Why you should follow nutrition

  IntroductionOf the many things one can do to enhance one’s state of health, none is more important than maintaining proper nutrition. The mind and body cannot function optimally without the proper supply of nutrients and energy obtained from food.A key tenet of the holistic approach to health is that each person must take responsibility for his or her own health. Making intelligent decisions about nutrition—about what and how much to eat—is an important part of this responsibility, because the diet one chooses and follows can keep one healthy. In the words of Philip Lee (1977) professor of social medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine:As a nation we have come to believe that our medicine and medical technology can solve all our major health problems†¦ But the problems can never be solved merely by more and more medical care. The health of individuals and the health of the population is determined by a variety of biolo gical (host), behavioral, sociocultural, environmental factors. None of these is more important than the food we eat (Burkitt et al. 1974).Good nutrition: Striking the Right BalanceWhat is the best argument for following a good nutrition in one’s life instead of eating all the junk food one can consume. Every person’s body has a unique chemical and physical composition that corresponds to a state of optimal wellness, because the human body is constructed of atoms and molecules that are arranged in particular combinations and proportions that are unique to each person. One’s body contains few of the same atoms and molecules it had even a few weeks ago, because its chemical constituents are continually replaced by different atoms and molecules acquired from the food one eats.There are about forty known essential nutrients and perhaps others are not yet identified, that must be continually resupplied to the body (Ricciuto). Failure to obtain enough of one or more o f the essential nutrients can result in a nutritional deficiency disease, such as goiter (enlarged thyroid gland), which may be caused by too little iodine, beri-beri, a disease characterized by weakness and wasting away that is caused by too little thiamine (vitamin B1), anemia (too few red blood cells) from insufficient iron; and blindness from vitamin A deficiency, the most common cause of blindness in children, world-wide. Since all nutrients act in concert, a deficiency of one may impair the utilization of others even if the others are acquired in adequate amounts. Thus, a proper nutritional state is a matter of maintaining a complex balance of the essential nutrients.One can argue that one eats a little of everything in the proper amounts just to keep fit. But still it does not work that way. This is because poor health can result in eating too much of certain kinds of food, or from eating too much in general. For example, overeating is the principal cause of obesity, which co ntributes to the development of such serious diseases as high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes and some forms of cancer. Cancer of the colon may be related to eating too much meat and processed foods and not getting enough fiber or roughage that may be essential to maintain a healthy colon. High salt intake is related to high blood pressure and high sugar intake is related to tooth decay (the most prevalent disease in the industrialized world). Much of the tooth decay could be prevented if people followed very simple nutrition rules (Breslow & Enstrom 1980).Physiological Benefits of Body WorkOur industrial society depends on an enormous variety of machines that free people from an equally enormous number of physical tasks. Some of these tasks, such as heavy construction work of large-scale farming, would be well-nigh impossible without the help of machines. Others, such as traveling to work or school, getting to the seventh floor of a building, or washing clothes, could be accomplis hed without the aid of machines (and some people argue they ought to be), but few of us are likely to give up the use of cars, elevators, and washers. They simply make the task of daily living easier. As a result, few people do much moving around under their own muscular power. That is, many of us get little exercise.According to William B. Kannel and Paul Sorlie (1979) who have studied the effects of lifestyle on the occurrence of heart disease:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Over the past quarter of a century, there has evolved a growing suspicion that the transformation of man by modern technology from a physically active agrarian creature to a sedentary industrial one has exacted a toll in ill health. The evidence on which this is based comes from epidemiological studies, clinical observations, and the work physiologist. Most of the attention has been focused on the possible contribution of physical indolence to the development of cardiovascular disease, the chief health hazard of affluent societies and their leading cause of death.†In addition to the physiological benefits, regular physical activity has psychological and spiritual benefits as well. Fr example, a study of middle-aged university professors found that regular exercise made them more self-sufficient, more persevering, less likely to experience mood swings, and more imaginative (Ismail and Trachtman, 1973). In another study, both men and women university students who engaged in regular physical activity were found to have greater self-control, to have increased self-awareness, and to be more self-directed. They also demonstrated a positive self-image (Jeffers, 1977).One of the principal psychological benefits that can come from regular body work is experiencing periods of relaxed concentration, characterized by reduction in physical and psychic tensions, regular breathing rhythms, and increased self-awareness. This experience is often compared to meditation. Tennis instructor Tim Gallwey (1976) describes fou r stages for obtaining a state of relaxed concentration through body work. The first stage, â€Å"paying attention,† occurs at the beginning of a body work session and involves riveting your concentration on your body work and excluding all other thoughts. The stage of paying attention requires a certain degree of self-discipline—the desire and ability to say â€Å"no† to other demands on your time and energies and to say â€Å"yes† to yourself.WORKS CITEDBurkitt, D. P. Walker, R.P. and Painter , N.S.   â€Å"Dietary Fiber and Disease.† Journal of theAmerican   Medical Association, 229 (1974), 1068-1074.Breslow, L. and Enstrom, J.E. â€Å"Persistence of Health Habits and Their Relationship toMortality.† Preventive Medicine, 9 (1980). 469-483.Ismail, A.H. and Trachtman, I.E. â€Å"Jogging the Imagination.† Psychology Today. 6(1973), 78-82Jeffers, J. M. â€Å"The Effects of Physical Conditions on Locus of Control, Body Image andInt erpersonal Relationship Orientations. University Males and Females.Dissertation Abstracts, 37 (1977) 3289.Kannel, W.B. and Sorlie, P. â€Å"Some Health Benefits of Physical Activity.† Archives ofInternal Medicine, 139 (1979) 857-861.Ricciuto, Anthony. What Power Nutrition can do for you. Retrieved April 19, 2007 at:http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/anthony26.htm

Media Influence on Stereotypes

What you see is not always what you get In a society highly influenced by the media, stereotypes are used sometimes in a comedic way. In Harold and Kumar go to White Castle one of the main themes the movie is poking fun at is how stereotypes affect the lives of the two main characters one being of Korean decent and the other Indian. The movie opens introducing the first character Harold. The audience sees that he is an Asian male working in a cubicle for a banking company.The scene turns to Harold’s co-workers who are both white in an office that is nicer and bigger to that of Harold, discussing how they are going to have fun and party for the weekend when one of them has much work to do, so one of them suggests having someone else do it. The scene gives the impression that the two white co-workers are the main characters of the movie as the introductory scene shows primarily the two co-workers and have the most dialogue in the brief intro; however, later the audience will not ice that they are not seen again until the end of the movie.What this scene is shown to do is to make humor out of a normalized stereotype of the Asian American group. As this scene will be analyzed, the normalized stereotypes of Asians in society is highly recognizable in American culture and media, as it negatively privileges the Asian group while obscuring Americans insecurity of their own part in society. In today’s world most people are born with an identity already established for them. Generalized perceptions or a stereotype of a single group has instigated prejudice.With cultural representations already determined by the outside world, many strive to break such representations in order to form their own identity and not what was given to them. It has increasingly more difficult for one to break such representation due to factors in society normalizing these representations with the use of the media. The media has become a powerful tool in promoting such representation of groups. Stereotypes surround the whole world we live in and are unavoidable.No matter what we do, depending on our personality, attire, or even our hairstyle everyone fits into some sort of stereotype even by a little. The definition of a stereotype is a standardized conception or idea of a group of people (Hurst). Even though most stereotypes aren’t true there is a reason why they exist and continue to thrive. Stereotypes have flourished continually as the world has become more and more globalized. Especially in the United States one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world.As stereotypes exist they have consequently affected the way that a particular individual or group lives in society. One particular representation that will be analyzed is the stereotypes of Asians in popular media, the movie Harold and Kumar go to White Castle and along with my own personal experiences being in the group within Asian Stereotypes will be used to assess the topic. Back at the beginning of this paper an introductory scene was described of the film Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. Even though the scene is only about a few minutes many representations can be noted.The scene implements key normalized stereotypes seen in the public eye. The particular stereotype of Asian group has been connected to the term â€Å"Model Minority† which applies positive traits as a stereotype. The traits include qualities such as being hardworking, intelligent, studious, productive, and also inoffensive people. Also known to increase their social status through merit. The biggest opposition to the view is that it exaggerates the success of Asians. This false empowerment given by the stereotype covers up true problems that are faced by the Asian community.The belief that Asians are harder workers and thus leading to higher earning jobs has led to a more difficult level of climbing the work ladder into higher wage jobs, otherwise known as the glass ceiling phenomen a: The definition â€Å"The Glass Ceiling† refers to an invisible barrier that limits the level to which a woman or another member of a demographic minority can advance within the hierarchy in an organization. It often is a barrier that confronts Ethnic Americans in addition to women when trying to reach upper management levels in many companies (Hester, 2007)Corresponding to the glass ceiling phenomena, the model minority stereotype has been believed to been the cause that Asians must acquire more education and work more hours than their white counterparts to earn the same amount of money. We will go back to the same scene mentioned at the beginning and continue. The scene described before shows Harold the Korean descendent character working tenaciously in his cubicle filling out forms and papers and he is then approached by the two co-workers mentioned earlier that were contemplating how they are going to party over the weekend when they have work to do.Afterwards it shows the two co-workers giving Harold a pile of their papers and folders then persuading Harold to do the work for them with Harold then unenthusiastically accepting the task. Afterwards the scene shows the two co-workers in this short dialogue Co-worker 1: â€Å"Wow! That was amazing; I can’t believe how easy that was† Co-worker 2: â€Å"Dude, how do you think I get all my shit done? Those Asian guys just love crunching numbers. You probably just made his weekend. (Both leave laughing)Then the camera pans over to Harold as he shouts â€Å"Fuck! † The co-workers connect the traits of the stereotype to what they just did and sarcastically believe they did Harold a favor. What can be shown here in relation to the model minority stereotype is that Harold now has to do more work than is required of him for his white counterparts. However doing this extra work will not earn him more money or any merit while his white counterpart will be doing less work and receiving the same credit as Harold is.The dialogue shows that the co-workers jokingly believe they are doing Harold a favor due to his traits which allows him to do such tasks; however, the ending of the scene shows Harold shouting â€Å"Fuck! † which can be seen as epitomizing reaction of Asians frustrations towards how this stereotype has affected them. The scene shows rebellion towards the label of the model minority. This shows that even though the model minority label credits Asians with strong qualities in the end negatively affects them.What does the scene show about the white co-workers? The scene shows the co-workers of Harold irresponsibly passing off their work for someone else to do. This characteristic shows laziness in the white co-workers. This part of the scene was a way to laugh at both Harold and also the two white co-workers. Why was this funny? The thing is that it’s sometimes true that these kinds of situations occur that is where the audience connects the humo r in the situation. The scene reveals an abnormal of how Americans are usually viewed.Americans have been known to be hard workers through fighting for freedom through the revolution to rising to one of the most powerful countries of the 20th century. Time goes on being on top, strong qualities can be seen to be fading away. The polarity is seen as Harold the Korean is hard working while the white co-workers are not. In the scene the white co-workers are laughing away semi-sadistically as they leave the building after taking advantage of their Asian co-worker. The significance of this is that the laughing disguises the white co-workers insecurity of their own work ethic is not as strong.Using the model minority stereotype has in a way been used to exploit as shown in the scene with the white co-workers using the stereotype to use Harold as a work horse. Even though the two white co-workers can’t represent Americans it can represent a whole different stereotype to be uncovered America has had a history in dealing with Asians in the past. Around the 19th century a term known as the â€Å"Yellow Peril† developed as a fear to the increasing number of Asians would immigrate to the United States and would fill the country with foreign culture, speech, and even take away jobs from Americans.The fear that the hard working Asians would take away American’s position in the working world, a satire to the response of that fear is shown in the scene as it shows Harold has been used as a crutch to hold up the co-workers in power. In Amitava Kumar’s Language, a violent example is seen when Kumar describes the murder of Vincent Chin who was murdered by two white autoworkers in Detroit. During so he was called a â€Å"Jap† and told â€Å"It’s because of you motherfuckers that we’re out of work. †(p. 05, Critical Encounters With Text). Chin was murdered due to his ethnic identity which in some correlation was believed to p ut those auto workers out of work. Chin was murdered because in the view of the autoworkers was that he was somehow associated with the ethnic group that had replaced them. It could be that the people who replaced them were more efficient, harder working, or demanded lower wages. Whatever it was, they did not confront the face they themselves had anything to do with the fact they were out of work.Which is something that has become a problem in society is that people blame each other and do not choose to confront how they could have caused a certain event. The model minority stereotype has also affected my life personally being of Korean decent. Being part of the model minority stereotypes has caused to build expectations since we are expected to live up to our peers which fall into that category. In elementary school, I remember asking my teachers for help and noticed some reluctance in doing so. Then I saw my teachers helping other students seeming more inclined to help.This situat ion made it seem to me that I had to work a little harder than my peers in school. In high school, some teachers took personal offence if it seemed as I underperformed on an assignment believing I wasn’t trying or was being lazy. Even though if I tried hard and didn’t do well it was disappointing to see teachers lose faith due to a misinterpretation. All of these things were built upon the general assumptions brought on by the model minority stereotype, has made it so it was abnormal to not follow the trend of such a view.Assumptions are natural impulses that most cannot avoid to do. As human beings no matter what we see, there is some sort of impression that most of us come towards even without knowing the person. Some of these assumptions are guided from varying reasons including friends, family, face, hair, ethnicity, attire, gender, and the media. We analyzed how a particular scene in the film Harold and Kumar go to White Castle exemplifies a generalized assumption . Also a brief personal account on how the stereotype has affected me.Stereotypes create unfairness as it classifies groups based on assumptions. Awareness of the consequences of stereotypes will help the problems associated with it. Stereotypes will continue to die down as long as the world is becoming more and more globalized. So therefore groups and cultures in America will become more connected with each other as time goes on causing familiarity, bringing down assumptions on a group and with this the concept, true equal opportunity will continue to become stronger.Works Cited Jon Hurwitz, Danny Leiner, Hayden Schlossberg . Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. (2001) †¢ Amitava Kumar. â€Å"Language,† by, reprinted from Passport Photos by permission of University of California Press. (2000) †¢ Hurst, Charles E. Social Inequality: Forms, Causes, and Consequences. 6. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc, 2007 †¢ Ruth Hester, published May 21, 2007 http://www. associ atedcontent. com/article/248276/the_glass_ceiling_and_its_effect_on. html? cat=3 †¢ Amy Kashiwabara, 1996 http://www. lib. berkeley. edu/MRC/Amydoc. html

Descriptive analysis of a place you feel special memorable qualities Essay

Descriptive analysis of a place you feel special memorable qualities - Essay Example But I really like my high school and I feel the same as special and memorable, with a number of qualities. Imagine that you are sleeping on a warm bed and dreaming, and the time is 6 o’clock, early in the morning. Now, you know that sun will rise and you have only a few minutes to wake up, and somebody is coming nearer to pull you out from your bed. What will be your feeling? For sure, I will consider that person as an intruder into your privacy. When my school days were over and I was asked to join a college, I felt that my school is with special memorable qualities and I cannot forget it. For instance, my memories on my school are interconnected with my senses. If I happen to smell fresh varnish, my memory will make me remember the newly varnished furniture in my school. The fragrance from the flowers in my garden leads me towards the flowers in our school garden. When I enter my kitchen, the smell of cooked food leads me to our school canteen. Even the smell of a hot cup of coffee leads me to the school cafeteria. The partial vision of a class room leads me towards our class-ro oms, and the complete view of a book leads me towards our school library. When I touch my old note books, I can feel the lecture classes. The day before yesterday, I happened to go through my old text books. Then, I realized that those text books can stimulate my thought on my high school classes. For instance, I felt that some of the books were interesting because those subjects were handled by my favorite teachers. On the other side, I did not like to open some other text books because those books were related to some other subjects, I was not interested in. While traveling to my college, I used to imagine that how the new students in our high school are enjoying their classes. I feel jealous of them because they are happily studying in my own school! On the other side, college life is different but cannot be wonderful like my high school. Now I realize that I lost some close

Business Ethic 4 questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Business Ethic 4 questions - Assignment Example The other stakeholders would be the company itself and the society. The company will benefit from the profit drawn by the product in the market and the society will be adversely and positive affected from the benefits or drawbacks of the product. 3) The alternative decisions could be either to spend more money on R & D to make it safer before releasing it in the market. The other decisions could be to tell people about the fact that the product will not be able to work under extreme conditions. The last alternative could be to stop the production of the product citing it unsafe for the consumers. 4) Stopping the production of hazardous products falls under the category of rule based ethics because the motivation of the company to stop the production is safety of the people that the company values. Similarly, spending more money on R & D falls under consequentialism because the fairness of the action depends on its outcome only. R&D would make the product better and will increase its

The French Revolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The French Revolution - Essay Example They also cancelled all the special privileges of the many nobles and clergymen they felt were clogging up the system. They then looked at what the Americans had done with their Declaration of Independence from the U.K. in which they had tried to give equal rights to everyone. The French basically copies a lot of this and the Assembly published the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. This didn’t have any legal effect, but it was supposed to guide the government in making a new constitution. In the new document, all citizens are supposed to be guaranteed the rights of â€Å"liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.† The Declaration argues that the peoples’ need for laws comes from the fact that â€Å"...the exercise of the natural rights of each man has only those borders which assure other members of the society the enjoyment of these same rights.† So the declaration sees law as a kind of â€Å"expression of the general will,† intending to promote equality of rights and to stop â€Å"actions harmful to society.† This was popular with many groups of people who had been disenfranchised under the old system and were looking for a big change which would give them more political power and reduce their tax rate. Previously the nobles had all the power and all the money; people were fed up and wanted things to be more equal. They felt they were a group that could no longer be trampled on by the upper classes, and that they h ad individual rights and should be able to be active French citizens. Two branches of politics can be seen to come out of this period. In the first—the American model—we can see people respecting individual rights and power devolved from government. In the second model we can see a sort of radicalism that destroys the old order and replaces it with a new radical order that wants everyone to be completely equal. This is the basis and foundation of Communism—many of whose

Evaluating Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Evaluating Culture - Essay Example If this value is missed, then this will limit my personal success, thinking and behaviours. I remember, once I was working on my assignment and there was not much research available for me, like I was stuck what i suppose to do, from where I get related data. At that time the value of self-awareness plays a vital role and I consulted my teachers and think ways to overcome such problems and finally due to self-awareness I did not panic but tried to find more positive ways and outcomes to resolve my problems. This value enabled me to think what motives are essential to free yourself from your own de-motivating behaviours. Many people failed to realize the importance between value statements and learning. These values are always beneficial to overcome many issues when we are involved in something. It is very important for us to act properly, identify our values which will allow us to create more productive options while we are doing any task and ways to accomplish them effectively (Troc him and Donnelly, 2008). References Trochim, W.K. & Donnelly, J.P. (2008), Research methods knowledge base (3rd ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning

Nursing staffing ratio policy for the ICU department Assignment

Nursing staffing ratio policy for the ICU department - Assignment Example The policy was first implemented in the California legislature through the passage of the Bill 394. Stakeholders such as the Institute of Medicine, California Hospital Association, California Nurses Association and the Service Employees International Union combined efforts and contributed jointly to development and implementation of the nursing policy. These associations contributed significantly in the policy formation process to address a number of factors. Factors addressed comprised of inadequacy of nurses in hospitals, registration of nurses, poor results from nurses and poor patient care services (Tevington, 2011). Health care stakeholders believed that the policy would solve problems experienced in the healthcare sector. In addition, they believed the policy would increase desired patient outcomes, increase recruitment of nurses, decrease shortages of nurses and increase job satisfaction (Unruh, 2008). Currently, many legislatures in the world have adopted the nursing policy a nd others are still adopting the policy. Mandatory Nurse-Patient Ratios Policy was developed for several purposes. The nursing policy was developed in order to develop an appropriate and specific ratio of nurses to patients that would be adopted by hospital to ensure that there are adequate nurses. In addition, the policy focused on improving the patient results in hospital through employment of registered and licensed nurses in different units in hospitals (Tevington, 2011). The Mandatory Nurse-Patient Ratios Policy has a wide range of users and participants. According to Douglas (2010), users of the Mandatory Nurse-Patient Ratios Policy consist of patients, physicians, nurses, healthcare unions, medical researchers, nursing organizations and associations and state governments. The policy affects nurses, patients and hospitals directly and physicians, health unions, medical researchers and

Position summary letter(supply chain major) Essay

Position summary letter(supply chain major) - Essay Example At the Bayer health care, I would be using those skills to manage the supply chain at an international scale and ensure that the organization’s reputations and profit are taken to another level. On the other hand, at HighJump, those skills would be used to initiate and implement projects to ensure that there is effective service provision need a proper network is established between the organization and its stakeholders. Bayer healthcare (BHC) conducts research and manufactures new therapeutic products and uses scientific technology to create better living conditions for both humans and animals. Research and development is focused on cardiology, women's health care and diagnostic imaging. The company aims at filling the gaps left by other medical and pharmaceutical providers to ensure that its impact is felt by those who really require their services. The company is also supported by manufacturers in different countries who depend on its products to ensure quality and cost-eff ective of its products globally. Responsibilities include initiating activities that will ensure timely and effective supply of the manufactured products to the market place. Thus, the suitable person is expected to be updated on changing demands and improvements in the market as well as within the industry. To liaise with global supply chain systems and synergies to smoothen business deals, reduce costs and ensure that the targeted returns are attained through effectiveness. In addition, the person is expected to provide leadership and have excellent interpersonal relations so that different employee contributions can be recognized and appreciated. Thus, the manager is expected to lead by example through showing accountability both at personal and professional level. The manager will ensure effective communication with the company executives, staff and other stakeholders to the global level to ensure that information is disseminated in a timely and effective manner. My qualificatio ns that make me a suitable and competitive candidate for the position include: I am pursuing a bachelors degree in supply chain and this has equipped me with the necessary knowledge to understand procurement operations. In addition, I have a good understanding of SAP and supply chain management of the knowledge I have gained in my course. I have good leadership and interpersonal skills which I will use to enhance collaboration and ensure that there is transparency in the organization. Moreover, I have good human resource management skills which will come in handy to enhance talent acquisition and creation of international partnerships with the organization's stakeholders. I have good communication skills both oral and written which will enhance communication of both complex and simple issues with the staff and other stakeholders. High jump supply chain management software necessitates the flow of information and inventory in a cost effective and timely manner. The organizationâ€⠄¢s aim to meet market and customer needs through the provision of logistic services, packaging, healthcare, distribution and manufacturing of goods. The company enables its business partners and clients to access their services at low cost and minimizes ownership costs. The company establishes a working relationship with its clients through creating sessions to allow for interactive

English Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

English - Term Paper Example Colgate toothpaste has over 50 year’s longstanding history, sold by the company in 1963 after the death of its founder, William Colgate. It was the first to develop fluoride in preventing tooth decay and cavities. Colgate serves as a breakthrough scientifically and it has been a trusted product ever since. It is the leader, globally, in personal care products including toothpastes and toothbrushes. It has made dental hygiene advancements, strengthened its leadership in manual toothbrushes with its global market share reaching 31.6% year to date. I have decided to evaluate the product in the following ways (Tim, 2013). To begin with, in developing a marketing plan several things ought to be done in order to get Colgate to the right consumers. They include eyeing the target audience, identifying the competition, deciding where to make the product available, the means of promoting the product and the selling price of the product. The target market is very broad in offering the or al care of a product. Colgate offers a complete product line, including items for children and these expands their target market. Therefore, the audience that Colgate needs to reach would be all people regardless of the age, their income level, gender, the ethnicity, education level, the occupation or even geographic location, as long as they have the need of oral care and of course have teeth. The next step is the decision on where to sell the product line. The obvious one is making it available in grocery stores, the neighborhood stores, and large superstores around the world. It should be able to reach everyone. A comprehensive and complete analysis of Colgate, one of the leading products company in the world includes overview of products industry of the consumer, analyzing the company itself and a PEST analysis. The company analysis includes the history of the product, a business analysis operates at looking at the organizations structure, a geographical analysis, an analysis of the major competitors like the Gillette company, the Crest, , and the church and Dwight company. With any product, there comes competition possibility. Colgate should closely keep an eye on its competitors, so that the product is able to counteract the activities that the competitors might do. Competitors for Colgate include Crest, Aim, aqua fresh, close-up, and several others, although the largest competition is Crest. The price of the product also sets a customer’s mind in the perspective of the quality and effectiveness of the product. The classification of the product is depends on the needs of the consumer and the consumer’s perceptions. The consumers may consider it as a homogenous or heterogeneous. In the homogeneous perspective, all toothbrushes perform the same work and therefore, they go with the lowest price. In the heterogeneous perspective, products are effective and have quality. I have had my own experience with Colgate. I had gum problems, gingivitis t o be precise and Colgate has helped me considerably. I had changed toothpaste brands because of an acute shortage of Colgate in my town and my gums ached so badly. Luckily, I got a pack of three and as soon as I brushed, my bad breath and gum pain were gone. Moreover, up to date, I have not had issues with my gums so I believe its effects are long lasting. From reviews of mouth net.com, Mayas from India says that Colgate is the best for him; it gives strong teeth, healthy gums, and very good breath. He says that lack of attention

Primary Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Primary Nursing - Essay Example Thompson ET all introduces the concept of primary nursing right from the beginning of its start in the 60’s. The sprouting of this particular type of healthcare all through the globe and its major influence to patient care is critically discussed. In this article, the author mainly insists on the influence of technology on this field and how hard it was for nurses back when everything was manual. Since the nurse has to work for 24 hours taking care of her patients, this field is thought provoking and in the early days of its invention, most of the primary nurses took care of fewer patients due to the nature of the work that was involved in the monitoring of the patients. The nurse had to manually move to each patient, take care of them and move to the next one. This was tedious and in most cases, the patients never got that right kind of care that they needed. However, due to technological changes in the medical industry, primary nursing has been on the increase and most insti tutions of higher learning have included the field in part of their study.Bowman ET all has similar opinions and insists that there has been improvements in primary nursing ever since its invention. The author compares the current situation of nursing and how it was in its early days and some of the changes that have been seen in the area. Comparing the way primary nursing was in the 60’s and now, it is pretty obvious that the field has undergone a lot of changes. First is the various means that nurses use to monitor patients.

Cost Theory Essay Example for Free

Cost Theory Essay Once a plant owner spends money to manufacture goods, that money is no longer available for something else. Production facilities, machinery used in the production process and plant workers are all examples of costs. Cost theory offers an approach to understanding the costs of production that allows firms to determine the level of output that reaps the greatest level of profit at the least cost. 2. Features * Cost theory contains various measures of costs. These include a firms fixed costs and variable costs. The former do not vary with the quantity of goods produced. Rent on a facility is an example of a fixed cost. Variable costs change with the quantity produced. If increased production requires more workers, for example, those workers wages are variable costs. The sum of fixed and variable costs is a firms total costs. * Additional Measures * Cost theory derives two additional cost measures. Average total cost is the total cost divided by the number of goods produced. Marginal cost is the increase in total cost that results from increasing production by one unit of output. Marginalsincluding marginal costs and marginal revenueare key concepts in mainstream economic thought. Falling and Rising Costs * Economists often use graphs, similar to supply-and-demand charts, to illustrate cost theory and firms decisions about production. An average total cost curve is a U-shaped curve on an economic diagram. This shape illustrates how average total costs decline as output rises and then rise as marginal costs increase. Average total costs decline at first because as production rises, average costs are distributed over a larger number of units of output. Eventually, marginal costs of increasing output rise, which increases average total costs. Maximizing Profits * Economic theory holds that the goal of a firm is to maximize profit, which equals total revenue minus total cost. Determining a level of production that generates the greatest level of profit is an important consideration, one that means paying attention to marginal costs, as well as marginal revenue (the increase in revenue arising from an increase in output). Under cost theory, as long as marginal revenue exceeds marginal cost, increasing production will raise profit. Types of Cost Economics Economists factor costs in many different ways. Though you may read the cost of a soup can at $1 as it’s listed on the grocery store shelf, economists view the cost of the soup can in very different ways. For example, an economist asks what you are giving up to buy that can of soup over another item. They measure the firm’s cost of producing that soup can as it relates to their output and factors of production. Thus, the different types of economic costs are varied. 1. Sunk Cost * A sunk cost is an expense that cannot be recouped. Mark Hirschy, author of the book, â€Å"Fundamentals of Managerial Economics,† explains that sunk costs should not factor into a decision when deciding between alternatives. For example, say a person spent $50,000 on a degree in education and earns $60,000 as a teacher. She is later offered a job in marketing that pays her $80,000. Though she may be tempted to factor in her education degree as reason to stay in her current teaching job, her $50,000 degree is regarded as a sunk cost. She already spent this money, and it cannot be recouped. In this case, she should only compare the respective salaries of the positions. If all else is held equal, she should pursue the marketing job. Opportunity Cost * An opportunity cost is the value of an alternative choice. Though the word â€Å"cost† usually equates to a numerical value, like a dollar figure, this is not always the case. William Baumol and Alan Blinder, authors of the book, Economics: Principles and Policy, state that an opportunity cost calculates intangible things like time, location and job satisfaction. They explain opportunity costs are what you give up to follow one course of action. For example, a college graduate is deciding between a job as a tech consultant in Seattle or an investment broker in New York City. If the grad pursues the investment broker position, the opportunity costs of foregoing the job in Seattle could be a slower pace of life, $10,000 higher salary and lower costs of living like rent and food. * Marginal Cost * A marginal cost is the amount it takes to produce one more item. Under this view of costs, they vary along the production line and in most cases the cost to produce a good reduces over time. Intuitively, this makes sense: the more proficient you become at producing a good, the faster you can do it and less waste is produced. The savings in labor and material as you achieve â€Å"economies of scale† means the cost of production usually decreases. The way economists find the marginal cost is by taking the derivative of the total costs as it relates to the total output. How to Find Marginal Cost in Economics Deciding whether to produce more units is often based on marginal cost. The economic concept of marginal cost is the cost associated with producing one additional unit. This information is important to businesses because it allows the company to decide if the additional unit is worth producing from a financial standpoint. When a company produces a small amount of product, the cost of additional units often decrease. However, marginal costs increase when additional units are added once the production level reaches a minimum. This is based on the law of diminishing marginal returns. Instructions 1. * 1 Calculate the change in total variable cost. This is the amount that the costs increased by after additional units are produced. For example, if youd like to produce more T-shirts and the increase in output would change the costs by $100, then the total variable cost is $100. * 2 Find the change in quantity produced. This represents how many additional units you would like to produce in the given scenario. For example, the change in quantity would be 50 if youd like to produce 300 T-shirts instead of 250. * 3 Divide the change in total variable costs from Step 1 by the change in quantity from Step 2. This will give you the marginal cost (marginal cost = the change in total variable cost/the change in quantity). For this example, $100 (the change in total variable cost) / 50 (the change in quantity) = $2 in marginal costs, which is the cost of producing each additional T-shirt. What Is the Relationship Between Production ;amp; Cost? Production costs are linked to t he cost of materials and labor. The relationship between production and cost in any manufacturing process varies based on volume produced and whether any part of the manufacturing process is outsourced or performed by subcontractors. Additionally, production and cost ratios vary based on the amount of automation involved in production and the amount of human oversight and involvement required. 1. Factors of Production * The main factors of production are labor, capital and supply costs. Capital is defined as equipment, cash reserves, and physical location or production facility. Labor is defined as the amount of and cost of manpower required to bring a product to market. This includes not only the physical labor and oversight related to product production, but also the associated costs of salaries of positions such as managers, delivery drivers, warehouse supervisors, marketing directors and even administrative assistance. Supply costs are any fee associated with securing necessary materials for production. Subcontractor or outsourced work is considered a supply cost as well, as the manufacturer is essentially purchasing a product or service for use in the production process. In this example, work such as offsite creation of product packaging or assembly of minor components of a finished product are considered supply costs in the same way the purchase of raw materials are considered supply costs. Volume of Production * Volume of production figures signify the amount of products being produced. Typically, the greater the volume the lower the cost per unit as raw material suppliers often offer discounts on mass or bulk orders. Volume of production is based on a company’s anticipated product needs, past sales records and placed orders. * Volume of Business * The relationship between production and cost is frequently determined by the volume of business a company is doing. An example that illustrates this point is a multinational vitamin supplement company that produces vitamins in bulk compared to a small health food chain that produces its own vitamin line in small quantities. The cost of the product produced by the small company will typically be greater than the cost of the product offered by the bulk manufacturer because the smaller company produces its product in smaller volumes. Price Points The more it costs a company to produce a product, the greater price the company will have to charge consumers. A company’s production costs include the price of materials, the cost of manpower, the production and packaging process, advertising, and distribution. Mass producers may be able to offer more competitive pricing to end users because they have the luxury of working on a thin margin due to the large volume of production. In microeconomics, the long run is the conceptual time period in which there are no fixed factors of production as to changing the output level by changing the capital stock or by entering or leaving an industry. The long run contrasts with the short run, in which some factors are variable and others are fixed, constraining entry or exit from an industry. In macroeconomics, the long run is the period when the general price level, contractual wage rates, and expectations adjust fully to the state of the economy, in contrast to the short run when these variables may not fully adjust. [1] In the long run, firms change production levels in response to (expected) economic profits or losses, and the land, labor, capital goods and entrepreneurship vary to reach associated long-run average cost. In the simplified case of plant capacity as the only fixed factor, a generic firm can make these changes in the long run: * enter an industry in response to (expected) profits * leave an industry in response to losses * increase its plant in response to profits * decrease its plant in response to losses. Long-run average-cost curve with economies of scale to Q2 and diseconomies of scale thereafter. The long run is associated with the long-run average cost (LRAC) curve in microeconomic models along which a firm would minimize its average cost (cost per unit) for each respective long-run quantity of output. Long-run marginal cost (LRMC) is the added cost of providing an additional unit of service or commodity from changing capacity level to reach the lowest cost associated with that extra output. LRMC equalling price is efficient as to resource allocation in the long run. The concept of long-run cost is also used in determining whether the long-run expected to induce the firm to remain in the industry or shut down production there. In long-run equilibrium of an industry in which perfect competition prevails, the LRMC = Long run average LRAC at the minimum LRAC and associated output. The shape of the long-run marginal and average costs curves is determined by economies of scale. The long run is a planning and implementation stage. [2][3] Here a firm may decide that it needs to produce on a larger scale by building a new plant or adding a production line. The firm may decide that new technology should be incorporated into its production process. The firm thus considers all its long-run production options and selects the optimal combination of inputs and technology for its long-run urposes. [4] The optimal combination of inputs is the least-cost combination of inputs for desired level of output when all inputs are variable. [3] Once the decisions are made and implemented and production begins, the firm is operating in the short run with fixed and variable inputs. [3][5] Short run All production in real time occurs in the short run. The short run is the conceptual time period in which at least one factor of production is fixed in amount and others are variable in am ount. Costs that are fixed, say from existing plant size, have no impact on a firms short-run decisions, since only variable costs and revenues affect short-run profits. Such fixed costs raise the associated short-run average cost of an output long-run average cost if the amount of the fixed factor is better suited for a different output level. In the short run, a firm can raise output by increasing the amount of the variable factor(s), say labor through overtime. A generic firm already producing in an industry can make three changes in the short run as a response to reach a posited equilibrium: * increase production decrease production * shut down. In the short run, a profit-maximizing firm will: * increase production if marginal cost is less than marginal revenue (added revenue per additional unit of output); * decrease production if marginal cost is greater than marginal revenue; * continue producing if average variable cost is less than price per unit, even if average total cost is gre ater than price; * shut down if average variable cost is greater than price at each level of output. Transition from short run to long run The transition from the short run to the long run may be done by considering some short-run equilibrium that is also a long-run equilibrium as to supply and demand, then comparing that state against a new short-run and long-run equilibrium state from a change that disturbs equilibrium, say in the sales-tax rate, tracing out the short-run adjustment first, then the long-run adjustment. Each is an example of comparative statics. Alfred Marshall (1890) pioneered in comparative-static period analysis. [6] He istinguished between the temporary or market period (with output fixed), the short period, and the long period. Classic contemporary graphical and formal treatments include those of Jacob Viner (1931),[7] John Hicks (1939),[8] and Paul Samuelson (1947). [9] The law of diminishing marginal returns The law of diminishing marginal returns to a variable factor applies to the short run. [10] It posits an effect of decreased added or marginal product of from variable factors, which increas es the supply price of added output. [11] The law is related to a positive slope of the short-run marginal-cost curve. 12] Macroeconomic usages The usage of long run and short run in macroeconomics differs somewhat from the above microeconomic usage. J. M. Keynes (1936) emphasized fundamental factors of a market economy that might result in prolonged periods away from full-employment. [13] In later macro usage, the long run is the period in which the price level for the economy is completely flexible as to shifts in aggregate demand and aggregate supply. In addition there is full mobility of labor and capital between sectors of the economy and full capital mobility between nations. In the short run none of these conditions need fully hold. The price is sticky or fixed as to changes in aggregate demand or supply, capital is not fully mobile between sectors, and capital is not fully mobile to interest rate differences among countries amp; fixed exchange rates. [14] A famous critique of neglecting short-run analysis was by John Maynard Keynes, who wrote that In the long run, we are all dead, referring to the long-run proposition of the quantity theory of, for example, a doubling of the money supply doubling the price level. 15] Marginal  Analysis Thinking at the  Margin From Mike Moffatt, former About. com Guide From an economists perspective, making choices involves making decisions at the margin that is, making decisions based on small changes in resources: * How should I spend the next hour? * How should I spend the next dollar? On the surface, this seems like a strange way of considering the choices made by people and firms. It is rare that someone would consciously ask themselves How will I spend dollar number 24,387? , How will I spend dollar number 24,388? . Treating the problem in this matter does have some distinct advantages: * Doing so leads to the optimal decisions being made, subject to preferences, resources and informational constraints. * It makes the problem less messy from an analytic point of view, as we are not trying to analyze a million decisions at once. * While this does not exactly mimic conscious decision making processes, it does provide results similar to the decisions people actually make. That is, people may not think using this method, but the decisions they make are as if they do. Marginal Analysis An Example Consider the decision on how many hours to work, as given by the following chart: Hour Hourly Wage Value of Time Hour 1 $10 $2 Hour 2 $10 $2 Hour 3 $10 $3 Hour 4 $10 $3 Hour 5 $10 $4 Hour 6 $10 $5 Hour 7 $10 $6 Hour 8 $10 $8 Hour 9 $15 $9 Hour 10 $15 $12 Hour 11 $15 $18 Hour 12 $15 $20 The hourly wage represents what I earn for working an extra hour it is the marginal gain or the marginal benefit. The value of time is essentially an opportunity cost it is how much I value having that hour off. In this example it represents a marginal cost what it costs me by working an additional hour. The increase in marginal costs is a common phenomenon; I do not mind working a few hours since there are 24 hours in a day. I still have plenty of time to do other things. However, as I start to work more hours it reduces the number of hours I have for other activities. I have to start giving up more and more valuable opportunities to work those extra hours. It is clear that I should work the first hour, as I gain $10 in marginal benefits and lose only $2 in marginal costs, for a net gain of $8. By the same logic I should work the second and third hours as well. I will want to work until which time the marginal cost exceeds the marginal benefit. I will want to work the 10th hour as I receive a net benefit of #3 (marginal benefit of $15, marginal cost of $12). However, I will not want to work the 11th hour, as the marginal cost ($18) exceeds the marginal benefit ($15) by three dollars. Thus marginal analysis suggests that rational maximizing behavior is to work for 10 hours. Next Lesson: Market Distortions: Altering the Supply and Demand Equilibrium. Marginal Analysis * Marginal Revenue Glossary Dictionary Definition of Marginal Revenue * Marginal Significance Value Glossary Dictionary Definition of Marginal Si * Marginal Revenue and Marginal Cost Practice Question Related Articles * Running a Private Practice Working with Animals * Work Stress Long Work Hours Are Not the Culprit * Open for Business: Scheduling Your Week Being a Personal Trainer * Three Union Work Rules That Increase the Cost of Operating Transit * Hold On to Your Sanity Start Your Own Business AN INTRODUCTION TO COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS| * Background * Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) estimates and totals up the equivalent money value of the benefits and costs to the community of projects to establish whether they are worthwhile. These projects may be dams and highways or can be training programs and health care systems. * The idea of this economic accounting originated with Jules Dupuit, a French engineer whose 1848 article is still worth reading. The British economist, Alfred Marshall, formulated some of the formal concepts that are at the foundation of CBA. But the practical development of CBA came as a result of the impetus provided by the Federal Navigation Act of 1936. This act required that the U. S. Corps of Engineers carry out projects for the improvement of the waterway system when the total benefits of a project to whomsoever they accrue exceed the costs of that project. Thus, the Corps of Engineers had created systematic methods for measuring such benefits and costs. The engineers of the Corps did this without much, if any, assistance from the economics profession. It wasnt until about twenty years later in the 1950s that economists tried to provide a rigorous, consistent set of methods for measuring benefits and costs and deciding whether a project is worthwhile. Some technical issues of CBA have not been wholly resolved even now but the fundamental presented in the following are well established. * Principles of Cost Benefit Analysis * One of the problems of CBA is that the computation of many components of benefits and costs is intuitively obvious but that there are others for which intuition fails to suggest methods of measurement. Therefore some basic principles are needed as a guide. There Must Be a Common Unit of Measurement * In order to reach a conclusion as to the desirability of a project all aspects of the project, positive and negative, must be expressed in terms of a common unit; i. e. , there must be a bottom line. The most convenient common unit is money. This means that all benefits and costs of a project should be measured in terms of their equivalent money value. A program may provide benefits which are not directly expressed in terms of dollars but there is some amount of money the recipients of the benefits would consider just as good as the projects benefits. For example, a project may provide for the elderly in an area a free monthly visit to a doctor. The value of that benefit to an elderly recipient is the minimum amount of money that that recipient would take instead of the medical care. This could be less than the market value of the medical care provided. It is assumed that more esoteric benefits such as from preserving open space or historic sites have a finite equivalent money value to the public. * Not only do the benefits and costs of a project have to be expressed in terms of equivalent money value, but they have to be expressed in terms of dollars of a particular time. This is not just due to the differences in the value of dollars at different times because of inflation. A dollar available five years from now is not as good as a dollar available now. This is because a dollar available now can be invested and earn interest for five years and would be worth more than a dollar in five years. If the interest rate is r then a dollar invested for t years will grow to be (1+r)t. Therefore the amount of money that would have to be deposited now so that it would grow to be one dollar t years in the future is (1+r)-t. This called the discounted value or present value of a dollar available t years in the future. * When the dollar value of benefits at some time in the future is multiplied by the discounted value of one dollar at that time in the future the result is discounted present value of that benefit of the project. The same thing applies to costs. The net benefit of the projects is just the sum of the present value of the benefits less the present value of the costs. * The choice of the appropriate interest rate to use for the discounting is a separate issue that will be treated later in this paper. CBA Valuations Should Represent Consumers or Producers Valuations As Revealed by Their Actual Behavior * The valuation of benefits and costs should reflect preferences revealed by choices which have been made. For example, improvements in transportation frequently involve saving time. The question is how to measure the money value of that time saved. The value should not be merely what transportat ion planners think time should be worth or even what people say their time is worth. The value of time should be that which the public reveals their time is worth through choices involving tradeoffs between time and money. If people have a choice of parking close to their destination for a fee of 50 cents or parking farther away and spending 5 minutes more walking and they always choose to spend the money and save the time and effort then they have revealed that their time is more valuable to them than 10 cents per minute. If they were indifferent between the two choices they would have revealed that the value of their time to them was exactly 10 cents per minute. * The most challenging part of CBA is finding past choices which reveal the tradeoffs and equivalencies in preferences. For example, the valuation of the benefit of cleaner air could be established by finding how much less people paid for housing in more polluted areas which otherwise was identical in characteristics and location to housing in less polluted areas. Generally the value of cleaner air to people as revealed by the hard market choices seems to be less than their rhetorical valuation of clean air. * Benefits Are Usually Measured by Market Choices * When consumers make purchases at market prices they reveal that the things they buy are at least as beneficial to them as the money they relinquish. Consumers will increase their consumption of any commodity up to the point where the benefit of an additional unit (marginal benefit) is equal to the marginal cost to them of that unit, the market price. Therefore for any consumer buying some of a commodity, the marginal benefit is equal to the market price. The marginal benefit will decline with the amount consumed just as the market price has to decline to get consumers to consume a greater quantity of the commodity. The relationship between the market price and the quantity consumed is called the demand schedule. Thus the demand schedule provides the information about marginal benefit that is needed to place a money value on an increase in consumption. * Gross Benefits of an Increase in Consumption is an Area Under the Demand Curve * The increase in benefits resulting from an increase in consumption is the sum of the marginal benefit times each incremental increase in consumption. As the incremental increases considered are taken as smaller and smaller the sum goes to the area under the marginal benefit curve. But the marginal benefit curve is the same as the demand curve so the increase in benefits is the area under the demand curve. As shown in Figure 1 the area is over the range from the lower limit of consumption before the increase to consumption after the increase. * Figure 1 * When the increase in consumption is small compared to the total consumption the gross benefit is adequately approximated, as is shown in a welfare analysis, by the market value of the increased consumption; i. e. , market price times the increase in consumption. * Some Measurements of Benefits Require the Valuation of Human Life * It is sometimes necessary in CBA to evaluate the benefit of saving human lives. There is considerable antipathy in the general public to the idea of placing a dollar value on human life. Economists recognize that it is impossible to fund every project which promises to save a human life and that some rational basis is needed to select which projects are approved and which are turned down. The controversy is defused when it is recognized that the benefit of such projects is in reducing the risk of death. There are many cases in which people voluntarily accept increased risks in return for higher pay, such as in the oil fields or mining, or for time savings in higher speed in automobile travel. These choices can be used to estimate the personal cost people place on increased risk and thus the value to them of reduced risk. This computation is equivalent to placing an economic value on the expected number of lives saved. * The Analysis of a Project Should Involve a With Versus Without Comparison * The impact of a project is the difference between what the situation in the study area would be with and without the project. This that when a project is being evaluated the analysis must estimate not only what the situation would be with the project but also what it would be without the project. For example, in determining the impact of a fixed guideway rapid transit system such as the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in the San Francisco Bay Area the number of rides that would have been taken on an expansion of the bus system should be deducted from the rides provided by BART and likewise the additional costs of such an expanded bus system would be deducted from the costs of BART. In other words, the alternative to the project must be explicitly specified and considered in the evaluation of the project. Note that the with-and-without comparison is not the same as a before-and-after comparison. Another example shows the importance of considering the impacts of a project and a with-and-without comparison. Suppose an irrigation project proposes to increase cotton production in Arizona. If the United States Department of Agriculture limits the cotton production in the U. S. by a system of quotas then expanded cotton production in Arizona might be offset by a reduction in the cotto n production quota for Mississippi. Thus the impact of the project on cotton production in the U. S. might be zero rather than being the amount of cotton produced by the project. * Cost Benefit Analysis Involves a Particular Study Area The impacts of a project are defined for a particular study area, be it a city, region, state, nation or the world. In the above example concerning cotton the impact of the project might be zero for the nation but still be a positive amount for Arizona. * The nature of the study area is usually specified by the organization sponsoring the analysis. Many effects of a project may net out over one study area but not over a smaller one. The specification of the study area may be arbitrary but it may significantly affect the conclusions of the analysis. * Double Counting of Benefits or Costs Must be Avoided Sometimes an impact of a project can be measured in two or more ways. For example, when an improved highway reduces travel time and the risk of injury the value of property in areas served by the highway will be enhanced. The increase in property values due to the project is a very good way, at least in principle, to measure the benefits of a project. But if the increased property values are included then it is unnecessary to include the value of the time and lives saved by the improvement in the highway. The property value went up because of the benefits of the time saving and the reduced risks. To include both the increase in property values and the time saving and risk reduction would involve double counting. * Decision Criteria for Projects * If the discounted present value of the benefits exceeds the discounted present value of the costs then the project is worthwhile. This is equivalent to the condition that the net benefit must be positive. Another equivalent condition is that the ratio of the present value of the benefits to the present value of the costs must be greater than one. * If there are more than one mutually exclusive project that have positive net present value then there has to be further analysis. From the set of mutually exclusive projects the one that should be selected is the one with the highest net present value. * If the funds required for carrying out all of the projects with positive net present value are less than the funds available this means the discount rate used in computing the present values is too low and does not reflect the true cost of capital. The present values must be recomputed using a higher discount rate. It may take some trial and error to find a discount rate such that the funds required for the projects with a positive net present value is no more than the funds available. Sometimes as an alternative to this procedure people try to select the best projects on the basis of some measure of goodness such as the internal rate of return or the benefit/cost ratio. This is not valid for several reasons. * The magnitude of the ratio of benefits to costs is to a degree arbitrary because some costs such as operating costs may be deducted from benefits and thus not be included in the cost figure. This is called netting out of operating costs. This netting out may be done for some projects and not for others. This manipulation of the benefits and costs will not affect the net benefits but it may change the benefit/cost ratio. However it will not raise the benefit cost ratio which is less than one to above one. For more on this topic see Benefit/ cost Ratio Magnitude. * An Example * To illustrate how CBA might be applied to a project, let us consider a highway improvement such as the extension of Highway 101 into San Jose. The local four-lane highway which carried the freeway and commuter traffic into San Jose did not have a median divider and its inordinate number of fatal head-on collisions led to the name Blood Alley. The improvement of the highway would lead to more capacity which produces time saving and lowers the risk. But inevitably there will be more traffic than was carried by the old highway. * The following is a highly abbreviated analysis using hypothetical data. TRIP DATA| No Extension, Blood Alley Only| 101 Extension and Blood Alley| Rush Hours|   |   | Passenger Trips ( per hour)| 3,000| 4,000| Trip Time (minutes)| 50| 30| Value of Time ($/minute)| $0. 10| $0. 10| Nonrush Hours|   |   | Passenger Trips (per hour)| 500| 555. 55| Trip Time (minutes)| 35| 25| Value of Time ($/minute)| $0. 08| $0. 08| Traffic Fatalities per year)| 12| 6| * The data indicates that for rush-hour trips the time cost of a trip is $5 without the project and $3 with it. It is assumed that the operating cost for a vehicle is unaffected by the project and is $4. * The project lowers the cost of a trip and the public responds by increasing the number of trips taken. There is an increase in consumer surplus both for the trips which would have been taken without the project and for the trips which are stimulated by the project. * For trips which would have been taken anyway the benefit of the project equals the value of the time saved times the number of trips. For the rush-hour trip the project saves $2 and for the nonrush-hour trip it saves $0. 80. For the trips generated by the project the benefit is equal to one half of the value of the time saved times the increase in the number of trips. * The benefits per hour are: TYPE| Trips Which Would Be Taken Anyway| Trips Generated By the Project| Total| Rush Hour| 6,000. 00| 1,000. 00| 7,000. 00| Nonrush Hour| 400. 00| 22. 22| 422. 22| * To convert the benefits to an annual basis one multiplies the hourly benefits of each type of trip times the number of hours per year for that type of trip. There are 260 week days per year and at six rush hours per weekday there are 1560 rush hours per year. This leaves 7200 nonrush hours per year. With these figures the annual benefits are: TYPE| Trips Which Would Be Taken Anyway| Trips Generated By the Project| Total| Rush Hour| $9,360,000| $1,560,000| $10,020,000| Nonrush Hour| $2,880,000| $160,000| $3,040,000| Total| $12,240,000| $1,720,000| $13,960,000| * The value of the reduced fatalities may be computed in terms of the equivalent economic value people place upon their lives when making choices concerning risk and money. If the labor market has wages for occupations of different risks such that people accept an increase in the risk of death of 1/1,000 per year in return for an increase in income of $400 per year then a project that reduces the risk of death in a year by 1/1000 gives a benefit to each person affected by it of $400 per year. The implicit valuation of a life in this case is $400,000. Thus benefit of the reduced risk project is the expected number of lives saved times the implicit value of a life. For the highway project this is 6x$400,000= $2,400,000 annually. * The annual benefits of the project are thus: TYPE OF BENEFIT| VALUE OF BENEFITS PER YEAR| Time Saving| $13,960,000| Reduced Risk| $2,400,000| * Let us assume that this level of benefits continues at a constant rate over a thirty-year lifetime of the project. * The cost of the highway consists of the costs for its right-of-way, its construction and its maintenance. The cost of the right-of-way is the cost of the land and any structures upon it which must be purchased before the construction of the highway can begin. For purposes of this example the cost of right-of-way is taken to be $100 million and it must be paid before any construction can begin. At least part of the right-of- way cost for a highway can be recovered at the end of the lifetime of the highway if it is not rebuilt. For the example it is assumed that all of the right-of-way cost is recoverable at the end of the thirty-year lifetime of the project. The construction cost is $200 million spread evenly over a four-year period. Maintenance cost is $1 million per year once the highway is completed. * The schedule of benefits and costs for the project are as follows: TIME (year)| BENEFITS ($millions)| RIGHT-OF -WAY ($millions)| CONSTRUCTION COSTS $millions)| MAINTENANCE ($millions)| 0| 0| 100| 0| 0| 1-4| 0| 0| 50| 0| 5-29| 16. 36| 0| 0| 1| 30| 16. 36| -100| 0| 1| * The benefits and costs are in constant value dollars; i. e. , there was no price increase included in the analysis. Therefore the discount rate used must be the real interest rate. If the interest rate on long term bonds is 8 percent and the rate of inflation is 6 percent then the real rate of interest is 2 p ercent. Present value of the streams of benefits and costs discounted at a 2 percent back to time zero are as follows:   | PRESENT VALUE $ millions)| Benefits| 304. 11| Costs|   | Right-of-Way| 44. 79| Construction| 190. 39| Maintenance| 18. 59| Total Costs| 253. 77| |   | | Net Benefits| 50. 35| | *independent rounding| * The positive net present value of $50. 35 million and benefit/cost ratio of 1. 2 indicate that the project is worthwhile if the cost of capital is 2 percent. When a discount rate of 3 percent is the benefit/cost ratio is slightly under 1. 0. This means that the internal rate of return is just under 3 percent. When the cost of capital is 3 percent the project is not worthwhile. It should be noted that the market value of the right-of-way understates the opportunity cost of having the land devoted to the highway. The land has a value of $100 million because of its income after property taxes. The economy is paying more for its alternate use but some of the pay ment is diverted for taxes. The discounted presented value of the payments for the alternate use might be more like $150 million instead of $100 million. Another way of making this point is that one of the costs of the highway is that the local governments lose the property tax on the land used. * Summary By reducing the positive and negative impacts of a project to their equivalent money value Cost-Benefit Analysis determines whether on balance the project is worthwhile. The equivalent money value are based upon information derived from consumer and producer market choices; i. e. , the demand and supply schedules for the goods and services affected by the project. Care must be taken to properly allow for such things as inflation. When all this has been considered a worthwhile project is one for which the discounted value of the benefits exceeds the discounted value of the costs; i. . , the net benefits are positive. This is equivalent to the benefit/cost ratio being greater than on e and the internal rate of return being greater than the cost of capital. * History of Cost-Benefit Analysis * CBA has its origins in the water development projects of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps of Engineers had its origins in the French engineers hired by George Washington in the American Revolution. For years the only school of engineering in the United States was the Military Academy at West Point, New York. In 1879, Congress created the Mississippi River Commission to prevent destructive floods. The Commission included civilians but the president had to be an Army engineer and the Corps of Engineers always had veto power over any decision by the Commission. * In 1936 Congress passed the Flood Control Act which contained the wording, the Federal Government should improve or participate in the improvement of navigable waters or their tributaries, including watersheds thereof, for flood-control purposes if the benefits to whomsoever they may accrue are in excess of the estimated costs. The phrase if the benefits to whomsoever they may accrue are in excess of the estimated costs established cost-benefit analysis. Initially the Corps of Engineers developed ad hoc methods for estimating benefits and costs. It wasnt until the 1950s that academic economists discovered that the Corps had developed a system for the economic analysis of public investments. Economists have influenced and improved the Corps methods since then and cost-benefit analysis has been adapted to most areas of public decision-making.

Challenges In Recruiting: Hospitality Industry

Challenges In Recruiting: Hospitality Industry Today, in the world of growing in globalised businesses and the improvement of entertainment industries. Transportations, Accommodations, Venues, Dining and Talents are now in great demand. In the industries of people serving people, it is one of the most excitement sectors that you can best understand a business model, because it was combined with many different sectors and generated with smaller scale of many operators to build up a big organization that were full of services provided, which named Hospitality! The Hospitality industry is currently largest businesses among the world, it is also a global, interlocking with deep and complex of supply chain. Today in the record, hospitality industry provides more than 200 million employees in worldwide and the numbers of talents are still growing rapidly and it is in a demand today. In Singapore, the Hospitality industry remains a key economic driver and Singapore is promoting and building the image and reputation. It is also an essential support in the industry for Singapores efforts to constantly remain an attractive lifestyle destination, with the development of the two integrated resorts (Resort World and Marina Bay Sands) and other exciting events and projects such as the making Orchard Road into one of the best shopping town in the world of Asia. With the positive outlook for this growing industry, it is important for Singapore to continue improving its service competiveness by enhancing excellence service delivery and clients satisfaction. The industry needs professionals and talents who would continue to upgrade and improve the industries skills to take up management positions as well as new recruiting team who would be well-qualified to fill the additional jobs created with the growth. The Recruitment in Hospitality Industry Having the ambitions and foreseeing the industry in expanding fast, that was what most of the hospitality management are aiming for. With the business constantly growing, the responsibility of the Human Resources team is expected to deliver additional workforce at all sectors and business levels. Furthermore, Human Resources will also be maximizing the capacity of each current workforce team. In Asia, hotelier used skills and techniques to analyze each individuals performance, engagement and commitment levels, participation or getting involved in all training and development programs to measure the result in productivity. Linking such ways to determine each organizations business objectives has provides useful statistics and has been proven highly effective with which senior executive management making the decision. Human Resources roles is important in the industry, as the blooming in this industry, human resources team needs to focus on their staffing and employees, the roles as service provider in each departments and divisions. With the high demand needed in increasing staffing numbers, looking at this time when the industrys workforce labor pool is shrinking. To improve this challenges, first is to identify all possible causes to the challenges and the industry needs to attempt and work with the unions as allies, hopefully to come out with more time, more effective workforce strategies and money to improve the recruitment project and training to educate the politicians so as to impact the governmental economic and immigration policy on the hospitality industry. The research from Hospitality industry information, I learned that the set of workforce solutions is based on the following priorities such as: Image : Like other service sectors, hospitality careers are often stereotyped as low-wage and entry-level with little opportunity for advancement. Consequently, qualified workers, especially youth, are unaware the range of hospitality careers available. Recruitment : Historically the hospitality industry had drawn heavily fm the youth labor pool to meet their workforce needs, but in recent the industry has been left with an insufficient pipeline of new workers to satisfy demand. Faced with a shrinking pipeline or workers, the hospitality industry is increasing its recruitment efforts towards youth and developing targeted strategies for previously untapped labor pools. Retention : High turnover is a key challenge in the hospitality industry. The restaurant, hotel and lodging sectors have difficulty retaining skilled workers because of the negative image that the industry faces. Language skills : English proficiency is a key challenge because a large percentage of the hospitality workforce does not speak English as their primary language. Employers seek language training programs that allow workers to effectively perform their job, which includes providing good customer service and understanding safety requirements. Employability/Soft Skills : Employers have difficulty finding workers who possess basic soft skills, which are often a prerequisite for success in a customer service-oriented field. Consistent training models and skills certifications : The hospitality industry as a whole lacks consistency and portability in their training models and skill certifications. Many employers run their own internal training programs for entry-level workers, which makes it difficult to monitor the content of training and the skills acquired. Doleta, June 2005 Challenges in Singapores Hospitality The numbers of turnover and shortage rates were frequently highlighted in todays challenges for Hospitality Industry not only happening in Singapore but globally. It is important to know and understand the issues behind that causes the skills shortage in the workforce. In todays Hospitality workforce, it is expected for all organizations to face a similar shortage of available talent at all levels, especially in management and leadership roles in order to continuously leading the operations and teams, mostly it was due to the aggressive expansion strategies in the region. With the high demand and shortage of employees in the hospitality industry it translates into intense competition for many quality graduates. For those fresh graduates deem the unsociable hours and perceived lack of experience and opportunity in the hospitality industry were as unfavorable. Therefore the hospitality industry is losing out to industries such as entrepreneur, human resources, outsourcing or even information technology etc. Furthermore, there is also growing awareness of an increasing of multi-generational workforce and consequently variances in expectations and values among individuals. Priorities differ especially with the younger generation, the so-called Generation Y. Markedly different from their senior counterparts, the young place greater emphasis on self-actualization, high expectations of rapid career progression and are willing to change jobs, industries and careers to realize their goal. Accordingly, methods for employee engagement analysis need to be even more sophisticated. Long term outlooks enable Human Resource managers to predict and plan for specific areas of talent shortfall and to adopt management training programs to prepare for the demands of future growth. Next to think, which are the areas of shortage talents in Hospitality Industries that were affected? As hospitality was combined with many different sectors and generated with smaller scale of many operators to build up a whole organization, below are the listed out sectors and areas in the hospitality industries. Front Line operations, talents that have face to face contacts with guest and to handle various general enquires, needs, transaction, dining or organized events and function in the hotels. Beside that, talents also need to have the knowledge of hotels facilities and services, guest relation and expectation, tourism-related matter and of cause handling guest arrivals and departures too. Front Office Front Desk, Concierge, Cashier, Bell Counter, Butler, Guest Relation Officer, Executive Club and Business Centre. Both Guest Service Centre (Operator) and Housekeeping are the two back end departments that direct support for Front Office. Food and Beverage Dining Outlets and Cafà ©, Banquet, Bar and Lounges, Executive Lounge and Kitchens. For both FB Reservation Centre Stewarding they are also under the umbrella of Food Beverages Division. Beside the listed sectors, there is also some other back of house Operations that covers the supporting roles to the business. Human Resources Department, Maintenance and Engineering Department, Events and Sales Department, Marketing Public Relations Department, Accounting and Finance Department, Purchasing Department, Security Department and etc. There are so many sectors of division in a hotel, and which are the areas that are really affected and in demand in the industries? Eventually, the shortage came from the Front Line team (both Front office and Food Beverage). And why is there a shortage? Below is a article researched from Khaleej Times Online on Manpower shortage biggest challenge to hospitality industry by Zoe Sinclair (Staff Reporter) 4 May 2008 MENA Travel Awards organizer CHA International President Dr Sam Saker estimated staff needs at an average ratio of five staff to one room. This ratio puts staff needs at more than 50,000 people by 2010 and by 2016 a further 150,000 staff would be needed, he observed. He, however said that the ratio of staff per room in luxury hotels was likely closer to seven to one. Compounding this is the issue of manpower retention. According to estimates, 20 per cent of staff will stay with their current employer and industry management predicts poaching to dominate staff recruitment. A report by world hospitality recruitment website Catererglobal.com was launched and surveyed more than 3,000 hospitality professionals across the Asia. It estimated only 10 per cent of staff would look for career opportunities within their current property. The challenge is to match growth with talent so service levels are maintained. At the same time retaining that talent within the hospitality industry via training and career progression opportunities is essential, said Peter Willis, Sales Manager, Catererglobal.com. Hotels must look at what they offer to candidates in terms of salary, benefits, and accommodation in an increasingly competitive landscape, otherwise, the strain on the sector will begin or already beginning to slow down. Today, as I am in the sectors of Human Resources Industries, in my company, we did many recruitment campaigns for different industries and mainly for Singaporeans, I realized that Hospitality Industries have been highly active and continuously in hiring. Talking to many Hotels Human Resource Officers, they mentions that in todays employment in the hotel, they can hardly find a replacement or new hire of Singaporean to do the job, the turnovers especially in the front line operations are extremely high and fast. The staffs that are currently supporting the roles are mainly foreigners from Malaysia, China, Vietnam and the numbers of Filipinos are increasing in these industries, only small percentages of Singaporean can be found in todays front line operations. Questing where has the Singaporean gone to? I recently did a few career fairs for the fresh graduates in different Polytechnics and we are mainly recruiting for Hospitality Industries. The responses are slow, and I took the opportunity and created a simple survey form for the students in the collage, allowing us to better understand the students future choice of careers. Students are required to tick the industries and the preferred working hours that they are keen in perusing in the future. And the collective of results and industries are shown below: (A sample of the survey form is attached under appendix) Job Specialization Looking at the results from the survey, I learned that Hospitality Industries only stands a small percentage of 1.9% out of 3,000 students, of cause 3,000 students is only the 21.4% out of estimated 14,000 graduating Polytechnic students annually. In the survey, I also added on with the preferred working hours for their job, I realized that todays students preferred to be off duties during weekends and public holidays as it standing at 45.1%, it is almost half the percentage from the survey, next highest preferred working hours are from 9 to 6pm office hours job, which is standing at 43%. Now, looking at the hospitality industries, most likely is it not possible to have a fixed off days during the weekends, and front line hoteliers are scheduled for shift work like (Morning/ Afternoon/ Midnight shift) starting from 7am to 5pm, 3pm to 1 am and 11pm to 9am or even a split shift from 10am to 3pm and back to operation again from 6pm to 11pm. Understanding the hotels operation hours, hotels operates 24 hours business, the hoteliers are required to work minimum 198 hours per month (excluding the over time hours) it is about 9 hours per day and 2 days off per week. And very often, hoteliers are expected to do over time after their scheduled timing, especially during the peak period. The overtime hours, can be 2 hours extra or at times, hoteliers have to be prepared to cover the next shift, usually to cover the absentee or last minute shortage to manpower, which can be another 7 to 8 hours more. Although hoteliers are entitled for 2 days off, but it comes during the weekdays, weekends off only come after the rotation within the team. The busier and peak period in hospitality industries business are during the festive seasons or public holidays, long weekends, school holidays and during the big functions or events happening in Singapore. Hotels Standards Yearly schedule are shown below (Peak Period, Events Festive Season) In January : New Years Day In February : Asia Aerospace and Chinese New Year In March : 1 week School Holiday In April : Good Friday, Easter day and events of World Gourmet Summit In May : Labor day and Vesak day In June : 3 weeks of School Holidays In July : Slow Period In August : Slow Period (Chinese Ghost Festival), Singapore National Day In September : 1 week school holiday, Hari Raya Puasa and event of Formula 1 In October : Slow Period In November : Deepavali and Hari Raya Haji In December : 1 month of School holiday, Christmas Day and the celebration and countdown of New Years Day Hoteliers besides handling the activities within the country, their main objective is to operate services to Tourist and Guest from Business trip which will happen every 365 days. Looking at the above surveys and studies of employment for front line hoteliers in Hospitality Industry, I learned that although the environment and atmosphere is a glamorous one. However, looking that living of Singaporean today, I understand why there is a shortage of locals talents. I believed that many of the locals family members or friends are mostly working in the above stated industries, which are the standard office hours from 9am to 6pm operation. Because that is the most preferred working hours that Singaporean can balance their time for work, children, family members and social. Before, I am also an hotelier, as I do not have any commitment to my family members and I needed a stepping stone for my next step into my career, I chosen hospitality industries. My experience during those 5 years of journey in hospitality industry is the most enjoyable and valuable one. Although, I have missed out many of the fun moment with my family members and friends especially during their weekends and festive sessions, because most of the time, when I am off during the weekdays, they were all working or schooling. And when they are off during the weekends or festive session, there I am working. It is hard for us to spend time together. That is why I can understand why Singaporean has chosen other industries then Hotel industry. The only main focus for a Singaporean to choose hospitality industry as their professional career, they must be someone that has the PASSION in serving and meeting different various people around the world, because the local has to sacrifice the times with the family members and the love ones. And only people that accepted and understand this service industry will be happy and enjoying working in this sectors. This is also why you can find more foreigners working in hospitality industry because some of them actually paid to come over Singapore to work, with the nature of long working hours in this industry, they have less commitment here then a Singaporean, that is why there are willing to work for a longer hours then any Singaporean. Working in hospitality industry, everyday, every moment you see smiles smiling at you, you see people servicing people and at the end of the day, the satisfaction is there, and that is what makes the hoteliers enjoying working in the industry. Succession planning was identified as a key contributor to strategic growth and for the continuation of high quality standards for customer service levels. Employees with a high potential for promotion are monitored, especially in regard to their participation in training and development, which has been determined to be a key indicator of success in upward progression. The measurement of leadership skills was the subject of intense debate and most organizations are investing in developing these metrics, for early identification of leaders with potential. Maintaining contact with previous and potential employees has become standard practice among the hoteliers. New approaches to communication, such as blogs, online social networking groups, electronic newsletters and bulletin boards are widely used to maintain contact and remain abreast of this group of potential employees concerns and ideas. Department of Labors employment and training administration is supporting comprehensive partnerships that include employers, the public workforce system, and other entities that have developed innovative approaches that address the workforce needs of business while also effective helping worker find good jobs with good and attractive wages and promising career pathways in the hospitality industry. In my essay 2, I will be writing about the retention challenges in hospitality industry and I will also provide some positive and effective ideas to improve the matters. Reference List Doleta Gov; June 2005, Hospitality Industry Information. Available at: http://www.doleta.gov/BRG/Indprof/Hospitality .cfm [Accessed 20 April 2010] Warren. Bennis, Ph.D. On Becoming a Leader Forbes top 100; 9 January 2006, Merkel Worlds Most Powerful Woman. Available at: http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,434696,00.html [Accessed 29 November 2009] Squidoo; 2006. Angela Merkel the first female chancellor of Germany. Available at: http://www.squidoo.com/angela-merkel [Accessed 29 November 2009] Tatiana. Serafin. 9 January 2006; The most powerful woman in the world. Available at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26426065/ [Accessed 29 November 2009] Travel China Guide; Empress Wu Zetian. Available at: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/history/tang/emperor_wuzetian.htm [Accessed 9 November 2009] Biographies; 1996 to 2009. Female Heroes of Asia: China. Available at: http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/heroine6.html [Accessed 9 November 2009] Theories of Innovation | Netflix Case Study Theories of Innovation | Netflix Case Study The following discussion will provide insights on what is innovation by taking into account its characteristics through the example of Netflix and phone manufacturing companies. Theories will also be applied to illustrate why innovations are needed. It then leads to the four roles that science can either play by analysing Paul L. Gardner (1994)s ideas. Finally, this essay will suggest the transforming roles of science in technological innovation. The discussion to that will mainly focus on how creative destruction (Schumpeter, 1942) has become a recurring problem since the rising of RD. What do we mean by innovation? The meaning of innovation is not merely what is stated in a dictionary, but often instead characterised with the values it adds to an entity. Some traits of innovation can be demonstrated in the example of Netflix. Netflix is one of the biggest streaming providers within the entertainment industry, co-founded by Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings in 1997 (Netflix), who later forewent the DVD delivering service. This business firstly establishes the concept that innovations are not restricted in the format of a product, but also a service. Secondly, the subscribing fee introduces the commercialisation of Netflixs new approach in delivering entertainment. Netflixs burgeoning business also embodies the idea of creative destruction (Schumpeter, 1942)- formalising the new way of distributing entertainment by knocking down alike businesses and the labour force involved. The streaming network Netflix provides effectively separated the DVD rental industry from the mainstream home entertainment source. Ever since its start-up, USs consumer spending on home entertainment through brick-and-mortar rental has been declining; it plummeted a substantial 21% in 2016 to $0.49 billion (Statista, 2016). Subsequently, the number of employees within the video tape and disc rental industry decreases over the last decade (BLS, 2015). The success of Netflix has also influenced the English language. For example, people often refer any business pushed out by Netflix as Netflixed (Perry, 2015). This reiterates there is no precondition for an innovation to be a high-tech product, but also suggests the collateral novelties in a different field which could be le d to by the innovation. Also, consider the case of Samsung being accused for imitating iPhones appearance, display, touch-screen interface and packaging (IBT, 2016). Assume Samsung pragmatically copied Apples notions, but that a Samsung Galaxys phone realistically looks different to an iPhone. It is reasonable to suggest that the room for innovations is restricted by what is already existing. For instance, the layout of virtual keyboards on phones is confined by the fundamentality of the QWERTY keyboard which historically served the purpose to resort jamming occurred in typewriters. Even if alternative keyboards such as Dvorak (1936) ergonomically speeds up typing (How-to Geek, 2014), but the multitude will still prefer the QWERTY keyboard because they are locked into the QWERTY paradigm (Margolis and Liebowitz, 2000). The Pandas Thumb Theory (Gould, 1980) plays a role in explaining the evolution of the QWERTY keyboard. It illustrates pandas outwardly grown wrist bones as a result of the lack of functionality of their real thumbs, so that they can hold onto bamboos when they eat. This essentially means if bamboo was extinct in history, then pandas anatomical adaptation would not have served a purpose. Analogically to the QWERTY keyboard, if typewriter was never invented then the QWERTY layout would have been composed for no values. Therefore, innovation is supposedly a purpose-derived and commercialised spinoff of creative destruction following path dependencies e.g. Netflix; which is also served as a process to overcome flawed innovations e.g. original typewriter. What is the role of science in technological innovations? Science might have acted as a free-rider to absorb experience from innovating technologies. Prior to the industrial revolution and the introduction of thermo-kinetic theory of gas, the first steam engine was invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1712 (BBC History) despite the lack of efficiency and the extravagant cost to build one. This example preliminarily provides the materialist view of technology preceding science (Gardner, 1994a). As scientific understanding towards thermodynamics grew, James Watt improved the primitive steam engine in 1769 (BBC History) which was then widely applied in powering transportations. A complementary nature between science and technology is implied (Gardner, 1994b)- Newcomen had set the basis of a viable steam engine which allowed theories to be developed over time which could explain the principle of a steam engine, and finally the piece of technology was refined by adapting the new knowledge acquired. The latter also brings about how science informs technology (Gardner, 1994c). Nevertheless, there are also hints of independency between the thermodynamic theory and the steam engine, because the two elements are only interacting with each other if they truly share the same goal and implement the same process arriving to a coherent result (Gardner, 1994d). Note that this merely implies a particular scientific thoery is not intentionally developed for a particular technology, vice versa. It doesnt deny either of which lead to the other. Thermodynamics was proposed on the ground to explain how hot gas transfer energy, whereas James Watt refined the steam engine to improve its efficacy. The goals are varied. Similarly, physicists might have carried out a series of experiment to conclude a more comprehensive model for thermodynamics. Meantime, James Watt could have just redesigned the steam engine by applying the thermodynamic theory. Both processes and the corresponding outcomes are unidentical. How has this role changed since the first industrial revolution? During the industrial revolution, science offered assurance to technological innovation in order to improve labour working conditions. Both unskilled and skilled labours worked long hours and received below reasonable salaries, who also operated machines with a paucity of safety precautions often led to deaths and injuries. Child workers are often the victims of these accidents due to their unawareness of dangers. For instance, Cora Flipse was killed at the age of fourteen, from an accident where her head was trapped between the edge of the lift and floor (Our Great American Heritage, 2016). Followed by the accident, Elisha Graves Otis worked on the safety of elevators by introducing the safety brake (1853) to minimise casualties in case of the cables break; not adding doors to stop body parts from getting caught by moving components. The principle of the safety brake provided assurance to the use of elevators, but the need to apply the knowledge for the safety brake was informed by the inherent flaws of the technology. Nowadays, science continues to establish an assiduous safety standard in work environment. Potentially dangerous tasks can be carried out by robots such as Handle (Boston Dynamics, 2017), which can perform a 6.5 feet vertical jump an excessive 1.2 feet on top of the highest human jump recorded (TechCrunch, 2017) and overcome rough contours. Essentially, the safer the work environment, the less relevant the human input to an entity. As the size of a company grows, the emergence of RD departments allows division of labour but it also routinises the process of technological innovation (Schumpeter, 1942). This effectively reverses Karl Poppers proposition about falsification that science is all about disproving (1963), because a profit-maximising firm is more likely to try to prove the feasibility of technology instead of disproving it. Of course, robotic technology is imperfect and it is yet to be integrated by research and development (RD) departments. Thus, science can be constituted as an excuse to help secure human jobs in the way of developing technological innovations. When machines gradually replace human labours, the emergence of RD might seem like an attempt to paper up the plethora of workers. Assume a company wants to found a RD department and all employees in the manufacturing department have equal proficiency in bringing new innovations to light. Then unneeded workers in the manufacturing department can simply be outplaced to the RD department. The recurring problem to be considered is that the RD department might be working towards a technology that might even further devalue the employees. Eventually, human labours will suffer from their own creative destructions. Additional to those, science might have conjointly acted as a driver to prompt creation of government policies. Innovations such as vaccination undoubtedly increased the life expectancy. While the British government might have complicated the health and safety regulations due to the uncertainty brought along by science and its corresponding technology in work environment. Meanwhile, the Chinese government might have been burdened by the rising Chinese population and so the enactment of the one-child policy was needed. In conclusion, sciences role has changed since the first industrial revolution in three ways. Firstly, it has changed from giving assurance to technological innovations to giving the ascendant right for technology to replace human labours. Secondly, from falsifying the possibility of technology to ascertaining it in RD. Thirdly, and passively, from aiming to protract peoples lives to controlling the number of population as a result of that. References Gardner, P. (1999). The representation of science-technology relationships in Canadian physics textbooks. International Journal of Science Education, [online] 21(3), pp.329-347. Available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/095006999290732?needAccess=true [Accessed 13 Mar. 2017]. Goel, A. (2016). Supreme Court Gives Samsung a Reprieve in Apple Patent Case. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/06/technology/samsung-apple-smartphone-patent-supreme-court.html?_r=0 [Accessed 11 Mar. 2017]. Gould, S. (n.d.). Bully for Brontosaurus. 1st ed. Penguin Books, pp.59-72. M. OBRIEN, J. (2002). The Netflix Effect. [online] WIRED. Available at: https://www.wired.com/2002/12/netflix-6/?pg=2 [Accessed 11 Mar. 2017]. Mannes, J. (2017). Boston Dynamics Handle robot dominates parkour on wheels in new footage. [online] TechCrunch. Available at: https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/27/boston-dynamics-handle-robot-dominates-parkour-on-wheels-in-new-footage/ [Accessed 13 Mar. 2017]. Perry, M. (2015). The Netflix effect: an excellent example of creative destruction. [online] AEIdeas. Available at: https://www.aei.org/publication/the-netflix-effect-is-an-excellent-example-of-creative-destruction/ [Accessed 10 Mar. 2017]. Popper, K. (n.d.). Sir Karl Popper Science as Falsification, 1963. [online] Stephenjaygould.org. Available at: http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/popper_falsification.html [Accessed 13 Mar. 2017]. Richter, F. (2017). Infographic: Netflix Co. Surpass DVD Blu-ray Sales. [online] Statista Infographics. Available at: https://www.statista.com/chart/7654/home-entertainment-spending-in-the-us/ [Accessed 11 Mar. 2017]. Statista. (2016). Canada TV programming sources 2016 | Statistic. [online] Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/495894/canada-sources-for-watching-tv-programs/ [Accessed 11 Mar. 2017]. Stephenjaygould.org. (2017). The Pandas Thumb (1980). [online] Available at: http://www.stephenjaygould.org/books/Pandas_Thumb/ [Accessed 12 Mar. 2017]. SustainabilityView. (2015). 10 Facts About the Inventor of the Worlds First Safety Elevator. [online] Available at: http://sustainabilityview.naturalleader.com/10-facts-about-the-inventor-of-the-worlds-first-safety-elevator/ [Accessed 13 Mar. 2017]. Yocco, V. (2015). Five Characteristics Of An Innovation Smashing Magazine. [online] Smashing Magazine. Available at: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2015/01/five-characteristics-of-innovations/ [Accessed 10 Mar. 2017].