Isoftstone the Globalization of a Chinese IT sourcing and Services Powerhouse

Background information iSoftstone began business in 2001as Beijing iSoftstone technologies Limited. The main pioneer was Tianwen Liu. He owned the company and was known as the core founder. Later in 2005, the company changed its organization and took up the name iSofstone Holdings limited. It had three major branches and was registered in the Cayman Islands. One of its branches was Consulting and Solutions.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Isoftstone: the Globalization of a Chinese IT sourcing and Services Powerhouse specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This branch mainly dealt with high end consulting and providing the clients with business reengineering services. The IT services branch provided IT infrastructure services to its clients in China. Lastly, the Business Process Outsourcing Branch provided services such as backend business processing and Call Centre services. These services mainly targeted the US an d European clients. The company became fully operational in 2009. Its various branches were estimated to have earned approximately $134.4 million in total. The Consulting and Solutions branch earned a total of $44.5 million while Business Process Outsourcing earned $3.8 million. During that very year, the IT branch earned a total of $86.1 million. Liu saw an opportunity in the rising demand of IT services in China and the rising interest in offshoring of developing software to China. He had a clear insight as to how exactly he would establish and differentiate ISS. His initial idea had two sides to it when he sought to establish ISS as a leader in the domestic IT services market. Firstly, he knew there was a strong business foundation base upon which to build a global business enterprise. Secondly, an establishment of ISS would attract many US, European and Japanese clients who sought to enter the Chinese market. His main target was the telecommunication, technology, financial servi ces and energy companies. He wanted his company to service customers with IT services that would be initiated through consulting and solution design assignments. This would result in software development projects and business process outsourcing. He hired personnel with proven track records in one or more of the company sectors and with time he managed to acquire small outsourcing companies that allowed his company to build a good basis for human capital and global IT services expertise. Between 2001 and 2010, the company experienced a rapid growth rate and success as a global enterprise.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More His growth in human personnel took place through a two-fold approach to acquiring human capital. First, he actively pursued acquiring domain competencies where the targeted market fit with the ISS market strategy. His previous work relationships with ass ociates that worked in these organizations soon saw them become senior executives within ISS. Secondly, Liu recruited his workers from the Chinese higher education engineering programs. He also partnered locally to establish curricular offerings that would align to the needs of his IT Company. ISS also went ahead and founded a joint venture with Carnegie Mellon University in the US. The main purpose of this venture was to provide training to engineering consultants and junior management. The top third of the graduates were hired by ISS each year. ISS mainly offered three services: consulting and solutions, IT services and business process outsourcing. The successful implementation of these services ensured that customers went back for other ISS services such as software application development and maintenance. They also offer outsourced and development in areas that involve specific areas such as software and hardware devices that contain software applications and systems. iSoftston e Business Model A business model is used to describe how an organization creates, delivers and captures the economic, social or other forms of value (Armstrong, 2006). The collective business model is whereby a business is composed of a large number of businesses or professionals in the same profession. They in turn pool resources and exchange information that is mutually beneficial. iSoftStone has done this by merging with other business enterprises such as Microsoft, IBM, etc. in order to attract international customers. ISSS’S competitive advantages One of its competitive advantages is providing good quality services to its people and hiring qualified personnel with good success records. In addition, the company has a deep and geographically balanced client mix and service capabilities. Another strong asset of the company is its strong domain knowledge and client relationships in target industry verticals (Nag, Hambrick Chen, 2007).Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Isoftstone: the Globalization of a Chinese IT sourcing and Services Powerhouse specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The company offers end-to-end service offerings and a scalable China –based delivery system that is within the global market reach. Systems of development and management of human capital have been put in place. The company has managed to partner with various other companies such as SunGard in order to offer IT services to clients in the finance and insurance industries in China and across the Asia Pacific region. SunGard is a well-known IT solutions company in the financial and insurance industry. The company currently serves over 25, 000 clients in 70 different countries. SWOT analysis of challenges faced and how to counter them One of the main challenges that the company is facing is how to manage its growth. However, they have turned this challenge into a great opportunity for them. A SWOT ana lysis will be used to analyze the company’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. A SWOT analysis can be defined as a planning method that is used to analyze the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats within a particular company. The objective of the business venture and the external and internal factors that favor the attainment of this objective are critically analyzed using this method. The strengths in this case are those factors that give the organization a higher competitive advantage over other businesses. iSoftstone has a higher competitive advantage over other organizations due to the partnerships it has managed to acquire in order to improve its business. For instance, it has partnered with organizations such as Microsoft, IBM, UBS and PetroChina. This put it in a position whereby it was able to get additional client work and product vendor representation. The more these relationships matured, the more the client work increased. In addition, th e company has managed to recruit experts that have a good track record of success. Instead of hiring MBA graduates as most organizations did, Liu preferred to hire senior engineers who had information knowledge technology that would develop a solution set for any client. MBA graduates on the other hand only possessed good analytical skills.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More China is believed to have an appealing business environment. As compared to India, this is also a leading country in IT outsourcing, China has less English speaking people and a weaker labor force. However, it is geared at improving this situation by introducing English as a language in most school curriculums. This will serve as a great advantage to the country especially since it is also geared toward hard sciences and technology. This will increase its labor force and the IT outsourcing industry will in turn serve a wider English-based clientele. The government promotes the new growth of industries that will replace manufacturing. China can easily use the outsourcing industry to leverage. Since it is people intensive and is an emerging industry, it can be used by China to achieve its goal of sustained self-reliance and an upwards economic growth. China boasts of good infrastructure as compared to its competitor, India, and can therefore utilize this as an asset. In order to ensur e copyright protection, China has adopted strong copyright laws that protect against intellectual copyright infringement. Cultural ties have worked to China’s advantage especially when serving countries in the Asian region. Such countries include Japan which is the world’s second largest economy. It still remains un-penetrated and therefore China remains its primary service provider. Weaknesses are those factors that place the company at a disadvantage over its competitors. iSofstone realized that they needed to penetrate into the Japan and Korea markets. In order to make up for this weakness, Mr. Juro Nakauchi, a former cooperate advisor for iSoftstone was recruited back into the company. His role was to become chairman of the Japan and Korea business group where he would focus on strategic business development and management. This recruitment however presents a certain risk to the company. Competitor companies recognize the value of Mr. Juro and are putting forth eff orts to woo him into their companies. His loyalty may change due to competitive salary packages. In order to counter this risk and minimize the loss that may be incurred should Mr. Juro’s loyalties shift the company needs to build confidence in their entire team such that the relationship value that resides in him will be transferred to the iSoftStone company. Another significant area of weakness is the duplication of efforts, missed opportunities and other inefficiencies caused by a lack of a standardized process that governs the integration of newly acquired business units. In order to effectively counter this risk, the company can benchmark other companies that have successfully executed the growth by acquisition model. The company could then model their approach to match their business and market. Opportunities are those factors that are known to improve the company’s performance in the long run (Moore, 1995). China and India are believed to be the largest markets of outsourcing in the current recession. Companies that seek to outsource to China could be at an advantageous position. This is because China has adequate resources and a higher level of development. iSoftStone, which is a leading IT outsourcing company should take advantage of this opportunity by expanding their customer base to the Western region. This will enable them to build a good reputation which will facilitate negotiation processes. Offshore suppliers prefer to keep a diverse client base because they can handle various tasks and as such, a certain size is helpful to offer a variety of solutions. Size builds up a good reputation and plays an important role in attracting international customers. The increasing number of companies that are looking to China so as to find outsourcing companies that are dependable could provide a good opportunity for iSoftStone. Lastly threats are those elements that could potentially cause trouble for the company. An unfavorable global economy and difficult times make the outsourcing of IT a difficult task. Globalization has called for a need to adjust management models and business strategies. China and India stand at the forefront of the global outsourcing movement. India has a labor force that poses a great threat to China’s outsourcing industry (Duncan, 2010). They have a larger scale and richer international experience in the industry as compared to China. Security threats such as cyber-attacks pose a great threat especially to companies that are looking to gain ground in IT outsourcing in China. Businesses are forced to ensure that security policies are specific and access control systems are up to date. This is done to ensure that there is constant security monitoring especially when working internationally with China. Companies are therefore looking for quality by investing in good governance models that provide good practices for knowledge transfer. A collaboration of the Chinese companies and the governme nt are working hard to ensure that offshoring IT work to China doesn’t necessarily mean a reduction in cost. In order to attract major players worldwide, the Chinese IT industry needs to consolidate. This is due to market fragmentation which is a major threat that is facing IT outsourcing companies. The Chinese IT industry is divided into smaller units and this is not enough to appeal to the international clients. Therefore, what needs to be done is that the companies need to merge and form a single unit that will prove to be solid and reliable. iSofStone has seen this as a major threat and has since tried to merge with other companies in order to increase its size and presence (Intechno China, 2009).. Restrictive government regulations prove to pose a great limitation to China’s IT outsourcing companies. The security of intellectual property of clients calls for a transformation in the organization and structure of China’s software industry. Software copyright piracy needs to be eliminated and this can be facilitated through government efforts. Software copyright piracy is a great threat to China’s IT outsourcing industry. Statistics show that in 2007, most firms were using copyrighted software. As a result, the government ordered that municipal authorities purchase computers that were already pre-installed with licensed software. References Armstrong. M. A. (2006). Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. Kogan Page, London. Duncan, E. (2010). Outsourcing hubs: China, India, Eastern Europe. Web. Intechno China. (2009). Three Engines for the Growing of Outsourcing Enterprises in Size and Strength the Promotion of Delivery. Web. Moore, M, H. (1995). Creating Public Value: Strategic Management in Government, Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Nag, R, Hambrick, D. C, Chen, M.J. (2007). What is strategic management, really? Inductive derivation of a consensus definition of the field. Strategic Management Journal. This case study on Isoftstone: the Globalization of a Chinese IT sourcing and Services Powerhouse was written and submitted by user Jabari Gonzalez to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

My Palace

My Palace My Palace I want to live my life without the rush routine. Therefore, I sought for a nice, calm place, where nothing will disturb me. Moreover, I found a place, where I would build my house of dream. Lombok, the island in Indonesia is my place of choice. My house would be a three-floor building made of wood. Garden, mostly strict, but containing bright spots of local flowers, will surround the house. It will be looked after by a gardener, who will live in his own house on its territory. In the backyard of the house there will be a huge swimming pool, with a couple of beach chairs and surrounded with native flora of Indonesia. Next to the swimming pool will be a garage with the car and a boat so I could drive the coastline and to go to sea. There is a lot of free space on the first floor. The parquet floor is made of oak. Near the door, there is a little table with a vintage phone on it. The living room will occupy the largest part of the first floor. There will be a huge plasma hanging over the fireplace. A big sofa and a couple of armchairs, complemented with a large cow skin carpet on the floor, will allow me to relax while watching my favorite programs every day. Bright colors and post-modern paintings, like Andy Warhol works, will cover the walls. All of the furniture on this floor will be made of natural materials, like cherry, but still looking vintage enough due to its 60s and 70s design. The orange-painted wall separates the living room from the dining room and kitchen, with an oak table, huge enough for 6 person and vintage cherry chairs. Candy bottles, plastic tea, coffee, and powder containers, along with old-fashioned salt and paper shakers are occupying shelves above the stove. There my chef would prepare my favorite meals, and traditional dishes. The second floor will be as big as the first one, pretty much the same in design, but separated in more parts. The rooms for guests, chef, and house cleaner will be here. Tiles in different colors will decorate the bathrooms for guests and housekeeping personnel, so they could avoid entering each others rooms. In addition, my working place with my PC and Internet access will be on the second floor. Next to my working place, there will be a room with three closets, built in wall units, and a big mirror, so I could enjoy the dressing process. The basement will be big, but it will not be the basement in this common meaning. My private home theater will occupy the bigger part of it. There will be three rows of extremely soft and comfortable armchairs, going downward to the big screen. Black paint and movie posters, mostly from 60s, will cover the walls. The second part of this place will be my gym. All necessary pieces of gym equipment will be present. The lamps will be built-in in the ceiling; a huge mirror will cover the entire wall. Black-and-white photos of different bodybuilders will cover the white walls. At last, my bedroom and bathroom will occupy entire third floor. Not the walls, but color stripes will separate the bedroom into parts. A combination of green and blue colors on the walls will create the atmosphere of peace and calmness. An old-school alarm clock on the night table, lava lamps of different colors, posters of long gone actors and famous in the mid-century bands, vinyl disk player and dream catcher, hanging over the bed will remind of 60s. The window will be in all length of the wall, and there will be a telescope near it so I could watch the stars at night. This room will also have a large wardrobe, where I will store the clothes for my everyday life. Bathroom will have a jacuzzi in it; light blue tiles will cover the walls and the floor. In addition, I would have a kitchen elevator so I could order some drinks while taking a bath and plasma mounted on the wall. This is how I imagine my house of dream. I will do my best to make this dream come true.

Communication research techniques Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6250 words

Communication research techniques - Essay Example The positivist view is sometimes referred to as a scientist ideology, and is often shared by technocrats who believe in the necessity of progress through scientific progress, and by Naturalism, who argue that any method for gaining knowledge should be limited to natural, physical, and material approaches. As an approach to the philosophy of science deriving from Enlightenment thinkers like Pierre-Simon Laplace (and many others), positivism was first systematically theorized by Comte, who saw the scientific method as replacing metaphysics in the history of thought, and who observed the circular dependence of theory and observation in science. Comte was thus one of the leading thinkers of the social evolutionism thought. Comte was heavily influential to Brazilian thinkers. They turned to his ideas about training scientific elite in order to flourish in the industrialization process. Some Brazilians were intrigued by this model that was present in the French revolution and Enlightenment ideas. However, this created issues with the church because these positivist ideas were secular and encouraged the separation of Church and state. Brazil's national motto, Ordem e Progresso ("Order and Progress") was taken from Comte's positivism, also influential in Poland. Positivism is the most evolved stage of society in anthropological evolutionism, the point where science and rational explanation for scientific phenomena develops. In a positivist view of the world, science was seen as the way to get at truth, to understand the world well enough so that we might predict and control it. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positivism) In light of positivism and post-positivism, researchers and scientists should endeavor to always think about the assumptions made about the world during the conducting of research. Post positivism Post-positivism is also called post-empiricism, and is a meta-theoretical stance following positivism. One major advocate of post-positivism was Sir Karl Popper. Others like Nicholas Rescher and John Dewey have also been mentioned in connection with post positivism. Post positivism is a research position or mentality that recognizes most of the criticisms that have been identified against traditional logical positivism, but is also critical about the misconceptions about positivism itself. Thus, post-positivists believe that human knowledge is not based on unchallengeable, rock-solid foundations; it is conjectural. But they think we do have real grounds, or warrants, for asserting these beliefs or conjectures, although these warrants can be modified or withdrawn in the light of further investigation. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postpositivism) One very common form of post-positivism is a philosophy known as critical realism. Critical realism postulates that there is a reality that can be scientifically studied, which is independent of our thoughts. This contrasts with the subjectivist view which holds that there is no external reality, and that we are all making this up. Positivists are also realists. The difference between positivism and po

Justice as a larger loyalty and theory of recognition Essay

Justice as a larger loyalty and theory of recognition - Essay Example Richard Rorty is an American philosopher having graduated from the University of Chicago. He is a man well known in contemporary analytic of philosophy work as well as history of philosophy. In his research and writings towards justice and democracy, Rorty suggested that democracy can only be recognized world wide as moral legitimacy forms of government. From the mere observations, Rorty suggested that democracy establishment and preservation varies from one culture to another hence; democracy is affected by three major problems in general. Justice and democracy depends on the perspective ways of presentation, theoretical point of view and practical form. However, the author in his writings demonstrated distortion of democratic decision making which is brought by disparities in wealth, capitalist economies and reconciliation of democratic values are some of the major problems that democracy and justice meets. In his regards towards justice as a larger loyalty, Rorty believed that mos t of what passes for philosophy facet is puzzled, useless, solving, as well as clever towards culture and real life of people within a given community. The author suggested an aspect of pragmatists towards nature and gave an inquiry that one should simply make on what he or she see happening. In his writing however, the philosopher initiated other fellow to try some new ways of thinking and see the result as suggested.

How convincing is Porter's model of national competitive advantage in Essay - 1

How convincing is Porter's model of national competitive advantage in explaining the workings and achievements of major nation - Essay Example The claims are based on the total percentage of the entire exports across the entire globe and their relation to the three nations (Hill, 2009). This is an evidence of how Porter created a convincing analysis on his view on national competitiveness. In explaining the national business systems, Porter analyses national business systems by reviewing their input in the global market. He argues that the more exports a nation make the more significance it has in the global market(Thompson, 2004).This way of reviewing national business systems is preferable when comparing the output of nations in the global market. According to Thompson (2004) this method may be however, biased since not all national business systems are based on exports. The author further argues that they are nations with greater G.D.Ps and have very stable economic systems and they have less input in the international market (Thompson, 2004). In using porter’s way of analysis such nations lacks the international standard of competitive advantage. This assumption has created a Porter system that only recognizes the financial stable nations on the global market (Uchida & Cook, 2005). Porter uses the national diamond to show the influence of nations to their local companies. The influence and pressure from a nation will be a great determinant on whether or not the organizations attain an international competitive advantage. Nations provide support and resources to specific countries which then generate outstanding products and income. However, analysts argue that this diamond structure is usually biased depending on mutual agreement by both parties. For instance, an organization may enter into a deal with a government to share a certain percentage of their profits in exchange for support and resources. In such a scenario the market becomes unbalanced (Smit, 2010). However, this strategy is used by states to strengthen their international market significance. In an argument by Smit (2010) the g reater the significance in the international market the greater income through partnerships and revenues. The author further argues that, state governments use the national diamond to help the nation gain greater competitive advantage in the international market. This automatically raises the economic status of an organization. In support of the national diamond strategy, Porter claims that it improves specialization and the quality of goods produced in a country (Schott, 2004). He gave an example with Denmark and its influence in the global market in terms of export of insulin. The Danish government has significantly alleviated the production of insulin and treatment of diabetes in the country. It has provided resources, diplomatic and economic support for this project (Peng, 2009). The impact of this move is significant to the whole industry. Denmark is the leading exporter of insulin in the globe. Minus the support from the government this achievement would not have been possible (Peng, 2009). In Holland there is a premier research institute which focuses on cultivation, shipping and packaging of flowers. This project is almost a sole project of the Holland government that is supplied with resources and labor from the body. After this intervention Holland has become the leading exporter of flowers in the globe (Salvatore, 2002). This shows how great significance government support is on an organization. However, Porter

Post Operative Outcome of Extended Nasolabial Flaps

Post Operative Outcome of Extended Nasolabial Flaps TITLE: Reconstruction of post release intraoral Oral Submucous Fibrosis defects by Extended Naso-Labial flaps versus Platysma myocutaneous muscle flaps: A Comparative Study. ABSTRACT- We compared post operative outcome of extended Nasolabial flaps with Platysma myocutaneous muscle flaps, in the management of 20 randomly selected patients with histologically confirmed oral submucous fibrosis. Patients and Methods: All patients in the study were treated by release of fibrous bands and bilateral coronoidectomy. In addition reconstruction was done in ten patients with extended nasolabial flaps (Nasolabial group) and in another ten patients with platysma myocutaneous muscle flaps (Platysma group). In the nasolabial group the mean preoperative interincisal mouth opening was 12 mm (range 3-14 mm) and in platysma group it was 11 mm (~ 3-13 mm). Vigorous post-operative physiotherapy was advised to all 20 patients and they were followed up for next 3 years .The interincisal mouth opening improved to 47 mm (~35-51 mm) in the nasolabial group and 48 mm (~ 41-52 mm) in the platysma group. Conclusion: Both the procedures were equally effective in management of oral submucous fibrosis in terms of postoperative interincisal mouth opening. However the facial extra-oral scars were not aesthetically acceptable in the nasolabial group, which were prevented when Platysmal myocutaneous muscle flaps were used for the reconstruction of post release oral submucous fibrosis defects. INTRODUCTION Oral submucous fibrosis is an insidious, chronic, disabling disease of obscure aetiology that affects the entire oral cavity, sometimes the pharynx and rarely the larynx. It is characterised by blanching and stiffness of oral mucosa, which causes progressive limitations of mouth opening and intolerance to hot and spicy food. It is an established precancerous condition which is seen mostly in the Indian subcontinent. Its precancerous nature was first described by Paymaster 1, who recorded the onset of slowly growing squamous cell carcinomas in one third of the patients. Murti et al, 2 reported the malignant transformation of oral submucous fibrosis. As the aetiology is uncertain, its treatment has largely been symptomatic and various treatments have been described vastly in literature with inconsistent results. In this study, two techniques for the closure of post release oral submucous fibrosis defects were compared. The importance of coronoidectomy was emphasised and two local flaps were used for reconstruction. We hypothecated that the platysma myocutaneous muscle flaps would be a better option than extended nasolabial flaps in terms of unaesthetic extraoral facial scars for the management of oral submucous fibrosis.3,4,5. PATIENTS AND METHODS Twenty consecutive patients who were treated at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial surgery, SDKS Dental College and Hospital, Hingna, Nagpur (18 men and 2 women aged between 18 to 41 yrs of age), were randomly selected for this retrospective study. The study was approved by the institutional ethics committee. No patient had preoperative interincisal opening more than 25mm. Following aseptic precautions, all patients were intubated using the fibreoptic bronchoscope and operated under general anaesthesia. Incisions were made using an electrosurgical knife from the corner of the mouth to the soft palate at the level of the linea alba avoiding injury to the Stenson’s duct. The bands were cut and the interincisal opening recorded. The coronoid processes were approached via the same incision and bilateral coronoidectomy or coronoidotomy was done. The maxillary and mandibular third molars were extracted. In the nasolabial group, extended nasolabial flaps as described by Borle et al 4, were raised for grafting from the tip of nasolabial fold to the inferior border of the mandible. The flaps were raised bilaterally in the plane of the superficial musculo-aponeurotic system from both terminal points to the region of the central pedicle. The diameter of the pedicle was roughly 1cm and it was distanced 1cm lateral to the corner of the mouth (Fig. 1). The flap was transposed intraorally through a small trans-buccal tunnel near the commissure of the mouth without tension. The inferior wing of the flap was sutured to the anterior edge of the defect, while the superior wing was sutured to the posterior edge of the defect. The extraoral defect was closed primarily in layers after liberal undermining of the skin in the subcutaneous plane to prevent any tension across the suture line. In the platysma group, a superiorly based platysma myocutaneous muscle flap was raised as described by D.A Baur 5 and used for reconstruction of the intraoral defects. With the neck hyper extended, the proposed skin paddle was outlined on the ipsilateral neck, below the inferior border of the mandible (Fig. 2). The superior incision was made first and the plane superficial to the platysma muscle was dissected carefully cephalic to the inferior border of the mandible. A skin incision was then made at the inferior line of the skin paddle, with additional exposure of the platysma muscle inferiorly. The platysma muscle was transected sharply at least 1cm inferior to the edge of skin paddle, and a subplatysmal plane of dissection developed just below the inferior border of the mandible. If the cervical branch of the facial nerve was to be incorporated, it was necessary to identify the nerve in the superficial layer of deep cervical fascia with careful dissection and preservation of its pr oximal portion. Once the plane of dissection was fully developed, the platysma myocutaneous flap was transected vertically, anteriorly and posteriorly for its full mobilisation. The flap was then introduced into the oral defect by creating an appropriately sized soft tissue tunnel. The harvested flap was sutured to the defect, which was created by release of the fibrous bands. The donor site was easily closed in layers, totally avoiding any unacceptable facial scar and obtaining by far a much better cosmetic result (as shown in Fig. 3b). A soft temporomandibular joint trainer was placed in the oral cavity post operatively for 10 days to prevent dehiscence of the flap, as result of occlusal trauma. After a latent period of 10 days, physiotherapy was started with the help of Hister’s jaw exerciser to prevent contracture and relapse. The patients were instructed about the exercises and mandated to do them for the next 6 months until they were followed up in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. We used the Student’s unpaired t test for statistical analysis of the study. RESULTS There were 2 groups of 10 patients each, one of which had nasolabial flaps, and the other platysma myocutaneous flaps.The differences in mouth opening were as shown in Table 1. All patients in nasolabial group developed extra-oral facial scars, compared with none in the platysma group. The differences in mouth opening before and after the surgery were almost similar in both groups (p) There were some complications in the nasolabial group including partial flap necrosis, particularly at the tips, temporary widening of oral commissure, unsightly extra oral scars as shown in (Fig. 3a), subluxation of the Temporomandibular Joint, perforation of the palate and intraoral growth of hair. In the platysma group, few patients developed temporary paraesthesia, which was noticed over the lateral cervical region, subluxation of the mandible and scars over the lower neck region which were usually covered by the shirt’s collar and not visible extra orally on the face. There were no delayed complications in the platysma group, but 2 patients in the nasolabial group had a â€Å"fish mouth† deformity, even after a year (Table 2). DISCUSSION The treatment of oral submucous fibrosis is mainly symptomatic, as the aetiology is not clearly understood and it is of progressive nature. Conservative treatments include multi-vitamins, iron supplementation and intra-lesional injections of hyaluronidase, placental extracts and steroids to name a few. Submucosal injections of various drugs may produce temporary symptomatic relief but can lead to aggravated fibrosis, pronounced trismus and increased morbidity from mechanical injury, secondary to the needle prick injury 6. Different treatment plans and surgical interventions have been proposed by various authors with variable success rates. Excision of fibrous bands and propping the mouth open to allow secondary epithelisation is known to cause rebound fibrosis during healing. The release of fibrous bands followed by split thickness skin grafting results in high recurrence rate following contracture. The survival of full thickness skin grafts is questionable. The use of an island palatal flap based on the greater palatine artery was recommended by Khanna et al., but has limitations including involvement of donor tissue with the limited reach of the flap, as well as the need to extract the maxillary second molar tooth, so that the flap is not under tension.7 The bilateral tongue flap causes severe dysphagia, disarticulation, and it carries unwarranted risk of aspiration. It also provides a limited amount of donor tissue as its reach is inadequate. The doubtful stability of tongue flaps and their dehiscence are the most common post operative complications caused due to uncontrolled tongue movements.8 Buccal fat pads may also be used to cover the defects after excision of fibrous bands and also as their harvest is simple. However in patients with chronic disease they are likely to be atrophic. In addition, the anterior reach of buccal fat pads is inadequate and thus the region anterior to the cuspids often is required to be left raw; which therefore heals by secondary intention and subsequent fibrosis, leading to gradual relapse. 9 Bilateral radial forearm flaps are hairy, and nearly half the patients require a secondary debulking procedure. Facilities for free tissue transfer are not universally available. 10 Caniff et al 11 recommended temporal myotomy or coronoidectomy to release severe trismus caused by the atrophic changes in the tendon of the temporalis muscle secondary to the disease. If the mouth opening was still less than 35 mm after bilateral fibrotomy, then for every case bilateral coronoidectomy was done, which increases the per-operative mouth opening. Complications like extra oral facial scars and intraoral growth of hair were common observation in our study when extended nasolabial flaps were used for reconstruction of defects. The patient’s compliance was not very good as far as facial aesthetics were concerned in the nasolabial group. These issues are taken care of when the platysma myocutaneous flap is harvested. The technique of platysma muscle flap however is more challenging as compared to that of extended nasolabial flap and needs to be mastered properly. CONCLUSION Surgical management of oral sub mucous fibrosis not only permits mouth opening but also facilitates the oral examinations for early detection and timely management of malignant transformation. This comparative study of Nasolabial flaps versus Platysma myocutaneous muscle flaps for reconstruction of intraoral post release oral submucous fibrosis defects emphasises on avoiding the extra oral facial scars in the patient. The postoperative mouth opening three years after surgery was comparable in both the techniques, however with better aesthetic outcomes in the platysmal group. We recommend the use of platysma muscle flap as compared to the extended nasolabial flap for reconstruction of the intraoral defects after release of oral sub mucous fibrosis .The facial aesthetics are not compromised in this technique. The risk of broadening of the commissure and pinched appearance of the lips are subsequently avoided. As the incision is far away from the face, and situated infero-laterally on the neck, the scars are hidden underneath the shirt’s collar, without hampering the facial aesthetics, avoiding an unsightly facial scar and ultimately resulting in better patient compliance and acceptance in today’s conscious society.

Essay --

In the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontà «, Jane isn’t really social. In her early childhood she was very much isolated. Her aunt and cousins didn’t like her so they didn’t deal with her. Jane was comfortable being away because she would always get in trouble. Jane would either defend herself or just be picked on and she gets in trouble. Jane found ways to cope with being isolated, she was different and she was fine with that. After Jane has been at Thornfield for a while, she is somewhat frightened by the laughing she hears while a fire breaks out in Mr. Rochester’s room. The frightening laugh gets Jane wondering if that person has committed this. Jane is able to put the fire out and save Mr. Rochester. After the fire incident, Mr. Rochester leaves for about a week or so. Since Jane and Mr. Rochester are secretly in love she constantly wonders when he is coming back. When he writes and says that he will be back soon with guests, the house begins to get ready because they don’t usually have guests. When everyone arrives, Jane sees that Mr. Rochester is sitting next to a women name B...

Family Practices Essay

Parents have the big responsibility of rearing their children in the best way they can. They have a lot of investment towards their children to bring them up in the most righteous way. Parents impart knowledge, values and even some of their known practices which they grew up with. There are so many common practices imparted to us by our parents. These practices revolve maybe on simple things such as eating together during dinner and saying a prayer before we sleep. Our family believes in the power of herbal medicine that would be able to heal our illnesses. Herbal medicines are kind of medicines that come from plants (Bupa’s Health Information Team, 2007). An herb is a plant that is commonly used because of its flavor, scent and medicinal properties. Many of these herbs are processed and are available in the market is various forms such as tablets, capsules, teas, etc. but there are still some herbal medicine that may cause threat is people’s health. Some may cause health problems and some may not interact well with other drugs (â€Å"Herbal Medicine†, 2009). The Western hemisphere has long abandoned the used of the herbal medicines due to the advancement of technology and healthcare that is able to provide a single medicine that will cure illnesses. Many people, professional and lay individuals, do not know that plants may be able to provide useful health benefits. The benefits of the plants are in the form of alternative and complementary medicines and many people consider it as irrelevant part of folk times (Ernst, 2000). This nontraditional health practice has been passed on my family through generations. Not only able to preserve our family solidarity but our health as well. References Bupa’s Health Information Team. (2007, August). Herbal Medicine. Bupa. Retrieved January 20, 2009 from http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/herbal_medicine.html. Ernst, E. (2000). Herbal Medicine: A Concise Overview for Professionals. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Herbal Medicine. (2009, January 13). Medline Plus. Retrieved January 20, 2009 from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/herbalmedicine.html.

College Paper on Ethics

College Paper on Ethics College Paper on Ethics It is truly a quite difficult task to find the exact definition of what ethics is. Peoples understanding of what is right and what is wrong differs, and the notion of ethics depends on peoples views and opinions as well. But it would be wrong to define ethics as something that people feel they can do because it is right for them. Peoples understanding of it may be deviated, moreover people cannot judge every situation with a clear head and do it objectively. Some people define ethics as a type of behavior that is acceptable by a society. However that is also not true. The society consists of separate individuals, and they may also have various points of view concerning what ethics is. We can also remember facts from history of the humanity where societies were deceived by the state, and the latter used propaganda in order to create public mood that could be used for states own purposes. Just think of German society during Hitlers rule. Similar to social-accepted rules, ethics can also be viewed as a synonym of law. However laws can be written by those who are not ethical at all. Laws are often changed which means they are not perfect and constantly need to be improved. Moreover, as we have already mentioned, peoples understanding of ethics can be deviated, and such deviation can be later result in the laws. Ethics is often identified with religion. However there is one question to ask that will probably prove that this idea is wrong: are atheists ethical? Looking at ethics just from the perspective of religion automatically makes all the other people unethical. We wont argue that religion does not encourage people to be more ethical, but if we compare religion and ethics, the latter notion is a wider one. David B. Resnik defines ethics as â€Å"norms for conduct that distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behavior † (Resnik). He also states that people usually learn moral norms in various social settings, such as home, school, church, etc. However the ethical development of a person is a process that happens throughout the whole life. Some people also consider ethical norms to be common-sense. But there is a question asked by this scientist: â€Å"if morality were nothing more than common sense, then why are there so many ethical disputes and issues in our society?† (Resnik). The point is that there can be one common ethical norm for at least two people, for example. But their understanding and interpretation of what is ethical and what is not may differ. Thats why people who share similar ethical norms may turn out to act differently in various situations. Thats why the main purpose of studying ethics nowadays is not to define strict norms for conduct (which, in fact, would be almost impossible), but rather to learn the mechanism of interpretation of these norms. Reznik D.B. What is Ethics in Research Why is it Important? 2011. Web. Velasquez M., Andre C., Shanks T., S.J., and Meyer M.J. What is Ethics? 2010. Web. Tips on Writing a Good College Paper The key to any type of writing is brainstorming. You should write down everything that comes into your mind, relating to ethics  topic. Use the results of your brainstorming to write an outline. This will help you draft your ethics college paper. Do not waste your time on proofreading the paper while you are writing a draft, just let the words flow. When you are finished with the draft, you will get a more clear picture whether you have added enough valuable information. Additionally, you will see if you have all main parts of your ethics paper, such as introduction, main body and conclusion. Our online paper writing service will provide you with a high-quality customized paper on ethics written by experts. Try our service!

Mary Easty - Salem Witch Trials

Mary Easty - Salem Witch Trials Mary Easty Facts Known for: hanged as a witch in the 1692 Salem witch trialsAge at time of Salem witch trials: about 58Dates: baptized August 24, 1634, died September 22, 1692Also known as: Mary Towne, Mary Town, Mary Esty, Mary Estey, Mary Eastey, Goody Eastie, Goody Easty, Mary Easte, Marah Easty, Mary Estick, Mary Eastick Family background: Her father was William Towne and her mother Joanna (Jone or Joan) Blessing Towne, accused once of witchcraft herself. William and Joanna arrived in America around 1640. Among Marys siblings were Rebecca Nurse (arrested March 24 and hanged June 19) and Sarah Cloyse (arrested April 4, case dismissed January 1693). Mary married Isaac Easty, a well-to-do farmer born in England, around 1655 - 1658. They had eleven children, seven alive in 1692. They lived in Topsfield, rather than either Salem Town or Village. Salem Witch Trials Rebecca Nurse, Mary Eastys sister and a well-respected matron, was denounced as a witch by Abigail Williams and arrested on March 24. Their sister, Sarah Cloyce, defended Rebecca, and was ordered arrested on April 4. Sarah was examined on April 11. A warrant was issued for Mary Eastys arrest on April 21, and she was taken into custody. The next day, she was examined by John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin, as were Nehemiah Abbott Jr., William and Deliverance Hobbs, Edward Bishop Jr. and his wife Sarah, Mary Black, Sarah Wildes, and Mary English. During Mary Eastys examination, Abigail Williams, Mary Walcott, Ann Putnam Jr., and John Indian said that she was hurting them, and that their mouths were stopt. Elizabeth Hubbard cried Goody Easty you are the woman.... Mary Easty maintained her innocence. Rev. Samuel Parris took the notes on the examination. E: I will say it, if it was my last time, I am clear of this sin.Of what sin?E: Of witchcraft. Despite her assertions of innocence, she was sent to jail. On May 18, Mary Easty was set free; existing records do not show why. Two days later, Mercy Lewis experienced new afflictions, and she and several other girls claimed to see Mary Eastys specter; she was charged again and arrested in the middle of the night. Immediately, Mercy Lewiss fits ceased. More evidence was gathered by deposition and during several days of examination of Mary Easty in late May. A jury of inquest considered Mary Eastys case on August 3-4 and heard testimony of many witnesses. In September, officials gathered witnesses for the trial of Mary Easty among others. On September 9, Mary Easty was pronounced guilty of witchcraft by a trial jury and sentenced to death. Also found guilty that day were Mary Bradbury, Martha Corey, Dorcas Hoar, Alice Parker, and Ann Pudeator. She and her sister, Sarah Cloyce, petitioned the court together for a fayre and equall hearing of evidence for them as well as against them. They argued that they had no opportunity to defend themselves and were not allowed any counsel and that spectral evidence was not dependable. Mary Easty also added a second petition with a plea was focused more on others than herself: I petition your honors not for my own life, for I know I must die, and my appointed time is set .... if it be possible, that no more blood be shed. On September 22, Mary Easty, Martha Corey (whose husband Giles Corey had been pressed to death on September 19), Alice Parker, Mary Parker, Ann Pudeator, Wilmott Redd, Margaret Scott, and Samuel Wardwell were hanged for witchcraft. Rev. Nicholas Noyes officiated at this last execution in the Salem witch trials, saying after the execution, What a sad thing it is to see eight firebrands of hell hanging there. In a quite different spirit, Robert Calef described Mary Eastys end in his later book, More Wonders of the Invisible World: Mary Easty, Sister also to Rebecka Nurse, when she took her last farewell of her Husband, Children and Friends, was, as is reported by them present, as Serious, Religious, Distinct, and Affectionate as could well be expressed, drawing Tears from the Eyes of almost all present. After the Trials In November, Mary Herrick testified that Mary Eastys ghost visited her and said that she was innocent. In 1711, Mary Eastys family received 20 pounds compensation and Mary Eastys attainder was reversed. Isaac Easty died on June 11, 1712.

Explain the course of the First Roman Civil War Essay

Explain the course of the First Roman Civil War - Essay Example To counter the Germanic invasions, Gaius Marius recruited a large number of people from the non-propertied class into the army. After expiry of their stint with the army, with no farms to return to, they depended on their generals for livelihood. The Generals utilized the power of the following to their advantage to wrest more authority. The first successful military coup was that of Sulla in 88 BC. Sulla made efforts to set right the situation but the power-hungry generals sabotaged the settlement after he died and that led to the war between Pompey and Caesar. Caesar won and appointed himself as the dictator for life. Before that he continued to destroy the resistance and in 46 BC he reached Iberia to fight war for the defeat of sons of Pompey. By temperament Caesar was a democratic ruler and he argued, â€Å"There shall be free elections and the Senate and the Roman people shall be in full control of the government. To facilitate this and fix the terms and ratify them with an oath, I suggest that Pompey either comes to meet me or allows me to meet him. By submitting our differences, to mutual discussion, we shall settle them all.†(40) But he was assassinated by some senators led by one of his close friends, Brutus, and the situation was out of hand again. His heir Augustus (former Octavian) with Mark Anthony fought against the killers and defeated them. They ruled the empire but war erupted amongst these two as well and Anthony was defeated. The shrewd Octavian succeeded in hammering out the settlement to restore the Republic, assumed reserve powers to control the legions and stalled the competition amongst the ambitious generals. He defeated Anthony and Cleopatra (who committed suicide) and declared himself as the Emperor of Rome in

Economist Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economist Report - Essay Example Ricardo was elected to the British parliament in 1819 as an independent representative of a borough in Ireland, Portarlington, which he served till his death in 1823. David Ricardo, lived in the times just at the beginning of the Industrial revolution and this is what perhaps influences his thinking on 'Machinery' (discussed below). Ricardo took a keen interest in the study of economics and formulated the 'Classical' system of political economy. His interest in economics was sparked by a chance reading of Adam Smith's 'The Wealth of Nations' while on vacation in 1799, in which Adam Smith focuses most of his attention on the problem of economic growth and his belief that an evolving capitalist system could benefit society as a whole. According to Smith's analysis the economy possesses unlimited upward potential. Ricardo's first written comments on economics appear to be two essays written in 1810 and 1811 (The High Price of Bullion, a Proof of the Depreciation of Bank Notes) articulating his position in favour of the 'Bullionist' position. He argued in favour of a metallic currency, giving a fresh stimulus to the controversy about the policy of the Bank of England. This has since become known as the classical approach to the theory of money, which argued for the resumption of the convertibility of paper money into gold. The Bullion Committee appointed by the House of Commons in 1819 confirmed Ricardo's views and recommended the repeal of the Bank Restriction Act. Ricardo was a firm believer in Say's Law that states that there can be no demand without supply and that recession does not occur because of failure in demand or lack of money. In these tracts Ricardo also suggested the impossibility of a 'general glut', or an excess supply of all goods in an economy as proposed by Thomas Robert Malthus. This provoked a debate with Malthus that culminated in Ricardo writing a series of notes on Mathus's 1820 'principles'. These notes were published posthumously as Notes on Malthus. In 1815 he published his first complete work 'Essay on the Influence of a Low Price of Corn on the Profits of Stock' where he introduced the differential theory of rent and the "law of diminishing returns" to land cultivation. He argued that raising the duties on imported grain had the effect of increasing the price of corn and hence increasing the incomes of landowners and the aristocracy at the expense of the working classes and the rising industrial class. In Essay Ricardo formulated his theory of distribution in a one-commodity ("corn") economy. With wages at their "natural" level, Ricardo argued that rate of profit and rents were determined residually in the agricultural sector. He then used the concept of arbitrage to claim that the agricultural profit and wage rates would be equal to the counterparts in industrial sectors. With this theory, he could show that a rise in wages did not lead to higher prices, but merely lowered profits. Ricardo took economics to an unprecedented degree of theoretical sophistication by formalising the 'Classical' system more clearly and consistently than anyone before had done and what became known as the "Classical" or"Ricardian" School (of thought). In