Introduction:
Online dating is a new emerging concept of the 21st century, which is attracting a huge number of the young people of the modern generation. The online dating involves dating or mingling with people over the internet where the people introduces themselves to new people and develops personal connections over the websites (Smith and Duggan) . They connect with the people with the aim to develop different forms of romantic or sexual relationships. The concept of online dating is to spend time with the specific people of personal choice in the hopes of getting involved in committed relationships. However as per the views of the general public, that the online dating sites and the applications possess a threat to the privacy of the real identity, the essay negates this and establishes the fact that the benefits of online dating over rule the risks and is safe to use.
Body:
According to Potarca and Melinda, in the age of digitalisation, the online dating has grown and developed into the best option for the young bachelors to develop their relationships. It has a lot of benefits due to which it has turned to be less of a taboo and more of an acceptance. The dating applications and the websites allow the people to create a profile and browse through the profilesof the other gender. This process is quick and it is extremely easy to start and find a match. The profiles can also be linked with the other social networking sites such as Facebook and Instagram for better connection (Wilson, Proudfoot and Valacich). The profiles can even be polished and made attractive so that its easier to win the connections over. In accordance with this, Jung et.al., says that the dating sites are extremely affordable. Going on physical dates and meet-ups can be costly since it allows the people to pay over their restaurant bills. Moreover, there is no such guarantee that the young couples who meet on physical dates will click together. Thus spending the hard earned money on someone who is not special are not meaningful. According to the discussion by Gavin et.al., the dating websites on the other hand, offer membership that is free. These websites allow the eligible singles to give themselves a try, by joining the network free and get acquainted with other people. The variety of the people that one meets in these websites are quite large. It gives the options of millions of people out of which they have the opportunity to choose and select. On contrary to this, the clubs or the parties allow very few people with whom the singles can have a conversation with, or connect (Smith and Duggan). Moreover, it excludes the social problems, and the singles can judge whether the person they are talking to over the internet are actually dating or flirting, this option is not in the case of the social gatherings. This is supportive of the thesis statement, that states that the dating sites are actually private. As stated by McWilliams and Barrett, they allow the people to talk privately over the internet and they even do have the time to decide whether they are actually interested in one another or not. Online dating is also very feasible since it takes lesser time and saves time instead. Physical or social meetings require pre planning, of the venue, of the attire that must be attractive, along with the journey to the destination. Online dating applications on the other hand allows the singles to talk to their special ones in their house apparels, staying at home. It requires no extra efforts.
In accordance with the above benefits, the online dating sites also allows the singles the opportunities to be specific about their needs. They can put in their preferences with which they can choose their man or woman, based on their needs. The people can find a proper balance between what they need and what they demand. In this manner , there would be a common ground that could be established with a person. Since the online daters share their information, it is easier for them to break the ice over the internet, which is a bit difficult in the social meetings. The common preferences and the desires or hobbies allow them to begin the conversation without any difficulty (Smith and Duggan). Moreover the online dating process is much less stressful than the offline ones. In these websites the single bachelors are in total control over their matches, their conversations as well as their time,. It is very easy to handle the online websites as it caters to their needs and interests. it also has tools such as liking a profile or reacting to it. Also the online dating sites have a number of help pages, and customer service helpline that operates 24/7 (Wiederhold). It also has the facility of encryption technology that prevents the scammers from enrolling into the website. There are even buttons that have the ability to block the abusive members. The sites also check the background of the people who enrol into the websites, thus making the process safer than the random meetings at the bar or the restaurant with a stranger.
Apart from all the benefits that online dating sites have in itself, there are associated risks that prevent a lot of users to venture it out. Most people step backwards thinking that falling in love cannot be over the internet. Most importantly the major threat that the online dating websites have, is that of identity theft (Hallam et.al.). While speaking to strangers over the internet, people tend to share their personal information such as their phone numbers, addresses, or birthdates. This becomes easier for the other person to steal their identity and use it elsewhere. According to the statistics, there are cases where more than 25 percent of the rapist join the online dating sites just to find their victims (Whitty). Most often the online dating sites are used by the scammers and the sec offenders. This makes the online websites less trustworthy. Whitty also discusses that anyone and everyone can join the free online dating websites. There are people who join the dating sites and create fake profiles just to enjoy. This brings us to the ethical issue of the dating websites. Statistics have showed that there are almost 16 thousand cases of murders and thousands of incidents of rapes that have been initiated by the free dating websites (Cali, Coleman and Campbell). Most of the fake profilers intend to have sex on their first date that they meet online and it can be risky (Wada Clarke and Rozanova). There are often cases where the online dating sites are being used by the people who are already married or are in serious commitments. Thus the utility of the dating websites lose its gravity since they are often been used just to have fun. The singles often tend to engage themselves emotionally with the people with whom they begin to talk and the future rejection begins to take a toll on their mental health and emotional trust (Cali, Coleman and Campbell). Most often the people tend to lie about their personality and portray a different person who is exactly opposite to him or her thus playing with other people’s minds and heart. There can be cases where the singles have found their Mr. Perfect over the online websites but it is wrong if they go by the experience of the others. The most prominent victims of the online dating apps are children and the teenagers. They often tend to involve themselves into activities such as talking to people in the chat rooms, which has an impending risk over them since they do not the difference between the good and the bad and easily fall into such traps. Apart from all these there are health risks associated with the online dating sites, such as sexually transmitted diseases, which are incurable and are fatal. With multiple dating and intimacy, there can be possible health problems which do not have proper treatment (Roth and Gills).
Conclusion:
Thus from the above discussion it can be concluded that the online dating sites have risks indeed but the benefits over rule the dangers on the dating over the internet. In spite of the stories of privacy issues in the online dating websites, it keeps the users safe because it has a number of security measures. They have the facility to block the members who behave unruly and even have the customer help service available. Thus it is one of the safest medium for the young singles to venture out their relationships and to get involved into special acquaintance. Online dating sites are fun to use, as well as the relationships and the marriages do work out, since it helps the people to select their match and their better half with the individual preferences and choices.
Works Cited:
Cali, Billie E., Jill M. Coleman, and Catherine Campbell. “Stranger danger? Women’s self-protection intent and the continuing stigma of online dating.” Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 16.12 (2013): 853-857.
Gavin, Jeff et al. “The Attractiveness, Trustworthiness And Desirability Of Autistic Males’ Online Dating Profiles”. Computers In Human Behavior, vol 98, 2019, pp. 189-195. Elsevier BV, doi:10.1016/j.chb.2019.04.016. Accessed 1 Dec 2019.
Hallam, Lara et al. “Taking It To The Next Level: The Negligible Role Of Trust When Online Dating Goes Offline”. Computers In Human Behavior, vol 90, 2019, pp. 259-264. Elsevier BV, doi:10.1016/j.chb.2018.09.011. Accessed 1 Dec 2019.
Jung, JaeHwun et al. “Love Unshackled: Identifying The Effect Of Mobile App Adoption In Online Dating”. MIS Quarterly, vol 43, no. 1, 2019, pp. 47-72. MIS Quarterly, doi:10.25300/misq/2019/14289. Accessed 1 Dec 2019.
McWilliams, Summer, and Anne E. Barrett. “Online dating in middle and later life: Gendered expectations and experiences.” Journal of Family Issues 35.3 (2014): 411-436.
Potârcă, Gina, and Melinda Mills. “Racial preferences in online dating across European countries.” European Sociological Review 31.3 (2015): 326-341.
Roth, Matthew E., and Jennifer M. Gillis. ““Convenience with the click of a mouse”: A survey of adults with autism spectrum disorder on online dating.” Sexuality and Disability 33.1 (2015): 133-150.
Smith, Aaron Whitman, and Maeve Duggan. Online dating & relationship. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center, 2013.
Wada, Mineko, Laura Hurd Clarke, and Julia Rozanova. “Constructions of sexuality in later life: Analyses of Canadian magazine and newspaper portrayals of online dating.” Journal of Aging Studies 32 (2015): 40-49.
Whitty, Monica T. “The scammers persuasive techniques model: Development of a stage model to explain the online dating romance scam.” British Journal of Criminology 53.4 (2013): 665-684.
Wiederhold, Brenda K. “Twenty years of online dating: Current psychology and future prospects.” (2015): 695-696.
Wilson, Dave, Jeffrey Proudfoot, and Joseph Valacich. “Saving face on Facebook: privacy concerns, social benefits, and impression management.” (2014).
business Management
Introduction
The strategic analysis of a company helps in evaluation of their strategy and enables them to change and modify strategy to compete effectively with competitors. Strategic tools such as VRIO analysis and value chain analysis helps in identifying source of competitive advantage and enables a company to sustain its competitive advantage. The current report helps in strategic analysis of Carlsberg in comparison with their nearest competitor Heineken.
Discussion
Background of the company
Carlsberg is a manufacturer and marketer of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage with its headquarter in Copenhagen, Denmark. As stated by Netwise Data (2016) it was established by Jacob Christian Jacobsen on November 10, 1847 and export of Carlsberg’s beer products began in 1868 and their foreign brewing began in 1968 with establishment of brewery at Blantyre, Malawi. The key competitors of Carlsberg are Heineken, Anheuser-Busch InBev and ABI Sab group Holding Limited. Carlsberg is one of the leading international brewery groups in the world currently with a wide portfolio of beer and other beverages brand. Earlier Carlsberg was considered as a big beer brand with small corporate footprints but became fourth largest beer company in world within past two decades with acquisition of various smaller brands. As opned by GlobalData plc. (2018) the main markets of Carlsberg are Eastern and Western Europe, China, India and Russia owing to high demand for beer in these markets. The global beer market is valued at around 510 Million EURO with a volume of 180 billion litres of beer.
Strategic Capability
The value chain analysis of Carlsberg :
Source: strategicmanagementinsight.com (2019)
Primary Activities
Inbound logistics- Carlsberg has breweries located all over the world which enables them to minimize shipping costs of their raw materials. They store raw material sourced from various parts of the world in their breweries which are located in various strategic locations to minimize shipping costs.
Operations- The operations of Carlsberg comprise of various reputed breweries all over the world to increase their offerings so as to cater to local needs of customers located in various parts. The operations of the company include sourcing high quality materials such as malts and other ingredients and brewing the beer based on the taste requirements of the customers.
Outbound logistics- The breweries of Carlsberg are located in various strategic locations of the world which enables them to ship finished product to various parts with reduced shipping costs.
Marketing and sales- The marketing and sales activity has enabled Carlsberg to become one of the most popular and reputed beer companies in the world. The efforts and initiatives undertaken by them for marketing and sales has enabled to create a brand name amongst customers.
Services- Carlsberg offers top quality services to customers to ensure that they have the finest drinking experience with their beer products. The services offered also help in development of brand loyalty among customers. The services which was initially offered by Carlsberg was accounting services but later the company increased its service portfolio such as IT. Master Data, Procurement, Internal controls, HR services, Logistics, Planning, Sales Support and Controlling. The services which are offered by Carlsberg helps in creating a difference between both the company as Carlsberg by virtue of its increased services have been able to outperform Heineken who provide limited services.
Secondary activities
General administration- The general administration ability has helped Carlsberg overcome issues which were initially faced in China and Russia and helped them become profitable. By virtue of their general administration, Carlsberg was able to take control on the Chinese markets where initially they suffered heavy losses. In order to take control of the Chinese market, the company acquired breweries in China which helped in enhancing their market share. In context of Russia also it can be stated that their general administration has helped in the adoption of issue which helped to sustain high competition level and establish strong market.
Human Resource Management- The approach regarding Human Resource Management has enabled Carlsberg remain profitable and productive in market for years. Their human resources are highly skilled and productive which ensures that they can perform their tasks with very limited supervision and also ensures that they remain productive and efficient. The company focuses on continuously providing training to their staffs in order to ensure that they remain updated regarding use latest brewing technologies for making beers.
Technology Development- Carlsberg makes use of advanced technology to increase quality and standards of their products and use latest technological development in packaging to ensure that their products are delivered in an efficient way to customers. Technological advancements also helps them in marketing and promotion of the products.
The value chain analysis of Heineken is as follows:
Primary Activities
Inbound logistics- The breweries of Heineken are dispersed globally, therefore the raw materials can be stored in any plants to minimize transportation costs. Their raw materials are stored in warehouses which are spread throughout the world to reduce transportation costs.
Operations- As stated by Dow Jones Institutional News (2018) the operations of Heineken were limited to acquiring small breweries until 2003. Later they acquired BRAG for $2.1 billion which helped in becoming largest beer maker across seven nations within Eastern Europe.
Outbound logistics- The brewers of the company located all over the world, therefore they can ship finished product for adjacent areas to reduce transportation costs.
Marketing and sales- As opined by Millington (2015) Heineken is ranked as the 5th most reputed brand of beer in the world and they have acquired various smaller breweries around the world to spread their label in an enhanced manner.
Services- Heineken has recently stepped into non-alcoholic malt and fruit flavoured drinks as an avenue to tap other customer segments. The services which are offered by the company are purchasing services, business process services and technology services.
Secondary activities
General administration- Heineken was considered as the leading premium beer brand for many years and was the most popular brand in US before the arrival of Corona. As stated by Nathai-Balkissoon, Maharaj, Guerrero, Mahabir and Dialsingh (2017) due to increasing popularity of Corona, Heineken focussed on development and promotion of other brands which would help them reduce excessive reliance on the core brand. The introduction of Amstel light was considered as a right step in direction of establishing small brands as Amstel Light transformed into the most imported light beer brand in the US.
Human Resource Management- Heineken created various positions for management which were responsible for overseeing their five separate operating regions and nine distinct functional areas. Their new structure helped in encouraging risk taking and boosted energy level of their employees.
Technology Development- Heineken makes effective use of technology for storing detailed documents regarding hipping, for quality of products and to improve their shipping process of products.
Core Competencies
As opined by Knott (2015) the core competencies of Carlsberg includes mergers and acquisitions made globally, wide product portfolio through which it satisfies taste requirements of their customers and research and development capability. The main advantage which Carlsberg has over Heineken is regarding the reach of the company in developing markets. In context of developing markets such as India and China it is observed that Carlsberg has been more successful than Heineken in satisfying the taste requirements of its customers. The other advantage which Carlsberg holds over Heineken is the merger and acquisition strategy of the company by virtue of which it has acquired multiple breweries globally in prospective locations.
The VRIO analysis of Carlsberg is as follows:
| Capability | Valuable | Rare | Inimitable | Organized | Type of competitive advantage |
| Merger and Acquisition | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | SCA |
| Manufacturing capability | Yes | Yes | No | No | TCA |
| Innovation capability | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | SCA |
The core competency of Heineken includes wide product portfolio through which it satisfies taste preferences of customers, marketing and sales initiatives adopted and high level of operational efficiency.
The VRIO analysis of Heineken is as follows:
| Capability | Valuable | Rare | Inimitable | Organized | Type of competitive advantage |
| Merger and Acquisition | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | TCA |
| Manufacturing Capability | Yes | Yes | Yes | YES | SCA |
| Innovation capability | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | SCA |
Innovation
As opined by Miglietta, Battisti and Campanella (2017) the recent innovation approaches of Carlsberg comprises of launching ‘World of Beer’ initiative due to rising interest of customers in beers from other countries. One of the brand that was introduced as a part of this initiative was Saku Dublin, which is a mild beer with a low level of alcohol and with a creamy foam head and sweet taste of dark lager brewed by the Estonian brewery of Carlsberg. As stated by Steinglass (2013) The other innovative approach adopted was launch of revolutionary Snap Pack packaging which has helped in achieving their target of CSR. The innovation approaches and actions which were undertaken were product innovation, introduction of new mild beer which pulled market and introduction of Snap Pack packaging which was technology push in nature.
As stated by Morton (2016) the recent innovation approach of Heineken is the launch of Radler which is a mixture of high quality beer and lemonade which has been designed due to increasing tendency of customers towards seeking more natural products. As stated by Bresciani (2017) another recent innovation was launch of SUB which was developed in partnership with Marc Newson and engineered by Krups and it helped to deliver professional quality draught beer at home which resembled a futuristic submarine and could chill up to 2 degree Celsius. The innovation approaches and actions which are undertaken are product innovation and the innovations that are market-pull in nature.
Analysis of Carlsberg:
Brand Investment- Carlsberg has made large number of investments in their brand to change perception of customers regarding their products. They previously used to focus on brewing quantity but as a result of incorrect perceptions of customers regarding their products, Carlsberg invested heavily on its brand and increasingly focused on brewing quality instead of brewing quantity.
In case of Heineken also, they have made significant brand investment to increase their brand image which resulted in increasing brand value year after year. Their brand strength lies in commitment, consistency and presence. The brand value of Heineken as of 2018 is approximately $5500 million.
Ability to innovate- Carlsberg largely relies on its innovation capability to satisfy taste requirements of customers and to maintain its profitability in market. They rely on advanced research and development competency to remain innovative. Innovation is at the core of Carlsberg and they have high ability of innovation in developing new product which satisfies taste requirements of customers or through incorporation of innovative technologies in manufacturing and packaging of their products.
Heineken also largely relies on innovation capability to stay competitive in market. Innovation is at the heart of their business and they believe that innovation can not only come from within but also from external sources such as customers, suppliers, partners etc. They have introduced large number of innovative products in market which satisfies preferences of customers by virtue of high quality of research and development capability.
Manufacturing capability- Carlsberg has high manufacturing capability owing to number of breweries which are owned around the world. Their merger and acquisition policy has also helped in increasing manufacturing capability.
The manufacturing capability of Heineken is also high as a result of presence of large number of breweries all over the world. In order to optimize their production capacity, they have partnered with Infor to implement standardisation program across their brewery network.
Corporate Governance
Corporate Governance comprises of system of rules, practices and processes which helps in directing and controlling a company. It is also defined as the collection of mechanism, processes and relations by which companies are controlled and operated.
As stated by Singh, Aggarwal and Anand (2017) good corporate governance is considered very essential for an organization as it is core of successful businesses. It is vital for a business to accomplish goals and drive improvement in addition to maintaining legal and ethical image in front of shareholders, regulators and wider community.
The information regarding corporate governance of Carlsberg can be found in the official website of the company in the “Who We Are” section.
The Corporate Framework of Carlsberg seeks to ensure active management of business throughout the Group and lower risks associated. They aim to develop and maintain a relationship which is positive and constructive with all their stakeholders. The foundation of their Corporate Governance comprises in particular the Danish Companies Act, the Danish Financial Statements Act, IFRS, the EU Market Abuse Regulation, Nasdaq Copenhagen A/S’ rules for issuer of shares, local legislation and the Company’s Articles of Association.
The Committee of Corporate Governance recommends that the Board of Directors of Carlsberg should focus on ensuring continuous communication between them and shareholders so that they can gain relevant rights and the Board of Directors become aware of their views, interests and opinions. The Committee of Corporate Governance also recommends that Carlsberg must publish quarterly reports to let shareholders know about their interim accouchements (Hatch, Schultz & Skov 2015).
CSR or Ethics
The Corporate Social Responsibility of Carlsberg comprises of an ambitious sustainability program named Together Towards Zero. As stated by Mialon and McCambridge (2018) this sustainability program expresses their vision for a enhanced future at a time where the world is experiencing vital challenges in form of change in climate, scarcity regarding water and health concerns of public. The sustainability program of Carlsberg comprises of four targets namely, ZERO carbon footprint, ZERO water waste, ZERO irresponsible drinking and a ZERO accidents culture. The ambitions of Carlsberg regarding sustainability are underpinned by individual and measurable targets which builds up to 2022 and 2030 (Verde 2015).
The actions undertaken by Carlsberg for sustainability program comprises of:
Snap Pack- The Snap Pack is an innovation of Carlsberg which helped in reducing use of plastics. Carlsberg constantly attempts to make everything about their beers even better and one such result is the Snap Pack packaging which is considered as unique in the world in beer packaging. This innovation was developed in 3 years by Carlsberg in collaboration with their partners (Niero, Hauschild, Hoffmeyer and Olsen 2017).
Major efficiency gains in China- Since 2015, the efficiency of Carlsberg in thermal energy improved by more than 29%, efficiency for electricity improved almost by 11%, which resulted in a strong 37% lowering of relative carbon emissions. The Together With Zero initiative resulted in reduction of relative water consumption by 15%.
Preventing sales of beers to underage in Ukraine- The beers products of Carlsberg are only made for consumption above legal drinking age, therefore they have been working hard to prevent sales to younger people (Brusendorff 2014).
Innovative Partnerships
Carlsberg deeply believes in usefulness of innovative partnerships for delivering change and in the future, collaboration can be considered as vital than ever, as they seek to design and implement new solutions together with their partners. As stated by Broto (2016) Carlsberg has intentionally set challenging targets to increase rate of innovation and for encouraging creativity along their value chain. By means of collaborative action, Carlsberg hopes to develop a virtuous circle of improvements within the business, suppliers and business partners as they believe that together they can make it happen.
The initiatives of Carlsberg regarding zero carbon footprint comprises of:
- Increase of renewable energy share substantially in global energy scenario by 2030.
- Doubling the global improvement rate of efficiency regarding energy by 2030.
- Strengthening the resilience and adaptive capacity in context of hazards regarding climate change and natural hazards.
- Improving education, developing awareness and capacity regarding mitigation to climate change, adaptation, reduction of impact and early warning
The initiatives of Carlsberg regarding zero water waste comprises of:
- Increasing water-use efficiency in a substantial manner and ensuring sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to combat water scarcity by 2030.
- Implementing integrated water resource management at all levels by 2030.
The initiatives of Carlsberg regarding zero water irresponsible drinking comprises of:
- Enhancing prevention and treatment of abuse of substances which also includes harmful use of alcohol.
- Halving global deaths and accidents from road traffic accidents by 2020.
The initiatives of Carlsberg regarding zero accidents culture comprises of:
- Protecting the rights of labour and promoting safe and secure working environments for all their employees.
Recommendation
The main recommendation for Carlsberg to improve their position in market is designing future products based on health concerns and requirements of their customers. The other recommendation is to increase their product lines in emerging economies such as India and China to tap growth and development opportunities which are offered by these markets.
Conclusion
From the above strategic analysis it can be stated that the source of competitive advantage of Carlsberg lies in their research and development which enables them to develop innovative products based on requirements of customers. It can also be concluded that to enhance their competitive advantage over Heineken, Carlsberg needs to increase their operational efficiency and focus on growth and development in emerging economies.
From the above strategic comparison of Carlsberg and Heineken, it can be observed that the advantage which Carlsberg holds over Heineken is regarding merger and acquisition. Carlsberg has successfully acquired many breweries around the world in various strategic locations which ensures that it has close proximity to various key markets of the company.
References
Bresciani, S. (2017). Open, networked and dynamic innovation in the food and beverage industry. British Food Journal, 119(11), 2290-2293. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-08-2017-0458
Broto, R. B. (2016). Role of green policy on sustainable supply chain management. Benchmarking, 23(2), 456-468. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/BIJ-08-2013-0077
Brusendorff, A. S. (2014). Corporate Social Responsibility: A Case Study on Carlsberg. Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects. 445.
https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/stu_hon_theses/445
Carlsberg. (2016). (). Boca Raton: Netwise Data. Retrieved from Business Premium Collection Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/2012853221?accountid=30552
Dow Jones Institutional News (2018). Heineken selling Chinese operations to CR beer. Dow Jones Institutional News Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/2081970533?accountid=30552
GlobalData plc. (2018). Carlsberg AS (CARL B) – financial and strategic SWOT analysis review. Business Premium Collection Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/2214793052?accountid=30552
Hatch, M. J., Schultz, M., and Skov, A. M. (2015). Organizational identity and culture in the context of managed change: Transformation in the Carlsberg Group, 2009–2013. Academy of Management Discoveries, 1(1), 58-90. https://doi.org/10.5465/amd.2013.0020
Knott, P. J. (2015). Does VRIO help managers evaluate a firm’s resources? Management Decision, 53(8), 1806-1822. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1718406394?accountid=30552
Mialon, M., and McCambridge, J. (2018). Alcohol industry corporate social responsibility initiatives and harmful drinking: A systematic review. European Journal of Public Health, 28(4), 664-673. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/cky065
Miglietta, N., Battisti, E., and Campanella, F. (2017). Value maximization and open innovation in food and beverage industry: Evidence from US market. British Food Journal, 119(11), 2477-2492. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-04-2017-0213
Millington, A. (2015). Heineken to combine marketing and sales roles in organisational shakeup. Marketing Week (Online), Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1667770238?accountid=30552
Morton, A. (2016). Heineken innovation takes draught beer in-flight. Just – Drinks Global News Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1810368503?accountid=30552
Nathai-Balkissoon, M., Maharaj, C., Guerrero, R., Mahabir, R., and Dialsingh, I. (2017). Pilot development of innovation scales for beverage manufacturing companies in a developing country. Cogent Business & Management, 4(1) doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2017.1379214
Niero, M., Hauschild, M. Z., Hoffmeyer, S. B., and Olsen, S. I. (2017). Combining eco‐efficiency and eco‐effectiveness for continuous loop beverage packaging systems: Lessons from the Carlsberg circular community. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 21(3), 742-753. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12554
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US health department
Task 1: Background Information
SAS visual analytics help in health data analysis which is very essential for every organization that focuses on health issues with a specific focus. These analytic data visualizations to the health sector play an important role in order enhance general productivity of the organization. As a result, increases efficiency and effectivity of the organization. The advantage of the SAS analytic data visualizations is that it produces valuable and deep health insights that boosted the organization’s reputation. Moreover, other organizations or business firms dealing with matters of healthcare by use of the SAS analytic data visualizations in one way or the other remain competitive and this enhances its overall performance.
For the purposes of accomplishing the task, the “READMIT-HISTORICAL” dataset from teradatauniversitynetwork.com has been considered. Recently, the SAS visualization analytics has gained preferences in many organizations including health departments due to its ability to display data visualization that makes decision-making process easy. Furthermore, these analytics show the trend and discover hidden patterns within a dataset. In US, it is important to analyze health data in general because of its expensive in nature. Again, the development and updating of health strategic plans addressing health issues depend on the timely analysis and availability of data.
For to note, Big Data analysis while utilizing huge data of numerous hospitals, (June 2011 – July 2012) is one of the tools that helps in evaluating quality of service provided to the population by any the health industry. Additionally, visualization of health conditions via SAS Visual Analytics helps to predict the future of U.S Health Services. Findings from these analytical work from SAS help the US health departments to make effective decisions given the fact that they are dealing with the lives of people. Hence, this information will also help to ensure that general health operations are continuously improved.
There are several benefits of using SAS data visualization such as having a glance to detect any changes within the healthcare provision by just interrogating results. However, these results must be availed within a specific timeline, (Yang, Li, & Zhang, 2018). Just to mention, dashboards have been developed as one of the data visualizations measures that can be manipulated to uncover other findings especially hidden factors affecting the general performance of health organizations. Through these dashboards, the management team of health departments can come up with specific recommendations to improve general health services being offered to the public. Generally, data visualizations have been viewed to be better than static charts given their ability to demonstrate additional interactions, unlike static charts that do not have real-time interactions of the dashboards. In most cases, statisticians and those who do not have any analytical backgrounds have continued to like data visualizations due to its interactive measures that change the general perception of many analytics, (Hepworth, & C Canon, 2018).
Task 4: Justification
For effective data visualizations to be used, majority of the statisticians have preferred data visualization charts and maps that can easily be understood by anyone dealing with the lives of people like US health departments. These make the interpretations of the findings easy and quick thus the development of recommendations for better healthcare improvement possible.
On this note, some of the data visualizations used include; a horizontal graph, line graphs, frequency polygons, and a bar graph. These graphs play an important role since the graphs can easily categorize different variables to indicate the general distribution of frequencies of the results. These frequencies distribution can either be numbers or percentages or both but can easily be understood by the management.
Moreover, the horizontal graphs could ensure that the numerical numbers of different categories are shown within the bars. These graphs are also relevant since it gives summaries that can be easily interpreted by just having a visual form of the dataset without requiring the viewers to have statistical backgrounds to understand the results being displayed, (Dobbs, 2018).
While comparing the results of the horizontal graphs, line graphs, frequency polygons, and a bar graph to the results normally indicated in the tabular format, these graphics normally give better data visualization hence it is easy to give estimations of very essential values at a glance. In addition, the graphs can be modified depending on the analyst property preference by highlighting different numbers that probably requires attention. Furthermore, labeling and drawing of the bars can be done using different colors which can easily be seen at a glance without struggling to understand the presentations.
Additionally, the accuracy level of a horizontal graph, line graphs, frequency polygons, and a bar graph are at par. This is because it is easy to check by visualizing the results of the calculations are right or not now that results are not crowded as in the table formatting so any form or errors can easily be detected even by the people who are not professionals in SAS data analytics. Moreover, the horizontal graphs and bar charts can easily be arranged in ascending or descending order hence leading proportional results of the variable of interests within the bars can be seen at a glance and this enhances levels of accuracy now wrong findings while searching through the bars are likely not to be presented.
Finally, these horizontal graphs, line graphs, frequency polygons, and a bar graph have been used in several organizations especially those that are dealing with big datasets like in the case of business intelligence, computational statistics, and machine learning to display various findings by use of summaries in dashboards which can be easily interpreted by the management levels without necessarily making the management to acquire specific or statistical knowledge to understand and interpret the results. As a result, has made the processes of developing effective recommendations that improve general healthcare possible.
Task 5: Discussions
The results show that COPD is the diagnosis group which is the least popular disease whereas Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is the most popular disease. Therefore, majority of the US populations suffer from Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) than any other condition. As a result, there is need to train more medical specialists in Congestive Heart Failure (CHF).
From the findings, it is clear that the Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) and COPD have the HIGHEST ICU DAYS for male’s region 11 while Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is HIGHLY DIAGNOSED in region 10 and 11. This implies that the are some kind of geographical settings in region 10 and 11 that may be exposing the populations to Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) and Congestive Heart Failure (CHF).
Furthermore, health education and promotion programs should be periodically done to target more males than females since they have Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) and COPD conditions in higher proportions than their female counterparts.
Other conditions diagnosed to be affecting the citizens of the US are the Pneumonia Organism Unspecified and Chronic Bronchitis. On this note, there is need to sensitize the populations against these conditions and raise awareness on the best prevention strategies.
Given the fact that the Heart department has the highest number of patients show that the government needs to employ more heart specialists in these departments now that they tend to see many patients compared to other departments.
Furthermore, the highest admission of patient’s number is in March 2012 while October – January 2012 recorded low admission means that there are some hidden factors that lead to these high number of admission cases in these months.
Again, now that the highest Patient numbers come from the DELRAY BEACH compared to other cities need specialize attention so that the population can be sensitized on best prevention and management strategies to address various causes of admission in the hospital.
From the map, it seems that data collection has been based in only 10 states: Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Virginia, Illinois, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee. This means that the findings cannot be generalized into other settings of US due to smaller sampled sizes depicted.
Task 6: Executive summary
Visualization of huge datasets using SAS Visual Analytics can be used by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to control hazards via predictive forecasting and helps in generating real-time responses for immediate action. Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) HIGHLY DIAGNOSED in regions 10 and 11. The least popular disease is COPD while the Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is the most popular disease. Heart Failure; 85, 138 cases are the most popular diseases while disorders of disease electrolyte; 94 remains the least popular disease. In addition, Pneumonia Organism Unspecified; 31, 245 is the most popular disease under Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) while Bronchopneumonia; 94 is the least popular disease. In COPD, Chronic Bronchitis; 75, 538 has been identified as the most popular disease whereas Others; 48 is seen to be the least popular disease. The highest admission of patient’s number is in March 2012 while October – January 2012 recorded low admission. Highest Patient numbers: DELRAY BEACH compared to other cities. Data collection has been based in 10 states: Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Virginia, Illinois, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee. The highest count of patient numbers by hospital is from Florida. The lowest count is from Tennessee.
Include training of Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) in most learning institutions so that more doctors can be trained to tackle the disease due to its popularity. Train more doctors to specialize in Pneumonia Organism Unspecified and Chronic Bronchitis since they are some of the most popular diseases affecting the US general population. Increase the number of staff being deployed in the city of Delray Beach.
Conclusion
Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) and Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) were highly diagnosed in regions 10 and 11. Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is the most popular disease. In addition, Heart Failure has been identified as the most popular diseases while disorders of disease electrolytes have been identified as the least popular disease. In addition, Pneumonia Organism Unspecified is the most popular disease under Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) while Bronchopneumonia is the least popular disease. Furthermore, Pneumonia Organism Unspecified and Chronic Bronchitis are the most popular diseases affecting the US general populations. The highest admission of patient’s number is in March 2012 while October – January 2012 recorded low admission. DELRAY BEACH had highest Patient numbers compared to other cities. Data collection has been based in 10 states: Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Virginia, Illinois, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee. The highest count of patient numbers by the hospital is from Florida while the lowest count is from Tennessee.
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Maths
Question 1
a)
Let as consider the
The homogenous markov chain on the state space is S= {-1, 0, 1}
=
=
A zero element in the transition matrix indicate that the transition is not possible.
To calculating the probability transition matrix is,
E ()=b and E()=b
E ()=0.5, E()=0.5
b)
P( P(= P(
=
=
E(x1)=0 and E(x2)=0.25
Question 2
S = {0, 1, 2}
==
The stationary distribution is (,)
P=
The stationary distribution (,) is given by the solution of equation is,
(0.33)
(0.25)
(0.5)
0.3
(0.25)
(0.5)
Also is equal to 1
0.3
0.3
0.3=0.168
=1.234
=3.456
Question 3
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Question 4
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Question 5
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Question 6
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Reference
Assessment 3- Case Study
Introduction
The patient, 20 year old female, was brought to the emergency department with a history of severe right lower quadrant abdomen pain, lack of appetite, nausea and fever for the last 2-3 days. The physical examination and ultrasound of the abdomen confirmed perforated appendix. 36 hours post emergency laparoscopic surgery, her observations identified low blood pressure 94/45 mmHg, faster and shallow respiratory rate of 24/min, bloating and abdominal pain of 7/10 scale with rigid distended abdomen. Her symptoms identified Peritonitis.
Person’s Situation
The patient had a medical history of depression and asthma. Her current medications include Salbutamol, Seretide and Sertraline. Post operative, the patient reported increased centralized abdominal pain that get worsen with respiration and movement, and is at the intensity of 7/10. The physical examination identified distended rigid abdomen with no bowel sounds and generalized abdominal guarding. The bowel sounds disappear with the progression of inflammation in abdomen. The patient is still under a medical emergency due to swelling in peritoneum and severe abdominal pain. The patient is acutely distressed and lies in his bed with shallow breathings and minimal movement to relieve the abdominal pain.
Collection, Processing and presentation of Related Health Problem
Data related to patient’s medical history was collected from patient’s past medical records. The patient has a history of asthma which had become severe after the surgery. The pain was self reported by the patient. The physical examinations confirmed the distended rigid abdomen post operative. The assessment of tenderness and tension in abdomen, blood tests, imaging techniques like X Rays and Ultrasound are effective assessment tools to collect the data about the patient.
The patient identified with generalized tensing of abdominal wall muscles guarding the inflamed organs. It occurs due to pressure of pain over the abdominal muscles. The primary peritonitis mostly occurs due to rupture and perforations in appendix. Peritonitis generally occurs due to bacterial infection or sepsis. There is possibility that the disease can spread to the organs underlying abdominal peritoneum and blood resulting into multiple organ failure, if left untreated.
For further investigations, the patient was subjected to FBC, blood cultures, electrolytes and abdominal X Ray. Pathology results identified increased WBC count (leukocytosis) which is in response to the infection. Abdominal X Ray identified gaseous and oedematous distention of small and large bowels.
Three Nursing Issues
The three main priorities of the patient are: 1. Sepsis; 2. High Pain and 3.Low Blood Pressure
The patient is identified with increased WBC count and it shows inflammation and infection which occurred after the laparoscopic surgery. The post operative high WBC count may also be associated with extraperitoneal infection of exit site, catheter leakage and abdominal pain (Tantiyavarong, Traitanon, Chuengsaman, Patumanond & Tasanarong, 2016).
The patient reported high level of centralized abdominal post operative pain due to peritonitis and surgery. The pain gets worsen with movement and respiration. She is already a patient of asthma. Her diaphragm movement during the respiration is likely to touch the rest of the internal organs and peritoneal lining of the abdomen having inflammation. She requires immediate nursing care to relieve her pain.
The patient reported low blood pressure (94/45 mmHg) post surgery. It may be due to dilated systemic arteries and vaso-constricted renal arteries in the patient’s body (Kaowdley, 2015). It causes retention of fluids in the abdomen and increased infection.
Goals
The post operative care of this patient was aimed to identify and manage the issues experienced by the patient after surgery to improve the recovery. After the laparoscopic surgery, there are always high likelihood of complications hence it is urgent and necessary perform patient assessments.
The goals of nursing care for this patient involves identifying the post operative symptoms immediately after the surgery, preventing the sepsis after surgery, pain management and controlling the other underlying symptoms like low BP and respiratory problems.
The early control of the source of infection is essential to eliminate the bacteria form the abdominal cavity (Lee, Kang, Noh & Park, 2016). The process involved following the post operative instructions provided by the surgeons for recovery and antibiotics administration.
Nursing Care
SEPSIS
The first intervention focused on Sepsis. The antibiotics like Cefotetan, Cefoxitin, and Cefmetazole were given regularly for 5-7 days through IV route. The antibiotics were continued until the patient reduced her WBC count and temperature. The persistent symptoms of leukocytosis was identified as a prompt for searching drainable infection source in the abdomen. The nursing care involved controlling the source of infection, a short course of antibiotics and lavage. The individual risk factors were identified and frequent assessment of vital signs was done for monitoring hypotension and respiratory rate. The urine output was monitored for oliguria symptoms due to antibiotics administration and circulating toxins. Strict sterile technique was maintained while catheterizing the patient, providing catheter care and performing perineal cleansing regularly. It was aimed to prevent the growth of bacteria in urinary tract.
The patient was kept isolated by restricting the visitors for mitigating the potential risk of secondary infection. The patient was assisted with peritoneal aspiration to remove fluids and identify the causal microbe responsible for infection. Appropriate antibiotic therapy was selected on the basis of identified microbe. Lavage was used to eliminate the necrotic debris and control poorly localized inflammation (Vera, 2014).
PAIN MANAGEMENT
The patient had high pain of the scale 7/10 which need to be controlled immediately. The patient was kept at semi flowler’s position to minimize movement as much as possible. It facilitates fluid drainage through gravity, lowers down the abdominal tension, irritation of diaphragm and reduces pain. The pain was also due to post operative psychological symptoms. Moreover, the patient has a history of depression, so appropriate interventions are required for addressing the depression and post operative stress management. The recovery may be enhanced at a faster rate to minimize the painful episodes. A combination of stress reduction and analgesic drugs is effective to manage the high intensity pain (Daley, 2019). The patient was also provided regular oral care to reduce the nausea which may elevate the intra abdominal pressure and pain. The combination of opioids and Non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) was given through IV route. The patient was asked to splint the abdominal area with pillow while coughing or deep breathing to lower down the movement. It reduces the guarding and muscle tension. The process aimed to lowered own the pain from 7/10 to 1/10 measure which was the right level for normal condition.
LOW BLOOD PRESSURE
The patient was advised to practice relaxation techniques to reduce BP and stress.
The nursing care focused on BP monitoring, Intake- Output monitoring, IV fluids and the monitoring of drainage. The patient was monitored for dilation of arteries along with vasoconstriction of veins. The measurement of electrolyte imbalance, protein and albumin concentration was done to assess hypoxemia, circulating toxins and necrotic tissues. Administration of plasma and blood is effective to replenish the circulating electrolyte balance and the volume (Tantiyavarong et al., 2016). The colloids like blood and plasma takes the water into the intravascular compartments by elevating the osmotic pressure gradient. Diuretics were administered to facilitate excretion of toxins and improve the renal function. The nasogastric or intestinal aspiration was given to improve the bowel movement.
Evaluation
The patient depicted abdominal distention due to delay in gastrointestinal mobility after surgery. The sympathetic pathways to gastrointestinal tract gone disrupted and contributed to inflammation in addition to sepsis.
Though the medical examinations after the surgery have provided details about the symptoms of the patient, it is necessary to consider the patient medical history during the post operative care. While providing the antibiotic and pain controlling medicines, it is necessary to consider their association and drug interaction with the salbutamol and seretide medicines which are already taken by the patient on daily basis. BP can be controlled by improving the cardiac output and reducing the inflammation in the abdominal area (Holzheimer, 2011).
The pain was managed through pharmacological and non pharmacological interventions which involved a combination of opioids and NSAID drugs. The infection was controlled through antibiotic therapy administered through the IV route. The interventions aimed to improve the fluid balance which was evidenced by stable vital signs, good skin turgor and adequate urinary output with bowel movements. The distention in the abdominal area had also reduced. The pain was controlled through relaxation skills and medications.
Distended abdomen mainly occurs due to gas accumulation in the lower abdominal area. The medications like Metoclopramide help in digestion and lower down the accumulation of bowels in the intestine. After the medications, the patient was instructed for how she can improve her health. The patient was provided information regarding stress management, diet awareness and asthma controlling techniques to prevent further deterioration in symptoms.
Reflection
Initially, I found that the patient when reported the emergency department was having intense pain. I was given responsibility of caring for the patient and assessing her symptoms to record the data. I focused on her painful condition more than any other symptom and immediately referred her for an ultrasound. Through my earlier work experience, I could understand by assessing the patient’s symptoms and it helped me take prompt action without any delay. After the surgery, I paid more attention to patient’s anesthesia recovery, sepsis control and pain management.
The overall procedure could successfully result in reducing the pain and infection in the patient. However, during post operative phase her anxiety level had aggravated further. I advised the patient after her recovery to adopt relaxation techniques like yoga, meditation and exercise to improve her depression.
Conclusion
At the emergency ward, it is most necessary to identify the patient’s examination and assessment records and correlate them with her medical history before and after the surgery. The pain at the level of 7/10 is extreme for the patient and was taken as a priority. The abdominal distention and rigidity was improved through pharmacological interventions. The patient showed controlled pain, sepsis and BP in her 6th day of regular treatment and nursing care.
Reference List
Daley, B.J.(2019). Peritonitis and Abdominal Sepsis Treatment & Management. Retrieved from https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/180234-treatment
Holzheimer RG. (2011). Management of secondary peritonitis. In: Holzheimer RG, Mannick JA, editors. Surgical Treatment: Evidence-Based and Problem-Oriented. Munich: Zuckschwerdt; 2011. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK6950/
Kowdley K. (2015). Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis. Gastroenterology & hepatology, 11(1), 70–72. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4836582/
Lee, K. P., Kang, S., Noh, M. S., Park, S. J., Kim, J. M., Chung, H. Y., … Im, D. S. (2015). Therapeutic effects of s-petasin on disease models of asthma and peritonitis. Biomolecules & therapeutics, 23(1), 45–52. doi:10.4062/biomolther.2014.069
Tantiyavarong, P., Traitanon, O., Chuengsaman, P., Patumanond, J., & Tasanarong, A. (2016). Dialysate White Blood Cell Change after Initial Antibiotic Treatment Represented the Patterns of Response in Peritoneal Dialysis-Related Peritonitis. International journal of nephrology, 2016, 6217135. doi:10.1155/2016/6217135
Vera,M.(2014). 6 Peritonitis Nursing Care Plans. Retrieved from https://nurseslabs.com/6-peritonitis-nursing-care-plans/3/
