Microsoft- tablet PC Essay Example for Free

Microsoft- tablet PC Essay 1)Who should Microsoft have targeted at the launch of the Tablet PC why? Before discussing who Microsoft should have targeted, we have to look at the strengths and weaknesses of the product. The success of any strategy depends on being able leverage the most of the strengths and rely less on the weaknesses. The strengths of Microsoft were its brand, distribution channel, existing enterprise user base and large resources. The risks involved those related to new product development, price and changing user behavior. The exhibit tells us that the large and medium business accounted for the most portable PCs in terms of volume and revenue. Due to the enterprise refresh cycles, a third of the PCs are replaced every year. Now let’s take a look at the options Microsoft had as target initial customers. They could target first time PC buyers, enterprise IT managers, students, early tech adopters or existing Windows customers. Looking at the strengths and weaknesses listed above it is easy to eliminate a few of the choices provided. Microsoft should have targeted the enterprise user base. Enterprise devices are much less sensitive to price as regular customers and have a higher willingness to pay. Thus the high price tag might not have been a difficult barrier if the product delivered value. They demand compatibility with existing enterprise frameworks. Given Microsoft’s dominance in enterprise software, they could easily ensure that the tablet PC has software that was compatible with Microsoft’s existing enterprise software. The iPad was very geared towards the consumer segment. Thus there was a niche in the enterprise tablet space that Microsoft should have exploited. This would have also helped in terms of narrowing down the focus on a few key applications, distributors and use cases. Taking a leaf out of Blackberry’s book they could have made enterprise security as one of their key differentiators especially given the wide adoption of outlook email in the enterprise. 2) What are the pros cons of Microsoft’s strategy vs. Apple’s (Microsoft being dependent on hardware manufacturers to market the Tablet PC, vs. Apple’s control of both the hardware and software?) This is essentially a question on the merits and demerits of a horizontal strategy vs a vertical strategy. The Microsoft strategy is a horizontal strategy. It involves creating a product that can deliver value up and down the value chain by allowing manufacturers innovate above and below it. This strategy can scale quickly and demands fewer resources from an individual firm to create an ecosystem. This also allows for wide range of innovations from a variety of players along the value chain. It is also a case of imperfect competition given that at each level of the value chain different levels of competition exist that promote greater product differentiation on multiple levels. The demerits of this strategy is lack of focus and control. Since the product is extensible and involves many players, there is always a risk of not being able to control what the end product looks like and the features it should prioritize on.The vertical strategy by Apple allows for control on the experience, and look and feel of the product. This enables Apple to focus and do a few things really well and better position the brand. By vertically integrating, Apple is also able to extract multiple premiums at different levels of the value chain. This can lead to higher profit margins. However, the downside of this strategy is that it cannot scale quickly, requires high upfront fixed costs and doesn’t offer the wide breath of product differentiation or features.

Effectiveness of Support Services for Reducing Poverty

Effectiveness of Support Services for Reducing Poverty A 6000 word literature review project which critically analyses and evaluates the effectiveness of family support services aimed at reducing stress and poverty for the parents of children in need. Introduction The whole issue of parents and children in need is a vast, complex and ethically challenging one. This review is specifically charged with an examination of those issues which impinge upon the stresses and strains that are experienced by parents of children in need. A superficial examination of these issues that are involved in this particular area would suggest that there are a number of â€Å"sub-texts† which can all give rise to this particular situation. Firstly, to have a child in need is clearly a stressful situation for any parent. (Meltzer H et al. 1999) This can clearly be purely a financial concern and a reflection of the fact that the whole family is in financial hardship, perhaps due to the economic situation or perhaps due to the actions of the parents themselves. Equally the need of the child can be a result of a non-financial need, so we should also consider the child who is in some way handicapped, ill, emotionally disturbed or perhaps in need in some other way. This produces another type of stress on the parent, and these stresses are typically longer lasting and, in general, less easily rectified than a purely financial consideration of need. (Hall D 1996). It is part of the basic ethos of the welfare state that it should look after its less able and disadvantaged members. (Welsh Office 1997). Parents of children in need will often qualify in this definition. We shall therefore examine the various aspects of this problem. Literature Review We will make a start by considering one type of child in need. The first paper that we will consider is that of Prof. Vostanis (Vostanis 2002), which looks at the mental health problems that are faced by deprived children and their families together with the effectiveness of the resources that are available to them. It is a well written and well researched paper, if rather complex and confusing in places. We will consider this paper in some detail as it provides an excellent overview of the whole area. The paper starts with a rather useful definition for our purposes. It qualifies the deprived child, initially in terms of a homeless family, that being : A family of any number of adults with dependent children who are statutorily accepted by local authorities (housing departments) in the UK, and are usually accommodated for a brief period in voluntary agency, local authority or housing association hostels. This period of temporary accommodation can vary enormously depending on the time of year and the area considered, and can range from a few days to perhaps several months. The target in Greater London is currently to rehouse homeless families within 4-6 weeks. In London particularly, the homeless families can be placed in Bed Breakfast accommodation. (D of H 1998) In this respect, the immediate family support mechanisms do appear to be in place. Vostranis however, goes on to make the observation that despite the fact that the definition of the homeless family is rather broad, it does not cover all of the potential children in need, as those children and their carers who have lost their homes but have managed to live with relatives, on the streets or perhaps live as travellers, are not covered by the statutory obligation to provide housing. The official figures therefore, he observes, are generally an underestimate of the true situation. The official figures for the homeless families are put (in this paper) at 140,000. (Vostanis Cumella, 1999) The authors give us further information in that many families will become homeless again within one year of rehousing and the typical family seen is the single mother and at least two children who are generally under the age of 11 yrs. They also observe that the typical father and adolescent child tend to be placed in homeless centres. (D of H 1995) In exploration of the particular topic that we are considering, the authors give us the situations that typically have given rise to the degree of parental stress that may have led to the homelessness. They point to the fact that a homeless family is usually homeless for different reasons to the single homeless adult. Vostanis (et al 1997) is quoted as showing that 50% of the cases studied were homeless as a direct result of domestic violence and 25% as a result of harassment from neighbours. The authors observe that the numbers in this category (and therefore the problems), are rising. (Welsh Office 1999). There are a number of section to this paper which are not directly referable to our considerations. We shall therefore direct our attention purely to those parts that have a direct bearing on the subject. One particularly useful and analytical part of the paper is the section that details the characteristics and needs of the target group. This is a very detailed section, but it makes the point that the children in need in this group are particularly heterogeneous, generally all with multiple and inter-related needs. Homelessness is seldom a one off event. This particular observation, (say the authors), is crucially important for the development and provision of services. Most families have histories of previous chronic adversities that constitute risk factors for both children and parents (Bassuk et al, 1997). Such events include family conflict, violence and breakdown; limited or absent networks for family and social support; recurring moves; poverty; and unemployment. Mothers are more likely to have suffered abuse in their own childhood and adult life and children have increased rates of placement on the at-risk child protection register, because of neglect, physical and/or sexual abuse. If we specifically consider the health needs of this population, the authors categorise them thus: The children are more likely to have a history of low birthweight, anaemia, dental decay and delayed immunisations, to be of lower stature and have a greater degree of nutritional stress. They are also more likely to suffer accidents, injuries and burns. (BPA 1999) Some studies have found that child health problems increase with the duration of homelessness, although this finding is not consistent. A substantial proportion of homeless children have delayed development compared with the general population of children of a similar chronological age. This includes both specific developmental delays, such as in receptive and expressive language and visual, motor and reading skills, as well as general skills and educational status (Webb et al. 2001). It is for this reason specifically, that it has proved extremely difficult to assess the effectiveness of the family support services because of the multivariate nature of the problems that are presented. The authors point to the fact that one of the prime determinants of the degree of support available, is the actual access that the families have to these services. Many sources (viz. Wilkinson R 1996), equate the poor health of the disadvantaged primarily with the lack of access to services. One immediate difficulty is the current registration system in the UK. In order to be seen in the primary healthcare team setting, one must be registered with a named doctor. In the majority of cases that we are dealing with here, they have moved area and registration is probably not high on their list of priorities. One can argue that there is the access to the A E departments of the local hospitals but there is virtually no continuity here and they are no geared up to provide anything other than immediate treatment. (Hall D 1996). This fact restricts their access to primary healthcare team procedures such as immunisations and other preventative medicine health clinics. (Lissauer et al, 1993) . By the same token these groups also have restricted access to the social services, whether they be the access teams, the family teams or the family support units and other agencies. The authors also point to other more disruptive trends in this group such as an inability to attend a particular school for fear of being traced by an abusive partner. It follows that these children do not have a stable social support of a school. They are denied such factors as peer groups, routines and challenges which are both important protective and developmental factors. (Shankleman J et al 2000). The summation of all of these factors, and others, is that the effectiveness of the family support services is greatly reduced by the mobility and the transient nature of the family unit. Quite apart from the difficulties outlined above relating to the problems of access to avenues of help open to the child in need and their families there are the problems engendered by the fact that social service departments in different areas of the country may not have immediate access to the previous records giving rise to many potential, and real, problems with continuity of care. This problem is brought into more immediate focus when one considers the increased frequency of child protection registrations in this particular group. (Hall D et al 1998). One specific analysis of the family support services of this particular group comes in the form of the psychiatric services. In the context of the title of this piece, it demonstrates how these particular services, (but not these alone), are failing to deal with the totality of the problem. All of the aspects that we have outlined so far are conspiring to dilute the effectiveness of the services provided. The fact that they are a mobile population with no fixed address means that some of the services may choose to invoke this as a reason for not making provision for them, particularly if resources are stretched. If more resources are given, then they are typically preferentially targeted at the single adult homeless population where the need is arguably greater. The authors of this paper point to the fact that this may not actually be true as some studies have shown that homeless single mothers and their children have a 49% psychopathy rate and only an 11% contact with the support services. (Cumella et al, 1998). The impact of this fact on the children can only be imagined. To an extent however, it can be quantified as the authors cite other studies which show a 30% need rating for children, (they do not actually define exactly what their perceived level of need was), contrasted with a 3% contact rate for children and adolescents in this area. (viz. Power S et al. 1995). Putting these considerations together, the authors outline a set of proposals which are designed to help improve the access to some of the essential services. The model that they propose could, if successful and with a degree of modification, prove suitable for adaptation to other areas of the family support services. It is not appropriate to discuss this model in detail, but suffice it to say that it has a tiered structure so that the degree of distress and need is titrated against the degree of input generated. One of the reasons that we have selected this particular paper to present in this context is for its last section. It proposes a â€Å"family support services model† which has been developed and pioneered in the Leicester area. In the context of our review, it is worth considering in some detail. A service provided through a family support team (four family support assistants).This is designed to detect a range of problems at the time of crisis; manage a degree of mental health problems (behavioural and emotional); provide parenting-training; support and train housing (hostel) staff; co-ordinate the work of different agencies; and provide some continuity after rehousing by ensuring intake by appropriate local services. The family workers are based at the main hostel for homeless children and families. Other, predominantly voluntary, services have established alternative posts, such as advocates and key workers. Whatever the title of the post, it is essential that the post-holder has some experience and ongoing training in mental health and child protection, so that he or she can hold a substantial case-load, rather than merely mediate between already limited services. The family support workers have direct access to the local child and adult mental health services, whose staff provide weekly outreach clinics. Their role is to work with the family support workers and other agencies, assess selected children and families, and provide treatment for more severe problems or disorders such as depression, self-harm and PTSD. A weekly inter-agency liaison meeting at the main hostel is attended by a health visitor, representatives of the local domestic violence service and Sure Start, There are also close, regular links with education welfare and social services. The aim is to effectively utilise specialist skills by discussing family situations from all perspectives at the liaison meeting. A bimonthly steering group, led by the housing department, involves senior managers representing these agencies, as well as the education and social services departments and the voluntary sector, and they oversee and co-ordinate the service. This appears to be something of an exemplar in relation to services provided elsewhere. The paper does not provide any element of costings in this area neither does it provide any figures in relation to its success rates, contact rates or overall effectiveness. In conclusion this paper is an extremely well written and authoritative overview of the situation relating to the stresses of the homeless parent with children and the effectiveness (or lack of it) in its ability to reduce the stresses experienced by the homeless children in need and their parents. It proposes remedies but sadly it does not evaluate the effectiveness of those remedies. In order to address these shortcomings we can consider another paper by Tischler (et al 2000). This looks at a similar outreach set up which has been designed to capture the families of children in need who might otherwise slip through the net. This paper is written from a different perspective and specifically analyses the effectiveness of these services as they pertain to an entry cohort of 40 families. This particular study was set up after preliminary work was done in the Birmingham area with 114 homeless families and this study defined the needs of the families but did not quantify their support systems.(Vostanis et al 1998). This paper set out to identify and measure the support systems available and their effectiveness as far as the families were concerned. The stresses encountered were partly reflected by the incidence of psychiatric morbidity. The mothers in the group were found to have over 50% more morbidity than a matched control group. The children in the group were found to have â€Å"histories of abuse, living in care, being on the at-risk protection register, delayed communication and higher reported mental health problems.† All of which adds to the general background stress levels. (Kerouac S et al. 1996). This particular study found that despite the psychiatric morbidity in the children, (estimated to be about 30%), and the psychiatric morbidity in the parents, (estimated at about 50%), only 3% of the children and 10% of the parents had had any significant contact or support from the social services. In this respect, this paper is very useful to our purpose as it quantifies the levels of intervention and access to healthcare resources that this particular group has. By any appreciation, it would be considered woefully inadequate in any society that calls itself civilised. In the terms of the title of this piece, the effectiveness of the family support services is minimal. Like the last paper discussed, this one also considered how best to tackle the problem, and this one is of much greater value to us, as it specifies a response, or intervention, to the problem in much the same way as the Vostranis 2002 paper did, but it makes the same measurements as it did prior to the intervention, and therefore allows us an insight into the actual effectiveness of the intervention. The way this particular study worked was to assess the problem (as it has been presented above), devise an intervention strategy and then to measure its effect. This particular study goes to great lengths to actively involve all the appropriate agencies that could help the situation by having a central assessment station that acted as a liaison between all of the other resources. In brief, it actively involved liaison with the following: Education, social services, child protection, local mental health services, voluntary and community organisations to facilitate the re-integration of the family into the community, and particularly their engagement with local services following rehousing; and training of staff of homeless centres in the understanding, recognition and management of mental illness in children and parents. This is essential, as hostel staff often work in isolation and have little knowledge of the potential severity and consequences of mental health problems in children. It was hoped that, by doing this, it would maximise the impact that the limited resources had on reducing the levels of morbidity and stress in the families of the children in need. The post intervention results were, by any estimate, impressive considering the historical difficulty of working with this particular group (OHara M 1995). 40 families (including 122 children) were studied in detail. The paper gives a detailed breakdown of the ethnic and demographic breakdown of the group. By far the biggest group were single mothers and children (72%) The results showed that the majority of referrals were seen between 1-3 times (55%), with a further 22% being seen 4-6 times. It is a reflection of the difficulty in engaging this type of family in need that over 25% did not actually keep their appointments despite the obvious potential benefits that could have been utilised. The authors investigated this group further and ascertained that a common reason for non attendance was the perception that the psychological welfare of the children was not actually the main concern. The families perceived that their primary needs were rehousing and financial stability. Other priorities identified were that physical health was a greater priority than mental health. The authors also identify another common failing in the social services provision, and that is the general lack of regular contact. They cite the situation where some families cope well initially, apparently glad to have escaped an abusive or violent home situation, but a prolonged stay in a hostel or temporary accommodation may soon precipitate a bout of depression in the parents and behavioural problems in the children of such parents. (Brooks RM et al 1998). They suggest that regular re-visiting of families who have been in temporary accommodation for any significant length of time should be mandatory. This paper takes a very practical overview by pointing out that workability of the system is, to a large extent, dependent on the goodwill of a number of committed professionals. The authors state that this has to be nurtured and they call for sufficient funding must be given to enable this particular model to be extended to a National level. Thus far in the review we have considered the effectiveness of the service provision in the support of the families of the children in need in one specific target grouping, those who are stressed by virtue of the fact that they are homeless. We will now consider the literature on a different kind of family stress, and that is when a parent dies. This leaves the children with a considerable amount of potential emotional â€Å"baggage† and the surviving parent with an enormous amount of stress. (Webb E 1998). An excellent paper by Downey (et al 1999) tackles this particular problem with both sensitivity and also considerable rigour. It is a long and complex paper, but the overall aims and objectives are clear from the outset. The structure of the paper is a prospective case study which aims to assess whether the degree of distress suffered by a family during a time of bereavement is in any way linked to the degree of service provision that is utilised. The base line for this study is set out in its first two paragraphs. Parentally bereaved children and surviving parents showed a greater than predicted level of psychiatric morbidity. Boys had greater levels of demonstrable morbidity than did girls, but bereaved mothers showed more morbidity than did bereaved fathers. Children were more likely to show signs of behavioural disturbance when the surviving parent manifested some kind of psychiatric disorder. (Kranzler EM et al 1990). The authors point to the fact that their study shows that the service provision is statistically related to a number of (arguably unexpected [Fristad MA et al 1993]) factors namely: The age of the children and the manner of parental death. Children under 5 years of age were less likely to be offered services than older children even though their parents desired it. Children were significantly more likely to be offered services when the parent had committed suicide or when the death was expected. Children least likely to receive service support were those who were not in touch with services before parental death. Paradoxically the level of service provision was not found to be statistically significantly related to either the parental wishes or the degree of the psychiatric disturbance in either the parent or child. (Sanchez L et al 1994) The service provision did have some statistical relationships but that was only found to be the manner of the parental death and the actual age of the child at the time. The authors therefore are able to identify a mismatch between the perceived need for support and the actual service provision made. Part of that mismatch is found to be due to the inability of the social services and other related agencies to take a dispassionate overview. Elsewhere in the paper the authors suggest that there are other factors that add to this inequality and they include lack of resources and a lack of specificity in identifying children at greatest risk. (Harrington R 1996) The authors examine other literature to back up their initial precept that bereaved children have greater levels of morbidity. They cite many other papers who have found distress manifesting in the form of â€Å"anxiety, depression, withdrawal, sleep disturbance, and aggression.† (Worden JW et al. 1996) and also psychological problems in later life (Harris T et al. 1996). In terms of study structure, the authors point to methodological problems with other papers in the area including a common failing of either having a standardised measure or no matched control group (Mohammed D et al 2003). They also point to the fact that this is probably the first UK study to investigate the subject using a properly representative sample and certainly the first to investigate whether service provision is actually related to the degree of the problems experienced. The entry cohort involved nearly 550 families with 94 having children in the target range (2-18). With certain exclusions (such as two families where one parent had murdered the other etc.) and non respondents, the final cohort was reduced to 45 families and one target child was randomly selected from each family. It has to be noted that the comparatively large number of non-respondents may have introduced a large element of bias, insofar as it is possible that the families most in need of support were those who were most distressed by the death of a family member and these could have been the very ones who chose not to participate. (Morton V et al 2003) The authors make no comment on this particular fact. The authors should be commended for a particularly ingenious control measure for the children. They were matched by asking their school teacher to complete an inventory of disturbed behaviour on the next child in the school register after the target child. A large part of the paper is taken up with methodological issues which ( apart form the comments above) cannot be faulted. In terms of being children in need, 60% of children were found to have â€Å"significant behavioural abnormalities† with 28% having scores above the 95th centile. In terms of specific service support provision, 82% of parents identified a perceived need for support by virtue of the behaviour of their children. Only 49% of these actually received it in any degree. Perhaps the most surprising statistic to come out of this study was the fact that of the parents who were offered support 44% were in the group who asked for it and 56% were in the group who didn’t want it. The levels of support offered were independent of the degree of behavioural disturbance in the child. As with the majority of papers that we have either presented here or read in preparation for this review, the authors call for a more rationally targeted approach to the utilisation of limited resources. The study also provides us with a very pertinent comment which many experienced healthcare professionals will empathise with, (Black D 1996), and that is: Practitioners should also be aware that child disturbance may reflect undetected psychological distress in the surviving parent. While not suggesting that this is a reflection of Munchausen’s syndrome by proxy, the comment is a valid reflection of the fact that parental distress may be well hidden from people outside of the family and may only present as a manifestation of the child’s behaviour. (Feldman MD et al. 1994) The conclusions that can be drawn from this study are that there is a considerable gap in the support offered ( quite apart form the effectiveness of that support) in this area of obvious stress for both parents and children. (Black D 1998). This study goes some way to quantifying the level of support actually given in these circumstances. We have considered the role of the effectiveness and indeed, even the existence, of adequate support services for the children in need and their parents in a number of different social circumstances. The next paper that we wish to present is an excellent review of the support that is given to another specific sub-group and that is women and children who suffer from domestic violence. Webb and her group (et al 2001) considered the problem in considerable (and commendable) depth The study itself had an entry cohort of nearly 150 children and their mothers who were resident in a number of hostels and women’s refuges that had been the victims of family violence at some stage in the recent past. The study subjected the cohort to a battery of tests designed to assess their physical, emotional and psychological health, and then quantified their access to, and support gained from, the primary healthcare teams and other social service-based support agencies. This study is presented in a long and sometimes difficult to read format. Much of the presentation is (understandably) taken up with statistical, ethical and methodological matters – all of which appear to be largely of excellent quality and the result of careful consideration. The results make for interesting and, (in the context of this review), very relevant reading. Perhaps one of the more original findings was that nearly 60% of the child health data held by the various refuges was factually incorrect. This clearly has grave implications for studies that base their evidence base on that data set (Berwick D 2005). Of great implication for the social services support mechanisms was the finding that 76% of the mothers in the study expressed concerns about the health of their children. Once they had left the refuge there was a significant loss to the follow up systems as 15% were untraceable and 25% returned to the home of the original perpetrator. The study documents the fact that this particular group had both a high level of need for support and also a poor level of access to appropriate services. In the study conclusions, the authors make the pertinent comment that the time spent in the refuge offers a â€Å"window of opportunity† for the family support services to make contact and to review health and child developmental status. This is not a demographically small group. In the UK, over 35,000 children and a parent, are recorded as passing through the refuges each year, with at least a similar number also being refered to other types of safe accommodation. Such measures are clearly not undertaken lightly with the average woman only entering a refuge after an average of 28 separate assaults. One can only speculate at the long term effects that this can have on both the mother and the children. In common with the other papers reviewed, this paper also calls for greater levels of support for the families concerned as, by inference, the current levels of effectiveness of the family support services is clearly inadequate. Conclusions This review has specifically presented a number of papers which have been chosen from a much larger number that have been accessed and assessed, because of the fact that each has a particularly important issue or factor in its construction or results. The issue that we have set out to evaluate is the effectiveness of the family support services which are specifically aimed at reducing the stress levels for the parents of children in need. Almost without exception, all of the papers that have been accessed (quite apart from those presented) have demonstrated the fact that the levels of support from the statutory bodies is â€Å"less than optimum† and in some cases it can only be described as â€Å"dire†. Another factor that is a common finding, is that, given the fact that any welfare system is, by its very nature, a rationed system, the provision of the services that are provided is seldom targeted at the groups that need it the most. One can cite the Tischler (et al 2000) and Downey (et al 1999) papers in particular as demonstrating that a substantial proportion of the resources mobilised are actually being directed to groups that are either not requesting support or who demonstrably need it less than other sectors of the community. Some of the papers (actually a small proportion) make positive suggestions about the models for redirecting and targeting support. Sadly, the majority do little more than call for â€Å"more research to be done on the issue†. In overview, we would have to conclude that the evidence suggests that the effectiveness of the family support services in reducing stress and poverty for the parents of children in need is poor at best and certainly capable of considerable improvement. References Bassuk, E. Buckner, J. Weinreb, L. et al (1997),  Homelessness in female-headed families: childhood and adult risk and protective factors.   American Journal of Public Health, 87, 241–248 1997 Berwick D 2005 Broadening the view of evidence-based medicine Qual. Saf. Health Care, Oct 2005; 14: 315 316. Black D. 1996,  Childhood bereavement: distress and long term sequelae can be lessened by early intervention.   BMJ 1996; 312: 1496,   Black D. 1998,  Coping with loss: bereavement in childhood.   BMJ 1998; 316: 931-933,   BPA 1999,  British Paediatric Association. Outcome measures for child health.   London: Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, 1999.    Brooks RM, Ferguson T, Webb E. 1998,  Health services to children resident in domestic violence shelters.   Ambulatory Child Health 1998; 4: 369-374.    Cumella, S. Grattan, E. Vostanis, P.

Systematic approach to recruitment and selection,

Systematic approach to recruitment and selection, Systematic approach to recruitment and selection, and its efficacy in attracting diverse workforce within the equal opportunities employment legal framework Introduction In modern organizations, diversity management has become synonymous with fair and equal opportunities employment, even though traditional context of equal opportunities is closely related with legal aspects of treatments of potential and current employees. Today, diversity management activities are grounded in monitoring of direct and indirect discrimination and interventions to reinforce fair treatment of women, ethnic minorities, the aged and the disabled. Therefore, the fairness paradigm has become the benchmark for managing differences and must be congruent with business objectives. This paradigm emerged from the perspectives that organizations need a diverse workforce to re-think and re-define primary tasks related to strategies including organizational objectives, goals, markets, products and resource allocations (Cornelius, Gooch and Todd in Noon and Ogbonna 2001). Diversity management is different from equal opportunities, yet it is based on the same foundation. Equal opportu nities amplify policies and practices that reflect the external legal framework and offer chances for competition. In human resource management, this is usually inherent in the practices of recruitment and selection, and at times in training and development. The basic premise is to ensure that equal opportunities should be given to people who are in competition with each other for areas of employment and selection, regardless of their age, gender, race or disability. The objective is not to elicit equal outcome. When implemented within the organizational framework that follows systematic approach to human resources management, the fine line between equal opportunities and diversity management, at times, becomes blurred. Consequently, organizations are often found striving for a balance in maintaining diverse workforce within the realms of the equal opportunity laws to achieve equality and organizational strategic objectives. Given the blurring definition of diversity and equal opportunities in employment, critics find systematic approach to recruitment and selection less appealing as strategic human resource management component. Others argue that as a critical component of HRM, recruitment and selection accommodates for both external and internal environmental change. In the ensuing discussion, the researcher shall evaluate the extent of the validity of this debate, and determine how attractive systematic approach to recruitment and selection is in acquiring diverse workforce in organizatio ns, and how successful organizations have been in integrating equal opportunities practices. Critical Evaluation of Systematic Approach to Recruitment and Selection Recruitment and selection processes are essential for strategic HRM involving and including job identification, job description, interviews, selection and orientation. It involves complex techniques and skills that assist decision-makers in selecting applicants for achieving organizational objectives, as well as personifies the organizational values, culture, behaviour and discipline. Recruitment and selection processes are based on systematic evaluation of personal and professional values, interpersonal skills, problem solving ability, attitude and behaviour of candidates, and testing them whether their attributes are congruent with the organizational values and objectives. Testing the type of employees the firm is about to hire helps determine the type of personality and how to mould them to the organizational culture. Selection decision is often based on a host of factors pertaining to job match, ability, professional qualifications, personal abilities, as well as employee's personality to match with the organization (Cornelius, Gooch and Todd in Noon and Ogbonna 2001). This traditional approach (also known as systematic approach) has evolved over the years and become refined as strategic recruitment and selection processes. Traditional approaches to recruitment and selection in earlier organizations based on psychometric models often assess applicant's performance with job fit whereas in modern organizations the systematic approach to recruitment and selection processes is strategic in nature, even though the foundation of the system has remained congruent with traditional approach (Beardwell and Holden 2003). Experts (Beardwell and Holden 2003; Thornhill et al., 2000) believe modern systematic approach to resourcing organizations has harmoniously integrated overall organizational strategies and processes rather than merely focusing on job-specific criteria. As a result, recruitment and selection processes have strategic implications, starting from how resourcing offers competitive advantage in the short run to valuing employees as organizational assets. The processes are aimed at achieving organizational objectives aligned with long-term organizational strategic vision. Components of systematic approach to recruitment, which include job analysis, job descriptions, development of competence frameworks, identification of person specifications and accountability, as well as advertisement, executive search, and Internet recruitment provide alternatives and ease to the process of recruitment for organizational resource acquisition. Alternatively, traditional approach to selection has remained somewhat similar to the preceding methods. For example, earlier recruitment processes have heavily relied on evaluation criteria, reliability on validity of candidate information, techniques of interviews and psychometric tests. Selection has also been based on matching job types with work styles through simulated evaluation tests. Today these components of selection are conducted in the same manner but often aided by the use of information technology systems and refined by integration of organizational objectives. Nevertheless, the fact remains recruitment and selection processes play critical roles in resourcing organizations and pooling of work skills. According to Beardwell and Holden (2003), HRM processes such as recruitment and selection are no longer viewed as the best-fit approach but have changed to resource-based view or best practice approach†. This makes them imperative for supporting corporate strategie s and organizational change management by acting as a lever for competitive advantage for organizations. Not only this, systematic approach to recruitment and selection has been set out to enable organizational management to establish frameworks for performance management. It is at this initial stage that managers determine roles, responsibilities, and performance outcomes to match with the most suitably skilled and motivated candidates for achieving organizational objectives. Moreover, basic principles for systematic approach to recruitment involve setting competitive framework for candidates to gauge future performance. For instance, evaluation and testing processes involve simulated tasks, psychometric tests, and validation of qualifications. It is through these simulated tests that managers gauge attitudes, behaviours, personality, and interaction with the candidates to determine job and candidate match. Selection is based on merit defined by the job specifications, individual commitment, and suitability for the positions within the company. The objectivity is to combine worker attr ibutes, skills, and abilities, and fit it within the organizational policies, procedures, and cultural frameworks, and thereby not to waste efforts and resources in conflict, power relations, subordination and normative institutional clashes in the future (Lucas 2003). In this regard, one could observe that systematic approach to recruitment, selection integrates external environmental factors like legal frameworks in policies, and procedures to ensure organizations establish a direct relationship with the candidates, job market and the legal environment. From this perspective, systematic approach to recruitment and selection processes is also said to have contributed to promoting and establishing trends for fair employment. However, critics do not have a consensus on fair distribution of representations of individuals where recruitment and selection processes are concerned. For example, Cornelius, Gooch and Todd (2001) are of the view that traditional equal-opportunity practices usually have unequal outcomes, depending on the culture of the organization, as well as the type of workforce required for the job. For example, gender and age discrimination are likely to become issues for unequal employment in industries where workers are required to be male of young age such as the logging industry. Commitment towards equal opportunity for fair representation of groups of individuals in recruitment and selection processes does not add value but rather hinders achievement of organizational objectives. Consequently, systematic approaches to recruitment and selection are not really effective in resolving strategic HRM issues pertaining to establishment of legal frameworks. Yet, one cannot deny the fact that organizations have not benefited from the systematic approach to pursue fair treatment and equal opportunities for employment. It is the essence of the systematic approach to recruitment, which takes into account of the changing environment, as well as business strategies that makes it dynamic, and thereby is effective in resolving management issues of diversity. Attraction of diverse workforce and implementation of equal opportunities employment There are many factors that are responsible for making an organization attractive for employees. Organizational reputation recognized for its fairness, culture, wage and talent pool, for example, are attraction for candidates. Similarly, job attractiveness is also dependent on the processes of recruitment and selection, and goals and ideology of the organization. In most organizations today, having a diverse workforce is no longer a luxury but a necessity and even a competitive advantage. A diverse workforce is essential in pooling skills and qualifications for achieving organizational strategic objectives in today's complex business environment (Sims 2002). Diversity, many claim, is distinguishable from equal opportunity as it serves the self-interest of organizations rather than social justice. It involves pursuance of policies that meet the demand of labour pool, and thereby gain the best qualifications from employees. It makes the economic justification for hiring individual s valuable in terms of business requirement, and labour market supply. It takes into account of the expressed need for employee satisfaction, which would lead to quality in productivity and increasing the talent pool direly required by dynamic organizations (Noon and Ogbonna 2001). Diversity is intrinsically linked with equal opportunity, according to experts (Thornley 2003). They argue that the labour market is typically characterized by competition where individuals compete for employment based on commutative justice. Free competition is prevalent and the reward for it is employment. Candidates vie for positions in organizations through display of qualifications, academic performance, ownership of skills, attitudes, and positive behaviours. Employers, on the other hand, form benchmarks for employment based on organizational requirements, policies and procedures in recruitment and selection. Employers are also mandated to follow government policy to benchmark wages, inflation and competitiveness for fair distribution of income and wealth. The government controls fair distribution of income by implementing policies of equal employment opportunities to eliminate formal and informal discrimination based on gender, age, race and disability. In the UK, this practic e is regulated by the EOC and through legal Acts often tends to constrain organizations for implementing fair employment. Despite critical objections to the efficacy and strategic nature of systematic approach to recruitment and selection, management of organizations cannot deny the fact that HRM processes have integrated diversity and equal opportunities policies and procedures to avoid adverse effects of the law. The EOC has formulated laws such as the Employment Act 1989/2002, Sex Discrimination Act, Equal Pay Act, Disability Discrimination Act 1995, Race Relations Act 1976, Employment Relations Act 1999 and the Employment Equality Regulations 2003 to curb discrimination of applicants for employment based on their gender, race, age and disability. To ensure that these laws are implemented within organizations, organizations have started to invest heavily in HRM processes congruent with the prescribed legal frameworks set by the EOC and the government. For most organizations, investment in these processes are necessary for compliance, while for others it is the long-term objective-achievement efforts as they view making their organization attractive to potential talents a strategic activity in itself. Consequently, HRM processes have been devised based on objective testing of candidates. Recruitment and selection models used for evaluating job performance, personality tests, cognitive ability tests, as well as testing of job knowledge take into account of achievement and skill proficiency. Organizations no longer depend on individual interviewer impressions to select and match candidates based on qualifications matching with job criteria. Instead, candidates are being tested for their abilities, skills and knowledge correlating with job performance regardless of their sex, age, race or disability (Hough and Oswald 2000). Furthermore, organizations are also using integrity tests and self-reports to check reliability and validity of counterproductive work behaviours. These systematic methods of recruitment and selection are based on the premise that effective recruitment leads to smooth functioning of organizations and successful recruitment and selection is based on finding the right person with the right skills, expertise and qualifications for achieving organizational objectives and contributing towards organizational values. For this purpose, a fair and consistent system of recruitment helps lessen the burden of employee conflict, turnover, absenteeism and dismissals. According to the Workforce Development Plan (2004) in the UK, for organizations to develop leadership capacity in their respective industry, they must develop skills and capacity of workforce, organizational performance management framework, pay and rewards system and, most importantly, ensure that equal opportunity and diversity practices are aligned with the entire recruitment and selection processes. The focus on abilities and aptitudes, and not stereotypes, would help lead to fair judgements about individuals based on their merits rather than their gender, age, race or disability (EOC 2006). Conclusion From the above discussion, one can conclude that the strategic nature of the systematic approach to recruitment and selection has made it the ideal tool for today's organizations to gain a competitive advantage in acquisition of skills and a diverse workforce. Strategic HRM requires that processes be in line with internal and external factors affecting organizational dynamics. For this purpose, these processes have to be flexible to accommodate change in the business environment. Two of the main factors that have been affecting modern organizations are equal employment opportunities and diversity. Self-interest for competitive advantage, as well as legal mandates have motivated organizations to invest in HRM processes and techniques to promote diversity and equal opportunities employment. These are evident in the various techniques used in recruitment and selection tests, as well as policies for hiring candidates. The practice is not isolated but rather has become the benchmark for organizations to attract a diverse workforce and remain aligned with the legal framework. Despite critics’ arguments, one could conclude that the traditional approach to recruitment and selection in today's organizations is objective in providing the required competitive advantage and strategic edge for competing in the highly dynamic business environment. References Beardwell, I. Holden, L. and Claydon (2003) Human Resource Management A Contemporary Approach. Fourth Edition. FT Prentice Hall. Employers Organization for Local Government (2004) Workforce Development Planning Guidance Document – May 2004. Employers Organization for Local Government, Online accessed on 12 January 2007 from: http://www.idea-knowledge.gov.uk/idk/aio/4465769. Equal Opportunities Commission (2006) Recruiting Staff Guidance for Managers and Supervisors, May 2006. Equal Opportunities Commission. Hough, L. M. and Oswald, F. L. (2000) Personnel Selection: Looking toward the Future-Remembering the Past. Annual Review of Psychology. pp. 631. Lucas, R. E. (2003) Employment Relations in the Hospitality and Tourism Industries. Routledge: New York. pp. 84 Millmore, M. (2003) Just How Extensive is the Practice of Strategic Recruitment and Selection? Journal of Management pp. 87 Noon, M. and Ogbonna, E. (eds) (2001) Equality, Diversity and Disadvantage in Employment. Palgrave: Basingstoke, England. pp. 32. Sims, R. R. (2002) Organizational Success through Effective Human Resources Management. Quorum Books: Westport, CT. Publication Year: pp. 107 Storey, J. (1992) Developments in the Management of Human Resources, Oxford: Blackwell. Thornhill, A., Lewis, P., Millmore, M. and Saunders, M. (2000) Managing Change: A Human Resource Strategy Approach, Harlow: Financial Times, Prentice Hall. Thornley, C. (2003) Labour market policy and inequality in the UK in Industrial and Labour Market Policy and Performance: Issues and Perspectives (eds) Cofey, D and Thornley, C., Routledge: New York. pp. 83

Data WareHouse :: Technology, Database

Being a market leader today requires competitive advantage over rival organizations. By investing in data warehouses, organizations can better predict the trends in market and offer services best suited to the needs of their customers. A Data Warehouse (DW) can be defined as a subject-oriented, non-volatile database having records over years [1,2]. DWs support the strategic decision-making process and help to answer questions such as "Who was our best customer for this item last year?"[3]. Different DW systems consists of different components, however, some core components are shared by most DW systems. The first component is the data sources. DW receives input from different data sources (such as Point-Of-Sales (POS) systems, Automated Teller Machines (ATM) in banks, checkout terminals etc). The second component is the data staging area. The data comes from data sources and it is placed in the staging area, where the data is treated with different transformations and cleansed of any anomalies. After this transformation, the data is placed in the third component which is known as storage area, which is usually a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS). This process of data extraction from data sources, transformation and finally loading in storage area is regarded as Extract, Transform and Load (ETL). The saved data from the storage can be viewed by reporting units. Different On-line Analytical Processing (OLAP) tools assist in generating reports based on the da ta saved in the storage area [4,5,6,7,8]. We believe that testing should be ingrained in DW development. Thus, each of the DW components should be tested. One of the main challenges in testing the DW systems is the fact that DW systems are different among organizations, each organization has its own DW system that conforms with its own requirements and needs, which leads to having differences between DW systems in several aspects (such as database technology, tools used, size, number of users, number of data sources, how the components are connected, etc.)[9]. Another big challenge that is faced by the DW testers is regarding the test data preparation. Making use of real data for testing purpose is a violation of citizen’s privacy laws in some countries (for example, using real data of bank accounts and other information is illegal in many countries). For a proper testing of a DW, presence of a huge amount of test data is necessary. In real-time environment, the system may behave differently in the presence of terabyt es of data [10].

Banking Service in Developing Economies Essay -- Business, Marketing

Whilst the relationship marketing literature is expanding at a rather exponential rate, rapport between customers and front line employees did not get its due attention especially in the context of banking service in traditional, developing economies. This has delimited the efficacy of the established relationship theories in explaining the antecedent effect of trust, commitment, service quality and involvement for developing rapport leading to overall client (customer) satisfaction. The focus of this research, thus, is rapport. This chapter acts as a preamble that sets the ball rolling by presenting the research background; explaining the research problem and scope; and discussing the research questions. A brief note explaining the overall organisation of the thesis is also incorporated at the end of this chapter. In today’s highly competitive business environment, many organizations all over the world have been forced to put more emphasis on retaining their existing customers rather than acquiring new ones. Since conventional transactional approaches to marketing does not seem to be adequate in attaining this and other related marketing goals, many organizations seem to have been moving away from product or brand orientation to relationship marketing orientation which has been viewed as a bridge through which both customers and companies can share each other’s needs and values and can meet their potential expectations by creating two-way exchanges (Bateman and Snell, 2007). In this backdrop, rapport holds a crucial position in the customer-employee relationship arena particularly in marketing of services because it possess characteristics such as interpersonal focus, simultaneous production-consumption and the lack of standa... ...the conceptual model used in the investigation. It also includes a section to discuss four models found in the extant literature which have been replicated in this study to test if the relationships portrayed in them were valid in the Bangladesh context. This was necessary to ensure the validity of the relationships proposed in the conceptual model. Chapter 4: Research Design – Presents details of methodology, sampling procedure, data collection process and discussions on the development of the survey instrument. Chapter 5: Data Analysis – Explains data analysis and research results. Chapter 6: Hypothesis Testing – Presents a detailed discussion on the hypotheses testing procedures and test results. Chapter 7: Conclusion – Explains research contributions of this study for both academics as well as practitioners. Also presents the limitations of the study.

Internal Look into Infidelity and the Outcomes Essay

Infidelity can happen at the blink of an eye, especially if a person is not aware of their current relationship standings with their partner. A partner may display two types of infidelity, emotional and sexual. Each type of infidelity is seen differently by men and women on an opposite scale according to (Buss, Larsen, and Westen, 1996; Buss et al., 1992; Buunk et al., 1996; Trivers, 1972). The causes for infidelity are somewhat the same for men and women; however, there are a few differences that vary between the two groups. When infidelity has happened the decision is ultimately whether a couple will either focus to stay together or dissolve the relationship. Through a deeper look between the two types of infidelity, along with the perception men and women have about its outcomes, a definite understanding is very clear why and how infidelity usually happens in the first place. Although many relationships survive infidelity, â€Å"The trust is gone, completely gone,† says Mic hael Baisden, relationship counselor and author of Never Satisfied: How and Why Men cheat. â€Å"And trust is the most important thing in a relationship.† The decision will vary from person to person on the continuance with a relationship after the other partner cheats. For myself, it depends on who the person is, my standards often change from partner to partner. Infidelity defined is an action or state of being unfaithful to a spouse or another sexual partner. According to the most prevalent study using the framework of evolutionary psychology a study used by Buss, Larsen, Westen, and Semmelroth (1992), individuals where asked whether they would be more upset or jealous, if their partner had sexual intercourse or formed a deep emotional bond with someone else. Men and women were very different in their answers. Emotional infidelity occurs when a partner gets involved with caring deeply for a person that that is not their significant other. An emotional infidelity can hurt just as much to the other person as if they had already had sex with the other person involved. Sexual infidelity is the actual act of having sex outside of a person’s current relationship or marriage. When this action occurs, it is almost certain that the relationship will have troubling times ahead. How these two types of infidelities are seen by both men and women vary greatly on the scale. Men are very likely to become upset and end a relationship if  their girlfriend or wife were to have sexual encounters with another man vs. an emotional connection. The same cannot be said about women. According to (Buss, Larsen, and Westen, 1996; Buss et al., 1992; Buunk et al., 1996; Trivers, 1972), women tend to overlook a sexual infidelity but, are more affected by emotional bonds their boyfriend or husband acquires with another woman. Men tend to have a fear of uncertainty with offspring if a woman commits sexual infidelity that in turn tends to make him more susceptible to leaving a relationship. On the other hand, women are more invested in the emotional stability in her partner which in turn makes the woman more angered and upset over an emotional infidelity. The perceived outcomes for the two different types of infidelity are total opposites between men and women whereas the causes for infidelity is somewhat similar. The causes for infidelity are almost the same for men and women. Jennifer Harman, PhD., a professor of psychology at Colorado State University, stated â€Å"People do not just cheat for no reason. It used to be perceived that men were the bigger cheaters, however, according to the National Opinion Research Center study found that women having affairs rose from 14 percent to nearly 40 percent over the past 20 years. Women are in need of passion from their partner. Even the small things from walks in the park to a wine tasting can fulfill dissatisfaction. Petty arguments that hold insecurities and grudges is common for most women to experience. A need for her partner to understand and talk openly about problems and solutions is key for some women to feel connected. Women are also more attracted to men who are confident and ambitious which can sometimes lead to dissatisfaction with their partner if they are not in a manly position. Men also tend to have the same outlook when cheating comes to mind. If a man succeeded in filling his ego tank up an affair would make him feel powerful and desired. Sometimes men cheat because they are not being understood by their partner. If men were more open in communicating feelings freely, this would not be an issue. When men cheat the difference to theirs actions is a need to escape the reality of home rather than leave their relationship. Women, however, are typically silent in their actions but tend to plan an escape route out of the relationship after they begin cheating. The solution to ending a cheating cycle is to either dissolve the relationship or work on overcoming the struggles infidelity has caused on the relationship. Though people  sometimes choose to work things out, many ultimately work together for dissolving the relationship. Overcoming infidelity is very difficult task. Trust is compromised and very hard to regain on many levels and often takes years to rebuild. Without trust in a relationship, it is almost inevitable for disaster since trust is the viewed as the core for holding a relationship together. To overcome this is sometimes not worth the stress, time and patience, especially if this is just a romantic relationship with no children involved or when a marriage is at stake. On the other hand, long term relationship and married couples will often try to work through these troubling road blocks. When a person has more time invested or other things at stake, the decision is more comfortable to make when working things out. Some of these relationships and marriages last after infidelity but half do not. When a couple comfortably communicates and understand the deepness of how infidelity affects a relationship before, they agree to commit the partnership will be more successful. The most important factor is understanding to what extent infidelity can occur as both male and female have shown different tolerances for emotional and sexual encounters. Just having a deeper look into how differently men and women think help to understand their actions. With the listed information in mind, it is just as important to remember that women enjoy time with their partner, openness with information, and a man that is confident in himself. Men have a larger ego that needs to be stroked often, just saying how good he looks, or less nagging by their partner and more open communication they tend to have their needs met. When infidelity occurs because none of these needs is fulfilled, it is almost certain the relationship will not last. Just by knowing these things should make any male or female want to rethink actions or even the possibility of starting or moving ahead in a relationship.

Obesity and cancer – Linked to what level

Or possibly make for a worse cancer prognosis? These issues are addressed in this report, with references to many studies performer d at the population level, and at the molecular level – attempting to link cancer progression (prostrate cancer), severity and occurrence, wit h symptoms of obesity – such as visceral fat, deadlocked levels, etc.Focusing primarily on the dopamine levels in obese (cancer/non cancer) patients, in vitro tumor culture studies and data from prostrate/ breast cancer patients – this report aims to hint at a possible mechanism which underlies cancer progression on the basis of the data from above studies and explain how obese TTY as a condition, fits In the mechanism of tumor progression. Introduction to obesity – The first aspect regarding obesity is the quantification of the physical condition called ‘obese'.For the purpose of this report (and for most of the studies referred to) – computer tomography generated measurem ents in the order of ?comma area in the central abdominal regions (I. E. – of visceral fat), Is defined as the condition for obesity. Alternatively, other quantifications, such as waste- Hip ratios, Body Mass Index, etc are also used to define or relate specific aspects of body structure to the condition of being obese or its relate deed metabolic syndromes. 9] Central (visceral) obesity is characterized by metabolic syndromes such as – insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, hyperventilates, displacement, hypertension, and problematic and protoplasm Tory states [81. All of which are fairly conditions that cause many complications in contemporaries occurring dies asses – however the focus of this report details the direct implications of obesity, and the molecules involved – followed by a generalization from this case-study on hormonal cancers. The molecular symptoms and effects of obesity on a patient's physiological system ar Fig. – Diagrammatic repre sentation of some of the possible mechanisms for obesity- related prostate cancer progression. GIF-I = insulin-like growth factor 1; IL- 6 = interleukin 6; VEGA = vascular endothelial growth factor; GHB = sex- hormone binding globulin. [8] Molecular characteristics of obesity – The following are characteristics/by- products of obesity and their respective roles identified in various hormonal (prostrate/breast) cancer studies – Hypersensitiveness – Geiger serum levels of insulin results in decreased production of Sex-Hormone Binding Globulin (GHB).GHB mediated inhibition of breast tumors has recently bee n identified in literature [1]. Hence, this characteristic is analogous to loss-of- inhibition for breast-cancer cells. Also, it results in higher levels of free androgen's and estrogen – which have been implicated in proliferation of breast cancers, and progression of hormonal cancers in general. Decreased Testosterone levels – have significance in prostrate cancer, as lower testosterone levels have been associated with high- read prostrate cancers. The characteristic being of higher proliferation and less differentiation in the tumor. 2] Perpetuation of TNT-alpha – by virtue of higher levels of TNT- alpha in serum, there is higher susceptibility to inflammation and inflammation by itself has a potential role as a cancer promoting event at any given site. [Smith's Term Paper] Dopamine secretions by adipose tissue are covered with a few examples – o Lepton – is an dopamine secreted primarily by White Adipose Tissue (WATT), and has been shoo win to be active in the formation of reproductive tissue (including the prostrate). And has be en positively correlated with visceral obesity and large prostrate tumors [4].Studies have shown that lepton promotes the proliferation of androgen- independent prostate cancer cell lines. It has also been shown to promote vascular endothelial cell profiler and misdiagnoses in vivo, processes that are crucial to allow cancer progression. Also, it has been positively correlated with increased prostrate cancer cell migration (implying invasion and metastasis) [5]. Mechanism of action – The proliferation response of prostate cancer cells to lepton has been shown o involve intracellular signaling molecules such as physicality-instill 3- kinas (POP-K) and c-June NH-terminal kinas NON). 10] o Interleukin-6 – one third of the circulating level secretion of IL- 6 is from adipose tissue. It is directly proportional to visceral obesity and insulin resistance. Its normal role being in modulo action of immune response and cell-functions – it is basically a growth inhibitor. However, recently it has been shown to undergo a transition in its role from growth inhibitor associated with neuroscience differentiation to stimulator accompanied by androgen receptor cacti action in prostrate cancer progression [6].Prostrate cancer cultures have been shown to secrete high levels of IL- 6, and it is believed that chronic exposure to this dopamine leads to loss-of-growth- inhibition in tumor cells. Serum IL-6 levels >7 pig/ ml are associated with a poor prognosis in men with prostate cancer. O Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGA) – VEGA levels are positively correlated with visceral obesity, and it is a potent nitrogen that allows for cell- migration, misdiagnoses and micro-vascular permeability. It hence, has a direct growth factor effect on tumor progression of all ski ads of cancer.Aggressive high grade cancers all show high levels of VEGA secretions. It is why apotheosized that obesity driven elevation in VEGA levels is a potent priming event for all forms of c anger, specially hormonal cancers. O Depiction – this is an dopamine that is negatively correlated with obesity and visceral fat. It has been identified as a possible therapeutic agent in many obesity related metabolic co indications, such as diabetes, hyp ertension, etc. Hence, by virtue of its opposite nature to other adipose nest, it is hypothesized to be the ‘anticancer' dopamine. It is also negatively correlated with high h grade prostrate and breast cancers.The function of depiction is via its two primary receptors, which have a spatial didst fiction that is governed by other growth factors and adipose. Studies have also identified JUNK and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STATS) as common downstream effectors of depiction. Both JUNK an d STATS play of cell proliferation, differentiation, and apotheosis during various physiologic and pathologic events such as tumor development. [7] Discussion/Analysis – Getting fat – Starting in chronological order of occurrence, in a patient's life – first, one must become obese for any risks to be present.Is this necessarily, true? Yes. Not that non-obese people are necessarily risk- free or unlikely to get cancer – but obesity is positively correlated with multiple forms of cancer, so that risk is assure deed. Foods containing high levels of saturated fatty acids and cholesterol are specifically t he ones that are implicated in development of central abdominal obesity. Linoleum acid (or Omega 6 polyunsaturated fatty acid) is a constituent of animal- at that has been positively implicated in prostrate cancer migration/ metastasis [12].Also, low-fat culture medium for in vitro tumor cultures resulted in decreased proliferation rates and low- fat diets for tumor bearing nude-mice also showed slower progression of tumors. White Adipose Tissue (WATT – a sub- classification of adipose tissue, which is largely present in visceral fat), is significantly co-relatable to consumption of animal- fat and saturated fatty acids. It is recognized as a metabolically active endocrine organ – some of the secretions of which have been listed above. Hence, there is definitely a relation between one's diet and cancer prognosi s.The role of obesity – Obesity has been generically classified as a condition that suppresses non- aggressive diseases and accelerates the aggressive ones. How true this stereotype may be, is not the subject of this report – but nonetheless the statement does hold true for cancer progression. To say that cancer (of any form) may be ‘induced' by obesity, is not a Justifiable states .NET on the basis of currently available data. However, ‘cancer progression' is definitely a task that obesity is able to remote to sufficiency (of the tumor).