Competitiveness in the International Electronics Industry Essay

Competitiveness in the International Electronics Industry - Essay Example The author Morri tells us that though the electronic industry is fairly small in the Dominican Republic by global standards, it employs however about 10,000 workers and contributes to about 5 percent of total Dominican exports (8). He further states that the electronic industry is by far the most important industry for a small economy (8). But in order to increase the competition in the electronic industry, the manufacturers in the electronic industry must learn to work together with the public sector to increase the competition position of the industry (Morri 9). The Dominican Republic has to meet the challenges of the public demands in order to ensure their competition in the electronics industry. The number of workers employed tells us how much is going into the export part of the trade. In order to accomplish competitiveness in the electronic industry, certain factors must be adhered to such as the "improvement in the quality and the cost of the electricity supply. Assistance with both local and international supply sourcing issues including possible common import purchasing and horizontal integration for inputs such as fabricated metals and moldings. In addition, the encouragement of domestic and foreign investment in critical local suppliers in such areas such as sheet metal fabrication, printed circuit boards, transformers, and general electronic component distribution (Morri 9)." In Latin America, there is extensive foreign investment in the sector by companies such as Verizon, Tricom, Centennial and Cable and Wireless and the cost of a T1 which is a high speed internet is the lowest priced in the whole of Latin America (Morri 16). On the other hand, "Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua have competitively low labor rates per hour, but they are not currently considered a competitive threat to the Dominican Republic because all three countries lack a secure environment (Morri 24)." In the above scenario, foreign investment in the Latin American companies makes it possible to guarantee low prices on certain commodities and labor being cheap makes it not a very feasible environment and so lacks the basis for a competitive environment. Another country that is ideal to examine would be the Chinese and Mexican market in relations to the US market. These two countries supply a lot of their goods to the US markets. According to Morri (9), China and Mexico supply a lot of their electronics to the US markets. In doing so, the global supply chain from the US to Asia threatens competition including low levels of linkages existing between the electronic manufacturers and the lack of industry expertise in the policy making and FDI promotion framework (Morri 10). The US markets are highly dependent on countries such as Mexico and China to provide a steady supply of electronic goods. Another important factor in increasing competition in the electronic industry is to : "create a one-stop-shop to streamline red tape. Increase image of electronics and the electrical industry locally. Also, employ or train electronic industry experts in policy and FDI promotion. In addition, build electronic industry support infrastructure for industry investors including offering investors full pre-, during- and post investment services and support. It would also help to decrease exit as well as entry barriers to increase investor confidence (Morri

Prioritizing the IT Project Portfolio Essay Example for Free

Prioritizing the IT Project Portfolio Essay Project portfolio management is the management process tailored to aid the organization gain and review important information concerning all its projects, which are then sorted and prioritized according to some criteria like strategic value, cost, effects on resources and others (Greer, 2009). IT project portfolio management has certain objectives that must prompt its undertaking. However, the evaluation must start with the IT strategy first and not the goals and objectives of the business or organization. The IT strategy should be the linking chain in the business strategy that governs the service or product strategy, which in turn should be able to drive the IT strategy. The following are examples of the strategies of a CRM company. In determining the IT project to undertake, the business strategy must first be analyzed and understood. For example, an organization’s business strategy may be to see a customer base increased by a certain percentage within a specific period. In the business strategy, all the necessary requirements for accomplishment of the strategy must be put in place. An IT organization may provide increase functionality through business analytics as well as executive dashboards. What follows should be the product strategy. An IT firm may want to work with business intelligence software organization to improve analytical capacity of the CRM software. The identification and undertaking of such strategies should be within a time frame. In this linkage chain, the product strategy should be governed and driven by the organization’s business strategies (Greer, 2009). However, the product strategy should be the driving force behind the IT strategy which should come third in this link chain of strategies. An organization’s IT strategy could be to develop a new software platform which would enable easy integration between the organization’s software and the business intelligence software company as well as with other companies. The IT strategy should then be the driver of our IT project prioritization (Machevarapu, 2006). As an IT project a company may undertake to create a Web service-based platform which provides a universal data transmission and exchange between the business intelligence software and the CRM software. This chain should be able to inform us whether the IT projects are in line with our IT strategy and by extension our business strategy. However it would be difficult to verify the specific values our IT projects have on our business. In order to determine particular values of IT projects to the organization in a hierarchical analysis of the strategies, one needs to specifically look at the four drivers that motivate our strategic analysis. The first and the most important of these drivers is the potential reduction in expenses. One of the motivating factors should be the reduction of cost in our business operation. In this case our CRM integration should be able to offer a new platform that would helps us reduce the cost of creating links to other software sellers or vendors. This is because our CRM is formulated on a Web services standard (Entrekin, 2006). Our second and essential motivation should then be the potential revenue increase our project would bring to the business. As a business outfit, our concern should be how to minimize cost and improve our capital base and therefore every project undertaken should be aligned to our business strategy of seeing an increase in revenue. According to Entrekin (2006) in our IT project prioritizing, an increase should be expected in our overall revenue because we would expect a larger client base that would consider our CRM software. The third driver should be the impact of our IT project on our product as well as on our competitors. The project should not only improve our products but should put us above our competitors. This should be our strategic undertaking so that our software platform project directly impacts our CRM product and hence improve the organization’s competitive position. The final and most important driver of our IT project should be the legality of our undertaking. We have to be aware of the various laws and regulatory measures required of IT projects (Greer, 2009). If the laws are in favor of our project, then we have to move swiftly to accomplish our project that would enhance our business strategies. Security of data is an important component of the new CRM software platform and because such data as social security numbers are sensitive, the federal laws for example, permit their storage within the CRM system. Strict compliance with the IT laws would enable us undertake projects that are tenable and are in line with our IT strategy and by extension our business goals and objectives (Entrekin, 2006). Every IT project must be evaluated against the four discussed drivers in order to determine their value as well as priority to the organization. Again, it is important to note that the drivers are not and should be analyzed in isolation from each other. But they should be intertwined in a meaningful and repeatable process in the prioritization process. Analysis of any IT project must therefore be considered under each and every one of these drivers in order to come up with a comprehensive and exclusive value-base project (Entrekin, 2006). Prioritization management is a process and creating a prioritization model would have to take up-bottom approach which then breaks down every driver into different parameters. This process requires a concerted effort of all business leaders from all departments in order to get the insights of the business focus as well as performance measurements. From the example above, the CRM company leaders undertook to break down into four parameters the â€Å"expense reduction† driver. These were customer service expenses, back office efficiency gains, customer acquisition and retention and others (Machevarapu, 2006). This step is followed by scoring every project across all the parameters, in a down-up approach in order to find out the overall score of our project. This process requires a presentation of statements to the business leaders and gauging their degree of agreement with particular criteria assigned to the scoring range in a scale of 1-10. For instance, in the CRM company project, the leaders were asked whether they considered the project to be profitable or not in terms of savings. A score of 1 meant no saving while that of 10 meant a saving in the tune of millions. The bottom-up rating in this case will give us the final scores which will definitely prioritize the project or not. The third step in the prioritization process would be to adjust the 2 prioritization levers through assigning of weights to every driver as well as their particular parameters in accordance with the current priorities in business. Our weights would then be adjusted correspondingly as the priorities change, so that our scores for every IT project remain in line with our business strategies. Such levers must be set in relation to business priorities through out the project portfolio and never changed among projects (Machevarapu, 2006). After the projects have been scored, sorting to determine those that are feasible may be undertaken. The cutoff points in this case may be related to the total number of such projects a business can absorb, the available funds for investments or any other constraints the organization may be facing. The most important thing to every manager is that all prioritization models look well on paper. However, there are no perfect ones and getting accurate results may be the greatest challenge. One cause of this is that most people would try to manipulate the outcomes. It is therefore important that every manager learns some basic steps towards understanding prioritization. For example, one needs to learn about what constitutes a project, which projects are to be subjected to strategic analysis, and which ones are not and finally learning to limit the number of projects undertaken by a particular department.

H.H Holmes: Serial Killer

H.H Holmes: Serial Killer Eloisa Luzuriaga Herman Webster Mudgett better known as H. H Holmes was one of the first serial killers in America. He was born on May 16, 1861 in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, to a wealthy family (H.H. Holmes). As a young boy Holmes was constantly bullied. His bullies found out about his fear of the local doctors office so they took him there and forced him to touch a human skeleton. Instead of getting scared he was fascinated by the experience. Since that day his interest in human anatomy was born. Holmes became obsessed with death, he started dissecting dogs, cats, or any homeless animal he could find. His experiments with animals were just a rehearsal for what was yet to come. On July 8, 1878, New Hampshire, Holmes married Clara A. Lovering of Alton. She was the daughter of a rich local farmer. They had a son named Robert Lovering Mudgett, he was born on February 3, 1880, in Loudon, New Hampshire. His marriage with Clara had failed apart. One year later he left New Hampshire to attend the University of Michigan Medical School. It was there that he gave himself his own nickname Dr. Henry Howard Holmes. He stole corpses from medical laboratories. He disfigured the corpses and planted them where they would be found as accidents. He collected the insurance money from policies of the corpses and then he would claim they were the relatives of H.H. Holmes. He graduated from Medical School in 1884 (Herman Webster Mudgett). After graduating he moved to Chicago. There he was involved in some businesses like real state and promotional deals. He married Myrta Z. Belknap on January 28, 1887, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Although he was still married to Clara Lovering this made him a bigamist. He had a daughter with Myrta named Lucy Theodore Holmes, born 4 July 1889 in Englewood, Illinois. Myrtas father was a wealthy businessman, a man Holmes had unsuccessfully tried to kill. The family of three lived in the Chicago suburb of Wilmette. Holmes started working at a pharmacy. The owner was Dr. E.S. Holton who suffered from cancer and his wife was in charge of the pharmacy. She was an old woman that needed an assistant. Holmes got the job and manipulated her into selling him the pharmacy. They made an agreement that she could still live in the upstairs apartment even after Holton died. When Holton died, Holmes murdered Mrs. Holton. She became Holmes first known killing. He told people that Mrs. Holton moved to Cal ifornia (H.H. Holmes Serial Killer Part 2 of 4). Holmes bought a lot across from the pharmacy, where he built his three story building that was later nicknamed Murder Castle. This hotel was designed by Holmes and was opened in 1893 for the Worlds Columbian Exposition. His sole purpose for the hotel was to lure, trap, dismember, and murder guests. During the construction of the hotel he often fired builders as they became suspicious about the design of the hotel. From the outside the building looked like a Medieval fortress, complete with turret. The first floor had Holmes relocated drugstore and various shops like a jeweler. The other two upper floors contained his office as well as a maze of trap doors, secret compartments, and hidden stairways. The most disturbing room was the basement which was equipped with medical tools, poisons, torture devices, and acid filled pits. From his bedroom Holmes controlled gas pipes that led up to the basement to specific rooms so he could put his victims unconscious. For a period of three years, Holmes picked female victims from among his hotel guests, employees, and lovers to torture and kill them. Some were locked in soundproof bedrooms shaped with gas lines that allowed him to asphyxiate them at any time. Others were locked in a vast bank vault near his office so he could sit and enjoy the show as they screamed, panicked, and suffocated due to the soundproof vault. The bodies of the victims went by a secret chute to the basement, where some were dissected, stripped of flesh, crafted into skeleton models, and then sold to medical schools. He also placed the bodies in lime pits and cremated them for destruction. Holmes performed hundreds of illegal abortions and some of his patients died during the procedure. He was able to easily sell skeletons and organs because of the connections he made through medical school (A Double Dose of Macabre). Following the Worlds fair, with the fall of the economy and with creditors closing in, Holmes left Chicago. He moved to Fort Worth, Texas where he inherited property from two sisters, he had promised one of them marriage but he murdered both of them. He planned to construct another castle but he abandoned the idea because he found the law enforcement climate in Texas inhospitable. In July 1894, Holmes was arrested for the first time, for a horse swindle that ended in St. Louis. While in jail he met a convicted train robber named Marion Hedgepeth. Later he was bailed out of jail. Holmes had a plan to bilk an insurance company out of $20,000 by taking out a policy on himself and then faking his death. He promised Marion a $500 commission in exchange of a lawyer he could trust. He was led to Colonel Jeptha Howe who found Holmes plan brilliant. But his plan failed when the insurance company became suspicious and refused to pay. He made another plan with his sales associate Pitezel. Pitezel agreed to fake his own death so that his wife could collect the $10,000 policy, which she had to split with Holmes and Howe. The plan would take place in Philadelphia and Pitezel would set himself up as an inventor, named B.F. Perry, and then be killed and disfigured in a lab explosion. Holmes had to find a cadaver to play the role of Pitezel. But Holmes killed Pitezel and colle cted the policy of his corpse. He then manipulated Pitezels wife into allowing three of her five children to stay in his custody. Only the oldest daughter and baby remained with Mrs. Pitezel. He traveled through the northern U.S. and into Canada with the rest of the children whose names were Alice, Nellie, and Howard. He lied to Mrs. Pitezel about her husbands death and her children whereabouts. A detective from Philadelphia had tracked Holmes and found the decomposed bodies of the two Pitezel girls in Toronto. He then followed Holmes to Indianapolis where Holmes had rented a cottage. He was reported to have visited a drugstore where he purchased the drugs that he used to kill Howard, and a repair shop to sharpen the knives he used to chop the body before he burned it. Howards teeth and bits of bone were discovered in the cottages chimney (Herman Webster Mudgett). In 1894 the police were tipped off by Marion because Holmes refused to pay him the $500 that he promised him. Holmes was finally arrested in Boston on November 17, 1894. The police investigated the castle and uncovered Holmes methods of committing murders and the disposing of his corpses. In August 19, 1895, a fire of mysterious origin consumed the castle. The site now serves as a U.S. Post office building. While Holmes was in prison in Philadelphia the Chicago police began to unravel what really happened to Pitezel and his three missing children. Holmes was put on trial for the murder of Pitezel and he confessed to 27 murders in Chicago. He was paid $7,500 by the Hearst Papers in exchange for his confession. One of Holmes most famous quotes published in the North American Philadelphia on April 11, 1896, was I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing I was born with the Evil One standing as my sponsor beside the bed where I was ushered into the world, and he has been with me since (Mysterious Chicago Tours). On May 7, 1896 Holmes was hanged at Moyamensing Prison. Before his death Holmes remained calm and affable. He showed few signs of fear, depression, or anxiety. His neck didnt snap immediately, he died slowly, strangling for fifteen minutes before being pronounced dead twenty minutes after the trap was sprung. He requested that he be buried in concrete and that no one would be allowed to dissect his body. His request was granted. On March 7, 1914, a story in the Chicago Tribune reported the death of the caretaker of the castle, his name was Pat Quinlan. He committed suicide by taking strychnine and the newspaper reported that his death meant the mysteries of the castle would remain unexplained. Quinlans relatives claimed that he had been haunted for several months before his death and that he couldnt sleep (The San Francisco Call). Works Cited H.H. Holmes. Biography.com. AE Networks Television, 08 Nov. 2016. Web. 17 Feb. 2017. Blanco, Juan Ignacio. Herman Webster Mudgett. Murderpedia, the Encyclopedia of Murderers. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2017 Worldofkillers28. H.H. Holmes Serial Killer Part 2 of 4. YouTube. YouTube, 06 Feb. 2011. Web. 18 Feb. 2017. Glenn, Alan. A Double Dose of Macabre. Michigan Today. N.p., 22 Oct. 2013. Web. 18 Feb. 2017. Mystery Channel. American First Serial Killer Doctor Who Ran Is Own Murder Castle. YouTube. YouTube, 16 Oct. 2015. Web. 19 Feb. 2017. The San Francisco Call. (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, May 08, 1896, Image 1. News about Chronicling America RSS. Charles M. Shortridge, n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2017. Adam. Did H.H. Holmes really say I was born with the Devil in me? Mysterious Chicago Tours. N.p., 22 Nov. 2011. Web. 19 Feb. 2017. The Yale Expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, March 12, 1914, Image 6. News about Chronicling America RSS. JAS. A. Menzies, n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2017

Response to The Futile Pursuit of Happiness, by Jon Gertner Essay

"The Futile Pursuit of Happiness" by Jon Gertner was published in September of 2003. It is an essay that discusses the difference between how happy we believe we will be with a particular outcome or decision, and how happy we actually are with the outcome. The essay is based on experiments done by two professors: Daniel Gilbert and George Loewenstein. The experiments show that humans are never as happy as we think we will be with an outcome because affective forecasting and miswanting cause false excitement and disappointment in our search for true happiness. Gertner jumps right into his essay with examples. He repeatedly states that we are wrong to think that nice things will make us happy. His language starts out blunt and maybe even a little scornful for being so naà ¯ve. He tries to bring out a sense of disappointment in the reader by telling us that, basically, we can't be happy. This continues throughout the essay especially with his discussion of affective forecasting and miswanting. Following his introduction, Gertner spills into a discussion of affective forecasting. He uses real life examples to get his point across. Also, results from experiments done by Gilbert and Loewenstein were used to show that affective forecasting is a valid idea. This term is used to describe the inability of humans to predict how they will feel after a certain event takes place. The reason for this is that we don't realize that things become normal to us. This can be quite a disappointment to someone who goes out and blows fifty grand on a car. But, the concept of affective forecasting goes the other way also. Whenever something bad happens, such as the death of a family member or the loss of a job, we think the grief wi... ...ome very valid points. I think he wrote it to help the reader out. He wanted to open the reader's eyes to these issues so they wouldn't be searching for happiness in the wrong places. But, is there a "right" place to look for happiness? This is never clearly answered in the essay but we are left with some helpful insight. Gertner explains that affective forecasting, miswanting, and hot and cold states can really throw us off track in our search for true happiness. He uses many examples and experiment results from credible sources to prove his point. After reading Gertner's essay, we are left with this: The things that we think will make us happy rarely do. These decisions or investments are usually unimportant and become normal and boring for us. After all of our disappointments, we are left still wondering if true happiness can ever really be reached. Response to The Futile Pursuit of Happiness, by Jon Gertner Essay "The Futile Pursuit of Happiness" by Jon Gertner was published in September of 2003. It is an essay that discusses the difference between how happy we believe we will be with a particular outcome or decision, and how happy we actually are with the outcome. The essay is based on experiments done by two professors: Daniel Gilbert and George Loewenstein. The experiments show that humans are never as happy as we think we will be with an outcome because affective forecasting and miswanting cause false excitement and disappointment in our search for true happiness. Gertner jumps right into his essay with examples. He repeatedly states that we are wrong to think that nice things will make us happy. His language starts out blunt and maybe even a little scornful for being so naà ¯ve. He tries to bring out a sense of disappointment in the reader by telling us that, basically, we can't be happy. This continues throughout the essay especially with his discussion of affective forecasting and miswanting. Following his introduction, Gertner spills into a discussion of affective forecasting. He uses real life examples to get his point across. Also, results from experiments done by Gilbert and Loewenstein were used to show that affective forecasting is a valid idea. This term is used to describe the inability of humans to predict how they will feel after a certain event takes place. The reason for this is that we don't realize that things become normal to us. This can be quite a disappointment to someone who goes out and blows fifty grand on a car. But, the concept of affective forecasting goes the other way also. Whenever something bad happens, such as the death of a family member or the loss of a job, we think the grief wi... ...ome very valid points. I think he wrote it to help the reader out. He wanted to open the reader's eyes to these issues so they wouldn't be searching for happiness in the wrong places. But, is there a "right" place to look for happiness? This is never clearly answered in the essay but we are left with some helpful insight. Gertner explains that affective forecasting, miswanting, and hot and cold states can really throw us off track in our search for true happiness. He uses many examples and experiment results from credible sources to prove his point. After reading Gertner's essay, we are left with this: The things that we think will make us happy rarely do. These decisions or investments are usually unimportant and become normal and boring for us. After all of our disappointments, we are left still wondering if true happiness can ever really be reached.

File Management in Unix Essay

When it comes to UNIX systems all user data is organized and stored in files. These files are subsequently organized into a management structure comprising of directories and sub-directories. Much like forest and organizational units when it comes to active directory, UNIX also has the directories and sub-directories organized into a tree-like structure that it calls a file system. UNIX also has three basic types of files. When it comes to security files can be secured through UNIX file permissions as well as access control lists (ACLs). One of the most important things to keep in mind when giving permissions is to establish file and directory ownership. Traditional UNIX file permissions can assign ownership to three classes of users that are: user, group, and others. The user class is usually the file or directory owner, and that is the individual that created the file. The owner of a file can decide who has the right to read the file, or have the ability to write the file; which means they can make changes. This is effective if you had an organization that has five thousand employees and you only wanted four thousand nine-hundred ninety people to have permission to view and/or make changes. Another ability that the owner has is to decide if the file is a command or to execute the file. Groups are where you can put a number of users together to establish permissions. It is an effective way to manage policies for users. The others class is all other users who are not the file owner and are not members of the group. An important thing to note is that the owner of a file can usually assign or modify file permissions. Additionally the root account can change a file’s ownership to override system policy. In UNIX there are four different types of file permissions. The first permission is read and it designates which users can open and read the contents of a file only, but cannot make any changes. The second is the write permission, and that designates which users can modify the contents of a file or even delete the file. The next file permission that can be given is the execute permission. This permission designates which users can execute the file if it is a program or shell script. Another thing it does is that those individuals with this permission can also run the program with one of the exec system calls. The denied permission designates which users cannot read, write, or execute file. The types of file permissions apply to regular files, and to special file such as devices, sockets, and named pipes (FIFOs). A great way for any business organization to protect their files effective and to ensure that only people that have the need to access the appropriate is information is to apply the few protective measure that was discussed. You can protect the files in a directory by setting restrictive file permission on that directory.

Academia y Sector real

In the technical sense, V is a terrorist. Is terrorism a legitimate way to overthrow an oppressive government? Is it the only way? Were the fatalities likely caused by Vs. explosions worth the ultimate result? Miramar Gadding, Hosts Embark, Augusto Pinochle, Francisco Franco, and Bonito Mussolini, where all dictators that over controlled and completely abused over the people of the countries in which they ruled, by oppressing slaughtering and torturing the ones that where against their beliefs.All of them actually ended the same, killed by the people from their country that where bored off being constantly mistreated, oppressed and who their human right where violated. I think the same happens in the book v for vendetta if v wouldn't have done what he did the only thing that would change would be the time of the revolution people while always rebel to evil oppression. The term terrorism refers to the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purpos es.In that case V is the most accurate terrorist the oral has ever seen, because his method consisted on making fear grow in the government and hope in the peoples heart. The terrorist is the one that opposes to the government because it doesn't believe that what this government is doing is right V wanted to change things to better and he knew very well this government he knew the would not accept any type of opposition whether it was social political cultural o what ever kind was presented. He was witness to all of the horrible things that where done to those who didn't make the cut of the ideal society that the government was trying to create.All the gays, the blacks, the ones with a different way of living, where killed Just for being different from the others. This people control what people see, what people hear, and how people feel. V knew that the only way to tear apart a government which was so cruel, so hostile was by the way of violence or as he call it vengeance. He knew that the government that kills people for being against them would not support a passive rebellion in which the rights of society where demanded. He had to end with this dictatorship from the roots.That's why he had to recur to terrorism or violence, it was the only ay he could really damage and make changes in this government. Words would have not hurt them plus the government wouldn't have let this words spread, they where in total control. It was the only way he could really impact and let people know there was another way to live and not Just by being oppressed and followed. Terrorism is a legit way to overthrow an oppressive government. The oppressive government will never tolerate opposition the will try to get rid of this opposition whether it is by killing, torturing or hopefully exiling it.Terrorism fights back with the name force that the government strikes. Just as the third law of Newton states, â€Å"Each action will have a same reaction† this meaning if the gove rnment kills and oppresses the people, the people will eventually rebel and kill the government oppressors. I believe there are simpler ways to rebel against a government. For example Indian's pacific independence from Great Britain. The difference is that there where not being oppressed and it was what helped this independence to be successful. Mean while oppressed country can only recur to terrorism too make their opinion be taken in mount.The fatalities caused by v where totally worth the outcome of his actions, the people could now build a new England free of oppression, violence, slaughter, and hostility. The can create a democracy where diversity is accepted and cherished. Sure it was not beautiful what V had to do to give this drastic change and great opportunity to the people of England, but it was obviously worth it. As some would say, â€Å"Kill one to save a million â€Å"and that was exactly what V did he devoted what was left of his life to free England from the oppre ssion.

Why Britain Attempted to Tax the American Colonies

Why Britain Attempted to Tax the American Colonies The attempts by Britain to tax its North American colonists in the late 1700s led to arguments, war, the expulsion of British rule and the creation of a new nation. The origins of these attempts lay, however, not in a rapacious government, but in the aftermath of the Seven Years War. Britain was attempting to both balance its finances and control the newly acquired parts of its empire, through asserting sovereignty. These actions were complicated by British prejudice against the Americans. The Need for Defense During the Seven Years War, Britain won a string of major victories and expelled France from North America, as well as parts of Africa, India, and the West Indies. New France, the name of France’s North American holdings, was now British, but a newly conquered population could cause problems. Few people in Britain were naà ¯ve enough to believe that these former French colonists would suddenly and wholeheartedly embrace British rule with no danger of rebellion, and Britain believed troops would be needed to preserve order. In addition, the war had revealed that the existing colonies needed defense against Britain’s enemies, and Britain believed that defense would be best provided by a fully trained regular army, not just colonial militias. To this end, the post-war government of Britain, with a major lead taken by King George III, decided to permanently station units of the British army in America. Keeping this army, however, would require money. The Need for Taxation The Seven Years War had seen Britain spend prodigious amounts, both on its own army and on subsidies for its allies. The British national debt had doubled in that short time, and extra taxes had been levied in Britain to cover it. The last one, the Cider Tax, had proved highly unpopular and many people were agitating to have it removed. Britain was also running short of credit with banks. Under huge pressure to curb spending, the British king and government believed that any further attempts to tax the homeland would fail. They thus seized upon other sources of income, one of which was taxing the American colonists in order to pay for the army protecting them. The American colonies appeared to the British government to be heavily undertaxed. Before the war, the most that colonists had directly contributed to British income was through customs revenue, but this barely covered the cost of collecting it. During the war, huge sums of British currency had flooded into the colonies, and many not killed in the war, or in conflicts with natives, had done rather well. It appeared to the British government that a few new taxes to pay for their garrison should be easily absorbed. Indeed, they had to be absorbed, because there simply didn’t seem to be any other way of paying for the army. Few in Britain expected the colonists to have protection and not pay for it themselves. Unchallenged Assumptions British minds first turned to the idea of taxing the colonists in 1763. Unfortunately for King George III and his government, their attempt to transform the colonies politically and economically into a safe, stable and revenue-producing- or at least revenue-balancing- part of their new empire would flounder, because the British failed to understand either the post-war nature of the Americas, the experience of war for the colonists, or how they would respond to tax demands. The colonies had been founded under crown/government authority, in the name of the monarch, and there had never been any exploration of what this really meant, and what power the crown had in America. While the colonies had become almost self-governing, many in Britain assumed that because the colonies largely followed British law, that the British state had rights over the Americans. No one in the British government appears to have asked if colonial troops could have garrisoned America, or if Britain should ask the colonists for financial aid instead of voting in taxes above their heads. This was partly the case because the British government thought it was learning a lesson from the French-Indian War: that the colonial government would only work with Britain if they could see a profit, and that colonial soldiers were unreliable and undisciplined because they operated under rules different from those of the British army. In fact, these prejudices were based on British interpretations of the early part of the war, where cooperation between the politically poor British commanders and the colonial governments had been tense, if not hostile. The Issue of Sovereignty Britain responded to these new, but false, assumptions about the colonies by trying to expand British control and sovereignty over America, and these demands contributed another aspect to the British desire to levy taxes. In Britain, it was felt that the colonists were outside the responsibilities which every Briton had to bear and that the colonies were too far removed from the core of British experience to be left alone. By extending the duties of the average Briton to the United States- including the duty to pay taxes- the whole unit would be better off. The British believed sovereignty was the sole cause of order in politics and society, that to deny sovereignty, to reduce or split it, was to invite anarchy and bloodshed. To view the colonies as separate from British sovereignty was, to contemporaries, to imagine a Britain dividing itself into rival units, which might lead to warfare between them. Britons dealing with the colonies frequently acted out of fear of reducing the crown’s powers when faced with the choice of levying taxes or acknowledging limits. Some British politicians did point out that levying taxes on the unrepresented colonies was against the rights of every Briton, but there weren’t enough to overturn the new tax legislation. Indeed, even when protests began in the Americans, many in Parliament ignored them. This was partly because of the sovereignty issue and partly because of contempt for the colonists based on the French-Indian War experience. It was also partly due to prejudice, as some politicians believed the colonists were subordinate to the British motherland. The British government was not immune to snobbery. The Sugar Act The first post-war attempt to change the financial relationship between Britain and the colonies was the American Duties Act of 1764, commonly known as the Sugar Act for its treatment of molasses. This was voted in by a large majority of British MPs, and had three main effects: there were laws to make customs collection more efficient; to add new charges on consumables in the United States, partly to push the colonists into buying imports from within the British empire; and to change existing costs, in particular, the importing costs of molasses. The duty on molasses from the French West Indies actually went down, and an across the board 3 pence a ton was instituted. Political division in America stopped most complaints about this act, which started among affected merchants and spread to their allies in assemblies, without having any major effect. However, even at this early stage- as the majority seemed slightly confused as to how laws affecting the rich and the merchants could affect them- colonists heatedly pointed out that this tax was being levied without any expansion of the right to vote in the British parliament. The Stamp Tax In February 1765, after only minor complaints from the colonists, the British government imposed the Stamp Tax. For British readers, it was just a slight increase in the process of balancing expenses and regulating the colonies. There was some opposition in the British parliament, including from Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Barrà ©, whose off the cuff speech made him a star in the colonies and gave them a rallying cry as the â€Å"Sons of Liberty,† but not enough to overcome the government vote. The Stamp Tax was a charge applied on every piece of paper used in the legal system and in the media. Every newspaper, every bill or court paper, had to be stamped, and this was charged for, as were dice and playing cards. The aim was to start small and allow the charge to grow as the colonies grew, and was initially set at two-thirds of the British stamp tax. The tax would be important, not just for the income, but also for the precedent it would set: Britain would start with a small tax, and maybe one day levy enough to pay for the colonies’ whole defense. The money raised was to be kept in the colonies and spent there. America Reacts George Grenville’s Stamp Tax was designed to be subtle, but things didnt play out exactly as he had expected. The opposition was initially confused but consolidated around the five Resolutions given by Patrick Henry in the Virginia House of Burgesses, which were reprinted and popularized by newspapers. A mob gathered in Boston and used violence to coerce the man responsible for the Stamp Tax’s application to resign. Brutal violence spread, and soon there were very few people in the colonies willing or able to enforce the law. When it came into effect in November it was effectively dead, and the American politicians responded to this anger by denouncing taxation without representation and looking for peaceful ways to persuade Britain to scrap the tax while remaining loyal. Boycotts of British goods went into effect as well. Britain Seeks a Solution Grenville lost his position as developments in America were reported to Britain, and his successor, the Duke of Cumberland, decided to enforce British sovereignty by force. However, he suffered a heart attack before he could order this, and his successor resolved to find a way to repeal the Stamp Tax but keep sovereignty intact. The government followed a twofold tactic: to verbally (not physically or militarily) assert sovereignty, and then cite the economic effects of the boycott to repeal the tax. The ensuing debate made it quite clear that British Members of Parliament felt the King of Britain had sovereign power over the colonies, had the right to pass laws affecting them, including taxes, and that this sovereignty did not give the Americans a right to representation. These beliefs underpinned the Declaration Act. British leaders then agreed, somewhat expediently, that the Stamp Tax was damaging trade and they repealed it in a second act. People in Britain and America celebrated. Consequences The result of British taxation was the development of a new voice and consciousness among the American colonies. This had been emerging during the French-Indian War, but now issues of representation, taxation, and liberty began to take center stage. There were fears that Britain intended to enslave them. On Britain’s part, they now had an empire in America which was proving expensive to run and difficult to control. These challenges would eventually lead to the Revolutionary War.

Population Estimation Essays - Environmental Statistics, Free Essays

Population Estimation Essays - Environmental Statistics, Free Essays Population Estimation Population estimation Introduction Estimates of population size play a vital role in many fisheries management decisions. The numbers of fish in a stock are used to identify influences of environmental factors, human exploitation, and ultimately to identify the effectiveness of management strategies. (Van Den Avyle & Hayward 1999) The three most common methods of population estimation among biologist are sample plots, mark and recapture, and removal. Counts on sample plots is based on the principle that an estimate of population size can be obtained by determining the average density of animals per unit area and multiplying its value by the total area covered by the population. This procedure is done by setting up a pre-determined number of circular, square, or rectangular plots. These plots should be randomly placed and should not over lap. This method is used when all members of the target population can be counted with reasonable certainty(Van Der Avyle & Hayward 1999). The formula used with this method is: Where A is the size of the study area, a is the size of the plot, and n is the average number of animals counted per sample plot (Van Der Avyle & Hayward 1999). The mark and recapture method is simply preformed by collecting fish, marking them, releasing them, and at a later time collecting fish from the same area and examining them for marks. This is based on the principle that the number of marked fish in the second sample is proportional to the total number of fish in the population. This is called the Peterson method and the equation is as follows: Where M is the number of fish initially marked and released, C is the number of fish collected, and R is the number of recaptures (Van Der Avyle so several modifications have been made to correct this. One being Bailey's modification which is used when sampling during the recapture period is conducted with replacement. The Chapman method is used if replacement is not taking place. The differences in these three methods would be of little significance if the recapture number exceeds 7 (Van Der Avyle & Hayward). All three of these variations are based on the assumptions that: 1. Marked fish don't lose their marks. 2. Marked fish are not over looked in the recapture sample. 3. Marked and unmarked fish are equally vulnerable to recapture. 4. Marked and unmarked fish have equal mortality. 5. Following release marked and unmarked fish become randomly mixed. 6. There are no additions to the population during the study. If any of these conditions are not met over estimation will most likely occur (Van Der Avyle & Hayward 1999). The third and final method of population estimation is the removal method. This is based on the idea that the number of fish caught per unit of effort will progressively decline as members of the population are removed. The population can be estimated from data on fishing effort and catch rates. The assumptions with this method are: 1. All members of the target population are equally vulnerable to capture. 2. Vulnerability to capture is constant over time. 3. There are no additions to the population or losses other than the removal itself (Van Der Avyle & Hayward). The Leslie and DeLury methods are used in cases when sampling effort my vary among periods. They are used on large populations where the probability of catching an individual fish is low (Kohler 138). The Leslie method assumes that the number of fish caught per unit effort is proportional to the number of fish present at the beginning of the interval. The DeLury method differs in tha t the population estimate is based on total effort rather than cumulative data. The Zippin method is used where the catchability is high and equal effort is expended in each sample period. This is most commonly used in small mountain streams in conjunction with electrofishing as the removal method. Materials & Methods On September 13, 2000 we went to Mull Creek. We set up two stop nets spanning 75m one upstream and one downstream to keep the population contained. We made three runs with electrofishing

Understand the Behaviour of Organisations in their Market Environment Essay

Understand the Behaviour of Organisations in their Market Environment - Essay Example Understand the Behaviour of Organisations in their Market Environment This has enhances shopping for consumers making it even more convenient by providing all products under the same roof. Tesco’s has been working towards building of a sustainable business model throughout the years. This has been done through diversification into new geographical areas as well as value added retailing (Datamonitor, 2011, 7). This has enabled Tesco to reduce its business risk as well as work toward increased sales through trade in growth markets. Similarly, value added retailing encourages consumers loyalty and assist to sustain revenue growth even in times of economic difficulties. However, with increased competition in the UK market, retaining customers would be a crucial concern for Tesco. This has a risk of causing loss of the market share (Finne & Sivonen, 2009, 298). Perfect Competition This is the existence of different buyers and sellers, which implies that prices vary in response to supply as well as demand (Wood, 2008, 187). The market is characterized with substitutes where increase in price of one commodity means a change to consumption of the existing substitute. Both the buyer and the seller are seen to have equal chances of influencing the price. There are two extremes in perfect competition, which include monopoly, as well as oligopoly market. Price and output in a perfect market is determined as shown below. The profit in the firm indicates the level of price and output in three different ways. For a firm to make profits, it will produce at a level where P> ATC, while experiencing losses P< ATC and for it to break even P= ATC. Monopoly In a monopolistic market, there is only a single seller with a number of sellers. The firm is the price maker and therefore, determines the level of output as well as price (Finne & Sivonen, 2009, 298). The firms aim is to maximize profit. Oligopoly Classical theory in economics has the assumption that a producer with some market power whose aim is to maximize profit will set Marginal Cost ( MC) equals to Marginal Revenue (MR) (Finne & Sivonen, 2009, 298). This indicates that the larger the quantity sold the lower is the price. Any change in MC or MR will be indicated by the price. This, however, does not occur where a kink exists. As a result, MC in this case would change without a change in price or quantity. The advantage of this to consumers is that companies will not raise their prices in fear of losing customers (Seth & Randall, 2011, 234). However, even a fall in price will only gain a few customers. This indicates that the curve is price elastic in case of price increase and less for price decrease. In the end, competitive firms will enter the industry. Pestle Analysis Political factors Tesco is an international company with carrying out operations in 14 countries. This makes the organization susceptible to the various legislative and political environments in these countries. This necessitates the compliant to comply with these laws to avoid conflicts with the authorities. In most countries, governments encourage foreign companies to consider local candidates for various posts in the organizations, to ensure locals benefit from their investments. This, therefore, means that Tesco employs a wide pool of individuals to satisfy their labor requirements. Tesco will be compelled to follow the legislation on employment adopted in the country where its stores are located. Economic Factors Economic factors are crucial in the operation of an

Parenting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Parenting - Essay Example This paper briefly analyses the importance of parenting. According to Dr. Alvin F. Poussaint, "Most children need their parents' help and encouragement to discover the satisfaction of using their own imaginations" (Thoughts for Today). Psychological development of children is as important as the physical development. Many parents- even the educated parents- concentrate more on the physical development of the children and give less importance to the psychological or emotional development. Such parents believe that their duty remains only in giving proper food, clothing and shelter to the children till they become adults. In fact parents’ love, care and attention are more important to the children than the food or other physical things. Growing children do not know how to adapt with its surrounding. He will look suspiciously or anxiously at all new things which may catch his attention. The presence of parents and their advice will help the children in dealing with new situations more comfortably. â€Å"Some parents believe that if they've spent an hour of "quality" time with their children, they've done enough. This hour is usually focused on an enjoyable activity: watching TV going out to eat, going to the movies, etc† (Parenting Tips: Giving Your Children the Gift of Time). Many of the mothers are professionals and they get less time to spend with their children. Infants and children often forced to spend their majority time in the day care centers with nannies rather than mothers. The services of nannies can never be considered as the substitute of mother’s services to a child. In order to compensate for the less time spent with the children; some working mothers have the habit of spending an hour with the children when they come back their home. They are of the false belief that spending an hour as a friend with their children is enough for the proper development of their children. Children need the services of parents rather than friends . If parents give the services of peers, from where the children will get the services of parents? â€Å"Suffice it to say that guilty parenting overcompensates and causes children to view themselves as victims. This happens because children model our behavior and point their fingers at the parent who points the finger at himself† (Parenting Tips: Giving Your Children the Gift of Time). Parents who failed to spend adequate time with their children often try to give more love and care to their children when they get opportunities to spend time with their children. This overcompensation usually do harm to the children rather than goods. Over activities of parents will increase the children’s desire for the presence of their parents further and further. Failure to spend increased time with parents will develop the feeling of victimization among children. According to Frank A. Clark, â€Å"The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them† (Parenting Quotes). Making the children self sufficient to meet the realities in life is the core of good parenting. Parents are the first teachers in a child’s life. They consider their parents as the role models in their life. Whatever the things they learned from the parents or family will often reflect in their behavior in society. Society or schools can do little in the molding of children when we compare the roles parents can

D2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

D2 - Assignment Example fety, I.5 – The educator shall not intentionally expose the student to embarrassment or disparagement, and I.8 – The educator shall not disclose information about students obtained in the course of professional service unless disclosure serves a compelling professional purpose or is required by law (National Education Association, 1975). Explore the Issue (state the facts): The student diagnosed with ADHD scares the younger children at times. The student has a medical condition that causes this behavior. The teacher of the younger students wishes to know what the issue is with the diagnosed student to be able to better handle the effects on his or her students. Initial ideas to solve the problem: If the student directly affects the students in the other teacher’s class, disclosure is acceptable. If the student does not directly affect the students in the other teacher’s class, disclosure is not needed. Actions can be taken to work with the student who is diagnosed in attempt to mitigate the issue. 3. Work with the other teachers being affected by the student’s behavior, and the student themselves, as well as the parents of the diagnosed student to create an IEP that serves to meet the needs of the student, as well as all of the needs of other students that may be affected through the assistance of all adults involved. Revisit, Reflect and Finalize Solution: The best solution is to work with the administrators, counselors, parents, and other affected teachers to come up with an IEP (Individualized Education Plan), which will afford all students the best possible learning environment, and at the same time, ensure that the needs of all students are being met to the educator’s and to the school’s best

Euro-Debt Crisis and the European Union Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Euro-Debt Crisis and the European Union - Essay Example Rather than specifically call out any of the EU member states, Christine Lagarde calls on the ECB to fully commit reserve funding to deploy bailouts. The problem with this particular viewpoint is that the European Union is becoming more and more entwined with the internal political and economic desperation that is exhibited among the weakest links within the Union’s membership. Although attempting to save the European Union has been a central theme of the combined efforts of the world’s most influential financial body (the IMF), these efforts have dragged on and on and look increasingly unlikely to avert a crisis and/or disaster that is already unfolding before the eyes of the viewer (Wall Street Journal 1). The situation with Greece is but one example. Although the article in question deals mostly with the IMF’s implied directions regarding Spanish liquidity, this is just another example of the debt contagion that threatens to envelop the economies Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Ireland (PIIGS). In the article, Lagarde goes on to implore the domestic/state actors of the respective economies to fully cooperate with all haste and cooperation with the efforts of the European Central Bank. One interesting component of this advice is the fact that many of these state actors are playing a very tenuous balancing game. This balancing game is accented by attempting to employ the rigid austerity measures that the ECB requires in order for the disbursal of any further monetary aid/loans/bailout package, the fear that the European Union will eventually collapse and the consequential reaction to withhold resources in order to prepare for a worst-case scenario forcible exit from the Eurozone. It is for precisely this reason that Christine Lagarde is so adamant that each of these nations commits themselves fully to the proposition of saving the Euro.

How does preeclampsia develop and does it confer future cardiovascular Essay

How does preeclampsia develop and does it confer future cardiovascular risk - Essay Example The aim of the review is to arrive at the developmental causes of preeclampsia. Similarly, a large number of studies have reported linkages between preeclampsia and future cardiovascular disease. The evidence is suggestive, and a vast number of data produced is available on the subject. The present sysetmatic survey therefore focuses on an analysis of the literature with the objective of finding out conclusive evidence to establish that preeclampsia may pre-dispose to cardiovascular risk in the long term. The systematic review involved gathering of available data through an extensive search and reading, critically evaluating all the research in terms of its methodology and scope and also exploring and recommending future studies that could be more effective towards addressing the research questions. It was found that a number of factors, like obesity, hypertension, abnormal insulin resistance, inflammation, cardio-vascular risk factors (as measured by serum levels of triglycerides, cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol, and blood pressure), increased Homocysteine, presence of periodontal disease among others, were observed in preeclamptic pregnancy. However, the systematic review could not establish if these factors had a causative relationship to preeclampsia or if these factors were the manifestation of some other factors that also cause preeclampsia. The review also evaluated available evidence on cardiovascular risks and preeclampsia history. It was found that cardiovascular risk indeed has a larger than normal odds of having a history of preeclamptic episode. Again, it was not proved if preeclampsia pre-disposes to increased cardiovascular risk, or if preeclampsia and cardiovascular disease have the same pathogenesis. Preeclampsia, Cardiovascular Disease,

The Role of Consumer Behavior in Marketing Decisions Essay - 1

The Role of Consumer Behavior in Marketing Decisions - Essay Example Even though Starbucks has positioned itself as a high end coffee shop, it still depends on its consumers to uphold the image. ‘Product use is often of great interest to the marketer, because this may influence how a product is best positioned or how we can encourage increased consumption’ (Perner, n.d). Thus for the purpose of this paper, consumer behavior will be studied through an interview with five selected people and the result of the interview will help generate an understanding of the current image and positioning of Starbucks among its buyers. Findings of the Interview Through the interview with the five people who had at some point of their lives bought Starbucks, it was found that Starbucks is a brand that many people aspire for. The interviewees for this report belong to the medium income group. Mostly people visit Starbucks on a weekly basis or even on a once biweekly basis. The consumers studied for this report where people who loved coffee and had it almost daily. Most of them have coffee machines at home or a local coffee shop where they go daily. Starbucks is not a daily option for these people since it is a premium brand where products are priced high as compared to the competition. In the time of recession, the price of the product plays a great factor in the buying decision. However, the people interviewed love Starbucks and wished they could go there more often. They visit Starbucks when they want to relax and have a good time. When asked to define the personality of Starbucks as a person, animal or tree; varied interesting responses were received that included a brown grizzly loving bear, a brownie, a warm lover and even Oprah Winfrey for her loving nature and bright smile. Even though the consumers loved the brand, most said that they would be apprehensive if the brand introduced a contrary product such as its own iPad or mobile phone. One of the customers however said, why not. He said that Starbucks has also been successful at developing new products and given its success in developing new products, it can also be successful in making iPads. According to him, if Google can launch the Andriod, Starbucks can also launch a totally different product. A few of the consumers said that if the product was related to food or coffee such as coffee soap, they would be willing to consider buying the product. Discussion The findings of the interview match with the current knowledge that has been gathered through reviewing literature available on Starbucks and by understanding it in light of the marketing theories available. Starbuck is one of the most preferred brands in terms of coffee because of the positioning of the brand. The consumers prefer the image of Starbucks as it sells the best coffee in the country according to the consumers. Along with the good taste of Starbucks’ products, the consumers love the customer service of the shop. They even compare the customer service to a warm lover who attracts people through the love it instills in the customers. One important thing that the consumer survey helped us to find was the impact of recession on the buying behavior of the consumer. Since recession has impacted everyone, people are more conscious of where they spend their

Euro-Debt Crisis and the European Union Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Euro-Debt Crisis and the European Union - Essay Example Rather than specifically call out any of the EU member states, Christine Lagarde calls on the ECB to fully commit reserve funding to deploy bailouts. The problem with this particular viewpoint is that the European Union is becoming more and more entwined with the internal political and economic desperation that is exhibited among the weakest links within the Union’s membership. Although attempting to save the European Union has been a central theme of the combined efforts of the world’s most influential financial body (the IMF), these efforts have dragged on and on and look increasingly unlikely to avert a crisis and/or disaster that is already unfolding before the eyes of the viewer (Wall Street Journal 1). The situation with Greece is but one example. Although the article in question deals mostly with the IMF’s implied directions regarding Spanish liquidity, this is just another example of the debt contagion that threatens to envelop the economies Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Ireland (PIIGS). In the article, Lagarde goes on to implore the domestic/state actors of the respective economies to fully cooperate with all haste and cooperation with the efforts of the European Central Bank. One interesting component of this advice is the fact that many of these state actors are playing a very tenuous balancing game. This balancing game is accented by attempting to employ the rigid austerity measures that the ECB requires in order for the disbursal of any further monetary aid/loans/bailout package, the fear that the European Union will eventually collapse and the consequential reaction to withhold resources in order to prepare for a worst-case scenario forcible exit from the Eurozone. It is for precisely this reason that Christine Lagarde is so adamant that each of these nations commits themselves fully to the proposition of saving the Euro.

The Role of Consumer Behavior in Marketing Decisions Essay - 1

The Role of Consumer Behavior in Marketing Decisions - Essay Example Even though Starbucks has positioned itself as a high end coffee shop, it still depends on its consumers to uphold the image. ‘Product use is often of great interest to the marketer, because this may influence how a product is best positioned or how we can encourage increased consumption’ (Perner, n.d). Thus for the purpose of this paper, consumer behavior will be studied through an interview with five selected people and the result of the interview will help generate an understanding of the current image and positioning of Starbucks among its buyers. Findings of the Interview Through the interview with the five people who had at some point of their lives bought Starbucks, it was found that Starbucks is a brand that many people aspire for. The interviewees for this report belong to the medium income group. Mostly people visit Starbucks on a weekly basis or even on a once biweekly basis. The consumers studied for this report where people who loved coffee and had it almost daily. Most of them have coffee machines at home or a local coffee shop where they go daily. Starbucks is not a daily option for these people since it is a premium brand where products are priced high as compared to the competition. In the time of recession, the price of the product plays a great factor in the buying decision. However, the people interviewed love Starbucks and wished they could go there more often. They visit Starbucks when they want to relax and have a good time. When asked to define the personality of Starbucks as a person, animal or tree; varied interesting responses were received that included a brown grizzly loving bear, a brownie, a warm lover and even Oprah Winfrey for her loving nature and bright smile. Even though the consumers loved the brand, most said that they would be apprehensive if the brand introduced a contrary product such as its own iPad or mobile phone. One of the customers however said, why not. He said that Starbucks has also been successful at developing new products and given its success in developing new products, it can also be successful in making iPads. According to him, if Google can launch the Andriod, Starbucks can also launch a totally different product. A few of the consumers said that if the product was related to food or coffee such as coffee soap, they would be willing to consider buying the product. Discussion The findings of the interview match with the current knowledge that has been gathered through reviewing literature available on Starbucks and by understanding it in light of the marketing theories available. Starbuck is one of the most preferred brands in terms of coffee because of the positioning of the brand. The consumers prefer the image of Starbucks as it sells the best coffee in the country according to the consumers. Along with the good taste of Starbucks’ products, the consumers love the customer service of the shop. They even compare the customer service to a warm lover who attracts people through the love it instills in the customers. One important thing that the consumer survey helped us to find was the impact of recession on the buying behavior of the consumer. Since recession has impacted everyone, people are more conscious of where they spend their

New Jerse Essay Example for Free

New Jerse Essay Now this is a story all about me, when my life got twist turn upside down, if you like to take a minute just reading right here, Ill write you how I became a prince of a town called New Jersey could you find a word that rhymes with New Jersey? In East London Im born and raised on a playground is where Ive spent the most of my days chilling out, relaxing all cool and all kicking some football outside of school when a couple of guys, they were up to no good started making trouble in my neighbourhood I got in one little fight and my mum got scared and said youre moving with your aunt and uncle in New Jersey here, have this Hershey that kind of rhymes. If you didnt know Hershey is a chocolate bar that is sold in America. Although I would like to think that I was the fresh prince, my story didnt exactly start out like that. Instead of my parents sending me to my relatives because of academic problems, I went because I have been nagging them for a really long time. Im not saying that my academic level was reaching its fullest potential before I went, but the main reason I went was to have a taste of things to come. For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to live in one of those semi-detached American houses with the large front garden, golden retriever, two kids and a large garage. When most people watch American films they are focused on the storyline, but when I watch them not only am I watching the story, but also at the back of my mind I am constantly absorbing the American background. Finally in the summer of 2000 July 3rd, I got the chance to have a taste of my dream. Even though it was just a small taste, it was enough to last me however long it will take to finally move there. When my parents did decide that it was o. k. to send me there, it was there idea of making me have a taste of the real world. There idea of a taste of the real world was my idea of a taste of a dream. At the time I had just finished my GCSEs, and my grades were not that great. My parents had planned that America would change my course; I guess it did in the end but my biggest change was with my personality. When I did return I felt more confident, independent, funny and larger (thanks to those large American portions of food). Everything leading up to the day I left flew by and before I knew it I was in the airport sitting at the waiting room with my dad. I remember my dad being really calm and cool about everything, he never really got sad in front of me especially with good-bys. He told me stories about when he went to New York for the first time: Now this is a story all about your dad, back in the day I also was bad, Your old man also had the American dream, thinking that it would be so cool and supreme, I stayed there for a while to learn the truth, that America was best lived in the movies, what a poof! I never knew my dad could rap, looks as though he has a problem with finishing it as well. To sum up my dads rap; he also had the American dream being brought up on James Dean movies. Throughout his teenage years he had dreamt up an image of what America would be like, unfortunately when he stayed there, it did not match his dream. That is how my dad tells the story, but I think theres something he is not telling me. I also believe that my parents dont want me to live far away from them because they regret moving far away from their parents when they were younger. On the plane, I sat next to an empty seat, which wasnt bad as I wasnt really good with the airplane conversations. I travelled on Virgin Atlantic and the in-flight entertainment was great, they had a video screen in front of each seat with which I could play games, watch films and programmes. Anyway back onto America, I remember as we approached the New York coast I heard a passenger in the seat in front of me, look theres the statue of liberty I looked to my right out of the window and saw her. She was a bit smaller then I had imagined (in Ghostbusters 2 she was huge! ), and she was green. I never actually realised that she was green before; I always thought she was grey. I wasnt disappointed though; looking at the New York skyline for the first time was great. However I still felt as though I was in England, maybe it would change when we land. After I collected my luggage, I went through the inspection terminal where policemen checked your passports. I found this strange but the strangest was to come, when I reached the gate where my aunt would be waiting for me. Oh yeah if I didnt mention it before, I would be staying with my auntie there, like my parents were really going to let me stay there by myself.

Evaluating Two Middle Range Theories Nursing Essay

Evaluating Two Middle Range Theories Nursing Essay The purpose of this paper is to evaluate two middle range theories abilities to test the concept of comfort for the practice question Do neonatal nurses who care for dying infants who attend an end of life care educational training program compared to neonatal nurses who do not attend the program experience a difference in comfort levels (Comfort Level for Caring for Dying Infants (CLCDI)) when caring for a dying infant? A summary of two middle range theories the Comfort Theory (Kolcaba, 1994) and the Theory of Self-Efficacy (Resnick, xxxx) will be summarized and then critiqued using Smith and Liehrs (xxxx) Framework for Evaluating Middle Range Theory. The discussion will conclude with a summary of strengths and weakness of the theories and a research hypothesis to reflect that reflects the most appropriate theories conceptual definitions and propositions. Introduction Background Despite nurses as frontline caregivers for dying patients and their families many nurses have identified that they struggle with the responding adequately to the emotional devastation to parents and siblings when caring for a neonate with an unresolved terminal condition (Frommet, 1991). With the advances in neonatal care and life sustaining treatments, sick and very preterm infants do not often die in utero, at birth, or shortly after birth, but instead they often live much longer in a healthcare paradigm of comfort care and dignified death. This relatively new emersion of the end of life model integrates a more holistic approach which considers a more comprehensive view of the patients needs (emotional, spiritual, and medical) (Mallory, 2002; Mallory, 2003; WHO, 2002). With this paradigm shift, health care professionals are obligated to assess the adequacy of their own knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about death and dying. Multiple studies regarding nurses preparation for dealing with death and dying have consistently found that nurses that nurses do not feel educationally prepared to care for dying patients and insist that healthcare professionals should receive additional education on end of life care to bridge the deficit gap (Frommet, 1991; Robinson, 2004; White, Coyne, Patel, 2001; Beckstrand, Callister, Kirchhoff, 2006). These findings have led to a further observation that nurses caring for these complex patients regularly experience moral distress from competing principles of their personal, collegial, organizational, and religious/spiritual ethics (Frommet, 1991). Practice Problem To help ease this moral distress an evidence based end-of -life educational training program for NICU nurses has been successfully implemented in several neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) to increase the nurses comfort level of caring for neonates and their families at the end of life (Bagbi, Rogers, Gomez, McMahon, 2008). To determine if an evidence based end of life educational program impacts nurses comfort levels in caring for dying infants and their families a question was developed using the population (P) intervention (I) compared to (C) outcome (O) format (Newhouse, Dearhold, 1997). The following discussion will focus on this PICO question Do neonatal nurses who care for dying infants who attend an end of life care educational training program compared to neonatal nurses who do not attend the program experience a difference in comfort levels (Comfort Level for Caring for Dying Infants (CLCDI)) when caring for a dying infant? During the intervention a monthly 1 hour, neo natal end of life education program will be conducted over a 6 month period of time based on research about what nurses would like to know about caring for a dying infant (Robinson, 2004). For the purpose of this problem, comfort is defined as the ability of the NICU nurse(s) to show adequate knowledge and skills in providing neonatal end of life care for dying babies and their families. For this problem comfort will be measured as a score on the ordinal scale of Comfort Level Caring for Dying Infants (CLCDI). The instrument consisting of 15 items, measured on a 5 point Likert type scale equates scores of 1=never; 2=rarely; 3=sometimes; 4=often, 5=always measures the level of comfort a NICU nurse has caring for dying infants as opposed to their perception toward pediatric or neonatal end of life care (Bagbi, Rogers, Gomez, and McMahon, 2008). In evaluating the score, the higher the reported score the greater level of comfort NICU nurses have in caring for dying babies. Testing the Concept of Comfort A portion of Kolbacas (1991) Theory of Comfort and Resnicks (2008) Theory of Self-Efficacy, two middle range theories, will be used to test the concept of comfort for providing an organizing structure. Based on previous studies about nurses comfort when caring for patients, propositions five and six of Kolbacas Theory of Comfort seem to be a promising fit for this problem (Kolbaca, 1991, Kolbaca, XXX). These propositions collectively propose that patients, nurses, and other members of the healthcare team agree upon desirable and realistic health seeking behaviors (HSBs) and if enhanced comfort is achieved, patients, family members, and/or nurses are strengthened to engage in HSBs, comfort is further enhanced (Kolbaca, 1991). However, comfort as defined conceptually in this case as knowledge and skill can alternatively be equated with a sense of competence or self-efficacy of the NICU nurse to care for a dying infant and their family. There are many examples in the nursing literature linking self-efficacy to knowledge and skill (xxxx, xxxxx).) Self-efficacy, knowledge, and skills are also central to Banduras theory, which is the basis for Resnicks (xxxx) Self-Efficacy theory. Self-efficacy as described in Resnicks (xxxx) Theory of Self-Efficacy for this context is described as the judgment about the nurses ability to organize and execute a course of action required to attain designated types of performances. The theory states that perceived self-efficacy, defined as the individuals judgment of his or her capabilities to organize and execute courses of action, is a determinant of performance (Resnick, xxxx). Self-efficacy beliefs provide the foundation for human motivation, well-being, and personal accomplishment (Resnick, xxxx). According to Resnick (XXXX) theory individuals with higher levels of self-efficacy for a specific behavior (caring for a dying infant) are more likely to attempt that behavior. There are many examples in the literature using the Theory o f Self-Efficacy to support nursing education interventions (xxxxx, xxxxx). For these reasons, Resnicks Theory of Self-Efficacy (xxx) will be used to test the concept of nurses comfort or knowledge and skill (self-efficacy) in caring for dying infants and their families. The purpose of the following discussion is to summarize, describe, analyze, and evaluate these theories using the Framework for the Evaluation of Middle Range Theories (Smith, 2008) and conclude with a synthesis and research hypothesis to reflect conceptual definitions and propositions of the theory with the best fit. Theory Summaries: Comfort and Self-Efficacy Kolcabas Comfort Theory The Comfort Theory is a humanistic, holistic, patient need based nursing derived middle range theory (Kolbaca, xxxx). The concept of comfort has had a historic and consistent presence in nursing. In the early 1900s , comfort was considered to be a goal for both nursing and medicine, as it was believed that comfort led to recovery (McIlveen Morse, 1995). Over time comfort has become an increasingly minor focus, at times reserved only for those patients for whom no further medical treatment options are available (McIlveen Morse, 1995). The term comfort is used as a noun (comforter), adjective (comforting), verb (to comfort), or adverb (comfort the patient) (xxx). It is also used as a negative (absence of discomfort), neutral (ease), or positive (hope inspiring). Webster (1990) defines comfort as relief from distress; to soothe in sorrow or distress; a person or thing that comforts; a state of ease and quiet enjoyment free from worry; anything that makes life easy; and the lessening of misery or grief by calming or inspiring with hope. The origin of comfort is confortrare which means to strengthen greatly(Kolcaba, 1992). Based on the diversity of these terms comfort is a complex term. Kolcabas (1991) concept analysis of comfort helped to clarify the role of comfort as a holistic concept for nursing. This review confirmed that comfort is a positive concept and is associated with activities that nurture and strengthen patients (David, 2002). Over a period of years and revisions Kolcaba (1994) developed the comfort the ory which continues to evolve and change with changes as recent as 2007 (Figure 2). Kolcaba (1994, 2001, 2003) has defined comfort as the immediate state of being strengthened through having the human needs for relief, ease, and transcendence addressed in four contexts of experience (physical, psychospiritual, sociocultural, and environmental). The terms relief, ease, and transcendence are types of comfort that occur physically and mentally (Figure 2). The terms are defined based on definitions from medicine, theology, ergonomics, psychology, and nursing (Kolcaba Kolcaba, 1991). Relief is the state of having a discomfort mitigated or alleviated. Ease is the absence of specific discomforts. Transcendence is the ability to rise above discomforts when they cannot be eradicated or avoided (e.g., the child feels confident about ambulation although (s)he knows it will exacerbate pain). Transcendence, as a type of comfort, accounts for its strengthening property and reminds nurses to never give up helping their children and family members feel comforted. Interventions for increasing transcendence can be targeted to improving the environment, increasing social support, or providing reassurance. The three types of comfort occur in four contexts of experience: physical, psychospiritual, sociocultural, and environmental. These contexts were derived from an extensive review of the nursing literature on holism (Kolcaba, 1992). When the three types of comfort are juxtaposed with the four contexts of experience, a 12-cell grid is created, which is called a taxonomic structure (TS) (Figure 1) . Taken together, these cells represent all relevant aspects (defining attributes) of comfort for nursing and demonstrate the holistic nature of comfort as an important goal of care. All comfort needs can be placed somewhere on the taxonomic structure, and the cells are not mutually exclusive. A sample pediatric case study using the TS as a guide for a holistic comfort assessment is demonstrated below (see Figure 1). The concepts for the middle range for Comfort Theory include comfort needs, comfort interventions, intervening variables, enhanced comfort, health-seeking behaviors, and institutional integrity (Kolcaba, 1994). All of these concepts are relative to patients, families, and nurses (Kolcaba, 2003; Kolcaba, Tilton, Drouin, 2006). There are eight propositions which link the above concepts together. All or parts of the Comfort Theory can be tested for research (Peterson Bredow, 2010). In the comfort theory, Kolcaba asserts that when healthcare needs of a patient are appropriately assessed and proper nursing interventions carried out to address those needs, taking into account variables intervening in the situation, the outcome is enhanced patient comfort over time (Kolcaba, 2007). Once comfort is enhanced, the patient is likely to increase health-seeking behaviors. These behaviors may be internal to the patient (eg, wound healing or improved oxygenation), external to the patient (eg, active participation in rehabilitation exercises), or a peaceful death. Furthermore, Kolcaba asserted that when a patient experiences health-seeking behaviors, the integrity of the institution is subsequently increased because the increase in health-seeking behaviors will result in improved outcomes. Increased institutional integrity lends itself to the development and implementation of best practices and best policies secondary to the positive outcomes experienced by patients (Kolcab a, 2007). To translate the concepts to practice the effectiveness of a holistic intervention can be targeted to the taxonomic structure for enhancing comfort in a specific patient, family, or nurse population over time. Holistic comfort is defined as the immediate experience of being strengthened through having the needs for relief, ease, and transcendence met in four contexts of experience (physical, psychospiritual, social, and environmental).The comfort theory has been operationalized in many research settings with a variety of patient and target populations ranging from end of life care to the comfort of nurses (xxxx). Resnick Theory of Self-Efficacy Self efficacy is described as a way to organize an individuals judgment of his or her capability to execute a course of action. The Theory of Self-efficacy states that self-efficacy expectations and outcome expectations are not only influenced by behavior, but also verbal encouragement, reflective thinking, physiological sensations and role or self-modeling (Bandura, 1995).. Through self evaluation an individual judges their capability to perform and established self expectations which is visually depicted in the conceptual model (Appendix 2) (Resnick, 2008). Resnicks Theory of Self Efficacy is based on Banduras social cognitive theory and conceptualizes person-behavior-environment as triadic reciprocity the foundation for reciprocal determinism (Bandura, 1977, 1986). Most of the research into self-efficacy beliefs among older adults has been quantitative and has consistently supported the influence of those beliefs on behavior. However, it has not been established how efficacy beliefs actually influence motivation in older adults, or what sources of efficacy-enhancing information help strengthen those beliefs. Kolcabas Comfort Theory: Description, Analysis, and Evaluation Theory Description Historical context. The Comfort Theory is a humanistic, holistic, patient need based nursing derived middle range theory (Kolbaca, xxxx). The concept of comfort has had a historic and consistent presence in nursing. In the early 1900s , comfort was considered to be a goal for both nursing and medicine, as it was believed that comfort led to recovery (McIlveen Morse, 1995). Over time comfort has become an increasingly minor focus, at times reserved only for those patients for whom no further medical treatment options are available (McIlveen Morse, 1995). The term comfort is used as a noun (comforter), adjective (comforting), verb (to comfort), or adverb (comfort the patient) (xxx). It is also used as a negative (absence of discomfort), neutral (ease), or positive (hope inspiring). Webster (1990) defines comfort as relief from distress; to soothe in sorrow or distress; a person or thing that comforts; a state of ease and quiet enjoyment free from worry; anything that makes life easy; and the lessening of misery or grief by calming or inspiring with hope. The origin of comfort is confortrare which means to strengthen greatly(Kolcaba, 1992). Based on the diversity of these terms comfort is a complex term. Kolcabas (1991) concept analysis of comfort helped to clarify the role of comfort as a holistic concept for nursing. This review confirmed that comfort is a positive concept and is associated with activities that nurture and strengthen patients (David, 2002). Over a period of years and revisions Kolcaba (1994) developed the comfort the ory which continues to evolve and change with changes as recent as 2007 (Figure 2). Structural Components. Assumptions. Kolcabas Theory of Comfort (1994) makes four basic assumptions about reality. She assumes that humans beings have holistic responses to complex stimuli; comfort is a desirable holistic state that is germane to the discipline of nursing; human beings actively strive to meet, or to have met, their basic comfort needs, and that comfort is more than the absence of pain, anxiety, and other physical discomforts (Kolcaba , 2009). Concepts. Kolcaba defines six concepts of comfort which are relative to patients, families, and nurses (Table 1) . The term family, as defined by Kolcaba (2003) encompasses significant others as determined by the patient (Kolcaba, 2003; Kolcaba, Tilton Drouin, 2006). The first concept is of comfort needs which is the relief/ease/transcendence in physical, psychospiritual, sociocultural and environmental contexts of human experience. Comfort interventions in the model are defined as interventions of the health care team specifically targeting comfort of the patient, family and nurses. Intervening variables are positive or negative factors over which the health care team has little control, including physical limitations of the hospital or patients home, cultural influences, socioeconomic factors, prognosis, concurrent medical or psychological conditions. Health-seeking behaviors are those behaviors of patient, family or nurses (conscious or unconscious) which promote well-being; may b e internal, external or towards promoting a peaceful death. The final concept, institutional integrity, added in most recently, are values, financial stability and wholeness of health care facilities at the local state or national levels. Propositions. To help test the concept of nurses comfort caring for dying infants, propositions five and six of Kolcabas comfort theory are examined. These propositions state that patients, nurses, and other members of the healthcare team agree upon desirable and realistic health seeking behaviors (HSBs) (five) and if enhanced comfort is achieved, patients, family members, and/or nurses are strengthened to engage in HSBs, which further enhances comfort (six). These propositions provide rationale for why nurses and other health care professionals should focus on the patient, family, or in this case the nurses comfort beyond altruistic reasons. Because health seeking behaviors include internal and external behaviors almost any health-related outcome important in a healthcare setting can be classified as a health seeking behavior (Peterson Bredow, 2010). The desirable and realistic health seeking behavior (HSB) for this study is nurses comfort (knowledge and skills) to relieve moral di stress in caring for a dying infant and their family. Several studies support that moral and other types of distress are frequently observed in nurses who care for dying infants (Frommet, 1991) and most importantly indicate that nurses are seeking education regarding patient end of life issues (XXXXX). It is believed that reducing this distress and frustration can be affected through an effective end of life educational programs and is likely to improve the knowledge and skills nurses need to help increase their comfort level in caring for dying infants (xxxxx). Functional Components. Visualizing the concepts in the conceptual model, the Theory Analysis and Evaluation To analyze and evaluate Kolcabas Comfort Theory (1994) the substantive foundation, structural integrity, and functional adequacy of the theory using Smith and Liehrs (2008) Framework for the Evaluation of Middle Range Theories is discussed below (Appendix 1). Substantive foundations. Assessing the substantive foundation of a middle range theory is based on four criteria (Smith, 2003). The first criterion evaluates whether the theory is within the focus of the discipline of nursing. Kolcabas comfort theory successfully addresses four concepts comprising the metaparadigm of nursing, defining the concepts as they correspond to the theory (Dowd, 2002; Kolbaca, 2007) as well as presents a diagram of how the Comfort Theory relates theoretically to other nursing concepts (Figure 2) (Kolcaba, 1994) . Nursing is described as the process of assessing the patients comfort needs, developing and implementing appropriate nursing interventions, and evaluating patient comfort following nursing interventions. Person is described as the recipient of nursing care; the patient may be an individual, family, institution, or community. Environment is considered to be the external surroundings of the patient and can be manipulated to increase patient comfort. Fi nally, health is viewed as the optimum functioning of the patient as they define it. The ability of the framework to suggest interventions that help guide nursing interventions to increase comfort supports the discipline of nursing, and in doing so meeting the first criteria. The second criterion evaluates whether the assumptions are specified and congruent with the focus. The four assumptions in the Comfort Theory are explicitly stated and so meet the second criteria. Comfort theory (xxxx) assumes that humans beings have holistic responses to complex stimuli; comfort is a desirable holistic state that is germane to the discipline of nursing; human beings actively strive to meet, or to have met, their basic comfort needs, and that comfort is more than the absence of pain, anxiety, and other physical discomforts (Kolcaba , 2009). Because the Comfort Theory (XXXX) substantially describes the concept of comfort at the middle range level of discourse, the third criterion of the substantive foundation is met. Kolcabas (1991) concept analysis of comfort helped to clarify the role of comfort as a holistic concept for nursing. This review confirmed that comfort is a positive concept and is associated with activities that nurture and strengthen patients (David, 2002). The Comfort Theory provides an excellent description, explanation, and interpretation of the comfort concept in multiple domains and practice settings. Comfort theory is at the middle range level in that is defined in a measurable way and can be operationalized in both research and practice settings. The final criterion for this category evaluates if the origins are rooted in practice and research experience. The Comfort Theory has been used in numerous practice and research settings to provide a framework where patients have comfort needs and enhancing their comfort is valued. It has also been used to enhance working environments, especially for nurses, and most recently as a framework for working toward national institutional recognitions. More specifically parts are all of the theory have been used to test the effectiveness of holistic interventions for increasing comfort (xxxxxxx), to demonstrate the correlation between comfort and subsequent HSBs (xxxxx) and to relate HSBs to desirable institutional outcomes. It has also been used as a framework for helping families make difficult decisions about end of life (xxxxx). International and national healthcare institutions have also used Comfort Theory to enhance the work environment for nurses (xxxx). In these cases, nurses comfo rt is of interest and is theoretically related to the integrity of the institution. Summarize specific studies and tools used here. Structural integrity. There are four criterion for evaluating structural integrity. The first criterion is that the concepts are well defined. The concepts (defined above) of comfort needs, comfort interventions, intervening variables, enhanced comfort, health-seeking behaviors, and institutional integrity are clearly defined and easy to understand. There are numerous examples of applying the concepts in the literature for further clarification (xxxxx). The second criterion of structural integrity is that concepts within the theory are at the middle range level of abstraction. The concepts of the Comfort Theory-comfort needs, comfort interventions, intervening variables, enhanced comfort, health seeking behaviors, and institutional integrity are near the same level on the ladder of abstraction at the middle range level. They are more concrete because they can and have been operationalized and measured (xxxxx). The third criterion of structural integrity is that there are no more concepts than needed to explain the phenomena. Overall, the concepts adequately explain the phenomena of comfort. The theory is synthesized and organized in a simple manner. Lastly, the fourth criterion evaluates whether the concepts and relationships among the concepts are logically presented with a model. In the Comfort Theory (1994) model the ideas are integrated to create an understanding of the whole phenomenon of comfort in a model. The Comfort Theory (1994) model is a great example of presenting the concepts and statements in a linear logical order so the appreciation of the theory can be recognized (Smith, 2003). Functional adequacy. Because the criterion for functional adequacy overlap somewhat the five criterion will be discussed collectively. The five criterion include: theory can be applied to a variety of practice environments and clients; empirical indicators have been identified; published examples exist of research and theory in practice; and that the theory has evolved through scholarly inquiry. The Comfort Theory easily meets all of these criterions. For example, the Comfort Theory has been used widely in a variety of research in practice settings and patient and family populations. Even though the Comfort Theory has been used most widely with patients and families at the end of life and surrounding holistic palliative care nursing interventions, there has been a broad application of the theory in other populations as well including mothers in labor (xxxx), Alzheimer patients (xxxx), pediatric intensive care unit patients and families (xxxx), patients on bedrest (xxxx), those underg oing radiation therapy (xxxx) and for infants comfort and pain (xxxx). Most recently research of using the theory in practice has expanded to support institutional nursing recognition and comfort in the nursing working environment. In each of the populations mentioned above a psychometric comfort instrument has been developed as empirical indicators of concepts in the theory. However, the empirical indicators extend beyond empiricism and some include perceptions, self reports, observable behaviors and biological indicators (Ford-Gibloe, Campbell, Berman, 1995; Reed, 1995). The Comfort Theory (1994) has also been revised with the latest revision in 2007. The empirical adequacy of the Comfort Theory is evidence of the maturity of this theory (Smith, 2003). Summary The Comfort Theory (1994) is a well defined and well tested theory. Its strength lies in the versatility, adaptability, and testability of the concepts. The comfort theory clearly defines the concepts in the theory and the relationship between them. Because the comfort theory meets most of the substantitive foundations, structural integrity, and functional adequacy criteria the Comfort Theory (1994) is a strong middle range theory. An area that could increase the generalizability especially for nursing institutions is a change in the term in the model of nursing interventions to comfort interventions (xxxxx). Resnicks Self-Efficacy Theory: Description, Analysis, and Evaluation Theory Description Historical context. Resnicks Theory of Self Efficacy is based on Banduras social cognitive theory and conceptualizes person-behavior-environment as triadic reciprocity the foundation for reciprocal determinism (Bandura, 1977, 1986). The cognitive appraisal of these factors results in a perception of a level of confidence in the individuals ability to perform a certain behavior. The positive performance of this behavior reinforces self-efficacy expectations (Bandura, 1995). Structural Components. Although it is not explicitly stated, the core of this theory assumes that people can consciously change and develop or control their behavior. This is important to the proposition that self-efficacy also can be changed or enhanced through reflective thought, general knowledge, skills to perform a specific behavior, and self influence. This perspective is rooted in the model of triadic reciprocality (foundation for reciprocal determinism) in which personal determinants (self-efficacy), environmental conditions (treatment conditions) and action (practice) are mutually interactive influences. Therefore, improving performance depends on changing some of these influences (Bandura, 1977). In order to determine self-efficacy an individual must have the opportunity for self evaluation to evaluate how likely it is he or she can achieve a given level of performance. Concepts. The two major components of self efficacy include self-efficacy expectations and outcome expectations (Table 2). Self-efficacy expectations are judgments about the personal ability to accomplish a given task. Outcome expectations are judgments about what will happen if a given task is accomplished. These two components are differentiated because individuals can believe a certain behavior will result in a specific outcome, however, they may not believe they are capable of performing the behavior required for the outcome to occur (Bandura 1977, 1986). For example, a NICU nurse may believe attending an end of life education series will increase his/her knowledge and skill and ease moral distress, but may not believe that they could provide sensitive care for some ethical, religious, or moral reason. It is generally anticipated, but not always realistic that self-efficacy will have a positive impact on behavior. There are times when self-efficacy will have no or a negative impa ct on performance (Vancouver, Thomspon, Williams, 2001). Bandura (1977, 1986, 1997) suggests that outcome expectations are based largely on the individuals self-efficacy expectations, which generally depend on their judgment about how well they can perform the behavior; can be disassociated with self-efficacy expectations; and are partially separable from self-efficacy judgments when extrinsic outcomes are fixed. Because the outcomes an individual expects are the results of the judgments about what he or she can accomplish, they are unlikely to contribute to predictions of behavior (Bandura, 1977). Judgments about ones self-efficacy is based on four informational sources including enactive attainment, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion and physiological state. The first source, enactive attainment, or the actual performance of a behavior has been described as the most influential source of self-efficacy information (Bandura, 1986,; Bandura Adams, 1977). There has been repeated empirical evidence that actually performing an activity strengthens self-efficacy beliefs due to informational sources (Bandura, 1995). The second source, vicarious experience or visualizing other similar people perform a behavior, also influence self-efficacy (Bandura, Adams, Hardy, Howells, 1980). Conditions that impact vicarious experience include amount of exposure or experience to the behavior (least experience causes greater impact) and amount of instruction given (influence of others is greater with unclear guidelines) (Resnick Galik, 2006). Another source verbal persuasion or exhortation i nvolves telling an individual he or she has the capabilities to master the given behavior. Verbal encouragement from a trusted, credible source in counseling or education form has been used alone to strengthen efficacy expectations (Castro, King, Brassington, 2001; Hitunen et al. 2005; Moore et al., 2006; Resnick, Simpson, et al., 2006). The final information source physiological feedback or state during a behavior can be important in relation to coping with stressors, health functioning, and physical accomplishments. Interventions can be used to alter the interpretation of physiological feedback and help individuals cope with physical sensations, enhancing self efficacy and resulting in improved performance (Bandura Adams, 1977). Propositions. To help test the concept of nurses comfort caring for dying infants,