Tobacco Use Essay Example for Free

Tobacco Use Essay â€Å"ED sees critical capacities† Emergency Department (ED) crowding is a public health crisis associated with negative patient outcomes including increased mortality and complication rates. Decreased quality in delivery of care is affected by lack of resources to support the increased use of emergency services and is a factor that leads to delays in treatment and untimely interventions. According to the article, Dr. Gordon, an emergency medicine physician and director of the Neighborhood Hospital ED states one of issues within the community is a lack of resources including â€Å"adequate medical facilities, especially for low-income individuals or indigents† (â€Å"ED sees critical capacities†, The Neighborhood). This problem is widespread throughout the United States and is not limited to the indigent population. Although it is difficult for patients with Medicaid to find providers willing to accept their insurance, the lack of primary care physicians causes limited access to health care for those who do possess private insurance, and patients are often referred to the ED by their primary doctor who may be unable to see them as appointments are usually unavailable for weeks at a time. With limited access to care, hospital emergency rooms become saturated due to non-urgent visits, inadequate staffing, and hospital bed shortages. When the hospital reaches maximum capacity and can no longer admit patients to appropriate units, the ED is forced to board these patients in the department, which leads to ambulance diversion, increased wait times, and the creation of makeshift treatment areas. The culmination of these factors contribute to delays in transport and time sensitive emergent care, patient elopement where care is not received at all and delayed even further which can lead to worsening health requiring hospital admission, and lower quality of care, which negatively affects patient safety and outcomes (Hoot Aronsky, 2008). This article increases public awareness to the problem of crowding in the emergency department and encourages the use of community-based resources for non-urgent medical conditions and the need for education on the appropriate utilization of emergency medical services. â€Å"Smoking breaks a thing of the past?† According to Tobacco Use (2013), â€Å"Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death and disease in the United States† (Why Is Preventing Tobacco Use Important?). This article highlights the advocacy of large companies to reduce tobacco use for the improved health of their employees and to eliminate exposure to unwanted secondhand smoke. Environmental tobacco smoke is just as detrimental to non-smokers as it contains harmful substances that expose those who don’t smoke to the health risks of cigarette smoking and increases their risk of developing a smoking-related illness. Promotion of a smoke-free work environment not only benefits the employees, but also the public whom they serve by reducing exposure to environmental smoke that causes heart disease, lung cancer, respiratory illness, and has other adverse effects to vulnerable populations including pregnant women and children. These companies are increasing community awareness to the detrimental affects o f smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke by paving the way to eliminate exposure to environmental smoke and reduce tobacco use in an effort to reduce illness and health care costs related to smoking, and increase productivity of employees and the overall health of their communities. The public benefit to this is that many states are enacting smoke-free laws in the workplaces and public buildings to reduce the number of deaths and disability caused from involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke. Reference Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. (2013). Health effects of secondhand smoke. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/secondhand_smo ke/health_effects/ Hoot, N.R., Aronsky, D. (2008). Systematic review of emergency department crowding: Causes, effects, and solutions . Annals of Emergency Medicine, 52(2), 126-136. doi:10.1016/j.annemergmed.2008.03.014 McClelland, M.S., Lazar, D., Sears, V., Wilson, M., Siegel, B., Pines, J.M. (2011). The past, present, and future of Urgent Matters: Lessons learned from a decade of emergency department flow improvement. Academic Emergency Medicine, 18(12), 1392-1399. doi:10.1111/j.1553- 2712.2011.01229.x The Neighborhood Pearson Health Science (Version 1.0) Retrieved from UOPX NUR408 Course Materials Tobacco use. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/overview.aspx?t opicId=41

What Is Community Policing?

What Is Community Policing? Community policing is probably the most misunderstood and often abused topic in police management during the past years. During the last few years, it has become fashionable for police agencies to create community policing, and very often with little understanding of what that phrase really means. It is true, that any kind of organizational tinkering has been called community policing. But community policing is not a program. Instead, community policing is a value system which permeates a police department, in which the primary organizational goal is working cooperatively with individual citizens, groups of citizens, and both public and private organizations to identify and resolve issues which potentially effect the livability of specific neighborhoods, areas, or the city as a whole. Community-based police departments recognize the fact that the police cannot effectively deal with such issues alone, and must partner with others who share a mutual responsibility for resolving problems. Community policing stresses prevention, early identification, and timely intervention to deal with issues before they become unwieldy problems. Individual officers tend to function as general-purpose practitioners who bring together both government and private resources to achieve results. Officers are encouraged to spend considerable time and effort in developing and maintaining personal relationships with citizens, busine sses, schools, and community organizations. Here are some other common features of community policing: Beyond crime fighting a focus on livability Many police departments and police officers define their role primarily in terms of crime control. The very term law enforcement agency is certainly an indication of this focus. But policing is much more than law enforcement. Many studies have shown that dealing with crime consumes only 10-20% of the police workload. Officers in community-based police departments understand that crook-catching is only one part of their job, and a rather small one by comparison to the myriad of issues and problems they deal with each day. Officers freely accept a significant role in issues that might be derisively referred to as social work in traditional police departments. Officers understand that resolving a problem with unruly people drinking at a public park, working to reduce truancy at a middle school, marshalling resources to improve lighting in a mobile home park, and removing abandoned vehicles from streets, may all be forms of valid and valuable police work, which affect the livability of a neighborhood. Rather than treating these activities as diversions from real police work, officers understand that this is the essence of their work. Citizen Involvement The police department strives to actively involve citizens in its operations, through a variety of means. Volunteers are widely used, whether college interns or retired seniors. Citizen patrols and crime prevention initiatives are welcomed and encouraged. Area commanders meet often with members of the public to solicit input and feedback. Many internal committees include public participation. Policy decisions typically involve opportunities for input from citizens, and the department has both formal and informal mechanisms for this purpose. Promotional boards include citizens. The department seeks to educate the general public about police work in various ways, including publications, web sites, public-access television, town hall meetings, citizen police academies. The department accepts and even encourages citizen review of its performance. Geographic Responsibility The primary division of labor for the police is geographical. Officers identify with their area of assignment, rather than the work shift or functional division. Commanders are assigned to geographical areas and given wide latitude to deploy their personnel and resources within that area. Individual officers adopt even smaller geographical areas and feel a sense of ownership for that area. Officers commonly know many of the people who live and work in this area, and are intimately familiar with the areas geography, businesses, schools, and churches. Officers seek out detailed information about police incidents which have occurred in their area of assignment during their off-duty time. Long-term Assignment Officers can expect to work in the same geographical area for many years. Officers preferences for areas are considered in making assignments. Rotation of geographical assignments is rare. The organization values the expertise and familiarity that comes with long-term assignment to the same area. Decentralized Decision Making Most operational decisions are decentralized to the level of execution. Field officers are given broad discretion to manage their own uncommitted time. Operational policies are concise, and serve as general guidelines for professional practice more than detailed rules and regulations. First line supervisors are heavily involved in decisions that are ordinarily reserved for command ranks in traditional police departments. Participative Management The department employs numerous methods to involve employees at all levels in decision-making. Staff meetings, committees, task forces, quality circles, and similar groups are impaneled often to address issues of internal management. Many workplace initiatives begin with ideas or concepts brought forward from line employees. Obtaining input from frontline employees is viewed as an essential part of any policy decision. The department has comparatively few levels of rank, and rank is seldom relied upon to settle disagreements. Supervisors view their role primarily in providing support to field personnel by teaching, coaching, obtaining resources, solving problems, and running interference. Generalist Officers Field officers dominate the sworn work force. Officers are expected to handle a huge variety of police incidents, and to follow through on such incidents from beginning to end. Specialization is limited to those areas where considerable expertise is an absolute necessity. Even when specialists are used, their role is to work cooperatively with field officers, rather than assume responsibility for cases or incidents from field officers. Most specialists view their jobs as offering technical expertise and support to field personnel. Police Leadership on Community Issues Senior police managers are deeply involved in community affairs. They speak out frequently and freely on issues of community concern, some of which are only tangentially related to law enforcement per se. Police managers are encouraged to pursue important community issues as a personal cause. Elected officials consult with police managers often. Police representation is obligatory on committees or study groups which are set up to examine significant issues on the public agenda, and it is not uncommon for police officers to serve in leadership positions in community organizations. Proactive Policing The police department employs techniques to manage its workload in order to make blocks of time available for police officers to address identified problems. The police response to an emerging problem typically involves significant input and participation from outside the department. The department routinely uses a range of tactics other than responding to individual incidents, such as: targeted saturation patrol, bicycle and foot patrol, undercover/plainclothes/decoy/surveillance operations, educational presentations, coordination of efforts with other government or human service agencies, support to volunteer efforts, initiation of legislative proposals, and so forth. Rather than merely responding to demands for police services, the department employees a Problem-Oriented Policing (POP) approach: identifying emergent problems, gathering data, bringing together stakeholders, and implementing specific strategies targeting the problem. The police response to an on-going or repetitive problem seldom involves only police resources. The police are concerned not only with high-visibility crimes, but with minor offenses which contribute to fear of crime, and negatively effect public perception of city or neighborhood safety. Emphasis on Quality The police define success and accomplishment primarily by the results achieved and the satisfaction of the consumer of services, rather than by strictly internal measures of the amount of work completed. Thus, there may be decreased emphasis on common productivity measures such as clearance rate, numbers of arrests, response time, etc., and increased emphasis on outcomes. Thoroughness and quality are clear emphases, but doing the right thing is as important as doing things right. The department employs methods to assess public satisfaction with services, and both individual officers and managers think about ways to improve based on this feedback. Recognition and Professional Development Officers receive frequent recognition for initiative, innovation, and planning. The department systematically acknowledges problem-oriented policing projects that achieve results. Seasoned field officers are highly valued for their skill and knowledge, and feel little pressure to compete for promotion to supervisory positions in order to advance their career. Commendations and awards go to officers for excellent police work of all kinds, not just crime control. Officers receive the respect and admiration of their colleagues as much for their empathy, compassion, concern for quality, and responsiveness, as for their skill at criminal investigation, interrogation, and zeal in law enforcement. What Community Policing is not Despite the claims of some ill-informed critics, community policing is not soft on crime. Quite the contrary, it can significantly improve the ability of the police to discover criminal conduct, clear offenses, and make arrests. Improved communication with citizens and more intimate knowledge of the geography and social milieu of the beat enhances, rather than reduces, the officers crime-fighting capability. Moreover, though some of these may be used as specific strategies, community policing is not: school resource officers a grant storefront police substations a pilot program in a single area of town foot or bicycle patrols a specialized unit of neighborhood police officers a citizen police academy When an agency claims to have implemented community policing last week, thats a pretty good indication that it has not. Individual programs or projects that form part of this change may be implemented, but community policing is not implemented. You dont start it at the beginning of the fiscal year. It is a process that evolves, develops, takes root and grows, until it is an integral part of the formal and informal value system of both the police and the community as a whole. It is a gradual change from a style of policing which emphasizes crime control and crook catching, to a style of policing which emphasizes citizen interaction and participation in problem solving. You cant tell whether community policing exists in a city on the basis of the press release, the organizational chart, or the annual report. Rather, it can best be discerned by observing the daily work of officers. It exists when officers spend a significant amount of their available time out of their patrol cars; when officers are common sight in businesses, schools, PTA meetings, recreation centers; when most want to work the street by choice; when individual officers are often involved in community affairs-cultural events, school events, meetings of service clubs, etc., often as an expected part of their job duties. It exists when most citizens know a few officers by name; when officers know scores of citizens in their area of assignment, and have an intimate knowledge of their area. You can see it plainly when most officers are relaxed and warmly human-not robotic; when any discussion of a significant community issue involves the police; and when few organizations would not think of tackling a significant issue of community concern without involving the police. The community-based police department is open-it has a well-used process for addressing citizen grievances, relates well with the news media, and cultivates positive relationships with elected officials. The Lincoln Police Department has been implementing community-based policing since 1975. Late that year, Chief George K. Hansen announced to the public our first tentative steps into something we called at that time neighborhood-based team policing. While similar projects in cities including Los Angeles and Cincinnati came and went, we continued. We are perhaps the only police department in the United States that has been involved so long and so thoroughly in a conscious effort to refine and enhance the community-based approach. Twice (in 1977, 1993, and 2001) we have embarked on comprehensive strategic planning initiatives involving scores of employees and dozens of recommendations for enhancing our efforts. We have done exceedingly well at incorporating certain aspects of community-based policing in the fabric of daily life at LPD. Concerning long-term geographical assignment, or the generalist officer approach, for example, we have a long track record of successful practice. In ot hers, such as problem-oriented policing, we have steadily improved. Our problem-oriented policing projects are becoming both more frequent and more sophisticated. In a few areas, however, such as involvement of citizens in our decision-making process, we have much more to do before we achieve excellence. Community policing in Lincoln will continue to evolve. We will build on some of our most powerful strengths: a highly educated and capable work force, a respect for research and evaluation, and a willingness to change. We will learn from our setbacks, and be constantly open to innovation as we adapt to a changing city, society, and world. We do not have a self-image of the thin blue line, protecting the helpless public from the ravages of predatory criminals. Rather, we live, work, recreate, raise our children, and enjoy our city as citizens first, even though we are citizens who have a special professional responsibility for protecting others and ensuring the livability of our city. We are wholeheartedly committed to policing Lincoln in concert with our fellow citizens. http://www.aacounty.org/Police/commBasedPolicing.cfm Community Policing is an organizational wide philosophy and management approach that promotes community, government and police partnerships; proactive problem solving; and community engagement to address the causes of crime, fear of crime and other community quality of life issues. Two of the core components of community policing are: Community Partnerships and Problem Solving. Community Partnerships are joint efforts between law enforcement agencies and their communities to address the significant crime and quality of life issues. Problem Solving is a process for analyzing a problem from several perspectives in order to seek the most thoughtful approach possible, which should also be the solution that is most likely to succeed. Community policing provides the community with a: Voice in how it will be policed Permanent resolution to reoccurring problems Stronger, safer and friendlier place to live Better understanding of police capabilities and limitations Closer working relationships with the police and other governmental agencies It benefits the Department by providing: A way to more efficiently and effectively use department resources A way to be more responsive to the community Better intelligence about criminals Better communications More community support for Department programs http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/files/portal/issueareas/security/security_pdf/2004_Hesta_Peake.pdf Community-Based Policing as a Model for Police Reform Fundamental Principles of Community-Based Policing 1 . Policing by consent, not coercion. 2 . The police as part of the community, not apart from it. 3 . The police and community working together to find out what communities needs are. 4 . The police, public and other agencies working together in partnership. 5 . Tailoring the business of policing to meet community needs. Community-based policing is both a philosophy (a way of thinking) and an organizational strategy (a means to carry out that philosophy) that allows the police and community to work together in new ways to solve problems of crime, disorder and safety. It rests on two core elements: changing the methods and practice of the police and taking steps to establish a relationship between the police and the public. The philosophy is built on the belief that the public deserves an input into policing, and indeed, has a right to it. It also rests on the view that in order to find solutions to community problems, the police and the public must move beyond a narrow focus on individual crimes or incidents, and instead consider innovative ways of addressing community concerns. At the heart of community-based policing is the recognition that the police are much more than mere crime fighters and can be public servants in other ways. The end goal is the creation of a professional, representative, responsive, and accountable institution that works in partnership with the public. These peace officers are a service rather than a force, and an institution that only criminals need rightly fear. Achieving these goals requires taking action at three levels: individual, institutional, and societal. (L. Lindholt, P. De Mesquita Neto, D. Titus, and E. Alemika, Human Rights and the Police in Transitional Countries, (Leiden: Brill Academic Pub, 2003), p. 22.) Even as the values of service and competency are imparted at the level of the individual officer, an appropriate management structure, capable of embedding and sustaining these values, must be created as well. Reform to the police alone, however, is insufficient; community support and assistance are also necessary to achieving the basic goals of the police. Community based policing, therefore, also encompasses strategies to reorient the public who, for frequently good reasons, have been leery and distrustful of the police. Building partnerships between the police and communities is a major challenge that confronts aspirant reformers, but thus far, international reform efforts have given little recognition to this challenge not one of the mandates for UN missions mentions engagement with local communities as a reform priority. The philosophy of community-based policing asks of both the police and the public a leap of faith and a commitment to effect change. It is a complex process that requires contemporaneous action to be taken at multiple levels meaning that detailed strategic planning necessary to translate philosophy into practice within the police organization and among the public. A detailed plan has often proved lacking in internationally inspired police reform plans however. Beyond a rhetorical commitment to police reform there has been little sense of how to operationalize a reform process to achieve the changes sought. Community-Based Policing: More Than Just Law and Order Policing is an activity that is not carried out in isolation. All the disparate aspects of policing that individual officers are called upon from issuing parking tickets to thwarting crimes impact and involve other institutions and processes. The workshop discussed how a community-based police reform program fits in with, and can contribute significantly to advancing, a variety of security, social, and developmental objectives and agendas. Community-based policing and security sector reform External actors pick and choose which parts of security sector reform (SSR) they carry out without necessarily seeing how these elements are linked and interrelated. Although at a policy level, the police are considered an integral element of the security sector, this synergy between the two is rare at the level of implementation. For many donors, SSR remains a primarily military concern, deprioritizing policing. Policing is also sometimes in a different institutional silo, which presents an institutional barrier to actual coordination. Greater synergy between the reform processes towards the various institutions that make up the security sector would be beneficial. Community-based policing, the rule of law, good governance, and human rights To be effective police reform must link other criminal justice institutions. The entry point to the justice system and the part in closest contact with the public, a fair, competent, non-discriminatory, and respectful police is integral to upholding the rule of law. Along with courts and the correctional service, the police are an essential part of the triad of institutions needed to make a justice system run effectively (R. Mani, Beyond Retribution: Seeking Justice in the Shadows of War (London: Polity, 2002), pp.56-68.)Experience suggests that positive impacts to one of this triad of institutions will be nullified without similar concentration on other institutions. Community-based policing, development, and poverty reduction Community-based police reform can contribute to a wider poverty reduction strategy. Several donor agencies and governments have recognized the links between security, development, and poverty reduction. High levels of crime stifle development in any community businesses become the victims of crime, commercial activities (including those of the informal sector) are interrupted, and outside investment leaves. The poor and marginalized also suffer disproportionately from the effects of crime and violence. They lack adequate protection from corrupt or dysfunctional security institutions. The poor are also often marginalized when it comes to political or social structures and are likely to have very little influence over the policies and programs that affect their daily lives. Community-based policing, through its partnership approach, aims to ensure that the safety and security needs of all groups in a particular community are addressed. In this way, the police can facilitate all peoples access to justice, regardless of their social or economic status. Addressing local needs while effectively combating crime improves safety and security, and with it, strengthens the conditions for development to take place. Community-based policing and stemming smallarms proliferation Controlling the availability and circulation of small arms and light weapons (SALW) is vital in the effort to increase community safety, the aim of communitybased policing. However, citizens will only be willing to hand over firearms in their possession if they perceive an improvement in public safety and security and if they have a certain degree of trust in the police and other security agencies. This is where communitybased policing can play an important role in strengthening SALW initiatives. Similarly, if there is a good working relationship between the police and the community, it will be easier for the police to obtain information about arms caches or transit routes for arms trafficking. What is Community-Based Policing? Community-based policing is a partnership between the police and the community in sharing the delivery of police services. Ridge-Meadows detachment is in a process of transition from reactive traditional policing to proactive community based policing. It involves the strategy of problem oriented policing and employs various tactics, depending on the problem being addressed. Some of these tactics are: Community consultation Neighbourhood policing Decentralization Different types of responses to calls for service Shared responsibility for community problems Modern-management concepts A move away from 9-1-1 service calls and a total reactive policing service Proactive service delivery Crime Prevention Programs Community policing is a philosophy of police service delivery. It does not result from specific initiatives, such as bicycle patrols, crime prevention programs, and community storefronts/offices, or school liaison officers. Though these may be important, they do not represent a philosophically different way of doing business. Community policing acknowledges that, in addition to responding to emergency calls and apprehending offenders, police have always been involved with service calls of a more general nature. In fact, aside from paperwork and crime investigation, the bulk of a patrol officers time is spent responding to service calls. Community policing means a philosophical shift toward dealing with these community problems. Community-based policing (CBP) is an approach to policing that brings together the police, civil society and local communities to develop local solutions to safety and security concerns. This paper, published by Saferworld, assesses outcomes of and lessons learned from two CBP pilot programmes in Kenya. CBP improves public trust in the police, cooperation between police, citizens and community and stakeholder capacity for security sector reform (SSR). CBP allows police and community to work together to solve crime, disorder and safety problems. It makes safety and security a shared responsibility, emphasises police-community partnerships and targets policing needs in each community. What is Community Policing? There are many definitions of community policing but it is proposed here that the Queensland Police Service recognise it as an interactive process between the police and the community to mutually identify and solve policing problems in the community. The concept of community policing is based on the unit of communityà ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ®persons in social interaction in a geographical area but which may also include persons in interaction based on ethnic, business, religious or other grounds.

Understanding Plant Sub-cellular (Organellar) Metabolome

Understanding Plant Sub-cellular (Organellar) Metabolome Abstract Dissection of organismal metabolomes into smaller subunits of life holds the potential to unravel the minuscule details of operative metabolic pathways and metabolic compartmentation at the sub-cellular level. Although metabolomes have been characterized at tissue, cellular, and cell-population types, little efforts have been put forth in sub-cellular metabolomes. In the post-genomic era, significant advances have been made in predicting plant protein and transcriptomic localization to subcellular organelles through computational approaches. For obvious challenges such as, difficulty in pure preparations of organelles, shared metabolites among them, and associated complicated regulations in them delimits the growth in this area. We summarize the recent efforts and progresses made in directions of understanding the plant sub-cellular (organellar) metabolomes. Keywords: organelle, plastid, mitochondria, vacuole, proteomics, nonaqueous fractionation, The metabolic compartmentation adds a complex dimension to subcellular metabolomes Systems biology approaches, including bioinformatics, genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics have begun to contribute to our growing knowledge of cellular signaling and metabolism. However, the extensive and unique metabolic compartmentation is characteristic of eukaryotic cells, such as plant cells, thus rendering the analysis of compartmented metabolic networks complicated by virtue of separation and parallelization of pathways and intracellular transport (Wahrheit et al., 2011). Consequently, the study of plant cellular metabolomic networks becomes even more challenging (Toubian et al., 2013). Although the single cell and single-cell type metabolomics studies (Misra et al., 2014) bring in homogeneity in preparations to reflect on cellular (micro-metabolome) as the basic unit of life, the subcellular (nano-metabolome) pose a great deal of challenges for their investigation. Major plant subcellular structures include but are not limited to apoplast, cell plate, cell wall, endoplasmic reticulum and related structures, endosome, Golgi apparatus, microfilament, microtubule, mitochondrion, oil bodies, nucleus, peroxisome, plasma membrane, plastid and related structures, and vacuole. Metabolic pathways are highly segregated in different subcellular organelles (Browsher and Tobin, 2011). Undoubtedly, the compartmentalization of plant metabolites, add another complex dimension to principal regulatory aspects in plants, apart from the temporal dimensions. In addition, the diffusion of metabolites, the role of active transport by membrane-based transporters, and limitations in labeling and visualization of metabolites in cells render the localization even more difficult. Moreover, the genetic variation within these organelles have a widespread effect on the stochastic variation in primary metabolism with discrete impacts that differed from the organelle effect on the average metabolome (Joseph et al., 2015). As such, pathways of communication between v arious organelles of a plant cell are quite complex and interdependent, for example the rampant signaling between organelles such as chloroplasts and nuclei (Jung and Chory, 2009). Thus efforts to understand their individual metabolites would aid in understanding of these complex regulatory exchanges, in addition to what is established at the levels of transcripts and proteins. Omics-based approaches in identifying subcellular functionalities are powerful resources There have been considerable efforts to catalog the information content in organelles starting from imaging based approaches to omics-based systems biology perspectives. For instance, the aim of the plant organelles database (http://podb.nibb.ac.jp/Organellome) is to promote the understanding of organelle dynamics such as organelle function, biogenesis, differentiation, movement and interactions with other organelles (Mano et al. 2013). Although, genomics-based efforts are much more prevalent. Such as a unique database of RNA-editing sites found in plant organelle genes with the results mapped onto amino acid sequences and 3D structures (Yura et al. 2009) are available. In addition, to catalog fluorescent protein expression, public repositories such as the Maize Cell Genomics (MCG) database, (http://maize.jcvi.org/cellgenomics) have bene developed that represents major subcellular structures and also developmentally important progenitor cell populations (Krishnakumar et al., 2014). A nother noteworthy approach was the use of subcellular organelle expression microarray to study the organic acid changes in post-harvest Citrus fruit (Sun et al., 2013) and organelle membrane proteome during germination and tube growth of lily pollen (Pertl et al., 2009). In addition, proteomics efforts have revealed secretome, extracellular matrix, cell wall (14), vacuoles, plastids, and peroxisomes-specific changes in plants are catalogued (Liley and Dupree, 2007; Dai and Chen, 2012). Similarly, proteomics-based approaches for characterization of seed proteomes have been reviewed recently (Repetto and Gallardo, 2012). Rapid subcellularfractionationin combination with targeted proteomics allowed for measuring subcellularproteinconcentrations in attomole per 1000cells of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (Weinkeeop et al., 2010). The importance of the spatial resolution of plant cellular metabolomes have been realized (Sumner et al., 2011). However, such efforts and databases are missing for plant subcellular metabolomes. Recently, the need for understanding the challenges in cellular compartmentalization for successful plant metabolic engineering was identified (Heining et al., 2013). The enrichment of other omics-based subcellular localization tools would allow understanding of the metabolic pathways operative in them for tinkering them for commercial success. Some widely used computational approaches for proteome level assignment of localization include, Some widely used prediction programs are: TargetP, http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/TargetP/, Predotar,http://www.inra.fr/predotar/, iPSORT, http://hc.ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp/iPSORT/, and SubLoc, http://www.bioinfo. tsinghua.edu.cn/SubLoc/, etc. For example, LocDB is a manually curated database with experimental annotations for the subcellular localizations of proteins inA. thaliana (Rastogi and Rost, 2011). Recently, the Peroxisome database (http://www.peroxisomeDB.org) was released which serves as a huge resource for cross-lineage comparison of functiona l genomic and metabolomic information on organisms such as fungi, yeasts, plants, human and lower eukaryotes, with an ensemble of 139 peroxisomal protein families and ~2706 putative peroxisomal protein homologs (Schlà ¼ter et al., 2010). On the other hand, databases such as SUBA (Heazlewood et al.,2007) are excellent inventories of subcellular compartmentation supported by experimental evidence mainly drawn from organellar proteome studies, which enable the integration of experimentation and prediction (Tanz et al., 2012). In the AraGEM genome-scale model ofArabidopsismetabolism the vast majority of reactions are assigned to the cytosol (1265 reactions in the cytosol, with 60, 159, and 98 reactions assigned to mitochondria, plastid, and peroxisome, respectively) (de Oliveira DalMolin et al.,2010). However, there are no available collage of information on subcellular metabolomes of plants to our knowledge, and hence this effort. Plant subcellular metabolome studies revisited: non-aqueous fractionation (NAF) methods There has bene several successful attempts at obtaining the qualitative and quantitative snap shots of sub-cellular metabolomes in plants. These efforts relied on fractionation of the or isolation of pure organelles followed by characterization of the metabolomes by gas chromatography mass-spectrometry (GC-MS), liquid chromatography- mass spectrometry (LC-MS) among other approaches. Cell fractionation and immunohistochemical studies in the last 40 years have revealed the extensive compartmentation of plant metabolism from protein-based information (Lunn, 2007). Majority of the classical studies in compartmentation of plant metabolism focused on plastids, mitochondria, and vacuole and reflected on their structural and functional heterogeneity operative primary metabolic (photosynthesis, respiratory etc.) pathways (Lunn, 2007, Bowsher and Tobin, 2011). Plastids are involved in carbon and nitrogen metabolism, in particular nitrate and ammonium assimilation, the Calvin cycle, oxidative p entose-phosphate pathway, glycolysis, and terpenoid biosynthesis, and these have been reviewed from a metabolic perspective (Tobin and Bowsher, 2005). Thus plastidial proteomics have interested researchers for a long time (van Wijk and Baginsky, 2011). Analysis of the chloroplast proteome confirmed indicated biosynthesis of fatty acids, lipids, amino acids, nucleotides, hormones, alkaloids, and isoprenoids, Calvin cycle enzymes and proteins belonging to the light-harvesting apparatus and photosynthetic electron transport chain (van Wijk, 2004). Protoplast fractionation in combination with enzymatic determination of metabolites has been widely used to quantify a subset of metabolites like adenylates, phosphorylated sugars and Calvin cycle intermediates in different compartments(Kueger et al., 2012). The metabolomes of highly purified barley vacuoles isolated from mesophyll cell protoplasts by silicon oil centrifugation revealed the presence of 59 primary metabolites and ~200 secondar y metabolites by GC-MS and FT-MS (Fourier transform-mass spectrometry) such as amino acids, organic acids, sugars, sugar alcohols, shikimate pathway intermediates, vitamins, phenylpropanoids, and flavonoids, of which 12 were found exclusively in the vacuole (Tohge et al., 2011). Similarly, a single vacuole of single cell of the alga Chara australis revealed the localization and dynamics of 125 known metabolites(Oikawa et al., 2011). In plants, vacuoles are known for detoxification of xenobiotics (Coleman et al., 1997). In addition, the analysis of subcellular metabolite levels of potato tubers (Solanum tuberosum) indicated that either the cytosol or apoplast leads to a decrease in total sucrose content and to an increase in glucose and hexoses accumulate in the vacuole independently of their site of production (Farre et al., 2008). Furthermore, in the medicinal plant Catharanthus roseus, LC-MS analysis of the phenols from isolated leaf vacuoles detected the presence of three caffeoy lquinic acids and four flavonoids(Ferreres et al., 2010). Another example of the use of vibrational (Raman) spectroscopy in metabolomics was exemplified in the localization of ÃŽ ²-carotene by its 1150 and 1515 cm−1 Raman bands with subcellular resolution (~550 nm per pixel) in the cells of alga Euglena gracilis. Complementary single-cell MS data were also recorded which indicated the colocalization of ÃŽ ²-carotene and the plastids containing internal antennae of photosystem II (Urban et al., 2011). Non-aqueous fractionation (NAF) is the most widely used method for studying metabolite pool sizes at a subcellular level in plants(Kueger et al., 2012), where NAF method is based on the enrichment of compartments within a continuous non-aqueous density gradient instead of purifying individual intact organelles. This method is associated with true metabolomics studies allowing the subcellular localization of a large number of metabolites to be analyzed in parallel (Farre et al., 2001, Krueger et al., 2011). Assessment of metabolome compartmentation of soybean leaves using non-aqueous fractionation by GC-MS of about 100 compounds indicated a greater number of compounds identified in vacuole when compared to cytosol or stroma (Benkeblia et al., 2007). Furthermore, the NAF method allowed the identification and quantification of the subcellular distributions of metabolites in developing potato (Solanum tuberosumL. cv Desiree) tubers which revealed that ~60% of most sugars, sugar alcohols, organic acids, and amino acids were found in the vacuole, the substrates for starch biosynthesis, hexose phosphates, and ATP were found in the plastid, while pyrophosphate was located almost exclusively in the cytosol (Farrà © et al., 2011). Similarly, in A. thaliana leaves, using NAF methods about 1,000 proteins and 70 metabolites, including 22 phosphorylated intermediates were separated into plastidial, cytosolic, and vacuolar metabolites and proteins which indicated that cytosolic, mitochondrial, and peroxisomal proteins clustered together. Metabolites from the Calvin–Benson cycle, photorespiration, starch and sucrose synthesis, glycolysis, and the tricarboxylic acid cycle grouped with their associated proteins of the respective compartment, indicating NAF as a powerful tool for the study of the organellar, and in some cases sub-organellar, distribution of proteins and their association with metabolites. Unfortunately, organelles extracted from whole tissue homogenates are generally originated from a range of cell types (Bowsher and Tobin, 2001), but from specific organs such as leaves. However, the single largest study depicting the compartmentalized A. thaliana metabolome (Krueger et al., 2011), revealed the subcellular distribution of 1,117 polar and 2,804 lipophilic mass spectrometric features associated to known and unknown compounds. In conjunction with GC-MS and LC-MS-based metabolite profiling, 81.5% of the metabolic data could be associated to one of three subcellular compartments: the cytosol (including mitochondria), vacuole, or plastids. Nonetheless, the authors conceded that localizations of several known metabolites and structurally undetermined compounds (unknowns) were difficult to unambiguously explain on the basis of three compartments due to either unresolved compartments, or the interconnections of subcellular metabolic networks. Advances in mass spectrometry based lipidomics have enabled the simultaneous identification and quantification of lipid species from complex structures at the tissue, cellular and organelle resolution levels (Horn and Chapman, 2012). The authors showed that at the nano scale, ‘direct organelle MS’ (DOMS) holds immense potential to profile lipids at the organelle level by extracting lipids from organelles in isolation, or from intact cells, within a capillary tip, followed by their identification and quantification using direct-infusion nanospray MS. Furthermore, it was underscored that fluorescent protein technology can be used to image subcellular dynamics of plant cell organelles at a spatial and temporal resolution, and to manipulate the distribution of fluorescent markers to identify the genes responsible for the inner activities of plant cells by means of light microscopy alongside genomics (Sparkes and Brandizzi, 2012). Conclusion and future prospects Although used in most instances, NAF is static, invasive, has no cellular resolution, and is sensitive to artifacts. (Looger et al., 2005), validation of NAF technique is understood to hold the key for successful implementation (Klie et al., 2011). Spectroscopic methods such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging and positron emission tomography (PET) provide dynamic data, but poor spatial resolution. Thus, genetically encoded fluorescence resonance energy transfer(FRET) sensors (i.e., green florescence protein (GFP)-based, enzyme based etc.) have been proposed for visualizing metabolites with subcellular resolution (Looger et al., 2005). Flux-balance modeling of plant metabolic networks provides an important complement to13C-based metabolic flux analysis. Recently, several flux-balance models of plant metabolism have been published including genome-scale models ofA. thaliana metabolism (Sweetlove and Ratcliffe, 2011). Approaches for flux balance analysis have been reviewed else where (Lee et al., 2011; Lakshmanan et al., 2012). To achieve greater insights into metabolic fluxes across subcellular metabolomes several flux analyses tools are available, such as FiatFlux (Zamboni et al., 2005), OpenFLUX (Quek et al., 2009) that are based on 13C-based analysis, OptFlux (Rocha et al., 2010), FluxAnalyzer (Klamt et al., 2013), YANA (Schwarz et al., 2005). Model SEED, FAME, and MetaFlux have included several routines to facilitate the reconstruction of genome-scale metabolic models (Lakshmanan et al., 2012). NAF methods for obtaining subcellular fractions allows direct quenching of metabolism by snap-freezing in liquid nitrogen, thus, the combination of NAF with metabolic flux analysis using13C labeled CO2is a very attractive approach for the future (Keuger et al., 2012). On the other hand, MALDI associated secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) imaging, on research-grade MALDI-MS instruments, MSI is possible with a spatial resolution of

The Methodological Role of the Concept :: Science Physics Research Papers

The Methodological Role of the Concept "Physical Vacuum" Science is entering the post-non-classical period characterized by evolutionary-synergistic types of rationality, the central moment of which is research of complex nonlinear systems. During the last few decades, physics has made a revolutionary turn toward new representations of the nature of elementary particles and has revealed unexpected features of the physical vacuum, with the evolving Universe having become the basic subject of study in physics. It is important to distinguish two basic aspects of the development of modern physics. First is that physics has closely approached the construction of unified theory. Second is that two branches of knowledge —physics of elementary particles and cosmology — have completely merged. This is most vividly displayed through the modern inflationary models of the evolution of the Universe, within the framework of which it is possible to solve most cosmological problems. The inflationary scenarios give a new look to the place of the physical vacuum in the structure of physics theory. This requires the methodological analysis of the problem of the physical vacuum and a definition of its status in the structure of nature science. I will therefore: 1) investigate the sociocultural origin of this fundamental concept by looking for the sources of the entry of the concept "vacuum" in the sciences; 2) study its functioning in the logic of scientific knowledge at the various stages of development in physics; and 3) develop more adequate definitions of this concept. The science is entering post non-classical period. This period is characterized with establishing evolutionary-synergetic type of rational. The central moment of which is research of complex nonlinear systems. The finest aspect of the appropriate consideration has the Universe as a self-organizing object. Cosmological aspect of formation of the new scientific research program, new paradigm in science, ontological formation of them in an adequate post-non-classical scientific picture of the world has the paramount meaning. It can be said that during the last two-three decades the physics has made a revolutionary turn on the way to the new representations of the nature of the elementary particles, and has revealed unexpected features of the physical vacuum. As a result that has determined evolving Universe as the basic subject of studying in physics. It is important to distinguish two basic aspects of development of modern physics. The first of them is, that the physics has closely app roached to the program of construction of the one theory of the field.

Global Warming Essay: The Kyoto Protocol :: Global Warming

Introduction From man’s basic understanding of existence, he acknowledges that his presence is but a fraction in time in relation to the longevity of the Earth’s existence. This attests to the time period in which the Earth functions. Man’s calculations of year to year changes in the Earth’s atmosphere are meager at best in determining the cycle for such an entity. Man’s oldest data dating back from ice core samples from Antarctica can not trace back further than a minute percent of the history of the billions of years that the Earth has existed. (Relatively) recently, Earth has endured "naturally occurring" Ice Ages, meteorological disasters, and the evolution of man and his technology. So the question is raised, is mankind bold in thinking that anything it does collectively will scar the Earth beyond repair? Man might change the Earth’s surface, man might obliterate his own existence, but man will not change the propensity for nature to allow the continuation of life. Debate on Global Warming So, what is man doing for mankind? There is a general concensus that one of the greatest dangers man is imposing upon himself is that of a global change in the atmosphere, causing the average temperature on Earth to increase. Before any discussion can begin on how to go about fixing the problem of global warming, it is improtant to point out that the problem is more basic than otherwise understood. The problem is not global waring, it is how to deal with the possible existance of global warming. First, let us consider the assumed temperature change. What real facts are we using to conclude that a global temperature increase is happening? Second, consider the possible reasons for a temperature change. Is man the only possibility? Third, assuming the chance for man to be the cause in a real global temperature average increase, is this a situation that we should try and label a problem? Is change always bad? The amount of data that is accessible and relavant to this this debate can be interpreted in a variety of different ways†¦ Go on and surf the World Wide Web. You may find convincing arguments on both sides, but that is just it, they are arguments. Models have been constructed, theories have made predictions, and more. What do we know? We know that the evidence is inconclusive and more research should be done. Explorations on the corrolation between fluctuations in solar activity and Earth’s temperature changes should be furthur endeavored, expirimentation with simulated Earthly atmospheres should be enhanced, and U.

Commercial Bank Service Delivery

Commerce Bank INDUSTRY: Banking SERVICE: Checking Accounts & Loans COMPANY/BRAND: Commerce Bank SOURCE: HBS Premier Case Collection WRITTEN BY: Frances X. Frei, Corey Hajim PUBLICATION DATE: Dec 02, 2002 PROD. #: 603080-PDF-ENG Reader's comments would be much appreciated and replied to!!! Analyze Commerce Bank's service delivery system prior to ‘Retailtainment’. Base your analysis on the following heads: Service OfferingFunding Mechanism Employee Management System Customer Management System ANALYSIS: Commerce Bank’s Service Delivery System Commerce Bank’s entire banking and operational philosophy is designed around creating a retail experience for the customer. This was unusual for the entire banking industry and thus a great source of differentiation from both the operational standpoint and from the service delivery design perspective.This meant that the entire value proposition from the customers’ standpoint depended on the design of the service en vironment/theater including the 3 service marketing mix variables This can be seen from employee comments and facts in the case about these variables Product: â€Å"We believe the value of a bank is not its loan base but rather the deposit base† – Vernon Hill (Chairman & CEO) Price: â€Å"We are generally the lowest ratepayers in every market† – Vernon Hill (Chairman & CEO) Place: ‘†¦ eciding where to put a branch was just as important as what the building looked like.. ’ Promotion: ‘Commerce spent $500,000/branch in NYC on promotion†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ and ‘Red and blue painted Commerce vans with an emblazoned logo’ People: â€Å"This is not a job for someone who ‘s interested in being cool or indifferent† – John Manning (Employee Trainer) Process: â€Å"the way we look at credit and credit quality is a lot tougher†¦Ã¢â‚¬  – Falese Physical Evidence: â€Å"They i. . customers know what th e deal is whenever they visit one of our banks† – John Cunningham (CMO) The Chairman and CEO, Vernon Hill has been able to do this by understanding 2 very important aspects or critical success factors of the banking business Understanding the Nature of the Servicescape: Despite trends (cross selling & non-interest revenue) in the banking industry moving towards the more remote delivery mode (Pg. : Most banks actively encouraged customers to move their transactions from full-service channels to self-service channels†¦monetary penalties for using the more expensive channels†¦charging $3 to visit the teller), he understood that because banking as a service depended so heavily on the service attributes of searchability, experience and credence and the nature of the servicescape was in essence that of an Elaborate- Interpersonal type Reducing the Listening Gap (from Gap Model of Service Quality): In comparison to other banks in the industry which competed on keepin g a low-interest ratio, he rightly understood the customers’ real need by competing instead on service, convenience and other intangible service differentiators (Pg. 6: †¦the competition is beating on the 3% i. e. ustomers wanting a higher interest rate; we decided to compete on the 62% i. e. customers wanting convenience) Keeping this in mind we can now look at the 4 dimensions its Service Delivery system prior to ‘Retailainment’ Service Offering In light of this, the bank’s entire service offering can be visualized as in the figure below: Here we can see that the service offering in itself is split into CORE OFFERING: This is not very different from what other banks in the industry offer. However, from an execution standpoint their focus was different, because their strategic intent for both operations and growth was that Bank Value is ‘Deposit Base’ NOT ‘Loan Base’. Their core offering i. e. anking services included Deposi ts or Checking accounts (first 3 years no monthly service fees and free 1st order of checks) Sr. No. Type Minimum Balance Details 1 Standard Checking $100 No monthly service fees 2 Interest Checking $1000 No monthly service fees, Unlimited check writing, Interest 3 50 Plus Club $100 No account maintenance charge for checking account with interest, free checks, money orders, notary service and travelers’ checks 4 Consumer Checking None No per check charge for first 8 checks/month for $3 monthly fee Table 1: Commerce Bank’s Deposit Product Line Loans: Commerce’s value is not in its loan base but in its deposit base.So for Commerce, loans are not given out as easily as other banks in the industry which believe that growth is in loans since deposit growth can occur only with the lowest interest rate. However, credit quality checks for loan approval is very stringent ATMs: Withdrawals were available at any ATM and purchases anywhere Visa was accepted. Transactions w ere immediately reflected in accounts and statements Cash Reserve Line: All accounts could be combines with a Cash Reserve Line to ensure protection from overdrafts SUPPLEMENTARY SERVICE: Commerce has 8 supplementary services (4 facilitators and 4 differentiators) which allow for superior customer service: FACILITATORS DIFFERENTIATORS InformationCommerce decided to use Live agents over the phone instead of Voice Response Unit (VRU)to talk to customers Consultation Branch manager (also the Loan officer) consults/advises loan applicants and helps to manage both loans & deposits Order Taking (Banking context: Cash withdrawal & loan application process)  · Loans were assigned to service branch instead of Head office for easy access for customer  · Weekend banking facilities were provided to allow customers to bank on Saturdays & Sundays Hospitality  · Helpline phones at ATMs  · Employee escorts with umbrellas during rains  · Lollipops and dog biscuits at drive through banking windows  · Coffee and newspapers in waiting lobbies Billing Banking context: Loan approval and monthly statement generation process)  · Loan applicant had to personally sign-off by on loan papers at service branch  · Online Monthly statements Safe Keeping (Banking context: Peace of mind about account balances and check deposits)  · Immediate updating of ATM withdrawals in online statements  · A ‘Check View’ feature on Commerce’s website Payment (Banking context: Loan repayment process)  · Payment is easier for customer and assured for bank, since loan customer also has a deposit at service branch Exception handling (Banking context: Coin currency & Irregular hours )  · ‘Penny arcades’ to handle coins  · Midnight timing at busy locations 10 minute rule to increase banking hours by 20 minutes in a day’ operation Table 2: Commerce Bank’s Supplementary Services mix As a result of this unique service offering design, Commerce has produced above average results in its undifferentiated core offering: Comparison Parameter Commerce’s Value Industry or Competitor Value Deposit Growth (1996-2001) 30% US Banking Industry-20% (98-01) Deposit Growth (2001) 40% US Banking industry – 5% Online Usage 34% Wells Fargo – much lower Net Income growth (1998-2001) 200% (Double) US Banking industry – 20% Table 3: Commerce Bank’s Performance Comparison Funding Mechanism Commerce’s funding mechanism can be looked at from 2 perspectivesCommerce’s own startup and growth strategy (how it funded it’s own growth) Commerce’s banking and lending operations (how it functions as a bank) Startup and Growth Strategy Founded in 1973 with $ 1. 5 million as startup capital (assumed to be seed capital not VC funding) Chairman & CEO, Vernon Hill did not believe in M&As as a growth strategy but as a cost-cutting measure Started operations as a community bank in southern New Jers ey Used the retail franchise expansion model (without acquisitions) to grow Expanded into branches in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New York Concentrated on seeing customer as a revenue-generator (not cost center).However, cross-selling was not encouraged since main revenue stream was considered as deposits Expansion into New York was done organically (Branches were wholly owned and run by Commerce and promoted heavily (Spends – $500,000 per branch) By 2001, Commerce had $ 1 billion in core deposits Banking and Lending Operations Commerce’s 2 basic product categories were: Deposits (Debits) and Loans (Credits). Its operations as compared to the Industry can be analyzed as below: Product Category v Commerce’s Philosophy: Focus is consumer business (Deposits) Best value from both (conventional & electronic) channels Low-expense ratios are bad Outgoing friendly service Industry Trend: Cross-Selling products Preference to electronic channels Non-interest income revenue Pushing customers out of store(bank) DepositsRates need not be the highest in the industry (only 3% want this) Longer operating hours allow for more time for customer service (62% want this) Non-interest income revenue (i. e. ATM charges) must be used as competitive advantage to grow and not simply be an addition to the bottom line They are transaction-oriented and low growth Dozen or more types of checking accounts $5 monthly fee for Internet Banking facilities Loans Assigned to customer service branches that received credit for deposits Loan-deposit ratio low Stringent credit quality checks Customers mostly commercial real estate projects, mortgages and consumer loans Loan officer is also branch managerLoan delivery is centralized leading to customer and loan officer disconnect Loans are 90% of deposit base (2001) Lower credit quality loans (i. e. sub-prime mortgages) get approved Loans not linked to deposits RESULT > Deposit Growth (2001) – 40% Online Usage – 34% N et Income growth (1998-2001) – 200% Loan & Deposit growth (1998-2001) – 20% Deposit Growth (2001) – 5% Non-interest income growth – 27% Interest Income growth – 11% Customer attrition – 1/3rd of customer base Table 4: Commerce Bank’s Funding Mechanism Employee Management System Commerce’s Employee Management System can be broken up into Hiring Training Work Autonomy Workplace involvement Rewards Appraisal or Performance Measurement HIRINGPolicy emphasizes internal (among employees) and external (customers & employees) engagement Extensive interviews (2000 interviews for 40 positions in Manhattan branch) Experience about local and entrepreneurs given high importance Interviews used to know about competitors and their best performers TRAINING WOW program (process improvement) for all employees to be trained and integrated into the Commerce culture (‘Traditions’ class) Commerce University (full time education and trai ning facility) Easy to remember framework for learning Commerce service deliver model: SMART (Say YES to customers, Make each customer feel special, Always keep customer promises, Recover, Think like a customer) Continued business education for senior executives WORK AUTONOMY ‘Kill the stupid rule’ program to suggest improvements WORKPLACE INVOLVEMENTAll employees encouraged to hand out their visiting cards to recruit potential employees Redeemable WOW! Stickers WOW! Awards and Musical performances Red Fridays (Pictures taken of those employees who are wearing red) Mascots – Mr. C , Buzz and Dr. Wow REWARDS Glamorous prizes for top performers (like a leased Porsche Boxster for 1 year) $5000 reward for the staff of nearest Commerce branch where a competitor closed down $50 reward for suggesting improvement in the ‘Kill the rule’ program (mentioned above) APPRAISAL OR PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT All shops (branches) performance data on an internal database open to all branch managers Salary increases based on shopping (No. f deposits) results Mystery shoppers visited 14000 shops (branches) annually for evaluating employees, customer-service reps for compliance with greeting and other procedures Competition between branches in different regions in the form of Leagues (assuming this is like football or baseball leagues) to get the best service report Table 5: Commerce Bank’s Employee Management System Customer Management Systems Commerce’s Customer Management Systems or customer-centric programs can be divided into: Customer Acquisition Programs Customer Retention Programs Both these have some customer ‘delight’ features which are called as such because they are against industry norms and unexpected by customers Acquisition Industry NormEmployees were encouraged to cross-sell products (deposit account and loan products) Employees’ key performance measures were volume of calls handled and number of tran sactions processed rather than customer satisfaction or repeat customers Customers were seen as cost centers and in order to keep a low-expense ratio were pushed to use the electronic channels (full-service to self-service) Also, customers using the conventional personal (teller) banking channel were penalized through extra fees This savings in the marginal cost was then used to give a higher interest rate which banks felt was the only way to attract new customers. These are the result not understanding why customers selected their banks in the first place. In addition to proximity, customers chose banks based on service. Vernon Hill, CEO & Chairman, Commerce Bank understood this and built it into Commerce’s Customer Management System Commerce’s customer acquisition methodology Branches located close to competitors branches Branches are designed to be inviting, open windows (Note: this is a visual ‘Cue’ designed into the physical evidence variable.It shows honesty and transparency) and ample parking Red & blue painted commerce vans helped create free advertising opportunities Building designs across all branches were consistent (Note: This gives a consistent message to the customer – Integrated marketing communication) Very high promotional spends for every new branch in the form of direct mailings, subway ads, phone kiosks and free food (like 10,000 hot dogs in Commerce napkins) First time customer is given 4 simple checking account options (See Table 1) and First time customer is given a free gift for opening an account Employees treat customers with outgoing friendly service and do not try to cross-sell products or push customers out of the store after they finish their transactions Loan applicants were encouraged to open deposit accounts first Retention Industry Norm All banks provided the same ease-of-use electronic banking features along with their extensive branch networks. Also, existing Customers were expected to be c omfortable in a different environment and deal with a different culture when banks merged. In spite of this, even the best retail banks lost 15% customers/yr as the following table shows: Sr. No. Reason for leaving of customer base 1. Dissatisfaction with steep fees and fee surprises, poor service and errors 34 2. Outside of reach of current branch locations 34 3. Availability of more convenience such as longer hours in other banks 15 Table 6: Customer attrition in the Banking Industry Commerce’s customer retention methodology Analyzing the facts of the case, it can be clearly seen that Commerce’s customer retention program targeted exactly those pain points (See Table 6) which caused customers to switch banks. Convenience Extended banking hours (10 minute rule allowed for 20 minutes of extra banking everyday) Busy locations were open till midnight (12:10 am)Weekend banking (Saturdays & Sundays) which started in Jersey shore were extended to all branches Exactly same e nvironment across all branches (Note: This feature was lost after ‘‘Retailainment’ program was launched) Phones in ATMs reach helplines Live agents instead of VRUs Boundary-spanning Roles and Interface Employee conduct monitored by mystery shoppers for friendliness (handshakes), consistency in greeting and other procedural details when dealing with customers Employee appraisals and salary increases linked to branch performance (which is linked to service quality) and not volume of transactions handled Live agents dress codes stricter than other call center settings Personal attention Guidance to manage deposit accounts by branch managersLoan accounts handled by local customer service branches and not central headquarters Guidance to manage loan accounts by loan officers (who also happened to be branch managers) Customer delight features No fees for ATM and check cards Non-interest income (ATM charges/fees for using other bank’s ATMs) returned to customers E mployee escorts with umbrellas to cars during rains ‘Penny Arcade’ program to handle coins with no charge either customers or non-customers (Note: This might have even helped customer acquisition) Gifts (pens and lollipops) at drive-through banking windows All these helped drive the growth engine of Commerce Bank. It grew to $1 billion in deposits by 2001. While the net income for the industry stood at 20%, Commerce doubled its net income in the period 1998 -2001.

Air France-KLM as Low-Cost Airline Across Europe Essay

Abstract Airline is an important industrial in European economy, with the liberalization and deregulation of European market, it is filled by a number of small-sized and large-sized airlines, recently, the model of low cost carriers is widely spread from America to Europe, the success attracts rivals to adjust business models to enter this market. Air France-KLM also attempts to adopt this strategy. This essay will use PESTEL and stakeholder theory, as well as corporate social responsibility (CSR) concept to analyze general environment and specific environment including customers and suppliers. Main ideas are Air France-KLM (FK) should concern CSR behavior especially including social and environmental perspective to conduct low-cost strategy rather than only consider economic perspective which is short-term financial performance, because it could not bring a sustainable development for company. Furthermore, FK should have operational resilience and strategic resilience under the uncertainty of dynamic environment, and integrate CSR as a organization culture which will become a competitive advantage. The general environment analysis could provide reference for other companies, and analysis of stakeholder theory and CSR concept will give a guidance for sustainable development of companies. Air France-KLM is owned by French airline (Air France) and Dutch airline (KLM). It is the largest airline company in the world, while the profit is continually decreasing in Europe within recent 5 years (Market Line 2014). It is positively seeking a path to maintain competitive position in European airline market. Two largest competitors are Ryanair and EasyJet in Europe who operate low-cost strategy which learn from Southwest in US, and they rapidly capture market share. Air France-KLM is planning to use same strategy to compete with them. Environment is a significant indicator that influences the operation of business. It is dynamic and complex, different elements are interrelated and interacted that bring different influence for present and future activities  of companies. Analysis of environment usually is divided into macro-environment and micro-environment, they separately cover the general environment and specific related environmental factors such as customers, suppliers and regulators (Kew and Stredwick 2005). As Europe is located in a low valley suffering debtor crisis, new business model is encouraged to stimulate the economy and transfer risks for government. This essay will evaluate and discuss the low cost strategy Air France-KLM will adopt, firstly, it will analyze the general environment using PESTEL tool, and using Five Forces model and stakeholder theory further seek the issue and factors that can help company to succeed in a long term. Especially, it will explain the importance of corporate social responsibility in business operation. Finally, it is to find the opportunities and threats that company should notice for future success to combines different factors. Air France-KLM is holding by Air France and KLM which is a Dutch airline, the alliance was formed in 2004. The headquarter is located in Paris, and it obeys the French law. Subsequently, it became the largest airplane company in terms of revenues in Europe, even over the world. However, the operating profit to Air France-KLM (FK) continually decreased from 2012 (MarketLine 2014). Air France-KLM is exploring another strategy to survive in the competitive airline industrial. As BBC reported Alexandre who is CEO of FK claimed company will adopt the Low cost carriers (LCCs) strategy to recover and sustain competitive position in airline industry (Clark 2014). Environmental analysis is an inevitable step to help company identify issues, flexibly and innovatively solve problems, also assist the strategist to improve the decision making process (Kew and Stredwick 2005). The internal and external environment analysis will be required in order to explore fitness of strategy within the whole business environment and internal capabilities; in addition, the analysis on competitive structure of industrial environment and stakeholder will deeply explore the important factors for the sustainable development rather than short-term success, especially CSR concept includes social and environmental perspective instead  of simply economic perspective which presents financial profits (Button 2014). FK will better understand the opportunities and threats under the business environment analysis. The characteristics of Low cost carriers are presented on maximum utilization for facilities and economically provide service that customers themselves need. Usually, it has a high seating density, single class configuration, point-to-point services; it frequently uses second-tier airports on cost saving (CAPA 2014). It also keeps a low maintenance and training costs, as well as eases scheduling and takes advantage of bulk purchases to obtain discounts from manufactures (Budd et al 2014). It generates profits from ancillary revenue such as meal, snack and luggage (Budd et al 2014). This model started from America Southwest Airline in 1978. Nowadays, LCCs as a strategy is widely adopted in Latin America and Europe. The combining analysis between the environment and characteristics above will evaluate the low cost strategy of Air France-KLM. PESTEL as a macro-environment analysis tool helps to understand the complex trend of environment. PESTEL includes political, economic, sociological, technological, legal and environmental. The analysis concerns the longitudinal and cross-sectional changes in time line. Firstly, liberalization events in US market significantly impacted other countries (Fu and Oum, 2014). France has high liberalized operating environment that enable companies to flexibly run any legal business model, it provides environment that FK can practice low cost strategy instead of the whole service provided with high cost (Budd et al 2014). Liberated market will be an advantage for innovation of business and increase the market power of company. It is big opportunity that companies can expand their network, as FK is an alliance to share strengthen and risks between French and Dutch airplane company (Fu and Oum, 2014). However, high-degree liberalization inevitably bring fierce competition. Additionally, the business model of public-private partnership is dominating the European airlines (Cruz and Marques 2011), especially the privatization process of European airlines is salient, government decreased the stake for business,  as French government hold a 16% stake on FK (Stothard and Bryant 2014). As a result, company will obtain less financial support from government, government is able to bear less risk of deficit. Secondly, to considering economic factors, German and France as primary strength motivate the economic recovery of Europe, French government is gradually putting effort to diagnose economic ills (Barber 2014). European countries still have maintained the high unemployment rate since financial crisis occurred in 2008, although it slightly fell in 2014 compared to last year (Statista 2014). Inflation rate had a slight fall in November than that of October, it will be a danger for debtors due to less revenue from sales, incomes or taxes, and debt problems is serious; energy price is falling as well (BBC Nov 2014). The important social indicators is consumer behavior is gradually changing. The increasing number of customers choose the high-speed train for a short journey instead of the airplane as a result of the punctuality and similar price on same time consuming (Dobruszkes 2011). In addition, the strength of unions in this two countries is very high, labour union has strong power such as pilots or crews. The impact of technology is significant, as the big data time is coming (Mark 2014), companies own the large number of data information about consumer, which will rapidly push the innovation of business, if company can dig and utilize the meaning of data. For the most important environmental and legal analysis, climate change is as one of themes in previous G20 conference and future UN conference will hold in 2015, and it will concentrate on a new set of Sustainable Development goals and emphasize the multilateral co-operation on a range of vital issues (FT 2014), which implies France should contribute to same goal, and perhaps the more strict regulation will be adopted, for example, CO2 emission. Additionally, the terrorism is serious problem airplane companies is facing.  In macro-environment, five forces model can identify and analyze the  competitive structure of industrial environment. Forces in relation to stakeholders can be discussed upon priority. The opportunities and threats will be identified further. Firstly, the intensity of rivalry is high, the large number of competitors in Europe is divided into two strategic streams, one is the large-size airplane such as Lufthansa and British Airway which are seeking path to compete in Europe; other representative group is LCCs including Ryanair and EasyJet. Various business models are emerging under the motivation of liberalized market conditions and globalization, airline companies could seek partner including other airlines companies and airports to form network for enhancing market power; additionally, each European country can operate and switch route freely (Fu and Oum, 2014). In contrast, LCCs provide service for customers who have high elasticity for price, it rapidly captured the market share as a result of low switching costs for buyers. To considering new entrants, 77% small-size companies failed which learn from LCCs to enter market, because the established companies with strong reputation and first mover advantages, and their size do not enable them to create the economies of scale (Budd et al 2014). Stakeholder theory claims companies should notice the interests of other groups, not only do companies focus on the interests of shareholder which is financial performance (Jensen 2001). Customer have highest power and interests for company, company usually prioritize them into first post; employees second, managers third, and shareholders last, according to the hierarchy of interests (Kew and Stredwick 2005). Customers have the most power and the highest interests to organization. From production side and demand side of economic perspective, as the analysis of business environment above shows the supply is over than demand, the number of fragmented airlines is more than customers (Budd et al 2014), so that the bargaining power of buyers is powerful, also switching cost is low between airlines. Low-cost strategy of FK is not lucrative in a market with high intensity of rivalry. However, business environment is along uncertainty and dynamics, the growth of Euro area will enable companies to earn the financial obtains as economic perspective. In fact, demand-supply economic perspective is narrow, the increasing demand of LCCs will lead to tragedy of the common for suppliers, because suppliers only consider the economic returns compared to inputs, and plunge themselves into price battle ignoring value creation, the more followers will emerge, obtained profits from one unit of input will be gradually decreased with the increasing rivals, and tragedy probably occur. So only economic perspective can not achieve success. CSR thoughts will benefits the long-term development of companies. It takes account of social and environmental perspective for a sustainable success, maximizing social welfare is an important measure under social perspective, and industrial success is based on sustainable development (Button 2014). Resources is limited in the world, when managers make decisions, they should consider to increase the long-run value for firm rather than a short-run financial performance including equity, debt and stock. Ryanair cancel safety cards stuck on the back of the seats, the legal proceeding is debatable. It requires trade off through time, also among different constitutions. When companies give up present cost of a unit for receiving that at some time in the future. As costs of input come from different resources including labour, capital or material purchased. The company with CSR can attract and retain talents and establish the brand image and reputation for companies. The power of suppliers as one force represents inputs, simultaneously, they consist of important stakeholders including suppliers, employees, aircraft manufactures and fuel as well as airports. Firstly, employee as the most important internal stakeholder has high bargaining power within industrial. It is reported from BBC, the pilots of FK struck due to the reduction of their salary when low cost strategy adopted (Stothard and Bryant 2014). As above mentioned, company should not save cost from input to create short term profit, it impaired the interests of employees, employees will bring less output; on the contrary, if company can give them more care and welfare, they will create more value, such as  company can provide training and individual deportment planning to maintain enough talent pool for future development, employee also will return to company through high qual ity of services and improve the satisfaction of customers. Setting an adverse example, Foxconn as a large manufacturer adopted military management to employees and ignored their normal needs for reducing cost, as a result, employee suicide and reputation of company was impaired, likewise talents are not willing to work here under abnormal management. CSR could be employee and employer relationship, while Legal utilization for employee is only the lowest level of CSR, Low cost strategy with CSR should not only obey legal behavior, but also pursue ethical, economic and philanthropic behavior (Carroll 1991). Aircraft manufacture is another stakeholder group, low cost strategy may squeeze their price and change manufacture process, as FK wants to reduce the weight of seats and increase the intensity of seat. They should â€Å"co-production† with them rather than simply ask them to achieve requirement, otherwise, suppliers will be reluctant to change manufacturing process for FK only. For instance, IKEA uses flat-package for products from manufacturing to selling as core competitive advantage, it desires suppliers of China to satisfy the flat-package manufacturing process, it not only help to upgrade production technology, but also provide training programme for employee (Inge and Claes 2011). IKEA maintains the good relationship with suppliers. These ethical and economic CSR behavior will increase the wealth of stakeholders, simultaneously, it improves itself production efficiency in value chain. For philanthropic behavior as the highest level, company donates to communities for local better development. Company can collaborate employees to contribute this, such as employee regularly participate volunteering activities for 20 hours each year. Also, as environmental and legal analysis above, CSR perspective can stimulate the innovation and initiative of company. For low-cost strategy, FK can try to innovate new technology or operational methods, such as the use of biofuels and the improvement of CO2 emission disposing. The last force is the threat of substitute, the prevalence of high speed rail as substitute has advantages for a short route. Especially, for business  group, they can use telecommunications on high speed train, and company also spend less on business trip. So the business passengers is decreasing. The noisy and pollution are comparative less than airplane. As German Airplane adopts corporate with high speed rail to compete with LCCs. Based on analysis above, Air France-KLM (FK) adopt low cost strategy, the opportunities and threats can be identified. Liberalized market environment and rapid privatization process provide a favourable condition for development of new model, while they also achieve a high competitive market. It represents other large-sized company also can adopt this model to enter the market. Also, existed competitors with first mover advantages and rich experience, and high speed train as substitutes whose advantages are salient gradually capture the market share for a short-route trip. The pressure of legal environment on CO2 emission and labour union is heavy for operation of FK on low cost strategy. Compared to Ryanair, it ignored the CSR behaviour no matter what level about legal, ethical and philanthropic behaviour. It will be a path for long-term sustainable development for FK. CSR more concern social and environmental value that FK could create, it as a large airline company will explore and represent a new and correct path bearing CSR rather than the short development for financial performance, because it will cause tragedy of the common for the whole society, it will more take account of the interests of stakeholders. In detail, it can use biofuel and decrease the CO2 emission, also maintain good relationship with customers and employee, as well as suppliers. Catching the development of technology, FK should utilize the big data to dig needs of customers to innovate the business model. Under the turbulence of terrorism, European countries can corporate together to resist it for the whole society. French domestic CSR policy as a national competitive advantage will support this business model of FK (France Diplomatie 2014), as investment in CSR while it is difficult to receive profit in short-term, so perhaps FK could reduce the short-term financial pressure from support of government. So the policy of government is consistent with corporate strategy will be helpful. A differentiated low-cost strategy could be adopted by FK. CSR can be a culture of company as a competitive advantage to position itself in market, so that it will always stimulate the innovation and learning of organization, and maintain effective human resources management such as attracting and retaining talents. Organization should consider the knowledge management through technology to advocate CSR concept to every internal and external stakeholders in order to better achieve CSR activities. In addition, FK as one of large-size companies, it has enough experience and strengths to compete with other LCCs, even though they have first mover advantages in terms of reputation and economics of scale. On the other hand, as a large-size company has solid organizational institution and vested interested group so that the strategy change of organization is not easy. As the growth of Euro area with uncertainty lead to bigger risk FK will face (Cadman and Giles 2014), it indicates FK should concern the operational resilience and strategic resilience, once it suffers the unexpected adversity. In conclusion, under the analysis of complex and dynamic environment, Air France-KLM should adopt a differentiated low cost strategy. The economic and political market environment with high-degree liberalization and privatization will provide conditions for the development of business model, also increase the market competition due to a large number of rivals emerging under deregulation. Ryanair and EasyJet with first mover advantages have captured the large market share, also they have accumulated more experience, but the weakness of rivals and trend of environment such as regulation on CO2 emission and sustainable development indicate FK should bear responsibility to seek another path, which more concern the interests of stakeholders, CSR behaviour and activities to create long-term value such as the use of biofuel. At the same time, FK can integrate CSR as a culture, also a competitive advantage in order to continually motivate itself to innovation and learning, also improve the effectiveness of human resources management. The development of technology will require FK to utilize data to dig needs of  customers to innovate the business model in big data time. European countries also need to corporate together to resist it for common society under the turbulence of terrorism. 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