Message confidentiality Essays

Message confidentiality Essays Message confidentiality Essay Message confidentiality Essay Secret key cryptography is also known as Symmetric Encryption. Here same key is used for both the Encryption and Decryption processes [1]. In this approach, sender and receiver both should know the algorithm to use and the secret key. Sender and receiver should be kept the key secret and they should obtain the key in a secured way [2]. Most commonly used secret key cryptography algorithms are DES, 3DES, RC4 etc [1]. In this test DES has been used to encrypt/decrypt an arbitrary message. Here Base64 encoding has also been used to encode the message. We know that, while sending SMTP e-mails with attachments normal text files can be attached in plain text format, but binary files (such as image files) cannot be attached in the same way. Binary files need some sort of encoding process to be attached with STMP mail. And the most widely used encoding is Base64 [3]. Description of DES algorithm DES Encryption Process DES has a very strong internal structure [2]. The following figure presents an overview of the DES encryption process. Figure 1: DES Encryption process In DES encryption process 2 inputs are provided to the encryption function: a 64 bit plain text and a 56 bit secret key. At first, the 64-bit plaintext is initially permuted. In the next step combination of a permutation and substitution function is executed 16 times, it makes 16 rounds. Left half and right half of the output from the last round are swapped and permuted again. This permutation is an inverse function of the initial permutation function. At last we get a 64 bit cipher text as an output of the whole process [2]. DES Decryption Process DES decryption process uses the same algorithm as DES encryption process. But in this case the application of the subkeys is reversed [2]. Strength of DES The main strength of DES is usage of 56 bit keys. For using 56-bit long keys the number of possible key is 256 and so the bruit force attack needs 255 attempts which is quite impractical to complete. So DES is strong against Brute force attack. It is also strong against Differential Cryptanalysis and Linear Cryptanalysis as they need 247 and 243 attempts respectively [4]. Base64 Data Representation Base64 data representation is based on a 64 character alphabet [3]. The alphabet is presented in the following table. Sequence Characters 0 25 A Z 26 51 a z 52 61 0 9 62 + 63 / Table 1: Base64 Alphabet A binary file is a series of zeros and ones [3]. These bits are represented with a 0 or 1 character. In Base64 data encoding at first the zeros and ones are grouped into sets of 6 characters. Then these blocks of bits are converted by a single character, which can be calculated from table 1. In this way 6 characters are replaced by a single one. Thus Base64 alphabet allows converting binary zeros and ones into a compressed and human readable format [3]. Description of the demo Programming Language Java Java has been used here to implement DES including Base64. Java has been chosen as it has some advantages such as it is open source, platform independent, and it has automatic memory management [5]. Besides, the Java platform has some built in packages that make cryptographic implementation easier. Source code Result of test run The test result was as follows. Conclusion According to Microsoft Confidentiality is the ability to keep a message unreadable by anyone other than the intended recipient; this is achieved through cryptography [6]. So here to achieve confidentiality DES algorithm has been used including Base64 encoding and also have successfully retrieved the original message by using decryption process. Reference: [1] Secret Key Cryptography, sequi. com/SEQUI_VPN_Glossary. htm [2] William Stallings, Cryptography and Network Security, 4th Edition (Nov 16, 2005), chap 3. [3] Randy Charles Morin, How to Base64 kbcafe. com/articles/HowTo. Base64. pdf

Causes and Stages of Cancer The WritePass Journal

Causes and Stages of Cancer Introduction Causes and Stages of Cancer IntroductionLiterature ReviewReferenceRelated Introduction The World Heath Organisation (2011) estimates that without intervention 84 million people will die from cancer between 2005 and 2015. In 2008 156,723 people died in the UK alone of malignant neoplasm and 1 in 3 people will be diagnosed with the disease in their lifetime. There were 12.7 million new cases diagnosed worldwide in the same year which led to 7.6 million deaths.   (Cancer Research UK, 2011). There are over 200 different types of cancer but lung, breast, prostate and colorectal account for over 50% of cancer cases. The percentage of deaths caused by cancer varies by region with 4% in Africa, 12% in Asia, 19% in Europe, 21% in Oceania and 23% in North America (National Cancer Institute, 2010). Cancer is used to define the group of diseases in which extensive cellular proliferation occurs alongside the invasion of surrounding tissues. Cancer cells can spread through the body via the blood and lymph systems and ultimately cause death of multi-cellular organisms (National Cancer Institute, 2010). Cancer is caused by the accumulation of genetic mutations which leads to instability of genetic regulators and alters gene expression. Cancer represents not a single disease but a group of heterogeneous diseases that share the fundamental biological characteristics of immortalisation, invasion, genetic instability, erratic differentiation and uncontrolled proliferation (Vogelstein and Kinzler, 2008). Despite advances in detection and treatment of metastatic cancer, specifically breast, mortality rates still remain high because current therapies are limited by the emergence of therapy resistant cancer cells (Al-Hajj, et al, 2003). It has been documented that tumorous cells possess key stem cell characteristics such as high migration, self-renewal, drug resistance and extensive differentiation which leads to the production of a heterogeneous population. Tissue specific cells are able to self-renew and produce differentiated and functional cells within an organ. These differentiated cells are short lived and are produced from a small pool of long lived stem cells which lasts throughout the organism’s lifetime (Seo, 2007). Stem cells are essential for tissue development, replacement and repair however their longevity means they are susceptible to the accumulation of genetic damage and thereby providing a growth route for cancer recurrence following treatment (Clarke, 2005). Dean, Fojo and Bates (2005) suggest that cancer stem cells can survive chemotherapy and sustain the re-growth of a malignant tumour. Therefore if cancer stem cells are present in a tumour then they must be targeted in order to achieve a cure. Prospectively identifying cancer stem cells will allow investigation of the pathways and key molecules that can be targeted to eliminate these malignant cells (Clarke Fuller, 2006). There have been many studies which imply the existence of a sub-population of cells within tumours termed cancer stem cells which drive tumourgenesis. This paper therefore aims to isolate and characterise different sub-populations of cancer stem cells through physiological stress in human and murine models (DLD-1 and CT-26 respectively). There has been extensive evidence that CD133 and CD44 are reliable cancer stem cell markers therefore it can be hypothesised that CD133 and CD44 positive cells would demonstrate resistance to chemotherapeutic agents. This statement formed the basis of the protocol developed by Sharma (2010) where the novel technique of exposing parental cancer cells to the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin in-vitro to isolate cells resistant to drug exposure.   The resulting cells will them be characterised by their ability to form spheroids and the performance of Q-PCR, immunofluorescence and western blotting to identify the presence of the CD133, CD44 and CD26 specif ic cancer stem cell markers. The ultimate aim is then perform microarray on parental and cancer stem cell populations to compare the difference in gene expression of the two populations. Literature Review On a cellular level cancer is caused by uncontrolled cell proliferation which enables abnormal growth leading to cancerous tumours. Just 5-10% of cancer cases can be attributed to genetic defects whereas the remaining cases (in order of influence) are a result of environmental factors such as diet, tobacco, infections, obesity, alcohol, radiation, stress and physical activity (Anand, et al, 2008). These factors lead to tumour growth as they induce DNA alterations or loss of the ability to repair DNA damage which deregulates standard gene expression (Vogelstein and Kinzler, 1998). Carcinogenesis is the term used to define the creation of cancer by which normal cells are transformed into cancer cells. This is due to the accumulation of genetic mutations and the resultant misbalance in cell death and proliferation (King Robins, 2006). Cell production is a complicated process which is kept in apoptosis via cell regulation by numerous classes of genes including oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes (Vogelstein and Kinzler, 1998). Carcinogenesis occurs when there is a genetic mutation which upsets the normal balance between cell death and proliferation. The multi-step process is driven by the accumulation of genetic alterations which gives rise to highly malignant derivatives which have the ability to elude apoptosis, invade tissues and possess unlimited potential for replication (Hanahan and Weinberg, 2000). The inheritance of a defective gene itself is not sufficient for development of cancer. Cancer manifests from the accumulation of additional somatic mutation s which occur as a result of imperfect DNA replication or DNA damage caused by environmental mutagens. Genes that, when mutated, lead to cancer predisposition normally have the function of suppressing tumourgeneis. If one allele of such gene mutates in the germ line then the cell still has the product of the wild type as a back up. If a mutation occurs in the wild type then the cell has no functional suppressor gene product remaining. The cell therefore proliferates abnormally leading to clonal expansion. Cells of proliferating clones are likely to accumulate another mutation resulting in further loss of growth control. As gradual clonal expansion takes place a tumour evolves. Oncogenes and cell suppressor cells control cell proliferation, a mutation here leads to the cells to become continually active. Caretaker genes control rates of mutation, defective caretakers therefore acquire mutations (Vogelstein and Kinzler, 1998). The three stages of carcinogenesis are promotion, proliferation and progression. Changes in the genomes structure occur across all three of the stages of neoplasm development. Additionally changes in gene expression take place at cell promotion with selective proliferation of mutation cells. Apoptosis and cell proliferation occur at different rates but still maintain a balance during initiation and promotion but during progression the balance alters and a malignancy arises as seen in figure 1 (Oliveira, 2007). The fundamental progression features of malignancies are invasion and metastasis and it is these traits which distinguish between normal and cancerous cells. Metastasis is characterised as the migration of cancer cells from the site of origin to a secondary point through the lymphatic system, connective tissues and blood supply. At this secondary point the cells then continue to invade and form new tumours (Hanahan, 2000). Cancer immunoediting has been described as the conflicting action of the immune system to protect the host from cancer development through immunosurveillance and promote tumour growth by the promoting action of immunity (Smyth, Gunn and Schreiber, 2006). The interaction of the innate and adaptive anti-cancer immunity dictates the intensity of the outcome of the endogenous anti-cancer response. Stress induced molecules on tumour cells initiates the innate response and presentation and processing of tumour associates antigens leads to an adaptive response. Both of these responses can affect the tumour in different ways. The endogenous reaction could suppress tumour formation whilst at the same time exerting a selection pressure leading to the emergence of escape variants. Additionally the host’s immune response could directly promote tumour growth, invasion and metastasis via elaboration of inflammatory mediators and cytokines. There is a complex network of interactions between tumour cells, immune elements and stromal components in the microenvironment (Jinushi and Dranoff, 2007). However currently only the capability of the immune system to identify and kill cancer cells forms the basis of therapeutic strategies and immunotherapy (Schulz, 2005). Modifications in immunotherapy protocols have been proposed to lessen the effect cancer and improve the therapeutic value of immunological approaches by targeting the elimination of cancer stem cells (Lepisto, McKolanis Finn, 2007). Stem cells originate from the haematopoietic tissue and can be characterised by the unlimited capacity to self renew, which is the result of increases telomere activity (Huntly Gilliand, 2005) and the ability to terminally differentiate into one or more cell types, which is regulated by a niche signalling pathway system (Spradling, Drummond-Barbosa Kai, 2001). The capacity of stem cells to form differentiated offspring is described in terms of their differentiation potential (Friel, Van der Sar Mee, 2005). Totipotent cells have the ability to construct a complete organism, pluripotent cells are descendants of totipotent cells and can differentiate into almost all cells, multipotent cells differentiate into a specific family of cells, oligopotent cells differentiate into lymphoid and myeloid cells and omnipotent cells are only able to produce their own cell type but have the ability of self renewal which distinguishes them from other non-stem cells (Knoepffler, Schipanski Sorgner, 2007). The differentiation of stem cells is regulated by a niche signalling pathway system (Spradling et al, 2001). It has been suggested that cancer stem cells are displaced due to lack of heritable changes in phenotype and genetic alteration leading to an absence in cancer however when stem cells were placed in defective tissue they induced tumour growth (Clarke Fuller, 2006). Charafe-Jauffret, Monville and Ginester (2008) clarify the existence of cancer stem cells which possess tumorgenic, self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation abilities. Cancer stem cells are defined as a sub-population of cells in a tumour capable of generating phenotypically assorted cells (Gao, 2007). This petite population is accountable for the relapse of tumour growth, progress and invasion after treatment (Clarke Fuller, 2008). Although the concept that germ cells are responsible for oncogenesis has existed since 1855 the first conclusive evidence of cancer stem cell existence was that by Bonnet and Dick (1997) who isolated a CD34+/CD38 sub-population of leukemic cells which were capable of initiating tumours in NOD/SCID mice histologically similar to the donor. The cancer stem cell hypothesis states that the cancer initiating cell is a transformed tissue stem cell which retains the property of self protection through the activity of multiple drug resistant transporters. This drug resistant cell then remains at a low frequency amongst a tumour mass (Donndenberg Donndenberg, 2005). The cancer stem cell theory points to a new era of cancer res earch and is expected to yield alternative cancer treatments. It is now evident that tumours include cancer stem cells which can be isolated by antigenic markers and have the potential to develop into non-adherent spheroids (Wright et al, 2008).   This concept has challenged the previous hypothesis that carcinogenesis is a result of ‘clonal evolution’ where every cell present in a tumour is capable of proliferating and forming new tumours (Max et al, 2006). Cancer stem cells have similar properties to stem cells such as similar molecular mechanisms and physiological trafficking which implies that cancer stem cells are a result of consecutive accumulated mutations in embryonic stem cells (Kucia Ratajckzak, 2006). This is supported by the correlation seen in the signalling pathways associated with maintenance of ‘stemness’ in embryonic cells and cancer pathways. These pathways such as JAK/STAT, Notch, MAPK/ERK, P13k/AKT, NF-GB and Wnt are not only involved in stem cell renewal governing proliferation but also express key molecules associated with malignant phenotypes which leads to tumour growth (Dreesen Brivanlou, 2007). It has therefore been deduced that normal stem cells are transformed into cancer stem cells via mutations in suppressor genes and oncogenses and mutations in repair genes and histone modifications (Costa, et al, 2006). Embryonic stem cells are dependent on the specialised microenvironment in which they reside. This niche prevents tumorgenesis by supplying signals to inhibit differentiation and proliferation. Additional signals are also provided to allow stem cell promotion, self-renewal or differentiation when necessary (Scadden, 2006). Stem cells are dependent on this niche for survival alternatively cancer stem cells do not appear to be dependant on this niche in the same way. Some believe that cancer stem cells have evolved to escape the control of a local environment whereas an additional theory suggests the cells do reside in a niche which has undergone changes itself which encourages cell growth (Burness Sipkins, 2010). Cancer stem cells are thought to evolve from an intrinsic mutation leading to self-sufficient proliferation and deregulation as the cancer cell overtakes the molecular machinery used by normal stem cells (Li Neaves, 2006). These tumour initiating cells are the source of recu rring tumours in many types of cancer (Foltz et al, 2009). Cancer stem cells make up less than 5% of a tumour and have been found in blood-borne, brain, breast, ovarian and colon cancers (National Cancer Institute, 2010). These cells are highly resistant to both chemotherapy and radiotherapy and in order to develop successful therapy it is essential to identify the cell surface markers unique to cancer stem cells and interpret their signalling pathways, figure 2 (Foltz et al, 2009). Figure 2: The impact of cancer stem cells on tumour growth and response therapy. A: Subset of cells within the tumour has the ability to replicate and sustain tumour growth. TA cell is suspected to be responsible for a majority of tumour growth and is susceptible to cancer therapy. Cancer stem cells give rise to identical immortal daughter cells. B: Possible outcome of targeting tumour cancer stem cells verses present cancer therapy techniques which do not affect cancer stem cells (Houghton et al, 2007). The developmental concept of cancer denotes the presence of a hierarchy of cells within a tumour which refers to the differences of cancer cells within a tumour where all cells do not express the same antigens. Additionally functional assays show that only a specific sub-population of cells within a tumour can propagate tumour growth. It appears that cancer cells capable of tumour growth are able to self-renew as well as generate cells which cannot propagate tumour growth (Cho Clarke, 2008). Cancer stem cells have therefore developed the ability for self-renewal and differentiation into a heterongenous population as well as the tumour related properties of uncontrolled growth and ability to form metastasis (Dalerba, et al, 2007). The ability that cancer stem cells share with stem cells to renew has changed perspectives leading to new approaches to treating the disease (Li and Neaves, 2006). Cancer stem cells show resistance to both chemotherapy and radiotherapy making them a crucial target for treatment, it is therefore essential to identify the markers present on these cells in order to therapeutically target them (Foltz, et al, 2009). Current therapeutic strategies attempt to target cancer stem cells and its microenvironment whereas Tang, Ang Pervaiz (2007) identified a novel approach of targeting the reactive oxygen species in a cancer stem cell which would facilitate apoptotic death over proliferation. Additionally the development of monoclonal antibodies to recognise cancer stem cell markers would allow for more efficient destruction of these tumour forming cells (Okamoto Perez, 2008). The use of immunocompromised mouse model have shown to reliably capulate the molecular, biological and clinical features of the human disease. With such models defining the stages of tumour development, homogenised breeding and environmental conditions. This has therefore led to the development of the concept that plasma from genetically modified cancer models contains tumour derived proteins that may be relevant in the development of markers for human cancer (Kuick, et al, 2007). There are numerous studies which cites the use of immuno-comprised mice as vehicles for cancer stem cell isolation. Mouse models have been established as highly trusted in the development of human cancer treatment through verify the cancer stem cell extent of a tumour. This has been achieved by the opening and repetitive tumour progression in immuno-compromised SCID mice (Laurie, et al, 2007). http://tpx.sagepub.com/content/38/1/62.full.pdf+html Current developed methods to isolate ‘adult’ stem cell populations includes collection of different hematopoietic cells populations staining with the antibodies of interest and sorting by magnetic bead and/or fluorescence activated cell sorters (FACS) followed by in vivo transplant experiments. This allows for the development of understanding of fundamental hematopoietic stem cell characteristics of differentiation and the ability of the cells to give rise to others cells with the same potential for proliferation whilst still maintaining the stem cell pool Cho Clarke, 2008). Additional characterisation of cancer stem cells can be carried out by identifying gene expression and cell markers via immunofluorescence, western blotting and Q-PCR. It has been stated that an immature cell population can be characterised by surface markers CD34+ and CD38+ in AML and that these markers suggest the ability of initiating tumour development (Bonnet Dick 1997). Furthermore the use of a low-adherent growth environment can be used to produce spheroids from tumorgenic cells as a basis of isolation of cancer stem cells (Grange, et al, 2008) As it has been identified that a small minority of cells present in a tumour has the ability to form new tumours. It is therefore possible to distinguish between tumorgenic and non-tumorgenic cells based on the cell surface marker expression. Al-Hajj, et al (2003) were able to isolate breast cancer cells expressing CD44+ and CD24 lineage in as few as 100 cells with tumorgenic capabilities and identified hundreds of thousands of cells with a different phenotype which failed to form new tumours. Furthermore passaging the CD44+ and CD24 lineage led to the creation of phenotypically diverse populations. Sherman, et al (2011) also identified CD133 expression correlated with prognosis of oligodendroglial and astrocytic tumors and here immunofluorescence provided an effective and reproducible assay for identifying markers present in ca ncer stem cells. Fundamentally cancer is resistant to treatment because malignant cells survive chemotherapy, CD133 positive cancer stem cells display strong compatibility with tumours resistant to chemotherapy (Liu, et al, 2006). The use of immunofluorescence to characterise cancer stem cells has been used in a great deal of cases especially where total cell count is reduced CD44+ and CD24+ can be used for markers of colorectal cancer stem cells. CD44/CD24 cells are enriched for spheroid colonies and can reform all four CD44/CD24 subpopulations (Yeung, Wilding Bodmer, 2009). Additionally a population of CD26+ cells present in a sub-population of colorectal cancer stem cells led to the development of distant metastasis when injected into a mouse cecal wall. These CD26+ cells were also associated with enhanced invasiveness and chemoresistance (Pang, et al, 2010). Lgr-5 has also been identified as a key marker expressed in cancer stem cells of colorectal cancer associated with the activation of the Wnt signalling pathway which plays a key role in cancer development (Takahashi, et al, 2010). The first report indicating the difference in gene expression of cancer cells exhibiting cancer stem cell properties and those which did not was published in 2007 by Seo, et al. Amongst the 61 differently expressed genes 12 genes were considered up-regulated in the sub-population whereas 49 were downgraded validation of these gene expressions was validated using quantitative real time reverse transcriptase PCR. It was found that genes related to drug resistance such as AKR1C1/C2 and NR0B1, or cancer metastasis (TM4SF1) were up-regulated. Further more the up-regulated gene ABCG2 could be of use as an indicator for sorting. AKR1C has been identified as a catalyst of metabolic reduction and either activates or inactivates several xenobiotics. The public database (Gene expression Omnibus) has shown significant up-regulation in expression of AKR1C1 in smokers. Reference AL-HAJJ, M., et al. 2003. Prospective identification of tumorgenic breast cancer cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA, 100(7), pp. 3983-3988. ANAND, P., et al. 2008. Cancer is a preventable disease that requires major lifestyle changes. Pharmaceutical Research, 25(9), pp. 2097-2116. BONNET, D. DICK, J. 1997. Human acute myeloid leukaemia is organized as a hierarchy that originates from a primitive hematopoietic cell. Nature Medicine, 3(7), pp. 730-737. BURNESS, M. SIPKINS, D. 2010. The stem cell niche in health and malignancy. Seminars in Cancer Biology, 20(2), pp. 107-115. CHO, R. CLARKE, M. 2008. Recent advances in cancer stem cells. Current Opinions in Genetics Development, 18(1), pp. 48-53. CLARKE, M. FULLER, M. 2006. Stem cells and cancer: two faces of evil. Cell, 124(6), pp. 1111-1115. CLARKE, R. 2005. Isolation and characterization of human mammary stem cells. Cell Proliferation, 38(6), pp. 375-386. COSTA, F., LE BLANC, K. BRODIN, B. 2006. Cancer/testis antigens, stem cells and cancer. Stem Cells, 25(3), pp. 707-711. DALEBRA, P., et al. 2007. Phenotypic characterization of human colorectal cancer stem cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, USA, 104(24), pp. 10158-10163. DREESEN, O. BRIVANLOU, A. 2007. Signalling pathways in cancer and embryonic stem cells. Stem Cell Reviews, 3(1), pp. 7-17. FRIEAL, R., VAN DER SAR, S. MEE, P. Embryonic stem cells: understanding their history, cell biology and signalling. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 57(13), pp. 1894-1903. GAO, J. 2008. Cancer stem cells: the lessons learnt from pre-cancerous stem cells. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, 12(1), pp. 67-96. GRANGE, C., et al. 2008. Sca-1 indentifies the tumor-initiating cells in mammary tumors of BALB-neuT transgenic mice. Neoplasia, 10(12), pp. 1433-1443. HANAHAN, D. 2000. The hallmarks of cancer. Cell, 100(1), pp. 57-70. HANAHAN, D. WEINBERG, R. 2000. The hallmarks of cancer. Cell, 100, pp. 57-70. HOUGHTON, J., et al. 2007. Stem cells and cancer. Seminars in Cancer Biology, 17, pp. 191-203. HUNTLY, B. GILLIAND, G. 2005. Leukaemia stem cells and the evolution of cancer stem cell research. Nature Reviews Cancer, 5(4), pp. 311-321. JINUSHI, M. DRANOFF, G. 2007. Immunosurveillance: innate and adaptive antitumor immunity. Cancer Immunotherapy: Immune Suppression and Tumor Growth, pp. 29-41 KING, R. ROBINS, M. 2006. Cancer Biology. 3rd Edition. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. KNOEPFFLER, N., SCHIPANSKI, D. SORGNER, S. 2007. Human biotechnology as social challenge: an interdisciplinary introduction to bioethics. England: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. KUCIA, M. RATAJCZJAK, M. 2006. Stem cells as a two edged sword-from regeneration to tumour formation. Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology, 57(7), pp. 5-16. KUICK, R., et al. 2007. Discovery of cancer biomarkers through the use of mouse models. Cancer Letters, 249(1), pp. 40-48. LEPISTO, A., MCKOLANIS, J. FINN, O. 2007. Cancer immunotherapy: challenges and opportunities. Cancer Immunotherapy: Immune Suppression and Tumor Growth, pp. 167-181. LI, L. NEAVES, W. 2006. Normal stem cells and cancer stem cells: the niche matters. Cancer Research, 66(9), pp. 4553-4557. LUI, G., et al. 2006. Analysis of gene expression and chemoresistance of CD133+ cancer stem cells in glioblastoma. Molecular Cancer, 5(1), pp. 67-79. MAX, L., et al. 2006. Electrocervical potentials: are they pathognomonic of cancer? Cancer, 6(1), pp. 77-79. NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE, 2011. What is cancer? [online]. US National Institute of Health. Available at: cancer.gov/cancertopics/cancerlibrary/what-is-cancer [Accessed on 7th February 2011]. OKAMOTO, O. PEREZ, J. 2008. Targeting cancer stem cells with monoclonal antibodies: a new perspective in cancer therapy and diagnosis. Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics, 8(4), pp. 387-393. OLIVEIRA, P., et al. 2007. Chemical carcinogenesis. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Cià ªncias, 79(4). PANG, R., et al. 2010. A Subpopulation of CD26+ Cancer Stem Cellssciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL_udi=B8G3V-5075DHJ-R_user=2471587_coverDate=06%2F04%2F2010_alid=1706053035_rdoc=4_fmt=high_orig=search_origin=search_zone=rslt_list_item_cdi=41804_st=13_docanchor=view=c_ct=4194_acct=C000057461_version=1_urlVersion=0_userid=2471587md5=c4c6cd7408c3db836492bfe7e2665c5esearchtype=a hit2 with Metastatic Capacity in Human Colorectal Cancer. Cell Stem Cell, 6(6), pp. 603-615. SCADDEN, D. 2006. The stem-cell niche as an entity of action. Nature, 441 (7097), pp. 1075-1079. SCHULZ, W., 2005, Molecular biology of human cancers: an advanced student’s textbook. The Netherlands: Springer. SEO, D., et al. 2007. Gene expression profiling of cancer stem cells in human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells. SHARMA, M. 2010. Cancer stem cell isolation and characterisation in murine models. MRes thesis, Nottingham Trent University. SPRADLING, A., DRUMMOND-BARBOSA, D. KAI, T. 2001. Stem cells find their niche. Nature, 414(6859), pp. 98-104. TAKAHASHI, H., et al. 2010. Significance of Lgr5(+ve) cancer stem cells in the colon and rectum. Annals of Surgical Oncology, 18(4), pp. 1166-1174. TANG, C., ANG, B. PERVAIZ, S. 2007. Cancer stem cell: target for anti-cancer therapy, The FASEB Journal, 21(14), pp. 3777-3784. VOGELSTEIN, B. KINZLER, K. 1998. The genetic basis of human cancer. 2nd Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION, 2011. World cancer day [online]. World Health Organisation. Available at: who.int/mediacentre/events/annual/world_cancer_day/en/ [Accessed on 7th February 2011]. WRIGHT, M., et al. 2008. Brca1 breast tumours contain distinct CD44+/CD24- and CD133+ cells with cancer stem cell characteristics. Breast Cancer Research, 10(2), p. 105. YEUNG, T., WILDING, J. BODMER, W. 2009. Colorectal cancer stem cells: characterization and functional analysis. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 27(15). P. 4124. KUICK, R., et al. 2007. Discovery of cancer biomarkers through the use of mouse models. Cancer Letters, 249(1), pp. 40-48.

Social responsibility in finance decision making Essay - 2

Social responsibility in finance decision making - Essay Example cture, McDonalds focuses its attention to putting its customers, processes, and practices into place to better the society through better food, people that are more contented, a stronger community, and an improved planet. This report explores McDonalds’ Corporate Social Responsibility approach in finance decision making. McDonalds, the worlds foremost global food service trader, takes its environmental and social obligation to the society considerably seriously, considering the CSR strategies it partakes. The company consults with customers, suppliers, sustainability experts and socially responsible organizations to ensure that its CSR strategies are in lieu with the current century and societal goals. It collaborates with other organizations to develop global principles that support purchase of raw materials from verified sustainable sources. This paper explores McDonald’s practices, their harm to the society, and CSR initiatives it has taken to promote its corporate image. In as much as a company seeks to make profit in a sustainable approach, there are always times when they inflict harm on one or more of its stakeholders for profit making. McDonalds faces criticism for the level of nutrition in its food, which is largely high fat, high cholesterol, low fiber diet. It also receives criticism for the effects of advertisements on the minds of children, and the environmental effects of its restaurants on the environment. Considering McDonalds is among the world’s leading companies it has the financial and legal muscle to silence its critics and limits free speech against its operations (Blasio, 2008). Apart from that, workers claim exploitation in several instances, especially in branches comprised of underprivileged people. Workers receive low wages, and understaffing also occurs, as the company seeks to maximize on profits. Worst of all, its aggressive practices push several small food outlets out of business (Brazelton, Ellis, Macedo, Shader, and Suslow,

Court Management Executive Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Court Management Executive Summary - Essay Example The purposes of a court as enumerated above serve as its constitutional mandate and this can be achieved if the courts plan their work well despite the sheer number of cases they to deal with. In order to be able to carry its mandate, the entire judicial system consisting of the trial, appellate, and the supreme courts must plan out their activities through strategic planning that will forestall any delays while maximizing the use of all its available personnel and material resources. Successful court management takes into account the nature of judicial administration as an integral part of public administration and it is designed to promote judicial independence and at the same time promote its autonomy as a co-equal branch of the government in the separation of powers doctrine to prevent one person or a small group from acquiring too much influence. Its success is measured through a variety of performance measures such as budgetary management under financial resource constraints, number of cases or workload successfully litigated and the speed of how these cases are being processed through the system, which in turn measure both its efficiency and responsiveness to public demands for justice (Allen & Sawhney, 2009, p. 347) in which justice is dispensed without fear or favor, either from politics or special interest groups. The court system in the United States of America is composed of two levels which are trial courts and appellate courts (both at state and federal levels). This requires the use of either a chief judge who manages the court system by selecting and assigning judges, control expenses to ensure it stays within the budget, appoint probation and pretrial officers, supervise all personnel and impose disciplinary actions if warranted, and perform other administrative duties to make the entire system function smoothly and render the ends

Team Achievement Essay Example for Free

Team Achievement Essay This assignment looks at the important role that can be played by teams in successful organisations and businesses. You should explore the way in which the use of teams in a selected organisation may help that business achieve its strategic aims and objectives. You then need to describe key features of an achieving workplace team within a selected organisation. Resubmission When you resubmit your assignment, you MUST ensure that you TRACK YOUR CHANGES by pressing Ctrl + Shift+ E, or go to Tools, and Track changes. WHEN YOU SUBMIT THIS WORK YOU AUTOMATICALLY CERTIFY THAT THE WORK CONTAINED IN THIS ASSIGNMENT WAS RESEARCHED AND PREPARED BY YOURSELF. Plagiarism will result in the assignment not being accepted and marked ASSIGNMENT TASKS Task 1: P1 Describe ways in which the use of teams in a selected organisation may help achieve strategic aims and objectives To complete this task you will need to explain the following: * How does a team monitor progress and performance? E.g., identifying team objectives, monitoring performance to objectives? * How does the organisational structure and functions affect and support a teams achievement? * How does the role of a supervisor and manager contribute to the achievement of a teams objectives? Task 1 Monitoring progress and performance Monitoring the progress and the performance of a team is very important. As a team may be off track and heading for the wrong direction, a team under close monitoring would make sure this is not happening, Its the supervisors responsibility to monitor and assure that the teams performance is up to the best standards. Supervisors tend on passing on that responsibility to Team leaders as they are constantly working with the team members. Team leaders monitor the progress and performance by using appraisals. This helps to identify each member of the teams progress. Another way a team is monitored is by using Gantt charts. Team leaders and supervisors can look back to a Gantt chart to make sure they are on track and not falling behind as well as making sure all the tasks are complete. Without the constant monitoring of a team, it is very unlikely that a team would be successful at achieving their objectives and can very quickly head off rails. Organizational structure and functions The way organisational are organised creates an organisational structure; the type of structure depends a lot on the individual team. Companies that tend to have flat structures are generally quite small. They operate informally, in that everyone will know everyone else and there will be few formal procedures the staff will have to follow. When companies are relatively large they need to have a more complex structure than that of a flat structure; hierarchical organisations or pyramid structures are often what flat structure grow into being. They are taller than flat structures, with the senior employees at the top, and the lowest level of employee at the bottom, it is often that there are more employees at the bottom than at the top, hence the name pyramid structure. The final type of structure is the matrix structure; they are neither flat, nor hierarchical. They are generally found in one off projects, such as building a bridge or constructing a motorway. A matrix structure allows the project managers to have direct contact and support from the main functions of the business, such as finance, production and human resources. The project teams will work on the project until completion, when the team will be disbanded and a new team will form to work on the next project. Supervisors and managers A supervisors and a team leader is a strong pillar in to the success of a team. Without them would be like playing football with no ball, it just wouldnt work. They need to be role models of good working practice and show commitment and enthusiasm towards team objectives. They contribute to the achievement of a teams objective by: * Planning: This involves managers setting objectives, targets, and planning on how to achieve them. * Monitoring: Supervisors monitor and measure the level of work being inputted by the team members in order to ensure that the team is running smoothly. * Organizing: Managers need to ensure that all their team members are equipped with necessary tools and equipment needed to carry out the tasks * Commanding or directing: It is the team leaders responsibility to command and direct their team members by communicating instructions and delegating tasks. The business being used for this section is Thomas Cook air travel service. Thomas Cook Group plc is a leading international leisure travel group, created by the merger of My Travel Group plc and Thomas Cook AG in June 2007. It is a successful enterprise with a portfolio of market leading travel brands across Europe and North America. The companies business aims and objectives are stated within its mission statement. All businesses have aims and objectives these are its purpose this tells us why the business exists and what it wants to achieve, these will change over time as some will be achieved and others will not, this is how a business develops. Aim-A goal a business wants to achieve in the future for example increase market share and to become the world leaders. Objectives-steps the business needs to achieve in order to meet its stated aims for example make a profit this will help the business to develop and expand which could lead to them increasing their overall market share then gradually becoming the world leaders. These can also be found in the businesses mission statement that describes the businesses goals in a shorter and simpler way, so other people can understand them like the public. Thomas Cook PLC Mission Statement The strategy of Thomas Cook Group plc is to continue to deliver benefits from existing cost saving and margin improvement plans already adopted by MyTravel and Thomas Cook; to grow revenues in existing and new market segments; and to deliver efficiencies from being part of a larger group. Thomas Cook has a range of air travel teams to help them operate effectively. They help provide a pleasant, safe travel service to its customers. The teams consist of small groups with a number of individuals, put together to deliver and carry out different roles. There are two types of teams: Formal teams, these are created for a specific purpose. For example a marketing team is put together to research and obtain specific information for a business e.g. competitive behaviour. They will have set goals with a specific purpose to achieve. Informal teams, these are less structured and are developed instead of made for a specific purpose. For example, a group of friends decide to do something together, so they are known as a group as they are sharing the workload etc. The teams within the Thomas Cook air travel service include the following: ground floor staff, cabin crew, pilot and other flight crew (stewards). The role of the ground floor staff is to greet passengers once they are landing at the destination; they are there to guide passengers to and from the aeroplane in a safe and orderly manor and to help where needed. In addition, they provide information such as travel, exchange rates, currency etc and other relevant information they may be required to know. They help Thomas Cook achieve its strategic aims and objectives by providing excellent customer service as they are constantly dealing with the businesses customers and their issues and problems. In addition if customers find their staff approachable and useful then they will want to use their air line service again as they had a good experience with their staff, this would also help the business gain a good and positive reputation as customers will share their experiences with family or friends etc. There is a lot of inter-dependency within this team as they all have mutual responsibilities and share a common set of principles with other. The internal teams within the air travel service such as the cabin crew and pilot have different roles to ensure a safe and pleasant journey. The cabin crews have different roles for each individual. There is a front of house and back of house cabin crew. Front of house show passengers the safety equipment and how to use them in case of an emergency, make sure passengers are strapped in securely and guide them through health and safety procedures/positions for landing and departing. However the back of house team deal with the customer orders for food and drink, throughout the journey. They all have important roles to help achieve the aims and objective of the business. For example if the back of house got the food orders wrong or the front of house team did not cater for the passengers needs, then Thomas Cook would have a lot of unhappy customers due to having a bad flight because of their staff. This may result in customers going to their competitors for a better service and gain a bad reputation etc. The cabin crews are the main employees that deal with the customers directly for hours on flights to different locations, they need to support each other and respect one another in order to have an effective team, if the members of the group get on and feel involved then this will show through the companies performance overall. Effective teams mean an effective business which will overall help achieve the businesses goals. All of the different teams within the air travel service of Thomas Cook PLC all have a lot of inter-dependence. Because even though each individual have there own responsibilities they all work together as a group to help overall achieve the best outcome. Overall all the teams play a big part in making the business successful by helping achieve the businesses strategic aims and objectives, as they provide a safe, pleasant travel service to its customers so they enjoy their stay on the Thomas Cook airplanes, so they want to use their services again. Feedback Task 1: P1 Describe ways in which the use of teams in a selected organisation may help achieve strategic aims and objectives Task 2: M1 Analyse the contribution of a high achieving team to the accomplishment of strategic aims and objectives * Discuss the characteristics of a high achieving team. * How important are these characteristics to the achievement of strategic aims and objectives? * How does the performance review cycle help with this? In each case try and relate your answers to teams that you are familiar with. Task 2 In order to develop a good team an organisation must consider personal attributes when selecting individuals. If an organisation is to exceed they must select individuals with high technical skills which meets the skills of other members. Also in order to have a high achieving ream, you must have clear objectives and the right combination of people BELBIN. Belbins identified eight major roles, and argued that teams work more effectively when they consists of members who are able to play all of these roles. High achieving teams do not result from spontaneous combustion. They are grown, nurtured and exercised. Yes it takes a lot of hard work and skill to blend the different personalities, abilities, and agendas into a cohesive unit willing to work for a common goal. Behind every great team is a strong leader. A leader whose job is not to control, but to teach, encourage, and organize when necessary. Tuckman identified four stages in developing a high performance team, which I have spoken about in detail in the first assignment; these are: Forming ? Storming ? Norming ? Performing Each one of these four stages is vital to building an effective team; the stages must also be done in the order above. If one stage is not complete, it would be impossible to continue to the next. The idea of this is just like a chain, if one link is broken or not present, the chain would fall apart. That is exactly what it is like when building a team, if any of Tuckmans four stages links would not be carried out correctly, the team would fall apart or known otherwise as an under performing team. Teams play a big part in the effective running of an organisation. As a whole an organisations workforce needs to work together in order for information to be passed across and so there is a steady stream of communication through the business. This will help spot problems before they arise and will help each department to interlink with one another. However most large organisations are broken down into different functions (departments), so each aspect of an organisation can be handled and operated more effectively. Within each department, there are teams that work together to complete tasks and assignments to help meet their overall goals, which are normally set by the team leader or department manager. These aims and objectives will be different for each department but will overall help achieve the businesses strategic aims and objectives. High achieving teams will have all the key features required to perform at a high level and will be able to motivate one another to achieve their targets, one time and to a high standard. A well-established team leader is essential for a group to move forward and progress to the next level. As this person will be responsible for leading there team in the right direction. Establishing teams help an organisations workforce to share ideas and build relationships amongst one another. It takes less pressure off individuals as teams work together by putting forward knowledge to get the best possible outcome. On the one hand, high achieving teams are very effective in reaching their goals and working together to complete tasks. They help to motivate each other so that each member feels they are part of something so they contribute even more, so the final out come is at a high level. They will be able to smoothly move through the Tuckmans forming, storming, norming and performing stages, so they are effective and efficient in how they interact and communicate with one another. However on the other hand not all the teams within every department will be well established and be highly achieving, but on balance with more work and with an effective team leader an organisation will be able to form its workforce, so they are all trained and managed so every department have high achieving teams with all the key features and attributes required to perform well. This will overall lead to every team meeting their targets, so will result in the businesses departments meeting there set goals. The greatest effect this will have on an organisation is helping to effectively meet the strategic aims and objectives of the organisation. Simply because an effective team, means an effective workforce so means an effective business overall. Without high achieving teams an organisation will not be able to work together to achieve the individual aims and objectives as their will be no communication, so no co-operation. That will show in the failure to meet strategic goals of the company. An effective workforce is the key to an effective business. Feedback Task 2: M1 Analyse the contribution of a high achieving team to the accomplishment of strategic aims and objectives Task 4: D1 Make recommendations to raise the achievement of an under-performing team * What are the characteristics of an underperforming team? * How can these weaknesses be addressed? * What approaches and strategies can be used to raise achievement? Task 4 Following the previous section, this task will evaluate dysfunctional teams and analyses all the different aspects that may effect an underperforming team and provide detailed recommendations as to how it could be improved and how they can be resolved to overall help achieve there goals. I will do this by weighing out whether it is the team that is dysfunctional or whether the other factors are genuinely amenable to help improve team activity and progress. To have effective teams they need to have good interpersonal skills in order to grow and develop successfully, also these skills and qualities help teams to bond and build relationships so they all feel part of the group and co-operate together. However, it is not always teams interpersonal skills that help complete tasks or make a team dysfunctional. Other factors such as experience in carrying out certain tasks or knowledge in that field, do determine the extent of how successful a team will be or can be. The following is an analysis of different aspects of why a team may be dysfunctional and detailed recommendations as to how this can be resolved. Analyses of why a team may be underperforming. Task-relevant Experience: This has a big impact on whether a team may be able to carry out the task or to the best of their abilities. This is simply because a team with experience will be able to make a better contribution to the team were as a team with no experience will have to learn from the beginning so will need more time to learn and adjust to what is needed in order to be successful. This leads to the theory that most people feel more comfortable with what they already know than they do learning new skills or theory, especially in a group of individuals who may be still at the forming stage of their development. The extent of the impact depends upon how well developed interpersonally the team is, to stay focused on meeting their targets. On the one hand, this affects whether the team is able to do the task if they are new to it and what it requires. For example a team of engineers are asked to carry out research on the market in which they operate in, whether they are able to do this task effectively will depend on the knowledge they have in carrying research out and what methods are available to them. Without experience, they are more likely to produce a poor out come and co-operate less effectively and fluently as individually, they may be scared of getting it wrong. On the other hand if the group is at the norming stage, then the group will feel comfortable to accept criticism if they are wrong and may motivate each other to meet the challenge of doing something new and may enjoy learning new skills and knowledge to help meet their goals. So on balance there are two ways a team may accept the task if they have no experience and may be the cause to why a team may be underperforming. However if a team has excellent inter-personal skills they could overall overcome this problem and seek new opportunities from this task. In this scenario, I recommend that a team should look for solutions and better ways of completing their task to over come the problem. However having the right resource to carry out the task is equally important to be able to produce a high standard and to overall complete the work they are given. In addition, the team may not have definitions of responsibility between members. For example they may not have a team leader to lead them and organise the group to get a tasks done and on time. This could lead to members being left out and a feeling of tension within the group, which will result in less co-operation and less team work being done. Without a team leader the group will have no one to manage the project so will not operate effectively as their will be no leader to define the objectives to help meet them in the most appropriate, simplest and logic lest order The question to consider is whether a team is capable of achieving the task or whether they are able to for example may not have the resources needed to complete the assignment or may have a team leader with poor communication and interpersonal skills. Recommendations From the above information on the different aspect that can affect a team and make it dysfunctional the following are recommendations to help raise the achievement of an underperforming team. I recommend team-building techniques are used to help improve the productivity and interaction of the team members to help the group bond and feel part of something. Successful team building has far-reaching communication skills in an organisation. Improve the way team members interact and you improve their ability to solve problems. Better problem solving means better efficiency in general. Increased efficiency tends to boost morale and productivity. It also helps to decrease stress, turnover and operating costs. In addition, all of these improvements bolster the organisations public image. Once established an effective team becomes self-perpetuating. In addition, I recommend that a point scoring system that has prospects should be used to help motivate teams to achieve their targets so they have something to work towards, as they will want to get the highest score so they can be recognised for their hard work and rewarded. This will help the teams within an organisation become more competitive and work much harder to achieve their goals. This will encourage underperforming teams to be motivated to work together to get their tasks done so they can be recognised by the business for their contribution to their success. Also to scope for personal and professional development through training and international mobility. This will mean employees can continue to learn and gain new skills through their work. This will help motivate staff to do the most amount of work they are able to do to, to the best standard they can achieve. So they have a better chance of being promoted. This will help underacheiving teams to be motivated to do the work as they can learn how to do it if they done know how. In addition to the above recommendations, my final recommendation is to overall increase employee motivation by concentrating on the environment they work in and what can be done to provide a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere so the productivity can be increase and stress levels can be decreased. Techniques such as bringing plants into the work place have proved to reduce stress and bring a more calmed environment to the workforce. It is very important for any organisation/business to improve underperforming teams as they result in increasing levels of customer complaints, high staff turnover and incomplete tasks. So overall it leader to an under performing business as they will not be meeting their strategic aims and objectives. Overall action needs to be taken at the first signs of a dysfunctional team.

Women in Arizona Politics Essay -- Females Arizona Political Science E

Women in Arizona Politics Women in Arizona politics have come a long way during the twentieth century. At the beginning of the century, women were just fighting for the right to vote with the suffrage movement. As we approach the dawn of a new century, women in Arizona hold five of the top offices in the state, including Governor Jane Hull. Throughout this chronological discussion, I will be continually drawing on three major points. First, the accomplishments of many women who have made an impact in Arizona politics. Second, the political offices being sought and won by women showed steady increases. Third, the number of women seeking political offices showed steady increases. These will be my three main methods in showing that Arizona women made significant progress in the political arena during the twentieth century. I. The Fight For Suffrage To understand the progress made by women in the 1900’s, one must understand that the suffrage movement was an ongoing struggle from the time Arizona was granted territorial status in 1863. Josephine Hughes was a principal figure in the new Arizona women’s suffrage movement. Ms. Hughes resigned her position as president of Arizona’s Women’s Christian Temperance Union in order to establish the first Arizona Suffrage Association. Even though women’s suffrage didn’t garner enough votes during the first Constitutional Convention in 1891, Josephine Hughes laid the tracks for other women to follow, and is considered a pioneer in the Arizona women’s suffrage movement (Kelly 7). Women’s fight for suffrage in Arizona continued in 1910 with the second Constitutional Convention. The National American Women’s Suffrage Association sent organizers and money in... .... However, I feel that the best way to measure the political progress of Arizona women during the twentieth century can be summed up in the following four words, from suffrage to Governor. Think about that for a second. When the century began, women in Arizona were just fighting for the basic right to vote. As we close out the twentieth century, a woman is governing the entire state of Arizona. To call this progress anything less than tremendous would be the understatement of the century. Works Cited Kelly, Rita Mae. Women And the Arizona Political Process. Maryland: University Press of America, Inc., 1988. Simpson, Claudette. "Frances Munds and Arizona's History of Suffrage." Charlotte Hall Museum. March 22, 1998. April 6, 1999. <http://www.prescottaz.com/pdc/dayarc/32298.htm> <http://www.governor.state.az.us/news/indexbio.html>

Be Sample Paper

Business Environment Contents 1. Understand the organisational purposes of businesses3 11. Identify the purposes of different types of organisation. Define Anglo American’s purpose. 3 1. 2. Describe the extent to which Anglo American meets the objectives of different stakeholders3 1. 3. Highlight responsibilities and also explain strategies used to fulfil them at Anglo American. 4 3. Understand the behavior of organisations in their market environment5 3. 1.Evaluate the impact of competition policy and other mechanisms of Anglo American’s activities5 3. 2 Define the various types of markets and explain how they determine the strategic decisions6 3. 4. Judge how the business and cultural environments shape the behaviour of a organization8 4. Assess the significance of the global factors that shape national business activities8 4. 1 Discuss the significance of international trade to UK based mining organisations8 4. Analyze the impact of global factors on UK business orga nisations9 4. 3 Evaluate the impact of policies of the European Union on UK business organisations. 10 Task-1 1. Understand the organisational purposes of businesses 1. 1Identify the purposes of different types of organisation. Define Anglo American in terms of organisational purpose. The purpose of an organization or a company can be multi facet. The purpose of all the organization is to satify the needs of the customers The goals of an organisation may be multi facet.The similarity in goal of every organisation is to reach to the top by its brand name, goodwill, quality of product. No company should make a compromise when the question of goodwill of the organisation is concerned. It takes years together to establish a Brand Name of the product produced by the company. Apart from quality,the question of after sales service, availability, net work system play important role. An organisation of repute should strive for profit which is the essence of any organisation.An organization i s a social entity which pursues specified goals and controls its own performance. There are some boundaries which separate organization from its environment. There are various purposes of different organizations like profit-for and not-for-profit organizations operate for various purposes. The purpose of a not-for-profit organization is to bring social reforms like educational institutions etc. On the other hand, the purpose of a profit for organization is to offer products or valuable services to earn returns.Therefore, the purpose of every organization differs and all employees are motivated to attain the goals set by the organization Rate This Answer The organizational purpose primarily defines the major reason of existence of an organization in the market. Generally, the sole purpose of any organization should be satisfying customers. For a manufacturing organization, which is into manufacturing of farming equipments, the purpose can be providing wide-range of innovative solutio ns to farmers so that the starvation and malnutrition can be eliminated.For an organization, which is into providing educational services, the purpose can be providing quality education to people to enable people to be more efficient and to make people to achieve legitimate goals of their life. In the same way, the purpose of a non-profit organization is to provide services that benefit to public or in simple terms, to serve humanity. Likewise, every organization will have a purpose, which emphasizes on organizational growth as well as society growth.Similarly, the purpose of Anglo American, a leading mining company in the world, is to deliver excellence in safe and responsible way by adding value to communities, people, organizations, governments and stakeholders in areas such as mining and exploration (AngloAmerican, 2011). With the help of sustainable policies and approaches such as integrated sustainable development, transparency, ethics, human rights and collaborations, Anglo A merican has been striving to stick to the basic purpose of the organization (AngloAmerican, 2011). . 2Describe the extent to which Anglo American meets the objectives of different stakeholders Stakeholder is a person or a group of people or organizations that directly or indirectly get affected due to the actions or activities of an organization. Organizations have to keep all stakeholders in mind while taking any decision that impacts internal and external organization. Employees, suppliers, creditors, debtors, investors and customers etc. , are considered some of the major stakeholders of any organization (James, 2002).Different stakeholders of an organization will have different objectives. For example, the objective of an investor is to gain profits from the investment which he or she made in the organization. Similarly, the objective of employee to work in a safe working environment, learn work and grow in the corporate ladder etc. As a mining organization, Anglo American has t o meet the objectives of primary stakeholders like investors, employees and creditors and secondary stakeholders like general public, communities, activist groups and media.With the sustainable development approach, Anglo American has been reaching the objectives of all stakeholders for past few years. With the performance score card, which tracks the performance of organization against social and environmental indicators, Anglo American has been focusing on areas such as safety, health, social performance, socio-economic performance, rural health systems development and enterprise development (AngloAmerican, 2011).As far as safety is concerned, the fatal injuries have reduced to 17 in 2011. The number of new cases of occupational disease has been significantly dropped to 190 in 2011 from 280 in 2007. Nearly 93% sites maintain OHSAS 18001 standards, which is a predominant achievement of Anglo American in the area of safety and health management. Overall, the organization has witness ed good growth rates in every area that affects stakeholders in 2011.To comply the rules of environmental management systems standards, nearly 94% of all sites have undergone ISO 14001 certification; all infrastructure and equipments are purchased to make comply the rules of environmental standards (AngloAmerican, 2011). 1. 3. Highlight the responsibilities and also explain the strategies used in connection with fulfilling these responsibilities at Anglo American. As a mining organization, Anglo American has to fulfill economical, social and environmental responsibilities.Some of the major responsibility of Anglo American is to implement best practices across all branch offices to avoid social and community issues; to build site level capacities to manage social issues; to contribute to societies by allocating funds to enrich poor communities, improve facilities at site level to avoid health and safety risks; to make a framework improves the engagement of all stakeholders; to develo p sustainable environment. With the help of the Anglo American plc’s Socio-Economic Assessment Toolbox (SEAT), the organization has been effectively assessing the social and environmental responsibilities (AngloAmerican, 2011).With the help of SEAT, Anglo American has been effectively identifying the local stakeholders, environmental risks, social and community issues, analyzing risks at shop floor facilities across all sites, developing a matrix to help communities and societies to address some major challenges etc. With the help of SEAT, Anglo American has been successfully fulfilling social and environmental responsibilities (AngloAmerican, 2011). Task-3 3. Understand the behavior of organisations in their market environment 3. 1.Evaluate the impact of competition policy and other regulatory mechanisms of theUK government on Anglo American’s activities The major aim of the competitive policy and other regulatory mechanisms in UK is to make organizations work in a be tter environment and to let organizations contribute to effectiveness and competitiveness of UK economy. These regulatory policies have been impacting Anglo American organization both positively and negatively by eliminating anti-trust groups or cartels in the industry, liberalizing the market, implementing State Aid Control and involving in merger control.Organizations like Anglo American, which strive for ethical values and transparency, have been losing their market share due to antitrust agreements and cartels in the market (Parkin, 2002). The first pillar of competition policy of UK works on eliminating antitrust agreements and fixed-price agreements that seek to restrict competition. By restricting the antitrust and fixed-price agreements in the market, Anglo American will get a chance to serve more customers in an ethical and transparent way.The second pillar of the competition policy, which takes care of liberalized the market, may impact Anglo American in a negative way bec ause the liberalization of the market is nothing but giving chance to fresh competitors. The increased competition may affect some business segments of Anglo American (AngloAmerican, 2011). The third pillar of competition strategy, which takes care of State Aid Control, may also impact Anglo American in a negative way because it will be very difficult for the organization to get grants or funds from government if the organization does not show any future prospects (AngloAmerican, 2011).The fourth pillar of competition policy is merger control. This might affect Anglo American in positive and negative ways because Anglo American can take the help of government to successfully close a merger activity if everything is perfect but some times government will not approve for the merger activity if the merger between two companies spoils the competitive environment. 3. 2 Define the various types of markets and explain how two of these types of markets would determine the pricing and output decisions of a UK based organisation.Perfect competition is nothing but a market, where all organizations will have equal strengths and weaknesses. In this type of market, it is very difficult to find organizations that have power to influence pricing structure. Monopoly is nothing but an organization which has power to the control of the market (Binger and Hoffman, 1998). Organizations will act as monopolies when there is no competition in the market. Monopolistic competition is nothing but a market which has numerous of competitors but they sell slightly differentiated products.Monopolistic competitive market is an imperfect competitive market which give space for numerous of companies as long as the profits are attractive (Binger and Hoffman, 1998). Oligopoly is nothing but a market, which is dominated by a few numbers of organizations. The market form, oligopoly arises due to lack of competitors in the market. Similar to Monopoly, where only one major organization exists in the market, the duopoly is a market form, where only two organizations exist (Binger and Hoffman, 1998).Source: Binger and Hoffman, 1998 Google is a perfect example of Monopoly, which commands nearly 70% of search engine traffic. As a monopoly in search engine market the pricing structure of Google will influence the way nascent search engines like gocomb. com, which is launched very recently. As a new search engine, to compete with big giants like Google and Yahoo, it has to offer advertising services at cheaper cost. When it comes to output decision, Gocomb. com has to offer high advertising space at marginal or no profit.The perfect examples for perfect competition in UK are fruit vendors or vegetable vendors who sell products at almost same price. The pricing decisions and output decisions will not be influenced in perfect competitive market because of no entry/exist barriers and switching costs. 3. 3. Using a range of examples both from within and outside the context of a UK based company illustrate how market forces influence and dictate the responses of organisations. Market forces such as political, economical and social will influence the responses of organization (Dunnett, 1997).Political forces are majorly related to government actions and law. The way recent London riots 2011 impacted the business activities of various organization can be considered as perfect example for political force. These riots demanded assets of numerous organizations pushing them to cost pressures. Economical forces that influence organizations are economic crisis, unemployment and poor economic climate. The recent economic crisis of 2008 is a perfect example for how poor economic climate or business environment influence organizations.In response to economic forces, organizations will face pressures from all stakeholders including employees. As social forces affect attitude, perception and interest of individuals, the result will obviously influence organizations (Hornby, 200 1). The perfect example of social factors is the changing attitudes of UK people towards health and diet. To cater the increased demand, numerous of fitness centers and organic food centers have come up in UK. 3. 4.Judge how the business and cultural environments shape the behaviour of a selected organization Business environments such as religious organizations, banking and financial institutions, and government agencies will shape the behavior of organizations like General Healthcare Group. Government agencies such as regulatory bodies and policy making institutions will shape the way GHS operates. Generally, most of the policies of UK healthcare system are made in favor government organizations.Similarly, the interest rates offered by banking and financial institutions will influence the decisions of GHS in launching new services. Cultural environmental factors such as national cultures, traditions, individual behaviors, and green issues will also influence the way organizations operates. In this globalized environment, national culture, which is comprised of values, beliefs and tradition and religions of employees, will influence the organizations like Anglo American in a great way.To manage diverse workforce, the top management of Anglo American or GHS has to implement wide-range of human resource and leadership strategies to create an all inclusive environment that facilitates growth of the organization. Individual behaviors such as attitudes, perceptions and personal characteristics of employees will also shape the behavior of Anglo American or GHS. 4. Assess the significance of the global factors that shape national business activities 4. 1 Discuss the significance of international trade to UK based mining organisationsInternational trade is nothing but exchange of goods and services across the international borders of various countries. While mining companies make a signification contribution to the economy of UK, and world economy, international trad e is playing a significant role in this contribution. In fact, international trade is making UK’s mining companies to be in comfort zone. The major benefit of international trade to UK mining companies is to the opportunity to export construction equipments, and mining equipments to developing countries like India, China, Brazil, and Eastern Europe (Dawes, 1995).The international trade has also been helping mining organizations of UK to effectively utilize existing natural resources to produce more goods and services that lift the world economy. As London is considered as a home for large scale metal producers, UK has become a dominant player to export mining goods to several other European Countries as well as the United Sates (Dawes, 1995). The international trade is also helping UK mining companies to important raw materials from other European countries and Asian Countries at cheaper cost. 4. Analyze the impact of global factors on UK business organisations In todayâ€⠄¢s competitive environment, numerous of global factors such as international markets, international competitiveness, export markets, trade blocs and international growth will impact the way UK business organizations operate. Based on these key factors, UK organizations should rework on their business strategies in regular in regular intervals. Global factors majorly influence strategic decisions related to access to new international markets, trade blocs and important acquisitions.Trade Blocs will majorly impact UK organizations at the time of entering into new markets such as NAFTA. Some of the other factors that impact UK organizations are social, political, economical, technological and legal factors in various countries. Global factors majorly impact organizations that depend on imports and exports (Dicken,1998). If taxation policies in Asian Countries like India and China, from where most of the UK companies import raw materials, are changed, it will impact the cost structure of the UK organizations.In the same way cultural factors like religious considerations, environmental considerations and ethical considerations in one country to where UK organizations export goods and services may impact sales. Similarly, economic policies such as fiscal policies, exchange rates and internal regulations will also impact the exports of UK companies (Dicken,1998). 4. 3 Evaluate the impact of policies of the European Union on UK business organisations. Some of the major policies that impact the UK business organizations are Agricultural Policy and Common Fisheries Policy and Healthcare Policy.Mostly, European policies will impact organizations in both positive and negative way. It helps organizations to increase the productivity, ensure fair trade across all sectors, market stabilization, streamline supply markets, and provide goods and services at an affordable rate to customers. European policies will also help organizations work in a perfect competitive markets, fa cilitates acquisitions and mergers and work closely with related regulatory bodies etc. Moreover, policies of European Union will demand organizations in major sectors like healthcare sector to maintain good infrastructure to provide quality services.The major policies of European Unions have majorly four mechanisms. The first mechanism demands organizations to produce quality products and take care of grading as well as packaging. The second mechanism helps organizations to protect themselves from market changes. The third mechanism asks organizations to set competitive prices. The fourth mechanism is set various standards for trade with non European Nations. References AngloAmerican, 2011. 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