Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Data Analysis and Decision Making-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the Decision Making Process and Factors Influencing it. Answer: Introduction In this assignment, the learner has critically identified the relevant process that is related to decision making. For making a best fitted decision for an organization, a manager has to understand the concept of decision making and its effect on organization culture. Defining the problem and accumulating relevant data is required for making an effective decision. Deciding the best solution which will be benefitted for both the company as well as its employees is the only way to achieve success. The decision that will be taken must be implemented in the organization with the acceptance of each member of the organization. However, decision making process is influenced significantly by various factors. The factors are feelings, structural factor, the locus of control, the inclination to innovate, managers moral approach, authority to decide and organizational structure. These factors significantly influence the decision making process and its effect reflects on the working culture of t he organization. If the decision is taken with the consent of each stakeholder in the organization then it will be considerably easier to implement Steps to define decision making process Decision making is typically a mental process which results in the selection of an appropriate choice among several alternatives. Each and every process of decision making procures an exact final choice. The result can be critically an opinion of choice as well as can be an action. Decision making process is an everyday movement for any individual. There is no special case about that. As stated by (Albright, Winston and Zappe, 2010), with regards to business associations, basic leadership is a propensity and a procedure also. Powerful and fruitful choices make benefit to the organization and unsuccessful ones make misfortunes. Consequently, corporate basic leadership process is the most basic process in any association. In the basic decision making process, manager needs to pick one strategy from a couple of conceivable choices. During the time spent basic decision making, may utilize many instruments, procedures, and recognitions. What's more, there can be a time when managers may s ettle on their own private choices or may favor an aggregate choice. In terms of analysing a perfect choice, a manager needs to analyse both the negative and positive results of business and later must opt for the positive results. This in turn helps the organization to maintain its standards and also avoids any misfortunes or lower profitable margin. As put forwarded by (De Bruijn and Ten Heuvelhof, 2010), once in a while, it is important to maintain a relevant distance towards basic decision making process seems very much less demanding; particularly, when managers involves in a great deal of encounter in the wake of settling on the extreme choice. Yet, settling on the choices and bearing its results is significantly the appropriate process for remaining responsible towards professional life as well as time. As a rule, decision making process is hard. The Greater part of corporate choices includes some level of disappointment or struggle with another gathering. The steps that init iate the decision making process are as follows- Defining the problem The first step towards making an accurate decision is defining the problem. Decisions that will be made must not depend on self-depending factors as well as must address the problem critically for the betterment of the company. The first step is to differentiate the problem significantly by the manager. The problem has to be characterized critically to understand the depth of the issue for better outcomes else it can mislead which can affect the standard of the organization significantly. The progression that has been made must be well recorded by the manager. As opined by (De Wit and Meyer, 2010), one significant process that a manager can help decides the genuine issue in a circumstance is by recognizing the issue independently from its side effects. The problem is critically defined as the discrepancy between the desired and existing state of affair. A manager must be assured that it is a problem and not a symptom of that particular problem for making perfect decisions (Xu et al. 2011, p.50). The identification of a problem is generally subjective and not objective. The discrepancies observed can be significantly found by comparing the current result with the relevant standard. Gathering and analyzing the relevant data Managers search out a scope of data to elucidate their decisions once they have distinguished an issue that requires a decision. A problem will have various factors which are related to it. Even there are various factors that influence a problem critically which can have an adverse effect critically. As suggested by (Griffin and Moorhead, 2011), while spending the time for analysing the problem, the manager must accumulate all data relevant to the problem and also the reasons associated with it. 'Check Sheets' can be adequately utilized by managers for identifying the problem critically. Managers may look to decide potential reasons for an issue, the people related to the issue and procedures engaged with the issue and any imperatives put on the basic decision-making process. Considering alternative solutions Managers measure the advantages and disadvantages of every potential issue. They even look for extra information if necessary and select the alternative they feel has the most obvious opportunity with regards to progress in any event cost. As put forwarded by (Jones and Jones, 2010), the main characteristics of the problem has to be framed significantly. In terms of symbolizing the criteria, hierarchical purposes and additionally the business culture have to be contemplated. Managers can also seek external assistance for solving the problem critically as in the first steps the manager made each decision by its own and can look forward for potential arrangements for further learning the problem. Deciding the best solution Having an entire understanding of the problem the managers can proceed forwards towards making potential arrangements towards the issue. The progression made can be based on each experience had by the managers or can also be based on formal arrangements with other employees. Later a strategy can be developed with ideas which can assist to solve the problem. Conceptualizing to list down every one of the thoughts is the best choice. Prior to the thought era step, it is imperative to comprehend the reasons for the issue and prioritization of causes. For this, the manager can make utilization of Pareto Chart apparatus and Cause-and-Effect graphs. As opined by (Amason and Schweiger, 1994, p.241), circumstances and end results graph encourages distinguishing every single conceivable reason for the issue and Pareto diagram encourages organizing and recognizing the grounds with most astounding influence. Critically at that point, the manager must move forward towards every possible arrangeme nt that can be made to solve the problem critically (Zhang and Bartol, 2010, p.111). Utilization of each strategy towards accurate decision making and maintain the standard of the organization has to be done effectively by the manager. Adequacy and experience of the arrangement that has been made by the manager is an integral part towards the success of the organization. The managers has to be efficient towards their work for the decisions they are making towards its positive as well as negative outcomes. Implementing the decision There is no opportunity to second figure once the decision has been made earlier without any hesitation regarding the second choice. When the manager has focused on setting up a particular arrangement, it is required to get the majority of the representatives on board and put the choice vigorously with conviction. This shouldn't imply that an administrative choice can't change after it has been instituted; canny administrators set up observing frameworks to assess the results of their choices. As stated by (Blanchette and Richards, 2010, p.562), legitimate and compelling correspondence of decisions has to be passed down to the juniors. Choices have to be carried in clear and reasonable way. Acceptance of each decisions made by the manager is important in terms of the organization. Gathering cooperation and the inclusion of the representatives will assist towards smooth adoption of the decisions made by the managers. Correct planning in the arrangement will help towards eliminating th e risk for changes. Practically, every decisins leads to changes and employees are not much comfortable with the chnages (Popovi? et al. 2010, p.730). However, implementing the best possible decisions which is well accepted by each members can lead to successful integration of the decision. Factors affecting the decision making process Cultural factors critically affect the decision making process. The basic process of ddecision makig in an organization is profoundly perplexing. Any choice may influence the association overall, investors or the number of employees. This kind of factors critically affects the employees in terms of increments or raised wages. Subsequently, there lies several factors that critically influences the process of decision making. As opined by (Bottrill et al. 2008, p.650), nonetheless, an essential factor impacting basic decision making is the procedure or efficient process behind basic leadership. Factors that affect decision making process are given below- Feelings Feelings are the major culture variable than facts. It assesses that whether the deciders opt for a subjective or objective view of the issue or problem that has been generated in the organization. Feelings can get in the method for sane the process of decision making. Outrage, specifically, can influence workforce to build their sense of duty regarding a falling flat plan. Managers who comprehend these inclinations can help reduce their impacts on the association. As put forwarded by (Brinckmann, Grichnik and Kapsa, 2010, p.38), feelings constitute effective and unsurprising drivers of basic leadership. Over distinctive sorts of choices and essential regularities show up in the fundamental components will critically impact judgment and decision. In this manner, the impacts feeling are not irregular. Preference and predisposition are presented in managers choices by their perceptual procedures and may make them settle on ineffectual choices. In the first place, recognition is profoun dly specific, which implies that managers just acknowledge what they need to acknowledge and henceforth just such sort of data channels down to their faculties (Salas, Rosen and DiazGranados, 2010, p.971). Second, observation is exceptionally subjective, implying that data gets misshaped keeping in mind the end goal to be predictable with their pre-built up convictions, states of mind and qualities. Structural factors Supportive cultures are less critical in terms of risk taking behavior as well as are more allowing. This factor is at a higher proportion in terms of potential entrepreneurs (O'Faircheallaigh, 2010, p.22). It also influences the psychological features of each individual in a particular population. Psychologically, they are constantly awkward with deciding. As stated by (Darley, Blankson and Luethge, 2010, p.101), managers are never truly beyond any doubt if their decision of the option was right and ideal until the point that the effect of the ramifications of the choice has been felt. This influences manager to feel unreliable. Supportive culture can diminish the stress of taking a particular risk while making an appropriate decision. If the coordination among the members is well established then structural factors might not affect decision-making process hugely (Sanayei, Mousavi and Yazdankhah, 2010, p.29). However, while taking certain risks for making a decision supportive cultu re is needed by the decider to formulate the plan or solution effectively and will significantly benefit the company in every possible way. Locus of Control It is an evident fact that managers tend to believe in prior planning for future events. The reason behind such fact is their confidence level towards control of certain events. It is true that managers must be aware of the future problems or should make proper planning for taking the actions at a faster rate during the time of need. This, in turn, influences the decision-making process hugely as it is more uncertain to learn about future problems and also can differ. As opined by (DeTienne, 2010, p.210), there also exist few deciders that consider the future decisions are kind of futile planning. They believe that future lies in the external forces that hugely impacts such as technology, fate, science, god, and nature. This kind of deciders in a company is also useful as they do not waste much time thinking about future problems rather focus on present ones (Yeoh and Koronios, 2010, p.29). This kind of influence to the managers decision making process can lead to profitability as we ll as potential risks towards the company. Inclination to innovate There comes a time when managers have to decide whether they want to stick to the similar plan that has been already implemented or they want to implement a new solution which contains risks. This hugely influences the decision making process. As put forwarded by (Garrison et al. 2010, p.791), risks and uncertainty are created in managers, halfway because of certain individual attributes and somewhat because of authoritative qualities. On the off chance that the authoritative strategy is the end goal that it punishes misfortunes more than it rewards increases, at that point the manager would have a tendency to maintain a strategic distance from the choices that have a few odds of disappointment (Darnall, Henriques and Sadorsky, 2010, p.1080). Hence, a manager may stay away from a conceivably decent open door if there is a slight possibility of a misfortune. The individual qualities of a leader with respect to his states of mind towards chance taking influence the achievement of the c hoice. Managers moral approach Managers moral approach can be categorized into two types. As stated by (Glckner and Witteman, 2010, p.22), the first is utilitarianism and the second is moral idealism. Utilitarianism is the process where the manager looks into a solution in a certain way that points out whether the solution will work perfectly or not. Moral idealism is the process where the manager makes a decision on the basis of whether the action that has been chosen is the right thing to do or not. It has been observed that in Western society utilitarianism is much more preferred than moral idealism. Authority to decide The process of decision making can be organized by the authority of an organization. Authority is divided into two categories. The first one is autocratic, where the decisions that will be made are based on the choices of a particular individual. For instance, the company Apple Inc. had an autocratic leadership by Steve Jobs. He used to make each and every decision for the company and the subordinates have to follow the instructions. The social and gathering standards apply extensive impact on the style of the leader. As opined by (Han, Hsu and Sheu, 2010, p.333), a social standard to be an assessing scale assigning on the satisfactory scope and a shocking scope for conduct movement, occasions, convictions or any protest of worry to individuals from a social unit. As such social standard is the standard and acknowledged method for making judgments. Likewise, social childhood and different social measurements profoundly affect the basic leadership style of a person. In America, despit e what might be expected, the basic decision making style is for the most part individualistic with the assistance of choice models and quantitative strategies (Kon, 2010, p.903). The second one is participative, where the decisions are taken collectively. For instance, collectivistic societies such as Japan prefer bottom-up or consensus approach towards decision making. In the Japanese hierarchical framework, a leader lands at a choice in accord with others. This style is socially arranged and settles on the usage of the choice significantly less demanding since everyone takes an interest in the basic decision making process. Organizational structure This factor critically affects the speed of decision making process. In terms of centralization structure such as Apple Inc., the decisions taken are too slow. Managers settling on choices by the autocratic organizational style are recognized by the speed; however, it might grow a danger of committing errors or of missing great options. It is essential to have satisfactory and precise data about the circumstance for decision making; generally, the nature of the choice will endure. It must be perceived, in any case, that an individual has certain mental limitations, which restrain the measure of data that he can enough deal with. As opined by (Ho, Xu and Dey, 2010, p.21), less data is as unsafe as an excessive amount of data. Some very legitimate people do settle on choices on the premise of relatively less data when contrasted with more moderate leaders. However, in terms of decentralization organizational structure such as Westerners, the decisions are made speedier and faster to im plement. An extraordinary preferred standpoint for such kind of administrators is an arrangement of engagement of representatives in a basic decision making process, which prompts have more choices and develop the probability of settling on better choices. In any case, the drawback of an informative style is that in organizations this process might be related to a great deal of time. Conclusion In this assignment, the learner has elaborately described steps that are required to make an effective decision. The steps that are required for making a decision must be followed strictly as whatever the decision will be made can have a direct impact on the organization. Each step must be followed by the manager with the consent of each member of the organization for implementing the decision smoothly. However, the factors that have been described in the assignments influences the decision making process as well. This kind of factors can divert the decisions which may also affect negatively towards the success of the organization. The process of decision making is hard as there comes several constraints as well as factors which influence them. Hence, for making an effective decision each step has to be followed and the factors that influence it must be considered as well. References Books Albright, S.C., Winston, W. and Zappe, C., 2010.Data analysis and decision making. Cengage Learning. De Bruijn, H. and Ten Heuvelhof, E., 2010.Process management: why project management fails in complex decision making processes. Springer Science Business Media. De Wit, B. and Meyer, R., 2010.Strategy: Process, content, context. Cengage Learning EMEA. Griffin, R.W. and Moorhead, G., 2011.Organizational behavior. Cengage Learning. Jones, G.R. and Jones, G.R., 2010. Organizational theory, design, and change. Journals Amason, A.C. and Schweiger, D.M., 1994. Resolving the paradox of conflict, strategic decision making, and organizational performance.International Journal of Conflict Management,5(3), pp.239-253. Blanchette, I. and Richards, A., 2010. The influence of affect on higher level cognition: A review of research on interpretation, judgement, decision making and reasoning.Cognition Emotion,24(4), pp.561-595. Bottrill, M.C., Joseph, L.N., Carwardine, J., Bode, M., Cook, C., Game, E.T., Grantham, H., Kark, S., Linke, S., McDonald-Madden, E. and Pressey, R.L., 2008. Is conservation triage just smart decision making?.Trends in Ecology Evolution,23(12), pp.649-654. Brinckmann, J., Grichnik, D. and Kapsa, D., 2010. Should entrepreneurs plan or just storm the castle? A meta-analysis on contextual factors impacting the business planningperformance relationship in small firms.Journal of Business Venturing,25(1), pp.24-40. Darley, W.K., Blankson, C. and Luethge, D.J., 2010. Toward an integrated framework for online consumer behavior and decision making process: A review.Psychology marketing,27(2), pp.94-116. DeTienne, D.R., 2010. Entrepreneurial exit as a critical component of the entrepreneurial process: Theoretical development.Journal of Business Venturing,25(2), pp.203-215. Garrison, R.H., Noreen, E.W., Brewer, P.C. and McGowan, A., 2010. Managerial accounting.Issues in Accounting Education,25(4), pp.792-793. Glckner, A. and Witteman, C., 2010. Beyond dual-process models: A categorisation of processes underlying intuitive judgement and decision making.Thinking Reasoning,16(1), pp.1-25. Han, H., Hsu, L.T.J. and Sheu, C., 2010. Application of the theory of planned behavior to green hotel choice: Testing the effect of environmental friendly activities.Tourism management,31(3), pp.325-334. Ho, W., Xu, X. and Dey, P.K., 2010. Multi-criteria decision making approaches for supplier evaluation and selection: A literature review.European Journal of operational research,202(1), pp.16-24. Kon, A.A., 2010. The shared decision-making continuum.Jama,304(8), pp.903-904. O'Faircheallaigh, C., 2010. Public participation and environmental impact assessment: Purposes, implications, and lessons for public policy making.Environmental impact assessment review,30(1), pp.19-27. Salas, E., Rosen, M.A. and DiazGranados, D., 2010. Expertise-based intuition and decision making in organizations.Journal of management,36(4), pp.941-973. Sanayei, A., Mousavi, S.F. and Yazdankhah, A., 2010. Group decision making process for supplier selection with VIKOR under fuzzy environment.Expert Systems with Applications,37(1), pp.24-30. Xu, H., Luo, X.R., Carroll, J.M. and Rosson, M.B., 2011. The personalization privacy paradox: An exploratory study of decision making process for location-aware marketing.Decision support systems,51(1), pp.42-52. Yeoh, W. and Koronios, A., 2010. Critical success factors for business intelligence systems.Journal of computer information systems,50(3), pp.23-32. Zhang, X. and Bartol, K.M., 2010. Linking empowering leadership and employee creativity: The influence of psychological empowerment, intrinsic motivation, and creative process engagement.Academy of management journal,53(1), pp.107-128. Popovi?, A., Hackney, R., Coelho, P.S. and Jakli?, J., 2012. Towards business intelligence systems success: Effects of maturity and culture on analytical decision making.Decision Support Systems,54(1), pp.729-739. Darnall, N., Henriques, I. and Sadorsky, P., 2010. Adopting proactive environmental strategy: The influence of stakeholders and firm size.Journal of management studies,47(6), pp.1072-1094.

Saturday, May 2, 2020

Strategic Analysis of Internal & External Environment of Dyson

Question: Identify what comprises strategic capabilities in terms of organisational resources and competences and how these relate to the strategies of organisations. Distinguish between basic and unique resources. Analyze the business functions of the company. Answer: Corporate objectives Vision The vision is to enhance the performance of the organization and establish its pillars within the competitive market segment. Mission The mission of the company is to provide encouragement for the design engineers of the next generation in order to be creative, challenging and invent. A statement of corporate values Dyson reflects efficient means of engineering. The CSR team works by ensuring that the workers are treated very fairly and the environment including the workplaces remains safer. External analysis PESTEL analysis Political factors: It has been seen that throughout the UK and the US the political factors remains merely in the favor of the home companies. At home, the Duson's role as becoming the conservative partys technical czar created an impact as soon as the government announced the increment of the rate of development and research of tax credit to nearly 225% merely for the mid-sized business which became effective from April 2012. Moreover, the vested regulations like the EU experts have imposed restrictions on the desired power used by the machines such as the vacuum cleaners (Al-Hakim and Memmola, 2009). EU have also summoned for the development of the new technologies in order to reduce the power input for saving the energy consumption. EC required the desired power input to get cut till the year 2014 nearly to 500 watts merely for the respective upright cleaners and for the canister cleaners it was 750 watts (Baran and Galka, 2013). This resulted in the declination of the sales and this type of the bur eaucratic laws merely forces the different companies to keep pace with the innovations by the expansion of the competition. It becomes very important for Dyson to open doors for the similar type of the changes. Economic: During the year 2010 and 2013, there were several small companies who returned to the same levels of growth but the vacuum cleaners were predicted to seen slow rate of growth. The capturing of the retail growth in china as well as in India will focus the growth of the sales and will help in ease pressure of the concerned western markets. The reports critically indicate that in the developing countries the growth rate was projected up to 6.7 percent. In most of the developed countries the company was performing well and the people who were staying at their home for the longer time, the demands for the disposal homes got increased merely for the homely gadgets (Berk and DeMarzo, 2014). But the moderate incomes throughout the emerging market segments remained the matter of scrutiny as it was favorable for the premium price of Dyson. Social factors: The social factors create a great impact on the execution of the business process of any of the company concerned. The contribution of the Dyson Company was recognized on large numbers having effective and efficient charitable ventures like the global workshop in order to bring out the best design and engineering (Blank Page, 2014). The rewarding programs for the engineering students contributed towards the development of the society on large numbers. There was the outsourcing of the jobs throughout the different countries such as Malaysia, china and much more and was through the testing labs. Expansion of the job openings for the youth throughout the different parts of the world is the key strengths of the company. Technological factors: This is one of the important factors that helps ion increasing the growth of the organization to a large scale. There are some of the well-known developed countries who accounted for 68% of the total robotic vacuum cleaners selling in the year 2011. This market changes mainly due to the robotic design and the needs of the new technologies are quite high and considering the other regions or the areas the demand for the vacuum cleaners proved to be very high (Dalum and Midtgaard, 2011). Therefore, there is a crucial need for the implementation of the innovative tools as well as innovative techniques for the evaluation and growth of the entire business processes of Dyson. Environmental factors: The common topic for most of the companies is global warming. As per the rules and regulations of the UK government, businesses or the various companies needs to participate in the waste disposal or in the reducing as well as recycling of the wastes in order to make the environment a safer place for the people (Dyson.co.uk, 2016). In responses to these regulations, there are companies like VAX who have reduced nearly 50% polystyrene throughout their packaging. Dyson also follows the rules as well as the regulations of the government in reducing and recycling of the wastes related to the electronic equipment and has created a great positive impact on the environment. Legal: In this particular sector, the desired fight for the infringement for securing the design as well as the technology of the different vacuum cleaners was common for the companies. The facts reside that in the year 2010, the company significantly lost the legal case against one of the well-known company VAX limited. Therefore, there is a crucial need for each of the companies of any field to execute their respective business processes as per the rules and the regulations of the government (Ehrhardt and Brigham, 2011). There were some of the legal matters related to the payment made to an engineer and this case was in the high court of England. Thus, it became more important to establish the desired pillars of the company following the rules as well as the regulations of the government. Porters Competitive Forces Analysis Porter's five forces are the desired framework which will help in recognizing the competition level within a particular industry. Moreover, it helps in the development of the business processes of the organization. Buyer power: In this, the power remains in the hands of the buyer. The availability of the more options having low-end cost prices brings out discouragement for the customers. The customers or the buyers can bargain from the variety of the products available and there are other companies available who provide the similar products with similar features. There is the wide variety of the retail point of the purchase. Supplier power: In the manufacturing and the designing of the houses provides great benefit in the leading time and maintains the flow of the desired supply chain. The high amount of investments in the R and D becomes a competency for the entire organization (Ehrhardt and Brigham, 2011). There are more than 350 of the engineers as well as scientists who use the latest technology and innovation in order to increase the power of the suppliers. In order to increase the selling of the products, the company has more than 120 special types of the testing center stations throughout Malaysia. Threat of the new entrants: A new entry within the market segments critically increases the competition level for the existing companies. On the other hand, there is less amount of threat to the company as there is difficulty in the R and D innovation for the competition (Harrison, 2011). It becomes very hard for competing with the brand presence as well as the quality of the products. M A may be the desired way for fresh companies in relation to the bold threat. Therefore, the companies need to implement effective strategies regarding the threat from the new entry into the market segments. Threat from the substitutes: There are uncertain economic conditions for the Dyson Company. The increment in the design and technologies in the field of vacuum have created the potential threat for the respective products of Dyson. The cases of the M A are accepted to continue, which creates a threat for the products of the company (Johnsen, 2009). There are substitutes available from the different companies and this creates a tough penetration within the new market segments where the brooms are used instead of the vacuums. Competitive rivalry: There are some of the main competitors within this industry having the similar scale and strength which competes for the larger marginal growth areas. The implementation of the advanced technologies as well as the innovation provides the desired competitive edge to the company as compared with that of the other companies (Khachidze, 2012). There are two of the common trends for the market invasions, they are merger and acquisitions. Internal Analysis Organizational Resources Audit The VRIN framework helps in analyzing the strategic capabilities of Dyson, which are mentioned below: Value The primary aim of Dyson is to solve the issues and improve the preferred traditional products. Moreover, the company wants to innovate its products by improving the designing of the concerned products. So the exceptional RD is very significant in enhancing the manufactured goods. Rarity Dyson has numerous competitors which offer the very cheaper contrast to Dyson. The company is providing the finest value product just before the community. Inimitability As there have numerous competitors throughout the competitive market, it is probable to reproduce its goods. But it becomes very difficult for doing that, because the company has numerous patents related to their product, such as the Root Cyclone expertise, and it have filled up with nearly 564 patents of it, so in a case of extra vacuum cleaner it cannot employ this particular technology. Non-substitutable In fact, the Dyson's goods can be alternated by extra company's goods. But the brand name cannot be substituted and this is a great advantage for Dyson. Functions of the Business and Core Competencies The company was looking forward to focusing more on the innovation as this could help in evaluating the desired growth of the company related to the vacuum cleaners. It is a British company that designs as well as manufactures vacuum cleaners, bladeless fans hand dryers and the heaters (Dyson.co.uk, 2016). The company has given priority to the advancement of the designing and the technical advancements of the machinery merely for the vacuum cleaners. The company executes its business process in more than 70 countries throughout the world. There were several competitors in this particular industry related to the designing and manufacturing of the vacuum cleaners but the company had given priority to increasing the capability of the engineers (Okumus, Altinay and Chathoth, 2010). The company is facing tough competition from many of the well-known companies related to the designing and manufacturing of the vacuum cleaners. Therefore, in order to capture the entire market segments the co mpany has formulated several strategies as improving the designing and the implementation of the new innovative tools swell as techniques. Basis of Competitive Strategy Key Market Segments Analysis The different forms of the competition stand at various levels within the global as well as the domestic market segments. The US market segments are mainly led the by the Techtronic Industries corporation limited which was contributed by Hoover as well as the Dirt Devil. The selling of the vacuum cleaners was in large numbers and it encountered a global presence which appeared as a potential threat (Sensmeier, 2009). There were several other companies throughout the market segments which provided the desired importance to the designing of the product. Innovation, as well as the advancement of the technology, played the most important role in increasing the competition in this particular industry (Special Issue of Strategic Organization: "Strategic Management Theory and Universities", 2015). Porters Generic Strategy Framework Analysis In order to compete with the other companies and maintain its position throughout the UK, the demand for the innovation increased significantly for Dyson. This can easily be achieved by the supply chain management and the in-house capability of the Company. Innovation is considered to be the most important for the development and the growth of the organization. The pricing strategies of the company related to the vacuum cleaners have provided the desired platform to evaluate the growth of the organization (Spedding, 2009). The products sales of the competitors were high during the initial stages of the firm. The economic conditions remained very uncertain throughout the developed market segments. Implementation of the advanced technologies and the innovation provides the desired competitive edge to the company as compared with the competitors. Strategic Choice: Ansoffs Matrix Figure: Ansoffs Matrix for Dyson The Ansoff matrix evaluated the fact that Dyson has formed several strategies for selling of its products and to evaluate the growth of the organization throughout the competitive market. The company has decided to enter into new market segments where there are 45 of the countries who are still expanding having the previous or existing products (Stroke: latest treatment options in acute management, 2015). The next strategy is to a development of the products with new features as compared with the existing products in order to capture the entire market segments. Strategy Evaluation Suitability The most appropriate choice of the ANSOFF matrix is the product development and the company needs to0 develop the products as per the reliability of the users. The changing trends throughout the market segments have forced towards modification of the products and the competitors are doing this very systematically. Therefore, the implementation of the innovative tools will help Dyson in evaluating the growth of the organization (Swedish glossary for corporate finance, 2013). Ranking of the strategic options as well as the decision trees will help in evaluating the suitability of the product development. Acceptability The designing and the manufacturing of the products are considered to be more important and, therefore, the company needs to manufacture its products with the help of the new and innovative machinery. This will help in bringing out the innovation for the development of the best vacuum cleaners for the customers (Triggle, 2015). In this section, the returns, risk, and the stakeholder's reactions are considered to be most important. Feasibility Breakeven analysis with the help of the cash flow analysis helps in bringing out the desired facts for the identification of the feasibility of the product development (Truss, Mankin, and Kelliher, 2012). The company needs to identify and collect the desired resources which are required for the development of the products as this will help in increasing the selling of the vacuum cleaners within the market segments. Conclusion Dyson is a British company that designs as well as manufactures vacuum cleaners, bladeless fans hand dryers and the heaters. The company has given priority to the advancement of the designing and the technical advancements of the machinery. The company executes its business process in more than 70 countries throughout the world. There were several competitors in this particular industry related to the designing and manufacturing of the vacuum cleaners. This report reflects the strategic analysis of Dysons business processes. Recommendations The company needs to work on the quality and the pricing satieties of its products. Moreover, the priority should be given to the use of the innovative tools and techniques in order to keep pace with the other competitors. The engineers need to increase their skills in order to bring out innovation in the products. Yes, the company is significantly capitalizing its strengths efficiently and effectively with the help of the strategic choices. The main weakness was in the designing as well as in the pricing strategies of the company related to its products. Now, the company with the help of effective strategies is able to manage the competitors effectively. Yes, there was the contradiction between the strategic choices of the company and its vision but it can be overcome with the help of innovative tools and techniques. References Al-Hakim, L. and Memmola, M. (2009).Business web strategy. Hershey: Information Science Reference. Baran, R. and Galka, R. (2013).CRM. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. Berk, J. and DeMarzo, P. (2014).Corporate finance. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. Blank Page. (2014).International Strategic Management Review, 2(1), p.IFC. Dalum, C. and Midtgaard, J. (2011).Strategisk regnskabsanalyse og vrdiansttelse af Carlsberg. Frederiksberg. Dyson.co.uk. (2016).Dyson vacuum cleaners, fans, heaters, accessories spares | official site. [online] Available at: https://www.dyson.co.uk/ [Accessed 31 Mar. 2016]. Ehrhardt, M. and Brigham, E. (2011).Corporate finance. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Harrison, D. (2011). How the latest mental health strategy can guide practice.Nurs Residential Care, 13(7), pp.341-344. Johnsen, H. (2009).Strategisk regnskabsanalyse og vrdiansttelse af Dampskibsselskabet Norden A/S. Frederiksberg. Khachidze, V. (2012).Contemporary research on E-business technology and strategy. Berlin: Springer. Okumus, F., Altinay, L. and Chathoth, P. (2010).Strategic management for hospitality and tourism. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann. Sensmeier, J. (2009). The latest? A shift from operations to outcomes.Nursing Management (Springhouse), NA;, p.2. Special Issue of Strategic Organization: "Strategic Management Theory and Universities". (2015).Strategic Organization, 13(4), pp.365-367. Special Issue of Strategic Organization: "Strategic Management Theory and Universities". (2015).Strategic Organization, 13(2), pp.163-165. Spedding, L. (2009).The due diligence handbook. Amsterdam: CIMA. Stroke: latest treatment options in acute management. (2015).The Pharmaceutical Journal. Swedish glossary for corporate finance. (2013). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. The local and regional impact of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism. (2012). Luxembourg: Publications Office. Triggle, N. (2015). Moving on from where the Cancer Drugs Fund failed.Cancer Nursing Practice, 14(8), pp.8-9. Truss, C., Mankin, D. and Kelliher, C. (2012).Strategic human resource management. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Sunday, March 22, 2020

History Of Light Infantry Essays - Military Terminology,

History Of Light Infantry For a long time peace was understood in negative fashion, simply as the absence of war. -Yvon Garlan Kendrick Pritchett in the introduction to the book ?The Greek State at War? points out that in order to write history of Greek Warfare one would require a knowledge of many aspects of Greek life. The would-be investigator would have to be familiar with terrain in the case of any given battle, have an acquaintance with the archaeological artifacts of various types, close familiarity with the written sources, and most important, an understanding of the general economic picture. He would also need some insight into ancient religion and acquaintance with military and naval procedures and strategy.? There is a definite truth about the statement. Even such narrow subject as development of light infantry in ancient Greece requires inquiries in multiple areas of overall Greek history. The knowledge of what ancient Greeks considered light infantry, an insight on development of ancient Greek infantry in general, agricultural warfare, key historical event that assisted in changing Greek outlook on war: these areas are absolutely essential in researching the subject of light infantry in Ancient Greece. Researching the primary sources for the subject of ?light infantry? an investigator would find a puzzling fact; there are little or no references to the subject of inquiry. Ancient historians Thucydides, Xenophon, Herodotus, do not refer to ?light infantry? troops, instead they use term peltast. It appears that the term peltast signifies a ?light armored warrior? for the ancient historians. The term itself comes from pelta or pelte - a small shield that inhabitants of Thrace used as their battle armor. We find descriptions of Thracian peoples in Herodotus' ?The Histories.? ?The Thracians in the army wore fox-skin caps on their heads, and tunics on their bodies; over these they wore embroidered mantles; they had shoes of fawnskin on their feet and legs; they also had javelins and little shields and daggers.? Climate in Thrace, both political and weather wise contributed to development of specific armor (or lack of it) and way of fighting. Ancient Greek historian Xenophon had served under Odrysian prince Seuthes in Thrace and recorded one of the campaigns in his treaties ?Anabasis.? From the description, Thrace appears to be very cold and snowy which is not uncommon for northern parts of Greece. It also explains why Thracian peltasts had no heavy armor, relied on maneuverability and preferred skirmishing techniques to battle in formation. Also, there is no account of Thrace developing a city-state or any other kind of political organization other than tribes. Which explains predominance of primitive way of fighting over organized formation. Arthur Ferrill argues that although there definitely was a contact between ancient Greeks and Thracians, it had little or no affect on Greek warfare in general. This point is arguable, since there is evidence (mostly pottery, unfortunately) that Thracian shield and helmet designs were used by Greeks from 460 BC and on. Also the appearance of ekdromoi - runner outs in Greek phalanx, was probably a result of contact with Thracians. Ekdromoi were young, physically fit warriors that were instructed to run out and prevent Thracian peltasts from harassing Greek formation. Consequently, ekdromoi had to give up some of their heavy armor to gain in maneuverability. Considering evidence in hand, Ferrill's argument appears to be more plausible since history shows that it would take much more than skirmishes with Thracians to change Greek outlook on war and fighting. Agricultural warfare, Greek Hoplites. Placing light infantry on the battlefield by the ancient Greeks signified the change in general Greek way of fighting. Roughly, ?general way of fighting? is associated with hoplite phalanx warfare. Understanding hoplite warfare is essential in uncovering the origins of light infantry aside from it setting the pace of Greek life for almost five hundred years. Sometime between 700 BC and 650 BC formation of heavy infantry or hoplites began to take place. The changes took place primarily due to social and political developments within Greece itself, appearance of polis, Greek city-state and extensive agriculture, which created communities of equal property owners. It is plausible to assume that Greek farmers out of concern that somebody would traverse their land began to arm themselves, farmer solidarity developed.

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Free Essays on Describe And Explain The Global Patterns Of Earthquakes.

â€Å"Earthquakes are probably the most dramatic of Man’s natural enemies.† (Hallam 1977) â€Å"Earthquakes are vibrations of the earth caused by the rupture and sudden movement of rocks that have been strained beyond their elastic limits.† (Hamblin and Christiansen 2001). Shockwaves are generated when an earthquake occurs. There are three types of seismic waves: Primary waves, secondary waves and surface waves. Earthquakes tend not to be deeper than 700km into the earth. Shallow-focus earthquakes occur from the surface to a depth of 70km. Intermediate-focus earthquakes occur between 70km-300km below the surface and finally deep-focus earthquakes between 300km-700km. The magnitude of an earthquake is measured on a Richter Scale. If the locations of earthquakes are plotted on a map it becomes clearly evident that there is a pattern. Earthquakes are generally concentrated in areas where plates meet. If we plot the areas where shallow, intermediate, and deep focus earthquakes occur it becomes apparent that virtually all deep earthquakes are associated with ocean trenches and island arc structures bordering the Pacific. The reasoning behind this is plate tectonics. The earth can be internally divided into three major areas: The outer crust, the mantle and the core. The rigid outermost layer of the crust comprises of both continental and oceanic crust. Underlying the crust is the mantle, it comprises the largest portion of the earth and finally the innermost portion is the core. Plate tectonics tells us that the earth’s outermost layer (the lithosphere) is broken into both oceanic and continental plates which slide over the uppermost layer of the mantle (the athenosphere). These plates are in constant motion and interact with their boundaries. It is these interactions which are the cause of earthquakes. We now know there are seven major crustal plates about 80km thick and all in constant motion relative to each other. It is along t... Free Essays on Describe And Explain The Global Patterns Of Earthquakes. Free Essays on Describe And Explain The Global Patterns Of Earthquakes. â€Å"Earthquakes are probably the most dramatic of Man’s natural enemies.† (Hallam 1977) â€Å"Earthquakes are vibrations of the earth caused by the rupture and sudden movement of rocks that have been strained beyond their elastic limits.† (Hamblin and Christiansen 2001). Shockwaves are generated when an earthquake occurs. There are three types of seismic waves: Primary waves, secondary waves and surface waves. Earthquakes tend not to be deeper than 700km into the earth. Shallow-focus earthquakes occur from the surface to a depth of 70km. Intermediate-focus earthquakes occur between 70km-300km below the surface and finally deep-focus earthquakes between 300km-700km. The magnitude of an earthquake is measured on a Richter Scale. If the locations of earthquakes are plotted on a map it becomes clearly evident that there is a pattern. Earthquakes are generally concentrated in areas where plates meet. If we plot the areas where shallow, intermediate, and deep focus earthquakes occur it becomes apparent that virtually all deep earthquakes are associated with ocean trenches and island arc structures bordering the Pacific. The reasoning behind this is plate tectonics. The earth can be internally divided into three major areas: The outer crust, the mantle and the core. The rigid outermost layer of the crust comprises of both continental and oceanic crust. Underlying the crust is the mantle, it comprises the largest portion of the earth and finally the innermost portion is the core. Plate tectonics tells us that the earth’s outermost layer (the lithosphere) is broken into both oceanic and continental plates which slide over the uppermost layer of the mantle (the athenosphere). These plates are in constant motion and interact with their boundaries. It is these interactions which are the cause of earthquakes. We now know there are seven major crustal plates about 80km thick and all in constant motion relative to each other. It is along t...

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Equity and Debt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Equity and Debt - Essay Example However, this is balanced by the requirements of the debt covenant to regularly service that debt; that is, the company regularly needs to make payments to the issuer of the debt to cover the principle they borrowed and the interest required by the debt covenant. This detriment is offset in some regard through the reduction in tax liability (Seidman, 2005) – in short, the payment of debt reduces the amount of income that the company is taxed upon. Equity financing carries with it its own distinct set of advantages and disadvantages. Chief among the advantages of equity financing is the existence of no repayment period of the capital used to expand the business (Seidman, 2005). Since the capital is raised through individuals or businesses buying a share of both the company and its future earnings, the rewards for providing the capital come through an expected increase in the value of their investment. This, however, translates into a disadvantage of equity financing. Namely, wh ile profits are expected to increase, the â€Å"pie† is now being divided into more pieces, thus reducing the value of the existing stakes. Further, with the issuance (or release) of additional stock into the market to support an equity financing endeavor, the company becomes more susceptible to outside influences, whether through potential takeovers or through some loss of control of the decision-making process (Seidman, 2005). I neither fully agree nor fully disagree with management’s decision to proceed with equity financing instead of the intended debt financing in the expansion of their manufacturing capabilities. Equity financing makes sense, especially in light of the 305% rise in the company’s stock price over the past year (American Superconductor, 2003). Management is able to take advantage of the ability to raise capital with less dilution of current stockholders’ shares than would otherwise be expected in an environment of stable share price. Debt financing, too, makes sense in regard to the fact that with the government project becoming profitable a quarter ahead of expectations and with the massive savings in operating expenses, debt financing would have been rather easy to service (American Superconductor, 2003). Using that approach, no dilution of stockholder value would be necessary and there would be no potential for a loss of corporate autonomy. Further, with an eye again to lower future operating costs and an unexpectedly profitable revenue stream, debt financing would have lowered the potential future tax burden that the company will soon be faced with. Instead of management undertaking either approach, I believe that a third option would be best. With the company’s results that lent themselves to support debt financing as well as a nearly doubling of revenue company-wide over the past year, management could have funded the entire endeavor through retained earnings had the expansion decision been put off for a short period of time (American Superconductor, 2003). This approach would prevent any dilution of share value, any potential loss of autonomy, and would avoid the seemingly unnecessary burden of additional indebtiture at a time when the company is flush with cash. Having made the decision to raise the capital through equity financing, management needs to determine what the cost of equity truly would

Monday, February 3, 2020

Airport Design Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Airport Design - Research Paper Example The stakeholders of the airport include customers, transporters, Government agencies, airlines companies, civil aviation authorities, airport management and the staff members. Therefore, the airport design should facilitate all of them in a balance so that there can be efficiency in all the working areas of the airport and thus giving benefits to the airport management. all of these aspect of the airport design should be managed in the planning session therefore it is the duty of the engineers to keep these things at preference. The purpose of this research paper is to provide a guideline about the planning of an airport design. The main persons included in the process will be the airport managers, airport staff, airport planners, architects, and the overall aviation industry. However, these are the main persons in the planning process and then the construction process but throughout the planning and construction their main focus should be on considerations of the stakeholders and their concerns about the usage of the building. There are many of the important considerations or the factors, which are very important for the planning processes of an airport design. These factors or considerations are safety, Security concerns, operational ability, commercialism, financial support, aid, and the environmental conditions. In addition to this, there is a requirement of settlement with the local Government bodies and the civil aviation authorities. So that the airport management will not face any problem, form the legal agencies regarding any law or rules. In this section of the report, there is a detailed description of the step by step procedure of planning the airport design, analysis of all the necessary components of an airport design and an overview of the primary users of the airports. In the planning process of airport design, the first step is to gather and

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Effect of Socioeconomic Stress on Family Health

Effect of Socioeconomic Stress on Family Health Revisions and Literature Review Tiffany Stewart Socioeconomic status is defined â€Å"as the social standing or class of an individual or group. It is often measured as a combination of education, income, and occupation† (American Psychological Association, 2014). There are higher and lower socioeconomic statuses (SES) that can have a big effect on a family’s health. In 2012, research showed that one in five children lived below the federal poverty line (Noble et al., 2012). Family resources such as â€Å"income, parent’s education and health can have a direct and indirect benefit for children† (Thompson, 2014, p. 42). Families in lower SES have poor physical and mental health compared to families in higher SES. When a family lives in a lower SES, there are more stressful life events that affect the whole family. Stress can be defined as â€Å"a complex psychobiological process with biological, emotional, mental, and behavioral consequences, all of which influence one another† (Thompson, 2014, p. 46). Children and adolescents are at an age where they are not able to provide their own socioeconomic status. This is left up to the parents, which can have big effect on the child’s developmental outcomes at the current age and later in life (Hackman Farah, 2009). Research has shown that when a stressful life event occurs, catecholamines and glococorticoids are mediated (Lupien, King, Meaney, McEwen, 2000). When glucocorticoid response to stress in a short amount of time, this is an adaptive function that is normal. When glucocorticoid has increased for long periods of time, this can be associated with different depressive symptoms (Lupien et al., 2000). There is also other research on how stress from the mother will affect the child once born. The fetus is left exposed to the mother’s diet, emotions, and environmental influences that can have effect on development (Thompson, 2014). The fetus is very sensitive to maternal stress. If the mother is under a lot of stress during pregnancy, the child will have a greater reactivity to stress once born (Thompson, 2014). One study showed that when the fetus was exposed to maternal cortisol, seven year old girls had emotional difficulties and a larger volume in the right amygdale (Thompson, 2014). After a child has been born and has been under a lot of stress, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis does not function the way it should. The HPA axis is a human’s central stress response system. The neurological circuitry is changed to how the body response to stress. This will happen when the child is exposed to stressful event on multiple occasions to change the sen sitivity of the HPA system (Thompson, 2014). The way the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system is supposed to work in individuals that are not exposed to large amounts of stress is by the â€Å"release of steroid hormone cortisol from the adrenal gland† (Essex, Klein, Cho Kalin, 2002, p. 777). Cortisol (stress hormone) has a big influence on brain function. When cortisol is released during stressful experiences, this will enhance an organism’s ability to adapt in those times (Essex et al., 2002). Elevated levels cortisol that happens multiple times during the early years will cause physiologic effects later in the individual’s life. These effects include â€Å"increased resistance to the effects of insulin, promotion of obesity, impaired memory via effects on hippocampal neurons, and altered immune responses† (Essex et al., 2012, p. 777). Behavior can also tie into the disruptive HPA axis activity when stress occurs. These behaviors include how the child is â€Å"coping, cognitive and attention problems, poor emotional regulation, and difficulty in social functioning† (Thompson, 2014, p. 45). These behavior problems have associations for children’s academic functioning as well as building relationships with other children and adults. Children that have been exposed to stressful events multiple times in their early life show academically that they have a hard time concentrating, remembering things, and controlling their own thinking. With relationships, children have â€Å"heighten emotional reactivity and weaken emotional self-regulation† (Thompson, 2014, p. 45). Stress in general is part of every person’s life. A normal amount of stress is nothing to worry about and necessary to survive. Stress does occur at a young age, and this will help to develop coping skills and learn how to adapt to stressful situations that will occur throughout the lifetime (Middlebrooks Audage, 2008). Parents are the ones that should help the children learn how to deal with stress in a healthy way. When stress is not dealt in a healthy way, there can be short and long-term health effects. Research has shown that there are three different types of stress that a person can go through in their life. These three include positive stress, tolerable stress, and toxic stress. Positive stress is from negative experiences that are short-term (Middlebrooks Audage, 2008). Examples of positive stress are when children start a new school, or when someone else takes a toy away from them. The health effects include heart rate being increased and hormone levels changing. This type of stress is normal and the parents can help the child learn how to cope with it as a developmental process (Middlebrooks Audage, 2008). Tolerable stress is from a negative experience that impacts the child more than positive stress but is still short-term. Examples of tolerable stress include dealing with a death of a family member, or the parents are separating (divorce) (Middlebrooks Audage, 2008). As long as the child has support from a family member or someone close to the child, he/she is usually able to learn how to deal with experience in a healthy way. If the child learns to deal with the experience in a healthy way, it will turn into possible stress. If the child is unable to deal with the experience, this can turn into toxic stress that will have long-term health effects (Middlebrooks Audage, 2008). Socioeconomic stress falls under the category of toxic stress. This kind of stress is from negative experiences that can continue for long periods of time. Other examples include neglect and abuse (Middlebrooks Audage, 2008). When toxic stress occurs, brain development and functioning will be disrupted. Health problems can also occur that have the capacity to be long-term. There is research that has shown how brain development is effected by long-term stress like socioeconomic stress. Brain development is a process that starts to take place during pregnancy. Factors that influence brain development include genetics and the environment that the mother is in. The toxic stress on brain development can impair the connection of brain circuits and lead to developing a smaller brain (Middlebrooks Audage, 2008). The circuits in the brain can cause a child to not be able to handle stress. The child will overreact to conflicting experiences that occur in his/her life. High levels of cortisol (stress hormone) can also damage the hippocampus that affects learning and memory that can continue into adulthood. There is even research that has shown that high levels of stress hormones can restrain the immune response in the body. The individual can end up with different infections and health problems (Middlebrooks Audage, 2008). Socioeconomic status has shown that there are negative effects on the developing brain. This includes regions of the brain responsible for language, and stress hormones. Linguistic exposure at a young age has been linked with developmental differences in language regions in the left hemisphere of the brain (Noble, Houston, Kan, Sowell, 2012). The left temporal, temporo-occipital and the frontal cortices are responsible for the development of language skills (Noble et al., 2012). Depending on the SES of the parents that are raising children in those environments will effect what kinds of resources are available to develop those regions of the brain. Higher SES families use parent-child reading activities and have multiple books available to help the child learn language skills compared to families that live in lower SES. Two fMRI studies have shown SES differences with children in two different parts of the left hemisphere for language. These include the functions of the left fusifor m and the left inferior frontal gyrus (Noble et al., 2012). Children from lower SES tend to show a difference in how they experience stressful events reflected in hormonal markers of stress (Noble et al., 2012). Research on stress in animals and humans has shown negative effects on the hippocampus, amygdale, and the anterior cingulated cortex in the medial prefrontal cortex (Noble et al., 2012, p. 518). These areas of the brain are critical for developing memory, socio-emotional processing, and cognitive control/self-regulation. An fMRI study showed that children in lower SES will more likely have a smaller hippocampus (Noble et al., 2012). The background information provided in the paper has shown that during pregnancy, a fetus can be affected by the socioeconomic stress the mother is dealing with. With this research, it has shown that the stress the parents deal with in their daily lives disrupts the development the child goes through mentally and physically. Socioeconomic status is usually defined by family education, occupation, and income level (Noble et al., 2012). The fetus is very sensitive to the stress the mother goes through which will affect child when they are born. The child will then have a greater reactivity to stressful situations (Thompson, 2014). This area of research is a problem since there is known information of how the stress does affect the child even before they are born. If the socioeconomic stress is affecting the child’s development, will this affect the child later in life? The purpose of this study is focus on socioeconomic stress and the effects it has on a child’s developing brain later in life. There is a lot of research on what happens to the brain of a developing child when there is a lot of stress being exposed to him/her. Research has shown that children that are sensitive to stress from environmental factors when they are born will have higher cortisol levels (stress hormone). What has gaps in the research is if the high levels of cortisol (stress hormone) in a young child will determine mental health problems later in the individual’s life. The only research on this area is very general and does not specifically explain mental health problems that can occur. The only specific research in this area mentions how children will have behavior and academic problems as they get older. The purpose of the study will include children at the ages of 5-10 to determine if they are experiencing mental health problems from the socioeconomic stress they experienced during pregnancy and at birth. Women in the second trimester will also need to be included to look back on the kind of stress they were experiencing that could affect their children in low SES. The mothers and the children at one month would also need to be looked at. The cortisol levels would be tested by a saliva sample from the children at the ages of 5-10. Starting with pregnancy and going to the ages of 5-10 will track maternal stress from infancy to childhood and the mental health problems that can occur from it. Essex, Klein, Cho, and Kalin (2002) also did a study on maternal stress and how it affects children later in life. This study was only one to observe mother’s during pregnancy and continue until the child was four and a half years old. The author’s results showed that elevated cortisol levels appear to predict dysregulated behavior and mental disorders (Essex et al., 2002). Other findings also included how â€Å"maternal stress may increase the vulnerability of the developing child’s HPA system to later stress exposure† (Essex et al., 2012, p. 780). Since little research has started with maternal stress, it is important that further research is done to show that there is an effect on children’s mental health later in life. There research only covered socioeconomic stress, maternal stress, and cortisol level. This leaves out other factors (e.g. genetics) that could cause children mental health problems later in life. The question that would need to b e addressed is what other factors could have an effect on children’s mental health later in life. References American Psychological Association (2014). Socioeconomic status. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/topics/socioeconomic-status/ Essex, M. J., Klein, M. H., Cho, E., Kalin, N. H. (2002). Maternal stress beginning in infancy may sensitize children to later stress exposure: Effects on cortisol and behavior. Biological Psychiatry, 52(8), 776-784. doi:10.1016/S0006-3223(02)01553-6 Hackman, D. A., Farah, M. J. (2009). Socioeconomic status and the developing brain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13(2), 65-73. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2008.11.003 Lupien, S. J., King, S., Meaney, M. J., McEwen, B. S. (2000). Child’s stress hormone levels correlate with mother’s socioeconomic status and depressive state. Biological Psychiatry,48(10), 976-980. doi:10.1016/S0006-3223(00)00965-3 Middlebrooks, J.S., Audage, N.C. (2008). The effects of childhood stress on health across the lifespan. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Noble, K. G., Houston, S. M., Kan, E., Sowell, E. R. (2012). Neural correlates of socioeconomic status in the developing human brain. Developmental Science, 15(4), 516- 527. doi:10.1111/j.1467-7687.2012.01147.x Thompson, R. A. (2014). Stress and child development. The Future of Children, 24(1), Retrieved from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1539237845?acco untid=3783