Benecol: Raisio’s Global Nutriceutical Essay

Raisio, a Finnish grain and chemical company, is the proud owner of a product that has been deemed one of the ten most important nutritional innovations in the world (â€Å"Benecol ®,† 2010). This product is a unique compound composed of plant stanol esters and has been scientifically proven to help lower cholesterol levels in humans. With the prevalence of high cholesterol in the world population and the incidence of mortality associated with a high cholesterol level, it is no wonder that Raisio had a deep desire to share their product with the world. Raisio’s first introduction of Benecol margarine was in November of 1995 in Finland and, even though it cost substantially more than regular margarine, Benecol flew off of the shelves (Moffett & Howard, 1999). Seeing the potential of Benecol, Raisio formed a plan to take it globally. A successful global product roll-out requires an intricate knowledge of the market and careful planning and preparation of all necessary channels. According to the Global Minds Network, there are 10 critical steps to global launch success. They are; 1) evaluate local market opportunities, 2) create a global plan and roadmap, 3) design an effective launch process worldwide, 4) engage launch team across cultures, 5) communicate across functions and cultures, 6) test your message and image, 7) internationalize customer communications, 8) ensure timely and localized deliverables, 9) deliver effective support tools to ensure global readiness, and 10) enable local sales teams through training (â€Å"10 Steps to Global Launch Success,† n. d. ). As Raisio had no prior knowledge of dealing in foodstuffs, they required a global partner who could perform the 10 steps. Johnson & Johnson was to be this partner. Using their McNeil Consumer Products group, they proposed a comprehensive production, promotion, and distribution strategy (Moffett & Howard, 1999). This strategy clearly defined the roles that each partner would perform and be financially responsible for. Raisio would continue to maintain control of the stanol ester including the production of it and the supply of the raw material or plant sterol. Their input of capital was geared toward keeping the supply constant and Raisio was quick to go into joint ventures with DRT (France), Detsa S. A. (Chile), and Westvaco Corporation (U. S. ). Along with building sterol production plants in these countries, Raisio also built another one in Finland (Moffett & Howard, 1999). Raisio would buy the stanols that were produced at the various plants and then turn them into stanol ester using a process that they had patented. McNeil would then purchase stanol ester exclusively from Raisio, make the products containing the ester, and send these products to market and promote them. McNeil had budgeted over US$80 million for the promotional commitment (Moffett & Howard, 1999). Two other items that were covered in the agreement between Raisio and Johnson & Johnson pertained to payments that would be made to Raisio. Raisio would receive royalties on the sales of all products containing Benecol and they would also receive milestone payments. The milestone payments were an incentive for Raisio and an insurance policy for McNeil. If McNeil were to introduce Benecol products into major markets, they needed to make sure that there would be no break in the supply chain regarding the stanol ester because any lag in the production of the ester could have serious implications for McNeil. If Raisio could not keep up with the demand for stanol ester, there would be no payment. As for being an insurance policy, introducing a new product into the market carries with it enormous financial risk, if Raisio only receives a milestone payment if the launch is successful, McNeil has alleviated some of their risk by sharing it with Raisio. Financially, if McNeil was able to get beyond the FDA and other regulatory hurdles, Raisio stood to make considerable gains. This was welcome news as Benecol sales in Finland had gone fairly flat and had only accounted for 2% of the Raisio Group sales just two years after it had been introduced (Moffett & Howard, 1999). Under the agreement with McNeil, Raisio would receive returns in the short-term, on a continuing basis, and over the life of the agreement. In the short-term, Raisio would receive milestone payments for the use of their intellectual property. These payments would start in 1998 and go thru 2001. Their amounts would be (millions of Finnish marks, FIM) 110, 150, 100, and 50 respectively. These payments are an assured inflow of cash and incur no direct expense associated with them. On a continuing basis, Raisio holds the patent on stanol ester so they would be supplying all of the stanol ester to McNeil. The projected amount ranges from 1723 tons in 1999 to 6851 tons in 2005. This gives Raisio continued sales of the ester and because they are partnered with McNeil, Raisio would receive an acceptable sale price. Projected revenues from the sale of stanol ester, for the years 1998 thru 2005, are (millions of FIM) 0, 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, and 4. Over the life of the agreement, Raisio would be the recipient of any royalties from the sale of any products containing Benecol. The royalties are to be paid as a percentage of the retail product price. This is in the favor of Raisio because the royalties aren’t tied to profitability of the Benecol products. Royalty payments made to Raisio are projected to be (millions of FIM) 0, 108, 218, 279, 311, 340, 380, and 428 for the years 1998 thru 2005. In looking at the pro forma income statement, revenues from Benecol are predicted to rise from 2% of the Raisio Group sales to 8% by the end of 2005 thanks to the agreement with McNeil (Moffett & Howard, 1999). The strategy that Raisio needed was indeed partnering with a multinational company as time was of the essence due to possible competition entering the market first. Unilever, Forbes Medi-Tech, and pharmaceutical giant Novartis were on the heels of Raisio also trying to bring their products to market. Raisio had spent immense amounts of money and time formulating Benecol and doing clinical trials and did not want to lose out on any gains to be made (Moffett & Howard, 1999). Raisio was unfamiliar with this line of business so with the experience that Johnson & Johnson’s McNeil division had in the world of pharmaceuticals and consumer products; they were an excellent choice to assist in bringing Benecol to the global market. The only hurdles that now stood between Benecol and the world were regulatory issues. To bring Benecol to the market as quickly as possible would be difficult in Europe but even more difficult in the U. S. Of the three possible classifications that Benecol could be awarded by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), qualifying it as a pharmaceutical would mean substantially larger value-margins as Benecol was shown to have as much, if not more, efficacy then the cholesterol-reducing drugs on the market, however, this path also required the most time (Moffett & Howard, 1999).

Critique of the Ethical Issue Essay

Every profession is subject to different ethical considerations. In response, professions present code of conduct to their employees to guide their behavior in the organization. Formal ethical training is also held to make the employees aware of different ethical issues. Ethical decision making process enable the workforce to handle every ethical issue and prevents them from making any ethical lapses whatsoever. US healthcare system comprises many branches that offer unique health related services to clients. Furthermore the healthcare is split into a hierarchical setup which starts from nursing to the top physicians. Each individual related to the US health care has to undergo a lot of training and education before he/she is authorized to discharge any duty. A fundamental part of this coaching involves ethical training which guides the employees ways and means of dealing with different ethical problems. Conflicts faced by the healthcare are of many types. To start with, physicians fail to work as a team with nurses. Sometimes nurses do not understand their roles and discharge their duties improperly. Other kinds of conflicts involve patients. These conflicts can usually become very serious and can even become unlawful in nature. Articulating the Problem The ethical conflict that arose in my studies involved a doctor and his patient. Jimmy suffered from high fever and he decided to go to a new doctor, Dr. Bill, as his general physician was out of town on vacation. Jimmy reported all his conditions to Dr. Bill. Dr. Bill made some notes and then warned him that he might be in fear of suffering from typhoid (a severe form of fever). Jimmy was very shocked to hear this. The doctor further added that it would be better for Jimmy to remain in hospital care for at least two days before his condition improved. He also asked him to run some tests which would be needed to clearly diagnose his sickness. When Jimmy heard of the high amount they were charging him, he was highly shocked and left the clinic. Jimmy called his physician up and informed him of the entire issue. Dr. Andrew told him to get a check-up from another doctor who was his friend. Jimmy went there and after the checkup, he received another surprise upon hearing that the fever was not serious and he’d be perfect in two days. He was given some prescription which he was to take. In two days time, Jimmy perfectly recovered from his fever and, by then, realized how Dr. Bill had tried to deceive him into getting the tests and hospital care in order to make more money. The event is, by all means, shocking and unethical. Dr. Bill and those of his like are ruining the sanctity of the medical profession by converting it into any other business profession. It is certainly not unethical to offer your services and expertise to others in return for money. However, intimidating patients by telling them of symptoms which, in fact, they do not possess is certainly very unethical. This trend is quickly spreading everywhere, especially online. After doing some research, the author found that there are many health care services which are presently being offered online. Though some of these setups are highly professional in nature and offer very effective services online, the rest are merely scammers. What’s more problematic is that individuals do not know how expert the physician is in his/her respective field. Looked at it this way, we’re all in a big risk whenever we decide to get ourselves checked up from a new doctor. As far as the scammers are concerned, their deceptive marketing campaigns allure the sick and the injured into asking for help. They make false claims that their products will change their lives or make them better. By the time the poor people find out that they’ve been deceived, it is too late to do anything because such institutions and individuals protect themselves through different legislations of the law. Gathering Data After thorough research and data collection, the author has come up with following important ways of checking the credentials as well as ratings of a physician along with ways of preventing health care frauds. 1. Information about doctor’s experience and training is obtained from his office or local medical society in which the doctor is a member. 2. There are some state licensing boards that also issue information about disciplinary actions taken against a particular physician. However, it is not very easy to get information from there. 3. American Medical Association’s AMA Physicians Select offers information on training and certification of all the medical and osteopathic physicians who are currently holding a license in the US. However, disciplinary actions are not included with them. 4. American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) Certified Doctor Verification Service can also be utilized to check whether the physician is certified by one or the 24 recognized specialty boards. The service is free of charge. 5. Googling out for more info is also not a bad idea. You will find several options wherein to check the report/credibility of a physician. 6. There are several government sources which may be used to obtain information relating to disciplinary action. Of these, the two most important sources are the National Practitioner Data Bank and the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank. 7. Many clinics and hospitals also offer options to check their doctors’ credentials. However, this is not a good idea because hospitals would never reveal that any one of their doctors is of low quality. Exploring Strategies It is, indeed, very difficult to carve a strategy that would clearly identify and tackle the above situation. Practical issues of these kinds are indeed very different from theoretical knowledge that is offered in books. However, following procedures may help prevent such situations in future. From Profession’s perspective 1. Establishing a federal committee on healthcare fraud prevention, and having it carry out a detailed wipe-out of all such fraudulent institutions and individuals 2. Exercise rigorous ethical training program, stressing the consequences of deceiving and holding the truth in the medical profession 3. Conducting regular external audits on different health care facilities, with an aim to identify the scammers 4. Publicizing and penalizing doctors who conduct such activities From Patient’s Perspective 1. Organizing a wide marketing campaign instructing the individuals to be wary of such scammers 2. Avoiding new doctors 3. Fixing the medical charges offered at various institutions, so the competition is not price-based but quality based. 4. Having another review with another physician if instructed to undergo very expensive treatment. Implementing the Strategy In order to implement the above discussed strategy, the following needs to be done: 1. Give the event a wide coverage on popular media 2. Create mass-awareness through the media 3. Instruct masses to avoid online health care facilities as much as possible unless they know the physician personally. 4. Write to the American Medical Association and other medical authorities, asking them to address the issue on federal level. 5. Increasing word-of-mouth, and making all such frauds public 6. Conducting nation-wide survey of physicians’ credentials Evaluating the Outcomes Implementing the above strategy would have the following pros and cons: Pros 1. Efficient and appropriate health care only by physicians who have sound credentials and ratings 2. Lesser frauds and scams in the health care 3. Better opportunities for physicians who’ve worked their way up 4. An overall better impact on the health of US nationals 5. Better medical infrastructure Cons 1. High investment is required to create the mass-awareness 2. It is not possible to identify every physician who is conducting fraud 3. It is difficult to decide whether a physician is diagnosing a patient sincerely or not as different physicians come up with different diagnosis measures REFERENCES Percival, Thomas. Medical ethics. (pp. 49–57) from http://books. google. com/books? id=yVUEAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=medical+ethics&as_brr=1&ie=ISO-8859-1#PPA52,M1. Walter, Klein (ed). The Story of Bioethics: From seminal works to contemporary explorations Jordan, M. C. (1998). Ethics manual. Fourth edition. American College of Physicians (pp. 23-30) Beauchamp, Tom L. , Childress, James F. (2001). Principles of Biomedical Ethics. New York: Oxford University Press. Margaret A. Burkhardt, Alvita Nathaniel (2007) Ethics and Issues in Contemporary Nursing

Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Project - Essay Example Open door policy helps staff acknowledge the importance of parents as the primary caretakers of a child. The staff needs to be friendly and approachable. In an early childhood setting, it is important to develop relationships between parents and a childcare worker, which are based on trust (Whalley, 2003). The study was conducted with five sets of parents who all live in an inner city community, and are from different background and cultures, who were interviewed using a prepared interview guide. Their responses were analysed to determine the school experience, home structure, and the home–school relationships developed by parents to promote high academic achievement among their children. The result of this study shows the contribution of parents towards the academic achievements of children and thereby the need of successful interaction between parents and staff to share strategies Therefore, what occurs at home has a significant impact on what happens in school. This relationship will assist parents support their children to achieve their full learning potential. My research focused on the role of parent involvement in increasing the child’s intellectual capacity, attitudes, and academic achievement across all subject areas of the National Curriculum. Based on information from the National Child Development, my study found that the involvement of parents improved children’s prospects at school (Buchanan, 2001). Parents are the most important people in a child’s life because they are the people who matter most to him/her. Communication between the school and the parents must be maintained throughout a child’s time in school (Burnham, 2002). Therefore, the staff working in the setting should communicate and encourage the registered parents all the time to meet the needs of the children. Communicating with parents can be verbal or in the form of a written letter.

Weapons of Mass Destruction Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Weapons of Mass Destruction - Assignment Example 2. Why would someone be interested in making a WMD and what would they achieve by using it as a weapon to attack other people. Are there countries perceived as having the intentions of making or using WMDs? Terrorists are the most likely people to make and use WMDs. Their aim is retaliatory attacks especially against the US and her allies. Traditionally, all countries that support and harbor terrorism are likely candidates. 3. In case of an attack by WMD, how flexible is your department since we know that an enemy/terrorist usually thrives on elements of surprise? Do you have any immediate and appropriate plans what to do in case the unthinkable took place? We have learned a lot since Sep 11th and our team is always ready for any eventuality ranging from chemical, biological or even nuclear attack. We have reenacted and trained on all these possible scenarios and many more. Yes, there are several rescue and evacuation procedures put in place. For security reasons, this is classified. 4. How well coordinated are your local arrangements with adjacent jurisdictions such as the neighboring states and the Federal government? Whats your regional approach to the planning process? Do you have any nontraditional partners, goodwill parties and organizations like safety and occupational health organizations? We are a team. We have numerous programs in place and our teams have exchange programs every three to six months from the federal and other state agencies to ensure that we are in synch. We have partnered with the local community and private entities and have been offering them free training to empower and equip them accordingly. 5. What type of communication do you have? Can one use interoperable, backbone communication systems which are able to provide open and at the same time secure communication amongst all response parties?  

The cross section of Globalisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

The cross section of Globalisation - Essay Example Coming out of internal fissures, we then analyse the share of its structural framework in triggering current financial collapse. Free Trade regime promulgated Deregulation, which has been the underlying cause of today's liberalized world. This philosophy has been the source for lax and ludicrous financial sector management that aided the global financial system to collapse. The ensuing panic that has spread out of the economic meltdown is tempting enough for nations to reverse gains of open policies by reverting back to protectionist approach. Calls for G20 to address the very fears of scaling back and to come up with singular global stance, are proving speech fully tactical but practically inconclusive. Despite of all these fears and anxiety, the Gross domestic contribution of free trade has been immense and can not be shrouded by just single brush of jittering. Greater global integration 'brain child of Globalisation, on one hand has not only given us tools for prosperity by employ ing thousands of workers across continents, while on the other hand made them vulnerable on slightest of demand fluctuations. Present crisis no doubt has brought hard time upon Global economic regime but on the same note provided us with an opportunity to rectify those worms that had conveniently been ignored for long time. Introduction The Demise of Globalisation as narrated by Princeton's economist in his obituary "The late Great Globalisation"1 confines us to look in to its realm in a very limited and constrained fashion, such that we only seem to view the extreme shades on the spectrum's periphery while ignorantly shrugging the rest. Globalisation is about finance, economics, investment, trade, borders and barriers no doubt, but it also encompasses while shouting load about the flow of ideas that are free to flow across the world, their convergence and divergence. The breadth and depth of Globalisation is more comprehensively addressed by David Held, a political scientist who envision it as the "widening, deepening and speeding up of worldwide interconnectedness in all aspects of contemporary social life"2. Thus expanding the very realm to incorporate slants of life's social, political and economic shades. The Great Shift Seismic shift that has taken place after the violent jolts of world economic crisis has ripped apart the already disdained and reservation-ridden world trade order. Today when the battle for survival is on, Seven years of wasted Doha round are beginning to shape into a painful memoir of impasse. The lost opportunity is beginning to afflict the very foundations of global free trading regime, that could have been achieved if interest of corporations and powerful governments had been neutralised for greater gains of global integration. In the wake of attaining consensus, the presiding of invitation-only ministerial meetings in the so called 'Green rooms, by Lamy1 were enough to dispel the ideals of WTO, whose commitment has been an environment based on consensus, harmony and equality. The height of irony was still grossly palpable when even the exclusive few could not converge on single agenda to work through with. Even before the current crisis ever emerged, the road through WTO had already become rock-strewn. WTO's Director General Supachai Panitchpakdi3 who

Cooperative Learning in Elementary Education Research Paper

Cooperative Learning in Elementary Education - Research Paper Example This will help to ease up students who might find it difficult to interact for fear of being judged. The follow-up activity will concern organizing the students into small groups. Each group has the responsibility of accomplishing a particular task. The next step in introducing cooperative learning will be assigning roles and responsibilities of each member of the group. This activity helps in the organization of work and contributes positively to timely and effective learning (Tomlinson, 2004). The positions of some of the members of the group can be the ‘starter’, ‘taskmaster/encourager’, ‘reader’, ‘praiser’, ‘researcher’, or recorder. The starter is the person who initiates the processes or supervises the uses of materials. The encourager is responsible for motivating other members of the group to contribute positively. The reader can make sure everyone in the group has identical information and understand the goals of the task. . The praiser is responsible for reinforcement of contribution from others. The researcher obtains additional information needed by the group while the recorder puts down the proceedings on paper. The responsibilities are not necessaril y restricted to any one person. The above is an example of how cooperative learning can be implemented in an elementary classroom. However, the age of the students demands constant check up by the teacher to ensure that the learning process is on the right

Economic book summery on the book not a Drop to drink by ken Midkiff Essay

Economic book summery on the book not a Drop to drink by ken Midkiff - Essay Example Outstanding examples are the Ogallala river that extends from Nebraska to the Texas panhandle (Midkiff, 22), the Colorado River {â€Å"once a mighty, roaring river† (Midkiff, 9)} and the Rio Grande river, all of which fizzle out into arid river beds before they reach they designated destination – the Gulf of Mexico. Midkiff endorses the intensity of the problem by explaining more about one of these 3 rivers - the Ogallala - calling the area on its banks as â€Å"quite literally the nation’s bread basket† and warning that areas like Dumas {population 13,000} will run out of water from the Ogallala in 30 years’ time (Midkiff, 28). The second cause is water contamination. Midkiff describes how water from taps in Atlanta is so contaminated that it has to be boiled to become fit for human consumption. The main reason is pollution and fresh water depletion that has permitted salt water to enter into areas it has never flowed (Midkiff 61). The shortage of fresh water depletion automatically negates a possible solution to reduce depletion of aquifers by pumping fresh water into them (Midkiff, 152). The third cause is wrong choice of crops and wrong encouragement of such choice. Midkiff points out that whereas about 50% of the U.S. population were engaged in the agricultural profession in the early 1900s, that number has dwindled to just 1% at present (Midkiff, 36). While also blaming growing of crops like soya beans, corn and wheat on lands where irrigation is fed by depleting aquifers (Midkiff, 52), he heaps heavy blame on the â€Å"water guzzling† rice crop (Midkiff, 50), saying rice is a wrong crop choice as it needs a huge amount of water. For example, in Central Valley, California, rice has largely contributed to the water shortage; the Valley, once previously a desert, blossomed with agricultural abundance brought about by the supply of underpriced water as a result of old