Labour education crisis Essay Example for Free

Labour education crisis Essay The man who promised us, Education, education, education, as the main priority of his government has failed again. Blair along with forever changing line up of education secretaries has again been branded a hazard to our children. The new crisis in hand for our Labour government evolves our youngsters within Primary education. The recent report has revealed that the number of children who can read and write properly has fallen in the last three years, as almost 250,000 seven year olds are not hitting required standards, for the second year running. In English only 75% have reached the required standards, leaving government hopes of 85% English pass rate for 11 year olds by 2002 in tatters. The report has shown three tenths of Primary school children are behind in reading from as young as seven. Four tenths our poor at writing, leading to one quarter of eleven year olds being classed as semi-literate! Chief school inspector Mr David bell has described the situation as disastrous and has said, I dont think we could possibly be happy with what primary schools are achieving. These chilling figures reported by Ofsted are causing concern amongst parents throughout the country. Although Mr Bell is claiming the route of this problem is due to the teachers and Heads of the schools. As it has been suggested that one in ten of our head teachers are weak, thats a figure just over 2,000 that are simply not up to the job. If the leaders of the schools are weak what hope does it hold for our teachers? Although Heads are saying they are being used a scapegoats Mr Bell insists that they are to blame, They lack knowledge and skill. This standard is simply not adequate as the government has admitted. This has left other parties, including the Liberals suggesting an education reform and the Tories claming the situation has reached crisis level. Although PM Tony Blair has barely mentioned the report, and went ahead with a speech on education standards. This new crisis has fallen into the hands of Estelle Morris successor Charles Clarke. The Education Secretary has been told by Ofsted the targets set for 2004 will not be achievable. This will make his job even harder as situations are just being passed on with each new education secretary. Along with Primary education being seen as a shambles Ms Morris has left the problems of AS and A level system with Mr Clarke. After last years mark fixing fiasco new guide lines need to be set to stop this embarrassing situation recurring. That saw up to 4,194 candidates having their A-level grades increased in 2002. As well as the A-level marking situation causing problems it now seems that AS and A-level lecturers are unhappy with the system. They are calling for a return to a system such as the old one qualification of the A-level over two years. Suggesting that its simply too much for students. These measures come just two years after curriculum 2000 was introduced, bringing in the AS and A2 exams. Although now former chief inspector of England schools, Mr Tomlinson, has been asked to make a report suggesting ways of maintaining the A-levels standards and credibility. Universities are unhappy with a possible move to re-secure the A-level as they feel by keeping the name it will cause confusion. The A-level was first introduced in 1951 and has changed dramatically. This in turn effects what people feel constitutes as an A-level in standards they require, which worries the Universities. Who have also been affected by Labours education crisis due to the clearance procedure after the mess-up with A-level marking. The last thing on the agenda for Labour in terms of education is the staffing shortage in Primary and Senior schools. At the start of the academic year many school remained closed due to staffing shortages. And it appears this situation to is getting worse. As a survey for the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teacher suggested that nearly 63% of teachers have considered leaving their jobs within the past 5 years. And in another survey for the National Opinion Poll of 1,007 NASUWT members discovered that 30% felt that no political party had the right education policies. In conclusion it seams that all areas of or education system our in danger and have been effected, all that is left to say is good luck Charles Clarke, who now has the mammoth task of getting things on track. A job that both David Blunkett and Estelle Morris have failed to achieve.

Managing Quality In Health And Social Care Social Work Essay

Managing Quality In Health And Social Care Social Work Essay 1.0 Introduction to the Case In this assignment I am going to use a nursing home for elderly residents, both male and female with both dementia and different medical conditions like diabetes, Parkinsons disease and hypertension. Some of the service users in this nursing home are bed bound while others are mobile or self dependant. It has two floors with 42 bed capacity. 1.1 What quality means to the following stakeholders Service users These are residents or clients in our Nursing home. Quality to our service users means any service that is offered to their satisfaction for example: Respect: Most of our residents prefer to be addressed by the names while some prefer to be addressed as Mr. or Mrs. We respect their wishes and this makes them happy. Also when we are offering personal care like washing or bathing we ensure that doors are shut for privacy and dignity purposes we also respect their age as adults and treat them as adults according to their wishes Choice: Residents choices in our nursing home are usually observed as this makes them to have their freedom of choice in whatever they want to have for example we have different menu choices for foods and drinks and before we serve them we ask them what they prefer to have. The same applies to the way they prefer to dress and so we offer them a choice on their own clothes and activities that they would like to participate in and at the end of it all they are happy and the quality of service offered is satisfactory to them and everybody else. Confidentiality: Anything concerning a resident in our Nursing home is private and confidential unless for medical reasons like consultation and to those who are concerned like family and relatives. Friends and family: They usually appreciate when they are involved in care plans of their relatives and they are satisfied when what they have agreed on is followed through. Safety they are always appreciative and supportive when they know that their parents and friends (residents) are free from harm by the care they are provided with for example safe from falls, abuse and infections within the nursing home. They like their relatives to be treated equally like other residents without discrimination because of either their conditions, disabilities or ethnicity. Carers: These are the major service providers in our nursing home and quality to them means: Equity- all service providers should be treated equally regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender and knowledge and skills they have on their job when this is put into consideration they are motivated and tend to offer the best quality of care to residents which in turn leads to customer satisfaction. Safety all service providers in our Nursing home ensure they are safe on the environment they work on for their sake, residents, relatives and friends and anyone concerned. We ensure proper procedures are followed such as moving and handling by using proper equipment on residents like hoists and slings to avoid accidents to ourselves and to residents. Carers are always happy when they are not abused either by residents, relatives and friends or their fellow carers. We have four different models of quality Total quality management: a way of managing people and business processes to ensure complete customer satisfaction at every stage internally and externally (Department of Trade and Industry, DTI 2010). Although different quality experts emphasize different experts of this methodology, its major components can be summarised as follows: processes, people, management systems and performance measurement. According to Ross and Perry (1999), in addition to creating delighted customers through empowered employees, total quality management processes also lead to higher revenue and lower cost. In our Nursing home, every department is involved in implementing quality management to offer the best quality of service; we always work as a team and ensure we have offered the best quality of care that our residents need. Continuous quality improvement: is a system that seeks to improve the provision of services with an emphasis on future results (Marshall, 2003). In our nursing home, the manager ensures that every service provider receives training, implements what they have learnt and they are supervised if there is need for retraining again we are retrained this ensures that we receive updated information to offer the best quality of service. Quality standards: The Care Quality Commission for England has produced a guidance to help providers of health and adult social care to comply with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010 and the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009 (CQC, 2010b). This guide contains the regulations and the outcomes that the CQC expects people using a service will experience if the provider complies. This forms the basis for the quality standards in care homes. There are 16 core ones range from respecting people receiving the services to safety and suitability of premises and staffing levels just to mention a few. In my care setting, we get an annual inspection from UKAF over and above inspections from CQC and have been given a star rating of three. All activities this year are geared towards a rating of four. Quality cycles: According to QCC (2010b) quality cycles represent periods within which care homes should be reviewed to determine compliance in its service provision. This may be annually. However private organisations like the United Kingdom Accreditation service also offers a quality cycle inspection called the Residential and Domiciliary care Benchmarking (RDB). The RDB annual quality cycle supports strategic planning by providing comparative feedback on a homes care provision and enables the identification of performance gaps and cost/benefit assessments to be made (UKAF, 2010). In this model we have four major aspects to be looked into namely: planning, doing, checking and acting. Quality and principles of care Legislation -these are laws and rules set by the government on how the provision of care should be for example protection of vulnerable adults. In our nursing home, every service provider should be ready to protect all residents from any form of abuse we attend mandatory trainings such as safeguarding vulnerable adults according to regulations by the CQC (2010b). Safety- in our nursing home we always do risk assessment on every service user and put measures in place like using bed rails to prevent falls by doing this we have protected residents from accidents and this ensures quality service to our residents. Independence-service users should be made in control of their lives by allowing them to do some of the things like arranging their wardrobes, making and tidying their rooms by themselves because some of the residents are very active and would like to do what they used to do before and we always encourage them to do while we supervise them and this makes them happy hence promoting the quality of service as they are satisfied. Rights- service users should continue to enjoy the same rights when in nursing homes like they used to when they were living independently. Every service user supported in nursing homes has the right to say NO, right to have a relationship and the right to have a say in their care plan. Service providers always tend to balance service users rights against their responsibilities whether both are at risk or not. 1.4) External agencies: These are bodies that regulate quality of care including: The Care Quality Commission an independent regulator for health and social care in England (CQC 2010a; 2010b). They regulate care provided by NHS, local authority, private company and voluntary organisations. Their aim is to make sure better care is provided for everyone. In our nursing home Care Quality Commission makes a minimum of three inspections annually (two announced and one unannounced) on such things as how we provide care in terms of cleanliness of the home and to service users.. It has a wide range of enforcement powers to take action on behalf of service users  if services are unacceptably low. The  CQC makes sure that the voices of service users are heard by asking people to share their experiences of care services. It makes sure that users views are at the heart of its reports and reviews. The CQC takes action if providers do not meet essential quality standards, or if there is reason to think that peoples basic rights or safety are at risk (CQC, 2010) through a wide range of enforcement powers, such as fines and public warnings, and can be flexible about how and when to use them. It can apply specific conditions in response to serious risks. For example, it can demand that a hospital ward or service is closed until the provider meets safety requirements or is suspended. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)- this is an independent organisation responsible for providing national guidance on promoting good health preventing and treating ill health (NICE, 2010). In our Nursing home, residents who have anxiety, panic attacks request for sedatives in order for them to sleep they are usually reassured and instead a government practitioner is consulted to review and advice them accordingly. Service providers take NICE guidelines trainings on different medical conditions for example diabetic foot (identification and care of the foot). 2.1) Quality Standards Benchmarks: According to Philip B. Crosby (1999) benchmarks are indicators of best practice including access to care environment and the culture of a home. The Benchmarks is one of the most comprehensive sets of social and environmental criteria and business performance indicators available (Daniels et al 2000). Our nursing home is accessible publically, to wheel chairs, a spacious car park and a section for activities for residents and relatives. We also have a signing in visitors book stating whom they are visiting. Code of practice for social care workers and employers for social care workers This document is developed by General Social Council and it contains agreed codes of practice for social care workers and employers of social care workers describing the standards of conduct and practice within which they should work ( GSCC, 2002). Employers use this set of code of practice to make decisions about the conduct of staff and support social care workers to meet their code of practice. Service users and members of the public use the codes to help them understand the behaviour of social workers (how they should behave towards them) and also how employers should support social care workers to do their job well. It is the responsibility of social care workers to make sure that their conduct does not fall below the standards set in the code of practice and no action or omission harms service users (NCSC, 2010). Social care workers must protect the interests of service users, maintain confidence, respect rights, promote independence, be accountable for the quality of their wor k and take responsibility for maintaining and improving their knowledge and skills. The general social council expect social care workers to meet the codes and may take actions (deregistering) if registered workers fail. 2.2) Different approaches to implementing quality Communication is a means of passing information from one person to another. In our nursing home we have different ways of communication like when doing care plans we always document what we have done for a resident so that whoever takes over knows what to do next to ensure continuity of care. Also when handing over is done during change of shifts information about residents is shared and everyone is aware of any changes in care plans in accordance to CQC guidelines (CQC, 2010). We also have staff meetings where certain information is passed on and in cases where staffs have a problem it is addressed and solutions are given out. For effective communication systems there should be a language that everyone understands. Policies and procedures These are guidelines set on how to do things often informed through regulations as outlined in various government documents (GSCC, 2002; NICE, 2010; CQC, 2010a. 2010b). In our Nursing home we have different policies and procedures for example in cases of accidents to residents we are required to fill a resident incident report and pass it on to the supervisor families, friends and relatives are informed about the accident then precautions are put into place walking frames, to avoid future occurrences of similar accidents. Infection control policy helps to prevent spread of infections within our nursing home. We always use personal protective equipment when offering personal care to residents, handling of any infectious wastes. We also use the proper technique for hand washing. There are also hand gels in each residents room, in public toilets and at the entrance of the building for sanitation purposes and all wastes like clinical and kitchen wastes are usually put in the bins ready for collection. In cases of disease outbreaks like diarrhoea and vomiting residents are isolated and managed separately and proper hand washing techniques are used to prevent further spread of the infection. Whistle blowing policy is designed to deal with issues that do not directly affect the employee and their employment but are a cause for concern in relation to the harm that may be done to other employees, residents or the wider community. Any employee who is concerned about their personal situation should raise their concern with their line supervisor or manager. This policy is for reporting issues like elderly abuse, misuse of drugs, faulty machinery that may cause accidents, illegal dumping of waste. The policy protects not only employees but the wide community. Confidentiality- all residents or service users information is private and confidential. It is not a proper practice to discuss residents information in public like their conditions and behaviours by doing that is breaching the policy and legal action should be taken. In nursing homes all information is kept safely and only accessible to relevant persons. This promotes quality of service 2.3) Quality systems ISO 9001 involves a set of procedures that cover all key processes in the business, monitoring processes to ensure they are effective, keeping adequate records and facilitating continual improvement. They have certain requirements like internal regulations, claims and procedures for residents, suggestion box and contract with uses. It also covers the importance of understanding and meeting customer requirements, communication, resource requirements, training and products, Leadership, Involvement of people, Process approach, and System approach to management and Continual improvement (Tricker and Sherring- Lucas, 2001). In our nursing home for the provision of all these elements and reporting them on day to day basis for example there is a clear procedure for residents complains. Carers, residents and relatives are informed and logged in a special complaints book and complains are followed up. When all this are put into practice, there is employee and customer satisfaction, resulting from better defined and implemented business processes. As a result of this we have motivated staffs, who understands their roles and how their work affects quality, improved product and service quality, happier customers, and improved management and operational processes, resulting in less waste (both time and materials) Business excellence is a widely used framework that helps companies to review their performance and practices in a number of areas and identify targets and actions for improvement based on principles of customer service stakeholder value and process management ( British Quality Foundation, BQF 2010). Managers develop the mission, vision and values and are role models of a culture of Excellence. Studies in Taiwan have shown that in care homes where this model is applied, managers are personally involved in ensuring the organisations management system is developed, implemented and continuously improved are involved with customers, partners and representatives of society and also motivate, support and recognise the organisations people (Cheng B, Chang, C and Sheng L. 2005). In our nursing home we use a balanced score card to keep track of activities by staff and measure consequences arising based on the British Quality Foundation model ( BQF, 2010).Service users families and relatives m easure in a scale of 1-5 where one is poor and five is excellent. We work hard in poorly rated areas to improve the quality of service. At the same time managers set a number of targets on key areas of each staff members roles which are then assessed on monthly review and awards are given to the best. This motivates other team members to work hard and best to attain the best and by doing so they provide best quality and we excel. 2.4) Trainings this refers to a learning process that involves the acquisition of knowledge, sharpening of skills and concepts (Stevens, 2004. In our nursing there are mandatory trainings offered to service providers before commencing to work like basic food hygiene, manual handling Healthy and safety is ensuring that the environment where we are working is safe for service users, other staff and others in general by our actions and omissions. It is a responsibility to all staff to ensure that the environment is safe to work on. For safety purposes in our nursing home we do not use equipment unless it has been checked and serviced. Also default equipments are labelled DO NOT USE to prevent and avoid accidents. We also have controlled cupboards where substances that are hazardous to health are stored and locked away. When there is a defect on the environment like chipped floors, loose hanging electricity wires we report to the maintenance coordinator and they are rectified immediately to avoid accidents. Again when housekeeping team are doing cleaning they always display cleaning boards and everybody is aware that cleaning is on progress or the floor is wet and they avoid using it until it is dry by doing this they minimise chances of accidents like falls 2.5) According to Marshall (2003) and Stevens (2004), external and internal barriers to delivering quality are any obstacle which prevents a given policy instrument being implemented or limits the way in which it can be implemented. They include: Resources: lack of adequate resources hinders quality of service for example inadequate or shortage of staff affects the quality of services offered and this leads to unsatisfaction of service users as they get services that are not adequate and for service providers because they are overworked. In nursing homes when there are staffs shortages they arrange cover shifts earlier by either bank staff or some agencies registered with the home. Financial barriers include budget restrictions like food supplies and other supplies like incontinent products limits the overall expenditure and this leads to inadequate provision of quality services to residents Personal Appearance: Hygiene and grooming, eating habits and attire can vary from country to country and culture to culture. For example, some people may wear attire such as a headdress as part of their custom and beliefs. To remain true to their beliefs, some workers may want to continue to wear this dress at their workplace. Employers may view this as inappropriate or unsafe. It is particularly problematic in workplaces where workers wear uniforms. Religion: In many cultures, religion dominates life in a way that is often difficult for employers to understand. For example, workers from some cultures may want to pray while at work times in accordance with their values and beliefs. There may also be religious holidays on which people of certain religions are forbidden to work. These differences need to be respected, where possible, and not ignored and they affect the quality of service. Language barriers often go hand-in hand with cultural differences, posing additional problems and misunderstandings in the workplace. When people cannot communicate properly they are frustrated when communicating with supervisors, co-workers and residents this can be dangerous because people may end up performing poorly in their work thus affecting quality of service offered. Legal and institutional barriers -these include lack of legal powers to implement a particular instrument and responsibilities which are split between agencies limiting the ability of an institution. Like the law states that students should work for twenty hours only which creates shortages at work affecting quality of services. 3.1) According to Business Dictionary.com (2010), policies are principles, rules and guidelines formulated or adopted by an organization to reach its long term goals. They are designed to influence and determine all major decisions, actions and activities take place within the boundaries set by them and procedures are specific methods employed to express policies in action in day to day operations of the organization. For example, in nursing homes the National Care Standards Commission for England, NCSC (2010) has outlined requirements that these homes must meet which in effect guide their policies and principles. These policies include, but not limited to: manual handling procedures, Risk assessment and Infection control. Manual handling These are techniques used to handle or move service users like hoisting, using belts and sliding sheets to move residents these are safe procedures for both residents and service providers as they minimise accidents to both cases and this promotes quality of service (CQC, 2010). On the other hand, they have disadvantages like time consuming when doing procedures like hoisting which requires two or three persons and also residents may not like the experiences of hoisting and thirdly it needs trainings to be carried out. Risk assessments According to healthy and safety at work act (1974) the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulation (1999) states that it is the responsibilities of managers to do risk assessment to employers and employees. to reduce and prevent risks to them in future and they are included in their care plan so that quality of care can be improved for example residents with risks of falling have walking frames, falling mats and bed rails put in place to avoid falls but again things like bed rails have caused accidents in that residents are trapped and some sustain fractures which affect quality of service 3.2) factors that influence the achievement of quality of personal care Quality is a difficult concept to capture directly. However, resident or organisational outcomes are often used as a proxy for quality (Marshall, 2003). There is considerable debate about the relationship between quality of care and quality of life as joint, but not necessarily competing, measures of quality. A study for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation indicates that residents perceptions of nursing staff are a good indicator of quality of care (JRF, 2008).The importance of measures of social care and of homeliness epitomise the divide between health and social care provision in care homes. Factors influencing residents satisfaction with care are discussed below: Team working Heath care workers working in teams has been recognised as an improving the quality of care (Stevens, 2004; Borill et al 1999). According to Stevens, the intention is for carers to share tasks and learn from each other and possibly improve based on their experiences. This can be illustrated by the quotation below: The best and most cost-effective outcomes for patients and clients are achieved when professionals work together, learn together, engage in clinical audit of outcomes together, and generate innovation to ensure progress in practice and service. (Borill et al 1999 p.6). Stevens has for example reported from a number of surveys from UK nursing homes to suggest that there is a reduction in carer burden and significant reduction in stress when staff work in teams resulting in better coping and satisfaction. Both these studies (Stevens, 2004; Borill et al 1999) found that service users surveyed showed more satisfaction when carers and health workers worked in teams Healthy and safety at work The responsibilities of care home proprietors are subject to a range of health and safety legislation among them the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 which require employers to assess the risks to employees and other who may be affected by their undertaking, (residents) and the control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations ( Care Quality Commission, 2010). These regulations have led to dramatic improvements in the safety of residents and people working in care homes according to the care quality commission. For instance, guidelines requiring minimalist manual handling has significantly reduced the numbers of health workers staying off work due to illness which has a positive effect on the level of personal care of residents ( CQC, 2010a). However, a report for the Joseph Rawtree Foundation (JRF, 2008) showed that the percentage of medication errors and adverse events in nursing homes have increased despite regular inspections by the CQC. Stevens (2004) has also reported survey results from 27 residential homes with dementia patients where 19% cases of medication errors were reported. In my care setting, clear improvements can be seen from less harm to residents when using the hoist but not many service users like to use the hoist. Some risk assessments in care homes have made it very difficult to take residents outdoors or even for activities outside the home for fear of not meeting the Health and safety requirements and this ends up reducing the quality of care. 3.3 The following recommendation can improve the quality of care in Nursing homes Training /education This means acquiring knowledge and skills or new information on how to do things according to the recommended regulations and standards ( Stevens 2004). This is a very important aspect in nursing homes all trainings as it provides ongoing trainings to update service providers and equip them with relevant and current information that enables them to provide the best quality of care that will be satisfactory to service users. In our nursing home trainings are offered and need to be implemented then supervision is done and in cases where need for retraining arises, arrangements are done and they are offered for the benefits of service users, service providers and the community at large as it reduces or minimises preventable accidents and this promotes the quality of service Review This means going through the set of targets or planned activities to see the progress whether it is improving or getting worse. This alerts and actions or precautions are put in place to make the situation improve for better quality of service ( Stevens, 2004). For example in our nursing home there are always monthly reviews of care plans of service users this includes individual or family interviews to determine whether residents are improving or need some improved care plans like in moving and handling procedures (use of hoist or belts) and then action is taken accordingly. Also for staff there is quarterly staff meetings or when need arises and previous discussed or current issues are raised and a way forward on how to carry on is agreed. There are always individual supervisions done by allocated persons and each employee identifies areas that need improvement and good performing areas by doing this there is improvement of quality of service Conclusion It has been shown that in order to improve services to users in the social care sector, it is important to follow principles, guidelines and procedures set by government, industry bodies or even individual homes. There is also need for planning, doing and checking and then reviewing to assess shortcomings in order to design improvement regimes. Similarly, it has been shown that although there is legislation and care industry standards, it will require long term commitments in developing methods, instruments and communication procedures involving all stakeholders at care or residential home level.

An Overview Of Teaser Advertising

An Overview Of Teaser Advertising Zoon, V.I.B, On ne peut larreter; these ad shouts for ones attention but there is no brand name. As you pass by, the hoardings yell out to you they look extremely familiar but yet they reveal nothing except the promise of more to come. Sometimes they work in a tizzy while sometimes they ask a response out of you. It is suspense with a purpose to tease. These are Teaser advertising. In Mauritius, this style of advertising which tend to advertise for a new product while keeping the target audience interest arouse each day and at the same time creating a sort of buzz around the ad-the teaser, has become a craze lately. The Zoon Teaser advertising proved to be successful in teasing people. Nevertheless some people consider Teaser advertising to be Much Ado about Nothing (quoting the word of Shakespeare). But, why is there so much fantasy about communicating and advertising a product? Today, advertising is considered by many to be the most important factor in the success of the company as most organizations -small and large- that rely on marketing to create customer interest, are engaged in consistent use of advertising to help meet marketing objectives. An organization can have the best idea, product or service, but without effectively delivering their messages to its target market, these ideas, products and services can go unnoticed. An effective creative campaign in the form of a teaser can set a company apart from the competition and allows it to give to its potential customers an image of what makes the brand different from the competition which has for goal to be top of the mind of these busy consumers. This means that the name of the business or the brand is the first thing that pops into their head, when looking for a product in the respective category. Furthermore, given info rmation asymmetry that prevails in the market, advertising is a communication tool that cannot be missed to signal potential clients and Teaser advertising with its ability to create buzz and word of mouth is for sure a successful method to spread news about a subject. But even if advertising including Teaser plays a crucial role in positioning the product in the mind of customers, does this type of advertising push people to buy the advertised product as such? Therefore does this type of advertising always work? Does it create this sort of buzz that it wants to cause? Does it create this sort of buzz that it wants to cause? Does it has an impact on people and how do they react to it? Does it act as a source of motivation for customers to purchase? To know more about this interesting aspect of advertising and to explore this specific area of advertising, a study has been conducted towards this perspective by considering the recent teaser ads in Mauritius. This study will allow discovering and evaluating this particular technique of advertising and explore the surrounding galaxy of such tool of advertising. 1.1 Aims and Objectives Ø Understanding the concept of Teaser advertising o Teaser Ad as an advertising practice o Teaser Ad as a communication tool o Teaser Ad in relation with customer attitudes Ø Evaluating the effectiveness of Teaser advertising in the Mauritian context Ø Analysing Teaser ad as a source of motivation for customers to purchase 1.2 Hypotheses Hypothesis 1: H0: There is no relationship between Teaser advertising and frequency of purchase H1: There is a relationship between Teaser advertising and frequency of purchase Hypothesis 2: H0: There is no relationship between Teaser ad as a source of motivation and purchasing decisions. H1: There is a relationship between Teaser ad as a source of motivation and purchasing decisions. Hypothesis 3: H0: There is no relationship between Teaser effectiveness and level of expectation of revelation of the ad. H1: There is a relationship between Teaser effectiveness and level of expectation of revelation of the ad. Hypothesis 4: H0: There is no relationship between teaser ad as a communication tool and purchasing decisions. H1: There is a relationship between teaser ad as a communication tool and purchasing decisions. Hypothesis 5: H0: There is no relationship between buyers self-concept towards teaser advertising and purchase intention of that product. H1: There is a relationship between buyers self-concept towards teaser advertising and purchase intention of that product. Hypothesis 6: H0: There is no relationship between religion and purchasing intention. H1: There is a relationship between religion and purchasing intention Chapter 2 Literature Review 2.0 Introduction Under this chapter, teaser advertising will be treated as a style of doing advertising among others and also the concept of teaser advertising with relation customers. Thus teaser advertising will be defined under 3 main heading. Moreover, this chapter covers literatures on the development of this particular type of advertising in Mauritius. This section will try to analyse Teaser ad as a source of motivation for customers to purchase with reference to different literatures from various authors. Concrete authors examples will be used. 2.1 What is advertising? According to Smith et al. (1998), there exist twelve different communication tools available to a marketer. As per Leiss (1972), advertising has been recognized as a major vehicle of social communication in the field of marketing in modern Western society. Kotler and Armstrong (2007) provide an alternative definition: Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods and services through mass media such as newspapers, magazines, television or radio by an identified sponsor. Advertising is the promotion of products and services carried out by companies principally to drive sales of the products and services and equally to establish brand identity and to communicate changes or new products or services to the customers. Marketers have identified several reasons for advertising, among which are as follows: * Increasing the sales of the product/service * Creating and maintaining a brand identity or brand image. * Communicating a change in the existing product line. * Introduction of a new product or service. * Increasing the buzz-value of the brand or the company. Thus, just like, there are several reasons for advertising; similarly there exist various media that effectively can be employed for advertising. Based on these criteria there can be several styles of advertising which will be discussed below. 2.2 Styles of advertising The creative style of execution refers to the manner in which a particular appeal is transformed into a message of publicity which is presented to the consumer. According to the research done by Tony Yeshin (1997), the following are the most common styles of advertising: 2.3 Teaser advertising The Marketing Dictionary and Barrons Educational Series, 2007 defines teaser advertising as: A brief advertisement designed to tease the public by offering only bits of information without revealing either the sponsor of the ad or the product being advertised. 2.3.1 Teaser advertising: As an advertising practice According to this theory by Joannis (1995), the very old principle of Teaser advertising is to arouse the curiosity of the prospect by communicating to it the first part of the completely mysterious message. It is supposed to hold ones attention and brings him/her to seek the second part of the message. Joannis (1995) also points out that this second part would not have been read if the curiosity excites by the first part, is very far away from the subject. Joe ODonnell (2002) puts forward: If theyve got the right target audience and the right media, the audience is going to pay attention to the teaser campaign as it develops. Jean-Marc Lehu (2006) for his part stresses that Teaser advertising is characterised by a two phases advertising campaign. This technique can consist of two or even three teasers. (Lehu,2006) Source: Two Phases Advertising Campaign adapted by Jean-Marc Lehu, 2006 Bruce Miller (2002) classifies the HERE Teaser campaign in Baltimore (the largest city and cultural center of the U.S. state of Maryland) as an effective advertising practice. The revelation part of the Teaser Christopher Jacob (2006) puts forward that the revelation of certain Teaser ads are weak which eventually have a negative impact on consumers purchasing decisions. For example in 2007, in France the Teaser advertising for Transatlantis proved to be very effective, however the revelation which relates to the offer (a journey) was somehow weak which eventually had a negative effect on customers purchasing decisions. 2.3.2 Teaser advertising: As a communication tool According to Hung (2000), teaser ads rely heavily on nonverbal executional cues to communicate. As a copywriting approach to break through confusion, teaser ads provide incomplete information (Kover 1995) and rely on lush visual images, accompanied by music or other sound effects, to create an attractive image for the advertised brand and its users. Aaker et al. (1992) considers: It is through teaser advertising that we can provide creative advertising along with effective communication. This is because; this style of advertising not only attracts the target consumers attention, but also generates interest and educates the consumer about the product benefits and positioning, thus acting as an effective tool of communication. Teaser ad is a powerful tool used to convey message to the target audience but in its own style of creating curiosity on what the ad is about and thus directs the attention of target audience (Journal of Advertising, 2001) Erik Schmuckler (1999) views Lee Jeans Teaser ad as an effective communication tool in terms of delivering the right message to the target audience. The main idea behind this mystery ad was to show that this particular brand is cool to wear. Lee became very cool very fast. According to the agencys (Fallon McElligott, 1999) tracking study, perceptions that the brand was becoming more popular and was cool to wear jumped 10 percentage points from 25 to 35 percent and their sell-in of the Dungarees line was four times higher than anticipated. Most importantly, Lee gained 3 percent in market share in a flat year while Levis dropped just as many percentage points. 2.3.3 Teaser advertising: With relation to customer attitudes Lutz (1985) defines customers attitudes towards Teaser advertising as a learnt tendency to react in a favourable or unfavourable manner to Teaser campaign in general. According to Bauer and Greyser (1968), Teaser ad had important economic and social effects and built up a set of belief items associated with positive and negative outcomes of such ad in these specific areas. The attitudes of customers towards teaser advertising vary from one another. With particular reference to www.agencyfaqs.com, the following are some thoughts on teaser advertising with respect to customers: Ø Teaser campaigns are a bit like lemon. If one squeeze them too much they become bitter. One should quickly take out the juice and make the lemonade (as in the main campaign), rather than squeeze it drop by drop till it becomes too sour for anybodys liking Ø Teaser ads are not cash cows in terms of immediate sale, but if one notices, they are always at the top of the mind Ø Teasers tease the consumers and do stimulate to buy provided it is a launch product or a new sensational stuff. Gums are fun to chew and get better on chewing more but loose the juice on chewing too long. Ø What a waste of advertising money! 2.4 Development of teaser advertising According to Dan S. Kennedy (2006), the main problem with carrying out big ad in the newspaper, in a trade journal, or in a national magazine is the number of people one pay for simply do not see it. This means that on any one day, ones best prospects may be out of town, sick in bed, or too busy to read newspaper. As a solution to this problem, one strategy to focus attention on ones big ad is to precede it with a series of tiny, low-cost teaser ads. For example, a new computer store eager of making the business community aware of its existence for two months, in the weekly city business journal, ran small display ads. (Dan S. Kennedy, 2006) 2.5 Teaser advertising in Mauritius Past research done by LExpress (2005) proves that many people are still unaware of this great phenomenon in advertising in Mauritius. This is because many people have difficulty in associating the Teaser with advertising, or for the new generation this concept is still new, except those having knowledge in the marketing field. But if one asks someone about the Zoon teaser advertising campaign, they will definitely recall it. In fact, Zoon was launched in October 2005 to assess the effectiveness of billboards. But primarily the billboard was featuring a dog (who was lost and his master apparently launch this ad campaign for it and even propose a big sum of money as reward), but this was all a teaser. This was done just to make zoon becoming the talk of the town as per Mr. Vincent Montocchio; Creative Director of Circus (Lexpress October 2005). However, this particular teaser advertising is not the first one to appear in Mauritius. In fact, by the end of the eighties, one among the first teaser advertising which was famous to the public, is the one developed for the national airline company; Air Mauritius by the Immedia advertising agency. They placed a koala in 3D in front of Queen Victoria in front of the government house, without any indication what it is. This created curiosity among the general public and became the talk of not just the town but of the whole country, and it was even on the first page of the newspaper. A few days later, the teaser was revealed; it in fact introduces Air Mauritius first flight to Australia. Subsequently, this teaser advertising campaign has brought the emergence of other teaser ads and fifteen years after, this style of advertising is still present. (Poonoosamy, 2006) 2.6 The When of teaser advertising in Mauritius This is commonly used by new products and new businesses to create an element of intrigue and curiosity and build excitement and anticipation. A good example is the launch campaign for the Nissan Micra (Baker, 1994) and the initial campaign for Cable and Wireless. (Tony Yeshin, 1997) Generally, not all advertising agencies in Mauritius get involved in Teaser advertising, because it depends highly on the clients product positioning, budget of the client and most importantly, what does the client want; what dose the brand wants to say during the advertising campaign. But then when does one engage in teaser advertising? Figure 2. 3: When to do teaser in Mauritius New Product Launching According to Belch and Belch (2003), the teaser advertising has for key objective to reveal the brand after hiding it for some time and after keeping this moment of pure intrigue. Therefore it will be wise to say that teaser advertising will best be adapted when the company is launching a new product or brand. For example, in France, the merger Neuf Telecom and Cegetel used online teaser ads to introduce its new subsidiary Neuf Cegetel that was meant to specialize in mobile communications (www.journaldunet.com). A local example is the national lottery LOTO where a Teaser campaign was used to advertise this product since it was new in the Mauritian market. New Business According to blimpcam.com, it is very important for a new business to generate customer interest before a business opens its doors. To achieve this, some businesses do teaser advertising. For example a teaser ad may be, the countdown has begun; there are only 60 days until a certain company opens. However in Mauritius, this particular style of advertising does not only used for new business but also for existing one. A recent example of Teaser ad in Mauritius for an existing business is Orange. 2.7 Evaluation of teaser advertising All advertising efforts-regardless of its styles, are directed mainly towards the attainment of various objectives (in terms of business, marketing and advertising) i.e., to increase the sales turnover and thus to market the maximum profit. The advertiser spends millions of rupees in this activity. In the background of all these hard work, is an effort to attract the customer towards the product through advertising. Pollay and Mittal (1993) put forward that Teaser advertising influences consumers on three levels namely: Ø economic level Ø personal level Ø social level However, in reality, does advertising especially Teaser ad really motivates ones to carry out the purchase activity? Hristo Ivanov Katranjiev (2000) points out that in most cases, the ultimate response is purchase. Normally, consumers pass through six stages (see figure 2.4) in their way to making a purchase. Phillip Kotler, Gary Armstrong (2001) suggest that prior to the first stage, consumers may be completely unaware of the product, know only its name or know a bit about it. So, there is a need to build awareness first and then knowledge. When Nissan introduced its Infinity automobile line, it started with with an extensive teaser advertising campaign to build name familiarity. Original ads for the Infiniti created curiosity and awareness by showing the cars name only and not the car. Later ads created knowledge by informing potential buyers of the cars high quality and many innovative features and continued like this till the last stage. In common cases, Teaser ads act as a source of motivation for customers to purchase activity. 2.7.1 Teaser advertising as a source of motivation for customers to purchase According to David A.Aaker (1989), usually advertising in general is not well suited to directly precipitate action. Rather it is better at conducting some communication, association or persuasion task that will hopefully result in the desired action being precipitated. A communication results in the audience members learning something new or gaining an improved understanding or memory of some fact. However, according to David A.Aaker (1989), Teaser advertising is one of the many forces that motivate customers to purchase. That is this style of advertising is well suited to directly precipitate action of purchase (see figure 2.5). According to Henri Joannis (1995), Teaser ad is actually an altered version of a very old model of advertising, the AIDA model, which points out that an announce must draw attention, arise interest, inculcate the desire and provoke action. Joannis (1995) also stresses on the fact that Teaser ad is altered in the way that the factor attention is separated from the factor interest and desire by the use of suspense element that creates curiosity. In advertising settings, consumers are assumed to go through a process to compare Teaser ad contents with self-concept when they are exposed to the advertising messages. According to Markus et al. (1985), self-concept does not just have the meaning of mere knowledge of facts, but rather, it is a cognitive structure which is related with strong feelings and motivations. While research pertaining to the effect of self-concept on purchase intention is rare, Landon (1974) and Belch (1978) found that both actual and ideal self-concept influence purchase intention (though their degree of relative impact is different). That is, the more closely the teaser ad matches the buyers self-concept, the higher the purchase intention for that product. However, previous research done by Hristo Ivanov Katrandjiev (2000) proves that Teaser advertising is cheaper than sales promotion and more expensive than public relations, but often evokes negative feelings (such as annoyance, anger, distrust, etc.). Paul Hague (2001) states that the AIDA hierarchical model follows the decision making process from lighting the lamp for people through to the sale itself. At each level in the process the number of people drastically diminishes so that those who take action are a small fraction of those who are aware of or interested in the product (see figure 2.6). Kim Shyan Fam et al. (2004) point out that religious beliefs play a major role in shaping human behaviour towards a particular ad no matter of its styles. According to Deng et al. (1994), religion also controls gender roles in a particular culture. As per Philippe Tesseron (2006), the very effective style of advertising-Teaser ad was used in France for a hypermarket. The first billboard was introduced anonymously, without brand but with a promising revelation. Comparatively, that everybody, especially the religious ones, seems to remember the great advertising campaign which became a real scoop in 1981. There was a young woman in bikini which promises to take out her top then the bottom as they change posters, then to discover the reveal-a naked woman from the back with the slogan-Avenir Advertising-They hold their promises. Philippe Tesseron (2006) points out that this teaser ad on the hypermarket in France did not really act as a source of motivation for customers to do the act of purchase, but rather this ad arise questions: Is the body merchandise that we use to satisfy the desires of some advertisers? What is the relationship between the opening of a hypermarket and the back of a woman or man in underwear on posters and billboards? So the Myriam advertising campaign realized in France 1981 on the hypermarket has created lots of controversies. Philippe Tesseron (2006) also points out that these controversies were not only due to religious beliefs but on ethical ground which eventually lead to the idea that religion alone does not influence purchasing decisions. 2.8 Summary Teaser advertising has for objective to create attention around a subject and to trigger curiosity its prospect. This technique of advertising is done in two phases. Despite the Zoon Teaser in Mauritius was a real success as it has been playing a lot on emotions, there exist lots of controversies of this style of advertising because of ethical aspects of some of the visuals displayed. Finally it is mentioned that Teaser ad acts as a source of motivation but does it really influence consumers in their purchasing decisions and force them to do the purchase activity. For this, various literatures from different authors have been used so as to obtain a deep understanding of the subject. Chapter 3 Research Methodology 3.0 Introduction According to Zikmund, research is the systematic and objective process of gathering, recording and analyzing of data for aid in making decisions (Zikmund, 2000). Advertising related research provides information in several areas, for example the uses of research pertaining specifically to the creative execution (Michelet, 2006). While carrying out research, it is important for us to look at the steps in the research process that will be handled further in this chapter. 3.1 Step 1: Formulation of the research problem The marketing environment is constantly changing and therefore marketers or managers have to address new issues which may create opportunities or problems for their organizations (Wilson, 2003). As far as Teaser advertising is concerned, some ad agencies and advertisers have forgotten what this style of advertising should do and how they should do it. As a consequence, some of the advertising produced in Mauritius has substantial flaws that limit its value as a communication tool. Therefore, the present study investigates the perception of the Mauritian consumers on Teaser advertising. Basically, consumers inference to the nature and purpose of mystery advertising has been decided. The following questions also have been addressed: how far does Teaser ad influence consumers in their purchase decisions, where there are similar types of advertising as well as lots of ad messages in todays clutter. The result is ineffective advertising that gives nothing to potential consumer and the advertiser. With lots of repeated ads, can advertising in terms of teaser advertising deliver information people need and want to make them make intelligent purchase decision and motivate them to buy? Thus, a survey has been carried out and it has the following objectives: Ø Understand the concept of Teaser advertising o Teaser Ad as an advertising practice o Teaser Ad as a communication tool o Teaser Ad in relation with customer attitudes Ø Evaluate the effectiveness of Teaser advertising in the Mauritian context Ø Analyse Teaser ad as a source of motivation for customers to purchase. 3.2 Step 2: Determine Research Design Research Design is simply the framework or plan for a study used as a guide in collecting and analyzing data. There are some important research design frameworks that are classified as: Ø Exploratory Ø Conclusive (a) Descriptive (b) Causal Research This study is an attribute of both exploratory and descriptive research. It is to be noted that due to time and other constraints, a true exploratory design involving techniques like focus groups were not adopted for the study. 3.2.1 Exploratory Research An exploratory research principally for this study has been conducted in order to find out the point of view of Mauritian consumers on Teaser advertising and also to identify the factors that influence their perception of Teaser advertising. This will help in the assessment of Teaser ad as a source of motivation for customers to purchase. Thus, the following hypotheses (with reference to various authors) were developed: 1. There is no relationship between Teaser advertising and frequency of purchase. Paul Hague (2001) states that at each level in the process (AIDA model) the number of people drastically diminishes so that those who take action are a small fraction 2. There is a relationship between Teaser ad as a source of motivation and purchasing decisions. As per Phillip Kotler, Gary Armstrong (2001), Teaser ads act as a source of motivation for customers to purchase activity. 3. There is a relationship between Teaser effectiveness and level of expectation of revelation of the ad. Christopher Jacob (2006) puts forward that weak revelation of Teaser ads have a negative impact on consumers purchasing decisions. 4. There is a relationship between buyers self-concept towards teaser advertising and purchase intention of that product. Landon (1974) and Belch (1978) found that the more closely the teaser ad matches the buyers self-concept, the higher the purchase intention for that product. 5. There is a relationship between teaser ad as a communication tool and purchasing decisions. Erik Schmuckler (1999) found that Teaser ad as an effective communication tool positively influences purchasing decision. 6. There is no relationship between religion and purchasing intention. As per, Philippe Tesseron (2006) religion alone does not influence purchasing decisions. 3.2.2 Descriptive research Since the objectives of the study require information to be generated about Teaser advertising as a source of motivation for customers to purchase, this study is descriptive in nature as well. 3.3 Step 3: Determining Data Collection Methods 3.3.1 Secondary Data Secondary data is information that has been previously gathered for some purpose other than the current research. As such secondary data which includes newspapers such as LExpress, the Internet and journal articles was collected externally. 3.3.2 Primary Data It is collected by a program of observation, qualitative or quantitative research either separately or in combination. For this study, both quantitative and qualitative researches were chosen. Quantitative Research: This approach was used so as to identify the influence of Teaser ad on purchasing decisions. Hence, a survey was conducted where questionnaires were designed and administered to the target population so as to get the required information. Qualitative Research: This research was as important in this study so as to gain a deeper understanding of Teaser ad as a source of motivation to make purchase

Social and Economic Conditions of the Northern and Southern states in t

Social and Economic Conditions of the Northern and Southern states in the years 1820-1850   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the early to mid 1800s the United States seemed to be split into two sections, the Northern states and the Southern states. Although they had the same flag, spoke the same language, and had the same president, the two regions seemed to be two separate countries, each one having different views and political opinions. But, because they were the same country, there were also many similarities. This mostly showed in the social and economic conditions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The economies of each region at the time where really only similar in that they were expanding and growing stronger. One way the two regions differed in economics was in the base of the economy. For example, the South’s economy was based on cotton farming, while the North’s economy was based on manufacturing. Because the South did not manufacture goods, they were forced to purchase finished products from the North- thus adding to the North’s economy. With the South’s money they would purchase cotton from the southern states. Also, in the South, there were little job opportunities for whites since slaves had the jobs in the field, unlike the North where jobs were abundant in factories for the unskilled workers. Many of these unskilled workers were immigrants from Ireland and Germany.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While on the topic of immigrants, this brings me to how the to areas compared and contrasted in their social conditions. In compariso...

The Making and Unmaking of the Haya Lived World: Consumption, Commoditization, and Everyday Practice. :: Haya Humanity Essays

The Making and Unmaking of the Haya Lived World: Consumption, Commoditization, and Everyday Practice In relation to the Haya of Northwest Tanzania, Brad Weiss constructs a model of coeval symmetry in which people engage in making the world around them but also engage in making themselves (4). His ethnographic analysis illustrates how relationships with commodities contribute to the constitution and reconfiguration of the Haya sociocultural world. Drawing from the phenomenological work of Merleau-Ponty, Weiss constructs the Haya lived world in terms of inhabiting both social space and time in an effort to show the relevance of this conception of the world to both the anthropology of the body and understanding sociocultural practice in general (5-6). Weiss not only argues that commodities like food or land have social value but that they "can be understood as personifications (e.g. as extensions or embodiments) of those who give and receive them" (13). Part 1 focuses on the household production, provision, and consumption of food, which Weiss states is essential to making the lived world of the Haya. The cultural values regarding interiority, exteriority, heat, and speed are discussed as modes by which the Haya mediate with the processes of consumption. Architectural descriptions of different Haya homes are oriented to the ways in which division, enclosure, and exclusion shape the Haya habitus. Spatial configurations of social relations become embedded in Haya house opening rites, which serve to protect the house against potential conflict with guests (38). The hearth is central to the household, both literally (spatially) and metaphorically, in terms of the social relations which rest on it. Weiss relates the consumption of different kinds of banana beer and banana gin to both the temporal nature of banana cultivation and of beverage production and consumption. Hearth-ripened bananas involve a slower process but the resulting beer (olibisi) is considered superior (taste, ascetics) to that beer produced from the pit (olutala)-ripened method, a faster and more lucrative process. Banana gin (enkonyagi), having a much higher alcohol content, commands a higher market price but is associated with "the desire for money and its deleterious consequences" (61). Not only is the banana-ripening process faster for the gin, but also patrons get drunk more quickly while rapidly losing their pocket money. Weiss suggests that the Haya associate the rapid speed of such product turnover with animosity and illness, while the hearth is more revered for both its placement in the home and its more withdrawn stance from the world of quick monetized exchange.

How skilful communication influence patients’ health behaviours

Abstract This essay analyses how skilful communication can influence the health behaviours of the patients. It looks at the importance of communication in healthcare and the different models of communication available to the healthcare personnel. These professionals need to decide on the model to use in order to ensure that they persuade the patients to change their health decisions by adhering to all the recommendations given to them Introduction Effective communication between healthcare personnel and the patients is important in clinical function as well as building a therapeutic relationship between them and the patients. Much of the dissatisfaction registered by patients and their failure to change their health behaviours are as a result of the breakdown of their relationship with the health care providers (Bryan 2009, p.75). However, many doctors often tend to overestimate their ability to effectively communicate with the patients thereby exacerbating the problem. Skilful communication and interpersonal skills encompasses the ability of healthcare professionals to gather information and use it to advise the patients appropriately with a view of influencing their health behaviours (Webb 2011, p. 57). This essay covers how skilful communication influences the health behaviour of patients. Healthcare Communication Communication is an important clinical skill that is very essential to clinical competence. The components of communication include non-verbal behaviours, listening and attending skills. All healthcare professionals need to understand the basic anatomy and physiology of communication (Bryan 2009, p. 66). They need to understand the variables that affect reception, processing and expression. A good comprehension of communication on delivery of healthcare is important in influencing health behaviour of the patients. They also need to understand the multicultural context in which the communication process occurs because it affects the manner in which the patients perceive the disseminated information. This should be in tandem with a good comprehension of therapeutic responses as they are significant in care management, increasing patient awareness and capacity for self-care and personal health management (Van 2009, p. 101). Models of Healthcare Communication Human beings often respond to illness and health differently, for instance some may choose to ignore or deny health threats while others face the threats by collecting the necessary information and acting accordingly and appropriately (Muller 2001, p. 88). There are different models designed to help understand the ways in which healthcare professionals interact with particular health outcomes. All these models contribute towards the successful understanding of communication in healthcare. These models are as follows: the therapeutic model, king’s interactive model, the developmental model, health belief model, health belief model for compliance, and the model for participative decision making (Jones & Jenkins 2007, p. 18). ). The therapeutic model puts emphasis on the importance of relationships in assisting the patients to adjust to their current conditions and take positive measures aimed at improving their health. The model emphasises on dyadic communication and the level of success is dependent on respect, trust, genuineness and non-judgemental attitude (Eisenberg 2012, p. 45).The healthy belief model explains how healthy people seek to avoid illnesses by outlining the nature of people’s preventative healthcare. The model is designed to indicate how personal health behaviours are influenced by perceived threats and benefits. It emphasises on perceptions and beliefs that can be modified to result in changed health behaviour. In this model communication is perceived as an essential tool for influencing the behaviour of the patients. The health belief model for compliance is an expansion of the health belief model and it includes the beliefs of patients that are already suffering from illnesses and have to comply with treatment. It aims at predicting compliance of patients to treatment to assist healthcare professionals in designing interventions to suit the needs of individual patients (Hugman 2009, p. 33). The King’s interaction model explains the communication between a nurse and a patient. It incorporates transactional aspects of human communication and the need for feedback. The model regards the trust between the nurse and the patient as vital in the effectiveness of the communication process. The model for participative decision making for patient doctor interaction postulates that when clients don’t get enough information from doctors or when there are communication barriers then they are likely to reject the treatment or decrease compliance (Eisenberg 2012, p.24). Therefore, the patients are supposed to be fully informed on their conditions and all the available options for treatment. The development model for health communication focuses on the communication occurring within the various relationships in healthcare settings. Its emphasis is on how different factors and contexts influence the interactions between different individuals in health communication. All the participants have their own pers pectives based on their individual beliefs and values. These perspectives influence the choice of the participants to interact with the others and as such healthcare personnel must always have this in mind (Hugman 2009, p.71). Importance of Skilful Communication as an Aspect of Care In an attempt to show the importance of communication in healthcare delivery, it is apparent that communication and healthcare delivery are indivisible. Delivery of healthcare to the patients encompasses more than just the administration of drugs. Healthcare delivery has moved from the task oriented practice it was in the past towards a therapeutic process that involves a wide range of roles focused on the health of the individual patients, their health and wellbeing (Tamparo & Lindh 2008, p. 69). The therapeutic effect of good communication between healthcare professionals and patients on healthcare delivery cannot be ignored. Provision of social support to the patients reassures them and can even lower blood pressure. Patients regard the health professionals who communicate effectively at an emotional level as warm, caring and empathetic. This enables the patients to engender trust in them and encourages them to disclose worries and concerns that they would have otherwise not have disclosed. In addition to this, useful and informative communication between the healthcare professionals and the patients encourages them to take more interest in their condition, ask pertinent questions and develop greater understanding and self-care (Jones & Jenkins 2007, p.38). It is this interest and understanding of the importance of self-care that drives the patients to positively change their health behaviours. This happens especially when the patients are allowed to ask questions and are involved in treatment decisions. The patients also experience benefits when the health professionals provide a good environment, give accurate information, use therapeutic communication and encourage positive motivation (Nemeth 2008, p. 93). Therefore good communication in the relationship between healthcare professionals and patients is an important tool for therapeutic intervention as well as good care. Basic communication skills alone are not sufficient to create and sustain successful therapeutic relationship between the patients and the healthcare providers. Successful therapeutic relationships are made up of shared perceptions and feelings on the nature of the problem, objectives of treatment and psychological support. Interpersonal skills develop from the basic communication between the doctors, nurses and other carers with the patients. Appropriate communication should be centred on both the carers and the patients as both sides are important in building and sustaining interpersonal relationships. The ultimate goal of any communication between the medical personnel and the patients is always to improve the health of the patients and medical care. Good communication skills are required for developing a high quality, effective and safe healthcare delivery. The skills are important for gathering information, diagnosis, treatment and educating the patients (Nemeth 2008, p.55). Eff ective communication benefits both the doctors and the patients because they are part of the treatment process. Previous studies on communication between the patients and doctors and nurses demonstrate that many patients are discontented even when the doctors and nurses consider it sufficient or excellent (Pilnick et al 2010, p 47). This implies that doctors and nurses often tend to overestimate their communication abilities. Patient surveys consistently indicate that the want the communication between them and the healthcare personnel to be improved (Tamparo & Lindh 2008, p.88). In the past most of the medical personnel considered disclosing bad news to patients as inhumane and detrimental to their medical condition. However, medical practice has now evolved from paternalism to individualism and is now characterised by shared decision making and communication that is centred on the patients. Effective communication between the doctors and the patients is very important in clinical function because it plays a central role in healthcare delivery. Perhaps the most significant importance of communication in influencing health behaviour of the patients stems from the fact that the nature of health care is changing from treatment of illnesses to management of chronic disease as more and more people are now living with survivable chronic illnesses (Van 2009, p.74). This implies that the healthcare professionals need to encourage the patients to take good care of their health. For instance the patients living with diabetes are required to manage their blood sugar levels. Quality of life is more important to healthcare as patients are now living longer with chronic illnesses like cancer and bipolar disorders. Therefore treatment choice is now more dependent on the individual patients and must suit their preferences, values and expectations. Conclusion Communication is an important tool that healthcare personnel can use to pass useful information to the patients. Well educated patients and their families need to be informed to make important health decisions in order to attain the aims of managed healthcare. Healthcare professionals need to disseminate relevant and persuasive information to the patients to help them change their health behaviours. They can rely on the models of healthcare communication to communicate to the patients based on their individual characteristics. References Bryan, K. (2009). Communication in healthcare. Oxford [England: Peter Lang. Eisenberg, A. M. (2012). Prescriptive communication for the healthcare provider. S.l.: Trafford On Demand Pub. Hugman, B. (2009). Healthcare communication. London: Pharmaceutical Press. Jones, R., & Jenkins, F. (2007). Key topics in healthcare management: Understanding the big picture. Oxford: Radcliffe. Muller, P. (2001). Healthcare communication: A rhetorical handbook. San Jose: Writers Club Press. Nemeth, C. P. (2008). Improving healthcare team communication: Building on lessons from aviation and aerospace. Aldershot, England: Ashgate. Pilnick, A., Hindmarsh, J., & Gill, V. T. (2010). Communication in Healthcare Settings: Policy, Participation and New Technologies. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. Tamparo, C. D., & Lindh, W. Q. (2008). Therapeutic communications for health care. Clifton Park, NY: Thomson Delmar Learning. Van, S. G. M. (2009). Communication skills for the health care professional: Concepts, practice, and evidence. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Webb, L. (2011). Nursing: Communication skills in practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Cost Of Goods

The cost of making the product is an expense to the business and reduces the profit that the company can make when selling the products. The COGS is calculation once a year by showing charges from the Start to the end of the company fiscal (financial) year.In calculation the COGS you need to include cost of producing the product, wholesale price of good resold and what the direct manual labor cost the company makes the product. The other costs to be calculation is cost of containers, freight, rent, utilities, shipping and overhead. Whenever the COGS increase the net income is less. The sales of products need to be kept down to increase the profit. Inventory also determined the COGS by it changes of the product that was sold at the beginning of year and the inventory at the end of the previous year is calculation.The cost of goods purchased and made during the year is added up and the inventory at the end of the year is subtracted. This calculation is done so the company will know how much the inventory cost and how much was sold by the company during the year. The inventory is reported at the cost to make or buy the product, it is not the cost to sell it. If sells items cost change during the year, the company much figure out a transaction to deal with those cost changes in a way suitable to the IRS. It would have to figure this change into their COGS equation.The IRS has quite a few standard ways to account for changes in cost through the year without having to track each product price separately. 2. Record the transactions HTH made the purchase and sale of merchandise. All sales transactions have a credit entry to the sales account. The other transactions depend on the particular situation that is surrounding that transaction. There are make ways a company can makes sales and it can have a impact on an transactions sales. The sales can be for cash, resulting in a debit to cash or credit, which can lead to a debit to account receivable.The companies that use t he cash method receive sales only when actual cash have been received. When using the accrual method record the sales the moment the sale is made regardless of payment. In a permanent inventory system every entry for a sale must have a matching entry cost of goods. Using this system you have to book a cost of goods transaction for every individual inventory item you sell. The periodic systems from beginning to end on cost of goods entries are recorded during the accounting period, resulting in single -entry sales transaction.Once a business chosen an counting system that method dictates that part of the entry all the time. In a cash system you cannot ever record a sale transaction until the money has been paid. A cash or credit transaction may be different because it depends on the actual sales. Also there are risks when using cash sales and credit sales. When using the cash sales you get paid right then there is no waiting to receive your money in cash or credit card. With credit s ales the company extend credit with agreement of to be paid later and the business run the risk that the customer may not pay the money on time or pay not at all.It is very important when using the cash or credit system for a transaction the company needs to keep a record Of it (document) so the detail can be found of the transaction. The detail should include sales receipt with date, description of what was sold and the amount of the item. But credits sales are (not credit card sales) are treated just like a cash sales. The source document is done on a invoice slip it include all the information as the sale receipts and much more it have the purchaser name, contact information, credit terms due date, account number, purchase order number and invoice number.These record much be kept straight this should be done by premiered sale receipts and invoices slips and must be use in order, this will make it easier when you have to use then for information which you will need now and later. When using the accrual method accounting recording system should always be put in a second Journal entry for the cash part at the time of the receipt and this accounting method only let you know when you count the revenue not how you got it.