Legal and Ethical Considerations in Marketing, Product Safety, and Research Paper - 1

Legal and Ethical Considerations in Marketing, Product Safety, and Intellectual Property - Research Paper Example This particular industry is quite sensitive industry. The ethical issues in the marketing and advertising, intellectual property and regulation of product safety are discussed below. Marketing and advertisement is an effective communication tool that helps an organization to communicate with the end customers regarding the introduction of new product. First of all, several pharmaceutical companies implement competitive pricing strategy and promote their drugs and several products in economic price level compromising with the quality of the products. It can actually affect the health of human beings as several side effects of these drugs can create several problems in body. Secondly, the organizations used to provide emotional adverts and wrong information about the products. It is quite unethical to provide this wrong information. Thirdly, CompCare the subsidiary of the PharmaCare used to and market specific products although the compounded materials were not supposed to sold in bulk . Wrong information about client list, quality issues of drugs and price war between the organizations can be considered as the major ethical issues in marketing and advertising. ... In terms of the regulation of the products safety, the organization faces several critical issues. Providing drugs in low price level to the people of low income group without considering the quality aspect can be considered as one of the ethical issues. Inadequate quality of the pharmaceutical lab can be considered as one of the major issues in the product safety regulation. Inadequate composition in several drugs became issues for the PharmaCare. 2. Argue for or against Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) marketing by drug companies Direct-to-Consumer has considered a one of the important marketing communication tools for several healthcare or pharmaceutical organizations. This DTC marketing process is quite useful and can help the society to overcome several challenges. It is true that advertising and promotion is important for each and every organization to create awareness about the products and services in the minds of the target customers (Doern & Prince, 2012). It is true that the pharm aceutical companies provide effective solutions to several critical diseases that can take away the priceless lives of human beings. After strong research and hard work, the pharmaceutical companies succeed to make a solution to these diseases. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the governments and several public bodies to increase awareness about these drugs that can ensure good health and safety of the mankind. DTC can be considered as an effective marketing communication tools. It is true that several organizations used to follow unethical steps in order to maximize business profits. But, it is true that the society and community cannot get benefits until and unless the people within the society cannot get aware about

Consumer Behaviour (Conduct a literature review on the topic of Essay

Consumer Behaviour (Conduct a literature review on the topic of consumption meaning) - Essay Example Needs can only be identified and prioritized if we apprehend how consumers give meanings to those needs. This document analyzes the meaning that consumers give to consumption by examining various academic literatures. Consumers have a personal domain of knowledge which is nurtured and affected by their native habitat, social environment and culture. Their buying behavior is based on the intuitive knowledge that they possess in their personal repository. This knowledge gives them meaning and value. They ascribe these meanings to marketed products, services, images, ideas and experiences and behave on the basis of these meanings (Arnould, Price & Zinkhan 2004). Meaning can be defined as the extent to which a consumer holds something highly regarded and places a high value on it (Hirschman 1991). To have a better understanding of the term consumption meaning let us turn to semiotics, a branch of cultural anthropology focused on study of signs. A sign is anything that stands for something else (Arnould, Price & Zinkhan 2004). The sign can be communicated through a corporate logo or a brand symbol. â€Å"A brand is a sign for the field of meanings consumers integrate into their personal space to enhance, complement or transform themselves and their world† (Oswald 2003). For instance, a logo of â€Å"Nike† or the brand â€Å"Sony† represents as a sign to the consumers. Consumers perceive these products based on their own experience and are brands or products are given different meanings by different consumers. Semiotics is a three part system and it’s also called as semiotic triangle. It involves a sign, object and an interpretant. For example, Toyota a renowned automobile company would be the object, its logo or brand name would be the sign and â₠¬Å"reliable†, â€Å"comfortable† and â€Å"long lasting† will be the interpretation regarding the brand â€Å"Toyota† made by different consumers. Each semiotic triangle exists within a particular cultural context

Tesco Assessing The Impacts Of Ebusiness Information Technology Essay

Tesco Assessing The Impacts Of Ebusiness Information Technology Essay This paper presents research findings expounding on the relative impacts of e-business technologies when integrated into an organization. The key objective of the study is to determine that how the adoption of innovative technological applications serves to be beneficial or detrimental to the business world and more specifically to the business sector. The recent trade practices require embracing newer technologies as they offer instant access and exposure to consumers and keep 24/7 connectivity to management resources. The positive aspect of e-commerce technology and social networking tools, is to provide users with the ability to communicate both synchronously and asynchronously i.e. via emails, video conferencing, chat and blog forum services. There has been a considerable amount of research conducted on several organizations for the adoption of innovative technologies and the general findings reveal that entrepreneurs often lack the skill, time or money to implement technology up grades. Followed by these key study points highlighted in this paper, assessments are done to gain the insights on the impacts of deploying new web based technologies and social networking techniques. The research has been conducted in 3 phases to determine the consequences of e-business practice of Tesco, a leading supermarket of UK. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 4 TESCO: COMPANY PROFILE.. 4 ONLINE MARKET SHARE 5 PRODUCT RANGE .. 5 COMPETITORS. 5 TESCO: AN OVERVIEW OF E-BUSINESS PRACTICE.. 5 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 6 RATIONALE OF INVESTIGATION 7 LITERATURE REVIEW.. 8 ADOPTION OF E-BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES. 8 LIMITATIONS TO ADOPTION. 9 CHAPTER II METHODOLOGY 10 RESEARCH QUESTIONS.. 11 SAMPLING TECHNIQUES RESEARCH DESIGN.. 11 PHASE I.. 12 PHASE II. 12 PHASE III.. 13 PROTOCOL FOR DATA COLLECTION.. 14 ASSOCIATED RISKS TO DATA COLLECTION 14 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF DATA.. 14 MEASURES TO ENSURE DATA PROTECTION. 15 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS. 15 DETRIMENTAL EFFECT OF STUDY.. 15 INFORMED CONSENT.. 15 PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY 16 CHAPTER III RESEARCH FINDINGS. 16 CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF RESULTS FINDINGS.. 17 RECCOMMENDATIONS. 19 IMPROVE THE WEBSITE.. 19 REVIEW WEB TRAFFIC. 19 EXAMINE THE COMPETITIVE STRATEGY. 19 CORRECTIVE MEASURES BASED ON FEEDBACK.. 20 CONCLUSION 20 BIBLIOGRAPHY CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This paper is intended to highlight some the consequences of integrating e-business technologies within an organization and study the relative impacts with respect to the companys growth pattern and fiscal benefits attained by the e-business practices. For the purpose of identifying the relative advantages or disadvantages associated to the utilization of e-business technologies, Tesco has been chosen as the subject which has a prominent presence as the leading supermarket across the globe and specifically in UK. The incorporation of e-business technologies are seen as a reality for many organizations and are considered as a vital element of a business plan. The immediate benefits to an organization are in terms of cost savings, efficiencies and enhanced profitability that can be clearly observed at every stage in the supply chain. Adopting e-business technology is no longer a competitive advantage, but a normal business process, without which an enterprise is unlikely to survive in the new economy (Dave, 2001). With the commencement of year 2000 a number of dot-com companies were established however, with a continuously evolving trends of the contemporary business practices a majority of companies are failing to and therefore, the investors have become extra cautious to invest money into electronic ventures. The study encompasses the relevant limitations and hurdles of adopting the e-business techniques and furthermore analyses the integral aspects and impacts of e-commerce practices within the selected organization. TESCO: COMPANY PROFILE With its mass penetration of approximately 90% within the UK retail market alone and having an annual turnover of more than 1 billion, Tesco is generally recognised as the worlds largest online grocer. Tesco has been launched in various other countries and with its strong international presence it is diversifying into non-food categories as well. Tesco began to offer online services in 1995 which was based on consumers orders generated via local Tesco store using the internet (Mohorovice, 2000). To extend its e-business operation further, Tesco also launched its own Internet Service Provider (ISP) i.e. Tesco.net, for the purpose of creating an effective link between internet access facilities and the online delivery services; providing their consumers with a greater choice of ISP. The initial investment for the commencement of online service was relatively small as a network of existing stores, warehouses and distribution centres were already in place (Griffith, 2002). In order to ef fectively integrate the online service throughout the UK, an estimated amount of approximately  £25 million was spent by the company (Griffith, 2002). 1.1.1 ONLINE MARKET SHARE The overall online market share of the leading supermarkets has been illustrated in Table: 01; Tesco 27.1% Asda 10.1% Sainsbury 6.9% Waitrose/Ocado 4.2%. 1.1.2 PRODUCT RANGE Food Ranges: Milk, eggs, butter and all grocery items Non-food Ranges: Books, DVDs and Electronic products Others: Dieting clubs, flights and holidays, music downloads, gas, electricity etc. 1.1.3 COMPETITORS According to the Nielsen/Netrating audience panel for September 2007 for the top UK supermarkets shows the lead of Tesco, offline market share is in brackets from TNS which monitors the household grocery purchasing habits of 25,000 demographically representative households in the U.K as illustrated in Table: 02; Tesco 30.9% Asda 16.9% Sainsbury 16.4% Waitrose 332,000 Morrisons 225,000 1.2 AN OVERVIEW OF E-BUSINESS PRACTICE There is an increasing demand of e-business technologies as the consumers today prefer to utilize online services for shopping due to lack of time or extremely fast paced life and the launch of Tesco.com online service has served as the most simple and convenient way of shopping for consumers who are willing to pay a little extra for their groceries to deliver at doorstep and saves time. The orders once received are further processed online and the information is instantly passed on to the nearest stores. By developing the e-commerce and e-business practices, Tesco has extended its leading position in grocery home shopping since the foundation of tesco.com and has grown registered customers up to more than 750,000 with online orders up to 60k per week giving sales of over 5 million pounds (Palmer, 2005). To maintain the accuracy of the online orders, Tesco has maintained staff to gather the items in accordance with those specified in the online order list and then the groceries assem bled at a delivery point to be distributed to households within a given area. A number of timeslots have been made available for delivery of online orders and consumers are directed to ensure the availability of someone to collect the requested stuff. The payment process is also convenient and most of the payments are collected online. To keep the consumers updated with the information on prices, all items are marked with their status of availability and sell-by date. A close substitute is added in case where a product is out of stock. The online sales in just the first half of the year 2007 were 748 million, a 35% year-on-year increase, and profit increased by 62% to 54.7 million (Palmer, 2005). Further to add value to its e-business technology, sophisticated software has been formulated to manage the collection and delivery of the goods to customers. It is also important to note that a number of marketing benefits are also associated with the incorporation of e-business practice w ithin the business. Moreover, a database is maintained to extract valuable information about the products higher in demand and those which require specific types of marketing and promotion; can be identified. Feedback on satisfaction rates and responses of consumers to new offers or products can also be pulled out through this database. In addition to this, the database helps to horn the online strategy and deliver an added-value service to customers by effectively responding to their needs. Tesco has an active customer base of 850,000 and more than 250,000 orders are completed each week (Griffith, 2002). 1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES This research aims to enhance the understanding of acquiring e-business technologies and their utilisation and thereby assess the basis for improved business competitiveness. The theme is based on one of the largest retail store in UK i.e. Tesco, illustrating the impacts of e-commerce techniques implicated in regional, historical and economic contexts of the retail businesses (Yoruk and Radosevic, 2000). With continuously evolving global trends a need has been develop for the transition of business practices in order to achieve a knowledge-based economy by stimulating innovation and improved access to advanced research and development practices and e-business technologies. The proposed paper aims to study the relative impact of innovative internet technology encompassing the business practices of Tesco within UK. The investigation is based on how the innovative use of business networking and advanced e-commerce solutions encourage and support the Tesco to play a leading role in the a dvancement of a cutting edge trade society (Yoruk and Radosevic, 2000). At the same time the research expounds on addressing the related competitive challenges to this largest retail store of UK, in absorbing and developing new-fangled social networking culture. The study design is fabricated to expound on the impacts pertaining to Tesco benefiting from the e-xploitation of science and technology in order to develop closer links with new markets and consumers of the region. The theme of the overall exploration is to develop an understanding of how e-business technologies enable Tesco to broaden and deepen their consumer acquaintance and leverage business culture of excellence. 1.4 RATIONALE OF INVESTIGATION With the passage of time e-connectivity and social networking practices are becoming obligatory for the success of businesses and followed by the observations it can be suggested that the adoption and implementation of the internet connectivity, e-commerce practices and social networking technologies by retail stores offer a great potential for creating new markets, new organisational forms, and new ways of working in the knowledge-driven economy. The motors of economic growth with their loose organisational structures and often fuzzily defined organisational roles and relationships perceived as fruitful milieus for innovative activities (De, 2000). All e-commerce networks have significance for innovative activities and the extent and the nature of overlap between social networks is especially important bearing heavily on the extent to which cooperation can be produced over large sectors of the economy. Business groups are based on social linkages whether its cultural similarity, inf ormal link or an everyday contact. The need for adopting e-techniques and social networking arises in situations where economic advantage can be achieved for the group members of a business. To understand the ability of firms to respond to the fast-changing environments of the business world the approach of e-business technologies within business development process is important which can provide suitable insights into the structure and dynamics of local economies(Palmer, 2005). Although the bulk of the effort in innovation is to be done by the firms themselves, the difference between national and regional patterns of technological development highlights the importance of external economic and non-economic factors that encourage creative interactions between all parts of the society, leading the economy into virtuous circle of technological development (Rogers, Ghauri and George, 2005). Considering the significance of e-commerce and e-business activities within the business environm ent, this study has been conducted to expound on the subject matter and thereby present effective measures and recommendations to further enhance and overcome the limitations to adopt e-business practices. 1.5 LITERATURE REVIEW A community can be more willing to adopt a certain technology when it can offer some beneficial package through which an existing human need can be fulfilled. The e-business technology is capable to offer enhancements to communication that improves networking and also sufficient enough to make needed knowledge resources more readily accessible; and this is what makes it striking for the retail sector (Goode and Stevens, 2000). It is also interesting to note that those that have been most successful in fulfilling specific market needs, or niches, also encounter competing technology vendors which can also be the case in any other situation. 1.5.1 ADOPTION OF E-BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES The e-business technologies offer additional benefits in the productivity of an organization and furthermore, a peripheral vision is offered to integrate within the business successful community building devices like Face book, twitter and MySpace and these possess a vital niche within the lives of their consumers and the communities that they tend to form. Astoundingly, the e-business networks which are the main selling product offered by these community building devices, is mostly formed outside of the e-environment before an electronic communication takes place (Rogers, Ghauri and George, 2005). Interestingly the e-business activities and these social networking platforms are not just for the purpose of fun instead they offer a means for advertising potential business practices. The social networking websites were formerly utilised by young however, the technologies that link individuals are no longer limited to the younger age groups and their significance has been realised hence , the models are now designed to serve as an interactive tool which can help diffusion into target markets (Fildes, 2002). In addition to these social websites an alternative niche is provided by a business focussed solution termed as Linkedin that offers the professionals and businessmen from diversified backgrounds with an ability to form business networks and maintain searchable contact information that can be further utilised for trade purposes (Goode and Stevens, 2000). These highly successful e-business technologies provide elementary communication and collaboration environments via text and sometimes via audio channels within specified limitations. Much better and enhanced communication and collaborative environments are provided by certain recent innovations as for example, Skype, which is not web based but offers a range of telecommunication devices and by utilising the IP connectivity it offers call and video conferencing options that can be very useful for swift business activities. All these e-business activities and social networking websites within their own capacities offer a platform for the organizations like Tesco to further enhance and develop their businesses with an unlimited access and exposure of consumers globally. 1.5.2 LIMITATIONS TO ADOPTION Research from the European Commission (2002) constitutes that when it comes to introduce technological advancements especially e-business technologies to the retail industry, they face certain problems as statistics suggests that the smaller retailers are less likely to familiarise themselves with e-commerce techniques. This does not necessarily means that by the enlargement of size or by integrating specific regulations or policies will solve these problems. Reliable, stable and open business environment is what retail industry will benefit from and therefore policies encouraging this along with liberalisation of ecommerce practices and the interoperability of internet solutions, and easier access to finance through horizontal policy initiatives are likely to succeed in tandem with retail-specific initiatives (Goode and Stevens, 2000). The competitive or environmental pressure that compels a retailer to adopt e-business technologies tends to result in sustained and improved profitab ility of an organisation. In accordance with another study by (Robertson, Lockett, Brown Crouchley, 2007) it can be observed that among the retailers their poor perception towards computer based technologies limits adoption as small retailers or organizations have limited finance or support to engage with state of the art web based technologies that would enhance communication. When larger companies adopt the e-business technologies it is interesting to note that positive network external effects can be achieved which can also be thought of as word of mouth effects (Frambach Schillewaert, 2002). The significance of words spread within general public is highly recognised within the business world and organizations do realise that the adoption of techniques which can broaden the horizon of their trade can be extremely beneficial. The e-commerce technologies offer the same by providing the business owners with all ingredients to attain better chances of success. As for example the ne twork externality effects were particularly important in the success of fixed line and mobile phone adoption as an additional subscriber leads to an increase in the utility of all existing and future subscribers thereby augmenting the eventual success of the technology (Fildes, 2002). The existing relationships between the retailers and the consumer markets also tend to hinder in adoption of the innovative technologies. There is a specific load or pressure within everyday business practice and the knowledge that is required to carry out routine activities through technological means is absent in most of the business environment unwilling to become a part of modern trade practices. The inability to deal with the recent technological environment tends to compromise the credibility with business partners and leaves sensitivity amongst the workforce that the business environment is less dynamic. On the other hand, in some instances there are numerous of consumers without internet capabilities or those who do not feel secure to utilise advance e-business techniques; also see their credibility compromised in terms of other retailers. Furthermore, industry, market scope, competitive pressure and external technological support are considered to be factors that influence r etailers willingness to adopt e-business technologies. The adoption of advanced technologies is greatly influenced and also dependent upon the industry in which the retailer operates (Levenburg et al. 2006, Raymond 2001). Processing of information is carried out by the service industry and therefore, much of their functions rely on the information systems. Retail industries are increasingly reliant upon the point-of-sale systems for the transfer of goods. Manufacturing industry rely more on technological systems. It has been observed by a study that the ecommerce practices vary not only across sectors i.e. across Standard Industrial Classification codes but also within constituent sub-sectors (Fallon and Moran, 2000). CHAPTER II METHODOLOGY The research methodology incorporates the use of both primary and secondary data including exhaustive literature review, interviews and observations based on studying the obtainable research data. The study expounds on observing a radical intent to utilise the development of innovative networking technologies as part of retail processes however, certain limitations make it difficult for the owner managers. The contemporary business practices and market trends has established that by implicitly adopting social networking techniques wider level of transformations within an organization can be obtained (Fink, 2007). To obtain a better picture the study needs to obtain a theoretical understanding of how economic costs and lack of technical knowledge become two of the most important factors that hinder in growth of social networking technologies in small organisations. The research methodology involves observation of theoretical data, data collected through interviews and analysis of mark et activities, validated research procedures and investigative strategies upon the area under discussion. The method used in this research is to evaluate various technological, organisational, and environmental aspects that facilitate or inhibit adoption or diffusion of social networking technologies and thereby identifying the relative impacts on an organization. 2.1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS The core element of this dissertation is to determine the upshots of implementing e-business technologies within Tesco and studying in detail how it affected the organization with a particular emphasis on the business practices. The objective is to assess the overall business activities and growth pattern of Tesco to find out the impact of the innovative networking technology and also elicit the views of significant participants of the organization. The five main objectives of this study are; To establish how e-business technologies are acquired, absorbed and utilised within Tesco to gain competitive advantage; To study the relative impacts of e-business technologies when applied to a retail organization particularly within Tesco; To investigate enablers and constraints that influence e-business practices within a wider context embracing all the regional, social and economic factors; To adopt a methodology, influenced by data collected from the active respondents and theoretical groundings for investigating Tescos e-business practices; To utilise a research design incorporating users of e-business technology such as the owners, managers and administrators of Tesco, to gather valuable views and comments about the relevant consequences. 2.2 SAMPLING TECHNIQUES RESEARCH DESIGN The recruitment and designing of sample required the random selection of the study population that is acquired from the 500 employees working on various levels within Tesco, located in Central London. The additional information about the organization was supplemented by the retail stores online website. The sample was designed to develop and benchmark the present scale of adoption of e-business technologies among the allocated sample of Tesco located in the Central region of London. The design of sample was tailored at diverse echelons. A brief semi-structured questionnaire was distributed and the interviews were tape recorded and transcribed verbatim for the assessment of relative impacts of e-business technologies. A back up staff for taking notes in writing and recording was made available to the interviewers, where applicable. The interviews were conducted on the basis of discretion; hence the sample store, market participants and the respondents are kept unidentified. Initially 500 active employees were engaged in the study functioning at various levels within the organization that include owners, managers, IT administrators, support staff and also some regular consumers. The sample is further categorised in accordance with their level of maturity i.e. depending on their status of commencement, stability and innovation. At the outset, the interviews were conducted in each firm and the respondents were selected from senior management team. The interviews were based on open-ended questions with in-depth interrogation in which the flexibility was maintained on the focus, follow-ups and probes clarifications to pursue the emerging themes (Alvesson and Skà ¶ldberg, 2000). The duration of interviews lasted between one and one-and-a-half hours session. The research has been conducted in three phases; each phase is discussed in detail as under: 2.2.1 PHASE I For understanding the existing research exhaustive literature and systematic reviews were carried out. Review was based on investigating how social networking has been adopted and integrated in small firm and thereby identifying their relative impacts. The exhaustive literature study also examined the association between the use of social networking technology and small firm growth. These reviews helped to identify major themes within previous research and the details contained within the papers highlighted concerns with social issues, absorptive capacity and policy support that enable the transfer and development of social networking technologies within business practices. Gaps include sector bias, lack of research on the situated nature of technologies, factors that mediate the adoption of new systems of organising, and how relational competence and social skills influence firm growth (Alvesson and Skà ¶ldberg, 2000). An in-depth study was carried out of relevant literature presen t in books, newspapers, articles and renowned academic journals. 2.2.2 PHASE II The research survey was administered during the period in between February 2010 and March 2010 and the investigation was focussed on studying the relative consequences of integrating e-business technologies within UKs leading retail, Tesco. A smaller canvassing team of 5 interviewers were trained to administer the telephonic survey and approximately 500 employees of Tesco were contacted via telephone. The inclusion criteria as set in accordance with the research methodology allowed the survey information to be collected from the owners, managers, IT managers or from employees and people of similar stature by the canvassers. Certain regular consumers were also considered as respondents and accepted as per the inclusion criteria. A response rate of approximately 18% was received through the outbound calls that helped to achieve about 90 completed forms. It is important to note that problems of sample selection and response bias can lead to results that are difficult to extrapolate to l arger populations. In this case two types of bias were encountered. Firstly, regional bias arose due to the over collection of surveys from the upper management and too few from the lower management. Secondly, the survey contained too few surveys administered to the consumer base of the organization. Both imbalances were corrected using a weighting process called rim weighting (Alvesson and Skà ¶ldberg, 2000). All results generated for this document are weighted implying that the results reflect the general picture to be found in the organization. 2.2.3 PHASE III The third phase of the research methodology is designed to understand the need for incorporating e-business technologies within the potential retail market and assessing how entrepreneurs would utilise the technology to gain competitive advantage, and finally investigating the limits of the e-business technology when put into practice. In order to gain deeper insight into the need for e-business technology within the retail store, qualitative interviews were conducted on 500 employees of Tesco selected from different departments within the organization. The interviews were conducted on the upper management and directorship level or with IT decision makers of the companies (Fink, 2007). The research encompasses the incorporation of e-commerce and e-business techniques for selling products from a broad range of departments of Tesco including food products, healthcare products, sports, groceries, electronic products and home accessories. To acquire a rich background of company informati on there were about 10 stores enlisted for interview via cold calls to the database collated during the enterprise survey and further 5 stores were enlisted through general contacts. Respondents were asked to illustrate the nature of the retail business practice in order to gain insight into the role of e-business technology in the company. Details were collected regarding the trade practice of the enterprise to identify the level of operation i.e. local or international, furthermore, investigations were made about the current level of networking technologies in use and the mode of communication between employees, suppliers and customers were also studied. 2.3 PROTOCOL FOR DATA COLLECTION The target study population is comprised of actively participating members and employees including owners, directors, managers, administrators and IT staff of Tesco. An aggregated set of data collected through authenticated annual reports of the organization to determine the growth patterns after the adoption of e-business technologies. Renowned economic journals, newspaper articles and books are used for compilation of authentic data. An open ended brief survey questionnaire was distributed to the respondents in order to collect valuable comments and meetings to discuss and accumulate annotations of relevant stakeholders. ASSOCIATED RISKS TO DATA COLLECTION There are certain practical difficulties that hinder in the collection of data that eventually result in delaying the research procedure. Due to the indulgence of human objects there are chances of missed appointments, absences due to illness that might account for the down gradation of the research process. Effective time management by pre-evaluated questionnaires cut short and transcribed interview sessions and appropriate theoretical observations are required to anticipate research obstacles in timely manner (ESRC, 2010). 2.4.1 VALIDITY AN

Is Islam a Violent Religion by Nature? :: essays research papers fc

Is Islam a Violent Religion by Nature?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Islam and the worship of Allah (god) began with Muhammad and his revelations that lasted for 23 years of his life from (610 C.E.- 623 C.E.). In the Islamic religion it is believed that he was the last prophet sent by Allah (god) and this made all his teachings into to Law and are looked at as the will of God. These messages were given to him through the archangel Gabriel, in a kind of continuation to the Jewish Torah and Christian Bible, which the Qur’an shares some similarities or past â€Å"history† with them such as the belief in Abraham and Jesus as a prophet, but in the eye’s of Mohammad the Jews and Christians had fallen astray from the real teaching of god. His life and actions were very important to the creation of the religion. I would say that his policies changed quite a bit under different situations of his career as a prophet. At the begging he had a small following that consisted of mostly of middle class that was upset with the injustices in society. They were expelled from Mecca and begin raiding caravans under the pretense that they had been robed of their belongings when they were expelled from Mecca. Mohammad tell them that their battle is holy and dieing doing the will of Allah is respectable and will be rewarded in the after life. After the battle of Badr in 624 c.e. the muslims having smaller forces but knowing that god is on their side attack a larger group of meccanMuslim warriors become highly feared and began winning battles even if out numbered. Qur’an (4:74) â€Å"Let those who fight in the path of God who sell the life of this world for the other. Whoever fight in the path of God, whether he be slain or vic torious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward† This attracts more support for Mohammad’s movement not only from idealist who would fight under the protection of god and the benefits of this in the afterlife but also from people that wanted to reap the benefits of the pillaging that was going on gaining numbers in his movement. Here Mohammad began changing his rules of tolerance to some that were justifying attacks even in the sacred month. This is also were understanding the Qur’an begin to become very contradictory and up to interpretation of the of the asbab al-nuzul (occasion of the revelation) because the earlier verse are abrogated by the later ones.

Higher Cost of Healthcare: Deterrent for Smokers Essay

This research is focused on the hypothesis that if an employer would require a higher healthcare cost for employees who smoke, would this prevent them from continuing the vice and quit smoking for good? Literature Review According to Andre, Velasquez & Mazur (2008) â€Å"the American Medical Association recently revealed that at least 25 cents of every health care dollar is spent on the treatment of diseases or disabilities that result from potentially changeable behaviors. † Smoking, by itself, costs the the U. S. health care system over $65 billion annually (par. 1). Meanwhile, in an article entitled â€Å"Smokers Pay More for Health Benefits: Employers Ask Smokers to Pay Higher Health-Care Premiums† written by Lisa Cornwell, she said that a number of companies have already imposed higher health care premiums to employees who smoke (par. 2). These companies, both private and public, resort to this measure to entice the smokers to quit smoking for good. Some companies impose $20 to $50 a month for these employees. According to the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey: â€Å"Smoking is costing the economy† (cited in Cornwell,2006, par. 2 ). Significantly, the â€Å"employers are charging smokers extra for health insurance in an effort to rein in costs. The estimated costs of medical expenses and lost productivity are about twice the cost of cigarettes per pack or more† (cited in Cornwell,2006, par. 2 ). Additionally, in an interview by Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, she remarked that â€Å"In addition to employers having to pay out more in health-care costs, public opinion is now solidly on the side of eliminating smoking, and workers are realizing increasingly that they are having to pay for others’ lifestyle choices† (cited in Cornwell, 2006, par. 0). National Business Group on Health is a non profit organization with more than 200 member employers. Despite the imposition of higher healthcare cost, some companies offer programs that will entice smokers to quit smoking. Once they sign up and complete the program, they are waived of a certain amount which is usually required for smoking employees. However if they resume the vice, the fee will be asked of them in the following year. Basing from the number of the employees that signed up for the program, it appears to be a motivating factor for smokers to finally give up on smoking. However, an issue cannot be without an opposing side. Lewis Maltby, president of the National Workrights Institute, remarked â€Å"making smokers pay more for insurance for their health choices isn’t inherently wrong [but] do we really want to live in a world where employers penalize us for everything in our private lives that isn’t healthy? † (cited in Cornwell, 2006, par. 10). Methodology This study is conducted through interview of sixty (60) respondents. The respondents’ age ranged from 23 to 40 years of age. Among them were 22 females and 38 males. They were all smokers and of different histories. The range of their ages was 14 to 27 when they started smoking tobacco/cigarettes. The main questions asked from the respondents are as follows: (a) How many sticks of cigarettes do you smoke per day? (b) On average, how may times have you consulted with a medical doctor with sickness relating to your vice? (c) Are you willing to shoulder higher healthcare cost for smoking? (d) If you had no choice but to shoulder higher health care cost, would you quit smoking for good? Data Analysis and Results  Among the sixty (60) respondents, the cigarette packs consumed per day range from 3 sticks to 1 pack a day. A pack contains 20 sticks of cigarette. As regards medical conditions, 56% of the smokers admitted to have smoking-related illnesses such as cough and sinus infections. In a year, they visit the doctor 2 to 3 times for such sickness. When asked if they are willing to shoulder additional healthcare cost for their vice, 40% said yes, since they are willing to take responsibility for their own vice. However 60% said no. On the imposition of a higher health cost from their employers; and if this would make them quit smoking for good, 38. 3% said they would definitely quit smoking, 43. 3% said they would make an effort to quit smoking, 18. 3% said it would not make any difference in their smoking habits. Discussion Basing from the interviews, only 18% of the respondents are adamant to quitting smoking despite imposing higher costs for healthcare. Significantly, these respondents have been smoking for almost their lives and have not yet experienced any serious illness associated with their smoking habit. One of the respondents remarked that he is willing to shoulder a few more of his income and earnings since smoking, according to him, does him good that is worth his money. However, more significantly, 38% are willing to give up the vice and another 43% were willing to make an effort to quit for good. Basing from this research, it shows that higher health care cost can be an effective deterrent for smoking. One of those willing to give up smoking for good was a single woman who said she could instead use the money for clean fun than for smoking-related sicknesses. Conclusion and Recommendation Judging from the result of this study and various interviews of employers (as stated in Cornwell’s article), the additional expenses for health care for smoking apparently discourage smokers from pursuing the vice. Evidence shows that most are willing to undergo therapy and programs that will help eliminate the tobacco habit for good, as they are to shoulder the expense of consultation, treatment and medication for such voluntary health risk.

How Attitudes to Marriage Have Changed Essay

In the past people married at a much younger age on average than they do today. Marrying in your late teens or early twenties was normal. Most people got married as this is what was expected of you, and people rarely considered not doing so. Many fewer decide to marry these days. Many make the conscious decisions not to as they prefer to remain more independent. This can be the case for both genders. Some would argue that people wait to meet the right person now, whereas before they would marry the first person who came along. Living Together while not Married In the past it was not socially acceptable for unmarried couples to live together. It was seen as wrong and was therefore extremely rare. It is possible that this contributed to early marriage. Unmarried couples living together has almost become the norm now. Many decide to see how they get along living together before they decide to marry. It is also common for couples to live together, and possibly have children, without ever getting married. They live the same way as a married couple without ever making it official. Children It used to be rare for people not to have children. Most people would conform to a very specific lifestyle, marrying young and having children soon after. Hardly anyone had children before marriage, and it was even rarer for people to do this by choice. Nowadays it is not uncommon at all for people to have children without being married and this is not seen as a big issue by most. Sometimes parents live together as a family with their children without being married, while others are single parents. Not everyone decides to have children either. It is no longer seen as something you must do so it has become more of a choice. The Role of Women A hundred years ago, the role of women was very specific. They were expected to marry, have children, and not work. Their role was to look after the home and their children while men went out to work. Women’s role in family life, and life in general, now depends on the individual person and her circumstances. Many still crave the traditional lifestyle of marriage and children, but many make other choices. There are many more career women; some are working parents while others don’t have children at all. The role of men is also less rigid, and it is much more common than it used to be for Mothers to go to work while Fathers stay at home. Divorce Divorce was once illegal so wasn’t an option at all. Even once it did become legal it was rarely considered and was deemed a sin by many. Now it is much more common for a variety of reasons. Attitudes have completely changed and divorce is seen as perfectly acceptable for those in an unhappy marriage and there is no longer the same stigma attached to it. Although some think of the increase in divorce as a negative, it could be argued that it is better than remaining unhappy. It is also practically easier with family law having changed to make it easier for those seeking a divorce.