Assessing Reliability and Credibility of Cam

Assessing Reliability and Credibility of CAM Research is an important part of finding the appropriate CAM therapy that will help the patient’s symptoms. The information that is obtained during research could be full of opinions and not facts. Since we want factual information instead of opinions it is important that we are sure the information we are looking at is a reliable and credible source. Criteria for Reliability and Credibility CAM therapies are being used more today than in years past. The use of CAM has become helpful for many patients to elevate symptoms of their ailment. When studying which CAM therapy is right for the symptoms that are presented we need to be sure that the source of information is reliable and credible. There are several things we can ask ourselves to ensure the information we are using is reliable and credible. These criteria should be considered: 1)Does the source provide (Harris, Robert, June 15, 2007): a. Author’s name b. Author’s title and position c. Author’s organizational affiliation d. Date of the document 2)The documentation provides the information we are looking for (Harris, Robert. June 15, 2007): a. Facts b. Opinions c. Arguments d. Statistics e. Narratives f. Descriptions 3)Has there been cited information within the document that we are reviewing (Montecino, Virginia, August 1998). 4)What type of website is the information provided on (Montecino, Virginia, August 1998): a. A personal page b. Special interest site c. Professional site d. News or journalistic site e. Commercial site 5)Does the website contain information that is (Harris, Robert, June 15, 2007): a. Fair b. Objective c. Quality information . Lacking hidden motives Website for Review The website that I am going to use for review is a website regarding fish oil: http://healthlibrary. epnet. com/GetContent. aspx? token=e0498803-7f62-4563-8d47-5fe33da65dd4&chunkiid=21684#P3. The website homepage is from http://www. iherb. com/default. aspx?. The homepage offers information on herbs, supplements, conditions, drug interactions, homeopathy, and it has a medical library that you can look up all kinds of information. Consumer’s Attitudes and Beliefs about CAM Consumers are skeptical of using CAM therapies to heal the symptoms that are present or to help prevent symptoms of different diseases from appearing in their health. For some consumer’s their religious beliefs or beliefs they have been raised with do not support the use of CAM therapies. Cases where a consumer’s beliefs do not support the use of CAM the consumer would not even consider the possibility of using CAM therapies. Consumers have set opinions and attitudes about different things within their lives. For some they hold these opinions and attitudes to a stern heart and cannot be persuaded to change for any reason. Consumer’s that are set in their opinion and attitude often will not even consider change even with facts in front of them that the change can be a good change. Conclusion about Website For the purpose of this paper I have focused my research on fish oil. The webpage on fish oil has been reviewed by EBSCO CAM Medical Review Board in April 2009. The author of the source is not revealed; with the webpage being reviewed by the EBSCO CAM Medical Review Board it can be considered a reliable and credible source. If the information provided on this webpage is not correct information the Medical Review Board would not support the information. According to the website the page was last updated April 1, 2009, therefore the information is a year old and not extremely outdated. The webpage provides factual information and discusses studies that have been done on fish oil. The beginning of the webpage gives alternative names for fish oil, which can be helpful to the consumer when being sure they are not allergic to another name of fish oil. The webpage has 271 references where the information has been gathered for the purpose of this webpage. Throughout the webpage it allows the person reviewing the information to click on different terms for a further explanation of the term that has been used. The webpage allows the researcher to see and click on different proposed uses of fish oil to review. The information on other proposed uses is useful when looking at other possible symptoms of diseases that the consumer may have, in some cases the use of fish oil could help the consumer with more than one ailment. Through the review of this webpage I would consider it a reliable and credible source of information. Increase Credibility The website I have reviewed on fish oil seems to be a credible website. The information is full of factual information along with studies that have been conducted regarding the use of fish oil. The website even has a disclaimer regarding the use of fish oil, which many websites that discuss different CAM treatments does not include. The website could contain testimonials from consumers that have already used fish oil for the different aliments it helps. The testimonials could give consumers first hand information from consumers that have already used fish oil for the symptoms that the consumer doing the research is trying to elevate. I do not know of any other way that the site could increase the credibility any more than it already has contained within the website. Conclusion CAM can help consumer’s improve symptoms they may be experiencing and in some cases help to prevent a disease by the use of different CAM therapies. Consumer’s read information about different CAM therapies but the consumer needs to be sure that the information they are reading is from a reliable and credible source. Information obtained on the internet can be placed on the internet and contain nothing but opinions. Ensuring that the information is factual and reliable is something a consumer should consider before using any type of CAM therapy. Following the criteria discussed within this paper can help consumers be sure that the information they have found and are considering is credible and reliable, and most of all information that can be used when making decisions on their health. References Harris, Robert. (June 15, 2007). Evaluating Internet Research Sources. Retrieved April 24, 2010 from: http://www. virtualsalt. com/evalu8it. htm iHerb. com. (2010). Fish Oil. Retrieved April 25, 2010 from: http://healthlibrary. epnet. com/GetContent. aspx? token=e0498803-7f62-4563-8d47-5fe33da65dd4&chunkiid=21684#P3 Montecino, Virginia. (August 1998). Criteria to Evaluate the Credibility of WWW Resources. Retrieved April 25, 2010 from: http://mason. gmu. edu/~montecin/web-eval-sites. htm

No Place Like Home? Essay

Many people always want to live a better life. Some even search for a while to find what they are looking for. However, in this case the Haitian people are seeking asylum help from the US Government in order to have a better living style than back in their country. Therefore, the problem is that the Haitian asylum seekers are not getting the real help they need and isn’t being treated well by the government. Danticat is reporting on what is happening to these people who come for help and how they are all mistreated. Danticat’s essay is to get the readers to sympathize the Haitian people and to get to feel for them as they struggle to seek a better living style therefore she convinces her readers by her good tone, appeals, and connotative language. She starts off her essay by describing what the area is like and how it related to her from years ago when she went to visit this place. She then describes it by using tone of voice to really express the way of the people talking to her and to share a bit of their stories being told. She states: The women in that hotel also told us how six of them must live together in one room, how some of them were forced to sleep on the floor when there wasn’t enough space on the beds or couches. They told us how they missed their own clothes and seeing their children play in the sun, how they had perhaps been wrong about America. This shows that she feels for what the people are experiencing and going through. However, Danticat misses some points on how the tone of voice really speaks out and the true intent behind the words, only speaks out the point of view of the people and not all of the intent behind the words. Thus she mainly shows how the Haitian people’s lives are and how they manage to survive this hell. During this whole essay, Danticat shows a lot of emotional appeal to get the reader’s sympathy tow ards these people. She does it in a way to show not much emotion, but to stay neutral in her feelings and let the feelings get to the reader so then they can connect with the people and have a feel for their lives. While she mentioned her uncle, she tried not to put too much emotion towards his side of the story because if there is too much emotion the reader will not feel much into it and only the author is expressing how she feels rather than what the story has to offer. This neutral emotional appeal will get the readers more interested, rather than read on about emotions and get off topic of the essay. She did a good job on this because then she can get the readers to feel more sympathy for these Haitian people seeking for help because they can’t even survive in their own country. Besides the tone of voice and the appeals, Danticat uses connotative language to defend her argument about how the government is treating the Haitian people. She mentions something one man told her, â€Å" If mad dogs are chasing you, shouldn’t your neighbor shelter you?† When people think of mad dogs, they think of dogs that will attack when they see anything and the dogs represent the viciousness of the country Haiti and the shelter is the US government that is suppose to have a open door to help these people and protect them from harm. It can also show how the American government is very deceiving in how they offer up opportunities. She hopes to assume that the readers can already have an image in their head on how these people are doing and have a sense to feel for them. The best strategy that Danticat use is the emotional appeal. It is being used throughout the whole essay and has showed little or neutral feelings towards the essay to ensure the interest of the readers and the readers to have their own feelings and thoughts on the essay itself. Her primary goal was to get the readers to connect and sympathize for the Haitian people and to much care about what they are going through. Towards the end of Danticat’s essay she mentions, â€Å" Will America ever learn again how to protect itself without sacrificing a great many innocent lives? So that my uncles did not die in vain, I truly hope so.† Many of the people risk their lives to come to a better place and to start all over again, but there will always be a price to pay. The American government shouldn’t be that harsh on those only wanting to seek help. If people truly see what their situation is, things will be different in terms of wanting to make a difference for a better h ope.

Discussion Board 1-2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion Board 1-2 - Assignment Example The understanding also related to cultural prescriptions that considers sexual intercourse as defilement. This attitude is different from the current attitudes that regard sexual intercourse as normal activity. The current understanding about sexual intercourse relates to availability of pornographic videos, pictures and press as well as media discussions about human sexuality. Another influence for the attitudinal changes across the generation relates to increased Westernization of the world that spreads Western culture, which views sexual intercourse as normal. My grandparent’s generation viewed women as holding low profile in the society and as instruments for facilitating home chores, giving birth to children and taking care of families in homes. This understanding was due to illiteracy, strict social norms and suppressed feminist organizations. The rise and strengthening of human, social and feminist activism has transformed the situation making women enjoy access to powerful social and economic positions. Women have become important component of societies with ability to engage in active employment opportunities. The technological changes witnessed across the globe have also made it easy for women to employ easy techniques to accomplish feminine duties. The generation of my grandparent also rebuked homosexuality, bestiality, pederasty and fornication due to strict adherence to Biblical, moral and cultural teaching. Such sexual acts translated to breach of morality and being unreasonable. The reasons for such sexual attitudes are the same to those that govern my personal attitude towards

Metaphor Of The Dream State Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Metaphor Of The Dream State - Essay Example This way, art would become beautiful and wide enough to accommodate every thought provided it is well conceived and has an absence of reality by borrowing certain concepts from the real life. Introduced for the first time in film making by Director Luis Banuel and artist Salvador Dali in their debut Un Chien Andalou , the concept in the film misses reality in the plot in relation to the conventional world. This therefore gives the developers the authority to stretch the truth but still obtain some relevance among their target audience. Discrete charm of the Bourgeoisie is yet another film that borrows the concept and develops a plot that has a minimal semblance with reality. The sequence of ideas in the film is unrealistic and can only occur in either a dream or a film in which the developer directs the ideas and the series of events, as he deems necessary. Otherwise, the plot of the film is unrealistic and cannot claim relevance in the real society. The director develops a systematic yet illusionary plot that addresses a number of themes most of which are real. Just as any other work of art, films must always represent the societies in which they exist. The directors and scriptwriters exist in the society. Furthermore, they target the society to provide an audience to their creations. To earn effectiveness of representation, they must therefore ensure that the write scripts and develop films that address familiar social issues. Such therefore earn their creations a degree of relevance with their audience thereby a ppreciation. Following this understanding, the directors and developers of the film address familiar themes but they attempt to create a society in which the events flow oblivious of the normal social provisions. The film has several linked thematic areas that it addresses in an exciting twist of events. The first part of the film is more realistic and immediately earns relevance among any audience group. This early part of the film addresses the five gatherings of friends who try to find a meal but face a number of challenges all of which succeed in obstructing their meals. The latter parts of the film on the other hand take the audience from reality by introducing the dreams of the characters into play. It is unrealistic that the dreams and illusions of the characters influence their actions in real life as the director tries to portray it. The film uses the middle class thereby obliterating the lower classes in the society. This is the first illusion that the developer deliberately ignores. B y ignoring other social classes, the developers of the film create an illusionary society only achievable in a dream state. The societies consist of different social classes, each of such class face different issues and solve their problems differently. The social status is an important determinant of the social structure. An ideal society must therefore have the poor, the middle class and the rich. The development of this film deliberately ignores the other classes thereby creating a conflict. By doing this, they address issues that affect the specific class thereby ignoring other social and economic issues affecting other classes a feature that results in bias. Throughout the film, the groups of friends share ideas that are only familiar to their social class obviously ignoring other issues affecting the other economic classes. When the director later introduces the bishop, they treat him with conspicuous contempt owing to their lack of understanding of other social classes. The f irst theme that comes out naturally is friendship and relationships. There are different forms of relationship that the director develops in the film. The

An essay which explores and analyses a particular issue in the field

An which explores and analyses a particular issue in the field of interpretation - Essay Example This author will assess the interpretation of war and the multiple factors that dictate the many perspectives on the topic. In Carol Acton’s article Diverting the Gaze: The Unseen Text in Women’s War Writing, she talks about the difference in how women perceive war verses the way men see it. She notes that, â€Å"while womens war writing from the First World War has received much critical attention over the past ten or more years that has established its authenticity as witness to war, scant attention has been paid to how women see the trauma of frontline combat nursing and how, consequently, such seeing or not seeing influences the narrative (Acton, p54).† The author focuses on the perception of how women perceive the trauma of war specifically nurses who aren’t necessarily fighting on the frontline, but who are providing medical care for soldiers and often caring for them right up to their last living moments. Acton notes how writings produced by women of the first World War and Vietnam were very similar, she goes on to point out that, On a general level, the striking similarity in the narratives of these two wars seems to arise from the compulsion to bear witness to the trauma of combat nursing. More specifically, British writers from the First World War and American writers from the Vietnam War were both concerned with carrying what Jane Marcus has called "a terrible knowledge" to a civilian population that seemed completely removed from any understanding of the war experience (Acton, p54) The contrast Acton makes between the women nursing the soldiers, both American and British, in both World War I and Vietnam, with the civilians reveals how there is a major difference in interpretation of war when one is on the frontline verses just assessing it when it’s far away. Acton goes on to point how

War And Civilization Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

War And Civilization - Assignment Example Wars have been the violent catalyst for changes throughout history. Wars are, however, part of the agencies that help bring changes and progress in human life and the world. It might sound absurd, but wars are part of the human life activities. Wars simulate national growth, advancement in information technology, medical research, and solve some of the most complex political differences. They evoke bravery and heroism among communities and nations. In medical and health care systems, war has been the subject of appreciation as it has promoted human civilization. It is indeed a catalyst that has brought advances in medical science. Most of the chemical medicines and surgical techniques used in clinics and hospitals were not discovered when people were at peace in their homes. They were discovered and advanced when the need arose particularly when casualties of wars were in dire need of medication. Diseases such as Pestilent that evolved out of the war needed the rapid response with th e appropriate medical treatment (Smith, 2006). There are indeed several contributions of war to human civilization. The US, for example, had economic gains for its people from both World War I and II. If one looks the wars as agents of world peace, they did succeed in promoting peace and keeping the world safe. World War II eliminated Hitler who was a threat to the peace and unity of many people. In the 1973 war, Israel won a battle that enabled it to expand boundaries and acquire land that was previously a forbidden territory.

Patient Safety & Risk Management Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Patient Safety & Risk Management - Coursework Example The increasing use of evidenced based prevention strategies were also embraced to ensure these errors were prevented. However, concerns were later raised concerning this ‘no blame’ approach to new ways of indentifying and dealing with poorly performing health practitioners; stressing on responsibility and accountability. The idea of shifting from a blameworthy to blameless culture was also floated. Rather than viewing problems as systems problems, the culture of viewing them as accountability problems was able to reduce some of the problems such as low hand hygiene significantly, making surgeries safer (Wachter & Pronovost 2009, 1402). The article therefore elaborates how to strike an acceptable balance between errors caused by lack of accountability, and those that result from the system where such practitioners cannot be blamed for their occurrence. Wachter & Pronovost (2009, 1402) elaborates that the cost of failure to adhere to professionalism and enforcement of safe ty standards in United States accounts to about 4000 wrong-side surgeries. This is despite the fact that these errors may be preventable through strict adherence to Universal Protocol, which clearly outlines the correct surgery sites to be followed by all surgeons. Campbell, Chin & Voo (2007, 431) argues that over the past few decades, medical profession has evolved to come of age, in enhancing more ethical practice. The above patient safety document is an example of actions being taken to ensure this objective is met. However, the above large number of poor surgical cases portrays a weakness on effectiveness of these approaches. This implies doctors are employed in the medical fraternity due to their skills and academic qualifications, devoid of imparting and stressing adherence to standards as a norm or culture in the medical field. Though the article provides concerned efforts towards solving this problem such as enhancing hygiene and computerization of systems, the large numbers of unethical practices portray ignorance is live in the medical field. Marx argues the importance of stressing on a just culture which is blameless rather than trying to solve the problems of blameworthy acts (Wachter & Pronovost 2009, 1401). This can only be possible through strict ethical practices that are well integrated within the medical profession from early training stages. Rather than finding ways to improve the hand hygiene problem, this weakness can be narrowed down to lack of ethics and professionalism in the medical fraternity. The issue of systems is a pertinent issue in the medical fraternity. For example, Wachter & Pronovost (2009, 1402) argue that in order to create safer activities, the medical fraternity is looking towards other industries to learn how these safety mechanisms, are implemented. To support this, the idea that a pilot who ignores the slightest use of checklist in the aviation industry cannot be allowed to fly, is floated as the best example. This is a good proposal as it deals with strict code of conduct in a profession, which forms a culture in such operations.. Patient welfare is central in the medical field. Brockopp & Eich (2007, 163) argue that in the current highly technologically advanced settings in the

Importance of Marketing for Organization Success Essay

Importance of Marketing for Organization Success - Essay Example ys marketing concept is implied in the idea, that marketing decisions must be made taking into account the needs of the customers in the first place and afterwards the process of developing and marketing services and products should be initiated by an organization (Nickels, 2008). The major aim of marketing efforts of any organization is to establish reliable relationships with clients that are to be beneficial both for the clients and the organization. And every effort is to prove the fact that marketing plays a crucial role for the business of any size and the society as well. Talking about marketing as a necessary business function it is vital at organizational level for non-for-profit and for-profit businesses engaged in all the industries (Nickels, 2008). As far as non-for-profit organizations are concerned marketing is to assist in process of attracting clients in order to maintain the mission of the organization which might be support or donations raise. For-profit organizations need marketing to deal with all the tasks meant to bring revenue and profits to organization. These two types of organizations will not be able to survive without a helping hand of marketing tool. The feature of marketing as the area of organizational business is implied in the interaction with the public and the opinion that is formed about the organization is the result of interaction with marketers. And thanks to advertising message a customer may believe that this or that company is creative and dynamic (Nickels, 2008). The primary role of marketers is to establish specific relationships intended for holding value for both organization and customers, in this respect marketing professionals apply a diverse toolkit which is to serve as a spine of decision making process. The toolkit includes: Each element in the toolkit is in tight connection and interaction with each other and as a result decisions made in one area are influential for those decisions made in other areas. For

The Scarlet Letter as a Love Story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Scarlet Letter as a Love Story - Essay Example In much the same way, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s penultimate novel, The Scarlet Letter, has continued to evoke a level of controversy among scholars and casual readers alike. The underlying root of this controversy is whether or not this particular novel can in fact be described as a love story between Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale; the two main characters around whom the novel focuses. Accordingly, in seeking to analyze this particular question and providing a level of textual support to serve as evidence with regards to the stance of this particular student, the following discussion will be concentric upon promoting the idea and understanding that even though many other themes exist within this particular novel, an unmistakable and easily denoted reality is that the action of the entire piece is predicated not upon lust, betrayal, adultery, or public censure; rather, it is predicated upon a disarmingly complex yet simple love story between the two main characters.... Ultimately, the author, Hawthorne, was somewhat disquieted about writing such a simple love story. In this way, the introductory quote that is referenced above helps to serve as something of a preliminary apology with regards to presenting such a complex love story within the guise of something seemingly different. Further on in the story, Pearl asks a telling question that turns into something of a prophetic comment which further helps to prove the underlying nature of the novel as a love story. Says Pearl, â€Å"Mother,† said little Pearl, â€Å"the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom. . . . It will not flee from me, for I wear nothing on my bosom yet!† (Hawthorne 99). The clear level of understanding that can be had with regards to this specific quote is the fact that even though it is not clear whether or not Hester waits for the father of Pearl to come back into her life, Pearl seems to understa nd perfectly well that this is the case; equating â€Å"the sunshine† with Dimmesdale; retreating, hesitant, uncertain, and fearful because of the stigma that the adulteress has upon her character. In this way, even though a clear determination at this point of the story does not reveal whether or not the entire tale should be considered a â€Å"love story†, Pearl’s prophetic level of understanding seems to leave no doubt with regards to the true nature of the novel. Similarly, another quote that helps to solidify the understanding that the novel of the Scarlet Letter is in fact a love story is with regards to the following quote. Says Hawthorne, But Hester Prynne, with a mind of native

The pioneer experiences Essay Example for Free

The pioneer experiences Essay The western migration of the mid-nineteenth century was a time of uncertainty for America.   It was also a time of excitement because of the new adventures that awaited Americans.   Although western migration was difficult, many chose to undertake it because they wanted a new life, riches, and a chance to own their own land.   There was also a religious aspect, as some people moved to be missionaries to the Native Americans and to form new churches and religions. The pioneer experiences of men and women differed in several ways.    This is evidenced by the writings of Lydia Allen Rudd and Elizabeth Dixon Smith Geer.   Elizabeth talked about constant rain and carrying two children through the mud and water.   She also talked about looking for shelter for her sick husband and watching him deteriorate.   She also writes about how the children had great responsibilities such as driving cattle and oxen. Elizabeth talks incessantly of the impossibility of cooking or staying warm and dry.   Much of this has to do with when she and her family chose to travel.   She also writes that with her husband ill, â€Å"the whole care of everything falls upon [her] shoulders (Geer 1847).† This contrasts sharply with Lydia Allen Rudd.   Though in her account there is rain, she remains upbeat, sharing the soaring vistas and her experiences with the Native Americans.   All is not grand, however.   She speaks of seeing the graves of men and women having died of measles and cholera.   Her diary tells of reaching Salem, Oregon, and also Burlington.   There, they are successful in finding both employment and housing for the winter (1852). Men, on the other hand, saw much more violence in their lives.   In looking at Edward Gould Buffum’s account of life in the gold mines, he tells of the â€Å"trial† of five men who were consequently lashed, and three of those men who were tried for attempted murder and robbery.   A jury found the men guilty. Buffum notes that â€Å"the charges against them were well substantiated, but amounted to nothing more than an attempt at robbery and murder; no overt act being even alleged (1850).†Ã‚   The sentence was death by hanging, and they were hanged that very day.   Such was frontier justice.   Buffum even protested against the mens’ death sentence, but stopped when the mob threatened to hang him. Government played a huge role in encouraging and supporting westward migration.   This was accomplished by the Homestead Act of 1862.   It took affect on the first of January of 1863.   It gave anyone twenty one or older who is a citizen or intended to become a citizen, and â€Å"who had never borne arms against the United States Government or given aid and comfort to its enemies† entitlement to land at $1.25 per acre, so long as the claim did not exceed a hundred sixty acres. The only thing the person had to do was swear out an affidavit that they were the head of household, or is twenty one, or given service in the US armed forces, never borne arms against the US and never given aid or comfort to its enemies.   The person also had to hold the land for five years. The idea of Manifest Destiny fit in well with the actual experiences of the pioneers.   Though the road was tough, the rewards were great, as many people made their fortunes in the west.   Manifest Destiny, or the idea that America had a God-given right to all of North America did fit in well with the actual experiences of the pioneers.   It did not, however, respect the culture of the Native Americans.   Native Americans were forced to move from ancestral lands, and some began to assimilate.   This was largely due to the amount of missionaries that moved from the east to Oregon. Their goal was to â€Å"civilize† the â€Å"savage† Native Americans.There was, however, a place where the Americans and the Native Americans came together without argument.   That place was called Middle Ground.   It was a place where Native Americans and Americans came together for trade.   Manifest Destiny also affected communications.   Mail traveled over a route known as the Butterfield Trail. This trail between Saint Louis and SanFrancisco took two weeks for mail to travel it.   This helped to foster the development of the Pony Express.   It ran for eighteen months and used relays of young riders to move mail slightly faster than traditional mail.   Many went to Oregon and California to seek their fortunes and establish new lives. Sometimes, this involved religious differences.   The Mormons for example, moved because they were not accepted in either New York or Illinois.   In the two female accounts that were discussed, the women moved with their families to seek a new life in Oregon.   In the account of Edward Gould Buffum, he had spent six months in the California gold mines. Even Horace Greely got into the idea of Manifest Destiny, advocating for a transcontinental railroad as a way to facilitate communication and transportation to the new territories.   He also talks about the need for education and â€Å"virtuous women (Greely, 1860).†    Additionally, he discusses the need for the families of the men in California to have their families.   He feels settlement would again be facilitated by a transcontinental railroad.   Families would move with their men, and more families would be willing to move out west on the comfort of the trains, rather than take the wagon trains through the uncertain weather.   The growth of towns showed that people were taking the idea of Manifest Destiny seriously.   The mass migration of immigrants to California numbered 80,000, and the city of San Francisco grew from 848 to an astonishing 60,000. The pioneer experiences and Manifest Destiny walked hand in hand through history.   Manifest Destiny’s goal of taking over the continent combined with the curiosity of the American Pioneer.   Their experiences helped forever shape the new America.   The United States Government helped by passing the Homestead Act, which encouraged people to settle in the new territories.   Though their experiences were different, collectively, men and women helped shape a new America full of new challenges and new rewards. Bibliography 37th Congress, Homestead Act of 1862. 1862.http://wpscms.pearson.cmg.com/long_longman_mhlus_0/0,11867,3125072- content,00.html (accessed March 8, 2009). Bauer, William J.. Dismantling Indian Country in the Nineteenth Century. History: Reviews of New Books 36, no. 2 (2008): 49-52. Buffum, Edward. Six Months in the Gold Mines. 1850.http://wpscms.pearson.cmg.com/long_longman_mhlus_0/0,11867,3124634- content,00.html (accessed March 8, 2009). Geer, Elizabeth. Journal. 1847. 1848.http://wpscms.pearson.cmg.com/long_longman_mhlus_0/0,11867,3124638- content,00.html (accessed March 8, 2009). Graulich, Melody. Review of West of Emerson: The Design of Manifest Destiny. Amercan   Literature 76, no. 3 (2004): 617-619. Greely, Horace. An Overland Journey. 1860.http://wpscms.pearson.cmg.com/long_longman_mhlus_0/0,11867,3124701- content,00.html (accessed March 8, 2009). OSullivan, John. The Great Nation of Futurity. http://wpscms.pearsoncmg.com/long_longman_mhlus_0/0,11867,3124755- content,00.html (accessed March 8, 2009). Rudd, Lydia. Diary of Westward Travel 1852. 1852.http://wpscms.pearson.cmg.com/long_longman_mhlus_0/0,11867,3124798- content,00.html (accessed March 8, 2009).

Challenges to the LEGO Group

Challenges to the LEGO Group In the recent times worldwide economy has become highly volatile and was vulnerable to a multitude issues. One such example is the latest financial crisis. Such volatility creates a variety of challenges to small and large enterprises around the globe. One of the biggest challenges for manufacturing companies is to deal with rapidly increasing globalization and competition. The solutions require the development of agile and rapid supply networks in order to cut costs and meet demand. Producers are becoming more aware of supply chain management. This awareness shifts the focus from internal logistics efficiency to the external network of relationships between various parties in the supply chain. The well-known Danish toy manufacturer LEGO has not been insusceptible to these changes. LEGO has faced major challenges, which required drastic changes within the organization. This included a transformation of the companys supply chain management system. LEGO Group had to deal with probably the most significant financial crisis since the company was founded in 1932. LEGOs crisis was not clearly visible from the outside. In fact LEGO had maintained brand recognition. This earned them the title Toy of the Century from the British Association of Toy Retailers and Fortune magazine. LEGO was the fourth largest toy manufacturer in the word and had sold US$1.35 billion worth of toys in 2004. In spite of this success, the company was losing money since 1998. LEGO had various internal operational issues. This included a complex and ineffective supply chain, which at one stage consisted of 11,000 contractors. In an attempt to address this problem, in 2004 LEGO board of directors set a goal t o cut 20 percent of logistic costs. This resulted in the risky decision to outsource a major part of the production to Flextronics, a Singaporean electronics manufacturing services provider. LEGO also established a single distribution center in the Czech Republic operated by DHL. (M. M. Larsen, T. Pedersen, D. Slepniov 2010; K. Oliver, E. Samakh, P. Heckmann 2007; J. A. Cooke 2009) Such a risky decision involved a long-term relationship with Flextronics that was not without challenges. In this research paper an overview of challenges and solutions of the case company LEGO Group will be presented. The main focus will be on LEGOs supply chain management system transformation, which was a major step towards success. The following research questions will serve as guidelines for this paper: What challenges did LEGO Group face and what decisions were made to address those problems? How did Supply Chain Management transformation helped to deal with these issues? In this paper we will first explore the Supply Chain Management (SCM) concepts. Next the case company LEGO Group will be introduced. We will then present overview of the challenges that LEGO Group has faced. The focus of this paper will be the SCM decisions that were made to deal with these problems. SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT CONCEPT The globalization is increasing competition and forming new conditions for conducting business. This requires companies worldwide to rapidly respond to their customers demands and develop products. These companies must also apply information technologies in supply chain collaboration (J. S. Arlbjà ¸rn et al. 2006) Such conditions increased the importance of logistics and SCM role within organizations as it can become a major competitive advantage. Commonly, the major improvements in logistical functions may not be needed within the organization itself. It may be more beneficial to analyze the organizations supply chain. This involves various interdependent parties. SCM co-operation is gaining in major strategic importance and usually includes such characteristics: co-operating is based on end user requirements, long term co-operation and high trust between actors in the supply chains or networks, shared risks and benefits, cross coordination on various levels between companies, shared visions and similar company cultures. The advantage of such close co-operation is a more transparent supply chain. This can lead to reduced lead-time, lower uncertainty, optimization of stocks and higher capacity utilization. (T. Skjoett-Larsen 2000) The concept of SCM often represents the broader view of logistics as its main function is to ensure the smooth flow of materials from suppliers to organization and then out to customers through the operations within the organization (D. Waters 2003). The purpose of SCM can be described as to remove redundancies and communication barriers through coordination, monitoring and control functions (D. Power 2005). The supply chain usually consists of different organizations and processes, which are aimed to ensure the smooth flow of materials from the initial supplier to the end customer. In many cases, manufacturers get their materials from a large number of suppliers and sell to different customers, which is the case with LEGO Group. In figure 1, you can see an example of the supply chain around a manufacturer. Materials move from several tiers of suppliers though organization to several tiers of customers, such as wholesalers, retailers and end users. Figure 1: Supply chain of manufacturer (D. Waters 2003, 9) The toy industry is one of the oldest creative industries in the word. However, C. Y. Wong, J. S. Arlbjà ¸rnand J. Johansen in their study named Supply chain management practices in toy supply chains(2005) state that such creative business is very seasonal and volatile with strongly fluctuating demands, very short and specified selling windows as well as short product life cycles. Moreover, the toy industry can be described as intensely competitive on pricing and innovation, where retailers often start competing with their suppliers. The authors conclude that most retailers and manufacturers use a push business model. This model includes low utilization of technology and information sharing as well as slow implementation of supply chain initiatives. INTRODUCTION TO THE CASE COMPANY: LEGO GROUP LEGO can be certainly defined as one of the most famous brands in the toy industry. The Danish companys toys are enjoyed worldwide by children and adults alike, who use thousands of different pieces to construct buildings, robots and other toy. In 1932, Ole Kirk Christiansen, a Danish carpenter founded a company named LEGO (Danish words Leg and Godt, meaning play well). Originally a woodworking business for furniture, LEGO began producing childrens toys in 1934. The company presents itself by stating: It is LEGO philosophy that good play enriches a childs life and its subsequent adulthood. With this in mind, the LEGO Group has developed and marketed a wide range of products, all founded on the same basic philosophy of learning and developing through play. In figure 2 the core building blocks of LEGO Group are presented. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; LEGO Group, Corporate Communications 2009) Figure 2: The LEGO Company (LEGO Group 2010) Pursuing such a philosophy, LEGO has grown tremendously since its establishment. By 2009 the company was the worlds fifth largest toy manufacturer in terms of sale with 290 Million US Dollars in revenues and approximately 7000 employees around the globe. The LEGO brick which is possibly the best known toy was first introduced and patented in 1958. It has since then represented the core success and image of this company. With two just bricks there are 24 different combinations and with six there are 915 million possibilities. This enables limitless creativity. As previously stated, before LEGO brick was named as Toy of the century by Fortune magazine and later by British Association of Toy Retailers as well. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; J. Tidd, J. Bessant 2009) http://cache.lego.com/r/aboutus/-/media/About%20Us/Media%20Assets%20Library/Logos%20Bricks%20and%20Generic%20images/ts.20120125T101709.2x4brick_red.jpg Picture 1: Lego brick (source lego.com) Segmented product categories include: Pre-school products for the youngest children, who had not started the school yet, includes LEGO DUPLO products. Creative building sets or buckets of LEGO bricks without instructions. Play themes products the products with particular stories, such as airports, racing tracks and hospitals, including LEGO City line and BIONICLE. Licensed products related to movies and books, such Harry Potter, Star Wars and Indiana Jones. MINDSTORM NXT programmable robot kit. LEGO education products that are developed for educational purposes. LEGO Games new product line started in 2009 for board games. LEGO operates in over 130 countries worldwide. The companys largest market in the U.S., with together Australia, New Zealand and UK accounted for 30 percent of revenue in 2007. Despite constant challenges and growing popularity of consumer electronics, LEGO is continuing to expand. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010) Crisis and solutions In the late 1990s, the company started to have difficulties. This resulted in a major crisis and almost ended in bankruptcy by 2004. LEGO was losing huge sums of money every day, estimated at economic losses of 375.4 thousand U.S. dollars per day since 1998. When sales dropped 40 percent in 2004, it was clear that radical changes had to take place. There are many speculations, why such a well-known and previously successful company started running on tremendous losses. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010) One possible reason was increasing competition in their main product area. This was disruptive at its nature. One such example is the Canadian company Megabloks. This company offers a wide range of building toys at a highly competitive price. Also, the increasing popularity of computer games reduced the demand for traditional toys. Another possible factor was the over diversification of product line as LEGO moved into more areas like theme parks ,apparel, clothing, television and even computer games. Such diversification was a result of, as the company claims, a loss of confidence in their core product the Lego brick. The increased complexity of product portfolio confused not just the customers, but employees as well. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; J. Tidd, J. Bessant 2009; K. Oliver et al. 2007) It was mentioned before that LEGO GROUP had around 11,000 suppliers, which was twice the number that Boeing used to build its aircraft. Such inefficiency and inflexibility was soon recognized and attention was directed to the supply chain, which was 10 years out of date. Moreover, low quality customer service and product availability decreased the value of companys franchise. Jà ¸rgen Vig Knudstorp, newly appointed CEO, stated: From my perspective, the supply chain is a companys circulation system. You have to fix it to keep the blood flowing. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007) It was acknowledged that solving problems related to global supply chain could build a strong base for major changes in the organization. This could also be the needed step forward towards cost-effectiveness and an improved business model. However, such big changes are not easy to implement and presented significant challenges for LEGO Group Transformation of supply chain management LEGO Group decided to optimize their supply chain in order to deal with the most significant crisis in the companys history. LEGO realized that it was dragging behind retail giants such as Wal-Mart and Carrefour. These companies had invested huge amounts of recourses into sophisticated and efficient supply chain management systems. LEGO Group started losing the competition to companies, which optimized their costs and provided just-in-time services to its customers (K. Oliver et al. 2007). Transforming such a gigantic and complex supply chain as well as removing the inefficiencies was a very challenging goal. Keep in mind that by 2004 company had around 7000 employees working mainly in two factories and three packaging centers, located in different countries. Further issues and changes within different areas of supply chain management will be discussed, including product development, distribution and manufacturing. Product development Product development and innovation was extremely important for LEGO as it presented the core of what this company was really about. Changes in this field were difficult to implement. This was in part because of its delicate nature and inside resistance from employees. LEGOs development lab called Kitchen was steadily producing new innovative products and ideas. However, management realized that new products were returning less profit and cost more to produce. Developers and designers did not account for production and supply chain issues, in their designs. Consequently, the variety of various components and features as well as product complexity became overwhelming and started to cause major problems in manufacturing and distribution. LEGO bricks and other elements came in more than 100 color tones. LEGO sets became increasingly elaborate with thousands of different figures. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007) Such cost ineffective creativity caused problems like large stocks. This was because of seasonal demand fluctuations and short delivery times. Moreover, large amount of components and products required large investments in molds, while just 30 products generated 80 percent of companys sales. Therefore, LEGO decided to drastically cut down the number of components and features. This reduced costs in the supply chain and created a better opportunity for production outsourcing. Management revised a number of daily solutions in order to cut the costs, simplify production and eliminate inefficiencies. The palette was decreased to around 50 colors. A major reduction in variety of pirates, police officers and other figures was recommended as well. Moreover, resin-sourcing analyzes helped to cut its resin costs in half and reduce supplier number by 80 percent. Simultaneously, LEGO Groups operational team created cost matrixes and revised set of rules concerning creation of new colors, compon ents and ordering of new materials. Such step helped product developers to choose more cost-effective solutions and recognize the limitations. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007) Distribution Another area of LEGOs supply chain that required major improvements and cost reductions was distribution. At that time LEGO served thousands of smaller stores with a great responsibility. This came at a very high price, although those shops accounted just for one third of its revenue. Company had increasing amount of inventory and lost sales, because of multiple-tier inventory system to serve smaller customers from different distribution centers. The redefined distribution policies had to be developed in order to avoid costly small deliveries and labor costs associated with pick-packing in the distribution centers. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007) In order to serve customers in 130 countries around the world, LEGO had 11 warehouses and distribution centers in high-cost countries like Denmark, France, Germany and Switzerland. LEGO also employed 55 transportation providers for inbound and outbound shipments. In order to move its distributions closer to the customer and reduce exploding transportation costs, the company defined clear service policies. This helped to shift the focus to major retail chains. This also provided for more accurate demand forecasts, reduced complexity and certainly the costs of distribution. Furthermore, LEGO Group decided to centralize its distribution by closing five distribution centers in Europe, and creating a single distribution center near Prague in the Check Republic. The country was mainly chosen because of a high availability of skilled low cost labor. LEGO leased large buildings from the commercial realtor ProLogis. LEGO also decided to outsource operations to third-party logistics company D HL supply chain. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007; J. A. Cooke 2009) By 2007 a newly consolidated distribution center was serving all of LEGOs markets except the U.S., where Exel Inc. was responsible for distribution operations. Such changes reduced the complexity of supply chain, simplified the inventory optimization and reduced average distances to the market. This lead to increased customer satisfaction and significantly reduced overall logistics costs. Despite the outsourcing, LEGO maintained close collaboration with its carriers and still makes many decisions. The results of such collaboration are reduced negative effects of market seasonality. Moreover, by applying developed Web-based transportation management system LEGO was able to change the shipment scheduling and improve load consolidation. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; J. A. Cooke 2009) Manufacturing The improved production in the supply chain was probably the most important and complicated step. The challenges came from the way LEGO organized its production facilities and the complexity of manufacturing operations. In some way chaotic production operations resulted in low 70 percent of overall capacity utilization. There were hundreds of independent production units within the facilities that could place their orders in any manner. This was often without balancing supply capabilities, inventory levels and demand needs. Consequently, such fragmented system did not support long-term planning and resulted in high costs and low efficiency. Moreover, the production sites were located in high-cost countries as Denmark, United States and Switzerland, while just 10 percent of production was outsourced to China. Production sites mainly operated according the branding strategy, where, for example, Swiss factories only manufactured DUPLO and Technic products. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010; K. Oliver et al. 2007) One of the first steps was to set clear production cycles for machines instead of having them available to produce any element at any time. This approach helped to reduce constant and costly retooling as well as balance production operations. Furthermore, orders were set in the monthly meetings in that way eliminating the number of changeovers (K. Oliver et al. 2007). However, the major decision concerning production operations was to outsource large part of the production to external packaging and manufacturing service providers. One of the reasons was to cut the costs by moving the production from high-cost countries. Another reason was to reduce the number of subcontractors and utilize the economies of scale, having in mind that LEGO was producing about 24 billion bricks per year (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010). Consequently, the production capacity in Denmark was reduced and sites in Korea and Switzerland closed. LEGO Group engaged into cooperation with packaging service suppliers: Sonoco, Greiner, Weldenhammer and 2B Pack. The most risky and complex partnership was made in 2006 with Flextronics, a Singaporean based electronics manufacturer. Several product lines, like Bionicle and Technic was still mainly retained by LEGO, but the higher volume and more simple Duplo and System lines were handed to Flextronics production sites in Hungary, Czech Republic and Mexico. This helped to reduce the distance to customers. However, the relationship was not successful and contract with Flextronics was terminated from January 1, 2009, while LEGO continued with smaller outsourcing contracts. The main reasons for the failure are connected with delicate nature of toy industry and could be described in short (H. B. Dinitzen, D. Bohlbro 2010, 71-72; M. M. Larsen et al. 2010): 65% percent of production had to be done during the third quarter of the year main holiday season. Products have a lifetime of 16-18 month. Sales uncertainty is around 30%. In figure 3, the timeline of LEGO and Flextronics cooperation is presented, including goals and challenges. Despite the failure, LEGO Group has learned a lot from this outsourcing attempt, which had a positive impact in the end. Figure 3: The timeline of LEGO and Flextronics collaboration (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010, 16) In 2008 LEGO started the process of sourcing back the production, while the first factory in the Czech Republic was taken over, followed by Hungarian and Mexican facilities. In Mexico, LEGO Group eventually moved the production to a new plant, which started operating in first quarter of 2009. The final benefits of collaboration were connected mainly with gained experience in various operational fields. It helped to establish new facilities in Mexico and Hungary, while production units were no longer following branded approach, but instead serving its respective markets. Moreover, LEGO significantly improved documentation and standardization of business processes. Standardization resulted in almost halved size of components, from 12,000 in 2004 to 6000 in 2008. This enabled more flexible, efficient and smoothly running supply chain. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010) CONCLUSIONS In the end it can be stated that by taking clearly defined and harsh restructuring strategy, LEGO Group was able to defeat the crisis and become one of the successful and largest toy producers again. This statement can be backed up by financial figures, which indicate that in 2008 and 2009 company reached profit of DKK 315.6 million and 375 million U.S. Dollars, respectively. This was the highest in LEGO Groups history. (M. M. Larsen et al. 2010) A significantly restructured supply chain helped to increase the efficiency of major business operations as well as increase the overall customer satisfaction. LEGO managed to reach and, in some levels, even pass its competitors, while still cooperating with biggest retailers in such fields as joint forecasting, inventory management and mass customization. However, such transformations required dealing with many challenges, including terminated cooperation with Flextronics. Nevertheless, it gave LEGO valuable knowledge about outsourcing operations and its inner characteristics. In the end, unsuccessful outsourcing practice resulted in factories in Denmark, Czech Republic, Mexico and Hungary, which gave the needed supply chain flexibility in order to meet the global demands. Improved parts of supply chain such as product development, sourcing, distribution and manufacturing creates a well developed business model that serves as a major competitive advantage. Finally, after successful supply chain transformation, LEGO Group can shift more attention to increasing the satisfaction of its customers by developing well-liked toys for children and adults.