Second Foundation 21. The Answer That Satisfied

Turbor laughed suddenly – laughed in huge, windy gusts that bounced ringingly off the walls and died in gasps. He shook his head, weakly, and said, â€Å"Great Galaxy, this goes on all night. One after another, we put up our straw men to be knocked down. We have fun, but we don't get anywhere. Space! Maybe all planets are the Second Foundation. Maybe they have no planet, just key men spread on all the planets. And what does it matter, since Darell says we have the perfect defense?† Darell smiled without humor. â€Å"The perfect defense is not enough, Turbor. Even my Mental Static device is only something that keeps us in the same place. We cannot remain forever with our fists doubled, frantically staring in all directions for the unknown enemy. We must know not only how to win, but whom to defeat. And there is a specific world on which the enemy exists.† â€Å"Get to the point,† said Anthor, wearily. â€Å"What's your information?† â€Å"Arcadia,† said Darell, â€Å"sent me a message, and until I got it, I never saw the obvious. I probably would never have seen the obvious. Yet it was a simple message that went: ‘A circle has no end.' Do you see?† â€Å"No,† said Anthor, stubbornly, and he spoke, quite obviously, for the others. â€Å"A circle has no end,† repeated Munn, thoughtfully, and his forehead furrowed. â€Å"Well,† said Darell, impatiently, â€Å"it was clear to me- What is the one absolute fact we know about the Second Foundation, eh? I'll tell you! We know that Hari Seldon located it at the opposite end of the Galaxy. Homir Munn theorized that Seldon lied about the existence of the Foundation. Pelleas Anthor theorized that Seldon had told the truth that far, but lied about the location of the Foundation. But I tell you that Hari Seldon lied in no particular; that he told the absolute truth. â€Å"But, what is the other end? The Galaxy is a flat, lens-shaped object. A cross section along the flatness of it is a circle, and a circle had no end – as Arcadia realized. We – we, the First Foundation – are located on Terminus at the rim of that circle. We are at an end of the Galaxy, by definition. Now follow the rim of that circle and find the other end. Follow it, follow it, follow it, and you will find no other end. You will merely come back to your starting point- â€Å"And there you will find the Second Foundation.† â€Å"There?† repeated Anthor. â€Å"Do you mean here?† â€Å"Yes, I mean here!† cried Darell, energetically. â€Å"Why, where else could it possibly be? You said yourself that if the Second Foundationers were the guardians of the Seldon Plan, it was unlikely that they could be located at the so-called other end of the Galaxy, where they would be as isolated as they could conceivably be. You thought that fifty parsecs distance was more sensible. I tell you that that is also too far. That no distance at all is more sensible. And where would they be safest? Who would look for them here? Oh, it's the old principle of the most obvious place being the least suspicious. â€Å"Why was poor Ebling Mis so surprised and unmanned by his discovery of the location of the Second Foundation? There he was, looking for it desperately in order to warn it of the coming of the Mule, only to find that the Mule had already captured both Foundations at a stroke. And why did the Mule himself fail. in his search? Why not? If one is searching for an unconquerable menace, one would scarcely look among the enemies already conquered. So the Mind-masters, in their own leisurely time, could lay their plans to stop the Mule, and succeeded in stopping him. â€Å"Oh, it is maddeningly simple. For here we are with our plots and our schemes, thinking that we are keeping our secrecy – when all the time we are in the very heart and core of our enemy's stronghold. It's humorous.† Anthor did not remove the skepticism from his face, â€Å"You honestly believe this theory, Dr. Darell?† â€Å"I honestly believe it.† â€Å"Then any of our neighbors, any man we pass in the street might be a Second Foundation superman, with his mind watching yours and feeling the pulse of its thoughts.† â€Å"Exactly.† â€Å"And we have been permitted to proceed all this time, without molestation?† â€Å"Without molestation? Who told you we were not molested? You, yourself, showed that Munn has been tampered with. What makes you think that we sent him to Kalgan in the first place entirely of our own volition – or that Arcadia overheard us and followed him on her own volition? Hah! We have been molested without pause, probably. And after all, why should they do more than they have? It is far more to their benefit to mislead us, than merely to stop us.† Anthor buried himself in meditation and emerged therefrom with a dissatisfied expression. â€Å"Well, then, I don't like it. Your Mental Static isn't worth a thought. We can't stay in the house forever and as soon as we leave, we're lost, with what we now think we know. Unless you can build a little machine for every inhabitant in the Galaxy.† â€Å"Yes, but we're not quite helpless, Anthor. These men of the Second Foundation have a special sense which we lack. It is their strength and also their weakness. For instance, is there any weapon of attack that will be effective against a normal, sighted man which is useless against a blind man?† â€Å"Sure,† said Munn, promptly. â€Å"A light in the eyes.† â€Å"Exactly,† said Darell. â€Å"A good, strong blinding light.† â€Å"Well, what of it?† asked Turbor. â€Å"But the analogy is clear. I have a Mind Static device. It sets up an artificial electromagnetic pattern, which to the mind of a man of the Second Foundation would be like a beam of light to us. But the Mind Static device is kaleidoscopic. It shifts quickly and continuously, faster than the receiving mind can follow. All right then, consider it a flickering light; the kind that would give you a headache, if continued long enough. Now intensify that light or that electromagnetic field until it is blinding – and it will become a pain, an unendurable pain. But only to those with the proper sense; not to the unsensed.† â€Å"Really?† said Anthor, with the beginnings of enthusiasm. â€Å"Have you tried this?† â€Å"On whom? Of course, I haven't tried it. But it will work.† â€Å"Well, where do you have the controls for the Field that surrounds the house? I'd like to see this thing.† â€Å"Here.† Darell reached into his jacket pocket. It was a small thing, scarcely bulging his pocket. He tossed the black, knob-studded cylinder to the other. Anthor inspected it carefully and shrugged his shoulders. â€Å"It doesn't make me any smarter to look at it. Look Darell, what mustn't I touch? I don't want to turn off the house defense by accident, you know.† â€Å"You won't,† said Darell, indifferently. â€Å"That control is locked in place.† He flicked at a toggle switch that didn't move. â€Å"And what's this knob?† â€Å"That one varies rate of shift of pattern. Here – this one varies the intensity. It's that which I've been referring to.† â€Å"May I-† asked Anthor, with his finger on the intensity knob. The others were crowding close. â€Å"Why not?† shrugged DarelI. â€Å"It won't affect us.† Slowly, almost wincingly, Anthor turned the knob, first in one direction, then in another. Turbor was gritting his teeth, while Munn blinked his eyes rapidly. It was as though they were keening their inadequate sensory equipment to locate this impulse which could not affect them. Finally, Anthor shrugged and tossed the control box back into Darell's lap. â€Å"Well, I suppose we can take your word for it. But it's certainly hard to imagine that anything was happening when I turned the knob.† â€Å"But naturally, Pelleas Anthor,† said Darell, with a tight smile. â€Å"The one I gave you was a dummy. You see I have another.† He tossed his jacket aside and seized a duplicate of the control box that Anthor had been investigating, which swung from his belt. â€Å"You see,† said Darell, and in one gesture turned the intensity knob to maximum. And with an unearthly shriek, Pelleas Anthor sank to the floor. He rolled in his agony; whitened, gripping fingers clutching and tearing futilely at his hair. Munn lifted his feet hastily to prevent contact with the squirming body, and his eyes were twin depths of horror. Semic and Turbor were a pair of plaster casts; stiff and white. Darell, somber, turned the knob back once more. And Anthor twitched feebly once or twice and lay still. He was alive, his breath racking his body. â€Å"Lift him on to the couch,† said Darell, grasping the young man's head. â€Å"Help me here.† Turbor reached for the feet. They might have been lifting a sack of flour. Then, after long minutes, the breathing grew quieter, and Anthor's eyelids fluttered and lifted. His face was a horrid yellow; his hair and body was soaked in perspiration, and his voice, when he spoke, was cracked and unrecognizable. â€Å"Don't,† he muttered, â€Å"don't! Don't do that again! You don't know- You don't know- Oh-h-h.† It was a long, trembling moan. â€Å"We won't do it again,† said Darell, â€Å"if you will tell us the truth. You are a member of the Second Foundation?† â€Å"Let me have some water,† pleaded Anthor. â€Å"Get some, Turbor,† said Darell, â€Å"and bring the whiskey bottle.† He repeated the question after pouring a jigger of whiskey and two glasses of water into Anthor. Something seemed to relax in the young man- â€Å"Yes,† he said, wearily. â€Å"I am a member of the Second Foundation.† â€Å"Which,† continued Darell, â€Å"is located on Terminus – here?† â€Å"Yes, yes. You are right in every particular, Dr. Darell.† â€Å"Good! Now explain what's been happening this past half year. Tell us!† â€Å"I would like to sleep,† whispered Anthor. â€Å"Later! Speak now!† A tremulous sigh. Then words, low and hurried. The others bent over him to catch the sound, â€Å"The situation was growing dangerous. We knew that Terminus and its physical scientists were becoming interested in brain-wave patterns and that the times were ripe for the development of something like the Mind Static device. And there was growing enmity toward the Second Foundation. We had to stop it without ruining SeIdon's Plan. â€Å"We†¦ we tried to control the movement. We tried to join it. It would turn suspicion and efforts away from us. We saw to it that Kalgan declared war as a further distraction. That's why I sent Munn to Kalgan. Stettin's supposed mistress was one of us. She saw to it that Munn made the proper moves-â€Å" â€Å"Callia is-† cried Munn, but Darell waved him silent. Anthor continued, unaware of any interruption, â€Å"Arcadia followed. We hadn't counted on that – can't foresee everything – so Callia maneuvered her to Trantor to prevent interference. That's all. Except that we lost.† â€Å"You tried to get me to go to Trantor, didn't you?† asked Darell. Anthor nodded, â€Å"Had to get you out of the way. The growing triumph in your mind was clear enough. You were solving the problems of the Mind Static device.† â€Å"Why didn't you put me under control?† â€Å"Couldn't†¦ couldn't. Had my orders. We were working according to a Plan. If I improvised, I would have thrown everything off. Plan only predicts probabilities†¦ you know that†¦ like Seldon's Plan.† He was talking in anguished pants, and almost incoherently. His head twisted from side to side in a restless fever. â€Å"We worked with individuals†¦ not groups†¦ very low probabilities involved†¦ lost out. Besides†¦ if control you†¦ someone else invent device†¦ no use†¦ had to control times†¦ more subtle†¦ First Speaker's own plan†¦ don't know all angles†¦ except†¦ didn't work a-a-a-† He ran down. Darell shook him roughly, â€Å"You can't sleep yet. How many of you are there?† â€Å"Huh? Whatjasay†¦ oh†¦ not many†¦ be surprised fifty†¦ don't need more.† â€Å"All here on Terminus?† â€Å"Five†¦ six out in Space†¦ like Callia†¦ got to sleep.† He stirred himself suddenly as though to one giant effort, and his expressions gained in clarity. It was a last attempt at self-justification, at moderating his defeat. â€Å"Almost got you at the end. Would have turned off defenses and seized you. Would have seen who was master. But you gave me dummy controls†¦ suspected me all along-â€Å" And finally he was asleep. Turbor said, in awed tones, â€Å"How long did you suspect him, Darell?† â€Å"Ever since he first came here,† was the quiet response. â€Å"He came from Kleise, he said. But I knew Kleise; and I knew on what terms we parted. He was a fanatic on the subject of the Second Foundation and I had deserted him. My own purposes were reasonable, since I thought it best and safest to pursue my own notions by myself. But I couldn't tell Kleise that; and he wouldn't have listened if I had. To him, I was a coward and a traitor, perhaps even an agent of the Second Foundation. He was an unforgiving man and from that time almost to the day of his death he had no dealings with me. Then, suddenly, in his last few weeks of life, he writes me – as an old friend – to greet his best and most promising pupil as a co-worker and begin again the old investigation. â€Å"It was out of character. How could he possibly do such a thing without being under outside influence, and I began to wonder if the only purpose might not be to introduce into my confidence a real agent of the Second Foundation. Well, it was so-â€Å" He sighed and closed his own eyes for a moment. Semic put in hesitantly, â€Å"What will we do with all of them†¦ these Second Foundation fellas?† â€Å"I don't know,† said Darell, sadly. â€Å"We could exile them, I suppose. There's Zoranel, for instance. They can be placed there and the planet saturated with Mind Static. The sexes can be separated, or, better still, they can be sterilized – and in fifty years, the Second Foundation will be a thing of the past. Or perhaps a quiet death for all of them would be kinder.† â€Å"Do you suppose,† said Turbor, â€Å"we could learn the use of this sense of theirs. Or are they born with it, like the Mule.† â€Å"I don't know. I think it is developed through long training, since there are indications from encephalography that the potentialities of it are latent in the human mind. But what do you want that sense for? It hasn't helped them.† He frowned. Though he said nothing, his thoughts were shouting. It had been too easy – too easy. They had fallen, these invincibles, fallen like book-villains, and he didn't like it. Galaxy! When can a man know he is not a puppet? How can a man know he is not a puppet? Arcadia was coming home, and his thoughts shuddered away from that which he must face in the end. She was home for a week, then two, and he could not loose the tight check upon those thoughts. How could he? She had changed from child to young woman in her absence, by some strange alchemy. She was his link to life; his link to a bittersweet marriage that scarcely outlasted his honeymoon. And then, late one evening, he said as casually as he could, â€Å"Arcadia, what made you decide that Terminus contained both Foundations?† They had been to the theater; in the best seats with private trimensional viewers for each; her dress was new for the occasion, and she was happy. She stared at him for a moment, then tossed it off. â€Å"Oh, I Don't know, Father. It just came to me.† A layer of ice thickened about Dr. Darell's heart. â€Å"Think,† he said, intensely. â€Å"This is important. What made you decide both Foundations were on Terminus.† She frowned slightly. â€Å"Well, there was Lady Callia. I knew she was a Second Foundationer. Anthor said so, too.† â€Å"But she was on Kalgan,† insisted Darell. â€Å"What made you decide on Terminus?† And now Arcadia waited for several minutes before she answered. What had made her decide? What had made her decide? She had the horrible sensation of something slipping just beyond her grasp. She said, â€Å"She knew about things – Lady Callia did – and must have had her information from Terminus. Doesn't that sound right, Father? But he just shook his head at her. â€Å"Father,† she cried, â€Å"I knew. The more I thought, the surer I was. It just made sense.† There was that lost look in her father's eyes, â€Å"It's no good, Arcadia. Its no good. Intuition is suspicious when concerned with the Second Foundation. You see that, don't you? It might have been intuition – and it might have been control!† â€Å"Control! You mean they changed me? Oh, no. No, they couldn't.† She was backing away from him. â€Å"But didn't Anthor say I was right? He admitted it. He admitted everything. And you've found the whole bunch right here on Trantor. Didn't you? Didn't you?† She was breathing quickly. â€Å"I know, but- Arcadia, will you let me make an encephalographic analysis of your brain?' She shook her head violently, â€Å"No, no! I'm too scared.† â€Å"Of me, Arcadia? There's nothing to be afraid of. But we must know. You see that, don't you?† She interrupted him only once, after that. She clutched at his arm just before the last switch was thrown. â€Å"What if I am different, Father? What will you have to do?† â€Å"I won't have to do anything, Arcadia. If you're different, we'll leave. Well go back to Trantor, you and I, and†¦ and we won't care about anything else in the Galaxy.† Never in Darell's life had an analysis proceeded so slowly, cost him so much, and when it was over, Arcadia huddled down and dared not look. Then she heard him laugh and that was information enough. She jumped up and threw herself into his opened arms. He was babbling wildly as they squeezed one another, â€Å"The house is under maximum Mind Static and your brain-waves are normal. We really have trapped them, Arcadia, and we can go back to living.† â€Å"Father,† she gasped, â€Å"can we let them give us medals now?† â€Å"How did you know I'd asked to be left out of it?† He held her at arm's mind; you know everything. All right, you can have your medal on a platform, with speeches.† â€Å"And Father?† â€Å"Yes?† â€Å"Can you call me Arkady from now on.† â€Å"But- Very well, Arkady.† Slowly the magnitude of the victory was soaking into him and saturating him. The Foundation – the First Foundation – now the only Foundation – was absolute master of the Galaxy. No further barrier stood between themselves and the Second Empire – the final fulfillment of Seldon's Plan. They had only to reach for it- Thanks to-

Analysis of “Eleven” by Cisneros Essay

Poet Maya Angelo aptly stated, â€Å"I am convinced that most people do not grow up†¦ We carry accumulation of years in our bodies, and on our faces, but generally our real selves, the children inside, are innocent and shy as magnolias. † Similarly, Sandra Cisneros’s â€Å"Eleven† illuminates the enigmatic journey of growing up through the sagacious eyes of an eleven year old child. As the speaker of this work asserts, the aging process does not eradicate a person’s previous self. Instead, it accumulates layers of one’s former years and creates a realistic portrait of one’s complete existence. Cisneros’s work illustrates mankind’s maddening, internal struggle as it ages in this manner. When life demands maturity, one inadvertently becomes the sobbing three year old, the introverted adolescent, or the awkward teen of one’s past. The speaker of this literary work, Rachel, embodies this frustrating process of growing up. Undoubtedly, Cisneros employs similes, repetition, and imagery as well as symbols and diction to characterize Rachel as she matures. The similes, repetition, and imagery utilized throughout â€Å"Eleven† vividly portray the speaker. For example, Cisneros illuminates Rachel’s development with the following comparisons: â€Å"Growing old is kind of like an onion or like the rings inside a tree trunk or like my little wooden dolls that fit one inside the other. † This illustrates the way in which each of Rachel’s years develops atop the prior one. As a result, she remains the quiet four year old who cannot express that the sweater does not belong to her and the three year-old who desperately wants to release a flood of tears as she is forced to wear the horrid red garment. Additionally, Cisneros characterizes Rachel as a child â€Å"with only eleven years rattling inside [her] like pennies in a Band-Aid box. † The randomness and disorder of loose change as it jiggles in its container mirrors Rachel’s internal turmoil. Each of the speaker’s eleven years metaphorically clatter inside her mind and struggle to become the master of her actions. Furthermore, the repetition of critical phrases contributes to Rachel’s characterization. Cisneros restates the numbers, â€Å"ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and one†¦. †, to reiterate the concept that all of Rachel’s previous ten years remain a part of her. Interestingly, counting backwards from ten, a common juvenile chant, successfully demonstrates Rachel’s childlike character. Additionally, the repetition of the phrase â€Å"today I am eleven† reveals Rachel’s vehement desire to suppress the previous years of her youth which embody a maddening immaturity. However, the speaker’s resolute, repetitive assertion that she is eleven highlights Rachel’s struggle to remind herself that she is transitioning into her eleventh year. Thus, her apparently juvenile behavior illustrates that Rachel is a culmination of each of her prior years. In addition, the repetition of the phrase â€Å"not mine† further illuminates Rachel’s inner toddler years. Finally, Cisneros use of imagery vividly depicts Rachel. For example, she describes her with the following vibrant lines: â€Å"My face all hot and spit coming out of my mouth because I can’t stop making those little animal noises, my whole head hurts like when you drink milk too fast. † This creates the portrait of the teary-eyed, red-faced Rachel and connects to the reader’s senses of touch, sight, taste, and hearing. Hence, literary devices masterfully demonstrate Rachel’s character throughout â€Å"Eleven. † Moreover, Cisneros employs symbols and diction to aptly characterize Rachel. First, the red sweater serves as a crucial symbol in this work of prose. Essentially, this contemptible garment embodies the previous years that remain within Rachel. Cisneros writes the following description of this repulsive sweater: â€Å"It’s an ugly sweater†¦with the collar and sleeves all stretched out like you could use it as a jump-rope. † In addition, the speaker cringes as she places one arm â€Å"through one sleeve of the sweater that smells like cottage cheese. † As Rachel glares at this symbolic garb, its sleeves evidently illustrate the eight or nine year old child within her who enjoyed the puerile pastime of jumping rope. Additionally, the cottage cheese stench of this garment is reminiscent of the peculiar scents that a younger child may often carry. Furthermore, as she shoves the sweater to the â€Å"tippy-tip corner† of her desk, it hangs â€Å"over the edge like a waterfall. † As this expression demonstrates, Rachel’s emotions spill from her just as the significant red garment tumbles from the desk. Moreover, the age of eleven is a symbolic element throughout the author’s short story. This age is typically regarded as a frustrating period positioned between the adolescent and teen years. Similarly, Rachel remains trapped between the maturity of her eleventh year and the juvenility of her previous self. For example, Rachel’s eleven year old mind recognizes the blatant injustice of Mrs. Price’s actions who forces her to accept the contemptible red sweater. However, as Rachel opens her mouth, her four year old self stutters an ineffective denial. In addition, the diction of this work contributes to the author’s portrayal of Rachel. Cisneros writes in the simple speech of a young girl. For instance, Rachel utilizes run-on sentences and childlike phrases such as â€Å"not mine,† â€Å"tippy-tip,† â€Å"all itchy,† and â€Å"that stupid Phyllis Lopez. † This deliberate style reminds the reader that Rachel is a little girl despite her wish to be â€Å"one hundred and two. † Also, â€Å"one hundred and two† exhibits typical childish exaggeration. Additionally, the author’s diction allows readers to experience thisgh situation from the perspective of an eleven year old. For instance, Cisneros describes Rachel’s indignation with the following lines: â€Å"That stupid Phyllis Lopez, who is even dumber than Sylvia Saldivar, says she remembers the red sweater is hers. I take it off right away and give it to her, only Mrs. Price pretends like everything’s okay. † This amplification of the incident allows readers to grasp the traumatic impact of this event on Rachel. Therefore, the symbols and diction of â€Å"Eleven† aptly depict Rachel’s character. Unquestionably, literary devices such as similes, repetition, imagery, symbols, and diction deftly contribute to the characterization of Rachel. Cisneros draws an enlightening parallel between development and the formation of layers within an onion or tree. Additionally, the repetition of childlike phrases such as â€Å"not mine† demonstrates that each of Rachel’s prior years remains within her as she matures. Also, the brilliant imagery of this literary work solidifies the reader’s visualization of Rachel. Moreover, the symbolic red sweater as well as the age of eleven further corroborates this central message. Finally, the puerile diction of this writing masterfully allows readers to comprehend the conflict that Rachel experiences in the tween year of eleven. Certainly, Cisneros effectively illustrates Rachel’s disillusionment as she realizes that she can neither make her voice be heard nor silence her childlike instincts at age eleven.

Equal opportunities for all in employment Essay

1. Do you think that legislation is useful in ensuring that there are equal opportunities for all in employment? There has been a gradual reduction in discrimination through the last century, legislation past by the government in numerous acts have acted to reduce discrimination in the work place. The Equal pay Act 1970, The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Race Relation Act 1976 are the main legislation that reduce discrimination. The Equal Pay Act 1970 ensured that men and women get the same terms and conditions for working a comparable job. Previous to this there were many employers paying women less for doing the same amount of work as a man. The Sex discrimination Act 1975, made it illegal to discriminate in employment on the grounds of sex and martial status. This act also brought to light direct discrimination; where someone is treated less favourably than a member of the opposite sex; and indirect discrimination; where a particular requirement apparently treats everyone equally but has a disproportionate effect on a particular group; the required must also not be justifiable (Bratton & Jones 1994). The Race Relations Act 1976 made it unlawful for employers to discriminate on grounds of race, colour, nationality and ethnic or national background. This was in an effort to reduce racism especially in the work place. These pieces of legislation are in an attempt to provide ‘equal opportunities’. Employer should only make decisions based upon the person’s ability to do the job. Though the government tries to ensure equal opportunities by giving out legislation that is encouraging, equal opportunities relies on good working practice. This is highlighted in job analysis where a person specification must not be more favourable to men than women. Advertising must not discriminate on grounds of sex or martial status, ‘sales person’ as appose to ‘salesman’. Interviews and selection must not ask discriminating questions such as whether a woman intends to have children. In conclusion legislation goes a long way to helping equal opportunities, and some cases (Grieg V Community Industry (1979), Gubala V Crompton Parkinson Ltd (1979)) have been brought against employers for discrimination. But real equal opportunity relies on the employer’s good practice of this legislation (Pendlebury 1996). 2. Is positive discrimination a worthwhile policy for an organisation and for society in general? Is there an overriding justification for positive discrimination? Positive discrimination is only worthwhile when used to dismiss preconceptions. Ethnic groups do not go into the police force generally for fear of racism and discrimination. UK police have a policy of encouraging recruitment from ethnic groups. This is to help represent society, which is multi-cultural; therefore enforcement officers should also be multi-cultural for an equal representation. Though positive discrimination must not be confused with or lead to preferential treatment on the basis of tokenism e.g. everyone past the recruitment test except for the woman, therefore we re-test or just allow her in anyway, as we need a woman. In politics, the House of Parliament is meant to be a representation of Great Britain’s society this is not the case. The majority of the House of Parliament is middle-aged, white and male. Steps have been made to positively discriminate to attain a more un-biased representation of the population. In this case there is an overriding justification for discrimination to help the young, women, ethnic groups into the House of Parliament. 3. Why is the interview such a popular method of selection, and what are its advantages and disadvantages? The interview is the most popular method of selection because it allows much more detail than any other form. Questions can be posed and the responses gauged as they are given. The advantages of the interview are that it has direct face-to-face communication. A rapport can be built up between candidate an interviewer; giving a relaxed atmosphere and more natural answers. The interview can be used to find out specific details crucial to the job and the candidates ability in this area. The candidate is less likely to exaggerate face-to-face than they might on an application form. An interview generally outlines what the candidate wrote on an application form. It is the best method of getting an accurate prediction of work performance. The disadvantages of a interview is that the candidate can deceive the interviewer in specialist areas that the interviewer knows nothing about e.g. the candidates knowledge of internal computer circuit boards, the interviewer might not know enough information about them to tell if the candidate is really the right person for the job. The interviewer’s perception may be selective, s/he may be racist, and this lack of objectivity may go unnoticed. A rapport with the candidate might cloud the interviewers objective judgement. An interviewer might dismiss a candidate on first impressions or stereotyping and then spend the rest of the interview confirming their decision. Or the halo effect where a smart dressed candidate distorts later judgements. The interviewer can make a logical error just because the candidate has not held down a job for more than six months doesn’t mean they won’t this time. Interviews place more emphasis on the negatives rather than the positives. Inexperienced interviewers might make errors of judgement and bias the results (Chambers 1997). 4. Analyse the problems associated with psychometric testing, and the underlying assumptions on which this selection procedure is based. Psychometric testing has a number of drawbacks: There is not always a direct relationship between the candidate’s performance in the test and their ability in the job. The job situation may be very different from the artificial test scenario. The interpretation of the results is usually complicated requiring training and experience. It is highly subjective, which belies the apparent scientific nature of the approach. Individual psychometric tests have their own drawbacks; an aptitude test for arithmetical ability would need to be constantly revised to ensure that later applicants would not know its content. Personality tests are often misleading as applicants try to guess which result will be viewed most favourably. Intelligence tests do not usually take into account different cultures and attitudes, which affects their chances of scoring well. It can be very hard to test for obscure traits such as maturity and creativity. It is difficult to erase bias from tests. Many tests are completed better by men than women, tests are usually designed by men this influences the make-up of the test. It is hard not to discriminate against race or sex in particular aspects of the testing. The underlying assumption is that all applicants test on fair and equal terms. If an applicant’s mother is ill in hospital this will weigh on the applicants mind and may distract them in the test. The best applicant may be having an off day, while the worse applicant might be on top form. Rewards Management 1. Analyse the connection between motivation and pay using three mainstream motivation theories. Herzberg’s two factor model of motivation claims that money is a ‘hygiene factor’ which means it is a dissatisfier if it is not sufficient, however money is not a potential satisfier or positive motivator. Herzberg said that money’s impact on favourable feelings is short term, while not enough pay produced long term unfavourable feelings. Adams’s Equity theory of motivation argues that satisfaction from pay is related to the employee’s perception. This is the amount of effort they put in for the amount of pay they get compared with the ratio of others. Expectancy Theory states that motivation will be strong if individuals can expect their effort to produce worthwhile rewards. Armstrong & Murlis (1998) say that ‘the greater the value of a set of awards, the higher the probability that receiving each of these rewards depends upon effort, the greater the effort that will be put forth in any given situation.’ For example to get a bonus of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½100, they may have to reach certain targets, if they think the effort they have to put in would match the à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½100 they will. Pay is very important to people because they rely on it to satisfy their basic needs. It is also a sign of their worth, it can therefore improve self-esteem and thus motivate them. Pay is the key to attracting people to a new job although other benefits may also be a factor pay is the most crucial. Employees will make comparisons between themselves and other employees, which will relate to equity and fairness. If they feel they’re not being paid enough they will leave, or work to attain a pay-rise. Pay can motivate (Armstrong & Murlis 1998) but to achieve lasting motivation attention has to be paid to other non-financial motivators. 2. When considering their reward systems management and employees will have differing priorities. What might these priorities be and why do they differ? Managers want to increase productivity by motivating their staff to get as much work out of them as possible. Employees on the other hand want as much money and benefits for doing their work as they can get. This produces a common ground on which employers and employee’s can negotiate. Employees want to maximise their rewards for working which affects their standard of living and their lifestyle. The organisation wants value for money from its employees, to attract and retain staff, to gain commitment and improve performance, which affects profitability and cost-effectiveness. Employees are looking after themselves and want rewards for doing as little work as possible. Employees are concerned that for putting a certain amount of effort in they get a justified reward. Management are concerned that the employee put in enough effort to deserve the award. Sale targets are a good example, if the employee meets the managers requirements they get a bonus (Armstrong & Murlis 1998). 3. What do we mean by differentials and relatives, and why are they important? The pay structure must provide appropriate differentials between ranges to reward significant increase in job size by moving a job to a higher grade. This means that there must be a meaningful pay increase with an increase in workload. If there is not sufficient differential between ranges of pay, then some workers will become borderline and frequent re-evaluations will be required. In a chain of command the pay is highest at the top and lowest at the bottom. Before being able to move up the chain, the length of the link must be overcome. Their needs to be at least a 10% pay rise for going from one link of the chain to the next, despite small pay rises as the employee moves up the link. Internal Relatives can be monitored by looking at the differentials that exist between groups of employees. If it is felt that because of changing roles that the pay does not reflect the new job size, investigations can be conducted to rectify the situation. When looking at pay for an employee, comparisons must be made on other organisations (monitoring external relatives). This is the competitive stance it has with other organisations; this might be matching others, more or less. It is important for managers to look at the pay differences in their own staff to see whether they aren’t being treated fairly; not being paid enough for the work they do compared to another employee. If the employee’s feel there is not enough pay rises to accept extra work they will not. If there is not sufficient differentiation between stages of the chain of command they will not be so keen to advance upon it. Also if employees of McDonalds employees learn that Burger King is relatively paying an extra pound per hour more, they will try to defect to Burger King. (Armstrong & Murlis 1998) 4. What changes has the development of HRM brought to management of reward systems? Are these changes beneficial to employer and employee? Armstrong & Murlis (1998) claim that Reward Management philosophy evolved in accord with many aspects of HRM philosophy. This is emphasised by treating people as assets to be invested in, this is HRM philosophy being incorporated by rewards management. By rewarding people; putting money in; this should get greater productivity; getting more out. Demonstrated by gaining employees commitment to the objectives and values of the organisation. Through strategic integration by incorporating HR issues into strategic plans and ensuring that the various aspects of HRM cohere and are mutually supportive. Lastly HRM has enabled employees to fulfil their full potential and to deliver their maximum contribution to the achievement of organisational goals. These changes really benefit both the employee and the employer, the employee gets more out of rewards management, while the employer recognises the employee as an asset. HRM tries to bring the goals of employers and employees closer together, by involving the employee more with the business increasing his loyalty while getting more out for he employer (Armstrong & Murlis 1998). Restructuring of Work 1. Why might the structure or design of work be important for the individual worker and for the organisation? The structure or hierarchy of work may help aid communications from the top level of management down to the lowest worker. An organisation with many layers of hierarchy or along chain of command will have difficulty in communications between top and bottom men. Communications from the top will go through many layers and tend to distort as the message is past on like Chinese whispers. Communications from the bottom will take ages to reach the top if they ever do. This is why a process of delayering has been happening in many UK businesses to reduce the levels of hierarchy to around four. Clearly defined aims and objectives help to ease systems of communication between different parts of the organisation. Rolex want to be perceived as a luxury brand, this is their aim and objective. Knowing this their marketing department is not going to do a cheap and tacky advert e.g. Pot Noodle. A good structure will help to keep all aspects of the organisation working in the same direction, for the organisations goals. To have a good structure is important to eliminate mistakes and therefore not waste time and money. 2. Explain the limits of taylorism as a job design strategy. Fredrick Taylor’s technique of scientific management is based upon the division of labour. This was done by taking a complex job and splitting it into its component parts, then train employees to carry out a single task in the most efficient way. This is in effect a production line with each worker doing a bit more to the product. The drawbacks of job design by task fragmentation are that workers experience extreme repetitiveness. Doing a task with little mental stimulation will result in daydreaming and not paying attention as a result of social interactions and diversions. This can lead to accidents and errors in the task. Stress is related specifically to high-workload, low discretion jobs. Symptoms include nervous tension, withdrawal and low morale; this will tend to affect performance. Motivation will suffer as a result of dissatisfaction with the work and extra efforts will need to be made by the managers. The simple tasks will also build walls between workers and management, as the workers tasks are perceived theirs and under the control of the manager (Mullins 1999)(Marcouse 1999) 3. â€Å"Job rotation, job enlargement and job enrichment are simply attempts by managers to control individuals at work†. Discuss. Job rotation involves workers changing jobs from time to time. This could mean moving down a production line or from one department to another. This should reduce boredom and give the employee a wider variety of skills and understanding of the business. An employer will also gain from a more widely trained staff, as it allows for staff being ill and having trained employees who can take over. Although rotation might keep the worker interested, the time spent for the worker to learn new skills in each department would counter balance the gains in productivity. In addition moving workers from one boring job to another equally repetitive is unlikely to motivate them. (Hall, 1997) Job enlargement gives employees a chance to do a number of small-related tasks as appose to just one repetitively. For example they might be able to construct the whole bicycle, not just the handlebars. This is meant to reduce boredom as the employees have a wider variety of tasks to do and encourage satisfaction with a sense of closure. However in contrast it is argued that it reduces efficiency because of a fall in productivity from carrying out a greater number of tasks. Many workers also resent this because they prefer doing a singularly boring repetitive job so they do not need to concentrate as much. Job enlargement works better within a group situation, where each worker has specific jobs and job rotation can take place. (Hall, 1997) Job enrichment is designed to give individuals a greater freedom and feeling of responsibility. It focuses on intrinsic satisfaction; by giving employees authority over planning and execution of a task they should gain a greater sense of achievement upon completing the task. It is a more complex and challenging job that should develop their unused skills and encourage them to be more productive. Job enrichment isn’t without its problems though, workers who feel they are unable to complete the required tasks will not react positively to it feeling they have been forced in to it. Also not all employees will react in the same way feeling they should be paid more for the extra responsibility. (Mullins, 1999)(Hall, 1997) All these techniques of increasing productivity are designed not to cost the organisation any more money. In some ways it is managers just manipulating the workers, by changing their work patterns in a way to increase output. Job enrichment however gives the employee a sense of responsibility, lessening direct managerial supervision. But ultimately these techniques are used by managers to get the workers motivated and as productive as possible. 4. We are said to be living in a post Fordist era. What does this mean and how, do you think this came about? With so much hostility to Taylor’s scientific management, despite its benefits for employers, it had to be dropped. However the principles have evolved into a more acceptable model mainly incorporating job enrichment. The development of mass assembly line work was invented by Henry Ford in 1913 (Fordism); this took many of Taylor’s principles. This has been moved on from in an effort to try and increase motivation and productivity. Littler and Salaman (1984) listed five points of good job design: – 1. Closure – finishing a product or process 2. Assuming responsibility for quality control 3. Job flexibility is enabled by allowing training in different skills 4. Self regulation of the speed of work 5. The job structure allows social interaction and a degree of co-operation among workers. (Bratton & Gold 1994) Since this there have been three broad types: job enrichment, reorganisation of assembly lines and Japanese-style job design. Job enrichment as above is concerned with rotation and enlarging among others. The reorganisation of assembly lines has been associated with increased product differentiation in highly competitive consumer industries and unstable labour relations. This creates more flexible work structures in order to accommodate more rapid product changes. Japanese-style job design has three main elements: flexibility, quality control, and minimum waste. Businesses now tend to use one of these three techniques in the post-fordist era this has come about as an evolution of techniques and trial and error. Scientific Management didn’t work but lessons were learnt from it and are still applied today. The Concept of HRM in Transition 1. Should human resources be dealt with any differently from other resources? Justify your answer by referring to the managers control function. Human resources need to be dealt with differently than other resources; otherwise they’ll just leave the job. To ensure against this Human Resource Planning is carried out, this will include how to motivate staff, how to develop an organisational culture and planning how to support or develop employees e.g. training. Human resources are not like raw materials where they are purchased and used, a constant understanding is needed. The management want to have as flexible workforce as possible; this means training staff so they become multi-skilled. This can allow job rotation and covering other employees in the event of illness (Hall, 1997). 2. Discuss the four key elements of the Storey Model of HRM The four key elements of the Storey model 1992 are: Beliefs & Assumptions, Strategic Aspects, Line Management and Key Levers. The Beliefs & Assumptions of HRM are Unitarist, the differences between PIR and HRM are that HRM tries to instil commitment and trust in the employee looking to go ‘beyond the contract’. Therefore employees should be carefully selected and developed (Bratton & Gold, 1994). The Strategic Aspects are central to HRM, always trying to think of the business and the consumer. HR policies should be integrated into the business strategy – stemming from it and even contributing to it (Storey, 1999). The Line management is concerned with the critical role of managers. This is because HR decisions are crucial to a business and too important to be left to specialists alone (Storey, 1999). As appose to needing specialist key managers HRM allows the general managers as key players in HR issues. The Key Levers according to Storey (1999) are that: managing culture is more important than managing procedures and systems; integrated action on selection, communication, training, reward and development; and restructuring and job redesign to allow devolved responsibility and empowerment. 3. Evaluate the possible experience of working in an HRM environment, as opposed to a Personnel environment. Torrington and Hall state that the nature and degree of difference between personnel management and Human Resource Management as remaining ‘largely matters of opinion rather than fact, and the similarities are much greater than the differences’. Personnel management is ‘workforce-centred’, directed mainly at the employees. Although a management function, personnel are never totally identified with management interests. Personnel managements underlying theme is that workers have a right to proper treatment and to make sure this is the case in manager-worker relationships. HRM is ‘resource centred’; the main aim is to plan, monitor and control rather than mediation as in personnel. HRM is directed mainly at management needs for human resources to be provided and deployed. The underlying theme is that human resource management is much like any other aspect of management and an integral part. This means that it should not be separated, and only handled by specialists (Mullins, 1999) In a Personnel management organisation there can be tension between managers and workers, despite the personnel management intervening. The worker seeks to maximise his wages and rewards, while the employer wants to reduce costs, as they are a drain on profits. In a HRM organisation the employee should feel more involved and therefore be aware of the consequences. HRM also allows a more flexible workforce, which can be deployed more cost effectively than an inflexible one. 4. How, if at all, has the HRM allowed managers to increase organisational efficiency? If managers get better motivate their staff then they will work more efficiently and productivity will rise. Alternatively they might produce a higher quality piece of work. Storey (1999) says that it has become widely accepted that motivation is beneficial to the organisation. If human resource management encourages motivation of employees, if this is successful then efficiency will rise. However a definite link between a satisfied workforce and improved performance has never been proven. There is no reason for a workforce to be satisfied if it isn’t relevant to organisational efficiency or effectiveness other than for human reasons. HRM managers who train their staff get a much more flexible workforce allowing them to be deployed in the best way to reduce costs. HRM managers are much more likely to train their employees as a workforce gaining skills which can be used in a greater cross-section of the business. If last minute orders come-in it is much easier for HRM managers to deal with as they are more flexible than Personnel in contrast who couldn’t make last minute alterations. This makes HRM a much more effective and efficient style of management.

3 paragraph assignment on Ancient Greece Research Paper

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The news' topic - Essay Example American citizens also suffer from it. â€Å"Pollution from  China  travels in large quantities across the Pacific Ocean to the  United States, a new study has found, making environmental and health problems unexpected side effects of U.S. demand for cheap  China-manufactured goods† (Pollution From China Is Hitting Americas West Coast). This testifies that China should take serious measures, which should be directed at the reducing emission. The question is that who is responsible for pollution made by one country, while it is working for another country’s benefit: â€Å"international cooperation to reduce transboundary transport of air pollution must confront the question of who is responsible for emissions in one country during production of goods to support consumption in another† (cited in Pollution From China Is Hitting Americas West Coast). The only way out is the international cooperation directed at reducing emissions, which cause air pollution in China. Unfortunately, as it is stated in the article, the efforts were already made, but appeared to be

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The 2007 Cricket World Cup - Essay Example Obtaining such funds was a big challenge, in that the organizers and the sports ministries involved had to present their governments with the requests for the allocation of funds to finance the renovations. This process took long before such funds were approved, with some countries like Jamaica almost wanting to cut down the fund proposals that were presented, claiming that spending $100 million on the cricket final hosting was not worth, since there was little observable benefit from hosting such an event to the country (Atherton, 2007). Low attendance is yet another challenge that faced the organizers of this event. The 2007 Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean was not attended by a large audience of fans. This lack of high attendance was caused by the restrictions that the organizers of the event had placed, for security purposes, which hindered any individual from bringing in outside items such as food, kits, musical instruments among other items mostly used by the fans during such events (Tyson, 2007). The organizers of the events over commercialized it, by requiring that those attending the event purchase requisite items for use from within, an aspect that killed the morale of the fans, who would have attended. The high prices charged for the ticket is yet another factor that hindered the large attendance of the fans to the event. This hindered the achievement of the set revenue target of $42 million (Jordan, 2006). Lack of good preparation is yet another challenge that faced the organizers of the events. Poor preparations led to some of the major venues where the event had to take place remain incomplete, by the time the event was kicking off (Chambers, 2007). Security concerns and the selection of incompetent jury, who caused confusion in the final match, are the other challenges that the organizers faced. There are various positive and negative impacts the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean had on the countries that hosted the event. Among the posit ive impacts is the income generating opportunities that were presented to this countries, courtesy of the event (Tyson, 2007). With the event running for six weeks, there were many business opportunity that were open for the entrepreneurs in different industries of those countries to capitalize on. Such opportunities mostly favored the transport, the trade, tourism and hospitality industry as well as the entertainment industry. That was a period of high-income generation for such businesses, in that the goods and services they offer were in high demand due to a higher number of visitors. Improved cooperation and coordination is yet another positive impact that was brought by this event. The Caribbean countries were forced to enhance their cooperation and coordination, since the event required that all the countries in that island co-host the event, with each country hosting six matches. This being the situation, the countries were forced to coordinate and cooperate in the organizati on and management of the event, serving to enhance their relationships (Lakshman, 2008). Promotion of the region as a tourism destination is yet another benefit obtained by the Caribbean countries from hosting the event (Jordan, 2006). Since there were different people from various parts of the world who attended the event, they learnt the beauty of the region and its attractiveness, enhancing the chances of such visitors coming back to tour the region. Additionally, the focus of the media on the

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Contemporary Issue In Marketing - Essay Example This report mainly focuses on relationship marketing, its importance in the modern business scenario and connection of relationship with technological innovation and discussion regarding the Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC). Lastly, a conclusion and recommendation is made regarding the close connectivity between these three aspects. Relational marketing In the last few decades, the marketing theories have experienced a colossal shift in both theories and practices of marketing. Relationship marketing is a developing network paradigm that recognises that global competition occurs between networks of organizations. In the context of relationship marketing, Morgan and Hunt (1994) have suggested the Commitment and Trust Theory that involves all types of relational exchanges. The researchers have argued that the central concept of relationship marketing rotates around those that distinguish an effective and productive relational exchange from those that are ineffective and unprodu ctive. There are several factors that contribute towards the success or failure of relationship marketing effort. These scholars have stressed on trust and commitment that makes significant contribution. They theorised that relationship trust and commitment is the key to successful relationship marketing. These two aspects help the marketer in preserving relationship by cooperating with the partners, resisting their attraction towards short-term benefits in the hope to reap long-term ones by staying with the existing partners and looking at high-risk actions as prudent. Figure 1 (Source: Morgan and Hunt, 1994) Another research scholar, Reichheld and Sasser (1990), have stressed on the fact that there are very few companies who have succeeded in providing the service commitment made by them to the customers. For service companies, scrap heap signifies customers who are not going to come back. If the companies start measuring this scrap heap, they will realise that this scarp cost the m heavily and ardent steps are needed to be taken in order to reduce the same. This will make them strive for â€Å"zero defects† in their quality movement and guiding light for making the organization gain profitability and achieve it soon. They have suggested that customer defection leads to a powerful impact on the bottom line. The company’s market share, profit, unit cost and many other factors related to competitive advantage are expected to be impacted positively. This strengthening and lengthening of relationship is expected to increase profit by 100 percent, by 5 percent retention of the existing customers. Technology development Computing technology is an omnipresent aspect that encompasses both personal lives of an individual and organizational framework. In order to understand the outcomes, resulting from technology acceptance, several theoretical models has been proposed such as, technology acceptance model (TAM) and innovation diffusion theory. The TAM is hugely recognised as robust but with parsimonious conceptualization. Based on the theory of reasoned action, it has been argued by TAM that the behaviour of IT acceptance can be explained, based on the belief of the individual, regarding the ease of use and usefulness of IT. On the other hand, the innovation diffus

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St. Patrick's Day - Essay Example The first concerning the origins of the â€Å"potato famine† and, the second, the actions of scholarly textbook publishers that have no ethical issues with neglecting large chunks of relevant and important history. The Irish â€Å"Potato Famine† is usually described in textbooks and History classes as a terrible disaster, like an earthquake or a plague; something completely outside of human control. However, that is entirely not the case. The famine had far more to do with the harsh and negligent treatment of English landlords upon Irish farmers. The occurrence was not great â€Å"blight† or â€Å"an act of a God;† it was a physical act of human beings that caused the starvation among the poorer class at the time, which was sadly, the Irish (Bigelow 1). This is new information that is interesting to discover. The second issue, the fact that history books are printing edited or omitted historical events and it is so very common. If textbooks cannot be trusted to teach true and accurate history on any given subject, then how can we trust that information at all? What other topics and subjects might they be presenting a revisionist interpretation of? Ultimately, this discover y and its commonality are rather shocking. In the end, history is history; what happened, happened. There are both shameful and inspiring events in any country or cultures history. However the only way for people, as individuals and societies, can learn from their mistakes and move into a more enlightened future is to have access to our true history, our actions, for better or worse. By presenting a limited or vague interpretation of historical events, specifically such a significant and often misunderstood event, it diminishes the plight of these people and prevents us from looking at our history as a complete whole. The Irish have a rich history both in Europe and here in the United States and it is sad to know that large chunks

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Tourism Management Essay Example for Free

Tourism Management Essay An importance-performance analysis of hotel selection factors in the Hong Kong hotel industry: a comparison of business and leisure travellers Raymond K.S. Chu, Tat Choi*  Department of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Peoples Republic of China Received 16 December 1998; accepted 3 February 1999 Abstract Using an Importance}Performance Analysis (IPA), this paper examined business and leisure travellers perceived importance and performance of six hotel selection factors in the Hong Kong hotel industry. The six hotel selection factors identied were: Service Quality, Business Facilities, Value, Room and Front Desk, Food and Recreation, and Security. Both business and leisure travellers held the same perceptions towards all the six hotel selection factors. The IPA grids illustrated that the Value factor fell into the Concentrate Here quadrant; Service Quality, Room and Front Desk and Security in the Keep Up the Good Work quadrant; and Business Facilities and Food and Recreation in the Low Priority quadrant. Room and Front Desk and Security were found to be the determining factors for business and leisure travellers, respectively, in their hotel choice selection. Implications for Hong Kong hoteliers and researchers were discussed. 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Importance}Performance Analysis; Hotel selection factors; Business and leisure travellers 1. Introduction 1.1. The Hong Kong hotel and tourism industry Hong Kong has long been Asias most popular tourist destination. The total visitor arrivals for 1996 reached a record of 11.7 million, representing a remarkable 14.7 per cent growth over 1995, with HK$84.5 billion (US$10.8 billion) #owing into the Special Administrative Regions economy in foreign exchange earnings. The 14.7 per cent growth rate in 1996 out-performed the world average of 4.5 per cent, as well as the average growth rates for East Asia/Pacic and South Asia, with 7.9 per cent and 4.0 per cent respectively (WTO, 1997). In addition, approximately 8 per cent of Hong Kongs Gross  Domestic Product (GDP) is attributable to tourism (HKTA, 1998). However, since the beginning of 1997, Hong Kongs inbound tourism industry has experienced  an unprecedented decline. As illustrated in Table 1, the Hong Kong Tourist Association (HKTA) revealed that the numbers of visitors declined from 11.7 million in 1996 to 10.4 million in 1997, representing a 12 per cent fall (HKTA, 1998). The fall in visitor arrivals has been aggravated by the regional currency turmoil, which has made Hong Kong an expensive destination to travel in comparison with other Southeast Asian regions (Poole, 1997). The depreciation of the Thai baht, the Indonesian rupiah, the Malaysian ringgit, and the Philippine peso has inevitably attracted international travellers who prefer to seek bargain visits to these cheaper destinations. Hong Kong is now considered less vacation-friendly than previously as high in#ation has driven up prices. In 1989, 60 per cent of travellers rated shopping in Hong Kong as above average in value for money, but in 1993 the number fell below 45 per cent (HKTA, 1998). In the early 1990s, Hong Kong su!ered from a relatively high in#ation rate of about 10 per cent per annum as a result of an increase in labour and land costs. This paper attempts to identify both the importance and performance of hotel selection factors in the Hong Kong hotel industry using the Importance}Performance Analysis (IPA) model. More specically, the paper intends to compare perceptions of business and leisure travellers, in terms of importance and performance of hotel selection factors. By identifying the needs, desires and expectations of di!erent segments, hoteliers will be in a better position to develop tailor-made marketing strategies to cater for their target customers and to achieve competitive advantages. Source: Adapted from A Statistical Review of Tourism, Hong Kong Tourist Association (1998). 2. Literature review cent per annum in recent years (Hueng, 1997). The rising cost of accommodation in Hong Kong and the dwindling number of shopping bargains are continuously a!ecting the Hong Kong tourism industry (Brevetti, 1995). Such price in#ation threatens Hong Kongs reputation as a Shopping Paradise. Looking at the visitor prole, in particular at a comparison of business and leisure travellers, there appears to have not much signicant change between the two groups. The leisure segment has constituted almost 60 per cent of total visitor arrivals to Hong Kong over the past ten years, while the business segment contributed up to 30 per cent of total visitor arrivals over the same period (see Table 1). Regarding the hotel industry in Hong Kong, room rates have long been considered as the prime factor that adds to the cost of a trip, contributing to tourism downturn (Beck, 1997; Schloss, 1997). Schloss (1997) reported that Hong Kong hotels are more expensive to stay in than in Tok yo hotels, even when they o!er discounts. Beck (1997) mentioned that Hong Kong hotels are too expensive and that the  high cost is the single factor that continues to a!ect tourism in Hong Kong seriously. Research studies have shown that satisfaction with hotel properties, including services, facilities and price, appears to be one of the major factors leading to the success and repeat patronage of the destination (Shih, 1986; Stevens, 1992). To be successful in business, one must understand how customers perceive the product or service attributes, their importance and performance when compared with other competitors. The importance of being competitive and o!ering competitive advantage has been recognised for some years. In the hotel environment, where competition dominates, hoteliers must study the strengths and weaknesses of the product or service they provide and accurately dene their importance and performance. To maintain Hong Kongs present status as one of the worlds most attractive tourist destinations, hoteliers 2.1. Importance}Performance Analysis Importance}Performance Analysis (IPA) conceptually underlies the multi-attribute models that date back to the late 1970s. Martilla and James (1977) applied the IPA technique to analyse the performance of the automobile industry. Hawes, Kiser and Rao (1982) and Hawes and Rao (1985) used the IPA concept in retirement communities and health care applications. Sethna (1982) found the IPA technique to be a valid and powerful technique for identifying service quality areas that require remedial strategic actions. The underlying assumption of the IPA technique is that customers level of satisfaction with the attributes is mainly derived from their expectations and judgment of the products or services performance. IPA has become a popular managerial tool that has been broadly used to identify the strengths and weaknesses of brands, products, services and retail establishments in various industries in recent years (Chapman, 1993; Cheron, McTavish Perrien, 1989). Hemmasi, Strong and Taylor (1994) measured the service quality of hospital services using IPA as an alternative to the traditional SERVQUAL instrument devised by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1988). While Evans and Chon (1989) used the IPA to formulate and evaluate tourism policy, Keyt, Yavas and Riecken (1994) and Hsu, Byun and Yang (1997) adopted the IPA technique in restaurant positioning. Lewis (1985) used the IPA as a competitive analysis technique to identify tourists perceptions of the hotel industry. Lewis and Chambers (1989) reported the e!ective use of IPA by the Sheraton Hotel in monitoring customer satisfaction. Almanza, Ja!e  and Lin (1994) used the IPA matrix to determine means for improving customer satisfaction. Martin (1995) examined service providers perceptions of customers expectations of quality service in the hotel industry using the IPA technique. In an increasingly competitive environment, a determination of the strengths and weaknesses of a  have high levels of performance in relation to these activities. In the Low Priority quadrant, attributes have low importance and low performance. Although performance levels may be low in this cell, managers should not be overly concerned since the attributes in this cell are not perceived to be very important. Limited resources should be expended on this low priority cell. Lastly, the Possible Overkill q uadrant contains attributes of low importance, but of relatively high performance. Respondents are satised with the performance of the organisations, but managers should consider present e!orts on the attributes of this cell as being overutilised (Evans and Chon, 1989; Hemmasi, Strong Taylor, 1994; Keyt et al., 1994; Martilla James, 1977; Martin, 1995). Fig. 1. Importance}Performance Analysis grid. Quadrant I Attributes are perceived to be very important to respondents, but performance levels are fairly low. This sends a direct message that improvement e!orts should concentrate here. Quadrant II Attributes are perceived to be very important to respondents, and at the same time, the organisation seems to have high levels of performance on these activities. The message here is To Keep up the Good Work. Quadrant III Attributes are with low importance and low performance. Although performance levels may be low in this cell, managers should not be overly concerned since the attribute in this cell is not perceived to be very important. Limited resources should be expended on this low priority cell. Quadrant IV This cell contains attributes of low importance, but relatively high performance. Respondents are satised with the performance of the organisations, but managers should consider present e!orts on the attributes of this cell as being overutilised. 2.2. Perceived importance and performance of attributes Attribute importance is generally regarded as a persons general assessment of the signicance of an attribute for a product. Many studies have attempted to analyse customer satisfaction in terms of both expectations that relate to certain important attributes and judgments of the attribute performance (Myers Alpers, 1968; Swan Coombs, 1976). However, there appears to have been diverse conclusions made about how one should relate attribute importance and performance. The concept of importance is viewed by customers the same as satisfaction (Barsky, 1992; Rosenberg, 1956). When a customer perceives an attribute as important, the customer will believe that the attribute will play a signicant role in in#uencing his or her product choice (MacKenzie, 1986). More recently, the term importance has been used to refer to the perceived importance of an attribute and its e!ect on product or service quality (Carman, 1990). Lilien, Kotler and Moorthy (1993) dened the term important attributes as those considered important by consumers, and that the various brands or products are perceived to di!er. Hemmasi et al. (1994), however, stated that performance lies in customer perceptions of performance of the attribute. Thus, the more favourable the perception of performance, the greater the likelihood of the choice from among similar alternatives. Therefore, it is strategically important for hoteliers to understand and to identify the product (or service) attributes perceived by customers as important, and to examine how customers perceive these product (or service) attributes. It is also very likely that a customers favourable post-purchase experience may lead him or her to repurchase if the customer is satised with the hotel performance. 2.3. Hotel attributes in hotel choice selection Those attributes directly in#uencing choice are determinant attributes: they may arouse consumers purchase intentions and di!erentiate from competitors o!erings  products or services importance and performance seems an undeniable constituent of success. The interpretation of the IPA is graphically presented on a grid divided into four quadrants. Fig. 1 illustrates the IPA  grid. The -axis reports the customers perceived importance of selected attributes, and the X-axis shows the products (or services) performance in relation to these attributes. The four identiable quadrants are: Concentrate Here, Keep Up the Good Work, Low Priority and Possible Overkill. In the Concentrate Here quadrant, attributes are perceived to be very important to respondents, but performance levels are seen as fairly low. This sends a direct message that improvement e!orts should concentrate here. In the Keep Up the Good Work quadrant, attributes are perceived to be very important to respondents, and at the same time, the organisation seems to  (Alpert, 1971). The services and facilities o!ered by a hotel, or hotel attributes, are those features of products or services that lead consumers to choose one product over others (Lewis, 1983). Wuest, Tas and Emenheiser (1996) dened perceptions of hotel attributes as the degree to which travellers nd various services and facilities important to customers satisfaction. Atkinson (1988) found that cleanliness of the accommodation, followed by safety and security, accommodation value for money, courtesy and helpfulness of sta! were identied as top attributes for travellers in hotel choice selection. Wilensky and Buttle (1988) mentioned that personal service, physical attractiveness, opportunities for relaxation, standard of services, appealing image, and value for money were signicantly evaluated by travellers. Rivers, Toh and Alaoui (1991) examined the hotel selection decisions of members and non-members of frequent guest programs. Their results showed that convenience of location and overall service received the highest ratings. Ananth, DeMicco, Moreo and Howey (1992) surveyed 510 travellers, asking them to rate the importance of 57 hotel attributes in hotel choice decision. The results showed that price and quality was rated as the most important attribute across all age categories, followed by attributes related to security and convenience of location. LeBlanc and Nguyen (1996), in particular, examined the ve hotel factors that may signal a hotels image to travellers. These ve factors were: physical environment,  corporate identity, service personnel, quality of services and accessibility. They suggested that marketing e!orts should be directed to highlight the environmental cues in order to attract new customers. An extensive review of the literature for the hospitality industry suggests that attributes such as cleanliness, location, room rate, security, service quality, and the reputation of the hotel have been considered by most tourists in hotel choice decision (Ananth, DeMicco, Moreo Howey, 1992; Atkinson, 1988; Barsky Labagh, 1992; Cadotte Turgeon, 1988; Knutson, 1988; LeBlanc Nguyen, 1996; Lewis, 1984,1985; Marshall, 1993; McCleary, Weaver Hutchinson, 1993; Rivers, Toh Alaoui, 1991; Wilensky Buttle, 1988). 2.4. Hotel attributes as perceived by business and leisure travellers Many studies have looked into a comparison between business and leisure travellers in their hotel selection criteria. These studies indicated that the important attributes a!ecting business travellers hotel choices were cleanliness and location (Lewis Chambers, 1989; McCleary et al., 1993; Taninecz, 1990), whereas security, personal interactions, and room rates were considered as important by their leisure counterparts (Clow, Garretson Kurtz, 1994; Lewis, 1985; Marshall, 1993; Parasuraman et al., 1988). Taninecz (1990) found that cleanliness,  comfort of mattresses and pillows, and quality of towels received the highest ratings from business travellers. Lewis and Chambers (1989) and McCleary et al. (1993) also found that location was the most important factor in#uencing hotel selection by all business travellers. However, they argued that a hotels catering facilities were not important in hotel selection, as th ere are often many alternative dining choices nearby. Leisure travellers seem to be more concerned with room rates and value in their initial hotel selection (Lewis, 1985). Parasuraman et al. (1988) found that the quality of personal interactions with employees was a critical component of the service quality evaluation. Employees service quality has been cited as important to leisure travellers when selecting overnight accommodation (Parasuraman et al., 1988). Knutson (1988) mentioned that leisure travellers were mainly concerned with a hotels safety and security. This concern might stem from the idea that leisure trips often involve families, and these travellers have a high sensitivity to what may occur around them when their families  are involved. Marshall (1993) and Clow et al. (1994) revealed that security was cited as one of the most important criteria in selecting a hotel. Tourists want to be safe and secure in their accommodation, and are willing to pay for this. The safety and security system may di!erentiate one property from its competition, hence becoming a competitive strategy that helps a hotel to gain tourists condence and trust. Ananth et al. (1992) found that leisure travellers were likely to express concern with regard to a hotels reputation and name familiarity. Other studies have suggested that some hotel attributes are seen as important by both business and leisure travellers. Knutson (1988) examined the di!erences between business and leisure travellers in an attempt to determine the attributes that initially attract these two types of travellers to a hotel, and that bring them back. Her ndings suggested that the following factors were considered by both business and leisure travellers when selecting a hotel for the rst time or for repeat patronage: (1) clean, comfortable, well-maintained rooms, (2) convenient location, (3) prompt and courteous service, (4) safe and secure environment, and (5) friendly and courteous employees. Lewis (1984,1985) tested 66 hotel attributes to determine the basis of hotel selection by 1314 business and leisure travellers in six hotels. The ndings showed that location and price were the determinant attributes for hotel selection for both business and leisure travellers. Cadotte and Turgeon (1988) examined data from members of the AH MA (American Hotel Motel Association) on the relative frequency of 26 categories of compliments. Survey results found that the ve most frequent compliments were: (1) helpful attitude of employees, (2) cleanliness of establishment, (3) neatness of establishment, (4) quality of service, and (5) employee knowledge of service.

Emergency Operations Essay Example for Free

Emergency Operations Essay Washington is situated in the Pacific Coast, Northeast of the United States. It lies in a geographical region endowed with rain forests though some parts are dominated by a semi desert. The Washington state has varied climatic conditions with the oceanic climate dominating the west and drier conditions in the east. The annual temperature range on average stands between 39-52? F. The Washington community is a big community accommodating residents from all walks of life engaged in various tools of trade. The community has been victim to various catastrophic disasters that have called for emergency responses in the past. Its high vulnerability nature to disasters therefore makes it the ideal case to illustrate an Emergency response plan (ERP) model. The disasters range from volcanoes, fires, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, winter storms, nuclear explosions, acts of terrorism, collapse of buildings among others. This ERP intends to particularly address the entire range of natural, hybrid and man made disasters . The plan is geared towards eventually offering solutions for the hazards that might culminate to such any of the above mentioned types of disasters, and also highlight the components of an effective ERP that would be able to act to minimize the effects disasters where they can not be controlled A disaster can be briefly defined as a sudden calamitous event that occurs and leads to loss of lives, damage to property ,causes unexpected hardships and cannot be effectively contained by use of ordinary procedures and resources(Schneid Collins, 2000). Natural disasters are those that occur majorly because of acts of nature, they occur slowly and insidiously before they severely manifest outwardly. They might be predictable because some areas are prone to some particular disasters but little can be done to control their occurrence. Examples of such disasters in the Washington Community include tornadoes, wind storms, ice storms among others. Man made disasters are those whose occurrence has entirely been induced by man in his daily activities. Hybrid disasters on the other hand are triggered by a combination or rather both natural and human actions such as deforestation that are current resulting to the current situation of global warming and subsequently affecting sea levels of cities on the coastal lines leading to floods. The effects of the disasters are severe broad and of a great magnitude ranging from losses of billions of dollars to damage that can not be quantified such as human life and also creating scenarios that need evacuations, widespread searches, casualties and rescue operations. Thus the solution lies in putting in place early warning and preparedness mechanisms in form of an Emergency response plan that will ensure that the community is adequately prepared to response in the occurrence of the disaster notwithstanding its type. Emergency Response Plan framework: Washington state community The very fist step in disaster preparedness and therefore formulation of an ERP is to identify the potential risks, evaluating the probability of those risks actually occurring and then assessing the probable damage and gauging the community’s vulnerability to the disaster (Lindell et al, 2001). The ERP needs to be a document compiled in agreement by all the stakeholders that are critical in the community’s disaster preparedness programmes. The plan needs to entail comprehensive risk analysis and valid risk predictions based on research and also include well thought early warning and disaster monitoring systems. The mandates and responsibilities of each stakeholder in the emergency response structure also need to be clearly indicated. The framework will need to entail models and plans for training disaster responders and rescue teams, together with all the personnel that come in handy at the onset of disasters from the various service providers in the community. Methodologies of risk communication, information dissemination and community awareness creation will also be encompassed. The intention is to help the ordinary community member personalize the risk and equip him with the right attitude, knowledge, and skills for self protection at the onset of a disaster. This should be done periodically to ensure the community accepts, retains and processes the information therefore becoming capable of acting in time of emergency. The community including the responders can carrying out mock drills and exercises to help them understand better the emergency scenarios and the whole concepts of emergency response. Additionally the community can be equipped with basic resources that will come in handy in the onset of the disasters. Indications of stock piling in the document are also critical to ensure that the necessary material resources and equipment will be available. Advance agreements therefore need to be made with the appropriate response suppliers in this regard (Eshghi Larson, 2008). In addition preparations for activating emergency reception programmes need to be put in place. The framework needs to as well include mechanisms geared towards tackling both the natural, manmade and hybrid disasters root causes. In conclusion early warning, response facilities and communication systems are invaluable assets all of which must be addressed in any ERP framework. Reference List Department of Homeland Security. (2004). National Response Plan (NRP) Course Summary (ISO 800). Retrieved on July 15, 2009, http://www. wnysmart. org/references/NRP summary. pdf Eshghi K, Larson, R. (2008). Journal of Disaster Prevention and Management, 17(1), 62. Retrieved from Proquest on July 15, 2009. Lindell K. (2001). Facing the unexpected:disaster preparedness and response in the United States. Washington,DC: Joseph Henry Press, p121-124 Schneid, T. Collins L. (2000). Disaster management and preparedness. U. S: CRC Press, p 2-3

Natural product chemistry

Natural product chemistry Introduction Of Natural Product Chemistry In the beginning of organic chemistry was natural products chemistry. For a long period, up to the 1960s the structural studies of natural products served as the principle driving force for the discovery of new chemical reactivity. The introduction of spectroscopic techniques, however, removed much of the intellectual challenge involved in structure elucidation. Furthermore, natural products chemistry suffered a dramatic decline from the mid 1990s when major pharmaceutical companies disinvested in this area and switched to more rational combi-chem approaches. Nevertheless, the improvements in spectroscopic methods have historically stimulated natural products chemistry and the efforts to examine new compounds from unusual organisms rapidly and systematically. Natural products chemistry survived and began to flourish again in recent years also through chemical biology and chemical genetics and the realization that natural product structures often explore structural space unavailable t o combi-chem approaches. As a result, challenges for natural product chemists are not diminishing, they are just changing. Natural product chemistry turned to an interdisciplinary science, where the success of a chemist would only be possible in close collaboration with biologists, pharmacologists, and clinicists. Thus many novel biological activities such as beta-tubulin assembly inhibitors for example, could only have emerged from the natural products arena. Contents Of Natural Chemistry Steroids.- Terpenoids.- Fatty Lipids and Prostaglandins.- Alkaloid.- Amino Acids and Proteins.- Nucleic Acids.- Carbohydrates.- Plant and Insect Growth Regulators.- Phenolic Compounds and Natural Dyes.- Marine Natural Products.- Antibacterials.- Vitamins and Hormones. Natural product A natural product is a chemical compound or substance produced by a living organism found in nature that usually has a pharmacological or biological activity for use in pharmaceutical drug discovery and drug design. A natural product can be considered as such even if it can be prepared by total synthesis. These small molecules provide the source or inspiration for the majority of FDA-approved agents and continue to be one of the major sources of inspiration for drug discovery. In particular, these compounds are important in the treatment of life-threatening conditions. Natural sources Natural products may be extracted from tissues of terrestrial plants, marine organisms or microorganism fermentation broths. A crude (untreated) extract from any one of these sources typically contains novel, structurally diverse chemical compounds, which the natural environment is a rich source of. Chemical diversity in nature is based on biological and geographical diversity, so researchers travel around the world obtaining samples to analyze and evaluate in drug discovery screens or bioassays. This effort to search for natural products is known as bioprospecting. Animal sources Animals can sometimes be a source of new lead compounds. For example, a series of antibiotic peptides were extracted from the skin of the African clawed frog and a potent analgesic compound called epibatidine was obtained from the skin extracts of the Ecuadorian poison frog. Screening of natural products Pharmacognosy provides the tools to identify, select and process natural products destined for medicinal use. Usually, the natural product compound has some form of biological activity and that compound is known as the active principle such a structure can act as a lead compound (not to be confused with compounds containing the element lead). Many of todays medicines are obtained directly from a natural source. On the other hand, some medicines are developed from a lead compound originally obtained from a natural source. This means the lead compound: can be produced by total synthesis, or can be a starting point (precursor) for a semisynthetic compound, or can act as a template for a structurally different total synthetic compound. This is because most biologically active natural product compounds are secondary metabolites with very complex structures. This has an advantage in that they are extremely novel compounds but this complexity also makes many lead compounds synthesis difficult and the compound usually has to be extracted from its natural source a slow, expensive and inefficient process. As a result, there is usually an advantage in designing simpler analogues. The plant kingdom Plants have always been a rich source of lead compounds (e.g. morphine, cocaine, digitalis, quinine, tubocurarine, nicotine, and muscarine). Many of these lead compounds are useful drugs in themselves (e.g. morphine and quinine), and others have been the basis for synthetic drugs (e.g. local anaesthetics developed from cocaine). Clinically useful drugs which have been recently isolated from plants include the anticancer agent paclitaxel (Taxol) from the yew tree, and the antimalarial agent artemisinin from Artemisia annua. Plants provide a large bank of rich, complex and highly varied structures which are unlikely to be synthesized in laboratories. Furthermore, evolution has already carried out a screening process itself whereby plants are more likely to survive if they contain potent compounds which deter animals or insects from eating them. Even today, the number of plants that have been extensively studied is relatively very few and the vast majority have not been studied at all. The marine world In recent years, there has been a great interest in finding lead compounds from marine sources. Coral, sponges, fish, and marine microorganisms have a wealth of biologically potent chemicals with interesting inflammatory, antiviral, and anticancer activity. For example, curacin A is obtained from a marine cyanobacterium and shows potent antitumor activity. Other antitumor agents derived from marine sources include eleutherobin, discodermolide, bryostatins, dolostatins, and cephalostatins. The microbial world Microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi have been invaluable for discovering drugs and lead compounds. These microorganisms produce a large variety of antimicrobial agents which have evolved to give their hosts an advantage over their competitors in the microbiological world. The screening of microorganisms became highly popular after the discovery of penicillin. Soil and water samples were collected from all over the world in order to study new bacterial or fungal strains, leading to an impressive arsenal of antibacterial agents such as the cephalosporins, tetracyclines, aminoglycosides, rifamycins, and chloramphenicol. Although most of the drugs derived from microorganisms are used in antibacterial therapy, some microbial metabolites have provided lead compounds in other fields of medicine. For example, asperlicin isolated from Aspergillus alliaceus is a novel antagonist of a peptide hormone called cholecystokinin (CCK) which is involved in the control of appetite. CCK also acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain and is thought to be involved in panic attacks. Analogues of asperlicin may therefore have potential in treating anxiety. Other examples include the fungal metabolite lovastatin, which was the lead compound for a series of drugs that lower cholesterol levels, and another fungal metabolite called ciclosporin which is used to suppress the immune response after transplantation operations. Venoms and toxins Venoms and toxins from animals, plants, snakes, spiders, scorpions, insects, and microorganisms are extremely potent because they often have very specific interactions with a macromolecular target in the body. As a result, they have proved important tools in studying receptors, ion channels, and enzymes. Many of these toxins are polypeptides (e.g. É‘-bungarotoxin from cobras). However, non-peptide toxins such as tetrodotoxin from the puffer fish are also extremely potent. Venoms and toxins have been used as lead compounds in the development of novel drugs. For example, teprotide, a peptide isolated from the venom of the Brazilian viper, was the lead compound for the development of the antihypertensive agents cilazapril and captopril. The neurotoxins from Clostridium botulinum are responsible for serious food poisoning (botulism), but they have a clinical use as well. They can be injected into specific muscles (such as those controlling the eyelid) to prevent muscle spasm. These toxins prevent cholinergic transmission and could well prove a lead for the development of novel anticholinergic drugs. Traditional Medicine In the past, traditional peoples or ancient civilizations depended greatly on local flora and fauna for their survival. They would experiment with various berries, leaves, roots, animal parts or minerals to find out what effects they had. As a result, many crude drugs were observed by the local healer or shaman to have some medical use. Although some preparations may have been dangerous, or worked by a ceremonial or placebo effect, traditional healing systems usually had a substantial active pharmacopoeia, and in fact most western medicines up until the 1920s were developed this way. Some systems, like traditional Chinese medicine or Ayurveda were fully as sophisticated and as documented systems as western medicine, although they might use different paradigms. Many of these aqueous, ethanolic, distilled, condensed or dried extracts do indeed have a real and beneficial effect, and a study of ethnobotany can give clues as to which plants might be worth studying in more detail. Rhubarb root has been used as a purgative for many centuries. In China, it was called The General because of its galloping charge and was only used for one or two doses unless processed to reduce its purgative qualities. (Bulk laxatives would follow or be used on weaker patients according to the complex laxative protocols of the medical system.[2]) The most significant chemicals in rhubarb root are anthraquinones, which were used as the lead compounds in the design of the laxative dantron. The extensive records of Chinese medicine about response to Artemisia preparations for malaria also provided the clue to the novel antimalarial drug artemisinin. The therapeutic properties of the opium poppy (active principle morphine) were known in Ancient Egypt, were those of the Solanaceae plants in ancient Greece (active principles atropine and hyoscine). The snakeroot plant was well regarded in India (active principle reserpine), and herbalists in medieval England used extracts from the willow tree(salicin) and foxglove (active principle digitalis a mixture of compounds such as digitoxin, digitonin, digitalin). The Aztec and Mayan cultures of Mesoamerica used extracts from a variety of bushes and trees including the ipecacuanha root (active principle emetine), coca bush (active principle cocaine), and cinchona bark (active principle quinine). It can be challenging to obtain information from practitioners of traditional medicine unless a genuine long term relationship is made. Ethnobotanist Richard Schultes approached the Amazonian shamans with respect, dealing with them on their terms. He became a depswa medicine man sharing their rituals while gaining knowledge. They responded to his inquiries in kind, leading to new medicines.[3] On the other hand Cherokee herbalist David Winston recounts how his uncle, a medicine priest, would habitually give misinformation to the visiting ethnobotanists. The acupuncturists who investigated Mayan medicine recounted in Wind in the Blood had something to share with the native healers and thus were able to find information not available to anthropologists.[4] The issue of rights to medicine derived from native plants used and frequently cultivated by native healers complicates this issue. Isolation and purification If the lead compound (or active principle) is present in a mixture of other compounds from a natural source, it has to be isolated and purified. The ease with which the active principle can be isolated and purified depends much on the structure, stability, and quantity of the compound. For example, Alexander Fleming recognized the antibiotic qualities of penicillin and its remarkable non-toxic nature to humans, but he disregarded it as a clinically useful drug because he was unable to purify it. He could isolate it in aqueous solution, but whenever he tried to remove the water, the drug was destroyed. It was not until the development of new experimental procedures such as freeze drying and chromatography that the successful isolation and purification of penicillin and other natural products became feasible. Synthesis Not all natural products can be fully synthesized and many natural products have very complex structures that are too difficult and expensive to synthesize on an industrial scale. These include drugs such as penicillin, morphine, and paclitaxel (Taxol). Such compounds can only be harvested from their natural source a process which can be tedious, time consuming, and expensive, as well as being wasteful on the natural resource. For example, one yew tree would have to be cut down to extract enough paclitaxel from its bark for a single dose. Furthermore, the number of structural analogues that can be obtained from harvesting is severely limited. A further problem is that isolates often work differently than the original natural products which have synergies and may combine, say, antimicrobial compounds with compounds that stimulate various pathways of the immune system: Many higher plants contain novel metabolites with antimicrobial and antiviral properties. However, in the developed world almost all clinically used chemotherapeutics have been produced by in vitro chemical synthesis. Exceptions, like taxol and vincristine, were structurally complex metabolites that were difficult to synthesize in vitro. Many non-natural, synthetic drugs cause severe side effects that were not acceptable except as treatments of last resort for terminal diseases such as cancer. The metabolites discovered in medicinal plants may avoid the side effect of synthetic drugs, because they must accumulate within living cells. Semisynthetic procedures can sometimes get around these problems. This often involves harvesting a biosynthetic intermediate from the natural source, rather than the final (lead) compound itself. The intermediate could then be converted to the final product by conventional synthesis. This approach can have two advantages. First, the intermediate may be more easily extracted in higher yield than the final product itself. Second, it may allow the possibility of synthesizing analogues of the final product. The semisynthetic penicillins are an illustration of this approach. Another recent example is that of paclitaxel. It is manufactured by extracting 10-deacetylbaccatin III from the needles of the yew tree, then carrying out a four-stage synthesis. Use Of Natural Product Ayurveda Chinese medicine Ethnobotany Journal of Natural Products Pharmacognosy Phytotherapy Secondary metabolite During the last few decades, research into natural products has advanced tremendously thanks to contributions from the fields of chemistry, life sciences, food science and material sciences. Comparisons of natural products from microorganisms, lower eukaryotes, animals, higher plants and marine organisms are now well documented. This book provides an easy-to-read overview of natural products. It includes twelve chapters covering most of the aspects of natural products chemistry. Each chapter covers general introduction, nomenclature, occurrence, isolation, detection, structure elucidation both by degradation and spectroscopic techniques, biosynthesis, synthesis, biological activity and commercial applications, if any, of the compounds mentioned in each topic. Therefore it will be useful for students, other researchers and industry. The introduction to each chapter is brief and attempts only to supply general knowledge in the particular field. Furthermore, at the end of each chapter t here is a list of recommended books for additional study and a list of relevant questions for practice. Combined with pharmacological screening, natural products chemistry has always provided highly useful leads for drug discovery. The searches for new biologically active compounds are most often based on hints coming from ethnobotany but there are still a huge number of unstudied plants, not to speak of mushrooms, marine organisms, insects, and microorganisms. There is a wealth of molecular diversity out there, waiting to be discovered and utilized. The central issue of such type of studies, structure elucidation, although often believed to be trivial, is still a process full of adventure, discovery, and even unavoidable pitfalls. Thus structure elucidation has still much to offer, especially when combined with biological tests. Chemistry Central Journal is waiting for your results to publish. Besides the classic studies connected to pharmacological activities, new developments challenge natural products chemists, such as metabolomics, the large-scale phytochemical analysis in the functional genomics era. Metabolomic requires from a natural product chemist brilliant knowledge of modern analytical techniques and chemometry and close collaboration with biochemists and biologists. Chemical ecology, too, could not advance properly without natural product chemistry. Approximately 60% of the worlds population relies almost entirely on plants for medication. However, if phytopharmaceuticals want to be regarded as rational drugs, they need to be standardized and pharmaceutical quality must be approved. For this reason, another important task for natural products chemistry is connected to standardization: to develop proper analytical methods of quality control, to make sure that medicines obtained from natural sources are safe and of reproducible efficacy. The publication of natural product research results in an open access journal is of great importance with respect both to research activities and to effective use of natural resources, removing both price and permission barriers. It is also important to authors, giving them the opportunity to publish their results where they will be most easily accessed by those who mostly need them. Natural Product Chemistry for Drug Discovery provides a comprehensive summary of where natural product chemistry is today in drug discovery. The book covers emerging technologies and case studies and is a source of up-to-date information on the topical subject of natural products. The authors, all experts in their respective fields, provide compelling arguments as to why naturel products should be considered important tools in the drug discovery process. The book will appeal across the board from scientists to professionals, postgraduates and industrial chemists. The case studies selected for inclusion highlight recently marketed drugs and development candidates that have been derived from natural products. These real-life examples show how new technologies, such as advances in screening, isolation, dereplication and prefractionation, have significantly enhanced the discovery process. Introduction Of Synthetic Chemistry In primitive societies, even today, clothes are cleaned by beating them on rocks near a stream. Certain plants, such as soapworts, have leaves that produce sapions, chemical compounds that give a soapy lather. These were probably the first detergents people used. If you look up detergent in a dictionary it is simply defined as cleaning agent. During the last two to three decades, however, the word detergent has tended to imply synthetic detergent, or syndet for short, rather than the older soap. In fact, commercial formulations consist of a number of components, and we shall use the term surface-active agent, or its abbreviation surfactant, to describe the special active ingredients that give detergents their unusual properties. Soap, by this definition, is a surfactant. In fact, it is the oldest one and has been in use for over 4500 years. Some soap manufacture took place in Venice and Savona in the fifteenth century, and in Marseilles in the seventeenth century. By the eighteenth century, manufacture was widespread throughout Europe and North America, and by the nineteenth century the making of soap had become a major industry. As a matter of fact, soap became a detergent in 1907 when a German company put the product Persil on the market. In addition to the carboxylic acid soap, Persil contained sodium perborate, sodium silicate and sodium carbonate. Hence perborate + silicate = PERSIL. Synthetic Surfactant or Soap? You may well ask why soap, which served well for so many years, was eventually displaced. Soaps are cheap and they are manufactured from a renewable source, whereas many of the synthetic detergents are made from petrochemicals. Soaps are also biodegradable; that is, they are readily broken down by bacteria, and thus they do not pollute rivers. However, due to their gelling properties, soaps do have a greater tendency to clog sewerage reticulation systems than synthetic detergents. The grease trap of a non-sewered house was often laden with soap. But the most important reason for the displacement of soap is the fact that, when a carboxylic acid soap is used in hard water, precipitation occurs. The calcium and magnesium ions, which give hardness to the water, form insoluble salts with the fatty acid in soap and a curd-like precipitate occurs and settles, of course, on what ever is being washed. By using a large excess of soap, it is possible to redisperse the precipitate, but it is ext remely sticky and difficult to move. This problem with soap can be demonstrated by a simple experiment in which a concentrated solution of hard-water salts is added to a 0.1% solution of soap and also to a 0.1% solution of synthetic surfactant. The soap precipitates, but the synthetic surfactant remains clear because its salts are water soluble. You may live in an area where the water is extremely soft. But calcium and magnesium ions are present in the dirt that you wash out of your clothes, so that some precipitation still occurs if soap is used, and gradually deposits are built up in the fabric. There are other disadvantages with soap; it deteriorates on storage, and it lacks cleaning power when compared with the modern synthetic surfactants, which can be designed to perform specialised cleaning tasks. Finally and very importantly from a domestic laundry point of view, soap does not rinse out; it tends to leave a residue behind in the fabric that is being washed. A residue gradually builds up and causes bad odour, deterioration of the fabric and other associated problems. Whats the Difference? Whats the difference between a surfactant and soap? In general terms, the difference can be likened to the difference between cotton and nylon. On the one hand, soap and cotton are produced from natural products by a relatively small modification. On the other hand, synthetic surfactants and nylon are produced entirely in a chemical factory. Synthetic surfactants are not very new, either. Back in 1834 the first forerunner of todays synthetic surfactants was produced in the form of a sulfated castor oil, which was used in the textile industry. The development of the first detergents in an effort to overcome the reaction of soaps with hard water provides a good illustration of one of the standard chemical approaches. If a useful substance has some undesirable property, an attempt is made to prepare an analogue, a near chemical relation, which will prove more satisfactory. The petroleum industry had, as a waste product, the compound propylene, CH3-CH=CH2, which used to be burnt off. By joining four of these propylene molecules together and if benzene is attached at the double bond, the resulting compound reacts with sulphuric acid. Then sodium hydroxide is added to neutralise the sulfonic acid and a sodium salt is obtained. The new substance is closely related to an ordinary soap, and is an excellent detergent. Detergent Foam Level The relationship between foaming power and detergency has always been of interest, and foaming power has become associated in many consumers minds with high detergent power. The first liquid detergent on the Australian market was Trix. It was non-foaming, so was soon replaced because of consumer resistance. However, it is generally conceded by detergent technologists that foam height has no direct relationship to cleaning power in ordinary fabric washing systems. In systems where the amount of washing fluid is low, foam may play an important role. The individual foam films tend to take up and hold particles of soil that have been removed from the item, preventing them from being re-deposited and allowing them to be washed or scraped away. Front loading washing machines work by bashing clothes against the side of the tub the high tech version of beating clothes on rocks. Front loaders clean clothes better than top loaders, but only if a low-suds detergent is used, because the suds cushion the impact and reduce the cleaning action. Chemical Characteristics Of Synthetic Chemistry Synthetic detergents dissolve or tend to dissolve in water or other solvents. To enable them to do this, they require distinct chemical characteristics. Hydrophilic (water loving) groupings in their molecular structure, and hydrophobic (water hating) groupings, help the detergent in its â€Å"detergency† action. This detergency depends on the balance of the molecular weight of the hydrophobic to the hydrophilic portion. This is called the HLB value, and can range from 1 upwards. HLB is Hydrophilic-Lypophilic Balance. As the 0HLB value increases, the product can tend towards being a paste or solid. The lower number HLB values tend to be less water soluble, and more oil soluble. The higher the HLB the more water soluble the product. Mixtures of low and high HLB detergents produce good detergents to handle oil, fat and grease, the higher HLB detergent helps solubilise the less water soluble, low HLB detergent into an aqueous system.