Personal Development Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Personal Development Plan - Essay Example This requires funds, which are not always available. In this case, I will have to prove to an organization that my research is in accordance to the vision of their company and aiming at improving science and technology in the country. Attaining this chance will give me a good chance to d my research work. I will also be able to get first hand skills and opportunities. I will also be able to improve m communication and social skills within the company of my research. This will widen the scope of my knowledge and I will be able to learn various challenges individually. Apply for lots of jobs in my field of study. Engage in internship and volunteer jobs within my field of career and my dream working stations. Engage in 8 hours lecturing within a week in the University to improve my teaching skills and solicit for a job while still seeking for a job Securing these two jobs will be a dream come true. I will be able to put my practice at work. I will also be able to improve my communication status. My living standards will also improve, as I will be under payroll. I will also be able to meet various opportunities in my field of operations After securing good grades at master’s level, it will be easy to pursue my doctorate degree. This includes applying well within the stipulated time. I will also ensure that all the necessary requirements are available on time and above all that, I am qualified for the position to further my studies. Owing to good experience at field work I will ensure I work hard and pass my exams and learn more from the course You should identify the level where on the scale you think you are and also comment on what evidence your assessment is based in the space beside each component part of the skill. Evidence needs to be hard evidence eg results or feedback from tutors or employers. I have good communication skills especially since I am a trained teacher through my field of agriculture

Teachers Attitudes towards Autistic Children Research Paper

Teachers Attitudes towards Autistic Children - Research Paper Example By doing this a pattern of behavior forms where the student either answered very quickly without thinking or doesn't even try. With autistic children, this can be absolutely critical. Autistic children are generally found to be at least average intelligence, possibly above-average. However, IQ tests simply do not work with these kinds of students, due to the requirement of quick response. When not even sure that you autistic children see the world in the same way. In fact, we know so very little about this condition that any kind of properly done and reported research will be valuable. The nature of the disorder, mainstreaming is very important, because one of the areas in which the student desperately needs to improve his social communication. In special classes, where the students suffer from this disorder, there is a double deficit in communication among students. However, by mainstreaming autistic students in a regular classroom, perhaps with the helper, the autistic student is p rovided the opportunity to communicate with other students lacking this disability. With the proper training of the teacher and the coaching of the other students, the benefits can be reciprocal. You autistic student is provided with an environment where responses can be immediately acknowledged, and the regular students are provided with an opportunity to understand this disability and learn that an autistic student is otherwise quite a normal person. One component of any research project would be the literature review. A review of the literature can give the researcher an idea of what questions have been researched and the methodology used. Furthermore, in well-done research reports, the questions themselves are generally represented. Once the literature review is completed and the results analyzed, then conclusions can be made about the suitability of the research. In order for the research to be valuable, it must investigate an area which has not been well researched or answer a question which has not been asked and answered, or use the methodology that will result in different kinds of data. In researching the above question in a literature review, a great deal was found referring to autism, nearly 25,000 responses in EBSCO database alone. The focus was narrowed to documents from the year 2006 to the present. This reduced to do just over 14,000 results. By adding the word "mainstreaming" results were cut to a manageable eighty. Fourteen of these results were found to be relevant with six dealing with attitudes and perceptions of teachers, and the balance dealing with methods of teaching. From these results, it was clear that this question has not been well investigated. Those results which dealt directly with teachers attitudes did not give much information. Therefore, it was decided from the literature review that this was a good question to investigate. Primary Research Of the various methods available to cover this research, the choice must be made amo ng quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research. Due to the nature of the question is probable that strictly quantitative will not give much useful information because it deals with attitudes. Therefore, one must choose between qualitative and mixed methods. One extremely useful qualitative method is direct observation.

Doctor Who vs. Back to the Future Essay Example for Free

Doctor Who vs. Back to the Future Essay People always love a good science fiction film or show, because even though it can have the same basic idea, they can be completely different. Doctor Who and Back to the Future are two of the world’s most beloved franchises, however, even though they are both based on time travel, they completely different but have some key similarities. Both of these franchises have a basis of time travel. Doctor Who is about an all-knowing alien named The Doctor, who travels through time and space in his time machine called the TARDIS. He is normally accompanied by a friend or a companion that he picks up along his travels. With Back to the Future, it revolves around a seventeen-year old kid named Marty McFly who, after crazy circumstances, winds up taking the time machine his best friend, Doc Brown or Doc, had invented. Marty is accompanied by Doc from different points in Doc’s time line. The extent of time travel is different for these franchises. Time is one of the most complicated ideas in all of history. When it comes to the time travel perspective Doctor Who is much more complicated than the simple Back to the Future model of time travel. In Back to the Future, Marty accidentally goes back in time and stops his parents from ever meeting. Throughout the movie he tries to get his parents to fall in love. When he begins to fail at getting them to fall in love, he starts to fade away. This idea seems to be pretty straightforward. However, you need to take into account the fact if Marty was never born how did he travel back and stop them from meeting. In Doctor Who it goes much more in-depth and time travel gets more difficult to understand. If the Doctor was faced with the same situation as Marty, a paradox would occur and he would have been from a different time stream where his parents got married, and he wouldn’t have faded away. One of the most immense trademarks that define these franchises is the characters. The trademark characters define this genre of film. The Doctor is an alien from the planet Gallifray, who has been traveling for about 900 years. Marty, is a teenager who gets thrown into a time travel with no foreknowledge about the subject. Marty is a naive teenager who doesn’t know the first thing about time travel, whereas the Doctor knows all about time travel, history, science and, most importantly, what not to mess with. Even though they don’t share the same knowledge, their personalities have some similarities. They both show bravery when needed and are willing to rip through time just to help someone dear to them. However, what shines the most about these two characters are their flaws. Whenever someone calls Marty a chicken, he loses all control of himself and does whatever he can to prove he isn’t. The Doctor, on the other hand, has a dark side. If someone breaks the Doctor enough, who is already damaged, he will show no mercy, and that is the scariest thing about him. Even though no one likes them, the antagonist of each franchise is just as important as the protagonist. In Back to the Future the antagonist is Biff Tannen. Biff Tannen bullied Marty’s dad as a kid and continues to bully him into adulthood. With Doctor Who the main antagonist, among many, are the Daleks. They are a robotic alien race that wants nothing more than to destroy anything that isn’t Dalek and will do anything to survive. Both of these enemies only care about can benefit themselves. Neither of them cares if they hurt anyone, or the disaster they can cause in their quest for power or wealth. The Daleks, however, aren’t the same as Biff. The Daleks are very loyal to their own race, whereas Biff isn’t loyal to anyone. In Back to the Future Biff is thought of as a pain that Marty has to deal with whereas when the Doctor has to deal with the Daleks, he is frightened. The Daleks are pure hate and have no sympathy. Biff is a human being so therefore he does have humanity somewhere in him. The science fiction genre is one of the most celebrated genres in all of history. It is so vast and so loved by many. Even though there are so much science fiction, even though some have the same basic idea, they can be so different with a few key things in common that makes it spectacular. Doctor Who and Back to the Future are two enchanting franchises in their own ways, even with both of them revolving around time travel.

Achieving Competitive Advantage In The Biotechnology Sector Commerce Essay

Achieving Competitive Advantage In The Biotechnology Sector Commerce Essay Biotechnology can be generally defined as the use of living things to create products or to do tasks for human beings. Biotechnology or biotech is used in industry, medicine and agriculture to produce foods, medicine, and test for diseases and remove wastes. (Biotechnologyonline, n.d) As such, there are different types of biotech such as green technology, red technology, and white technology and Bio fuels. In this report, we will have an insight into each of these branches of biotech and use various analytical tools to evaluate how knowledge management is playing a role in creating competitive advantage for companies in the sector. In so doing, we shall look at the Green biotech, Red biotech, White biotech and bio fuel respectively. Green Biotechnology Green technology, otherwise known as plant or agricultural technology is a branch of biotechnology (biotech) which involves the introduction of foreign genes into economically important species, resulting in crop improvement and the production of novel products in plants. (123biotech, n.d.). To better understand the role of knowledge management in harnessing a competitive advantage in this branch of biotechnology, we will take Monsanto as case example. Monsanto is the worlds leading green technology company ahead of rival such as DuPont. (SmartMoney, 2009). The company specialises in breeding (improving the genetic base through technology of crops thus increase yield and genetic engineering (by enhancing generic traits in crops such as insect resistance, herbicide tolerance and drought-tolerance). (SmartMoney, 2009 and Monsanto, n.d.) As with its sister braches such as bioinformatics, white technology(industrial biotechnology), red technology(pharmaceuticals) as well as biofuels, green technology and companies associated with it like Monsanto, are not left unscathed by critics. For instance, Monsanto and its counterpatrs , through its use of plant technology has been criticised of endangering human, the environment and socio-economic.( Friends of the earth, 2006). Significance of Green Technology However, the following advantages are beign celebrated by its supporters: Protection of Crops: for instance, the AT-DBF2 gene from Arabidopsis Thaliana crop injected into plants to enable them withstands Osmotic stress such as drought, salt and stress. (PNAS, n.d.) Increase Crop yield: during the teething years of biotechnology in term of Genetically Modified Food, there has been a widespread criticism of GMO claiming that GM Crops do not increase crop yield, that on the contrary it, reduces it. (Truth about Trade and Technology, 2009). These claims were dismissed by the then USA president Jimmy Carter who stated that, responsible biotechnology is not the enemy; starvation is. (Biotechnology Industry Organisation, n.d.)His favourable stance towards green biotechnology because of organisms like the Bacillus Thuringiensis used to produce the BT-corn. Introduces in 1996, the Bt corn has the potential to simplify management and effectively control corn borers throughout the season thus increasing its yield. (College of Agriculture, n.d.) Improved Food Quality: an example of this was the invention of the Golden Rice by Prof Potrykus and Prof. Beyer of ETH-Zurich and University of Freiburg respectively. The Golden rice is believed to alleviate Vitamin A deficiency in young people especially in the developing world. (Golden Rice, n.d.) Another example is the Maltogenic Amylase used for Retardation of staling in baked food, such as bread and cakes. (Food and Agriculture Organisation, 1997) Having had an insight about how green technology functions, its pros and cons, it is now essential to discover how companies like Monsanto use knowledge management in harnessing and safeguarding innovation in order to create a sustainable competitive advantage against rivals like DuPont. Knowledge Management as a competitive advantage vehicle. To understand the role knowledge management in achieving competitive advantage for biotech companies such as Monsanto, lets apply the Resource-Based View of strategy coined by Grant (1991citied in Henry, 2008). This analysis seeks to analyse how a company exploits its resources to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage against its rivals in the industry. (Henry, 2008) A resource-based view of strategy analysis Consumer Confidence, First Mover Advantage, Tap blue Oceans, CAPABILITY Fund expensive RD, New Product Development RESOURCES Finances, Experts, Human Capital COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE Knowledge power, Experience curve STRATEGY Differentiation (Grant 1991 cited in Henry 2008) Step 1: Resources: Biotech industries such as Monsanto go beyond the ordinary in Identifying and attaining young talent; because technology can easily be rendered obsolete, there is always the never-ending necessity to pool talent and innovate. Thus, biotech companies like Monsanto are in collaboration with renowned sciences universities like Truman State University to recruit outstanding students with sound sciences background. (Monsanto, n.d.).Furthermore, with their immense finance capability, they are able to fund and exploit these talents. Step 2: Capability: with their finance abilities, these biotech companies are able to fund rigorous Research and Development: Monsanto reported spend $2.6m dollars a day in research and development on how breeding and genetic engineering could develop corn, cotton and soybean seeds that yield more bountiful and nutritious crops and protect against bugs and weeds. (SmartMoney, 2009)This paids off has the company as been able to develop leading brands such as Acceleron, Roundup Ready,Asgrow and Yieldgard for plant resistance to osmotic stress as well as De Ruiter Seeds,Dekalb and Deltapine(Monsanto, n.d.) Step 3: Competitive Advantage: consequently, Monsanto is able to acquire a sustainable competitive advantage due to its ability to create Knowledge power and experience curve on producing competitive and fast selling products like its renowend leading brands like , Acceleron and Roundup Ready Step 4: Strategy: as a result, Monsanto adopt a differentiation strategy. This diferentiation strategy is typical of biotech companies with exception to biofuel companies as they end result; fuel, once drilled and refined is standard worldwide. Step 5: Bridging any resources Gaps: this calls for proactiveness from the part of the company as it involves identifying where the company is weak and formulating adequate strategy to address such weaknesses or resource deficeincies. For instance, tapping blue oceans or untouched markets to increase the companys economies of scale (Henry, 2008) Knowledge Protection in Biotech Use of copyright and licensing: to safeguard knowledge and innovation the company licenses seed germplasm or biotechnology traits to approximately 200 seed partners in the United States. (Monsanto, 2009) In summary, it can be argued that because of the level of technological innovation that occurs in the biotechnology such as green technology, its both a key and critical success factor for company to effectively and efficiently management knowledge by harnessing and protecting its knowledge thus maintain a competitive edge. This we have evaluated using the resourced-based view of strategy analysis coined by Grant (1991 citied in Henry 2008). Red Technology Introduction: The term biopharmaceutical means that developing medicines from using living cells, proteins and nucleic acids. None of the two biopharmaceuticals can be same. Over the past decade world has seen enormous development in this sector. Part 2. The Value Chain Procurement Technology Development Human Resource Management Firm Infrastructure Post Sales Service Inbound Logistics RD Production Marketing Sales MARGIN MARGIN Adopted from Micheal E. Porter Competitive Advantage: Creating and sustaining Superior Performance. (1985 p.37) A lot of researchers like Porter (1985, p36) Henry (2008, p103) have emphasized the importance and application of Value chain analysis. We can assess the strength and weaknesses of any biotechnology company by looking at its resources. It expresses important information about strategy and focus of a particular company. By identifying key focus areas, companies can concentrate in achieving competitive advantages. Biotech companies tend to elongate their value chains by getting into alliance with the business partners; this can either be done by incorporating the concept of upstream or downstream value. Henry (2008, p103) depicts the importance and benefits of adopting this strategy. By exploiting the resources of partners, a biotech company can maximize operational efficiency. This operational efficiency leads to achieve competitive advantage. Each industry sector is unique in terms of function. Biotechnology industry, mostly being a manufacturing industry always works differently as compared to a service industry because of the fact that primary and support activities vary from industry to industry. Porter (1985, 38-40) also supports this fact. Like most of other industries, knowledge management plays a vital role in biotechnology sector and is considered to be a primary activity. Prusak as cited in Young (2008, p5) states that knowledge management is all about the information that is in the brain of individuals as an asset and how it is used to leverage into corporate asset. In biotechnology, explicitly it can be transformed into a corporate knowledge paradigm. This idea is also supported by Gorelick, April and Milton. (2004). In biotechnology sector, even if you look at any sub-sector of biotechnology, industry innovation is the foremost weapon to achieve competitive advantage. Cooke and Mayes (1996, p.13-15) also established relationship of innovation and competition. This mean that by innovation biotech companies achieve competitive advantage and in turns get increased market shares with higher growth rates. The innovation is leading to new effective products thus enabling biotech companies to achieve competitive advantage. By looking at the value chain analysis of biotech industry we come to know that the most valued activity is innovation and knowledge management. That is why biotech companies invest heavily in research and development (RD). For biotech industry RD part of value chain is much more focused and valued. In biofuel, biofood and bioagri the value chain is more or the less same, but when we look at biopharmaceutical and bioinformatics, the value chain tends to alter itself a little bit. The activity that also affects biophrmaceuical is that the phase of clinical trial demands a lot of time, capital and management. Procurement Technology Development Human Resource Management Firm Infrastructure Post Sales Service Inbound Logistics RD Production Marketing Sales MARGIN MARGIN Clinical Trials A typical value chain for biopharmaceutical company. Knowledge is a scarce resource and that is why there are very few biotechnology companies in the market. Adopted from Tzokas, N. and Saren, M. By looking at the above figure it is clear that knowledge management is difficult to achieve. Companies transform their knowledge-based and skills-based information with equipment-based knowledge to create competitive advantage. Theses factors build an organizational culture of innovation and the stake holders like employee and customers force company to come up with new ideas We need to investigate about the potential contribution of each stakeholder-based knowledge pool to the strategic investments, plots and projections undertaken by the biotech firms. The long term development effort needs trust relationship from stockholders that the deliverable of RD can result in to a competitive advantage. This can be done by making multidimensional plans linking knowledge requirements and knowledge pools, thus evolving a knowledge space in which the strategic issues of the firm and its stakeholders can be positioned. As such knowledge space and associated distances can be used as navigational instruments for knowledge utilization. White Technology Biotechnology is now used as a very wide term, but we can say that in general term that it the use of organisms by human . In recent years and past also researchers all over the world got new techniques and ideas to develop biotechnology and changing the future. the most known invention of biotechnology is cloning of animal as well as of name. This amazing technology works at visual as well as molecular level. INDUSTRIAL BIOTECHNOLOGY Industrial biotechnology is recognized everywhere in the world weather to prepare consumer goods, material, chemical.( www.liebertpub.com,12:04) Industrial Biotechnology is the premier forum for this critical field and the only publication bridging biotechnology RD with later-stage commercialization for all industrial and environmental applications . it include fooding items ,textiles, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and body care products and many other products which we use in our daily life. The growing companies in many countries are taking help of biotechnology. By this companies make promise to the public to deliver new and improved products to their customers. Industrial biotechnology is of two types red and white. Red technology is now ignored by the companies and very less companies are dedicated with white biotechnology. PEST ANALYSIS POLITICAL FACTORS The first and the foremost factor to go through in pest analysis is the political factor. Researchers has emphasizes a lot on this factor. One such researcher is Jobber (2007, p79) who is of the opinion that Political and Legal issues can influence marketing decisions by setting the rules by which business can be conducted. Union Laws, Collusion, Abuse of market dominance, acquisitions and mergers, state aid and national laws are few of the political factors that reshape the companies. This factor includes all the political effects which affect the company or an organization. In some business political issues are much higher than any other companies but in case of industrial biotechnology government supports it and make policies to amend it or to improve it so that the future of a country can get improved and standard of living can be increased. All those organizations which do experiments on different methods of industrial biotechnology, government gives rebate from taxes pass legislations and create new departments to look at their working procedures. Strong legislation makes the Through legislation biotech companies are getting their products and processes patented. The biotech companies usually invest heavily in RD and come up with innovative products; these deliverables are end result of knowledge management. By getting the patent biotech companies make sure that their intellectual property right is secured and hence they achieve competitive advantage as no other company can imitate that. In the case of biopharmaceutical, the main governing body is FDA (Foods and Drugs Administration, USA). FDA ECONOMIC FACTOR Economic environment is the second most important factor in PEST analysis. Factors that affect consumer buying power and spending patterns Kotler et al (1999, p158) As evident from the various researchers, monetary policy, interests and exchange rates, income distribution, change in purchasing power, change in spending patterns, availability and rising cost of energy, labor and raw material has lead to significant changing in business world. World economy is in recession, so is the case of UKs. Unemployment ratio has gone up; peoples purchasing power is going down with a less savings. People are naturally focused more on spending towards necessities. Incomes are low. In this case consumer will move toward those products which saves their money and bio-products are one of those products which are cheap and reusable without damaging the envoirment and causing pollution. Envoirment issues are to be considered when it comes to shopping point of view and traveling. Legislation Banerjee, (1998) as cited in Charter and Polonsky (1999, p31), states that The threat of tougher legislation and the rising costs of complying with environmental regulations are possible motivating factors for firms to incorporate environmental concerns in their strategies. Tougher legislation can affect a firm in two ways: first the cost of compliance becomes prohibitive, second, legislation can require substantial changes in product or package design or distribution channels. (Taking back used thing) Public Concern Another important reason for firms to develop an international orientation and strategy is the rise in public concern for the environment. There are literally hundreds of opinion polls on the environment conducted in Europe, Asia and USA. Charter and Polonsky (1999, p32) The need to maintain a good public image and respond to public concerns can lead to firms adopting corporate environmentalism. Charter and Polonsky (1999, p33) Need for competitive advantage There are numerous cases where the installation of new environmentally friendly technologies has reduced costs for firms Charter and Polonsky (1999, p35) Social factors Social / cultural factors include Demographics forces, World Population growth, Age distribution, household structures and social factors. According to Kotler et al (1999, p153) the European and American societies are evidencing huge demographic shifts. Technological Factors Kotler et al. (1999, p165) Forces that create new technologies, creating new product and market opportunities. Those companies which have good knowledge about the new products can develop those and can attract new and existing customers. By this method apart from new technology awareness among public will also able to increase. Companies with better knowledge will develop new products in order to spread awarness among all sectors of consumers. Bibliography? Biofuels Introduction Biotechnology Biotechnology is the use of biological processes, organisms, or systems to manufacture products intended to improve the quality of human life. Biotechnology is an important innovative tool to attain The target the various levels example Bio fuels Bio informative, Bio medics, agriculture Biotechnology proficiency can serve to increase biomass yield, improve crop quality, and convert agriculture waste into bio fuels. (whatistechtarget n.d) Bio fuel It is also knows as agro fuel, these fuels are mainly derived from Biomass or Bio waste. Its often derived from plants and animals. Bio fuel is used faster growing modern technology for transporting sector. Liquid form of fuel is required for most vehicles is this convenient for storage and delivery, hence the bio mass is converted to liquid form. Bio fuel plays a virtual role in modern fuel manufacturing as they are renewable source of energy. Ethanol is the most commonly used Bio fuel in the world particularly in Brazils and largest exporters Asia, Europe and America are the some major producer of bio gases Lleading fuel companies like Bps and Shells company they involved in research and development in bio fuels. (biofuel,n.d) Generic strategies Porters alter the system by reducing its down to three best strategies. Overall Cost leadership Differentiation strategies Focus strategy strategies Overall cost leadership: A firm produced standard product by low cost and also take responsibility of economic scale and experience curve effect. market share is advantage. Differentiation strategies: A company is aimed at broad market. the product must some special feature like advance technology, brand image, etc Focus strategies: In this focus strategies a firm concentrated in market and particular group of consumer. (Reference) Overall cost leadership ? Bio fuel are the cheapest form of fuel you can ever get they dont need big investment in new distribution system but just the basic establishing plant is enough to produce them bio fuel mostly involves in long term investment. Hence Initial investment is very crucial. Its been assessed that share holders all over the world show keen interest in investing huge amount of money in this upcoming promising sector. Differentiation strategies? Bio fuel is renewable source of energy unlike others fuels they have less emission of air pollutants. Hence they are environment friendly; they are very low cost so they can match all the price of leading fuels. The impact of Hybrid cars and green cars with play a massive role in decreasing global warming. Focus strategies? Bio fuel industry will create a big employment opportunities all over the world and helps the countrys economy to develop as well. They provide jobs at all levels even form farmers to scientists. This industry has been welcomed by all countries and they are trying to be innovative to improve this sector all over the world. Most government offer discount and tax reduction on green cars thus encouraging people to buy them. This difference makes the bio fuel market to be more competitive in the fuel market. In forward planning about the global warming all nation now concentrate on bio fuel as they play a vital role in helping to control the pollution. APPLICATION OF PORTERS THEORY TO BIOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY Biotech industry has a varied range of applications like in agriculture, molecular biology, health care, pharma sector, chemical industry, environment related and so on. Porters five forces theory helps us to understand and interpret the business processes. This knowledge can be translated to gain a competitive edge over the competitors. This theory is also used to assess the profits that can be generated in the proposed business scenario or the services or products. According to this theory, the five forces that decide the competitive power of the firm in the industry are as follows, Threat of new entrants In the biotech industry, intellectual property is the most important asset. The firms in this industry are heavily dependent on funding to sustain the research and development activities. And very negligible revenue is generated by the firm till the product is developed. So finance is one of the major barrier that keeps away new entrants from the industry. Another barrier that deters the new entrants is the want of specialized knowledge in the area of research or development. Patent rights and proprietary rights also act as barriers to some extent. In some cases where knowledge and patent rights are easily overcome, many small players come into the picture. Although entry is easy for smaller companies, sustenance would be very difficult in this industry. Suppliers As discussed earlier, intellectual property is the most important asset in this industry. The biotech firms usually do not heavily rely on the suppliers. The tools, kits, equipment, chemicals and all other requirements are highly specialized. However small companies who either fail to explore new channels of distribution or who cannot afford the traditional channels of distribution, are at a loss, as they are compelled to enter into marketing alliances. Buyers The power of buyers is not uniform throughout the biotech arena. Earlier, the pharma companies were not affected by the buyers as the customers did not have or had a very little say about the product. The pharma companies had marketing alliances with the hospitals, pharmacists and agents. So the buyer power was less. In case of firms where the major purchasers are the governments or the hospitals, the buyers are strong. But now the health care companies, insurance companies and common man have entered the arena. The increasing price sensitivity of this new group of buyers is forcing the biotech companies to cut the prices and therefore the profit margin is becoming less. In addition to this, governments in some developing countries are pressurizing the biotech companies to take some social responsibility. ( as in the case of providing vaccines for epidemics at an economical price.) So there is a clear shift and the buyers power is increasing. Substitutes The availability of substitutes also depends on the kind of bitech firm/product. If the knowledge and patent rights are not properly protected, the investment in Research and Development (R D) cannot be recovered. If the patent can be easily overcome, some other company can simply copy the formula/application to offer the product at a much cheaper price. So the formulae/knowledge are to be carefully guarded through patenting and Intellectual Property (IP) rights. In some cases, cheaper chemical product alternatives may be available to the sophisticated and more accurate biotech products. Rivalry The competition rivalry is too intense in the biotech industry. Market analysis shows that only 1% of the biotech firms manage to make a profit. Biotech industry is largely dominated by few large firms although there are hundreds of smaller companies. All the firms are struggling to translate their RD efforts into a breakthrough innovation/product. This innovation could potentially change the fate of the firm overnight. So the Intellectual Property is carefully guarded and the rivalry is extremely high in this industry. For example, In U.S, 82 % of biotech firms make 0 % profit, 76 % of firms have less than 50 employees and only 30 companies have more than 300 employees. Porters five forces theory certainly helps in understanding the pros and cons, the opportunities and threats in the business situation. This theory definitely aids in evolving a business strategy. but this theory may not be of great help in assessing the degree of ease or difficulty or profitability in dealing with the business situation. In this context, this theory does not consider the following strategic influences like, Industry merges and acquisitions have become the norm of the day and the consequences of such deals cannot be assessed and is not taken into consideration. Research and innovation has the potential to dramatically change the face of the industry. As new discoveries/innovations occur, many new threats/opportunities spring up. This makes the biotech industry a highly vulnerable one. This aspect is left out by the theory.

Comparing the Poetry of Gary Snyder and Ruth Stone Essay -- Comparison

Comparing the Poetry of Gary Snyder and Ruth Stone Gary Snyder is not only a poet, but a preacher of sorts. His poems carry powerful messages about getting back to your roots. His poems contain strong themes of anti-consumerism and spirituality. "Facts" is a short piece consisting of facts on consumerism in America. This piece warns of the dangers of over consumption and lack of moderation. In some cases, however, Snyder does appear far too extreme in his views, like in "By Frazier Creek Falls" where is says "We could live on this Earth / Without clothes or tools." This theme of "primitivism" is a common theme in Snyder's poetry. Many of his poems are about nature and the "uncivilized" world. the settings of his poems are often woods, lakes, mountain trails, or other similar uninhabited uncultivated areas. Snyder's poetry is sometimes political activism in disguise. "Four Changes" is less like a poem and more like an environmental extremist's manifesto. Each of the "changes" closes with a suggestion of what type of soci al or political action to take in order to make the aforementioned change occur. Loss is a major theme in Ruth Stone's poetry, although her poems are rarely depressing as one might expect from loss poems. Instead, her poems contain a bitter yet sharp tone of humor. She writes about the loss of her husband, old lovers, her mother, and the past. Stone also writes about the dangers of getting too caught up in the modern world and losing touch with our roots. In "The Solution" she refers to "My friend the Supermarket" which brings her gratification in several ways. In "Lullaby" she writes about babies who kiss their computer goodnight and tells how they program computers after putting on thei... ...aired Mother† and writes many poems about mothers. Both Snyder and Stone make use of strong concrete images in their poems. In â€Å"The Bath† Snyder appeals to almost all of the senses by talking about the â€Å"crackle of waterdrops† and â€Å"the scent of cedar† and his wife entering the sauna, â€Å"letting in cool air.† In â€Å"Simplicity† Stone’s intense use of adjectives and figurative language creates strong images in the reader’s mind. She describes her surroundings as â€Å"wrinkled skin on a cup of boiled milk† an describes â€Å"the water’s muscular flow.† The writings of both poets can be described as both simple and complex at the same time, just like the world they’re writing about. While on a purely literal level you may be reading about loss, family, traveling, or nature, all of the poems have a deeper meaning about these topics that the poet leaves the reader to discover.

Of Mice And Men - The Importance Of George :: essays research papers

Even from the very start of John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, the uniqueness of George, as a character, is already noticeable. He is described as â€Å"small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp strong features† and has an obvious dominance over the relationship between Lennie and himself. This lets the reader know from a very early stage in the book that George is different, and probably the essential character. George’s character seems to be used by Steinbeck to reflect the major themes of the novel: loneliness, prejudice, the importance of companionship, the danger of devoted companionships, and the harshness of Californian ranch life. George’s relationship with Lennie has made him selfless; his conversations, with and with out Lennie, are generally revolving around Lennie, although in the case of their dream-ranch George seems to find fulfilment for himself as well. Due to these altruistic tendencies that he shows throughout the novel, a danger is bestowed upon George; he tends to care for Lennie far too much, and too little for himself. In occasional moments, he escapes his sympathy and compassion for Lennie, and realises the burden that he causes. This usually results in George taking his frustration out on Lennie, which can often harm his simple mind, leaving Lennie upset and forced to confess to his own uselessness, and George feeling guilty for what he has caused. We can learn very little about George through his actual conversations, which made it necessary for Steinbeck to focus the novel on him in particular, and let the reader gain an closer insight on him through his actions. Generally, he seems t o be caring, intelligent and sensible, but is greatly worn by the constant attention Lennie requires. This illustrates a major theme in Of Mice and Men, the dangers that arise when one becomes involved in a dedicated relationship. Despite the frustration that Lennie causes, without him George would probably be a lot like the other men on the ranch; simply roaming the country-side of California looking for work, and although he often prides himself on being different, he sometimes complains, usually after Lennie has caused trouble, and wishes that he could be like a normal guy and not have to live with Lennie’s hindrance. An example of this is seen when George responds sharply to Lennie's constant request for ketchup. "If I was alone I could live so easy†¦no trouble†¦no mess at all.

Relflection Paper on Interpreter as an Gatekeeper in Medical Discourse

Reflection Paper of Critiquing Translating and Interpreting Presentation Name: Rizqi Fauziah Std Number: 0807532 Class: 7B The Interpreter as Institutional Gatekeeper: The Social-Linguistic Role of Interpreters in Spanish-English Medical Discourse This reflection essay will discuss the written report of the group presentation on chapter entitled The Interpreter as Institutional Gatekeeper: The Social-Linguistic Role of Interpreters in Spanish-English Medical Discourse written by Brad Davidson. This will include how to build group discussion, the material presented, class discussion, and the conclusion. The data are taken from the work of Baker (2010). A couple weeks before the presentation was held, the group which consists of four members started to discuss the material that will be presented. The discussion was conducted three times meetings. Each member of the group should read all the material before the first meeting was held. In the first meeting, the group divided the material to each member of the group, thus, every member would have more focus on the material given. The second meeting, we discussed our understanding on the each material given, then, we made power point slide presentation. In the last meetings, still, we shared our understanding about the topic and had a rehearsal presentation. This chapter talks about how the interpreter’s role is in medical discourse based on Brad Davidson’s study and detailed analysis entitled The Social-Linguistic Role of Interpreters in Spanish-English Medical Discourse. In the Davidson’s study, there were found examples of the way in which the interpreters tend to align themselves with the institutions and to strengthen institutional voice, often at the expense of the voice of participants (Baker, 2010). In this case, the institutional setting is hospital and participant is the patient. I’m interested in the quotation ‘interpreters are the most powerful people in medical conversation’ which is made by head of interpreting service at a major private U. S. hospital in May 1999. What I understand from this quotation is that the interpreters who have control in the conversation. They are as a key in conversation because they connect the doctor and the patient in order to gain the conversational goals. As mentioned by Davidson (Baker, 2010 p. 154): â€Å"Interpreter acts as he point of negotiation and exchange between the social context inhabited by the physician and the patient† Historically, most analysis has been based on oral model of translation which most analysis of interpretation has focused on monologues as suggested by Davidson in Baker (2010, p. 155). Furthermore, the interpreters are seen as conduits, not conversational participant. In contrast, rece ntly, the interpreters do not only conveying the message, but they shape and, and in some very real sense, create those messages in the name those for whom they speak (Baker, 2010 p. 56). Moreover, the interpreter is always placed in contested are between being provides of a service and being agent of authority and control (Baker,2010 p. 156). The structured interaction between the patients, the physician, and the interpreter is called medical discourse or medical interview. Davidson’s study of medical discourse was conducted at General Medicine Clinic (GMC) of Riverview General Hospital in spring and summer 1996. According to Davidson in Baker (2010), the data collection concerned on the way in which the hospital-based interpreters were used in clinic, the interpreter’s presence in helping to shape the course and content of interview and the way interpreter mediated the clash of goals between the achievement of institutional goals and goals held by the patient. The data are collected from observation of over 100 patients’ visits, 50 of which were observed and audio taped. The research questions that are asked by Davidson are: 1. What the role of interpreter within the goal-oriented? . What is the interpretative habit? And how does one engage in the practice of interpreting? 3. If the interpreters are not neutral, do they challenge the authority of the physician judge, and act as patients’ ambassadors, or do they reinforce the institutional authority of physician? During the study, Davidson said that the scarcity of time become the factor of the patient in medical intervie w. It is because the patients who used interpreter often were left alone for sometimes an hour while they waited for the interpreter to arrive (Baker, 2010 p. 60). Moreover, Davidson said that the interpreters are possibly conducted the interview with the patient before the physician arrived (Baker, 2010 p. 160). They took a charge of physician’s position by asking questions the patient about the illness before they convey it to the physician. This affects the process of elaborating a Chief Complaint from patient which becomes shorter. Besides, the interpreters also would occasionally go so far as to conduct the initial portions of the interviews itself. According to Davidson in Baker (2010, p. 64) the interferences of interpreter in medical interview create harms for the physician. For instance, in case of English-speaking physician who had a Spanish speaking patient, most the direct questions that directed to physician were answered by the interpreter. This treatment is app arently an attempt to keep the patient ‘on track’, but this makes a threat to the physician’s authority within the interview. This habitual action done by the interpreter might be viewed as a move to insulate the physician. Keeping the patient on track also led a loss of patient complaint in conversational. It affects that patient’s complain will left undiagnosed and untreated. In contrast with the patient without interpreting, their complaints were diagnosed and treated because there was no interference from the interpreter. In this case, the interpreter sometimes edited the wholesale complaint of the patient in order to keep the interview ‘on track’ and sometimes to protect the physician and the institution of hospital. However, this makes un-tracks the achievement of the institutional goals (diagnosis and treatment) of interview itself. After explaining the material, 3 classmates asked some questions. The first question came from Riska K. R who asked ‘ is there any justification for medical interpretation to have a tendency to support a medical institution instead of the patient? ’ we agreed to answer that yes, there is justification in which the interpreter supports the medical institution. It is because the role of the interpreter itself is as an institutional gatekeeper. The interpreters are paid by the hospital (the institution), thus, they support the institutional. The second question came from Rendriawan who asked ‘please explain the sentence â€Å"the interpreter also interpret selectively, and appear to do so in a patterned (non-random) fashioned† ‘. Then, we answered that the interpreter should filter what utterance that is told by the patient before we convey it to the doctor in order to protect the physician and the institution of the hospital from the critique of the patient. The last question is from Lalitya P who asked ‘are there any differences of the role of interpreter in colonial and post colonial codition? How the interpreter reacts in the interview? ’. we agreed to answer that yes, we think that there is difference in colonial and post colonial condition. For example in post colonial the interpreter is always placed in contested are between being providers of a service and being agents of authority and control. To sum up, the answer of research question has been answered in this study. The interpreters have a role as ‘advocates’ or ‘ambassadors’ for interpreted patients as suggested by Davidson (Baker, 2010 p. 172). Besides, they also act as informational gatekeepers who keep the interview ‘on track’ and the physician on schedule. The interpreters who attempt to keep the interview ‘on track’, sometimes, lead the habitual actions such as answering the patient’s questions which are directed to the doctor, editing the wholesale patient complaint in order to protect the institutional of the hospital, and etc. According to Davison in Baker (2010, p. 73) it can be outlined that interpreters are not, and cannot be ‘neutral’ machines of linguistic conversion. Moreover, it is because they are faced with the reality that linguistic systems are not ‘the same’ in how they convey information contextually. Besides, they are themselves also social agents and participant in the discourse. Davidson said in his article that the interpreters and the physicians at Riverview have to have training (Baker, 2010, p. 173) Bibliography Baker, M. (2010). Critical Reading In Traslation Studies . New York: Routledge. ‘