Analyze the development and nature and assess the achievements of the movements for school and school improvement in the UK

At one level school improvement is a approach of schools achieving organizational development and growth. At another level school improvement has a moral purpose and is essentially associated to the life-chances and achievements of all students. School improvement is basically concerning building communities and instituting positive relationships within those communities. It has at its center the fundamental belief that schools can and does make a difference and that this difference can be considerably enhanced. Rutter et al. 1979:13) give one of the most encouraged statements about school improvement by highlighting that the factors that persuade school performance are ‘open to amendment by staff rather than fixed by external constraints’. In other words, schools can progress, schools can transform and school performance is not a fixed or predetermined entity. Evidence would imply that those schools engaged in improvement activities build communities that are joint and empowering. They promote positive relationships and permit all voices to be heard and accredited. In this sense, school improvement means moving from a culture of individualism to what Clarke (2000:7) calls ‘a transformed sense of social responsibility’. So, what’s in it for schools? At its most thoughtful, it is about making a difference to the lives of young people as well as at its most realistic it is about knowing how to do this most efficiently. It is obvious that schools that put in the development of their teachers also put efforts in the development of the school. While teachers are given power to act and are implicated in the development of the school there is more prospective for school growth. Hopkins (2001) concluded that â€Å"teachers' involvement is one of ten essential principles for what he calls authentic school improvement†. In a climate of collegiality rather than likability teachers are more expected to trust one another and to support innovation and change (Barth, 1990). Barth (1990:158) illustrates a school as ‘four walls surrounding a future’. This image detains the potency and prospect of school improvement. It reminds us that school improvement is much more than heaving test scores or increasing grades. Its core lies in building school communities that are joint, inclusive and eventually empowering. For it is only within such communities that the prospective of both students and teachers will be completely realized. It is this objective that lies at the heart of school improvement and make certain that schools remain places where, primarily learning matters. Schools are able of improving themselves if the conditions are right and the relations within the school are encouraging of change. It will inexorably be more difficult to form the optimum internal conditions in the face of persistent external change. Schools are presently caught between the demands of policy-makers and the desires of the students and parents in their community. Fullan (1999) argues that schools are inexorably pulled in two directions, by established and less stable forces, and that ‘the dynamics of the successful organization are of asymmetrical cycles and discontinuous trends’ (Fullan, 1999:4). Therefore, by building strong professional communities schools will be more capable to swim with the deluge of external reform and will be more skilled at coping with the pressures of external change. There are many projects that are initiated with the lap of time to attain school improvement in UK. The IQEA school improvement project provides an interesting paradigm of how a school improvement project can develop. What began as a complete school staff development initiative, ultimately transformed itself into a school improvement initiative with a total assurance to enhancing classroom practice. The overall aim of IQEA is ‘to make and appraise a model of school development and a programme of support, that supports a school's capability to provide quality education for all its pupils by building upon accessible good practice' (Hopkins et al. , 1994). In the project, approaches and methods from the development and effectiveness paradigms are mixed together; particularly, these comprise use of and work on improvement and change processes with contribution on school and classroom effectiveness and measurement of outcomes. Hopkins and Ainscow, 1993 outline five postulation on which they based later phases of the project: †¢ School improvement is a procedure that focuses on enhancing the quality of students' education. †¢ The vision of the school must be one which holds all members of the school community as both learners and providers. The school will see in exterior pressures for change significant opportunities to secure its inner priorities. †¢ The school will inquire to develop structures and make conditions which persuade collaboration and show the way to the empowerment of individuals and groups. †¢ The school will search to promote the view that monitoring and assessment quality is a job which all members o f staff share. The project, which began with just nine schools in 1991, has grown each year, and presently involves in many schools in several areas of the country. A contract is approved between school staff, the Local Education Authority and the project team. All staff of a school has to concur that the school will take part, and at least forty percent receive release time to take on specific project-related activities in their own as well as each other's classrooms, though all staff participate in certain IQEA-focused staff development events. At least two staff members are chosen as coordinators and attend ten days of training and support meetings, for which authorization is offered. The school selects its own priorities for development as well as its own methods to attain these priorities. It also participates in the assessment of the project and has to consign itself to share findings with other contributors in the project. The unique conceptualization of the project was based on the understanding that effective change strategies center not only on the implementation of central policies or chosen initiatives, but also on forming the conditions within schools that can protract the teaching-learning process. From their work on the IQEA project, there were known a series of conditions that underpinned the work of these successful schools (Hopkins and Ainscow, 1993). Broadly stated, the conditions are: †¢ Staff development †¢ Involvement †¢ Leadership †¢ Coordination †¢ Enquiry and reflection †¢ Collaborative planning. As work persistent with IQE A schools on the building of ‘capacity' in these areas, the project personnel began to observe a number of aspects influencing how particular conditions can best put in to a ‘moving school' ethos (Rosenholtz, 1989). As significance they began to expand a series of propositions concerning the relationship between the way a school approaches a particular condition and the collision of that condition on the school's capability to hold the key to the setting up of a school culture which can significantly allow all teachers within the school community (Hopkins and West, 1994). These six conditions and the interrelated propositions were the center of early work with the IQEA project schools. Consequently, the project began to center some of its research energies on to what was formerly thought to be a parallel set of conditions which linked to the idea of capacity at the classroom level. These conditions were linked to teacher development, much in the same way as the unusual set of conditions were linked to school development. As such, they were made-up to be transferable across classrooms and between teachers, and linked to a variety of teaching-learning initiatives designed to develop the achievement of students. At this stage, the project adapted a ‘Framework for School Improvement' (Hopkins et al. , 1994) to state the relationship, as it then saw it, between school and classroom conditions, and the development of development in schools. Other school improvement projects which are organic in nature are those that are based upon a partnership model with schools and the local education authority (LEA). The ‘Schools Make a Difference’ project in London and the Lewisham School Improvement project describe this type of approach. The Lewisham School Improvement Project commenced in the spring of 1993 and arose out of a partnership between Lewisham schools, Lewisham Local Education Authority (LEA) and the University Of London Institute Of Education. It has four aims: †¢ to boost pupil progress, accomplishment and development; †¢ to build up the internal capacity of schools for managing change and appraising its impact at: Whole school level; Classroom level; Student level; †¢ to develop the capability of the LEA to give data to schools that will support their ability to plan and assess change; To assimilate the above with the system's ongoing in-service and support services to figure a coherent approach to professional development. The project has some dimensions, though these overlap to some extent: Leadership development-a progression of voluntary five-day workshops (‘Leaders Together') with head teachers as well as deputy head teachers across the borough of Lewisham, who work with a par tner throughout and between sessions. Topics covered include and emphasize the significance of leadership and management of school effectiveness and school improvement. School projects-more intensive work with a preliminary pilot group of ten schools (primary, secondary and special schools are characterized), the heads and deputies of who have contributed in the initial workshops. A succeeding group of schools has consequently been involved. These schools have recognized a focus for improvement and learning, and cross-role project teams attend several sessions in which they work with Institute facilitators to process their focus areas through analysis of school-based data. They are as well introduced to the school effectiveness and school improvement research findings, with a special accent on their role as change agents within their schools. The title of the workshop series, ‘Moving Together', reflects the optimistic impact on school improvement of teachers learning together (Rosenholtz, 1989). Endorsement has been offered for course and project work. Indicators creation-a voluntary group of fifteen teachers, head-teachers, LEA advisers and officers have recognized and developed LEA and whole school indicators of change, development and achievement, with a focus on pupils through special educational needs. These indicators will be accessible to schools when evaluating their effectiveness regarding individual pupils' progress, whole school systems and worth for money. They will also give data to inform the LEA's strategic planning, comprising its resourcing and monitoring role. Monitoring and evaluation-evaluation of change is basic to the project, and the question ‘Has it made a difference? ‘ is a frequent theme. The purpose is for the project itself to represent appropriate evaluation procedures and to reveal effectiveness, as well as encouraging and supporting schools to assess their own effectiveness. The LEA collects borough-wide data on examination results, attendance and absenteeism, exclusions and staff absence data, broken down by gender along with ethnicity for each school. Pupil baseline data at age 11 also comprise the London Reading Test and a group reading test to be finished by all pupils throughout their first month in secondary school and are supplemented by a complementary test at the end of their first year. The accessible data will facilitate evaluation of the project's effectiveness in the pilot secondary schools against LEA averages, against other matched schools, and longitudinally. Some similar data subsist for primary aged pupils. At present, however, the capability for monitoring and evaluating efficiency in primary schools is limited, and pilot primary schools are being assisted to increase appropriate indicators (Stoll and Thomson, 1996). The Halton Effective Schools teacher survey (Stoll, 1992) has been modified to be completed by staff in all the pilot schools and in a group of coordinated schools. It will be repeated after two years. The schools themselves also give regular progress reports, addressing issues linking to success criteria, baseline data and development to date. An Institute researcher has carried out interviews in pilot schools, and LEA Link advisers finished questionnaires on their viewpoint of individual schools' progress. Interviews have also been carried out with key members of the LEA, together with the director. Follow-up interviews are planned. More current school progress reports reveal the increased emphasis on changing classroom practice and opportunities for student learning (Teddlie and Reynolds, 1999, 301). For instance, in an update in September 1994 the deputy head teacher of the special school observed that the first year was mainly devoted to the groundwork of staff-centered input and contribution, and teaching and appraisal strategy development. This year, with these structures in place, the focus has shifted to students in the classroom. According to Fidler’s (1997) idea that â€Å"no particular organizational structure is most effective in a given situation, for loosely coupled or even ‘fuzzy’ structures† â€Å"Increasing economic rationalism in society may be evident in schools with little value placed on whether students are happy or enjoying school. Curricula related to personal, social, and health education have become devalued, as they are not measurable quantities in the view of education authorities† (Morley & Rassool, 1999, p. 1). Schools implicated in the more detailed project work are a special school that caters for students who have rigorous learning difficulties and are between the ages of 11 and 19 years. The school has reported that ‘Leaders Together' has given them with the impulsion to work as a staff to write novel prospectus group-based schemes of work. For their project they have chosen to center on reporting and assessment so as to develop a system that will both sustain the UK's National Curriculum and permit for the marked differentiation between students that subsists in their school. Part of the cultural conditions of the school which they as well wish to integrate into the project is the contribution of their non-teaching staff. A primary school also implicated in the project has determined on students' writing, the curriculum center from the school's development plan. The staff as a whole have already spent time eloquent their vision and aims for the school, and they have explored and coordinated a diversity of strategies that comprise: analysis of the school's own statistics on attainment; using pertinent research findings to inform practice; paired classroom observations; staff development session; annual targets for individual teachers linked to the aims of the project; and the development of a usually known and agreed monitoring scheme to be used by the head teacher and languages teacher while they visit classrooms and give feedback to teachers. Governors and effectiveness-more recent corresponding work with governing bodies of numerous schools who have been introduced to school effectiveness and school improvement issues and are working through them as they relay to their own role in promoting better school effectiveness. Dissemination-dissemination within and beyond the LEA takes place. The last two yearly head and deputy head conferences have taken school improvement as their theme. Schools and their LEA partners also allocate experiences and understandings gained locally, around the country and in other LEAs, at Institute of Education conferences, and national and international research conferences. A presentation to the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement on the work of the project integrated the three partners in the project: the Institute, the LEA and the schools. In early 1993, Hammersmith and Fulham LEA recognized the Schools Make a Difference Project to assist the borough's eight secondary schools heave student levels of attainment, achievement and morale (Myers, 1995). While association to the project was optional, all eight schools in the ability chose to participate. The project's guiding principles were based on school effectiveness research findings. These principles were: †¢ that students require to believe that schooling can be valuable and relevant; †¢ that learning should be challenging and relevant, to support students to build up their capabilities as responsible, considerate and active citizens; †¢ that students' rational, personal and technical abilities, abilities and capabilities are recognized and valued, and that expectations of development and performance are high; that good behavior is a essential condition for effective learning, and that students take accountability for their own behavior and present a high level of engagement in a well planned learning process; †¢ that parental participation is vital and must be sought; †¢ that all staff in the schools are involved in, and devoted to, the school's development; †¢ that schools as well as the community work towards a shared vision and that a professional learning community is formed within schools; †¢ that head teachers have a fundamental role to play in providing a climate where this can take place; That a ‘plan, do and review' approach is thoroughly and rigorously applied. Hammersmith and Fulham LEA had chosen a project manager to work with schools and LEA personnel to found the structures and procedures for the project. Within her role she made usual visits to the schools and took the schools' senior management teams to visit schools of interest around the country. In combination with head teachers and higher education staff, she has also organized in-service training for the coordinators, head teachers, senior management teams and various other staff members. The schools all chosen project coordinators, who were awarded thirty half days of ‘cover' by other staff so as to carry out work linked with the project in their schools, attend in-service training sessions and visit other schools. Coordinators receive authorization for their course and project work through the London Institute of Education. The coordinators recognized project working parties in their schools that integrated representation from a wide range of teaching and support staff and, in some schools, from students, parents and governors. Every school produced a project plan based on criterion agreed by the head teachers for expenditure of the project budget. The plan was developed as a consequence of wide consultation, and integrated a project focus based on the school's development plan. Numerous schools chose as a focus supple learning strategies, and engaged in a diversity of forms of staff development to help bring in new teaching and student study methods to staff. In one school, for instance, the eight voluntary members of the SMAD Development Group determined to pair up with a partner to take on in classroom observation and act as every other's ‘critical friend'. Supply cover for this has been integrated within the school's project plan. The project also funded school-based revision centers throughout the Easter vacation that have already helped raise student engagement. The project's findings, as highlighted by its external assessor (Pocklington, 1995) were that, as there was and generally rise in student achievement across all of the schools in 1993-94, differing rates of progress were attained across the eight schools. hough it is difficult to attribute improvement to particular aspects of the project, probable contributors were examination revision canters as well as coursework clinics, celebratory events, an emphasis in the majority schools on student consultation, students' responses to improvements to the physical environment, and ‘the beginnings of transforming the leading ethos in the pupil sub-culture' (Pocklington, 1995:125). Four factors emerged to bear considerably on the degree to which the project was successful in each s chool: Hiring of a practically full-time project manager; Appointment of a controller in each school; Partnership between the manager and head teacher; Establishment of a group in each school to ease and oversee project accomplishment. SMAD and Lewisham School Improvement Project Both have particularly emphasized the role of the LEA in development as well as change. The impulsion for change in these projects is locally owned, outwardly supported and school-initiated. In all of these projects external support, though often welcomed, is not completely necessary all through the project as the school searches out and forms its own support networks. Disclosure to new ideas and practices, collaboration through consortium or ‘pairing’ arrangements are common in this kind of school improvement work. Primarily, programmes of this type interface at the complete school level but provide much-needed sustain and incentive for change at the classroom level. At the other end of the school improvement range are projects which fall into the mechanistic category in the respect that they advocate or set a particular approach to school improvement. Early examples of such approaches take in the self-managing approach to school improvement developed in the mid-eighties (Caldwell and Spinks, 1988). This approach has been extensively disseminated and is based upon a management cycle that has six phases, i. e. goal-setting, policy-making, planning, groundwork, implementation and assessment. Though this cycle is now comparatively commonplace, this ‘step by step’ approach has not proved successful with all schools. It is obvious that this instrumental approach and others like it do not take into account the changeability of schools and school context. Such mechanistic approaches presuppose consistency both within the organization and across organizations. The High Reliability Schools project in the UK characterizes a school improvement project intended to make sure that there are high levels of traditionalism between schools. This project is premised upon work by Stringfield (1995) which argues that educational systems have much to learn from the organizational processes of extremely reliable organizations within the corporate as well as state-owned sectors. The characteristics of highly consistent organizations take in effective training programmes, concentration on a few goals, standard operation procedures, attention to minor detail and identifying and rectifying weak links (Reynolds et al. 1996). The research concerning High Reliability Schools (HRS) is continuing but some evaluative proof is available. The message from this work is that ‘HRS principles and technology and the emphasis upon dependability are all generative of improved student outcomes but that optimum gain requires a consistent delivery system at project and school level’ (Stringfield et al. , 2001:36). It is obvious that success with HRS relies on schools taking on the model fully without the prospect of modification. The project in its promotional material frequently utilizes aircraft analogies, arguing, for instance, that if one is in a holding pattern over Heathrow Airport, it is not reassuring to note that one has the technology to land the plane however might not use it, or that only thirty per cent of air traffic controllers are effective air traffic controllers, or that we are trying to do something by understanding the ineffective air traffic controllers but have not quite managed it thus far. Because of the cost, both human and financial, of any failure, the plane should land. Recent estimates suggest the cost of needless school failure within the United States to be the equal of a plane crash every week, yet little is done to put off school failure and much is done to avert air traffic controller failure. The characteristics of these HROs have been determined to be as follows: †¢ They train extensively, pre-service and in-service, in order to eliminate operational flaws. When training, all levels of an organization act as respondents on the effectiveness of all levels, in a process of mutual monitoring; The goals of the HROs are few and explicit (the job of the air traffic controller is to land the plane, not to relate socially to the pilot! ); †¢ There is a body of knowledge about practice that is codified into SOPs-Standard Operating Procedures-which tell people how to behave in the event of any contingency; †¢ Great attention is given to minor errors, since the belief is that these could cascade into major system failure; †¢ Simulations to identify weak links are always being run, with direct action being taken to identify the trailing edge and to make it more effective; The organizations are well resourced, and equipment is kept in good order. (Reynolds 1998, 1-4) Underlying the reasons for the existence of all the organizational procedures is the belief that system failure or unreliability would generate costs that are too heavy for a society to bear. With eight secondary schools, working in close association with Sam Stringfield of Johns Hopkins University in the United States and David Reynolds of Newcastle University's Department of Education, a programme has been developed to model schools on these highly reliable organizations from other fields outside education. The programme consists of the following: †¢ All the schools have joined a performance indicator system that generates high quality data upon student achievement, the ALIS (‘A' Level Information System) and YELLIS (Year Eleven Information System) schemes pioneered by Fitz-Gibbon and colleagues at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (Fitz-Gibbon, 1992). These data feed back to schools their relative performance on their different public examination subjects, and relate directly to the effectiveness of their departments. †¢ All the schools are testing their intake of new pupils as they arrive from junior school. The testing will be repeated at the beginning of each school year, for these pupils plus for the new intake of pupils. Ultimately all pupils will be tested annually. These data will reveal those pupils who have unrealized potential, plus a ‘gain score' will be provided for each year that will be a baseline. †¢ The schools will be provided with the best knowledge available as their standard operating practices. Schools make available two of their five in-service days each year for ‘HRS' activities. One day will be for a formal knowledge input of school effectiveness/school improvement knowledge. The other day will be for an input of teacher effectiveness knowledge, plus in both days some skilling of whole school staffs. Both days will be oriented around background pre-reading, formal presentations and more group related activities. Schools are to adopt up to four goals to be their ‘HRS' goals. Two project-wide goals will be academic achievement (e. g. percentage of students with five or more GCSEs at grade A-C, staying on rate, percentage of students with five or more GCSEs at grade A-G, plus GNVQ outcomes as appropriate), and the unauthorized absence rate. Up to two other goals, which must permit measurement, will also be chosen by each school to reflect school needs, priorities, developmental status etc. (Reynolds 1998, 1-4) Thus, despite differences of approach, highly effective school improvement projects have been found to share certain characteristics or features. A broad comparative analysis of highly successful programmes demonstrates a number of shared principles or features (Harris, 2000c). This analysis found that effective school improvement programmes: †¢ focus closely on classroom improvement; utilize discrete instructional or pedagogical strategies, i. e. they are explicit in the models of teaching they prescribe; †¢ apply pressure at the implementation stage to ensure adherence to the programme; †¢ collect systematic evaluative evidence about the impact upon schools and classrooms; †¢ mobilize change at a numbers of levels within the organization, e. g. classroom, department, teacher level; †¢ generate cultural as well as structural change; †¢ engage teachers in professional dialogue and development; †¢ provide external agency and support. Harris, 2000c) This comparison showed that as the school improvement programmes and projects assorted in terms of content, nature and approach they imitated a similar philosophy. Central to this philosophy is an observance to the school as the centre of change and the teacher as the means for classroom change and development. Within highly effective school development programmes the non-negotiable elements are a center on teaching and learning, an obligation to professional development and diffused or devolved leadership. As new school improvement projects and initiatives appear to emerge daily, evidence concerning their collision is not always forth-coming. Critics of the school improvement field have highlighted the virtual absence of evaluative evidence concerning the impact of school improvement upon student performance and achievement. Additionally, there has been little deliberation of the relative effectiveness of different school improvement initiative in enhancing student performance. The studies that do subsist offer little evidence concerning the relative efficiency of one approach over another. Further comparative studies of school improvement are desired to assist schools in selecting development programmes that are most effectual and ‘fit’ their developmental needs. Presently, there is an accumulating knowledge base concerning school improvement arising from the numerous projects as well as programmes around the world. Moreover I believe that in order to improve and to protract improvement over time schools need to build and raise a sense of professional community. In the most effective schools, there is proof of positive relationships both within and outside the school. Barth (1990:45) portrays a professional community as ‘one where adults and students learn and each energizes and puts in the learning of the other’. A professional community is one in which there are collective norms and values amongst teachers and students. These norms and values symbolize the fundamental beliefs of those within the community and become the central purpose of the school. To build a professional community needs schools to think the type of school culture that reigns and to seek ways of changing it for the better. Learning within an organization is most favorable in an environment of shared leadership and shared power. To promote such an environment needs team work, collaboration and an assurance to enquiry. Connections are mainly important in building community. As Sergiovanni (2001:63) notes, ‘community is something most of us desire in order to experience the sense and meaning that we require in our lives. We cannot go it alone. We have to be connected somehow, somewhere. Community is a mainly important source of connection for children and young people. ’ If the needs of students to belong are not met by the school then they will get belonging outside the school. In schools that are improving there are communal norms, shared values, decided goals and common aspirations. These are schools where the social relationships are functional and where trust and deference are at the heart of all developmental work. This does not occur by possibility but results from the premeditated effort of staff and students to communicate and to work together with one another. Sergiovanni (2001) notes that such ‘communities of responsibility’ are far from easy to develop but are necessary to generate and protract school improvement over time.

4 steps to writing about a poem Essay

1.About the poet, his concerns 2.The story of the poem 3.Theme: idealises bush life 4.Techiques (how) Paterson constrasts this beauty of the bush with the harsh, dirty life in the city and the effect this has on people. †¢List a series of visual images, using adjectives and adverbs with negative connotations: ‘my dingy little office’ and a ‘stingy/Ray of sunlight struggle feebly down’ †¢Also uses sound images to create an unpleasant mood and ‘the ceaseless tramp of feet.’ Description of people in the city suggests they are greedy and uncaring of others. Conveyed by negative adjectives and internal rhyme: ‘with their eager eyes and greedy, and their stunted forms and weedy.’ See more: Analysis of Starbucks coffee company employees essay †¢The poem concludes with the persona wishing he could exchange his city life in an ‘office’ for ‘a turn at droving’ but he relises Clancy would not ‘suit’ his city life. 4 steps to writing about a poem

Bilateral Trans-Scaphoid Perilunate Fracture Dislocation

Bilateral Trans-Scaphoid Perilunate Fracture Dislocation BILATERAL TRANS-SCAPHOID PERILUNATE FRACTURE DISLOCATION OF THE CARPUS. (CASE REPORT) Abstract: Trans-scaphoid perilunate fractures-dislocations are rare lesions. They occur in a high-energy trauma. The concomitent lesion of both wrists is exceptional. We report a case of bilateral trans-scaphoid perilunate dislocated wrist fracture in a 21-year-old man. The dislocation was treated by opened reduction and fractures by internal fixation. The functional outcome was satisfying after two years of follow-up. Introduction: Trans-scaphoid perilunate fracture-dislocations are relatively uncommon. 1 These are the most common form of the complex carpal dislocations 2,3 causing marked disruption of the carpal anatomy. Time from injury to treatment (delay in treatment), anatomic classià ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ cation, and open or closed nature of the injury are the major factors that determine the clinical outcome in trans-scaphoid perilunate fracture-dislocations. 4,5 Late presentation combi ned with missed diagnosis often causes critical delay in the treatment of these injuries. If the acute phase is missed, then some authors recommend alternative procedures such as wrist arthrodesis and proximal row carpectomy which are relatively mutilating surgeries that leave a significant functional deficit. 4,6,7 The acute phase is defined as the first week after injury, whereas the delayed phase is the period between the seventh and 45th day and after 45 days the injury is said to be in the chronic phase. 4 We report the case of a patient who referred to our department two weeks after the initial trauma with bilateral dorsal trans-scaphoid perilunate fracture-dislocations of the carpus. Anatomic reduction, percutaneous pin fixation of the carpus and fixation of scaphoid fractures of both wrists were performed by opened reduction under fluoroscopic control. Presentation of case: A 21-year-old, right-hand-dominant man sustained an isolated injury to his both wrists after a fall from a height of approximately 4.5 m. The carpal injuries of both wrists were missed initially and both wrists had been bandaged for two weeks after the trauma. He was referred to our department two weeks later with increasing pain. The patient reported that he fell on his outstretched hands with both wrists in extension. Both wrists were deformed in marked dorsiflexion, painful, swollen, and tender to palpation, with limitation of movement. The patient complained of paresthesia in both of his hands. On physical examination, meticulous cutaneous sensory mapping was performed of both hands to determine the area of decreased sensation. This was done with the use of the sharp end of a paperclip while applying a constant pressure. This revealed minor numbness in the median nerve distribution area of both hands (thumb, index, middle finger, and the radial side of the ring finger). The two-point discrimination was normal on both sides. The mobility of the fingers was normal but pai nful, and there was a slight decrase in grip strength of both hands. Motor power in abductor pollicis brevis and opponens pollicis muscles was full (5/5) on both sides. The Tinel’s sign was negative over the carpal tunnel in both sides. The findings of the patient led us to think that there is not any condition like acute carpal tunnel syndrome due to fracture-dislocation.We thought that the numbness of the patient was due to temporary traction injury of the median nerve caused by dislocation on both sides. The vascular status was normal on physical examination. Study of the anteroposterior, oblique and lateral plane radiographs showed that the patient had bilateral dorsal trans-scaphoid perilunate fracture-dislocations of the carpi ( Fig. 1 ). According to the classification described by Herzberg et al., the fracture-dislocations were trans-scaphoid as path of trauma and Stage 1 as displacement of capitate on both sides. 4 The patient was informed about his pathology and a dvised to undergo surgery. If possible the patient’s preference was closed treatment. Therefore, we initially recommend closed reduction and percutaneous fixation. However, if this was not possible or in the situation of a failure we informed him about the open procedure. Under general anesthesia, a closed reduction was attempted with traction manoeuvre described by Tavernier 8 under fluoroscopic control. The reduction was not satisfactory,we opted for the open reduction by posterior approach.After anatomical reduction was achieved, intercarpal fixation was applied to carpal bones using three K-wires. The first K-wire was applied to scaphoide- lunate, the second K-wire was applied to- lunate-triquetrum and the third K-wire was applied to capitatum-lunate. After the procedure, reduction and fixation of carpal bones was confirmed under fluoroscopy. The same procedure was repeated for the other wrist. We noticed that the scaphoid fracture was reduced spontaneously along with t he reduction of the carpal bones. So we performed   fixation of the left scaphoid fracture using a 3.5 mm mini Acutrak headless compression screw through the fracture line from a dorsal-proximal to a volar-distal direction. Intraoperative fluoroscopic control confirmed anatomic reduction of the scaphoid fracture.. Finally, standard radiograms were obtained and both wrists were immobilized in a short arm cast ( Fig. 2 ). The patient noted complete relief of symptoms the day after surgery. The pain and the paresthesia that the patient complained preoperatively was relieved dramatically and the function recovered. The post-operative period was uneventful. Four weeks after surgery, the casts and the K-wires were removed. New casts were applied for another 4 weeks when union was visible on radiographs. The casts were removed eight weeks after surgery. There was radiographic evidence of union of the scaphoid on the left side, but on the right side radiography revealed delayed union of the scaphoid. The patient subsequently underwent 3 months of intensive range-of-motion and muscle-strengthening exercises. Intermediate clinical and radiographic examinations were performed 6 and 12 months after surgery. At the two-year follow-up, the radiographs showed normal carpal bone relationships on both sides, complete union of the scaphoid on the left side(Fig.3). Wrist motion on the left side was excellent with 70 ° of palmar flexion, 80 ° of dorsiflexion, full supination and pronation, full radial and ulnar deviation. The right wrist could achieve 60 ° of palmar flexion and 70 ° of dorsiflexion, full supination and pronation, but with a mild decrease in radial and ulnar deviation. The grip strength of the right hand was 30 kg while that of the left side was 38 kg, measured with the Jamar dynamometer (J.A. Preston, Jackson, Michigan) . Fig.3 Right wrist and Left wrist anteroposterior and   lateral view after two-years. At the two-year follow-up, the patient was symptom-free concerning median nerve functions. The patient was free of pain on the left side. On the right side there was mild pain with wrist motions due to non-union of the scaphoid.The patient was able to perform activities of daily living and he had returned to all of his previous activities. The functional outcome was good on the left side, with a Mayo wrist score of 80/100. The functional outcome was satisfactory on the right side, with a Mayo wrist score of 65/100. Radiographs of both wrists revealed no evidence of radiocarpal or midcarpal arthritis. No osteonecrosis of the lunate or the scaphoid was evident. The lunate position was correct, without signs of instability. Anatomic relationships of the carpal bones were maintained. Discussion Carpal fracture-dislocations are rare injuries; thus their classification and treatment are rather difficult. Osseous variants of this injury are common; the trans-scaphoid perilunate fracture-dislocation constitutes 61% of all perilunate dislocations and 96% of fracture-dislocations. 4 The trans-scaphoid perilunate fracture-dislocation is an uncommon injury sustained due to force transmission through a hyperextended wrist. 9,10 These injuries may be easily overlooked or misdiagnosed. 4 After a delay in diagnosis of several weeks or months, the clinical prognosis is poor compared with injuries that are treated acutely. 11 According to the classification described by Herzberg et al., we initially diagnosed our patient in the delayed phase. 4 Regarding the literature, the management of such injuries in case of delayed presentation is rare. 12,13 Dislocation in this region requires rapid realignment, as untreated perilunate dislocation will lead to serious secondary damage. 13,14 Perilunate fracture-dislocations are high-energy injuries, produced by wrist hyperextension. 3,15 There is disruption of the palmar capsuloligamentous complex, starting radially and propagating through the carpus in an ulnar direction. 3,15 This dislocation takes a transosseous route through the scaphoid resulting in a trans-scaphoid perilunate fracture-dislocation. 10 In trans-scaphoid perilunate dislocations the fractured scaphoid is the initial destabilizing factor of the carpus. 16 Regarding the literature, we believe that the mechanism of injury in our patient was fall from a height on the outstretched hands. Treatment options currently used for perilunar instability patterns include closed reduction and cast immobilization, closed reduction and percutaneous pinning, and open reduction. As the awareness of the anatomy and biomechanics of these injury patterns has evolved, authors have tended toward treatment approaches that attempt to repair the injured intrinsic and extrinsic carpal ligaments, that is, open techniques. 4,8,11 Most authors agree that closed reduction is the initial treatment of choice for trans-scaphoid perilunate fracture-dislocations. 2,8,17 In addition, treatment often r equires intercarpal fixation within the proximal carpal row. Most authors have agreed that the key to a good clinical result in the management of trans-scaphoid perilunate dislocation is the anatomic union of the scaphoid and the restoration of proper alignment of the carpal bones. 17 In this case, we prefer a opened reduction and intercarpal fixation with K-wires, as well as screw fixation of the scaphoid, because we didn’t achieve a good fracture alignment after closed reduction . Gellman et al. suggested that anatomical reductions of the scaphoid, as well as the mid-carpal joint, and the restoration of the articular surface of the lunate are the most important aspects determining the prognosis. 11 An open reduction further increases the risk of a scaphoid blood supply interruption, whereas percutaneous screw fixation of the scaphoid minimizes this risk. 3,17,18 In addition, a rigid fixation with a percutaneous screw can also reduce the immobilization period and allow for an earlier rehabilitation. Acutrak screw fixation allows earlier discontinuance of the cast than K-wire fixation. In our case, the range-of-motion exercises of the wrist were started earlier after the initial operation. The nonunion rate was relatively higher in the series that were treated by closed reduction. 19,20 In our case study the radiographs obtained two years after surgery revealed a non-union of the right scaphoid. We believe that the delay in treatment and maybe the malrotation of the scaphoid that we overlooked on the initial radiographs led to the interruption of the blood supply which was possibly responsible for the non-union of the scaphoid. Despite the non-union of the scaphoid, the functional outcome of our patient was satisfactory, with mild pain, good range of movement and good grip strength. Similarly, Herzberg et al. 4 reported that unsatisfactory radiographs did not equate to a poor clinical outcome. We planned to perform open reduction and internal f ixation with grafting for the non-union of the right scaphoid. Conclusion As the injury have led bilateral dorsal trans-scaphoid perilunate fracture-dislocations,  we therefore recommend minimally invasive techniques if an anatomical closed reduction and  a percutaneous rigid fixation of the scaphoid is achieved on the intraoperative evaluations.

Criminal Law 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Criminal Law 1 - Essay Example The general rule at common law is that when a defendant has caused a victim's death, and has been proved to have had the necessary mens rea for murder, he may be able to avoid a conviction for murder by establishing that he comes within the scope of the defence of diminished responsibility. In such instance, if the defendant succeeds with the defence, his liability is reduced from murder to manslaughter, the sentence for which is at the discretion of the judge. This form of manslaughter is described as "voluntary" because there will have been evidence that the defendant did intend to kill or cause grievous bodily harm bur certain kinds of extenuating circumstances partially excuse his conduct. In the present case, Arnold had recently been diagnosed, but not treated, with severe depression. This is a ground for diminished responsibility. The rule is that if the defendant can prove on a balance of probabilities a defence of diminished responsibility, he will be guilty of manslaughter rather than murder. The statutory basis for the defence of diminished responsibility is set forth in section 2 (1) of the Homicide Act of 1957 which provides. "Where a person kills or is party to a killing of another, he shall not be convicted of murder if he was suffering from such abnormality of mind (whether arising from a condition of arrested or retarded development of mind or any inherent causes or induced by disease or injury) as substantially impaired his mental responsibility for his acts and omissions in doing or being a party to the killing." An abnormality of mind is a state of mind which the reasonable man would consider abnormal. It is thus defined widely. In R v. Byrne (1960) 2 QB 396, the defendant had strangled a young woman and then mutilated her body. He claimed he was subject to an irresistible or almost irresistible impulse because of violent perverted sexual desires which overcame him and had done so since he was a boy. There was evidence that he was a psychopath, and could exercise but little control over his actions. The defence of diminished responsibility was rejected by the trial judge, and the defendant was convicted of murder. The Court of Appeal allowed the defendant's appeal on the basis that the trial judge had been wrong to exclude, from the scope of the defence, situations where a defendant was simply unable to exercise any self-control over his actions. Lord Parker, CJ said: "Abnormality of mind means a state of mind so different from that of ordinary human beings that the reasonable man would term it abnormal. It appears to us to be wide enough to cover the mind's activities in all its aspects, not only the perception of physical acts and matter, and the ability to form a rational judgement whether an act is right or wrong, but also the ability to exercise will power to control physical acts in accordance with the rational judgment. According to the commentaries of Clarkson and Keating (2003), diminished respon

Understanding Challenges In The Third Sector Essay - 5

Understanding Challenges In The Third Sector - Essay Example Gettler (2007) suggests that voluntary organizations play a role in increasing public service delivery but the role of developing volunteer skills is a challenge to many of these organizations. Measurement of potential leaders in these organizations lies in the level of education they hold and not the skills they have acquired over time. Nurturing volunteer skills to produce skilled leaders is a good thing since it will make the provision of services to be efficient due to the involvement of highly skilled personnel. The public should realize that leaders in voluntary organizations do not have to have achieved MBAs to acquire leadership skills. The public has little knowledge on how modern charities work because of the ignorance and assumptions that we create for ourselves. The public should get more information concerning the organizational services offered, the people who work in these organizations and those who are paid and those who are not so as to know the organizational budgets (Gettler, 2007). Reducing the charities’ perception to the public based on warm feelings rather than evidence of good work will help us to understand more on the kind of services provided by the third sector. According to Gettler (2007) charities have a role to play in the public service delivery but not all public services and people need to have a good understanding of where the charities can deliver better services than the public sector and where it cannot. â€Å"It does not matter if the cat is black or white as long as it catches the mouse† Deng Xiao Ping (Evers and Laville, 2004). A leaf should be borrowed from this sayi ng to suggest that it does not matter who delivers the service as long as it is effectively delivered. Growing income and raising funds is one of the major challenges facing the third sector as a whole due to the fact that most organizations want to grow in their incomes since they tend to do

Environmental Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Environmental Science - Essay Example Understandably, there was an angry response from the Indian intelligentsia, some of them calling Bush an imperialist, while many others blamed America for being the cause of the food crisis by its diversion of grains for manufacturing biofuels. The burgeoning population of the less developed countries like India and China has always been a favorite butt for some scientists and politicians to blame for all the ills of the world from climate change to the food crisis. They quote the Malthusian catastrophe, but according to Paul and Anne Ehrlich, all the developed, rich nations can be called overpopulated because they are using up the resources of the planet rapidly. (Ehrlich & Ehrlich 1990). The poorer societies make do with much less. The consumer oriented life style of the developed nations , with their hunger for more and more energy is responsible for the depletion of resources and the environmental degradation of the planet. Rainforests of the Amazon basin are being destroyed to produce ethanol, to fuel the energy hungry West. Michael Grunwald in his article "The Clean Energy Scam" , published in the Time magazine says, "Brazil now ranks fourth in the world in carbon emissions, and most of its emissions come from defore station". The invaluable rainforests, with their enormous biodiversity.

Socrates, Are You Happy Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Socrates, Are You Happy - Term Paper Example Human perfection is thus a product of perfection of the intellect. The following paper discusses the just occasion of Socrates’ view that a morally good person is happier than the morally bad person. This will be followed by a personal philosophical worry related to his justification. DISCUSSION Socrates’ view of the relation between virtues and happiness is that good morals are necessary for the fulfillment of life happiness. He believed that an honest, fair, wise and self controlled individual will merit praise and respect from other people thus contributing to achievement of happiness. Portraying virtuous behaviors towards people does not guarantee moral reciprocity. In such a case, Socrates’ view makes one wonder whether nasty responses to virtuous deeds are an aspect of happiness. Consequently, morally potent people have a tendency of leading a life filled with fun and joyous experiences. In this perspective, happiness emanates from the belief that their act ions are for the life betterment and satisfaction. Everything that brings satisfaction is an agent of happiness not unless one is missing out on the different forms of happiness. However, he counters this by suggesting that normal happiness makes one think that they are happy whereas real happiness stems deeply inside the soul. He portends, "The Olympian victor makes you think yourself happy; I make you be happy" (West 36-37). Socrates affirms that true happiness extends beyond external wealth and worldly possessions. He asserts, â€Å"Wealth does not bring about excellence, but excellence makes wealth and everything else pleasurable for men† (West 30). This implies that it is impossible for one to buy perfect happiness through material possessions. Socrates views virtue and soul as a means to a healthy and flourishing after life and the evil tendencies associated with an individual have the ability to destroy the soul leading to future unhappiness. He believes in the existen ce of a higher power that rewards and punishes good and bad deeds in the after life. This rhymes with his affirmation that morally upright individuals will lead a happy life both currently and in the after life. Amid his belief in the existence of the after life, Socrates does not believe in any sacred scripture or religious myths (Leibowitz). The lack of credible proves of the existence such an after life after death compromises the logic that individuals abiding to the moral virtues will experience a happy after life. Does this means that one has to endure painful experiences that may be associated with maintenance of virtuous principles to deny he or herself satisfaction in the current life for an after life? According to Socrates, wisdom is the centrally significant aspect of happiness. He maintained, â€Å"The unexamined life is not worth living† (West, 38). Evil, people lack an aspect of reflection in the way they lead their life thus wasting the capacity of critical th inking that enables one choose between vices and virtues. They only indulge in those activities that please their body without an analysis of the far reaching effects of their actions. Virtues cannot be developed without wisdom implying that virtuous individuals stand a better chance of cultivating long lasting happiness than evil people. Moreover, wisdom is required for an individual to know whether what they are pursuing in their life will

E-Business and its Rules Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

E-Business and its Rules - Essay Example Then PCs are assembled on customer demands and shipped-sufficed- in 5-10 days (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111). Payments are also done online. This paper will seek to describe rules of e-commerce in light of Dell Inc and e-business current trends with their impacts on e-logistics. E-Business Rules Due to the need for companies to have wide, fast and flexible communications there has been the need to implement e-logistics. In the process of implementation of e-logistics, there are some rules of e-business that are to be followed. To illustrate these rules let us consider Dell Inc. In e-business technology is no longer just used to create and offer products but also as a means to make their business more effective in delivering services and products to their clients. Dell in its quest to implement e-logistics has redesigned its business model from the physical retail stores to the application of technology in an online supply channel. This enables it to conducts most of its transact ions with customers with the aid of their website platform where customers can order PCs (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.16); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111). ... This has been achieved after it streamlined its supply chains and started selling PCs directly to customers. This has enabled Dell to collect their customer’s preferences and needs information, thus enhancing better-personalized customer services (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.14); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111. Companies willing to implement e-logistics must create flexible grouping through integration. This will facilitate efficient customer service as well as reduce expenditures. Dell has benefited much through integrating its transactions on their website. This has led to the reduction of costs outlay in terms of inventory as through the online website they can aggregate their inventories by geographical locations. Since there are no physical retail stores the company reduced its facility and information costs (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.24); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111. Firms willing to engage in e-logistics must be willing to do away with ineffective traditi onal business models which are detrimental to their success. This calls for business managers to reorganize and plan their business models all over again to succeed in the e-business. Dell Inc. in order to successfully implement e-logistics it had to leave its old retail supply chain model where it used to assemble PCs and store them waiting to be sold. Currently, it receives orders online from customers and then assembles PCs and ship them (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.10); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111). Although Dell Inc. has succeeded in implementing e-logistics, it still experiences hindrances.This is because customers after placing their order they have to wait for 5 to 10 days to receive PCs. E-commerce Trends Change is inevitable, and

The Guide by R. K. Narayan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Guide by R. K. Narayan - Essay Example Th story is st in smll town whr th hro is tourist guid nd mts girl who is ccompnid by hr husbnd. H gts fscintd by tht girl nd with his chrm nd tlnt h mngs to gt th girl wy from hr husbnd nd uss hr dncing tlnts to rn mony nd nds in prison nd onc h gts out of th prison h gos in to villg nd strts living nothr fls lif bcus of his chrm nd tlnt th villgrs worship him s god, but how th hro trnsforms himslf in to somon who rlly ttins sttus of GOD. On my opinion, most of th srious thoughts nd ids of th uthor r not stright in this book. To fully undrstnd it, on nds to possss littl bit of mturity to rlly pprcit it, nd I mn mturity in trms of spiritulity. Th grtst problm tht is dpictd in this book is th low qulity of indignous ldrship in his own socity. H dscribs Brhmns s clss or vn politicl group with rsponsibility for th brkdown of trditionl Hindu vlus nd institutions of govrnnc. It should b notd tht Nryn is not dvout Hindu, nd h oftn ccuss Wstrnrs of wrongly supposing tht ll Indins r dply spiritul bings. In his novl Nryn undrtons Gndhism ,whr h points out to th phrs of Vln, "Your pnnc is similr to Mhtm Gndhi's. H hs lft us discipl in you to sv us " (Nryn , p 93). cntrl topic of th novl is th convrsion of Rju from his rol s tour guid to tht of spiritul guid, whr s tour guid nd lovr, h is imptuous, immorl, nd vn hdonistic. s rsult, ftr his imprisonmnt nd wholly trnsformtion h turns into holy, crful nd slf-disciplind mn. Th novl potrys two storis, tht of Rju's rltionship with Rosi, nd tht of Rju's rltionship with th villgrs s holy mn. Th novl thn ltrnts btwn n ccount of Rju's crr s holy mn, which is told in th third-prson, nd Rju's ccount to Vln of his prvious crr s tour guid nd lovr. This dulism of th story is sign of th dulism in Rju's chrctr. Rju is dpictd s sympthtic chrctr throughout th novl. Th illusion in Rju's lif is Rosi, who dtrcts him wy from th dily routin of norml lif. Whn Rju ss hr for th first tim, h dscribs hr by using words lik "complxion not whit, but dusky, which md hr only hlf visibl, s if you sw hr through film of tndr coconut juic" (Nryn ,p 29). It is n opn ndd novl whr nothing is vr rvld. If you think it is right, it will b so. You will probbly sk yourslf if th msk bcom so ovrpowring, tht it tks ovr Rju's rl chrctr nd stblishs it s th truth. Nryn's drk irony is dpictd through th mking of Mhtm in this novl, howvr, Rju's ws cs whr th physicl guid indd bcm spiritul guid, Swmi nd finlly th msk hs tkn ovr th chrctr. No on would sy tht it is simply just pssiv tking ovr, bcus in this cs th chrctr hs cquird th msk nd bcom on with it. Rju's rscu lis in his brvry to ccpt ll his follis nd pologiz for thm. I prsonlly nvr found Rju s immorl bcus in th intil prt, Rosi's sttus s wif is so pitiful tht I lmost wntd Rju nd Rosi to fll in lov. Hnc I don't s Rju's downfll s punishmnt for his immorlity. Rju's trgdy ws tht h could nvr sy no. h just ccptd ll tht ws thrust upon him nd thus plyd diffrnt rols. Hnc h bcm shop ownr, tourist guid nd ltr on n gnt to Nlini lis Rosi's dnc prformnc. Howvr, not tking dcision is dcision in itslf nd indd, if Rju couldn't sy no, lso mns tht h wntd to sy no. Th nding is prhps th most nticing nd I bliv in Rju's trnsformtion from swindlr to sint. If I don't gr with it, I will b stigmtizd s n thist. nd I m nithr, so I will lv th intrprttion of Rju's chrctr for ltr, cus I nd som tim to fully procss th

Direct Service Staff Turnover in Supported Living Arrangements Essay

Direct Service Staff Turnover in Supported Living Arrangements - Essay Example There were not any of the agencies that collected data on the number of workers that served Montana's disability population. However, employees are derived from workers performing various occupations: social and human service assistants, home health aides, nursing aides, orderlies and attendants, physical therapy aides, and home care aides. The turnover rate is also contributed to the following: voluntary quits, terminations, promotions, uncontrollable events, and layoffs. Several other factors contributed to the high turnover as well: lack of management and/or coworker support, inadequate wages and/or benefits, inadequate training for handling challenging situations, poor working conditions (stress, ambiguous roles, inadequate consumer care), lack of career advancement opportunities, and other factors (risk of injury, fear of liability lawsuits, etc.). Hatton, C., Emerson, E., Rivers, M., et al. (2001). Factors associated with intended staff turnover and job search behavior in services for people with intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 45, 258-270. Zeynep Ton and Robert S. Huckman examined the employee turnover rate and its association with operating performance. Most retailers do operate with high levels of employee turnover. Thus, the focus of the research study is a major retail chain. Ton and Huckman surveyed several factors within the retai... Larson, S. A. & Lakin, K. C. (1999). Longitudinal study of recruitment and retention in small community homes supporting persons with developmental disabilities. Mental Retardation, 40, 267-280. "Managing the Impact of Employee Turnover on Performance: The Role of Process Conformance" Zeynep Ton and Robert S. Huckman examined the employee turnover rate and its association with operating performance. Most retailers do operate with high levels of employee turnover. Thus, the focus of the research study is a major retail chain. Ton and Huckman surveyed several factors within the retail chain. Does the high employee turnover rate affect the overall job performance Is employee turnover voluntary Is it caused by decreased job performance The study found that the high employee turnover rate did not ultimately affect the overall job performance. Actually, the increased motivation and ideas that new employees bring to the chain are good. On the other hand, employee turnover is, often times, voluntary and contributes to the decreased job performance of a chain. However, employee turnover does not affect chains in which employees are conforming to the rules of the chain as much as chains in which employees are not conforming. The performance of the chain is affected more negative in chains where employees are not conforming to the rules of the chain. The overall result of the survey was that the high turnover rate is associated with the decreased job performance at a chain. Managers of the chains that have the high turnover rate of employees could decrease the turnover by imposing the rules of the chain in a more disciplinary way. Robert S. Huckman, Harvard University and NBER, and Zeynep Ton, Harvard University, March

Adventurous Days in Florida Essay Essay Example for Free

Adventurous Days in Florida Essay Essay There are three incredible reasons I would want to convince someone to go to the state of Florida. The warm, hard to believe weather, the fun beaches, and incredible, outstanding boardwalks are great reasons to go to Florida. These three things go hand in hand as well. You can spend all day at the beach, but if you have children you are sure to end up at the boardwalk, but with the nice weather Florida has, it is no problem. There are more than three reasons for me to convince you to go to warm state of Florida; however, these are three of the best. The weather is always nice, and you never have to worry about snow storms. Sun block is advised if you burn easily, but it is nice weather for tanning. Family activities go on year round. Florida is a very active state due to their amazing weather. You can do just about anything in Florida as far as sports go, because the weather is so unusual. You wear whatever you want due to the fact it is never too cold and never too hot. All these things are terrific things about the weather in Florida. Beaches have advantages and disadvantages, but if you read these great tips you will be just fine. The water can cool you off after a long day at work or even a day after the board walk; however, sun block is strongly advised. The best part about the beach is it is convenient for everyone, because the beach is there for swimming, tanning, fun, family activities, sports, exercise, and you can even take your dog on a nice walk out there. With the many people there though, you must make sure you keep a good eye on your children at all times. There are so many things at the beach that you can do and it is free, unlike water parks. Lastly, the fun-filled boardwalk every child wants to adventure. There are so many rides, arcades, food areas, and shopping areas, and as you are doing these things you can sit back and eat while enjoying the nice sounds of the waves, or even get up and join the activity all around you. The boardwalk has many nice things to do, and the rides are there for almost everyone, of course you must be a certain height. The food and drinks are not expensive and nothing beats time with the family. Their boardwalk is like our Oklahoma State Fair times ten, considering all their rides, food stands, selling tents, and arcades. They have hotels right outside this area just for the convenience; therefore, you will spend many nights just gazing at the stars and listening to the soothing, relaxing waves. This is why the boardwalk is so adventurous and a must do deal there in Florida. So, as you can see, Florida has so much fun, action packed stuff in just these three things that I have listed. These are not the only three things in the state of Florida worth going. You will have a great time here, and this is where I would suggest a vacation because of the nice relaxing feel it has there. Sure there are other places that have these same things but not the perfect weather all year round. With all this being said, this is why I would convince you to visit Florida.

The International Globalization Vs Local Brands Fashion Essay

The International Globalization Vs Local Brands Fashion Essay Introduction: Globalization is an inevitable phenomenon that is leading the entire world towards becoming one market, a global village. With the world becoming a single market, globalization has had a major contribution in enabling the organizations worldwide to step out of the restricted domestic markets and to set up their operations across the globe with confidence. This has largely led to a decline in the importance in national borders and a greater emphasis on what the consumers actually demand; be the consumers located in the very country in which the organization exists or an entirely different part of the world. Globalization has had a huge impact on the branding strategies of international companies. Since the early 1990s many multinational companies, such as Unilever have moved from a multi domestic to a global marketing approach including global branding strategies (Schuiling and Kapferer 2004). Increased consumer knowledge and awareness have played an important role towards this globalization of markets and escalating the power of global brands such as Pepsi, Apple etc. As the competition in global arena increase, organizations find it important to serve international consumers along with local ones to achieve competitive advantage. However for some products and services the tastes and preferences of consumers in different nations are beginning to converge on some global norm (Holt 2002). From a consumer perspective, however, reactions to the prevalence of global brands seem to vary among the different customers. On the one hand, consumers seem to value and admire global brands and regard such brands as a status symbol. On the other hand, global brands are often criticized for threatening the local differences and leading to a loss of cultural identity. Since the trend of consumption by our people is changing, people are becoming more prone to buying the international brands rather than the local ones. Consumers feel proud in purchasing imported goods and this has increased the power of international brands. Apart from just focusing on where the product has actually been produced, consumers consider various other factors when making purchasing decisions. It has been noted that consumers are reluctant to buy goods made in less developed countries as they perceive them to be low in quality. Brands have also been perceived as being a status symbol and this thinking is most common in young people. Literature review There have been a number of researches done on brands. A definition of a brand by The American Marketing Association (AMA) in the 1960s (Keller, 1998) is â€Å"a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and differentiate them from those of competitors.† Research has proven that consumers use brands to help them make decisions about the product they choose (Ger et al., 1993). De Chernatony and McWilliam (1989) stated that successful brands, be it domestic or international, will have some unique proposition that is satisfying consumer needs. Powerful branding will also have a positive impact on consumer franchises. As Kolter et al. (2002) suggests that powerful brands command a strong brand loyalty from their consumers where these consumers perform in a repeated buying and ignore alternative brands that may be at lower prices. Recent researches suggests that influences on foreign product evaluations may be considerably complex, resulting from an interaction of various different factors such as ethnocentrism, price, perceived quality, country of origin, status, fashion consciousness, advertising campaigns etc. Ethnocentrism Research by Kinra (2006) states that ethnocentrism, which is a psychological construct which a makes a product more favorable in the minds of the consumers simply because bit is made in their own country. Ethnocentrism is when consumers think their culture to be superior to other cultures (Summer, (1906:13). Highly ethnocentric individuals tend to accept things culturally similar and reject things culturally dissimilar (Crawford and Lamb, 1981; Heslop et al., 1998; Wang and Lamb, 1983). In a study conducted by Lantz and Loeb (1996) which focused on the relationship between consumer ethnocentrism and imported/international products, also found out that consumers who are highly ethnocentrism have more positive attitudes toward products from countries with similar cultures. Highly Ethnocentric consumers believe that purchasing local brands promotes patriotism and they accuse foreign brands of being a potential threat to countrys economy and employment level. They also prefer local brands because of their better understanding of local needs. Quality Quality is a trait which is very hard to define, because it is a very subjective term. Perceived quality is the perception of a consumer about a products excellence. Research proves that most consumers perceive international brands to be of higher quality and greater prestige.(e.g., Nguyen, Barrett and Miller 2005; Steenkamp, Batra and Alden 2003). If a brand is perceived as globally available, consumers are likely to attribute a superior quality to the brand, since its international acceptance is seen as a sign of its high quality. (Han 1989) According to Iglesias and Guillen (2004), consumers pass five phases of purchase process and the first phase is that the consumer perceives the product with the consideration of its availability, quality, price and the marketing activities. The consumers will make a comparison between brands to other alternatives and then make a decision. This will then either leads to the action of purchase or not to purchase that certain product from a certain brand. Country of origin he country of origin will also have a deep impact on the consumer preferences. The country of origin effect has been defined as influences, be it positive or negative, that a products country of manufacture may have on consumers decision (Elliott and Cameron, 1994). It is related to different stereotypes which are attached to a countrys product by consumers. Majority of the studies have supported a strong direct relationship between the â€Å"made -in† label and perceived quality of the product.. The findings indicate that consumers hold stereotyped images of certain countries and that these images affect their perceptions about the country. These stereotypes vary from country to country. Products from developed and highly industrialized countries are evaluated more positively than products from developing countries. Moreover, attitudes and perceptions of consumers toward brands and products will depend on categories, for instance, electronic goods from Italy may be perceived as a poor quality but Italian clothing would be perceive as fashionable and high quality (Bikey and Nes, 1982). This would be differently perceived with Japanese brands as Japanese electronic goods would be perceive with positive attitudes and Japanese clothing will be negatively perceived. Price Price is considered one of the most important factors affecting the consumer perceptions of a brand or product (Hansen, 2005). Researchers found out that once consumers perceive a price difference between local-owned and foreign-owned brands, price dissimilarities begin to affect their preference for local-owned brands. Therefore it is imperative that we test the impact of price against consumers ethnocentric tendencies to determine at what point price becomes more important to consumers than all the other factors mentioned. Consumers need a reference price as a cue for evaluating the price of an observed product/service. There are two forms of reference price an internal one that resides in consumers memory (e.g. past purchase) and an external one that is formed during the purchasing process (e.g. price comparison between brands while shopping) (Mazumdar and Papatla, 2000). If consumers perceive the local-owned brand as more expensive than the foreign-owned brand, but its quality i s similar to the foreign-owned brand, they should prefer the local-owned brand less because they perceive a higher loss with the local-owned brand. In other words, the price difference between local-owned and foreign-owned brands acts as a moderator between perception of brand ownership and purchase intention of local-owned brands Social status Authors have stressed that consumers may prefer global brands because of associations of higher prestige or because the ‘elite class use it (Schuiling Kapferer, 2004; Steenkamp, et. al., 2003). Global brands may have a higher prestige than local brands due to their relative scarcity and higher price. Critical review of the key literature In todays world, consumers are faced with an overwhelming amount of brands available for the same product category. More than hundreds brands, both local and international, may be available for products like clothes, automobiles etc. When consumers are making their purchase decisions, they may evaluate brands on different factors such as variables like price, quality, and country of origin, ethnocentrism, and social status. Price and quality are sometimes perceived to be correlated. A high-priced product may be perceived of being high in quality and this may be because of such image created by manufactures through advertising. Similarly, a global brand may perceive to be of superior quality as quality is believed to be a prerequisite for international acceptance. Consumers today are increasingly aware of products made in both developed and developing economies. Goods from third world countries may perceive to be of lower quality standard. Consumer perceptions and opinions may also depend on the product category for e.g. Italian clothing is generally perceived to be more fashionable (Bikey and Nes, 1982), while automobiles produced in country like USA may be perceived as of better quality than an Indian manufactured automobile. However, sometimes consumers believe that local organizations have a competitive edge over the foreign competitors as they have a better understanding of what consumer wants which are shaped by their cultures. While other patriotic consumers believe that buying foreign brands may hinder the growth of their local organizations. Brands like Apple, Sony, Pepsi have empowered consumers and these brands are capable of evoking associations and feeling to an extent that they have now become an important part of our lives. Due to increasing peer pressure, these foreign brands have now become a necessity for every young person. Wearing Nike shoes may be considered as fashionable and trendy in universities. So the need to be accepted by a particular social group may compel young people to buy international brands even when local brands are available at the same price. Research Question Q) Why do consumers prefer international brands to local ones? Independent variable: Price Quality Country of origin Consumer ethnocentrism Social status Dependent variable: Consumer preferences Research methodology This study is a descriptive study and more of a qualitative nature and was conducted to identify and evaluate all the factors considered by consumers that make international brands more favorable to them. The sample for this research included the 200 consumers whose ages ranged from 16-24 years. Convenience sampling was used for this study. Questionnaires were used to collect primary data. The questionnaire comprised of closed ended questions and Likert scale is used in most of them. We classified our population according to gender. Frequency distribution and bar charts have been used to evaluate the results. In addition to this, the means of different factors that influence consumers preferences of the local and global brands were used to determine which factors are considered the most by consumers when purchasing different brands. Limitations As the data was gathered through convenience sampling, the results cannot be generalized. There is also a possibility that the respondents might answer the questions dishonestly or half-heartedly, leading to biased findings. Apart from these limitations of our study, the fact that the data was only collected through questionnaires provided us with the frequencies as to how many people would purchase the global or the domestic brand and what factors are rated as the most important by these people, but the reasons behind their buying patterns and preferences remain unknown because these people were not further interviewed. Findings and Discussion Question 1 Do you use international brands products? According to the data collected, 72.5% of the people used international brands of which 60 were male and 85 were females. 18.5% of the people questioned claimed to use international brands occasionally, whereas, 9.1% of the people claimed not to use global brands at all. As indicated in the pie charts above, 18.5% of the people who used the global brands sometimes included 28 males and 9 females, and those who did not use the global brands consisted of 12 males and 6 females. Question 2 If the price of a foreign brand and local one is the same, which brand would you prefer? The purpose of this question was to evaluate and discover how important a factor such as price is in determining whether the consumers would go for the domestic brand or stick to the global one if both the products were in the same price range. The results found out that 76% of the consumers would go for the international brands whereas 24% would still purchase the domestic ones. Question 3 How important is the country of origin, of the product, to you? This question was asked to discover how much importance the youth lay on the country of origin as a factor when making a purchase. The results revealed far different results compared to what had been stated by the review of previous researches done. As indicated in the graph, the youth was found to be mailnly ignorant of the country in which the brand was manufactured. Majority of the consumers (76% males and 88% females) did not consider it as significant a factor as to affect his or her purchase decision. Question 4 Do you consider the quality of the product when purchasing a good? A good quality product indicates durability, reliability as well as good appearance and featuresThe review of the existing literature suggested that quality of the product and its price were rated by consumers as the most significant factor in purchasing decisions. This was supported by our empirical findings that showed that 87.5% people on average considered the quality of the brand above all the factors. This included 83 males and 92 females. The rest of the people, according to our research findings, did not place that much emphasis on the quality of the product alone. Question 5 Do you think that the purchasing patterns depict the social status of a person? Question 6 It is said that people buy international products so that they can be accepted in a particular social group. Do you agree? The results to these two questions confirmed the general perception that exists in our society, that is, the global are purchased as a status symbol. The youth mainly bought foreign branded products to be able to fit in a particular social group. This occurs largely because peer pressure tends to be high at this age, and most of the people find themselves being victims of inferiority complexes. The results to the first of these questions indicated that on average 75% of the youth (71 males and 79 females) purchased the international and local brands as a status symbol. These results were further enhanced by the results to the next question, which showed that 72% of the males and 68% of the females did, infact, believe that the people purchased the international brands to be able to fit in a particular social group. Question 7 Do you consider current fashions and trends while purchasing a good? Owing to education and information disseminated through the media, consumers in our soceity are becoming increasingly aware of the current fashions and trends prevalent even in other parts of the world. Following the current fashions and trends have become a norm in our society. Consumers now make their purchases according to the ongoing fashions,and this assumption has been supported by our findings, which shows that 92% of the females and 85% of the males considered fashion and trends when making a purchase. There was not a single female in our sample who did not pay attention to the trends and styles when going for a purchase. Moreover, these results also indicate that females are more fashion conscious than their male counterparts. Question 8 Do you think buying international brands affect unemployment in our country? The purpose of this question was to take the point of view of consumers as to whether the existence of foreign brands affect unemployement rate in our country. The results revealed that on average 80.5% of the consumers believed that the businesses are affected by the international brands and that unemployment increases as a result. This figure included 88 males and 73 females. However 10.5% of the people, on average, believed that this case only occurs sometimes, whereas 9% of the people did not believe that unemployment is related to the existence of foreign brands. Question 09 If an international brand is not easily available, would you go for the domestic brand? As the above graph indicates, the answers to this question represent differences in the opinions of the males and the females as to their willingness in substituting the domestic brand with an international brand in the case of non- availability of the international brand. The results revealed that whereas 57% of the males respondents claimed that they would go for the domestic brand if the global brand is not accessible, 78% of the females claimed not to compromise and do with the domestic brand, even if the international brand of their choice is not available. This may be indicative of the level of brand loyalty that females possess. In addition to this, only 16% of the respondents, on average, claimed that they would sometimes opt for the domestic brand in the case that the international brand is not accessible to them. Mean number of people ( in percentages) Yes Sometimes No Price of the product 76% 16.5% 7.5% Country of origin 4.5% 13.5% 82% Quality of the product 87.5% 7.5% 5% Status symbol 75% 15.5% 9.5% Current fashion and trends 85% 10% 5% Ethnocentrism 60% 20.5% 19.5% The table above compares the means of the different factors considered by consumers when selecting global brands over the local ones. Conclusion After researching on the preferences of consumers for the global and foreign brands, and finding out what factors are considered the most important by consumers when making their choices, it has been concluded that consumers do purchase the global brands and give preference to them. Consumers gain increased knowledge about international products by television. Our findings show that quality was the foremost factor that affected consumers decision about a product, with fashion and trends being second and price was rated the third most important factor in influencing consumer choice. Moreover, a foreign brand is usually regarded as a symbol of prestige and social status and as a means of being accepted in a particular group. Because of this extreme peer pressure at this age, the youth often views the use of such a foreign brand as a necessity rather than a want. Because of this extreme peer pressure at this age, the youth often views the use of such a foreign brand as a necessity rathe r than a want. Consumers were also hardly aware of how global brands affect the local economy and country of origin, as a factor in influencing consumers choice of the brand was hardly a significant factor. However, in spite of the fact that for some products the local brands are now available in the relevant price range, and quite well meet the quality standards too, nevertheless the consumers of our country find some sort of inner satisfaction in spending money on the global brands. For reasons termed brand loyalty, and even for the reason of social status, our locals continue to regard and look up to the foreign branded products.

AMOREPACIFIC International Business Strategy

AMOREPACIFIC International Business Strategy 1. Introduction 1.1. Industry overview Cosmetics With low-barriers to entry, the competitive business environment of the cosmetics industry requires companies to secure stable sales channels, and make great marketing efforts to differentiate its products. However, the cosmetics industry is closely related to the fashion industry which is constantly changing and offer potential growth opportunities. Consequently, cosmetic products typically have short product life-cycles because which require mass-customization capabilities and production agility. Personal Care On the other hand, personal care products business is a relatively a mature industry. Also with a low-barrier to entry, the domestic market is currently saturated with competition. In addition, the emergence of large-scale discount stores and new sales networks has called for rapidly changing marketing and distribution channels. Consequently, the domestic personal care products industry is focusing on developing niche markets by differentiating its product as offering higher quality and value. 1.2. Overview of AMOREPACIFIC AMOREPACIFIC Corporation (â€Å"AMOREPACIFIC† or â€Å"the Company†) aims to become a global beauty company with its core businesses in cosmetics and personal care and health products. Founded in 1945 as a Pacific Chemical Company, AMOREPACIFIC Corporation has been involved in beauty products. With the corporate vision of â€Å"The World will know us as the ‘Asian Beauty Creator,† AMOREPACIFIC seeks to push the boundaries of traditional beauty with innovative solutions drawn from its rich Asian heritage.The Company also stresses the five values: Openness, Innovation, Proximity, Sincerity, and Challenge to openly communicate with its customers and employees, pursue innovative ideas and new concepts, maintain physically and psychologically close to customers, fulfill obligations to society, and be passionate about overcoming challenges. The Company first began its export sales via OEM and also began to sell cosmetics products under its own brand â€Å"AMORE† in 1964. In 1990, the Company turned to international markets by establishing its first overseas subsidiary in France, followed by establishing its Shanghai and Chartres plants in 2002 and 2004, respectively. In 2010, AMOREPACIFICs sales reached KRW 2 trillion, with operating profit of KRW 340 billion and net earnings of KRW 285 billion. The Company maintains its number one player in the domestic market with a 34.9% cosmetics market share in 2010. In terms of its overseas operations, the Company has enhanced its sales in 2010 by approximately 11% to KRW 335.8 billion. With its strong domestic position, the Company is targeting sales and operating profit growth of 10% in 2011 by creation of growth markets. For each business segment, the Companys Cosmetics Division is focusing on securing competitiveness in the Asian markets through reinforcement of RD activities to provide differentiated products and services. For the personal care products business or â€Å"Mass Cosmetics Sulloc Division,† the Company is intent on strengthening domestic market competency by expansion into high-functional products in major personal care categories. 2. International Business Strategy of AMOREPACIFICs Cosmetic Products AMOREPACIFIC aims to be a Global Top 10 cosmetics company. While tapping on matured and developed markets such as North America and Western Europe, AMOREPACIFIC is more focusing on developing countries such as China and other Southeast Asian countries. To overcome the limitations of the market size and increasing level of competition in the domestic market and accomplish economies of scale through market expansion with its own line of competitive products, AMOREPACIFIC, utilizing its number one position in the domestic market, has been looking to develop overseas market with in its efforts to gain presence and become a successful international player in a very competitive global cosmetics industry environment. While the domestic market has been steadily growing due to an increase in the number of professional business women who have brought about buying power of female customers, developing market conditions for high-function cosmetic products from the middle-class aging population, as well as an increasing demand from men for cosmetics products, AMOREPACIFIC has been facing increasing competition from the domestic competitors and market penetration from global cosmetics companies. Nevertheless, AMOREPACIFIC has potential to be successful in overseas market taking into account following advantageous factors: The quality and diversity of products of AMOREPACIFIC has reached the level to be competitive against global brands in most product lines. Experiences of highly competitive market in Korea enriched the Company with various competitive marketing strategies. Koreas cultural wave has created friendly demands of Korean beauty products among customers, especially in Asian market. Globalization strategy of AMOREPACIFIC is primarily based on a multi-domestic approach where international strategies take on differentiated approaches for each regional market as divergent demands for cosmetics products exist due to different levels of industrial and economic development for each country/region. In addition, benefits from standardization are less significant due to segmented nature of cosmetics market even within the country/region and price functions differently for each customer segment and it is not usually the major factor for determining purchase. Finally, since demand in overseas market for cosmetics are highly divergent and the Company possesses the capability and resources to leverage with to meet those divergent demand, multi domestic strategy would be suitable for AMOREPACIFIC. Based on such multi-domestic strategy, AMOREPACIFICs globalization strategy takes on differentiated approaches for developed and developing countries. For emerging countries, AMOREPACIFIC aims for an early market penetration, while, raising image by focusing on the prestige brand lines in developed markets. Two representative countries of AMOREPACIFIC (France and China) have been analyzed below to evaluate its international strategy in each country contrasting AMOREPACIFICs strategies in each respective country. 2.1. Expansion into the France Market 2.1.1.Market Penetration with Lolita Lempicka France has long been renowned as the capital of cosmetic industry and fashion. AMOREPACIFIC began to penetrate the France Market with the Lolita Lempicka Perfume from 1997. In 1997, the Lolita Lempicka Perfume won all the top awards at the French FIFI Award for best womens fragrance, best mens fragrance, and perfume design. AMOREPACIFIC released Lolita Lempicka L in 2006 and released Si Lolita Lempicka in 2009. With the success in France, Lolita Lempicka products are now available for sale in over 100 countries worldwide 2.1.2.Rationale France is considered one of the biggest markets of cosmetics products and trend leader of fashion and beauty goods and the arena of competition for global cosmetics manufacturing companies. Experiences and reputation in France market can lead to an expansion in developed markets including the U.S. where the AMOREPACIFIC would consider as major market for growth. 2.1.3. Entry Mode Selection Notwithstanding the high risk of failure, AMOREPACIFIC decided to penetrate the France market via direct ownership to establish strategic position as a flagship business in the developed market. With such high level of commitment and resourcing from the headquarters, the Company hired local management with entrepreneurial spirits to experiment with new brand and new strategy. AMOREPACIFIC perceived that its entry mode into the France Market was necessary in order to deploy local talents which would enable expansion into adjacent high-end European markets once strategic position is established. 2.1.4. Marketing and HR Strategy in France Abandoning nationality and company title to overcome the stereotype against Asian cosmetic brands, AMOREPACIFIC teamed up with local marketing agents, manufacturers and vendors. As a newcomer to the market, AMOREPACIFIC differentiated its approach by naming its brand after young local designer to target customers following up-to-date trends of unisex mode and strong fragrance. Also limited direct distribution channels have been utilized for distribution and advertisement is delivered through only high-end fashion magazines targeting customers in their twenties and thirties as well as models and designers. As is important to the cosmetics products to be recognized by word-of-mouth, promotion activities are focused in providing samples to celebrities and influential group of people. Through hiring entrepreneurial local experts in marketing of cosmetics, AMOREPACIFIC could upgrade its marketing expertise in luxury/premium market one notch above. 2.1.5. Evaluation of the International Strategy in France Global Configuration The Companys entrance to the France Market was not driven by cost differences or economies of scale, but it rather served the purpose to make a case for experiments in the leading market. With the successful launch of the Lolita Lempicka brand in France by leveraging the local talent and blinding nationality and company name, other high-end brand can be entered into the market utilizing the distribution channels secured through perfume business. In addition, AMOREPACIFIC may consider introducing other more competitive premium brands in the market through large scale international cosmetics franchise stores such as Sephora. Global Coordination Learning the effects from highly autonomous management of local subsidiaries and transfer of such knowledge to other developed market strategy (e.g., U.S.) is expected to benefit the company through global networking. Although it is inevitable to tap on developed market to notch up brand recognition level, considering the Companys ultimate goal of globalization to expand its market, targeting developed countries would result in limited volume growth at least in the mid-term as we could see from the financial results of France market which was out of red first time in 2010 since its launch in 1997. 2.2. China Market Expansion 2.2.1. China Market Analysis The volume of cosmetics sales in China is still explosive and has high potential to growth (Yearly cosmetics consumption of $13 per person compared to $50 in global average). China Market is well stratified according to product lines which are in line with development stages of different areas (eastern seaside and western inland). They comprise of all four major segmentation including top luxury market, premium market, middle market and mass market. In China, the cosmetics market is not dominated by single or a few major manufacturers yet and accordingly, market penetration is relatively easy. Compared to use of make-up products, the skin care products are dominant in market, and as Koreans have similar skin type as Chinese customers, the Company can hold strong competitive position against the multinational competitors. With increased level of earnings, demand for premium brands is also expected to grow significantly. 2.2.2.Rationale With Korean market being saturated, the high growth potential China market appears to be the next logical choice for AMOREPACIFIC. The Company is able to fully leverage the beneficial impact of Korean cultural wave in China. Although the Company has entered other Asian countries in tandem with China market, the growth and experiences in China market can provide the Company with boosting power to expand further into other Asian countries. Also, the proximity to Korean market and similar cultural background can give the Company competitive edge against other multinational manufacturers. 2.2.3. Entry mode selection The Company entered into China market through direct investment since 2002. The decision to enter into China in a form of direct investment was primarily due to the potential threats other global and local companies possibly gaining foothold in China. The Company needed to stay in competitive position by internalizing technical advantage and products quality while local brands are growing in fast pace. As competition is already intensified in China market, high level of commitment of resources from head office is necessary for sustainable growth in China market. 2.2.4.Marketing and HR strategy in China As the Company owns line-ups of products for all segmented markets, success in one market segmentation can lead to relatively easier launching of other product lines under more competitive conditions. The major product line marketed in China is the Laneige Brand, which is premium brand of AMOREPACIFIC which targets the middle-class. As brand recognition is gained from Laneige through skin-care products, it is considered a good strategic move for AMOREPACIFIC to promote other lines of products under same brand including make-up and products with specific functions including anti-aging and whitening. As Korean wave is huge in China market, AMOREPACIFIC leverages the benefit to its maximum by using famous Korean celebrities as models for its flagship brand (Laneige) and sponsoring Korean television dramas aired in China and concert events. However, As Chinese people are known to be not reliant on advertisement on media and cosmetics products are characterized that information on the products tends to be delivered by word-of-mouth through experiences of family or friends, AMOREPACIFIC set up free booths that provide make-up service, free tutorials and samples. 2.2.5.Evaluation of the International Strategy in China Global Configuration The main drive for entrance into China market is the market expansion. As China market will surely bring larger volume to accomplish economy of scale and its spillover effect to other territories in Asia region will give further boost to AMOREPACIFICs effort in those countries. Although AMOREPACIFIC started with premium brand to make a case in China market, the biggest portion of the market segment is the mass market with vast demands for lower end products. As AMOREPACIFIC has a line-up of products to cope with all those demands, with success from premium brand, it can expand its efforts to market expansion into more casual younger-customer targeted brands. However, in the course of bringing products in other segment, AMOREPACIFIC carefully needs to consider the possibility of casual brands adversely affecting the premium brand image to the customers. In this regard, AMOREPACIFIC may need to deploy differentiated marketing approach, such as blinding the company name not to be recognized as same companys brand and targeted promotion to specific group of customers (younger generation or lower income customers). Also, distribution channels other than department stores should be sought for differentiation. The brand shops that offer variety of brands of cosmetics can be fully utilized. Global Coordination Proximity to Korea can serve as an advantage for effective and efficient coordination with local operation. However, major cities located all over the vast land will bring about new challenges to AMOREPACIFIC which have focused on markets in smaller in size. For this instance, AMOREPACIFIC needs to bring in local expertise in logistics and tries to establish firm distribution channels. During the launches of its first premium brand, the close monitoring and control by head office and local subsidiaries must have been inevitable. However, to expand into other segment (mass market and luxury market), it is necessary, to fine tune its strategy, to leverage the experienced local management by delegating more power for more autonomous operation. 3. Recommendation for New Potential Market Strategy: India Based on the analyses and evaluations of AMOREPACIFCs international business strategy, India may be considered as the next potential target market for its international reach. The recommendations for entry mode and marketing strategies for AMOREPACIFICs entry into India are based on key success factors derived from the following market assessment and SWOT analysis. 3.1. Market Assessment The Indian cosmetics market grew by 9.5% in 2009 to reach a value of $141.6 million. In 2014, the Indian cosmetics market is expected to grow to $198.7 million, which is a 40.3% increase from 2009. Indias Cosmetics market volume: million units, 2005-09(e) Despite the growth of the Indian cosmetics market, the extent of poverty in the country implies that sales would come from only a small consumer base. In this regard, the target market may need to focus on female professionals living in urban areas who are brand-conscious. As seen in the graph below, the cosmetics market in India is already dominated by the top 3 global brands which account for 68% of the total market share. Indias Cosmetics Market Share: % Share by Value, 2009(e) Another interesting observation is the market segmentation of the cosmetics type. As seen in the below chart, lip make-up is the largest segment of the cosmetics market in India, accounting for 51.2% of the total market value Indias Cosmetics Market Segmentation: % share, by value, 2009(e) Also, Indian market has shown significant growth in the whitening products of 20% every year, making up 55% of total cream products. 3.2. SWOT Analysis Based on the above market assessment of India, AMOREPACIFICs SWOT analysis can be performed as follows: Strength AMOREPACIFICs strong management initiatives for globalization would offer a sound strategic decision process. As already proven in earlier efforts for globalization, the Company retains competitiveness of its line of products. In addition, the lack of infrastructure of the India in terms of distribution and sales channels would prove to be favorable for AMOREPACIFIC, since the Company retains a unique sales distribution of direct-sales approach, where salespersons personally visit door-to-door for marketing and sales. Weakness AMOREPACIFICs relatively small presence in a limited number of countries, as well as its weak brand image compared to global players would create challenge for the Company in terms of building its brand. Also, the lack of expertise in cosmetic products for dark complexions could be considered a weakness, considering the Indian population. Opportunities Considering that the cosmetics industry typically has low-barriers to entry, AMOREPACIFIC has opportunities to readily enter into the Indian market. In addition, the market growth potential of India considering its population size and economic growth would offer AMOREPACIFC to enhance its presence in the global market. Threats Considering the different culture and religious background of Indian people, the need for decentralized management could warrant potential management issues with the Headquarters in Korea for potential misalignment in AMOREPACIFICs globalization strategy. 3.3. Entry Mode Recommendation: High Local Responsiveness Approach In case of AMOREPACIFIC, its entry mode to the Indian market should consider the uniqueness of the culture. India has a unique religion and also has a strong history in their stratification system named Indian Cast system. In order to cope with such unique culture and history, AMOREPACIFIC would need to be highly responsive on the local culture. Observations could be made for other instances where attempts to penetrate into India cosmetics market with high degree of localization had been better off succeeding in the India market. Hyundai Motors and LG Electronics are some of examples that were successful cases where localization had been a key success factor in entering the market. On the contrary, Samsung Electronics strategy to seek global efficiency has been enjoying relatively smaller success in India. Considering that AMOREPACIFIC had no prior experience in India, the Company should set up their entry mode as be highly responsive on the local needs. Hiring local managers and staffs who understand the Indian culture would also be very important for the operation of AMOREPACIFIC in India. Joint-venture strategy may also prove to be a viable alternative for AMOREPACIFIC considering its less expertise for customers with darker skin tones. In addition, AMOREPACIFIC may utilize the friendly impression that Hyundai Motors and LG Electronics are making on the minds of Indian people. 3.4. Marketing Strategy Recommendation: Positioning, Distribution Channel Brand positioning and distribution channel would be a very important decision point for entering a market. To be successfully positioned in the India market, AMOREPACIFIC should consider two factors. First, AMOREPACIFIC should position its products to compete with other globally renowned brands to cope with the increasing brand-conscious consumers in India. Second, the Company may need to consider tighter margins to maintain cost competitiveness and capture market share against already established brands. Consequently, AMOREPACIFIC should use a high-end luxury brand strategy distributed in department stores and duty free shops. This would enable AMOREPACIFIC build up a brand image of high-end quality cosmetics. And at the same time, the Company could utilize secondary affordable mass-market brands to meet the average income consumers in India. An interesting distribution channel that AMOREPACIFIC could additionally set up in India is where they had been successful in Korea, which is direct, face-to-face-sales approach. As the transportation in India is underdeveloped, being able to visit consumers directly and provide quality services should be a great opportunity in entering the market. 3.5.Conclusion Since its foundation in 1945, AMOREPACIFIC has been one of the dominant players in the domestic cosmetics industry, with quality product lines ranging from anti-aging solutions and make-up products to personal care products such as shampoos, body cleansers, and toothpastes. With increasingly competitive domestic environment, AMOREPACIFIC has turned its eyes to the global arena. With its vision that â€Å"The World will know us as the ‘Asian Beauty Creator,† AMOREPACIFIC has successfully proven its potential in France with its line of perfume products. Furthermore, AMOREPACIFIC took favorable opportunity of the ‘Korean Wave to sell its products in China considering its cultural similarities and has established a strong brand name. As AMOREPACIFIC has ambitiously declared its goal to become a Global Top 10 cosmetics company, it needs to continuously seek opportunities abroad where it could utilize its core competencies to establish and strengthen its brand image while maintaining a clear focus on the target market and customers.