The Challenges of Developing a Strategic Enterprise Resource Plan Essay

The Challenges of Developing a Strategic Enterprise Resource Plan (ERP) Program for the Small Business - Essay Example I would like to thank her for teaching me how to navigate through the ocean of knowledge. I am equally overwhelmed by the unflinching support of all my other professors, lecturers and administrative staff and the library staff at the _____________ University and thank them profusely. Their slightest disarrangement would have distracted my focus from the research. Finally, a paper of this nature is a lifetime opportunity, in the sense it not only provides an opportunity to study a problem in depth, but it also provides a window to express an opinion to the issues that affects the object of study. Implementation of ERP is a matter of importance and is of benefit to many. Any research on this subject would contribute to spreading prosperity in the society. I sincerely thank my previous researchers for providing me the inspiration and information required to carry on their research to a next level. At the end, I pray the almighty whose invisible hands have guided me to successfully undertake this project. I sincerely hope that the project is useful to the society and help prosperity in its own way. Enterprise Resource Planning and a small business! It’s like a missile launcher in the hands of a child. This is in fact is the subject of this paper. How can a small business successfully develop and implement an ERP system to accrue strategic benefits for the company. Technology and globalization have made a small business to appear big and move to capture new territories which were erstwhile areas controlled by industry goliaths. Technology has now made new weapons available to the â€Å"David†, the small business. Globalization is now defining the new arena that was until now not available to it. The small business is now is much stronger and no longer restricted to its neighborhood and be leveled as the â€Å"local guy†. It is now evidently becoming the â€Å"global guy†, taking orders and

Packaging Machinery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Packaging Machinery - Essay Example The most important packaging component means a covering component that is direct contact with the usage outward appearance. A secondary packaging part means a packaging part that is not in direct contact with the usage type. Environmental and human Safety should be considered for any packaging material, for example,: b) Pollution of the contents by the covering, together with those specific cases where the mixture of packaging fabric and contents may cause troubles. The stuffing, where potentially dangerous, should not leak through the packaging due to: be short of a seal (b) wear and tear of the casing caused by the outside influences, such as foreseeable mechanical forces or light (c) weakening of the casing caused by the substance. Where the casing may potentially cause harm and affect safety of the user should be clearly labeled. Consumers in some cases, various groups of users may have unlike, possibly disagreeing, necessities with reverence to opening means. For example, packaging of pharmaceuticals which may be simple to children should have child challenging closures. While the similar closure should be easy for a handicapped person, probably with the help of an assisting device Where possible, the covering and remnants of the substances should be capable of safe dumping by ordinary means, with no long or short term danger to the environment or human beings. Biodegradable resources are preferred. Clear directions on disposal of packaging should be given whenever ordinary means of disposal is unsuitable. Neither the shape nor the size of the packaging should give the wrong impression about the consumer as to the quantity of its contents. Where settling may happen, this information should be visibly stated on the outside of the covering. Three 40 bottom diameter, 105 base tall solid silos accustomed for storing the granulated sugar powder formed in the refinery. Each five million

Frederick Griffith Essay Example for Free

Frederick Griffith Essay Biography Frederick Griffith (1879-1941), who was born in Hale, Cheshire County, England and who attended the Liverpool University, was a British bacteriologist whose focus was the epidemiology and pathology of bacterial Pneumonia. In January, 1928 he reported what is now known as Griffiths Experiment, the first widely accepted demonstration of bacterial transformation, where a bacterium distinctly changes its form and function. Griffith succumbed to his death around the year 1941 due to the air raid. His Purpose and what he derived? Griffith showed that Streptococcus pneumonia, could transform from one strain into a different strain. The observation was attributed to an unidentified transforming principle of transforming Factor. This was later identified as the stuff of life â€Å"DNA† The Experiment Griffith’s experiment, reported in 1928, was one of the first experiments suggesting that bacteria are capable of transferring genetic information through a process known as transformation. Griffith went about deriving his results by means of using two strains of Pneumoccocus (Streptococcus pneumonia) bacteria which he used to infect several mice. A type smooth strain and a type rough strain. The smooth strain has its components covered by a polysaccharide capsule, which gives it the ability to live in adverse conditions and divide rapidly through a process called Binary fission. Adverse conditions in the context of this experiment would mean â€Å"protection from white blood cells† The third line of defense’s inability to phagocytize the bacteria subsequently results in the death of the mice because the capsule accommodates for the rapid growth of the same cell. Bacterial cells usually have a target organ to which it chooses to disintegrate, and in the case of abundance, the more the number of bacterial cells the more likely the host is going to succumb to it death. How the Experiment was Set up? The experiment was set up by means of inoculating mice with different forms of the same bacteria but with varying strains. The first mouse was inoculated with the rough strain of the streptococcus bacteria and the mice lived. The second mouse was inoculated with the smooth strain (virulent strain) and the end result was the death of the mouse. The third mouse was inoculated with the heat killed smooth strain bacteria and the mouse lived. The emphasis to the transformation principle was given when Griffith infused the rough strain and the heat killed smooth strain and inoculated the mouse which further resulted in the death of the mouse. Griffith was unknown of the reason why the mouse died, but with scientific reasoning, he brought up the idea that the combined Pneumonia bacteria used a transforming principle to activate the virulence, which subsequently then was named the transformation principle. Why did the Heat killed smooth Bacteria show no effect towards the Mice? Just like how we humans function well on optimal temperature, bacteria too have a set temperature to work at its potential. In the context of this experiment the virulent smooth strain pneumonia bacteria was covered by a capsule which consisted of a polysaccharide, a sugar. The introduction of heat disintegrated the capsule, subsequently making it prone to phagocytosis by the white blood cells. The rough strain didn’t comprise of a capsule which explains why it showed no effect towards killing the mouse. The introduction of heat denatured the components of the smooth train which as a result didn’t give the heat killed smooth strain bacteria, not enough potential to kill the mouse. Visual Aid Contribution to our Knowledge Shedding Light to the Transforming Principle Upon research and experimentation on Pneumococcal Streptococcal bacteria-Griffin pointed out that the information in bacterial cells could somehow be transferred between different strains of bacteria. This was long before the discovery of DNA and was an inspired piece used by Avery, Mc Carty and Mc leod to emphasize more on what are primarily the subunits of life. Griffith also wrote a paper in 1928 with regards to his experiment and how he came up with the derivation of the term â€Å"Transforming principle†. Apart from Griffins inspiring research, his findings led to the pivotal beginning of molecular biology. In 1952, other researches with the insight gained from Griffiths experiment, further brought meaning to what is the fundamental and the subunits of life by creating their own sets of experiments all interconnected with this experiment in the process of deriving the form, structure and the function of DNA in one way or another.

Prospects of Outsourcing Clinical Research Projects

Prospects of Outsourcing Clinical Research Projects A STUDY OF OUTSOURCING CLINICAL RESEARCH PROJECTS TO ASIAN COUNTRIES (INDIA): ITS GROWTH AND FUTURE PROSPECTS ABSTRACT Outsourcing is increasingly becoming a trend within the clinical research industry. The pharmaceutical and biotechnological spend on outsourcing was estimated to be $48 million in the year 2008 and is expected to increase to $48 million by 2010 [Bloch et al, 2006]. The concept of outsourcing for the development and global studies on new drugs has become widely accepted in the pharmaceutical industry due to its cost and uncertainty. India is going to be the most preferred location for contract pharma research and development due to its huge treatment naà ¯ve population, human resources, technical skills, adoption/amendment/implementation of rules/laws by regulatory authorities, and changing economic environment. But still ‘miles to go to fulfil the pre-requisites to ensure Indias success. In spite of all the pitfalls, the country is ambitious and optimist to attract multinational pharmaceutical companies to conduct their clinical trials in India. The research methodology is done mixing the quantitative and qualitative methods as explained by Creswell (Creswell, J. W., 2003). The questionnaires designed for collecting data had open-and-closed ended questions to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data for the analysis. An extensive literature review of existing trend of outsourcing clinical research project was carried out. Six interviews were conducted; two interviews to gain an understanding of the process and the activities outsourced by the pharmaceutical industry, benefits and risks involve in outsourcing, why Indian CRO are considered better to outsource the clinical research projects and four interviews to evaluate the strategies employed by the CRO in order to improve the relationship with key clients. The primary conclusion from this study is that outsourcing is a necessity within the clinical research industry. The study concluded that the many pharmaceuticals from UK are outsourcing their clinical research mainly to Asian countries for fast, cost effective and quality results. The study concluded that the relationship between the client and the CRO is the key element for the future of outsourcing clinical research projects. Chapter 1- Introduction and Background 1 INTRODUCTION â€Å"Outsourcing allows companies to reduce costs, benefits consumers with lower cost goods and services, and causes economic expansion that reduces unemployment, and increases productivity and job creation.† [Elder, 2009] According to the American heritage dictionary outsourcing is defined as the â€Å"procurement of services or products from an outside supplier or manufacturer in order to cut costs† [Amiti, 2004] This chapter aims to understand the rationale behind this project which is on understanding the process of outsourcing within the clinical research industry. The cost of drug development has been consistently on the rise, which has led to the pharmaceutical industry looking for new methods for conducting clinical research [Jayshree, 2005]. These companies have also been trying to develop strategies in order to identify and focus on their core competencies [McIvor, 2000]. This has now been achieved by the process of outsourcing. Contract research was initially limited to pre-clinical studies and clinical trial services; however it now covers a varied range of activities. [Jayshree, 2005] Outsourcing therefore has become a customary business strategy. [Editors, May 2005]. As time progresses a number of activities are outsourced to service providers such as Contract Research Organisations (CRO). It has been estimated that there are 1200 organisations which are involved in clinical research; these include pharmaceutical and biotechnological in-house clinical management, site management organisations (SMOs), academic and medical centres, private research sites and contract research organisations. These organisations aid in completion of the projects within the stipulated timelines and thereby increase the profit margins of the pharmaceutical companies. In the US, 60% of the clinical research activities were outsourced to CROs, in the year 2001. The CRO market has been growing rapidly ($1 billion in 1992 to $8 billion in 2002). This growth is evident not only in terms of revenue generation; but also in the number of patients being recruited in clinical trials (7 million in 1992 to 20 million in 2001). Therefore there is an increasing demand in the pharmaceutical industry for outsourcing activities to these service providers. [Jayshree, 2005] In order to meet the project requirements and timelines the pharmaceutical companies attempt to select the best service provider from several CROs. There is an intense competition between these organisations. I.1 illustrates the results of a survey conducted by Contract Pharma in 2005 wherein the respondents have graded the various characteristics they expect from a CRO in terms of very important and / or important. 1.2 RESEARCH TITLE A study of outsourcing clinical research project to Asian countries (India), its growth future prospects 1.3 RESEARCH BACKGROUND As time progresses a number of activities are outsourced to service providers such as Contract Research Organisations (CRO). It has been estimated that there are 1200 organisations which are involved in clinical research; these include pharmaceutical and biotechnological in-house clinical management, site management organisations (SMOs), academic and medical centres, private research sites and contract research organisations. These organisations aid in completion of the projects within the stipulated timelines and thereby increase the profit margins of the pharmaceutical companies. In the US, 60% of the clinical research activities were outsourced to CROs, in the year 2001. The CRO market has been growing rapidly ($1 billion in 1992 to $8 billion in 2002). This growth is evident not only in terms of revenue generation; but also in the number of patients being recruited in clinical trials (7 million in 1992 to 20 million in 2001). Therefore there is an increasing demand in the pharmaceutical industry for outsourcing activities to these service providers. [Jayshree, 2005] Clinical trials are designed to help us find out how to give a new treatment safely and effectively to people. With escalating pressure on research and development (RD) cost-containment across the global pharmaceutical industry, there is increased focus on reducing the cost of clinical development. The additional problem of delayed development is also affecting new drug introductions, losing incremental revenues. This dual challenge of accelerating clinical development and reducing costs has forced major pharma companies to look at alternative destinations for sourcing patients for their global studies. Exploration on these lines guides pharma industry to take interest in the countries like Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia. Amongst Asian countries, India stands out prominently due to its huge treatment-naà ¯ve patients population, English speaking doctors and a large pharmaceutical presence that has dominated the world market due to cheap generics. As the multinational drug co mpanies in the United States and Western Europe look east to outsource research and clinical trial activities, countries such as India will gain proficiency and expertise, assisting its move from generic and speciality contract manufacturing to innovative drug discovery and development in its own right, setting the stage for increased global competition. [Unknown, website:http://www.cyfuture.com/history-ofoutsourcing.htm]. India has emerged as a strong base for clinical trials in recent times. Due to the multitude of benefits it offers, the country is fast growing as a centre of conducting clinical trials for many international companies. India, with its huge patient base, low cost advantage, completion of cilia trial on time, improving infrastructure, and with a strong government support is witnessing a double digit growth in its clinical trial market. All major pharmaceutical companies and Clinical Research Organisation (CROs) have already started conducting their clinical trials in India, and with improving infrastructure, industry friendly regulations and trained workforce, the growth is only likely to increase in future. 1.4 RATIONALE FOR CHOSEN TOPIC I decided to do my research on outsourcing because my personal interest and also clinical research outsourcing became the most important factor in the economic growth of many developing countries. I strongly believe that this paper provide some good literature along with some organizational evidences which will be beneficial to other pharmaceutical industry to outsource their clinical trials to India. Further as I have chosen my area as a clinical research outsourcing from European countries to many developing Asian countries along with the risk involvement in it so I will be collecting theories and information from pharmaceutical companies which will provide some evidence to the topic. In addition to the theories, I will be interviewing the mangers of pharmaceutical companies to find out their opinion and on that basis I will further review my topic. Also my personal interest in this topic is that I have worked in the clinical research industry for around 3.5 years. I know many of the processes and whole flow of the study completion. I have worked in CRO for top pharma companies like Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline so I know all the insights of clinical research its importance, criticality and confidentiality. Also by working on this thesis I will get to know UK pharmaceutical market and how they carry out their clinical research. It will definitely help me in my job search as I want to work in clinical data management field in UK pharma or CRO. 1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS: They are a means to structure, focus and direct the dissertation and to reconcile the objectives with the primary research. (I need your inputs regarding how to reference this portion of work as I have taken it from your notes) Research is an organised and systematic way of finding answers to questions. Questions are central to research. If there is no question, then the answer is of no use. Research is focused on relevant, useful, and important questions. Without a question, research has no focus, drive, or purpose. Research questions:- 1) To understand the UK pharmaceutical/clinical research Industry. 2) To define the nature and characteristics of outsourcing 3) What is the importance of Clinical Research industry? 4) What is the relationship between pharmaceutical industry and CR industry? 5) Why outsource clinical research? 6) Why outsource clinical research mainly to Asian countries? 7) What are the effects of outsourcing clinical research on a pharmaceutical industry? 8) How to improve relationship between pharma and CRO in the process of outsourcing? 9) Which elements are most important for relationship between pharma and CRO both now and in future? 10) How to manage performance throughout the outsourcing process to improve its future? 1.6 RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Outsourcing is a fascinating field which now forms a core component of business within the clinical research industry. This chapter aims to understand the aims and objectives which are intend to be completed during the course of this project. 1.6.1 Aim: To understand the growth and future prospects in outsourcing of clinical research projects from UK Pharma to Clinical Research Organisation in Asian countries. This research was conducted in order to understand the process of outsourcing within the clinical research industry. This research is mainly based on pharmaceutical companies in UK and Europe who outsources their most of the clinical trial work to overseas companies mainly in Asian countries .The actual aim of this research is to find out why there is an increase in outsourcing of clinical trials to Asian countries and what are the future prospects for both pharma companies and CRO where the projects are getting outsourced. This research also talks about what benefits the companies have due to outsourcing its clinical trials to developing countries. 1.6.2 Objectives: The following are the objectives of the research 1. To understand the current scenario of outsourcing within the clinical research industry. 2. Analysis of UKs Pharmaceutical industries where companies are going for outsourcing 3. What are the various reasons behind outsourcing? 4. Analysis of Clinical Research Organisations in Asian countries were outsourced jobs get done. 5. Overlook on the procedure of outsourcing and the basis on which selection outsource company is being done. 6. To identify the risks and benefits involved in outsourcing from the perspective of a client and service provider. 7. To develop a questionnaire in order to establish the internal views of a leading Pharmaceutical (Client) and CRO (service provider) on outsourcing. 1.7 THE STRUCTURE OF DISSERTATION This paper consists of following chapters which are, Dissertation document structure: Chapter 1: Introduction In chapter 1, an introduction to outsourcing and clinical research industry was given in order to provide the reader a good background of outsourcing and clinical research industry. The Chapter also addresses why UK Pharma companies choose CRO in Asian countries (India) for outsourcing and the relationship between them. Chapter 2: Literature review This chapter provides background information on the processes of outsourcing as well as gives an overview of outsourcing within the clinical research industry. Chapter 3: A structured research methodology A background on the research methodologies, knowledge claims, research strategies, and data collection was given as the first part of this chapter. The implemented research process and methodology for this research study was explained subsequently. The last part of the chapter addressed the validation process and the objectives achieved through the research study. The author of this thesis selected a research methodology mixing the quantitative and qualitative methods as explained by Creswell (Creswell, J. W., 2003). The questionnaires designed for collecting data had open-and-closed ended questions to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data for the analysis. An extensive literature review of existing trend of outsourcing clinical research project was carried out. Chapter 4: Company Case Chapter 5: Data Collection and Analysis of the project Six interview were conducted from the UK Pharma and CRO in India to gain an understanding of the process and the activities outsourced by the pharmaceutical industry, benefits and risks involve in outsourcing, why Indian CRO are considered better to outsource the clinical research projects and what is the future prospects of outsourcing clinical research by developing good relationship between client and CRO. Chapter 6: Conclusions and Recommendations The primary conclusion from this study is that outsourcing is a necessity within in the clinical research industry. The study concluded that the many pharmaceuticals from UK are outsourcing their clinical research to Asian countries for fast, cost effective and quality results. The study also concluded that the relationship between the client and the CRO is the key element for the future of outsourcing clinical research. CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 INTRODUCTION In the previous chapters I have presented the overall background to the topic and also supportive literature to the outsourcing of clinical research along with relationship building in between CRO and pharma. The main aim of this chapter is to outline the research methodology used for this topic. In this chapter we will provide and discuss the content of the research approach towards the topic and designing of it used throughout the study of it. 3.2 RESEARCH PROCESS This is traditional and highly structured view of research process. This model also provides research as neat and orderly process, with one stage leading logically on to the other. As provided in step 1 research topic can be identified as a result of your course, work, job, interest area or general experience. On the basis of research topic in order to narrow down the research area, research problem is defined which focuses on particular research problem with small enough of investigation. Next step is to tell how exactly the research is to be conducted which is followed by the collection of the data which includes primary and secondary data. After analyzing and interpreting this collected data final report is being written. 3.3 NATURE OF RESEARCH PROBLEM Conducting research in the real world was a challenge for dissertation due to the lack of a central body/authority to provide information related to pharmaceutical and CRO confidential data regarding outsourcing of clinical research. The followings are some of the key challenges faced during the research process: 3.3.1 Lack of transparency An effort was made to address some questions through the questionnaires related to the outsourcing of clinical research and its benefits, the risks you face when you outsource processes to the CRO, the key issues that lead to a loss of business from the clients, and the competencies that differentiate the CRO from its competitors. These questions were either not answered or answered with uncertainties by some respondents. The author has to take out the information through indirect ways of addressing the questions over the interviews conducted with some of the Operational managers and employees in person or through phone interviews. This indeed increased the time and effort in the data collection phase in the research process but was overcome with certain limitations. 3.3.2 Inadequate references: The author had struggled to find good references or documents related to outsourcing clinical research, its future and all the other relevant data was offered either through the common portal or the business departments sites. The lack of academic case studies on information security, publications, or white papers was a challenge for the extraction of information in the literature review and data analysis. Despite the above challenges, the objectives of the research as mentioned in Section 1.4 were the pillars of the research methodology and the research process was implemented to achieve them. 3.4 RESEARCH METHOD Research method tells about the methodologies used for the research topic. The main aim of this method is to discuss and select the appropriate method to achieve the research objectives which also provide the structured and systematic way throughout the process to perform the research. A Research Method is nothing but a way in which the data is arranged to get desired output. It can also be defines as a systematic and orderly approach to the collection and analysis of data. In any research collected or gathered is always called as samples or data, which is raw, specific, untreated, undigested and therefore largely meaningless. The analysis arranges the data in a meaningful manner and resolves research questions. So it is very important to select a correct analysis method on the correct set of data to get accurate results and outputs for the research problem. There are several different analytical methods, which are commonly used in business and management research works. These methods vary according to the nature and scope of the topic and thesis, the sources of data to be used, the purposes of gathering data, the amount of control in obtaining the data, and assumptions to be made in analyzing the data. 3.5 RESEARCH DESIGN Research design is a ‘Science of planning procedures for conducting studies so as to get the most valid findings (Vogt, 1993, P.196). Research design will give you detailed plan and guide about focus of your research. Research design is a strategic research approach which is adopted to answer the research questions. The research approaches are classified as exploratory, descriptive or analytical research. Exploratory research is generally conducted for the topics where hardly any few or nothing to refer for the researcher in terms of work done by previous researcher. Researcher conducts the exploratory research for three main purposes a) diagnosing a situation, b) Screening alternatives, C) Discovering new ideas.(Zikmund,200). In general exploratory research is meaningful in any kind of situation where there is not a exact understanding in order to proceed with research (malhotra, 2004). Research conducted for this project was largely exploratory, which involved brand equity research; a research wherein the researcher determines the favorability of a particular brand among its customers [Trochim, W.M.K, 2006]. In order to fulfill the aims and objectives set for this project a schedule of tasks to be completed was drawn up: 1. A comprehensive study of article and reports which dealt with basic outsourcing as a concept. 2. A study of articles and reports related to outsourcing within the clinical research industry to provide an insight into the functioning of pharmaceutical companies. 3. Evaluation of the information gathered so as to compile a literature review. 4. Preparation of questionnaires as tools to obtain the generic information about outsourcing within a leading pharmaceutical company. 5. Selecting relevant interviewees for conducting the interview. 6. Preparation of questionnaires in order to interview key people within the organisation who were responsible for ensuring that deliverables are met in a timely manner. 7. Conducting the interviews 8. Transcription of the responses obtained during the interviews 9. Analysing the responses obtained and generating the results. 10. Conclusions and recommendations from the results obtained. These tasks required a comprehensive collection of information from various sources. The collection of data for analysis and interpretation was done in two phases: 1. Desk Research 2. Field Research 3.5.1 Desk Research The desk research comprised a comprehensive and extensive literature review in order to gain a thorough understanding of the industry, outsourcing. This took place during the first four weeks of the project. The reading material covered a range of internet articles and industrial reports. The majority of the articles were found by using internet research. This method of research involved the extensive use of the Internet especially the World Wide Web [Berry, D. M. (2004)]. The search engines used to look for information included Google, Yahoo, MSN, Google Scholar and the UWIC library search hub. Some reports were also provided by the Industry Supervisor. The articles were read and the information which was relevant to the project aims was reviewed and included in the literature review which forms the second chapter of the thesis. Some of the well known reports such as the Tufts reports and a report by Alison Sahoo, (2006) on Pharmaceutical Outsourcing Strategies did not only provide very good background information but also provided a plethora of information on outsourcing. Name of report Kind of information provided McKinsey Reports These reports provide comprehensive information on issues such as consolidation, licensing, biotechnology pipeline, outsourcing within the industry etc [McKinsey company website, accessed on 12 Dec 2009] Tufts Reports Strategic information for drug developers, regulator and academic researchers to help improve the quality of pharmaceutical development, review and utilisation [Tufts website, accessed on 15 Dec 2009] International Biopharmaceutical Association Publications The publications give information on product updates, news and industry trends, these journals have articles on the current issues related to the industry [IBPA website, accessed on 20 Dec 2009] William Blair Company reports These reports provide information on research providers and high quality growth companies. [William Blair and Company website, accessed on 22 Dec 2009] International Monetary Fund reports These reports provide information on high quality research and publish articles by a variety of guests on a number of topics [IMF Staff Papers, accessed on 27 Dec 2009] 3.5.2 Field Research The research on the subject of outsourcing included the construction of questionnaires and interviewing internal members of a leading CRO in order to fulfil the aim of the project. There are two types of research classified on the basis of type of questioning: 1. Quantitative research 2. Qualitative research Quantitative research is research which uses a combination of inferential statistics and descriptive statistics as tools to analyze data and draw conclusions. It involves random sampling techniques to enable valid and credible sampling from a particular population. This kind of market research includes surveys and questionnaires which express a statistically significant result. [Bradburn et. Al. 1988] Qualitative research, on the other hand, generally precedes the quantitative research. It aids in understanding a problem, setting up a hypothesis and determining the route to be taken for the quantitative research. This type of research is expensive and does not progress as rapidly as its counterpart. The number of respondents in this type of research is few and therefore the results of such a research cannot be extrapolated to the entire population [Malhotra, 2006]. The essential guide to doing research The research carried out in this study was qualitative in nature and hence did not generate a large amount of statistical information. It was decided, with the consent of the University and the Industry Supervisors, that the aims and objectives of the project could be fulfilled by interviewing relevant people within the CRO itself. There were four interviews, in total, which were conducted. Two interviews were conducted from the members which belong to pharmaceutical company and other two were conducted from CRO, which is service provider for this pharmaceutical company. 3.6 Data collection There are two main types of data collection primary data collection and secondary data collection. Primary data is the one which can be obtained by researcher directly, by observation or measurement of phenomenon in a real world without any disturbance of third party involvement. (walliman,2005). In every case researcher is answerable for his sources and should be able to argue in defense of quality of his sources. In secondary data the information is subjected to the source of reference. The main difference between primary and secondary data is, Primary data is originated by researcher for specific purpose of addressing the problem where as secondary data have been already collected for the purpose of other than problem (Malhotra, 2005). In the data collection process, both questionnaires and interviewing methods were adopted. The interview data were analyzed using the immersion approach (Robson, C., 2002) The questionnaires were designed to include open ended questions and closed ended questions in order to give the participants the flexibility to add more comments and points and not be restricted to the answers provided for any question (Creswell, J. W., 2003). 3.6.1 Review of secondary resources: * Related research papers, journals, industrial white papers, and surveys were researched, collected, indexed, and reviewed by the author. The objective of this step was to have a good repository of all journals and conference proceeds addressing the topic of outsourcing, different methods of outsourcing, clinical research industry, pharmaceutical industry , and increase in the outsourcing of CRO projects to developing countries like India , china etc. * During the course of the research, the author had either read or skimmed through more than 50 journals, whitepapers, conference proceedings, and books. Only 50 references regarded useful to the research were indexed and documented. 3.6.2 Identifying Interviewees: It was of paramount importance to select the right people to interview from a plethora of people, each skilled in their own field. With the intention of obtaining the maximum amount of information from the interviewees about outsourcing within the clinical research industry, people who were crucial to increasing the business opportunities for the leading pharmaceutical were chosen for these interviews. These people form a bridge between the top pharmaceutical companies and the CRO; hence it was decided that they were the best in the field of outsourcing within the CRO and therefore were selected for the interview. The questionnaires for the interviews were prepared accordingly. The field research was carried out in two phases: 1. Phase I: Preparation of questionnaires 2. Phase II: Conducting the interviews Phase I (the preparation of the questionnaire) required the author of this thesis to have an appreciation of the challenges of the industry and the current state of the art with respect to outsourcing in order to be able to target the questions in the most appropriate manner. There were two different questionnaires employed and these were directed at two different business activities that could be outsourced. These were: 1. Questionnaire for members belonging to pharmaceutical company. 2. Questionnaire for members who are part of CRO Structured interviews: Two questionnaires (A and B) were created and were sent to Pharmaceutical Company (Pharma) and the CRO (Clinical Research organisation) respectively with specific and direct questions related to the areas of research interest. A preliminary interview with the head of Outsourcing Department in the pharmaceutical company was conducted to explain the purpose of the research and seek his opinion on the questionnaires and their objectives. Some of the heads of the departments did not have the chance to fill questionnaire and requested the author to fill them during their interviews. Mailed/Online questionnaire Both questionnaires A B were sent to the appropriate participants. The participants were invited based on their management involvement and based on their strong background on the outsourcing issues. The questionnaires were sent via email to them and the feedbacks were received through email. Both questionnaires A and B were developed as an output of this phase with different sets of questions addressed to the two categories of respondents (pharmaceutical company and Clinical Research Organisation). The questionnaires were sent and assistance offered to clarify the questionnaires questions if needed. The background information was obtained by a comprehensive study of the available literature and that has been reported in Chapter III. This chapter aims to report the results obtained during the interviews which were conducted as part of the research. 3.6.3 Questionnaire for members belonging to pharmaceutical company related to outsourcing This questionnaire was designed to obtain informat

The Lottery ::

The Lottery All people are unique in their own ways, however have contradictory characteristics such as good and evil. Some people have a soul in which the good side is more dominant, and others have a more dominant bad side. The lottery is a way for the characters in the story to reveal the hidden evil of their souls. One example of this is portrayed through the eagerness and the willingness to participate in the lottery. One of the characters says that they feel like its only been a few weeks since the last lottery, which gives the impression that the lottery is something to look forward to. This shows that the evil side of these people enjoys inflicting pain on others. Mrs. Hutchinson was eager to get to the lottery herself. She shows the evil in her character by wishing the pain that she must live through, and perhaps even die as the outcome, on others. She does not want to accept the fact that she was chosen. Mrs. Hutchinson says that it is â€Å"not fair†, regarding the final results of the lottery. The lottery was something she looked forward to until the outcome of the lottery was forced upon her. The entire population of the town participates in the tradition of the lottery. This shows that the whole community releases a part of their evil onto others. They are all eager to see someone beaten with rocks, however none of them want it to be them. Even the town’s children were involved in the savage ritual. After Tessie Hutchinson was chosen some of the towns children gave some pebbles to her son so he too could participate in the torture of his own mother. This horrible tradition is placed into the lives of the descendants of the town, so it is passed on from generation to generation. These people are taught to let the evil inside of them loose during the lottery. The evil in the souls of the townspeople is brought out during the lottery.

The Con Man, by Ken Mitchell :: essays papers

The Con Man, by Ken Mitchell The novel, The Con Man, by Ken Mitchell is a very humorous novel. In the novel, Ken uses humour to get a point across at many different times. In the Concise Oxford Dictionary humour is defined as: the condition of being amusing or comic. Well some parts of the novel are very amusing and comic. One funny part in the book is when the kids at the beginning ask Gilly if he is native or black. At that part Ken was getting across what Gilly was. That is just one example in the novel, there are others also. Humour can be used to get points across in the real world, and it is also used to get points across in the novel. One humorous part in the novel that gets a point across is in chapter two when they are all travelling. They have to stop and when they do some local town kids bug Gilly. They throw stuff at him and tie him to a tree. They ask him if he is a native, and he denies. They ask if he is a black, and he denies. They just make fun of him, until he gets rescued. Eventually we learn that Gilly is neither native, or black, or white, he is a halfbreed. This funny part in the novel gets the point across of what Gilly really is. Without this one part in the novel we would not know what Gilly is. We would probably just assume that he is white. Ken probably puts this in the novel because he had a troubled childhood and he just had to let off some steam. When he was a kid all the other kids probably bugged him. Maybe he was a halfbreed and the other kids bugged him about being native or black. Ken is just showing how mean kids can be, and he feels that kids should be nicer to each other. Then the world would be a much happier place. A second funny part in the story is when Gilly is getting tail and the cops come and knock on the door. Ken Mitchell does this because he is a pervert. You can tell that Ken is a big pervert because all throughout the story he has a bunch of sick parts like this. Ken probably did not have a wife or a girlfriend,.

Experimental Confirmation Concerning a Widespread Misconception

Title The Photoelectric Effect – Experimental confirmation concerning a widespread Misconception in the Theory Gao Shenghan 1, Huan Yan Qi 1, Wang Xuezhou 1, Darren Wong 2, Paul Lee 2 and Foong See Kit 2 1 Raffles Institution, One Raffles Institution Lane, Singapore 575954 2 Natural Sciences and Science Education, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637616 Abstract The photoelectric effect is a well-known and widely taught field in many schools and institutions, yet it has been shown through theoretical arguments that there is a common error in the theory in which this topic is learnt and taught.The common theory is that the energy of the incoming photons must be greater than the work function of the emitter, and also that the difference between the energy of the photon and the work function of the emitter must be greater than the voltage applied between the emitter and collector multiplied by the elementary charge. This paper provides experimental evidence for the correct interpretation of the photoelectric effect in order to correct the misconception.In this paper, it was experimentally determined that both the work functions of the emitter and the collector metals must be taken into account in order for a current to be detected, contrary to conventional theory. Introduction The photoelectric effect is the phenomenon in which electrons are liberated from matter as a result of electromagnetic radiation being shone onto it. Generally, the phenomenon is only investigated in metals as they require lower energy from the radiation. The photoelectric effect was first discovered by Heinrich Hertz in 1887 and was explained by Albert Einstein in 1905.Einstein’s model quantized light as photons, each with energy E=h? where h is the Planck’s constant and ? is the frequency. Einstein also introduced the work function ? of a material, defined as the minimum amount of energy needed in order to liberate an electro n from the material. Through this model, the characteristic photoelectric equation eVs=h? -? can be derived where Vs is the stopping voltage. Eisntein’s explanation and relations of the photoelectric effect, shown below, has been taught in many schools all around the world today and is widely known. Theory In this section we present the derivation of the photoelectric equation eVs=h? ?. From the definition of ? , it follows that once an electron has been liberated, it has a maximum possible kinetic energy of h? -?. This also implies that h? >? for a liberation of electron. When an external voltage V is applied across the metals, there is a potential difference between the plates and thus when the electron needs KE>eV in order to to reach the collector plate. Combining the two relations, we get h? -? >eV. In the equality case, we call the voltage Vs, which is the is the minimum amount of voltage needed to be applied such that no current is recorded. ‘Conventional’ understanding of the photoelectric effect: Alternative’ understanding of the photoelectric effect: The above section uses the work function ? e referred to that of the emitter material, even when the emitter and collector are made of different materials. However, this is incorrect, and the derivation is shown below: When an electron is just emitted from surface of the emitter, it has potential energy ? e above the ground energy state. Conversely, when an electron is just emitted from surface of the collector, it has potential energy ? c. Hence, if ? e c, we note that there will be a potential energy difference of ? c-? e, even if there is no external voltage applied.This is known as the contact potential. ?c ?e ?c-? e Potential Energy Emitter Collector Figure 1: Energy diagram without an external voltage ?c ?e ?c-? e Potential Energy Emitter Collector Figure 1: Energy diagram without an external voltage Once a potential difference of V is applied between the two plates, ther e is an additional potential energy difference of eV. Collector ?e Potential Energy Emitter ?c ?c-? e+eV eV Figure 2: Energy diagram with an external voltage applied Collector ?e Potential Energy Emitter ?c ?c-? e+eV eV Figure 2: Energy diagram with an external voltage appliedHence, in the process of calculation, the difference in potential energy of the two plates is not eV, but instead ? c-? e+eV. Thus, replacing this into the Einstein equation, we get eVs=h? -? c. Hypothesis The two requirements for a current to be detected in a photoelectric effect experiment are: 1. h? >? e 2. h? -? c>eV Instead of the commonly-quoted: 1. h? >? e 2. h? -? e>eV Objective To provide actual experimental confirmation of the proposed model, in addition to the currently-available purely theoretical arguments, in order to determine the correct explanation for the photoelectric effect Apparatus and methodologyOverview The experiment consists of a vacuum chamber with thin Zn and Ni plates placed close t ogether but not touching. UV light was shone onto one of the metal plates and the resulting voltage between the two plates was measured. The materials of the emitter and the collector were changed, as well as the potential difference applied across the two plates. I-V curves were plotted and the results analysed. Experimental setup A cylindrical vacuum chamber at was pressure 1. 5? 10-2 mbars was used. The emitter and collector plate were placed in the vacuum chamber and were held up using polycarbonate discs, rods and metal rods.The metal plates were placed with the surfaces parallel to each other at a fixed distance of 1. 0 cm apart. The surfaces of the plates were sandpapered after each trial. The overall setup of the circuit is shown in Figure 8. Crocodile clips were then used to connect the emitter and collector to the external circuit which can be seen in Figure 9. A window made of sapphire glass was constructed in order to let UV light enter the chamber (Figure 6). This was a ligned with the metal plates such that the emitter received as much light as possible.A UV light source was placed directly outside the sapphire window and shone UV light onto the emitter plate. The measurements from these two voltmeters will then be used to plot an I-V curve for each of the configurations: Zinc-Zinc, Nickel-Nickel, Zinc-Nickel, Nickel-Zinc. In each of the above cases, the emitter is named before the collector. Figure 3: Vacuum chamber 3 4 5 6 Figure 3: Vacuum chamber 3 4 5 6 Figure 6: Sapphire window used to let UV light into the chamber Figure 6: Sapphire window used to let UV light into the chamber Figure 7: UV Light used Figure 7: UV Light used Figure 4: Close-up of polycarbonate disc, rod and metal rodFigure 4: Close-up of polycarbonate disc, rod and metal rod Figure 5: Close-up of the two metal plates Figure 5: Close-up of the two metal plates Figure 8: Overall view of setup Figure 8: Overall view of setup Figure 9: Circuit used for measurement of voltage and current Figure 9: Circuit used for measurement of voltage and current Wangxuezhou Results & Discussion Zn-Zn measurements Figure 10: I-V Graph for the Zn-Zn setup The nonzero photocurrent as measured at 0 V of applied voltage shows that the photon of the UV light has sufficient energy to cause emission of electrons from the Zn plate.Therefore this implies h? >? Zn. In particular, we see that: h? -eVstopping? 6. 63? 10-341. 60? 10-193. 00? 108254? 10-9-1. 10 ? 3. 88eV Zn Ni-Ni measurements The results for this setup produced values of zero photocurrent for all possible applied voltages. This means that the UV photon has less energy than the work function of Ni, in other words, h?