Bronchiectasis-Revisited Essays - Respiratory System, Medicine

Bronchiectasis-Revisited Essays - Respiratory System, Medicine Bronchiectasis-Revisited K. Neelakantan Viswanathan Introduction: Bronchiectasis is a common chronic lung disease characterized by a "vicious cycle" of infection, inflammation and irreversible destruction in the airway (4). Laennec in 1819 defined bronchiectasis based on the findings in an infant who died of whooping cough."Bronemon" in Greek means the windpipe and "ektasis" means stretched out or extension (9).Bronchiectasis is a pathological, irreversible dilatation of the proximal, medium sized and terminal airways more than 2 mm in size, the 4th to the 10th generations being involved (10). Pathology: The normal bronchial wall consisting of cartilage, muscle and elastic tissue gets destroyed and is replaced by fibrous tissue. There is chronic,recurrent infection of secretions that pool within the airways. The organisms produce pigments, proteases and other toxins impairing mucociliary clearance. Epithelial injury is induced by the host inflammatory response, largely due to neutrophil-released mediators and protection against infection is compromised. There is also bronchial and peribronchial inflammation and fibrosis, bronchial wall ulceration, squamous metaplasia and mucous gland hyperplasia. The pulmonary parenchyma supplied by. The abnormal airways contain areas of fibrosis,emphysema,bronchopneumonia and atelectasis in varying combinations (1). The bronchiectatic cavities may be lined by granulation tissue,squamous epithelium or normal ciliated epithelium(6).Bronchiectasis may be accompanied by massive collapse in which all the airways and alveoli distal to the site of collapse are deflated resulting in an airless lobe (13).Reid's Classification (1950) divides this entity into saccular (cystic), fusiform (cylindrical) and varicose types (7). In addition there are follicular, nodular and traction types. There is transmural inflammation and mucosal oedema in cylindrical types, cratering and ulceration in cystic types with bronchial arteriole neo-vascularisation and distortion due to scarring or obstruction from repeated infections in the varicose types (4). In traction types there is extensive volume loss of lung bringing the upper and lower parts of the spine together with concavity to the affected side. Bronchiectasis commonly affects lower lobes, the left more frequently than the right. Next in frequency are the right middle lobe and the lingual (8). The apical segment is spared (12).Aspiration commonly affects the right lung and the lower lobes or the posterior segment of the upper lobes (4).Bronchiectasis sicca involves the upper lobes and is characterized by haemoptysis instead of sputum production, the aetiology, most often, being tuberculosis. Cystic fibrosis and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) also affect the upper lobes.ABPA produces proximal or central (perihilar) bronchiectasis involving 4th-7th generations. Nodular bronchiectasis occurs in Mycobacterium avium infections. It is common in white women aged 55 and above with chronic cough with middle lobe or lingular involvement (4). Pseudo bronchiectasis occurs in expansion of a collapsed lung, usually after pneumonia. Aetiology: The causes of bronchiectasis may be easily remembered as follows: Bordetella pertussis infections Respiratory syncitial virus, Rheumatoid arthritis,Riley -Day syndrome,Relapsing polychondritis Obstruction by foreign body Neoplastic / Nodal compression Chagas disease Hypogammaglobulinaemia (especially selective deficiency of IgG2), HIV infection,Herpes simplex,Histoplasmosis Influenza,Inflammatory bowel diseases,Interstitial lung disease (fibrosing alveolitis) Exanthems-measles, mumps Cystic fibrosis, Congenital sequestrated lung. Coeliac disease, Ciliary dyskinesia (primary), in which the respiratory mucosal biopsy shows broken or missing ciliary spokes Tuberculosis,Toxins- ammonia, paraquat Aspiration of gastric contents,Alcoholism,Adenovirus infections,Alpha-1- antitrypsin deficiency,Atypical Mycobacteria (avium),Atypical pneumonia( Mycoplasma), Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) Systemic complement deficiencies, Sjogren's syndrome,Sarcoidosis Idiopathic (commonest) Syndromes associated with bronchiectasis Kartagener's syndrome: an autosomal recessive' disorder, described in 1933 by a pediatrician, characterized by situs inversus, frontal sinusitis or agenesis of frontal sinuses and bronchiectasis. It is also associated with immotile cilia, due to an abnormal protein involved in the modified ciliary motility causing absence or aberrance of dynein arms, and hence persons with Kartagener's syndrome are infertile. The situs inversus is the chance result of embryonic migration of viscera rather than the normal cilia- dependent placement of internal organs (12). . Young's syndrome: characterized by obstructive azoospermia as a result of enlarged, palpable and obstructed epididymal head and obstruction by inspissated secretions (2). Williams Campbell syndrome: characterized by expiratory collapse of proximal airways on bronchoscopy. There is generalized bronchial cartilage deficiency leading to bronchomalacia. Mounier-Kuhn syndrome: characterised by congenital deficiency of bronchial cartilage associated with tracheobronchomegaly. Enlargement of the airways and deep corrugations produced by the redundant musculo-membranous tissues between the cartilaginous rings gives roentgenographic appearance of multiple diverticulae on CT (lO). Brock's syndrome: characterized by right middle lobe collapse, the bronchiectasis being caused by a foreign body or enlarged lymph node, usually tuberculous. Chandra- Khetarpal syndrome:characterized by levocardia, bronchiectasis and frontal sinusitis. Ciliary dysfunction is not a feature of this syndrome (3). MacLeod's (Swyer-James)syndrome: in which the disease is associated with a unilateral hyperluscent lung and characterized by brochiolitis obliterans (4). Yellow nail syndrome: associated with lymphedema and pleural effusion due to hypoplastic lymphatics. Childhood pentad of bronchiectasis:Whooping cough, measles, mumps, influenza, and primary complex are considered to be childhood infections that predispose to bronchiectasis in adult life. Clinical Features: Persons with bronchiectasis bring out copious foul smelling khaki-coloured sputum

Up and Down Phrasal English Verbs

Up and Down Phrasal English Verbs Phrasal verbs formed with up and down are used to indicate increases and decreases in a number of qualities. Each use is indicated by a specific general quality followed by a synonymous verb or short definition. There are two example sentences for each phrasal verb with up or down. Heres an example: Up Increase in ValueDown Decrease in Value to put up (S) to raiseThe supermarket put coffee prices up in January. to bring down (S) to reduceThe recession brought profits down sharply. Remember that phrasal verbs can be either separable or inseparable (review separable inseparable phrasal verbs). Each phrasal verb is also marked as separable (S) or inseparable (I). In the case that verbs are separable, examples will use the separable form of the phrasal verb. For inseparable phrasal verbs, examples keep the phrasal verbs together. Phrasal Verbs With Up Up Increase in Value to put up (S) to raise Well have to put our prices up to compete.Have they put the price of corn up recently? to go up (I) to increase The price of gas went up in March.Our rent went up in January. Up Increase in Size to bring up (S) to raise (usually children) They brought their children up to be responsible adults.Were bringing up two children. to grow up (I) to become older Youve grown up since I last saw you.The children grew up so fast. Up Increase in Speed to speed up (I) to go faster in a vehicle He quickly sped up to sixty miles an hour.His motorcycle can speed up to 100 quickly. to hurry up (I) to do something faster, to get ready faster Could you please hurry up?!Ill hurry up and finish this report. Up Increase in Heat to heat up (S) to make hotter Ill heat the soup up for lunch.What should I heat up for dinner? to warm up (S) to make hotter Ill warm this soup up for lunch.Would you like me to warm your tea up? Up Increase in Happiness, Excitement to cheer up (S) to make someone happier Can you cheer Tim up?I think we need to cheer them up with a song or two. to liven up (S) to make something more fun Lets liven this party up with a game.We need to liven this meeting up. Up Increase Sound to turn up (S) to raise the volume Please turn the radio up.I like to turn the stereo up when nobody is home. to speak up (I) to speak with a stronger voice You need to speak up for people to understand you.Please speak up in this room. Up Increase in Strength to build up (S) to increase over time Its important to build your muscle strength up over time.Theyve built up an impressive stock portfolio. to pick up (I) to improve over time My health has picked up over the past few days.The stock market has picked up recently. Phrasal Verbs With Down Down Decrease in Value to bring down (S) to reduce They bring down prices after Christmas.The summer brought heating oil prices down. to go down (I) to decrease The value of the house went down during the recession.Gas prices have gone down dramatically over the past few months. to cut down (S) to reduce the value of Weve cut our research and development budget down significantly.Theyve cut their investments down to half. Down Decrease in Speed to slow down (I) to reduce your speed Slow down when you drive into town.My car slowed down and stopped at the intersection. Down Decrease in Temperature to cool down (S) to a lower temperature Youll cool down after you stop exercising.This cool towel will cool you down. Down Decrease in Excitement to cool down (S) to relax I need to take a moment to cool down.Tom should cool his friend down so we can continue the meeting. to calm down (S) to make less excited I calmed the children down with a movie.It took him a while to calm down after the meeting. Down Decrease in Volume to turn down (S) to reduce the volume Could you please turn that music down?I think you should turn the volume down on the radio. to keep down (S) to remain soft Please keep your voices down in the library.Id like you to keep it down in this room. to quieten down (S) to encourage someone to become quieter Could you please quieten your children down?Id like you to quieten the class down. Down Reduce Strength to water down (S) to reduce the strength of something (often alcohol) Could you water this martini down?You need to water down your argument.

The role of nurses in improving hospital quality and efficiency Assignment

The role of nurses in improving hospital quality and efficiency - Assignment Example The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has created a chance for the medically underserved populations to access health care across the United States. The legislation has made health insurance accessible by forming health insurance marketplace where people can access it through the internet. It has also provided civilians with incentives such as reducing insurance cost. Moreover, the legislation has led to the redefining of the health care system by introducing changes that have improved the quality, accountability and efficiency of the health care system; hence, helping reduce costs of providing health care to Americans (Rosenbaum, 2011). The government should play the following roles in the delivery of health care in the United States. Firstly, the government should regulate the health care markets. The health care markets are made up of both private and government hospitals, health care centers, and pharmaceuticals. The government should ensure quality services and medicines are sold to its people. Secondly, the government should play the bigger part of providing health care in the country. This will help protect the people from low-quality services while extending health care access to all Americans in the United States (Tang, Eisenberg, & Meyer, 2004). Nurses can play individual roles in strengthening and improving the health care system in the United States. A nurse can contribute to the quality improvement in the health system by participating in nursing leadership forums in the hospitals.

Business related topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Business related topic - Essay Example The laborers provide highly  crucial  service to the company and contribute to a significant  amount  the success of the company. They  ensure  the  match  in availability and quality with  consumer  expectations safeguarding the reputation of the company. As such, it is  right  that they  have  comfortable  conditions such as health coverage and decent pay  consequent  with  reasonable  working hours. This  way  they also are able to  give  their best raising  output  levels. Legally, there are safety regulations and accepted conditions that such laborers can  get. Adhering to such might save the  company  from legal problems and avoid its name tarnished. It would also improve operational efficiency, thus increasing  output, reducing labor costs, and increasing profitability. Though the company executives  ascertain  that the company is taking care of its employees (Duhigg  and  Barboza  7), there are still complaints on the same. In order to ensure that both the company and laborers are  comfortable, representatives from both sides need to meet and discuss their issues. They can agree on  crucial  issues and  do  away with unnecessary expenditures. Such agreements and their implementation need to be left open for  scrutiny  by the public and government institutions thus ensuring they adhere to regulations. This would also help  lay  the truth in the  open  and  hold  either side  true  to their

Western cultures Essay Example for Free

Western cultures Essay

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So here I am, microphone in hand, about to sing in front of 100 million people across the world. The cameras are on me, and the audience has fallen silent in anticipation. How did this happen, you ask? How did I, Katie Skipton – an ordinary 15-year-old schoolgirl just a couple of days ago – get to become an overnight superstar? Glad you asked. Sit back, relax, and let me tell you about the craziest day of my life†¦   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Three days ago, my class and I were looking forward to a fieldtrip that we were taking to France. We were studying Europe, and as the whole school knows, the sixth grade class votes on which country in Europe they want to visit. We voted on France this year because that’s the language that most of us were learning to speak.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Anyway, we were all at the airport waiting impatiently for our flight to come. People were looking at us funny. I mean, it’s not every day you see about 150 kids strolling around an airport with only ten adults. As I was sitting there, bored to death, I saw some of my friends go to the shops and cafà ©s, so I decided to go with them. We stopped by the bathrooms since most of us really needed to go badly. I always seem to take quite a while going to the bathroom. My friends already knew this, so they said that they would meet me at the cafà © across the hall.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When I was finally done going to the bathroom and washing my hands very thoroughly, I saw that there were three cafà ©s across the hallway. Which one did they go to? They could have at least had somebody wait here for me. Such good friends they are. Any way, I chose the one that looked most inviting, the one that would attract a lot of teens with its colorful appearance. I stepped inside and wandered around. Out of all the tables that were in there, none of them seated my friends. I had to find my friends because I didn’t know my way back to the waiting room.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I went to the next restaurant. I didn’t think they would be in here because it looked kind of junky and all I could see was a bar. They wouldn’t be allowed there. I had no luck in the last cafà ©, either.

Benefits Of Gardening

Benefits Of Gardening Gardening is a hobby for many people. Gardening means nothing to some people. Gardening is done all over the world in any type of weather. Gardening gives us pleasure and is very effective to our minds. Gardening is done at homes, hotels, parks etc. Nowadays there is barely any gardening done. Most people have forgotten the benefits of gardening. In the olden days every house had a garden. It was filled with vegetables, fruits and flowers. Nowadays most people think that gardening is useless.They buy all their vegetables and fruits from the market, but do they know whether the vegetables or fruits they eat are chemicalised or not? If we have our own garden there are two main and basic benefits. One is we can eat the fruits and vegetables without buying thus, reducing the expenditure. Two is we can be sure that the fruits we eat are fresh, healthy and non-chemicalised. The place where I live, gardening is done by most people but still some think it's useless. In my hometown, every house has a garden.It is a shelter from sunlight and it gives us an exercise. Most people nowadays fall sick when they are 40 or 50 years old but in my hometown it's quite different, all work in the garden from early morning till sunrise. It gives us a morning exercise and it makes us very energetic to do our work for the rest of the day. For most people gardening is a remedy for diseases like cholesterol and diabetes. It creates a peaceful mind. In the early morning when you wake up you hear the birds chirping in your garden. You can see green in front of you.People who have eye roblems are advised by the doctors to wake up early in the morning and see green plants. They will help to cure your eye problems. When you have a garden of flowers the fragrance that come from the flowers and the different beautiful colours are a real treat in the morning. Our life expectancy rate goes up if we are physically and mentally healthy, gardening helps in that case as well. I would say that overall gardening is a physical and psychological medicine for everybody. I encourage everyone to do gardening and you will find that you will get very good benefits from it.

The European Court of Justice and the Supremacy of Ec Law

THE EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE AND THE SUPREMACY OF EC LAW I. INTRODUCTION In the making and promulgation of Community law, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) plays a crucial role. Many of the fundamental doctrines of EC law are not to be found in the Treaties, or secondary EC legislation, but in the case law of the European Court. No provision of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) contains an express term regulating the issue of the supremacy between the Community and the various national laws of the Member States. The only implied reference to the issue of supremacy is Article 10[1] of the TEU which imposes a duty on all Member States to adopt appropriate measures to ensure that the obligations of the Treaty are observed, together with an additional duty to abstain from all acts which might jeopardise the achievement of the objectives of the Treaty. Article 10 states that: â€Å"Member States shall take all appropriate measures, whether general or particular, to ensure fulfillment of the obligations arising out of this Treaty or resulting from action taken by the institutions of the Community. They shall facilitate the achievement of the Community’s tasks. They shall abstain from any measure which could jeopardise the attainment of the objectives of this Treaty. †. Thus, the principle of the supremacy of Community law over national law was first established by the European Court of Justice whose role is explicitly stated in Article 220[2] of the TEU: â€Å"The Court of Justice shall ensure that in the interpretation and application of this Treaty the law is observed. † Prior to an analysis of the doctrine of supremacy and the relevant case law and implementation of the doctrine, an introduction into the composition, structure and practices of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) will be followed. THE EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE †¢ Composition and Structure The ECJ, to which the Court of First Instance (CFI) is attached, is the judicial branch of the Community. It has been described by Shaw as â€Å"a heroin figure in the development of the EU†. The ECJ, which sits in Luxembourg, now has 15 judges who are assisted by 9 Advocate-Generals (AGs). Each Member State (MS) is entitled to appoint a judge of its own nationality. The appointment of all judges is required by Article 223 TEU[3] to be: â€Å"by common accord of the Governments of the Member States†. The term of office is six years and the appointment of new judges or reappointment (for another term) of the existing judges is staggered so that there will be a partial replacement of judges every 3 years. The judges select one of their number to be President of the Court for a renewable term of 3 years. The President directs the work of the Court and presides at hearings and deliberations. The ECJ is assisted by 9 AGs. Five of the 9 AGs should be appointed by the 5 largest Member States, the remaining to be appointed by the other Member States on a system of rotation. Their duty, which is set out in Art. 222 TEU[4] is, â€Å"to make, in open court, reasoned submissions on cases brought before the ECJ† with complete impartiality and independence. [5] The qualifications for selection, method of appointment and conditions of office of the Attorney Generals are the same as for the judges of the Court. The qualifications for selection as a judge of the ECJ are stated in Article 223 TEU[6] and require: persons whose independence is beyond doubt and who possess the qualifications required for appointment to the highest judicial offices in their respective countries or who are jurisconsults of recognised competence. † Furthermore, judges may not hold any other political or administrative office while they are members of the Court. In accordance with their respecti ve traditions, certain Member States have appointed academics to sit as judges, whereas others – such as the U. K. – have nominated existing national judges or practicing advocates. Although states tend to select their own nationals, the Treaty clearly requires that the judges be entirely independent of their national governments. Judging from the nature of the ECJ? s jurisprudence, the wishes of individual Member States have had little influence on its decisions-making. Under Article 221 TEU[7] the ECJ is permitted to sit in Chambers of 3 or 5 as well as in plenary session. The court will, however sit in plenary session when a Member State or a Community Institution which is party to the proceedings so requests, or in particularly complex or important cases. The organisation of the Court is regulated by a separate Protocol to the EC Treaty – Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice. Matters of procedure are regulated by this Protocol, including the content of oral and written pleadings, citation of witnesses, costs and expenses etc. The problem of over burdening the Court apparently continues to grow[8] despite the temporary easing of the caseload which the establishment of the CFI, in 1988 initially brought about. Other than the appeal on a point of law from the decisions of the CFI to the ECJ, there is no further appeal from the judgments of the ECJ, which is the ultimate or supreme Court of the EC. The Court of First Instance (CFI) †¢ Composition The Single European Act, (1988) authorised the Council of Ministers to create a CFI to alleviate the volume of work before the ECJ. The aim of the creation of the CFI in 1989 was to strengthen the judicial safeguards available to individuals by introducing a second tier of judicial authority and enabling the ECJ to concentrate on its essential task, the uniform interpretation of Community law. The CFI consists of 15 judges who are appointed by agreement between Member States for periods of 6 years. There are no permanent AGs. The duties of an AG are performed by one of the judges. †¢ Jurisdiction The CFI does not extend the jurisdiction of the ECJ, but rather, it exercises certain aspects of the Court’s functions. The jurisdiction extends to the following classes of cases: – staff cases – competition cases – cases under the ECSC Treaty – anti-dumping cases It has no jurisdiction to hear preliminary rulings. Furthermore, according to Art. 25 TEU, decisions of the CFI are subject to an appeal to the ECJ on points of law only. Enforcement of EC Law in Domestic Courts Like any true legal system, the Community legal system needs an effective system of judicial safeguards when Community law is challenged or must be applied. The ECJ, as the judicial institution of the Community, is the backbone of that system of safeguards. It is responsibl e for interpreting questions of EC law and provision is made in the Treaty for references to the ECJ by national courts. Decisions of the ECJ, upon a reference, are reached by majority vote and are binding on all domestic courts of all Member States. Under Article 234 TEU[9] it is provided that: â€Å"The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings concerning a) The interpretation of the Treaty; b) The validity and interpretation of acts of the institutions of the Community†¦ where such a question is raised before any court †¦of a Member State that court†¦.. may, if it considers that a decision on the question is necessary to enable it to give judgment, request the ECJ to give a ruling†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Where any such question is raised†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦before a court of a Member State against whose decisions there is no judicial remedy under national law, the court†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦shall bring the matter before the Court. † It is through this Article that the ECJ has achieved the principle of supremacy and its uniform application in all Member States when Community law may be in conflict with domestic legislation. In CILFIT (1983) the ECJ emphasised that the purpose of the then Art. 177 was to ensure the proper application and uniform interpretation of EC law in all Member States. However, preliminary references procedure depends on the effectiveness of cooperation between the ECJ and national courts. The power to ask for a preliminary ruling rests solely with the national court and the power of the ECJ is limited to an interpretation of EC law[10]. In procedural terms, individuals still have no right of appeal to the ECJ and the national court can decide whether a reference is necessary; the Court? s judgements are still, in theory, at least, only given on points of interpretation and validity. However, following the many changes that the Community has gone under, the ECJ? s role has been evolutionary, siting at the apex of the Community judicial hierarchy. The increasing emphasis which the ECJ places on Article 10 TEU, rendering Community law applicable to national courts as well as to the political arm of Member States, is merely one important manifestation of this process in operation. The Community as a whole is in a state of transition, and it would be surprising if the relationship between the ECJ and the national courts were to remain immune from the wider changes. As the Community moves towards a closer social and political union, one could well expect the ECJ to cement its position at the apex of the judicial hierarchy. II. THE DOCTRINE OF SUPREMACY – PRINCIPLE The ECJ, as the guardian of legality and instrument of cohesion within the Community, has, from the start been in a strong position to define the status of Community law and to give it precedence when in conflict with the national legal systems of the various Member States. The first case where the Court made a statement on the nature of European law is the famous case of Van Gend en Loos v. Netherlands (1963)[11] dealing with the principle of direct effect of EC Treaty provisions and the degree to which individuals can rely on such terms to challenge measures of national law. In that case, which will be dealt with in detail later on, the ECJ stated that: â€Å"The objective of the EEC Treaty, which is to establish a Common Market, the functioning of which is of direct concern to interested parties in the Community, implies that this Treaty is more than an agreement which merely creates mutual obligations between the contracting states†¦ The Community constitutes a new legal order of international law for the benefit of which the states have limited their sovereign rights, albeit within limited fields, and the subjects of which comprise not only Member States but also their nationals†. The reasoning of the Court in the case is brief and apart from its elaboration on the concept of direct effect, where it stressed the need for direct enforcement by national courts of Community norms, little more was said about the need for national courts to accord primacy to EC law over conflicting national law. The Court’s focus in Van Gend was on whether Article 12 (customs duties on imports from Member States to other Member States) could give rise to so-called direct effects – the immediate enforceability in national courts by individual applicants of Treaty provisions – so that an individual could rely on and have that Article enforced before domestic courts. The approach of the Court was based on the Court’s vision of the kind of Community which those Treaties had set out to create, and the kind of legal system which the effective creation of such a Community would necessitate. It was in a second important case, two years later, however, that the ECJ expanded on its constitutional theory of the Community, declaring again that the states had created a sovereign Community by limiting their own sovereign rights. The case was Costa v. ENEL (1964)[12] and the facts were as follows: An individual was claiming before his local court that the law nationalising production and distribution of electricity was incompatible with the EC Treaty. The local court referred the question to the ECJ for a preliminary ruling. The ECJ in its judgment emphasised the unlimited duration of the Community, the autonomy of Community power, both internally and externally, and especially the limitation of competence or transfer of powers from the states to the EC. The Court was determined to show that the â€Å"words and spirit of the treaty† necessarily implied that: â€Å"It is impossible for the states to set up a subsequent unilateral measure against a legal order which they have accepted on a reciprocal basis†. The Court found the primacy of EC law confirmed by the wording of Article 189 EC Treaty[13] under which regulations have â€Å"binding† force and are â€Å"directly applicable in all Member States†. The Court pointed out that this provision which is not qualified by any reservation â€Å"would be meaningless if a state would unilaterally nullify its effect by means of legislative measures which could prevail over EC law†. The Court was thus able to reach a conclusion in Costa in words which have become classic and have had considerable influence in national decisions: â€Å"It follows from all these observations that the law stemming from the Treaty, an independent source of law could not, because of its special and original nature, be overridden by domestic legal provisions, however framed, without being deprived of its character as Community law and without the legal basis of the Community itself being called into question. The transfer by the states from their domestic legal system to the Community legal system of rights and obligations arising under the Treaty carries with it a permanent limitation of their sovereign rights against which a subsequent unilateral act incompatible with the concept of the Community cannot prevail†. †¢ As in the case of Van Gend, the Court made no reference to the constitution of any particular Member State to see whether such a transfer or limitation of sovereignty was contemplated or even was possible in accordance with that constitution. Furthermore, the Court drew on the â€Å"spirit and the aims† of the Treaty to conclude that it was â€Å"impossible† for the Member States to accord primacy to domestic laws. The spirit of the Treaty required that they all act with equal diligence to give full effect to Community laws which they had accepted on the basis of state â€Å"reciprocity† – meaning presumably that since each state was eq ually bound by laws passed for the Community as a whole, they had all agreed that no one of them would unilaterally derogate from Treaty obligations. And since the â€Å"aims† of the Treaty were those of integration and co-operation, their achievement would be undermined by one Member State refusing to give effect to a Community law which, should bind all. In Van Gend and Costa v. Enel the Court set out its theorical basis for the principle of supremacy of Community law. The force and practical application of the principle became clearer still in its later decisions. In the following case, the Court made clear that the legal status of a onflicting national measure was not relevant to the question whether Community law should take precedence: not even a fundamental rule of national constitutional law could, of itself, be invoked to challenge the supremacy of a directly applicable EC law: Internationale Handelsgesellschaft v. Einfuhr (1970)[14] â€Å"Recourse to the legal rules or concepts of national law in order to judge the validity of measures adopted by the institutions of the Community would have an adverse effect on t he uniformity and efficacy of Community law. The validity of such measures can only be judged in the light of Community law†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. The validity of a Community measure or its effect within a Member State cannot be affected by allegations that it runs counter to either fundamental rights as formulated by the constitution of that state or the principles of a national constitutional structure†. This decision gave rise for some time to a potentially serious deadlock in relations between the German Constitutional Court, which held that the Community deposit system breached a fundamental provision of the national legal order, and the ECJ, which denied that national constitutional principles could have any effect on the domestic applicability of Community law. But far from backing off from its claims, the Court continued to emphasise the importance of ensuring that the supremacy of Community law was not simply a matter of principle or of theory only, but was given practical effect by all national courts in cases arising before them. It is however, interesting to note that following this case, the ECJ evolved the concept of EU fundamental rights declaring them to be general principles of law that the Court will apply within the framework of Community law In Simmenthal SPA (1978)[15] an Italian judge was faced with a conflict between a Council Regulation on the common organisations of the market in beef and veal and the Italian veterinary and public health laws. Under Italian law, domestic legislation contrary to EC Regulations may be held to be unconstitutional but only by such declaration from the Constitutional Court and not by the ordinary courts. Should the Italian judge of First Instance disregard inconsistent national legislation without waiting for its repeal from the Constitutional Court? In a reference to the ECJ on the question, the latter held that the national court was under a duty to give full effect to Community law even where there was a conflicting provision of national law and without waiting for a higher court to rule on the matter. â€Å"Every national court must†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. apply Community law in its entirety and protect rights which the latter confers on individuals and must accordingly set aside any provision of national law which may conflict with it, whether prior or subsequent to the Community rule†. Simmenthal is an interesting case, since it spells out the practical implications for the Community legal order of the principles of supremacy and direct effect. The facts of it highlighted a further problem for national courts: what if the national court was one which had no jurisdiction in the domestic legal system to question or to set aside national legislative acts? The clear implication of the Court’s response was that, even if the only national court empowered to pronounce on the constitutionality of a national law is the Constitutional Court, nevertheless, if such a case arises before any other national court, that court is bound to give immediate effect to Community law without awaiting for the ruling of the Constitutional Court. We therefore see how Community law has â€Å"conferred† on domestic courts – indeed how it has required them to exercise – powers and jurisdiction which they did not have under national law. The key emphasis in these decisions is on the principle of effectiveness. This certainly became clear in the U. K. after the ruling in the well-known Factortame litigation (1990)[16], on the question of interim relief against a provision of national law which appeared to conflict with one of Community law. The facts of the case were as follows: The U. K. Merchant Shipping Act 1988 operated to exclude from registration for purposes of fishing permits 95 fishing vessels owned by Spanish nationals who challenged the Act on the basis of breach of the EC Treaty – (discrimination by nationality). The U. K. Court asked the ECJ for a preliminary ruling. In the meantime, interim relief was granted and then lifted on the basis that that remedy did not lie against the Crown in English law. The ECJ ruled that interim relief must be available and that this obligation overrode conflicting domestic principles. The domestic court was required to set aside national law, if that would have prevented the grant of interim relief giving effect to EC law. This was required to enable effective enforcement of Community law: †¦.. the full effectiveness of Community law would be just as much impaired if a rule of national law could prevent a court†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦granting interim relief in order to ensure the full effectiveness of†¦Community law†. According to Lord Bridge of the House of Lords[17], â€Å"If the supremacy within the European Community of Community law over the national law of Member States were not always inherent in the EEC Treaty, it was certainly well established in the jurisprudence of the ECJ†. Thus, in so far as the Court was concerned, by 1990, the principle of supremacy of Community law and its practical effectiveness amongst Member States were established beyond question. However, the theory’s practical application is ultimately dependent on the internal acceptance and adaptation of the constitutional orders of the Member States. And as AG Roemer noted in Van Gend en Loos the constitutional orders of some of the Member States do not easily accommodate the principle of supremacy. The accommodation so far reached by the courts of various Member States on this issue will now be examined. For reasons of time, only some Member States will be discussed, although every state has its own interesting constitutional perspective to offer. III. THE PRINCIPLE OF SUPREMACY – IMPLEMENTATION †¢ MEMBER STATES Under Public International Law (PIL), there are 2 conceptions regarding the transfer or delegation of sovereign powers to international organisations: Monism |Dualism | |PIL+ national law ( part of one single system with PIL taking | PIL + national law ( separate systems, | |precedence. |each supreme within its own spheres. | |ie Dutch + French constitutions provide that duly ratified |ie UK ( here you need incorporation of | |international obligations preside over municipal law. PIL into national law by national Act of | |Also, Belgian courts achieved the same result in absence of explicit|Parliament in the form of a statute | |constitutional provision by proclaiming that international |BA v. Laker and Blackburn case ( | |obligations have effect superior to domestic law. |European Communities Act, 1972. | |( | | |directly speak of transfer powers. | | | | | |( | | |always seeking statutes to conform to EC law. | In practice, there is little difference in the application of EC law. In France, there was not any particular constitutional problem since the constitution provides that international treaties have a direct effect and are accorded supremacy. In accordance, Article 55 of the French Constitution of 1958 states that: â€Å"Treaties or agreements duly ratified or approved shall†¦.. have an authority superior to that of Laws. † However, the Conseil d? Etat, the supreme administrative court had difficulties in accepting the supremacy of Community law. In the case of Semoules (1970)[18], the problem was expressed as a jurisdictional one: The Conseil d? Etat ruled that, since it had no jurisdiction to review the validity of French legislation, it could not find such legislation to be incompatible with Community law, nor could it accord priority to the latter. Decisions on the constitutionality were matters for the Conseil Constitutionnel – the Constitutional Council. However, in the Jacques Vabres[19] case in 1975, the Court of Cessation – Cour de Cassation – the highest of the ordinary judicial Courts – took a ifferent view and ruled that when a conflict exists between an internal law and a duly ratified â€Å"international act† which has thus entered the internal legal order (Art. 55 of the Constitution) the Constitution itself accorded priority to the latter. It was not until 1989 in Nicolo case[20], however, that the Conseil d? Etat finally abandoned its so-called â€Å"splendid isolation† and decided to adopt the same position as the Conseil Constitutionnel and the Cour de Cassation. The caution displayed by the French Conseil d? Etat in its approach to the supremacy of Community law is evident in the case law of many other Member States. The Court of Justice? s view that national law can never take precedence over directly effective EC law on account of a transfer of sovereignty by the Member States and â€Å"the spirit of the EC Treaty† is not unconditionally accepted by the courts of Member States. In France, the main obstacle to the recognition of supremacy of EC law was the jurisdictional limitation of the French courts. In other Member States, in particular in Germany, the difficulties which arose related to the fundamental constitutional nature of the national legislation which appeared to contravene Community law. Article 24 of the German Constitution allows for the transfer of legislative power to international organisations, but in litigation which arose over apparent conflicts between Community legislation and provisions of the German Constitution, the extent of power which would be transferred in accordance with this Article was questioned. In particular, the focus of the case law was on whether Article 24 permitted the transfer, to an organisation outside the German constitutional structure of a power to contravene certain basic principles protected under the Constitution itself. Following the ECJ? s ruling in Internationale Handelsgesellschaft[21], the German Administrative Court ruled that the compulsory scheme regarding the Community deposit system breached basic principles of German constitutional law (compulsory payment of money cannot be imposed in the absence of fault) and it requested a ruling from the Federal Constitutional Court. The latter refused to recognise the unconditional supremacy of Community law. The major objection was a concern over the possible impact on basic rights enshrined in the German Constitution of conflicting measures of Community law. For this reason, it held that the clause in the German Constitution which allowed for the transfer of legislative power to international organisations would not cover a transfer of power to alter or amend an â€Å"inalienable essential feature† of the German constitutional structure, such as its express protection for fundamental rights. It concluded by saying that the protection for fundamental rights in the German Constitution would have to prevail in the event of any conflict. Having considered various changes in Community law since the time of the 1974 decision, including the development by the ECJ of a doctrine of protection for fundamental rights, and the fact that all Member States by this stage acceded to the European Convention of Human Rights, the German Court in Solange II (1987)[22] held that: So long as the European Communities, and in particular the case law of the European Court, generally ensure an effective protection of fundamental rights†¦the Court will no longer exercise its jurisdiction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  More recently, in Brunner v. the European Union Treaty (1994) the Court had to consider the constitutional relationship between EC law and German law, on the occasion of the ratification of the TEU. It ruled that ratification was compatible with the Constitution. The judgment shows that the constitutional court asserts and clearly intends to exercise a power of review over the scope of Community competence. Even if the German courts have accepted that Community law should be given precedence over national law, the constitutional court has made clear that it will continue to review the actions of European institutions and agencies to ensure that they remain within the proper limits of their acquired powers. In the United Kingdom, the acceptance of the supremacy of Community law has certainly not been unproblematic. Since the British Constitution is largely unwritten, it is difficult to speak of â€Å"amending† it. The central obstacle to acceptance by the U. K. of supremacy of EC law is the fundamental constitutional principle of the sovereignty of Parliament. According to this principle, Parliament has the power to do anything other than to bind itself for the future. According to Dicey, â€Å"Parliament has, under the English Constitution, the right to make or unmake any law whatever and no person or body†¦. as the right to override or set aside the legislation of Parliament†. Furthermore, the doctrine of implied repeal means that no Parliament can bind its successor, and no Parliament can be bound by its predecessor. Any Act is thus vulnerable to change by a future Parliament. With those problems in mind, it was nevertheless decided to give internal legal effect to Community law by means of an Act of Parliament (dualist state): the European Communities Act, 1972. Section 2 (1) establishes a legal basis within domestic law for directly applicable EC laws as in accordance with the Treaties and without further legal enactment to be given legal effect or use in the U. K†¦ and†¦ shall be recognised and available in law†. The section aims to make the concept of direct effect a part of the U. K. legal system. It states that law which under the EC Treaties is to be given immediate legal effect, is to be directly enforceable in the UK. Section 2(4) accords existing and future priority to EC laws. â€Å"Any enactment passed or to be passed†¦. shall be construed and shall have effect subject to the foregoing provisions of this section†. Furthermore, section 3 states that: â€Å"For the purposes of all legal proceedings any question as to the meaning or effect of any of the Treaties, or as to the validity, meaning or effect any Community instrument, shall be treated as a question of law and, if not referred to the European Court, be for determination as such in accordance with the principles laid down by and any relevant decision of the European Court or any Court attached thereto†. It is therefore apparent that the supremacy of EC law is recognised in the U. K. by virtue of domestic legal processes and legal theory. The principle of supremacy was in theory recognised by English judges. Despite earlier judicial comments to the contrary[23], the English Master of the Rolls, Lord Denning, in the case of Shields v. Coomes (Holdings) Ltd[24](1979) demonstrated a willingness to accept the principle of supremacy of Community law. In Bulmer v. Bollinger (1974)[25] he furthermore held that: â€Å"The Treaty is like an incoming ride. We must no longer speak or think of English law, as something of its own. We must speak and think of Community law, of Community rights and obligations and we must give effect to them†. But again, this did not prevent judicial difficulties from arising over the practical recognition of the supremacy of EC law over national law. In Macarthys v. Smith[26], a genuine conflict appeared to arise between Article 119 of the EC Treaty concerning equal pay and section 1 of the Equal Pay Act 1970 in the U. K. It was held by the Court of Appeal that priority should be given to Community law following section 2(1) and (4) of the European Communities Act, 1972. Here, then, is the judicial reconciliation of Parliamentary Sovereignty with the supremacy of EC law. But the overriding of the Act of Parliament is to be seen as a fulfillment of the Parliamentary intention – the intention to comply with directly effective Community law – and if it is made clear that the legislative contravention of Community law was intentional, then domestic law must prevail. In other words, the supremacy of EC law is assured in the U. K. only in so far as Parliament intends it to be, and the courts have no power to undermine the clear will of Parliament, whether or not it presents a breach of Community law[27]. The Factortame Litigation [28] earlier discussed, shows that, although an equilibrium may now have been reached in the relationships between U. K. courts and the ECJ as to the requirements of supremacy of EC law, the obligations of the U. K. courts stem from the express will of Parliament, and not directly from the Treaties: â€Å"Whatever limitation of its sovereignty Parliament accepted when it enacted the European Communities Act 1972,†¦was entirely voluntary†. Thus, in conclusion we see that the bidimensional picture of the supremacy of Community law exists, even today, for although all Member States by now accept the practical requirement to give priority to EC law, few, if any, would be prepared to abandon their supervision of it, to ensure that the Community does not attempt to extend the powers it has been given. †¢ Individuals The principle of supremacy has implications for individuals. The principle of direct effect gives the right to individuals to plead before the national court the provisions of EC legislation. As a doctrine which principally protects individuals and often gives them rights which they can rely upon as against Member States, it sets up a mechanism for individual or indirect enforcement of EC law making thus Community law a reality for the citizens of Europe. Van Gend en Loos provides a clear example of the approach of the Court. The Court pointed to the fact that individuals were envisaged as being able to plead and rely on points of EC law through the preliminary ruling procedure. The Court set out certain criteria for the direct effect of a Treaty provision. There must be: 1. a clear, negative, unconditional obligation on a Member State, 2. containing no reservation on the part of the MS, 3. and not dependent on any national implementing measure. (MS-no real discretion whether to apply measure). The Court held that Art. 12 of the EC Treaty was directly effective. This process establishes private rights for individuals which are enforceable in municipal courts. The principle applies most frequently in the relationship between private individuals and national authorities. This is called vertical effect. Some provisions, however, because of their nature, have been recognised by the Court as having a wider effect in that they can be invoked against other individuals. This is called horizontal effect i. e. they impose obligations on other individuals. eg. the Treaty provisions regarding the competition rules applicable to undertakings, for example, can clearly be invoked before the national courts by one undertaking against another. Furthermore, a Regulation, as described in Article 189(2) EC Treaty, now 249 – TEU â€Å"shall have general application. It shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States†. A Regulation is defined as a general legislative instrument which is binding in its entirety and which is directly applicable within the legal orders of the Member States without the need of intervention on the part of legislative bodies. Thus it has horizontal and vertical effect. In contrast, a Directive which is defined in Art. 249 TEU too, â€Å"shall be binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon each Member State to which it is addressed, but shall leave to the national authorities the choice of form and methods†. Therefore, directives are not automatically applicable within Member States. Since directives are given legal force through national measures, rights and duties are conferred on individuals only after incorporation into national law. The conditions to be satisfied before direct effect can be pleaded are the 3 ones mentioned earlier. However, 2 important limitations are placed on the application of this principle: a) The principle only applies to directives which are unimplemented after the date set for implementation. ) The Court has only been prepared to apply this doctrine to the relationship between individuals and the state (vertical direct effect) as opposed to the relationship amongst individuals themselves (horizontal direct effect). The recent case of Dori (1992) reiterats this refusal. [29] In Marshall (1986)[30] and in Van Duyn[31] (1974) the Court confirmed that while a directive might be upheld against defaulting Member States, it cannot be invoked directly against other individuals. However, the Court has sought to achieve the same result though the process of interpretation. For example, where the Court is interpreting the terms of an unimplemented directive as it applies between private individuals, the Court has observed that: â€Å"In applying national law, whether the provisions in question were adopted before or after the directive, a national court called upon to interpret it is required to do so, as far as possible, in light of the wording and purpose of the directive in order to achieve the result pursued by the latter†[32]: Marleasing SA (1992). Furthermore, the principle of construction requires national courts, in conformity with Art. 10 TEU, to give full effect to EC law, to interpret all national legislation in the light of all relevant EC law, regardless of whether the particular provision is of direct effect: EC law does not have to be directly effective in order for it to benefit from the general doctrine of supremacy – Van Colson (1984)[33]. Furthermore, the ECJ has broadly defined the notion of the state to include anything that provides public service, with sufficient statutory powers beyond those which result from normal rules applicable between individuals†. Foster (1991)[34] Regional policy, health, tax and local authorities may be included. Furthermore, the state may be held to be responsible in respect of breaches of EC law, and liable in damages for the non-implementation of a directive, following the decision in Francovich[35] (1991) which held that: The full effectiveness of Community rules wou ld be impaired and the protection of the rights which they grant would be weakened if individuals were unable to obtain compensation when their rights are infringed by a breach of Community law for which a Member State can be held responsible. †. However, 3 conditions must be satisfied: – Implementation of the directive would confer rights on individuals. – Its terms should be sufficiently precise and unconditional to determine rights. – There should be a causal link between the breach and the loss. The development by the Court of strong legal requirements in the area of national remedies for breach of Community law has generally been welcomed as a significant contribution to the effectiveness of Community law, at least through the medium of judicial intervention by national courts. However, the welcome has not been unconditional, and many commentators have called on the legislative institutions and political players in the Community legal process, to take appropriate action, rather than to leave this area of law for the Court to develop through the haphazard process of litigation. Conclusion It is clear that the ECJ â€Å"the guardian of the Treaty† in formulating the principle of supremacy, reaffirmed the nature and development of EC law. The supremacy of EC law is inherent within the nature and spirit of the TEU. The special and original nature of Community law requires that its supremacy over national law is acknowledged and followed. The ECJ will not entertain the prospect of any provision of national law, even of constitutional validity, prevailing over an inconsistent provision of Community law. The success of this development is well profound, especially when one has in mind that the Court in developing the principle, attributed to it characteristics and force which it considered necessary to carry through a set of profoundly altering and potentially far reaching common goals within a group of politically and geographically distinct nations and historically sovereign states. / ———————– [1] ex art. 5 of the EC Treaty [2] ex Art. 164 of the EC Treaty [3] ex Art. 167 – EC Treaty [4] ex. Art. 166 – EC Treaty 5] Their duties should not be confused with those of a prosecutor or similar official – that is the role of the Commission, as guardian of t he Community? s interests. [6] ex Art. 167 – EC Treaty. [7] ex Art. 165 – EC Treaty. [8] Since it was set up in 1952, more than 8,600 cases have been brought before the Court. [9] Ex Art. 177 EC Treaty [10] See also case 104/79, Pasquale Foglia v. Mariella Novello (1980)1 ECR 745, (1981) CMLR 45 and Case 244/80, Pasquale Foglia v. Mariella Movello (N °2) (1981) ECR 3045, (1982) CMLR 585. [11] Case 26/62 (1963) ECR 1, (1963) CMLR 105. 12] Case 6/64 (1964) ECR 585; (1964) CMLR 425. [13] now Art. 249 TEU. [14] Case 11/70 (1970) ECR 1125; (1970) CMLR 255. [15] Case 106/77 (1978) ECR 629; (1978) 3 CMLR 263 [16] (No 2) Case C213/89 (1990) ECR 2433; (1990)3 CMLR 867 [17] R v. Secretary of State, ex parte Factortame (No 1) (1989)2 WLR 999 [18] Decision of 1 March, 1968 in Syndicat General de Fabricants de Semoules de France (1970) CMLR 395 [19] Decision of 24 March 1975 in Administration des Douanes v. Societe  «Ã‚  Cafes-Jacques Vabre  Ã‚ » et SARL Weigel et Cie (1975) 2 CMLR 336 [20] Decision of 20 Oct. 1989 in Nicolo (1990)I CMLR 173 [21] (1972) CMLR 177, at 184 [22] Re Wunsche Handelsgesellschat, Decision of 22 Oct. 1986 (1987)3 CMRL 225 at 265 [23] Felixstone Dock and Railway Company v. British Transport and Docks Board (1976) 2 CLR 655. [24] (1979)1 All ER 456. [25] (1974) Ch 401 [26] (1979) 3 All ER 325 [27] see T. Allan, â€Å"Parliamentary Sovereignty: Lord Denning? s Dexterous Revolution† (1983)3 6 OLS 22 [28] (1990)2 AC85 and (1991)1 AC 603. [29] Dori C-91/92 Dori v. RecrebSrl (1994) ECR I – 3325 [30] Case 152/84 Marshall v. Southampton and South – West Area Health Authority (1986) ECR 723, (1988)1 CMLR 688 [31] Case 41/74l, Van Duyn v. Home Office (1974) ECR 1337, (1975)1 CMLR 1 [32] Case C-106/89, Marleasing SA v. La Comercial de Alimentacion SA (1990) ECR 1-4135 (1992)1 CMLR 305, at p. 4146 [33] Case 14/83,l Von Colson and Kamann v. Land Nordrhein –Westfalen (1984) ECR 1891, (1986)2 CMLR430 [34] Case C-188/89, A. Foster and others v. British Gas †¦(1990) ECR 1-3313, (1990) 2 CMLR833 [35] Case C-6/90 and C-9/90, Francovich v. Italy (1991) ECR 1 – 5357, (1993)2

Chadwick Inc. Essays

Chadwick Inc. Essays Chadwick Inc. Essay Chadwick Inc. Essay Case Analysis: Chadwick Inc. case analysis Hamzah. Najib, Mustapha, Syed Hasan Background of Case 6: CHADWICK, INC. : THE BALANCED SCORECARD (ABRIDGED) Chadwick. Inc was a diversified producer of personal consumer products and pharmaceuticals. The Norwalk Division of Chadwick developed, manufactured and sold ethical drugs. The company was respected for the high quality of its products. Norwalk sold its products through several key distributors who supplied local markets. Norwalk relied on its excellent relations with the distributors who promote Norwalk’s products to customers and also received their feedbacks about new products desired. Chadwick’s long-term success depended on how much money distributors could make by promoting and selling Norwalk’s products. But, recent inroads by generic manufacturers had been eroding distributors’ sales and profit margins. With regards to its Research and Development, The development of ethical drugs was a lengthy, costly, and unpredictable process. The development and testing processes had many stages, starting with the discovery of compound, extensive and tedious testing, and documentation. Norwalk’s profitability during the 1980s was sustained by one key drug discovered in the late 1960s. However, no smash hit drug had emerged during the 1980s, and the compounds going through development, evaluation and test was not as Norwalk management desired. Scientists in the RD lab are pressured to increase the yield of promising new products, reduce the time and costs of the development cycle. Scientists were currently exploring new bio-engineering techniques to create compounds that had the specific active properties desired rather than depending on an almost random search through thousands of compounds. However, the bio-engineering procedures were costly. A less expensive approach was to identify new applications for existing compounds that had already been approved for use. Suggestions for possible new applications from existing products could be obtained from Norwalk salesmen in the field who were now being trained not only to sell existing products for approved applications, but also to listen to end users feedbacks. Norwalk’s manufacturing processes were considered among the best in the industry as they can quickly and efficiently produce drugs once they had cleared governmental regulatory processes. Challenging financial targets were set for divisions to meet, which were expressed as Return on Capital Employed (ROCE). As a diversified company, Chadwick wanted to be able to deploy the returns from the most profitable divisions to those divisions that held out the highest promise for profitable growth. Bill Baron, Comptroller of Chadwick, had been searching for improved methods for evaluating the performance of the various divisions as division managers complained about the continual pressure to meet short-term financial objectives. He liked the idea of a Balanced Scorecard as it balances short-run financial objectives with the long- term performance of the company. John Greenfield, the Division Manager at Norwalk was sceptical of how much freedom he had to develop and use such a scorecard. Divisional Controller, Wil Wagner, who was involved in the process for creating Balance Scorecards for Norwalk Division lamented that he did not have a clear understanding of the vision and business strategy for Norwalk, which serve as a foundation to build the scorecard. Major Issue: The major issue of the case is with regards to company’s current processes in its RD to develop new products which were lengthy, costly and unpredictable. There is the need to make significant investments in RD to improve the current processes so as to enable the company to sustain and achieve success in the long run. Another major issue is that the company has inadequate or poor performance measurement to ensure managers’ efforts are rewarded for meeting the long term, strategic objectives of the company. Presently, the company only sets Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) as the challenging financial target for the divisions to meet, which places continual pressure on division managers to meet short-term financial objectives at the expense of long-term, strategic objectives in business that requires extensive investments in risky projects to yield long-term returns. Hence, the idea of Balance Scorecard was introduced to the company. SWOT analysis Strength 1)Good reputation: Chadwick Inc. has been established for more than 50 years and it has been known for its high quality products. The quality factor provides the competitive advantage for the company in the pharmaceutical industry. 2)Manufacturing process: The company’s manufacturing process is considered one of the best in the industry. The production process also includes producing separate batches of new products specifically for testing and evaluation purposes. 3)Excellent distributor relationship: This is the main factor that affects the company’s product success. Apart from making the products available in the local markets, the distributors of Chadwick Inc. lso serves the purpose of spokesperson. They will promote the company’s new products and increase the awareness among people about the existence, functions and benefits of the products. They also listen to customer opinions and this enables Chadwick Inc. to receive timely customer feedbacks about their products through their distributers. Weakness 1)Extensive and tedious testing process: In Chadwick Inc. , 30,000 compounds have to be tested before certain products are approves for sale. Although this extensive testing procedures has positive impact towards the product quality and durability, it also causes the production process to be lengthy and costly, resulting in increase of manufacturing and overhead expenses. 2)Challenging financial targets based on ROCE: The top management in Chadwick Inc. has been setting challenging financial targets for the division managers. The financial targets have been set based on Return on Capital Employed (ROCE), which is considered inappropriate for a pharmaceutical company. Due to the desperateness to meet the specified target, there is tendency for the division managers to try to manipulate the actual data to reduce the gap between the budgeted results and the actual results. 3)Pressure to increase yield: The top management has also been pressurizing the scientists of Chadwick Inc. to increase the yield of the products and to reduce the time and cost of production. Generally, if the top management emphasizes on reducing the cost, it may have negative effects on the quality of the products. Therefore, it may result in customer dissatisfaction or loss of customer loyalty. Opportunities 1)Bio-engineering techniques: The bio-engineering mechanism can help the scientists to identify only the active compounds which desired and useful applications, instead of the random search process currently employed by the scientists. Then, they will perform tests on each and every one of them to find useful applications on the compound. This traditional search process results in wastage and very time-consuming since only one or two compounds may have beneficial applications out of ten compounds developed. On the other hand, the bio-engineering mechanism can save time and cost for testing process. Although it requires a huge amount of investment, in the long-run, it will result in reduction on cost of production and more efficient production process as it can eliminate wastage and other irrelevant testing procedures. 2)Changing global environment: Chadwick Inc. ’s products have only been sold in the domestic markets, despite its good reputation and period of existence of more than 50 years. Nowadays, the awareness about healthcare has been increasing all over the world. This indicates the increased global demand for pharmaceutical products. Therefore, it is best for Chadwick inc. to seek opportunity to enter into the global market. Since it has a good reputation as an established pharmaceutical company, it would be rather easier to venture into the global markets and thus, gaining more customers and higher revenue. Threats 1)Recent inroads by generic manufacturers: Generic products are products which are not patented and therefore, it can be produced by many manufacturers. These products usually have higher demand and since there are many manufacturers, it is competitively-priced. The recent inroads by generic manufacturers may affect Chadwick Inc. ’s competitive position in the industry and one of the new entrants may emerge as a bigger player in the industry compared to Chadwick. 2)Too dependent on the distributors: Chadwick Inc. ’s product success mostly depends on the distributors’ effort in promoting them and increasing the awareness among people. They currently do not have an alternative promotional strategy rather than relying on the distributors. In the long run, this may cause the distributors to have higher bargaining power and make expensive demands to Chadwick Inc. in order to promote their products. Critical Success Factors for Chadwick Inc. Customer’s satisfaction-Being in the pharmaceutical industry where the competition is mostly based on differentiation and the customers value the product based on the quality and not its cost, the most important critical success factor for a company is customer satisfaction. This is related to the quality of the product. So, the company should focus on value added processes to ensure high quality of its product that meet customers’ requirement and fulfil their satisfaction Research and Development- To stay competitive in the long run and meet constantly changing expectations from customers, the company should invest significantly in research and development . Proper investment in RD will ensure efficient subsequent business processes and development of high quality products that meet customers’ expectations, and thus fulfil their satisfaction. Products- Being in the pharmaceutical industry, it is very important that every new drug that has been developed and approved to be unique from other competitors’ and patented. Patented drug could generate enormous revenues to a company as it prevents other companies from selling the same drug, thus making the company who produced such drug to be the sole distributor or seller. Internal Business Process- Internal business process is very cr itical to the a company’s success. The processes, especially in manufacturing, should be cost-efficient and speedy enough to reach the customers. Information and communication system- Sound information and communication system is critical to a company’s long-term success since it facilitates exchange of information within the company and between the company and the outside parties. Useful information such as suggestions from employees or feedbacks of customers that are communicated in a timely manner will enable the company to make decision more effectively. Problem Identification From the case, Chadwick Inc. faces several problems within the company which can potentially harm its long-term sustainability and profitability unless the top management do something to address these problems swiftly. Among the problems are: 1) Vision and Mission: As complained by the Divisional Controller of Chadwick, the company currently does not have clearly defined business vision and strategy. Without clear understanding and communication of business vision and strategy across all levels and members of the company, the employees or managers, especially, may commit and direct their efforts or the company’s resources in a way that may be deviated from the vision and strategic objectives of the company. By having clear business vision and mission, it will provide goal congruency, which align manager’s fforts with the company’s strategic objectives 2) Research and Development: With regards to its RD, the problem is that the development of ethical drugs was a lengthy, costly and unpredictable process that involves extensive and tedious testing and documentation. This problem may explain why the company has not been able to produce any blockbuster drug in 1980s since the discovery of one key drug in late 1960s. Besides, scientists are pressured by management to develop promising drug and to reduce cycle time and cost. As a result, the new drug quality may no t meet the criteria and approved by government. The current process in development cycle is considered obsolete and needs to be replaced by new systematic technique such as bio-engineering technique that can significantly reduce time and costs, and enhance the potential of developing new promising product. 3) Performance Measurement: Currently, Chadwick only has one financial measure to evaluate the performance of its various divisions, which are Return on Capital Employed (ROCE). The challenging financial targets set for the various divisions to meet may lead to unnecessary cost cutting measures which can undermine the quality of products. Besides ROCE, does not address long term objective of the company, in which divisions’ managers may disregard critical long-term investments such as buying new equipment or replacing the old obsolete assets if their minimum rate of return is less than the divisions’ current ROCE. This is because, making such investment will reduce their ROCE, which can give negative impression in the performance evaluation Recommendations: The main problems faced by the Chadwick as discussed earlier are particularly in the aspect of goal congruency and the performance measurement. To solve such problems, the company is recommended to adopt a strategic performance measurement system that takes into account â€Å"What gets rewarded, really counts; what counts, get measured; what gets measured get done; what gets done, get rewarded† Therefore, we recommend the company to use Balance Scorecard which provides comprehensive measure of performance for each division and to ensure each business activities of the company are directed towards achieving the strategic objectives of the company . But firstly, the company should establish clear and proper business vision and mission for the Balance Scorecard to work effectively. By having clear business vision and strategy, efforts and resources will be committed towards achieving such vision. For example, the company’s vision could be â€Å"We strive to be the most valued company to customers, employees, investors and business partners†. The company’s vision will provide broad guidelines on how Balance Scorecard is to be designed and is communicated in terms of goals which will be identified in the Balance Scorecard. Balance Scorecard basically provides a four perspectives framework to translate strategy into operational terms. The four aspects of Balance Scorecard are financial, customer, internal business process and learning and growth. These aspects are critical success factors, on which the performance of organizational units can be assessed, which also function to achieve the company’s vision and mission. Balance Scorecard links strategy to operations, serves as a record of results achieved, indicates expected results and focuses on drivers of future performance In each of the perspectives, the main objective will be defined, along with measures to be taken, specific targets and initiatives to be carried out to achieve this objective. Performance will be measured based on how effective the division’s or manager’s efforts and activities in achieving the objectives in each of the four perspectives. Financial perspective of Balance Scorecard how the company’s financial position or performance will be looked by the shareholders. In this aspect, the main indicators of performance is the company’s profitability, cost reduction, and the shareholder value. For example, the company, instead of just using ROCE, can also use Residual Income(RI) and Economic Value Added (EVA) as a basis of performance evaluation for financial perspective. Since RI and EVA are based on monetary value, not in term of percentage as in ROCE, the managers may be motivated to accept investments (which may be critical to the company’s success) as long as they provide positive net income, although the minimum rate of returns of such investments are lower than the current ROCE. Customer Perspective relates to how a company serves the needs of customers and fulfil their satisfaction to be successful. The issues to be addressed are to identify market, how to attract new customers and retain existing customers. Among the important criteria to in relation to this perspective are price and quality of products, service, customer relationship, and reputation. For example, one specific measure to evaluate the performance could be the response time to customer’s inquiry Internal Business Process basically addresses how a company can improve its internal business processes that will satisfy and add value to customers or shareholders. Among the key performance indicators are reduced cycle time, cost per unit, and increase in productivity. For example, the objective could be to improve the quality of work place and the specific measure could be the percentage of employee who report that they are satisfied, while the target set is 80% of employee report that they are satisfied, and the initiative to be taken to achieve this objective is to establish comprehensive HR plan. As internal business process is important aspect of company’s long term success and included in the performance measurement, manager may be motivated to improve the current business processes by making new investments. For Chadwick case, for example, manager may switch to bio-engineering technique to replace the current process in RD as this initiative will ensure the company’s sustainability and profitability in the long run, which are in line with the long term strategy or vision of the company. Learning and growth perspective commits a firm to continually learn to excel and be flexible in their process to adapt to changing economic environment, and to meet changing customer demands and shareholder expectations. Among important aspects of this perspective are new skills acquired by employees and intellectual assets. In this aspect, a firm identifies the infrastructure that an organization must build to create long-term growth and improvement. For example, Chadwick may invest in information technology and systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) to facilitate exchange of critical internal and external information such as distributors’ feedback about the customers or suggestion from employees that will improve the overall process and satisfy customers.

Biography of Warren G. Harding, 29th U.S. President

Biography of Warren G. Harding, 29th U.S. President Warren  Gamaliel  Harding (November 2, 1865–August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States. He was in office when World War I formally ended by the signing of the Knox-Porter Resolution. Harding died of a heart attack while he was still in the White House; he was succeeded by Vice President Calvin Coolidge. Fast Facts: Warren G. Harding Known For: Harding was the 29th president of the United States; he died of a heart attack while he was still in office.Born: November 2, 1865 in Blooming Grove, OhioParents: George Tryon Harding and Phoebe Elizabeth Dickerson HardingDied: August 2, 1923 in San Francisco, CaliforniaEducation: Ohio Central College (B.A.)Spouse: Florence Kling  (m.  1891–1923)Children: ElizabethNotable Quote: Americas present need is not heroics, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration; not agitation, but adjustment; not surgery, but serenity; not the dramatic, but the dispassionate; not experiment, but equipoise; not submergence in internationality, but sustainment in triumphant nationality. Early Life Warren G. Harding was born on November 2, 1865, in Corsica, Ohio. His father George was a doctor and his mother Phoebe was a midwife. Warren was raised on the family farm and attended a small local school. When he was only 14 years old, he began attending Ohio Central College. As a student, Warren and a friend published a small paper called the Iberia Spectator. Warren graduated from college in 1882. Career After college, Harding worked briefly as a teacher, an insurance salesman, and a reporter before buying a newspaper called the Marion Star. Through persistence and hard work, he was able to turn the failing newspaper into a powerful local institution. Harding used the paper to promote local businesses and build relationships with advertisers. On  July 8, 1891, Harding married  Florence Mabel Kling DeWolfe. She was divorced with one son. Harding is known to have had two extramarital affairs while married to Florence. He had no legitimate children; however, he did later have one daughter- Elizabeth- through an extramarital affair with Nan Britton. In 1899, Harding was elected to the Ohio State Senate. He served until 1903, making a name for himself as one of the most popular Republicans in Ohio. He was then elected lieutenant governor of the state. Harding attempted to run for the governorship but lost in 1910. In 1915, he became a U.S. Senator from Ohio, a position he held until 1921. As a senator, Harding was part of Congresss Republican minority, and he tried to preserve his popularity by avoiding controversial political positions. On the subject of womens suffrage, for example, he did not voice support until other Senate Republicans did, and he took stances both for and against Prohibition. Presidential Election Harding was nominated to run for president for the Republican Party as a  dark horse candidate following the 1919 death of Theodore Roosevelt, the partys favorite. Hardings running mate was  Calvin Coolidge, the governor of Massachusetts. He was opposed by Democrat James Cox. In 1920, Harding won the election with 60% of the popular vote and 404 electoral votes. Presidency President Hardings  time in office was marked by several major scandals. The most significant scandal was known as Teapot Dome. Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall secretly sold the right to oil reserves in Teapot Dome, Wyoming, to a private company in exchange for $308,000 and some cattle. He also sold the rights to other national oil reserves. After he was caught, Fall was sentenced to one year in jail. Other officials under Harding were also implicated in or convicted of bribery, fraud, conspiracy, and other forms of wrongdoing. Harding died, however, before these events began to affect his presidency. Unlike his predecessor  Woodrow Wilson, Harding did not support America joining the League of Nations (an early version of the United Nations). His opposition meant that America did not join the organization at all. The body ended in failure without Americas participation. Even though America did not ratify the Treaty of Paris ending  World War I, Harding did sign a joint resolution officially ending the state of war between Germany and America. As part of his isolationist stance, Harding also opposed further American intervention in Latin America; he was critical of Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt for their involvement in American activities in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. From 1921 to 1922, America agreed to a limit of arms, according to a set tonnage ratio between Great Britain, the United States, Japan, France, and Italy. Furthermore, America agreed to respect the Pacific property of Great Britain, France, and Japan and to preserve the Open Door Policy in China. During his presidency, Harding also spoke out on  civil rights  and commuted the sentence of socialist Eugene V. Debs, who had been convicted of anti-war demonstrations during World War I and imprisoned in the Atlanta Penitentiary. Harding released other anti-war activists as well. Though he was only in office for a short time, Harding made four appointments to the Supreme Court, nominating former president William Howard Taft, George Sutherland, Pierce Butler, and Edward Terry Sanford. Death On August 2, 1923, Harding died of a heart attack in San Francisco, California, which he was visiting as part of a tour of the western United States. He was succeeded as president by Calvin Coolidge. Legacy Harding is widely considered one of the worst presidents in American history. Much of this is due to the number of scandals that his appointees were involved in. He was integral for keeping America out of the League of Nations while meeting with key nations to attempt to limit arms. He created the Bureau of the Budget as the first formal budgetary body. His early death probably saved him from impeachment over the many scandals of his administration. Sources Dean, John W.  Warren G. Harding. Thorndike Press, 2004.Mee, Charles L.  Ohio Gang: The World of Warren G. Harding. M Evans Co, 2014.

Discuss the impact of social media on traditional media in relation to Essay

Discuss the impact of social media on traditional media in relation to news production,delivery and consumption - Essay Example This role as well as the role of gatekeeper to information is being redefined in the light of social media usage patterns. This paper discusses how social media has influenced the way in which users consume and experience news as well as the ways in which traditional media organizations produce and distribute news content. The discussion in this paper highlights the challenges posed by social media to the authority of traditional media. It also identifies the opportunities for collaboration between the two. Social Media and User Engagement Crowe (2012) describes five types of user involvement in citizen journalism, with varying degrees of involvement and objective reporting. Blogs, discussion boards, tweets, etc. have become common tools to share news items within social networks. These tools allow users to create editorial content for others. Crowe (2012) argues that citizen journalism has had considerable effects of the traditional media in terms of profitability. He explains that although the content produced by citizen journalists does not go through the rigorous vetting of traditional media channels, the sites encouraging such form of journalism collect information from a large number of similar sources which results in validation of the information. This is particularly true in emergency situations when reporters may not arrive for some hours. Crowe (2012) notes that these developments have inspired traditional media organizations to collaborate with social media platforms for delivery of news content. Organizations entering into such collaborations include Newsweek and AOL. Changes in News Production The way in which news is produced on social media is dramatically different from the traditional methods of news production. Kerrigan and Graham (2010) note that the Internet and Web 2.0 technologies are having a huge impact on the production and consumption of regional and local news. In the social media environment, news is increasingly produced by blogger s and citizen journalists in a way that encourages the consumers to participate in the news generation process. On the other hand, in the traditional media, the production function is performed by the journalist and the news is then offered to the consumers as information. Kerrigan and Graham (2010) note that it is a competitive disadvantage for traditional regional news media if they do not exploit the potential for engaging readers in the production of local and regional news. Traditional media have been affected by reduced entry barriers and advertising share to more engaging social media sources. News consumers can act as reporters and editors of news content in the new media which leads them to prefer new media news sources over traditional ones. Thus, there is a need for traditional media sources to overcome resistance to change and embrace the new social media environment. The advent of social media has had considerable impact on the credibility and power of traditional news media sources. O’Connor (2012) notes that the role of traditional media as gatekeeper of information has been considerably weakened. In addition, the perception of a news media organization as a brand has eroded to some extent in favour of the personal branding enjoyed by citizen journalists, bloggers and others in the social media. O’