The Patient Safety Movement Essay Example for Free

The Patient Safety Movement Essay According to patientsafetymovement.org (2013), over 200,000 patients die each year due to preventable causes. This is more than the number of deaths from lung, breast and prostate cancer combined. With such a high number of patients at risk of preventable death, the idea of patient safety moved to the forefront of medical discussions in the early 1990’s with the release of the Institute of Medicine’s report To Err is Human. The report brought to light the issues of patient safety and the errors occurring every day in medical facilities across the country. Patient safety as defined by the Institute of Medicine is simply stated as having â€Å"freedom from accidental injury† (ahrq.gov). Patient safety is now considered a healthcare discipline concerned with reporting, preventing and analyzing adverse events in an effort to reduce or eliminate errors leading to undesirable patient outcomes. Some of the most common medical errors affecting patient safety are wrong site surgery, medication errors, and health care acquired infections. Other causes of medical errors are not directly related to â€Å"touching† the patient. These errors include hand-off communications, illegible handwriting, and poor coordination of care. Wrong site surgeries include operating on the wrong part of the body, performing the wrong operation, or operating on the wrong patient. While wrong site surgery is rare, (from 1995-2010, the Joint Commission received reports of 956 wrong site surgeries), it is probably one of the most preventable injuries affecting patient safety (National Patient Safety Foundation, 2014). Medication errors occur if a patient receives the wrong medication or if the patient receives the right medication in the wrong dose or wrong form. One of the most common errors facing the patient safety movement today, the Institute of Medicine estimates medication errors affect over 1.5 million Americans each year (NPSF, 2014). Health care acquired infections are infections occurring in patients while being treated for other medical conditions. These infections can be acquired while being treated in or out  of a hospital setting. Each year in the United States, approximately 1 in 20 patients contract a health care acquired infection. Errors in patient hand-off communications account for an estimated 80 percent of serious medical errors (patientsafetymovement.org, 2014). A lack of effective communication is responsible for these avoidable adverse events. Illegible handwriting leads to the misinterpretation of physician orders and has led to medication and treatment errors. Patients are at risk for error whenever more than one healthcare provider is involved in their care. Not all providers may have had access to the same information and this lack of coordination of care can result in medical error. In order to develop a patient safety culture in healthcare institutions across the country, several groups were created or formed to outline new patient safety initiatives as well as define the actions both providers and patients can take to prevent medical injuries due to preventable errors. One such group, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, (AHRQ), â€Å"is a home to research centers that specialize in major areas of healthcare research such as quality improvement and patient safety . . . and delivery systems (Pozgar, 2012, p. 541). The AHRQ is charged with the following initiatives: 1. Identify the causes of preventable health care errors and patient injury in health care delivery. 2. Develop, demonstrate, and evaluate strategies for reducing errors and improving patient safety. 3. Disseminate such effective strategies throughout the health care industry. As the AHRQ works to meet its initiatives, other groups such as the National Patient Safety Foundation establish action plans to address the challenge of eliminating medical errors. For example, in 2013, the foundation addressed nine areas in which patient safety errors occur and how these errors could be eliminated by following a well-developed plan. Included in those nine areas were medication errors, hand-off communication errors, and healthcare associated infections (patientsafetymovement.org). Other results of the patient safety movement include the way patients are identified. For example, two patient identifiers are used prior to providing patient care. These identifiers may include a patient’s name or date of birth. These identifiers are then matched to the patient record thereby ensuring treatment is provided to the right person. Many providers and facilities  have strict infection control guidelines including the use of hand washing and proper use of PPE (personal protective equipment), such as gowns, gloves, and masks. Other changes relate to the elimination of medication errors. For example, look alike or sound alike drugs are kept separated or repackaged in pharmacies to prevent giving a patient incorrect medications. In order to prevent wrong site surgeries, both the physician and the patient are involved in clearly marking the site prior to surgery as well as verbal communication between physician and patient as to the surgical site and what type of surgery the patient is about to undergo. Other safety actions include the members of the surgical team taking a â€Å"time-out† prior to surgery to confirm the correct patient, correct site, and correct procedure (Pozgar, 2012). Another initiative began in 2005, when Dr. Donald Berwick and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, (IHI) created a ca mpaign to save 100,000 lives (Levin, 2005, p. 94). â€Å"The campaign aims to enlist at least 1,500 hospitals across the United States to commit to six key evidence-based, safety and quality improvements that have the potential to save 100,000 lives over the next 18 months—and beyond† (Levin, 2005, p. 95). The six key-evidenced based improvements are 1. Rapid Response Teams. 2. Prevention of Central Line associated bloodstream infections. 3. Prevention of surgical site infections. 4. Prevention of adverse drug events. 5. Improved care for acute MI. 6. Prevention of ventilator associated pneumonia. Dr. Berwick and the IHI believed that this initiative could be successful at preventing patient medical errors and result in an unknown number of saved lives. The overall goal of all groups involved in the patient safety movement is to improve the quality of patient care through system improvement, education, and shared experiences to reduce the risk of medical error. Unfortunately, the goals of the patient safety movement and the current tort system do not go hand in hand. While the patient safety movement encourages open communication regarding patient medical errors, the risk of litigation causes many healthcare providers and institutions to remain silent regarding patient medical errors. In order to avoid lawsuits, many physicians practice â€Å"defensive medicine,† which can actually increase the risk of patient medical errors resulting in malpractice lawsuits. Some tort reforms have shown to be somewhat successful in reducing the overall cost of liability by keeping insurance premiums lower, keeping physicians in  practice, and capping the amount of damages paid to patients. However, while these reforms may have reduced the financial burden on healthcare providers, they do little to support the patient safety movement. The most widely cited concerns about the medical liability system relate to the systems impact on costs and access to liability coverage, its impact on patients safety, and the administrative burden of litigation. According to AHRQ, in order to address these concerns, the following reforms have been discussed: Full disclosure/early offer programs. Certificate of merit programs. Caps on damage awards, periodic interim payment rules, joint and several liability reforms, collateral source rule reform, and the abolishing of punitive damages. Pre-trial screening panels. Health courts Patient safety is one of the primary goals of reform efforts that focus on programs that promote full disclosure, early offers, and the collection and analyses of the root causes of medical errors (AHRQ, 2010). As with all movements, the patient safety movement is not without its critics. One criticism of the movement deals with physician burnout. The patient safety movement includes many new initiatives aimed at improving patient safety. Each of these new initiatives takes time to understand and implement in order to have the desired outcome. Unfortunately, many providers are faced with learning these initiatives on top of an already full day of patient care. Most facilities have not built in the time required to learn, understand, and implement new initiatives. At the time the IOM published the To Err is Human report, many in the healthcare field questioned the numbers revealed in the study as well as contending that the information in the report would focus undue attention on accidental deaths and prevent limited resources from being directed at other important quality improvement initiatives. Other critics do not agree with the focus on involving patients in their own care, believing that if a patient is already sick and in the hospital, the patient should not have the additional burden of making sure they are receiving the right medicine at the right time, etc. Whether a supporter or critic of the patient safety movement, everyone can agree that human errors do occur in the treatment of patients. In order to improve  patient safety, healthcare providers and facilities must continue to find ways to implement new initiatives that improve the overall quality and safety of the care provided to patients. References AHRQ. (2008). What Exactly Is Patient Safety? Retrieved from http://ahrq.gov Institute of Medicine. (2014). Retrieved from http://iom.edu/ Levin, A. A. (2005). Patient Safety- Rejecting the Status Quo. NC Med J March/April 2005, Volume 66, Number 2. Retrieved from http://ww.ncmedicaljournal.com National Patient Safety Foundation. (2014). Key Facts About Patient Safety. Retrieved from http://www.npsf.org/for-patients-for-consumers Pozgar, G.D. (2012). Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration (11th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones Bartlett Learning, LLC The Patient Safety Movement. (2013). Challenges Solutions. Retrieved from http://patientsafetymovement.org/challenges--solutions-/

Reflection On Augstines Love Philosophy Essay

Reflection On Augstines Love Philosophy Essay Augustine stresses love as an important player in his moral philosophy. Man naturally loves. For Augustine people love in many ways and there are two most common ways. One is love for something instrumental where in someone loves something for the utility that it has for us. We see this in advertising quite often a prime example would be McDonalds which proudly uses the slogan love ko to. A kind of love that springs from something satisfying our own desires, just like McDonalds satisfies ones desire for a burger. The other kind of love which Augustine describes is a more intrinsic love. This is the kind of love we have for other people. Augustine asserts that this love differs from the instrumental kind of love because we dont simply only love others because of their utility sometimes this is actually the opposite. Augustine asserts this love as inhuman because as a human being people are made in Gods image. And that human beings deserved to be loved both as the image of God because none of us are independent of God, who created us, and as their own individual person. This is where the idea of morality and virtue steps in. When in loving people we love their utility rather than who they are. Virtue for Augustine is rightly ordered love. It is not virtuous to love an object that is instrumental and expect it to give us true happiness. Augustine also points out that we cannot love God unless we love ourselves because in learning to love ourselves we understand ourselves as creations of God from whom all good things come. On the other side of the spectrum Augustine considers choice to be the thing that gives birth to evil and that the pursuit of good is born out of moral illumination that is given by God and rooted in love. Someone once told me that if someone had a crush on me it might not be something they would admit because Id be pretty only if I was thinner. At first it sounded like a compliment but I was instantly taken aback. Does liking someone even just on the level of a crush so conditional on ones looks? I honestly didnt know what to think but the truth is that Ive always looked different from all of my classmates. In high school everyone was thin and dainty with pin straight black hair and ivory skin while I was big with a loud head of curls. It took me some time to accept the fact that I would never be that kind of pretty. I know it seems shallow but today appearances are so important they are everywhere and lets face it advertising and celebrity culture doesnt make it easy to have self-esteem. It took me a while to feel comfortable in my own skin and realize that Im not a dainty Asian flower, Im a giant mountainous woman to quote my uncle. Having finally accepted it I gained more confidence and I felt more open and I knew that appearances werent everything. The new challenge that sprung up it seemed was that because Im fat and tall some people thought that I shouldnt be confident or that the word fat is immediately equated to ugly. This was something I couldnt wrap my head around. Why does my weight or appearance matter so much to other people? And how does it dictate how kind or intelligent or honest I am? In a world like this are looks the first step to loving oneself, it seems the my stretch marks go deeper than just my skin. Do these angry red marks go down into who I am and therefore make me less than anyone else? It was Augustines idea of loving yourself and why you should love yourself that resonated with me the most. I think that it is also hard for non-Christians to relate to Augustine because his philosophy is so God centred. However, I think that his progression of loving oneself first then realizing that there is something more to it all is something that is true for anyone. Personally sometimes it is hard to do this and it is especially hard to do without looking at the physical side of things especially today when there is so much emphasis on physical ideals. Looking at the times when I have just sit there with my thoughts quietly thinking to myself about who I am and it has made me realize that it is moments like that wherein you truly discover how to love yourself. I realized there isnt really merit in loving myself because I am thin or because my skin is flawless. As Augustine says there is a right order to love and that in many toxic relationships people have quite disordered love . People love for the wrong reasons such money and status and people ask for something that the other can just simply not give. It has made me realize that a lot of disordered love is rooted in insecurity people love things that they thing can make them complete instead of first loving themselves and essentially knowing who they are to begin with. It is so easy now to say that you are how you look and thats it or you are the gadgets that you own but To go even further it seems to have become taboo to even just sit silently and be alone with your thoughts. I think what makes it quite hard is that sometimes when I find myself doing this I get overwhelmed by my thoughts and soon enough I am submerged in it all. Soon enough though I find myself being able to ride the waves of my thoughts and finding what I truly value in myself. And the answers honestly arent about anything physical or about anything external from me. The answers I find to all of the questions about myself come from somewhere very internal. The answer to where this voice I hear comes from in Augustines philosophy would most definitely be God, a supreme God who has created me and therefore my love is rooted in Him. In essence when I was able to look past all of the physical ideals and the comments others would have about whether or not I was deserving of love I realized only I could answer the question of whether or not I feel I could love or should be loved. It is f rom this insight that the rest the role of love in Augustines philosophy follows and it is something that I think many people tend to forget. While reflecting on this it insight it made me wonder about those who truly love themselves and yet do not necessarily believe in God and whether or not Augustines philosophy would still apply to them. It is this part of Augustines philosophy that I had to really think about. And after hours of thinking about it I realized that there are many people who have ordered love and are not necessarily Christian because no matter what religion you are to love seems to be something natural for humans. When people are faced with great tragedy and bleakness the natural response isnt necessarily hate or revenge its love. In the recent and very tragic Newtown shooting the children wrote notes to their parents about how much they loved them for fear that they may never be able to say it again. From here we see that it is so natural and unpretentious to love intrinsically. While for Augustine true happiness is found in God and comes from God it made me realize that happiness in its many forms is fo und in love. Love for loves sake not because of what it can give you but because love is something natural that we do. After having reflected on love in my life and out of it Ive realized that the only response I can give that can truly make a difference is to ponder how I love and why I love. It is so easy to doubt yourself as worthy of being loved and when others perceive you as not good enough or not of the norm and I think the best response is to be secure in the fact the that your body isnt the only reason there is to love yourself and that it should definitely not be the primary reason that you find to love yourself. I think that this is something important that I can actually share with other people. Loving connotes openness and that in loving others for who they really are and not treating them as an object is how I should really love. I think that the best response I can possibly have is to be mindful of how I love and what I love lest it become disordered and self-destructive even.

A Tibetan Perspective on Birth and Death Essay -- Death Religion

Many religions and philosophies attempt to answer the question, what happens after a person dies? Some religions such as Christianity and Islam believe there is an afterlife. They believe that good and moral people enter Heaven or paradise and that bad and immoral people go to Hell. Other religions and cultures believe that death is final, and that nothing happens after a person dies. Buddhism and Hinduism have a different idea about death. Both of these religions originated in India. Buddhists and Hindus believe that death is not final. They believe that a person comes back after he or she dies. This process is known as reincarnation, and it provides opportunities for people to enter the world multiple times in different forms. Buddhists and Hindus want to reenter the world as humans, and they want to improve their status through reincarnation. In ancient India, many members of lower casts wanted to come back as members of higher casts. While this is an important goal of reincarnati on, the main goal is to reach either moksha (Hinduism) or nirvana (Buddhism). In other words, the goal is to reach a point of spiritual enlightenment that removes the person from the reincarnation process. Geoff Childs, an anthropologist examines the views of the Buddhist religion by studying the lives of the people in Tibetan villages. He looks at issues that adversely affect these people such as infant mortality. He carefully looks at the lives of people who have been left behind by deceased loved ones, and he pays careful attention to customs and traditions surrounding death. Tibetan Buddhists view death as a means of reaching spiritual perfection, and they seek to reach this level of spiritual perfection through living spiritually meaningful lives.... ...eath is is not a cessation in Buddhism. Death can be seen as a new beginning. A new opportunity to reach spiritual perfection. Infant mortality is a difficult subject to talk about for many Tibetan parents. Survivors are often faced with poverty and other extreme hardships after the loss of a loved one. However, Buddhism provides great comfort to survivors by teaching that Earthly bodies are impermanent. Tibetan cremation procedures place great emphasis on reincarnation. Tibetan views about death are focused on nirvana and spiritual perfection. These practices are spiritually meaningful for both the living survivors and the dead. Works Cited 1 Geoff Childs Tibetan Diary From Birth to Death and Beyond in a Himalayan Valley of Nepal (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004) 41.  2 Ibid., 54.  3Ibid., 54.  4 Ibid., 54  5 Ibid., 146.  6 Ibid., 147.

Having Cable Television on College Campuses Essay -- Argumentative Per

Having Cable Television on College Campuses Eleven o’clock on a Tuesday night, walking through the brightly lit halls, many doors wide open in a dormitory complex on the campus of Bowling Green State University, one can see that the only light that emerges from the open doors is the constantly changing illumination coming from television consoles. Passing from door to door, sounds such as sports cheers, gun shots, screams of people being slain, and moans of woman in ecstasy can be heard. Although many students have the time to watch the television, many of them don’t. The televisions utter no words of mathematics or Biology. Because of this horrid â€Å"accommodation† provided by the college, the quality of students intellectually, morally, and physically has made a sudden turn for the worst. Some ignorant persons argue that cable television provides quality educational programs to students and helps them to cut lose after a hard day of studying, but the true harsh reality is that cable television, due to the vast amount of extremely worthless channels such as HBO, Cinnemax, and, of course, MTV, do nothing but discourage interpersonal relationships and association, provide a distraction, inspire sloth, and install thoughts of sex and violence into the easily malleable minds of students, especially younger freshmen and sophomores living on campus. Some people have views that cable television is beneficial to students. In this fictional scenario, one can see the arrival of the idea of cable television onto the campus of Bowling Green State University. The administrators while sitting around their monstrous finely polished eastern oak table in their soft reclinable chairs, smoking their illegally imported cigars, thought of what seemed to be en ingenious idea. They thought of a way to supposedly improve the learning environment of students. One idea can be speculated that stood out in their minds. An idea that could give their students an incredible edge over other students from some other schools, the idea could be none other than the introduction of cable television into every room on the campus of their fine university. To them, this would give students access to explore a vast amount of educational and informational channels such as Discovery, Life, CNN, Animal Planet, and Health. Disney would also be provided for the mental ly challenged, playful at hear... ...s are spending their nights watching people get decapitated in action films. They are watching women naked in sexual positions, sometimes with other women in soft-core porn movies. Although most of these movies have excellent plots, they are not beneficial to the studying of a college student. The channels provided by cable networks encourage foul language, violence, promiscuity, and masturbation in many college students living on campus. There may be some people who do not watch this type of programming or may not let it go to their head, but the majority of college students do. This is a problem. The average majority of college students in almost no way benefit from the installation of cable television in the dormitories. Cable television is used in almost all cases for entertainment. It is not a necessity for the intellectual development of a college student. The fact that it is provided in every dorm room on campus shows little regard by Bowling Green for the growth of most students living on campus. Almost nothing good can come from cable. In most cases it is a vice rather that a strength. Cable television in college dorm rooms is a major problem and needs to be solved.

Comparing the Power of Fiction in Canterbury Tales and Lord of the Flies :: comparison compare contrast essays

The Power of Fiction Revealed in Canterbury Tales and Lord of the Flies In accordance with E.M. Foster's analysis of a character's hidden life, a work of fiction gives us a better insight into the theme of a novel. As E.M. Foster said, "Fiction is truer than history, for it is in fiction [and drama] that we can understand the hidden life of the characters." History is the study of past events. It is based mostly on fact, accepted concepts and stories. Fiction is a literical genre in which the author writes about untrue events. The telling of historical events in a novel limits a reader's ability to expand on the text because it is a text based on textual references from the past. Fiction, on the other hand, sets no boundaries for the reader. In fictional literature the reader can expand and point his own picture in his mind without having to question his own creativity. In "The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer, the use of type casting in the direct and indirect characterization of the pilgrims shows us their true personalities. While Cha ucer uses characterization to reveal his characters. William Golding in his novel, The Lord of the Flies writes through allegorical writing which uses symbolism to portray a bigger meaning than the story's plot. Â   In "The Canterbury Tales" written by Geoffrey Chaucer, the pilgrims are characterized in two different ways to reveal their real intentions. "The Pardoner's Tale" is told by a Pardoner who is characterized in the prologue as selling fake relics. He than in his own tale goes on to denounce greed. By stating the pardoner's own selfishness it contradicts his own religious state in life. A Pardoner forgives others sins, but one with already too much load on his soul would not be able to do that. The Pardoner thinks himself to be a very holy and righteous man but does not realize that his own greed is seen by all the pilgrims after he admits selling fake relics. That makes his sermon of how "Greed is the root of all evil" a total hypocrisy. Chaucer purposely chose a member of a religious community to write a tale on because he wanted to write about unfaithful who sold indulgences to people.

Opportunities and Challenges of Having Access to a Broader Workforce Essay

Question: a) Discuss the opportunities and challenges of having access to a broader workforce. Answer: The Workforce is the total number of a country’s population employed in the armed forces and civilian jobs, plus those unemployed people who are actually seeking paying work. In other words, workforce also refers to Total number of employee (usually excluding the management) on an employer’s payroll. It may also mean all those that are available for work. Workers may be unionized, whereby the union conducts negotiations regarding pay and conditions of employment. In the event of industrial unrest, unions provide a coordinating role in organizing ballots of the workforce, and strike action. As the world becomes globalize, the workforce in industries/companies become diversifies. The broader workforce make up from employees that come from different age groups, race, beliefs, gender etc. Opportunities Provide training on core competencies Devise training is needed to address the needs of different levels of workers, including training directed at entry-level and less skilled staff, workers with degrees not directly relevant to afterschool, and workers pursuing credentials. We cannot afford to ignore the workers who stay only a short time or work part-time, because they make up too large a portion of our workforce. They need some minimum level of knowledge in the core competencies required to work in afterschool programs. Moreover, providing training and supporting pursuit of a credential is an excellent way to foster an attachment to the field. Expand Quality training and professional development opportunities Quality training and professional development opportunities are needed to be expanded for all workers, including encouraging programs to give workers paid time off to attend training. Another need is for approaches such as distance learning to increase access to training in rural areas. We also should establish a core group of high quality, recognized, and approved trainers and promote ways to share the knowledge of experienced afterschool staff, for example, through mentoring younger staff. Provide afterschool/youth work content in higher education curricula We need to work with institutions of higher education to provide more course work relevant to youth work and afterschool that could be accessed by workers and students pursuing credentials or a degree. We also need to work with these institutions to address the needs of the adult learners in our workforce who would be candidates for these courses. Advocate for funding for training and professional development Policymakers at all levels need to provide more funding specifically for training and professional development for afterschool staff through supports such as scholarships and loan forgiveness. In advocating for such funding, the afterschool field needs to highlight the connection between positive outcomes for children and youth in afterschool—a goal endorsed by policymakers—and the qualifications of the staff that provide afterschool services. Provide human resources staff with the training and resources they need to recruit and hire Although the focus of this project and resulting report is on the current afterschool workforce, it’s difficult not to consider the need for effective recruiting and hiring techniques in afterschool programs. A program’s workforce begins with, and its success reflects, the recruiting and hiring of employees who are adequately matched to a program’s core competencies and needs. Challenges Developing specific strategies for reaching the target populations There are people 18- 59 years old in the population who are all needed in the workplace and who need the education/training to take advantage of the opportunity it provides. The challenge is to develop marketing campaigns and services that focus on each of these groups, their specific education/training needs, and their need for user friendly access, delivery, and support systems. Further, there are significant shifts in the gender, ethnicity, and work experience within these populations. Studying these shifts identifies targeted opportunities for increased participation and support. The lack of clear, systemic, and complete information continues to be one of the major barriers to these populations. Several recent studies suggest the lack of useful labor market information contribute to the lack of participation. Developing a series of strategic alliances with business/industrial associations, professional associations, and assessment organizations Education curriculum and competency standards are no longer within the sole domain of the academy. Such areas as education content, achievement, and application are all reflections of constant evolutions in the world external to higher education. It is no longer possible for free standing independent education and training organizations to unilaterally maintain currency with the rapidly changing demands of the new economy. Curriculum is no longer fixed, singular, or limited in scope. Competency standards are evolving at increasing rates as are the related assessments. Further, the expansion of multiple employer related delivery options as well as the growth in industry recognized credentials suggest the need for formal alliances with external partners. Employer Associations Three fundamental shifts have shaken the employer world: 1) the rapid changes in technology and productivity and the resulting impact on workforce skills, 2)the dramatic shift in demographics with the loss of skilled workers and the lack of skilled entrants, and 3) the difficulty identifying effective educational ‘pipelines’ for skilled applicants. Both employers and educators are looking to industrial associations as partners in developing the definition of new skills and competencies, the related curriculum, the required assessments and, the resulting credentials. The move towards alignment (tuning) is increasingly dependent on association partnerships. Effective associations will have systems of continuous improvement that will ensure alignment between their education and training partners as well as their employer membership. This communication system opens up the pipeline for skilled workers and provides a communication system for internships, work based learning, and ultimate support for placement of graduates within the industry. The primary purpose of these alliances is to ensure both the continuous alignment and portability of academic content and outcomes with the constantly changing expectations of both the employer and academic world. Industry Recognized Certifications (IRC) Opportunities for more formal alliances occur with associations that sponsor formal industry certifications. These offer industry recognition of credentials and their accompanying competencies. They offer the individual portability of their recognized credentials and the institution a means of aligning curriculum, competencies, and assessments. An exceptional opportunity exists in providing academic credit to students enrolled in programs resulting in industry recognized certifications. Students engaged in technical training would be more inclined to stay in a program if they receive industry recognized credentials as well as specific credits toward academic or technical Associate degrees. This creates a unique prospect to engage students in seamless system of lifelong continuous learning. The prospects for long term strategic alliances with industry associations are enormous and offer great marketing benefits. Alliances with Professional and International Organizations Forming strategic alliances with professional organizations and accreditors ensures both alignment of curricula and outcome standards as well as ensuring the portability of the credits and credentials. These alliances are becoming increasingly recognized as significant pipelines for qualified professional applicants and they offer exceptional marketing opportunities to both student applicants and industry. Development of a ‘One Stop’ access to the new economy A ‘one stop centers’ is needed for individuals to: 1) get labor market information about high wage/high growth industries, 2) obtain available skill standards and/or IRC’s, 3) accredit their past training, education, and experience, 4) gain advice and counseling on entering post secondary education, 5) receive assistance with entrance to recognized academic and training programs, and, 6) get assistance with placement within the industry. The major problem with the labor market adjustment system in the United States is a completely bifurcated and user unfriendly information, counseling, advising, crediting, accessing, financing, and education/training system. Both the unemployed, re-entering adults and first time students are highly mobile learners who are looking for the access portal to the new economy. Stagnate outdated agencies, policies and systems are simply incapable of delivering such services. It is time to develop a new on-line system that would ensure all citizens ongoing and easy access to understandable and timely job matches, labor market information, and credentials needed for the new economy. All post secondary institutions have a unique opportunity to participate in the building of this broader set of services into a publically transparent system. Ability to offer, give a perception of and have the reputation of providing a ‘Guarantee’ This is the outgrowth of the need to close the loop between employers, students, and educators. The primary question is: does the institutions system of identified learning outcomes meet the academic and technical standards of the new economy and, then, does it ‘ensure’ that every graduate meets those standards? This means establishing standards, curriculum, and assessments that achieve these levels and ensuring that every graduate meets them. When substandard performance is recognized there is a system of remediation and ultimately the failure to graduate if the student simply cannot meet the institutional standards. Some would add that for any student hired which the employer believes does not meet the standard, the school would take them back and remediate them at no cost. While this would come with a cost, it is far more important to develop a reputation with employers for producing graduates that meet the industry standards for tomorrow’s economy. While this important for employers, it is imperative for students who want to be certain that the education/training they are engaged in will in fact prepare them for the new economy. Action on this challenge represents a fundamental shift away from the old system of ‘education opportunity’. For the future, it is about highly mobile students accessing a system that ‘ensures’ their achievement of the competencies required for the new economy. America’s exceptionally diverse post secondary education system has the capacity and commitment to implement this new relationship. (b) What extend Malaysia has benefited and also able to develop own Knowledge worker. The Malaysian labor force is generally educated. This is because youths who enter the labor market would have undergone at least 11 years of schooling. Furthermore, the proportion of labor force with secondary and tertiary education has risen over the years, making them easier to be trained and to learn new skills. Nonetheless, it has been argued that there is a shortage of skilled labor in Malaysia. This shortfall in skilled labor was believed to be one of the causes for the tightness in the Malaysian labor market during the 1980s and 1990s, alongside a mismatch between demand for and supply of labor. Malaysia’s response to this matter is one of the reasons for the nation’s focus on human capital development in recent years. Since the mid-1990s, Malaysia has entered into a phase where new emphasis and demand for high technology and knowledge-based industries were in place. A change in the Malaysian economic policies was, therefore, needed in order to maintain the nation’s competitiveness. Knowledge-based economy is defined as one that is â€Å"directly based on the production, distribution and use of knowledge and information†¦ towards growth in high technology investments, high-technology industries, more highly skilled labor and associated productivity gains†. Malaysia adopted this definition into its Knowledge-based Economy Master Plan, which defines a knowledge-based economy as â€Å"an economy where knowledge, creativity and innovation play an ever-increasing and important role in generating and sustaining growth†. The Master Plan was developed to provide a strategic framework outlining the required changes to the fundamentals of the Malaysian economy. Since the concept of a knowledge-based economy revolves around knowledge and information as the key contributors to economic growth and development, the move towards a knowledge-based economy is expected to provide Malaysia with the necessary competitiveness in order to achieve a developed nation status and meet the objectives of Vision 2020. Several reasons were given as to why Malaysia should move into the knowledge-based economy. First, the nation has lost its global competitiveness in attracting FDI when it fell from the 18th place in 1994 to the 29th spot in 2001, as reported the World Competitiveness Yearbook (IMD, various years). Related to this is the increasing competition for the country’s products from other developing countries, such as China, India, Vietnam and Indonesia that enjoy cheaper labor and more abundant resources. This is especially true in the case of China, where it has been reported that cheaper and equal quality goods from this new economic power, mainly in labor intensive textiles, would bring about stiff competition to Malaysia’s export goods in its domestic and international markets. Third, Malaysia’s economic policies have been affected by globalization and liberalization as barriers and protective walls that help sustain local industries are slowly removed and brought down. As a result, Malaysia, like all other developing economies will have to search for new products and services that are feasible in the emerging global market where the distinction between local and world markets is gradually disappearing. Such goods and services like aircraft, pharmaceuticals, ecommerce, tourism and educational services and ICT industries are common in the knowledge-based industries. Fourth, as Malaysia strives to become a developed nation by the year 2020, this would result in its current edge in producing goods and services for the global market, which hinges on low wages, to be eroded. This is because its cost levels would approach those of developed countries. To face this anticipated escalating labor cost, Malaysia needs to ensure higher value is added to its products in order for its industries to remain viable. Thus, for Malaysia to be competitive, it must produce goods and services to compete at comparable levels as those in developed countries. Again, such high value-added is generally provided by knowledge-based industries. Fifth, Malaysia needs to move into more profitable and wealth-generating stages of production. In other words, it has to make its manufacturing sector more profitable. To do so, Malaysian firms have little choice but to move into the pre- production stage (which includes product conceptualization, research and design, prototyping etc) and/or post-production stage (packaging, branding, marketing, retailing etc) of manufacturing, because there is less profit to be made from the core production process. These pre- and post-production stages also happen to be more knowledge-intensive compared to the existing core production process stage. Sixth, Malaysia needs to find new sources of growth in its economy as the old sources of growth have become less productive. A knowledge-based economy will provide some of these new sources of growth to enable Malaysia to sustain growth and dynamism. Finally, Malaysia needs to improve the contribution of the â€Å"total factor productivity† (TFP) in terms of improving the quality of workers, methods of doing things and other delivery activities (EPU, 2002: 5). To what extend do Malaysia able to develop own knowledge worker? Education: At the primary and secondary levels, some of the indicators for quality that tend to raise concerns have to do with the teaching profession, the curriculum, and the grading of schools. The most serious concern is that of teacher recruitment, salary, career path, work load and training. These concerns have discouraged many potentially good teachers from joining the profession. As regards the school curriculum, there are two sets of issues. The first has to do with content. The second set of issues deals with implementation of the curriculum, classroom size, expertise of teachers and courseware development. Overcrowding in urban schools can impede teaching and learning, including the effective delivery of the curriculum. At the tertiary level, concerns centre mainly on the issues of research, resources, faculty qualifications, and the quality of output. Some public institutions are not keen on being assessed and ranked by an external body. Consequently these institutions become less aw are of their weaknesses. This lack of awareness about their performance does not contribute to accountability. The public requires detailed information on the performance of various institutions in order to have confidence in them. In terms of the use of ICT, the largest provider for programmes in schools is the government, mainly the Ministry of Education (MOE). MIMOS, MDC and the private sector, including parent-teacher associations, are also involved. Some observations are made on the current trends and development of the ICT programmes in schools: ââ€" ª At this stage, ICT programmes at the school level are still heavily centered on infrastructure or procurement of hardware. Software (content development for courseware) and people ware (training) in the ICT programmes are more urgent. The hardware focus alone is inadequate to create the environment for e-education which can enhance teaching and learning and accommodate life-long learning. The software and people ware aspects that are necessary for e-education have to be considered and expanded. ââ€" ª There is a lack of co-ordination among the various agencies, namely MOE, MIMOS and MDC, in their supporting activities for the ICT programmes. Redundancy and wastage of resources can be avoided if there is better co-ordination. ââ€" ª In many schools, computers are often locked up in a special room or a lab, impeding their use for teaching and learning. The class time-table often does not include time for working or playing with computers. The costly equipment forces teachers in charge of the room to be cautious in allowing access, and this adds to the difficulty in utilizing the computers. ââ€" ª Most teachers have not had sufficient training to maximize the use of computers to enhance teaching and learning, and often merely impose traditional methods of drilling and rote learning using computers. This is mainly due to the emphasis on ICT literacy in teacher training programmes. ââ€" ª Due to the lack of a standard approach in the utilization of computers, student contact hours with computers cannot be established. ââ€" ª Teachers take charge of ICT centers in schools on a voluntary basis. Most of them do not have any formal training in ICT. There is often no technician who can assist the teachers with maintenance. Public higher education institutions, especially the universities, have been expanding their ICT programmes, especially over the past five years. Computer labs at the faculty level and computer centers for the university have been initiated and are in progress. ICT’s capacity to contribute to greater efficiency of work and resource management has not been fully exploited. E-mail facilities are not being maximized, and downloading lecture notes from the web or interacting with lecturers via e-mail or the web is still uncommon. The Internet is not being adequately accessed for lecture content. Another issue requiring attention is the need to develop quality private education. Private education in Malaysia is a relatively developed sector, particularly at the higher education level. As regards technical education, the system at the upper secondary level needs to address a number of issues: ââ€" ª Greater efforts should be made to improve hands-on skills among technical school students. The Technical Education Department has already introduced the contextual learning delivery system, which essentially recognizes that learning is a complex and multi-faceted process. Such learning goes far beyond theory, drill-oriented, stimulus and response teaching methodologies. It was introduced in Secondary Technical Schools in 1998 to help all students master higher-level academic and work skills. Instruction based on this strategy is being structured to help students apply their knowledge more effectively. ââ€" ª Greater efforts are required to improve the links between schools and industry. Currently the School Advisory Committees, established in all schools, comprise representatives from industries, higher education, Parent-Teacher Associations and Head Teachers who advise schools on curriculum and equipment. The Career Guidance, Industrial Liaison and Placement Unit in every school also provide career guidance and placement of students in industries. These should be further improved. B. Skills Training and Retraining Malaysia currently has several drawbacks with regards to the education and skills profile required for a K-based economy. It lacks an adequate pool of knowledge workers, sufficiently high enrolment in the sciences at tertiary levels, and a broad base of workers with minimum literacy, learning ability and skills. Educational reform takes time while the recruitment of foreign talent is merely a temporary measure. An effective response would be to train managers and workers to cope with the new demands of the K-based economy. Private and public sector managers need to be trained to reengineer their organizations into ‘learning organizations’ which can attract, retain and develop K-workers to make their organizations more competitive, service-oriented and efficient. To increase the quality and relevance of skills, greater autonomy and flexibility should be given to public sector training institutions to make them more responsive to the rapidly changing labor market requirements of a K-based economy. To minimize job dislocation resulting from the transition to the K-based economy, ‘bridging’ courses need to be organized for displaced workers, especially those who are old, uneducated, and un-trainable. The power of the Internet should also be harnessed to establish ‘net communities’ for citizens with special needs and interests to interact among them and with the government. For the economy as a whole, there is also a need for an efficient and speedy labor market information system to help ensure effective planning to meet the manpower demands of the K-based economy. This may require the establishment of a specialist study group, improved career counseling, and a directory of training institutions. In addition to providing basic education for all, in a K-based economy it is essential to stress Lifelong Learning and Education to help citizens cope with expanding knowledge and rapid change. The challenges of Lifelong Learning and Education in the context of the K-based economy include the following: 1. Producing a highly skilled, knowledge-rich workforce. 2. Reducing unemployment and re-skilling the workforce. 3. Addressing and adjusting to the needs of an aging society. C. Global Talent A world shortage of high level manpower is likely to increase the brain drain from Malaysia. While the high growth East Asian economies compete for Malaysian talent, particularly in ICT the more serious long-term competitors are the advanced K-based economies of the US and Europe which suffer serious shortages of ICT personnel. It is estimated that Europe and the US alone need two million more ICT workers by 2002. Recent changes to immigration laws enacted to attract foreign talent to the US have serious implications for Asia and for Malaysia’s efforts to retain domestic talent and attract foreign, particularly ICT talent. A Bill passed by US Congress in late 2000 allows US firms to recruit 600,000 foreigners, a third of them from India. The three-year programme takes effect from 2001. The US recruitment drive occurs in the context of a world-wide shortage of ICT talent, with Asian countries too unable to meet their domestic demand. Despite this the best and brightest Asians ( including Malaysians), are likely to be lured by better wages, work conditions, occupational mobility and the quality of life in the US and Europe. This ‘brain drain’ has already begun, with European and US recruiters scouring Asian universities for talent. This situation signals several dangers for Malaysia. Firstly, like the Asian countries, Malaysia too is likely to lose young graduates from local and foreign universities to firms in the US and Europe. Secondly, experienced Malaysians may also be recruited, with the Malaysian labor market serving as a ‘training ground’ for developed K-based economies. Thirdly, since the Asian shortage and US demand will deplete the international talent pool, Malaysia’s option of utilizing foreign talent will be limited. Foreigners who are recruited to work in Malaysia are also likely to treat Malaysia as a ‘training ground’ for eventual entry and settlement in the US and Europe. There are several ways Malaysia can cope with this situation: ââ€" ª One current advantage Malaysia has is that except for Singapore, other countries in the region including Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, and China, all of which also have ambitious ICT plans, have not moved fast enough to recruit foreign talent. Moving quickly to simplify immigration rules and ease recruitment of foreign talent will give Malaysia a competitive edge in recruitment. ââ€" ª Secondly, of all countries in the region, Malaysia probably has the most balanced set of attractions in terms of wages, low costs, quality of life, stability and safety. This advantage should be exploited to the fullest. ââ€" ª Thirdly, Malaysia’s rich and tolerant multi-ethnic heritage makes it attractive to a wide spectrum of expatriates, whether Caucasians, Middle-Easterners, East Asians or South Asians. Unlike its competitors in the region, Malaysia can therefore alleviate the problem of the world-wide shortage by recr uiting from a wide variety of countries and labor markets. The government itself has made several clear efforts to recruit foreign talent. In 1995-98 the Returning Scientists Programme managed by the Ministry of Science attracted 93 overseas-based foreign and Malaysian scientists on short-term contracts to local institutions. But their high wages posed a financial strain and contributed to wage inequities vis-a-vis local scientists. Recognizing the need for talent, the Returning Scientists Programme was revived in early 2001, and the recent national Budget provided incentives to encourage Malaysian experts abroad ‘who have the required expertise’ to return and serve the nation. Income remitted within two years from the date of arrival will be exempted from income tax. Two cars registered in the country of origin for at least six months will also be exempted from import duty and sales tax, while the husbands/wives and children of Malaysian citizens will now be given PR status within six months of the date of arrival. Previously, husbands who were non-citizens were not entitled to PR status, while non-citizen wives could only apply for PR after five years residence in Malaysia. The programme took effect from 1 January 2001. Under this programme, six fields of expertise and skills have been identified, i.e. IT, Science and Technology, Industry, Finance and Accounting, Arts, and Medicine and Health.

Competitor Analysis of Dahlie Essay

Main Competitors Although Darlie has gained a large market share in the toothpaste market in Malaysia, it still faced the competition from other toothpaste companies in this industry. The two of the main competitors of Darlie in the market are Sensodyne and Colgate. As the world largest producer and manufacturer of toothpaste, Colgate becomes the greatest competitor of Darlie. Colgate has survived in this industry for such a long time and has established its influence among the customers. It has successfully making the customers to have brand loyalty toward Colgate. Besides that, Colgate has different types of toothpaste, which can satisfy different needs of the customers. This has fulfilled the needs and wants of the customers and directly competes with Darlie as the product range of Colgate and Darlie are quite similar. Nowadays, a lot of people are facing different types of teeth problems, such as sensitive teeth, gum disease and tooth decay. Therefore, they tend to buy the toothpaste which can he lp them to solve their teeth problems. Sensodyne is focusing on solving sensitive teeth problem and is recommended by dentist to be used. It has shaped the brand image of Sensodyne to become professional and high class toothpaste. Therefore, although Darlie also has their own sensitive teeth toothpaste, people still prefer Sensodyne as the look for the brand image. Therefore, Colgate and Sensodyne become two of the main competitors for Darlie in Malaysia toothpaste market. Comparison of Colgate and Its Competitors Darlie Colgate Sensodyne Market share in Malaysia In 2011, Darlie’s market share is 31%. In 2011, Colgate’s market share is 60%. In 2011, Sensodyne’s market share is 5%. Target customer Their target customers are those urban people who are above 18 years old, and pay attention to their oral health. The target customer is mothers with kids who make toothpaste buying decisions for the family and people who care for their oral health. The target customer is the adults from 20 to 60 years old who faced sensitive teeth problem. Promotion Using websites, advertisements and TV commercial to advertise. Having promotions in supermarket. Using website, advertisement, and TV commercial to advertise. Having some promotions by giving free gifts. Colgate School Program: give out free samples to kids and teach kids the way to brush teeth properly. Bright Smile, Bright Future program: promote the importance of oral health through education and prevention. Using websites, various advertisements and TV commercial to attract customers. Promotion through dentist and dental clinic. â€Å"Chill Test† in hypermarket. Price The price range of Colgate is between RM7.95 to RM10.60. The most expensive toothpaste is Colgate Sensitive Pro Relief. The cheapest toothpaste is the Colgate Regular tube. The price range of Sensodyne toothpaste is from RM9.90 to RM12.90. Product Having different range and types of toothpaste. For instance, fresh breath, whitening, sensitive teeth and enamel protection. Specializing in the preservation and treatment of oral hygiene. Create an array of 40 different patented toothpastes keeping Colgate competitive. Having 13 different classifications and varieties of Colgate toothpaste. Consists of different types of toothpaste, but mainly focuses on the sensitive teeth issue. Place Almost at all supermarket and mini market. Very convenience to buy it. Almost all super markets and pharmacies carry Colgate Toothpaste. Can sometimes be found in more prominent locations when on sale or launching new products into the market. Distributed indirectly. Available in all hypermarkets, supermarkets and pharmacies, Chinese medical halls and mini markets in Malaysia. Length of time in business Darlie started its business since 1933. It has taken 80 years in the toothpaste industry. Colgate-Palmolive started its business in 1806. It has taken 207 years in the toothpaste industry. GSK produced Sensodyne in 1961. It has taken 52 years in the toothpaste market. (Source from: Colgate, 2013 and Sensodyne, 2013)