Ethical Consumption of Cell Phones Essay

1. INTRODUCTION In just 30 years, mobile telephony has grown into a major global industry, with an estimated 5 billion users around the world, compared with a total world population of around 7 billion people. While new subscriber growth has slowed somewhat in recent years, product turnover remains high, with over 1 billion new mobile phones shipped in 2009 alone. This paper firstly examines the life cycle of a cell phone, describing its stages from the extraction of the materials to its disposal or re-usage possibilities. It also discussed the ethical issues that impact the environment and society. Lastly, two cell phone manufactures (Apple and Nokia) are being compared in terms of how they deal with environmental impacts. 2. LIFE CYCLE OF A CELL PHONE Stage One: Extraction of Materials Mobile phones generally comprise approximately 40% metals and 40% plastics, with the remainder made up of glass, ceramic and other miscellaneous materials. The parts of a cell phone include the circuit board, the liquid crystal display (LCD) and the rechargeable battery. The circuit board, which controls all of the phone’s functions, consists of copper, gold, silver, lead, nickel, tin, coltan, and zinc. The LCD, which is a flat-panel display where all the information and images appear, is made of glass or plastic. Batteries power the cell phone and, depending on the type of battery, may contain nickel, cobalt, zinc, cadmium and copper. Many of these materials are so called â€Å"persistent toxins† that remain in the environment for a long period of time, even after disposal. Furthermore, an important life cycle consideration is the energy required to extract metals from their respective ores. From an energy perspective, precious metals gold and silver and exceed the impact of copper. In addition, the energy content of glass also has a significant energy footprint, due to the high melt temperatures that are required during manufacturing. Stage Two: Materials Processing Raw materials that go into making cell phones must first be processed before manufacturers can use them. For example, to make the plastic casing, crude oil needs to be combined with natural gas and chemicals. The copper used to make the circuit board and batteries has to be mined from the ground, heated and treated with chemicals and electricity before it can be formed into wires and sheets. Stage Three: Manufacturing The individual parts of a cell phone each go through a manufacturing process. The circuit board is shaped using plastics and fibreglass and then coated with gold plating. The circuits and wires of the circuit board are soldered, glued and coated. The LCD is made with liquid crystals layered between glass or plastic. These layers include two polarized panels, with a liquid crystal solution between them. Light is projected through the layer of liquid crystals and is colorized, which produces the visible image. Batteries have two electrodes (both made from a different metal) and each electrode is touched by a liquid material called electrolytes. When an outlet or another outside electrical source is applied, a chemical reaction between the electrodes and the electrolytes causes an electric current to flow and powers the battery. Stage Four: Packaging and Transportation The transportation process and packaging of cell phones is seen as harmful to the environment. Transporting cell phones for distribution requires the use of fossil fuels for energy, which can contribute to global climate change. While packaging protects products from damage, identifies contents, and provides information, excessive or decorative packaging contributes to the waste that we produce. Packaging consumes valuable natural resources, such as paper (from trees), plastic (from crude oil in the earth), aluminium (from ore), or other materials, all of which use energy to produce and can result in waste. Some packaging, however, can be made from recycled materials. Stage Five: Useful Life You can extend the use of your cell phone by taking good care of it as in protecting it from damage by storing it in a case, avoiding dropping it, and keeping it out of extreme heat and cold and away from water and other liquids. However, the materials that are used to make cell phones can potentially damage the environment and harm people. Therefore, it is important to reuse, recycle or properly dispose cell phones. Reuse: Many organizations, including recyclers, charities, and electronics manufacturers, accept working cell phones and offer them to schools, community organizations, and individuals in need. Reuse gives people, who could not otherwise afford them, free or reduced cost access to new phones and this also extends the useful lifetime of a phone. Recycle: Nowadays, many stores, manufacturers, and recycling centres accept cell phones for recycling. Some cell phones can be fixed and sold as refurbished phones, or parts can be used to fix phones. Some rechargeable batteries can also be recycled, as this way the recovered materials can be used to make new batteries and stainless steel products. Disposal: However, about 40% of cell phones can’t be sold as refurbished cell phones. These cell phones are shredded as well as smelted at a copper refiner. Many metals actually go back to their natural state. This process helps replenish some natural resources and it is called above ground mining. Still, many cell phones are simply thrown in the trash and end up in landfills (buried in the ground) or incinerators (burned). Because cell phones contain metals, plastics, chemicals, and other potentially hazardous substances, they should always be recycled or properly disposed. Phones that are thrown away waste energy and result in the loss of valuable resources. This figure shows the cell phone recycling rate from 2007 to 2010 in the United Stated. Even though sales were the highest in 2010, the recycling rate did not correspond to the sales. 3. ETHICAL ISSUES 1. Energy Conservation The quantity of mobile phone usage increases any environmental impact of this product. Life-cycle analysis conducted by the European Commission shows that energy consumption is the greatest impact, both during manufacture of components and during their usage. Nokia estimated that if 10% of worldwide subscribers would unplug their chargers once their phone is fully charged, the energy saved could to supply 60,000 European homes for one year. Issues like wastage of energy due to overcharging and or mobiles left unplugged even after being fully charged needs to be addressed more. 2. Exploitation & Illegal Trading The material used in the manufacturing of the mobile phones is coltan, a heat resistant material found in the Republic of Congo. In the Coltan, mines there are children that have to work instead of going to school and many reputable companies buy this mineral. Companies have to resort to material provided by controversial circumstances. What is Coltan? Coltan, short for columbite-tantalite is a metallic ore comprising niobium and tantalum. The niobium-dominant mineral in coltan is columbite, and the tantalum-dominant mineral is tantalite. Niobium, whose leading producer in Brazil, is mostly found in the mineral pyrochlore whereas tantalum is extracted from the ore, tantalite and is created by smelting and tin mining in some places. Tantalum mineral is mainly mined in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Democratic Republic of Congo, China, Ethiopia, Mozambique and other central African countries. Coltan is important for manufacturing cell phones because it is in the capacitors that control current flow in the cell phone’s circuit board. When refined, coltan becomes a heat resistant powder, metallic tantalum which has unique properties for storing electrical charge. Mining Coltan In the Coltan is mined by hand in the Congo by groups of men digging basins in streams by scrapping off the surface mud. They then â€Å"slosh† the water around the crater, which causes the Coltan ore to settle at the bottom of the crater where it is retrieved by the miners. A team can â€Å"mine† one kilo of Coltan per day. Most of these miners are children which are subjected to extreme conditions. Therefore, awareness has to be brought to these terrible working conditions by which these child workers are affected. Coltan financing war A recent report by the UN has claimed that all the parties involved in the local civil war have been involved in the mining and sale of Coltan. One report suggested that the neighbouring Rwandan army made US$250 million from selling Coltan in less than 18 months, despite there being no Coltan in Rwanda to mine. The military forces of Uganda and Burundi are also implicated in smuggling Coltan out of Congo for resale in Belgium. A report to the United Nations Security Council has called for a moratorium on purchase and import of resources from the Democratic Republic of Congo, due to the ongoing civil war that has dragged in the surrounding countries. 3. Toxics Waste disposal & Environmental Impact Persistent Bio accumulative toxins Persistent Bio accumulative toxins (PBTs) PBTs are particularly dangerous because they do not degrade over long periods of time, and can easily spread and move between air, water, and soil, resulting in the accumulation of toxins far from the original point source of pollution. Because PBTs accumulate in fatty issue of humans and animals, the toxins are gradually concentrated and are of great risk. Cell phone batteries Rechargeable batteries are rapidly changing as technological advances improve new power sources. Already 60% of rechargeable Batteries sold worldwide are used in cell phones. However, rechargeable currently have toxic constituents such as cadmium, as well as brominated flame-retardants. The total environmental impact from cell phone batteries depends on a batteries material composition as well as on the time cell phones are used before they are discarded. Therefore, many cell phone users replace their batteries at least once before retiring their phones Lead Lead is a highly poisonous metal affecting almost every organ and system in the body. It has been widely used in electronics as the primary method of attaching components to the printed wiring boards. Lead is a toxin to both humans and the environment. It is a common contaminant and can impact entire ecosystems. In humans, it affects the central nervous system, immune and vascular systems, kidneys, and the endocrine system, with serious effects on the development of children’s brains. Lead is also a possible carcinogen. It accumulates in the environment and has very high chronic and acute effects on microorganisms, plants, and animals. 4. Society In past few years, the boom in the usage of mobile phones has tremendously increased, a large percentage of which are children. With the advancement of technology with faster data rate and streaming videos, the youth has been given unlimited access to any contents on web. Restrictions should be established to prohibit children from accessing adult content. Also, mobile phones have been restricted to be used during driving as it has been one of the factors of road accidents. 4. COMPANY COMPARISON: APLLE vs. NOKIA How do these companies deal with environmental impacts? This part of the paper compared two companies in the cellular industry, Apple and Nokia, and how these firms deal with environmental impacts. Although Apple is not entirely a mobile devices producer, its only mobile phone, the iPhone, is very popular and widely sold. Nokia is a well known mobile devices producer, which was dominating the industry for a very long time. However, in past couple years they have faced tremendous difficulties catching up with the technological changes, and did not produce a â€Å"smart phone† in time. Despite their rapid losses in revenues, they still operate in this market, and one of their latest smart phones, the LUMIA 800, is very similar to the iPhone 4S. Both phones have similar hardware preferences and are comprised of similar materials. Now let’s take a look at which company is better off when it comes to sustainable business. Apple iPhone 4S Apple generally says that their products are brominated flame retardant – free, PVC – free, mercury – free, and that the glass they use is arsenic – free. All of these factors conclude in a positive result for Apple. Also, the iPhone releases a minimum of CO2 -gases. In fact, it releases only 1.2g of CO2-gases per hour, whereas a light bulb produces 48.4g per hour. This performance is due to the LED screen, as LED produces the least CO2 of all light sources. Furthermore, Apple has reduced the size of their packages of iPhones by 42%, which not only rapidly reduces the amount of materials necessary, but they can also ship 80% more boxes in each airline shipping container. That saves one 747 flight for every 371,250 units they ship. If you count in the amounts of fuel that is saved and add every aspect of this change together, it is clear that Apple’s Environmental Management is doing incredibly well. Their whole portfolio regarding environment is a p erfect marketing strategy. They claim that all of their products are fully recyclable. This also includes the power conservation, which in this case is a Lithium-Ion battery. This battery is efficient and long lasting, which eliminated the necessity to replace the battery often. Despite this, there is no way the battery can be removed from the phone without unscrewing the body of the phone, for which you need ultra thin screw drivers. Therefore, nobody can actually recycle these batteries themselves, unless they return it to Apple or give their phones to a recycling company. Despite all of these positive factors, Apple still operates this business using very irrational sales policies. They replace their products with twice as strong hardware every year and adapt the software to the new hardware, which makes the old products very slow and ultimately unable to use. This forces the customers to always buy the newest models, which eventually produces a lot of waste. Nokia LUMIA 800 Although Nokia now has very strong environmental reporting, this whole process started only after the crisis the company went through. Despite this, the LUMIA 800 proves to be a very sustainable product. In Nokia’s reports, it is stated that the phone is BFR-free and PVC-free. The company also states that this phone produces 16kg of CO2 emissions per constant 3 years of usage. Equally divided this yields 0.6g per hour of use, however this is not very reliable because it depends on the way these emissions are measured. When it comes to packaging, Nokia still uses the big boxes. After almost 15 years, they still use the same size of the boxes loaded with papers which contribute to a large amount of material waste. All in all, both companies provide very detailed information about their business ethics, and both rank positively. Apple as well as Nokia lay a great emphasis on improving the environmental aspects of their products and processes in each phase of the product life cycl e, from raw material acquisition till the end of the product’s useful life. Both companies state to have reduced their carbon footprint, while introducing new features and constantly improving their products. To conclude, it cannot be said which company performs better as each of them has its advantages and disadvantages. Taking all the above mentioned points into consideration, this paper aims to highlight the ethical issues of mobile phones. When buying a cell phone, most consumers do not even think about what impacts their choice can have on the environment; the same applies to the disposal after the end of life. There are estimated 5 billion cell phone users which should be made more aware of the potential hazards of mobiles. They can cause environmental and health issues, causing CO2-emissions which increase the carbon footprint. Therefore, in conclusion, the choice which cell phone to buy should not only be based on cost and technical factors but also include environmental aspects.

History of God Essay

1. Why you selected the particular book? The diverse religious activities and the differences in faith and belief have divided men into different denominational groupings. For several centuries, religious groupings have engaged in physical and verbal combat in an attempt to spread its faith. However the most fundamental conflict stems from an opposing belief coupled by a summary of socio-cultural differences. These differences have ushered in conflicts that escalated into atrocities and bloodshed. Other conflicts have made religious differences as the organizing point to justify their own superior ambitions. Armstrong however stressed on a comparative history of the three monotheistic religions and exposed the frailty in each belief. Her insistence on the monopoly of truth committed by Christianity, Islam and Judaism as superior to other sects has developed an idea of a supreme being with human similarities. The idea of a personal supreme being has been supported by these religions which condemns and marginalize others. Suc h idealistic behavior of presenting God as a bigger version of man retreats and spins man away from the virtue that the faith teaches. In our present era, God has been adapted to meet the demands of the fast-changing ideas. Armstrong believes that some religions would eventually die out while others would gain strength or change direction. This has actually seen proof in people changing their religious affiliations. Her book is an interesting read that awakens us to the struggle for a religious meaning to an aggressive and extreme personalized stance that totally erases the ethical proportions that embodies that teaching of God. Further in Armstrong’s book, a well-balanced critical perspective on how the Western faith catered to the rise of atheism is clearly presented. It exposed how atheism evolved not merely on the basis of disproving the religious scriptures but as a result of the theological excesses committed in the past years. 2. What is the author’s purpose in writing the book? In our own century, the idea attached to God has been revised several times to meet the demands of the present population. Armstrong believed that when religious ideas cease to be effective, they fade away (376). After so much tribulations and conflicts, the thought that religious roots may cease to exist provides a comforting scene for Armstrong who has seen a drastic shrinkage of religious denominations as common views changed. The reading public’s response in a book with Armstrong’s magnitude has indicated the public’s hunger a theological change. For her, God has been remade to portray a vision that endorses the history and supremacy of the strong to work for their cause. Religion thereby has a social purpose and the idea of God according to Armstrong serves a function for a culture to survive. People have always resisted any type change unless the proposed change fits in with their social and cultural order and lifestyle. This is what Armstrong has continued to stress in her book. Further this book Armstrong aims to express in her history that traditional society practiced spirituality. Men sought nature and use these forces to work for him. Somehow this was depicted in Genesis that was also suggested by Armstrong that Abraham’s God was El (14). Myths evolved around Abraham’s God that was not supposed to be taken literally according to Armstrong. However when behavior or actions of â€Å"God† enabled people to show their best and perform effectively, the concept became highly accepted. The Koran according to Armstrong also taught that God had created Adam in his own image which is why he ordered the angels to bow down and worship the first man (229). Armstrong’s work however signifies that God is either personal or transcendent. He can â€Å"encourage perpetual immaturity,† or be â€Å"essentially subjective and personal enlightenment† which Armstrong stresses can be a very good thing. She means to relay the message th at a transcendent God, when not planning a revolution, is subject to the manipulations of mankind. He could be a racist or a revolutionary depending on our personal views which has been mirrored after man’s own image to portray a supreme being. For modern religion, she stressed that Christianity is faced with atheism which evolved as a rational choice after the Reformation. She also exposed the limitations that Islam has also struggled in order to reconcile religious views with their economic and political position. Modern Islam seeks to either pattern their behavior from western views which altogether eased their strict sanctions over traditional religious practices like Iran and Turkey. The Jews after seeing the horrors of the century have lost forbearance and instead focused on a political battle over the Israeli state. One thing however continues to become a mundane search for everyone which is to seek the truth throughout the long history of God’s existence. 3. Review of the ideas presented The understanding presented in Armstrong was Christianity, Islam and Judaism’s belief that a one true God and religion would evolve (151). Armstrong presented that any conflict should have been erase as they all share a certain similarity existing along the same line of conflict. Biblical evidence according to Armstrong has suggested that the leader Moses convinced his people El and Yahweh were one and the same (21). For her, the call for a one true God is a call for unity among religion. This unity hopes to recognize the aspiration of others but will seemingly focus on a true worship. Additionally, excessive intellectualism is frowned upon which is damaging to the faith. Armstrong provided that is God is not to become an indulgent endorsement of our own egotism, religious experience must be informed by an accurate assessment of its content (205). She stressed a repeated warning against making God into an endorsement of egotism. The Koran is likewise clear that there is to be no compulsion in religion (155-6). God is love as further endorsed in Armstrong’s work which is positively effective in the history of monotheism which speaks of a God who is on the side of the impotent and the oppressed (20). Further she stressed that God would live in a loving brotherhood, and not in a stone temple (71).   Ã‚  It follows then that each human being is a unique epiphany of the Hidden God, manifesting him in a particular and unrepeatable manner (237). But the human mind has conceived concepts that go beyond reticence requiring considerable skill and mental balance when certain symbols emerged. Armstrong has established the roots of atheism were founded on the discovery of biblical errors. Mark’s gospel, which is the earliest of its kind to dismiss Jesus as a god, presents that Jesus was a perfectly normal man, with a family that included brothers and sisters (80). Although the reliability of Mark’s gospel is in question nevertheless Armstrong also insisted that Paul did not believe that Jesus was God incarnated and perfectly adding that the doctrine of incarnation developed only later (83). Christianity is heavily contradicted with atheism as a rational choice against the stringent doctrines of the Christian religion. 4. Analysis and evaluation of the author’s work History of God is a comparative study of monotheistic religions and their experience of the divine throughout history. Armstrong has capitalized that making God to suit one’s personal needs has been practiced all throughout history. The fame of this book certainly banks on how Armstrong seeks to diminish the faith of those who seek to live in within the doctrines of their faith. God comes out as callous, self-righteous and entirely lacking in the compassion and coherence to be worthy of veneration. The best seller status that Armstrong’s book has gained in England is a clear indication though that the public has a hunger to know the truth which has been hidden or concealed. Her apparent endorsement that persons of the cloth and religion might as well be dead serves to instigate lambaste against a belief that she had abandoned. Her distaste for Christianity is riddled by misleading statements that build up certain theories as an indubitable fact. God in Exodus was presented as an example for the people of Midian whom Moses lived in exile. She refused to present that scholars have discredited this belief and continued to bloat the theory as a fact. Theologians have also debated over the compression of several thousand years of history into over four hundred pages of Armstrong’s book. Everything is fast paced that endorsed the acceptance of non-western culture and frown upon the western culture. 5. Personal reaction and conclusion This book produces disorienting yet eye-catching effects as a reading inspires an uprising in history that proclaims God as a God of revolution. Given this build-up, her discussion over the mystical tradition leaves a void for she has nothing else to say after promoting immanence. While projecting religions, she does emphasize a tolerance for Islam and Judaism while castigating the western tradition of Christianity that she grew up in. These profound averments against â€Å"western† religion has created inattention and laxity on greater issues that passed off unscrutinized leaving the reader in midair like Armstrong’s lack of discussion over Newton’s obsession with the Book of Revelations. In conclusion, Armstrong’s book could have provided a better skill is balance was exercised in handling the three monotheistic religions of Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Her condescending tone reflects how she used the deity into a form that best suits her interest. Although she has exposed the struggles of Islam as it tries to suit to western behavior and the Jewish focus on a political status of Israel, the search for the truth prevails. Further she has reflected that a huge amount of strong adherence against excessive intellectualism is damaging to the faith. Her assessment and endorsement of how atheism evolved during the Reformation period is spun over a rational clamor for truth over the long history of God’s existence.

Film Genre Essay

â€Å"Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality†. Popular fascination with shock, horror and psychological thriller genre has been situated at an ultimate high, with school students wanting to learn about these popular genres. From watching videos and reading books from these exquisite genres, students receive various in site from the different eras and how those particular eras were controlled. Throughout the range of poetic genres each author has their own way of express feelings, protruding language techniques and helps show and feels emotions. Authors who illustrate genres in a particular way should be a part of the English curriculum, for the way they display the particular genres and help students understand the nature of fear, guilt and human conscience. Particular language techniques are used in shock, horror and psychological thriller genres. The language techniques have changed intensely over the years and this is due to how lifestyles are controlled and how woman and men portray themselves to each other. The differences between sentences from today society and society from years ago have changed dramatically. A sentence from ‘Macbeth,† Wherefore was that cry†. Today’s society â€Å"what was that noise or where did that noise come from†. Another quote from Edgar Allan Poe shows that the sentence structure were simple but complex and had intended to mean so much through such little words, â€Å"We loved with a love that was more than love.† Sentence from Authors who lived in different eras are interesting to study because we received a brilliant in site to how the language techniques were portrayed to being simple but complex. With the evidence provided, it is easy to see that Authors from different eras have much better language techniques. From directors, narrators, author and actor, in their plays, movies and shows a high variety on universal themes are shown. A universal theme is human emotions that the audience can relate to throughout the play, movie or show. A universal theme is themes were the actor or character is feeling sad, happy, angry or betrayed. Universal themes are defiantly very important for a student to learn about, and understand these different terms. These themes are used to interact with the audience and make the audience involved and when using universal themes in a scene it helps the audience interact  with that particular scene and helps the audience feel apart. Thirdly, students in today’s society are more engaging in English themes that they are wanting to learn about or what they enjoy learning about. With shock, Horror and the Psychological thriller genre at high demands and statistics say that these 3 genres are the most demanded genres in the world. With Shock, horror and psychological thriller genre being taught in schools, will most likely make school students engage in the Lesson more because they want to actually learn and be involved in the lesson. The final criterion is the difference in shock, horror and psychological thriller genre to now and 100 years ago has changed dramatically. These genres a long time ago were about simple fighting, simple killing, blood and guts. And in this century these genres mean people playing sick mind games and torturing, ghosts, demons, spirits, haunted houses, more in depth gory scenes and lots more. It is very important for students to learn about the difference in these genres and to compare them together they have changed a lot. School students today learn a lot from shock, horror and psychological thriller genre. The students learn a lot from particular language techniques, universal themes and how these particular genres have changed and evolved over time. If the Queensland censorship board considers banning these genres, they are taking a lot away about history that students need to learn about and are essential to the English learning curriculum.

Management Principles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Management Principles - Essay Example Today’s organisations provide immense opportunities for employees to learn and grow. These organisations contribute significantly towards growth and betterment of the society. Today’s organisations work on team-based structures and give much importance to human capital. Organisations function well on strong information and technology framework. Moreover, organisations give much importance to the wellbeing of their employees by focusing on work-life balance (Schermerhorn, 2010). Organisations accomplish these by employing able managers. A manager is the person responsible for achieving specific goals through people through activities like coaching, mentoring, facilitating, planning, monitoring and controlling. Therefore, a manager has administrative functions and leadership functions in an organisation. Managers can be of various types depending upon their tasks. Different types of managers include line managers, facilities managers, security managers, general managers o r functional managers (Parsloe, 2004). Managers are responsible for a variety of activities and functions like performance management, employee motivation, customer satisfaction, as well as production activities and quality management. These functions constitute the management process.

Walter williams Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Walter williams - Essay Example If compensations were to be made, then apology becomes meaningless since it becomes a two-way business in which first the slave owners and sellers benefited and now the descendants of the slaves are benefiting. Apology means regret, not compensation. In this context, the disclaimer placed at the end of the resolution is justified. If the government does not pay, payment retrieved from any other community will raise substantial issues which will be graver than the need to compensate the descendants of the slaves. It is Williams’s fallacy that he has declared that the American government retrieves all the money it has from Americans. This is so untrue! The American government is not running on taxes paid by Americans alone. There are millions of Asians, Europeans, Arabs, and workers belonging to other nations who have not been granted the green card and yet they are earning in the USA and part of their payment goes to the American government. Besides, the American government is earning a lot of money by doing business with the Arabs in general and the KSA in particular. There are several other sources of income for the American

Short answer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Short answer - Essay Example However, the state in availing welfare to the public acts within certain outlined guidelines meant to evaluate certain involved loses or costs, hence implement measures whose purpose is to limit excesses of some individual groups. Implementation of SOPA seeks to ensure public interest via shunning either intrusion or pirating of people’s intellectual property and counterfeit goods (â€Å"Economics Week†). Mainly, the provision of this enforcement involves requesting court to prevent advertising bodies and online payment facilities from conducting transactions with infringing websites or search engines (â€Å"Economics Week†). Hence, expand the already existing laws with the intention of safeguarding the public’s interest by barring streaming of unauthorized copyrighted content and imposing harsh sentences to the culprits not more than five years. as a result of this first â€Å" mass† medium of communication linguistic unity would be one of the broadcasting’s main effects establishing physical and cultural unification not only English, but proper, uninflected English would become the national standard/norm. defined as â€Å" pussy- willow† English Somehow, this will yield to the eroding of some cultural practices but with time. Since, the upcoming generation due to this implementation will tend to move away from their cultural norms and adopt the incoming practices or ways of life. This is to ensure they interact with others while contributing to varied issues being broadcasted, for instance, those pertaining to politics. They usually erode diverse and numerous archaic practices commonly held by people as taboo, hence prompting all genders assuming roles that were earlier prohibited. For instance, in acting whereby each gender and people from varied races can mimic whom they want in plays for the purpose of relaying the intended information. This has extended to the present but

Foreign Market Entry and Diversification Research Paper - 1

Foreign Market Entry and Diversification - Research Paper Example The aim of diversifying the business is to increase the stock prices and reduce the risks, which may arise in the new market; thus achieving effective business competitive advantage. The strategy for business diversification will be expanding the operation of the company through adding new markets, new products and services of different types and adding production stages to the existing business. The catalyst for achieving these strategies is taking into consideration the mission and vision of the business; thus grasping the opportunities when presented in order to move toward profitable business. The aim of this diversification strategy is to allow the business to enter business lines, which are dissimilar from the presented business operations. Some entrepreneurs believes that diversification is achievable through a natural advancement that is extending the new brands by offering customers a variety of products; thus meeting their demanding needs (Tielmann, 2010). However, an effec tive diversification strategy is capitalizing the core competence of the company and the strengths of flourishing brands to enable the business perform successfully into the new markets. The synergies may be gained from the diversified activity through incorporating the corporate level strategic decisions together with the diversified activity. ... Therefore, the company can achieve synergy from diversified activity through creating more value to diversified products. The corporate can also enter into the diversified areas where corporation key resources and capabilities can be shared and leveraged in order to improve organizational performance. The synergies can come from both horizontal and vertical relationships from varied business units. The company can take into considerations the core competencies by leveraging competencies and shared activities in order to fuel the new business growth. Before the LLC Company enters into the foreign market, they should first analyze the environmental conditions of the foreign markets. They can employ effective models for analyzing the country’s attractiveness and the competitive strength of the business. Therefore, the foreign markets where the LLC Company can enter are the overseas markets such as the European markets. The company will employ effective strategies for entering the oversea markets in order to enable them become competitive; hence increasing profitability. One of the effective strategies that the company will employ is indirect export strategy. The company can use this strategy for matching the requirements of the foreign buyer. It can also choose to deal with international business that takes into considerations the foreign policies and regulations. The second strategy is the direct export since analyzing the direct export activities will enable the company to take greater control of their activities. It can involve in product sales and distribution in the international markets; thus employing this strategy will enable them to increase their sales. Lastly, it can employ foreign

Visitor Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Visitor Management - Assignment Example But if he happens to be inside a casino, he'd like to enjoy the latest hip music to be played along. Service quality plays a crucial role in popularizing the tourist spot and generating revenues. Some of the most important aspects of the overall service quality in visitor management are; Policies of the government: Tourist inflows to any tourist site depend on the policies and role of the federal government. For example the ancient monuments of Lord Buddha in Bamiyan (Afghanistan) bore a testimony of inept attitude of the local administration. These towering statues used to be a major tourist attraction and a revenue earner playing a crucial role in the economy of Afghanistan. Coordination with tour operators: Tour operators happen to be a smarter race in understanding the needs of the visitors and they appear to be more accessible. Tour operators can regularly include a tourist spot in the itinerary of the visitors depending upon the kind of facilities he is getting from the management of the tourist spot. To this end, the management may consider offering some discounts in the entrance fees etc. to the tour operator in lieu of consistency in visitor numbers. Operating proper guided tours: The first thing a visitor expects from the management... arly include a tourist spot in the itinerary of the visitors depending upon the kind of facilities he is getting from the management of the tourist spot. To this end, the management may consider offering some discounts in the entrance fees etc. to the tour operator in lieu of consistency in visitor numbers. Operating proper guided tours: The first thing a visitor expects from the management of a tourist spot is understandable signboards and guided tours. The visitors also require refreshments, snacks in the middle of the visit. Therefore restaurants, bars etc. should also be there. But these facilities must be developed as a support to the visits and must not in any way denigrate the ambiance of the site. For example the restaurant and bar must not become a place for partying of the hoodlums. Instead it should cater to the visitor as a place to take some rest and recoup his energy, who feels tired after visiting the site for long hours. Segmenting the visitors and identifying their needs and requirements: The visitor community could be students, archeologists, historians, nature lovers, researchers, Art lovers, young couples, party troupe etc. These different groups need some different types of marketing. Marketing strategy requires that customer's needs and interests be identified and then the visitors be divided into segments depending upon their interests and needs. For example the purpose of researchers in visiting a historical site is to historical facts, archeological features etc. while young students may take the visit as a day out and prefer to enjoy the picnic in their own way. Informative and educative sections for different segments: After having segmented the visitors, the management of site is supposed to devise marketing plan for different groups as per

DQweek1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

DQweek1 - Essay Example If bitmap image are used, then the images will be blurred and will not be clear when they are being viewed. The advantage of using this is that the drawings will show the various boundaries between the different types of plants that are found in a botanical setting (Griep, 2005). Fingerprints are drawn by using bitmaps. This is because finger prints are not that clear. The representation of the lines and the prints on the finger are not that clear. The use of bitmaps should be differentiated so that the dots can be used to connect the various lines. It is more impressive and representative when bitmaps are used in the drawing of fingerprints. Cartoons re drawn using lines so that the outline is well defined. This will therefore use lines to connect the cartoon. Using bitmaps will not being the outline and will bring the notion that the cartoon is a picture of something and not a drawing. A satellite image is represented using bitmaps. This is because it is an image. The image brings out the notion of a picture. In this case, we are representing a picture which is an image of a satellite. We are not representing a daring in this case. We are representing an image which should be represented using bitmaps to bring out the image and the notion of a picture. A photograph is not drawn. There are dots which are located in the photograph. There is no line outline that is used in online of the [photograph. The clarity of the photographs will depend on the clarity and the make/model of the device which has been used to take the photograph. The advantage of this is that if the dots are distributed, then the image will not be that clear. It will be hard to get the details and decipher the meaning from the image that has been shown. There are various differing formats of graphics. The graphic is converted or retained in a certain format because they serve the purpose better in that format that the user does want. There are various

Real estate debt markets Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Real estate debt markets - Assignment Example The original plan of the buyers was to refurbish and add more size to the building convert it in a building with several places of renting. For this property, potential investors acted first to buy it which today is 26% let. There is a cash flow excel sheet showing a holding period of 5 years starting with an investment of $76 million the first year of purchasing the property and making installments of about $ 67,000 annually. The loan plan used in pricing in relation to the document is in installments as the building is too expensive to purchase a block the first time. The point here is that, there are to be small premiums. These premiums are about the size that the banks want to buy the property. The total loan amount is $17,230,802 in order to purchase the building with a maturity date of 30/11/2014. The interest was at three months with 350 bps. The maximum price to get the loan is $17,230,802. In order to get the $76 needed, the will have to installments made to purchase the bui lding. The strategy employed is that of getting all the investors to on the investor’s committee to understand the value of buying the mezzanine loans, as this would help the investors to purchase the building. The building should have returns to give encouragement to the lenders, Danske. The project had several recommendations and conclusions such always waiting for the right time in order to get the loans among the others. In addition, the purchase of the loan itself is to under installment process and not paying at once. The investors should participate by doing a fact-finding survey of the property and loans to see if they are worth undertaking. The final decision on taking the loan is on principle of business and investment as whether to make such a mega loan. The property needs evaluations to see if it is in the standard class. Such a type attracts quality tenants. The

The cold war Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The cold war - Essay Example Truman’s policy, also called the â€Å"containment doctrine,† was intended to suppress and control the spread of Communism worldwide. The containment promptly became the executive U.S. policy towards the USSR (â€Å"The Cold War†). In 1949, Soviet Union had effectively launched its first atomic bomb, thus ending Americas monopoly of atomic weaponry. This event started the Cold War. The US then realized that the country was faced with threats of nuclear warfare.  The government immediately commenced the investigation of the probability of the US atomic secrets leaked to the Russians by American Communists. High-status court proceedings concluded the conviction and execution of  the Rosenbergs in 1953 (â€Å"The Second Red Scare:  Fear and Loathing in High Places, 1947-1954†). Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, under the Espionage Act, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage for the Soviet Union from 1944 to 1950. The Rosenbergs had been fundamentally involved in a Communist undercover agent circle that leaked US national defense secrets, particularly blueprints of high-explosive lens patterns and the US atomic bomb Trinity design, to the Soviet Union (Parrish). Truman’s war on communism ignited an anti-communist panic that led to espionage trials, an aggressive communist manhunt, and escalated aggression as the American government questioned, deported and investigated citizens suspected of being communists (â€Å"The Second Red Scare:  Fear and Loathing in High Places, 1947-1954†). Truman’s proposal that the country exercise military force to contain the global communist conspiracy started a chain of armed conflicts and deadly arms race between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. (â€Å"Cold War†). The anti-communist hysteria precipitated the U.S. involvement in the Korean War (Sandler). The Second Red Scare occurred after the

Top games Essay Example for Free

Top games Essay Nearly all the children could do the above I therefore suggest that the game is appropriate for the age range I planned it for. Throughout this observation the children have gained developing co-ordination and control over the cards. They have used fine motor skills to lift a turn over the cards, for the first few times the children turned over the cards they had a little difficulty all of the children discovered however that if they slide the card to the edge of the table it was easier to pick up. They have also been learning about sharing and turn taking and how everyone has to have fair turns and not to hurry them along. They have been thinking about ordinal numbers (first second etc) and what number comes next, and also through my open-ended questions, about lengths and sizes of the lines. B F Skinners theory of positive and negative reinforcement also fits in here. If a child gets a number and puts it in the correct order, they may be praised, told well done. There actions have been reinforced (positive reinforcement). On the other hand a child may not come first the first time they play the game, they may not like this feeling which would inspire them to really try the next time, although if they do not come first again the may take a disliking to the game. I was fully prepared for the activity as all I needed was the game cards, I didnt need any additional resources. I discussed with my placement supervisor the suitability of the game and whether she thought it to be age and stage appropriate to these children. I was mostly completely planned and ready for this activity although it would have been helpful if I could have more time, there was enough time to play quite a few games, but not all the children in the class got a chance to play and not also was that unfair to some of the children I could have benefited from seeing the whole class dealing with the game to support my evaluation more. As I have said the number of children in the group was correct it was easy to manage the situation. I think that I gave clear instructions although it may have made more sense to the children if I had set down some firm ground rules at the start. Again the only thing that did not go to plan was the amount of time I had allocated for the game. The resources I made was suitable for its purpose it lasted quite well and was quite durable as they were backed onto card I think in future I would laminate the cards so they were more durable. It did help the children to learn, but I think it would have been more helpful to them if the numbers were higher as most of the children already knew their numbers one to five quite well. I could also have made different versions of the game such as, instead of trains I could do flowers or animals depending on what the subject they were focusing on at the time was. Mind map-China-I think that including the whole class was suitable because the children all gained feedback off each other. Although it was quite difficult to tell how many of the children could count the suggestions as they all counted at the same time, some of the children could have been following what everyone else was saying. When the children were asked (separately) how many suggestions to make twenty? they took a little longer than I had expected to work it out but got it right in the end. Some of the children had a little prompting as how to work it out. As the suggestion about Chinese writing came up a lot I wasnt sure if the children were copying the first child who suggested it or whether they were going to suggest it in the first place. Tassoni and Beith (2002 p 400) state that between the ages of four and six years a child should normally be: Showing more understanding and using reason based on their experiences ? Starting to use and understand symbols e. g. reading and writing Again nearly all the children could do the above I suggest therefore that this activity is appropriate for the age and stage of these children. The children have been learning in the area of knowledge and understanding of the world they have been thinking of past events that they could link with the subject of China (e. g. I had a Chinese last night). The children have expanded in their knowledge of listening, not interrupting and waiting to be asked before speaking. They have also learnt a bit about how to discuss with people. They have also been learning about mathematics by counting how many suggestions are on the board and calculating how many more Again with this activity I can see where B F Skinners theory fits in. in a similar way to the first activity if a child comes up with good suggestions they will get a well done. This will encourage them to think deeper to think of another suggestion to get the same praise (positive reinforcement). B F Skinner also says that by ignoring certain behaviour it may disappear which could be done with the children that interrupt. Tassoni and Beith (2992 p 223) state that adults need to extend childrens vocabulary and help them to use language as a way of thinking, open questions can be used when working with children. This means asking questions where children have to give more than one worded answers during my activity I believe I covered this as I asked a few open ended and the children responded well. Children also need to learn the skills of listening and this means that we must be good role models for them by listening to them although the children were good at listening I still believe that I acted as a good role model to them by listening to all of the suggestions and not being dismissive. I wasnt prepared for the amount of suggestions that the children gave it may have been helpful if I had a spare piece of paper for such circumstances. I had discussed with my placement supervisor the suitability of this activity I discussed whether it was age and stage appropriate and whether it was stimulating enough for the children to sit there for a while and pay attention. I think that the time I had allocated for this activity was appropriate; the times were roughly similar when the children started to run out of suggestions and when we had to start the next activity. The activity was a success there was good feedback later on throughout the day and the children were also asking to have other people suggestions explained to them (showing they were interested in the subject). I had extra support from my supervisor to manage all of the children as it was a class of twenty-eight so it was managed quite well. I gave clear instructions about what we were doing but not about how they had to sit or that they had to wait to be asked. I think that it would have been beneficial to explain this before the activity was started to set down the ground rules. Other than this all went to plan with the activity. Recommendations The train game when I asked the children the questions I often got one-word answers, in order to help them expand on the subject more, the adult in the situations asking more open-ended questions about the subject could do this. During the game I had two children with the same favourite colour I dealt with this by playing two games, it may have been easier to ask the children to swap in the middle of the game or to not let the children choose at all I could just deal the cards to them. I could also for future games keep the colours the same (starting cards one colour, number one cards another colour etc). In order for the children to progress, I could make other cards numbered up to ten, if this proved to difficult because of the amount of cards on the table they could be separated into two piles one to five and six to ten. I could also play the game backwards if they had managed it the original way well. I could make the cards colour co-ordinated e. g. either they have to get the whole set of one colour to win or that the aim is to make a pattern. The best way I think to extend this activity would be turning it into a quiz each child is asked a maths question, if they get the question right they can turn over a card if they get it wrong they will wait until their next turn. In this activity whatever the version an adult would need to be present to make sure the game is being carried out in the way planned, that the children are all taking turns and that the children are being sensible with the cards.

Dietary Diversity And Nutrition Status Health And Social Care Essay

Dietary Diversity And Nutrition Status Health And Social Care Essay Low birthweight (LBW) is defined as a body weight at birth less than 2500grams. Its main causes include prematurity (born before 37 weeks gestation) in developed countries and Intrauterine Growth Retardation IUGR (restrained foetal growth) in developing countries (ACN/SCN, 2000). Relationship between health of mother and child has also been established, maternal nutritional and health status is an important determinant of childs health and nutritional outcome. LBW infants end up undernourished and stunted children, adolescents and finally women of childbearing age. The main indicators of LBW infants include maternal stunting, low pre-pregnancy weight and low pregnancy weight gain. Thus generational stunting continues (Victoria et al, 2008). Households vary in definition and composition, especially in Africa. Households here in Africa mostly includes the extended family members both in definition and composition. This serves as social support network here and so adds income into the household if the members are economically active or if economically inactive, increases dependency ratio in the household. Mother and child pair nutritional status reflects household dynamics, availability of food, care of mother and child. It can also reflect gender segregation in household food allocation etc. The state of food insecurity 2001 defines Food security [as] a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (SOFI, 2002). Its three building pillars include availability, accessibility and stability of food. Availability entails physical presence of food in the household or area concerned; accessibility is concerned with the ability to acquire adequate amount of food and stability means constancy of food access which can be chronic or transitory. Chronic food insecurity exists when food supplies are persistently insufficient to supply adequate nutrients for all individuals. Transitory food insecurity occurs in the presence of temporary decline in access to adequate food because of instability in food production, food prices or income shortfalls. It is also necessary that available food meet the nutritional needs o f the household members, bringing in the component of food utilization. Resource poor subsistence farmers, landless households, pastoral household, female-headed household and urban poor are more vulnerable to food crisis (UN millennium project, 2005; FEWSNET, 2011). During the study period, coastal state of the Bayelsa, delta, Rivers and some portions of Jigawa in Northeast will experience moderate food insecurity. The coastal states will be affected by Niger-Delta crisis and potential pre-election tension. Pipeline vandalization, will continue to contribute to local water pollution, creating fish shortages among others. Flooding in the Northeast state of Jigawa will reduce household stock (Millet) causing food insecurity, with low cereal prices, above-average increase in tuber production. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) defines biodiversity as the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems. In other words, it is the variety of life on earth at all levels, from genes to worldwide populations of the same species. The different Levels of biodiversity include ecosystem containing rich biodiversity, species and communities of species and different genotypes, and this includes agricultural biodiversity. All components of agricultural biodiversity relevant to food and agriculture and support the ecosystem that agriculture occurs is important (FAO, 2008). Thus, dietary diversity becomes important as a means of protecting the ecosystem. Dietary diversity can be defined as the number of different foods or food groups consumed over a given reference period, usually 1-2 week. Dietary diversity has been shown to improve nutritional status (Kant et al, 2000; Kiokia and Golden, 2004; Gibson et al, 2000). Thus, it also can aid in combating hidden hunger, and thus double burden. Dietary diversity is a reflection of household food security because depicts accessibility, availability of foods and to some extent stability. Hoddinott and Yohannes analysis of evidence from 10 countries links dietary diversity to household access of calorie and by extension food security (2002). Traditional food systems abound, and are currently going extinct because they are underutilized. The diet is shifting more towards an energy-dense based diet categorized by westernized and processed food, bringing with it the advent of non-communicable diseases like diabetes, coronary heart disease etc. Nutrition education aims to persuade individuals to make meaningful changes in their dietary behaviour. Studies have noted the importance and role in nutrition status and adequacy (Favin and Griffiths, 1999; Tarvinder et al, 2007; Mansour et al, 1994). In view of that, importance of nutrition education cannot be overemphasized in this scope, especially as traditional foods are available in its varieties but less consumed/sought-after. It becomes imperative that nutritional content and thus importance of these foods are once again extolled so that they can be consumed for optimum health. Biologically active substances have been found in traditional foods and functional foods include flavonoids etc. Information technology has opened lots of doors for education and knowledge in the world, which can be harnessed for promotion of nutrition education. Information technology used in education includes access devices, networking and communicating technologies, storage devices and e-learning platform (India policy brief, 2010). They pose great potential for acquiring knowledge especially at the subjects comfort. Phones have been used for teacher training with positive results among other things, MMS examples of teaching, audio lectures, SMS for reminders, motivational messages and short assessment questions etc. were used (ADB/Pouezevara and Khan, 2007). STATEMENT OF PROBLEM There is a dearth of information on the relationship between dietary diversity and nutrition status in Nigeria. There is also little information on shift of food consumption from traditional to processed western foods together with a gap in the quantification of the effect of nutrition education in enhancing dietary diversity. OBJECTIVES GOAL Optimize nutrition status of mother and child through dietary diversity and nutrition education SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES To identify the available foods in the surrounding/environment/locality and determine the neglected and underutilized local foods/species To identify the prevalence of malnutrition of mother and child To assess the dietary diversity in the food consumed by the mother-child and factors affecting it. To Investigate association between dietary diversity and nutritional status To ascertain the influence of nutrition education on nutritional status of mother and child. JUSTIFICATION Prevalence of malnutrition in Nigeria is currently high, especially in Under-Five. Currently, 41% of under-fives are stunted, 23% underweight and 14% wasted (NDHS, 2008). High Under-Five Mortality Rate propels continuous childbearing and with is accompanied maternal mortality due to nutrient depletion (El-Ghannam, 2005). Improved maternal health importantly pre-pregnancy status is vital for adequate growth and development of new foetus and to break intergenerational disease and poverty that can arise from poor health status during the first 1000 days (ACC/SCN, 1992). Lack of adequate nutrition education has led to improper feeding techniques of growing child, especially the under-fives. Traditional food systems are gradually becoming extinct and non-existent. The bulk of foods consumed are shifting base to western-influenced and processed foods (Bioversity International, 2006). High incidence of NCDS in developing countries and increase of double burden has been linked to monopoly in consumption of food and lack of dietary diversity. At the beginning of the 1960s, about 40% of the developing countries were chronically undernourished. Many developing countries have achieved 2700kcals. This high energy combined with an increasingly sedentary lifestyle has led to an increase in obesity and NCDS. The composition of the diet change to mainly high energy and fat etc. (Josef and Prakash, 2004). METHODOLOGY ANALYSIS OF OBJECTIVES Objective Variable Type of analysis To identify the available foods in the surrounding/environment/locality and determine the neglected and underutilized local foods/species Foods from Market survey, FGD and KII vs foods from DD Questionnaire To identify the prevalence of malnutrition of mother and child BMI, stunting, wasting and underweight To assess the dietary diversity of mother and child DDS of mother and child Computation To Investigate association between dietary diversity and nutritional status DDS and BMI/nutritional status indices Cross-tabulation To determine factors affecting dietary diversity DDS and socio-demographic, economic and household factors Cross-tabulation To ascertain the influence of nutrition education on dietary diversity DDS before and after nutrition education Paired T-test STUDY DESIGN The study will be a cross-sectional and descriptive study. STUDY LOCATION The study will be conducted in Anambra state. Anambra state is located in the south-east zone of Nigeria, with its state capital being Awka. On a longitude of 6 20 00N and latitude of 7 00 00E, the state has 21 Local Government areas. It has a land area of 4,416km2 and a population of 4,177,848, made of 2,117,984 males and 2,059,844 females (NPC, 2006). With a population of 473,248, Children Under -five account for about 11.35% of the Anambra state population. Onitsha North and South, Awka North and South and Nnewi North and South are all urban area in the state. Idemili, Oyi, Anaocha, Ogabru and Dunkofia are peri-urban, while the remaining Local governments are rural. With a population size of 369,972 (NPC, 2006), Aguata LGA is the 2nd largest LGA in terms of size and the largest LGA in terms of number of constituting communities 15 communities. The local government has the presence of a prison in Ekwulobia and the renowned Igbo-ukwu museum that houses artefacts and monuments from pre-colonial era. Like all other LGA in Anambra state, Aguata has its own share of ecological disasters, the most prominent being the Ekwulobia Oko erosion site. Other small-sized erosion sites abound in different communities in the LGA. The Staple food consumed here is mostly cassava and yam, eaten as fufu, garri, abacha etc. green leafy vegetables and fruits are also abundantly found. The planting season, marks the beginning of the annual year (Igu aro), and peaks during the harvest season. Map of Anambra State The study will be conducted in Uga, a town in Aguata LGA of Anambra state, in South East Nigeria. With a landmass of about 3790km2, it also has about 100,000 inhabitants. Uga shares its borders with Akokwa, Nkpologwu, Amesi, Umuchu and Ezinifite. The town is made of 4 villages namely Oka, Umueze, Umuoru and Awalasi. These villages have different clan, an average of 6 clans per villages. They include Oka, made up of Okwuowerre, Umuikpa, Umueziama, Amaeke, Okohia and Umucheke. Umueze is made of Umucheke, Ezihe, Umu-umeonye, Umudim and Umuonyike. Umoru village is made of Imishii, Umudieleke, Umuezekpoko and Umori. Awalasi village is made of Umunocha, Umuchiaku, Umuakabo, Umudim, Umuosu, Okwu, Agbako and Umuoweri. The community Uga, has 2 streams/waterbodies, namely, Obizi and Agwazi. While the former is potable and serves as a tourist site, its a taboo to fetch from the latter or visit. The population is predominantly Igbos with few settlers from other tribes. Almost every household has some form of garden or subsistence/small-scale farming; most of the food/fruits available in the market come from subsistence farming. Land tenure is mainly through inheritance and few by purchase. STUDY POPULATION Mothers with under-5 children in the study community. SAMPLE SIZE For the main study, all mothers with their youngest under-5 children in the town will be used. For the Key Informant Interview, The oldest individual in each clan will be used. A total of 24 subjects will be interviewed For the focus Group discussions, each group will have a minimum of 6 and maximum of 8 members in each of the 4 villages, comprising of both sexes. SAMPLING PROCEDURE A three-stage sampling technique will be used to select respondents/mother-child pair for the questionnaire survey. Firstly, Anambra state, will be purposively selected because food systems are eroded with language, an indicator of culture. The Igbo culture is the fastest eroding culture among all the 3 major tribes in Nigeria. Legend also has Anambra State as the origin of Igbo people in the South-Eastern part of Nigeria. Secondly, Aguata LGA with its headquarters at Ekwulobia will be purposively selected because in the local government, urban and rural communities are found. Its headquarters, Ekwulobia, serves as the entry point to numerous communities and Local Government. Its proximity to Federal Polytechnic, Oko and Federal College of Education (Technical), Umunze, makes it a key point and central access area. While the headquarters remains urban, the surrounding communities, the study area- Uga included are still rural. It will be strategic to study the effects of the spills of urban development in the dietary practice of these rural communities. Thirdly using a table of random numbers, Uga was chosen as the study area and all villages in Uga town will be used for the study. SAMPLE SELECTION SELECTION OF QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONDENTS All the women living in the community with a child under-five years of age who consent to participate will be included in the study. Already participating women will also be asked for referrals of other mother-child pair. SELECTION OF FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION Using the help of research assistants, through non-probability sampling, 6-8 males and females aged 60 and above will be selected from each village and used for the focus group discussion. SELECTION OF KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEW the oldest person in each clan/village irrespective of gender will be used in Key Informant Interview. The individuals must be mentally acute despite disabilities/ infamy. MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENT Food/Market Survey Questionnaire Focus Group discussion guide Key informant interview guide FAOs 16-item Individual Dietary Diversity Questionnaire for mothers and children aged 36-59 months Demographic Health Surveys 21-item Dietary Diversity Questionnaire for children Under 36 months Socio-demographic characteristics questionnaire for the mother. USIAD/FAOs 3-item Household Hunger Scale Food Frequency Questionnaire VARIABLES Socio-demographic characteristics Mothers DDS before the intervention Childs DDS before the intervention Mothers DDS after the intervention Childs DDS after the intervention HFIAS Score Nutritional status of child Nutritional status of mother Family dynamics and household characteristics Food Variety Score (FVS) Pattern of consumption COMMUNITY ENTRY Entry will be done through the different religious bodies (Christianity and traditional) and the community leaders. The community leaders include Uga Town Union, the Igwe and his council and also the individual village unions. They will be acquainted with the different objectives of the study and its advantages for the community members. They will also be requested to disseminate the information to the community members to get their cooperation. DATA COLLECTION Quantitative questionnaires will be used to collect baseline information from the communities. The questionnaires will be administered by twenty four (24) fieldworkers (research assistants). The research assistants will be selected one from each clan with at least a secondary school education. All of them will speak English and the local Igbo dialect of the community fluently. The research assistants will be carefully trained by the researcher. The study objectives, methods and questionnaires will be discussed with special emphasis on interpretation of result, Dietary Diversity Score (DDS) and nutritional status. Proficiency of the research assistants will be verified through role play and pre-testing. The research assistant will be supervised by the lead researcher through field monitoring to check quality. The Key Informant Interview (KII) and Focus Group Discussions will be conducted by the lead researcher and a note taker using the KII and FGD guides. The interview will be recorded, with the permission of the subjects. BASELINE As a means of assessing the current situation, baseline information of the study communities will be conducted. For this phase of the study a short food identification questionnaire, Appendix A will be used to document all foods encountered in the native nearby Igbo markets. Any new food and fruit type (species) or variety will be photographed with a digital camera and information about it will be gathered. Information to be gathered include trade name, local name, name of market sold, source of food/fruit, type of buyers, season when available and (recipe). Scientific and family name will be added following correct identification through books, internet and knowledgeable people in relevant departments of the University of Ibadan. All food items encountered will be classified into food groups. Since dietary diversity involves biodiversity food of plant and animal origin, aquatic and forest resources also found will be documented. MARKET SURVEY The market survey will be conducted on the 4 native Igbo market days Eke, Orie, Afor and Nkwo. Each communitys market operates on a given market day, example, Orie for Uga community, Nkwo for Umuchu community etc. A market survey of proximal markets to the study area will also be conducted. They include Orie-Uga, Nkwo-Uchu and Eke-Ekwulobia. These 3 markets fall on different Igbo market days (Orie, Nkwo, Eke), leaving out only one market day, Afor. Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and key-informant interviews (KII) will be carried out for foods not sold in the market, but consumed in the community. FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION Focus groups discussions will be facilitated in (different churches) each village to be used in the study by the lead researcher with a note-taker present. The use of FGD guide Appendix B will be employed and also a camcorder for recording and camera for photographs. Each FGD will have a minimum of 6 members and a maximum of 8 members. The purpose of the FGD is to learn about foods that are underutilised in the environment. The discussion will be conducted in native Igbo language dialect of the community. KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEWS The KII guide Appendix C will be used to conduct the KII. Respondents will be asked foods, farming systems and varieties of foods that are currently underutilised. They will also be asked about the source, harvest season, recipe of those foods and use. The interview will be conducted in the native Igbo language dialect. ANTHROPOMETRIC MEASUREMENTS Baseline anthropometric measurements will be taken of the mother (BMI) and child (Stunting, Wasting and Underweight). For the weights, electronic scales will be used. CHILDREN For children 0 to 23 months, their weights will be taken using the children weighing scale. Children 24 to 59 months and all mothers will be weighed using the electronic scale, after they have emptied their bladder. All weights will be measured to the nearest 0.1kg. For all weight measurements, the balance will be placed on a level hard surface and adjusted to zero balance before measurement. The subject will stand in the centre of the scale and looking straight. Light clothing will be advised in the absence of nudity. For the heights, children and infants less than 85cm will have recumbent length measured using a wooden measuring board (WHO, 1995). The infants heels will touch against the footboard, shoulders touching the baseboard and the crown of head touching headboard. Stadiometer will be used for children longer than 85cm. The subject will stand straight, looking ahead with the head, shoulder blades, buttocks and heels touching the plane. For weight-for-age and height-for-age, exact date of birth will be used. WHO Anthro v3.2.2 will be used to calculate weight-for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-height. The WHO standard Z-scores will be used. MOTHERS Body Mass Index (BMI) also called Quetelets Index calculated as weight (kg)/height (m2) will be used to assess the nutritional status of the mothers. The weights will be measured using the electronic scale, after they have emptied their bladder with the scale on a hard surface and adjusted to zero balance. The mothers heights will be measured with a Stadiometer. The subject will stand straight, looking ahead with the head, shoulder blades, buttocks and heels touching the plane. The classification of mothers BMI will be according to WHOs recommendation (2000) as shown below Classification BMI (kg/m2) Underweight Normal range 18.50 24.99 Overweight >= 25.00 Pre-obese 25.00 29.99 Obese I 30.00 34.99 Obese II 35.00 39.99 Obese III >= 40.00 HOUSEHOLD HUNGER SCALE (HHS) Food Insecurity Score (FIS) will be found using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), Appendix G. The HFIAS is 9-item access and frequency-of-occurrence instrument developed by USAID and FAO, with a recall of 4 weeks/30 days/1 month. The general occurrence questions cover domains that include anxiety about household food supply, variety and preferences of type of food and insufficient food intake and physical consequences. If the access question occurs, then the frequency of the domain question is asked and coded as often, sometimes and rarely. The maximum HFIAS for a household is 27, i.e., a situation where frequency of occurrence of all questions is often (3) and the least HFIAS is (0). The higher the HFIAS, the higher the food insecurity; the lesser the HFIAS, the lesser the food insecurity. DIETARY DIVERSITY Dietary diversity of mother and child will be assessed. The interview will be conducted on an Eke day, which is not preceded by a weekend. This is necessary as Eke day precedes an Orie day, which is the market day and dietary habits are synonymous with festive day. Also, Eke day is the only day without a proximal market to the community. MOTHER The 16-item FAOs Dietary Diversity Questionnaire, Appendix D will be used from which Individual Dietary Diversity Score (IDDS) for the mothers will be calculated. The food groups include cereals, vitamin A rich vegetables and tubers, white tubers and roots, dark green vegetables, other vegetable, vitamin A rich fruits, other fruits, organ meat(iron-rich), flesh meats, eggs, fish, legumes, nuts and seeds, milk and milk products, oils and fat, sweets and coffee/tea. To calculate Individual dietary diversity score (IDDS), the last two items sweets and coffee/tea are left out, while the others items each has a point. The mean IDDS, percentage consuming each food group and terciles as a measure of distribution of scores will be calculated. The Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), Appendix H, will be used to calculate the Food Variety Score (FVS) and the consumption patterns of the mothers. Different varieties of food will be listed and scored. Their consumption will be noted as never, once a month, more than once a month, once a week, more than once a week, everyday and more than once everyday. CHILDREN For children more than 3 years, as with the mothers, FAOs 16-item individual dietary diversity questionnaire, Appendix D will be used, for foods eaten in the last 24 hour. The food groups include cereals, vitamin A rich vegetables and tubers, white tubers and roots, dark green vegetables, other vegetable, vitamin A rich fruits, other fruits, organ meat(iron-rich), flesh meats, eggs, fish, legumes, nuts and seeds, milk and milk products, oils and fat, sweets and coffee/tea. To calculate Individual dietary diversity score (IDDS), the last two items sweets and coffee/tea are left out, while the others items each has a point. The 21-item dietary diversity questionnaire, Appendix E, used in Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) will be used for children less than 3 years. The items on the questionnaire range from water, breastmilk, infant formula, green leafy vegetables, organ meats, fish etc. The IDDS will be calculated over 21 items. The mean IDDS, percentage consuming each food group and terciles as a measure of distribution of scores will be calculated. SOCIO DEMOGRAPHY Socio-demographic characteristics of the household will be collected, using Appendix F. Demographic characteristics of the mother will include Education, Age at marriage, current age, Childs date of birth, marital status, parity, religion. Economic information will include job, monthly earning, Access to farm, livestock ownership, food access market or farm production. Household details will also be collected, and they include type of household nuclear or extended, number of dependents in the family, number of household members, source of income and total household income. CLASSIFICATION OF UNDERUTILIZED SPECIES Underutilized and neglected food species and groups will be identified from the Dietary Diversity Questionnaire in comparison with the market research earlier carried out. MAPPING The map of the town Uga, will be digitized, using the nutritional status and dietary diversity. This will help monitor trends in nutritional status and DDS. DATA PROCESSING Data entry, computation and analysis will be done with SPSS v 17. Quality will be ensured through quality checks associated with data entry processes, double entry and further data cleaning through generation of descriptive analysis after data entry. DATA ANALYSIS Characteristics of the sample average mothers age, average childs age, mothers education, parity, occupation of mother, average household income, average DDS. Prevalence of malnutrition will also be assessed, stunting, wasting and underweight of the children and BMI of the mother. This will be done through Frequency distributions for qualitative variables and descriptive analysis for quantitative variable. DDS and nutritional status of mother (BMI) through cross-tabulation DDS and nutritional status of child (Stunting, wasting and underweight) through cross-tabulation with each indices. HFIAS and nutritional status of mother HFIAS and nutritional status of child Nutritional status of mother and nutritional status of child through cross-tabulation of mothers status with each individual nutritional index. Effect of socio-demographic, household characteristics and economic differentials on DDS and anthropometric measurements. A model for interactions of quantitative will be generated linear and logistic regression, the MIXED procedure for quantitative response variables (BMI and DDS) and the GLIMMIX procedure for dichotomous response variables. INTERVENTION Nutrition Education will be conducted in different ways to enhance the consumption of underutilised foods. Underutilized food/fruits/species that has been thus categorised will be promoted through nutrition education. A food/fruit/specie will be said to be underutilized if it is readily available in the environment but its consumption is low. Firstly, food and nutrient information of underutilized foods will be sent to the phones of mothers as a daily SMS in the native Igbo dialect for 30 days. A single food/fruit will be highlighted each day, including the different ways in which it can be consumed. Recipes will also be included, to enable the mothers attempt otherwise new foods. Using mass media e.g. posters, handbills and stickers, general awareness will be created on the underutilised foods in the town. The posters and stickers will be distributed on the towns market day Oye-Uga and at the different religious places in the town. Copies will also be made available to the participating women. Face -to -face nutrition discussion will be held for mothers in the clan with the lowest Dietary Diversity Score that correlates with low nutritional status of the Mother-Child pair. It will be held in the village hall, assessable to everybody. The discussion will seek to bring to the fore the underutilized food in the community, and the different recipes for preparation of the foods. ENDLINE/EVALUATION The IDDS of both mother child pair will be assessed again to calculate the post-intervention practise. This will help ascertain if the intervention impacted knowledge to the mother as evidenced by the post-intervention IDDS. ETHICAL CONSIDERATION Ethical clearance will be sort from the Health Ethical Review Committee (HREC) of the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan. EXPECTED OUTCOME It is expected that at the end of the study, adequate knowledge on importance of dietary diversity will be garnered by the mothers and visible in their feeding practice, of both themselves and their children. TIMELINE FOR THE STUDY Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Activity/Month Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Community Entry Recruitment of Research Assistants and Training Market Survey Key Informant Interview Focus Group Discussion Administration of Questionnaire Analysis of Baseline Data Intervention Collection of Endline Data Analysis of Endline Data BUDGET

Analysis Of The Tower Bridge Organisation Tourism Essay

Analysis Of The Tower Bridge Organisation Tourism Essay This report will be divided into 5 sections. In the first section I will be describing the function of the company and the product it provides for its customers. The second section will provide an overview of the economics of the business and competition. The third section will describe the management structure at the company. The fourth section will provide both the PEST and SWOT analysis. Finally I will reflect on my time as a tourist guide, describe the job role and give my impressions of the company. Describing the company and what it offers Tower Bridge is a municipal enterprise owned, funded and managed by the City of London Corporation who are the local Government body responsible for the financial square mile. The City of London is therefore responsible for all commercial and operational matters relating to Tower Bridge. Funding of the enterprise comes from a long standing trust. Description of the company London Tower Bridge is located in the heart of London and is very close to Londons transport infrastructure and world famous historical sites such as; the Tower of London and HMS Belfast. It is a well known bridge that has become an iconic figure of London, spanning the River Thames, and is within walking distance of Londons other famous attractions such as the Globe Theatre and Tate Modern. Originally built in 1894 to ease traffic congestion on London Bridge and designed to allow access to large ships to the pool of London, it was subjected to a major conversion to become a tourist centre in the 1980s. Tower Bride is therefore both a monument to Londons past and a successful tourist attraction. The main offering is the Tower Bridge Exhibition which allows visitors to enter inside the Bridge allowing access to the High Level walkways with uninterrupted views across the city. This provides a unique selling point with which to market itself and provides a memorable and emotional experi ence for visitors. The tour also allows visitors to see the Victorian engine rooms from which the bridge used to be powered by. The company also offers corporate entertainment packages and a popular gift shop for visitors. Entry prices are at an affordable rate and for viewing pleasure, the Exhibition comes equipped with interactive screens, sliding window panels for better picture quality and excellent graphics on their giant screens. One of the most important features of Tower Bridge is its bascule mechanism system, which rises around 1000 times a year and is still in function to this present day. Bridge openings are very popular with the public and are part of its attraction and allure to tourists. This particular bridge is the only bridge in the world of its type that opens and closes. Market and competitors Another historical attraction within the same vicinity as Tower Bridge is the Tower of London, which often competes with Tower Bridge as people tend to mix up the two because the structures are quite similar and this may sometimes lead to confusion. Moreover, the Tower of London was famous in Britain and around the world during World War 2 as an iconic landmark. Inevitably overshadowing Tower Bridge. Nonetheless the Tower Bridge is central to Londons historical heritage as a major commercial port. London has many other attractions including: the London eye, which can have up to 10,000 visitors every day and even the London Bridge Experience which opened in 2008. The Tower Bridge Exhibition has grown steadily since opening in 1984, with last year being its most successful in terms of financial surplus and numbers of visitors. With a small marketing team and budgets, Tower Bridge Exhibition relies heavily on organisations such as Visit Britain/London to document trends in visitors. Tow er Bridge Exhibition targets throughout the year a very broad area including both the European and domestic markets. Within the domestic markets educational groups are also targeted but equal importance is placed on family groups. Advertising normally occurs through specialised magazines, in particular publications like the Times Educational Supplement or via websites such as www.vistislondon.co.uk where costs are generally lower then other mass media options. Trade shows are attended such as World Travel Market where the exhibition is promoted to a range of tour and group organisers and databases are created for direct mail campaigns. Tower Bridge Exhibition has a unique relationship with its competitors, although in direct competition with one another, attractions within London work together along with Visit London to bring people to the area. Tower Bridge Exhibition has a list of distributors which in return for a discounted ticket rate sell tickets globally, however they also pr omote competitors. Other key stakeholders of Tower Bridge Exhibition are Local and National Government and the EU who and impose rules and regulations. The local community and response services, the Tower Bridge charitable trust, all visitors, the media, internal trade unions and employees are also key stakeholders. The cost of visiting the exhibition is  £7.00 per adult and  £3.00 per child (5-15) under fives go free, with a concession ticket costing  £5.00 and disabled guests getting in for free. Group discounts are available for 10 people or more and a promotion with Network rail allows 2 for 1 entry. Ad hoc promotions are run throughout the year targeting specific groups, for example the exhibitions 25th anniversary was celebrated by letting local residents in for 25p. Job role As a Customer Care Guide at the Tower Bridge Exhibition I had a fair amount of duties, roles and responsibilities which was based on the nucleus of customers and their safety along with their well being which meant constantly putting there needs and requirements first at all times. Furthermore, that meant me providing exceptional customer service and care at all times and making sure that the customers visit was as enjoyable and pleasant as humanly possible. With that in mind I would have to posses a certain degree of knowledge regarding the bridge and the local vicinity.  I would also be required to have a competent level of expertise relating to the bridges history, construction and design most notably for when  I am positioned inside the bridge and doing a position that entails doing speeches regularly. For positions like these  I must convey clear and precise information to the customers so that they are made aware of the process inside the bridge. In addition,  I would a lso need to be fully aware of all the processes of the bridge if say there was a fire or an evacuation  I would have to be mindful of the correct drills and steps that needed to be taken in order for a safe and secure evacuation to be achieved for all customers especially the disabled, elderly and those in a wheelchair. My duties included maintaining a high level of security for both the visitors and the exhibition items as well as always being on hand and available to interact and engage with visitors should they need or require any assistance or help from me at any stage during there visit. Moreover, if they had a query or wanted further information about the or the area. Management Structure A business structure is very important and every organization has its own structure. A company such Tower Bridge organizational structure is a hierarchical with a concept of subordination of entities that collaborate and contribute to serve one common aim. Most of the staff in Tower Bridge are all in the front office dealing the member of public and tourist, some have more interaction such as the Ticket Office and Customer Care Guides. The mangers Tower Bridge uses a functional structure which has the advantage of being easy to understand. The chain of command requires that an employee can report to one or more managers, but one manger such as Andy Nicholson, typically has more authority over the employee than their other manager(s). In Tower Bridge there are three mangers: one exhibition manager and two assistant managers. Having this structure means having layers of management that control the company by maintaining a high level of authority, with the power to make decisions concerning business activities. Employees such as customer care guide have limited authority to carry something out without prior approval. This organizational structure tends to focus on top-down management, whereby executives at the top communicate by telling middle managers, who then tell first level mangers, who then tell the staff what to do and how to do it. A limited number of employees report to a manager, who then reports to the next management level, and so on up to the Bridge Master or Tower Bridge Director. The managers needs to be responsible for motivating the staffs and ensuring that any formal systems and practices that are in place are not undermined in anyway. In theory the managers at Tower Bridge are responsible for the business performance, as well as maintaining high standards of service and health and safety. A functional structure of Tower Bridge can be illustrated by the following diagram:   The Managers are responsible for arranging shifts for their staff, creating promotional events and discount offers, deal with customer complaints, motivating staff, ensuring that staffs have the right uniforms, greeting customers and organising table reservations. PEST Analysis Political Political factors that may affect the ability of Tower Bridge to operate include government and City of London polices. In fact it seems unlikely that these will impact adversely on the attraction in the immediate future given its high profile and historic status. Cuts in public expenditure may lead to higher admission prices and less staff running the exhibition. As the government recent decision to cut funding to Visit Britain by 18% has big consequences for all London Attractions most specifically the smaller attractions such as Tower Bridge Exhibition who relay heavily on its services. Flight and bed taxes could deter visitors away from the city. Terrorism threats threaten the entire London tourism industry. Technology With more people using the internet, Tower Bridge Exhibitions will have to review its current website, as currently ticket purchases are too complicated. Advancements in ICT have meant that statistical data on tourist trends is now simpler to collect and more easily accessible through websites such as Visit Britain. Tower Bridge still has old and new technology some of the original hydraulic machinery is still remain as exhibition in the engine room nowadays they use electro-hydraulic drive that open the bridge up. Economic The main external forces (macro environment factors) that affect Tower Bridge Exhibition are economic and social factors. London is perceived to be an expensive place to visit, so the exhibition will need to provide better value for money. This is possible as at currently utilises only one third of available space. It will need to consider joint promotions with other attractions. Changes in interest rates at home cause fluctuations in disposable income meaning leisure activities are often put on hold, exchange rates and the strong pound against the dollar has seen a smaller spend per person from the important American market. Social Tower Bridge Exhibition relies heavily on family groups, so a decline in traditional family set ups will require Tower Bridge to re-think its family tickets prices. Over the recent years are has been a changes in holiday patterns with people now preferring city breaks and long weekends. Terrorist attacks also cause fluctuations in the market with people looking for safer destinations. SWOT Analysis Strength The business philosophy is not just about making money but emphasizes on educating and informing the public (particularly young people). On the towers walkways, there is a great view of London similar to the Millennium Wheel but not as detailed or exciting. Furthermore, on a positive note, this particular zone is free of congestion charge, which allows people to freely enjoy their journey over the bridge. Although the bridge is funded by the City of London council, it also makes a reasonable income by hiring the venue in the evenings for special occasions. Weakness Although it is an indoor attraction with a large view of London, a visit to Tower Bridge depends on the weather because the best sights are not always available due to the fact of the unpredictable British climate, for instance, on a rainy or overcast day, the views from the bridge can be very poor and distorted which could result in unhappy customers. What is more, London is an all-year-round destination so major attractions are not seasonal. Due to the fact Britain has such unpredictable weather, people usually carry sunglasses and umbrella because they never know what the weather can be like. This could have a bad effect and lead to a bad experience when coming to visit Tower Bridge on an unpleasant day. Firstly, the entrance to Tower Bridge Walkways is confusing for tourists who are unfamiliar with the area as there are no clear signs pointing in the right direction. Also, the journey to Tower Bridge is quite complicated if you have no knowledge of its whereabouts and may get los t. In addition, it is not pedestrian friendly as there tends to be lots of traffic and congestion upon entering the bridge. Secondly, in my opinion their main website is unappealing which doesnt help to attract or interest people into visiting Tower Bridge. This apparent weakness and flaw could have a bad impact on tourists who have never been to London, as the websites layout and structure does not represent or give Tower Bridge an acceptable status (more life and colour in the graphics required to attract online interest). On the other hand, their website has easy access to different links that also caters to childrens needs such as fun packs for childrens discovery which is fun as well as being educational at the same time. Furthermore, to add to criticism the historical building needs substantial refurbishment to help increase the volume of visitors. Although people are aware that it is a bridge, some people are afraid of heights and may feel unsafe or in danger. Moreover, altho ugh the lengths of the walkways are reasonably lengthy, it is quite narrow and may have an affect on those who are claustrophobic. Security measures are paramount for one of the worlds most famous tourist attraction. When entering the Tower there is a single stage of security that visitors must pass through. Once their body has been examined and their belongings are check they are allowed to enter the walkway but it doesnt mean the security level is up to standards. Reportedly, there have been cases where people have entered the building then proceeding through the security check in order to commit suicide. Fortunately, this has not changed peoples views to visit the attraction because any potential suicide incidents have been prevented. In reality, when the bridge does have a scheduled lift this results in a hold up of traffic. It is found that An estimated 38,000 vehicles use the bridge each day, pushing it to capacity during peak hours. This results in many delays for many people , who may decide to take an alternative route to avoid the traffic queues. Likewise, Extra traffic is expected to increase impact damage to the extremities which flex under traffic loads. This could mean that traffic queues are causing damage to the structure of the bridge, which may have a long term affect on the bridge. What is more, it is said that these measures are expected to increase congestion either side if the bridge, adding to delays caused when it opens for shipping. Last year Tower Bridge lifted 925 times. In my opinion, was this necessary? Opportunities Global advertisement could possibly result in an increase in the volume of visitors as many foreigners are unaware of a bridge that opens and this may be an attractive feature to witness in person. Perhaps due to the recession peoples lifestyles are changing, rather than individuals coming to the Tower Bridge they could engage in some promotion and coupons like the two for the price of one, children of the age of under 12 go in for free etc. Other attractions could work together with Tower Bridge rather than competing with them. They could cater for more languages by enhanced displays for overseas visitors such as Europeans and Asians. Provision of tour guides could be encouraged. Even though it is a self-guided exhibition they could offer a guided tour within the ticket price would encourage more visitors and may enhance the quality of the experience. Additionally, they should provide reasonable adjustment to facilitate for people who have disabilities. Due to the fact of the econom ic crisis the value of the pound has decreased. This is good news for the overseas visitors because of the currency exchange rates. In years to come the growth of tourism will increase despite the recession; London will generate tourist revenue from the 2012 Olympic games to be held in this city. This will boost and soar the volume of visitors in the capital. Threat The biggest threat to Tower Bridge is any potential terrorist attack perhaps of more concern is that there is no security check when going through the bridge and anyone is allowed to walk along the bridge. On the other hand, Tower Bridge is surrounded by a high level of competition with other tourist attractions equally famous like the Tower of London. In spite of the fact that other attractions complement each other it is possible that Tower Bridge will lose out due to the fact that it is less appealing. The economic downturn could have an impact on peoples lifestyles and their finances. Another way of viewing this is that the recession has changed our way of life. Culturally and socially people may prefer doing simple things like taking a walk in the park, instead of expensive vacations. After all a large proportion of overseas visitors come to visit the Tower Bridge. As a result this recession could have an significant effect resulting in a decrease of the number of visitors. In c onclusion, it could be said that the current service could continue unchanged. The inherent advantages of location, history and unique appearance will service the attraction well in the future. However, improvements could also be considered namely a more attractive website, cater for different languages, refurbishment of the walkways. The main threats for the future are: economic downturn and limited attractiveness to a young audience. Reflection Working in Tower Bridge has taught me a number of things about how tourist attractions operate in the market and what factors lead to an attractions success. Even though my time at the Tower Bridge consisted of 400 hours work experience I still had to go through the same procedures as I would if I were applying for a permanent job. I was interviewed by Andy Nicholson who gave me a fair amount of information regarding the history of bridge and what they offer to the public. Even through the interview lasted over 3 hours it was very insightful and useful to me. I gained a lot of knowledge about Tower Bridge and its surroundings. When I started work it was the beginning of the Easter holidays. I didnt get any training at first except on how to use a radio. I was thrown in at the deep end for the first three days as I didnt know much but I guess that is the best way to learn. After a few days I was formally introduced to other members of staff and my official training started. The assist ant manager gave me the correct uniform as there are different ones to wear for different positions. I was given a full guided tour and met all the security staff, the maintenance department and human resources. I was shown all the emergency exits as well as all the other exits and where to meet if we had to be evacuated. I was given a radio with my own personal identification which was uniform 13 which enabled me to communicate with other members of staff via the radio.  After that I undertook three days of shadowing a full time tour guide and I was also given a big pack of information about Tower Bridge. I learnt 4 different speeches plus aborts and general information of the history of London. A big plus point for me was that I was given the chance to get to know the surroundings and I spent a couple of days visiting other tourist attractions such as the Tower of London, St Pauls Cathedral and the Tate Modern gallery. I thought this was very helpful to me. After 1 week of shadowing and intensive reading I was finally ready to work on my own. My first position was to operate the north lift which takes the customers to the high level walkways and to give them instructions on what to do when they got up there. I did this a few times before trying out the other roles and positions. In total there are 8 positions, 1-3 are working in the lifts and the towers and the customer service areas. The only negative point about this aspect of the job is that it can become very repetitious. Position 4 and 5 involve working in the gift shop next to the Victorian Engine Room. I was lucky to have this experience and to be till trained. Working in the shop has a lot of responsibilities, not only dealing with money and providing customer service, throughout the day youre on your own and this can be quite stressful. There are many duties working at the shop in the morning before opening up, you are required to do a number of duties: making sure that there are enough products on the shelf and that these are neatly presented, knowing whats not available and whats low on stock so it can be ordered in, cash up the money for the till etc. Working in the gift shop can be pleasant but the only difficult issue that I faced was dealing with several customers at the same time. The gift shop is quite a small and confined area and it is where customers exit from the Exhibition. In  some cases  an unsatisfied customer will use his time in the gift shop to vent his frustrations and who ever is currently occupying the shop position is usually the one that is on the other end of the brunt of the customers fury. In addition to this, in most if not all the cases of a customer who was not completely happy with there visit and experience and demand a refund or if a technical malfunction occurs to any of the penny press machines then it is at the gift shop where all of the would be resolved. Positions 6, 7 and 8 are what the company refers to as footfall enticement. These duties are intensive and consist of you dealing with customers at the front of the ticket office who are visiting the Tower Bridge Exhibition or are just walking pass as well as giving out general information about the bridge. I think the footfall position is a crucial role as it represents the Tower Bridge image and they are the first staff and port of contact to interact with the customers before they enter the exhibition. Throughout my work placement I have undertaken a fair amount of footfall and my view upon it is that it can be quite enjoyable. The only downside is that the footfall is an all year position which I think is unfortunate because Tower Bridge is on the river it can very windy and during autumn and winter it can be very cold. I did a few footfalls in April and even so it was extremely cold for me to endure and for someone to do this position you have to be mentally and physically stron g. I dont think people should have to work 8 hours outside in such cold conditions most notably during winter times and I think they should use the footfall personnel to go onto the walkways to give talks about the bridge and have one at the gift shop for assistance as the shop can get very busy and hectic at times. After 200 hours I was given the opportunity to work at the Monument. My job role was to give out leaflets to those who completed the 311 steps and give brief talks about this famous landmark. I had a lot fun working there because it was a more intimate setting than the bridge so you got to talk and engage more with your work colleagues. It also meant that you could  immerse yourself more in depth with the visitors and ask them more about their visit to the capital and how long they were intending on staying and where they were originally from. There is so much history written into the Monument  which is intertwined with the Great Fire of London so for me to work there and to be a part of it was a good experience which contributed to my enjoyment there. In terms of organization and structure there is much to change and develop. What surprised me is that staffs do not really work together and in some ways work in isolation from each other which seems inefficient and ineffective. There tends to be a gap and divide between the permanent staff who have been employed there for many years and the temporary staff such as myself. Conclusion Overall working at Tower Bridge has been a good learning experience for me. Like any other job there will always be positives and negatives but in some ways the work has provided some unique insights. I think Tower Bridge and the Monument are very successful tourist attractions for the reasons stated previously and there is no reason why it should not continue to prosper in the future with the right investment and a culture of continuous improvement. Many people who work at Tower Bridge have provided years of dedicated service for a prolonged period of time. Tour guides, ticket office, managers, security and maintenance people have worked their for a long time. A large proportion of them are 40 plus in age which is a change for me because it is the first time I have come across a situation like that. I think I have picked up some of their characteristics and learnt a lot from their experiences of being at Tower Bridge.  On the whole I had a great experience and I would highly recom mend it to other students who are interested in the tourist industry or those people who like history. Out of all the places I have worked in previously I can honestly say that this was the most interesting job and role that I have ever experienced. The majority of the staff I built and formed a relationship with not only as work colleagues but as friends outside working hours.