Feminism Short Stories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Feminism Short Stories - Essay Example The stories, considered further on, represent social turmoil experienced by women, who lived in the nineteenth century. Thesis: a moral oppression and social bounds imposed on the main characters of Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Nathanial Hawthorne reflect negative impacts caused on physical and emotional condition of women. â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Therefore, we will focus on the ways the main characters from these short stories fought against their oppression. There were different physical and emotional conditions among these women. The first short story â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† by Charlotte Perkins Gilman represents an emotional and moral degradation of the main character of the story. In her intentions, she tries to reveal a woman hiding behind yellow wallpapers of the room. She tries to climb up the wallpapers and at the same time she tries to escape from oppressing reality. This woman is positioned as a â€Å"hysterical woman†, which means her unusual behavior for the society of the nineteenth century. This woman is able to make some notes in her diary about the oppressing circumstances happening to her life. She is unable to take care of her child and she feels depressed. At the same time, this woman is locked in the room, which was a child room. In her despair she pulls off all the wallpapers: â€Å"I've got out at last†¦.and I've pulled off most of the paper so you can't put me back!† (Gilman). At this moment the author shows to us the way her husband faints. In other words, she shows that this man could not remain conscious. He cannot take control over his emotions, the same way like women do. Therefore, his wife maybe is not too weird; she just was oppressed by social stereotypes and behavioral templates. Once she gets rid of these ties, she becomes free. There is much more behind her life and her inner feelings and emotions. Her emotions are oppressed and her inner self experiences de gradation. Nevertheless, she manages to pull all her efforts and direct her power on overcoming the most challenging moments in her life. She makes changes in the room; she releases an imagined woman from the wall and in such a way she releases herself from a â€Å"yellow wall† or social oppression. She finally manages to cope with her emotional burden and the fact that her husband faints in her face, means that this woman defeats him. Unfortunately, the heroine of another short story does not have so much power. Nathanial Hawthorne, â€Å"The Birthmark† In another short story written by Nathanial Hawthorne, â€Å"The Birthmark†, Georgiana has a birthmark on her cheek. This imperfect trait makes her husband insane, because he is obsessed with having an ideal wife. The author tells exactly about the most acute problem, oppressing the modern women: their physical ideal form. There is only appearance, which should be followed by a woman. Another factor, determining behavior of Aylmer is his occupation. He is a perfect scientist and he is sure that a man is able to take control over nature. The birthmark on the face of his wife looks like a hand. His husband makes her remove this â€Å"dreadful hand†. He made his life drink the elixir. She dies and the birthmark disappears from her face. He was not focused on love to his wife; he was focused on love to his work. He wanted to make his wife perfect and he reached his goal. The author shows to the readers that Aylmer is a selfish individual. He

Environmental science Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Environmental science - Movie Review Example d solutions for environmental issues are depicted through aerial shots of natural and urban landscapes across several countries.  The documentary argues  that the more the earth develops the more natural resources it consumes. Building and population boom in urban China, industrial production in the U.S., the lack of potable water in India, and deforestation in Borneo are some of the issues covered. In South Korea, New York, and Costa Rica, forest management programs are being implemented. In addition, Mumbai, New Zealand, and Austria among other countries have agreed to develop renewable energy sources like windmill and solar panels. This documentary makes us aware of  the environments problems and the different solutions offered by environment science.  We are shown that water, soil, wind, and sun work together to create life. Environmental scientists are encouraged to  improve existing technologies  in renewable energy sources and develop new ways of harnessing energy from the  earth. As whats stated in the documentary - "Whats important is what remains [on earth]."  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This documentary depicts different scenarios that could result from increases in world temperature. The documentary was filled with weather footages and special effects that illustrate the harmful effects of global warming. Alec Baldwin guides the audience through his narration of the changes in temperature and the accompanying effect in oceans, disasters, and everyday climate. Environmental events believed to have resulted from global warming are also presented.    The documentary used real-world examples of environmental changes to portray how changes in earth’s temperature affect the environment. A place in England now grows wine-quality grapes which were not possible a few years back. The metal-protected houses in Paris led to several thousands dead when a heat wave occurred. All these real-world examples show the harmful effects of increasing earth temperature. The documentary

Investment Enhancement Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Investment Enhancement Paper - Essay Example Also by diversify portfolio investors are able to earn more consistent returns on their investment and if one stock does not perform well and does not yield positive return then the other one could perform well and yield positive return thus the overall risk of the portfolio is reduced and investors are in a position to save their investment from fluctuations of stock as well as market. There are different techniques that investors around the world use to diversify their portfolio and maximize their return. Investing internationally or in the international markets is one of the most common techniques that investors use to diversify their portfolio. This gives more chances to investors to enhance their investment and earn better returns. In addition to while making investment internationally, investors have also used alternative investment vehicles to diversify their portfolio and to enhance their investment. This report analyzes how investors around the world have been diversifying t heir portfolio by investing internationally and by making use of alternative vehicles. international portfolio diversification on an investment portfolio When investors are investing in a particular asset they normally face two types of risks. These two types of risk are; systematic risk and nonsystematic risk. These types of risk influence the stock price and thus the return of the investors is changed. Non-systematic risk is the risk of a particular asset, stock or company in which the investment is being made and it is also called the diversifiable risk as it can be reduced drastically by creating a portfolio and diversifying the investment. The other kind of risk is called the systematic risk and it is the market risk or risk of a portfolio. The risk of a stock is reduced by diversifying the portfolio and by making investment in stock of different industries. However even after diversifying the portfolio in a particular market, the market risk cannot be reduced (Gitman, 2003). T he following graph shows that as the investor diversifies its portfolio the non-systematic risk of the portfolio reduces and as the portfolio becomes more and more diversified, the non-systemic risk reduces. However by diversifying portfolio, the systematic risk or market risk is not diversified or reduced. Market risk is the risk that can be because of fluctuations in the market, economic condition of the country, political instability and several other macroeconomic factors that would directly or indirectly impact the stock prices. (Source: Systematic versus Non-Systematic Risk) So in order to enhance the investment and further reduce the risk of the portfolio, investors have started investing stocks and assets in other countries as it reduces the market risk. By investing in different markets, the impact of change in the return because of a particular market is reduced in the overall investment and therefore the overall risk of the portfolio is reduced. The following graph reflec ts that the risk of the portfolio is further reduced as stocks from other parts of the world are included in the portfolio. Therefore diversifying portfolio and investing in different stocks around the world would reduce the risk of the portfolio and therefore it would enhance the investment. So, investing internationally would reduce the market risk and thus the overall risk

Apple Inc’s supply chain Essay Example for Free

Apple Inc’s supply chain Essay Apple Inc is the company that create a great innovation product development such as ipod , iphone , ipad , Macbook . Apple’s products have been accepted about modern design, high quality and technology. Behind the success, Apple has a best supply chain management. The beginning of their supply chain start with the research and development product to make sure that can be making and have special things to surprise their customer. The products produce from a various sources of raw material in several countries. The major suppliers which make core components for Apple are the manufacturers in China and other parts are made from United States, Europe and other countries in Asia and then they transfer all components to assemble in China. The finished goods are stored in warehouse facility in Elk Grove, California for distribute to the customer who order via retail stores, direct sales and other distributors. The other distribution way is ship product directly to their customer by the assembler. The point of these supply chain that raise the customer satisfaction is the quickly distribution via airfreight and the protection for the uniqueness of their product by places electronic monitors in some boxes of components to track them from Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino. Advantage * They have high inventory return and don’t have to get the demand forecast for new product like other company because they have loyal customers that support their supply and have potential waiting when it is out of stock. * They have procurement advantages that smaller rival can’t match * They can ask a supplier for a price quote and make a special contract to secure strategic raw materials. It reduces a raw material problem and the inventory out of stock. * The high protection helps them to ensure that customer delight and surprise when the products hit the market. Disadvantage * Most of their key components come from China that is a cause of risky about any sort of man-made or natural disaster. It can make Apple’s supply chain to a halt. * They might lose the customer who care about supplier responsibility because of some supplier have a hour of work more than Apple’s standard labor policy, work a maximum of 60 hour per week and to get at least one day off per week, especially in the new product launch period

The Importance Of Research And Development

The Importance Of Research And Development New product design and development is more often than not a crucial factor in the survival of a company. In an competitive environment that is fast changing, firms must continually revise their design and range of products. This is necessary due to continuous technology change and development as well as other competitors and the changing preference of customers. A system driven by marketing is one that puts the customer needs first, and only produces goods that are known to sell. Market research is carried out, which establishes what is needed. If the development is technology driven then it is a matter of selling what it is possible to make. The product range is developed so that production processes are as efficient as possible and the products are technically superior, hence possessing a natural advantage in the market place. RD has a special economic significance apart from its conventional association with scientific and technological development. RD investment generally reflects a governments or organizations willingness to forgo current operations or profit to improve future performance or returns, and its abilities to conduct research and development. In 2006, the worlds four largest spenders of RD were the United States (US$343 billion), the EU (US$231 billion), China (US$136 billion), and Japan (US$130 billion). In terms of percentage of GDP, the order of these spenders for 2006 was China (US$115 billion of US$2,668 billion GDP), Japan, United States, EU with approximate percentages of 4.3, 3.2, 2.6, and 1.8 respectively. The top 10 spenders in terms of percentage of GDP were Israel (4.53%), China (4.3%), Sweden (3.73%), Finland (3.45%), Japan (3.39%), South Korea (3.23%), Switzerland (2.9%), Iceland (2.78%), United States (2.62%), and Germany (2.53%). In general, RD activities are conducted by specialized units or centers belonging to companies, universities and state agencies. In the context of commerce, research and development normally refers to future-oriented, longer-term activities in science or technology, using similar techniques to scientific research without predetermined outcomes and with broad forecasts of commercial yield. Statistics on organizations devoted to RD may express the state of an industry, the degree of competition or the lure of progress. Some common measures include: budgets, numbers of patents or on rates of peer-reviewed publications. Bank ratios are one of the best measures, because they are continuously maintained, public and reflect risk. In the U.S., a typical ratio of research and development for an industrial company is about 3.5% of revenues. A high technology company such as a computer manufacturer might spend 7%. Although Allergan (a biotech company) tops the spending table 43.4% investment, anything over 15% is remarkable and usually gains a reputation for being a high technology company. Companies in this category include pharmaceutical companies such as Merck HYPERLINK file:///wiki/Merck__Co.HYPERLINK file:///wiki/Merck__Co. Co. (14.1%) or Novartis (15.1%), and engineering companies like Ericsson (24.9%). Such companies are often seen as poor credit risks because their spending ratios are so unusual. Generally such firms prosper only in markets whose customers have extreme needs, such as medicine, scientific instruments, safety-critical mechanisms (aircraft) or high technology military armaments. The extreme needs justify the high risk of failure and consequently high gross margins from 60% to 90% of revenues. That is, gross profits will be as much as 90% of the sales cost, with manufacturing costing only 10% of the product price, because so many individual projects yield no exploitable product. Most industrial companies get only 40% revenues. On a technical level, high tech organizations explore ways to re-purpose and repackage advanced technologies as a way of amortizing the high overhead. They often reuse advanced manufacturing processes, expensive safety certifications, specialized embedded software, computer-aided design software, electronic designs and mechanical subsystems. Research has shown that firms with a persistent RD strategy outperform those with an irregular or no RD investment programme HenceI have chosen to analyze GSKs RD and focus how it achieved growth. Brief Company Background: Head quartered in the UK, GlaxoSmithKline was formed in 2000 as a result of the merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. It employs over 100,000 people in 116 countries with over 15,000 involved in research. GSK has a broad portfolio, with projects in the fields of respiratory, central nervous system, and anti-infectives to name a few. In addition, GSK has an extensive vaccines portfolio. According to GSK, it supplied one quarter of the worlds vaccines by the end of 2006 and had a further 20 in clinical development With nearly 210 pharmaceuticals and vaccine, GSK has one of the most promising pipelines in the pharmaceutical arena. However, its current success appears to be not only due to the blockbuster merger, but also to the leadership and business acumen of its CEO, Dr Jean-Pierre Garnier (formerly CEO of SmithKline Beecham), and his strategy to prioritise RD activities. Additionally, the strategic bolt-on acquisitions, such as those of Corixa and Domantis, have further strengthened the business, adding specialist expertise to maximise future potential revenue. It is important to note that GSK is not only a world leader in pharmaceuticals, but generates significant revenue from its Consumer Healthcare division Lucozade and Nicorette, for example, are globally recognised brand. In all core areas of GSK research and development plays a very important role in the product pipeline, new product development, launch and timing of the product and the final release of the product. In all these stages other department coordinate with the research and development department to ensure that the product helps GSK maintain a strong market share. Interview: GSKs Research and Development and its strategic priorities While writing this report I conducted a brief interview with Faisal Mehmud , Director GSK , Global Research and Development , who has said that GSKS merger was a complete success and that the RD department of GSK is one of the best in the world and has been instrumental in making GSK a market leader. Why do you think RD department in GSK is important? Faisal: Research and development is nowadays of great importance in business as the level of competition, production processes and methods are rapidly increasing. It is of special importance in the field of marketing where companies keep an eagle eye on competitors and customers in order to keep pace with modern trends and analyze the needs, demands and desires of their customers How do you manage GSKs RD capabilities? Faisal: Research often refers to basic experimental research; development refers to the exploitation of discoveries. Research involves the identification of possible chemical compounds or theoretical mechanisms. GSK normally buys licenses from universities or hires scientists directly when economically solid research level products emerge and the development phase of drug delivery is almost entirely managed by GSK. Development is concerned with proof of concept, safety testing, and determining ideal levels and delivery mechanisms. Development often occurs in phases that are defined by drug safety regulators in the country of interest. In the United States, the development phase can cost between $10 to $200 million and approximately one in ten compounds identified by basic research pass all development phases and reach market What does the term RD alliance means? And who are GSKs partners in RD alliance? An RD alliance is a mutually beneficial formal relationship formed between two or more parties to pursue a set of agreed upon goals while remaining independent organisations, where acquiring new knowledge is a goal by itself. The different parties agree to combine their knowledge to create new innovative products. Thanks to funding from government organizations, like the European Unions Seventh Framework Programme and modern advances in technology. GSK has many partners in research and development including the world health organization (WHO) and the Japanese government to name a few. Research and Development in GSK: A brief Literature Review. With the general growth of RD in many academic and business fields, it is hardly surprising that the relationship between research and development and growth has attracted considerable attention in recent years. In an attempt to go beyond traditional assumptions about how research and development helps achieve competitive advantage and market growth, studies have focused on anything from different traditional, analytical or structural uses of research and development to aspects of marketing, such as product launch and timing, and other interactions in the product life cycle. While some research has focused only on the description and functions of research and development, other work has sought to show how research and development helps a company grow in terms of gaining and then maintain a competitive advantage not shared by its rivals. Accordingly, Kuemmerle (1999) suggests that research and development can be divided into studies that focus on product development and those that foc us on innovation. Much of the earlier work emphasized product development. SL Brown (1995) pioneering work suggested that product development can be divided into three streams of research and development: product development as a rational plan, communication web and disciplined problem solving . Thus, he argued that the type of RD capabilities will later shape the structure of the organization since research and development is a key component of product development and new products are becoming the nexus of competition amongst firms striving to achieve a larger market share(1995, p.5). While there are clearly some problems with SL Brownss work his analysis was not based on empirical research, for example the automatic equation of product development with `three streams is problematic the emphasis on research and development has understandably remained at the Centre of much of this work. Research has shown how companies invested in RD dominated more, interrupted less often, held the market share for longer, and so on (see, for example, J Griffin , Journal of product innovation 1995). The chief focus of this approach, then, has been to show how research and development interacts between new product development and dominant market share Some studies, however, have taken a different approach by looking not so much at RD in product development but have focused how research and development helps innovation. In a typical study of this type, JF Reinganum (1989) developed lists of what he described as research and development features of innovation. He argued that For research and development to yield up new approaches, they must also be closely coupled to the problems and challenges where innovation is needed. Much of this research has focused on comparisons between, for example the competitive nature of businesses and the ways to acquire larger market share through innovation. While some of the more popular work of this type, such as GC Moore (1991), lacks a critical dimension, the emphasis on innovation has nevertheless been valuable in interaction between research and development and company growth Although Kuemmerle (1999) distinction is clearly a useful one, it also seems evident that these two approaches are by no means mutually exclusive. While it is important on the one hand, therefore, not to operate with a simplistic version of product development and to consider research and development only in product development and innovation, it is also important not to treat research and development as if it existed outside sphere of business studies. As AH Van de Ven, HL Angle, MS Poole (2000) ask, Can it be coincidence that only firms with a persistent RD strategy outperform those with an irregular or no RD investment pr (p.80). Clearly, there is scope here for a great deal more research that is based on empirical data of research and development; operates with a complex understanding of research and development and its relationship with other core functions of business management looks specifically at the contexts of RD use, rather than assuming broad categories; aims not only to describe and explain research and development but also to change the overall understanding of RD and its importance in growth and development of a company. How research and development helped GSK GSK adopted a resource strategy to grow a well diversified global business.GSK invested heavily in its research and development (Â £3.2 billion in 2007 alone) and linked IT with biology to retrieve, process, analyse and model the vast amount of information for optimum results. GSK also realised the growth potential of emerging markets and drove expansion in Japan. The merger of Glaxo and SmithKline Beeckham created a diverse range of product portfolio for GSK and allowed geographical expansion GSK also grew its consumer healthcare business; this was done by focusing more on innovations and scare resources where they could make the biggest difference. Patent protection ensures competitive advantage, however once patent protection is lost a company has trouble maintaining a products position in the market, for this reason GSK maintains one of the best research and development facilities in the world and has some 160,000 RD staff worldwide At any time GSK has some 150 projects in clinical development comprising new drugs, product line extensions and vaccines to ensure their comparative advantage and their position as a market leader. GSK stuck with its past product success. These products were targeted at its current customers in their current markets. GSK implemented a conservative new product strategy by making minor modifications and incremental improvements in the packaging of their current products. At the same time they adopted a strategy of exploring market potential of their established existing markets by targeting them with extended new products. These new products were commercialized to replace old products that were running out of patent protection or substituted by superior rival products from competitors. GSK also identified new markets for its products. GSK adopted all these strategies simultaneously to grow a well-diversified business. GSKs main competitors such as Novartis, Pfizer and Sanofi-Aventis also have a strategy of delivering more products of value however GSKs strategy of delivering more products of value is based on simplifying its clinical RD and by adding value to the supplies brought into the organization. GSKs strategy was to increase flow and improve the distribution of its products simultaneously they increased the quality of their products through research and development and creating global brands with a strong marketing initiative. GSK also compensated individuals who bought supplies for them and took strong steps to improve their supply-chain management. Unlike its main competitors GSK maintained a prescriptive resource strategy. GSK used its resources for maximum strategic benefit. If we link GSKs strategic priority of delivering more products of value with its prescriptive resource strategy we see that GSK significantly grew its biopharm capability. Biopharmaceuticals are medical drugs produced using biotechnology. GSK invested heavily to attract the best talent, compensated them and took maximum advantage of their human resources and development, which resulted in not just a growth in biopharm but also resulted in enhanced productivity for drug discovery. GSKs vision of becoming a undisputed market leader can only be accomplished if it has the right talent. Research and Development hence helped GSK achieve all its strategic priorities. Methodology I envision this project as an investigation of three primary issues: how research and development helps an organization grow, how research and development helps in product development and how research and development helps achieve innovation. In order to conduct my research effectively I chose GSK as a company to study and prepare a case study, there were two important reasons for choosing GSK. Firstly GSK has a very good research and development department that has contributed to its growth as one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Secondly GSK is a research based organization and hence maintains a very good RD capability which is worth researching. The first part of my research is primarily concerned with analysis of research and development in context with GSK. This is important because without this interrelation it becomes very difficult to understand the importance of GSK in a multinational business environment. I have also used this part to understand how research and development fits into a overall corporate strategy and goals of a company. This helps me understand why so much money is spend on research and development. It also answers several important questions from the point of view of shareholders who are often confused where these intangible costs are attributed and how the gains from spending on something non productive as research and development are maximized. The second part of my research is concerned with RD as a primary tool for production processes and product development as a linear function. As mentioned in the literature review this part is more theoretical than other parts as it involves research and development at the very core of product development. Figure 1 As shown in figure 1 Research and Development is at the very centre of product development in the product life cycle. Hence this area is of considerable importance in the field of business management and requires further research. It is a well established fact that any company that has a good RD department benefits in the long run compared to a company that gives little importance to RD hence in this part I tried to understand why research and development is so crucial in the long run for any company. By understanding product development with a case study of GSK I will begin to understand how research and development is linked with product development. Then with empirical evidence I will try and compare other companies whose research has helped them grow an impressive product portfolio. Next I will try and understand with analysis how other factors contribute to make research and development an effective force in product development, I will do this with a case study of GSK. The third aspect is how research and development contributes to innovation. For this it is important to understand innovation and study an innovative organization. Innovation helps an organization achieve competitive advantage which is a unique position a firm occupies with respect to its competitors. Innovation is a new discovery, which is commercially viable in a business sense, and which is not explored and marketed by anyone else. Innovation is protected through various mediums including trademarks and patents. I wanted to find whether research and development leads to innovation and if YES then how. For this I studied the basic model of the RD capabilities of GSK who have innovated many drugs and spoke with Dr Faisal Mahmud, Director RD, GSK. In this third aspect my focus was on the subjective side of research and development as a tool for innovation. It was observed that in an organization that devotes some and most of its energies in the primary research and development capabi lities do infect breed innovation. Also my research observed that most aspects of a business chain are integrated and linked with research and development. Research Methods. Primary Research: The fieldwork for primary research took place in two regions. I conducted an informal interview with Faisal Mahmud, Director Global RD, GSK. Also I conducted a SWOT analysis on GSK as a company, in general, and their RD department in particular. WEAKNESSES -Loss of patent protection. -Does not perform well on marketing practices. -Environmental performance. -External pressures. STRENGTHS -Size: Economies of scale -Patent protection. -Focus on innovation. -Good research and development. -Globally recognized brand. -Strong financial reserves. -Good return for investors. -Access to larger markets. -Experienced corporate management team. -Passion for achievement SWOT ANALYSIS DIAGRAM . OPPORTUNITIES -Expansion in developing countries. -Strong global influence. -Segmented market. -Product development -Growth in Japan. OPPORTUNITIES -Expansion in developing countries. -Strong global influence. -Segmented market. -Product development -Growth in Japan. OPPORTUNITIES -Expansion in developing countries. -Strong global influence. -Segmented market. -Product development -Growth in Japan. THREATS -Competitors. -Loss of key staff. -Political pressures. -Court cases. -IT development. -Legal controversies. THREATS -Competitors. -Loss of key staff. -Political pressures. -Court cases. -IT development. -Legal controversies. THREATS -Competitors. -Loss of key staff. -Political pressures. -Court cases. -IT development. -Legal controversies. OPPORTUNITIES -Expansion in developing countries. -Strong global influence. -Segmented market. -Product development -Growth in Japan. OPPORTUNITIES -Expansion in developing countries. -Strong global influence. -Segmented market. -Product development -Growth in Japan. THREATS -Competitors. -Loss of key staff. -Political pressures. -Court cases. -IT development. -Legal controversies. THREATS -Competitors. -Loss of key staff. -Political pressures. -Court cases. -IT development. -Legal controversies. OPPORTUNITIES -Expansion in developing countries. -Strong global influence. -Segmented market. -Product development -Growth in Japan. THREATS -Competitors. -Loss of key staff. -Political pressures. -Court cases. -IT development. -Legal controversies. I also conducted a survey of 10 GSK product users and asked them the following questions regarding the research and development of GSK Below a sample survey I conducted for my primary research Secondary Research: For my secondary research I conducted a judgmental sampling, this was done by the help of the BCG Growth share matrix model, which I used just for my research and the matrix allowed me to compare, along with sampling, different RD departments and their activities and link it, or compare it, with GSKs. This comparative studies was followed by many journals and articles I read online and many books including Corporate Strategy by Richard Lynch, which helped me not just in terms of comparison but also helped me conduct my research and analysis properly. Thus through my research I have tried to understand how GSK, through its RD, maintains a competitive advantage over its competitors. Apart from the above mentioned objectives, my project and research have answered the following questions: Globally diagnosis and treatments have improved, so people are using more medicines now than ever before. How does GSKs research and development help maintain demand for their products? Demand for safer, more effective, new medicines continues to grow. How does RD propose to integrate efficiency and safety? Ageing populations take long-term treatments. How does GSKs research and development propose to meet this challenge? Major healthcare challenges exist in the developing world with no easy solutions. Does GSKs research and development help improvised nations? It takes 10-12 years from the discovery of a potential new medicine until it is available for the patients. Can this time be reduced? The estimated cost of each medicine, from discovery to market, is $897 million but only 3 out of 10 new treatments recover development costs. Is it really worth it? Results Results As mentioned in the literature review and methodology the research conducted for this report focused primarily in three areas. How research and development helps an organization grow? How research and development helps in product development and how research and development leads to innovation. As mentioned this research was conducted with a case study of GSK. How research and development helps an organization grow? Results: From my research I found out that RD helps considerably for an organization to grow and expand. Based on facts until the merger of Glaxo and Smith to form GSK both companies maintained a highly productive research and development department but had opposite interests, while Glaxos main businesses were medicines Smithkline Beckham dealed in Vaccines primarily. Hence their research was limited in the sense of their strategy and their respective market share. After the merger both organizations integrated their RD capabilities and invested heavily in research and development. This led to many RD centers to be established across the world including in countries such as India and Australia which are considered emerging markets. This high investment in research and development created a diverse and unique product portfolio and led to groundbreaking developments in fields such as central nervous systems, bacteria, malaria and cancer. This helped GSK, a newly merged company in 2000 to become the second best pharmaceutical company in the world. Andrew Witty, CEO GSK, in an interview with the Financial Times in 2007 described the phenomenal growth of GSK to its outstanding research and development capabilities which led to a unique product portfolio and helped develop a strong position against competitors. From my research I found out that through RD GK developed a very good overall reputation for discovering new drugs which led to affiliations with organizations such as World Health Organization (WHO). Also RD ensures that new products not launched by competitors are developed and marketed which keeps the comparative advantage enjoyed by an organization and helps maintain a strong market share and growth rate in the long run. How research and development helps in product development? Results: Research and development forms the core and integral part of any product development. Business analysts evaluate gaps in the market and understand and comprehend market and customer needs. This information is then passed to the RD department who work vigorously to develop products which suit the requirements of the business models and corporate strategy of the organization. RD makes the designs, comprehends the requirements, conducts research and forms the basis and provides a prototype. This proto is then subjected to a number of tests to make sure the product meets the standard international health and safety laws and whether it is feasible. This process is very vigorous and time consuming. Once all the tests all positive then the organizational heads decide how best to market the product. Sometimes they even sample it to customers as an extension of the Testing process. It is established that not all RD leads to a standardized product and results in many wastages however without research and development constant changes which are needed for a product cannot occur and secondly product development process cannot start by ignoring RD costs and benefits. How research and development leads to innovation: Results: In my interview with Dr Faisal Mehmud he said Research often refers to basic experimental research; development refers to the exploitation of discoveries. Hence innovation is indeed a discovery and constant research helps solve unresolved problems in any field where research is being conducted. For example from my research I found that many updated versions of in market drugs that had limited cure in diseases such as malaria and cancer are solved by GSK . Many incurable diseases not have prescription. These are all innovations. Constant research invariably leads to innovation. Many innovations solve problems and are limited in scope for drugs for cancer. But constant research is the only way to solve these issues. Also as far as GSK is concerned most research is experimental and experiments lead to discoveries and innovations. Reflective Report: I started working on this report in November 2009. The fieldwork for this research took place in two regions and many academic journals, online materials, reference books and opinions were needed to complete this report. I faced a number of p-problems while writing this report and it was a big challenge. The first problem I faced was understanding RD. It is a very complex term and is used not just by firms but governments and even the military. Each RD capability has its own unique function that caters to the organization it represents. However what made this subject interesting to study was the importance of RD. When I first started my project, I remained in the forming stage for quite a while. It took me many weeks and many meetings to figure out what I was doing and split up into three broad categories. Although the forming stage did take a while, I was able to cover most of the norming stage at the same time because I started knowing the subject quite well. Once I finally formed my basis, the rest of the stages went much easier. I was able to finish up the norming and began performing rather quickly. This stage continued until recently as I was doing research, and reading journals, quite often. I performed quite well in research and spent very little time, if any, in the storming stage. Most of the storming I dealt with was with the help of other students and my academic teacher at Greenwich. I was trying to plan an interesting project, Another topic I was able to apply to my project was clarity and hardwork. Once I decided, I was able to take responsibility for different parts of the project. I learned to wor

Misery, by Stephen King - Annie Wilkes :: Misery Stephen King

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Foundations of Psychology Paper

Psychology encompasses a vast range of different thoughts, theories, and biological foundations on behavior of why people act the way they do. Once a part of philosophy, psychology has developed into several schools of thought that describe the theories some of these individuals use to approach what they are observing from different people and their actions. Some of these theories do have conflictions from others, but all have a good amount of validity to their theories. Many things contribute to the biological well being of a person and those things can determine what kind of behavior the person will display. The major schools of thought are introspection, structuralism, functionalism, psychodynamic theory, cognitive theory, and behavioral theory. Introspection was a method in which a person would report anything the person had come across their mind when they were given some kind of stimulus or task to do. Structuralism used introspection to uncover parts of consciousness and how they combine into ideas with one another. Functionalism applied the Darwinian Theory where roles or functions would aid in helping an individual adapt to their environment. The psychodynamic theory has three parts that describe it. The first one is thoughts, feelings, or wishes determine the way person will act. The second one is most of the thoughts a person has come outside of the person’s awareness. The third is that the mental processes may conflict with one another leaving to possible compromises within some of the competing motives of a person. The behavioral theory suggests that there are many things that can stimulate a person such as an object or an event within the person’s environment can control the behavior of a person through learning. The cognitive theory suggests that the perception, process, and the way a person retrieves information allows the person to interact in daily activities. Although all these theories have a specific suggestion on the psychological health of a person, they have had some conflicts that within those who created the theories. According to Uljana Feest, â€Å"Moreover, his contention that something like unconscious sensations/experiences can be invoked as explanatory of other experiences is in clear opposition to Brentano’s view that since mental phenomena, by definition, are conscious, there can be no psychological explanations that make recourse to unconscious mental phenomena. † Most psychologists in modern times use a more eclectic outlook where they use a combination of these theories to observe people. The nervous system has an impact on the biological functions of a person, and it can determine how a person will behave in different ways. The nervous system is made up of different types of neurons, and these neurons are what carry messages back and forth through the body to tell the body to do something, when there is an injury, or many other things. This information carried from the neurons is carried through the central nervous system which is made up of the brain, the spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system which maintains the basic survival of a human being. Neurotransmitters are chemicals within the body that transmit information from one neuron to the next. Each neurotransmitter can have a different effect on the person when the chemical is produced such as when serotonin is produced. Serotonin is the chemical the body produces to help the body sleep, in emotional arousal, pain regulation, and mood. There are also other chemicals in the body that allow the body to do other things, and if any of these chemicals are not produced or they are overproduced, they can have an effect on how the person behaves on a daily basis. Receptors also play a role in the transmission of neurotransmitters. They bond together to allow a chemical and electrical balance occur which is called a graded potential. According to Howard C. Warren, â€Å"Behavior is not merely a branch of physiology; its data, responses, are a class of phenomena indicative of neural activity. Mental states or experiences are not merely subjective occurrences; they are somehow conditioned on the operations of the nervous system. † The reasons behind what makes people behave the way they do will still be a science that will not have an absolute answer to. There are theories that suggest different views to why people act the way they do, but those theories are just what they mean. They do provide some sort of understanding, and when put together, make much more sense to use in understanding human behavior. Biological features also play a major role in human behavior, and they too provide psychologists with ways to help understand humans along with the different theories. Feest Uljana,(2011) pg. 5, Introspection as a Method and Introspection as a Feature of Consciousness, retrieved from Ebscohost: http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=9694d08f-b9f8-420d-903c-00aadade28ff%40sessionmgr113&vid=12&hid=115 Warren, Howard C., pg. 250; Psychology And The Centralnervous System, retrieved from Ebschost: http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=9694d08f-b9f8-420d-903c-00aadade28ff%40sessionmgr113&vid=20&hid=115