Hormone Replacement Therapy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hormone Replacement Therapy - Essay Example This is usually referred to trans-women or trans-men (Manson, 2010). Cancer in recent years have been a worldwide problem, initially people believed that this life style disease was majorly for the wealthy and the able people, but recent researchers find that the disease affects anybody irrespective of a race one belongs to. Most treatments of cancers for instance the prostate cancer in men and menopause conditions in women as well as uterine cancer are based on hormone replacement therapy ( Chlebowski, Anderson & Manson, 2010). Resent researchers claim that replacement therapy in early menopause had a significant reduction of mortality, heart attacks without risks of cancer and stroke. As situation where estrogen stimulates the growth of lining of the uterine walls which increase the risk of uterine cancer; a prescription of estrogen in combination with progesterone is given to reduce the problem. Reduction of risk of endometrial cancer: Studies indicate that women who receive progesterone as well as estrogen treatment to decrease menopause symptoms reduced risks of endometrial cancer as compared to those who were under only estrogen (Manson, 2010). Evidence based research requires demonstration of a new practice which emphasizes on quality and safety of patients for instance; a use of empirical evidence from randomized controlled specimen, qualitative scientific research methods, information reports combined, results to a more relevant and concrete solution or step in controlling problem associated with hormone replacement therapy (Hjorland, Birger, 2011). The use of evidence increase patients’ outcome since it includes healthcare recommendations that help doctors and nurses address questions related to cancer and hormone issues (Hjorland, Birger, 2011). Though there have been successes in the effective administration of drugs or Hormone Replacement therapy especially to women, various side

Challenges Hospital Management In Nepal

Challenges Hospital Management In Nepal The WHO defines health as A complete state of physical, mental and social wellbeing, not merely the absence or disorder (WHO, 1948). It means that complete state of wellbeing is health and hospitals one of the major tool for promotion of health. WHO in 2010 has addressed the role and importance of hospital management for a quality health (WHO, 2010). There is no internationally accepted clear definition for hospital. There are several types of hospitals based on the facilities, equipments and services, i.e. district hospitals, provincial hospitals, speciality hospitals and referral hospitals, teaching University hospitals and other types of health care facilities. There is no international standard defining what should be the minimum services that each hospital should provide during a health crisis. Each country has to develop a national policy and technical guidelines to deal with a health crisis. Before defining the essential services, the ministry of health has to define the essential health services that the health sector will provide to the community in order to identify what more specific services will be delivered by hospitals (WHO, 2009). Management is defined as the organization and coordination of the activities of an enterprise in accordance with certain policies and in achievement of defined objectives. Management is included as a factor of production along with machines, materials and money. Renowned guru of management Peter Drucker (19909-2005) has said that the basic task of management is two fold: marketing and innovation. Practice of modern management owes its origin to the 16th century enquiry into low efficiency and failures of certain enterprises, conducted by the English statesman Sir. Thomas Moore (1478-1535). As a discipline, management consists of the interlocking services of formulating corporate policy and organizing, planning, controlling and directing an organizations resources to achieve the policies objectives (Walden University, 2011).Hospital managenmnet.net suggests that Hospital Management provides a direct link between healthcare facilities and those supplying the services they need ( Hospit al management.net 2011) . WHO in 2009 suggests understanding by hospital management as an effective and combined management of, the following factors:- (a) Acute care for emergency patients; (b) Out Patient Department (OPD) activities; (c) Investigation (laboratory; X-ray; other diagnostic elements); (d) Referral for primary health care (PHC); specialized consultations or services; (e) Contribution to public health programmes; (f) Part of health information system (surveillance system, including a EWS Component); (g) Public information and education; and (h) Preparedness for health crisis management. Nepal is a landlocked country which is mostly covered by hills and mountains and it has a population of 25.8 million as estimated in 2006. It is in the south Asian continent, north to India and south to China. Its area is 147,181 sq. km (WHO, 2007). It has been facing several challenges to establish a functional health management system (Thapa, 2010). This proposal deals with the challenges which Nepali health system is facing at present and suggests the possible ways for its improvement. Statement of the problem Nepals health system is in transition. Nepal is an underdeveloped country where most of the geographical part (85%) is covered by mountains and hills. India is in the south and China is in the northern part of the landlocked country. The southern boarder is open where the northern part is separated by the high mountains called Himalayas. The health indicators are very poor. The health service facility is not adequate to Nepali people. So the hospitals are (Dixit, 2005). Nepals hospital bed per ten thousand populations is 4.26 (2001/02), physician per ten thousand populations is 2 and Nurses per ten thousand population is also 2 as per the data of 2004 Similarly, Total Expenditure on Health (THE) as % of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) 5.3% and Public Expenditure on Health (PHE) as % of Total Expenditure on Health (THE) is 28 while Private Expenditure on Health (PvtHE) as % of Total Expenditure on Health (THE) 72(WHO, 2007). If it is compared with the other developing countries in the sa me region i.e. south east Asian region, the level of the problem may be perceived. Maldives, a small tiny country with population 298 thousand has Total Expenditure on Health (THE) as % of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) 6.2. Maldives Public Expenditure on Health (PHE) as % of Total Expenditure on Health (THE) is 89 as compared with 28 of Nepal. Private Expenditure on Health (PvtHE) as % of Total Expenditure on Health (THE) in Maldives is 11. It shows that the state has better involvement in Maldives than in Nepal. More over, the population per hospital bed is 381, which are 26.2 hospital beds per 10000 populations. Similarly, number of populations per physician 959 and nurses per 10000 populations are 33 (WHO, 2007). It clearly shows the scenario of health development of Nepal. As part of health, curative health services have a major role in providing quality health service to the people. Until the health care provider organizations are strong, the curative health service can not be delivered to the beneficiaries properly (Edelman and Mandle 2006). Hospitals are the key component of health care delivery system and they needs to be reformed to ensure a quality health care system (McKay and Healy, 2000).Unfortunately the hospitals in Nepal have very poor in quality management and they are not able to deliver quality health services to the people (Dixit, 2005). To address the needs and requirement of the hospital, the government of Nepal ( GON), Ministry of Health and Population ( MOHP) has published The guideline on the establishment, Operation policy and standard and infrastructure for Private and Public Health Hospitals in 2004 ( MOHP,2004). But it is still lacking in the formulation of the standard for the hospitals run by the government (Dixit, 2005). However, the policy published by the MOHP tries to clarify on the basic parameters of the infrastructures required for the hospitals which may be applied for the general hospitals as well. But the document does not speak about the application in the government run hospitals (MOHP, 2004). That is why; there is a lack of clear cut guideline for the management of hospital. Nepals health sector is facing a challenge regarding the management (Dixit, 2005). As part of whole system of health in Nepal, management of the hospitals is also a sever challenge for the country. 1.2 Summary of the problem Nepal has set a target to achieve the millennium Development goals by 2015. It has to meet the target in all health indicators. Goal no 3 and 4 are c loosely related with health and as part of curative health, hospital and hospital management have crucial role in health promotion. In Nepalese context, hospital management skill and concept of hospital management is still beyond the priority of the government and the government still does not have any policy guidelines over the hospital management sector (Dixit, 2005). People skill is a key asset for the development of key management styles. Dealing the people is a professional skill in itself. Being able to see from the perspective of others is essential, and caring for their welfare is also of prime importance. There are many high-profile examples of how to develop a successful management style. Managers like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have famously developed their own distinctive management style from which others can learn. However, the fact that the two examples are very different management styles shows that there is no single route to success (Bono and Hellers, 2009). But unfortunately, there are no clear guidelines or policy found in the government documents. The recent document on the guideline on the requirement of a hospital, government does not speak about the hospital management, its skill development and transfer for the improvement of a hospital (MOHP, 2004). Lack of professional skill in the person responsible to manage the hospitals has created a problem in hospital management. The government run or supervised hospitals still do not have positions for the hospitals. MOHP in its policy document has not mentioned anything about the hospital managers (MOHP,2004). However, the private hospitals have started hiring them which is still out of the government policy (Thapa, 2010). Nepal is an underdeveloped country where the literacy rate is only 62.7% for male and 34.9% for female as per the report of census 2001 (CBS, 2001). It means still 64.1% women are out of literacy coverage. Nepal has poor health facilities all over the country except in capital Kathmandu and other urban areas. Most of the doctors are not willing to go to the rural areas hospitals and they are often running without (qualified) doctors (Dixit, 2005). In conclusion, the poor socio-economic conditions, hard geographical conditions and lack of awareness of the people and traditional beliefs and superstitions, lack of will in the political parties and their leaders are the main burning issues for the improvement of health sector in Nepal (Chaulagain, 2004). These all are problems associated with the hospitals and ultimately with their management. The factors associated to hospital management are still not uncovered in Nepal (Thapa, 2010). So, it Purpose of the study As mentioned above, it has been obvious that Nepal is facing the problems to strengthen the management of the health sector. The documents are not found to have been lacking regarding the strategies and policies on the health management. So, the proposal aims to identify the hindering factors affecting the hospital management in Nepal. It will study the existing policies and strategies of the government of Nepal on hospital management, international principles, theories and practices on hospital management and identify the factors which are affecting the betterment for hospital management sector of Nepal. So, the purpose of the study is to identify the hindering factors of hospital management in the case of Nepal and suggest the concerning authorities about improving the hospital management system, formulating the policies and implementing them. This proposal will analyse the strength and limitations of the hospital management system in Nepal and help all the concerned to mitigate and minimize them. Main research question The study can not answer all questions that come on surface while studying about the issue. So, to narrow down the study area and sharpen the focus, the study has defined the main study questions as follows:- What are the hindering factors that effect the hospital management in Nepal? Subsidiary Questions To supplement the main research question, these questions are defined as subsidiary questions as follows:- What will be the appropriate modality or best practices of hospital management that are applied in the world by other countries and What are the factors that are hindering in the betterment in the hospital management in Nepal? What is the most influential factor to promote the hospital management in Nepal? Hypothesis Lindsen and Jong (2005) have defined hypothesis as an alternative explanation of residual switch trial costs or, more precisely, of the empirical finding that the repetition trial (RT) distribution for switch trials with a long preparation intervals can be modelled as a mixture of the RT distributions for repetition trials and for switch trials with a short preparation interval (Lindsen and Jong, 2010). In here, the hypothesis tries to establish an alternative factor that might be supposed to be the commonest hindering factor for the management of hospitals in Nepal. The hypothesis taken here is the lack of professionalization of hospital managers or the persons who are involved in the management of either government run or private or community run hospitals in Nepal is the most influential limiting factors in hospitals in Nepal. Significance of Study As mentioned above there are no special policies and practices established for hospital management in Nepal. The hospitals are managed by the medical doctors or surgeons so far (MOHP, 2004). The doctors are not entitled to diagnose the patients, treat them, run medical and surgical and public health cams campaigns in the hospitals or in the periphery of the hospitals. The Medical council is liable to assign the job responsibilities of the doctors in the case of Nepal. But it has not mentioned about the management part of the hospital and its regulation, Nepal Medical Council Act, 1964 (amended in 2001).It does not speak who is responsible for that (Nepal Medical Council, NMC, 2001). There is no one professionally responsible for the hospital management in the present context. In the country where the government policy about the medical sector does not speak about the role of hospital management, it becomes obvious that the hospital management sector is not running smoothly. No presen ce of the monitoring body to supervise and evaluate the hospital management is found in the present documents whether published by the government or private organizations. So, the studies significance is in establishing the fact what are the main barrier and other minor barriers in the hospital management of Nepal. That is why this study is has a significance value. Literature Review 2.1 Concept of Hospital Management Hospital management provides a direct link between health care facilities and those supplying the service they need. This enhances the capacity of deciding and managing hospitals and health care centres and all other health care providers and other health care industries (Hospital management.net, 2011). The discipline hospital management is found to be conceptualised from the WHO Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion in 1986. It was introduced in the name of Health Promoting Hospitals (HPH) in the beginning since hospital was regarded a mean of health promotion. So, this concept is only 25 years old and newer to other disciplines. The Ottawa Charter recognised five areas of hospital management i.e. health promoting hospital setting, health promoting workplaces, the provision of health related services, training, education and research. It has identified the hospital sector as the change agent and advocate for health promotion (WHO, 2011). From the declaration of WHO, it becomes obvious that hospital is not only a place of treating the patients, but also a place where the activities for health promotion are run, all heath services are provided, trainings are conducted, education is given and researches are carried out. It rules out the understanding of the government on hospitals. Th e Bir Hospital, which is one of the units or part of the Ministry of Health and Population and the biggest government run hospital (MOHP) of Nepal has defined Bir Hospital only as a treatment and diagnosis service centre. In this definition, the other four parts defined by the Ottawa Charter are missing. However, it adds something in its website as its activities. According to it, Bir Hospital offers training to the students through its Post Graduate programme of its Medicine School (Bir Hospital, 2008). It clearly shows that the government of Nepal has some how realised the integrated approach of the hospitals, but not mentioned in its policy or strategy. There seems a gap between the Ottawa Charter and the understanding of the Government of Nepal in terms of its concept. National Health Service (NHS) of the UK has presented a model of its Week Hospital in its journal. It says that it has developed and validated an innovative integer programming model, based on clinical resources allocation and beds utilization. According to NHS, the model aims at scheduling Week Hospital patients admission/discharge, possibly reducing the length of stay on the basis of an available timetable of clinical services. The performance of the model has been evaluated, in terms of efficiency and robustness, by considering real data coming from a Week Hospital Rheumatology Division. The experimental results have been satisfactory and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach (NHS, 2011). We can see the factors that contribute in hospital management by this example mentioned above. The hospital management has become an emerging field in India, the neighbouring of Nepal and a developing country in the south Asian sub-continent. India education in its home page of its website says that hospital management and administration has become a priority and importance for healthcare industry and providing health and hygiene care in India. The government of India is paying attention on providing healthcare in both rural and urban areas by improving the management of the hospitals. It further adds that hospitals are expected to deliver quality service 24 hours a day at a minimal cost. The urgent nature of its work and the level of efficiency that is expected have increased the need of well-formulated hospital management system throughout the world (India Education, 2011). It shows that India has seriously taken the hospital management stream to upgrade the quality of the service delivery of the hospitals in India. These literatures presented above describe the concept of h ospital management. 2.2 Benefit of Hospital Management Worlds renowned management Guru Peter Drucker developed the concept of Management by Objective (MBO) in 1954. He has defined MBO as a systematic and organised approach that allows management to focus on achievable goals and to attain the best possible results from available resources. He has further said that the strong management system of the organization increases its performance by aligning the goals and subordinate objectives through out the organization. He adds that the employee get strong input to identify their objectives and timeline for completion. He has described the benefits of management to have supporting in setting objectives, organising groups, motivating and communication, measuring performance and developing people ( Peter Drucker,1954). NHS has defined its hospitals as organizations where high qualities of health care services are delivered to the clients (NHS, 2011). So, all the theories of the organization may be applied in hospitals and the importance of the hospitals may be assumed based on the benefits of a good management system as described Drucker. So, it has become obvious that to achieve the goals of the nation, the hospital management sector should be regarded as an important discipline in the context of Nepal as well. Limitations of Hospital Management Management is not a solution, but only the means of the solution which organises the resources in a proper way. For the effective management, every surrounding factor should be appropriate. Verzuh (2001) has identified five sectors that are required for effective management. They are good agreement between service providers and clients, an effective and realistic plan, constant and effective communication, a controlled scope and upper management support (Verzuh, 2001). Hospital as an organization can not provide its best services if the factors mentioned above are not available. In Nepalese context, the hospital management can not take the hospitals in the position to achieve its goals until there is an effective service giving and taking culture, until the planning body is capable enough, until the inter and intra organizational communication is strongly developed and there is a political commitment to prove upper support toward the bottom. So, these are the limitations of the hospi tal management. Barriers of Hospital Management in Nepal Nepals literacy rate is low, the national income and per capita income is also low. The difficult geographical situation is not also favourable for rapid development in Nepal. The socio-economic development is far behind as compared with other developed and even with developing countries (Dixit, 2005). As mentioned above, financial strength, political commitment, social culture and context need to be favourable for the good management of every development sector and the hospital is not an exception. The people can not consume the facilities well if they are not aware about the facilities they have been provided with (Thapa, 2010). But hospitals are managed by the Department of Health Services under the Ministry of Health Population and the, So, for the hospital management, this context has become a barrier. Hospital management practice in different countries i.e. Nepal, USA, UK, India, Japan and Thailand Hospital management is a new discipline. In Nepal, the Pokhara University strated Hospital Management course in 2001 only. Then it has put a milestone in the way of hospital management. Then some private hospitals have started to recruit hospital managers due to its influence and the government is in the way to start thinking on the need of separate hospital management stream under the health service (NOC, 2011). In USA, the hospitals are governed by the United States Department of Health. Its history goes to 1798 from when USA has started on managed health service (USDHHS, 2001). UK established National Health Service ((NHS) in 1948 from which it has been running the hospitals. All together, 12000 doctors are working in its hospitals all over the UK (NHS, 2011). Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is responsible for hospital management in India. It has Department of Health and National Rural Health Mission for managing the hospitals (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India, 2011). Likewise, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare looks health activities in Japan. It has Health Policy Bureau under the ministry and it looks after the hospitals and it has prepared a policy to manage the hospitals properly (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 2011). In Thailand, Ministry of Public Health looks after the hospital management. Under the ministry, there is Department of Health and under th is, there are 9n divisions. They are supporting the hospitals for their management in an integrated way (Department of Health of Thailand, 2011) 2.6 Previous empirical research findings on challenges in hospital management The Hospital; of St Raphael in UK has written in its website about the challenges it suffering in terms of the management. It says that the demand is growing and the challenge is increasing. Patient satisfaction concerns, hospital management demand, smart mind and smart technologies to keep healthcare system smoothly are the challenges seen in the present context. Likewise, recruiting hospital management and their turnover are other challenges (St Raphael Hospital, 2011). In Nepal context, There are no special resources are found either in published copies or in the websites. The National Open College has written about the importance of the Hospital Management course which is like an advertorial (NOC, 2011). But it does not speak about the challenges of the hospital management. So, relevant literatures are not enough as per the topic. Discussion and Conclusion After studying the literature and analysing the present hospital management system in Nepal, the points come into mind to be discussed:- The Government of Nepal has still not considered the hospital management as a separate sector. There is a lack of Hospital management professionals. There is no proper policy addressing hospital, management issues in Nepal. Hospital management sector has not been regarded as an integrated issue so far. Public and private sector are also not actively participating for the professionalization of hospital management human resources. In conclusion, we can say that hospital management is a new discipline. The developed countries like UK have already started to think on the management issues of hospitals as a separate sector. But in Nepal, the hospital management sector is not visible separately and it has not been regarded as a separate need or requirement. The hospital has not felt the need of hospital managers to manage the hospital smoothly. Lack of awareness, culture and customs low literacy rate, low income and difficult geographical situation are the factors which are hindering the hospital management sector to grow and become strong. Methodology 3.1 Instrument The study was carried out by using systemic literature review method. The literatures were searched in the website of the Universities of UK i.e. Bournemouth. The Medical Journal of America and USA were searched. The government policies of NEPAL, India, USA, Japan, Thailand and UK were other sources. The documents were collected, materials were searched and the materials retrieved were analysed before applying them in this search. The WHO website and other journals were considered as most reliable sources. Library use was the mostly used mean for search and writing the paper. This study will apply qualitative methodology to find the hindering factors of hospital management in Nepal where face to face interviews will be arranged during this study. 4 Conclusions The hospital management is a new term which is derived from the separate words hospital and management. Hospital is a mean of healthcare delivery while management is a way to utilize the resource in an efficient way. The hospital management is not very old concept in even in the developed countries while the countries while Nepal is very far behind in the development of this sector. Lack of professionalization of the existing human resources, less availability of skilled human resources, poor socio-economic situation, low interest of government towards the hospital are the hindering factors for the development of hospital management in Nepal. These all information was collected through literature review available in the library and websites developed by the governments, universities and academic institutions. It recommends the government of Nepal to recognise the hospital management as a separate and independent discipline under the health service. It suggests the academic institutions to focus on the development of hospital management professionals in their course and curriculum. It also suggests the private sector involved in running private hospitals in Nepal to start hospital management principles in their management.

The Entering of a Non-traditional Sport :: Genders Athletics Essays

The Entering of a Non-traditional Sport There are both many social and cultural costs and benefits of an individual (male or female) entering a non-traditional sport for their gender/sex. First, there are a variety of benefits. When women and men enter non-traditional sports, they are showing society that sports don’t have to be limited to one sex or the other. Women and men are setting an example for everyone around them that you people should do whatever you they want to do no matter what. The entering of a non-traditional sport may be easier for an individual when there is positive feedback from the people around him/her. For example, I don’t think that Bev (in the movie Pumping Iron II) would have been able to continue to weight lift if she didn’t have such positive and encouraging coaches and family. Another benefit of entering a non-traditional sport may just simply involve the use of skill. Although a sport, may not be traditional for a certain sex, athletic capability may be enhanced by participating in these other sports. For example, many football players take ballet lessons to work on their balance, grace, and stability. This kind of situation shows that ballet can be used for just performing ballet or it could mean that ballet is useful for other types of performance. Another way to look at entering a non-traditional sport as beneficial is by looking at upward social mobility. Participation in a certain sport can allow a person to better their chances of getting out of a situation or circumstance. An obvious example of upward social mobility is in the movie Girlfight. Diana has a chance to get out of her home and community through her participation in boxing. Because Diana is a women in a non-traditional sport, her chances of getting out are increased, unlike the many male boxers around her. Because other women boxers are rare, the demand for other competitors is high. Being an individual in a non-traditional sport shows uniqueness, and if that individual is good at what they do, this can bring in more attention and possibly help in achieving other things such as athletic scholarships. Also, in regards to females entering non-traditional sports, there is the benefit of proving to themselves and others that women are just as capable, if not even better, as men in performing certain tasks. This would not be such a big deal if historically sports weren’t established with men and only men’s participation and skill emphasized.

Himalaya Summary

HIMALAYA: Introduction: Himalaya Herbal is originated from India and has been around since 1930. Himalaya clams that it is the only manufacturer of consumer goods that provide a wide range of solution based on herbal ingredients. It has its presence in Malaysia since 2004. Ms Sue Ong a Malaysian with 22 years of experience in beauty and cosmetic industry was instrumental in bringing in Himalaya. The entry and the progress of the brand was quite visible as the brand was already seen in the leading pharmacy market nationwide.Himalaya offered a quite range of around 200 products under three main categories 1) pharmaceutical 2) personal care 3) animal care and all of these products were based on the ancient Himalayan practice of Ayurveda that were well known worldwide. Herbs include crude plant materials such as leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, stems and woods etc. It was estimated that one third of Americas use herbal products with herbal medicine. The Himalaya Drug Company has taken sup port from the Ayurveda expertise with modern medical research methodology.Malaysia had over 2000 plant species that possessed medical value. Out of 20000 herbal plants in Malaysia, 2000 has been identified to be beneficent for better health care. The advantages of the herbal products are being highlighted over time by Government as well as private parties. According to Safeena ‘The COO and founder of Herbal Asia’ the industry will leverage on Government initiatives like a National Biodiversity Policy to create a brand which will be recognized internationally. We want to educate people about the herbal superiority and quality.Market & sales in Malaysia: Marcel Gan the young and energetic COO talked about his dream of Himalaya â€Å"I want at least one product of Himalaya product in every household. † As per Shahida Musa, The Deputy Director, operations of the federal agricultural marketing (FAMA), the local herbal industry recorded sales around RM10 billion in 200 8 and was likely to grow by 8 to 15 percent annually based on the increasing acceptance of natural medicine. About 17. 1 % of Malaysian used herbals to treat their health problems while 29. % of them consumed herbal for their health maintenance. Ravi Prasad, President and COO of the Himalaya Drug Company, commented â€Å" This is a significant achievement for Himalaya as it provides us a platform to reach out to our customers and communicate with them the scientifically backed herbal formulations†. Over the last 5 years annual demand was recorded at RM4. 5 billion with a growth of 8% annually. For further promotion of the herbal products the Government has provided number of support programs for herbal entrepreneurs.Hundreds of the players have entered the herbal business after good support from the Government. As the herbal products are known as without side effects the demand for herbal products has shown a considerable growth over the conventional drugs. One of the establi shed local successful herbs entrepreneurs was Perusahaan Orang Kampong Sdn. Bhd. The business was established in 1975 and was operated as a small business. Key issues: * The main issue involved by building the brand image of the Himalaya for the Ayurveda product concepts. Initially the product benefits were not supported by scientific proofs and evidences as most of the production was going on previous results of the herbs. Due to the lack of scientific data the customer was not fully satisfied. * Locally made herbal products seriously lacked in advertising and promotion. * Most of the herbs entrepreneurs were small traders operating with limited resources, thus experiencing low productivity and efficiency in their daily activities. * Lack of capital and skilled human resources were common disadvantages faced by small traders. The volume of production was at times as low as it couldn’t meet the demand. For the purpose of expanding market, it went to the reliable value chain t hrough the new technology. Key Strengths: * Research and Development: Himalayas used scientific research in natural herbal remedies to provide scientifically proved products. In March 2001, they were awarded with â€Å"Good manufacturing practice† certified by the Licensing Authority of the Indian System of Medicine and in January 2004, they were awarded certification from Quality Management Systems certified by NQA. Effectiveness: Himalaya’s product goes under a period of 7 to 10 years of primary research and clinical trials before it went to market. * Natural and Safe: Himalaya provides mostly all the body and health products that promised goodness of natural ingredients with no side effects. * Wide range of products: Himalaya provides a wide range of products which consists of healthcare, body care, oral care, hair care and skin care.

British Petroleum (BP): SWOT and BP Porter Five Forces Analysis †Essay

SWOT and Porter Five Forces Analysis of British Petroleum (BP)our site Sample Essay – Need Help Writing an Essay Contact us Today. Student Submitted Essays!our site Sample Essay – AbstractBP Porter Five Forces – BP Plc is one of the leading oil and gas companies in the world operating in more than 80 countries and serving close to 13 million customers. The company was ranked third in the FTSE 100 all share index ranking as at the close of 31st August, 2014 with a market capitalization of 82,093.2, million US Dollars. BP’s major strengths include strong brand recognition, massive financial capability, excellent corporate strategy, and the ability to innovate. Global reduction in the production of crude oil and natural gas, poor disaster management and inability to implement long-term regulatory mechanisms are the company’s key weaknesses. The company has the opportunity to invest in alternative energy even though it faces significant competition from key rivals such as Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil and Chevron. BP Porters Five Forces Analysis of BP reveal low threat of new entrants and substitutes, medium bargaining power of both buyers and suppliers, and high rivalry among existing competitors. To remain competitive, the company should increase strategic investment in R&D, negotiate with governments and other firms to exploit emerging markets, rebuild its brand value and streamline its production and business operation.our site Sample Essay – IntroductionFounded in 1908, British Petroleum (BP) is one of the leading oil and gas companies in the world. The company operations in more than 80 countries, has over 83,900 employees and serves over 13 million customers globally (BP Plc, 2014). The company provides customers with oil and gas products, fuel for transportation, petrochemical products and energy for light and heat. With a market capitalization of 82,093.2, million US Dollars, BP was ranked third in the FTSE 100 al l share index ranking as at the close of 31st August, 2014 (Stock Challenge, 2012). BP’s interests and activities can be categorised into two core business segments: Refining and Marketing and Exploration and Production. The Exploration and Production segments cover upstream and midstream activities which include exploration, production, pipelining, and processing. Refining and Marketing segments cover downstream activities such as crude oil transportation, manufacturing, marketing and supply of both petrochemical and petroleum products and services (BP Plc. 2014).our site Sample Essay – BP SWOT AnalysisBP’s key strengths are its strong brand recognition and massive financial capability. Being the third largest energy company in the world, it is globally acknowledged for high quality petroleum products. Additionally, with an expected total operating cash flow of 2014 at $30 billion, the company’s strong financial position gives it the opportunity to introduce new products, develop alternative energy, and expand to new markets (Reuters, 20 14). Regarded as one of the best in the world, the company’s corporate strategy is also a notable strength. This, coupled with its strong brand loyalty, enabled it to emerge from the devastating deepwater horizon oil spill of 2010 (Reuters, 2014). The company’s ability to innovate and enter into strategic ventures with other governments and corporations in new markets is another key strength. In 2013, BP entered into a strategic alliance with both China and the US to provide alternative solar energy to a number of government agencies. A global reduction in the production of crude oil and natural gas is a key weakness of the company. Poor public image as a result of the North Alaska and deep-water oil spills also led to serious challenges for the company. Not only did it face criminal charges, it spent an estimated $42.2 billion in cleanup and compensation (Reuters, 2014). Another key weakness is its non-competitiveness in the alternative energy sector. Despite being a major player in the oil industry, majority of consumers are still unaware of the company’s involvement in alternative energy (Bamberg, 2000). The inability to implement long-term regulatory mechanism to cushion it from the highly volatile petroleum prices is also a key weakness of the company. BP’s profits and its current strong financial position present an opportunity for the company to initiate new projects. The company’s biggest opportunity is investing in alternative energy. The BP Solar Home Solutions initially introduced in New York can be expanded into other regions especially within the American and European markets. This will guarantee the company more customers who prefer the less costly solar energy. The company also has an opportunity to expand its export markets to Asia and South America. Discoveries of more oil wells and increasing prices of oil and gas are additional opportunities that the company can take advantage of (Smith, 2011). Major players in the oil and gas industry especially the Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil, and Chevron pose the greatest threat to BP. The implementation of environmentally unsound policy and poor management of natural disasters such as the toxic spills often disrupt the company’s operation (Bruland, 2003). Other threats include, corrosion in BP’s pipeline network, occasional refinery explosions, multiple lawsuits emanating from ecological disasters and the continued sale of BP’s corporate owned stations. Declining operations in several potential locations and the tensions associated with operating in the oil business are also potential threats (Black, 2011).our site Sample Essay – BP Porter Five Forces – AnalysisPorter (1980, p. 80) outlines the five forces model to analyze an organization’s competitiveness. These include threats of entrants, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, threats of substitutes and rivalry among e xisting competitors. The oil and gas industry in which BP operates traditionally require massive financial investments in very expensive infrastructure. Huge capital investment is necessary to cover expenses such as building pipelines, drilling wells, building access roads and acquiring land. BP has an asset value of $236.0 billion (Honnungar, 2011). Considering the cost of market entry and economies of scale in the industry, the threat of new entrance is low. There are a number of substitute products such as hydroelectricity, nuclear energy, coal, wind power and solar energy. However, most are still in the developmental phase, besides, the cost of production of substitute products is often extremely high. The importance of oil in fuelling cars, running industries and generating electricity makes it essential and useful to sectors of the economy (Ferrier, 2009). Threats of substitutes are therefore, low since alternative products are less competitive. The oil and gas industry have considerable number of suppliers ranging from private corporations to governments. There are also a number of potential buyers similar to BP. Besides, BP’s vertical integration in its operations is similar to that of its key competitors (Stiel, 2003). The bargaining power of suppliers is consequently rated as medium. The products offered by players in the oil and gas industry are often not much different from those offered by their competitors. As a result, buyers tend to choose products with either lower prices or that have better terms. On the flipside, buyers are many; hence even if a cross section chooses to use the products of their competitors, BP’s operations would not be greatly impacted. The bargaining power of buyers can therefore be regarded as medium. Finally, the oil and gas industry is dominated by huge corporations that produce a number of low differentiated products (Stiel, 2003). Key competitors such as Chevron, Total and Royal Dutch Shell have established well recognized brands with significant client base. This implies that BP and its competitors have all adapted a vertical integration of similar range of products. These factors coupled with low threats of both substitutes and new entrants make competitive rivalry high (Uph, 2010).our site Sample Essay – Conclusi on and RecommendationsBP is as a major corporation with significant financial backing that can be used to venture into alternative energy research to boost its manufacturing capacity and increase its global presence. The SWOT and Porter’s five forces analyses indicates that, the oil and gas industry’s major players are well established conglomerates with massive financial resources hence high level of competitive rivalry. The attractiveness of the industry makes both the powers of buyers and that of suppliers’ medium while the threat of substitute and new entrance low. BP should increase its strategic investment in R&D in order to maximize production and exploit new markets. It should also negotiate with governments and other firms in order to exploit emerging markets such as China. The company should also consider rebuilding its brand value thereby regaining its image adversely affected by the recent oil spill crisis (Honnungar, 2011). Finally, the company should streamline its business operations and production to gain competitive advantage over major rivals.ReferencesBamberg, J. H. (2000). British Petroleum and Global Oil: 1950-1975: The Challenge Of Nationalism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Bruland, K. (2003). British technology and European industrialization: the Norwegian textile Industry in the mid-nineteenth century. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. BP Plc. (2014). BP Statistical Review of World Energy June 2014. BP Plc. (2014). BP at a Glance. [Online] 3 September, 2017. Available From Black, E. (2011). British petroleum and the redline agreement. Washington, DC: Dialog Press. Ferrier, R. W. (2009). The history of the British Petroleum Company. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Honnungar, V. (2011). British Petroleum Oil Spill Crisis and Aftermath Corporate Governance and Communication at BP during the disaster. Munich: GRIN Verlag Porter, M.E. (1980) Competitive Strategy, New York: Free Press. Stiel, P. (2003). British Petroleum: A Global Company in a Global World. [Online] 3 September, 2017. Available From: http://www.pstiel.de/fileadmin/pstiel.de/Download/english_globalisation.pdf Smith, N. J. (2011).The Sea of Lost Opportunity: North Sea Oil and Gas, British Industry and The Offshore Supplies Office. New York: Elsevier. Stock Challenge, (2012). FTSE All-Share Index Ranking as at Close on Fri, 31 October 2014. [Online] 3 September, 2017. Available From http://www.stockchallenge.co.uk/ftse.php Uph, C. (2010). PR Analysis of British Petroleum. New York: GRIN Verlag. Also, checkout related Essays: BHP Billiton SWOT Analysis and Porter Five Force Analysis SWOT analysis of Sainsbury’s Plc Strategic Analysis (SWOT, PESTEL, Porter) of Premier Inn (Whitbread Plc) Summary Reviewer John Review Date 2017-09-06 Reviewed Item Essay – BP SWOT and Porter Five Forces Author Rating 5