MedNet †Analysis and Strategic alternatives Essay

We are presented with a case where Heather Yates, vice president for business development at MedNet.com, a website delivering health information free to consumers, was losing one of their biggest advertiser ‘Windham Pharmaceuticals’. She along with the leadership team were on the task of convincing Mahria Baker, Windham’s CMO to continue advertising with them instead of investing their advertisement dollars on ‘Marvel’ which was essentially a large search engine with a huge audience. Mednet is also facing tough competition from several other websites providing expert information on therapeutic treatments and condition specific diseases like cholesterol. About MedNet: MedNet is an American corporation which provides health information services. The website was created with a mission of providing reliable and trustworthy medical information to consumer audience for free and to make profits through advertising from pharmaceutical companies. Two important aspects to be always monitored by MedNet to be on top of the things are it’s Visitors and Advertisers. What does an advertiser want? Sales, leads, brand awareness? What are the best metrics for measuring these? The advertisers here are pharmaceutical companies who buy onscreen advertising space from websites. Though branding in the form of promoting company’s logo, slogan, and their product’s name along with its features is paramount to any company, it is the ‘numbers’ in terms of Sales revenue that matters the most. The possible measuring metrics is the Banner advertising charging advertisers on a cost per thousand impressions (CPM) basis where an impression means that one visitor actually saw an online advertisement. The second is Click through rate (CTR) method which counts each time a potential buyer clicks the advertisement seeking more product information. CPM accounts more for the brand awareness whereas the click through accounts more for the Sales revenue generated in general, however, the winning metrics greatly depends on the industry one is catering to. What specific consumer behaviors determine whether or not a business model produces the results an advertiser wants? MedNet is greatly financed by  advertising, selling online magazines and sponsorships. It has a business model that’s very much centered on advertising. MedNet is a go-to resource for basic health and diagnostic information. However, competitors like cholesterol.com and others emerged that offered tailored and condition-specific health recommendations to each visitor’s specifications for such chronic diseases. Though MedNet was known to post the most up to date and reliable health information which helped them enforce trusted relationships with their audience, it was important that they ensure that the customer returns back to them each time. Based on the CTR and the CPM, the advertisers can precisely analyze the consumer’s preferences and purchasing patterns. What is the best argument Yates can make to justify charging Windham for impressions in stead of click – throughs? Does she have acceptable alternatives? MedNet charges for cost per thousand impressions to Windham Pharmaceuticals while Marvel, the search engine is doing it for free. Yates, the VP, rightly argues that though the impression might not be an accurate measure of a sale of the product but it does have an assuring and positive impact about the advertiser on the consumer. It instills a belief of goodness of a product making it highly likely that the consumer buys it at a later point of time. She laid emphasis on the ‘trusted’ relationship which however, is not quantifiable. I think, the best argument she puts across is along the lines of the targeted audience. According to reports, more consumers seek health information than finance or health information online. ‘Health’ comes first and a diligent consumer would want to access only reliable diagnostic information which is guaranteed via MedNet which is an established well known website for its health information services. Thus, audience looking at the Windham’s ad through MedNet is more likely to buy the product. The alternative approach to this is as follows: 1) MedNet could charge Windham for click throughs only. However, this is NOT acceptable given the small audience that MedNet captures. It is less likely for this limited audience to actually go click an advertisement. This would affect their sales revenue. 2) Windham can wait to see the results of the Vesselia (prescription medication) coupons that were redeemable at the pharmacy. This way, Windham could know if MedNet was more promising and profitable than Marvel. What value to the customer does a general interest  site contribute that a niche site can’t? General interest sites like MedNet faced tough competition from the specialized niche sites like cholesterol. However, the following are a few aspects that give the general sites an edge over the niche ones. 1) They provide a wide source of information on different medical conditions. This way, they are running a business that attracts a larger audience. They are providing real value to these customers. 2) General interest sites are more ‘well known’ to the unprofessional and less sophisticated consumer base. They might not be aware of the niche sites. Thus, general interest sites provide a larger coverage of the general audience. 3) Because general sites cater to larger audience who are their regular visitors, they can afford to provide cheap services to their advertisers thus making their scheme much more attractive than the niche sites. 4) The niche sites providing Tailored recommendations were running a huge risk of providing the full diagnosed information violating the state and federal govt. regulations thus in turn, risking their customer’s integrity. What steps can MedNet take to address emerging competitive threats? MedNet is facing a tough competition from potential competitors like Marvel, Cholesterol etc. The major underlying issue being the limited visitor traffic. Most of the traffic gets diverted to Marvel. 1. In order to increase their popularity and generate more returning traffic, they can do the following: Retain the same content but add more value by using social media to create community groups to encourage group discussions, create forums and blogs that helps people learn from reviews and feedbacks. These community tools will make the site more interactive and encourage visitors to return to the site. MedNet is in the business of advertising where it is promoting its advertisers. But ‘self-advertising’ is important too. Promote and Publicize self, using conventional means of advertising like prints on paper like newspapers, Yellow pages and magazines. They should target advertisers of more common ailments like high blood pressure, allergies and depression/anxiety. Thus, in order to increase the value provided to Windham, MedNet needs to focus on the volume  of the consumer traffic and make sure these consumers return. 2. Target employer websites and private online health portals, which give employees a secure gateway through which they can access their personal health information, and insurance claims. This will help diversify revenues and maintaining existing consumers. Alongside, it would help in branding through Corporate Word of Mouth. Though there will be initial setup and marketing costs, but this will pay off in the long run. MedNet should also discuss with the employers to provide pharmaceutical ads in addition to these services they offer to the employees. 3. MedNet can broaden their pool of advertisers that currently focus only on pharmaceutical companies to others like professional high profile clinics, pharmacies, health insurance companies etc. There is a tough competition among these smaller advertisers because they are large in number and thus would need advertising to promote self-more than ever. So these are potential customers to MedNet. Thus above are a few alternative approaches that MedNet can take to have an edge over it’s competitors. References: About WebMD. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebMD. The official WebMD site to understand the look and feel of a health information service website. Retrieved from http://symptoms.webmd.com/default.htm#conditionView.

Tda 2.2 3.1-3.3

T. D. A 2. 2 Safeguarding the welfare of children and young people 3. 1 *identify the characteristics of different types of child abuse Abuse, harm or bullying of children and young people can take many forms. Sometimes more than one form of abuse is experienced at the same time for example a child may be physically abused as well as neglected. Shown below is a table with examples and characteristics of abuse – FORM OF ABUSE |CHARACTERISTICS |SIGNS | |PHYSICAL |*hitting/kicking/throwing |*bruises/burns | | |*beaten with objects |*not wanting to get changed for P. E | | |*being burnt or scolded |*heavy clothing or wearing lots of layers | | | |(to hide marks) | |SEXUAL |*viewing porn |*self-harm | | |*touching private parts |*personality changes | | |*acts of penetration |*inappropriate sexual behaviours | | | |*medical problems (urine infection) | |EMOTIONAL |*undervalued/bullied |*becoming withdrawn | | |*shouting |*under-confident | | |*negative criticism |*nervous behaviour | | |*showing no affection | | |NEGLECT |*not providing- |*tiredness | |warmth |*hungry | | |adequate food |*frequent illness | | |medical care |*not growing or gaining weight | | |education | | T. D. A 2. 2 Safeguarding the welfare of children and young people 3. 2 *describe the risks and possible consequences for children and young people using the internet, mobile phones and other technologies There are many risks that children and young people may be exposed to whilst using modern technology. The internet can also be accessed through mobile phones as well these days so it is made easier to receive more messages and images. Risks when using the internet – giving out personal information (at risk from building ‘friendships’ with other children who turn out to be adults (grooming) *accessing inappropriate info (often accidentally when innocent words are entered into search engine) *taking or receiving photos over the internet which could lead to them being exploited by another person or adult Risks from text messaging – *unwelcome texts that are threatening or cause discomfort *images sent to make the victim feel embarrassed or threatened Risks from mobile phone calls – *silent/abusive calls *stealing the victim phone and using it to harass others to make them believe that the victim is responsible Risks from E-Mails – threatening or bullying E-mails *bullying or name calling through websites/social networks T. D. A 2. 2 Safeguarding the welfare of children and young people 3. 3 *describe actions to take i n response to evidence of concerns that a child or young person has been abused, harmed (including self-harm) or bullied, or may be at risk of harm, abuse or bullying It is Paramount for anyone working with children or young people to understand how to respond to evidence of abuse and to understand safeguarding procedures. The very first thing to do is to raise your concerns with another member of staff. In most cases this should be your supervisor or manager. Children who are being abused are usually quite anxious children so it may be difficult for them to talk to anyone about it. When a child tells you or suggests that he/she has been harmed this is called a disclosure. It can be quite upsetting to hear a child speaking about it but it is important to take the following actions – †¢ listen and do not show any shock or disbelief †¢ do not ask any questions (e. g. ‘where did he touch you’) †¢ accept what the child is saying and don’t interrupt or rush them †¢ reassure them and tell them they have done the right thing in speaking to you †¢ NEVER promise to keep what they have said a secret †¢ Follow work procedures T. D. A 2. Safeguarding the welfare of children and young people 3. 4 *Describe the actions to take in response to concerns that a colleague may be: – failing to comply with safeguarding procedures – harming, abusing, or bullying a child or young person If yo u feel that a colleague is abusing, bullying a child or failing to comply with safeguarding procedures then you should take the same guidelines as if it was a family member or stranger. It is very important to give the information quickly to your manager or head teacher. It can be a difficult situation as you have to work with the person and you may even like them but your first concern is for the child. You should never discuss with everyone about it but at the same time it is important for you to get some support from someone as well. T. D. A 2. 2 Safeguarding the welfare of children and young people 3. 5 * Describe the principles and boundaries of confidentiality, and when to share information. In any school setting confidentiality is very important. You may have been told private information about a particular child as you may need to know this as it may effect the way you work with a child. This should never be disclosed with other parents or be a discussion with colleagues. As a T. A or support staff, parents may speak to you concerning their own child. You must let them know that you will be discussing it with your supervisor. You do not need permission from the parent to share this with your senior if you have good reason to feel the child is at risk. Do not share with everyone and only speak to the appropriate people (manager, supervisor, headteacher) they can follow up and take action. It is important also that information is shared between the correct professionals and agencies. Over the years there have been many failings in serious child abuse cases – e. g. Victoria Climbie, Baby P, The west family – Where failings by services and agencies have been found to fail in the reports into these children’s deaths. These findings highlighted the importance of sharing information early. There are protocols in every school which need to be followed.

After you my dear Alphonse by Shirley Jackson

After you my dear Alphonse by Shirley Jackson Essay In this short story Shirley Jackson portrays how harmful Racism can be, even though theres no violence or murder involved. But it also shows how a white boy and a black boy can have a relationship to each other with no prejudices; they consider each other equal persons. The game the boys are playing where they are saying after you my dear Alphonse to each other, is one of the ways Jackson tells us that they are equal. Mrs Wilson on the other hand, does not consider Boyd as an equal person to herself and her son. Mrs Wilson is trying to hide her Prejudices by being polite and generous to Boyd. She cant stop asking questions to (About) Boyds background and his family. She assumes that Boyds family are poor in spite of the fact that she doesnt have any acquaintance (knowledge)of Boyds background and his familys social status. Even when her own son Johnny tells her that Boyds father is the foreman of the factory; she ignores it and continues her questioning of Boyd. She stigmatizes Boyds family as poor because they are black; witch (which) was normal at this time. And she thinks she is right about her vision on Boyd, because a lot of black people were poor in the 40s where (when) the story takes place. When the boys are served stewed tomatoes, Johnny replies to his mother that Boyd does not eat tomatoes, But Mrs Wilson replies back with extreme condescension Boyd will eat anything to point out that Boyds family is poor. She thinks that Boyd is grateful for anything he can get to eat, but when B oyd doesnt want to eat the tomatoes, Mrs Wilson realises that Boyds family might be just as successful as her own family is. Her last try to prof that she is better than Boyd and his family. She offers Boyd second-hand clothing to (for) his family. Boyd explains politely to her that they have plenty of clothes themselves and that his family can buy him anything he needs. Mrs Wilson lifted the plate of gingerbread off the table as Boyd was about to take another piece she gets angry over the fact Boyd is not grateful for the clothes she is offering him. She is thinking that she is doing something good. But she suddenly realises that she cant help Boyd, and then she want (wants) nothing to do with him, and she is not as polite and generous as before Boyd told her about his background. Johnny doesnt share his mothers views. He is completely unbiased. He acts naturally about Boyds presence, like he would probably do to his other friends; he has no prejudices about black people. Johnny is a good example of childrens innocence. He doesnt understand his mothers comments and the racism that is hidden behind them. He is wondering about his mothers strange statements. But he cant connect it to Boyd being black. It is a perfect example of how children have no prejudices. The title of the text is used to support this. Its a symbol of Boyd and Johnnys great friendship. It shows us how unaffected the boys are by Mrs Wilsons racist behaviour. The phrase After you my dear Alphonse is normally used in a situation where two people are so polite to each other that they cant agree who shall do it. It originally comes from a french (French) comic strip where Alphonse and Gaston cant (cant) agree who should go trough a door first, so they are stuck in the moment. The boys say the phrase when they enter the home, but they repeat it when they are leaving the house again. This tells us that the boys are not affected by Mrs Wilsons Biased opinions. The short story is written in 1949. I think Jacksons message with writing this story is to show that America does not live up to some of the fundamental principles that build the nation. READ: Blood brothers wasn't it EssayStatements like all men are considered equal and every man has the right to pursue Happiness is questioned by Jackson in this Short story. Mrs Wilson represents the average American citizen at this time despite the Declaration of Independence. Mrs Wilson attitude to Boyd also shows that it was very unlikely for a black family to be wealthy at this time. Mrs Wilsons prejudices towards black people are the main theme of this short story. Mrs Wilson will not believe that Boyds family Is wealthy, because she stigmatizes Black people as poor people.

Owning a Electric Car Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Owning a Electric Car - Essay Example Electric cars are the solution people have been waiting for years. The electric car marketplace is in the introductory stage of its product life cycle. Electric cars are a new product that is going to have a growing demand in the future. It is estimated that by the year 2020 hybrid and electric car sales will reach 6.6 million annual units which will account for 7% of the light-duty vehicle market (Marcacci, 2014). The government is helping companies to sell cars profitably by offering subsidies for the sale of green vehicles such as electric cars. The profitability for companies is going to increase once the demands rises because firms will be able to enjoy the benefits of economies of scale. Electric cars are the wave of the future. People are going to switch from gas to electricity because gas is going to continue to rise in price. A five dollar a gallon mark is closer than people realize. As electric cars go down in price more people are going to purchase more of these vehicles. One of the cons of some electric cars is their limited driving range. Car manufactures have to fire out a way that the range of the battery of electric cars match the range of a full tank of gas. Marcacci, S. (2014). Electric Vehicles Speeding Towards 7% of All Global Sales Towards 2020. Retrieved April 29, 2014 from

Merger, Acquisition, and International Strategies Essay

Merger, Acquisition, and International Strategies - Essay Example Now in the context of the study the two chosen companies are Apple Inc and Prismo Graphics. Before getting into deep the report will present brief overviews of both the companies. After that, the report will offer merger and acquisition strategies of both Prismo Graphics and Apple. Also in this segment recommendation will be also provided regarding the business level and corporate level strategies. Apple Inc: A Brief Overview The roots of Apple Inc. can be traced back to the early 1976 when the company was established by Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne and Steve Wozniak. The company is presently headquartered at Apple Campus, 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California, USA (Yahoo Finance, n.d.). Along with its subsidiaries, the company manufactures and sells desktop computers, laptops, mobile communication devices, portable music players, and various other digital gadgets. Some of the best sellers of the company are I-pad, I- Phone, Mac OS, and I-pod. From the time of its inception, the company has always focused on manufacturing innovative and unique products. The company also has the knack of producing those products, which the world has never seen. It has a worldwide presence and operates with 370 exclusive Apple stores. Apart from the hardware department, the company is also famous for its software division. Some of the noteworthy software embraced by Apple is Mac OS, I-tunes, Quick time player, I-work and logic studio among others (Apple Store, n.d.). In the context of merger and acquisition, Apple also has a long tradition. The first acquisition came in the year 1988, when Apple acquired Network Innovations. Prismo Graphics: A Brief Overview Prismo Graphics was founded in the year 1987. The company has its operation throughout USA. Prismo Graphics is presently headquartered at Oregon, United States. The company is basically involved in the business of developing animated stuff for the corporate and broadcast media arena. However the primary goal of the company is to create prospects for the ‘Digital Content Creator’. In this context the company improves the messages of the web, corporate video, print and broadcast media by adding graphics and animation. The company has employee strength of 50-100 and the total revenue us around $10 million - $25 million. In the year 2002, the company was acquired by Apple Inc (Wit & Meyer, 2010, p.688). Merger and Acquisition Strategy of Apple Apple is a company which always focuses on the development of unique and innovative products (Whetten & Cameron, 2008, p.208). However having speciality in every field of business is complex and therefore Apple has the philosophy of acquiring small and medium firms and integrating it within the existing projects. Furthermore the company also strives to increase their product line. This can be cited as one of the rationales behind the acquisition of Prismo Graphics by Apple. It has helped the company to start their operations in the field of animation. The pu rchase also continued Apple’

Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Proposal - Essay Example Problem Statement The ‘We Are Automobile’ company deals with trade of spare parts products to the motor industry and its representatives are often going at potential customers’ premises to sell their products. Currently, the company does not have an Information Technology department and there is no IT system implemented. Therefore, the company processes the customers’ request manually and stores all the information on relative registers. The company is facing many problems due to manually working and inconvenience for storing and accessing information from the premises of the customer. Keeping in view the problem, the company has decided to implement Information Technology solution. There are two possible IT solutions for solving the problems of the company including implementation of traditional Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and the Cloud Computing. The document also discusses advantages and disadvantages of the both solutions along with recommendatio ns for the company to implementation of one of the two technologies. Keeping in view the company’s background and analysis of both solutions, the document reveals that the Cloud Computing has more advantages over the traditional ERP. Further, the document presents a technical approach and project management to implement the proposed solution (Alley, 2010). Information Technology Solutions As mentioned above, there are two IT solutions to solve the problems of the company, the ERP implementation and the Cloud Computing. â€Å"A system designed to support and automate the business processes of medium and large businesses. It provides an enterprise wide solution for all business activities with a single application and single data repository† (Mutt, 2010). A comprehensive Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution may be developed to solve the problems and fulfil the requirements of the company. Usually, the modules of ERP include Finance & Accounting, Customer Relations hip Management, Human Resources Management, Payroll, Inventory & Procurement, Sales and Project Management. The ERP is a complete solution that can provide services to the company and make the company ICT enabled (Ingthorsson, 2012). The second possible IT solution is Cloud Computing that provides hosted services over the Internet. There are mainly three categories of these services including: Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). Furthermore, the cloud services can be differentiated to the traditional hosting through many features/characteristics; however, the main three diverse features include: the consumer/customer just need to pay all the maintenance/services are managed by the service provider, customer can take services according to requirement (little or full), and the services are provided on demand by hours, days, weeks, etc. (Rouse, 2010). Cloud Computing - Software as a Service, BScaler Comparison of Tradition al System Vs Cloud Computing A comparison of both Information Technology solutions the traditional system and Cloud Computing has been given below (Metal Center News, 2011): S. # Traditional System Cloud Computing 1. On-site or traditional ERP systems have constraints in managing particular Supply Chain tasks that include: inventory accessibility, readability, and order information synchronization at customers’ place. ERP based on cloud computing does not have such constraint as the application can be accessed from

Discuss whether supermarket are benefical to the society they operate Essay

Discuss whether supermarket are benefical to the society they operate within in the united kingdom - Essay Example The three-quarters of food shopping are made through just four firms. Supermarkets’ claims on fulfilling their corporate social responsibility can not be measured in the absence of relevant benchmarks. There is greater need to bring the civil society organisations to the table with supermarkets to hold a discussion on social, environmental and ethical issues but supermarkets are not coming forward in good numbers to follow an approach where transparency and stakeholder interests are protected with the participation of civil society organisations. A number of reasons can be attributed to the supermarkets’ withdrawal from such initiatives the like of Race to the Top (RTTT) project whose objective was to set benchmarks taking into confidence the civil society organisations (RTTT Final Report). Government intention to develop major performance indicators for the food sector created fear in the supermarket lobby of a new governance structure by selecting a successful RTTT. Supermarkets had not been forthcoming in providing data, which was crucial for partnering with society stakeholders. External data is costly because of expensive labour and methodological issues although crucial in showing change in comparison to supermarkets’ data showing company policies only (RTTT Final Report). There was lack of staff time and technical know-how. The timing of pressurising the supermarket companies to bring transparency in data on environmental and social effects mismatched because of their disinterest in providing the information due to cost cutting measures to remain in competition with leading market giants (RTTT Final Report) Another problem is the heterogeneous nature of the UK supermarket in terms of scale, ownership and customer base. Companies are wary of running such business initiatives that map the customer rather than the companies on sustainability of high animal-welfare food items (RTTT Final Report). The high