Global Health Care Challenges Essay -- World Health Organization, Poor

When analyzing the global health care crisis, one should pay particular attention of the problem from both the macro and micro scale. Overlooking either side of the issue wastes both valuable time and resources during an era that cannot afford such loss. Some argue that health care is a fight that politicians must win to enact change. Others say the crisis is simply another economic matter that will eventually resolve itself under the theories of supply and demand. When we look at these explanations without seriously considering the issues that arise in the microcosm, we expose ourselves to moral hazard. In Banker to the Poor (1), Nobelaureate Muhammad Yunus describes how a great deal of change can result from looking at the problem from a smaller perspective. A Lack of Labor In 2006, the World Health Organization released a report that assessed the global health workforce and concluded that the health care crisis was in part due to the lack of health care workers in many regions around the world. It is important to note that the WHO report defines health workers as individuals who act with the intent of improving health. This means that even a mother caring for a sick child is essentially a health worker. However, the WHO report recognizes the difficulty in drawing accurate conclusions from this broad definition and decided to hone in on two special types of health care workers. An example in the report compares a doctor working for a mining company and a painter working in a hospital. Ultimately, the report concludes that it would be best to count the two as health care workers, the doctor providing direct services and the painter providing indirect services. This definition assumes that without the support of the ... ...ever, even an increase for funds dedicated to health care is insufficient to meet the MDGs. Short-term and long-term plans must be implemented in both the micro and macro scale of the problem to ensure an even distribution of resources. Focused surge of health workers into key regions over time and improved access to information are both powerful solutions that will make all the difference within a few years. As Muhammad Yunus said, â€Å"my greatest challenge has been to change the mindset of people. Mindsets play strange tricks on us. We see things the way our minds have instructed our eyes to see.† Similarly, a lack of information has given many people certain mindsets that often lead them to become prone to illness. Information is practically free; why not distribute it to those who would benefit from its presence the most and save something as precious as a life.

From Source to Shore an Amazon Success Story Essay

From Source to Shore An Amazon Success Story By Ankit Shah Amazon is one of the first ventures that set out to tap the potential of web for retail business. It’s hard to believe that a business that started out of founder Jeff Bezos’ garage in 1994 has revenues of over $32 billion today. What is even harder to believe is that the company didn’t make any profit for first 5 years of its conception. Looking back, many leading business analysts see Amazon’s business plan as one of the soundest yet simple business plans, or virtuous cycle as it is more popularly known, of that era. Figure 1: Amazon’s Business Plan. A sharp customer focus was the key take away of the business plan. While the general market trend during the dot com boom was of aggressively fending off competition, Amazon remained faithful towards the simplest principle of the industry, â€Å"It’s a Customer’s Market†. Driven by his will to increase customer satisfaction, Bezos made hefty investments in research and technology which was also new to the market. Consistent upgrades to the web portal made it increasingly easy to use and opened up the market by introducing its customers to products that were not available at a regular retail store. Features like personal recommendations, search inside a book, wish lists were highly customer centric and quickly caught the attention of the e-shoppers. The high variety offered by Amazon enticed even more customers after the features like rating a product, reviews and discussions were added. Figure 2 shows the current customer satisfaction standing of Amazon and its competitors. Figure 2: American Customer Satisfaction Index (Internet Retailers). Feb 2011. Recognizing the importance of the long tail market has also played a part in Amazon’s increasing customer satisfaction scores. Being an online retailer, Amazon has the flexibility to offer obscure products to its customers. The ease of obtaining products and items, which are rarely available at regular stores, is a key USP of Amazon. It is also a major profit maker for Amazon. Figure 3: The Long Tail Phenomenon Consistent high scores on the customer satisfaction index and the sound business strategy reaped its first profit in 2001, by which time Amazon had become a household name. Customer satisfaction is identified as a leading contributor to a company’s profits by many leading industry experts. Figure 4: Contribution of various Business Performance Factors to Shareholder Value ‘Cost of attracting a new customer is almost 4 times the cost of retaining an old one’ is a statistic that is widely accepted in the industry. This translates to huge savings in Figure 5: Reason for customers to stop dealing with vendors operational costs as Amazon stands at over 81 million registered users today. As Amazon concentrated on building deeper customer relationships, it also came up with innovative ways to leverage these relationships to increase sales. Bill me later’ was introduced to increase the buying power of the existing customers. It allowed customers to buy a product instantly but be billed at a later date. Amazon Marketplace is a service that allows users to buy and sell used items. It is also a great example of how Amazon has leveraged its customer relationship to create new opportunities as the success of such a venture depends greatly on the customer relationships. The Brand Value of Amazon has also seen an upward movement similar to the customer satisfaction index. This has also helped Amazon attract more customers and increase its market presence. 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 36 Amazon 65 62 58 43 Brand Index Figure 6: Amazon’s Increasing Brand Value [5] The increasing brand value and the saturating market in United States have urged Amazon to spread into international markets. Amazon began its European expansion by acquiring Bookpages. co. uk in 1997. The international market growth of Amazon has been steadily increasing in the new markets and off late has come at power with the US market in terms of contribution to the revenue stream. Figure 7: International Sales vs US Sales The categorical waterfall approach to international expansion coupled with religious adherence to the customer centric business model is the major contributor to Amazon’s success in international markets. The international expansion time line below shows that Amazon favors American market to introduce its new product lines and features. Also, the American market still remains Amazon’s favorite in terms of wide product line. Figure 8: International Expansion Timeline for Amazon. Amazon is now moving towards establishing itself as a global leader in e-tailing. In keeping with its sound business model, Amazon is still focused towards innovating customer centric features and targeting customer satisfaction as a primary goal. With an increasing presence in international markets, Amazon also faces increasing competition from local e-tailers. Entering a market by acquiring an existing player is a strategy that has worked for Amazon. Country Acquired Year UK Bookpages. co. uk 1998 Germany Telebuch. e in 1998 China Joyo. com 2004 Figure 9: Amazon’s International Acquisitions.   Amazon also offers many country specific features and variations to its product line. This differentiation approach towards international markets plays a key role in building a market value and capturing market share. Country Canada Features †¢ Choice of language between French and English on the web portal. †¢ Canadian website Amazon. ca which is fully managed from the USA and on which Canadian customers can place their orders. To avoid expensive exporting from the USA, Amazon has entered partnerships with publishers and wholesalers from which customers are directly supplied. †¢ Offers a separate UK product selection. †¢ Provision to pay through postal orders. †¢ The German subsidiary is also responsible for serving the Austrian market. †¢ Provision to pay using cheques. †¢ Pays a small fine for ignoring the 5% limit for discount on books. †¢ Reduced its French staff and outsourced some of its administrative functions to the UK. †¢ Used the existing delivery system established by joyo. com instead of nation wide couriers.

Cell Phone Hazards

One of the most popular innovations in automotive travel in the past decade has nothing to do with the automobile itself, the people who drive them, or the roads over which they operate. Rather, it is the ability to carry on telephone conversations while driving. In today’s society, our technology is more advanced than ever before. Text messaging, like most modern technological devices, has its benefits and drawbacks. One of the most dangerous drawbacks is when people combine text messaging with driving in an automobile. In our society, we’ve all become attached to our cell phones. Cell phones make our lives easier in many ways. For instance, we can check our email, receive phone calls, send text messages, listen to music, and take pictures, all at our fingertips. With this convenience comes a dangerous side to cell phones, and that is when we use them while driving. From the business standpoint, the cell phone may be used to conduct meetings, trade with other businesses, or to exchange vital information. Today’s American culture relies heavily on the use of cell phones. The recent growth of cellular telephone usage is a phenomenon that defies all gender, racial, and age boundaries. Cell phones are more than just the latest electronic gadgets on the market, and in turn may pose hazardous driving conditions when used at inappropriate times. There is danger involved for people who use their cell phones while driving and it is a problem that must be addressed. Over the last few years, many tests have been run to gather statistics and hard evidence on the dangers of talking on a cell phone while driving. One of the major causes of automobile collisions is due to the driver being distracted by something. When someone is really busy or has multiple things to do when behind the wheel, they tend to multi task. They drink coffee, eat, put on make up, text, or talk on their phones while driving. These people are classified as distracted drivers. When driving, it is imperative to be able to look, process information, and react quickly in order to drive safely. According to an article published by the Jackson Advocate, â€Å"talking on a cell phone while driving can make a young drivers reaction time as slow as that of a 70- year old† (Thomas, 22). Young people often complain about older drivers and call them a hazard. Taking into consideration that their cell phone habits makes them equally dangerous, they are being rather hypocritical. Using cell phones distracts drivers, and people have been known to miss turns, run red lights, and even drive off the road when distracted by the text message conversations. For example drivers on the highway that text-message and drive often swerve around the lanes unintentionally. Those who do it on public roads potentially increasing their odds of running traffic lights and signs which leads to jeopardizing others lives. When drivers multi -ask, their attention is being switched between speaking, listening and seeing what is on the road ahead of them. There is substantial evidence that one’s brain cannot process all this information at one time, and pay attention to driving at the same rate that undistracted driver would. A study done by Medical News Today journal, last updated on March 6, 2008, stated that â€Å"there is a 37% decrease in activity in the part of the brain we use to process information and visual signals, which is essential for driving† (Paddock). When using our phones while driving, we become distracted and thus our brains cannot process all the information being accepted at the same time. Drivers are increasing their chances of being in a car accident and placing others lives in danger when talking or sending text-messages while driving. Many of us would agree that using a phone while driving is not worth the risk of ending an innocent life. Driving, while using your phone, is at least as dangerous as drinking and driving. There is a possibility of running someone over or crashing into another vehicle. According to a study by the New England Journal of Medicine, â€Å"at least 1.6 million traffic accidents, which is 28% of all crashes in the United States, are caused by drivers talking or sending messages on their cell phones† (Ship, 22). Putting another’s life at risk is not worth that phone call or replying to that text-message; it can and should wait. Moreover, the cell phone has evolved into an essential tool in everyday life and there are some advantages affiliated with using it. One advantage of having cell phones is that you have access to assistance in emergency situations. For instance, if your car gets stalled on the side of the road, you can use your cell phone to obtain help. But sometimes, with cell phones in many peoples’ hands, we essentially feel as if big brother is watching. If we, as drivers, do anything wrong, someone is going to use their cell phone to call the police. But this should actually be an encouragement for us. With cell phones available at hand, it is definitely a relief to be able to immediately report something that seems unusual or may cause a threat to society or to us. It is important to note that the majority of people who use their cell phones while driving are actually business owners. They use their phones to conduct trade between other businesses, to communicate between employees and other co-workers, and to receive significant information regarding their business everyday. However, according to Wired. com, new findings show that â€Å"having important conversations while driving is not good for the health of a business. It is actually harder to remember information transmitted when driving† (Bower). Even though people are busy and claim to need the time in their car to work, talking on a cell phone while driving is dangerous and ought to be banned. Talking on a cell phone, even when using a hands free device, distracts the driver and makes them a hazard to themselves and others on the road. Some claim that government should not be able to legislate against peoples freedom as United States Citizens should be afforded the right to use cell phones where and when they wish. Although people’s freedoms and rights are important, and are protected under the United States Constitution, people’s individual rights should not outweigh the need for the government to regulate a safe environment. Instead they should regulate when and where cell phones may be permitted. The cell phone has brought with it many conveniences and luxuries. It has definitely made communication much easier. However, when it comes to road safety, the cell phone may be considered a hazard. This is especially true after Short Message Service (text- messaging) was introduced. Unfortunately, the service is so convenient that some people even compose and send text messages anytime and anywhere – while walking, eating, and even while driving. The growing number of accidents caused while texting and driving has made driving conditions dangerous to other drivers out on the road. Driving is an activity that requires full concentration and composing, reading, and sending text messages will compromise a driver's concentration. According to the American Health Association, â€Å"in 2008, approximately 1 in 6 fatal vehicle collisions were caused from a driver being distracted while driving† (Wilson ). When a driver is using their phone while driving, their minds are focused on the message they are reading or composing, rather than on paying close attention to the street. This, of course, prevents the driver from thinking quickly and compromises their reflexes. Chances are, drivers will not be able to react quickly to a situation on the road because their brains cannot handle processing all different types of information sufficiently at one time. The government should pass laws in every state not just in selected ones that ban the use of cell phones while driving to prevent fatal collisions. Cell phones are a life-threatening means of communication while driving. Despite the urgency of any text message, the dangers of texting while driving should be more than enough reason to put off texting.

Free Essays on Barco

Since the 1980’s, Barco has focused its efforts upon creating top of the line products exclusively for complementary niche markets in which it can remain among the top three manufacturers. Among its competitors Barco has always maintained a strong research and development program, which has helped it attain a number of international awards, such as the international Emmy Award for its studio monitors in 1988, and have given it a reputation as a technological leader in its field. Barco’s customers are divided primarily between three categories: entertainment (video projectiors), training and presentation (data & graphic projectors), and customized markets (specialized systems). The product segments are divided into three categories: 1) Video projectors capable of displaying television and V.C.R. inputs 2) Data projectors that are capable of displaying computer inputs as well as traditional video inputs and 3) Graphics projectors - which are their premium products capable of displaying graphic laden computer programs such as C.A.D. and C.A.M programs as well as both video and data inputs. The criteria used to evaluate customer satisfaction are picture clarity, scan rate (For data and graphics use), ease of operation and ease of installation. Barco rates very high in picture clarity and scan rate but has received mixed reviews for ease of operation and ease of installation. II. Company/Value Chain Relationships: Barco maintains 45 distributors (four are Barco owned in Belgium, France, United Kingdom and United States), worldwide. Their four owned distributors represent 61% of Barco’s total unit sales. Barco also has a relationship with 400 dealers worldwide. There are two types of dealers, â€Å"box† dealers and system dealers. â€Å"Box† dealers represent roughly 20% of Barco’s dealers, and are those individuals who sell projectors on the basis of cost alone, offering no service. Service dealers repr... Free Essays on Barco Free Essays on Barco Since the 1980’s, Barco has focused its efforts upon creating top of the line products exclusively for complementary niche markets in which it can remain among the top three manufacturers. Among its competitors Barco has always maintained a strong research and development program, which has helped it attain a number of international awards, such as the international Emmy Award for its studio monitors in 1988, and have given it a reputation as a technological leader in its field. Barco’s customers are divided primarily between three categories: entertainment (video projectiors), training and presentation (data & graphic projectors), and customized markets (specialized systems). The product segments are divided into three categories: 1) Video projectors capable of displaying television and V.C.R. inputs 2) Data projectors that are capable of displaying computer inputs as well as traditional video inputs and 3) Graphics projectors - which are their premium products capable of displaying graphic laden computer programs such as C.A.D. and C.A.M programs as well as both video and data inputs. The criteria used to evaluate customer satisfaction are picture clarity, scan rate (For data and graphics use), ease of operation and ease of installation. Barco rates very high in picture clarity and scan rate but has received mixed reviews for ease of operation and ease of installation. II. Company/Value Chain Relationships: Barco maintains 45 distributors (four are Barco owned in Belgium, France, United Kingdom and United States), worldwide. Their four owned distributors represent 61% of Barco’s total unit sales. Barco also has a relationship with 400 dealers worldwide. There are two types of dealers, â€Å"box† dealers and system dealers. â€Å"Box† dealers represent roughly 20% of Barco’s dealers, and are those individuals who sell projectors on the basis of cost alone, offering no service. Service dealers repr...

The Moon essays

The Moon essays The moon is the most noticeable feature in the night sky and it is also the brightest, but it doesnt give off its own light. It is, actually, reflecting the light given off by the sun. Only seven percent of the light from the sun is reflected. Sometimes, the moon appears to change shape, but it is only because the sun is lighting different parts of it. When the moon passes through the earths shadow and the earth comes right between the sun and the full moon, its called a lunar eclipse. This is when the moon is dimmed and it turns in to a dark copper color. When you look at the moon from earth, it looks soft with light and dark shades of blue and gray. The dark parts of the moon are extensive, flat plains that were first observed by Galileo, an Italian scientist. He was the first person to look at the moon through a telescope in 1609. He, perhaps, thought that the plains were water because he called them maria, which is a Latin would that means Seas. Today we have discovered that they are actually huge, deep, holes with edges covered by rock and soil. The word maria appears to imply that there is water on the moon, but we now know that there is none on its surface. Because there is no water on the moon, there cant be any life. Like all planets except earth, the moon has absolutely no known life. There is no water or air and the sky is continually black, but the stars are still visible. At night, the temperature on the surface of the moon becomes colder than any place on the face of the earth, but during the day, the rocks are only a slight bit hotter than that of boiling water. The Moon doesnt have an atmosphere and no fluid water, but now there is evidence that there is ice on the South Pole, which is permanently shaded. There is ice on the North Pole as well. Just like on earth, oxygen is the most abundant element on the moon except its in the form ...

7 Terms with the Root -Vore

7 Terms with the Root -Vore 7 Terms with the Root â€Å"-Vore† 7 Terms with the Root â€Å"-Vore† By Mark Nichol Are you a locavore? Probably not it’s still a fringe movement but you should know what it means, even if you do not consider yourself a member of the class. A discussion of locavore and six related words follows: 1. Locavore The term was coined in 2005 by a group of San Franciscans who launched the website Locavore.com to spread the word about the conservationist concept of striving to restrict one’s diet to foods and ingredients produced locally. (Some locavores quantify the range as anywhere within a one-hundred-mile radius, but most are not exact in their limits.) Locavore is based on other words in which the -vore root appears (the root word is from the Latin term vorare, meaning â€Å"to devour†): 2. Carnivore A carnivore is a person or animal (or a plant) that eats meat; the prefix is from the Latin word for â€Å"flesh.† Other words sharing the root are carnal, meaning â€Å"of the flesh† and connoting sexual matters, and carnage, which comes from the Latin word carnaticum, meaning â€Å"tribute of flesh† and referring originally to the bodies of slain animals or people but now usually referring to slaughter in general. Interestingly, these words are also etymologically related to carnival, which stems from an Italian term, carnelevare, meaning â€Å"removal of meat.† (Carnival referred originally to a celebration before Lent, during a period when Catholics were prohibited from eating meat.) 3. Herbivore An herbivore is an animal that eats vegetable matter; the Latin root from which the prefix herb- and herb and other words based on it are derived, herba, means plant.† Human herbivores are generally referred to as vegetarians; if they refrain from eating anything derived from animals, from dairy products to gelatin, they are called vegans. Terms of further refinement are â€Å"lacto-ovo vegetarian,† for a person who eschews rather than chews meat but does consume milk and eggs (the root lac- means â€Å"milk† seen in lactate and lactic and ovo-, the root of oval, refers to eggs) and â€Å"lacto-ovo-pesco vegetarian,† or, more simply, pescetarian, for one who eats fish but not meat. (The root pesc-, from the Latin term piscis, means â€Å"fish.†) 4. Insectivore This self-explanatory term (insect is from the Latin term insecare, â€Å"to cut into,† and is related to incisive, scissors, and the like) is nearly synonymous with entomophage (from the Latin elements ento-, meaning â€Å"insect,† and -phage, meaning â€Å"eating†), though the latter term primarily refers to human practitioners. 5. Omnivore An omnivore is something that eats both meat and plants (and often fish but not necessarily insects); omni- seen also in omniscient and omnipresent means â€Å"all.† 6. Piscivore A piscivore, also called an ichthyophage (ichthy means â€Å"fish†), eats fish, though, like most other groups classified here, the term refers to the primary type of diet and does not imply exclusivity. 7. Voracious Voracious, synonymous with ravenous or insatiable, means â€Å"having a great appetite† or refers to intense greediness or eagerness. The noun form is voracity. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Computer Terms You Should KnowTime Words: Era, Epoch, and Eon10 Types of Hyphenation Errors

Case Brief Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Case Brief - Essay Example The franchise agreement consisted of a printed form prepared by respondent, and, with a specific exception for income from property management services, provided in pertinent part as follows: â€Å"Franchise {appellant} agrees to pay†¦ a ‘service fee’ equal to 6 percent of Franchisee’s gross income derived from all transactions for which a real estate license or securities license is required. At the franchise location covered by the agreement, in addition to negotiating real estate sales and purchases for clients, appellant also maintained an escrow department which represented to the public at large that it was operating under a Century 22 franchise. Appellant charged its sellers and buyer separate and distinct fees for escrow services from fees collected on sales commissions. Appellant was not licensed to act as an escrow agent under the general provisions of financial Code section 17000 et seq. (the Escrow Law). However, appellant did act as an escrow agent under an exception to the Escrow Law-- Financial Code section 17006, subdivision (d). The terms of the franchise agreement provided that appellant corporation was to maintain certain prescribed records and reports to respondent those transactions for which a service fee was payable. During the time of the agreement, appellant failed to report any transactions or income received from the operation of its ‘escrow† business. Upon the termination of the franchise agreement, respondent conducted an audit of the books and records of appellant’s franchise. The audit was authorized by the franchise agreement. During the audit, respondent discovered that appellant had not paid a service fee for the income derived from escrow services. Respondent demanded payment from appellant, and from defendant, Nick Rockton. Appellant and defendant Nick Rockton refused to pay since they did not think that the agreement covered income derived from escrow services. This