Airbus-From Challenger to Leader Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Airbus-From Challenger to Leader - Essay Example According to Subhadra (2003), the aerospace industry is broadly divided into three categories: space programs, defense contracts, and commercial aircraft. The main players in the commercial market include Boeing and Airbus Industrie (Airbus). The major threat to aerospace industry in today’s world is terrorism (Wensveen and Wells, 2007). Most airlines went bankrupt and filed for bankruptcy after the September 2001 terrorist attack. This led to decline to the world’s air passenger traffic. Another problem was that Boeing accused Airbus of choosing to use heavy price cutting in order to beat off the competition. The other problem was that they were also accused by rival Boeing of manufacturing aircrafts that it had not received orders for thereby creating a glut in the market. Furthermore, in the early 1980s Airbus was faced with financial hardships for the A-320 project. This was attributed to the fact that the government of Airbus’ partners had not approved the program. Secondly, when Airbus actually wanted to bring in more partners, no new partner was willing to invest money due to uncertain financial health of the consortium (Subhadra, 2003). Thirdly, problem regarding the products already in the market was that the consortium had not yet made money on them. Another negative feature of Airbus was its slow decision-making process and lastly, the global economic crisis, which also affected the aviation industry. To overcome its problems, Airbus uses computer software to develop its products. To alleviate slow decision-making process, the firm encouraged good cooperation among partners with manufacturing plants spread allover Europe. Since the partners were reluctant to invest due to uncertain financial health of the consortium, in early 1998, the Airbus partners re-commenced discussions on revamping the organizational structure of the consortium. Lastly, before initiating the production of a new

Theories Of Drug Abuse Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Theories Of Drug Abuse - Research Paper Example The strain/ anomie theory explains that people resort to drug abuse when they fail to achieve success in society. The society is competitive and achievement-oriented and those who fail to succeed come up with unusual mechanisms to handle failure. When these mechanisms also fail, they resort to drug abuse. The social control theory explains that individuals get involved in drug abuse because of lack of societal rules encouraging conventionality. If these rules are weak, individuals will adopt unconventional behavior including drug abuse. Greater involvement in conventional activities reduces the likelihood of involvement in activities like drug abuse. The self-control theory suggests that individuals abuse drugs because of lack of self-control, caused by the inability of the society or parents to control the behavior of their children. People abuse drugs because there is no custodian to stop them (Kaplan, Martin and Robbins, 1984). The social learning theory suggests that people learn good or bad behavior depending on the groups they interact with. Interacting with groups that reward and reinforce drug use leads to adoption of the behavior. The subcultural theory explains that interacting with social groups that encourage drug use leads to an individual’s adoption of the habit while the individual gets discouraged from the habit by interacting with groups that discourage drug use (Hanson, Venturelli and Fleckenstein, 2011). Selective interaction theory suggests that individuals are attracted to particular drug using groups because their principles and beliefs are harmonious with those of drug users. The conflict theory explains that drug abuse is related to the power and social class of individuals. The rich and powerful individuals are less likely to be involved in drug use than the lower class and low-earning individuals. The poor resort to selling drugs as a source of livelihood. Drug dealing flouris hes in poor communities (Mooney,

Literature Review of Pain Assessment Tools

Literature Review of Pain Assessment Tools Introduction This essay will identify the issue of poorly addressed acute pain in hospitalized patients and critically compare and discusses a range of pain assessment tools referring to contemporary research literature and practice guidelines for patients who are able to self describe their pain and who are unable to self describe their pain due to verbal communication barriers, critical illness or delirium/dementia. Main Body According to the International Association for the Study of Pain, pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience arising from actual or potential tissue damage (1). Clinically, â€Å"Pain is whatever the experiencing person says it is, existing whenever he/she says it does† (McCaffery, 1968). The temporal profile classification is most commonly used to classify pain.This broad classification of pain duration is often used to better understand the biopsychosocial aspects that may be important when conducting assessment and treatment. For example, many times chronic pain is a result of unresolved acute pain episodes, resulting in accumulative biopsychosocial effects such as prolonged physical reconditioning, anxiety, and stress. It is obvious that this type of time categorization information can be extremely helpful in directing specific treatment approaches to the type of pain that is being evaluated (Gatchel Oordt, 2003). Acute pain is usually indicative of tissue damage and is characterized by momentary intense noxious sensations (i.e., nociception). It serves as an important biological signal of potential tissue/ physical harm. Some anxiety may initially be precipitated, but prolonged physical and emotional distress usually is not. Indeed, anxiety, if mild, can be quite adaptive in that it stimulates behaviors needed for recovery, such as the seeking of medical attention, rest, and removal from the potentially harmful situation. As the nociception decreases, acute pain usually subsides. Unlike acute pain, chronic pain persists. Chronic pain is traditionally defined as pain that lasts 6 months or longer, well past the normal healing period one would expect for its protective biological function. Arthritis, back injuries, and cancer can produce chronic-pain syndromes and, as the pain persists, it is often accompanied by emotional distress, such as depression, anger, and frustration. Such pain can also often significantly interfere with activities of daily living. There is much more health care utilization in an attempt to find some relief from the pain symptoms, and the pain has a tendency to become a preoccupation of an individuals everyday living. According to Buckley (2000) nurses are the primary group of health care professionals responsible for the ongoing assessment and monitoring of patients to ensure that pain is effectively and appropriately managed and that patients and families are informed of the consequences of acute pain. Assessment of pain can be a simple and straightforward task when dealing with acute pain and pain as a symptom of trauma or disease. Assessment of location and intensity of pain often sufà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ces in clinical practice. However, other important aspects of acute pain, in addition to pain intensity at rest, need to be deà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ned and measured when clinical trials of acute pain treatment are planned. If not, meaningless data and false conclusions may result. The 5 key components: Words, Intensity, Location, Duration, Aggravating factors pain assessment are incorporated into the process. Objective data are collected by using one of the pain assessment tools which are specià ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ c to s pecial types of pain. The main issues in choosing the tool are its reliability and its validity. Moreover, the tool must be clear and, therefore, easily understood by the client, and require little effort from the client and the nurse. According to Husband (2001) to measure the pain severity or intensity, several scales can be used such as a numeric rating scale (NRS), the visual analog scale (VAS), observation scales with indicators of pain, and even creative depictions of pain intensity with scale using a pain thermometer. The numeric rating scale allows patients to rate their pain on and 11-point scale of 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain imaginable). The majority of patients, even older adults can use this scale. The thermometer scale may be useful in the elderly, according to Rakel and Herr (2004). It shows a picture of a thermometer arranged on a background with a vertical word scale. Finally categoric scales use verbal descriptors to quantify the level of pain and those scales have been validated and are considered to be reliable. Chronic pain has a major impact on physical, emotional, and cognitive function, on social and family life, and on the ability to work and secure an income. Meaningful assessment of long-lasting pain is therefore a more demanding task than assessing acute pain. This is true both in clinical practice and when conducting trials of management of long-lasting pain. A comprehensive assessment of any chronic complex pain condition requires documenting (i) pain history, (ii) physical examination, and (iii) specià ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ c diagnostic tests. Chronic pain assessment tools are the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), which assesses pain severity and the degree of interference with function, using 0 – 10 NRS, and the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) and the short-form MPQ (SF-MPQ) evaluate sensory, affective–emotional, evaluative, and temporal aspects of the patient’s pain condition. Pain assessment in older adults can be challenging and very difficult in some situations (Rakel Herr, 2004). When the patient cannot report his/her subjective pain experience, proxy measurements of pain must be used, such as pain behaviours and reactions that may indicate that the person is suffering painful experiences. Besides communication difà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ culties caused by language problems, patients in the extremes of age, and critically ill patients in the intensive care setting, are common assessment problems. Older patients may prefer to use alternate means to express their pain through the use of word descriptors that best characterize the pain, such as aching, hurting, and soreness (Herr Garand, 2001). Significant challenges occur when assessing patients who are unable to communicate verbally, in writing, or by gestures, or when they are cognitively impaired. Pain assessment should be ongoing at regular intervals, individualised and documented clearly to facilitate treatment and communication among health care clinicians. Conclusion In conclusion, adequate assessment of pain, using validated tools appropriate to the population or individual, is an essential prerequisite of successful pain management. It has been shown in many countries that inadequate pain assessment is common, with resultant failings in management of pain. Inadequate pain control can prolong the recovery period, increase length of stay, and increase overall health care costs ( Shang Gan, 2003) Only by regularly assessing and measuring pain, as routinely as the other vital signs, can we hope to make pain visible enough to those caring for patients and thus improve management. This is especially true for the patients that anaesthetists care for every day, those with acute pain after surgery, trauma, and in the intensive care unit.

Shakespeares The Tempest as a Microcosm of Society Essay -- Shakespea

The Tempest as Microcosm of Society      Ã‚  Ã‚   The Tempest is one of Shakespeare's most universal plays and, not coincidentally, is very much concerned with human behavior and emotion. As John Wilders observes in The Lost Garden, â€Å"Prospero’s island is what the sociologists call a ‘model’ of human society. Its cast of characters allows Shakespeare to portray in microcosm nearly all the basic, fundamental social relationships: those of a ruler to his territory, a governor to his subjects, a father to his child, masters to servants, male to female, and the rational to the irrational within the human microcosm itself" ([London: Macmillan Press Ltd., 1978], 127). Prospero himself is an observer of and experimenter with human behavior: he saw human nature at its worst when his brother usurped his dukedom and sent Prospero and Miranda off to almost certain death; he has tried to nurture Caliban’s human half and to teach the monster acceptable human conduct; he demonstrates a working knowledge of reverse psychology when he maneuvers his daughter into love with Ferdinand; and, finally, he examines his own behavior and emotions in relation to his enemies, relatives, and friends. Prospero and the play ask two questions: Is behavior such an Antonio's the basic nature of human beings; and, if so, can nurture improve upon nature? In modern terms, the play struggles with the ever-present debate over the impact of heredity and environment. His first observations--of Antonio's and Alonso’s treachery--were inadvertent and even unexpected; however, they prompted Prospero to shift the focus of his studies from â€Å"the liberal arts† to human behavior. Prospero has devoted himself to gaining knowledge and, as he admits to Miranda, neglected h... ...â€Å"the Ariel and the Caliban of which his own—and our—nature consists† (Wilders, New Prefaces to Shakespeare, 273); he has found the answer to the dilemma of nature vs. nurture in his own psyche, and with this knowledge he returns to the human society of Milan a more balanced, more complete human being than when he left it.    Works Cited and Consulted Hirst, David L. The Tempest: Text and Performance London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1984. Rowman and Littlefield: Manchester University Press, 1980. Shakespeare, William   Measure for Measure 3.1.148 The Riverside Shakespeare, ed. G. Blakemore Evans Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1974. Callaghan, Dympna William Shakespeare Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1986. Wilders, John The Lost Garden London: Macmillan Press Ltd., 1978. Wilders, New Prefaces to Shakespeare Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1988.

Internet Security Essay

The key techniques to the most affordable website security would be the casual features of the website for the purpose of safeguarding the website content and the transactions that are to be made for fulfilling the ecommerce objectives of the website. The following can be credited to the diverse ways to secure the website and customer information for the â€Å"Grandmas Treats† website: Web content security: It forms the greater part of the security as they are aimed at non-representation or illegal presentation of false content that a user is not expected to see. The term cross site scripting (or XSS) is often used in conjunction with the web content and links that are to be secured for a website. Acunetix (2007) own product Acunetix Web Vulnerability Scanner is easily downloadable and comes free. Using that one could scan their website for any such flaws. Directory traversal attacks: The directory traversal attacks are quite common where the links are traversed to a very different path where the information flows to the hackers. It is due to the malfunction of the codes at the client and server sides. The code efficiency and link path requires to be checked periodically so that one is able to redesign and test the system for any malfunction. SQL injection: It is another method where intruders are capable to draw information from one website using SQL languages to illegally fetch customer’s data for obtaining their financial information or to manipulate information for wrong use. The website must be checked periodically for such incidents and must also make sure that customer records are encrypted using 128 bit security layers at the database side. The database security must be checked for getting sure that no such activity is evident. The customer’s financial information would be encrypted to hide it from easy access from hackers. E-commerce transactions security: The use of SSL 3. 0 makes sure that all vulnerabilities regarding the tapping of information so that ones purchases are safe in all respects. The use of this protocol makes sure that a secured channel is followed for communication between the client communicating clients. The use of Transport Layer Security (TLS) is important and can be enabled for any website for securing the communication to the communicating clients. IETF (2007) explains that TLS composes of point to point authentication techniques and communications privacy over the internet strengthening the encryption. 1. Web server checks and database security checks: The periodic checks are done to put a check on performance of the website and database usage. All the relevant links and database security is checked for overall assurance. 2. Database backup: The database backup plans must be devised accordingly for keeping the records safe to protect against unforeseen disasters (Navathe, 2002). These simple tips would be helpful for the website to take care of the affordable needs for security and customer data protection so that one is able to safely carry out transactions over the internet. References Acunetix (2007). Web Site Security Center: Check & Implement Web Site Security. Retrieved 16, December 2007 from http://www.acunetix.com/websitesecurity/

The Thoughtful Forecaster

Becoming a thoughtful forecaster is important to the development of any company today. Understanding the financial aspects of your company can be the deal-breaking point of whether your company is a successful one or not. In the case, â€Å"The Thoughtful Forecaster†, we learn that sometimes you are right and sometimes you are wrong, which is partially due to one’s bias. We also learn that being a thoughtful forecaster involves trial and era. It isn’t easy but throughout the processes you start to understand the financial relationships within your business.The financial statements provide information needed in order to make a proper analysis and provides you with the historical strengths and weaknesses of your business. The income statement, also known as the â€Å"profit-and-loss statement†, is utilized to measure the flow of cost, revenue, and profits over a period of time. The balance sheet gives an over view of business investments and the financing in a particular time. Together these two statements can give a thorough outlook of the business’s performance and a better understanding of the mechanics that make up the business operations.Interpreting and utilizing financial ratios is an important way to evolve into a successful financial forecaster. Examining a business’s performance includes: growth rates, margins, turnover, and return on investments. Growth rates capture the year-on-year change in percentage of a particular line item. It can be separated into two growth measures: unit growth and price growth. Unit growth is the growth of revenue due to an increase in units sold. Price growth is the growth revenue due to an increase in the price of each unit.Margin ratios are the percentages of revenue that has not been consumed by any business costs. Margins also measure the cost structure of the business which includes important definitions/ratios. These are: gross margin, operating margin, and net profit margin. Turnover ratios are used to measure productivity, or efficiency, of business assets. It is created by dividing a measure of volume from the income statement by a measure of investment from the balance sheet.There are several measures of turnover and they include: receivable turnover, inventory turnover, PPE turnover, asset turnover, total capital turnover, and payable turnover. An alternative form of measuring the asset productivity is in â€Å"days†, which takes the investment amount divided by the volume, which is then multiplied by 365 days. The resulting number is the average number of days in a year that an investment item is held by the business. Return on investments (ROI), is the profit generated per dollar of investment and the measure for calculating return on investments.This measure includes: pretax return on assets, return on capital (ROC), and return on equity (ROE). Financial ratios are useful in forecasting financial statements because they show the relationsh ips across financial-statement line items of the past. The financial models can be helpful in identifying the impact of assumptions on the forecast. Most financial models are composed in excel through a spreadsheet. By doing this it makes it easier to see the assumptions for the different forecast scenarios but it is also used to correct any of the assumptions that were inaccurately made.The forecasting process should go hand-in-hand with the constant economic changes and you should take into consideration the industry and economy wide pressures it endures. These pressures include: inflation, price-growth assumptions, and any economic recessions. Industry reality should also be taken into place and here you should consider business profitability and follow the guidelines that qualify a business to have higher or lower profitability. Having a high profitability does not always mean a high performance.It is important to recognize that the strategy of competitors do not stand still, an d your forecasting should be adjusted when needed according to aggressive competition. Two elements that become a problem in business forecasting are optimism bias and overconfidence bias. Optimism bias is stated as a systematic positive error in the expected value of an unknown quantity. Overconfidence bias is a systematic negative error in the expected variance of an unknown quantity. It is a difficult task but it is important to have an unbiased outlook for the forecast, which is done by having estimated high-side and a low-side scenarios.When forecasting the financial statements of the Maytag Corporation for the end of 2004, the company’s annual report provided me information from the income statement and the balance sheet from the previous two years. On there is calculations and a variety of ratios including the sales growth to return on assets. The ratio analysis gives us a sense of the trends in the business performance. Next it shows that a thoughtful forecaster would need to make assumptions into the future.Although these aren’t completely accurate, they can give us a clearer more centralized view of the analysis. With the qualitative/quantitative research and the historical data that was given we can assume the company will maintain its position in a declining industry. An increased entry of foreign competition will lead to zero sales growth for Maytag in 2004. Although all the events of 2004 cannot be predicted with the guidance and use of thoughtful analysis, we can conclude a reasonable and unbiased expectation of future performance has been represented.