Marketing Of Landscape Gardening Essay

Landscapers use their aptitude for art combined with their knowledge of plants to create breathtaking landscapes. But a landscape artist cannot share his knowledge unless he promotes his business. Business promotion is a combination of activities that create and maintain a positive image in a customer’s mind. Customer service, broad knowledge of the business and fair pricing strategies support promotional activities and contribute to the success of any business. Word of Mouth (Recommendations) This is the cheapest and best method of advertising your Landscape Gardening business, but it requires that you already have done some work. Your existing clients can be your biggest help in spreading the word about your business. This business thrives on referrals, so make sure that you talk to your existing customers and ask them if there’s anyone that may benefit your service. Advertisements Advertise on newspapers, tv ads, local ad magazines, billboards, your vehicle etc, however, the ads should be short and easy to read. Plant Exhibitions Contact convention organizers and event planning agencies in your area and learn about business exhibition opportunities. Many events are geared toward the small business owner and are reasonably priced. Attend plant exhibitions to promote your business. Plant exhibitions allow you to promote your products or services at a venue related to landscaping. Such exhibitions provide a venue to network and reach out to customers. Trade shows are also a good place to distribute promotional items. Create Business Cards Create business cards that match your brochures and website design. Creating matching promotional collateral creates a cohesive feel and helps establish your brand. Make Brochures Create visually pleasing brochures. Make sure the brochure lists your services, pricing, contact information and a bit about the business. You can also hire a designer to prepare brochures for you. Create a Website Contact a Web developer or create a website on your own. Your website’s content should appeal to people in your area. Include helpful information, such as guides to weeding, planting and winterizing gardens. Several services offer website packages that make creating a site simple. Link your site to Twitter and possibly a dedicated business page on Facebook

Case analysis-Harrington Collection Essay

Problem identification In 2008, Harrington Collection, a large manufacturer and retailer of U.S. high-end women’s apparel, was facing opportunities and challenges whether to launch of active-wear products to meet the market and customers’ needs. But according to the macroeconomic environment, the target market, competitors and its own financial condition, Harrington needed to take careful consideration and then make the best decision for their own development. The U.S. women’s apparel industry Market trends From the data of U.S. Apparel Market Sale (2002-07), we could find out that, even when subjected to the impact of the economic downturn, the U.S. women’s apparel industry remained in a mature and stable state and held by continued growth momentum. The Retail Sales increased from $106 billion in 2002, to $133 billion in 2007. The average annual growth rate is 4.7%. It showed that the total sales of the women’s apparel industry did not receive the macroeconomic impact. Consumers still had a high desire to go shopping. At the same time, analyzed the data from U.S. Apparel Market Units, influenced by the economic downturn, consumers were more interested in less than $100, low-priced women’s apparel. From 2005 to 2007, the growth rate of units sold in more than $200 is 3.4%, the product growth rate of between $100-200 is 1.4%, and $50 to 100 product growth rate is 14.3%, while less than $50 low-priced products have the highest growth rate of 16.1%. The low-cost market has a great opportunity for manufacturers. Characteristics and competition The value chain of the women’s apparel industry is about: (1) branding; (2) design; (3) buying; (4) production; (5) channel marketing; (6) distribution; and (7) retailing. In the era of apparel products are relative homogenization, price war seems to become a common method to erode the market share of each other between brands. Each brand need to face how to  effectively reduce costs. Many brands established overseas plants or outsourced to overseas factories. This could reduce their cost of production and labor. Through effective monitoring, the overseas factory’s products also have a good quality. This makes the increased competition on the market. Women’s apparel retailers included department stores, mass merchandisers, specialty stores, and warehouse clubs/supercenters. Among them, the specialty stores got the 1st position, 58.6% share of channel, changed 11% from 2005 to 2007. The 2nd place is department store, 19.0%. Mass merchandisers got the 3rd position with 11.4%. In the retailing women’s apparel for the U.S. market, the most important distribution channel is specialty store. Harrington Collection Company’s background As a nearly 50-year history of the women’s apparel brand, Harrington Collection has a clear market positioning. Targeted at the high-end market is the original intention of Harrington Collection. The 1980s, the Harrington Collection expanded Vigor and Christina Cole brands, the product line aimed at the younger customer market. Because of their superior quality, knowledgeable sales staff and designer styles, they have a group of loyal customers. Four product lines Harrington Collection targeted affluent, fashionable, college-educated, professional women from 25 to 60. This company has four product lines, covered three classifications (Designer, Bridge, and Better) of the women’s apparel market. They targeted women of different ages, different background, and different family income. The Harrington Limited, as the â€Å"Designer† classification. This product line focuses on the Designer Collection, targets the customer as â€Å"Sophisticated Elegance†. Their age is from 35 to 60, an average household income is more than $200k. The retail price range is $500-$1000+. And it has 20% of Market Share, as the â€Å"Cash Cow†. It shows Harrington Collection’s market position is a high-end brand. Harrington Limited is the company’s most important product, and as a high-end brand, the products could show the strength of Harrington Collection. The Sopra, positions as the â€Å"Bridge† classification. This product line focuses on the Evening Wear; it targets the consumers of â€Å"Status Seeker†. The retail price  is about $400-$800. Most of the customers are 35-60; household income is more than $150k. The market share of Sopra is the lowest among the four product lines, only 5%. It is the â€Å"Dog† product, but the Evening Wear means the high-end position of a company, Harrington Collection needs to keep this product line. The Christina Cole, positions as the â€Å"Bridge† classification. This product line focuses on the high-end Career Wear; it targets the customers of â€Å"Office Chic†, with the price from $300-$700. The average information of the customers is 30-55, with more than $100k household income. The market share is 8%. The market positioning of this classification’s products are very competitive, so 8% is acceptable. It is the â€Å"Star†. The Vigor, â€Å"Better† classification’s product line, focuses on the Career Wear. Targeted customers are â€Å"Trend Setter†. They are from 25 to 50, with more than $75k household income. As the targeted age of the customers is younger than the others product lines, this line is full of fresh and flexible. It is able to adapt to the needs of the market to react and change, the â€Å"Star†. Manufactory strategy Harrington Collection does not set up overseas factories in Asia or outsourcing, for two reasons. First, they expected of high-quality women’s apparel products, good quality make their products to attract high-end consumers. Second, they hoped to catch up with the fashion, the close plants will have a high speed to deliver their product to the retail department, it could be able to help the brand issue season’s trend styles with the fastest speed. This strategy improves the cost of product, but it will help to enhance the brand image. Active wear In recent years, more and more of the company launched its own active wear products, just like hoodie, pants, and tee-shirt. Consumers buy active wear’s aimed not just in gym, but worn in everyday life. Consumers believe that active wear is very comfortable, very fresh, and very casual. There is also a very important reason, active wear is relatively cheap. In 2007, the â€Å"moderate† and â€Å"budget† classifications got 80% of market share on the apparel market and sold 7.5 million units in that year. But in 2009, many brands started to transform at the level of the â€Å"better† active wear. The average selling price was just below $100.By such changes in the market, we  can see that the consumer’s demand of high-grade active wear was increased. And consumers are willing and able to buy high-end active wear. Active wear of Vigor Division To Harrington Collection, in 2007 and 2008, the active wear market was not suitable for them to locate a high-end brand. Their brands, Vigor, the lowest level of the product line, but also achieve the â€Å"Better† classification. At that time, the consumers were more interested in the cheaper products. But the Market trends had a sudden shift in 2009, so Harrington Collection got an excellent opportunity to join into the active wear market. Harrington Collection’s Vigor brand is the most suitable for the introduction of active wear products. In the minds of consumers, Harrington Collection is a high-end brand, if Vigor was able to launch active wear products, would be favored by the consumers of high-end brands. Vigor’s styles were much more flexible than the others brands of Harrington Collection. And the core styles of active wear were about fresh and lifestyle. As a brand of Harrington Collection, Vigor continued the strategy of their company, provided the hi gh quality and agility products to fix the consumers’ needs, wants, and demands. This would attract the existing customers of Harrington Collection to purchase Vigor active wear products, because they believed that these garments were high quality and fashion. The Vigor team made decision about pricing. That hoodie, tee-shirt, and pants would be $100, $40, and $80, it seemed not a very high price, the working-class even could afford for them. It could help Vigor to get shares in the market of â€Å"moderate† classification. However, the establishment of a new product line requires the purchase of new equipment, the new plant, equipped with the appropriate staff. Harrington Collection needed to build a management team, design team. However, even the prospects of the market were perfect, but it still had a high risk to invest. Because of the market was full of uncertainties. But as a very promising project, Harrington Collection should carry out investment and development. Potential retail trade Because of the Vigor has laid a foundation, with a number of loyal customers. The active wear’s released as a new product sold in the present  market. Consumers can purchase the Vigor products from company-owned stores, upscale department and sociality stores. Company-owned stores’ sales and units are about 20% of the other two kind’s stores. Company-owned stores As the retail group of the Harrington Collection, they operated 120 stores, 50 of them were dedicated solely to the Vigor division. As the advantages of these stores that belong to the same forest senior enterprise distribution strategy can be effective implementation. Harrington Collection can avoid large retailers control, independent development and implementation of the marketing strategy. In these stores, Harrington Collection can be unified planning, unified propaganda, to help establish and enhance brand image. The stores’ management can be more direct contact with the market, and is easy to understand the changes in market demand, and at first time to adjust the marketing strategy. But with the high operating costs, many involve the management of business, need to invest a lot of manpower, material and financial resources. Upscale department and sociality stores As another two very important sales channels, they sold 80% of the Harrington Collection’s products. Both the two storefronts implement the same plan and strategy, with a certain degree of stability and integrity, and at the same time are able to avoid the vicious competition among the channel members. However, in this distribution channel, the prices of the previous link directly decide the latter part of the cost. Vigor’s active-wear The Vigor active-wear’s pricing relative to other products is relatively low, less than $100. This series is a strong attraction for consumers. In the initial launch, Vigor would be vigorously publicized. With Harrington Collection’s brand awareness, it was estimated that due to the current market demand is relatively large, and will soon get a valid response. The pricing strategy of Vigor active-wear is market skimming prices. Although these prices are lower than the other products of Vigor. But the variable costs of these products are only $20.55 (Hoodie), $7.50 (Tee-shirt), and $16.40 (Pants). The pricings are $100.00 (Hoodie), $40.00 (Tee-shirt), and $80 (Pants). Even with other related variable costs, and the fixed costs as  well as the construction of the plant, the purchase of equipment, and the administrative expenses of the management. The total cost of the product is much lower than the pricing. This pricing strategy can maximize profits of each single product. And it will not affect their own brand positioning to consumers buying enthusiasm. These products as same with other products of Vigor, will perform the same sales strategy; simultaneous promotion. The active-wear will not become a special product, which will affect the attitude of consumers to Vigor, that the active-wear of lower grade, or a decline in sales situations. Vigor’s competitors’ reaction â€Å"Better† level Positioning â€Å"Better† level the active-wear market is very competitive. Liz Claiborne’s Juicy Couture was one of the early leaders in this market. The leading companies, such as Jones Apparel Group and Liz Claiborne, both of them had a high share in the women’s apparel market. Even more, most of their products positioned in the â€Å"Better† classification. After Harrington Collection released Vigor series active-wear, the two companies will certainly respond. These two competitors in the overall grade lower than Harrington Collection, but because they build factories in the third world, their cost is lower than Harrington Collection, so they can drive down prices, establish a price war in this â€Å"Better† classification. At the same level, the relative homogenizations of active-wear products make it difficult to get a breakthrough in the design. So the price seems to have become a major factor in many consumers’ choice. Each company will be fully developed characteristics of their own company’s products, in order to attract more loyal customers, and seize the market share of other companies. Other levels Competitors with the same grade of the Harrington Collection will seize this opportunity to enter the active-wear market. They will not have a distinct advantage in the price, even in the presence of a disadvantage. But their quality may be higher, more innovative style design; fabric selection will be more comfortable. These products will attract high-end consumers’ details. The low-end brands will not impact on the formation of Vigor. They target different customer groups, both the customers will not be  influenced by each other. There is no direct competition, but would impact overall active-wear market share. Potential financial impact of Vigor active-wear manufacturing group The establishment and promotion of a new product needs to Harrington Collection invest. As the Vigor active-wear manufacturing group, this part of the investment is very high. The pants’ equipment costing was about $2 million and plant start-up cost estimated at $1.2 million. This program’s cost estimated $3 million. The hoodie and tee-shirt’s equipment costing was about $2.5 million and plant start-up cost estimated at $2.5 million. This program’s cost estimated $3.5 million. The expenses of national advertising and public relations campaign were estimated at $2 million. The carrying of active-wear line for every company-owned store was $50000 per store. The total carrying expense was about $2.5 million for 50 company-owned stores. The other data will be calculated in the form at the end of this part. In the end, the profit before tax in 2009 was $6,304,590. The profit margin before tax was 15.8%. Make decision A mature company should be good at discovering market opportunities, and seize the opportunity. Every investment has its risks, and identifies real opportunities for each company is very important. As people increasingly focus on practical demand for clothing, active-wear has good market prospects, and Harrington Collection has an advantage for the development of this product line. Even though the initial investment is huge, but this product is also huge gains. These products sale for a period of time then  the early investment will be recovered form earnings. Harrington Collection should let Vigor add this product line.

Article 2 v Article 3 In a Ticking Bomb Scenario Dissertation

Article 2 v Article 3 In a Ticking Bomb Scenario - Dissertation Example This essay discusses that all around the world, the civil societies considered it flagrant violations of human rights. It is also unacceptable under Article 5 of UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signatories of Third and fourth Geneva Conventions. Besides United Nations Convention against Torture, ratified by the representatives of 147 countries does not allow torture on captive suspects. The concept of thought experiment was initially introduced by the famous novelist Jean in the year 1960. The driving force of cited thoughts stems from the first Indo China War. The professor of Political Science at Reed College endorsed torturing on suspects provided he or she is involved in claiming or intended to claim numerous lives and destruction of properties through their subversive activities. In accordance with the definition of 1984 United Nations Convention Torture is: â€Å"Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a pe rson for such purposes as obtaining from him, or a third person, information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in, or incidental to, lawful sanctions†. ... In accordance with the definition of 1984 United Nations Convention Torture is: â€Å"Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him, or a third person, information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in, or incidental to, lawful sanctions†3. Mentioned definition is strictly applicable on the nations and the government sponsored torture. The torture inflicted directly or indirectly includes: a) torture inflicted upon by the gangsters, ethnic group, rebels or t errorists b) abrupt violence during war and c) whipping d) politically motivated torture of all sorts. The intellectuals of the United Kingdom are of the view that though the torture on suspects is not morally justifiable or legally permissible as per UK law. But under certain circumstances, torture on the suspects to get material information may be allowed. For example if a terrorist who is in the custody of law enforcing agencies / investigation agencies planted bomb in a busy shopping area, if exploded may claim hundreds of lives and mass destruction of properties. In such situation, torture on a suspect to get critical information relating to their links with the terrorist

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Critical Review - Essay Example Although this explanation was devised, some studies have shown the feasibility to stabilizing the GHG at a desired low level, which implies that few information are available on the strategies that could reduce the global temperature through stabilization of GHG. Earlier studies discussed the mitigation options to lower levels of concentration of GHG through emission reduction by carbon capture and storage (CCS) (Sally Orr 303). After nearly four years, the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) new-fangled Part 810 guidelines are finally in place. The need for grandfather endowment in the new regulation means that numerous corporations will need to be decisive—in the formula of written export submissions and/or written notifications—to uphold amenability with their expertise export obligations. This regulation was apprised in 1986, and the international civil industry market has expanded in recent times. The DOE faces numerous technological challenges to deal with such emission disputes in the United States. The department should plan accordingly the termini and undertakings that are largely accredited or subject to definite authorizations. Fossil fuels are the greatest contribution to the world’s source of energy. Burning of fossil fuels is the major contributor to electricity, heating, and transportation. However, the burning fossil fuels emit carbon dioxide (CO2), which is also the major contributor to the GHG that is affecting the planet. CO2 makes up 79% of Canada’s total emission (PWGSC, 2009). CCS is a mitigation approach in which its primary focus is reducing the CO2 emission from the burning of fossil fuels. The CCS could significantly reduce the carbon footprint of fossil fuels ultimately leading to the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) that are emitted into the atmosphere affecting the ozone layer (Figure 1). CCS would

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Reaction Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reaction Paper - Assignment Example In this paper, I will focus on the long-term maintenance and management of persons who are addicted to Opioid drugs. Methadone is recently been used as a treatment for persons suffering from opiate addiction. However, its reception in the country and internationally has not been positive, in the sense that, it has brought many controversies. Conversely, in my opinion methadone has been a great boost for persons addicted to opiate drugs, as well as, heroin. This is because it blocks the euphoric and numbing effects of opiates. Secondly, cravings for opiates are relived, which has been stated to be a major factor for relapse. Besides, from reducing cravings, it has helped in reliving symptoms associated with withdrawal from opiates. The fact that methadone does not cause any intoxication or euphoria in the body causing a person to work effectively is the major reason methadone is the appropriate maintenance treatment. Therefore, the use of methadone as a long-term drug for drug addiction maintenance is effective. Because according to the research conducted by Proctor et al. (2014), it is clear that the advantages of methadone over buprenorphine were many. In the research conducted by Akhondzadeh et al (2014), the research indicated that the use of self-help group was most preferred because of the higher agreeableness, as well as, lower neuroticism that were seen in people who attended NA meetings. Although the use of methadone is, a good approach of dealing with people who are opiate addicts in this time and age people are too busy to find time to attend NA meetings. Additionally, it was established that people who attend NA meetings had a lower level of education and come from poor backgrounds than those who used methadone as a form of maintenance for drug addiction (Matesa, 2011). For that reason, it is clear that although there are different methods of drug maintenance they

Explain the Meaning of the Four Noble Truths Essay

Explain the Meaning of the Four Noble Truths - Essay Example This truth helps us understand that we should be realistic and seek to better understand suffering inorder to lessen it when it occurs (Molloy 133). The Second Truth: Suffering generally comes from Desire When Buddha took the time to analyze suffering, he found that it is often experienced due to our nature that is rarely satisfied what we may happen to have. The Sanskrit word â€Å"trishna† can invariably be translated to mean craving which is seen to suggest both the fear of loss as well as an addiction (Molloy 133). The Third Truth: To Ending Desire will End Suffering Although this truth is seen to generally contradict a number of western notions that encourage one to try and achieve every imaginable desire, its guiding principles are seen to essentially be true. Buddha himself left his family and possessions and taught his followers that their desire for any form of attachments would invariably result in their suffering. Although it might be impossible or difficult to chan ge the entire outside world, I can be able to sufficiently change how I view the outside world by changing myself (Molloy 133). The Fourth Noble Truth: Release from Suffering is Possible The ultimate goal of the entire Buddhism religion is for one to be able to attain nirvana which suggest inner peace, liberation as well as the end of suffering. One is able to obtain self-control and not be driven by emotional forces. Buddhist followers are generally encouraged to try and follow the noble Eight fold Path as it is perceived that this will aid them in the attainment of nirvana (Molloy 134). What is Nirvana? As is often common in Hinduism, the outside everyday world that experiences constant change is also referred to as samsara in Buddhism. This term is seen to suggest both pain and decay and according to Buddhist teachings, one is able to eventually be liberated from Samsara by attaining Nirvana. It is widely believed that Nirvana is essentially a state where one is able to exist wit hout experiencing any limitations. Although there exists a misconception among most individuals in the West who commonly think of nirvana as being a psychological state mainly because it is often described as helping evoke both peace and joy, nirvana is found to better be thought of as being generally indescribable and largely beyond all the possible psychological states (Molloy 139-140). Why is Nirvana Important? Although the actual attainment of nirvana is seen to occur rather rarely, it is generally theoretically very possible for one to be able to attain this much sought after state within their lifetime. Buddha himself is said to have only managed to finally entire nirvana at the time of his enlightenment. Most Buddhists seek to attain nirvana due to the promise of peace and contentment that is offered. Nirvana is also important as it effectively signifies the end of an individual’s circle of constant rebirth and death. It is a common belief in most cultures inclusive of Buddhism that one is essentially born a number of times before their current life (Molloy 139-140). What are the Basic Differences between the Theravada and the Mahayana Buddhists? Although Mahayana Buddhists and the Theravada Buddhists happen to share essentially similar core beliefs and have an essentially identical devotion to both the teachings and the life of Buddha, there a number of differences existing between the two branches of Buddhism. A key difference is that while Theravada Buddhism is found to be more widespread in the South East Asia regions and is widely believed to essentially be older and close to the original form of Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism

Corporate Strategy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Corporate Strategy - Research Paper Example It is possible to assume that both companies have large cash reserves spent on research and development. These reserves also enable them to take risks in spending large sums for advertising and promotion. Both companies have good reputation among customers and created cost advantage from propriety know-how. S&W and Makatume take full advantage of the quality image their products have earned over time because of automated modern factories and use of modern management methods. Aggressive advertising is used by S&W as the main marketing tool that allows the company to reach wider target audience and expend internationally. Also, cooperation and assistance of such retailers as Big Boxes, allows S&W to stock many of its products. The strength of Makatume is fast growing cordless segment and innovative production facilities in Japan. Makatume has substantial advantages over S&W, especially in its ability to achieve higher levels of quality and productivity and in the availability of low-cost labor and financing. Makatume takes full advantage of these benefits in effectively competing with American firms in U.S. markets. The main weakness of S&W is market confusion between its professional and consumer power tools. In contrast to Makatume, S&W does not have a strong position in cordless market segment. Another weakness of S&W is negative attitude of its distributors caused by abuse of their market position. S&W cannot react effectively to changing market conditions because of its size and outdated product lines. S&W has a high cost structure (old technologies and high labor cost) which prevents it from rapid growth and change. The weaknesses of Makatume include lower voltage product market and importance to invest in R&D and introduce new products, higher voltage segment. It is necessary to develop specific strategies to incorporate quality into product, promotion, pricing, and distribution areas (Johnson, Scholes 2003). Opportunities Favorable economic conditions and arrival of new technologies propose both companies opportunities to grow and increase their market share. Favorable exchange rate and stable economic situation in the region provide new opportunities for the product/market expansion grid and a framework for the marketers to consider the balance of product offerings. Threats Increased competition is the main threat for both companies. The growing imports from Chine and low price products proposed by domestic and foreign competitors become a real threat for such giants as W&S and Makatume. The threat of new entrants is the main problem: new companies can reduce industry profits and specific market share for the existing products. In the case of PEPT market, the number of companies and their location are the first indicators of the intensity of competition. This competition is further heightened by the presence of substitute products. Solutions and Recommendation In order to minimize weakness and threats, S&W has to update its product lines and introduce new brand for consumer products. It will help to avoid confusion and create a unique image of its products. Restructuring and organizational change is another step to improve market and operations performance. Only in this case, S&W will be able to deal simultaneously with various day-to-day crises. New technologies and methods of manufacturing will help S&W respond to market

Managing strategy Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Managing strategy - Case Study Example Starbucks Corporation is a global coffee retailing organisation headquartered in Seattle of United States (US). It was established in the year 1985 by three English partners named Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl and Gordon Bowker (Smith, 2007). It is one of the leading coffee house conglomerates in the world with a substantial reputation and corporate brand image (Bigboardnews.Com, 2012; Thompson & Shah 2010). Apart from beverage sector, it also deals in restaurants and entertainment division. Starbucks is the market leader in beverage sector in global market with annual revenue of $10.7 billion at the end of the year 2010 (Starbucks Corporation, 2009). Starbucks mainly attempts to offer most delicious coffee to its customers in order to inspire individuals in the targeted market (Starbucks Corporation, 2011). Hence, from the SWOT analysis, it can be clearly depicted that even though Starbucks is a renowned organisation with a sustainable corporate image in international market, it includes certain limitations as mentioned above. Besides, it can also lead to varied threats as well due to alternative market trends and preferences amid the targeted customers. This might also result due to globalisation. Hence, from the above PESTEL analysis, a detail overview about varied external factors which are most likely to have a substantial impact over Starbucks’ international operations can be evaluated in an appropriate way in order to understand the impact of these aspects on Starbucks. Thus, from this investigation, it can be clearly determined that there are higher prospects of expansion and development of Starbucks in future years. With reference to the PESTLE analysis, the prime factors which can offer a significant impact on Starbucks can be identified which is described below: Starbucks is one of the leading coffee retailing brands in the global context which positions itself as the market leader in food and beverage sector.

Principles of Macroeconomics Essay Example for Free

Principles of Macroeconomics Essay An increase of government purchases occurs after a rise in aggregate output and employment. This tends to stimulate the economy, people then tend to buy more and save less. Therefore, it results to a higher importation than exportation, known as the trade deficit. The budget deficit increases the external deficits because the exports do not proportionately increase to counterweight increase imports. This explains that a large budget deficit raises domestic interest rates and the exchange rate. With a higher exchange rate the domestic products becomes more expensive and foreign goods cheaper. Hence, the import increases while export decreases. Resulting, the trade deficit to be enlarged. Consequently, to help drive the trade and current account of the balance of payments into deficit there is a combination of a higher interest rate and a stronger currency. However, to defend that the budget deficits mainly results from tax cuts that tend to reduce both public revenues and public saving; many researchers have justified the Ricardian equivalence hypothesis. Nevertheless, these tax cuts are effective on reducing public savings and enlarging the budget deficit, equivalently they increase private saving by amount. However, Ricardo’s neutrality hypothesis recommended that the private sector views budget deficits as public investment and treats public and private investment as perfect substitutes. How do the CPI and the GDP deflator differ? Why do economists believe that the CPI overstates the rate of inflation? Is this an important problem? CPI is an accurate measure of inflation. When the price basket goes up so does the CPI. It is limited to what it measures. It only measure the prices of the goods and services purchased by the urban consumers which is about 60% of the total production of the economy whilst on the contrary the GDP deflator measures the total production in the economy. It also allows to show up in the deflator the as people respond to changing prices. With this approach, the GDP deflator is being rebound up to date expenditure patterns. Despite that CPI only measure about 60% of the total production, it helps people give the idea how it affects them because it measures the type of goods they buy. Moreover, it comes out monthly and available anytime. With the historical comparison, most of the time the CPI and GDP price deflator had the same inflation rate, and when there is a difference, they do not differ much. However, if the CPI differs from the GDP deflator, it is only by a fraction of a percentage point, even so this could be important for some economic policy decision. Many economists believe that CPI overstates the rate inflation because they think that CPI is not a good indicator of a current inflation. According to David Ranson, a U. S. economist, a better indicator of current inflation would be increases in the price of commodities because initially inflation affects commodity prices and it will probably take several years for this commodity inflation to work its way through an economy and be reflected in the CPI. It is not an important problem so long as one is using whichever measure is appropriate for their findings. Reference Quantcrunch Tutor (April 2009 ) QA in Macroeconomics http://qainmacroeconomics. blogspot. com/2009_04_01_archive. html

Why college education is important to me Essay Example for Free

Why college education is important to me Essay College education is important to me because it will create more opportunities with my employer as well as increase my salary. I know some employers put more emphasis on a college education than others. Unfortunately, college education isn’t an option for some individuals. I know many people around me that couldn’t go to college due to conflicting obligations or lack of financial support. I am thirty-eight years old and am just now starting college. While I do see an importance for college education on some career paths, I also see that not all career paths require it. My current employer now requires a college degree for any of their professional positions. My employment relationship with my company began through a high school co-operative program and, at the time, there was no requirement to possess a degree. Today, my position has been grandfathered in through seniority, but I need a degree for advancement in my career path; therefore, a college education is very important for me and my family and the advancement of my career. My salary will have the potential to double with a degree. With my current career, I was able to advance to a certain point without a college education and was very satisfied with my advancement. However, as time has passed, I have come to see firsthand the value in post-secondary education. Right now I work with Auto-CAD drafting for engineering schematics, and the average draftsman will top out at $55K per year.1 I have personally praised college education within my work organization and promoted the awareness of the earnings and advancement potential for them. Many in our organization are now seeking opportunities to continue their education. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, an individual  is 2.5% more likely to be unemployed if he/she doesn’t have a college education.2 The journey to continue my education has come with many emotions. I have been afraid, thinking that I will not be able to complete the course. I have had pride issues thinking that I am too old and too wise for college. I have been training college recruits with my employer for years. I actually oversee approximately one hundred fifty student workers, many of which have a Bachelor’s degree, and even some have a Master’s degree, in Engineering. As I watch these degreed students get promoted to other organizations with significant salary increases, I realize that education is the only difference between them and me. While I do see a value in a college education, I also see the value in those that are on a technical path and will be working a career doing a trade. It takes both for our society to function. I am thankful to be blessed with the opportunity to advance my education. I am also thankful for the ability to better my family’s economic situation.

Public Health Expenditure And Health

Public Health Expenditure And Health Using a utility maximization approach as developed by Grossman, the results revealed that health expenditure does not affect health outcomes in Kenya. The factors that affect health outcomes include: distance to nearest health facility (5km or more) and other household income. This implies that increasing public health expenditure does not lead to reduced maternal mortality rates. Since the other determinants (access to medical facility and other household income) significantly affect the health outcomes, the government needs to put measures in place to ensure that women can easily access health facilities and sensitize them to ensure that they deliver in health facilities and attend antenatal care. This study did not include some important variables that affect maternal mortality rates like the impact of cultural practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM), preference of certain types of health care providers (including traditional and herbal medicine) and earlier marriages. Therefore we suggest that in future, studies in this field should give attention to these variables. CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background information Health is the extent to which an individual or group is able to cope with the interpersonal, social, biological, and physical environments (World Bank, 2004). Health is therefore a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. It is a positive concept embracing social and personal resources as well as physical and psychological capacities. Health financing is a key input in the provision of quality healthcare. Governments have always had a prominent role in overcoming public health risks and this is a major area of concern in less developed countries like Kenya (Scott, 2001). The provision of good health satisfies one of the basic human needs and contributes significantly to maintaining and enhancing the productivity of the people (Owino, 1997). Public expenditure on health services therefore is a key investment in human capital and plays a catalytic role in the growth of the economy by enabling people to achieve their full potential and lead productive lives. In recognition of the importance of human health, one of the Kenya governments major goals since independence has been to achieve adequate and good-quality health care for all citizens (GOK, 1965). To address health outcomes in developing countries such as Kenya, UNICEF advocates for increased public expenditure on health (UNICEF, 2006). Therefore, many countries in developing countries have increased their health expenditure over time. For example, to achieve better health outcomes, Kenya has increased its health expenditure from Kshs. 11.9 billion in 2000 to Kshs. 20 billion in 2004 representing a 30% increase as shown in Figure 1.1 (GOK, 2007). But more resources alone may not necessarily lead to better health outcomes because health care expenditure is only one of the many factors that contribute to health outcomes, considering the fact that these resources may be channeled to various projects that may not directly influence health outcomes. The link between government health expenditures and health outcomes may therefore not necessarily be present. First, an increase in public health expenditures may result in a decrease in private health expenditures; a household may dive rt its funds towards other uses once the government increases its provision of basic health care. Second, the incremental government expenditures may be employed on the intensive rather than the extensive margin. An example of intensive expenditures would be if expensive and low productivity inputs are bought with marginal funds in which case the impact of these expenditures on health outcomes may be small. Third, even if extra funds are applied extensively to health care (e.g. more staff at hospitals, adequate stocking of medications), but complementary services, both inside and outside the health sector, are not there (e.g. lack of roads or transportation to hospitals and clinics, subsidized prices for medication, etc.) the impact of extra government health expenditures may be little or none (Wagstaff, 2002a). In addition to health expenditure, Kenya also joined hands with other one hundred and eighty eight countries in a global effort to improve health outcome and reaffirmed its commitment to the united Nations Millennium Development goals (MDGs). Three of these millennium development goals are directly related to health. These are to (i) reduce child mortality, (ii) Improve maternal health and (iii) combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. Despite these global and local interventions in health, performance of Kenyas health sector in terms of maternal mortality has remained as high as four hundred and eighty eight maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2008/9, an increase from four hundred and fourteen per 100,000 live births in 2003, five hundred and ninety per 100,000 in 1998 (KDHS, 2008-09). Figure 1.2. Most maternal deaths are due to causes directly related to pregnancy and childbirth, unsafe abortion and obstetric complications such as severe bleeding, infection, hypertensive disorders, and obstructed labor (KDHS, 2008-09). Improving maternal health being one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted at the 2000 Millennium Summit, and with only three years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the MDGs, closer examination of maternal mortality levels is needed to inform planning of reproductive health programmes and to guide advocacy efforts and research at the national level. These estimates a re also needed at the international level, to inform decision-making concerning funding support for the achievement of this goal. Therefore this study focuses on the relationship between health expenditure and health outcomes in Kenya more particularly, how public health expenditure impacts on maternal mortality rates and other determinants of health outcomes. Figure 1.1 Public Health expenditure trends in Kenya Source: Kenya Demographic Health Survey 2008/09 Figure 1.2 Trends in maternal mortality: 1990-2008 Source: Kenya Demographic Health Survey 2008/09 1.1.2 Public Health expenditure in Kenya Adequate resources are critical to sustainable provision of health services. The government remains the major financier of health care, meeting nearly half of the national health recurrent expenditure. The Kenya policy framework of 1994 identified several methods of health services financing, including taxation, user fees, donor funds, and health insurance. These methods have evolved into important mechanisms for funding health services in the country. The GOK funds the health sector through budgetary allocations to the MOH. However, tax revenues are unreliable sources of health finance, because of macroeconomic conditions such as poor growth, national debt, and inflation, which often affect health allocations. The government therefore works closely with development partners to raise money for the health sector. Donor contributions to the health sector have been on the increase, rising from eight percent of the health budget in 1994-95 to sixteen percent in the fiscal 2001/2002. In some years, donor contributions accounted for over ninety percent of the development budget of the MOH (Ministry of Health, 2006). According to the 2001-2002 national health accounts (NHA), as cited by Wamai (2009) Kenya spends 5.1% of its GDP on health. He cited that the health budget had grown significantly from Ksh15.2 billion in Fiscal 2001/02 to Ksh34.4 billion in Fiscal 2008/09. He added that the proportion of overall government expenditure that the government spent on health declined over the same period from 9% to 7.9% in Fiscal 2006/07. In 1992 a cost-sharing system was introduced to leverage more resources for health services (Collins et al, 1996). Revenue from the cost-sharing system increased exponentially from Ksh60 million in Fiscal 1992/93 to over Ksh1, 468 million in Fiscal 2005/06. However, the revenues overall share of total health expenditure for Fiscal 2005/06 was just 6.4% of the MOHs total spending (MOH, 2007). Figure 1.3: Overview of Kenyas health budget, FY2002 2008 ( US$ million) Source: Health Policy Initiative analysis of Ministry of medical services, 2008 Figure 1.4: Absolute value of Total Health Expenditure (THE) by financing source 2001-2010 Source: Kenya National Health Accounts 2009/10 Reviews of public expenditures and budgets in Kenya show that total health spending constitutes about eight percent of the total government expenditure and that recurrent expenditures have been consistently higher than the development expenditures, both in absolute terms, and as a percentage of the GDP. Government financing of health expenditure is about sixty percent of what is required to provide minimum health services, implying that healthcare delivery in Kenya is under-funded (KHDR, 1999). This is accentuated by inefficiency of the system, including lack of cost-effectiveness in service delivery. However, preliminary information from Kenyas national health accounts shows that the financial contributions of households (out of pocket expenses) exceed those of the government. (Collins et al. 1996) The per capita expenditure therefore falls short of the Government of Kenyas commitment to spend fifteen percent of its total budget on health, as agreed in the Abuja Declaration. The under-financing of the health sector has thus reduced its ability to ensure an adequate level of service provision to the population (Collins et al. 1996). The national health concern therefore is the extent to which additional health expenditure on specific care programmes like maternal health will promote /increase benefits of the patients through improved outcomes in health (decline in maternal mortality rates). 1.1.3 Maternal healthcare in Kenya Improving maternal health is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted at the 2000 Millennium Summit. The two targets for assessing progress in improving maternal health are reducing the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) by three quarters between 1990 and 2015, and achieving universal access to reproductive health by 2015. With only three years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the MDGs, closer examination of maternal mortality levels is needed to inform planning of reproductive health programmes and to guide advocacy efforts and research at the national level. These estimates are also needed at the international level, to inform decision-making concerning funding support for the achievement of this goal. Good maternal health is crucial for the welfare of the whole household, especially children who are dependent on their mothers to provide food and care. Prevention of the death of a mother is the single most important intervention for the health of a child. Women are intensely vulnerable to the effects of costs incurred during childbirth. User fees can be especially high for emergency or technological procedures such as caesarean section, sometimes reaching catastrophic amounts, which push families into poverty (Graham and Newell, 1999). Many women often leave the hospital before they are well enough for discharge because they cannot pay for the care they have received. User charges add to the costs of transport and companion time, which can be substantial for those living far from facilities. The time spent looking for cash can also delay access to emergency life-saving care in facilities (Kunst and Houweling, 2001). In sub-Saharan Africa, one in sixteen women die in pregnancy or childbirth (WHO, 2001). An estimated ten to twenty million women develop physical or mental disabilities every year as a result of complications or poor management (Ashford, 2006). The long-term consequences are not only physical, but are also psychological, social, and economic. Despite the commitment expressed with the Millennium initiative, maternal health has not been given financial priority internationally. Safe motherhood programmes compete for funding with other priorities such as tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS. 1.2 Statement of the problem In Kenya, as in most Sub-Saharan African countries, health care expenditure has steadily increased over time, therefore making its containment a major issue for successive governments. The existence of a large public deficit and the need to reduce it drastically to comply with the requirements of the AU has added importance to controlling health care expenditure. Financing health care has remained a challenge to the Government of Kenya for a long time. There seems to be very low investment in health by the government, and inappropriate allocation of resources within the government health budget. In Kenya, health is a basic human right and therefore the health situation in Kenya remains a significant concern for the policy makers. The cost of health care, especially maternal health is a heavy burden on households. While health financing has undergone numerous reforms, more changes are needed to ease the burden of maternal health care costs on households in a bid to increase utilization and subsequently improve the health status of the population. In Kenya, like in most developing countries, maternal health care program encompass a medical condition that is regularly associated with death. The maternal mortality rates are very high. The major concern in this study is therefore the change in patient improvement due to additional expenditure on maternal health care (reduced maternal mortality rates). It analyzes whether increasing health care expenditure towards maternal health care program will reduce the maternal mortality rates. 1.3 Objectives of the study The broad objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between health care expenditure and maternal health outcomes in Kenya. The specific objectives of this study are: To identify the determinants of maternal health in Kenya. To investigate the relationship between government expenditure on maternal health care and maternal health outcomes To make policy recommendations based on study findings 1.4 Significance of the study A key factor that has contributed to the declining health outcomes has been the decline in annual real per capita government budget to the health sector. As noted earlier, the actual expenditures fall below budgetary allocations. With respect to this, policy makers are highly interested in the relationship between expenditure on public health and the resultant health outcomes/benefits. The issue is whether extra spending on maternal health leads to better maternal health outcomes. From a policy perspective, this study can help set priorities on resource allocations across specific program of care. For instance it can help the government to know whether additional expenditure on maternal health care will reduce maternal mortality rates in the country. The government is able to set its priorities right whether to invest more on these specific care programme or to reduce its expenditure given the severe budgetary constraints. It also gives policy makers some guidance on appropriate cost containment measures that will help improve health system performance in Kenya. It is also very useful at the international level, to inform decision-making concerning funding support for the achievement of the fifth millennium development goal. This study also adds to the existing literature on the relationship between health care expenditure and health outcomes, determinants of health outcomes and how health outcomes can be improved. CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Healthcare is an intermediate good that has no intrinsic value in itself but has value in its contribution (along with other inputs such as environmental and social factors) towards production of health itself. Health, or in general, health status, refers to measures of the physical and emotional well-being of an individual or a defined population. The quantity of healthcare product produced by a healthcare firm is referred to as its output. The ultimate output of the health sector is health. Healthcare therefore can be viewed as any other good or service in which each individual maximizes utility subject to a budget constraint. The basic economic theory of production provides a basis on the linkage of health expenditure and health outcomes. The theory suggests that there are many ways inputs can be used in various proportions to produce outputs (Wolfe, 2002). Inputs refer to the resources needed to carry out a process or provide a service. Inputs required in healthcare are usually financial, physical structures such as buildings, supplies and equipment, personnel, and clients while output refers to the direct result of the interaction of inputs and processes in the system; the types and quantities of goods and services produced by an activity, project or program. The use of inputs in healthcare leads to outcomes. (Cremieux et al. 1999). Health production theory highlights the manner in which health care as an input is related to health as an output. In this theory, health is the output measured in terms of improved health status such as reduced mortality, morbidity or achieving health related millennium development goals while inputs consist of the number of trained health professionals, the number of school years completed, residential place, the proportion of GDP spent on health and the government health expenditure in the health sector (Desai, 1998). Health production theory utilizes the health production function which is the change in health status affected as an approximate matter by changes in the consumption of various health services effective in improving health. The production function summarizes the relationship between inputs and outputs with health status being the dependent variable (function of healthcare) dependent on populations social and environmental factors, policy variables and country specific effects inclusive of biological endowment, and lifestyle. Many studies on this subject have adopted Grossmans (1972) model of health production which views each individual as both a producer and a consumer of health. It regards health as a commodity which the individual will wish to consume and maximize, subject to his/her budget constraints, in conjunction with a number of endogenous and exogenous variables which have an impact on individuals health. Within this model, income and educational level play an important role as explanatory variables. In Grossmans model, he regards health care as both a consumption good that provides direct satisfaction and utility, and as an investment good, it provides satisfaction to individuals indirectly through reduction in sick days, increased wages and increased productivity. In this case, health can be viewed as a stock which degrades over time if there are no investments in the individual health, and that health is taken as a sort of capital. Investing in health may seem costly as individuals must trade off resources and time that may be devoted to health, unlike other goals. These factors are also used in determining the optimal level of health that is needed by an individual. The model therefore makes predictions on the likely effects of health care price changes and other goods, outcomes in labor market such as technological changes, wages and employment. In the Grossman model, at the optimal level, health investment occurs where the marginal cost of health capital is equal to the marginal benefit. Over time, health is likely to depreciate at a certain rate which may be denoted by ÃŽÂ ´. The consumer faces an interest rate which may also be denoted by r. By adding these variables, the health capital marginal cost can be calculated as under: ÃŽÂ ´ In this case the health capital marginal benefit is the rate of return from this capital in both non market and market sectors. In this model, the health stock at optimal level can be caused by factors such as education, wages and age. The theory further advocates that investing in health should be combined with other factors which are crucial in order to produce new health, which in the long run may offset the process of deterioration in the stock of health. Medical scientists could argue that only effective medical care should be universally available (OHE, 1979). The government therefore may resort to explicit rationing which is not only to set limits on total expenditure for care, but also to develop mechanisms to arrive at more rational decisions as to relative investments in different disease specific programmes, and the establishment of certain minimal uniform standards. This rationing does not guarantee mothers to equal access to appropriate maternal/medical care. Treatment is still within the postulate that the doctor will do his best with the resources available to him but there is no such constraint on those resources as government decides (OHE, 1979). This study looks at maternal health as the output of an aggregate production which utilizes variables such as public health expenditure, access to government medical services and household incomes as the inputs. The assumption is that for reasons associated with diminishing returns and the adverse effects of certain variables after an initial positive outcome, the relationship is expected to be nonlinear (Nixon and Ulman, 2006). 2.2 EMPIRICAL LITERATURE Health status are commonly measured using four major indicators, maternal mortality, mortality rate in infants, mortality rate for under five and life expectancy at birth (Akinkugbe et al. 2009); (Gupta et al. 1999); (Wang,2002); (Imam et al. 2003). Other measures of health outcomes/status used include preference of cancer or circulatory diseases, disability adjusted life years, quality adjusted life years, fertility indicators and achievement of other health related millennium development goals. Similarly, government health expenditure, GDP per capita, female literacy, number of physicians, immunization coverage, urbanization and calorie intake among others are some of the most used explanatory variables (Wolfe, 1986); (Wang, 2002); (Or, 2000b); (Caldwell, 1990) and (Filmer et al. 1999). Most studies have used cross-sectional analysis (Bokhari et al.2007); (Imam et al. 2003); (Anyanwu et al. 2008); (Gani et al. 2009); (Wang, 2002); (Nixon and Ulman, 2006) and (Martin et al. 2009). Some have used panel data (Gupta et al. 1999) and (Or, 2000b), while Akinkugbe et al. (2009) used time series analysis to estimate the relationship between the public health expenditure and health outcomes. To solve the problem of autocorrelation in cross sectional analysis, heteroskedasticity test was done, corrected standard errors for panel data analysis while augmented Dickey Fuller tests were used to test for stationarity in all studies using time series data. All studies reviewed used health expenditure as one of the explanatory variables except Wang, (2002) who looked at it in a different perspective. According to him, demand for electricity, access to piped water and sanitation and female education increases health expenditure but it does not increase public health expenditure in improving health outcomes. Most studies indicated that public spending contributes significantly to health status improvements (Filmer et al. 1999); (Abel Smith, 1963); (Kiymaz et al. 2006); (Ester et al. 2011); (Gakunju, 2003); (Bokhari et al.2006); (Anyanwu et al. 2005); (Cremieux et al. 1999); (Nixon and Ulman, 2006) and (Blendon et al. 2006). For example, Filmer et al. (1999) used data from the early 1990s and estimated multivariate regression model of child mortality on per capita income, government health expenditure and other controls. They found that there was significant correlation between child mortality and income per capita. Some studies however indicated that public health expenditure alone as a determinant of health is inadequate (Ogbu and Gallagher, 1992); (Castrol-leal et al. 1999); (Gupta et al. 2003); (Anderson and Frogner, 2005); (Hitris and Posnet, 1992); (Caldwell, 1986); (Dor et al. 2007) and (Cochrane et al. 1978). In estimations, different methods were used by different authors. Generally two main methods were used: generalized least squares and the ordinary least squares. However, other methods have also been used. For example, Bokhari et al. (2006) and Gupta et al. (1999) used two stage least squares because of the instrumental variables used to address the problem of reverse causality and measurement errors in the variables. Anyanwu et al. (2005) used Robust Ordinary Least Squares as the baseline specification and robust two stage least squares to control for endogeneity and reverse causality. Bhalotra (2007) used the linear probability model. Particularly, Flippi et al (2006) took a broader perspective on maternal health and drew attention to the economic and social vulnerability of pregnant women. They called for action to reduce maternal mortality rates by channeling more resources towards maternal healthcare, improving on human resources and information. They used maternal mortality ratio (by cause) as the major indicator and recommended that research is needed on how to finance health services and ensure equitable access to generate more evidence. While examining the association of the socio-demographic characteristics of women and the unobserved hospital factors in Kenya, Magadi et al. (2001) used multilevel logistic regression. The results showed that the probability of maternal mortality depends on both observed factors that are associated with a particular woman and unobserved factors peculiar to the admitting hospital. The individual characteristics observed to have a significant association with maternal mortality include maternal age, antenatal clinic attendance and educational attainment. The hospital variation was observed to be stronger for women with least favorable socio-demographic characteristics. For example, the risk of maternal death at high-risk hospitals for women aged thirty five years and above, who had low levels of education, and did not attend antenatal care is about two hundred and eighty deaths per a thousand admissions. The risk for similar women at low-risk hospitals is about four deaths per a thous and admissions. In a study carried out on health care services and sources of revenue in six countries from Western Europe and North America, Abel Smith (1963) found that health care expenditure was associated with reduced life expectancy and increased mortality rates. In a similar study carried out in the year 1967 involving twenty nine countries he found that the level of national income was associated with improved health status and that the demand for healthcare increased in countries with declining mortality. Abel Smiths studies laid down foundation for the development of methodologies for tracking health expenditures in both private and public sectors. While investigating the factors that are associated with infant mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa, Ester et al. (2011) carried out an ecological multi-group study using a bi-variate and multi-variate analysis with infant mortality rate as the dependent variable. They used a linear regression model between infant mortality rate and the correlated indicators (social security expenditure and government expenditure per-capita on health). This study revealed, in the multi-variate analysis, three factors associated with the IMR: a higher social security expenditure on health as a percentage of the general government expenditure on health, a higher per-capita government expenditure on health and a higher number of children under five years of age with diarrhea receiving oral dehydration therapy indicated a lower IMR. During the examination of the effectiveness of public social spending on education and health care in several African countries, Castro-Leal et al. (1999) reviewed the benefit incidence of government spending in Cote divoire, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, South Africa and Tanzania. Their study found that public expenditures on health were not sufficient especially on the poor to reduce mortality rates. On the other hand, Gupta et al. (2003) used cross-country data for over seventy developing countries to assess the relationship between public spending on health care and the health status of the poor. Their findings confirmed that the poor have significantly worse health status than the rich. The results however suggested that increased public spending alone will not be sufficient to significantly improve health status. Another study carried out on the health effects of per capita income and public expenditure on social services in Kenya, proved that per capita income had been very influential in determining health status. The study found that expenditures on education and health care improved health status at a great margin. It further established that per capita income was significantly linked to the levels of mortalities, and that some of the negative trends in health status could have been attributed to unfavorable growth and insufficient social spending on health (Manyala, 2000). In his findings income elasticities were all statistically significant, current income had the expected effect on life expectancy but not on infant mortality. He further found that if mothers are malnourished and are in poor state of health, their infant will inherit part of this poor health, and therefore will be at greater risk of mortality relative to infants of healthy mother. A comparative study by Wagstaff (2002a) that focused on forty two developing countries used child mortality due to malnutrition and diarrhea as the health outcomes/indicators. Wagstaff (2002b) treated government health expenditure as an exogenous variable and found that it did have a statistically significant (negative) coefficient. The study used a simple stylized theoretical model rationalizing the health-income relationship and found that public spending on health care had a larger impact on child mortality among the poor than among the non-poor population. In his study on health and schooling investments in Africa, Schultz (1999) found that health status rose with increased public spending on health services. He also argued that the health status will tend to decline with a rise in relative prices of health inputs such as salaries of medical personnel, cost of drugs and other medical supplies, relative to prices of nutrients that help fight infections and disease. He also found that levels of education were correlated with lower mortality rates. The relationship between mothers education and mortality rate was stronger than the fathers. He recommended that an additional year of schooling to the mother especially in low-income countries was associated with a five to ten percent reduction in mortality rates. On his analysis of the factors determining health status in Kenya, Gakunju (2003) found that government expenditure on public health was noteworthy in shaping individual health status. He also found that government health expenditure influences health status with over a long time. This actually implies that the government investment and spending in the health sector have had a major effect on the health of the people. He also acknowledged a number of factors as being important in resolving the health problem Kenya such as: Per capita income, individual access to doctors, HIV/AIDs prevalence, literacy level for women, Child immunization coverage and spending/investment by the government in the health sector. His study majorly used the central government e

Those Who Can, Teach Essay -- Education, Ryan Cooper

In chapter two of Ryan Cooper’s textbook, Those Who Can, Teach, he lists eight characteristics of an effective school: â€Å"[1] high expectations for student performance, [2] communication among teachers, [3] a task orientation among the staff, [4] the ability to keep students on task, [5] the expenditure of little time on behavior management, [6] the principal’s instructional leadership, [7] the participation of parents, and [8] the school environment† (51). While all eight characteristics above greatly contribute to a school’s overall success, some characteristics have a greater ability to affect the success of a given school. Educators Wong and Wong point out that research consistently says effective teachers exhibit three characteristics: 1) they are good classroom managers, 2) they teach for learning and mastery, and 3) they have positive expectations (8-10). Because I believe the foundation of school effectiveness relies on teachers, I consider the characteristics with a focus on effective teacher-to-student interaction most important. Taken from the list above, those characteristics are (1) teachers who exhibit high expectations for student performance, (3) a task orientation among the teaching staff, and (4) the ability to keep students on task. A teacher’s effect on students is significant because teachers have greater influence on student achievement than a school. Robert Marzano’s study separating a school’s effect on student achievement from a teacher’s effect on student achievement supports this notion. Marzano found that an ineffective teacher in an effective school environment has little to no effect on student achievement. To the contrary, an effective teacher in an ineffective school environment was found to have a ... ...aff, such as paraprofessionals, counselors, librarians, specialists, and even janitors, comes to know and care about the strengths and weaknesses of students as much as teachers and administrators. More importantly, they help to provide solutions to overcoming low student achievement. A motivated support staff also contributes to the overall success of a school. In summary, I believe an effective teacher has the most influence on an effective school. Because of this, I consider Cooper’s characteristics centered on effective teaching as most important. I do also believe that fostering effective teaching skills through effective professional development programs are essential to creating an effective school. Furthermore, I would not discount the roles of non-teachers in the school setting, as they contribute to a school’s overall effectiveness too.

Dont Know Essay -- essays research papers

Everyone knows that it is illegal to consume alcohol until the age of 21. Many people are In agreement with this legal restriction. Some would even say that it needs to be raised. Why is 21 the "magical" age that makes one intelligent and mature enough to consume alcohol? Surely, some adults abuse alcohol and some teenagers would be perfectly able to drink responsibly. Many have asked the question, should the drinking age be lowered from age twenty-one to age eighteen. The national drinking age for men and woman should remain at age twenty-one. Before 1982 there was no national conformity in the laws dealing with alcohol consumption legal age. Each state had different laws and regulations set on the drinking age. In the mid-1980's this changed. "The drinking age was set by federal law in the mid-1980's mostly because of pressure from Mothers against Drunk Driving (MADD)" (Dogan 1). This gave conformity throughout the nation with a national drinking law.?????????? ????????????????????????? Today there are many arguments put forth to justify attempts to lower the drinking age. One of the most prevalent arguments for the drinking age heard is, "if were old enough to be sent to war and die we are old enough to drink alcohol" (Heffernan 1). This argument has an underlined fallacy. When an eighteen-year-old youth is drafted into the military he is subjected to many months of rigorous training and preparation for his duties as a solider. Not only is he ...

The Sentence :: Retribution Incapacitation Deterrence

As a judge dealing with a sentence for an individual that has been convicted of stealing others’ identity for monetary gain, specific information would be needed before a sentence could be imposed. The information needed would be as follows: How many people did he steal identities from? How was he or she planning to obtain money from the stolen identities? How did he or she steal the identities? Specifically, was it stolen from peoples’ garbage? Or was the identity stolen from a place that the person worked? Does the person have any prior convictions? What types of peoples’ identity were stolen? Were just elderly people targeted? What type of education does the individual have that stole from these people?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To incorporate the sentencing goals of retribution, incapacitations and deterrence all sort of tie in with each other. Giving the individual five years sentence with minimum 3 years served. Retribution would be dealt with by giving the criminal jail time well deserved. By serving time in jail, incapacitation would be incorporated. It would definitely remove the convicted person from the community. Jail time would prove to be short term deterrence for the person to commit further crime for three to five years while serving time. Depending on the person’s experience in prison, it might deter him or her from committing any future crimes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To provide restitution for the community that was victimized the individual would be fined or sentenced to do some type of community service. The type of community service should be that of picking up trash along side the road or to cleaning a national park. This person should not do community service where he or she could be near any information of other persons. He or she does not need the opportunity to be a repeat offender.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rehabilitation could be done through some sort of counseling.

Field Study 2

LOOKING THROUGH THE MEANINGFUL LEARNING EXPERIENCE Name of Fs student: Xysha Mae M. Roldriguez Course: Bachelor in Elementary Education Year: III Resource Teacher: Josephine G. Paulin Signature: ______________ Cooperating School: Monkayo Central Elementary School Name of School Observed: Monkayo Central Elementary School School Address: Monkayo, Compostela Valley Province Date of Visit: September – October 2012 1. What principles in teaching – learning were commonly applied? – the principles in teaching – learning commonly applied were the learning environment is supportive and productive.And that learning is an active process which begins and ends in their cognitive aspects. 2. What are the instructional materials used in teaching? – The instructional materials used are picture flash cards, charts, visual aids, and books. 3. Which of the principles in teaching facilitate the cognitive, metacognitive and positive motivational process of learning? â €“ Promote assessment as part of the learning process. Students (and sometimes teachers) typically see assessments as purely summative: something that teachers do to students at the end of a topic.Building the perception that (most) assessment tasks are part of the learning process includes encouraging students learning from what they did and did not do well as well as having students taking some ownership of and responsibility for aspects of assessment. It also includes teachers ensuring that they are assessing for a range of aspects of quality learning wider range of skills than is often the case. Scribble a brief reflection of your feelings and insights from your observation experience. * The teacher is responsible in aiming the development of creative and critical skills. Creative thinking involves reating something new or original. It involves the skills of flexibility, originality, fluency, elaboration, brainstorming, modification, imagery, associative thinking, attribute listing, metaphorical thinking, and forced relationships. The aim of creative thinking is to stimulate curiosity and promote divergence. While critical thinking can be thought of as more left-brain and creative thinking more right brain, they both involve â€Å"thinking. † When we talk about HOTS â€Å"higher-order thinking skills† we're concentrating on the top three levels of Bloom's Taxonomy: analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.The teacher must not only ask questions that begins with what, who, where and when because these are low – level questions. In order to develop the thinking skills the teacher should exercise questions like how and why, this is one way to develop their critical and creative thinking skills. Learners’ Characteristics and Needs Name of Fs student: Xysha Mae M. Roldriguez Course: Bachelor in Elementary Education Year: III Resource Teacher: Josephine G. Paulin Signature: ______________ Cooperating School: Monkayo Central Elementary SchoolDescription of Teaching Strategies * Classroom strategies used by the teachers are collaborative/ creative learning in which students work together in small groups to accomplish a common learning goal. They carefully planned and executed the activity given. Next, is the discussion strategies were in the students are engage in discussion that deepens their learning and motivation by developing their own views and hear their own voices. A good environment for interaction is the first step in encouraging students to talk. Description of learning activities The learning activities done by the students and teacher were successful. Wherein the students were able to participate in the given activity and cooperate with each other. They actively participated even though some students got the wrong answers. The learning activity given gave the students impact in their cognitive and psychomotor skills. It helps them think ideas by answering the activity. Their personalities were develope d because the teacher integrated values in her lessons. Description of learners’ participation (proportion of learners who participated and quality of participation) There was a high percentage of participation in class. There were only few students who did not participate in class. There is a good quality of participation in class since majority participated in the activities. They learn to participate wherein they can develop their self confidence and communication skills. Scribble a brief reflection of your feelings and insights from your observation experience. -learning is an active process. The teacher should actively engage the learners in learning activities.For we all know that no one can learn for us, in the same way that nobody can eat and sleep for us. So, teachers should give opportunities for students to actively participate in classroom activities. There should be â€Å" hands-on-minds- on â€Å" learning. Yet, the most effective approaches according to the r esearchers are learning by doing and learning by teaching others. Assisting a Teacher with a Teacher’s Toolbox Name of Fs student: Xysha Mae M. Roldriguez Course: Bachelor in Elementary Education Year: III Resource Teacher: Josephine G.Paulin Signature: ______________ Cooperating School: Monkayo Central Elementary School Subject Observed: English School: Monkayo Central Elementary SchoolYear: IV Matrix| Subject Matter| Objectives| Instructional Materials| Learning Activities| Assessment Tools Used| Parts of Speech & Figures of Speech| – To prepare the students for the coming finals- Mastery of the Parts of speech and Figures of speech | – Visual Aids- Textbooks| – Review- Discussion- Recitation| – Drills- Graded Recitation- Board Work- Quiz| ————————————————- Observation ReportThe first objective of the lesson is preparing the students fo r the finals, next is the Mastery of the Parts of Speech and Figures of Speech and the third objective is to make the students realize how important the lessons are in the next level and how they can use it in daily life. Learning activities such as discussion, review, recitation was facilitated by the teacher and she used drills, board work and a quiz as her assessment tools. The students were all participating, and knew most of the answers and were even able to give examples of any figure of speech asked for them to define.They also know how to analyze the sentences given on the board on how sentence patterns are used such as S-LV-C pattern and S-TV-DO pattern. The teacher knew that the students will learn better with enough practice and she encourages all of them to speak to build their confidence to recite in class. All of the activities she engages the students in are all a part of her lesson plan so she can reach her objectives for that day. If I were the teacher I would use a ctivities that will cover the learning process holistically and a plan that will be utilized to obtain the objectives that I set for the students to reach.I will also use other activities that will enhance their social skills and language competency such as role playing. Analysis: 1. What are the objectives of the lesson, the subject matter, learning activities and assessment tools used by the teacher? The first objective is to prepare the students for the coming finals. The teacher was able to clear this part of her objectives because I’ve seen how the students perform during the class activity and I can say that most of them are ready for finals despite the fact that belong to section 5. Next is the Mastery of the 8 Parts of speech and Figures of speech.This objective was achieved around 80-85 percent of the class. The discussion was very effective because it gives the students a sense of familiarity because they learn better using this kind of activity. The board work and drills were also effective in making the students apply everything they studied for the upcoming finals. They were not only ready for the exam but they also carry the life lessons that the teacher has instilled in their hearts. The teacher wanted the students to realize how important the lessons are in the next level and how they can use it in daily life.The integration of values in the lessons is always practiced by the teacher in any class she handles and I admire her for doing that. We as future teachers must know that we are not only mind enhancers but also heart and spirit molders. 2. How do the learners participate in the activities? I must admit that I don’t know if I should be impressed with the teacher or with the students. Why? Because the students were active participants of the class when most people would expect that these kids are no good at all because when asked they answer, when requested to give an example they perform. They even recite in.The question is do they perform this well in other subjects? If this is the same scenario I would see with other teachers, then they are without a doubt a very good class. But I’ve observed other teachers too and I must say the teacher is someone who has an aura that makes the students well-behaved. The moment they see her coming students go to their seats it’s not because she is a terror teacher but she already reached the classroom climate which is a business-like but non-threatening atmosphere. The students participated actively, with very good answers and listened attentively to everything that the teacher has to say.So I think it’s in the teacher if the students would act out or be unruly on how she will handle these things. The students can smell fear and they can take advantage of that if they wanted to. These students are more impressive than the 3-4. This was the second time I observed them and I was still impressed as if I was observing 3-1 students. 3. What reasons doe s the teacher give in having such learning activities? The teacher first decides on which objectives to work on by using the needs of the students as basis.In this case, it is the needs of the 3-5 that the teacher decides to do a review before the final exam comes. She chose discussion because the students are more adept in learning when it comes to reviewing if she uses this kind of approach in teaching them. To satisfy my curiosity, I interviewed a few students in 3-5 and they admitted that they learn better when the teacher discuss the lesson instead of doing other styles. Since it is almost the end of the school year, the teacher obviously knows how to design her lesson plan and she already knows the best way for the 3-5 students to learn.The teacher knows that the board work enhances the writing skills and grammar skills while the recitation covers mostly speaking skills, social skills and building one’s self-confidence. Quizzes also help the teacher evaluate how far the students have reached in terms of the lesson. So we can’t do away with any of these things when it comes to teaching. We can’t leave out anything because they are all important. The plan must be complete or the system would fall apart. We have to consider everything because all these things are a part of the teaching-learning process. . If you were the teacher, what activities, materials and assessment tools will you use? Why? I can’t say I would only focus on a single activity but I have to utilize all the learning activities I have learned on my major subjects especially this semester I have learned a lot of activities and studied on how to use materials that can be utilized to encourage speaking and enhance grammar in class such as maps, graphic organizers, role playing, group projects, group games, interactive discussion, cooperative learning and many more.I also learned about the different types of assessment tools such as rubrics, exams, portfolios and ot hers. Of course it is not only the students who are being considered here but also the lesson and how it relates to a certain material, activity and evaluation. Activities, materials and assessment tools must be in sync with the objectives so it will be a smooth flow all throughout the period. I plan to use a variety of techniques to know what is suitable for the students. To find out what is their special skills are or what kind of learner they are.And which activities they are weak in and make that weakness disappear or if not help them cope with it. What they lack in something must be compensated by another skill. Through using these things as tools in the correct way, the success rate of teaching-learning process is in very good hands. Reflections: 1. What insights/learning & new understandings have you gained from your experience? I have really learned a lot from this semester. All the observing experiences made me see all the important facts in being a teacher. They made me re alize about a lot of things not just in teaching but also about life.These experiences are by far the most fruitful of all in my school life. I learned to manage my time, worry about important things in life and see the teacher in me. Good teachers are full of passion, well prepared for their lesson, have anticipatory skills and of course live with integrity. Aside from knowledge, teachers must possess positive attitudes and admirable work ethics. One sees these qualities through the way activities are facilitated by the teacher, how the materials are organized and prepared, and another thing is how the assessment tools are used.The assessment must never be used to punish the student. This is where positive attitude comes in. Dedication, hard work and punctuality are also important. We should demonstrate not just the lesson but also the process by which we learn. All teachers must realize that part of their job is to teach their students how to learn. I’ve learned that metaco gnition comes in when we focus on learning how to learn. Teachers must also learn from their mistakes, and experiment continually with ways to improve their strategies and teaching methods.GUIDING PRINCIPLES IN THE SELECTION AND USE OF TEACHING STRATEGIES Name of FS Student______________________________________________________________ Course_______________________________________ Year & Section _____________________ Resource Teacher 1_____________Signature ______________Date______________ Resource Teacher 2_____________ Signature ______________Date______________ Resource Teacher 3_____________Signature______________ Date______________ Cooperating School_______________________________________________________________My Target In this Episode, I must be able to: * Write evidence of application of some guiding principles in the selection use of teaching strategies My Tool As I observe a class, I will use the Observation Sheet for a more focused observation. OBSERVATION SHEET| Name of th e Resource Teachers Observed:________________,__________________,________________School Address:_________________________________________________Date:___________________Grade/ Year Level: _________________________________ Subject Area: _________________________|Guiding Principles in the Selection and Use of Strategies| Teaching Behavior/s of the Resource Teacher that Applies the Principles| 1. Learning is an active process. | 1. | 2. The more senses are involve, the more and the better the learning. | 2. | 3. A non – threatening environment enhances learning. | 3. | 4. Emotion has the power to increase retention and learning. | 4. | 5. Good teaching goes beyond recall of information. | 5. | 6. Learning is meaningful when it is connected to the students’ everyday life. | | 7. An integrated teaching approach is far more effective than teaching isolated bits of information. | |

English as Official Language Debate Essay

The United States is a ground founded by immigrants. Throughout the years the US has struggled with discrimi body politic and close-mindedness. only when, when we put our differences aside we hindquarters achieve the impossible. We argon a terra firma united by our differences. We celebrate our diversity, independency and individuality. We are a country that believes in choice, and one of those choices should be the option to chat the nomenclature which we relate to and understand. It was our forefathers ambition that got us to the Land of The idle and our determination that made us successful.So how croup we say we stand for liberty if we dont give our community, immigrants (illegal or non), the right to address their quarrel? We are a country for the people, but not all of our people speak side. galore(postnominal) the Statesns argue that those who live in the States should speak English but judge about this English is the sum of umteen other talking tos. The Br itish brought English to America and tycoond the Native Americans to convert to their language and their ways.In modern society, we cringe at the idea of oppression and encourage those who are oppressed to speak out for themselves, but turn a blind warmness when we are the oppressors. A parallel can be drawn with bullying. It is an issue that umteen children, teens, and adults experience. Bullying has been an active topic in the media in recent years. Teachers, parents and authoritative figures act up to urge those who are bullied or gestate witnessed an act of bullying to stand up for themselves and get help.Thus, America is not besides being hypocritical and ignorant, but it is as well being a bully by forcing others to speak our language. We are oppressing their beliefs. We are telling them that they must speak our language if they privation to be American they must speak our language if they want to be successful. Understandingly, those who come to America should be edu cated in our history and be required to pass a citizenship test. But speaking English does not ask one an American. A citizen is not subscript because he/she cannot speak English.Americans today are born with this innate sense of superiority. Yet, over the years we have overcome well-nigh of our selfish and antiquated ways and this is erect another obstacle which we must surmount. We cannot force a diverse group of people to speak one language when our nation consists of so many. We cannot force a language upon our people without oppressing those people. Making English the decreed language would make us hypocrites and bullies. Therefore, English should not be the official language of the United States.