Health Finance 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Health Finance 2 - Assignment Example 14). The revenue in such practices and clinics is usually received after the service is delivered and after a treatment session is over. Patients may opt for a single session or sitting or they may decide to take a full course of the treatment that can extend for a few weeks. First time visitors must pay a consultation fee and subsequent visits are charged an hourly fee or a per session fee. Different types of revenue types available for healthcare in general are Discounted Fee-for-Service, Fee-for-Service, Managed Care, Medicaid Program, Medicare Program and Payer Mix. Chiropractors are not eligible for any of the managed care system and so the revenue group followed is fee for service. This choice of service cannot be avoided since the Chiropractor is recognised as an alternative medicine. In some cases, when a patient agrees to take a course of treatment, the doctor may agree to receive payment after the sittings are over. Some patients can then refuse to pay saying that they have not been cured. Since this treatment does not base the treatment on the results of blood and other medical tests, it is difficult for the Chiropractor to prove the efficacy of the treatment. In addition, since the treatment is not paid by insurer, liability of receiving payment is with the Chiropractor. This reduces overcharging and instances of false assurances by the doctors and a customer with legitimate grievances can protect himself. Therefore, this fee for service is better than other revenue formats (Andrew, p.

Globalization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

Globalization - Essay Example First, a firm may choose FDI rather than exporting when it wants to regulate cost uncertainty, as well as demand uncertainty. Through FDI, the international firm will meet the shifting local demand more quickly than when the firm uses exporting; this will improve the profits of the firm. Therefore, the firm may decide to internationalize business activities through FDI rather than exporting when the cost uncertainty is lower than the demand uncertainty. Moreover, firms that engage in the production of products that may be less similar may choose foreign direct investment as an entry strategy in foreign markets than the use of exporting. Another circumstance that may prompt a firm to use foreign direct investment rather than the other methods like exporting includes government policies. These may entail policies that discourage exports as a way of conducting international business. For example, nontariff as well as tariff barriers may discourage firms from choosing to export as an entry mode in international business. High taxes that may be levied on the exports may compromise the profits of the business enterprise. As a result, firms may choose to make direct investments in the foreign markets with an aim of maintaining productivity and profits. Tariffs may act as barriers to international trade, especially when firms depend on exports as a mode of entry in international markets. Another circumstance that may make a firm make a direct investment in a foreign country through FDI includes marketing concerns. This may entail the distribution, logistics, image of the firm, and responsiveness to the customers' needs. Firms that require quick and immediate feedback from the customers tend to choose FDI as the mode of entry in international markets (Markusen 2004, p. 287). Through FDI, the firm takes advantage of its presence in a foreign market to engage in widespread marketing of the products, which it produces. Thus, Foreign Direct Investment could be more favorable than exporting, licensing, and franchising in a situation where the firm wants to engage in enormous marketing of its products (Moran 2002, p. 100). Firms may also decide to internationalize their business activities through foreign direct investment where logistical considerations play an essential role in the activities of the firm. An example includes the costs attributed to internationalization th rough exporting (William 2004, p. 246). While firms decide to internationalize through exporting, some costs such as packaging, warehousing, distribution, and transporting costs will be incurred. Thus, in circumstances where firms want to avoid these costs, it will be more

How Software Utilities Can Improve Computer Science Essay

How Software Utilities Can Improve Computer Science Essay All software utilities have been designed and made to improve the performance of computer systems. These software utilities can be an advantage to Sam because he does not know much about computers and is new to this electrical machine. Some functions and features that software utilities perform can be done manually but only by experienced and professional. Most new users cannot carry out such operations, which will improve the performance of his computer system manually. A computer system can maintain upmost computer performance through utilities and are suggested how they maintain computer performance below. Security (Anti-virus, Anti-Spyware and Firewall): There are two main areas to security within a personal computer that need to be maintained through the use of a software utility. One is firewall, a software utility which prevents unknown people and viruses from entering your computer. A firewall acts like a wall and a boundary between the computer and the internet. It only allows such connections that have a trusted certificate with them. If a person is not protected from such threats, other people can manipulate his computer or delete everything from his computer. The other security utility that is needed with in the computer is standard software that works in the background and checks for any viruses within the computer. These types of viruses enter a persons computer from a cd, usb or any other external sources which dont have access through the internet. You can get a utility software that functions both of these features. This is more convenient, takes less hard drive space, uses less CPU/RAM usage and also costs less. Anti-spyware software and utilities are needed on every computer especially if one is to use his computer for business work and contains valuable data on his operating system. Sam has the intention of buying a computer for his business work hence he wouldnt want anyone to take his data. Anti-spyware is a software that is designed and created for the sole purpose to detect and prevent spyware program installations. And if it finds one that is already installed on your pc then it will remove it instantly. Spyware can affect the performance of the computer system because it takes up hard drive space and also runs in the background of the computer (hence uses CPU and RAM memory). Sam can use a software utility such as SUPER AntiSpyWare. This will help Sam keep his information safe and secure. Malicious computer hackers, data-destroying viruses, and email spam are the main but few different possible threats to your personal security and your operating system. Without protection, hackers can gain control of any information stored on your computer and also disturb computer performance. It could go to the extent that the hacker can wipe out your operating system. By not being protected you can also encounter viruses; these sorts of programs are designed to damage, disable, or do other unwanted actions to your computer. To prevent these undesirable actions you can use a software utility such as Norton 360 or Kaspersky Internet Security Special Ferrari Edition. This software utility is made to protect against Viruses, Malware and also to stop threats from entering your computer. Been protected ensures that your computer performance should run smoothly. Sam needs his computer to be protected because he is going to be using his computer for business. He will have valuable data on their as customer details are should not be lost or stolen. Defragmentation: Defragmentation is process done to a hard drive in order to recover some lost disk space and also to improve the computers performance. Defragging is a vital process which needs to take place on your hard drive. If a hard drive is not defragmented, then over time the drive will slowly reduce the available capacity on the drive and begin to create performance issues. When you defrag your hard drive you re-arrange the order in which the data is stored on the drive to ensure that the good files and folders are set first so that the computer doesnt spend time searching for them. The PC will arrange the data so that data that belongs together and needs to be read together is actually put in the same place on the drive. You can defrag your computer using the software utility called defraggler. This software will guarantee your hard drives clean-up and tidying hence improve your operating systems performance. Sam needs to defragment his computer because if he doesnt then his computer will c lutter and form a load of useless files. This will then cause performance issues. Clean up Cookies and Internet History: Clean-Up is basically a utility that clears out all temporary files that dont need to be kept within the computer. This includes clearing all temporary files, emptying the Recycle Bin, removing all unwanted user data from sources such as the Internet cache, history and cookies. This can help the performance of a computer because it takes out and removes all of the waste permanently. A utility which carries out these actions is CCleaner. This makes sure that there is no clutter left in your operating system. Sam will have to use this system utility on a regular basis to keep his computer running at a good speed. Back up: Back-Up is a small saved copy of an operating system. This copy is made for emergency cases, where a persons computer has a vital breakdown and the only option available for the computer to properly function again is that you use the back up to restore your computer. You can use a utility software/tool such as CCleaner to create a backup for your operating system. Back-ups can be saved on the primary internal hard disk but if anything is to go wrong with the hard disk then you can lose all of the files including the back-ups made. This is why it is better to make back-ups on external devices such as USBs, CDs, Floppy Disks and external hard drives. Sam is going to be using his computer for business and needs to back up his work. Business data is valuable and cannot be lost. Screensaver: Screen Savers that are downloaded from random websites are normally the ones which affect the computers performance. There are also the flashy and very complex types of screensavers that affect computer performance. This is because the screensaver takes up some of the CPU (Central processing unit) usage and leaves less for the computer to run on then it would without the screensaver. One way of removing this is by getting to this address within the computer (Control PanelAppearance and PersonalizationPersonalization) then clicking on screensaver and applying one of the built in screensavers because these are less complex and also use up less CPU usage. It would be better to completely remove the screen saver and use the hibernating feature within the computer but to suite your needs I would only recommend the built in computer screensavers. If you dont like the screensavers provided than you should download some from the Microsoft website. Sam doesnt really need a screensaver; this i s because there isnt much benefit to a screensaver. If Sam wishes to use one then I advise his to use simple one for example the system default ones. Compression: Compression is when you reduce the size of files by changing its coding to a more efficient coding. This is done to make up more space on the hard drive. Compression doesnt remove and free a massive amount of space but every bit of space counts. Hence a computer with loads of files, when compressed can make a big difference and free a lot of space. Sam can save space on his hard drive by compressing his files. Driver updates: Updating your drivers is very important; whether it may be software updates or hardware updates. Normally when you buy a printer, the printer comes with a software driver CD. This familiarises people with the fact that software need to be updated but they are not normally familiar with updates for hardware devices, such as Intel devices, graphics cards and chipsets. These need to be updated to improve computer performance. New drivers are made by the company of the product and fix bugs, improve the security of the devices and give better performance. To find out which hardware and software drivers need updating, you could use a utility such as Driver scanner 2013 from Uniblue. This tool will scan all your operating system to tell you what drivers need updating. Having all your drivers updated your operating system should run at optimum speed. Sam needs to update his drivers because this helps to fix bugs and other performance issues. Operating system diagnostics: Operating system diagnostics is when you come up across a problem and then your computer gives you the option diagnose problem. The computer will then search for the solution to the problem. Once it finishes diagnosing then it will either give you the solution to the problem or it will tell you that it cant find the solution. For example when you internet is not connected and you open up your browser then it will give you some advice for why your internet is coming on and it will also give you the diagnose problem message. This will be of good use to Sam because he is new to computers and will not have enough knowledge on solving his computer problems. Conclusion: Over time, a computer may accumulate a lot of unnecessary data and a lot of errors. This can easily wear the performance of the computer down and can affect the operating system of the PC. Because of this you should use a computer utility program/or programs that would be able to provide the necessary help that you need in order to help maintain a smooth operating system. The best PC utilities manage and cover a wide range of problems. This is more beneficial, saves money and also hard drive space. Some recommendations for Sam, to stop his computer from accumulating performance issues. Security: (Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware and Firewall) -Run daily checks on your computer to viruses. -Keep your firewall on all the time. -Try to get a utility that contains all of these softwares in one. (Panda Antivirus Pro 2013) System Maintenance: Defragmentation- Defrag your computer every six months. Clean-Up- Run a clean-up on your computer every two weeks. Back-Up- back up your computer every two to three days. Screen Saver- runs a very basic screensaver but you will be better without one. Compression-compress your files whenever you find a folder full of clutter. Cookies and Internet History- should be done as part of a clean-up check but you need to clear you cookies and internet history every two weeks. Diagnostics: Driver Updates- drivers need to be updated every time a new update is released. Operating System Diagnostics- is just a problem finder and solution raiser. Use whenever in need of this service. These recommendations should stop your computer from accumulating performance issues.

pearl harbor Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The attack on Pear Harbor has influenced history in a way that has made America stronger. It helped America unite as a country, allowing them to overcome greater obstacles. One example is the recent tragedy of September 11. I believe that Pearl Harbor helped unite America as a nation so when the bombing on September 11 happened, it helped the U.S. handle this tragedy. In my report, I would like to tell you of the events leading up to the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor and subsequent events.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In 1937, Japan invaded China and began waging a war on them. Since Japan was militaristic, the official head of the Japanese government did not have real power. Instead, the reins of power were held by military officials. Military leaders convinced Japanese people that they were under divine protection and could not be defeated. On September 27, 1940, Japan signed the Tripartite Treaty with Germany and Italy, which joined them to the Axis Powers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Japanese invasion of China disturbed America, for the U.S. and China had always been close allies. Many Americans were alarmed by the increasingly hostile nature of Japan’s leaders and by her powerful military thus when Chinese leader asked the U.S. for assistance, President Roosevelt declared a moral embargo. He also started strengthening American defenses in the Pacific. The center of activity was the naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Japan saw the embargo on China as a threat. Japan asked to be left alone, but America refused, insisting that they withdraw from China. Soon the embargo began to hurt Japan’s economy. So they decided to push America out of the Pacific. Japanese military leaders warned that a long war with the U.S. would result in a Japanese defeat. Japan believed that a knockout blow must be dealt to the American’s at the very beginning. They decided to launch a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor knowing that by destroying America’s Pacific fleet, the U.S. would not be able to fight back, and they would have to surrender. In the months before the attack on United States bases in the Pacific, the young Japanese men trained rigorously for service in their country’s air forces. Several factors prevented the American command from ant... ... at all. Soon after the surprise attack, on September 8, President Roosevelt asked Congress for a declaration of war. They agreed with an overwhelming vote for war, and Roosevelt soon addressed America: â€Å"Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly attacked by naval and air forces of the empire of Japan.† Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S., and the U.S. declared war on Italy and Germany. Japan thought that their attack on Pearl Harbor would destroy America, but they soon found that they had failed to anticipate three important things: (1) Most of the U.S. aircraft carriers were at sea during the attack, thus escaping the damage. (2) The attack failed to destroy the repair facilities and fuel reserves at Pearl Harbor naval base. (3) The surprise attack united the American people as nothing has before, and the entire nation banded together to face their fears with one goal—to defeat the Axis Powers. The Japanese had not crushed America at all; instead, they had—in the words of a Japanese admiral—â€Å"awakened a sleeping giant, and filled him with a terrible resolve.†

The Complexity of the Health Care System

The Complexities of the Health Care System and its Future With all that is before us as a society of human beings, health care is far reaching and of the highest attribute next to our existence. Without proper health care life becomes a hollow existence. We push through each day with painful thoughts about life, or what we think we know about it. While we focus on negative feelings of weakness and doom, wishing for better days. Always hoping for a peace that we know will never come in this life without our health. Health care is something everyone is not privilege to have. Billions of people around the world are suffering everyday from lack of proper health care. Unfortunately many have no idea what it is to be healthy, or what it feels like to feel good. They have no idea they are sick, all they know is that they exist. To be numb is what they know, how unfortunate. Here in America, most people know what it is to have a feeling of health, to feel good, mentally, physically and to some extent spiritually. With the existing health care system many are feeling the pains of being sick, no longer able to exist with that feel good spirit. Suffering is becoming the norm, filled with depression more often than not because of their failing health. Not being able to afford adequate health care, which is now far out of their reach, mainly because they can not afford it. They no longer have the health coverage they once had, now having to rely on aide and assistance that is not guaranteed. Their existence is now in the hands of the politicians, government agencies and advocates who now speak for them. We are slowly losing because of the quality of health care that has become a commodity for those who can afford it. Unfortunately everyone is not always entitled to life saving health care with the current system of health care. Can that person who is mentally ill walking the street get adequate health care? What about the homeless person without a place to lay their head at night. Where has quality health care gone, or did we ever really have it? Is there any hope for our future health care system? Although the hospital is of the most appreciated and unfortunately the most maligned and least understood institution in the U. S. ociety, with great regret, the present complexities of the United States health care system will unfortunately and inevitably affect the quality of future health care While the hospital and health care system is one that is very much needed, the maligned and misunderstanding interferes with its nobility. How is it that we live in the 21 century, and have major misunderstanding which we are experiencing within our health care system here in the United State? With all the sta keholders within the U. S. health care industry, it is no wonder we are now facing the complex dilemma in our current health care system. Due to the benchmark developments in U. S. health care, we are now at a standstill with problematic issues. The major influences with the advances and other changes are factors causing the complexities we are facing. With the legislative, political, economical, as well as organizational and professional influences, the once noble stature of the health care industry is now compromised greatly. Unfortunately the ill effects of medical education, technological advances, with rising cost along with changing population demographics, the American values are now being affected. Our major health care institutions – medical schools, groups of specialist physicians, general hospitals, and research organizations – have together overshot the level of patients care actually needed or used by the vast majority of patients: (Christensen, Bohmer, and Kenagy 2000). Our nation spends over 17% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on health care, but does not have the quality of other compared nations no where near that number. Looking back at the history of health care, the puzzling affects of the present out come is all but shocking to most Americans (Sultz, and Young, 2011). Being a $2. 5 trillion dollar industry, medical care is becoming unreachable for many Americans. What has caused this industry to skyrocket is more so due much to independent medical practices and partnership with provider organization, public and nonprofit institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes and other specialized care facilities: along with major private corporations. Dating back to the early American hospitals, they served a different purpose from those of today’s hospitals. Sheltering older adults, the dying, orphans, and vagrants, there purpose was to protect the inhabitants of its community from the contagiously sick and the dangerously insane. It seems there has always been a strained relationship between patients and the hospital, and hospital personnel. The need for information, comfort, and human contact is and has been a common complaint which is rooted in the overall history of medical care. With so much with its history, health care grew from a basket of issues which has now lossomed into what we see today as complex, from doctors and patients, to a personnel of nurses, aides, technicians, and the therapists, along with other hospital staff. With all this complexity and chaos, the once noble attributes of the health care profession has lost most of its qualities’ to misunderstandings and purpose. Malpractice is not an unknown word to the American public, and it is fundamentally correlated to a failure on the part of the physician. Malpra ctice is just one element that indicates patient mistrust in physician disclosure. Patients have turned to other sources and taken more responsibility upon themselves because of evidence or fear that their physician is giving them incomplete information, resulting in an increased number of second opinions being sought and increased referencing of secondary sources. Patient responsibility has increased because of physician failure to disclose the inherent misunderstanding of uncertainty on the part of the patient (Henry, 2006)’ While quality health care is of great importance to our society, the problems within the health care system, unfortunately supersedes the quality for patient care. Is the problem within the health care system which is something that can be resolved, or will it being unsolvable for any administration to fix. Quality health care has been interrupted for reasons that baffle most Americans. Not being able to understand the any reason we as a country can not work this major issue with health care to some balance. Since the government stepped into health care, the door has been left open for many other mandates to enter. In spite of the history of the hospital, the need for quality care has been paramount, dating as far back as the early 19th century. Hospitals were noted for being disgraceful, dirty, unventilated, and the lack of medical care was a real issue for quality health care, these issues were not publicly known. The quality at this time was very bad, which lead to the need for some type of health care reform, with hope to bring about a better quality of health care. Families that could obtain home medical or nursing care shunned hospitals, with this quality health care came about mostly through religious order. With its deplorable conditions, hospital care in early America was more of charity and public responsibility. With all the negative attributes surrounding the hospital environment, physicians saw the need to separate patients accordingly. This was the time the hospital was given its name. As rewarding as it may have seemed, the physicians had their own motives for why they did what they did. The now transformed hospital from the simple, charitable institutions to the complex, technical organizations was sparked by a parallel growth of private hospital insurance. Many of the sources that shaped the hospital industry varied from health insurance to the beginning of Medicare and Medicaid, bringing the legislative contribution to its fiscal well-being. With the increase of hospitals there also came the business of health care. The quality of health car came into question. With the hospital now becoming big business, all areas of its administration came into scrutiny. These problems began to supersede the quality of patient care. In deed without proper health care, our society would suffer a greater loss than it has. Proper health care is necessary for any society to thrive. Having the legal, ethical and regulatory aspects are important for its well being. The necessary financial systems and the impact on access to service are also required to bring about the quality as delivery. Many people may ask what proper health care is. Is there such a thing, and who would be entitle to proper health care that is a question that has yet to be answered and still debated over, causing much unrest and chaos. Being the many viewpoints about health care brings about the subjectivity of its true purpose. With the evolution and development of the present complex health care system, its development has come from sources due to an evolution of vary complicated issues. The current health care system along with poor management, has added to its history of strained development. With so much to say about the history of the now complex health care system, libraries could be built to hold its books. The early years of health care was challenged with mind sets as well s the stigma of those who needed medical attention. With the understanding of the characteristics and organization, along with the major private and governmental insurance initiatives, is an important factor which largely contributed to the centrality of hospitals within the health care system. Being there are diverse functions in the hospital, its’ staff and mostly management, add not only to the strain but the complexity with health care. The importance of patient care is being compromise with quality due to the battle within the system. The relationship between staff and patents suffers greatly with the pressures that are mandate by management. With all this being said, patients have a responsibility as well to the outcome of their treatment and patient care. The patient rights are known to have been violated from the early history of patient care. As the evolution and development of the health care system grew form its noble purpose, the conglomeration of the many stakeholders has contributed to lost trust with all aspects of this complex system in health care. When one speaks about the quality of care in hospitals, major debates often develop based on its interpretation of what quality is, and how it should be delivered. Health care has turned into a business platform that has much concern as to its promised future of adequate patient care. The question arises; can quality care be given within health care reform. Much is said to the fact that just because one has insurance does not equate to health care access. Access to a waiting list is not health care. When patients are denied access to a doctor or practitioner then it becomes incomplete health care. With the comparison to other countries health care system, come the question, why those of us who live in a wealthy country, suffers from inadequate health care. This also is a major focus point that is being argued. Some of the argument surrounds the issues of primary care and what does it Intel along with who should provide primary care versus specialty care. Of course it has been stated that Americans will never accept a system like they have in Canada or the U. K. Unfortunately patients become the victims of competition. Hospitals do not have patients; doctors have patients, referring them to the hospital of their choosing. Many of the complex issues have evolved form mismanagement of what health care, patient care, and the adequate structuring of the hospital is meant to be. Over the years of its development much has been misinterpreted as to the healthy organization of its purpose. The quality of care now provided in hospitals is so much in question that the many patients fear they will not receive the care they need. More so they are no longer view as human beings with needs, but number and dollars. These are only some of the many reasons why there is a need for health care reform which would enforce and influence hospital economics, service patterns and provider relationships. According to an article written by James Morone, The health care reforms that President Barack Obama signed into law in March 2010 had been in the making seventy-five years since Franklin D. Roosevelt. U. S . presidents has struggled to enact national health care reform: unfortunately most failed. The article explored the highly charged political landscape in which Obama maneuvered and the skills he brought to bear. It contrasts his accomplishments with the experiences of his oval office predecessors. Going forward, implementation poses formidable challenges for democrats, republicans, and the political process itself (Morone 2010 1). Adding to the development and mismanagement is a process swarming with special interest that has been noted to be powered by big money. Being that the anxiety is so overwhelming with the formatting of adequate health care; no management of reform can be administered without a deep investment. Being noted that president Obama demonstrated a care for health care reform that far exceeds his cool demeanor suggests. President Franklin D. Roosevelt knew e would not be able to get national health care insurance through congress unless he took the idea to the people first. He flirted with making health care his nest great political crusade as World War II came to an end. A plan was being prepared by his advisers, but unfortunately he died before the end of the war. The health reform effort fell into the hands of President Harry Truman, and every subsequent president. Only until the recent victory of President Obama in the health care reform did one president succeed in their efforts to accomplish some aspect of health care. President Lyndon Johnson managed to enact major new health care programs, in the form of Medicare and Medicaid (Morone 2010. 2). The now health care reform enacted by President Obama is viewed by many, mostly democrats as a historic achievement. In spite of the victory that is said to be in order, many still argue the factors involved. The comparisons of other countries are still being used to compare factors with the focus on health care systems. With physicians believing they are the ones to judge the quality of hospital medical care adds to the issues involving health care management. Among so many other components that foster the ever evolving cycle of health care management brings about major concerns. With mismanaged health care, future health care will surely suffer the cost. S often we look to solutions to fix major problems within our society, and yet we continue to add more hard to understand perplexing uncertainties than we started with. Within the health care system which dates back to the beginning of what seemed to be simple compliances to health care issues, are now multiplex issues. These issues have grabbed the attention of not only the government sector, but political entities that now govern the health care industries with long term care being the main agenda. With health care, and many factors influencing the increasing demand for long term care service in the changing demographics, along with technology, major changes are being anticipated. Unfortunately it has come to a point where the increased scrutiny within the federal and state government sectors of the finance involving issues are before congress. The major mismanagement in health care, are real and troubling concerns to most Americans, especially those who are being affected by new polices and mandates. Long-term care historically began as an in home environment with almshouses and sanitariums. After the great depression and post WWI, citizens decided to run small nursing homes in order to pay mortgages and find an income source. Not until the 1950s when government grants spurned development of the nursing home sector, did the boom in the industry occurred. The next large impact in long term care would come in the 1960s with the advent of Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements (Sultz and Young, 2011). Long term care is rally a term that defines a wide array of services, within, but not limited to skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes, continual care, assisted living, home health; hospice, respite care, and others are termed long term care. This allows the industry to respond to the individuals needs of the person requiring the services and match their level of independence or dependence with an environment most suitable conducive to their potential (Sultz and Young 2011). With the future goal of long term care being to reduce waste and become more efficient in order to provide quality care and incentives for operational responsibility, and customer service, there must be available the push to move the market forward. There are still many barriers that we face before this end is met, before we can compare and contrast the past history of long term health care, which of course will be a challenge that hopefully will take us into a future health care system that will provide all the necessary amenities that will produce the ideal health care system desired. Knowing that is far from coming, all we can do is promote the best possible manage care without the barriers that have existed. With retrospect to the similarities of Canada and the United States, the two countries had similar health care systems. However, since passage of the Canada Health Act in the 1970s, that nations health statistics have become increasingly superior. Canada’s health care system costs are higher by international standards, hey are much lower than U. S. cost. The factors most likely to be responsible for Canada’s better health care at a lower cost would be: universal financial coverage through a so called single payer features conducive to a strong primary infrastructure, and provincial autonomy under general principles set by national law (Starfield 2010). Although old enough to have become stable, Canada’s health reform efforts are relatively recent. This being in contrast to the historical foots of health systems in many western industrialized countries. The provincially based Canadian health care system, limited private insurance, public insurance plans, practices and health centers, cost, care seeking, availability of technology, and use of service. These areas are among the more prominent features that bring Canada’s health system to the front. With Canada’s experiences it shows how these critical features of the health system can be achieved in the context of a federal structure with decentralized administrative control. Although Canada has achieved better, or what appears to be a better health level than the United States, which it has for many decades, the gap has widened overtime, following the development of the different provincial plans that culminated in national legislation in the early 1970s (Starfield, 2010). What this is leading to is: if, the health care system continues to demonstrate gross mismanagement, and if the political dominance that is now existing, with the unsuccessful organizational structure it has, the inevitable outcome is more than likely to happen. The quality of future health care will suffer greatly. With so much at sake with our system of health care, the future quality of health care will be jeopardized without recourse. If reform is not properly implemented given all the information that has been provided, needed a stable health care system is only a wish. Many questions are still unanswered as to the reform necessary to provide quality patient health for the future. According to the article Health spending in the United States and the rest of the industrialized world, a cycle of unsustainable spending growth followed by fervent cost containment initiatives has been a regular feature of the health care landscape for the past half-century (Anderson, Hussey, Froger and waters, 2005). In conclusion, with health care being one of the major concerns world-wide, Americans must focus on what is best for all oppositions before us. With political as well as governmental mismanagement and the fact that so many Americans are unemployed without adequate health care insurance or health care, it poses a real threat to future stability for a stable economy as far as health care is concern. With the large amount of misunderstanding concerning the current health care system with its maligned characteristics, the future quality of health care for patients will ultimately be left to chance. Dependence on sound management for patient care is of utmost importance for a solid health care system to exist. The nobility of the once thought to be health care system, has now been affected by an aggressive political agenda which is one of the many factors involving the current failed, and complex health care system. With interference from so many stakeholders, the quality of health care is failing in major areas that is damaging to our society as a whole. Quality health care is of great importance to the existed of a well balanced society. With the openly and hidden agenda superseding quality health care, America is falling behind in a race for adequate health care for its population. As stated before, without the necessary health care, our future society will fail to exist as it does today. The source that contributes to the evolution of a very complex system poses an unfortunate future for all of us in America, without some major resolutions to its complexities. The strain that has existed thus far can not continue to exist. I believe that we can resolve most of our health care issues if we leave out much of the political agenda that has driven the chaos that we are now experiencing with health care. After complete examination and comparison with the quality of other industrialized nations, much could be accomplished her in the U. S. This would assure all citizens quality health care and possible a peace of mind. With political dominance no longer a major factor guiding the health care reform or its organizational structure a future health care system has a greater chance of existing. Minimizing the risk so that the future system will not be jeopardized as it has been. A stable health care system can be developed with less problematic issues. Patient care can be of a higher quality, access can be attainable, and delivery possible. The respect of a noble health care system will truly exist one day. References Christensen, C. M. , Bohmer, R. , and Kenagy, J. (2000). Will disruptive innovations cure health care? Harvard Business Review, p. 1-10. Retrieved from EBSCO database Genard F. Anderson, Peter S. Hussy, Bianca K. Frogner and Hugh R. Waters (2005). Health spending in the United States and the rest of the industrialized world: Health Affairs, 24. No 4 (2005): 903-914 doi: 10. 377/hlthaff. 24. 4. 903 Henry, M. S. (2006). Uncertainty, responsibility, and the evolution of the physician/patient relationship. Journal of Medical Ethics, 32(6) 321-323 doi: 10. 1136/jme 2005. 013 987 Morone, J. A. (2010) Presidents and health reform: From Franklin D. Roosevelt to Barack Obama. Health Affairs, 29(6), 1096-1100. Retrieved from the proQuest database. Starfield, B. (2010). Reinventing primary care: Lessons from Canada for the Unite d States. Health Affairs, 29(5), 1030-1036, Retrieved from the proQuest database. Sultz, H. and Young, K. (2011). Health care USA: Understanding its organization and delivery (7th ed. ). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett. . The Complexities of the Health Care System and its Future With all that is before us as a society of human beings, health care is far reaching and of the highest attribute next to our existence. Without proper health care life becomes a hollow existence. We push through each day with painful thoughts about life, or what we think we know about it. While we focus on negative feelings of weakness and doom, wishing for better days. Always hoping for a peace that we know will never come in this life without our health. Health care is something everyone is not privilege to have. Billions of people around the world are suffering everyday from lack of proper health care. Unfortunately many have no idea what it is to be healthy, or what it feels like to feel good. They have no idea they are sick, all they know is that they exist. To be numb is what they know, how unfortunate. Here in America, most people know what it is to have a feeling of health, to feel good, mentally, physically and to some extent spiritually. With the existing health care system many are feeling the pains of being sick, no longer able to exist with that feel good spirit. Suffering is becoming the norm, filled with depression more often than not because of their failing health. Not being able to afford adequate health care, which is now far out of their reach, mainly because they can not afford it. They no longer have the health coverage they once had, now having to rely on aide and assistance that is not guaranteed. Their existence is now in the hands of the politicians, government agencies and advocates who now speak for them. We are slowly losing because of the quality of health care that has become a commodity for those who can afford it. Unfortunately everyone is not always entitled to life saving health care with the current system of health care. Can that person who is mentally ill walking the street get adequate health care? What about the homeless person without a place to lay their head at night. Where has quality health care gone, or did we ever really have it? Is there any hope for our future health care system? Although the hospital is of the most appreciated and unfortunately the most maligned and least understood institution in the U. S. society, with great regret, the present complexities of the United States health care system will unfortunately and inevitably affect the quality of future health care While the hospital and health care system is one that is very much needed, the maligned and misunderstanding interferes with its nobility. How is it that we live in the 21 century, and have major misunderstanding which we are experiencing within our health care system here in the United State? With all the stakeholders within the U. S. health care industry, it is no wonder we are now facing the complex dilemma in our current health care system. Due to the benchmark developments in U. S. health care, we are now at a standstill with problematic issues. The major influences with the advances and other changes are factors causing the complexities we are facing. With the legislative, political, economical, as well as organizational and professional influences, the once noble stature of the health care industry is now compromised greatly. Unfortunately the ill effects of medical education, technological advances, with rising cost along with changing population demographics, the American values are now being affected. Our major health care institutions – medical schools, groups of specialist physicians, general hospitals, and research organizations – have together overshot the level of patients care actually needed or used by the vast majority of patients: (Christensen, Bohmer, and Kenagy 2000). Our nation spends over 17% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on health care, but does not have the quality of other compared nations no where near that number. Looking back at the history of health care, the puzzling affects of the present out come is all but shocking to most Americans (Sultz, and Young, 2011). Being a $2. 5 trillion dollar industry, medical care is becoming unreachable for many Americans. What has caused this industry to skyrocket is more so due much to independent medical practices and partnership with provider organization, public and nonprofit institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes and other specialized care facilities: along with major private corporations. Dating back to the early American hospitals, they served a different purpose from those of today’s hospitals. Sheltering older adults, the dying, orphans, and vagrants, there purpose was to protect the inhabitants of its community from the contagiously sick and the dangerously insane. It seems there has always been a strained relationship between patients and the hospital, and hospital personnel. The need for information, comfort, and human contact is and has been a common complaint which is rooted in the overall history of medical care. With so much with its history, health care grew from a basket of issues which has now blossomed into what we see today as complex, from doctors and patients, to a personnel of nurses, aides, technicians, and the therapists, along with other hospital staff. With all this complexity and chaos, the once noble attributes of the health care profession has lost most of its qualities’ to misunderstandings and purpose. Malpractice is not an unknown word to the American public, and it is fundamentally correlated to a failure on the part of the physician. Malpractice is just one element that indicates patient mistrust in physician disclosure. Patients have turned to other sources and taken more responsibility upon themselves because of evidence or fear that their physician is giving them incomplete information, resulting in an increased number of second opinions being sought and increased referencing of secondary sources. Patient responsibility has increased because of physician failure to disclose the inherent misunderstanding of uncertainty on the part of the patient (Henry, 2006)’ While quality health care is of great importance to our society, the problems within the health care system, unfortunately supersedes the quality for patient care. Is the problem within the health care system which is something that can be resolved, or will it being unsolvable for any administration to fix. Quality health care has been interrupted for reasons that baffle most Americans. Not being able to understand the any reason we as a country can not work this major issue with health care to some balance. Since the government stepped into health care, the door has been left open for many other mandates to enter. In spite of the history of the hospital, the need for quality care has been paramount, dating as far back as the early 19th century. Hospitals were noted for being disgraceful, dirty, unventilated, and the lack of medical care was a real issue for quality health care, these issues were not publicly known. The quality at this time was very bad, which lead to the need for some type of health care reform, with hope to bring about a better quality of health care. Families that could obtain home medical or nursing care shunned hospitals, with this quality health care came about mostly through religious order. With its deplorable conditions, hospital care in early America was more of charity and public responsibility. With all the negative attributes surrounding the hospital environment, physicians saw the need to separate patients accordingly. This was the time the hospital was given its name. As rewarding as it may have seemed, the physicians had their own motives for why they did what they did. The now transformed hospital from the simple, charitable institutions to the complex, technical organizations was sparked by a parallel growth of private hospital insurance. Many of the sources that shaped the hospital industry varied from health insurance to the beginning of Medicare and Medicaid, bringing the legislative contribution to its fiscal well-being. With the increase of hospitals there also came the business of health care. The quality of health car came into question. With the hospital now becoming big business, all areas of its administration came into scrutiny. These problems began to supersede the quality of patient care. In deed without proper health care, our society would suffer a greater loss than it has. Proper health care is necessary for any society to thrive. Having the legal, ethical and regulatory aspects are important for its well being. The necessary financial systems and the impact on access to service are also required to bring about the quality as delivery. Many people may ask what proper health care is. Is there such a thing, and who would be entitle to proper health care that is a question that has yet to be answered and still debated over, causing much unrest and chaos. Being the many viewpoints about health care brings about the subjectivity of its true purpose. With the evolution and development of the present complex health care system, its development has come from sources due to an evolution of vary complicated issues. The current health care system along with poor management, has added to its history of strained development. With so much to say about the history of the now complex health care system, libraries could be built to hold its books. The early years of health care was challenged with mind sets as well s the stigma of those who needed medical attention. With the understanding of the characteristics and organization, along with the major private and governmental insurance initiatives, is an important factor which largely contributed to the centrality of hospitals within the health care system. Being there are diverse functions in the hospital, its’ staff and mostly management, add not only to the strain but the complexity with health care. The importance of patient care is being compromise with quality due to the battle within the system. The relationship between staff and patents suffers greatly with the pressures that are mandate by management. With all this being said, patients have a responsibility as well to the outcome of their treatment and patient care. The patient rights are known to have been violated from the early history of patient care. As the evolution and development of the health care system grew form its noble purpose, the conglomeration of the many stakeholders has contributed to lost trust with all aspects of this complex system in health care. When one speaks about the quality of care in hospitals, major debates often develop based on its interpretation of what quality is, and how it should be delivered. Health care has turned into a business platform that has much concern as to its promised future of adequate patient care. The question arises; can quality care be given within health care reform. Much is said to the fact that just because one has insurance does not equate to health care access. Access to a waiting list is not health care. When patients are denied access to a doctor or practitioner then it becomes incomplete health care. With the comparison to other countries health care system, come the question, why those of us who live in a wealthy country, suffers from inadequate health care. This also is a major focus point that is being argued. Some of the argument surrounds the issues of primary care and what does it Intel along with who should provide primary care versus specialty care. Of course it has been stated that Americans will never accept a system like they have in Canada or the U. K. Unfortunately patients become the victims of competition. Hospitals do not have patients; doctors have patients, referring them to the hospital of their choosing. Many of the complex issues have evolved form mismanagement of what health care, patient care, and the adequate structuring of the hospital is meant to be. Over the years of its development much has been misinterpreted as to the healthy organization of its purpose. The quality of care now provided in hospitals is so much in question that the many patients fear they will not receive the care they need. More so they are no longer view as human beings with needs, but number and dollars. These are only some of the many reasons why there is a need for health care reform which would enforce and influence hospital economics, service patterns and provider relationships. According to an article written by James Morone, The health care reforms that President Barack Obama signed into law in March 2010 had been in the making seventy-five years since Franklin D. Roosevelt. U. S . presidents has struggled to enact national health care reform: unfortunately most failed. The article explored the highly charged political landscape in which Obama maneuvered and the skills he brought to bear. It contrasts his accomplishments with the experiences of his oval office predecessors. Going forward, implementation poses formidable challenges for democrats, republicans, and the political process itself (Morone 2010 1). Adding to the development and mismanagement is a process swarming with special interest that has been noted to be powered by big money. Being that the anxiety is so overwhelming with the formatting of adequate health care; no management of reform can be administered without a deep investment. Being noted that president Obama demonstrated a care for health care reform that far exceeds his cool demeanor suggests. President Franklin D. Roosevelt knew e would not be able to get national health care insurance through congress unless he took the idea to the people first. He flirted with making health care his nest great political crusade as World War II came to an end. A plan was being prepared by his advisers, but unfortunately he died before the end of the war. The health reform effort fell into the hands of President Harry Truman, and every subsequent president. Only until the recent victory of President Obama in the health care reform did one president succeed in their efforts to accomplish some aspect of health care. President Lyndon Johnson managed to enact major new health care programs, in the form of Medicare and Medicaid (Morone 2010. 2). The now health care reform enacted by President Obama is viewed by many, mostly democrats as a historic achievement. In spite of the victory that is said to be in order, many still argue the factors involved. The comparisons of other countries are still being used to compare factors with the focus on health care systems. With physicians believing they are the ones to judge the quality of hospital medical care adds to the issues involving health care management. Among so many other components that foster the ever evolving cycle of health care management brings about major concerns. With mismanaged health care, future health care will surely suffer the cost. S often we look to solutions to fix major problems within our society, and yet we continue to add more hard to understand perplexing uncertainties than we started with. Within the health care system which dates back to the beginning of what seemed to be simple compliances to health care issues, are now multiplex issues. These issues have grabbed the attention of not only the government sector, but political entities that now govern the health care industries with long term care being the main agenda. With health care, and many factors influencing the increasing demand for long term care service in the changing demographics, along with technology, major changes are being anticipated. Unfortunately it has come to a point where the increased scrutiny within the federal and state government sectors of the finance involving issues are before congress. The major mismanagement in health care, are real and troubling concerns to most Americans, especially those who are being affected by new polices and mandates. Long-term care historically began as an in home environment with almshouses and sanitariums. After the great depression and post WWI, citizens decided to run small nursing homes in order to pay mortgages and find an income source. Not until the 1950s when government grants spurned development of the nursing home sector, did the boom in the industry occurred. The next large impact in long term care would come in the 1960s with the advent of Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements (Sultz and Young, 2011). Long term care is rally a term that defines a wide array of services, within, but not limited to skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes, continual care, assisted living, home health; hospice, respite care, and others are termed long term care. This allows the industry to respond to the individuals needs of the person requiring the services and match their level of independence or dependence with an environment most suitable conducive to their potential (Sultz and Young 2011). With the future goal of long term care being to reduce waste and become more efficient in order to provide quality care and incentives for operational responsibility, and customer service, there must be available the push to move the market forward. There are still many barriers that we face before this end is met, before we can compare and contrast the past history of long term health care, which of course will be a challenge that hopefully will take us into a future health care system that will provide all the necessary amenities that will produce the ideal health care system desired. Knowing that is far from coming, all we can do is promote the best possible manage care without the barriers that have existed. With retrospect to the similarities of Canada and the United States, the two countries had similar health care systems. However, since passage of the Canada Health Act in the 1970s, that nations health statistics have become increasingly superior. Canada’s health care system costs are higher by international standards, hey are much lower than U. S. cost. The factors most likely to be responsible for Canada’s better health care at a lower cost would be: universal financial coverage through a so called single payer features conducive to a strong primary infrastructure, and provincial autonomy under general principles set by national law (Starfield 2010). Although old enough to have become stable, Canada’s health reform efforts are relatively recent. This being in contrast to the historical foots of health systems in many western industrialized countries. The provincially based Canadian health care system, limited private insurance, public insurance plans, practices and health centers, cost, care seeking, availability of technology, and use of service. These areas are among the more prominent features that bring Canada’s health system to the front. With Canada’s experiences it shows how these critical features of the health system can be achieved in the context of a federal structure with decentralized administrative control. Although Canada has achieved better, or what appears to be a better health level than the United States, which it has for many decades, the gap has widened overtime, following the development of the different provincial plans that culminated in national legislation in the early 1970s (Starfield, 2010). What this is leading to is: if, the health care system continues to demonstrate gross mismanagement, and if the political dominance that is now existing, with the unsuccessful organizational structure it has, the inevitable outcome is more than likely to happen. The quality of future health care will suffer greatly. With so much at sake with our system of health care, the future quality of health care will be jeopardized without recourse. If reform is not properly implemented given all the information that has been provided, needed a stable health care system is only a wish. Many questions are still unanswered as to the reform necessary to provide quality patient health for the future. According to the article Health spending in the United States and the rest of the industrialized world, a cycle of unsustainable spending growth followed by fervent cost containment initiatives has been a regular feature of the health care landscape for the past half-century (Anderson, Hussey, Froger and waters, 2005). In conclusion, with health care being one of the major concerns world-wide, Americans must focus on what is best for all oppositions before us. With political as well as governmental mismanagement and the fact that so many Americans are unemployed without adequate health care insurance or health care, it poses a real threat to future stability for a stable economy as far as health care is concern. With the large amount of misunderstanding concerning the current health care system with its maligned characteristics, the future quality of health care for patients will ultimately be left to chance. Dependence on sound management for patient care is of utmost importance for a solid health care system to exist. The nobility of the once thought to be health care system, has now been affected by an aggressive political agenda which is one of the many factors involving the current failed, and complex health care system. With interference from so many stakeholders, the quality of health care is failing in major areas that is damaging to our society as a whole. Quality health care is of great importance to the existed of a well balanced society. With the openly and hidden agenda superseding quality health care, America is falling behind in a race for adequate health care for its population. As stated before, without the necessary health care, our future society will fail to exist as it does today. The source that contributes to the evolution of a very complex system poses an unfortunate future for all of us in America, without some major resolutions to its complexities. The strain that has existed thus far can not continue to exist. I believe that we can resolve most of our health care issues if we leave out much of the political agenda that has driven the chaos that we are now experiencing with health care. After complete examination and comparison with the quality of other industrialized nations, much could be accomplished her in the U. S. This would assure all citizens quality health care and possible a peace of mind. With political dominance no longer a major factor guiding the health care reform or its organizational structure a future health care system has a greater chance of existing. Minimizing the risk so that the future system will not be jeopardized as it has been. A stable health care system can be developed with less problematic issues. Patient care can be of a higher quality, access can be attainable, and delivery possible. The respect of a noble health care system will truly exist one day. References Christensen, C. M. , Bohmer, R. , and Kenagy, J. (2000). Will disruptive innovations cure health care? Harvard Business Review, p. 1-10. Retrieved from EBSCO database Genard F. Anderson, Peter S. Hussy, Bianca K. Frogner and Hugh R. Waters (2005). Health spending in the United States and the rest of the industrialized world: Health Affairs, 24. No 4 (2005): 903-914 doi: 10. 1377/hlthaff. 24. 4. 903 Henry, M. S. (2006). Uncertainty, responsibility, and the evolution of the physician/patient relationship. Journal of Medical Ethics, 32(6) 321-323 doi: 10. 1136/jme 2005. 013 987 Morone, J. A. (2010) Presidents and health reform: From Franklin D. Roosevelt to Barack Obama. Health Affairs, 29(6), 1096-1100. Retrieved from the proQuest database. Starfield, B. (2010). Reinventing primary care: Lessons from Canada for the United States. Health Affairs, 29(5), 1030-1036, Retrieved from the proQuest database. Sultz, H. and Young, K. (2011). Health care USA: Understanding its organization and delivery (7th ed. ). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett. .

Are Marketers Responsible for the Use of Harmful Products in Society? Essay

Mattel Toys is currently in the process of withdrawing millions of toys released in the market following disclosures that the toys have substantially high elements of lead in their paint. Excess lead can be harmful if ingested by children and can cause mental retardation, a fact that senior managers at Mattel would have been well aware of. With the blame game on and Mattel managers assuming the role of well intentioned victims of callous suppliers, consumers can do little but wait for the next big scandal. The Mattel incident is just another sordid episode in the history of marketers being responsible for the use of harmful products in society. Whilst many people consider ethical marketing to be an oxymoron, there also exists a body of thinkers who feel that marketers contribute to social and economic development, are largely ethical and sell products that fulfil customer needs and are of use to society. The issue, while discussed at great length by business experts, social researchers and marketing academics remains topical and an issue that is far from resolution. The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) enjoins business firms to consider social and community interests by taking responsibility for the effect of their actions on customers, shareholders, the community, and the environment in all areas of work. This concept extends beyond the scope of existing legislation and encompasses voluntary actions to ensure well being and improvement of quality of life of all stakeholders and the community at large.   Milton Friedman, as is well known, had something very different to say. In his words, â€Å"In a free economy, there is one and only one social responsibility of business †¦ to use its resources †¦ to increase its profits †¦ as long as it stays within the rules of the game†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Lantos, 2001, p 603) Friedman goes on to emphasise â€Å"few trends could so thoroughly undermine the very foundation of our free society as the acceptance by corporate officials of a social responsibility other than to make as much money for their stockholders as possible. This is a fundamentally subversive doctrine† (Anderson, 1989, p. 3) Friedman is not alone in such thoughts and there appear to be a number of experts who share such views. Donaldson, for example states that corporate executives who do not seek profits above all else are irresponsible in performing their functions. (Mascarenhas, 1995, p 46)Even while CSR is becoming a common enough flourish on corporate websites, many corporations, as is evidenced by the Mattel case still firmly believe in Friedman’s wisdom..   Whilst the protection and furtherance of customer interest is obviously among the foremost objectives of the CSR strategy of business corporations, corporate history is studded with scandals involving company wrongdoing in areas of marketing, finance, tax evasion, environmental degradation, and community activity. CSR tenets demand firms to sell products that are, in the first instance, safe and non injurious to consumers, the immediate community, the society at large and the environment, regardless of profitability considerations or perceived customer value. Notwithstanding the current obsession with CSR (evidenced among other things by the growing Fair Trade movement), history makes a strong case for its consistent and widespread denial by marketers and is replete with instances of companies not only introducing harmful goods in the market but also making strenuous efforts to ensure its widespread use and proliferation. Marketing has, during the past few decades become the most critical function of the modern day corporation. Even as the constant practice of marketing strategy has led to the enormous expansion of businesses, a number of ethical issues have manifested themselves in western nations, first as general concerns, and later as clear enunciations by various experts. Most of these issues relate to the introduction and propagation of products that harm and disempower consumers and communities.   Marketing activity, according to these experts, can be damaging to the personal choice and autonomy of the buyer, manipulative of social values, and deceptive in its message. In an article on â€Å"Is there more to Ethical Marketing than Marketing Ethics† Michel Brennan (1991, p 10) argues that the ultimate goal in a commercial venture is some sort of profit achievement. The needs and wants of consumers as well as the wider concerns for their impact on society become relevant only to the extent of their effect on the profitability of the organisation. With marketers following this approach many inequities have crept into the practice of marketing. It is particularly seen to be biased against minorities like gays and ethnic groups, guilty of unethical practices against the elderly, who are targeted with products related to time shares, and living trusts, exploitative of children, who are influenced at impressionable stages to consume unhealthy food and drinks, and buy undesirable fashion ware, derogatory towards women, who are used to elicit judgements on sexuality rather than product attributes, and cynically manipulative of the developing world, which is made the dumping ground for unnecessary, and often harmful, goods. George Ritzer, in his celebrated book â€Å"The McDonaldization of Society†, (1993, p 37) illustrates in graphic detail the all pervasive and malevolent impact that mass marketing can have on humankind. Ritzer argues that McDonaldization refers to a process wherein the principles of the fast-food industry, namely efficiency, predictability, calculability, and control through technology are applied to numerous sectors of society on a global basis. This process, while being immensely profitable to businesses, has the potential to cause great harm to society. In McDonald’s, customers entering fast food outlets are manipulated to pay for their food items before tasting them, collect their orders from common distribution points, choose from a restricted and unimaginative range of unhealthy and high calorie foods, sit on uncomfortable chairs, (thus being urged to gobble their food and vacate their places fast enough), and put their trays into the garbage on their way out. Similar practices, with the help of mass advertising and focussed promotions, have enveloped and controlled society in numerous ways. A recent study on confectionery retailing and merchandising by revealed that merchandising decisions were driven more by issues like space maximisation, profitability and customer pressure rather than by social responsibility. (Piacentinin, MacFadyen and Eadie 2000, p 463) The role of advertising in marketing has also come under severe attack by critics who feel that several harmful values like conspicuous consumption, greed, envy, emulation   and self-centredness, to name a few, get reinforced by advertising. Whilst reactions like these do carry elements of self righteous extremism, the argument that advertising can be more restrained and less blatantly aggressive in promoting consumption, particularly for products that appear to be harmful to vulnerable segments of society, is also valid. Developments in technology, consumer response and behaviour, and marketing thought have led to the introduction of a number of variables that have altered both the practice of marketing and its perception in the eyes of practitioners, theoreticians and students. Progress in communication and internet technology has created a proliferation of information and provided consumers with an array of choices. Not all of these developments have been positive. Computer and electronic communication technology have made it possible for large organisations to capture and store personal and some times very private data, on huge scales, thus leading to intrusions into the personal space and security of individuals. Recent trends in the west have reflected the emergence of a different line of thinking, namely postmodernism, in most areas of human thought and endeavour. Whilst modern marketing thought, exemplified by the McDonaldized society, follows extols the superiority of mechanised working, as well as extreme standardisation, and works on the achievement of progressive debasement of humans post modernism bewilders with its plurality of currents and styles, characterised by the juxtaposition of opposing thoughts. In marketing situations, the emergence of post modernism is reflected by the fragmentation of society, the rise of individuals, greater awareness in marketers of their ethical responsibilities and the development of movements like that of Fair Trade.   The concept of QOL (Quality of Life) marketing is also rapidly gaining ground. QOL concepts broadly require marketers to enhance customer well being and satisfaction without harming either the community or the various stakeholders. (Sirgy, and Dong-Jin, 1996, p22) QOL, by its very scope, is applicable to many marketing decisions and especially to the selling of harmful products. While post modernist thinkers like Stephen Brown have been vehement in their criticism of modern marketing thought, especially on the irrelevance of mass marketing in an increasingly fragmented and more informed society, the larger corporate response favours staying with accepted marketing dictum and, of late, tweaking the marketing mix to include ethical concerns. Thus whilst there is an appreciation of the changed environment, its demands are yet to be addressed sufficiently in the absence of concretised strategies that can be applied to maintain and wrest competitive advantage. Intensive research will no doubt provide strategies that can cope with the changed realities in the marketplace and enable marketing to work towards social good. In summation it would appear that while the movement to bring in ethics into the marketing of products is gaining headway much work still needs to be done and marketers need to internalise the tenets of corporate social responsibility in their working attitudes. CSR objectives would be very well served if marketers, even as they strive for competitive advantage and business profits also take care to observe time held values like honesty and exactitude, gratitude, justice, and protection of the health and safety of others. References Brennan, M, 1991, Is there more to ethical marketing than marketing ethics, Marketing Bulletin, Vol. 2, Pgs 8 to 17 Mascarenhas, OAJ. 1995, ‘Exonerating unethical marketing executive behaviours: A diagnostic framework’, Journal of Marketing, Vol.59, No.2, 43-57. Lantos, GP. 2001, ‘The boundaries of strategic corporate responsibility’, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol.18, No.7, 595-630 Nantel, J, 1996, Marketing ethics, Is there more to it than the utilitarian approach?, European Journal of Marketing, Vol.30, No. 5, Pgs 9 to 19 Piacentinin, M, MacFadyen, L., & Eadie, D. 2000, ‘Corporate social responsibility in food retailing’, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 28, No.11, 459-469. Ritzer, G, 1993, The McDonaldization of Society, Pine Forge Press; Revised edition (September 1995) Sirgy, MJ. & Dong-Jin, L. 1996, ‘Setting socially responsible marketing objectives: A quality-of-life approach’, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 30, No. 5, 20-34.