Determining Ethanol in Fermented Glutinous Rice

Determining Ethanol in Fermented Glutinous Rice 1.0 Introduction Fermented glutinous rice is a popular dessert among Malaysian consumers. It consist of carbohydrate such as rice and it need to be fermented for a few days until the glucose have been converted into the ethanol, carbon dioxide and energy whereas it signs is when the taste is sweet flavor. Cassava also can be fermented. Both of dishes served mostly in Southeast Asia. When the processes are completed, commonly the fermented glutinous rice will be wrapped in banana leaves. During the fermentation process, it most often done by a product called ‘ragi’. However, the consumption of fermented glutinous rice had rise the halal issue among the Muslim community. It is because the ethanol content that is produced during the fermentation is 5% which is similar to the concentration of ethanol in alcoholic beverages such as beers. As we know, the value of alcohol can be contained in the food that had been stated by JAKIM is 0.01% only. As we know, when a lot of alcohol are consumed, i t can affect our health and can caused death. There are many analytical methods that had been studied by researchers to determine the alcohol contained in food. Thus, FTIR spectroscopic had been chosen based on the easiest, low time consuming and low cost for determination of alcohol in fermented glutinous rice. Thus, it can give a contribution by providing the alcohol content for the sake of Muslim. 2.0 Rice The staple food for nearly two-thirds of the world’s population is rice (Oriza sativa L.). According to Arendt (2013), in 2010, China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Myanmar alone provided more than 75% of the world’s total rice production. As we know, the lowest protein content of all the cereals is rice but it also highly nutritious among others. It is rich in carbohydrates. There are many ways that it can be consumed by the consumers. For instance, in the form of puffed rice, noodles, snack foods and fermented sweet rice. To make bakery products, sauces, infant foods, breakfast cereals, alcoholic beverages and vinegar, it also can be used. 2.1 Fermentation Fermentation is one of the natural processes. According to Theresa (2014), when organisms convert nutrients for example carbohydrate such as starch and sugar into an acid (lactic acid and acetic acid) or an alcohol, it is called as energy-yielding anaerobic metabolic process which is occurs in fermentation. For instances, to obtain energy, yeast will perform fermentation by converting the sugar into the alcohol. Many people all around the world use fermentation to produce products such as wines, cheese and beers. It is also known as one of the historical biotechnological processes. 2.2 Fermented Glutinous Rice Tapai or also known as fermented glutinous rice is one of the Malaysian favorite dessert. It is come from Indonesia and Malaysia. Actually it is sour and sweet alcoholic paste, have a very pleasant aroma and it also can be used directly as a food or in traditional recipe. Normally, it is wrapped with rubber tree leaves or banana leaves. It can be made from carbohydrate sources such as cassava, glutinous rice or white rice. It have to undergo fermentation process which is performed by many types of moulds including Rhizopus oryzae, Aspergillus oryzae, Rhizopus oryzae or Mucor species, and including yeast for example Saccharomycopsis fibuliger, Endomycopsis burtonii and others,along with the bacteria. Besides, tapai also can be used to produce alcoholic beverages. Figure 1: example of fermented glutinous rice 2.3 Preparation Of Fermented Glutinous Rice To produce fermented glutinous rice, the ingredient needed is glutinous rice, yeast and sugar. The procedures are as follow: The glutinous rice was washed and soaked it overnight Glutinous rice will be cooked . After it had been cooked well, we need to cool it. After it has cooled, the yeast was pounded and then sprinkled it on the top of cooked rice. sugar was mixed with water and sprinkle each layer of rice with water to start the fermentation The rice was packed in layers into a tight container. Each of the layer was sprinkled with some sugar water to allow the fermentation proces. It will take about 2 days for fermentation occurred. After 2 days, there will be a bit liquid in the bottom of the container. At this time, the fermentation is complete. The liquid which collects at the bottom of container is called brem (rice wine). Originally it have a low alcohol content after fermentation in a few days but if it continued fermented, the alcohol content will increase. Yeast will carried out both anaerobic respiration and aerobic respiration. In the fermentation in of yeast, anaerobic respiration is occurred which is the yeast will secrete the enzyme zymase (Ali et al, 2012). According to Ali et al (2012), this enzyme will hydrolyse glucose to form the ethanol, energy and carbon dioxide in the absence of the oxygen Glucose → Ethanol + Carbon Dioxide + Energy The enzyme can speed up the fermentatation process and only a small amount of enegy used. Therefore, in ethanol there is a large amount of energy stored as chemical energy due to the incomplete broken down of glucose in anerobic respiration. 3.0 The Importance of Determination of Alcohol In western countries, there are a lot of alcoholic beverages for example beers, wines and distilled spirit drinks. A drink that typically containing below 60% v/v of ethyl alcohol is known as an alcoholic beverage (Gallignani et al,2005). There are three main classes of alcoholic beverages which are wines, beers and distilled spirit. Ryan (2014) stated that the alcoholic beverages which are made from germinated barley (malt), water, yeast and hops are known as beers while alcoholic beverages that produced by the fermentation of fresh grapes and grains for example rice are called as wines. The distilled spirituous beverages that contained 15% of alcohol or above and made from tubers, grain, fruit or sugar cane are known as spirit. But it is clearly that it is forbidden for Muslims to consume it as we know the alcohol content that exist in the beverages. On the other hand, in Malaysia we are not consuming the alcohol in the alcoholic beverages but we are consuming alcohol in the food product without realized about it. As stated above, alcohol can be produced naturally in some product that we consumed in our daily life such as soy sauce, fermented cassava and fermented glutinous rice that also become the Malaysian favorite food especially during the celebrations. Besides, there are also laboratories or specialized factory that produced ethanol artificially for the processing of various consumer products. Generally, the issue of the existence of alcohol in food is still been debated until today in Malaysia. The confusion is not only faced by the society but it also faced by the academicians and scholars. Glutinous fermented rice seems to have ethanol content higher than had been stated by JAKIM. Compared to the others natural product like soy sauce, the alcohol content in the fermented glutinous rice is about 5% of ethanol. Table 1: Alcohol content (ethanol) in fermented glutinous rice and fermented cassava. (The Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) , 1983) Alcohol content (ethanol) % Day Fermented glutinous rice Fermented cassava 0 3.0 3.4 1 3.4 2.8 2 5.2 3.3 Based on the table 1, the ethanol content on the day 3 of the fermentation showed that the ethanol content in the fermented glutinous rice is 5.2% which is higher than the fermented cassava which is 3.3%. The alcohol content in fermented glutinous rice is similar to the alcohol content in beers which is 5%. Thus it had raised the halal issues to the Muslim community in Malaysia. Apart from that, consuming too much alcohol can lead to the bad consequences to the consumers especially for the acute chronic consumer. It is the main reason why we need to study the alcohol contents in fermented glutinous rice. The information about the content of alcohol can be such a contribution to the people and for the sake of Muslims all around the world. It also can make them more aware about what they had consumed. The ethanol content in fermented glutinous rice can increase when we continuing kept it for a longer time. At the certain time, the liquid produced can be categorized as alcohol as it can make us drunk if over consumed. As we know, when we consumed alcohol in a large amount, it can give a bad consequence effect to the consumer. Besides having pervasive psychosocial and economic consequences, alcohol is one of the main contributors to morbidity and mortality (Acharjee et al, 2015). All around the world, the number of deaths and substantial disability from medical and psychiatric consequences of alcohol misuse is increases day by day. Clearly in term of health, it is not good for us to consume alcohol in our life. Alcohol has an adverse impact on human. It has been proven in science, psychology and sociology. Acharjee et al (2015) also stated that large amount of alcohol has harmful effects on our health. For instance, alcohol can effects our cardiovascular such as hypertension, sudden cardiac death, stroke, cardiomyopathy and cardiac arrhythmias. In term of psychology, some crime and immorality in society happened due to the intake of alcohol. Often, drunks do not have a good attitude because when they get drunk, they were not aware of their behavior, which can cause discomfort to the community. This group also can apply chaos in a country because when alcohol addicts exist in a government or private sector, it can lead to abuse of power, property, embezzlement of state funds and breach of trust. 4.0 ANALYTICAL METHODS IN DETERMINATION OF ETHANOL A number of analytical methods have been employed with the aim of determination of alcohol. Commonly, there are combination of methods in order to achieved better result while analyze the sample. In western countries, various type of analytical method were developed to determine alcohol in alcoholic beverages. For example, Vonach et al (1998) had presented the coupling of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with Fourier –transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). It can be used to determine the main component of wine such as glucose, fructose, citric, lactic, tartaric acid, glycerol, ethanol and so on. When it was about the sample preparation, it seems that the process was a little bit tedious because when using the internal standard, it need to be dissolved in distilled water and many more process need to carry out. The stationary phase and mobile phase that used in this study is ion-exchange resin based column and sulfuric acid. From the external reference data, an average deviation can be resulted which is 0.16mg/ml (Vonach et al, 1998). Yarita et al (2002) had proposed HPLC-FID to determine the ethanol content. Pure water had been chosen as a mobile phase in this study. When liquid water was introduced in FOD system, it changes into vapor. Due to limited flow rate of the HPLC eluent that introduced in FID system, capillary tube act as an alternative ways to control the flow rate of the HPLC eluent. Triacontylsylyl (C-30) silica gel is preferred because it show less decrease in the retention time compared with other. The ethanol concentration in the six sample can be detected around 10.2%-40.8% v/v at temperature 150C (Yarita et al, 2002). Gas chromatography also can be used as analytical tool to determine the alcohol in sample. Wang et al (2004) had proposed direct injection capillary gas chromatography that can be used to detect the methanol in beverages. Megapore capillary column with high polarity had been choosing to get the optimum condition for this study. It is because of it can used to separate the methanol in alcoholic beverages from the other components. At the stable baseline region, according to Wang et al (2004) when using acetonitrile as internal standard, it can perform clear separation from other constituents of sample. The samples studied were wine and whisky. Based on the obtained result, chromatogram give 3.06 min retention time for methanol while for the internal standard, it consumed about 4.21 min. Gas chromatography coupling with capillary column also has been proposed by Wang et al (2004). The aim was to determine both concentration of methanol and ethanol by using two internal standards which are acetonitrial for ethanol and 2- pentanol for methanol. Wang et al (2004) stated that for methanol, the retention time that revealed by this method was 2.87min while for ethanol, the retention time was 3.41 min. The analysis of both alcohol by using this method is 12 min. Apart from that, the limit of quantitation (LOQ) for methanol was 5 ÃŽ ¼g/mL and ethanol was 5 mg/mL (Wang, 2004). These methods are assumed to give contribution in order to determine the methanol content in industries due to high accuracy and precision. However, this method is time consuming and tedious. Vapour-phase FT-IR also can be used as analytical tool in determination of alcohol in beverages. In this experiment, there are aqueous solution of ethanol and methanol in the sample (Garrigues et al., 1997). The alcohol that contained in the sample had determined by using liquid-phase FTIR and vapour-phase FTIR. According to the Garrigues et al (1997), the result that obtained by the liquid-phase FTIR spectra, when pure water is used as a blank, there are a series of overlapping positive and negative peak (Garrigues et al., 1997). On the other hand, when discussing about FTIR spectra obtained by using vapour-phase FTIR after the injection of sample in heated plate, Garrigues et al (1997) stated that both ethanol and methanol provided a well-defined peak in the range of 1500 to 900 cm-1.The absorbance value for liquid-phase and vapour-phase are same but the spectrum for vapour-phase is clearer than spectrum for liquid-phase. Besides, the sensitivity and resolution of the alcohol band also high for vapour-phase FTIR (Garrigues et al., 1997). For the screening analysis of beverages, NIR can be used as a spectroscopic technique ( Barboza, 2003). The applications range was limited when using NIR because it has low sensitivity (Lanchemier, 2007). According to Chandley (1993), between NIR bitterness value and spectral data, the observation is it has a poor correlations and it needs the evaporation of water (dry extract spectroscopy) to make the determination of bitterness become possible. When mid-infrared combination with FTIR spectroscopy was used, it becomes such a development in the spectroscopic analysis compared with the using of NIR. Compared to the NIR, when using FTIR, we can get better result when analyzing the minor component such as lactic acid (Lanchenmier , 2007). Furhermore,it also can produce high resolution peak and the spectra also clearer when using FTIR ( Gallignani et al, 2003). Liquid Fourier transform-middle infrared spectrometry can be used to analyze wine in a 90 s (Patz et al., 2004). FTIR/PLS have b een developed for the multicomponent screening to analyze the alcohol in beverages (Neuwoudt et al, 2004).A lot of information can be obtained when using NMR rather than NIR and FTIR. According to Lanchenmier et al (2005), the distinct signals of the spectra can be produced if NMR was applied. In the calculation of cost-benefit for both NMR and FTIR, Lanchenmier (2007) also mentioned that in contrast with NMR, FTIR can give more advantage for screening method due to the less investment and operational costs. In this study, we want to determine the concentration of the ethanol in fermented glutinous rice with the use of FTIR and combination with Partial Least Square in the context of official food control. FTIR can give us advantages in order to determine and analyse the alcohol in alcoholic beverages because it can help us to reduce the time cost, and at the same time, it is also contribute for a good precision and accuracy when dealing with the parameters (Moreira et al., 2004). Fu rthermore, according to Lachenmeier (2007), a simple sample preparation is needed when dealing with FTIR spectroscopy compared to the other analytical methods. Problem Statement Recently the consumption of the fermented glutinous rice had rise the halal issue to the Muslim community since its alcohol content is similar to beer which is 5%. In order to determine the alcohol contained in the fermented glutinous rice, the government and private sector need the easiest, cheapest and low in cost analytical method for determination of alcohol. So we have come out with FTIR spectroscopy technique as this technique did not require the sample preparation like the other analytical method. Besides, it is not time consuming method and it has low cost compared to the other method. We also combine the FTIR with combination of Partial Least Square (PLS) in order to achieve better result. Objectives This study was conducted based on the objectives stated below: To develop method with the best accuracy To determine the lowest of detection limit To identified the ethanol contained in the sample

Different pricing objectives of company

Different pricing objectives of company Different pricing objectives of company Multi pricing objectives and strategies The task of the marketing manager is to decide the objectives of pricing before he determines the price itself. Pricing objectives provide guidance to decision makers in formulating price policies, planning pricing strategies and setting actual prices. The most important objective of the companies is to have maximum profits. Pricing objectives: Pricing objectives are goals that describe what a firm wants to achieve through pricing. Pricing objectives must be stated explicitly, and the statement should include the time frame for accomplishing them. There are six stages of setting prices. They are developing pricing objective, assessing the target markets evaluation of price, evaluating competitors prices, choosing a basis for pricing, selecting a pricing strategy, and determining a specific price. Cost-based pricing is adding a dollar amount or percentage to the cost of the product. Cost-plus pricing is adding a specified dollar amount or percentage to the sellers cost. Markup pricing is adding to the cost of the product a predetermined percentage of that cost. Demand-based pricing if pricing based on the level of demand for the product. Competition-based pricing is pricing influenced primarily by competitors prices. A pricing strategy is an approach of a course or action designed to achieve pricing and marketing objectives. Differential pricing is charging different prices to different buyers for the same quality and quantity of product. Negotiated pricing is establishing a final price through bargaining. Secondary-market pricing is setting one price for the primary target market and a different price for another market. Periodic discounting is temporary reduction of prices on a patterned or systematic basis. Random discounting is temporary reduction of prices on an unsystematic basis. Price skimming is charging the highest possible price that buyers who most desire the product will pay. Penetration pricing is setting prices below those of competing brands to penetrate a market and gain a significant market share quickly. Product-line pricing is establishing and adjusting prices of multiple products within a product line. Captive pricing is pricing the basic product in a product line low while pricing related items at a higher level. Premium pricing is pricing the highest-quality or most versatile products higher than other models in the product line. Bait pricing is pricing an item in the product line low with the intention of selling a higher-priced item in the line. Price lining is setting a limited number of prices for selected groups or lines of merchandise. Psychological pricing is pricing that attempts to influence a customers perception of price to make a products price more attractive. Reference pricing is pricing a product at a moderate level and positioning it next to a more expensive model or brand. Bundle pricing is packaging together two or more complementary products and selling them for a single price. Multiple-unit pricing is packaging together two or more identical products and selling them for a single price. Everyday low prices is setting a low price for products on a consistent basis. Odd-even pricing is ending the price with certain numbers to influence buyers perceptions of the price or product. Customary pricing if pricing on the basis of tradition. Prestige pricing is setting prices at an artificially high level to convey prestige or a quality image. Professional pricing are fees set by people with great skill or experience in a particular field. Price leaders are products priced below the usual mark up, near cost, or below cost. Special-event pricing is advertised sales or price cutting linked to a holiday, season, or event. Comparison discounting is setting a price at a specific level and comparing it with a higher price. It is necessary that the marketing manager decide the objective of pricing before actually setting price. According to experts, pricing objectives are the overall goals that describe the role of price in an organizations long-range plans. The objectives help the marketing manager as guidelines to develop marketing strategies. The following are the important pricing objectives. Market penetration Market skimming Target rate of return Price stabilization Meet of follow competition Market share Profits maximization Cash flow Product line promotion Survival Market penetration objective: In the initial stages of entering the market, the entrepreneurs may set a relatively low price. this is mainly to secure a large share of the market. in a highly price sensitive market, the businessman may continue to sell his products even without profit. he is interested in growth rather than in making a profit. in the market penetration objective, the unit cost of production and distribution will decrease when the volume of sales attain a particular target. in brief, market penetration objective is an attempt to secure a large share of the market by deliberately setting the low prices. Penetration pricingpursues the objective of quantity maximization by means of a low price. It is most appropriate when Demand is expected to be highly elastic; that is, customers are price sensitive and the quantity demanded will increase significantly as price declines. Large decreases in cost are expected as cumulative volume increases. The product is of the nature of something that can gain mass appeal fairly quickly. There is a threat of impending competition. As theproduct lifecycleprogresses, there likely will be changes in the demand curve and costs. As such, the pricing policy should be re-evaluated over time. The pricing objective depends on many factors including production cost, existence of economies of scale, barriers to entry, product differentiation, rate of product diffusion, the firms resources, and the products anticipatedprice elasticity of demand . Market skimming objective: Market skimming means utilizing the opportunities in the market to reap the benefits of high sales, increased profits and low unit costs. Some of the entrepreneurs study the buyers needs and try to provide the suitable goods, but charge them high prices. This objective is realized in those markets where the magnitude of competition is very low. The entrepreneurs, in this situation, make profits over a short period. The market-skimming objective would not be meaningful, when the consumer refuses to purchase the goods at the prices fixed by the producers. This pricing objective would be suitable in the markets where the consumers feel that costly goods are of the superior quality. Skimming is most appropriate when: Demand is expected to be relatively inelastic; that is, the customers are not highly price sensitive. Large cost savings are not expected at high volumes, or it is difficult to predict the cost savings that would be achieved at high volume. The company does not have the resources to finance the large capital expenditures necessary for high volume production with initially low profit margins. Target rate of return objective: Rate of return is normally measured in relation to investment and sales. The producers enjoying some protection may prefer to earn a target rate on investment. This would be possible where the entrepreneur enjoys a franchise or a monopolistic situation. But in the long run, every businessman attempts to secure an adequate return on investment through price setting. Mostly, middleman like wholesalers, retailers will price their merchandise to earn a particular rate of return on sales. Price stabilization objectives: Frequent changes in the prices of product will harm the long-term interests of the companies. Hence, they aim at stabilization of prices. They do not exploit a short supply position to earn the maximum. During the periods of good business, they try to keep prices from rising and during the periods of depression, they keep prices from falling too low. Thus, they take a long-term view in achieving price stability. Meet or follow competition objective: Pricing is often done to meet or even prevent competition. If a company is a price leader, it is better to follow it to ward off the possibility of competition. Market share objective: A company may either have the objective of maintaining the present market share or increase its share depending upon its stature. Particularly, big business houses adopt such pricing that it enables them to retain their market share. If they raise their market share, they may draw the attention of the government and if they shed their share, they may lose revenues. Contrary to this, small business houses are found interested in raising their share in the market so as to reap the benefit of large-scale production. In few cases, firms may sell the products even at a lower cost to capture the market. However, such practice may lead to financial crisis. As a matter of fact, this is an objective to be adopted by new firms cautiously. Profit maximization objective: Profit maximization does not mean profiteering. There is nothing wrong in this policy if practiced over the long run. As a matter of fact, many of the enterprises strive to maximize their profits. Maximization of profits should be on the total output and not on a single item. In such case, consumers do not get dissatisfied since a particular group is not called for paying a high price. While adopting this pricing objective, the marketers should attempt to project their image in the market through sales promotion techniques. The marketers should watch the reactions of the consumers. Profit maximization through price hikes should be sparingly used. Cash flow objective: One of the important objectives of pricing is to recover invested funds within a stipulated period. Most of the time you will find different prices for the cash and credit transactions. Generally, you find lower prices for the cash sales and high prices for the credit sales. But this pricing objective could be implemented with good results only when the firm has monopoly in the market. Product line promotion objective: Product line means a group of products that are related either because they satisfy similar needs of different market segments or because they satisfy different but related needs of a given market segment. While framing the product line, the marketer may also include such goods, which are not popular. The intention of the marketer is to push through all the goods without any discrimination. Thus, the ultimate objective is to increase the overall demand of the goods. In this pricing objective, equal prices are adopted for the entire product line. Survival objective: Perpetual existence of the business over a period is the indication of the sound financial position of the enterprise. All organizations will have to meet expected and unexpected, initial and external economic losses. These enterprises have to pool up the resources to meet all the contingencies through appropriate pricing strategies. Price is use to increase sale volume to level up the ups and downs that come to the organization. Profit Oriented: Target Return sometimes the vendor specifies a specific dollar amount or percentage amount that the price will be offered at in order to make a profit which has been calculated for a specific purpose. Usually this amount is part of a larger plan involving several product units in a product line Profit Oriented: Maximize Profits if the Competitive Market is not intense you may charge the highest price the market will bear because sometimes you may have an advantage for reasons based on your geographic advantage special features not available on other competitors products very very famous brand. etc.. Sales / Marketing Oriented: Increase Sales Volume Sales / Marketing Oriented: Increase Market Share Status Quo Goals: Just Meet the Competition if the customer has many choices, and you barely have the resources to stay in the market, then just charge the same price. You dont have the resources to survive a price war, and you dont have the ability to claim better quality to charge a higher price Prof. Allen says Volume objectives include sales maximization and market-share goals, which are specified as a percentage of certain markets. In sales maximization, management sets an acceptable level of profitability and then tries to maximize sales. This objective can lead to discounting or some other aggressive pricing strategy, such as rebates and sales. Skim the cream† pricing involves selling at a high price to those who are willing to pay before aiming at more price-sensitive consumers. This expression comes from the farming practice of milking cows the cream rises to the top and you skim it off. Skimming Pricing A Skimming policy is more attractive if demand is inelastic says the Shapiro text remember inelastic means there are no close substitutes products that people will pay a high price for because there is nothing else they can buy the is close to the item Prof. Allen says A skimming pricing policy involves setting prices of products relatively high compared to those of similar products and then gradually lowering prices. The skimming price is the highest price possible that buyers who most desire the product will pay (skim the cream off the top skim the innovators). This market segment is more interested in quality, status, uniqueness, etc. This policy is effective in situations where a firm has a substantial lead over competition with a new product. Example: A great example of Skimming is DVD players in the late 1990s and early 2000s in the late 1990s DVD players sold for $500 and $400 when they first came out, then the price dropped to less than $100 by 2001 by 2004 you can get them for $50 or $60 at many different types of stores. Penetration Pricing to make it too intimidating for competition to follow, or to make sure you enter the market in a competitive environment or as part of a brand building strategy Prof. Allen says A penetration pricing policy involves setting prices of products relatively low compared to those of similar products in the hope that they will secure wide market acceptance that will allow the company to later raise its prices. Such a policy is often used when the firm expects competition from similar products within a short time and when large-scale production and marketing will produce substantial reductions in overall costs. The low price must help keep out the competition, and the company must maintain its low price position. Discount Pricing can be seasonal can be based on volume or amount bought can be used to attract a form of payment e.g, CA$H Prof. Allen says Discount and allowance pricing has the effect of reducing prices to reward customer responses such as paying early or promoting the product. A recent pricing issue is that of everyday low pricing, where the retailer charges a constant, lower price at all times, with no temporary price discounts. Wal-Mart has led the trend toward everyday low pricing. Geographic Pricing F.O.B. basically, this is the price out the door at our factory you come and get it C.I.F. the cost at our factory + the insurance and freight to ship it to you ZONE if you live close, it is cheaper, if you live farther away, we add in shipping costs ZONE pricing used for everything from Pizza delivery to clothing to grain shipments Basing-point pricing means that all customers are charged freight from a specified billing location. Freight-absorption pricing, the seller pays all shipping costs to get the desired business. Prof. Allen says Price is influenced by geography, where the company decides on how to price to distant customers. Free On Board or FOB-origin pricing is a geographical pricing strategy in which goods are placed free on board a carrier; the customer pays the actual freight from the factory to the destination. Because the customer picks up its own cost, supporters believe that this method is the fairest way to assess freight charges. Some of the more pricing objectives are Maximize long run profit Maximize short run profit Increase sales volume Increase monetary sale Increase market share Obtain a target rate of return on investment Obtain a target rate of return on sale stabilize market or stabilize market price: an objective to stabilize price means that the marketing manager attempts to keep prices stable in the marketplace and to compete on non-price considerations. Stabilization of margin is basically a cost-plus approach in which the manager attempts to maintain the same margin regardless of changes in cost. company growth maintain price of leadership desensitize customers to price discourage new entrants into the industry match competitors prices encourage the exit of marginal firms from the industry survival avoid government investigation or intervention obtain or maintain the loyalty and enthusiasm of distributers and other sales personnel enhance the image of the firm, brand, and product be perceived as â€Å"fair† by customers and a potential customers create interest and excitement about a product discourage competitors from cutting prices use price to make the product â€Å"visible build store traffic help prepare for the sale of the business (harvesting) social, ethical, or ideological objectives get competitive advantage MARKETING MIX Themarketing mixis probably the most famous marketing term. Its elements are the basic, tactical components of a marketing plan. Also known as theFour Ps, the marketing mixelements areproduct, price, promotion, place. 4 PS OF MARKETING MIX PRODUCT A tangible object or an intangible service that ismass producedor manufactured on a large scale with a specific volume of units. Intangible products are often service based like thetourism industry thehotel industryor codes-based products like cellphone load and credits. Typical examples of a mass produced tangible object are themotor carand the disposablerazor. A less obvious but ubiquitous mass produced service is acomputer operating system. Company should produce product according to customers needs and want because the motive of pricing pricing objective is profit maximisation. PRICE The price is the amount a customer pays for the product. It is determined by a number of factors including market share, competition, material costs, product identity and the customers perceived value of the product. The business may increase or decrease the price of product if other stores have the same product. Company should set their price according to customers budget to earn more profit. One of the four major elements of the marketing mix is price. Pricing is an important strategic issue because it is related to product positioning. Furthermore, pricing affects other marketing mix elements such as product features, channel decisions, and promotion. PLACE THE Place represents the location where a distribution channel. It can include any physical store as well as virtual stores on the Internet. Companies set their price according to place if target place is rural and backward then they should reduse their prices and if the target place is modern urban then the company charge more price according to its brand image and get more profit. PROMOTION Represents all of the communications that a marketer may use in the marketplace. Promotion has four distinct elements -advertising,public relations,word of mouthandpoint of sale. A certain amount of crossover occurs when promotion uses the four principal elements together, which is common in film promotion. Advertising covers any communication that is paid for, from cinema commercials, radio and Internet adverts through print media and billboards. Public relations are where the communication is not directly paid for and includes press releases, sponsorship deals, exhibitions, conferences, seminars or trade fairs and events. Word of mouth is any apparently informal communication about the product by ordinary individuals, satisfied customers or people specifically engaged to create word of mouth momentum. Sales staff often plays an important role in word of mouth and Public Relations. Packaging also needs to be taken into consideration. Broadly defined, optimizing the marketing mix is the primary responsibility of marketing. By offering the product with the right combination of the four Ps marketers can improve their results and marketing effectiveness. Making small changes in the marketing mix is typically considered to be a tactical change.Parm Bains says Making large changes in any of the four Ps can be considered strategic. For example, a large change in the price, say from $19.00 to $39.00 would be considered a strategic change in the position of the product. However a change of $130 to $129.99 would be considered a tactical change, potentially related to a promotional offer. The term marketing mix however, does not imply that the 4P elements represent options. They are not trade-offs but are fundamental marketing issues that always need to be addressed. They are the fundamental actions that marketing requires whether determined explicitly or by default. The main objective is profit maximisation so company promote its brand and invest more money and get maximum profit. INFLUENCE THE MARKETING MIX Before the product is developed, the marketing strategy is formulated, including target market selection and product positioning. There usually is a tradeoff between product quality and price, so price is an important variable in positioning. Because of inherent tradeoffs betweenmarketing mixelements, pricing will depend on other product, distribution, and promotion decisions. ESTIMATE THE DEMAND CURVE Because there is a relationship between price and quantity demanded, it is important to understand the impact of pricing on sales by estimating thedemand curvefor the product. For existing products, experiments can be performed at prices above and below the current price in order to determine theprice elasticity of demand. Inelastic demand indicates that price increases might be feasible. CALCULATE THE COST If the firm has decided to launch the product, there likely is at least a basic understanding of the costs involved, otherwise, there might be no profit to be made. The unit cost of the product sets the lower limit of what the firm might charge, and determines the profit margin at higher prices. The total unit cost of a producing a product is composed of the variable cost of producing each additional unit and fixed costs that are incurred regardless of the quantity produced. The pricing policy should consider both types of costs. MARKET ENVIRONMENT Themarket environmentis amarketingterm and refers to all of the forces outside of marketing that affect marketing managements ability to build and maintain successful relationships with target customers. Themarket environmentconsists of both the macro environment and the microenvironment Micro environment The microenvironment refers to the forces that are close to the company and affect its ability to serve its customers. It includes the company itself, its suppliers, marketing intermediaries, customer markets,competitors, and publics. The company aspect of microenvironment refers to the internal environment of the company. This includes alldepartments, such as management,finance,research and development,purchasing,operations andaccounting. Each of these departments has an impact on marketing decisions. For example, research and development have input as to the features a product can perform and accounting approves the financial side of marketing plans and budgets. Thesuppliersof a company are also an important aspect of the microenvironment because even the slightest delay in receiving supplies can result in customer dissatisfaction. Marketing managers must watch supply availability and other trends dealing with suppliers to ensure that product will be delivered to customers in the time frame required in order to maintain a strong customer relationship. Marketing intermediaries refers to resellers, physical distribution firms, marketing services agencies, andfinancial intermediaries. These are the people that help the company promote, sell, and distribute its products to final buyers. Resellers are those that hold and sell the companys product. They match the distribution to the customers and include places such asWal-Mart, Target, andBest Buy. Physical distribution firms are places such as warehouses that store and transport the companys product from its origin to its destination. Marketing services agencies are companies that offer services such as conductingmarketing research, advertising, and consulting. Financial intermediaries are institutions such as banks, credit companies andinsurance companies. Another aspect of microenvironment is the customers. There are different types of customer markets including consumer markets, business markets, government markets,international markets, and reseller markets. The consumer market is made up of individuals who buygoods and servicesfor their own personal use or use in their household. Business markets include those that buy goods and services for use in producing their own products to sell. This is different from the reseller market which includes businesses that purchase goods to resell as is for a profit. These are the same companies mentioned as market intermediaries. The government market consists of government agencies that buy goods to producepublic servicesor transfer goods to others who need them. International markets include buyers in other countries and includes customers from the previous categories. Competitors are also a factor in the microenvironment and include companies with similar offerings for goods and services. To remain competitive a company must consider who their biggest competitors are while considering its own size and position in the industry. The company should develop a strategic advantage over their competitors. The final aspect of the microenvironment is publics, which is any group that has an interest in or impact on the organizations ability to meet its goals. For example, financial publics can hinder a companys ability to obtain funds affecting the level of credit a company has. Media publics include newspapers and magazines that can publish articles of interest regarding the company and editorials that may influence customers opinions. Government publics can affect the company by passing legislation and laws that put restrictions on the companys actions. Citizen-action publics include environmental groups andminority groupsand can question the actions of a company and put them in the public spotlight. Local publics are neighborhood and community organizations and will also question a companys impact on the local area and the level of responsibility of their actions. The general public can greatly affect the company as any change in their attitude, whether positive or negative, can cause sales to go up or down because the general public is often the companyscustomer base. And finally, the internal publics include all those who are employed within the company and deal with the organization and construction of the companys product. Macro environment The macro environment refers to all forces that are part of the larger society and affect the microenvironment. It includes concepts such as demography, economy, natural forces, technology, politics, and culture. Demographyrefers to studying human populations in terms of size, density, location, age, gender, race, and occupation. This is a very important factor to study for marketers and helps to divide the population intomarket segmentsandtarget markets. An example of demography is classifying groups of people according to the year they were born. These classifications can be referred to asbaby boomers, who are born between 1946 and 1964,generation X, who are born between 1965 and 1976, andgeneration Y, who are born between 1977 and 1994. Each classification has different characteristics and causes they find important. This can be beneficial to a marketer as they can decide who their product would benefit most and tailor theirmarketing planto attract that segment. Demography covers many aspects that are important to marketers including family dynamics, geographic shifts, work force changes, and levels of diversity in any given area. Another aspect of the macro environment is the economic environment. This refers to thepurchasing powerof potential customers and the ways in which people spend their money. Within this area are two different economies, subsistence and industrialized. Subsistence economies are based more in agriculture and consume their own industrial output. Industrial economies have markets that are diverse and carry many different types of goods. Each is important to the marketer because each has a highly different spending pattern as well as differentdistribution of wealth. The natural environment is another important factor of the macro environment. This includes the natural resources that a company uses as inputs and affects their marketing activities. The concern in this area is the increased pollution, shortages of raw materials and increased governmental intervention. As raw materials become increasingly scarcer, the ability to create a companys product gets much harder. Also, pollution can go as far as negatively affecting a companys reputation if they are known for damaging the environment. The last concern,government interventioncan make it increasingly harder for a company to fulfill their goals as requirements get more stringent. The technological environment is perhaps one of the fastest changing factors in the macroenvironment. This includes all developments from antibiotics and surgery tonuclear missilesandchemical weaponsto automobiles andcredit cards. As these markets develop it can create new markets and new uses for products. It also requires a company to stay ahead of others and update their own technology as it becomes outdated. They must stay informed of trends so they can be part ofthe next big thing, rather

What Does The Placebo Effect Say About The Mind-body Dilemma? :: Biology Essays Research Papers

What Does The Placebo Effect Say About The Mind-body Dilemma? When I was seven years old my family and I took my grandmother on a trip around northern India. It was her desire to make pilgrimages to the temples that were considered to be the holiest by the Swaminaryans, an orthodox sect of Hindus. At that time in my life, I couldn't even pretend to be interested in the activities occurring within the temples. Instead, I was mesmerized by my proximity to the wildlife that was lounging just outside of the actual walls of temples. In a two-week span of time I must have seen more than twenty temples, and by the end they all blurred together except for one. Although the temple itself was not magnificent, what was occurring inside has remained with me to this day. A male priest, who was sitting at the main alter, was pulling on elderly woman's hair causing her to scream hysterically. I discovered that the woman was suffering from a headache and was having it cured by the priest. More accurately, she was having the "ghosts" removed from her brain. For the individuals who were directly involved in the ceremony and for many of the people with whom I was traveling, exorcism was a perfectly legitimate way of curing an illness of the body. The cure had no pharmaceutical basis, but it was based in the people's belief system. The belief system for the circumstance that I witnessed was a ritualistic aspect of Hinduism. In the case of the exorcism, the individuals involved expected that the treatment would work, and as a result the treatment did work. The idea that people benefit from expectation alone is called the placebo effect, and it is not u nique to India or to the east. Placebos are medications or treatments that are benign and have no pharmacological properties 1)The Placebo Effect Real of Imagined. The category of placebo includes everything from the hair pulling I witnessed in India to the starch pills that millions of American women take along with their birth control. Until recently, placebos were considered important to Western medicine, in so far as they were part of a rigorous scientific method of testing and approving new medicine. In particular, a standard part of clinical trials is the division of patients into two categories. One category is given the medication being tested and the other is given placebo pills.

The Pugilist at Rest :: essays research papers

Judging from the other reviews, the awards, and multiple accolades Thom Jones's writings, and "The Pugilist at Rest" in particular, have received, I am apparently in quite the minority. But here goes: I found an inherent falseness and overwritten emotion throughout the stories. Jones too often tells the reader what he/she should be feeling instead of letting the reader respond sans prescription. Case in point: "I Want to Live!" The son-in-law is the "good guy" (obviously the author -- tacky) who gives the dying woman Schopenhauer to read and narcotic medication to ease the unbearable pain no one else will even acknowledge. This revitalizes the woman in the extreme (I believe she thanks God for her son-in-law at some point, which struck me as the author thanking God for the character of himself as he portrayed himself in the story -- again, ooh, tacky). Obviously, Jones digs Schopenhauer and through the character of the woman tells us that philosophy from just the right guy will turn it all around for us as we are dying an excruciating death. Please. This situation probably "actually happened" just this way in Jones's life, but it doesn't mean the recounting of it reveals the truth. I also found technical medical error in the description of the effect of certain drugs on the woman's pain. I have to paraphrase re: the effect of methadone, something like "circles of orange orgasms blossoming through her body." Methadone has a long half-life; taken orally, as in the story, it would take a long time to take effect. Methadone works as a slow build toward pain relief -- good relief, but hardly orgasmic -- as opposed to an injection of morphine, for which an orgasmic description would have been appropriate.

Animal Farm, by George Orwell :: Animal Farm Essays

The Novel Animal Farm, was written by George Orwell. This story takes place on a farm where the animals revolt against the human owner of the land and take control of the farm. During the reign of the animals, many conflicts occur over who holds the most power and who should be making all of the decisions on be-half of the rest of the animals. Eventually Napolean gains power over Snowball. This causes many problems on the farm because Napolean uses much of the money to entertain himself and does not take necessary action to help the rest of the animals. The author chose to name the book "Animal Farm" because in a literal term, the animals own and run the farm. This is clearly shown in the book when we see the animals force the human owner off the farm and they begin to run everything that happens. This novel belongs to the modern period of British Literature. During this time period, a significant resemblance can be seen between the context of the novel and communism. The two pigs, Napolean and Snowball, represent the leaders of communism, Stalin and Trotsky. While they hold the power, they both have differing views and attempt to gain a superior power over the other. When Napolean gains total control, it represents what communism turned out to be. This involved one leader controlling the entire body of people and forcing his ways on everyone else. The author’s point of view is that communism is something that should have never come into existence. He believes that all the power should not belong to one person because that single person will take advantage of their power and use it to their advantage. The effect of this is that it gives the reader the idea that nothing good can come of communism. This makes everyone who reads the novel believe what he believes. This can be a reliable source because what is written in context truly represents history. Orwell describes his characters indirectly. This is because of the resemblance to the history of communism. Some of the characters were meant to represent an actual human being that once lived, so the description of that character can be taken from the character traits of the actual person that they represent. Animal Farm, by George Orwell :: Animal Farm Essays The Novel Animal Farm, was written by George Orwell. This story takes place on a farm where the animals revolt against the human owner of the land and take control of the farm. During the reign of the animals, many conflicts occur over who holds the most power and who should be making all of the decisions on be-half of the rest of the animals. Eventually Napolean gains power over Snowball. This causes many problems on the farm because Napolean uses much of the money to entertain himself and does not take necessary action to help the rest of the animals. The author chose to name the book "Animal Farm" because in a literal term, the animals own and run the farm. This is clearly shown in the book when we see the animals force the human owner off the farm and they begin to run everything that happens. This novel belongs to the modern period of British Literature. During this time period, a significant resemblance can be seen between the context of the novel and communism. The two pigs, Napolean and Snowball, represent the leaders of communism, Stalin and Trotsky. While they hold the power, they both have differing views and attempt to gain a superior power over the other. When Napolean gains total control, it represents what communism turned out to be. This involved one leader controlling the entire body of people and forcing his ways on everyone else. The author’s point of view is that communism is something that should have never come into existence. He believes that all the power should not belong to one person because that single person will take advantage of their power and use it to their advantage. The effect of this is that it gives the reader the idea that nothing good can come of communism. This makes everyone who reads the novel believe what he believes. This can be a reliable source because what is written in context truly represents history. Orwell describes his characters indirectly. This is because of the resemblance to the history of communism. Some of the characters were meant to represent an actual human being that once lived, so the description of that character can be taken from the character traits of the actual person that they represent.

Comparing British Welfare Systems with 2 Other Countries

A 2000 word comparative review of the ways different countries approach welfare, as discussed on the unit. The aim of this essay is to discuss and compare the British Welfare system with Germany and Sweden’s welfare systems. A welfare system is the structure of welfare provisions and services that provide a specific social need, but it is not only provided or organised solely by the government (Blakemore, 2001). It is a view that is rooted in individual exchanges between five organisations (State/Government, Market/Private Sector, Family/Kin networks, Local Communities and Civil Society).It reflects the history and cultures of different countries around the world (Haralambos, 2012). It is these providers that assume principal responsibilities of how welfare systems are organised and how they are worked for the welfare of its people in matters of health care, education, employment, and social security (Haralambos & Holborn, 2012b). The essay will focus on Adult Disability benef its and describe which of the main provider delivers disability benefits for the short-term and long term unemployed.The essay will also describe how they work and what patterns of provision is provided for the disabled. Then comparisons will be made on how the British welfare approaches on disability payments are provided and how they work, and I will examine the differences and similarities to each countries welfare system. The structure of the essay is based on a comparative method systematically designed for equivalences, similarities and shared common features. According to (Landman, 2004) the selection process involves two main types of research designs.Comparing different results across similar countries is known as ‘most similar systems’ and comparing similar outcomes across different countries known as ‘most different systems’. Either way using similarities and differences of different countries is meant to uncover what is common to each country (L andman, 2004, p28). The methodology approach is to select a ‘small –N’ (a few countries) and use the ‘trine’ method of involving three countries (Lewis, 2012). The method identified common features of the British welfare state with that of Germany and Sweden.Classification is a way of grouping common features which are mutual with other countries (Lewis, 2012). All 3 countries have a welfare system for those who have full or permanent disabilities. In order for things to be comparable they have to share certain features like welfare systems and have common features, called equivalences. Most countries have common features such as institutions, policies and services without these common features a comparison cannot be made. The essay will draw on an implicit approach rather than explicit because it is the British welfare system that comparisons are being made.All countries provide certain benefits for those who have full and permanent disabilities but they differ in the types of benefits they provide. Studies reviewed showed that some countries have changed part or the entire financial burden of short-term benefits from governments onto employers and private organisations. Disability benefits are provided by the state or local governments by all three countries however, in the UK only short term benefits are provided but in Germany and Sweden both short term and time limited benefits are provided for the disabled (Mitra, 2009). In the United Kingdom, the disability employment rate has been at 40%† (Huang et al, 2009, p. 46). The Liberal state of the United Kingdom faced major crisis of social and economic modernisation at the end of the Second World War. It was David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill who led the drive for what became the National Insurance Act of 1911, which brought in disability insurance. In fact, the reconstruction of welfare in the UK involved a set of relationship between the state, the market and th e family (Clarke & Logan, 1993).The Disability and Carers Service, which is part of the Department of Work & Pension (DWP) has the responsibility of providing benefits for people on benefits such as DLA. DLA is a tax-free benefit to help with extra costs you may have because your’re disabled, this is given to all claimants whether they are working or not (Directgov). Some people who make a claim for DLA may be asked to have a medical examination. Working tax credits was introduced in 2003 along with disability element to help people stay in work or to return to work (Mitra, 2009).Then the 2005 Disability Discrimination Act came into force (Haralambos & Holborn, 2009). (Burchardt, 2000) cited that according to the European Commission (1998), people with disabilities have low levels of participation in society and the employment rate for people with disabilities is 20-30% lower than people without disabilities (Huang, 2009). From 2013 Disability Living Allowance for disabled pe ople aged 16 to 64 will be replaced by a new Personal Independence Payment programme (Directgov).This is a non-means tested, tax free benefit. The DWP is to run a pilot scheme to help assist and reintroduce claimants back into the job market (Mitra, 2009), this will lead to employers paying short term benefits rather than the state. In Sweden it is the Local government responsibility for welfare services. It was from the 13th century that the first local legislation was seen as the responsibility of the local parish to take care of the poor (Bergmark & Minas, 2006, p. 15).The Swedish health system for people with disabilities are that national policy is plainly maintained by legislation and political agreement (Lilja et al, 2003). Swedish disability systems are organised in 3 hierarchical levels; the state, the county councils and the local authorities. However, this responsibility has expired over time and the national government decided to place a great deal of the responsibility for public services on the local authorities (Lilja et al, 2003). In Sweden policies relating to people with disabilities is provided through integration, full contribution and equality.Ministry of Health and social affairs (2000) reported the Swedish parliament had adopted a national policy for individuals with disabilities; they should have the same rights and obligations as everyone and be offered equal resources no matter where they lived (Lilja et al, 2003). While central government is to blame of legislation, general designing and distribution similarly as social insurance, authorities (municipalities) are answerable for social services, and regional government (county councils) for health care.Municipal social services additionally the} health and medical services of county councils are ruled by framework legislation that specifies the framework and objectives of activities however that also affords municipalities and county councils ample chance to interpret the law and form their activities in line with their own pointers People with disabilities will apply for municipal grants to change their homes.Actions like housing with special services for adults, or daily activities for those that are inactive and not enrolled in education are regulated by the Act regarding Support and repair for Persons with sure purposeful Impairments. County councils and municipalities are answerable for that health care help and is provided within the type of rehabilitation and habilitation. however there has been ongoing discussion regarding shifting a number of the price from state as a full to the individual user within the type of increasing the little fees some county councils and native authorities need and presumably reducing subsidies.While central government is in charge of legislation, general planning and distribution as well as social insurance, local authorities (municipalities) are responsible for social services, and regional government (county councils) for health care. Municipal social services and the health and medical services of county councils are governed by framework legislation which specifies the framework and objectives of activities but which also affords municipalities and county councils ample opportunity to interpret the law and shape their activities according to their own guidelines (Olney & Lyle, 2011).More than 70 organisations represent specific disability groups with 2,000 local associations. These organisations receive financial backing from the state, county councils and local authorities (Bahle, 2003). High spending on disability and unemployment helps to prevent poverty and social exclusion in these groups. The local authorities and county councils together have the basic responsibility for ensuring that people with disabilities are guaranteed good health and economic and social stability, and also for enabling the individual to lead an independent life.People with disabilities can apply for municipal grants to modify their homes. Actions such as housing with special services for adults, or daily activities for those who are inactive and not enrolled in education are regulated by the Act Concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments. County councils and municipalities are responsible for that health care assistance and is provided in the form of rehabilitation and habilitation.But there has been ongoing discussion about shifting some of the cost from state as a whole to the individual user in the form of increasing the small fees some county councils and local authorities require and possibly reducing subsidies. Country by Country The form of the welfare state that emerged was The ‘social state' of Germany began in the late 19th century when Bismarck was concerned the political left would oppose his place in power, he decided to introduce welfare provision into Germany to gain support from the left (Esping-Anderson, 1998).Bismarck's basic idea was th at people who were in work would pay into a scheme and this money would be distributed back to the poor (Ginsburg, 1993), he introduced the world's first State Social Insurance Scheme in 1883 (Bryson, 1992). The welfare system was about the basic needs of the state, with individuals helping themselves, the state would only intervene if it was absolutely necessary (Ginsburg, 1993). It was upon this base that Germany placed the future of welfare provision. Between 1950 and 1970 Germany's welfare system started to take shape.Interested in individual well being, the Christian, Catholic and Trade Unionists sections of the Government were introducing policies to increase job security (George, 1996). The neo- liberal ideas of strong market economy, individualism and democratic culture paired with the egalitarian approach to policy saw very distinctive priorities forming, of liberalism, conservative. Another example of how a corporatist system works in practice can be seen in the way a new insurance scheme for long term care was introduced in Germany in the mid-1990s.Time limited benefits was introduced in disability systems by the government via social insurance or social assistance programs (Mitra, 2009). The German welfare system is comprehensive and generous Social insurance lies at the heart of German social welfare. The disabled are also served by a broad range of medical and vocational programs designed to provide them with humane living conditions. Statutory social insurance programs are responsible for meeting the various needs of their members who become disabled.In addition, government agencies at the federal, Land, and local levels seek to provide employment and help with special housing and transportation provisions. Employment of the disabled is furthered by federal legislation that requires firms employing more than fifteen persons to reserve 6 percent of positions for the disabled or to make annual compensatory payments My hypothesis is, Germany and Sw eden disability programmes have a strong history with non-profit organisations that help support provisions for the disabled stronger than Britain’s profit based organizations.But on the other hand a result of social policies that are too strongly oriented towards the past on the one hand and sustainable conservative family patterns on the other, very little importance is attached to disability social policy contexts. CONCLUSION There is no longer a distinction between Germany’s contribution-based and Britain’s tax-based funding of welfare state programs, but in practice these two models have come together, as most social-insurance schemes are funded by a mixture of employer/employee contributions and grants from general state incomes.Contribution-based schemes, which are funded and administered independent of the government budget and in which members have vested benefits, have in history tended to be more generous and less prone to cutbacks than tax-funded sch emes, which the state can cut back when tax revenues are limited or an anti welfare state political party comes to power. It is, however, important to stress that there are considerable differences between the lives of disabled people and the type of welfare benefits across the European welfare system.The two decisive but interconnected differences consist of the amount to which the public sector takes the individual or the family as its point of departure and the degree to which disabilities is seen as a stage of life in its own right or how each individual is assessed. Welfare pluralism suggests that all welfare provisions will be provided by all the five providers in all countries in the future and less state/public responsibility. ?REFERENCES Bahle, T. (2003) ‘The changing institutionalization of social services in England and Wales, France and Germany: is the welfare state on the retreat? , Journal of European Social Policy, 13(5), pp. 5-20 Bergmark, A. and Minas, R. â₠¬ËœRescaling Social Welfare Policies in Sweden’ Institute for Future Studies [Online]. Available at: http://www. euro. centre. org/rescalingDocuments/files/Sweden. pdf (Accessed: 15 March 2012) Bode, I. 2006) ‘Disorganised welfare mixes: voluntary agencies and new governance regimes in Western Europe’, Journal of European Social Policy, 16(4), pp. 346-359 Clarke, J. , & Cochrane, A. (1993) Comparing Welfare States: Britain in International Context, London, Sage Etherington, D. & Ingold, J. (2012) ‘Welfare to work and the inclusive labour market: a comparative study of activation policies for disability and long-tern sickness benefit claimants in the UK and Denmark’, Journal of European Social Policy, 22(1) pp. 0-44 Haralambos & Holborn (2009) (7th edn) Sociology Themes and Perspectives, London, HarperCollinsPublishers Limited Huang, J. , Guo, B. , & Bricout, J. (2009) ‘From Concentration to Dispersion: The Shift in Policy Approach to Disability Employment’, Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 20(1) pp. 46-54 Landman, T. (2004) Isssues and Methods in Comparative Politics: an introduction. 3rd edn. Dawsonera [Online] Available at: http://www. dawsonera. com/depp/reader/protected/external/AbstractView/S9780203929780/S0. 78/0Lilja, M, Mansson, I, Jahlenius, L. , & Sacco-Peterson, M. (2003) ‘Disability Policy in Sweden: Policies Concerning Assistive Technology and Home Modification Services’, Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 14(3)pp. 130-135 Mitra, S. (2009) ‘Temporary and Partial Disability Programs in Nine Countries’, Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 20 (1) pp. 14-27 Olney, M. F. & Lyle, C. (2011) ‘The Benefits Trap: Barriers to Employment Experienced by SSA Beneficiaries’, Rehabilitation Counceling Bulletin, 54(4), pp. 197-209

Computer benefits Essay

In today’s modern world, computers are needed everyday. Around the world, children use computers from the time they are little. It’s true that children should have fun when they are young; however, in my opinion, a child who knows how to use the computer will be more successful in the future. My reasons for this view are personal, academic and professional. From a personal point of view, computers can help young people to learn more about the world. For example, some children use the Internet to find information on different subjects. In this way, they learn to find answers by themselves. By using the computer when they are little, children feel more comfortable around computers. They also know how to use the computer for different reasons. From an academic viewpoint, children have to learn how to use this new invention. For instance, when I was in college, many students used to bring their laptops to class. They used to take notes, do research and share information. They wrote their essays, made presentations and created useful lists. Children who can use the computer when they are young have more confidence than other children. From a professional perspective, the computer is found in every kind of office. Today, employers will still hire people who cannot use computers and give them computer training. But tomorrow, companies will expect people to have these skills already. As a result, by encouraging children to use the computer for a short time every day, parents are preparing their children for future jobs. In conclusion, it is clear that computers are now a part of our regular life. Children who can use computers easily and confidently will do better in the future.