2000 word essay which explores the concept of evidence based practice

2000 word which explores the concept of evidence based practice and evaluates its relavance and contribution to practice - Essay Example For instance, depression (American Psychiatric Association, 2000; Lowe, et al 2001) and anxiety disorders (American Psychiatric Association; 2000), particularly obsessive compulsive disorder (Halmi et al., 2003), are among the comorbid conditions found in people with eating disorders. In adolescent-onset anorexia, depression appears to be triggered by the eating disorder, and the individual is put at risk for experiencing future depressive episodes (Ivarsson et al, 2000). Although anorexia affects persons of all ages, adolescence appears to be the developmental period of particular significance in the etiology of eating disorders; hence, identification and clinical intervention during this stage are crucial. This paper aims to synthesise and critically analyse the existing research on the treatment of anorexia nervosa in adolescence from the perspective of evidence based practice, more particularly family therapy systems approach. The term â€Å"evidence-based† is prevalent within the health care setting today. If there is any doubt, a quick glance at the current medical and allied health research literature would remove it. Medical doctors, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, music therapists, and many others, have begun to describe their treatment interventions as evidence-based. As with most established theories and concepts, the thoughts and beliefs behind evidence-based medicine have been traced by some to practices of ancient cultures throughout history (Sackett et al, 1996). However, most authors on the subject will credit Archie Cochrane, Scottish epidemiologist, with developing the modern concept behind evidence-based medicine, which was made popular through his landmark text Effectiveness and Efficiency: Random Reflections on Health Services (White, 1997). The most widely known and commonly quoted definition of evidence-based

MODERN LAND LAW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

MODERN LAND LAW - Essay Example Trusts of this nature are ‘created by a transaction between the trustee and the cestui que trust in connection with the acquisition by the trustee of a legal estate in land, whenever the trustee has so conducted himself that it would be inequitable to allow him to deny to the cestui que trust a beneficial interest in the land acquired. And he will be held to have so conducted himself if by his words or conduct he has induced the cestui que trust to act to his own detriment in the reasonable belief that by so acting he was acquiring a beneficial interest in the land.’2 The case giving way to Lord Diplock’s observations, Gissing v Gissing involved a scenario where matrimonial property was held in the name of the husband only. The questions for determination were: Did the husband hold the legal title upon trust for the benefit of both he and the wife. And if so, how were the beneficial interests to be divided? In cases such as this, Lord Diplock opined that court must satisfy itself on the evidence that it was ‘the common intention of both spouses that the contributing wife should have a share in the beneficial interest and that her contributions were made upon this understanding.’3 In many cases, the intention or common understanding of the parties will have to be inferred as there is not always going to be statements of intent from either or both parties. Lord Diplock went on to explain that this inference might also be a mere matter of fact. In many cases he explained and husband and wife purchase a matrimonial home by virtue of a mortgage, the capacity of each spouse to contribute to the monthly mortgage payments will usually come out of their separate earnings. However, a woman’s income might be altered by the introduction of children into the marital union. This, Lord Diplock stated should not operate to negate the common intention of both parties to acquire a

Global inequalit, and caste systems Essay Example for Free

Global inequalit, and caste systems Essay Describe the trend in global inequality over the course of the last century. Based on where we have been and where we are now, predict where the world may be a century from now. What prediction would modernization theory support? What about dependency theory? What do you think will happen? Why? Briefly describe the main characteristics of caste systems and class systems. How are these types linked to different kinds of economic production (agrarian versus industrial technology)? In what ways are people in class systems more equal than those in caste systems? What are the different justifications for inequality in each case? Question 1 Global inequality has been on the rise over the past century with the boom of the industrial and the information revolution. Countries known as the first world have far surpassed third world countries. Modernization theory points out those countries that had been the poorest have developed and have become richer due to the trade expansion and industrial revolution. This trend will rise in countries that have the technology to pursue this fast pace movement but countries that do not have the technology will see almost no change at all. I believe this trend will continue. Question 2 In the class system people are equal because more competition is at hand. People are only held back by the amount of energy they wish to expel to their careers or life style. In caste systems people are placed into pre-determined situations such as work or marriage purely based on who they have been born to and what their families have done for a living. The main characteristic of a caste system is based on arbitrary placement.  People are made to marry only others from within their own race such as in South Africa, and India. In a caste system, a son of a plumber will be a plumber. However, some characteristics of the caste system are seen here in the United States, which is a class system. Examples of this would be clearly the George W. Busch family and the Robert Kennedy family. Both are considered powerful political families created by passing down from one generation to the other their political influences and by marrying into other rich and influential families. What justifies caste and class systems are economics. Countries that depend on farming benefit from a caste system, because farming would be past down from one generation to the other making it to be more productive. Industrial nations on a class system use the most qualified persons from any class or social group based on their individual achievements and not solely based on birth. Therefore, a baker may have a son who makes great strides in science and help the nation develop.

LEGO: Porters Five Forces and PEST

LEGO: Porters Five Forces and PEST LEGO is one of the most popular toy brands due to the companys distinctive brand image, high-quality products and creative business climate. However, the present successful performance of the company went through a period of significant transformation. In the beginning of the 21st century the company experienced drastic net loss which was resulted by internal inefficiency and over-ambitious expansion targets. The transformation path of the company has not always been smooth and flawless as LEGO faced some substantial threats over the lengthy period of operation. In the beginning of the 21st century the company experienced significant tremors which were resulted by profitability deficit of 1.4 billion DKK. At present LEGO has introduced a number of innovative strategies to enhance its consumer insight, reinforce its creative dynamics and produce more market-relevant products. The company has been involved in a number of operations which include the work of external professionals and enthusiasts to attract greater creativity influx to the production of new products. Although LEGO has gone through a period of highly positive transformations, the company is still facing a number of environmental threats and operational risk. The introduction of the Mindstorms NXT product line made the company penetrate in a highly competitive market where innovative and experienced brands as SONY failed. On the other hand, the company is working with a number of external parties which implies a continuous risk and pressure on the companys intellectual property. Moreover, the coordination of external professionals is hard to be sustained in the long-term and also hard for the company to fit these professionals within the corporate culture. In this context, the present report is focused on analysing the strategic capabilities which LEGO possesses, exploring the external environment and identifying business opportunities and threats. The purpose of the report is to outline some strategic issues which the company needs to avoid or exploit and thus introduce recommendations to promote LEGOs profit sustainability in the long-term. The Environment The environment in which LEGO operates can be characterised as highly dynamic. The companys products have been played by some 300 million children and adults on annual basis. LEGO manufacturers more than 1 400 000 components every hour to fulfill sales of some 100 million products worldwide every year (The Voice of the Customer, 2001). Deriving from these findings, it can be suggested that LEGO manages a highly diverse and complex environment where efficient resource allocation is of paramount importance for profit sustainability. The internal complexity of the organisation can be recognised as one of the main source for the past net profit loss as the company could not realise its resource potential, many new concepts were never released to market and the focus on continuous expansion incurred substantial costs. This is the reason why, LEGOs EBIT margins were falling in period when the company achieved high sales growth (Figure 1) (Robertson and Crawford, 2008). LEGOs Revenue and EBIT comparison Figure 1 Apart from the complex internal climate, LEGO has been also operating in a challenging external environment which can be identified from the presented PEST analysis (Figure 2). Political Environmental LEGO needs to consider international emerging markets, such as China. However, the company would need to be knowledgeable and flexible with respect to responding to the specific political characteristics of the Chinese market, such as penetrating through state-owned enterprises and government equity within the venture. Moreover, the company needs to produce products which continuously comply with health and safety regulations and, therefore LEGO is constantly exposed to risk and regulatory pressure (The Voice of the Customer, 2001). The company is operating in a business climate where the global environmental sustainability is continuously growing in importance. This is the reason why, producing plastic products as a core product line is of substantial challenge for the companys corporate citizenship and responsiveness to environmental degradation (Tracey et al., 2005). Social Technological The company has been continuously challenged by the need to keep up with new emerging social trends and lifestyles of their consumers. New toy themes have been continuously released on the market, therefore continuous research and product development would be one of the most expensive operations of the organisation (Robinson and Crawford, 2008). LEGO has penetrated a highly competitive market with its Mindstorms NXT product range. The company is facing competitors, such as the popular robotic brand of WowWee. Moreover, this market requires significant product development costs and thus is likely to challenge the companys profitability. For example, brands as SONY, which has significantly more experience than LEGO in electronic products failed to realise its robotic ambitions (Allonrobots, 2009). LEGOs PEST analysis Figure 2 Strategic Capability The strategic capabilities of LEGO are explored and analysed through the use of the resource-based view theory. The resource-based view theory describes the strategic capability of organisations are based on their internal resources. In this respect, in order for a company to have high degree of strategic capability it needs to possess resources which are valuable, rare, in-imitable and non-substitutable (Colbert, 2004). In this respect, the following table adopts the resource-based view theory to evaluate the strategic capability of LEGO (Figure 3). Resource Characteristics LEGOs Strengths LEGOs Weaknesses Valuable One of the most valuable resources of LEGO is knowledge. The company has a well-developed team of engineers and designers and is also employing external professionals to enhance the industry knowledge and creativity of the team. LEGO is producing an extensive amount of new design and prototypes and only few ever reach the market. In this respect, the company may generate some valuable know-how and intellectual property but at the end appears to be wasted and not successfully utilised. Rare The resource which can be identified as rare is the brand image of LEGO. The company have distinctive brand image and product ranges. This is proved by the case study analysis which revealed that LEGOs reduction of product components ignited dissatisfaction among customers. Although LEGO possesses some rare resources and capabilities the company is facing some significant competition from other toy segments. Moreover, LEGOs Mindstorms NXT product line is competing with WowWee which have greater experience and know-how in this particular segment of the market. In-imitable LEGO is continuously producing new concepts and product lines and therefore it is hard for competitors to imitate them. Moreover, the company has been recently paying extensive attention to community responses to their product prototypes which has been enhancing the companys continuously enhanced insight on segment needs. On the other hand, LEGOs products can be easily imitated by competitors with respect to toy themes and components. However, as already recognised the company has distinctive brand image which differentiates the brand from possible copy cats. Non-substitutable LEGO possesses non-substitutable resources such as intellectual property, designing capabilities, know-how and industrial insight. The company is competing with a great number of toy brands which provide consumers with substitutions for LEGOs products. Moreover, the highly innovative Mindstorms NXT brand has product substitutions from competitors such as WowWee. LEGOs Resource-Based View Figure 3 In order for the author to further analyse the strategic capabilities of the company a Porters Five Forces model is implemented. It will reveal how the internal strategic capabilities of the company relate to the market context (Figure 4) (Porter, 1990). Risk of entry by Competitors Power of Suppliers Competitive Rivalry Power of Buyers Threat of Substitutes Porters Five Forces Figure 4 Deriving from Porters Five Forces model it can be concluded that LEGO is facing a number of strategic challenges. For example, the power of buyers is significantly high as the company needs to tailor product lines to specifically fit consumer segments needs and preferences. Although LEGO has greater power of external suppliers, the company still needs to develop solid collaboration with external partners within the supply-chain in order to increase operational efficiency and innovation (Robertson and Crawford, 2008; Afuah, 2003). In the context of new competitors penetrating the market, it can be suggested that the risk is comparatively higher than other industries. The toy industry does have any high barriers to entry as it does not require substantial investment and know-how to operate. This is the reason why, LEGO faces a number of substitution products form popular brands, such as: Playmobil; BRIO; ELC; Meccano Toys; Geomag; Hasbro; and Logiblocs (ToyShop UK, 2009). All these brands provide construction toys which use similar principles of build-to-play entertainment. However, it should be outlined that the company is facing other substitute toy products which are own-branded from popular names as Hamleys, ToysRUs and Disney (Doyoo, 2009). However, with respect to LEGOs new range of Mindstorms NXT product line the situation is different. There are very few competitors which can provide substitutes, such as WowWee (WowWee, 2009). This product line requires greater investment by companies to penetrate and is likely to increase production costs. This is the reason why. LEGO can develop and sustain advantage in the production of robotic products which are building by hardware and software. Moreover, the greatest competitor WowWee does not have such a diversified range of robotic products as LEGO but still WowWee provide robotic toys and technologies with greater functionality (WowWee, 2009). Business Opportunities and Challenges Based on the presented analysis, it can be concluded that LEGO can exploit a number of promising business opportunities. However, it should be also underlined that these opportunities hide substantial threat to the EBIT profitability of the organisation. In this context, one of the greatest business opportunities of LEGO is the companys focus on external professionals and enthusiasts in the product designing and engineering (Robertson and Crawford, 2008; Lego, 2009). On the one hand this results in influx of fresh idea and creativity due to the diverse range of participants but on the other hand it can result in a number of risks, such as: intellectual rights; outflow of knowledge; inability to fit external professionals to the organisational climate, etc. Another significant business opportunity which can be recognised is LEGOs development of the Mindstorms NXT product range through the use of external specialists and by involving consumers in a virtual collaborative platform (Robertson and Crawford, 2009). On the one hand, this is an emerging innovative market which has strong growth potential as it targets both young and adult segments. However, on the other hand, penetrating this market involves high amounts of investment and operational costs which may push profit margins down. Moreover, the greatest competitor of LEGO in the Mindstorms NXT range is WowWee which can be recognised to outperform LEGOs product by functionality, whereas LEGO is more focused on robotic entertainment (WowWee, 2009). This is the reason why, it can be suggested that WowWee is more likely to attract adult consumer segments and thus generate greater margins sales as adult consumers would be more willing to pay higher price for more functional products. Another challenge for LEGO, which can be directly produced by the product diversification of the company, is the negative impact this may have on LEGOs brand identity. As identified, the company has recognisable brand image and any drastic diversification may have negative impact on consumers perceptions (Robertson and Crawford, 2008). Moreover, LEGO is managing a wide range of product lines and there is not any identified synergetic relationship between them. This is not only challenging to LEGOs ability to optimise costs and enhance efficiency but has substantial impact on what actually the LEGO brands stand for. On the other hand, the numerous opportunities for new product development which LEGO can utilise can be proposed to increase supply-chain complexity. For example, the build-it-by-yourself service which LEGO provides to consumers to construct their own Mindstorms NXT robot may result in pressure within supply-chain operations and specifically inventory management. This virtual platform needs to be integrated with a highly sensitive back-end supply-chain system to indicate any changes in inventory levels. And this is a complex process that may predispose to errors and inefficiencies (Harrison and van Hoek, 2008). Finally, LEGO has the opportunity to continuously develop complementary products to increase profitability. The present case study identified the companys inability to successfully integrate complementary merchandise with the sale of its product lines and toy themes (Robertson and Crawford, 2008). This can be proposed to be a significant drawback as other market competitors provides diversified range of merchandise and other complementary accessories to enhance consumers experience and entertainment. Recommendations Based on the analysis of the external environment and strategic capabilities of LEGO, there are four strategic recommendations which can be made with respect to the companys segmentation strategy; supply-chain efficiency; financial profitability; and brand identity. 5.1 Segmentation LEGO needs to target new segments not only through demographic characteristics but also by identification of new consumer needs. For example, the company may focus on the adult segment by developing LEGO lines, such as LEGO Hobby (e.g. selling construction sets with innovative elements to be used for hobby purposes, such as: small models building of airplanes; ships; automobiles, etc). Moreover, the company may target professional segments such as architects to which components for models can be sold. In this respect, the present Lego Club can be diversified to fit the needs of adult consumers. An interesting theme in the Lego Club may be how parents can communicate with their children through Lego games. In other words, Lego can produce games to enhance parents-children communication and sharing of experience. Moreover, this is an opportunity for Lego to penetrate other family games markets and segments, and produce Lego games to compete with Monopoly, Scrabble, Pictionary, Cards, etc. Lego can also enhance customers loyalty through providing discounts existing customers who wish to return old Lego toys and purchase new ones. First, this would be an effective recycling strategy which Lego can adopt. Second, parents would have the incentive to return old toys but still continue purchasing new ones through discounting vouchers. Third, children would have the opportunity to play with all new Lego models throguh this discounting scheme, which will constantly promote their interest in the Lego brand. 5.2 Supply-chain efficiency The company has developed a Mindstorms NXT range which is a highly innovative and promising product line. However, LEGO should consider competitors threats seriously and thus develop supply-chain partnerships with organisations which have extensive experience in building electronic products. 5.3 Financial profitability Lego needs to focus on developing its merchandise range and complementary products to both enhance the entertainment experience and use additional source of profit. 5.4 Brand identity Lego should consider how the companys brand identity is changes with the introduction of new products. The company may focus on enhancing its corporate social responsibility by introducing product ranges with environmentally friendly components. This would not only have positive impact on the brand image of the company but is likely to target new segments (e.g. environmentally conscious consumers). In this respect, the company could focus on Green Marketing by donating some small amount of every purchase to environmental projects. Another interesting strategy for promoting the brand identity of the company may be also focused on socially responsible projects, such as donating a small amount of every purchase to the construction of hospitals, homes, schools and other public and private sector buildings in developing countries. In this context, the company can promote a campaign slogan, such as: Lego A Real World Constructor.

Mythology Retold Through Entertainment Outlets Essay -- Myth Mythology

Mythology Retold Through Entertainment Outlets The world of Art and Architecture has continually provided the tools to communicate many differing concepts or ideas such as political ideologies like socialism to simple folk-tales or intricate narratives. The elements of Greek Art and Architecture and its direct connection to mythology is the main focus of this essay. I will present the comparison of a "new" representation of a Greek Temple used in the set design of, The Clash of the Titans; to the original where its influence is traced to the classic of all Greek Temples, the Parthenon. By illustrating this comparison of new to original, I hope to communicate the idea of how contemporary society has attempted to retell mythology through entertainment outlets. As stated in the introduction, our contemporary or "new" work is the movie titled, The Clash of the Titans, adapted from the book of the same title written by Beverley Cross. This film was released in the year of 1981 as one of many mythological based stories the entertainment industry has gained profit from. The narrative of this film consists of the mythological tale of Perseus as it took place in Greece when immortals and mortals depended upon one another. Here Hollywood retells the tale of the life of Perseus, son of Zeus; selling mythology to the paying viewer. Within the film the set design is based upon the Greece of that time; the High Classical period of Art and Architecture. Argos is the birthplace of Perseus a city later destroyed by the Kraken, the last of the known Titans. It is here our new work is visualized and represented, the scene of tsunamis crashing upon the temples of Doric order and a statue based upon High Classical period of Greek Art and Arch... ...g new ideas, representations, and methods. As time progresses the element of creativity evolves but never separates itself from the history it has grown from. The concept of, "reconfiguration as a new mode of remembering the past is just another idea we utilize to place ourselves in our own temporality (Netzger, 9). Given that chance we allow ourselves to evolve and grow with time and patience, and this in turn affecting our environment as well as other individuals. Works Cited The Clash of the Titans. Dir. Desmond Davis. With Harry Hamlin, Ursula Andress, and Laurence Olivier. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1981. Netzger, Nancy. "Modes of Remembering The Classical Past" Memory and the Middles Ages. Ed. Nancy Netzger and Virginia Reinburg. Boston: Boston College Museum of Art, 1995. Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History: Volume One. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1995.

Effects of computers on society :: Computer Science

Effects of computers on society Internet The internet was a major break-through in computing. It enabled people to communicate and transfer information. The internet has been around for about 30 years and is always changing. It has many different uses. It can be used for video and teleconferencing, finding information, buying products, downloading programmes and music and much more. I think that the internet has helped society a great deal. On the other hand, it does have its disadvantages as anything can be found on the internet, whether it is good or bad. If the internet is in the wrong hands it can be a very bad thing as it could be held responsible for things like rape etc. I am saying this because it is very easy for an adult to go into a chat room and pretend that they are a teenager. They could then arrange to meet up with someone, and this person would be thinking that they are a teenager. This is the disadvantage of the internet, but I feel that the good points over-power the bad. CCTV Without CCTV, crime rates would be higher and many criminals would go uncaught. Thanks to CCTV, this has changed. CCTV allows several cameras to film several different areas at the same time. If someone commits a crime and it is caught on camera, it is then taken to court and used as evidence against them. I think that this is another huge benefit to today's society. Credit Card Use/Fraud Computers allow people to use credit cards to pay for products that they buy in shops. This makes it much easier for people to buy something instead of having to pay with cash or a cheque, which takes a while to clear; they can just pay instantly with a card. Fraud is one major problem faced with credit cards. If the card it stolen, it would be relatively easy for someone to pay for products that they buy with the card, especially over the internet where no signature is required to make the payment. This is another disadvantage of the internet, that anyone's credit card can be used without consent. I think that, although fraud is an issue with credit cards, credit cards still benefit society greatly. Availability of Information This topic links in with the internet, as well as using programmes like encyclopaedias on the computer to find information. The internet has such a broad range of information on it that it would be almost impossible to not find what you are looking for. Almost any word can be typed into a search engine (e.g.

Broken Eggs Essay

The young girl’s body is slumped upon an elevated surface, while her head is tilted to the left at a forty-degree angle. She is draped in a sheer, white blouse and apron, covering a yellow corset and light blue dress. A periwinkle scarf on her head keeps her blonde hair pulled away from her face, revealing her luminescent skin – lit up magnificently by the thin stream of light making its way through the window to her right – and innocent features. The girl’s expression seems to be of pure grief, as she looks down towards the egg basket on the floor; it’s as if she has lost something very dear. This young girl is perhaps saddened at the fact that the egg basket has dropped to the ground and the eggs are now broken. However, the other subject matter in the painting alludes to a larger scale of loss. Immediately above the girl’s left shoulder, a man – appearing about equal in age – stands with his body swaying to his right. His rig ht hip is pointed in the direction of the far left corner of the room, while his head is tilted forty degrees to the right, in the opposite direction of the young girl’s. One could draw a line straight down the middle of the painting and see that there is symmetry between the young girl’s, and man’s, head. The egg basket is centered in between them, creating a focus on la scà ¨ne du crime; a sun hat with a girlish ribbon around it lies delicately next to the basket, where countless white eggs lay broken, spewing yellow yolk. As one zeroes in on this fragment of the painting, it is important to take note of its specific mise en scà ¨ne. In other words, the placing of the small sun hat next to the basket allows the artist to better tell a story of innocence, and imaginably the shattered eggs define the loss of that purity. It is essential to mention the style and structure of the painting before going any further with the subject matter. The brushstrokes when conveying the foreground of the painting are smooth and seamless. However, on the wall in the background the strokes appear harsh and horizontal, creating a rough texture in contrast with the character’s skin and clothes. The brown color scheme of the background is uniform throughout, in accordance with the light coming into the very small and dingy room. There is a picnic table behind the young girl and its scale accurately contributes to the probable size of the room. The ceiling is high which suggests that the scene takes place in the servant’s quarters of a wealthy estate.