Traditional Health Care (Culture Care) Practices Research Paper

Traditional Health Care (Culture Care) Practices - Research Paper Example Figures from the 2009 World Religious survey shows that 50.4% of Nigeria's population are Muslims, 48.2% are Christian (15% Protestant, 13.7% Catholic, and 19.6% other Christian), and followers of other religions are 1.4% (BBC News, 2007). These figures notwithstanding, it is evident that Nigerian, Muslims or Christians, have widespread belief in traditional African religious practices (BBC News, 2007). In fact, this belief system has a bearing on the way health and illness is perceived and treated in Nigeria. The richness and variety of Nigeria diet is well known. Different spices and herbs are used in the preparation of soups and sauces and this dominated by meat and/or fish. The use of spices and herbs in food is believed to prevent illnesses such as malaria. With a dysfunctional educational system, only 68% of the population is literate with the rate for men (75.7%) is higher than that for women (60.6%). A country ravaged by poverty and corruption, it has a very low gross domesti c product (GDP); however, it is considered a lower middle income country by the World Bank (World Bank, 2011). The low literacy rate and the very low GDP affect people’s perception of illness and access to medical facilities, respectively. The Nigerian society, like the rest of Africa and in most developing countries has a male-centered and male dominated culture (U.S. Department of State, 2009). This affects the way women are treated and regarded. Most often sick women such as widows and those without children are accused of witchcraft and molested. Definition and Traditional beliefs of Health and Illness in Nigeria Nigerians regards health as multidimensional and not merely the absence of disease. Health is regarded as the attainment of physical, mental, emotional and social well being (WHO, 2005). This definition, which concord with the World Health Organization’s definition, is not a trademark of Nigerian philosophy of good health but the traditional belief of most ancient civilizations. Illness, on the other hand is disharmony either in the physical, mental, emotional and social state of an individual. Thus it is common among Nigerian to view immoral and erratic behavior as a disease. Furthermore, traditional medicine in Nigeria attributes illnesses to spiritual imbalance. Such imbalance could be self-inflicted or the handiwork of the enemies. Thus illnesses, according to traditional medicine in Nigeria, have their origin in the spiritual world Traditional Methods of Maintaining, Protecting and Restoration of Health in Nigeria The traditional method of maintaining, protecting and restoring health in Nigeria is linked with the African Traditional Religion (ATR). This method is the sum total of practices, approaches, knowledge and beliefs incorporating plant, animal and/or mineral based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques and exercises applied singularly or in combination to maintain well-being, as well as to diagnose, prevent an d eliminate of physical, mental, or societal imbalance, and rely exclusively on practical experience and observation handed down from generation to generation, whether verbally or in writing (WHO, 2005). The knowledge and practices form part of ATR. As mentioned above, traditionally, Nigerians linked all

Supply Chain Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Supply Chain Management - Essay Example d). Pepsi, the drinkable liquid is generally contained in a bottle and it has only two components. The main ingredients of Pepsi are carbonated water, sugar, emulsions, citric acid, additives, and flavourings; and glass, silica, and aluminium are the major raw materials used for bottles (Bhagat et al, n.d.). In the supply chain of Pepsi, the product passes through five different phases before reaching it in the hands of ultimate consumers. Firstly, the required raw materials are collected from the supplier and it is transferred to the plant. In the plant, the processing of raw materials takes place and the finished products are sent to wholesale distributors’ warehouses. The wholesaler distributes Pepsi to retailers on order placements; distribution vehicles play an important role in this phase. Ultimately, the product reaches the hands of original consumers and the whole process is regarded as the supply chain operations. Since this product largely employs water resources for the production, it adversely affects the environment. This negative feature in turn notably impinges on Pepsi’s supply chain management as it is a major societal issue. Similarly, large number of links in supply chain makes the product expensive to customers.

Effects of Public and Private Monopolies on Consumer

Effects of Public and Private Monopolies on Consumer Public and private monopolies what are the positive and negative effects on the consumer An economy comprises of a large collection of firms and consumers that operate on the basis of market mechanisms known as supply and demand. These are used by firms to determine the level of production, the output required to meet consumption, the price as well as the consumption level. From a microeconomic point of view, markets that exist within the economy are governed by these mechanisms but in actuality this is not the case. Inconsistencies do occur in markets due to competition and firms within the markets tendency to earn more profits. Power to over produce and earn more profits comes from successful firms that attain equilibrium in the market or through mergers and acquisitions. As a result of horizontal integration (in which two or more firms join hands to produce in one industry) and vertical integration (firm develops market dominance by integrating indifferent stages of production) a market tends to develop monopolies(Tutor2u.com 2004). In such a market firms aim to generate higher profitability by increasing market share and by exploiting economies of scale. Competition in the market therefore is reduced as the result of firms growing through internal expansion. This kind of tactics according to economists harms the interests of the industry as well as the consumers which eventually lead to economic instability. To curb this, the government often adopt regulations to prevent monopolies from having an advantage over the existing or new firms and exploiting the consumers interests. Why monopolies are discouraged is because their tendencies to earn higher profits at the cost of allocate efficiency (Tutor2u.com2004). A monopolist would set the price of the product or service high to exploit the consumers needs and wants without satisfying incompletely. Consumer sovereignty thus is replaced by producer sovereignty (Tutor2u.com 2004). This turnaround from consumer sovereignty to producer sovereignty stems from the basic economic principles of economic welfare. Welfare refers to the best use of scarce resources in an economy. This means that welfare is about maximization of resources with optimum outcome(referred to as economic efficiency). Maximization means the firm needs to achieve: a. allocate efficiency resources being allocated to the activities where they are most valued; and b. productive efficiency resources being used in the most effective way possible (Coopers Lybrand 1996). Welfare economy is based on the free market concept with the assumptions that certain conditions are fulfilled. These conditions include large number of producers and consumers; it does not take into account of income distribution or equity considerations; there is perfect competition; and economic efficiency is achieved. Monopolies are also based on the economic models of competitive market and principles which include demand curves (D), supply curves (S), average cost curves (AC), marginal cost curves (MC) and marginal revenue curves(MR) (Coopers Lybrand 1996). Term definitions Demand curve refers to the demand by the consumers and the price they are willing or able to pay for the products. This is in turn governed by the budget constraints, relative prices, preferences and income. What the consumer is willing to pay and what is the actual price are different and the difference between the two is called consumer surplus. Supply curve illustrates the volume the producers are willing to supply at a given price. There is a difference between the actual price and the price at which the producer is willing to supply the products. Thesis known as producer surplus. Marginal cost refers to the cost for producing each additional unit of output. Marginal revenue curve show the total revenue earned by producers through a change in price and output demanded (Coopers Lybrand1996). Given the above constraints and principles, the researcher illustrates the condition of competitive market through the following model and leads the readers to the condition for monopolies. In a perfectly competitive market it is assumed that there are a large number of informed buyers and sellers. The producers are the price takers while the market price is governed by the supply and demand mechanisms. It is further assumed that should any seller tries to raise the price the consumer would switch to another supplier and hence the condition of the profit maximizing firm is such that it would attempt to increase output to attain equilibrium through marginal cost and market price. This would allow the producer to earn maximum profit, incur constant average cost and no fixed cost. This condition is denoted by AC=MC (as shown in the figure). In the above diagram one observes that the consumer surplus is the consumer’s ability to pay more indicated by the shaded area while there is no producer surplus. This means welfare maximization has been achieved. Even when the price is increased from P to P1 the output level would fall from O to O1, the consumer may not be willing to buy the product even if he/she has the money to do so. Alternatively, if the price is decreased from P to P2, below the MC then the level output would rise because the consumer is willing to buy more of the product at a lesser price. Hence, under perfect competition: the price is equal to the marginal costs Producers earn a normal profit (zero producer surplus); and economic welfare is maximised, so the outcome is economically efficient (Coopers Lybrand 1996). However, in the real world market condition and competition is far from perfect and this model of perfect competition is often marred by other kinds of unfair competition including m onopolies. In the classic case of the monopoly there is only one producer who is the price setter and the consumer is the price taker. The producer would maximize profit by setting the level of MR = MC and a price that the consumer will bear. In the following figure one observes that when the producer produce low level of output the MC is below the MR. What this tactic does is that it lets the producer to control the profit by increasing output while the price is set by the demand curve. Hence in a monopoly there is: - a lower level of output (O compared with O1); A higher price (P compared with P1); Profits in excess of those required to earn a reasonable return (ABDE is monopoly profit or producer surplus); and a reduction in economic welfare; the loss of consumer surplus -resulting from higher prices is ABCE, which is more than the benefit tithe producers in terms of higher profits (ABDE); this net loss, represented by the triangle BCD, is called dead-weight loss (Coopers Lybrand 1996). With this background monopoly can be defined as: A monopoly is a large, single supplier that dominates an industry(Cleaver 2002). A single producer dominates the market by setting the price and gains high profits through producer surplus at the cost of consumer surplus. A monopoly therefore compromises the economic welfare. A monopoly can further be categorized as private or public monopolies. Private monopolies can make huge profits by charging higher prices than a compet itive firm could demand for this reason they tend to be either outlawed in market societies or taken over byte state. Public monopolies are common, intending to provide public services (e.g. postal services transport, etc.) at low cost. The lack of competition for such giants, however, whether privately or publicly owned, tends to breed inefficiency: there is no incentive to serve the public well, since consumers have no other choice of producer to buy from. (Cleaver 2002). Problem Statement Given the above brief explanation of monopolies and the consumer’s position in the competitive market, one understands that economic theory form the basis for comprehending the structure of real markets, it does not actually present a realistic picture. A framework such as the above would guide the policy-makers in regulating the monopolists and establishing pricing policies but would it maximize consumer economic welfare? What are the effects on other firms? What impact do they have on the policies and the business environment? More importantly, how the differences between public and private monopolies affect these consumers? These are some of the aspects that the researcher aims to investigate in the following sections using the above framework as a guide. Methodology To illustrate the above problem statement the researcher adopts the qualitative method to carry out the research. This entails the use of secondary resources as well as primary resources. In the next section the researcher reviews secondary literature including magazines, newspapers, websites and educational institution material. To enforce the concept of public and private monopolies the researcher also takes into account of primary resources such as journal articles, books and official publications. The purpose of combining primary and secondary resources is to ensure that the researcher has based the analysis on both the theoretical and real life situation. To illustrate true life situation the researcher has also adopted the case study method. Case studies of Royal Mail and Microsoft have been included to represent public and private monopolies respectively. The cases would help the researcher and readers to understand why monopolies behave the way they do, and how they affect consumers as well as industry to which the firms belong. By combining both the qualitative and case studies the researcher aims to analyse and come to conclusive views of how monopolies operate, its negative and positive effects on consumers and what impact do they have on the business environment. Discussion Public monopolies In an economy there are public as well as private firms. The public and private nature of firms keeps a balance of private and public consumption. The rationale is that some goods and services are required by the public but they are not willing to pay for its welfare maximization. These goods and services are demanded by the people but nobody is willing to pay the price for its supplies. For this reason the government takes upon itself to create firms, either through deregulation or setting up independently, with the purpose to provide these public goods and services to the public. With the high demand in todays global market for higher efficiency and effective allocation of resources, many economies are opting for privatization of firms. Many consider privatization as more efficient even for public sector organizations. In the majority of countries, public utilities like electricity, gas, water and postal services remain in the control of the government. However, it must be noted that most of these utilities providing companies are running at a loss and cost of the government as there are only few people who are willing to pay for the goods and services provided. According to Edwin West (1982)Once in operation it is very difficult to stop individuals tuning into obtain its benefits free of charge. This creates the now familiar â€Å"free rider† dilemma, in which nobody will produce the good because nobody is willing to pay sufficiently to cover the costs. Since there is no value or profit involved, the government becomes the undisputed provider and therefore attains the role of the monopolist. In a public monopoly from an economic point of view there is only one seller in the market. Whatever profit, if any, acquired through the operation of the public monopoly belongs to the seller, in which case it is the government or the state. Public organization is owned by the government and often requires a lot of resources for its operations. Investments from taxes and the government budget provide for the required funding to operate these public entities. It may or may not operate for profit and hence a fixed profit is not expected from government owned firm. The public sector organization becomes the undisputed seller in the industry because it runs through state subsidy and can afford to operate at a lesser or zero price. For private enterprise to compete with this structure is highly difficult especially at an operating loss. This is illustrated as follows: In a state owned scenario the competitive market price is set at MC of dissemination and ED becomes the supply curve (S). Since this price is so low there is high demand for it. In some cases such as the Royal Mail there is a constant demand or outcome which does not get affected whether the price is low or high as postal services are required by the public regardless. However, as the producer is operating at a low price that means the cost of dissemination is high and the producer is operating at a loss. The overall result is welfare loss due to the fact that the producer surplus is less than the consumer surplus which equates to producer low surplus. In the following diagram one observe that the area ABDE is the consumer surplus which is basically a loss while the area ACDE is the producer surplus which is negated by the consumer loss. The net welfare BCD is less than the loss incurred on the consumer. Even when the government subsides and allocates more resources it would generate sub-optimal resource efficiency and thereby low social welfare. Government owned organizations such as the Royal Mail often require injection of investments by increasing the subsidies with the hope to increase the social benefit and welfare of the consumer. However, the external benefits may increase for a certain period only and relapse in the long run (see figure 6.3) (Coopers Lybrand1996). This has been the case of Royal Mail in the United Kingdom. The history of Royal Mail can be traced to the period of provocation in1979 in the UK. Most of the UK enterprises had been public enterprises and the government had taken extensive steps to privatize these enterprises with the view to reduce states expenditure and to shift the burden cost to the private sector. As a result 7.2 present of the public owned enterprise reduced to 2 present (Cook 2005). Despite the size of the program some of the government organizations remain within the domain of public sector. During the 1980s under the Labour Government this process reversed and as a result most of the industries became nationalized including the steel, automotive, shipbuilding, aircraft and postal industries. Most of the policy makers favoured the public owned enterprise due to several reasons. Firstly, it accounted for a larger share of the national total output and employment share. Most of these organizations are large and required a large number of workers to support its infrastructure. Since the Labour Government favoured labour intensive organizations, through public ownership it ensured job security for the majority of the population (Cook 2005). Secondly public monopolies such as the mail, airline or the steel industry have been essential services for the country that only the government can subsidize and finance. The massive infrastructure required for their operations made them unattractive to investors. For example the education system, legal framework as well as defence system. These were essential to the public but no single investor would be interested in investing huge funds with bleak future of running at aloes. Only the government with its access to huge funding was willing to invest in such public enterprises. Thirdly, organizations belonging to the public sector may enjoy the monopolist status yet not become regulated due to the government’s backing. As a result the resources allocated for its operations secured public welfare. Fourthly, public sector organizations worked in the interests of the consumer regardless of its inefficient status or costly structure. They were accountable to the electorate and not to a group of shareholders alone making them exclusive for a large group of consumers (Cook 2005).As a result of the deregulation, the UK government had been able to secure quite a few public monopolies. It has been observed that most public monopolies are redundant and donor serve the purpose of the consumer as efficiently as the government perceive. Compared with the benefits they provide to the consumers, public monopolies are not as efficient in delivering what they promise to the consumers. Due to the slow innovation and dynamic nature of these enterprises, the result is that they do not change with the consumer need. Poor quality is inherent in the kind of service they provide due to mismanagement and lack of training in the organizations. Other factors that lead to poor quality include incompetence, irresponsibility and the lack of accountability to specific authority (Saves 2000). Since there is no competition in the industry to give public monopolies wake up call and motivating them to innovate to serve the consumer welfare the public enterprises continue to provide services that may not serve the welfare of the consumer fully. For example the need for postal service in this day and age of technological development has decreased significantly (even though parcel services are still required). Public sector enterprises tend to lead to inefficiency due to the vast management and personnel structure. According to E. S. Saves (2000)government performance are reflected in these public enterprises in terms of inefficiency, overstaffing and low productivity. These organizations tend to employ twice as many employees per customer so that the resources become a waste which could easily be allocated to another entity where they are required. Although the government regularly inject investments for appropriating incentives through pay and rewards yet the distributed amount is so less to the individual worker that they remain unsatisfied working at the public organization leading to low productivity and inefficiency. Secondly, one of the biggest complains is that the publicly owned organizations do not have a choice in the products and services they get due to the lack of variety and choice. Due to the monopolistic behaviour, public enterprises tend to lack innovation to diversify resources or products to attract the consumers. As a result the consumers are forced to purchase products that they may not prefer, thereby stifling consumer preference. Thirdly, it has been observed that most public monopolies require huge investment funds at the cost of the taxpayers and the government. Indirectly, the consumer is forced to pay a price for services or products that they may or may not want to utilize. Fourthly, the public monopolists are not accountable to any one in particular but to a body of electorate that may be influenced by political entities. Hence, if there is a Labour government then the public enterprise would get more subsidies to increase its performance and thereby serve the public welfare more. However, on the other hand if there is a Conservative government then the enterprises would get fewer subsidies, decreasing its resources and efficiency. As a result there are fewer benefits to the public despite the high price they pay through taxation and allocated cost. Public policy in the past has been concentrating on the privatization of enterprise due to several reasons. Saves (2000) notes Some state enterprises are not expected to break even or make money, but many are. Nevertheless, loss-making and debt-ridden government enterprises tend to be the rule rather than the exception even among the for-profit group, and this is the principal impetus behind the worldwide movement to privatize such entities. The underlying reason for this state of affairs is the lack of true financial accountability. That is, government agencies and GOEs are rarely subject to binding budget constraints; they can usually muster enough political pressure to extract more subsidies. Furthermore, public enterprises have less inclination towards improvements despite the high level of investments. According to Akira Nishimori and Hikaru Ogawa (2002) First, suppression of the monopoly rents and improvements in allocate efficiency: admitting private firms into a market brings about increased output and lower prices. Second, a higher level of productive efficiency in the public sector; cost reducing incentives will emerge in the public sectors service production when it faces private competitors. They describe the public monopoly situation as follows. A two-stage optimization situation for a public firm is taken as an example. The cost reduction choice of investment is the first stage and the quantity supplied to the consumer is the second stage. When the monopoly equilibrium is achieved, maximization diminishes with the increase in investment in the short term. In the long run therefore the public welfare is decreased as the price continues to increase yet welfare maximization is decreased with high costs. (Nishimori and Ogawa 2002). Not only this but the authors also are of the opinion that in a public monopoly private firms that attempt to enter the industry would remain unsuccessful because public firms undertake cost reduction investment in the face of emerging private competition. When a private firm enters the market, there is a decrease in the consumer welfare. For this reason they propose that in order to prevent decrease in the cost reducing incentive of public firm, subsidization policies such arid subsidies may be effective. (Nishimori and Ogawa 2002). Neoclassical economists are of the view that efficiency is inherent in competitive environment. Unlike public monopolies which do not breed competition, privatization thrives in competitive markets as it attracts more investments. Nigel M. Healey (1993) writes The allocate and X-efficiency gains from increasing competition are illustrated by a movement from north to south; that is, from monopoly towards more competitive markets. By combining the capital market and competition arguments, and accepting the notion that private capital markets are beneficial for economic performance, it appears that the largest efficiency gains can be expected where there is an ownership change which leads to both more competition and more reliance on private capital markets. Public monopolies therefore are not open to competition which is the reason why they tend to decrease inefficiency as competition rises. In the UK firms like National Freight Corporation, British Telecom and Royal Mail all tend to have decreasing market share when they are faced with private competition. Royal Mail is the classic case of monopoly which has been dominating the postal industry in the UK for decades. According to a market report by Postcomm (2003) the postal industry is dominated by business mail. Twenty eight present of Royal Mails financial income is derived from its top 50 customers while 59 present of its mail volume comprise of commercial mail including utility bills, financial statements, invoices and government mail. The rest 29 present is made up of marketing material. On the other hand private postal services comprise of only 11percent of the market. With 15 years licence Royal Mail has been the dominant postal service provider within the UK for all types of postage and parcel services. The Postal Services 2000 however revised this public monopoly and introduced competition in the market by allowing other companies to compete with Royal Mail. Despite this fact Royal Mail still remains the undisputed king in the postal industry creating barriers to competition. It has an advantage over its competitors because of its universal access to geographical location as well as collects and delivers mail on each working day (Postcomm Report 2003). But more importantly Royal Mail has exemption from VAT, customs privileges and parking and traffic privileges which delineate it from competitors. The company serves in uneconomic and diverse areas which tend to increase its preference among consumers. Though this cost the government but nevertheless it has set a pattern and process of delivery to diversified destination which increases its competitive edge over other potential mail companies (Postcomm Report 2003). As studied theoretically above, Royal Mail proves to be financially inefficient due to its failure to meet financial target. Despite its increase in revenue due to increase in volume sales and price Royal Mail nevertheless does not earn as much as it is required to reach equilibrium. Instead it concentrates on making profits on business accounts; prepared items etc. and lose out on stamped items. As a result the Postcomm authority has increased restrictions on Royal Mail(Postcomm Report 2003). In such a case of public monopoly, one observes that Royal Mail would continue to incur costs of investments and injections for the upkeep of the enterprise. The organization despite restrictions and strict policies has not been able to meet its performance target. But more importantly Royal Mail behaves in the same manner as in the cost dissemination model that the researcher discussed earlier. Despite high prices Royal Mail is operating at a loss due to a variety of reasons including inefficiency, lack of innovation, loss and compromising consumer welfare with its limited services. Private monopolies As opposed to public there are private monopolies which are adopted by private enterprises. Private monopolies deal with the supply side of economics. According to Charles Geist (2000) private monopolies tend to dominate the market as effectively as public monopolies due to the incentives in the form of tax cuts, economic stimulation and increase in the demand of goods and services. As a result, a private monopolist raises the prices of goods and services higher than the market price with the intention to earn higher profits. In the following illustration of private monopoly there is only one producer who influences the price. The producer sets MC=AC and setting the production low where MR=MC. This way there is low level of production which in turn creates high demand. The price set would that that the market will bear and hence the consumer becomes the price taker. In the following figure one see that low output at O would enable the producer to increase the price of the goods to meet the demand B. Since MC is below MR the producer enjoys a high level of profit with low level of output. If he increases his output to O then he/she would lose out on the price set by the market mechanisms supply-demand. As a result the monopolist profits ABDE despite the high demand ABCE. The area BCD is the dead-weight loss which the market will bear as a result of the monopoly (Coopers and Lybrand 1996). Thus, in private monopolies do not actually serve the purpose of satisfying the consumer welfare because it involves: - a lower level of output (O compared with O1); A higher price (P compared with P1); Profits in excess of those required to earn a reasonable return (ABDE is monopoly profit or producer surplus); and a reduction in economic welfare; the loss of consumer surplus -resulting from higher prices is ABCE, which is more than the benefit tithe producers in terms of higher profits (ABDE); this net loss, represented by the triangle BCD, is called dead-weight loss.(Coopers and Lybrand 1996) Sometimes the government such as those under the Reagan’s administration induce private monopolies through privatization policies to get the country out of economic recession. However, according to Bauer et al (1995) The impact of a regulatory system depends upon its influence on managerial behaviour. In the United States, where private monopoly suppliers of electricity, gas and water have existed for many years, the regulatory system has led to confusion, litigation and commercial disaster. The regulations control, inter alia, the level of service, environmental considerations, and pricing, much as in Britain. â€Å"As a result private monopolies tend to affect the consumers and do not really satisfy their needs. Not only has this but it been observed that private monopolies run on the basis of rate of returns on private capital. According to Healey(1993) where a ceiling on the rate of return on capital exists, the incentive for management to control costs is reduced, and an incentive exists to extend the capital base through more investment—the so-called Avert-Johnson effect. This effect compromises the consumer welfare and undermines the enterprise objectives of serving the public. Privatization and the promotion of private monopolies therefore are costly as they need regulatory bodies to monitor them. Yet despite this fact policy makers are of the opinion that to increase firms ‘efficiency, privatization is the most feasible process. As a result private monopoly develops. Horton and Ridge (1972) writes about private monopoly as follows: Private monopoly is also more subject to erosion than governmental monopoly. Competition will make itself felt in one way or another whenever the monopoly price is far above the competitive price. There cent stock-market hearings offer a dramatic example. The commission charged on large purchases and sales is clearly exorbitant. As a result, firms executing such orders have been able to get the business only by agreeing to give up part, often a large part, of their commissions to other firms designated by the customers clearly an indirect form of price-cutting. In addition, a third market has developed in which large traders deal directly, bypassing the organized exchanges. A less dramatic but more pervasive example is competition among firms to provide free services to customers in the form of investment information and advice, attractive lounges with tickers, and so on. Erosion of this sort tends to undermine the management of private organizations and eventually lead to inefficiency which has been the objective of the government for inducing it in the first place. According to Hay and Morris (1991) whenever business activities are monopolistic in nature it involves engineering factors. Engineering here refers to the engineering of management processes and operation of social and economic factors within the enterprise. When the monopolist serve the market at a lower unit cost than other competing firms are unable to match the price or the resources upon which the monopolist is operating. As a result the monopolist creates barriers to entries and drive out competition in the industry. Incentives to efficiency under monopoly prove to be weak as it is cheaper for the market to have two suppliers who are also competitors rather than a single producer. Button the other hand for a monopolist, instead of increasing goods quantity and decrease the price, it would be more profitable to use the same resources to produce related products. One example is the case of Microsoft which has used its technology base to create products that are interconnected and at a high price. As a result the consumer is forced to purchase these products because it is convenient for them to use Microsoft products without having technology clashes (Hay and Morris 1991). Not only this but private monopolies largely lie within the domain of the private sector in which the authority and the accountability lies with the shareholders they serve. The government and policy makers only have authority to the extent of governing it through regulations. The monopolists tend to exist for their own profitability and efficiency as long as its resources are allocated for maximization. Ultimately, it is the market and the consumer which is affected. Private monopolies for example tend to drive competition out of the market due to large consumer ba

cinco de mayo :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Mexicamos, Viva Mexico† is cried out by the Mexican president every 16th of September as done by Miguel Hidalgo in 1821, after the traditional bell ringing is finished the national anthem is sang. Similar to the 4th of July celebration with parties, fireworks, ceremonies, except they also get bullfights also.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In search for independence a priest decided to take matters into his own hands and lead a revolution against the Spanish government, but he was executed immediately. His execution inspired another priest to continue the rebellion and brought together the Criollos, but more auguring was to continue until the country found a way of government both sides were satisfied with.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Once the Criollos found out that the French forces that had occupied Spain, had imprisoned their leader King Ferdinand VII, they decided that they wanted to take control of the government. Leading the revolution was a catholic priest named Miguel Hidalgo. They wanted to establish Mexico as an independent country. Noone wanted confrontation with Spanish military though. Word spread fast and soon enough the Spanish was informed of a rebellion against them. That left Hidalgo with little time he had to act fast and start the rebellion early. In Dolores, Hidalgo gave his famous speech known as the Grito de Dolores, to Indians and mestizos that were called upon to rebel against the Spanish. The whole idea of the rebellion was so the Mexicans could govern their own land and that was enough drive for a war so the battle began.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The begging of the battle was very gruesome and bloody instead of having a political fight. The Indians had to fight against the Spanish artillery with there clubs, slings, axes, and machetes. His men were outnumbered, and some Indian communities wouldn’t fight because the battle was so bloody. Hidalgo had to retreat and was later executed in 1811. In 1813 another priest continued Hidalgo’s struggle. Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon attracted the Criollos. He came close to Mexican independence by bringing together a congress that wrote a constitution for a Mexican republic. He was also later captured by the Spanish and executed in 1815. In 1816 King Ferdinand was back on the throne. All rebels were killer by the Spanish and Ferdinand misunderstood the Criollos movement for there traitorous ways he put heavy taxes on them and organized a strong army to stop any revolution movement. Most Criollos could not trust Spain.

Building Brand Value: Gillette

The first safety razor with disposable blades was invented in 1901 by King C. Gillette. Since then to this date Gillette has been one of the leaders in shaving technology and innovation. Gillette has been the preferred choice for many men and women around the world for over 100 years. In the Mid-1970s the then appointed CEO Colman M. Mockler succeeded Vincent C. Ziegler after being with the company since 1957. Mockler’s strategic plan included the concentration of limited number of potential markets mainly with high volume returns and repeat purchase consumer items. He also invested in companies’ that were compatible with already existing manufacturing or distribution capabilities. Gillette's advertising budget was increased whilst at the same time cost-cutting measures were done in all other divisions. Basically he took a financial approach rather than a sales approach. The company was seeing success under the leadership of Mockler. Mocker was expected to retire at the end of 1991 but died unexpectedly in January 1991. While Mockler served as CEO for the period 1975 to 1991 the company was the target for three takeover attempts. In 1998 the Mach 3 was introduced. The new safety razor system introduced a third blade into the twin-blade system that dominated the wet-shaving market costing Gillette $35 billion to bring to the market. Gillette faced its worst economic performance in 1998, sales had dropped by 15 percent and 4700 jobs were cut. Some of markets that contributed towards the loss in income were Brazil, Germany and Russia, with the share price dropping by 11 percent. Gillette continued to underperform well into 1999 to 2000 and in October 2000. At that point the company’s managing board fired the then CEO Michael Hawley and announced a world-wide restructuring of Gillette. In 2001 James M. Kilts was recruited by the Gillette Board both as the chairman and CEO to bring his turnaround talent to the company. Kilts, the former Nabisco CEO had a reputation for fixing troubled companies. He was the first outsider recruited to lead Gillette. Some of the issues Kilts had at the top of his list to address upon his arrival at Gillette were 1) Duracell was no longer dominating the market as it had lost market share to other brands for example Energizer and Rayovac which offered similar performance at a lower cost. ) The company IT system was outdated and in some departments did not exist 3) Lacked communication throughout the organization both locally and internationally 4) Lack of discipline 5) Gillette's earnings were below expectations. 6) Lack of Innovation 7) Stock prices fell to 60 percent between early 1999 and late 2001. Attacking Gillette’s problems from within the organization Kilts demanded greater executive discipline, accountability and focus. Kilts also found that the company had lost its edge with a corporate culture that was outdated and failed to reward innovation. He found that the company did not keep up with the marketplace innovations and promoted staff mainly from within which did not foster any new ideas. Kilts introduced to the company a new more efficient meeting approach that promoted fact-based management, open communication, simplicity, collaboration, measurement, reports, and methods for working together. He wanted excellent performance that included the ability to collaborate across business units. Kilts Strategic Plan * Introduction of computer programs to aid with tracking of sales and inventory. Reduced the number of stock-keeping units, instead greater concentration was placed on the best selling items. * Reduction in overheads. * Increased advertising and conscious spending on R&D in key business units. * Increase accountability from managers through one and one meetings to discuss quarterly and annual reviews. * People were hired to lead and innovate, gradually changing people at the top. * Fostered teamwork and increased communication within the entire company globally. * The entire strategic plan was adapted or mapped precisely around the world. Kilts’ guiding principles included: Straight talk about problems and expectations * Courage to admit responsibility * Open dialogue and widespread communications * Clear priorities and attention to detail * Performance feedback At the end of the first quarter in 2004 Gillette reported 43 percent increase in profits which came mainly from the wet razors, Mach 3 and Venus systems. Under the watch of Kilts, the Gillette’s stock had risen by 50 percent. Within four years time Kilts was able to take Gillette from a declining slope to an inclining slope a nd made it one of the best-performing consumer products companies in the world. Eventually, on October 1, 2005, Gillette and Procter & Gamble merged companies. Procter & Gamble bought 100% of Gillette for $57 billion. Gillette continues to operate as the world best-selling razor with a mission and visions statement as follows. Vision: â€Å"The Gillette co. is a globally focused consumer products marketers that seeks competitive advantage in quality, value added personal use product. We are committed to build shareholder value through sustained profitable growth. † Mission: â€Å"To Build total brand value by innovating to deliver consumer value and customer leadership faster, better and more completely than our competitors. †

Christian Apologist Essay

Included in the 10 most influential Christians of the 20th century alongside Karl Barth, Pope John XXIII, Martin Luther King Jr, and Billy Graham, the Christian History magazine named him â€Å"the atheist scholar who became an Anglican, an apologist, and a ‘patron saint’ of Christians everywhere. † He was also dubbed as an â€Å"apostle to the skeptics† because he resolutely answered frequent objections individuals had when it came to accepting Christ as their Savior (christianodyssey. com). Born into a Protestant family in Ireland on November 29, 1898, C.  S. Lewis was the son of A. J. Lewis, a solicitor, and Flora Augusta, a promising mathematician. He bore a lonely and unhappy childhood. Especially crushed by the death of his mother due to cancer when he was nine years old, Lewis was left disheartened with God (christianodyssey. com). Lewis came to reject Christianity at an early age, becoming an affirmed atheist. He reasoned that Christian myths were mediocre and that the Christian god must be a sadist (about. com). Whilst being inquired about his religious view, C. S.  Lewis labeled the worship of Christ and the Christian faith as â€Å"one mythology among many. † (christianodyssey. com). Lewis was married to Helen Joy Davidman. She was a Jewish American with two children of her own. Davidman was good-natured and shared her husband’s joy in argument. Sadly, she died of cancer in 1960 (kirjasto. htm). After a prolonged period poor health and sporadic recovery, Lewis himself died on November 22, 1963 (christianodyssey. com). Fondly called â€Å"Jack† by his loved ones, Lewis was a well-known professor at both Oxford and Cambridge. Lewis’ 25 books on Christian topics include Mere Christianity (1952), The Problem of Pain (1940), Miracles (1947), The Screwtape Letters (1942), Surprised by Joy (1955) and The Great Divorce (1945). The Pilgrim’s Regress (1933) was about his own experience while on his way to conversion (christianodyssey. com). In The Problem of Pain (1940), it is asked, â€Å"If God is good and all-powerful, why does he allow his creatures to suffer pain? † Here, Lewis reasoned that the wrong choices people tend to make usually account for the suffering they are eventually faced (kirjasto. htm). Here we see that Lewis is trying to give rational answers to queries people have without completely basing it on blind faith. Critics usually look for an understanding based on the cause-and-effect principle. The Chronicles of Narnia has turned out to be the most lasting of Lewis’s novels. It retells the story of the Creation, the fall and redemption of humanity and also includes other Christian themes in allegorical form. The portal to Narnia, a version of Paradise, is a wardrobe through which four sibling children enter this secondary world. In the first story the bad Witch is destroyed in a battle. The final books deal with Narnia’s beginning and end. In the last Armageddon story, with its death-and-resurrection theme, the struggle was between a king and the forces of evil (kirjasto. htm). We need to understand here that if readers can understand the mechanics of Narnia and how the plot of this story works with the inclusion of certain Christian themes, they can better understand Christian beliefs from a more objective point of view and accept it. The same point of view they read and understood The Chronicles of Narnia. Lewis presented the basic teachings of orthodox Christianity — teachings he labeled â€Å"mere Christianity† (inplainsite. rg). Lewis went on British radio between 1942 and 1944. His discussions during those years were on what he called â€Å"mere Christianity,† that is, the universal and most doctrinal beliefs of the faith. This very collection of radio talks were later tied together in one of Lewis’ most influential books, Mere Christianity (christianodyssey. com). Lewis’s project in this book was to defend â€Å"mere Christianity,† or the most essential basics of the Christian faith, against unbelievers. (leaderu. com) Lewis based his defense of Christianity on an argument from morality. The Moral Argument states that there is a universal â€Å"moral conscience† amongst all human beings. Everybody possesses an internal sense of moral obligation to realize the difference between right and wrong and choose to do what is right. Lewis ascertains that the existence of this common â€Å"moral conscience,† can only be the consequential result from the existence of a god who created all humans. (about. com). C. S. Lewis disputed for reason-based Christianity as opposed to faith-based Christianity. This is a questionable decision on Lewis’ part because conventional Christianity is indisputably faith-based. Lewis’ principal readers were supposed to be skeptics and atheists rather than current believers. Skeptics doubt for lack of reason and evidence; therefore, only reason and evidence is more likely to draw their reconsideration. In his book, Mere Christianity, Lewis writes: â€Å"I am not asking anyone to accept Christianity if his best reasoning tells him that the weight of the evidence is against it. † (about. com). One of Lewis’ most-often-quoted statements is from Mere Christianity, where he uses reason and logic to introduce three possibilities to us (often known as the â€Å"Lewis trilemma†). According to this trilemma, either Jesus really was God and intentionally lying, or was not God but reckoned himself to be (which would make him a lunatic). Mere Christianity goes on to say that the latter likelihood is not consistent with Jesus’ character and it is, therefore, most likely that he was being truthful â€Å"A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. â€Å"- Mere Christianity (christianodyssey. com). As mentioned earlier in this paper, C. S. Lewis’ readings are mostly meant for critics and unbelievers of the Christian faith. It is not designed for Christians who have accepted Lord Jesus as their Savior because they do not need to be convinced through reason-based writings about Christianity. Lewis was very interested in presenting a reasonable case for the truth of Christianity. I chose C. S. Lewis for my Apologetics term paper because I had always known this personality as the author of my favorite books. Years later, I was overwhelmingly surprised the depth of these novels in correlation to Christian concepts of Creation, Paradise and Armageddon. The applications of Lewis’ teachings can be seen in his Christian writings. They all lean towards reason, approaching Christianity as a religion that has factual grounds in addition of those relying on faith. C. S. Lewis believed the best apology for Christianity was the life of a believer and the way we live our lives. Non-Christians are more likely to be attracted to Christianity through the non-verbal acts and conduct of our life. However he also believed in verbal apologetics. Lewis believed Christianity was rational but at the same time was ultra-rational, i. e. that it was supernatural and divine and went way beyond the limits and scope of rationality (thatimayknowhim. o. uk). Lewis even believed in theistic evolution. In The Problem of Pain he wrote, â€Å"If by saying that man rose from brutality you mean simply that man is physically descended from animals, I have no objections†¦. For long centuries God perfected the animal form which was to become the vehicle of humanity and the image of Himself. He gave it hands whose thumbs could be applied to each of its fingers, and jaws and teeth and the throat capable of articulation, and a brain sufficiently complex to execute all material motions whereby rational thought is incarnated. The creature may have existed for ages in this state before it became man†¦. We do not know how many of these creatures God made, nor how long they continued in the Paradisal state† – The Problem of Pain (svchapel. org) The uniqueness of Lewis’ writings is fairly obvious. In comparison to other apologists, Lewis appealed to the reader’s emotions and sense of imagination. He, therefore, wanted to write about the essence of Christianity by reflecting upon its poignant, visual and imaginative side in its rational coherence. He wanted for the reader to taste the beauty of the faith; to draw the reader into the magnificent story of God’s salvation, to submerge him/her into the universe of Christianity. Many Christians testified that they started to seek heaven only after reading Lewis’ works. The way he is able to depict heaven and the spiritual world enabled the reader to truly understand the gift of Heaven that awaits us (euroleadershipresources. org). It is from C. S. Lewis that we need to learn that the kind of language used to explore God and the content of Christian faith is a matter of epitome importance. The human language has the potential to mediate feelings and understanding on an extremely poignant level. If implemented correctly Christian apologists need to be excited for themselves because of the relationship they are in with God. This very excitement on such a personal level will only help them better to find the right words and literary expressions needed to present the Christian faith. In this way, thanks to C. S. Lewis, Apologetics will become an effective personal testimony of God’s salvation (euroleadershipresources. org).