Ebay Turnaround Strategy Essay Example for Free

Ebay Turnaround Strategy Essay The company known as eBay, which started in 1995, grew significantly within a decade to become the number one e-commerce site in the world by sales revenue. In 2008, Donahoe took over as the new CEO of eBay. This was a time when the company was facing issues with growth and consumer behavior was changing. What used to be a thrilling experience for buyers was now an inconvenient waste of time and money. Consumers who were eager to bid against each other for products online were now satisfied with buying new products at fixed prices. Therefore, ebay’s turnaround strategy was to bring the consumers the best experience to find what they want exactly how and when they want it. Although traditional eBay sellers complained about the difficulty for them to do business profitably with the new strategy, Donahoe believed buyers wanted fixed prices, quick service, and free shipping. I agree with Donahoe’s turnaround strategy because eBay had to focus on the market demands to see growth. Something had to be done in a market where consumers wanted fixed prices and free shipping that they were receiving from companies like Amazon. om. Marketing segmentation is dividing a market into smaller segments of buyers with distinct needs, characteristics, or behaviors that might require separate marketing and develops profiles of the resulting market segments. Creating applications for smart phones and tablets was a good way to separate a specific department to its customers. For example, the eBay Fashion app allowed users to browse through products from the fashion department. Buyers were able to take time out of their day and make more purchases with mix and match features. Using the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) method, companies like eBay classify all its SBUs according to the growth-share matrix. Market growth rate provides a measure of market attractiveness and relative market share measures a company’s strength in the market. The four types of SBUs are stars, cash cows, question marks, and dogs. Stars are high-growth, high-share businesses like eBay. When their growth slows down it turns into cash cows, which need less investment to hold their market share. Pepsi is a cash cow in the sense that its not growing but it is making large profit in the meantime. Question marks are low-share business units in high-growth markets. A question mark could be a small garage that does car repairs because it has a small market share but a large demand for car repairs. Dogs are low-growth, low-share businesses and products that may generate enough cash to maintain themselves. An example of this would be a small town theatre business.

Platos View On The Soul Philosophy Essay

Platos View On The Soul Philosophy Essay Plato was a Greek philosopher. He had many views on life and existence. Platos views on the mind body distinction have been the target of many criticisms since his time. In the republic, he formulated ideas on the allegory of the cave and the theory of the forms. He believed that our existence on earth was merely a shadow of a higher spiritual plane, our bodies just a vessel, or even looked upon as a cage trapping the soul and restricting it from this higher plain. Plato was a dualist and so believed that when the material body dies the soul lives on. Platos views, are best described in his analogy of the cave in which it depicts a prisoner that escapes the cave metaphorical for this life- and goes on to discover everything he once believed in was only a fraction of the truth: Platos main philosophy stemmed from the cave and was about knowing the theory of the forms. Here, he thought that the soul is a substance and is immortal, however the body- being physical- could be doubted as it was part of the empirical world. On the one hand, Platos ideas about the soul were revolutionary and extremely advanced for his time, as with most of Platos philosophies, yet on the other hand they appear to be both self-conflicting and flawed. Platos idea of the soul is his dualist position, believing that body and soul are fundamentally distinct. His theory on the soul was produced in his book Phaedrus. In it Plato was most concerned with demonstrating the immortality of the soul and its ability to survive bodily death. He proposed the idea that, like Aristotles idea of motion, whatever is the source of its own motion or animation must be immortal. Plato was writing at a time in Greek philosophy where popular opinion believed that the soul did not survive death, and that it dispersed into nothing, like breath or smoke. Plato believed that the soul must be immortal by the very nature of being the source of its own animation, for it is only through a psyche that things can be living rather than dead. The souls are both animated and at the same time the source of its own animation. Plato also states that the soul is an intelligible and non-tangible article that cannot be destroyed or dispersed, much like his ideas about form s of non-tangible realities; such as beauty or courage. The argument from affinity, as Plato posited in Phaedrus, states that because the soul is an invisible and intangible entity, as opposed to a complex and tangible body; the two must be distinct and separate. Plato believed that which is composite must be divisible, sensible and transient; and that which is simple must be invisible, indivisible and immutable. Forms bear a resemblance to the simple, immutable entities, such as beauty; however a beautiful painting is transient and palpable. The body shows an affinity to the composite by nature of its mortality and mutability; just as the soul shows a similar affinity to immortality and indivisibleness. To further emphasise the point, Plato writes when the soul investigates by itself it passes into the realm of what is pure, ever existing, immortal and unchanging. He argues that just as the bodys prime function is to understand the material and transient world, the functioning of the soul as an entity of rational and self-reflective thou ght demonstrates its affiliation with a simple and immutable world; showing that the two are distinct. However Plato does not explore the criticisms of this argument that just because an entity portrays an affiliation, does not necessarily require it to be as that which it affiliates. Plato believed that the soul, if it were to be the animator of all living things, must be responsible for a person s mental or psychological activities and responses. For the soul cannot be the reason for life, yet at the same time limited in its influence over the bodies in which it animates. However this provides one of the most serious and potentially defeating criticisms of Platos views on the soul. He fails to address the issue of the interrelationship between body and soul, if they are indeed distinct. He doesnà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢t mention if the soul act as controller of a lifeless body, or is there more to the body than simply the material. Moreover the argument from affiliation would suggest that the body is concerned with the material, composite world whilst the soul is concerned with the invisible and simple world. If this is the case then the soul cannot, following from Platos argument, have any interaction with the material, bodily world; for then it ceases to be simple and immutable. An argument from recollection, which Plato first put forward when discussing his theory of the world of the forms, also serves his theory of the soul. Perfect forms, such as equality, are knowable a priori; we have no need for experience to tell us whether two lines are equal length. We must, therefore, know these things through recollection of these perfect forms. Therefore, the soul must have pre-existed the body to know these facts a priori. Platos argument from opposites was based on his idea that everything in the observable world has an opposite effect. As Plato writes in his work Phaedo; If something smaller comes to be it will come from something larger before, which became smaller. In other words everything we can know has an opposite; asleep and awake; hot and cold. Similarly they are reversible, just as one goes from a state of sleep to a state of being awake, one can do the opposite. Plato argued that if this were the case, then the same should apply to life and death. Just as one can go from life to death, one must be able to go from death to life; and if this statement is correct, then the soul must survive this transition and as a consequence possess immortality and separation from the body. He believed that animation and life was integral to the very notion of the soul, just like heat is a part of fire; thus it cannot be destroyed and is eternal. A separate argument from his theory of opposites was that of a similar theory of the forms and their opposites. He stated that no entity can consist of contradictory forms, and thus one form must necessarily exist and the other not in any particular entity. The number five cannot possess both the form of even and odd; by adding or subtracting one; the form of odd is displaced by even. Plato wrote: so fire as the cold approaches will either go away or be destroyed; it will never venture to admit coldness and remain what it was, fire and cold The soul must share in the form of life, for we know that those living have a soul. Therefore, it cannot contain the form of death also, for this would be in direct conflict of life. The soul must ontologically necessarily exist, and must therefore be immortal. Contemporary analysis of Platos views on the soul produces many criticisms; there is a clear chronological confusion as his work progresses; with the soul starting as an unintelligible and non-tangible item, yet progressing to where the soul becomes a complex tripartite entity that is trapped in the material body, yet still longing to enter the world of the forms. Plato demonstrates a contradictory and muddled thought process that attempts to find resolutions for flaws in his thinking. The idea of an imperfect entity entering the perfect realm of the forms is one such logical fallacy in his argument; and he does this by seeking to find reason and justification for his conclusion, rather than seeking a conclusion based on all of his own logic.

The Body Shop

The Body Shop The Body Shop (TBS) has developed 2500 stores in 60 countries with a range of over 1,200 products in approximately 30 years, and is the second largest cosmetic franchise in the world. After the first TBSs outlet founded in 1976, the company has experienced rapid growth and with expanding rate of 50% annually. When its stock first obtained a full listing on the London Stock Exchange, its price increased by more than 500%. In 1999, TBS was even voted as the second most trusted brand in UK by the Consumers Association. The founder, Anita Roddick had received numerous awards including Dame Commander of the British Empire for her contributions. (Roddick, Anita Lucia Overview, Personal Life, Career Details, Chronology: Anita Lucia Roddick, Social and Economic Impact). TBSs success is hard to observe from the extrinsic value but the ethical value which make the success of TBS so legendary and inspiring. Anita Roddick, founder of TBS first entered the industry by using  £4,000 to open a small stand-alone shop of natural ingredient cosmetics and skincare products. Through her early travel experience, she had seen the potential of those natural ingredients being produced as cosmetic and skincare products commercially. Due to the budget constraint, Roddick used the urine sample containers purchased from local hospital as the containers of her products. The shops walls are painted with dark green to cover the damp. To save cost on advertisement, Roddick spread aroma in front of her shop to gain attention of the patrons. The strategy pursued was a huge success and another shop was able to be opened before the first year ended. In its second year, the company started to franchise the operation and by 1984 TBS already had 138 stores while 87 of them were located outside UK. The development of the company continued to soar when it went public in 1984. At the same time, Roddick started her efforts to encourage and contribute to social and environmental problems such as campaign of issues against animal testing in cosmetic and recycling. In 1987, TBSs Trade Not Aid program started. It was aimed to help sustaining third countries people livelihood. (Roddick, Anita Lucia Overview, Personal Life, Career Details, Chronology: Anita Lucia Roddick, Social and Economic Impact) Besides, TBSs charitable activities included aiding communities close to home and various donations. Roddick was strongly persistent with her own singular vision, that business could be a force for good, and that profits could be made without compromising principles which corresponding with TBSs mission statement, To dedicate our business to the pursuit of social and environmental change. In 1990, TBS Foundation was launched to give financial support to pioneering and frontline organizations that aim to achieve progress in the areas of human and civil rights, environmental and animal protection. (TBS values campaigns) The website of TBS was launched in 1995 to keep pace with IT revolution. In 2002, Roddick stepped down as the co-chairperson of TBS In ternational PLC but remained back as non-executive director. In 2006, TBS was purchased by Loreal which is not against animal testing. This move has raised a huge controversy around the supporters of TBS, however the company clarified that it is operated independently within the Loreal Group. Until now, TBS is still the icon of ethics business for many people. These are three well-known policies that TBS taken as their core values of products: Against animal testing TBS is approved by the internationally recognized Humane Cosmetic Standard which is against conducting or commission cruel tests on animal for cosmetic ingredients and products. In 1980, animal tests were popular among cosmetics brand. Later, these numbers dropped gradually and companies bowed to public opinion and in 1999 there were none in Britain. While TBS is among one of the leading forces to object these not humane experiments, they always emphasized that they have never and will never test their cosmetic products or commission others to do it. Support community trade Most multinational corporate are just searching for cheap labour force in undeveloped countries while TBS has pioneered a program called community trade, not only about charity trade, but to achieve economic development and empowerment which provides opportunities for disadvantaged producers, especially women and indigenous people. The value chain to the advantage of producers is reconfigured, often via reducing multiple mark-up inefficiencies and cutting out exploitative middleman. TBS realized that without development of the community, any development in the community will be ineffective. (Allen R. ) As a result, the company introduces fair trade by buying the ingredients and resources they demand in the production of their products from those people with higher than market price. One of the examples is the purchase of cocoa beans from Kuapa Kokoo Company in Ghana, which is a fair trade cooperative with over 30,000 small-scale farmers. Protect our planet The 3R concept which represents reuse, recycle, refill has been utilized well in TBS. The company encourages the consumers to return the containers of their products after use to their outlets. From early 2008 onwards, 100% recycled plastic bottles and paper bags were introduced. TBS organized campaigns to raise conscious of people about the responsibility being a citizen of earth to protect the environment. Discussions Innovation and entrepreneurship are linked by a common concern for the creation of new phenomena, whether new organizations operating in increasingly competitive markets, innovation is often a condition of simple survival. For public sector organizations, ceaseless cost pressures and increasing public demands are compelling constant innovation and even new kinds of entrepreneurship. Before the company is established, European have just started to talk about green and nobodies have linked this concept with business while Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is still a new term to the industry. As firms are always pursuit profit maximizing target, bringing ethical values in may create a dilemma between these two objectives. However, having the reputation as the most fearless and passionate female entrepreneur in the history of cosmetic world, Anita Roddick refused to separate her strong personal sense of social responsibility from the company values. TBS has taken so much risk to brin g new concepts into the production and the marketing strategy. This strong commitment has given the company strength to gather loyal consumers who share common values. Eventually, TBS has proven the validity of CSR by showing a tremendous success. TBS saves a huge amount of money by not advertising but to put more efforts in social activities than other mainstream cosmetic brands, which gives it a same effect of publicity. It is an alternative way to generate mass publicity for the company without throwing big money to capture rosy commercial advertisement. A very good example of this is TBSs first major campaign in 1986 which is alliance with Greenpeace in UK, Save the Whale. This campaign has helped to promote the new product line of TBS which is using jojoba oil as the ingredient to substitute the whale spermaceti. In the cosmetics market that time, the business models are already standardized. TBS has focused on the business level strategy to obtain and sustain differentiation and advantage on competitors in the same industries. Not like other cosmetic brands which highly advertised the artificially created beauty and expensive ingredients, the products it offered provided no miracle effects other than cleaning and protecting. The usual finely designed bottles were also replaced with simple containers which are made from recyclable materials. The company also set up its own store while most of the cosmetics brands were locating them inside the shopping centre. TBS has highly concentrated on developing a drastically different image which is more focused on the ethical value and natural quality in it. The company has succeeded in challenging the accepted value curve of luxury cosmetics and beauty products to create one based on more ethical values. The social activism approach that taken by TBS has created a whole new group of consumer which is ethical living oriented. This is a very smart step taken by TBS, not only building customer loyalty based on distinctive ethical values, the company itself also benefits from gaining a high reputation and fame for environment friendly and contribution to the public. This unique positioning of TBS also made itself more invulnerable from price cutting wars. The company has presented such a distinct motive compared to other profit oriented corporations. Consumers choose products of TBS based on the conscience that generate naturally by their own judgments. Conclusion TBS has shown an exceptional entrepreneurship and achieved high recognition by creating a different corporate culture in its industry. Entrepreneur defines a person who is willing and capable of converting a new idea into a successful new product or service, while taking risks all along the way to get there. (Entrepreneurial Thinking: The Story Of Anita Roddick From TBS, 2009) It is a truly risky move as the company has to overcome the high uncertainty to implement such novel thing to the world, which later also created a whole new market that never existed before. When the company is founded, there is still no precedent of bundling ethical values together with cosmetic and skincare business, TBS is the first company to emerge this idea and adapt it into reality. TBS has the advantage to develop the market for natural ingredients made cosmetic and skincare products. The key branding has been so successful as the term green business and ethical shopping has already became its brand id entity. On a range of surveys, ethically sensitive consumers are no longer a small, if vocal, pressure group: rather, a third of the public now see themselves as strongly ethical.The eccentric and ethical style of the company could generate fierce loyalty. (Gerry Johnson, 2008) As these concepts like fair trade and green business is now in the mainstream in many countries with increasing levels of public awareness and multinational company involvement, TBS is able to retain the enthusiasm and commitment from their workers and generating stable growth. References Allen, R. (n.d.). Beyond timber: social, economic and cultural dimensions of non-wood forest products in Asia and the Pacific TBS experience. Retrieved December 3, 2009, from FAO Corporate Document Repository: http://www.fao.org/docrep/X5336e/x5336e0h.htm Allen, S. (n.d.). Anita Roddick Redefining Business As We Know It. Retrieved December 3, 2009, from About.com.Entrepreneurs: http://entrepreneurs.about.com/od/famousentrepreneurs/p/anitaroddick.htm Andrew Crane, D. M. (Ed.). (2007). Corporate social responsibility Vol 3 : Corporate social responsibility in global context. London: Sage. Entrepreneurial Thinking: The Story Of Anita Roddick From TBS. (2009, February 20). Retrieved December 3, 2009, from Professional Online Publishing: New Media Trends, Communication Skills, Online Marketing Robin Goods MasterNewMedia: http://www.masternewmedia.org/entrepreneurial-thinking-the-story-of-anita-roddick-from-the-body-shop/ George R. Goethals, G. S. (2004). Encyclopedia of leadership Volume 4. Sage Publications. Gerry Johnson, K. S. (2008). Exploring corporate strategy : text cases. Financial Times Prentice Hall ; Pearson Education. Joe Tidd, J. B. (2005). Managing Innovation. West Sussex: John Wiley Sons, Ltd. Maltoni, V. (2007, September 13). Innovation: Value-based Customer Service is not Lip Service. Retrieved December 3, 2009, from Fast Company: http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/fast-company-staff/fast-company-blog/innovation-value-based-customer-service-not-lip-service-0 Roddick, A. (n.d.). AnitaRoddick.com. Retrieved December 3, 2009, from About Anita Roddick: http://anitaroddick.com/aboutanita.php Roddick, Anita Lucia Overview, Personal Life, Career Details, Chronology: Anita Lucia Roddick, Social and Economic Impact. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2009, from Online Encyclopedia: http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/6347/Roddick-Anita-Lucia.html Roy, S. (2008, September). Business as usual: A case study on TBS. Retrieved December 3, 2009, from Journal of Applied Case Research: http://www.swcrahome.org/Cases/Body_Shop.pdf Staunig, J. (n.d.). Design Driven Innovation Collection: TBS. Retrieved December 3, 2009, from Design Driven Innovation: http://www.designdriveninnovation.com/ddicases/DDI-Collection_BODYSHOP.pdf Swann, G. P. (2009). The Economics of Innovation an introduction. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. TBS International plc Company History. (n.d.). Retrieved Dec 3, 2009, from Funding Universe: http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/The-Body-Shop-International-plc-Company-History.html TBS INTERNATIONAL PLC Values report 2009. (2009). Retrieved December 3, 2009, from TBS INTERNATIONAL PLC: http://www.thebodyshop.com/_en/_ww/values-campaigns/assets/pdf/Values_report_lowres_v2.pdf TBS values campaigns. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2009, from TBS : http://www.thebodyshop.com/_en/_ww/values-campaigns/index.aspx? Vidhya Alakeson, C. S. (2004, July). Innovation for Sustainable Development. Retrieved December 3, 2009, from Forum For The Future: www.forumforthefuture.org/files/Innovationforsd.pdf

The Childlike and Biblical Connotations in The Lion, the Witch and the

The Childlike and Biblical Connotations in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe       Throughout his writing career, CS Lewis has been known for writing many books with a hint of biblical connotations in them. As Kathryn Lindskoog states, "CS Lewis is known for opposing the spirit of modern thought with the unpopular Christian doctrines of sin and evil" (2083). Lewis himself has said, "You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life or death to you" (Freaks 60). Although his belief in God has not yet presented itself in that manner, he continues to devote his time to the artful presentation of what he believes to be true about God and man, as observed by Dr. Bruce Lockerbie (177). The second book in the Narnia Series, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is no exception. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis uses the vehicle of a children's fantasy novel to present latent Christian theology and beliefs.    Children who read the Narnia Series do so for the action and excitement. Authorities say that they are likely to accept the actions and ideas without doubts of how real the story may be (Who's Who 29). Lewis uses childlike images to create deeper meanings than what might otherwise be accessible. One of the most noticeable is the fact that throughout the Narnia Series, the use of children as the main characters establishes a physical connection with young reader. When the main characters grow older, they are told they are not to come back. In Prince Caspian, after the children have helped to defeat Miraz, Aslan warns Peter that he and Susan are too old to enter Narnia again (236). Lewis keeps the main characters young, keeping t... ...m. Ed. James P. Draper. Vol. 4. Detriot: Gale. 1992. 2092-2094. 6 vols. "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Pattering of a Fantastic World." Folio Bound Views. CD-ROM. Folio Corp. 1994. NIV Collegiate Devotional Bible. Gran Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House., 1998. Fisher, Margery. Who's Who In Children's Books. New York: Holt, 1998. Lewis, C[live] S[taples]. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. New York: HarperTrophy, 1950. ---. Prince Caspian. New York: HarperTrophy, 1951. Lindskoog, Kathryn, Ann. " Lewis, C. S.". World Literature Criticism. Ed. James P. Draper. Vol. 4. Detriot: Gale. 1992. 2082-2084. 6 vols. Lockerbie, Dr. Bruce. "LEWIS, C(live) S(taples)." Contemperary Literary Criticism. Ed. Carolyn Riley. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale. 1973. 177. 21 vols. DCTalk., and Voice of the Martyrs. Jesus Freaks. Tulsa: Albury Publishing, 1999.

Concept :: essays research papers

Concept Manic depressive disorder is a chemical imbalance within the brain. This disorder disrupts you mood and causes your emotions to fluctuate. Mood swings. The disorder causes one to experience extreme depression and mania. The intensity of the mood swings vary going from mild, moderate, and severe. Without treatment the severity and frequency of the illness builds up over the years. Non-professionals normally call this disease â€Å"manic-depressive illness†. Those in the psychiatric field refer to it as â€Å"bipolar disorder†. Bipolar is a name given to this disorder because it refers to the two poles that range from depression on one end and mania on the other. One who has bipolar will experience severe depression. They lose interest in activities and hobbies. The loss of interest in things and people cause them to see things as meaningless. Hopelessness, worthlessness, sadness, and guilt are only a few of the feelings one is overwhelmed with. Most find it extremely difficult to concentrate, make decisions, and think. They are preoccupied with failures, loss of self-esteem, and can’t stop certain thoughts from intruding. Hallucinating, hearing voices, and delusions plague the person. 15% of untreated patients commit suicide. They experience changes in their weight. Most will lose weight but about 40% gain. Many experience insomnia. They will feel really tired, irritable, and restless. Change of behaviors includes the following: withdrawal from people and social events. The symptoms of mania start with feelings of happiness and joy and progress to the person feeling â€Å"on top of the world†. They feel like Lyles 2 they can do anything. They are creative, work more, and barely sleep.

Public vs Private Healthcare

As a first generation Canadian, due to the on-going debate about a possible public-private healthcare interface, I have become very familiar with the meaning of public vs private healthcare. In a socialist type government healthcare services are provided, funded and regulated by the government, which constitutes as a public healthcare system. On the other hand, entrepreneur-run (profit-based) clinics and hospitals that are privately owned would be considered part of a private healthcare sect.As a Canadian I have experienced the benefits of a relatively efficient public healthcare system. When comparing this to our neighbor’s healthcare system, statistics have shown that although the majority of services provided in the U. S. are through the private healthcare sect, the US seems to spend much more on maintaining this system per capita than Canada.Somehow indicating that a government regulated system might be run a little more efficiently. Furthermore, from personal experience I have learned that a public health care system also provides access to everyone.It eliminates discrimination according to an individual’s income and class, when you are a patient you are treated with the same level of care whether you live in a million-dollar condo or in government housing. This in my opinion promotes equality and unification amongst Canadian citizens.I believe that with the government spending at stake the health of Canadians is more closely monitored. For instance, statistics provide that smoking leads to many health issues that in the end cause the government quite a bit of spending, this intern has encouraged many campaigns against smoking.For example, in Australia (another country with a publicly run healthcare system) persons born after a certain year will not be legally allowed to purchase cigarettes. Although in the opinion of some people, this is against human rights, in my personal opinion I think it is for the greater good of the future health of A ustralians. Something that Canadians should consider implementing along with the graphic anti-smoking packaging and very direct television-ads that are currently being used.Although, there are many advantages to public healthcare, we must not ignore  the disadvantages to a completely publicly run health care system. Considering that healthcare spending is dependent on taxes and the allocation of funding is at the mercy of government officials, we are faced with issues such as ‘Cut Backs’.Recently, the Canadian government has decided to reduce healthcare funding to the provinces, this has been reflected in increased wait times (which are already unacceptably long) and increased the number of services not covered by provincial healthcare.This along with the comparison of much lower funding for innovation and cutting edge research that has been apparent in the U. S. due to private sect interest and investment, has been motivation enough to drive some of our striving and driven physicians to move down south to further advance their careers.With the options of private funding and investment, the quality of private clinics can be much higher than what we receive at publicly funded clinic. On the other hand, where funding is not sufficient the quality can be quite low which shows an inconsistent range that cannot be regulated.Despite this irregular pattern, another advantage to having a private healthcare option is provided and allowing those who would rather not wait and pay for their services to do so and keep this spending in Canada. Therefore, with these clear advantages and disadvantages of both a publicly and privately run healthcare system, there is room for debate.I believe that is the reason the Canadian government is considering a public-private healthcare interface to reap the possible benefits of both systems. This of course will bring along with it the problems that have to be considered before a transition is made.

Enviromental Effects of Air Pollution and the Urban Area

Air pollution has been and is a growing environmental problem that is closely related to the growth of urban settlements. While the cities and towns of the world grow larger they emit more and more toxic emissions are put out into the air. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the issues that surround air pollution such as the long term impacts of air pollution, the short term impacts of air pollution, the long term outlook of air pollution, the short term outlook of air pollution and the potential solutions to the air pollution problem. Air pollution is an environmental problem that affects each and every one of us to some degree and it is important to understand why air pollution happens and how we can take steps to control it. Air pollution has a direct connection with urban environments all over the world. With an increase in industrialized countries ,the of use of cars, factories and also the use of fuels such as fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gasses, like carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, into the air, there has been a definite rise in air pollution over the world (Mayer, 1999). There are many short term effects that air pollution causes to the urban areas and to the people who are living in those areas. The first short term effect of air pollution is that it can cause health issues for the inhabitants of the area. Air pollution can cause the inhabitants to get itchy throats and irritated eyes. It also has been linked to causes bronchitis and pneumonia (Silverman, et al, 2007). Short term air pollution exposer can also cause an increase the rate of allergy infections and asthma diagnosis to the people who live in the area. The short term effects on environment range from smog clouds can cause the health issues, like the ones previously mentioned (Silverman, et al, 2007). There are also long term effects of air pollutions that are very serious to the environment and the people who live in high polluted areas. Long term air pollution exposer can have devastating effects on the health of the people who live in the area. Some of the health risks that have been linked to long term exposer consist of chronic respiratory disease, lung cancer, heart disease, and damage to the brain, kidney’s or liver (Mayer, 1999). Children who are living in a highly polluted area risk developing theses diseases at a higher rate the normal children who do not have long term exposed to air pollution. Long term air pollution also has devastating effects on the environment. One of the more serious effects is that air pollution is slowly deteriorating the Ozone layer. The Ozone layer is found in the stratosphere and it plays an important role in protecting the earth from the suns ultraviolent rays. Due to the increase in greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, the Ozone has developed holes and this allows harmful ultraviolet B-radiation to reach the earth. The increase of B-radiation is harmful to humans, plants and animals, and it is a known cause of Melanoma. The increase of B-radiation is always extremely harmful to plants. It causes a decrease in plant growth, height and damage to the leaves of plants (Tong, 2011). There are some potential ways to reduce, but not fully solve, the air pollution problem that is effect most urban areas. One of the ways that the countries around the world have decided to reduce air pollution was in 1997 at a United Nations conference in Kyoto, Japan. During the conference countries signed a treaty, the Kyoto Protocol promising to combat global warming by reducing the emission s of harmful greenhouse gasses that a produced my industrial factories. Unfortunately, claiming that that the treaty was not in the best interest for their county, the United States did not sign the treaty (Murray, 2001). Another potential way to reduce air pollution is through technology advancement. Using the new technologies to replace fossil fuels, such as coal burning and oil use, would substantial lower the gas emissions that cause air pollution and eventually cause the ozone layer to deplete. The short term outlook of air pollution on urban society is somewhat hopeful. Many cities and countries have begun or are beginning to take action in reducing the amount of pollution that is released into the air by the industries, cars and citizens. Many cities have started using different sources of energy, like solar power, in place of the fossil fuel energy sources that are the main contributors to air pollution. The long term outlook of air pollution is that, with many countries pledging to reduce the pollution over the coming years, the levels of air pollution will be lower in the future. Unfortunately, there is much debate over how greenhouse gases affect the ozone layer and global warming. Until this debate is over and people can agree, not enough action will be taken to help reduce the air pollution in the urban setting.