Barriers to Communication Essay Example for Free

Barriers to Communication Essay The communication topic that I have chosen to write about is The Barriers to Communication in the in the workplace. My focus will be on the Apple Organization as well as other organizations that have had communications issues. My interest in this topic stems from the fact that Ive encountered many barriers to effective communication while in the work place. I understand personally how ineffective communication by all levels of an organization can lead to the decrease work morals, productivity etc. I am also interested in this topic in that as a Business Management major I would like to be as affective in my communication with the organization I will join as well as with the individuals that will comprise the company. Based on a research done In July 2011, a Maritz Poll, an annual employee attitude survey conducted by Maritz Research, reported that 25 percent of employees indicated having less trust in their management than they did the previous year. Bad communication breaks down trust. Barriers to communication in the work place can be very detrimental to the sustainability, longevity and success to the organization. There are numerous barriers that effect communication in the work place. According to skillsyouneed.com, these barriers range from nonverbal communication, lack of feedback and cultural differences. These barriers to communication may and can occur at any stage in the communication process. Barriers may lead to your message becoming distorted and you therefore risk wasting both time and/or money by causing confusion and misunderstanding. Effective communication involves overcoming these barriers and conveying a clear and concise message. References Barriers to effective communication. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/barriers-communication.html Duggan, T. (n.d.). Communication problems in a business. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/communication-problems-business-2828.html

Borrelia Burgdorferi and Lyme Disease

Borrelia Burgdorferi and Lyme Disease Megan Eifert   Background The helical shaped pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi is a member of spirochete bacterium that is best known as the causative agent of Lyme disease. Belonging to the phylum Spirochaetes, these bacteria are characterized by a lipid bilayer known as the outer membrane sheath, as well as an inner space between a long cylindrical protoplasm and outer membrane sheath referred to as the periplasm (Metapathogen, 2012). Genus Borrelia comes from the French bacteriologist Amedee Borrel who identified a set of organisms that caused tick-borne and louse-borne relapsing fever in humans and animals (Metapathogen, 2012). Specific to the group Borrelia burgdorferi typically only 1 ÃŽÂ ¼m wide but up to 25 ÃŽÂ ¼m long, a unique characteristic of wavelike bodies and flagella are bound between the inner and other cell membranes, proving to be vital in the success of these bacteria. This feature is especially important to defining the highly invasive classification of these bacteria by allowing the pa thogen to travel effectively through tissue of its infected host (Burke, 2005). Similarly an important feature of B. burgdorferi are their outer surface proteins that have been researched to play a large role in the transmission of the pathogen as well as been the focus of those working on producing an effective vaccine against it (Burke, 2005). Metabolic capabilities are limited in these bacteria and therefore gaining energy is a task relied upon the hosts in which B. burgdorferi infect. With an optimal growth condition at 32 ° C in a low oxygen environment, even the best conditions demonstrate a slow generation time of between 12 to 24 hours (Tilly, 2008). Using glucose and carbohydrates as their main energy source, their genome has been identified to encode transport proteins such as ABC transporters and enzymes that are utilized in the phosphotransferase system and others similar that have the ability to gather compounds from both host or environment (Burke, 2005). Without the capability to produce energy from the TCA cycle, oxidative phosphorylation or an electron transport train, B. burgdorferi utilizes substrate-level phosphorylation to produce ATP within the cell necessary for these bacteria to remain successful (Rosa, 2005). There are three species of B. burgdorferi that have been identified in causing most cases of human disease. With a natural reservoir found to be a variety of small mammals, B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. garinii, and B. afzelii are the typical strains identified in almost all cases of clinical disease. Specific to the United States, B. burgdorferi sensu stricto is the only species clinically associated with human disease whereas all three species have been found in Europe, and B. garinii and B. afzelii have both been identified in Asia (Metapathogen, 2012). Clinical Significance Although infection within natural hosts does not regularly cause disease, Borrelia burgdorferi is a tick-borne obligate pathogen that when infection occurs in humans can elicit the human immune-patholgical response and cause Lyme disease (Borrelia, 2007). Dr. Alan Steere and his team first clinically identified Lyme disease in 1977 as an infectious illness that continues to be the leading vector-borne disease in the United States (Borrelia, 2007). Through research of geographic regions with a surge of patients exhibiting seasonal occurrence of similar symptoms, Dr. Steere hypothesized the epidemiology of Lyme disease suggested transmission of the pathogen was occurring through an arthropod vector. Following the lead of Dr. Steere, a Dr. Willy Burgdorfer began to study a group of spirochetes found and collected from midgut tissues of ticks native to areas relative to the Lyme disease outbreaks. The bacteria isolated continuously produced a skin rash similar to erythema migrans when te sted on rabbits within a laboratory setting and samples from Lyme disease patients reacted with the bacteria when used in indirect immunofluorescence assays (WI, 2011). As a consequence of these observations, this set of organisms was first given their now recognizable name, Borrelia burgdorferi. Clinical manifestations of Lyme disease vary upon the species identified as the causative agent however; many common symptoms and features are shared across all cases of disease. According to reports from Mayo Clinic, most often the first symptoms described include an erythema migrans rash often in the shape of a bulls-eye at the site of the bite, accompanied by symptoms that most resemble an influenza-like infection (Lyme, 2015). Once patients exhibit these skin lesions, non-specific symptoms such as headaches, generalized lymphadenopathy, generalized lymphadenopathy and splenomegaly, migratory musculoskeletal pain, hepatitis, sore throat, non-productive cough, conjunctivitis or periorbital edema may arise, causing in most cases the discomfort associated with a diagnosis of Lyme disease (Lyme, 2015). Specific to most cases identified in the United States by the B. burgdorferi, arthritis is one of the main associated symptoms that patients struggle with. When infection persists to stage 2 after a few weeks, Mayo Clinic sources indicate about 15% of patients develop neurological deficits and abnormalities such as meningitis, encephalitis, cranial neuritis (including bilateral facial palsy), motor or sensory radiculoneuritis, mononeuritis multiplex, or myelitis (Lyme, 2015). Once neurological problems begin, patients can develop cardiac complications as well while continuing to experience a high amount of musculoskeletal pains throughout the body. When symptoms of Lyme disease persist beyond the typical treatment time, chronic Lyme disease can set in and patients experience post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome resulting from weakened immunity, systemic bacterial infection and inhibited cellular function and protection (Transmission, 2015). Over two-thirds of patients diagnosed with Lyme disease by infection of B. burgdorferi will develop chronic neurologic or skin involvement and non-specific arthritis. Symptoms characteristic of chron ic fatigue syndrome have been described as lasting for years following infection, proving infection with this bacterium can live in harmony within its human host making it a successful pathogen. According to the CDC, Lyme disease affects approximately 60,000 people worldwide per year however; mortality caused by the pathogen remains low at only 114 deaths reported from the disease in the United States between 1999-2003 (Transmission, 2015). Lyme disease can be accompanied by a wide variety of systemic involvement with varying clinical manifestations dependent on the stage of disease identified making both the course of illness and treatment inconsistent between patients. Borrelia burgdorferi elicits a variety of strategies in order to penetrate the immune systems of its hosts in hopes to successfully remain a viable bacterium. Inducing both the innate and adaptive immune responses, the bacteria have adapted to their reservoir hosts causing ineffectiveness of immunity to clear the bacteria out of the system entirely. Prior to activation, cleaved complement molecules form on the surface of the bacteria to help promote bacteriolysis while negatively regulating the complement system through various regulators to avoid host tissue damage (Tilly, 2008). With the goal of inhibiting the complement system, B. burgdorferi utilize outer surface proteins hosted on their outer membranes to bind complement regulators in order to successfully inhibit the complement system and its killing response. With the complement system inhibited, the bacteria are able to better survive within the blood stream and thus promoting further disease manifestations (Tilly, 2008). Vaccination for Lyme disease is a concept of both the publics past and future but not present. Administered in three doses, the first and only of its kind a vaccine against Lyme disease was licensed in 1998 by SmithKline Beecham (Poland, 2011). The vaccine in theory was to stimulate antibodies that would attack B. burgdorferi within the vectors gut as it fed on its human host, thus preventing the bacteria to enter the body and showed to be 78% effective following all doses completion (Poland, 2011). In 2002 the company producing the vaccine had removed it from the market and ever since a similar vaccine to protect humans against Lyme disease has not been re-introduced to the public. Diagnostic and Treatment Diagnosis of Lyme disease can be difficult due to the various nonspecific signs and symptoms associated with not only infection by Borrelia burgdorferi, but characteristic of many similar diseases. Typically the rash characteristic of Lyme disease in an area known to host ticks that transmit the disease does not warrant further testing for a diagnosis. Most often used to provide a more definitive Lyme disease diagnosis is the use of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test. ELISA detects Lyme disease by identifying antibodies to its causative pathogen, although this test may provide false-positives or negatives even when the bacteria is present due to the stage the disease is in (Borrelia, 2007). If an ELISA test proves positive, Western blot tests are used to confirm infection of B. burgdorferi, which identify antibodies against multiple proteins characteristic of the pathogen (Lyme, 2015). Several therapeutics are used to treat patients infected with Lyme disease and as with most disease treatments the sooner treatment is able to begin, the better and sooner recovery is achievable. Oral antibiotics are used as the first line of standard treatment with an early-stage diagnosis of Lyme disease. With a 14 to 21 day regimen, antibiotics prescribed according to Mayo Clinic typically include doxycycline for adults and children older than 8, or amoxicillin or cefuroxime for adults, younger children, and pregnant or breast-feeding women (Lyme, 2015). Oral antibiotics are used most often to treat skin rashes and influenza-like symptoms associated with the first stages of Lyme disease. Intravenous antibiotics may be employed for treatment if the disease has involved the central nervous system and this method of treatment has been shown to be effective in eliminating the infection but not without lingering symptoms according to the CDC. When chronic Lyme disease or post treatment Lyme disease syndrome is suspected, antibiotics are not effective in treating symptoms or the disease, and effective treatments remain unknown once the disease has progressed on. Although much research is unavailable, many living with chronic Lyme disease explain turning to natural remedies as treatment such as dietary suggestions to help increase immune function or adding supplements to help improve cell structure and function to help alleviate symptoms (Borrelia, 2007). References Borrelia burgdorferi. (2007). Retrieved March 25, 2017, from http://www.lymeneteurope.org/info/borrelia-burgdorferi Burke G, Wikel SK, Spielman A, Telford SR, McKay K, Krause PJ, et al. Hypersensitivity to Ticks and Lyme Disease Risk. Emerging Infectious Disease. 2005 Jan. Volume 11(1), p. 36-41. Lyme disease. (2015). Retrieved March 25, 2017, from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lyme- disease/basics/definition/CON-20019701 MetaPathogen.com/Borrelia burgdorferi. (2012). Retrieved March 25, 2017, from http://www.metapathogen.com/borrelia/ Poland GA. Vaccines against Lyme Disease: what happened and what lessons can we learn? Clin Infect Dis. (2011) 52 (suppl 3): s253-s258. Retrieved March 25,2017. Rosa, PA., Tilly, K., and Steward, PE. The Burgeoning Molecular Genetics of the Lyme Disease Spirochaete. Nature Reviews Microbiology. 2005. Volume 3(2), p. 129- 143. Tilly, K., Rosa, P. A., Stewart, P. E. (2008, June). Biology of Infection with Borrelia burgdorferi. Retrieved March 25, 2017, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2440571/ Transmission. (2015, March 04). Retrieved March 25, 2017, from https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/transmission/ WI, K. T. (2011, May). Lyme Disease. Retrieved March 25, 2017, from http://textbookofbacteriology.net/Lyme.html

Government Essay -- essays research papers

Governments Today Should governments today play a greater role in the operation of their economies? In a perfect world everyone would have a job, and would have all which they need to live, however, this is not always the case. Poorer countries may not have the necessary productivity to sustain their economies, working conditions may be awful, or sometimes people may not even have the right to own and operate their own business. This situation is probably caused from too much government intervention. On the other hand, if there is too little government intervention the workers rights could be exploited in order for the industry owners to make more profit. In order for a nation’s economy to be successful, that nation must have high productivity, rights for all of its population, and a high standard of living. This can be achieved through some government regulation and the successful use of some points of the market economy system. Some countries that have, or had, a failing economy used centrall y planned economic ideologies. The Soviet Union is a good example of a country that has used centrally planned economic ideas and that has had their economy fail. The failure of the Soviet Union’s economy was the effect of no substantial change in the way the economy was run in over 60 years. In 1928, Stalin wanted to improve the country’s economy by increasing its industrialization. In order for increased industrialization, an increase of productivity was in need. The first five-year plan Stalin implemented drastically increased the USSR’s production of steel, electric power, machinery, and new industries. However, peasants, who were once farmers and now worked in factories, were frustrated since they were not prepared for their new way of life. These peasants were forced to work in the factories since new machinery had replaced them on the farms were they once worked. However, the new machinery helped to increase agricultural production since they were more ef ficient and effective. The larger collective farms that could afford the modern machinery were urged to act against the kulaks (rich peasant farmers). The kulaks refused to sell their excess grain were forced to hand over their land to the government. Most of them burned their crops, killed their livestock, and destroyed the machinery in attempts to defy the government. The kulaks caused famine to sweep over th... ... conditions, because factory owners did not regard the safety of their workers, many workers often died because of their jobs, or suffered great injuries that would not able them to work at all. The Soviet Unions’ economic collapse and the Industrial Revolution workers working conditions tell us that a mixed economic system is the best choice for today’s countries. This is because with out government control in the economy workers can be exploited with out any regard for their safety or well being. However, in an economy, where there is total government control the workers may lose initiative to work and the economy may collapse. The best examples of a stable economy that protects the rights of the people are the United States and Canada. This is because their productivity increases as their population increases, and the workers do not face horrible working conditions. Also, Canada and the United States enjoy a high standard of living, and people can enjoy the freed om to operate their own private businesses. Simply government control is necessary to protect the rights of people, but some points of the capitalist economic system are necessary to take care of the consumer’s needs.

Modern Drama Essay -- essays research papers

What is Realism? Realism is the movement toward representing reality as it actually is, in art. Realistic drama is an attempt to portray real life on stage, a movement away from the conventional melodramas and sentimental comedies of the 1700s. It is expressed in theatre through the use of symbolism, character development, stage setting and storyline and is exemplified in plays such as Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House and Anton Chekhov's The Three Sisters. The arrival of realism was indeed good for theatre as it promoted greater audience involvement and raised awareness of contemporary social and moral issues. It also provided and continues to provide a medium through which playwrights can express their views about societal values, attitudes and morals. A Doll's House, for example, is the tragedy of a Norwegian housewife who is compelled to challenge law, society and her husband's value system. It can be clearly recognized as a realistic problem drama, for it is a case where the indivi dual is in opposition to a hostile society. Ibsen's sympathy with the feminine cause has been praised and criticized; as he requires the audience to judge the words and actions of the characters in order to reassess the values. For another example we can look within the text of Brian Friel’s play Translations. In this play we can see most, if not all of the characteristics of Realism. Let us dissect the show through the characters and touch on Friel’s usage of symbolism, character development, stage setting and storyline to see his connections with realism. Symbolism, â€Å"the term Symbolism means the systematic use of symbols or pictorial conventions to express an allegorical meaning. Symbolism is an important element of most religious arts and reading symbols plays a main role in psychoanalysis.† At the opening of the text, Manus one of the main players is teaching Sarah to speak. He is being very patient with her because he believes that it is very important to teach her to articulate, 'Come on, Sarah. This is our secret'. When we see how hard Sarah is finding it to speak English it makes us feel that she is the symbol for Ireland's backward positions on English, and English influence. Jimmy another character on the other hand, represents the educated civilized tradition of old Ireland. He is a scholar, however Sarah is the opposite. She is a contemporary Ireland, as she has no v... ... may or may not have occurred â€Å"kind of like the movie Titanic†, it is still feasible. The plot is based on the characters having multiple catharses. Love is realized and lost, importance of heritage is found and lost, and death occurs. Realism has had a profound effect on fiction from places as far-flung as Russia and the Americas. The novel, which had been born out of the romance as a more or less fantastic narrative, settled into a realistic mode which is still dominant today. Aside from genre fiction such as fantasy and horror, we expect the ordinary novel today to be based in our own world, with recognizably familiar types of characters endowed with no supernatural powers, doing the sorts of things that ordinary people do every day. It is easy to forget that this expectation is only a century and a half old, and that the great bulk of the world's fiction before departed in a wide variety of ways from this standard, which has been applied to film and television as well. Even comic strips now usually reflect daily life. Repeated revolts against this standard by various postmodernist and magical realist varieties of fiction have not dislodged the dominance of realism in fiction.

Emotional relationship Essay

In this essay I will be looking at two theories of attachment, â€Å"an intense emotional relationship†¦ enduring over time and in which prolonged separation†¦ is accompanied by stress and sorrow† (Kagan et al 1982). I will also attempt to evaluate the statement from Bowlby ’58, where he says that â€Å"Mother love in infancy is as important for mental health as are vitamins and protein for physical health†. The two attachment theories I will be looking at are Bowlby’s 1953 Monotrophy Theory and Freud’s Psychoanalytical Theory. Bowlby initially argued that attachment is an adaptive behaviour due to the human instinct to survive. Infants are born with a predisposition to survive and therefore have to form an attachment in order to gain food, warmth and protection etc. In order for this interaction to take place, the infant is born with Innate Social Releasers that prompt care-giving from the parent through releasers such as crying and cooing etc. Infants also need to form attachments in order to have a â€Å"secure base† from which to explore the world around them. This can be seen in securely attached infants, who are happy to explore an unfamiliar room, as long as the person with whom they have their â€Å"primary bond† is present (Strange Situation- Ainsworth and Bell 1970). Bowlby described this primary bond as â€Å"Monotrophy†, meaning turning towards one person. He recognised that this bond doesn’t always form with the biological mother, just the primary care giver. Adults also have a predisposition to care and be responsive to their offspring, as the survival of the infant into adulthood ensures the continuation of their genetic line. Therefore the have an innate response to the infants’ social releasers. Bowlby suggested that infants have a Critical Period, up to 2 1/2 years, for attachments to form. If attachments were not made by this age, it would not be possible for the child to form any attachment and the child would suffer long-term, permanent emotional damage, particularly in the formation of lasting adult relationships. This is due to the â€Å"Internal Working Model† according to Bowlby and later by Bretherton and Waters (1985) who said that â€Å"secure children have developed a positive working model of themselves, based on their feelings of security derived from having a sensitive, emotionally responsive and supportive primary care-giver†. It is therefore said that avoidant children have a rejecting, unresponsive caregiver, resulting in a negative working model of themselves. He also developed the Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis, where he claimed that infants who were unable to develop attachments would grow up having problems with relationships and have a higher chance of behavioural disorders. This hypothesis was supported by other psychologists such as Spitz and Wolf (1946) and Robertson and Robertson (1971). An alternative theory of attachment is the Psychosexual theory put forward by Freud. He said there are five stages of development a child goes through: Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency and Genital. The stage that deals with attachment is the oral stage, which occurs from birth to about 18 months. Freud thought that during this time the infant is driven by the â€Å"Pleasure Principle†. This is caused by the development of the â€Å"Id†, the first component of the personality to develop. The â€Å"Id† demands instant gratification and in the oral stage, gratification comes through the mouth. The drive for oral satisfaction is vital at this age as the attention is focused on food and thus, survival. There are three parts to this stage of development: the drive for oral gratification that results in an uncomfortable feeling, so the infant cries. He is then fed, and the drive is reduced and the uncomfortable feeling, hunger, is gone. This is experienced as pleasure. Therefore the attachment is made with the person who offers the gratification and pleasure. Although at first glance, the two theories are very different, when analysed, similarities can be drawn. They both suggest stages the infant must go through in order to develop into a stable adult. Bowlby says that no infantile attachment leads to problems in adult relationships and Freud says that an unsuccessful transition through any of the five stages will result in regression in later life, for example a child with an oral fixation will suck his thumb, chew pen tops and in later life smoke. Both of these points are true to a certain degree, as there as been countless studies about children who have had maternal deprivation in early infancy and grown up into maladjusted adults. However it is difficult to be able to pinpoint exactly what is the cause of an adults’ maladjusted behaviour as there may be numerous reasons, which cannot be reduced to maternal deprivation alone. One major difference between these theories is that while Bowlby recognises that the primary bond doesn’t have to be with the mother, Freuds’ theory is dependant on the mother or wet nurse. This could lead to implications when trying to apply Freud’s theory today, as many infants are not breast-fed at all. Bowlby’s theory was very well received in the UK when it was published, as it came just after the second world war, when women were being encouraged to go back to the home and their children, so the men could return to the jobs in the factories etc. His theory gave the government something by which to almost force the women home, as the threat of a maladjusted child, due to your absence, was more than most women wanted to deal with. It was also one of the most important and influential pieces of psychological work of that century.

Obesity and Biology

Obesity and Biology Obesity isn’t classified as an eating problem anymore. It is more than that a person’s biology plays a big roll. Cells and hormones play a big roll on how big you are and how your body regulates energy. Food equals energy and the body stores that energy in fat cells and uses the energy as needed. The metabolism breaks down that food and uses the energy generated from that food for everyday activities such as walking, talking, thinking. The faster ones metabolism is the more efficient they are at breaking down food and using the energy.The slower the metabolism the more energy gets stored and gets turned into fat cells and not used. The hormone leptin, which is produced in fat cells, sends signals to the brain telling it that its levels are dropping which means the cells are reducing. When this occurs the brain processes that information as starvation and sends signals back to slow down the metabolism and store as much energy as possible. There are pe ople who eat less than other but still gain weight. That’s a biological problem. There are areas in the brain research has found that if damaged can lead to obesity.One such area is the ventromedial hypothalamus and the surrounding axons. If this area in the brain is damaged at then this can lead to overeating and more storing of fat cells. Research conducted on rats at the University of Nebraska looked at this area in the brain and how it affects food intake and body weight. With damage to that area the rat nearly tripled in size in the cores of about sixty days. Food intake does not always correspond to body weight. It is possible to excessively eat and not gain weight. It just matters how active one is and how efficient the metabolism is.There are other areas in the brain located in the prefrontal cortex that also can affect body weight. Those areas are responsible for food-seeking behaviors. If one is always hooked on seeking high fat food such as burgers and high sugar d rinks such as coke then that can lead to an overweight problem. The problem with sugared drinks such as coke is that it is high in fructose sugar and that particular sugar does not raise insulin or leptin as other sugars do. So you drink more of the soda, which equates to more calories without satiety. The brain is not the only factor in weight another factor can be genetics.Your gene makeup can be responsible for how much energy you store, and that’s all been passed down to you from your ancestors. If your ancestors were only getting by in life by eating very little as about 1000 calories a day and storing a lot of energy in fat cells and using that energy efficiently then that means you should not eat foods that are high in fat. The reason is your genetic makeup structures your body to store more energy from food. Those whose body is structured like this that eat a normal diet of about 2500 calories a day will gain weight.That is due to the fact that the genes were from the ancestors thought a normal diet of about 1000 calories was good enough to get them by. In America most foods you find these days have a lot of fat in them. Good tasting unhealthy food is cheaper than healthy food. A burger is way cheaper than a salad these days. The American life style requires people to be able to get food quickly. No one likes waiting anymore and barely anyone cooks anymore. Home kitchens are beginning to shrink as Americans waist size is beginning to grow. Fast food restaurants blanket almost every business street.Americans eating lifestyle is one of the biggest factors in their weight. Obese people who lose weight end up gaining it right back because the brain thinks the body is starving because there are not enough fat cells that it was normally used to. A person that loses weight cannot eat the same amount as a person who is naturally at that weight. They have to eat about 500 calories less in order to maintain their new weight. Its not only a temporary diet they have to be on, but a lifetime diet if they want to keep the weight off and they have to exercise everyday.

The strategy of The Body Shop

â€Å"Business people have got to be the instigators of change. They have the money and the power to make a difference. A company that makes a profit from society has a responsibility to return something to that society.† 1 (Roddick, 1991) This statement, by Anita Roddick OBE, founder of ‘The Body Shop', demonstrates the strong ethical dimension of the company's way of doing business. She opened her first shop in Brighton on March 26th 1976 selling 25 varieties of 100-percent natural skin and hair care products inspired by cultural knowledge from around the world. The company has expanded dramatically since its origins and now has over 1900 stores worldwide. Despite its rapid growth, the strong beliefs and values existent in 1976 remain deeply embedded within the organisational culture. Throughout this writing I will discuss these beliefs and values in the context of corporate strategy and decision-making, and demonstrate how it relates to theoretical frameworks within the corporate strategy field. I will analyse The Body Shop's strategies using these theoretical models, and compare and contrast the models themselves. The strategy of The Body Shop in comparison to other businesses within the cosmetics and toiletries industry was unconventional. Their rapid growth, achieved mainly through franchising, was primarily due to the ‘green' nature of the organisation, prioritising ethical practice over making profits. â€Å"Ever since she started The Body Shop in 1976, Roddick had made a habit of going against the tide of the industry's established business practices.† 2 (Mintzberg, Quinn, Ghoshal, 1991: 447) This quotation reinforces the notion of The Body Shop's alternative approach to strategy. Unlike other companies within the industry, they didn't make miraculous claims for their products; they allowed labels with detailed lists of the ingredients and properties of products to tell customers about each good. This links in with the fact that a major component of The Body Shop's strategy was that they never engaged in any advertising. Throughout history and in contemporary advertising, organisations within the health and beauty sector have constantly bombarded the public with claims and promises associated with their products through the use of adverts and promotions. â€Å"The cosmetics industry makes its money through packaging and advertising, which together are 85 per cent of its costs.† 3 (Mintzberg, Quinn, Ghoshal, 1991: 453) This is a cost that The Body Shop's strategy enabled them to avoid. The business was started with just a $6000 bank loan, and so it wasn't possible to engage in expensive advertising campaigns, moreover, it was against the values of the organisation, who preferred to rely on word-of-mouth and publicity to secure sales. It is said that the initial success of the first store was a lot to do with the curiosity and publicity acquired through a local newspaper article illustrating the fact that it was called â€Å"The Body Shop† and was located close to a funeral parlour. Their strategy exploits the fact that they are a socially responsible organisation, meaning that customers buy their products knowing that nothing has been artificially manufactured and are produced with 100 percent natural ingredients. This unique selling point, together with their prominent beliefs and values, has the affect of providing The Body Shop with a competitive advantage over other firms in the industry. This will be developed in more depth later in the writing. The Body Shop's strong social message is reflected in every aspect of their mission statement. From dedicating the business to the pursuit of social and environmental change, to meaningfully contributing to local, national and international communities in which they trade.4 â€Å"The company is significantly involved in local communities and is prepared to get political and talk about big issues in countries where it does business. No company in the world campaigns at the level we do, or turns their shops into action stations, or challenges the role of business like we do.† 5 (Roddick, 2002) Throughout history The Body Shop has rapidly expanded geographically as well as in terms of their sales and product portfolio, however, in the late 1990s their performance began to suffer. As a result, February 2000 saw fundamental changes to the organisation and management, including substantial changes to the board of directors, and the outsourcing of manufacturing to a company named ‘Creative Outsourcing Solutions International Limited'. Anita and Gordon Roddick became non-executive directors and there were five new appointments to the board, including a new CEO. Despite these changes The Body Shop's performance failed to be rejuvenated, which forced them into more drastic changes. â€Å"In the most recent annual report, Peter Saunders (CEO) commented that the group's objective now was to apply a strategy to drive performance across the global business†¦The single most important priority, he added, was to improve comparable sales performance across stores through effective new product launches.† 6 (‘Mintel', 2003: 137) These new objectives seem to have the effect of diluting the self-proclaimed visions and primary concerns of The Body Shop. It could be said that the current management have somewhat contradicted Anita Roddick's earlier philosophies. â€Å"Too many businesses have gotten distracted with management structures and†¦making money.† 7 (Roddick, 1991) One of the main underlying reasons why they have encountered their current problems is because many companies within the health and beauty industry have noted the success of The Body Shop and are responding to the ever-increasing ‘green consumer' themselves through the release of their own versions of ‘all-natural' products. Examples being ‘Està ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½e Lauder Origins', ‘Revlon New Age Naturals', and ‘Clairol Herbal Essences'. Competition erodes profit, and, as a result of the increase in competition, The Body Shop have lost their competitive advantage of being able to supply what others cannot. The strategies of The Body Shop can be analysed using several theoretical models from within the strategy discipline. Situation analysis can be used to determine what advantages BS have, or have had, over their competitors, and can illustrate how The Body Shop was so successful for many years. This theory, termed by Mintzberg as the ‘Design School', was based upon work by Professor Kenneth Andrews and addresses, amongst others, the view that: â€Å"Strategy is concerned with identifying opportunities in the enterprise's external environment which it is better qualified to exploit than its competitors.† 8 (Lilley, 2003) The current situation of The Body Shop was analysed by Mintel and appears in their February 2003 publication on health and beauty retailing in the UK. STRENGTHS * Strong worldwide coverage helps to spread corporate risk. * Well known and well respected global brand. * Franchising has enabled the company to grow at lower cost and lower risk. * Still has strong ethical and environmental credentials. WEAKNESSES * Mature business, with declining like-for-like sales. * Appears to lack the inspiration to re-invent itself. * Vulnerable to imitators. * Franchising reduces level of corporate control. * Rapidly rising rental costs in the UK. * Limited growth opportunities in terms of new geographical regions. OPPORTUNITIES * Still potential to enter new markets in Europe especially Central/Eastern Europe and other parts of the world. * Implementation of strategy to control costs and working capital in order to improve profitability and cash generation. * Development of more pharmacy concessions in Ireland and possibly other markets. * Further development of e-commerce and other non-store channels. THREATS * Strong competition from other innovative and environmentally friendly health and beauty retailers. * Great competition from discounters and grocers' health and beauty offer. * Recent new product launches have yet to produce a positive impact on sales densities. * Continued lack of like-for-like sales growth threatens profitability and the group's scope to expand physically. ‘Figure 1': SWOT Analysis of The Body Shop International Plc. 9 (Mintel, 2003: 144) The above analysis was compiled after The Body Shop's decline in performance – it is clear that all the threats from the external environment are modern occurrences that wouldn't have been an issue during their period of rapid growth in the 1980s. Throughout this time they effectively maintained a portfolio of differentiated products and, perhaps more prominently, a unique and differentiated brand image, which enabled The Body Shop to compete and be successful. â€Å"Product differentiation means that established firms have brand identification and customer loyalties, which stem from product differences, or simply being first into the industry.† 10 (Porter, 1980: 9) The environmentally friendly and ethical practices that The Body Shop claim they dedicate their business to could be described as their core competence within the industry. Even to this date Anita Roddick and the organisation actively campaign in issues such as animal testing, human rights, and protecting our planet. No other business within the health and beauty industry is as heavily associated with ethical and environmental practices as The Body Shop. The core competence of an organisation characterises its whole range, take for example, Sony's ability to miniaturise electronics or Aston Martin's competence in producing flawless motorcars. It is clear to see that The Body Shop's core competence is not only reflected throughout their product range, but is evident throughout all their business activities, from their minimal use of product packaging, to the layout of stores. â€Å"Core competencies and market-led strategy are nowadays the only pathways toward success.† 11 (Sophocleous, 2003) The strategy that The Body Shop employed can be analysed with another useful framework in the field of strategy, namely â€Å"The Five Competitive Forces that Determine Industry Profitability† by Michael E. Porter. This cannot be applied directly to The Body Shop, but can be used to analyse the external environment in which they operated in the past, and how it changed in the late 90s. ‘Figure 2†²: Forces driving industry competition. 12 (Porter, 1980: 4) The main principle behind this model is that the profitability of an organisation is determined by the collective strength of the five forces; in other words, the industry structure directly affects industry profitability. The Body Shop initially operated within a niche market where there were no real competitors offering the same products nor backing the same principles that they were. The threat of substitutes was minimal because if customers wanted all-natural products they would almost certainly have had to buy them from The Body Shop. In relation to the threat of new entrants, initially there was nothing stopping rival firms from competing within the all-natural cosmetics and toiletries sector, however, no other companies actively engaged in the ethical and environmental practices to the extent that The Body Shop did. The barriers to market entry increased in relation to the amount of stores opened by The Body Shop, and during their period of rapid growth, their power within the niche market could have been regarded almost as monopolistic. However, customers who preferred to buy all-natural products but didn't regard it as being entirely necessary could easily have turned to other companies' products within the wider industry, that didn't exercise such dominant views on ethical and environmental issues. The low threat of ‘all-natural' substitution that existed in the earlier stages of The Body Shop, coupled with the fact that the arrival of new entrants was particularly low, provided them with the opportunity to control the prices they charged for their products. The argument becomes more complex when trying to categorise The Body Shop into a particular market. They could be regarded as operating completely within their own sector, but can also be viewed as just another cosmetics company with the advantage of having a differentiated product range and image. â€Å"Differentiation, if achieved, is a viable strategy for earning above-average returns in an industry because it creates a defensible position for coping with the five competitive forces.† 13 (Porter, 1980: 38) To justify this quotation in relation to The Body Shop we must consider them to be in the wider cosmetics industry, which has a high level of competitors. Their differentiation led to customers' increased loyalty in The Body Shop brand, which resulted in a lower sensitivity in price. This had the effect of protecting the company from competition and rivalry. However, as time progressed, other companies intentionally sought to compete directly in the field of environmentally friendly products. The Body Shop was able to gain an advantage over competitors by not utilising traditional distribution channels – for many years they only sold their products through their own shops. This reduced the threat of new direct competition from other companies, as the level of investment required by a new entrant would be extortionate considering they would have to open an abundance of specialist shops. However, to overcome these problems the new competitors emerged using traditional distribution channels, such as through supermarkets and department stores. â€Å"The strength of the five forces varies from industry to industry, and can change as an industry evolves.† 14 (Porter, 1985: 4) The above statement from Porter's work in 1985 is related to the case of the cosmetics and toiletries industry in that the emergence of greater competition in the 90s meant that the strength of the competitive rivalry aspect of the five forces within the industry increased. In addition, customers now have the ability to simply pick and choose alternative brands' all-natural products in confidence – an increase in the threat of substitution. Through the use of Porter's five forces model we can see that the changes in the strength of the forces within the cosmetics and toiletries market have accounted for the recent decline in performance of The Body Shop. In the early days of the company, the threat of like-for-like substitutes and the associated power of customers were relatively low in comparison to the modern day situation. Competitors have increasingly matched the core competences of The Body Shop, and, as a result, the significant competitive advantage that they once had has been reduced. â€Å"Competition in an industry goes well beyond the established players. Customers, suppliers, substitutes, and all potential entrants are all ‘competitors' to firms in an industry.† 15 (Porter, 1980: 6) This quotation by Porter reveals that the five forces model has limitations with regard to The Body Shop case. The Body Shop do not regard their suppliers as competitors; in fact they want to actually financially support their suppliers. This is evident from their mission statement in their aim of balancing the financial and human needs of their suppliers. These more esoteric aspects of The Body Shop's strategy, termed by Anita Roddick as them doing ‘business as unusual', highlights another main drawback of the five forces model, in that it is geared around profit being the primary concern of an organisation and doesn't provide any flexibility or scope for change. The Body Shop's early successes can be partly attributed to the strong customer base they secured due to the general movement in society towards being more environmentally and ethically aware. The framework doesn't deal effectively with this idea of customer preference or changes in trends, nor does it cope with the notion that customers were gained through the fact that they appreciated, and could relate to, the values and beliefs of The Body Shop and their efforts to pursue social and environmental change, and not just because of factors relating to price. On the other hand, the SWOT analysis model is useful for clearly displaying the advantages of an organisation in relation to the market within which it operates, together with the negative aspects of the internal organisation and external environment. As with all theories, however, there are a number of limitations associated with it. All of a business's strengths do not necessarily directly contribute towards providing a competitive advantage, SWOT analysis also has the tendency to take a single dimension of a firm's strategy over-emphasise it. It is difficult to prove which strengths are likely to provide the most benefit to an organisation, and also determine which opportunity should be given more attention to shape the overall strategy of the business in question. The findings of SWOT analysis are greatly shaped by the opinions and perceptions of managers or analysts, meaning that they can be regarded as subjective in nature as opposed to the, perhaps initial appearance of being objective and rationally constructed. â€Å"What we are dealing with here is not the organisation or environment ‘in itself', rather we are attempting to extract and combine the perceptions of these entities that exist in the minds of managers.† 16 (Lilley, 2003) In conclusion, after analysing the strategy of The Body Shop using frameworks from the strategy discipline, it is apparent that SWOT analysis deals well with the unique aspects of The Body Shop's strategy. Although the analysis of The Body Shop's situation is greatly dependent upon personal judgement, their strengths shown in figure 1 give an accurate account of the 25-year success story, which was primarily based upon The Body Shop's core competence in displaying continuous proactive dedication towards ethical and environmentally friendly practices, together with their prime high street and inner-city shop locations, and famous and respected global brand. The reasons for their decline in performance during the late 90s are clearly displayed in the ‘threats' category of the analysis, prominently highlighting the emergence of increased competition from other companies operating within the health and beauty industry, who are reaching consumers through traditional distribution channels and via supermarkets. Michael Porter's model of the five competitive forces is valuable in that it offers a simple, structured analysis of the industry, but is limited in the sense that it's unable to satisfactorily consider the dynamics of markets, for example, the movement of consumer preferences towards environmentally friendly products. It can provide a helpful starting point for further analysis, but simplified versions alone can prove inadequate. It provides an account of how conventional, profit-maximising firms are affected by the structure and occurrences of the external environment, and how those firms can work towards shaping and exploiting the environment to their advantages, but fails to comprehensively account for the successes of unorthodox firms like The Body Shop, who do not, at least in their own claims, follow the usual route of or towards profit maximisation.