was in fact present in packaged sprouts from the suspected farm. On June 30th 2011, fenugreek seed imported from Egypt were announced as the most likely source of the outbreak by the German  Bundesinstitut fà ¼r Risikobewertung (BfR)  (Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (Todar 2012: 29). The German E.coli outbreak affected 3,950 people in total and caused 51 deaths in the country alone. Other countries that were affected by the outbreak include the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Denmark, Poland and Canada (Bill & Clark 2012: 93). At the beginning of the E.coli outbre ak, the German authorities claimed that the bacterium was most likely to have originated from Spain. Without carrying out any tests, the German health officials claimed that the O104 E.coli strain was most likely to have originated from cucumbers imported from Spain. However, future tests revealed that Spanish greenhouses were not the source of the E.coli strain responsible for the outbreak. This claim by the German officials provoked protests by the Spanish government because it made the country lose about 200 million USD per week in agricultural exports.            The 2011 E.coli outbreak in Germany was the worst ever recorded case of shiga toxin producing Escherichia Coli outbreak in the world. The outbreak started on May 8th and was declared over by the German health officials on July 4th the same year. The outbreak could have been more serious if the government did not alert the public to avoid consuming foods from areas suspected to be the likely source of the bacteria. In 2011, Germany encountered the biggest episode of Stec cases ever recorded: what added up to 3,842 cases were accounted for, incorporating 2,987 instances of research facility affirmed E. coli gastroenteritis with 18 passings and 855 instances of hemolytic uremic syndrome (Hus) that prompted 35 lethal conclusions (Lan & Reeves 2002:93). The episode began on May 8, topped on May 22, and was proclaimed fulfilled by July 4. One could contend that open health measures halted the pandemic by alarming individuals to maintain a strategic distance from the util ization of debased sustenance, yet it is likewise conceivable that the plague ceased on the grounds that polluted sustenances were no more present in the business sectors. The procedure has been openly scrutinized for being too moderate and for beginning false press advertisements joining cucumbers and not sprouts to the episode. Reflectively, this feedback must be seen with some control. In the beginning of the episode, the average reporting times for Hus cases were 8 days to analysis, in the ballpark of 10 days to illuminate the nearby health section, and around the range of 12 days for showing up for the Robert Koch Institute (Rki) (3). In a U.S. study on E. coli O157 contaminations, a normal reporting time of 7 days was attained. There are two purposes behind the slower reporting process in Germany (Ihssen et al 2010:83) Germany has a less-brought together open health framework, and these cases introduced with an abnormal profile, facing medical practitioners with another clinic al substance. An early epidemiological examination comprised of a case-control study including 26 mature people hospitalized with Hus. Univariate dissection connected just the utilization of sprouts with sickness. Notwithstanding, no sprout cautioning was issued at the start of the episode, since stand out quarter of the patients recalled having depleted sprouts. Next was an accomplice investigation of 177 subjects who had consumed at a solitary restaurant, prompting 33 instances of affirmed Stec the runs. As per the restaurant formula, every one of the 31 cases that could be questioned had depleted uncooked sprouts. An arrangement of natural and follow back and follow send examinations by the German assignment gathering recognized an assembly of Swedish guests who had depleted a sprout mixture. This finding indicated a sprout maker in easier Saxony, Germany, where in May one-third of the workers fell sick, with some of them contaminated with the pestilence strain O104:h4 (Lan & Ree ves 2002:102). The following pieces in this perplex were the wholesalers served by this grow maker, joining further groups to sprouts. Strikingly, the German sprout maker had a seed supplier that could be joined to 15 instances of O104:h4 contaminations in Bordeaux, France. These cases were clearly additionally connected with sprout utilization. The beat field gel electrophoresis example of the French disconnects was indistinguishable to that from the German flare-up however unique in relation to those of preoutbreak reference O104 strains, prescribing a solitary source clonal episode, predictable with the epidemiological confirmation. On 10 June, sprouts of fenugreek seeds foreign made from Egypt were declared by the German powers as the offender wellspring of sullying in this episode. On the other hand, none of the sprout mixtures (seeds) tried positive for O104:h4.            The force of the study of disease transmission contrasted and a microbiological methodology was highlighted by the failure to develop the scourge strain from any of the examined sprouts or from the sprout seeds which were taken from the handling chain. Growth of the strain was just conceivable in a couple of situations where back defilement was quite likely, for example, an opened bundle of sprouts from a family unit with illness. Because of the practically all around utilized society based identification routines for plagues, this disappointment speaks to an observation issue for health and sustenance security dominant voices as a rule. The issue could be brought on by the low irresistible measurements of the pathogen, its rot in nourishment at the minute of examination, or a particular physiological state of microbes characterized as suitable however nonculturable (VBNC). Numerous diverse bacterial species, incorporating E. coli, enter this Vbnc state as a reacti on to distressing ecological conditions (Ihssen et al 2010:125). Microbes in the Vbnc state don’t develop on microbiological media however recapture cultivability when revived after stretch alleviation. In fact, O104:h4 entered this Vbnc state when presented to supplement poor conditions, poisonous amassings of copper particles, or faucet water. Soothing the anxiety by copper particle chelating encouraged the revival of O104:h4. Be that as it may, these trials ought to be translated with forethought, since there is so far no immediate confirm that E.coli O104:h4 is found in the VBNC state in nature.            The epidemiological investigation of first fundamentally sustenance borne tainting gets to be much more troublesome when the starting pathogen transmission by means of the evolved way of life is traded by human-to-human transmission. Human-to-human transmission is known to happen in the ballpark of 20% of families with an O157:h7 essential patient. Optional family transmission from mature person patients was likewise prescribed for O104:h4 contaminations in France and The Netherlands, fundamentally dependent upon the perception of deferred onset contrasted with the brooding time of 7 to 9 days for O104:h4 contaminations. Optional transmissions were additionally reported in Hessen, Germany, which is arranged outside of the primary plague center in northern Germany (Todar 2012:38). The study recorded transmission in families, the healing facility, and the microbiological research center.            Health officials in Germany faced a lot of difficulties in isolating the causative organism mainly due to its versatile nature. Based on the investigations carried out during the German epidemic, there are two major distinct pathotypes of the E.coli bacteria namely enteroaggregative E.coli (EAEC and enterohemorrhagic (EHEC) E.coli. It becomes even more difficult to control the E.coli bacteria if the virulence genes are located in the mobile elements of the DNA. Based on this, E. coli outbreaks in Germany, Oregon and Michigan are not the last. This calls for the microbiological community to carryout more research and ensure that the E.coli strains are sequenced on time and in an open way (Peter et al 2011:84). In Germany, the annotation of the E.coli strain responsible for the outbreak was carried out in a community-wide approach through the use of the internet. It brought together bioinformaticians from all corners of the world working day and night to sequence the genomes. Some of the international health organizations that were involved in handling the outbreak were the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the world health organization (WHO). The main role of a UK Local Authority based Environmental Health Practitioner would have been control the spread of the bacteria by isolating all infected animals and farm produce. Lessons from the 2011 E.coli outbreak in Germany            There are a number of lessons that can be learnt from the 2011 E. coli outbreak in Germany. To begin with, there is need to come up with more safe ways of growing foods especially fruits and vegetables. The investigations into the cause of the 2011 E. coli outbreak established the presence of certain strains of the bacteria in a number of vegetables and not on sprouts alone. This raised the question of E. coli prevalence in the European fresh produce (Russo 2003:4). The second lesson that can be learnt from the 2011 E. coli outbreak in Germany is the need for better communication incase any harmful bacteria are found in foods. After the E. coli outbreak, the German government came under a lot of criticism for taking too long to announce the outbreak. The government took too long before it took the report to the Roberth Koch Institute (RKI) (Todar 2012:83). Many of the infections and deaths that resulted from the outbreak could have been avoided had the government w arned the people on time. Based on this, it is important for governments all over the world to have an efficient E.coli surveillance and warning system. The final lesson that can be learnt from the E.coli epidemic in Germany is the need to ensure food safety both nationally and internationally. Despite the fact that the 2011 epidemic was concentrated in one area, it had global impacts. According to investigations, the sprout seeds found in the implicated farm were found to have originated from Asia, southern Europe and Germany. It is important for countries to raise food safety standards mostly in free markets like the European Union. References Benzer S 1961, ‘On the Topography of the Genetic Fine Structure’,  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A Bill Marler & Marler Clark 2012,’German E. coli O104:H4 Outbreak – $2.84 Billion in Human Damage’  : Food Poison Journal Connolly, Allison 2008)’  Ã¢â‚¬ËœE. Coli Outbreak Kills One More Patient as Source Eludes Investigators’, Bloomberg Ihssen J, Kowarik M, Dilettoso S, Tanner C, Wacker M, Thà ¶ny-Meyer L. 2010,’Production of glycoprotein vaccines in Escherichia coli’, Microbial Cell Factories Lawrence JG, Ochman H, 1998, ‘Molecular archaeology of the Escherichia coli genome’.  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. Lan R, Reeves PR 2002, ‘Escherichia coli in disguise: molecular origins of Shigella’,  Microbes Infect. Lee SY 1996, ‘High cell-density culture of Escherichia coli’,  Trends BiotechnolPeter Walker, Adam Gabbatt and agencies 2011,’E coli: European commissioner suggests  £135m payout for farmers | World news’,  The Guardian Russo E 2003,  Ã¢â‚¬ËœThe birth of biotechnology’,  Nature Todar, K.2012,’Pathogenic  E. coli’.  Online Textbook of Bacteriology. University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Bacteriology Source document

Aa Meeting Paper

I attended an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. The meeting I attended was on a Sunday morning at 8am. A group of 11 gathered to share their experiences under the deadly addiction of alcoholism and it was an open lead meeting. It was a very interesting experience for me. I have never been to an AA meeting, so I really didn't know what to expect. When I got there everyone was really friendly and I explained that I was a UNK student and I was just there to observe because I had to write a paper about AA. The first part of the meeting was a reading from the big book as they call it.The first reading summarized the AA creed and the second was a passage from the â€Å"book. † I noticed that almost everyone had a copy of it. It looked just like a Bible, and indeed, they treated it as such. A guy reading the mission of AA started the meeting and then a different man read the 12 steps that an alcoholic follows to gain sobriety. Then the lead was introduced and he had everyone go around th e room and say their name. When everyone said their name they would say, â€Å"My name is â€Å" ¦and I am an alcoholic. † The guy giving the lead told about how he started drinking and the various experiences that he went through while drinking.Some of the things he talked about sounded really rough. It was surprising to me that someone could stand up there and tell their life story and all the awful things they had done. After he talked about her alcoholism, he then began to discuss how he became sober and how great it feels to have his sobriety. Following was a guy in his early 50s who spoke about his sobriety ,he discussed about his struggles with alcohol and how he feels like he don’t have a ‘’real family â€Å", joining these meeting gives him a family that was After the lead, the group leader came up and read announcements.Then a collection basket was passed around, and everyone put some donation into the basket. Then the group leader asked for everyone to hold hands and say the â€Å"Our Father† prayer. After the prayer, the meeting was over with. There were some brochures at the front of the room about addiction and AA. I thought that having brochures was a great way for people to get information. On my way to the meeting I had all kinds of images of what an addict look like , as it turned out I was wrong , an addict don’t look a specific way , everyone looked normal , my first impression was ‘’ wow they look like an everyday normal personal.I thought they were going to look dirty , smelly it turns out that I was , the men and women that was there had families , grand kids , they weren’t criminals , except for one who was a dope dealer . After the meeting I spoke with one of the lady who’s been AA for almost five weeks , she ‘s a CNA with two kids and is currently engage . One of the things brought up which I thought was very interesting was during the times of her struggles with this disease she didn’t want to admit to her problems because she felt like he had an Image to keep at work ‘’. It really changed my view of what an addict alike .

The 1970s vs. 2000s

Many studies have proven that people perceive the world with 80 milliseconds of delay, which means that we live 80 milliseconds behind reality; this is because there is some transfer time from our senses to our brain (Meyers 7). The distance between the generations have different historical experiences, reactions of later generations about democracy, economics, music, fashion, as the revolutions were taking in all aspects. The differences between generations have their own importance; however, we can compare and contrast them, between 1970s and 2000s in three aspects : music, trends and technology. In the 1970s, people enjoyed music by radio, tapes, live concerts and brought vinyl records, whereas in the 2000s through software such as Spotify and Itunes are used, Youtube allows audiences to access a wide range of music from different genres and downloading music from online. On the other hand, in the1970s music was marketed by way of the artist gigs being advertised in newspapers, the band would play live on music programs and also touring was a primary means of promotion, while in the 2000s some artists give away free mix tapes, TV adverts and online web pages (Rodriguez 94). As examples of artists belonging to the 1970s can appoint: Bee Gees, Elton John and ABBA; in contrast, in the 2000s can mention: Colplay, Beyonce and Britney Spears. In addition to the music, a difference that marked between these two decades have been the trends. Fashion in the clothing of 1970s, the ideal was not to show the female attributes or curves, but on the contrary seem delegated nymphs showing their side children as a game of seduction compared with 2000s it's put it that makes you feel comfortable, without giving much importance to the opinions of others or trends; so, casual clothes became fashion. On the other hand, the accessories in 1970s that stood out were sunglasses with very large lenses frames typically yellow, blue or purple, large earrings and showy necklaces compared to 2000s that it used handbags, shoes and watches of well known brands (Benaim 98). The symbol of the 1970s was flowers and prints; however, in 2000s was scarves and handkerchiefs. Thus, how trends marked difference between these two decades, the technology also made it. In the 1970s people used music players as cassette, tape recorder and record player; in contrast in 2000s people used walkman, discman and mp3 player. The only brand of cell phone that was highlighted in the 1970s was the Motorola DynaTAC 8000 X; on the contrary, in 2000s there were some brands such as: Motorola with touch technology and sonic Ericson with the â€Å"Smartphone†. Car types in 1970 was very limited with vehicles such as: Fiat Coupe 1500, Gordini and Peugeot 404 Gran Prix le mans, while in 2000s automotive technology was opening field in many countries with new deployments such as: Fiat Palio, Volkswagen Gol G3 and Citroen Xsara 1. I Sx Full (Hernandez 66). All in all, the differences between these two decades have been important to the advances of the present; music, trends and technology have been progressing and taking new directions, propose an active relationship between the subject that is the history, the past and the world in which we live. If the present has primacy over the past it is because only the present imposes and allows you to change the world.

Johnson, James Weldon Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Johnson, James Weldon - Research Paper Example A major chunk of the works highlighted in this historical overview was taken from the segment regarding James Weldon Johnson. There was some information that was skipped mostly because it was irrelevant and shifted focus from Johnson’s main work. The main concentration was on many of his great poems as well as pieces of his works. This site consists of a lot of information about James Weldon Johnson’s life, his work and how passionate he was about poetry as well as music. The core focus however is on his work which is creatively displayed and depicted through the colorful use of making various quotes, summaries and key phrases out of his work; for example, ‘The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man an God’s Trombones’. This makes his poetry and literature all the more attractive and easily to go through for viewers. This website focuses on the biography and providing the detailed work of James Weldon Johnson. It is structured and organized in the way that it displays a great list of a wide selection of his work which is displayed categorized by the year in which It was published. Furthermore it includes the may awards and honors that were presented to Johnson during his lifetime and several that were named for him after he had passed away. Douglas, A. and Buckles, C. (2011). Documenting the American South. University Library.  God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse Electronic Edition. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The unique thing about this source was the fact that it showed representations of the actual work of James Weldon Johnson. There were a lot pictures that were scanned from his actual book which gave the reader a very real idea of what his work was really like in its original form. Furthermore there were several links that aimed to enhance ones study into topics like southern history, literature as well as culture. Johnson played a major part in the

Create a topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Create a topic - Essay Example ssing, ingredients of the food which I provided to the customers, hygienic conditions of the processing people, suppliers and the physical environment of the processing area and the supplying area. Frome this detailed analysis I will be able to isolate the issues to be attacked. â€Å"In the Forming stage, team members are getting to know one another and getting comfortable with one another. Members will naturally try to understand their own roles, the roles of the other team members and their purpose in the group. This is entirely natural and to be expected.† (Stages of Team Development) The team members must coordinate with each other and they should understand the importance of the mission clearly. One bad performance from a team member can adversely affect the mission. So as a team leader I must make the team aware of the importance of coordination to achieve the goal. Off shoring business activities often create panic among the employs because of the fear of losing jobs. It is difficult for a manager to manage the work force under such conditions. The fear of losing job may lessen the productivity and will create agitations against the company. It is the manager’s duty to explain the requirement off shoring to the employees. It should be done in a convincing manner. The manager can utilize the Expectancy and Contingency theories of motivation in such circumstances to motivate the employees. According to expectancy theory, people behaviour at work and their goals are not simple. The employee performance at work is based on individual factors such as personality, skill, knowledge, experience, and abilities. The theory suggests even if the individuals have different sets of goals, they can be motivated if they believe their effort leads to performance and performance results in desirable reward (Prit, 2007) The manger should assure the employees that nobody loses their present job and moreover some of them may get overseas assignments as part of the off

Organisational Behaviour Information and Objectives Essay

Organisational Behaviour Information and Objectives - Essay Example The results are well analyzed and there is a conclusion at the end of the report. We made this study in small groups of 127 participants so as to establish the relationship between trust, monitoring and performance in teamwork. The participants were required to use the questionnaire to answer a few questions on how they feel while undertaking a group assignment. The purpose of the study is to establish the relationship between trust, monitoring and performance in teamwork which replicates the one undertaken by Langfred (2004). The hypotheses that were to be tested during the study were:- The questionnaires were supplied to the participants and they were expected to fill them individually according to their opinion on trust, monitoring and performance in teamwork. The summary of the questionnaires is analyzed in Table 1 below. External measures of performance (peer review) will be negatively related to individual autonomy hypothesis predicts that there is a negative, nonlinear relationship since it indicated a negative relationship. This indicates that there is negative relationship between trust and monitoring. The first step is to establish the relationship between trust and performance in the absence of monitoring in the same manner that monitoring and autonomy should interact to influence performance... 9 I knew I could count on the other team members 10 The other team members knew that they could count on me 11 I trusted all of the other team members 12 This team completed its work on time 13 Team members solved their problems quickly 14 The quality of the work done by this team developed continuously For your Individual Autonomy score, add items 1, 2 and 3. Individual Autonomy (IA) score ________ For your Monitoring score, add items 4, 5, 6 and 7. Monitoring (M) score ________ For your Trust score, add items 8, 9, 10 and 11. Trust (T) score ________ For your Internal Group Performance score, add items 12, 13 and 14. Internal Group Performance (IGP) score ________ Material The above sample of the questionnaire and a pen were supplied to the 127 participants during the study. Procedure The participants were told the purpose of the study was to establish the relationship between trust, monitoring and performance in teamwork. The questionnaires were supplied to the participants and they were expected to fill them individually according to their opinion on trust, monitoring and performance in teamwork. The summary of the questionnaires is analyzed in Table 1 below. Results External measures of performance (peer review) will be negatively related to individual autonomy hypothesis predicts that there is a negative, nonlinear relationship since it indicated a negative relationship. This indicates that there is negative relationship between trust and monitoring. The first step is to establish the relationship between trust and performance in the absence of monitoring in the same manner that monitoring and autonomy should interact to influence performance, trust and

Personal Management Framework Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Personal Management Framework Paper - Assignment Example o use their physical attributes to do their work and knowledge workers are referred to the group of workers who complete their task using their intelligence rather than their body, e.g. technologists or software developers. This concept was previously introduced by Karl Marx and after that many authors, publishers and theorists tried to conclude to the concept, but their drawback was that none of them had practical experience about the scenario. Shortly, a name was introduced in the concept having both theoretical and practical knowledge of the working environment. Fredrick Winslow Taylor was the first person to relate the pre-assumed concept of productivity of workers with the reality which in turn helped the concept to focus on increasing the productivity of workers and develop the economy (Drucker, 1999, p. 79). The concept since then, passing through different phases came to be known as Taylor’s Scientific Management Theory. As well as many other researchers and theorists namely, Gilbreth, Maslow and others made their own conclusions and theories. All these approaches are from then practiced in the practical work field with an aim to enhance the productivity of workers. This paper shall aim at relating the assumptions, values, beliefs and modern day practices with the different related theories and try to conclude a relative measure for the betterment of the productivity of both knowledge and manual workers. With due course of time the organizational structure today; have become more challenging, huge and complex. This change has resulted to the inappropriate evaluation of the worker productivity in many cases. To analyze and improve worker productivity no particular theory can prove itself perfect in today’s situation. Notably, most of the management theories were introduced during the period of Industrial Revolution when the environment was not at all stable as well as the theme of management was getting expanded to the sphere of science rather than

The Difference between Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Material Research Paper

The Difference between Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Material - Research Paper Example On the other hand, an environmental hazard is a state of events with the potential to threaten its surrounding natural substances and hence adversely affect the health of people in that particular environment. Therefore, hazards are categorized into five types depending on their cause as follows; psychosocial hazards, mechanical, physical, biological and chemical hazards. Notably, a hazard is not the same as a risk. While a hazard is a source of potential damage, harm or adverse health effects, a risk is the combination of a probability that an event or incident may bring negative results. A hazardous waste is any waste substance that is dangerous and or is potentially harmful to the health of human beings and the environment. Such wastes can be liquids, solids, sludge or even gasses. Hazardous wastes may be in the form of the disposed commercial products, cleaning fluids or the by-products of any manufacturing processes. The different types of hazardous wastes are categorized into listed wastes, characteristic wastes, universal wastes and mixed wastes. It follows that specific procedures determine the ways in which wastes are identified, classified, listed, and also delisted. On the other hand, a hazardous material is any dangerous good in the form of a solid, liquid or gas with the potential to harm people, other living things, cause damage to property as well as cause damage to the environment. Such dangerous goods could be a biohazard, flammable substances, and allergens or constitute elements that render them hazardous at particular circumstances and instances. H owever, there is a relationship between hazardous wastes and hazardous material (LaGrega, Buckingham & Evans, 2010). It is through the use or getting in contact with hazardous materials that hazardous wastes are produced. Without hazardous materials, there would be no hazardous wastes. For instance, pesticides are used to control pests at homes or in

Recommendation letters Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Recommendation letters - Essay Example ally appears to become more calm and more patient as stress escalates or conflicts emerge, making him an extremely valuable lead team member who can inspire excellent performance, ensure accountability, and build bridges even under duress. In short, I would consider any company very lucky to have X join the team, as he is virtually a shoo-in for creating the atmosphere and structure necessary to bring in a successful project. Mark’s qualities and work ethic underpin success. I would highly recommend Mark in any project that involves complexity, tough time constraints, or high quality requirements. I was involved in several projects with X. First, a large long term project with a huge development team that was very difficult to implement. Second, a short term project that had huge direct impact on my organization. Both were completed too a very high standard by X and both were on-time. Specifically, the second one was wildly successful and instrumental to my organization. 9. Someone I would go to to understand the real issues I needed to be aware of concerning functional impact to my organization or understanding how to go about integrating a solution to existing

Salt Paper Essay Example for Free

Salt Paper Essay In its mineral form sodium chloride, NaCl is known as common salt. It is important because it is essential to the health of human beings and of animals. For domestic use it is fined down to what is known as table-salt and small quantities of other chemicals are added to it to keep it free-flowing when in contact with the atmosphere. Salt and potassium are combined to produce iodized salt, used when iodine is lacking in diet. It s absence causes goiter, the swelling of the thyroid gland. Livestock as well as humans need salt, and this provided in the form of solid blocks, known as salt-licks. Salt is also crucial to the food industry. It is used in meatpacking sausage-making and fish-curing both for seasoning and as a preservative. It is also used in the curing and preserving of hides and in the form of brine of brine for refrigeration purposes. Salt is extensively used in the chemical industry; in the manufacture of baking soda, sodium bicarbonate; of caustic soda, sodium hydroxide; of hydrochloric acid, of chlorine etc. It is also used in soap-making, and in the manufacture of glaze and porcelain enamel. It also enters metallurgic processes as flux, a compound used to assist the fusing of metals. Salt lowers the melting point of water, so in combination with grit, it is used for clearing roads of snow and ice. It is also used for water-softening by means of removing calcium and magnesium compounds from tap water. â€Å"Children who eat a lot of salty food also tend to down more sugary drinks which, in turn, might be related to their risk of obesity, a new study suggests. The findings raise the possibility that curbing kids salt intake could end up benefiting their waistlines, researchers report in the Dec. 10 online and January print issue of pediatrics. The study, of nearly 4,300 Australian children and teens, found that the more salt kids ate each day, the more fluids they drank. The same was true when the researchers zeroed in on the nearly two-thirds of kids who drank sugary beverages: For every 390 milligrams (mg) of sodium they got each day, they averaged an extra 0.6 ounces of sugar-sweetened soda, juice or other drinks. Kids who had more than one sugary drink in a day were 26 percent more likely to be overweight or obese than their peers who avoided sweetened drinks. That connection, however, weakened once the researchers factored in exercise habits. Its not exactly surprising that kids with a taste for salty foods would also be fans of soda or other sugary drinks, according to Lana Shandon, an assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the University Of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. But its not clear that extra sodium actually made kids drink more sweetened beverages, she pointed out. These data dont tell us anything about cause and effect, Shandon said. We dont know that if we got kids to lower their sodium intake, theyd drink fewer sugar-sweetened beverages. Overall, 62 percent had had at least one sugar-sweetened drink. Those kids averaged over 2,500 mg of sodium a day, and just over 5 percent were obese; of their peers who steered clear of sugary drinks, just over 3 percent were obese, and the average sodium intake was a little less than 2,300 mg. When the researchers looked at obesity risk, they found that kids who had at least one sugar-sweetened drink per day were 26 percent more likely to be overweight or obese. That was with factors like family income and overall calorie intake taken into account. But then the researchers looked at a subgroup of kids whod reported on their exercise habits. And once exercise was factored in, the obesity/sugary drink link was no longer statistically significant which means it could have been a chance finding. Still, the researchers noted, the findings suggest that keeping kids sodium intake down could end up having some impact on their weight. Shandon was skeptical. Its a bit of stretch to say that, she said. Kids who like their salty snacks may be reaching for those sweet drinks because they like the taste of sweet drinks, Shandon explained and not because the sodium is making them do it.† News article from http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012/12/10/could-kids-salt-intake-affect-their-weight . â€Å"Most people are only too aware of the damage and corrosive effects of salt on automobiles. On heavily traveled highways from 40 to 80 tons of salt per lane mile per year may be applied. Landowners along these roads also are aware of the damage to plants that such salt can cause. Deicing salt is usually refined rock salt consisting of about 98.5 percent sodium chloride, 1.2 percent calcium sulfate, 0.1 percent magnesium chloride, and 0.2 percent rock. Calcium chloride is reported to be less toxic to plants but is seldom used because it is much more expensive than rock salt and more difficult to handle. When sprayed onto plants from passing cars and plows, salt may enter plant cells or the spaces between the cells directly. One result of this salt application is that buds and small twigs of some plant species lose cold hardiness and are more likely to be killed by freezing. Salt accumulation in the soil also may cause plant injury. This frequently occurs when salt-laden snow is plowed off streets and sidewalks onto adjacent lawns. Anyone who has tried to get table salt out of a wet shaker knows how readily salt absorbs water. Rock salt exhibits the same property in the soil and absorbs much of the water that would normally be available to roots. Thus, even though soil moisture is plentiful, high amounts of salt can result in a drought-like environment for plants. When salt dissolves in water, sodium and chloride ions separate and may then harm the plants. Chloride ions are readily absorbed by the roots, transported to the leaves, and accumulate there to toxic levels. It is these toxic levels that cause the characteristic marginal leaf scorch. Measures to prevent or lessen injury from salt include using calcium chloride, where feasible, or using sand or cinders. Late season applications (after March 1) are most detrimental and should be avoided if possible since this is the time plants are coming out of dormancy and are most susceptible to injury.† http://www.uvm.edu/pss/ppp/articles/salt1.htm

Different Social Ecological Perspectives Sociology Essay

Different Social Ecological Perspectives Sociology Essay Social ecological perspective is a discipline which tries to look into various results and correlation of social factors in the environment. It also examines the interaction among people within a certain natural environment and the challenges on the important affordances for knowledge which are provided by the very environment. Generally it provides the insight on how people in a certain environment influence one another in a way (Naess, 1989). This way, ecology is both reactive and creative; it also makes people contemplate on the changes within the system and around the environment. Social ecological systems go beyond an individual, since the world we live in have a greater impact on how we live. Bronfenbrenner (1979) argues that it is not only the environment which affects the person directly, but there are some other layers factors. According to his research which basically began with thesis equations Bronfenbrenner states that behavior depends on the environment and the person. Bronfenbrenner (1979) also considered; community, individual, culture and environment as nestled factors. This is clearly illustrated in Charles dawn book on web of life. There are several outcomes which results from cross-level influences and interactions between and within levels that social ecology perspectives address. Interactions are parallels or discontinuities and cross-level effects according to (Rousseau House 1994). Therefore this paper is going to provide a comprehensive overview on the theoretical concepts and constructs relating to social ecological perspectives, review on discrimination and inequality in relationship to this topic and then conclude by highlighting on how to achieve a better social perspective. Levels of influence comprises of; Individual, interpersonal, organizational, community and public policies. The social ecological perspective looks into correlated relationship which occurs between individual and environment they live in. In individual levels people are mandated to implement and enhance the lifestyle fluctuations to minimize risk and have better health. Family history, personal attitudes, beliefs all contribute to individual influence. They can be eliminated by encouraging good beliefs, behavior and attitude. Individuals who habitually engage In many unhealthy and dangerous behavior, for example intake of saturated fats, irregular sleep, lack of frequent physical exercises, alcoholism, high level of frequent stresses, live unhealthy lifestyles which can be controlled at individual level. The change of single pattern of unhealthy behavior can be modified. This can be archived through social influence patters like modification of an individuals behavior, attitude and thoughts in terms of actions and the way others feel. Some of the ways in which to achieve social influence is; cognitive change where there is modification of individuals opinions and how he/she feels. Behavior modification entails individ uals change on how he or she views the surrounding and effective modification with a shift with ones assessment of entities. Interpersonal levels are a collection factors which raises risk as a result of relationship with family, peers and intimate partners. These are seen to modify behavior and experiences. These can be eliminated by promoting peer programs that educate on equality, trust and mutual respect among others. These interpersonal attributes are strong on how an individual perceives oneself. These qualities and factors can be learned, like in membership of a group, but many are ingrained (e.g., ethnicity, gender). In the interpersonal sphere, there are also many components of the individual, including psychological and cognitive factors, like personality, knowledge and beliefs (Gregson, 2001). Gregson continues by stating that; The individual in his or her own micro system is constantly shaped, not only by the environment, but by any encounter or other individual they come in contact with. This shaping is well explored in child development, as it would be unreasonable to believe a child is solely a product of the societal environment. There are multiple, simultaneous influences in child behavior and learning including culture, school, teacher, parental support and education level, involvement in extracurricular activities, etc. Examples of Microsystems outside the self also include groups of friends, family, unorganized athletics, or social clubs (Gregson, 2001) The community level factor depends on an individuals experiences and how he/she interacts with community in general involves social environment for example a neighborhood, schools and work places. This can be promoted through social and norm campaigns based on trust, respect among others. A clear illustration is overweight and obesity where people normally believe that it is an individuals responsibility which is correct to some degree (David, 2001). The community also plays a crucial role for example where work places, schools food stores or restaurants do not provide healthy food options, in the neighborhood and where there are no fields for jogging, places for exercises, safe and accessible facilities for children to play, no proper healthy facilities and where physical education is not offered in school. All this are community responsibilities. According to David (2001) the community can promote healthy behavior through implementation of policies and environmental factors such as healthy cafeteria meals, Incentives for bicycles and pedestrian commuters, smoke free workplaces, sidewalks and bike paths, insurance cover for preventive services like tobacco cessation and work site wellness programs. These can lower the risks of diseases like stroke, diabetes, cancer and other heart diseases. The barriers to healthy behaviors are interwoven among the community in general. When these barriers are eliminated or lowered, behavior change will be achieved. Behavior change will then become more sustainable, this is according to James (2003). According to Gregson (2001) on the other hand these aspects can be rules, policies, and acceptable business etiquette within a more formal organization. He further argues that there are some organizations that foster entirely different atmospheres than other corporations giving an example of Google, where employees may wear pajamas to the office. The organizational component is especially influential with younger, more impressiona ble employees, as it helps to shape the ethics and expectations of a typical organization for these individuals. Examples include schools, companies, churches, and sports teams (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Bronfenbrenner also claimed that the richer the medium for communication in this system, the more influential it is on the micro system. Societal levels are larger things that influence individual behavior, they include; religion, gender, societal norms, cultural beliefs and societal policies. This can be prevented by working in conjunction with social bodies associated with policies, mutual respect, social norms, gender equality, mutual respect, trust, and foster intimate relationship. These influences are more easily seen than the other factors, mainly due to the magnitude of the impact. Examples of significant intercultural effects include Communism, Western culture, Military, Islam, and Christianity. For instance, the macro system of Communism is a Marxist philosophy that believes that wealth should be shared in the macro system. A Communist country, such as Cuba (exo), governs and regulates the environment within which corporations (meso) and society or individuals (micro) exist. Media plays a significant role on all levels, as it communicates information and assists in the development of expectations for all individuals in the respective culture (Bronfenbrenner 1979) The best way of achieving healthy behavior is put in to consideration of factors at all level which are; interpersonal, organizational, individual, public and individual. By so doing, behavior change will be implemented and sustained. In the corporate scenario a lot of disagreements are understandable others while others are explicit. In these scenarios there are stakeholders who are workers, clients, shareholders and managers who normally raise conflicts. Interactive and cross-level consequences while observing from a different angle are seen, this is because a lot of companies think they only have the duty of creating monetary value for the stakeholders whilst upholding responsibilities to their customers. In some organizations, it is usually hard to tell events where devotion is taken too far towards owners and workers at the expense of the clients. Directions of influence Isomorphisms are parallels that cause impact on one level then the resulting impact affects other levels (Rinderle 2006). People carrying out Researcher on isomorphic models are required to see an equal impact on both the magnitude and direction in cases where at least one cause changes in level shifts. Discontinuities are basically antonyms of isomorphism. They cause effect one level or group hence producing an unequal, potentially in the opposite direction, they cause impact on at least one or more groups. Top-down effects are most prominent of any social ecological component, according to5 (MCLeroy 1996) the environmental outcomes shapes the persons behavior. The nested factors are basics which react while in crisis situations (Rinderle 2006). OK-FIRST is a program that alienates people on how to help others respond to whether related dangers in a better way (Oetz 2006). Historical interactions also shape peoples conflict behavior. This is clearly illustrated in several situations as observed in the many conflicts of the society. Media also plays an important role in strengthening these issues. Bottom-up effects illustrate how people or society affect the upper levels, as in how people form coalitions to achieve their goals 7(Rinderle 2006). There are also effects on cultures as a result of global corporations existence in some countries. For example, china has raised the accessibility of news to reach a larger audience in a Communist nation. 8 Guerrero (2006) shows emotions are as a result of feelings which includes anger, jealousy, greed, guilt among others and the feelings affects the events likely to happen. Interactive effects are interdependent variables and taking place simultaneously in many groups 10(Rousseau House 1994). For example in Italy where culturally different workgroups, conflicts among group members may occur. This deters relationship impacts in accomplishing the goal of group members for an organization and learning at the personal level. Thus technology also plays an important role in community, cultures, interpersonal conflict and organization (Rousseau House 1994). Political conflict The role of politics is in the making up of decisions. Politics encompasses the appeasing of all stakeholders towards realizing an ultimate objective, decision may be required of an individual, organization, community, or country. A decision a congressman makes affects anyone in his or her jurisdiction. If one makes decision not to vote for the President of the United States, one has given oneself no voice in the 15election (Ungar, 2002). If a lot other people decide not to put in their efforts to vote, they would have unintentionally permitted a greater part of others to carry the day on their behalf. Internationally if the administration of a country like America decides to inhabit another nation say in the Middle East, this will not only have an influence on the administration of that country but it will also have an effect on American soldiers and the whole environment where they come from. Another thing is that when America uses funds on conflicts that are political in nature, t he value of the U.S. currency may be negatively affected. This shows that many cross-level and interactive consequences of a decision can arise. An example of this is like the act of a terrorist could possibly interrupt with the lives of soldiers, the lives of people close to them and the country at large. Economics Basically, from a top-down view point, the physical environment determines a considerable extend to the lifestyle of a person and the country as whole. If the area is hilly or very dry and there is limited land for agricultural activities, the nation generally will not grow compared to other countries. The general, human habits, cultural characteristics and economics are shaped by geography and output is determined by natural resources, technology and human resources. Entrepreneurial mind has an impact on technology. These indicates that there exits bottom-up effects on economics. Health Peoples efforts to modify their own healthy practices are mostly dictated by social, economic and cultural setbacks. Poor educational status, time and money, energy and chronic exposure to neighborhood violent and proximity to friends and family members who often exhibit healthy threatening behavior are some of situation factors that can affect peoples best efforts that and intentions to improve their health practices. There are several ecological variables that can improve or stop danger to individuals healthy physically. To eliminate diseases, an individual should keep off from an environment in which they may be more exposed to virus or where there body defense system would be compromised. This also entails possibly avoiding workgroup if they are breathing or inhalation dangers or keeping off from a sick work mate. Some environments are good for health benefits. Staying around people who are physically fit will encourage you to be active, good diet and physical exercises in general. The state putting a ban on saturated fats manufacture may add value to top-down effect on individuals health in a country. Efforts to persuade a person to adopt health practices can be unfruitful if the person is not ready to embrace the suggested behavior. This can also be limited by exposure to environmental toxins and safety hazards (Haekel, 2003). The current research studied predictors of health-related social influence tactic use in close relationships. According to the social ecological perspective, predictors were grouped as reflecting characteristics of the agent of social influence, characteristics of the target of social influence, characteristics of the agent and targets relationship, and characteristics of the social influence situation. One hundred and nine spouses reported on situations in which each partner was attempting to influence his or her spouse to change a health-related behavior. Using the actor-partner interdependence analysis approach, results revealed only actor effects for characteristics of the agent, primarily partner effects for characteristics of the target, and both acto r and partner effects for characteristics of the situation when predicting health-related tactic use. Effects for relationship characteristics only emerged in interactions with respondent sex. These results indicate that social influence in marriage involves reciprocity and interdependence. Physical and social environment can serve as a media for disease transmit ion; waterborne and airborne diseases. The environment can also act as a stressor exerting detrimental effects on peoples mood, performance and physiology as a result of their exposure to uncontrollable demands such as noise, political upheaval or interpersonal relationship. The environment can act as source of safety or danger; residing in an area contaminated by chemicals, geographically unsafe, or socially violent.tne environment can also serve as an enabler of healthier behavior exemplified by inhalation of safety devices in motor vehicles, proximity of physical fitness devices to work place or home and exposure to interpersonal modeling or cultural practices that foster health behavior. The environment can act as provider of health resources such effective communication sanitation systems, public health services and legislation ensuring citizens access to health insurance and primary care. Risk communication In event of a natural disaster or hazard, there are ways of ensuring that people who are affected are safe. SEM can be required in helping one analyze when information and receivers and those involved. These conditions are environmental influences which are far reaching. The persons level of education, understanding, and privileged circumstances may determine the kind of information the person receives and the mediums through which the information is conveyed. If the information received is altered through the mode of communication, there would be a bottom-up effect on the people involved. In general MCLeroy (1996) points out that: The social perspectives try to, eliminate obstacles on healthy risks, generate conditions favorable for individuals well being plus all people around, creates a positive reception on how people be at vary, facilitates individuals interdependence, coexistence and interrelationships that are found among other individuals and the society as a whole, they try to show in which way; broader physical, social, political, economical, ethnical and cultural context and histories influence the ways in which individuals( and other people) make meaning out of observation and experience and it embraces the sense of care and concern for others (MCLeroy 1996). Other things that social perspectives accomplish are; they help in the recognition of competitive interests, access to resources and relationship with authority which is seen to manipulate peoples abilities, societies and countries to gain stability. These perspectives also assist in the reflection of self and thinking critically that eventually ends in positive actions, encourages social justice, helps learners to counter the ever shifting world, and enables youthful people to look past their selves while working towards expectations and a future encouraging people in taking necessary actions where appropriate in order to develop better healthy practices. Bullying and Victimization The idea of a multiple society influencing an entity is not a new concept. In fact much has been researched on the interplay between the individual, family, peer group, school, community and culture. This reciprocal interplay between individuals involved in the bully/victim continuum can be clearly illustrated, the social ecological perspective can be applied to the conceptualization of bullying behavior. According to Dolls (2001), in a nut shell, bullying does not occur in isolation. This phenomena is encouraged/or incited as a result of complex relationship between the individual, family, peer group, school community and culture. The individual is the centre of his/her social ecology. The individual involved ion bullying may be involved as a bully, bully victim, victim or by stander. Individual factors will influence participation in bullying. Ecological systems theory purports that all individuals are part of the interrelated systems that locate an individual at the centre and move out of the centre to include all the systems that affect the individuall Bronfenbrenner (1977). According to his theory, a child is inseparable part of social network comprising of four interrelated systems: Microsystems, mesosystems, exosystems and Microsystems. The child is at the centre of and actively involved with this interplay of systems. The micro system involves the childs relationship with one system; home, classroom or playground. The Microsystems depicts he the childs immediate interaction with others, and including others reaction towards bullying behavior. This conceptualization of Microsystems also includes the status of the child along the bully/victim continuum. Thus the bully, bully victim, victim or bystander interact with others in his or her social environment, and this interaction either exacerbates or mitigate bullying and/or victimization behavior. The mesosystem includes the interrelationship between system in the childs life; home and school. The mesosystems depicts the congruence between two or more environments such as congruence between and home and school in regard to bullying behavior. The exosystems includes influences from other context, such as the effects of a schools district anti bully policy or parental i nvolvement in the school system. Finally, the macro system is the influence of cultural mores, such as societal attitude towards bullying behavior. The social ecology that encompasses the daily life of youth dictates the engagement and non engagement in bullying and/or victimization behaviors. 19Simons (2000) because individual are affected by their surroundings, it logically follows that intervention the environment in which youth function. Interventions that do not follow the target multiple environments in which youth exists are likely to be fewer effectives than interventions that address social ecology. This assertion is related to consistent findings that the youth who are involved in aggressive behavior experience problems in multiple area including the family, peer group, school, and community. It is important to determine whether or not an intervention is effective in preventing and /or eliminating bullying behavior. Thus assessment of bullying phenomena must utilize multiple methods of assessments, use multiple informants and include assessments across the context. While this can be a daunting task, best practices demands that we asses all the social ecological if we are to accurately determine the effects bullying prevention and intervention programming. An example of this type of best practice is reflected in schema proposed and implemented by Simons (2000) these studies state that data should be collected across all settings (home, school, community, laboratory and others), by multiple informants, observers, children peers, parents, teachers and using multiple methods home observations, lab tasks, classroom, playground questionnaires, records among others. Conclusion We can conclude that a better social perspective can be achieved by putting into consideration of factors at all level which are; interpersonal, organizational, public and individual. Behavior modification entails individuals change on how he or she views the surrounding and effective modification with a shift with ones assessment of entities. By so doing, behavior change will be implemented and sustained.

The determination of basic long-term goals and objectives of enterprise

The determination of basic long-term goals and objectives of enterprise INTRODUCTION Alfred Chandler a business strategy theorist in the area of business defines strategy as The determination of the basic, long-term goals and objectives of an enterprise, and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary for these goals (Chandler, 1962:13). By White (2004) in a simple definition says Strategy is regarded as a unifying idea which links purpose and action. In that case strategy combines the communication of human goals and the organisation of human activity to achieve those goals. The concept of strategies business organization provides the means for it to generate income and competitive advantage by the persistent development and bringing new products into the market. For companies to be in competitive advantage it has to focus on meeting and supplying products to meet the rapid changing needs of the customers (White,2004) .This proves the reason companies give the idea of new product introduction (NPI) appropriate consideration. New Product Introduction is a project without a guaranteed success but yet an expensive one. The company has to consider the market in which they are competing, the nature of the competition and how their capabilities will enable their products to be successful (White,2004). New Production Introduction generally entails innovation, that involves the modification of an existing product. Innovation is an essential accepts of all New Product Introduction projects and it involves a lot risk taking. New Product Introduction entails creativity, experimentations and analysis, that require a huge amount of finance (Baker and Hart 2007; Allen and Hamilton 1968). In order ways, to achieve a high successful rate in New Product Introduction, we have to manage innovation properly. The New Product Introduction in companies has to adopt a good strategy for the company to achieve a corporate strategic objective. The help of good corporate strategy facilitates the New Product Introduction strategy for an organized business performance (Baker and Hart 2007). A companys organized business strategy entails high creativity of innovation and technological drive with risk engagement. The relationship between NPI strategies and business performance was identified by Copper (2001) with the three points of business new products performance which are; High-quality new product process Resource commitment New product strategy Cooper (2004) establishes that business performance is directly proportional to the introduction of new product performance which is dependent on the strategy employed. Here are list of New Product Introduction strategies that a company could use: The Differentiated Strategy: Differentiated strategy is the process that involves market aggressiveness, high technological approach, and quality price. This Strategy involves a percentage of 15.6% of manufacturing companies. In this strategy the companies are liable to maximize their competitive advantage in the market. Differentiated strategy is said to have a brilliant success rate (Anderson and Smith 2010). The Low Budget, Conservative Strategy: Companies that adopt this strategy usually favour a low RD budget and undifferentiated products (Anderson and Smith 2009). The Technology-push Strategy: The strategy here is pre-occupied with technological development and they lose focus of their market demands. Here, their success rate is fairly average. This strategy is mostly seen within the dot-com companies mostly in the late 90s (Anderson and Smith 2010). High-budget diverse Strategy: High-budget diverse strategy is considered as a high, and unfocussed RD budget. The strategy is related to the technology-push strategy. The Not-in-the-game Strategy: The Not-in-the-game strategy has a careful, favouring low risk, low technology products. Its goal is attained by low product performance. It is concluded that the differentiated strategy provides the most excellent business performance in the market (Anderson and Smith 2010). COMPANY BACKGROUD The Coca-Cola Company is the worlds largest beverage company refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands. Along with coca-cola, recongized as the worlds most valuable brands, including Diet coke, fanta, sprite, coca-cola zero, vitamins water, Powerade minute maid, simply and Georgia coffee. Globally, we are the number 1 provider of sparking beverages, juice and juice drinks and ready-to-drink teas and coffees. COCA-COLA CHINA Coca-Cola China is one of the most well known international brands in china, with a leading position in the soft drinks market. Since re-entering china in 1979, coca-cola has invested more than US$ 2 billion in the local market. By the end of October 2009, china business unit has established a total of 39 bottling plants. MARKET, COMPETITORS AND CUSTOMERS The beverage market is a very competitive one, due to the low barriers to entry, also the tendency of replication is high and the rate of changing trend because of the switch in customer feedback on a exact product is high. NPI STRATEGY The NPI strategy coca-cola used was the differentiated strategy. The new products are brought into the market by knowing what the customer wants in a specific time and place, which enhances a target market. New products could be accomplished by the process of market trend and recognition of a market place. The success rate of a product is achieved by the market target (Graham et al, 1993). The improvement of the new ultra-light bottle is the peak of its size in the Chinese beverage market and has reduced the carbon footprint by 30%. Thereby helping it be an environmentally friendly in the terms of the global green effect, the bottle is designed in a way that it can be simply be twisted and compressed after consumption, in that process it saves more than 70% of the space needed while the bottle makes it way to recycling(Coca-cola, 2010) Shown in Fig 1 is the sustainable packagin Fig 1: Shown is a sustainable packaging MARKET RESEARCH AND PRODUCT CONCEPTS Trott. P(2005) says that new product strategy is part of a web of strategies. It is linked to, and its objectives are derived from, marketing strategy, technology strategy and the overall strategy. During a general market research, coca-cola discovered a target market, within which the consumers required their beverages in bottles no longer in plastic bottles. At the moment, ultra-thin classic contour glass bottle are in demand in the market. The ultra glass bottle has found a clear product idea. PRODUCT DESIGN The new ultra glass bottles are small but still contain the same content. The bottles are 40% stronger, 20 percent lighter and 10 percent less expensive than the traditional contour bottles. The challenges of the new ultra glass bottle were packaged to step up innovation in soft drinks. Packaging to bring the latest technology. PRODUCT LAUNCH The new ultra glass bottle was launched in 2000. DIAGRAMOF THE PRODUCT RESULTS Trott, P(2005) says a successful brand combines an effective product, distinctive identity and added value as perceived by customers. Coca-cola china undertook a sustainable packaging rest analysis with its bottling partners to inform new packing solution. We have reduced the glass we use in our packaging by approximately 11,000 tons by adopting ultra glass technology through responsible manufacturing and redesign efforts. CONCLUSION Coca-Cola company china was established to gain competitive advantage and boost their business performance. The author carefully analysed the strategy used in coca-cola for the new production introduction was successful and it was market intensive. According to Miles and Snow the business strategy used by coca-cola was the Defenders. Coca-cola did not only invest in RD and the market research respectively, their strategy path was focused. In the sense that the direction or flow of the decision making were in line with the clearly defined product, target market, processes and resources needed. RECOMMENDATION Before developing an NPI strategy, take into consideration the companys capabilities and most importantly the overall corporate strategy of the company. The use of a product innovation character, said by Crawford (1997:65) as a document that gives the conditions under which an organisation will operate, will be of great benefit to company, because it specifies the objective to be achieved.

The Strengths and Weaknesses of the Cosmological Argument for the Exist

The Strengths and Weaknesses of the Cosmological Argument for the Existence of God The cosmological argument seeks to prove the existence of God by looking at the universe. It is an A posteriori proof based on experience and the observation of the world not logic so the outcome is probable or possible not definite. The argument is in three forms; motion, causation and being. These are also the first three ways in the five ways presented by Aquinas through which he believed the existence of God could be shown. Aquinas regarded Aristotle as the principal philosopher so many of these concepts originate in the thinking of Aristotle. One example of the cosmological argument is the argument of causation. Everything has a cause. Everything itself has a cause. But, you cannot have an infinite number of causes. Therefore there must have been an uncaused causer, which causes everything to happen without itself being caused by anything else. Such an uncaused cause is what people understand by 'God'. This idea was revisited by William Lane Craig who developed the Kalam cosmological argument. He reinforced the contention that the universe must have had a creator by firstly proving that the universe if finite. He proves this by explaining that the present would not exist in an actual infinite universe, because successive additions cannot be added to an actual infinite. The present does exist, as a result of a chronological series of past events. The universe must be finite. Craig seeks to prove that the universe must have had a beginning in time and that there must have been a creator who was uncaused. The Kalam argument makes the cosmologi... ...but does not prove there was a being that started this. The beginning of the universe could be put down to coincidence followed by the evolution of life. However, it does not disprove the existence of an uncaused causer. How do we not know that God was not responsible for the big bang? In conclusion we can see that there are many reasons to believe that the universe must have had a beginning. Both from a philosophical and scientific point of view. However, this cannot be proved, we are still able to question the idea. It is also debatable as to whether or not a personal creator was involved. This is down to personal belief and faith in God. I do not personally believe that the cosmological argument is strong enough to prove the existence of God. But, it is very convincing in proving that the universe had a beginning.

Simulation Proliferation and the City Essay examples -- Essays Papers

Simulation Proliferation and the City Mr. Hand wears all black, is tall, thin, and pale. He floats around a dark city and ends far too many lines with a creepy self-affirming â€Å"yesss.† In Dark City (Alex Proyas 1998) we see over and over again indications of the tropes and repetitions that make up the urban/filmic imagination. Not quite vampires, not quite grey aliens, not quite business men, not quite religious, not quite serial murderers, Mr. Hand and the other Strangers seem to be archetypal characters of the city. Is the imagination a domesticating function, territorializing wild occurrence and happenstance into termed rearrangements of what has come before? Or is it an explosive and infinite fountain of creativity? Modern metropolises and imagination present themselves together in such films as mutually helpful tools for inspecting one another – but my effort is to use the city to discuss several imaginations. As is only obvious enough from one city dweller talking to another, imagination (m oreso than representation or memory) is home to the ever changing city. Conversely, however, the city enables a specific citified imagination, with its own structure and economy. To begin, though, I want to interrogate, as a point of departure, the philosophy of fantasy in a highly commercial, idyllic, anti-city movie. Those lucky children of the 80’s witnessed the depiction and eventual summarization of the relation between fantasy, imagination, fiction, story, and control in the politico-creative manifesto, The Neverending Story (Wolfgang Peterson 1984). In the movie, Sebastian (a somewhat troubled young boy) reads a book (whose unfolding is the main content of the screen) and is then implicated in the collapse of a fantas... ...gination can be spoken of as a discourse that is ultimately just about itself: it is only by imagination that one imagination is to discover anything about the next – yet this ethereality is not only not troubling for the stability of simulation, but itself stabilized by the overproduction of simulacra such that its processing is pressured into sheer reactive creativity. The strikingly bizarre and symptomatically fascinating point, though, is why imagination might have almost anything at all to do with simulation, but this is just the predominant strength of an imagination over its inscription, by representation, into broader circulating winds of reality: its apparent nihilism. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Ã… ½iÃ… ¾ek, Slavoj. â€Å"Passion in the Era of Decaffeinated Belief.† Thy Symptom Issue 5, Winter 2004.

Fail to plan, plan to fail: A look at a yearly operating business plan Essay

Marketing plan Introduction Executive summary   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dyad company is a manufacture that deals with electronics products. The company has been in the market for many years and thus it has been established well in the market. The company has come up with a small electronic litter box that will improve the quality and the convenience of people’s life. Dyad company has what it takes to introduce the new product to the market. Marketing plan   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dyad electronics is a well-established electronics company that deals with the manufacture of efficient electronics products for home and industries. The company moves with the current technology where it comes up with new products within a very short of time. Dyad electronics company have come up with small appliances that will be every effective in homes and industry. The product is a self-scooping litter box with privacy hood the small appliance has also a clean litter compartment and a disposing tray. The old litter would be disposed in the disposing tray ones the scooping setting has gone off. This is the first small litter box electronic product that have been introduced in the market. The mission of the Dyad company is to enable consumers to improve the quality and convenience of their lives by providing high-quality, innovative electronic solutions. Product support of mission statement   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The mission of the company concentrates more on improving the quality and convenience of people’s life by providing them with quality electronics solutions. The new electronic product that Dyad company have designed will improve the of peoples life because people will no longer use their manual methods of litter collection in their homes that poses danger to their health. The test on this product shows that it will be taking a very little time to collect a lot of litter. This is true evidence that the new product will improve the convenience of people’s life. It is easy to handle the product and being an electronic product, it does not mean that it poses any danger to the customers because the product is very convenient to use and it is readily available. The features of this product go hand in hand with the mission of the company. Target market   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Homes and industries are the main target for the new products. Many individuals have been using the manual way of collecting litter in their homes. The manual ways of collecting litter take a lot of time and they are not effective. Despite their inconveniences of those methods, they are still commonly used and that is why this product mainly targets homes. Some industries produces dangerous waist that cannot be collected using the manual method and thus the electronic litter box will be appropriate. The company is targeting this industry where it is planning to supply this product in large numbers. The target market is also based on demographic where people of 35 to 65 years are the main target. This is because people of these ages are the ones who have big families and they undergo a lot of hardship in their family cleaning and that is why the company targets this people. Competition analysis Rivalry   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are many big electronics company that make makes competition to be stiffer. Many companies in the market competing for few customers make the competition in the market to increase. Malware Company is one of the biggest companies in the industry where it has established its brand and logo in the market. This company is the biggest rival of the Dyad Company. Threat of substitute   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The competition situation in the market based on substitute’s threat is not a competition threat to the Dyad Company. This is because litter box is a unique product that has never been in the market. Is a new product and thus there are no substitute products for it but because of creativity in the market, the substitute will be eventually be in the market. Buyer power   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the electronic market, the buyers are powerful because they join hands and decide on which company to buy from this makes it hard for companies to sell themselves in the market. The only way for a company to sell itself in the company is by producing quality products that will convince buyers. Supplier power   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Competition in this market has been very simple for Dyad Company; this is because suppliers in this market are concentrated. They supply to companies that they are well aware of. Dyad Company has new products which require different suppliers and thus it will be hard to establish new suppliers. Threats of new entry   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There a lot of new companies that are joining the industry, these companies are offering their products at a cheaper price and thus they attract more customers especially the ones who do not believe in product or company loyalty. SWOT analysis Strength   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dyad company has established itself well in the market. Its old products are well known in the market because of their quality and their convenience. This will make it easy for the company to introduce a new product in the industry without any struggle. The second strengths involve its financial status. The company has very low debt compared to credit and this makes it have enough money for the preparations of marketing the new product and thus it will offer this product at a lower price. The low price will make many customers to prefer the product in a greater way because the buyers are used of new expensive products. Lastly, the team of designers of Dyad Company has introduced a production process that is convenient in terms of labor and raw materials. This is a unique production process in the industry that will ensure the company produces cheap but quality products. The ability to produce cheap products and the establishment in the mar ket are they key strengths that will ensure that the company gets victory as far as competition is concerned. Weaknesses   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The company offers credit to its intermediaries for the industry only. This is one of the biggest weaknesses because the company is featuring to another line of products where it will require new suppliers. The company’s financial level cannot be compared with that of other companies like Malware. This is a weakness because the company will not be in a position to compete well in the market. The last weakness is that the company is introducing a product which is new in the market. The product will take time and a lot of company’s resources in order to feature into the market. Opportunities   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The company has a good relationship with the suppliers and thus it will be easy to find other suppliers to who will be ready to supply raw materials for the new product. The company has established itself well into the industry and it has many loyal customers (Incus, 2014). This is one of the greatest opportunities because the new product will have people to buy it and to market it in the industry. The new product that the company is planning to produce is different is a unique one and thus there is no other substitute in the market. This is an opportunity because there will be no competition in the market as far as the new product is concerned (Sarkis, 2014). Threat   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The major threat of the company is the introduction of a new product which people do not know. That is one of the threats because people may not accept it because of buyer’s ignorance of new products. There is a high entry of new companies in the market with high level of creativity and thus it will take short time for them to come up with a substitute of the new product and that means that the product will face a lot of competition. The buyers in the market concentrate in one companies and this is a big threat because buyers may divert to another company (Skripsky, 2012). Marketing objectives   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dyad company is planning to make sure that the litter box will be of good quality and convenient to use. The new product will be sold at a cheaper price that will be convenient for all the buyers regardless of their financial status. The product will be distributed to all the customers around the market. The distribution will be efficient to ensure that the product is effective all around. The company will also launch a promotion plan that will ensure the product is known in the market. Marketing strategy Product   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The product will be designed in such a way that it will be convenient to use. This will ensure that all member of the community are given a chance to use the product. The product will also be cheap for it to serve all members of the community. Lastly, the litter box will not have any harm consequences that will affect the consumers. Price   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The company will use the new design of production process in order to produce cheap product. The price will also be low as a way of product promotion. The company has been in the market for a long time and thus it has made a lot of profit. These profits will be used to produce the product at lower price. The aim of the company is not just to design a litter box but a litter box that will be convenient to all. Distribution   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The company has a plan to buy more cars that will be used for distribution of the new product to the market. This will ensure that the buyers get the products wherever they are and with the right convenience. Promotion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dyad Company has a plan to launch many promotion strategies that will ensure the product is well known in the market. Online, coupons and poster promotions strategies will be the main focus of the company. The above mix will ensure that the objectives of the company have been achieved because they all go hand in hand with the objectives. Tactics and action plan   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The young team of designers will be responsible of the product quality and design. The designers will come up with a product which will be the best in the market. The company has already started ordering distribution cars. The prize of the product will be agreed by the whole committee after all the calculations have been done on the production process. The promotion strategies will be conducted by the information technology team. Timeline Promotion The first six weeks Product One month Distribution One moth Price Three weeks Implementation plan   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The management of the company will be responsible of monitoring all the strategies in order to make sure that the plan is implemented to the last point. Promotion strategy will be monitored by through accessing how buyers are becoming aware of the product in the market. The product progress will be monitored through accessing the quality of the product and also views from the consumers. The prize of the product will be monitored through the views from the consumers of the product. Distribution will be monitored through accessing the efficiency of distribution process. Timeline Promotion The first week before launching the product Product Two weeks after the launch of the product Distribution One week after the launch Price One month after the launch of the product Reference Skripsky, H. (2012). Fail to plan, plan to fail: A look at a yearly operating business plan. Journal of Retail & Leisure Property, 282-286. Source document

Gender, Genocide and Consequence: Srebrenica Examined

Introduction The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines genocide as â€Å"the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political or cultural group†. Genocide is exactly what happened in the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina during July 1995. Between 6 and 11 July 1995 more than 25,000 Bosnian Muslims, most of them women, children and elderly people living in and around town of Srebrenica, were forced to leave the town (Cemic 2007). In addition, 7,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were massacred by the Republika Srpska army in and around Srebrenica (Cemic 2007).The Srebrenica genocide was one of the biggest massacres that Europe has seen since World War II (Simic 2008). The women and children who survived it became witnesses and survivors whose testimonies and courage to find out, face and disseminate the truth gave them hero status in Bosnia and around the world (Simic 2008). Every year on July 11, politicians and key players from the international as well local community come to Potocari to pay tribute to all of the victims identified so far and those still missing (Simic 2008).Each anniversary of the genocide attracts more and more people from around the world who want to come and share their compassion and maybe even ‘guilt' for not doing more to prevent this horrible event (Simic 2008). Following Bosnia’s declaration of independence from the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) in March 1992, a civil war broke out in progressive stages between the three ethnic communities that had existed in Bosnia for several centuries (Turns 2007).Although initially internal in nature, this conflict was ‘internationalised’ at various points by the intervention of armed forces from both Serbia and Croatia on the sides of their respective co-ethnic forces (Turns 2007). With the internationally recognised government of the new republic in Muslim hands, nationalistic elements in the Serbian component of the population sta rted fighting against the Bosnian Government’s forces (Turns 2007).Although initially the Croats and Muslims combined forces against the Serbs, subsequent fighting also broke out between Croatian and Government forces (largely over the division of the town of Mostar); the Serbs and Croats also fought against each other (Turns 2007). Both of the non-Muslim nationalist leadership groups had similar aims, namely either outright independence for those parts of Bosnia where their ethnic populations primarily resided or, preferably, union with their o-ethnic neighbouring states: the Republics of Serbia and Croatia (Turns 2007). As this would inevitably entail the dismemberment of the Bosnian State, the Muslim Government fought against both groups (Turns 2007). Srebrenica is a small town in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina that lies about 10 miles from the border with Serbia. While essentially ignoring three years of slaughter, the United Nations Security Council did designate Srebren ica a â€Å"safe area† in which encircled Muslims (now called Bosniaks) could find sanctuary (Lischer 2012).But a few hundred outgunned UN peacekeepers from the Netherlands provided only a veneer of protection which cracked under pressure from the Bosnian Serbs. (Lischer 2012). The result was the largest mass killing in Europe since the Holocaust (Lischer 2012). In summary, this literature review will investigate what happened during the genocide, short term and long term impacts, the geopolitical transformation and the controversies surrounding the infamous July 1995 Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Discussion The fall of YugoslaviaYugoslavia (which consisted of Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH), Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia) was a peaceful nation when formed after the Second World War, and then suddenly everything began to change. In 1991, following the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the former Yugoslavia began to disinteg rate (Totten 2006). The country degenerated into conflict between the three major groups–Serbs, Muslims, and Croatians–that had lived in peace under Dictator Josip Broz Tito (Totten 2006).The Socialistic Republic of BiH was born after WW II with the creation of the Socialistic Federative Republic of Yugoslavia (Simic 2009). The same year this newly independent state was plunged into almost four years of internal conflict (Simic 2009). Yugoslavia maintained peace during the 40 years Tito ruled, but when he died in 1980 following the Cold War, nationalist and separatist ideologies began to arise and disrupt tranquility within the country (Long 2012).Slobodan Milosevic, formerly Serbia's Communist Party leader, strategically adhered to nationalism and became the ruler of Serbia and the most authoritative dignitary in Yugoslavia by 1989 (Long 2012). However, his forceful attempts to take over the federal government of Yugoslavia and unjust decisions he made out of self-int erest drove Croatia and Slovenia to seek independence in 1991, and Bosnia-Herzegovina followed in 1992 (Long 2012). Even though European community and the United States recognized Bosnia as an independent country, the Muslim, Serb, and Croat groups within Bosnia all began to fight for territory (Long 2012).Although many of the Muslims in Bosnia originally thought the Yugoslav National Army (YNA) would protect them, the fourth largest army in Europe was under the command of Milosevic, whose ultimate at the cost of many non-Serbs' lives, to create a Greater Serbia (Long 2012). The YNA launched many vicious attacks against non-Serb citizens in Bosnia with the help of the Republicka Srpska's (the leading Serb par in Bosnia) Drina Corps (Long 2012).An ugly war ensued, especially between the Serbs and the Bosnians (Long 2012). In 1993, Serb attacks on Bosnian Muslims increased in eastern Bosnia, and the latter fled their homes and villages to seek protection in the nearby town of Srebreni ca (and a 30-square-mile area surrounding it), which had been designated a United Nations-sponsored â€Å"safe area† (Totten 2006). The safe area had been developed as a result of Security Council Resolution 819 on April 16, 1993 (Totten 2006).Subsequently, the UN forged an agreement in which the Muslim troops in the enclave of Srebrenica would disarm, the Serbs would halt their attacks on the enclave, and the UN would oversee and enforce the cease-fire (Totten 2006). While both Serbs and Muslims periodically violated the agreement, the Serb forces were the ones who, over the years, applied ever-increasing pressure on the Muslims in Srebrenica (and on the Dutch Battalion, commonly referred to as â€Å"Dutchbat,† charged with protecting the safe area) by periodically shelling them and preventing humanitarian assistance from entering the enclave (Totten 2006).By July of 1995 thousands of civilians had taken refuge in the city of Srebrenica to escape from Serb attacks in northeastern Bosnia (Long 2012). On July 6, 1995, under the orders of Rodovan Karadzic, president of Republika Srpska the VRS began an offensive attack on Sebrenica by firing mortal shells into the city (Long 2012). As the attacks increased in number and ferocity, NATO authorities discussed the possibility of air strikes against Serb-held areas (Totten 2006).When planes were finally able to perform air strikes, after dropping only two bombs on VRS forces outside of Srebrenica the VRS threatened to kill their Dutch hostages and attack the refugees in an enclave in Srebrenica with mortar shells (Long 2012). NATO responded by immediately ordering a stop to the air strikes (Long 2012). A column of 15,000 weak and underfed Muslim men fled toward Tuzla, a Bosnian government held territory nearly 40 miles away, leaving behind their wives, daughters, young sons, and elderly fathers. (Long 2012).The Serbs were prepared for the Muslim men to flee to Tuzla, and were given orders by Radislav Kr stic, commander of the VRS, to kill every single person in the column; â€Å"You must kill everyone. We don't need anyone alive† said Krstic (Long 2012). Even knowing their escape was a futile attempt, the Muslim men felt they had no other choice but to flee (Long 2012). On 11 July 1995, after they occupied Srebrenica, Bosnian Serb forces executed between 7,000 and 8,000 men (Simic 2009). By the evening of July 11, 1995, Srebrenica was void of a single living Muslim (Long 2012).The genocide in Srebrenica was the largest single act of genocide in Europe in 50 years, or since the Nazi-perpetrated Holocaust (Totten 2006). Court and Controversy On 26 February 2007, one of the longest running and most tortuous pieces of litigation in the history of the International Court of Justice came to a close when a decision on the merits was handed down in the case brought by Bosnia and Herzegovina (‘Bosnia') against Serbia and Montenegro (‘Serbia') in March 1993 (Turns 2007).In 1993 the United Nations Security Council, acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, had established the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (‘ICTY') in order to prosecute persons alleged to have committed serious violations of international humanitarian law–including genocide (15)–anywhere in the territory of the former Yugoslavia; this was largely a response to the atrocities that were being reported from Bosnia in particular (Turns 2007).In its application to the Court, Bosnia requested declarations that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (‘FRY') ‘has breached, and is continuing to breach, its legal obligations' towards Bosnia under a number of international treaties, including the Genocide Convention, the Geneva Conventions of 1949, Additional Protocol I thereto of 1977, the Hague Regulations of 1907, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 (Turns 2007). In April 2001, Serbia filed with the Court an Application forRevision of the 1996 Judgment on Preliminary Objections (Turns 2007). This was followed the next month by another document, in which Serbia argued that: (i) it had not been a party to the Statute of the ICJ until its admission to the UN on 1 November 2000; (ii) that it never had been, and still was not, a party to the Genocide Convention; and (iii) that when it had acceded to the Genocide Convention on 8 March 2001, it had entered a reservation to art IX thereof (Turns 2007).The ICJ affirmed it had jurisdiction and found, by thirteen votes to two, that Serbia had not conspired to commit genocide nor had it incited the commission of genocide in violation of its obligations under the Genocide Convention (Cernic 2007). The ICJ also found, by eleven votes to four, that Serbia had not been complicit in genocide (Cernic 2007).However, the ICJ did find that Serbia had violated its obligation under the Genocide Convention to prevent genocide in Srebrenica, and that i t had also violated its obligations under the Genocide Convention by having failed to co-operate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (‘ICTY') (Cernic 2007). The ICJ held that the genocide in Srebrenica was committed by the Republika Srpska army under the command of its VRS Main Staff, which did possess the specific ‘genocidal intent' (Cernic 2007). Can a state commit the crime of genocide?The ICJ held that States can commit the crime of genocide (Cernic 2007). It held that the effect of article I of the Genocide Convention ‘is to prohibit states themselves from committing genocide' which follows from the categorisation of genocide as a crime against international law (Cernic 2007). The ICJ acknowledged the crimes in Srebrenica ‘were committed, at least in part, with the resources which the perpetrators of those acts possessed as a result of the general policy of aid and assistance pursued towards them by the FRY'(Cernic 20 07).The Bosnian Serbs maintained that the graves were filled with Muslim soldiers killed during combat and denied the accusations that a massacre took place (Long 2012). However, on October 29, 1995, reporters from the Christian Science Monitor, during an unauthorized visit, discovered a heap of clothing, shoes, and eyeglasses next to what appeared to be a freshly dug grave in the city of Sahanici (Long 2012). However, there were no signs that a battle took place, and a few canes as well as a crutch were also discovered–evidence that countered the Bosnian Serbs' that the graves contained Muslim combat casualties (Long 2012).Four primary figures emerged as the main conspirators responsible for the Srebrenica massacre: Slobodan Milosevic, the former Yugoslav president; Radovan Karadzic, the former political leader of the Bosnian Serbs; Ratko Mladic, Karadzic's former chief military commander; and Radislav Krstic, former commander of the Drina Corps (Long 2012). The UN court rul ed the Srebrenica massacre a genocide and eventually brought charges against these four individuals, but so far Krstic is the only one who has been convicted (Long 2012). Gender and Genocide While the international community and U. N. eacekeepers looked on, Serb forces separated civilian men from women and killed thousands of men en masse, or hunted them down in the forests (Jones 2002). Realizing the UN would not protect them, around 25,000 refugees, mainly consisting of women, children, and elderly men, attempted to escape to the town of Potocari in hopes of seeking protection in a UN compound within the city (Long 2012). A great many of the men who had sought to flee through the hills to Tuzla were doomed as well (Jones 2002). Around 23,000 women and children were deported over an estimated period of 30 hours to safe Muslim territories (Long 2012).The remaining males (around 1,700) were held in trucks and warehouses to be supposedly interrogated for war crimes (Long 2012). In wha t was a well-planned succession of events, the victims were transported from building to building and held for long periods of time without food or water before they were finally executed (Long 2012). Some men were killed individually or in small groups, but the majority of the murders took place in mass numbers (Long 2012). In one of the mass murders, between 1,000 and 1,500 men were crammed into a pitch-black warehouse (Long 2012).Soldiers began throwing grenades into the warehouse and shooting their machine guns into the building (Long 2012). Any men who tried to escape from the building were immediately gunned down by the soldiers (Long 2012). Many hundreds more were massacred at a football field near Nova Kasaba, the worst killing ground of the entire five-day slaughter (Jones 2002). While at some sites there was grave digging machinery, at the soccer field selected men were forced to dig graves and watch others be shot into those (Long 2012). Eventually, these men and were sho t into their own graves (Long 2012).When a bulldozer finally did arrive, around 400 men were thrown into a grave and buried alive (Long 2012). After all was said and done, between the days of July 11-16, 1995, over 8,000 Muslim men were killed in Bosnia (Long 2012). Srebrenica is a textbook case of gendercide (Simic 2009). While all males were executed, females were forcibly expelled leading to the creation of an ethnically cleansed area (Simic 2009). By killing all males who were capable of ‘holding a gun', the Serbian forces eliminated the direct threat of young potential future fighters, thus reducing the strength of the rival community (Simic 2009).Prior to the war, Srebrenica was a traditional town where males were the prime breadwinners and the head of households (Simic 2009). The gendercide in Srebrenica disrupted the gender cast of BiH society by leaving almost 40% of the internally displaced population with female headed-households (Simic 2009). Left without their hus bands, women suddenly needed skills and education to be able to take part in a job market in BiH where almost 40% of people are still considered as unemployed (Simic 2009).Thus, the elimination of the male population had tremendous social, economic and psychological consequences on the women, leaving them to be sole breadwinners while coping with traumatic experiences they had endured and searching for the bones of their sons and husbands (Simic 2009). However, despite the challenges they faced these women joined together and left their private sphere of mourning to go into the public domain demanding a series of actions to be taken by local and international governments (Simic 2009).In doing so, they transformed their experience as victims into an activism that has attracted international attention and respect (Simic 2009). Aftermath Following the massacre, a handful of survivors from various massacre sites came forward and offered their testimonies, describing the brutal and horri fic murders they witnessed (Long 2012). Finally, almost a year after the massacre, in July of 1996, forensic experts performed exhumations of some of the mass grave sites without the permission of Serb authorities (Long 2012).As time drew on, more grave sites were discovered and examined, and more bodies were accounted for, Investigators found many bodies in smaller graves in areas farther from Srebrenica (Long 2012). The bodies were easily linked to Srebrenica, as several licenses and photographs of Muslims who had been in Srebrenica were found in the graves (Long 2012). Even in the large graves with fewer bodies, forensic investigations found significant evidence suggesting that most of the victims were not killed during combat (Long 2012).Also, prosthetic limbs, canes, and crutches found in the graves suggested that many of the victims were severely handicapped and would not have been able to fight in combat (Long 2012). Extensive forensic investigations of the Srebrenica massacr e sites have so far turned up some 3,000 bodies but only a few have been successfully identified (Jones 2002). The forensics teams who worked on the Srebrenica site gathered vital experience in their exhumation of the graves, and were able to employ their skills anew in the Kosovo gendercide four years later (Jones 2002).The memory of Srebrenica's men has been kept alive by their womenfolk, even though the women survivors of the Srebrenica genocide still live scattered as displaced persons in BiH (Simic 2009). In Tuzla where the majority of them fled during the genocide, these women established the association of the ‘Mothers of Srebrenica' (Simic 2009). The association has an important voice in BiH, demands a complete investigation of the massacre, the opening of mass graves and the identification and burial of their sons, husbands and fathers who vanished in July 1995 (Simic 2009).Although the ‘Mothers' only registered as association of citizens in 1999, their protests and persuasive efforts to bring about justice started back in 1996, when they stormed the Red Cross offices to protest a stalled investigation on the fate of their missing men (Simic 2009). The group's list of primary demands reads as follows: †¢The full facts of Srebrenica should be revealed and publicised. †¢All graves should be exhumed and bodies identified without delay. †¢Any survivors of Srebrenica held prisoner in Republika Srpska [Bosnian Serb territories] or the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia should be released immediately. The people of Srebrenica should be enabled to return to their homes. †¢There should be a full & open international investigation into the failure of the UN to protect the Safe Area of Srebrenica. †¢All indicted and suspected war criminals, including Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic and Slobodan Milosevic, and all those complicit with genocide, should be arrested and brought to trial (Jones 2002). In spring 2000, General Radislav K rstic, â€Å"the highest-ranking Bosnian Serb commander before the UN War Crimes tribunal in The Hague,† stood trial for the genocidal atrocities at Srebrenica (Jones 2002).In August 2001, Krstic was convicted and sentenced to 46 years in prison (Jones 2002). Conclusions In conclusion, the war between the Bosnian Muslims and the Bosnian Serbs was a turning point for the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Not only did it impact the citizens of the country, but it also impacted the structure and the politics of it. This began with the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia which consisted of the countries now known as Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia and Montenegro. After Bosnia’s independence declaration the country was plunged into conflict between the three major groups; Serbs, Muslims and Croatians.An ugly war ensued between the Muslims and Serbs that lasted nearly 4 years. By July of 1995, thousands of civilians had taken refuge in the town of Srebrenica w hich was deemed a safe zone. In my opinion, the UN troops that were supposed to be protecting the country did a very poor job. The Serbian army began a vicious attack on the city and began the execution of thousands of Muslim men. Over 8000 men had been killed from July 11-16, 1995. Mass killings were performed in warehouses, schools and even soccer fields. Men were shot, bombarded with grenades and buried alive in some cases.Years later in 2007, the International Court of Justice came to a decision on the merits handed down in the case brought by Bosnia against Serbia where Bosnia accused Serbia of violating international humanitarian law, including genocide. The question of whether or not a country could commit the act of genocide was brought up; the ICJ decided that it was possible. I, however, do not agree with this statement. I believe that in order for a country to commit genocide, every single citizen would have to take part in it and that was not the case.Of course the four men accused should be found guilty of genocide, but as for the country, I do not believe so. Serbia argued against the claims, stating that the bodies that were buried were Muslim soldiers and combat casualties and not victims of genocide. However, evidence of clothing, shoes, eyeglasses, canes and prosthetic limbs were found. Men who needed canes or prosthetic limbs would not be allowed to fight in combat and therefore the graves could not have been filled with soldiers. The massacre was ruled a genocide and charges have been made against the Serbs in charge of the attacks.In the future, I will conduct more research on this case to find a more in depth examination of both parties and what they had argued. Following the massacre, survivors came forward and offered testimonies, describing the events that happened. An exhumation of the grave sites began which helped gives names to bodies found in the graves. The skills learned through this process were later used in other genocides. T he memory of the victims of Srebrenica has been kept alive by its women. They have started organizations such as Mothers of Srebrenica and changed the gender cast of society.With the men gone, women were forced into the role of head of household leaving social, psychological and economic consequences on the women. As devastating as the massacre was, I believe that the consequences have had an overall positive impact on Bosnian society. Women were now seen as members of society who could work the same jobs as men, and the Mothers have accomplished a lot for the citizens, for example ensuring that the facts of Srebrenica were available to the public. Further research could be conducted on the association to see more of what they had accomplished and how they did it.In my opinion, the Mothers of Srebrenica are inspirational and prove that no matter how bad an event may be, something positive can always come out of it. What happened during the Bosnian war was heartbreaking and terrible; however, focus should be put on the good that came out of it, and the lessons that can be learned from the events that happened. References: Cemic, J. (2007). Case concerning the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro), judgment of 26 February 2007, General List No. 91. Australian International Law Journal.Retrieved from http://go. galegroup. com/ps/i. do? id=GALE%7CA191955759&v=2. 1&u=ko_k12hs_d68&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w Jones, A. (2002). Case Study: The Srebrenica Massacre, July 1995. Gendercide Watch. Retrieved from http://www. gendercide. org/case_srebrenica. html Li, D. (2000). Anatomy of a Balkan Massacre. Harvard International Review. Retrieved fromhttp://go. galegroup. com/ps/i. do? id=GALE%7CA67318464&v=2. 1&u=ko_k12hs_d68&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w Lischer, S. (2012). The Scars of Genocide. American Scholar. Retrieved fromhttp://go. galegroup. com/ps/i. do? id=GALE%7CA302117166&v=2. 1&u=ko_k1 2hs_d68&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w Long, L. (2006). The Srebrenica