Investigation into customer service at Safeway Willerby Essay

On Monday the 17th of February my Business group went to the Safeway Superstore in Willerby to interview the customer services manager, Andy Bostock. This was good customer service for us as it is a busy store and he gave up time for us, and with also been customers it was good that he acknowledged us. While we was at the store we were going to carry out an overt and covert investigation (see appendix 1) which means that we was to ask Andy Bostock some questions and we where going to carry out several observations throughout the store. This is where Safeway, Willerby is located: The Safeway store tries to ensure that all customers wants and needs are catered for and they have such things as: * Toilets * Florists * Photo processing * Cafe * Home entertainment department- which sells such things as CDs and TVs * Kosher food * In store banking * Bakery * Meat * Fish * Fruit and Veg * The deli * Chilled * Italian * Beers, wine and spirits * Frozen Food * Health and beauty * Lottery * Organic food * Passport photos booth The importance of customer service to Safeway is that with the store dealing with 20-23 thousand people on a weekly basis it is important that they deal with each customers needs and expectations. If this does not happen it will mean that customers may go else where to a rival store. When new recruits start at Safeway they are given and induction talk which covers every aspects of the job description. They are given work books to fill in and the management will check them to make sure that they understand everything what is asked from them. They do not have off the job training as everything they need to know is within the store so there is no need for them to go anywhere else. The only off the job training is for managers and they may need training in a new aspect of customer service or need re-training for example. They do not re-train their staff which means that they may not gain as much knowledge as they may need. This could be that they do not want to spend any money on retrain ing them, which in the long run is bad because it will mean that employees will not know what they are doing and when customers have a problem may find it difficult to deal with them on the spot. Their training is from 12-16 weeks and they cover every aspect on what department that are going to work on. They only let their employees work on one department because it means that they know the department really well and can deal with every problem, which comes up. This is a good point because all of their staff will know everything about the department and will work hard on it and make sure that all the work is done correctly. The bad point of doing this is that if a customer comes up to a member of staff who does not know anything about the department which the customer wants information on it may annoy the customer cost they will want the problem dealt with quickly. Read more:  Customer Service Investigation Safeway deal with any problems quickly as the always make sure that their is a spare employee to deal with the problem. Also if a customers comes up and asks them where something is within the store, they are trained to ask the customer whether they want them to take them or tell them. This is because the customer may want to make some other purchases before they go to the item what they are looking for, and the thing what they are asking for may be at the other side of the store and it may annoy the customer if they are taken their before making other purchases because they will have to go back on them self’s. When customers pay for their goods they get a receipt and this has information which is relevant to their purchases, but on the Safeway receipt it has the following information: * The store opening times- this means that customer will be able to see the next time the store is open. * Who the customer services manager is- this means that if the customer has a problem they can contact Andy Bostock as quickly as possible. * Who the till operator is- if you have a problem with something then you can report to the customer services manager and they can then deal with the person or give them more training if needed. * Advertising the Safeway magazine- it is making customers aware of the magazine so that they can pick it up. It also has the date, time, address and telephone number at the bottom of the receipt. This is so customers know when they made the purchase and if their is a problem they can contact the store my mail or telephone. (See appendix 2). This related to customer service because if the service what they get is bad, the customer services manager will know who did this and if they have done this before they will be able to discipline them. The information what the customer gets on the receipt is important to only to them but to the customer service manager. If the machine breaks down it will mean that it will effect the customer-employee relations. The methods of payments what Safeway have are cash, card and cheque. So this means what ever the customer wishes to pay with Safeway can deal with it. So this is good because if they only expect cash for example it will mean that if Safeway are not catering for all customers they will start to go elsewhere. Safeway do not offer a home delivery whether it will be by people doing it through the phone or via the Internet. This is because Safeway have never been interested in it and would rather spend their money on investing in other things which will be more beneficial to the employees and customers. With other competing companies such as Sainsburys offering this service it may be wise if they did look into it and if they did not get many customers then stop doing it. It would make it easier for older people to order online or via the phone, this would also be beneficial for people that are in a wheelchair as it means that they do not have to leave their home. Safeway do not have any members of staff who are trained in dealing with foreign customers, as they do not usually get a lot of them. If Safeway did decide to train someone in this it will mean that it will give them a good reputation will foreign people for understanding their needs. When a disabled customer comes into the store, Safeway make sure that they have all the assistance they need. They ask them if they would like a member of staff to help them shop, which is like a personal shopper this is because for example if a wheelchair customer comes in and the can not reach the top shelf for an item the personal shopper will be along side them to get the item. The cater for disabled customers by offering: 1. 6 Disabled parking spaces at the front of the car park so it doesn’t mean that they have to travel far to get their. 2. Have wide isles so that it is comfortable for wheelchairs to get through. 3. They have special trolleys which are trolleys that can just fit into an electric wheelchair so it means that they can carry on shopping easily. They also offer smaller trolleys for their customer who have a disability. 4. They have a disabled toilet at the front of the store. Safeway have realized that a lot of disabled people do come into the store, so they have made it easier for them to shop by offering these types of services for the disabled customers to use. Safeway decided to no longer have the crà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½che and make way for the home entertainment department this is because the home entertainment department will effect everyone as the crà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½che will only effect people who are bringing in small children. The crà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½che also lost its popularity with customers and Safeway where losing money on it and it seemed the right place to put it because customers have to walk through the whole store to get to the department. At the tills at the front of the store each one has a change draw and this is easy for the staff to use as if they need change quickly they have access to it and it means that customers will not get distressed. Safeway make sure that they have adequate staffing levels at all times and they do this by knowing what they sold the same time last week and giving the employees the hours on the tills. For example on a Saturday morning they may take à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½10,000 so they will need more people on the tills to cater for all the customers, but on a Monday morning they may only take à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1000 so they will not need to have all the tills on, they may only need about 4. When it was Christmas they gave their customers who where waiting in the cue free mince pies which meant that they where offering a good customer service to all of their customers. Every department in the store has its own employees so if they is a promotion on alcohol for example it will mean that they will need more staff to get all the alcohol out onto the shop floor. They also have a night shift who work 10-7 which means that they get all of the stock from the stock room out for the morning and to make room for the delivery the next morning. This is good for the customers as they are getting the freshest products at any given time because as soon as it arrives it will be put out. When we looked at the stock room it was untidy which meant that it might be difficult for everyone to know where everything goes. They did not have a stock room manager, which for a store of that size is a bad thing, as not every member of staff is doing their job correctly. If a stock room manager was introduced it will improve the amount of damaged goods as well as improving the quality of the stock room. With their being no stock room manager it will be made easier for the staff to steal products and whilst we was their he said that there were a lot of unsolved theft and that they lose a lot of money in the Willerby store, and this could be the reason for this. They have eight cameras in the store and one main one on the alcohol department this is because this is the most common theft. This means that it is giving the customers a lot of security and makes them feel more save when they are their and they also have a security guard who works six days a week. When they call code 50 over the tannoy all male members of staff go to the front of the store to stop the thief, this is because if their is more than one the security guard will not be able to deal with them. This is done to make the customers feel more safe when they are shopping at the store. Their health and safety procedures are gone through on the day they get their training. It is important that all staff know the health and safety procedure incase of an emergency such as a fire. When it was the firefighter strike they where given extra training which consisted of videos and leaflets what Safeway came up with to make sure that they where aware of everything what was going on. They also put posters up in the staff room and in the stock room to always keep them aware of the dangers. They made sure that everything was double-checked to cover their backs. This was excellent customer service as they knew that fire fighters may not be able to get to the store incase of a fire, so they make sure that everything is checked for the safety of the customers. When the fire alarm goes off they can detect where about it is in the store and they will then go and see if it was set of deliberately or it was just a prank, and if it was deliberately they will then evacuate the store. Safeway’s buildings are not insured so this means that with the money what they save they can invest into other things what will benefit the company. But if their is a fire within a store and it gets burnt down they will lose a lot of money and last year two stores went down with fire and it meant that they got no money. So they have to take money from elsewhere. They also have a hazard book which employees fill in if they think there is a problem and this is checked everyday. It means that if there is a problem the management can deal with them quickly to benefit the customers and keep them safe. They have 1st aiders in the store all the time which means that if a problem does arise with a customer been injured they can deal with it quickly and correctly. The 1st aid facilities what are in the store are mainly for the employees not the customers. Safeway communicate with their customers by having the following things: * Tannoys- if a child is lost for example they could tannoy the child’s parent or guardian to come and pick them up * Leaflets advertising their special offers- making the customers aware of what they have to offer. These usually come through the post box with the free supplement newspaper what residents get. (see appendix 3) * Walkie-talkies between employees- they can contact each other if a problem comes up and can be easily dealt with. * Notice board- this informs the customers of any events coming up and what they are for. The ways in which Safeway assess and monitor the quality of customer service are that they used to have an ABC card and this could recognize how much money a certain customer spends in Safeway over a period of time. It was a point scheme where if you spent over a amount of money you would get points which in the long run would mean that you will get offers and free things depending on how much money you have spent. They stopped doing this when a new board of director came in and said that it was a waste of money and that money could be spent elsewhere. When we asked Andy on what he thought of it he said the same, and the money what would be saved in producing the cards could be spent on more productive things, but why does store cards work for other supermarkets such as Sainsburys and Tesco? ABC Card: Safeway used to have mystery shoppers but then that stopped because a mystery shopper was not a true reflection on the store as they have two mystery shoppers a month and the Willerby store gets 20-23 thousand customers a week. So the stopped doing this because they started to realize that it was not working. Safeway carried out a survey to get some feed back on what the customers though on the store and what the good and bad points. (see appendix 4) They survey was done by 60 people on Friday 5th April to Sunday 7th April. The survey covers the following things: 1. Hygiene 2. Staff 3. Checkouts 4. Solutions to improving staff service 5. Best in fresh 6. Items which where of a poor quality 7. Product and price 8. Availability 9. Who the shoppers are 10. Where else they shop 11. Suggestions for improvement The survey is then analyzed by head office and the management team of the Willerby store and they will talk about the results and what they are going to do with them and how to make improvements. This is very good customer service because it is giving the customers a chance to express any opinions they may have of the store whether it is good or bad. Also if they do make a suggestion or say what they think and the next time they go in it is dealt with it will make the customers feel as if they have say on what goes on within the store. The customer services desk is at the front of the store as soon as you walk in, which means that it saves the customer walking through the store and hopefully the problem can be dealt with by the people at the customer services desk. Customer complaints are dealt with by either phone, letter of face to face. They do not offer an email service where they can directly email the store with any problems which may need looking at as email is one of the most common ways of communicating. If a customer does complain Any Bostock (customer services manager) will personally deal with the complaint this is because this time he will know that it is dealt with correctly and the other point is why has the customer complaint and what can be done for this customer complaint to come about again. If its a face to face problem he will go to the customer services desk and try and ask the customer what the situation is and come to some compromise. If its on the phone, the customer services desk will try and deal with it then but if its a major problem Andy will take the call and deal with it appropriately. Then finally he will reply to any letter, which is sent to him regarding a customer complaint. The most common complaint is that customers are cueing to long at the tills. They try and deal with this by having enough staff to cover if there is a rush on and this is worked out by using the week before figures. If all tills are on and customers are still complaining the only way you can deal with them is by apologizing to them because their is nothing more you can do at that moment in time. They also had a suggestion box where customers could put in any suggestions or how the felt it would work better, but they had to stop doing this because it turned into a customer complaint box and they did not want this. Safeway need to come up with a new suggestion scheme as it is important for Safeway to understand what the customer wants and the best way is through suggestion schemes because it is easy to do and cheap to operate. Whilst I was at the store I carried out my own observations and I came up with the following results. The car park was shared with Iceland, Focus, Poundstretcher, Jonathan James, Francios and wickes. This meant that by having the store on a retail park it meant that customers could do other types of shopping if they needed to. Safeway did have its owns trolley parks that where scattered around the car park, which meant that customers did not have to walk back with their trolley where ever they are parked because it if they are old, they will not want to be walking back to Safeway with their trolley if they are parked at the other side of the car park. Other benefits what the car park had where: * 16 Child and parent parking spaces- these where directly outside the store so it a parent comes with a small child, the child is not running around the car park, they can just go straight into the store * 6 disabled parking spaces- These where next to the child and parent parking which are directly outside the store. Disabled people may find it had to walk across a big car park but with these parking spaces been their it is making it easier for them to cope. I personally feel 6 spaces is not enough, this is because quite a lot of retired people may be classed as disabled and they have the most free time as they do not have to go to work, so with expanding the parking spaces for the disabled they may create a new customer segment. * 2 Zebra crossings- These where going towards the front of the store where the entrances where. This is good customer service because if their is a lot of traffic and you can not make it across the road with the zebra crossings been their, it will make it easier for the customer. Safeway provide a variety of different trolleys for every type of customer. This is because if they have different types of trolleys it means that if customers only want a small shop their is small trolleys. The advantage of Safeway trolleys are that you do not have to put a pound in, this is good because a customer may not have a pound coin in change and if they dint they would have to go and get it changed before they even started the shopping. With the trolleys not having a pound put in them it means that they could get stolen and this would mean a loss in profits for the company because each trolley costs about à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½50 to make. Also around the surrounding area there is always trolleys just dumped because they is no need to return them back to Safeway. All the trolleys are kept under a shelter which means if it does rain the trolleys are still dry so the customers do not have to dry them down. Types of trolleys: * Large trolleys * Medium trolleys * Small trolleys * One seat baby trolleys * Two seat baby trolleys * One seat child trolleys * Two seat child trolleys * Wheelchair trolleys * Baskets They also have a post box which is outside the store with a stamp machine inside the store (which was out of order), but the customer can also buy stamps from the confectionery desk which is next to the customer service desk. With Safeway selling stamps it means that if a customer wished to send somebody a birthday card they could get the stamp and post it all within the store. The post box is emptied several times a day to make sure that the post is delivered on time. Along with stamp machine they where a phone card machine and a savings stamp machine. The phone card machine only sold BT Cellnet cards which meant that if customers wanted to get a different one they would have to go to the confectionery desk because they do not sell the cards at each till. This is bad customer service because they may just want to do all their shopping at once and if they have to go somewhere else in the store it may distress them. With the savings stamps this is a booklet what customers can get and they can collect them over a period of time, usually up to Christmas so when it comes to do their Christmas shopping they will have an amount of money what they will spend. A savings booklet is a good idea because if a customer is buying a stamp a week, you know that they are going to come back at Christmas and spend it and hopefully more to do their Christmas shopping. The toilets what Safeway have are: 1. Ladies 2. Men’s 3. Disabled 4. Baby Change The toilets are at the front of the store which means that you can go to toilets before you start your shopping or after it, but if you go after shopping it will mean that you will have to leave you shopping unattended because their is no secure place where you can leave your shopping. When I went into the toilets I was not impressed with the standard of them, this is because as soon as I walked into them their was a smell which was very of putting and meant that I wanted to be as quick as possible. This is bad customer service because their was nothing done about it, if their was some sort of air conditioning in their it would make it easier. The floor was also very dirty and their was water all over the floor underneath the sink, which meant that the toilets are very rarely checked by the employees because in some toilets there is a sheet up to say when it was last checked and if there where any damages. If the toilets are not checked regularly it may stop customers from using them because of the standard of them. When I went into the toilets their where a lot of damages like holes in the wall and their where no bins so people where just dropping their rubbish on the floor. This gave the toilets and overall tacky feel to it and I personally would not use them again. If the toilets are not improved it may put customers of from using the store all together. The music of the store was aimed at the more older people, this is because this is their main target audience because you hardly get children or teenagers shopping in supermarkets. The music is controlled my head office which means that Safeway Willerby have no control which if the majority of customers are different from other stores they may wish to change the music slightly to make them come back. The music what they do play is very upbeat music, this is so that customers are feeling happy when they are shopping their. Whilst we where we was looking in the Entertainment department and we across and adult video which was on the second to bottom shelf which is easy for a small child to get hold of it. On the back of it had sexual images on it which meant that the child would be seeing them. This is very bad customer service because it is of adult content and its easy for the child to get hold of. On Safeway’s Website, the opening page is filled with information regarding a certain thing what is happening so for example the thing what is happening this month is Mothers day, so the opening is filled with information regarding Mothers day. (see appendix 5). They also have special offers what is making the customers aware of, so that they can purchase them. This can be food related or just other items such as dry cleaning and photo processing. They also have a recipe of the week, which is described in great detail as well as all their other recipes what you can look at online. Their Website is excellent customer because it is giving potential customers a chance to see what is happening within Safeway, and it is offering advice on the recipes that the customers may wish to make. Their Website also includes: * Store guide- this shows you where the nearest store is and how many miles away it is from your house. * Everything what is included in their stores from their specialized food to their service, which is not food related. * Company information- from the history of the company to the activities at the moment. * Drinks guide- this covers all the drinks from fizzy drinks to alcohol and expert advice is given. Overall Safeway’s Website is excellent because it covers all the information what you will need. Analysis of customer service: I am now going to analyze what the advantage and disadvantages are of Safeway Willerby in terms of customer service: Advantages Disadvantages With Safeway doing a survey it means that they are getting customer feedback which in the long run will benefit the company because with the results of the survey will they can improve the things what has gone wrong. There is no incentive of doing this and it is quite time consuming so the customers may rush it just to get through it, so if an incentive was launched they may be able to get more accurate results. The majority of their staff where of a mature age which meant that they had more experience with customers so they would know what they want. Also with employing older people it means that the management team will know that they are not coming into work with a hangover and they know that they are going to work well and not let them down, with the experience they have with customers. The toilets where a major disadvantage to Safeway Willerby this is because of the overall standard of them was poor. This gives the impression that Safeway Willerby are unhygienic and care very little about the standard of their customer service. If an employee checked the toilets every morning and afternoon, it could improve the standard a bit and it would reassure the customers that something is been done about them. With the security guard working 6 days a week, customers will start to pick up on when he is not their and they might try and get away with things such as theft. With him also working 6 days he will start to get tired and may not do his job properly. If another security guard was introduced it will mean that their is always a security guard in the store, this will assure the customers that they are safe with these security guards in operation.

Indian Nationalism Essay

It is possible to say that it was a rising feeling of nationalism that led to the change in relations between Britain and India which is what led to the ultimate end of the British Empire since it came to a point where India was ungovernable. John Keay states that â€Å"India was convulsed by a crescendo of satyagrahas, swadeshi boycotts; strikes and disturbances in the great display of mass non-cooperation.(Keay pg. 477).This shows that India refused to be controlled by the British and did everything in their power to drive British rule out. Another possible reason why there was a change in relations was due to the fact that the British realized that India was not worth the fight anymore. India became more or less a burden to the British since during the war and after, post war constructions were too much along with other parts of the empire struggling for independence made them give up control. The labor and liberal parties were willing to give India its independence and at one point Lord Montagu said there’d be a â€Å"responsible Government in India† in 1917. Although, there were more conservative British officials that didn’t want to let go of the empire in India such as Winston Churchill. Therefore the British took apart any and all forms of resistance to the empire. Copeland states that â€Å"the British felt compelled to stay in India to honor their various commitments they had made†. (Copland pg. 19) The main aims of Indian nationalism were to make India ungovernable so that the British would leave. Ian Copeland states that â€Å"Both war and depression fuelled the rise of nationalism in India†. The Amritsar Massacre was a very important part of the nationalist battle against India since it made many prominent Pro British Indian figures to finally stand up and say the British are done. Punjab became a completely revolutionary area and became enemies of the empire. Many isolated mutinies occurred during this time and were mainly blamed on the radical Ghadar party. 5000 of them were arrested at the beginning of World war one to stop a revolution in Punjab. The Amritsar Massacre also led to the rise of Ghandi and his non cooperation movement. He gave up any and all reformist views and asked for complete independence for India. Tagore have up his knighthood and Motilal Nehru father of Jawaharlal  Nehru send him to Cambridge university and Even after all this burned all his suits to show his hatred for the British. Tagore said after the Amritsar massacre that â€Å"the late events have conclusively proved that our true salvation lies in our own hand†.( Reese pg. 85) Gandhi and his movement called for children to be pulled out of schools and businessmen to stop selling foreign food and asked the police to be more kind and polite. To these aims of creating an independent India the Muslims also joined the battle for independence but the Molaph riots show that they weren’t so united after all since 600 Hindus were killed showing the fact that they couldn’t work together. It is also possible to argue that these non cooperation movements weren’t working fast enough since for two years it was highly impractical to pull children out of school when they were putting at risk their own people. The main cause of the failure of the movement however is the fact that it was not ready yet to survive on its own. After the failure of the Non cooperation movement came the Salt satyagrahas which again had similar goals to the previous movement. It started of a plea to the Raj that the taxes on salt were absolutely high which a movement became for four years during which Gandhi was arrested which outraged people. Gandhi’s arrest though did lead to the signing of the Gandhi-Irwin pact which led to some restrictions being relaxed but it had a very small effect as a whole since the Muslim community refused to take part in the riots and kept buying salt from the British giving them the chance to suppress the Indians easily since they were also lacking leaders as most of them were arrested. Then came the Quit India campaign and Gandhi’s famous speech asking for India’s complete independence which in turn led to the passing of the Quit India resolution by Congress which was their way of saving that they weren’t going to settle for anything less than total independence. During this time there were many violent protests but to no avail. The British managed to silence even these protests and continuously suppress them and carry on which goes to show that India gained independence by earning its rights to self govern through all the concessions it forced the British to make and not by making it Ungovernable. Even though many previous events were suppressed by the British in every possible way they did have to make certain concessions to please the Indians which all gradually built its way to India being self governed by itself. The main reason these reforms  were given were because of the massive uprising by the Bengal partitioning. The Morley Minto reforms of 1909 did in fact lead to Indians being able to be elected to legislative councils. These concessions however weren’t given with the thought of Indian Independence in mind but to give them just enough to end the rebellions. Even with other events up until the massacre all the people wanted were reforms and it was not until the Amritsar Massacre that they wanted more. The entire reason behind the protest of Amritsar was to fight the Rowlatt Act introduced where an Indian could be imprisoned for two years with no trial if he or she is suspected of terrorism. This led to the massacre which in turn led to the British giving more than just a few reforms. The Government of India Act was introduced giving an expanded reach for Indians over the government along with the hopes of being a self governed country. Many believed this wasn’t enough and that the British could’ve done better since they weren’t sure the British would just break this promise just as easy. Saying that, this Act did give more voting power to much more Indians. This act was indeed a step forward for India but it was made sure that the viceroy still was able to make most of the important decisions himself. The Indians still boycotted the first elections under this act and this showed that they were fighting for full independence nothing else. Rees has stated that â€Å"it had become clear that politically active Indians could, in certain circumstances, sway the masses behind them†. The INC was started by Alan Hume who a British civil servant was showing how they were never intent on giving India its independence. Unlike previous reforms the number of people voting went from 7 million people to 35 million people and more Indians were voted into positions such as the provincial assemblies. There were also countless backchannel addendums added to these reforms that acted as loopholes for the British to manipulate. Robert Horne said that the British had â€Å"put into this bill many safeguards†. This was another way of saying the Brits were still very much in control. The viceroy still had majority power over military and foreign affairs. This shows that it may not have been nationalism that led to Independence but the choice of the British to let go of their empire which was a cause of the labor party victory in England since conservatives like Churchill did not want to let go. Another possible cause why India Gained independence was because the British changed their views on India much earlier on deciding to let it go on their own accord. This point is arguable because even though the Indian empire was being very costly to keep up and also due to the rise of nationalism and revolts and figures like Gandhi leading the charge against British rule they could’ve easily stayed on as seen by the way they repress and push Back any form of resistance put up by its people. And also even after the Great depression and other financial troubles the British had in the 1920s and further on they still had a firm grip over the empire till after world war two which makes it possible to say they left on their own accord. Also after the labor party’s victory in Britain wanted out as soon as possible and also Lord Mountbatten’s rapid level of decolonization shows they wanted to get out. India in fact wanted Britain to stay even after they had won their independence and it did to a certain extent since Indian tea industry belonged to the UK even after independence was achieved. Mayors of certain cities stayed on in their posts for a long time showing that they weren’t in fact driven because if they were there would have been no remnants of British Rule making it more than likely that it was British attitudes that changed and led to the change in relations. Another reason for the change in relations between India and Britain seems to be economic pressures that were there for the British. Back then during the peak of the empire before the war India was Britain’s largest overseas client and increased its revenue substantially. India made the British economy spin and made it the superpower it was in the 19th Century. Britain also provided 60% of its import and Britain also loaned a large sum of money for the first Great War, around 100 million pounds. It can be understood why Britain did not want to lose India since its initial investment in India was 160 million pounds. As time went by Britain’s hold over other countries got worse and it lost several export clients after the war. That coupled with the Great Depression led to Britain’s market crashing completely. All this was made so much worse with the boycotting and the revolts in India during the 1920s. The British then at one point let India set its own tariffs. By the end of the Second World War India was owed 1300 million pounds by the British for the Indian Army for Imperial Defense. Also the population in  India was rising heavily and there was pressure placed on natural resources and supplies therefore Britain seeing India as nothing more than a burden decided to let it go. Therefore we see that in reality the real change in British relations with India came about was because of the changes in British attitudes. We see on more than one occasion that Britain could’ve kept their empire in India. As strong as feelings of nationalism were and as brave as leaders like Gandhi were they couldn’t have driven the British out by making India ungovernable because the British knew they couldn’t be driven out by force or otherwise. It is clear that they left of their own accord due to financial political reasons or otherwise. Although it is also worth mentioning that Nationalism did play a huge role in the change in relations since it did indeed spark the match to the road to independence which led to reforms and other such important changes in India but ultimately it came down of the choice of Britain.

Failure of McDonalds Company in Entering China Market Essay - 1

Failure of McDonalds Company in Entering China Market - Essay Example According to the research findings, a market is defined as the group of potential customers with similar needs who are willing to purchase goods and services towards the satisfaction of these needs. Potential entrants need to focus on the customers and come up with proper marketing mixes to a particular target market. The paper highlights recommendations that are available for proper entry and successful implementation of the company in the new market. McDonalds Corporation is a chain of fast food restaurants whose client base is 68 million customers across 119 states and over 35,000uotlets. The multi-national headed by Steve Easterbrook predominantly sells hamburgers, chicken, sandwiches, soft drinks, desserts breakfast items, salads, wraps, vegetarian items and other localized fares. Despite their seasonal deviations in certain states, the chain is subject to regional food taboos such as religious prohibition and is employed to avail products with which the regional market is more familiar such as beer in Germany, prawn in Ebi or burger in Singapore. The Corporation operates in 118 countries and serves around 168 million customers with an employment rate of 2million people. Among the states relates to Mexico, Germany, Europe, China and predominantly in the US where the company is the largest fast foods restaurant with a 96.5% market share. McDonald's has a 15% market share, and an approximate of 1750 stores in China as well as a command of 40 million worth of profits. It successful entry in other states such as Europe has led to operations in brands other than restaurants such as Piles Cafà ©. The company has expanded over the last 25 years to cover various states and currently holds 300 million worth of revenue and 30% of the US GDP.

Letter to New Hires Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Letter to New Hires - Essay Example Our principles require that we work to create a healthy, viable Earth, in addition to a healthy, viable business, and in order to do so then we must risk change. Where once forests were abundant and lumber taken from them without regulation, our environment has changed and forestry work has demanded change, also. We take great pride in the fact that all three forests owned by Collins-Pennsylvania, Almanor, and Lakeview-have been independently certified by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) in accordance with the principles and standards of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Preserving our environment in order that our children and grandchildren may enjoy the natural beauty of our forests is the foundation of the Collins Company. The 295,000 acres of timberlands owned by the company are biodiverse, multi-layered, canopied forests. Each forest is self-sustaining and includes more wood today than it did over a century ago. They contain habitats of bald eagles, black bears, wild turkeys, rubber boas, beavers, great blue heron rookeries and the endangered Goose Lake redband trout. They are enhanced by meadows, and various water features including springs, creeks, rivers, and lakes. These forest are naturally healthy with trees grown only from a combination of sunshine, water, and nutrients from fertile soil.

Dealing with a Nuclear Iran Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Dealing with a Nuclear Iran - Essay Example Thinkers such as LaFranchi (2006) as well as Carter (2006) have made it clear that some nations may be responsible enough to possess nuclear bombs but others may have to be prevented from gaining access to such technology. In this regard, nuclear proliferation becomes an international problem when countries such as Iran and North Korea generate different opinions on how they should be handled. While the case of North Korea is more or less settled, Iran remains and issue and there are several methods given by expert analysts which show that the nuclear intentions of Iran can be handled in several ways. The basic reason for why Iran is seeking nuclear armament is because Iran wants to make itself regionally secure. The need for security is reflected in the history of Iran since in 1941, the Allies wanted to find a path through the country to support the Russian front against Germany. The King of Iran, Reza Shah was suspicious of the motives of the allies and was thus removed from the throne. This was a basically a misunderstanding between the allies and the Iranian people but it turned them away from the allies in historical terms (Kilgore, 2007). The troubled history of Iran and the west continued through the revolution until in recent years, Bush made Iran a part of the ‘Axis of Evil’. In these circumstances, Iran can clearly see that America does not attack a nuclear capable North Korea while it continually threatens a non-nuclear Iran (Kilgore, 2007). Iran wants to avoid the fate of Iraq which was attacked for allegations of having weapons of mass destruction while it had none (Jackson, 2006). The false charges brought by the American government caused the Iraqi people a lot of misery and even though Saddam was a cruel ruler, the methods used to remove him and the timing was less than ideal (Kilgore, 2007). In fact, Kilgore (2007) suggests that it is the manipulation of the Israeli lobby which is causing fingers to

MGMT Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

MGMT - Assignment Example Performance appraisal is a very beneficial process. It is a positive experience and can contribute to the overall wellbeing of the company and organization if implemented properly it helps individuals to perform better, raise their confidence and give them motivation. On the whole it strengthens the relations between management and their subordinates within the organization and paves way for commitment. Performance evaluation is not something which can be ignored and taken lightly (J.Daniels) 2. What are the best performance management practices? Like (Feedback, communication, reword) Some of the best management performance practices are: 1. Performance Appraisals and Feedback 2. Communication For performance appraisals to be effective and produce the desired results, clear cut objectives need to be chalked out. They should have a clear objective of why it is done and what for. Performance appraisal is a process. As stated by Northhouse in his account on performance appraisals that i t is most likely to fail if its objective is not linked to good personnel management and is implemented with a vague purpose and line of thought. (NorthHouse) Different arguments have been put forward by different authors. Kelly believes that Communication of performance is a very integral part of the entire process. (Kelly) She has further argued that anyone who is leading and directing the activities of others under him should know the art of conducting an effective performance review meeting. It should not be taken lightly. It should be seriously and should not be considered as a meaningless chit chat. It should be sought for as an opportunity for improvement by both the manager as well as his sub ordinates. 3. What are the Career Success key elements? Career success key elements are sustained hard work, sincerity to one self and to the organization and commitment to organizational goals. It is important to ensure that the employees are aware of what direction they are treading o n and how effective they have been so far. Employer feedback helps immensely and has a major role to play in the career success. 3. How to conduct a Performance Management Assessment Performance Management is an entire process as mentioned above. However the final phase of the performance management cycle is the performance management Assessment. It offers an excellent opportunity for one to communicate past performances to the employee, evaluate his job satisfaction and chalk out plans for his future performance. During the assessment it is important to develop a supporting environment that states clearly the purpose of the discussion. Key areas of responsibility should be discussed and examples of specific results need to be cited. Similarly clarifying questions need to be asked and employee performance should be acknowledged wherever needed be. Past performances that could have been done better should be discussed with a clear focus on future performance. It is important to ensur e that the employee has an understanding of future expectations regarding performance. It should be concluded on a positive note with an emphasis on the benefits of the conversation. 4. What the traditional approaches to performance management describe succinctly with meaning Following are the traditional approaches to performance management: 1. Essay Appraisal Method: In this the description of the performance of the employee is provided by his superior 2. Straight Ranking Method:

Shifts In Maritime Transportation Industry Case Study

Shifts In Maritime Transportation Industry - Case Study Example The present slow down of the industry in the developed world gives rise to this pessimism however, the forecast for the developing world produces a completely contrasting picture. Maritime transportation is intricately linked by the means of transportation i.e by the shipping industry. Thus the health of the shipping industry gives a fair picture of the state of the transportation industry. After the end of the Second World War, The United States was the leading country in maritime transportation. The remarkable Marshall Plan saw the rebuilding of a shattered Europe in which seaborne commerce played an important role. Transportation of oil as also other goods increased manifolds. Closure of the Suez Canal in 1956 caused a short term downswing, but also helped add impetus to the shipping industry as the oil now had to come around the Cape of Good Hope thus increasing the capacity and capability of the maritime transportation sector. Between 1957 and 1973, the West's domination of the maritime transportation industry was challenged by Japan who became the industry leader. In that period the transportation industry was very much a 'sunset industry' as far as the Europeans and the Americans were concerned but a 'sunshine industry' for Japan. The OPEC oil embargo of 1973, caused a sudden glut of oil tankers which had no cargo to carry. Consequently, the maritime transportation industry suffered badly. The Japanese shipbuilding industries suffered heavily and in the intervening vacuum, the South Koreans stepped in to claim their stake in the global maritime transportation pie. China and Singapore too joined the race. The maritime transportation industry today is characterized by some important factors shaping the world.

Service Marketing of The Starbucks Coffee Corporation Case Study - 1

Service Marketing of The Starbucks Coffee Corporation - Case Study Example The Starbucks was founded in the year of 1971 in Washington with the three partners. Starbucks exhibit very high operational efficiency in the recession period and good sales in the period which may cause the coffee makers to re-engineering the process to cope with the trends. Â  The branding strategy of the products are very good and it is made available in the different ways through the supply chain management possible, the second strategy includes the customer intimacy and the encouraging experience in them, the third includes the atmosphere that is based on the human experiences and the community. The efficient channels of distribution of the offers to the nation company-operated retail channels and the 15% of the revenue contribution are from the retail channel of distribution. Â  The main philosophy of the Starbucks is the reach of the products to the customers irrespective of the time and the cost and making it available at an ease. The strength of the employees in the star buck corporation is very high and they have partners of around 60000 and in North America, they have about 5000 partners. The employee turnover is very less for the star bucks. When an employee is recruited in the firm he is taught the hard skills like the maintenance of the cash book, vouchers and the soft skills like the pleasing personality and the good customer service. Â  The marketing issues in the Starbucks are the labor problem in North America, The Starbucks in the urban areas pay good wages to the employees to retain the employees. The issues also occur in comparison with the barista efficiency by the no value added the task. Â  

Zimbardo Prison Experiment. The Dynamics of Attitude and Behaviour Essay

Zimbardo Prison Experiment. The Dynamics of Attitude and Behaviour - Essay Example (Rothman-Marshall, 6 Jan 99) However, when a person performs an action contradictary to a strongly held belief or opinion, there is a jarring feeling that distresses, which psychologist Leon Festinger describes as that uncomfortable feeling one gets when one "finds oneself doing something that doesn't fit with what one knows." This chafing sensation, known as cognitive dissonance, is glaringly visible in the Zimbardo Prison Experiment. For the two-week experiment, a group of students were paid to participate in a simulated situation where half the randomly chosen students were 'prisoners' and the other half, 'guards'. The students took to the roles they were acting, and soon the life-like 'prison' was a scene of realistic baton-wielding tyrannical uniformed guards subjugating and abusing the hapless, helpless prisoners to such an extent that few even suffered from severe trauma, and had to be replaced. During the experiment, it was noted that decent, (presumably) law-abiding boys behaved in a manner totally contradictory to their normal attitudes. The 'guards' often abusing and manipulating the 'prisoners' who, stripped of their identity, debased and dehumanised, acted out the part of the oppressed 'prisoner'.

Safety Supervisors in the work place Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Safety Supervisors in the work place - Essay Example Most of the accidents caused are directly related to unsafe practices and actions taken by people at workplace. In addition, ancestral causes, social environment, unsafe acts and mistakes lead to accidents or injuries at work place. Just by eliminating unsafe worker behaviors, often referred to as risk behaviors and ignorant behaviors, about 90% of the accidents at work place can be effectively prevented (Taylor, Easter & Hegney, 2004). To increase the safety at work place and to encourage behavior based safety, every organization has its own methodology which it follows. Some organizations lay very rigid safety measures to be followed without fail while some offer spot incentives for fun and get the behavior based safety measures maintained to the best. In few organizations, spot warnings are given to employees that commit defects of faulty and unsafe actions; extreme measures such as dismissal letters are also issued to the defaulters. To positively reinforce behavior based safety actions, supervisors incentivize their staff with goodies, applauds, appreciations etc. At an organizational level, such staff members can be rewarded with monetary incentives. As a safety supervisor, it is important to communicate safety methods and practices to all employees and ensure they understand the significance of safety and reasons for implementing such safety measures.

The Impact of Web 3.0 on Marketing Essay Example for Free

The Impact of Web 3.0 on Marketing Essay The future of the Internet is in Web 3.0, known as the Semantic Web. Feigenbaum, Herman, Hongsermeier, Neumann and Stephens (2007) summarised the concept as â€Å"a highly interconnected network of data that could be easily accessed and understood by any desktop or handheld machine†. The authors, referring to a 2001 article by Berners-Lee, Hendler and Lassila about their vision on Web 3.0, also said Berners-Lee et al: painted a future of intelligent software agents that would head out on the World Wide Web and automatically book flights and hotels for our trips, update our medical records and give us a single, customized answer to a particular question without our having to search for information or pore through results. This means online sites and databases already contain information about individuals’ culture, travel, health and education. In Web 3.0, individuals’ habits and preferences are known. The technology of Web 3.0 is ‘smart’ in using the data to drill down key choices to individuals, thereby saving Web 3.0 users time and effort in searching for information and in making decisions. Web 3.0 is however not a product separate from its previous ‘incarnations’. Instead, it is an extension or an enhancement of the current Web. The World Wide Web Consortium has already released Semantic Web technologies and languages for the different sites and databases to ‘talk’ and generate results in a unified manner for Web users. In contrast, Web 1.0 was just about linking Web pages with hyperlinks. Web 2.0 is where we are now—the consumer and producer of information are increasingly the same person, sharing views and new ideas with fellow netizens (sometimes anonymously). Web 3.0 is the â€Å"convergence of new technologies and rapidly changing consumer buying trends†, having overcome some of Web 2.0’s limiting factors such as presenting the audience with too much information, which Tasner (2010) argues, distracts us. Advertising has accordingly evolved from placements in newspapers, magazines, radio, signs and from the 1930s, on television. When the Internet came to wide use in industrialised societies in the mid-1990s, marketers advertised online through banners or interstitials (among others) and refined their search engine optimisation so the brands’ Web links appear at the top of search results. Functions of Web 3.0 Although Web 3.0 is not widely utilized, the technology is already in use (Ohler, 2010). Smith (2009) speaks of Web 3.0 as sophisticated, intelligent software that can learn, understand and make decisions. For example, Web 3.0 can trace online materials, analyze the popularity of content and draw conclusions. It will filter and refine the users’ online searches. This idea is also echoed by Reh (2011), who says Web 3.0 will be able to extract feedback on products, services or organizations that have been posted on blogs and online forums, for example. Organizations can then develop Web pages specifically aligned with their customers’ needs (Reh, 2011). This saves time and cost for the organization. The norm is that an organization would track online traffic by the number or pattern of clicks on its website and get feedback from surveys in order to predict what its customers want. Web 3.0 will empower marketers by allowing them to target products and create specific marketing messages for particular customers more intuitively. Advertising might turn out to be less effective and marketers will need to rely on their merits and not on what they claim (Smith, 2009). In an article by Baumann (2009), Nova Spivack, founder and CEO of Radar Networks views Web 3.0 as an upgrade of Web infrastructure. He says the focus will be on the back-end of the Web, where final processing of the data occurs. An upgrade of the databases and data stores will increase efficiency and make searches faster. Time-consuming tasks such as searching and compiling currently done by netizens will eventually be taken over by computers in the future. Web 3.0 applications will have the capacity to run on any device, be it a computer or the mobile phone. These applications will be speedy and customizable (Cho, 2008). Theoretical framework For the purpose of this research paper, we will be adopting the Co-creation method as the theoretical framework. According to Prahalad and Ramaswamy (2004), it is the process whereby consumers take an active role and co-create value together with the company. With the impending rise of Web 3.0, the framework has provided companies with unique and inventive opportunities to capitalise on consumers’ innovative potential. This has resulted in various approaches to collaborate with consumers during the entire value chain. Most often co-creation occurs during the innovation process, referring to joint product development activities such as generating and evaluating new product ideas; elaborating, evaluating, or challenging product concepts; and creating virtual prototypes (Fueller, Matzler, Stieger, Kohler, 2011). Cost-efficient and multimedia-rich interaction opportunities offered by the Internet and the existence of online communities have made virtual co-creation a suitable means of creating value and improving the overall success of new products. Information technology enables new forms of producer-consumer collaboration in new product development processes (Fuller, Muhlbacher, Matzler, Jawecki, 2009). With Web 3.0, social interaction drives business operations (Laurent, 2010). We infer that marketers will take advantage of this because a Web 3.0 browser would have learned a customer’s likes and dislikes. The more interaction a user has with the Internet, the more the browser would learn about him/her to predict future behaviours and consumption patterns, putting the user in touch with people who share his/her interests and aspirations (Kumar, 2009). Consumer co-creation, in which consumers participate creatively in the production of content and innovation of services, has arisen because of consumers’ greater access to the â€Å"means of production† through information and communication technologies (Lundvall and Johnson, 1994). It aligns to the shift from producer-centric to consumer-centric innovation. Consumers are not just engaging in production, but also in dynamic production, or innovation (Potts, 2008). This is facilitated by the same forces that are increasingly delivering productive capabilities into the hands of consumers, and is occurring with ever higher quality, at ever lower costs, and on an ever increasing global market into which particular consumer specializations can find a â€Å"producer† niche (Potts, 2008). According to Fuller (2004), consumers are considered a valuable source of innovation. Researchers as well as consultants claim to virtually engage consumers in co-creation activities s uch as generating, designing, refining and testing ideas and new product concepts. They do this in order to develop new products and services that better meet consumers’ wants and needs and to decrease the high failure rates of new product introductions, especially prevalent in the consumer goods sectors. The novelty of virtual co-creation compared to conventional customer integration is that consumers are not only asked about their opinions, desires, and needs, but also are asked to contribute their creativity and problem-solving skills. Consumers therefore take on the role of co-creators (Fuller, 2010). In this paper, we will apply the co-creation framework to address the following research questions: †¢ How will marketers now skew their marketing strategy to maximise on Web 3.0? †¢ Will online marketing efforts move towards targeting social networking sites only? †¢ Will online marketing efforts now be shaped by customers? †¢ What is the impact of privacy issues on marketing efforts? We infer that as the opportunity arises to innovate, along with further development of social networking characteristics of Web 3.0, online marketers will have to look to consumers’ insights when it comes to shaping their online business models. As set out above, it is an inc entive for consumers to have a say in how they experience their shopping online. Marketing strategies on Web 3.0 With Web 3.0, social interaction drives business operations (Laurent, 2010). We infer that marketers will take advantage of this because a Web 3.0 browser would have learned a customer’s likes and dislikes. The more interaction a user has with the Internet, the more the browser would learn about him/her to predict future behaviors and consumption patterns, putting the user in touch with people who share his/her interests and aspirations (Kumar, 2009). Mobile technology, too, will advance with Web 3.0 where advertising will explode, as Web-based advertising allows for rich, engaging ads (Kurtyka, 2007). Zoetrope is one of the early users of Web 3.0 technology. Using the Zoetrope interface, a user could compare historical changes of various data through time by comparing snapshots of different pages on the Web. Analyzing different and changing elements on Web pages over a period of time is downright difficult today, if not impossible. But Zoetrope makes it happen. The headlines of, say, today’s Straits Times homepage will be gone tomorrow, and yesterday’s price for a pair of jeans on ASOS is likely irretrievable today. This means that marketers can now see the key words trend or correlate the relationship between products, consumer needs and brand names over a period of time. By using this technology, they can now provide better information to searchers overall. By using snapshots of their competitors’ link profiles over time, marketers will able to find out whether their competitors are out-linking them. U.S. retailer Best Buy is using a Semantic Web markup language called RDFa to increase the visibility of its products and services online. With data such as store name, address, store hours and geographical data being marked up using RDFa, search engines can identify each data component more easily and put them into context. The use of semantic technology led to increased traffic and better service to its customers (MacManus, 2010). Meanwhile, marketers will face the challenge of having to be more creative in their strategies (Cobe, 2007). They would need to constantly update themselves abo ut their customers’ preferences and develop their software for user interface feasibility, functions and so on, to keep up with customer’s spending needs (Smith, 2009). Research using Web 3.0 may take the shape of working with consumers to build a co-managed interactive feedback/preemptive mechanism. The essential 4P’s of marketing — product, price, placement and promotion — will be affected by linked data. Linked data come about when information is marked up in standardized, highly structured formats such as Resource Description Framework (RDF), allowing computers to better understand the meaning of content, rather than simply matching on strings of text (Byrne and Goddard, 2010). So the real power of the Semantic Web, as Byrne and Goddard note, lies in the ability of â€Å"intelligent† search engines to disambiguate terms (Apple the computer vs. apple the fruit, for example), to understand the relationships between different entities, and to bring that information together in new ways to answer queries. How then will marketers skew their marketing strategy to maximise Web 3.0? Marketers love data and they will use these â€Å"free† data to do market research, Web analytics and customer relationship management records. As marketers, they will b e able to use this data to advance market research and product development. With the Semantic Web, they can easily make correlations and connections between the audience and the brand far more deeply than before. This in turn will empower marketers to be more targeted in messaging, more efficient in reaching their customers and more relatable as brands. Besides providing more meaningful information for consumers, marketers will gain from enhancing search engine optimization as well. With the consumers’ online search patterns on hand, marketers can add search-engine-friendly structured data to their websites, resulting a more relevant search, hence generating a better listing, more clicks and more traffic. At the same time, word-of-mouth sharing, syndication of Web content to other online sites, feedback and social groups will have a role in spreading memes. The newest innovation by Facebook, called Open Graph, is a good example. Facebook users will be able to instantly share activities with their friends through applications without being required to grant the apps permission each time. As a result, Facebook users will be sharing more data with friends, Facebook, and marketing companie s than ever before. The goal is to send everything a user does, everywhere on the Web, to Facebook. Guess (2011) notes that Open Graph allows the Web to evolve into the Semantic Web, where experiences are personalised and needs anticipated based on user data. Users are highly likely to love this they will be seeing what they prefer . Engagement with customers is high and they will more likely to be interacting with product brands. With this, marketers will need a tool that can measure the sentiment of an article or comment, who it came from and who it was directed to. It will also be good to measure the connections between community members and between people and concepts. By looking at both trending and popular dialogue, marketers can tell if their brands have sparked robust exchange online. While Web 3.0 offers all the gears for marketers to become better at their game and to measure the effectiveness of campaigns more completely, it also makes marketers less relevant. The content is crucial but the message or is no longer being told alone by marketers. It is in the social graphs and others’ perception of the brands’ ranking in importance through linked data. For survival, marketers must embrace collaboration and innovation, be transparent and continue to harvest content of value. Moving towards social networking Web 3.0 represents a shift in how people interact with the Web and vice versa. Standards are continually being created to make Web-based data and information smarter. Mobile devices are becoming more powerful and versatile, making almost any kind of Internet activity available on the go. Immersive and virtual environments are becoming richer, more complex, and as applications become smarter, the Internet experience will become more immersive (Green, 2011). According to Manas (2009), social media are no longer reserved for teenagers discussing the latest fads — they have become a tool that will either help or harm a business, depending on how they are utilised. Manas reasons that businesses should take advantage of Web 3.0, as rather than just responding to queries, a search engine will try to understand a consumer’s nature, social footprint and sentiments, before it gives a response. While scouring the Net for people, places, and things and determining the relationships between them, new search engine technology can understand the feelings associated with them, positive or negative. However, he advised businesses to be discerning about which platforms to use as there are more than 100 social media platforms, each with its own flavour — some users like Facebook, others like Bebo, and another group is more into MySpace. Customer integration can be much more than merely access to the right information. It can be defined as a form of value creation where the consumers take part in activities and processes which used to be seen as the domain of the companies (Wikstrom, 1996). The customer becomes a ‘co-producer’ and from a producer perspective, the customer is seen as tasks in a production system (Ramirez, 1999). In a case study of Nike made by Ramaswamy (2008), the article discussed how to co-create value through customers experiences in the context of the innovation and marketing processes of Nike. It provided details on Nikes social networking site, Joga.com, where individuals can upload videos of their soccer skills and the network community can judge a monthly winner. Other marketing initiatives of the company include street soccer competition sponsorships, a website where professional soccer players can interact with fans and conventional Internet marketing program sponsorships (Ramaswamy, 2008).

Fault Tree Analysis

Fault Tree Analysis Fault Tree Analysis Fault tree analysis (FTA) is a failure analysis in which an undesired state of a system is analyzed using boolean logic to combine a series of lower-level events. This analysis method is mainly used in the field of safety engineering to quantitatively determine the probability of a safety hazard. An Overview of Basic Concepts This quick subject guide provides an overview of the basic concepts in Fault Tree Analysis (FTA, system analysis) as it applies to system reliability and a directory of some other resources on the subject. History of Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) is another technique for reliability and safety analysis. Bell Telephone Laboratories developed the concept in 1962 for the U.S. Air Force for use with the Minuteman system. It was later adopted and extensively applied by the Boeing Company. Fault tree analysis is one of many symbolic analytical logic techniques found in operations research and in system reliability. Other techniques include Reliability Block Diagrams (RBDs). Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) was originally developed in 1962 at Bell Laboratories by H.A. Watson, under a U.S. Air Force Ballistics Systems Division contract to evaluate the Minuteman I Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Launch Control System. Following the first published use of FTA in the 1962 Minuteman I Launch Control Safety Study, Boeing and AVCO expanded use of FTA to the entire Minuteman II system in 1963-1964. FTA received extensive coverage at a 1965 System Safety Symposium in Seattle sponsored by Boeing and the University of Washington. Boeing began using FTA for civil aircraft design around 1966. In 1970, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) published a change to 14 CFR 25.1309 airworthiness regulations for transport aircraft in the Federal Register at 35 FR 5665 (1970-04-08). This change adopted failure probability criteria for aircraft systems and equipment and led to widespread use of FTA in civil aviation. Within the nuclear power industry, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission began using probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) methods including FTA in 1975, and significantly expanded PRA research following the 1979 incident at Three Mile Island. This eventually led to the 1981 publication of the NRC Fault Tree Handbook NUREG-0492, and mandatory use of PRA under the NRCs regulatory authority. Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) attempts to model and analyze failure processes of engineering and biological systems. FTA is basically composed of logic diagrams that display the state of the system and is constructed using graphical design techniques. Originally, engineers were responsible for the development of Fault Tree Analysis, as a deep knowledge of the system under analysis is required. Often, FTA is defined as another part, or technique, of reliability engineering. Although both model the same major aspect, they have arisen from two different perspectives. Reliability engineering was, for the most part, developed by mathematicians, while FTA, as stated above, was developed by engineers. Fault Tree Analysis usually involves events from hardware wear out, material failure or malfunctions or combinations of deterministic contributions to the event stemming from assigning a hardware/system failure rate to branches or cut sets. Typically failure rates are carefully derived from substantiated historical data such as mean time between failure of the components, unit, subsystem or function. Predictor data may be assigned. Assigning a software failure rate is elusive and not possible. Since software is a vital contributor and inclusive of the system operation it is assumed the software will function normally as intended. There is no such thing as a software fault tree unless considered in the system context. Software is an instruction set to the hardware or overall system for correct operation. Since basic software events do not fail in the physical sense, attempting to predict manifestation of software faults or coding errors with any reliability or accuracy is impossible, unless assumptions are made. Predicting and assigning human error rates is not the primary intent of a fault tree analysis, but may be attempted to gain some knowledge of what happens with improper human input or intervention at the wrong time. FTA can be used as a valuable design tool, can identify potential accidents, and can eliminate costly design changes. It can also be used as a diagnostic tool, predicting the most likely system failure in a system breakdown. FTA is used in safety engineering and in all major fields of engineering. More on Fault Tree Diagram (FTD) Fault tree diagrams (or negative analytical trees) are logic block diagrams that display the state of a system (top event) in terms of the states of its components (basic events). Like reliability block diagrams (RBDs), fault tree diagrams are also a graphical design technique, and as such provide an alternative to methodology to RBDs. An FTD is built top-down and in term of events rather than blocks. It uses a graphic model of the pathways within a system that can lead to a foreseeable, undesirable loss event (or a failure). The pathways interconnect contributory events and conditions, using standard logic symbols (AND, OR etc). The basic constructs in a fault tree diagram are gates and events, where the events have an identical meaning as a block in an RBD and the gates are the conditions. Fault Trees and Reliability Block Diagrams The most fundamental difference between FTDs and RBDs is that in an RBD one is working in the success space, and thus looks at system successes combinations, while in a fault tree one works in the failure space and looks at system failure combinations. Traditionally, fault trees have been used to access fixed probabilities (i.e. each event that comprises the tree has a fixed probability of occurring) while RBDs may have included time-varying distributions for the success (reliability equation) and other properties, such as repair/restoration distributions. Drawing Fault Trees: Gates and Events Fault trees are built using gates and events (blocks). The two most commonly used gates in a fault tree are the AND and OR gates. As an example, consider two events (or blocks) comprising a Top Event (or a system). If occurrence of either event causes the top event to occur, then these events (blocks) are connected using an OR gate. Alternatively, if both events need to occur to cause the top event to occur, they are connected by an AND gate. As a visualization example, consider the simple case of a system comprised of two components, A and B, and where a failure of either component causes system failure. The system RBD is made up of two blocks in series (see RBD configurations), as shown next: The fault tree diagram for this system includes two basic events connected to an OR gate (which is the Top Event). For the Top Event to occur, either A or B must happen. In other words, failure of A OR B causes the system to fail. Relationships Between Fault Trees and RBDs In general (and with some specific exceptions), a fault tree can be easily converted to an RBD. However, it is generally more difficult to convert an RBD into a fault tree, especially if one allows for highly complex configurations. The following table shows gate symbols commonly used in fault tree diagrams and describes their relationship to an RBD. (The term Classic Fault Tree refers to the definitions as used in the Fault Tree Handbook (NUREG-0492) by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission). Methodology FTA methodology is described in several industry and government standards, including NRC NUREG-0492 for the nuclear power industry, an aerospace-oriented revision to NUREG-0492 for use by NASA, SAE ARP4761 for civil aerospace, MIL-HDBK-338 for military systemsfor military systems. IEC standard IEC61025 is intended for cross-industry use and has been adopted as European Norme EN61025. Since no system is perfect, dealing with a subsystem fault is a necessity, and any working system eventually will have a fault in some place. However, the probability for a complete or partial success is greater than the probability of a complete failure or partial failure. Assembling a FTA is thus not as tedious as assembling a success tree which can turn out to be very time consuming. Because assembling a FTA can be a costly and cumbersome experience, the perfect method is to consider subsystems. In this way dealing with smaller systems can assure less error work probability, less system analysis. Afterward, the subsystems integrate to form the well analyzed big system. An undesired effect is taken as the root (top event) of a tree of logic. There should be only one Top Event and all concerns must tree down from it. Then, each situation that could cause that effect is added to the tree as a series of logic expressions. When fault trees are labeled with actual numbers about failure probabilities (which are often in practice unavailable because of the expense of testing), computer programs can calculate failure probabilities from fault trees. The Tree is usually written out using conventional logic gate symbols. The route through a tree between an event and an initiator in the tree is called a Cut Set. The shortest credible way through the tree from fault to initiating event is called a Minimal Cut Set. Some industries use both Fault Trees and Event Trees. An Event Tree starts from an undesired initiator (loss of critical supply, component failure etc.) and follows possible further system events through to a series of final consequences. As each new event is considered, a new node on the tree is added with a split of probabilities of taking either branch. The probabilities of a range of top events arising from the initial event can then be seen. Classic programs include the Electric Power Research Institutes (EPRI) CAFTA software, which is used by many of the US nuclear power plants and by a majority of US and international aerospace manufacturers, and the Idaho National Laboratorys SAPHIRE, which is used by the U.S. Government to evaluate the safety and reliability of nuclear reactors, the Space Shuttle, and the International Space Station. Outside the US, the software RiskSpectrum is a popular tool for Fault Tree and Event Tree analysis and is licensed for use at almost half of the worlds nuclear power plants for Probabilistic Safety Assessment. Analysis Many different approaches can be used to model a FTA, but the most common and popular way can be summarized in a few steps. Remember that a fault tree is used to analyze a single fault event, and that one and only one event can be analyzed during a single fault tree. Even though the fault may vary dramatically, a FTA follows the same procedure for an event, be it a delay of 0.25 msec for the generation of electrical power, or the random, unintended launch of an ICBM. FTA analysis involves five steps: Define the undesired event to study Definition of the undesired event can be very hard to catch, although some of the events are very easy and obvious to observe. An engineer with a wide knowledge of the design of the system or a system analyst with an engineering background is the best person who can help define and number the undesired events. Undesired events are used then to make the FTA, one event for one FTA; no two events will be used to make one FTA. Obtain an understanding of the system Once the undesired event is selected, all causes with probabilities of affecting the undesired event of 0 or more are studied and analyzed. Getting exact numbers for the probabilities leading to the event is usually impossible for the reason that it may be very costly and time consuming to do so. Computer software is used to study probabilities; this may lead to less costly system analysis. System analysts can help with understanding the overall system. System designers have full knowledge of the system and this knowledge is very important for not missing any cause affecting the undesired event. For the selected event all causes are then numbered and sequenced in the order of occurrence and then are used for the next step which is drawing or constructing the fault tree. Construct the fault tree After selecting the undesired event and having analyzed the system so that we know all the causing effects (and if possible their probabilities) we can now construct the fault tree. Fault tree is based on AND and OR gates which define the major characteristics of the fault tree. Evaluate the fault tree After the fault tree has been assembled for a specific undesired event, it is evaluated and analyzed for any possible improvement or in other words study the risk management and find ways for system improvement. This step is as an introduction for the final step which will be to control the hazards identified. In short, in this step we identify all possible hazards affecting in a direct or indirect way the system. Control the hazards identified This step is very specific and differs largely from one system to another, but the main point will always be that after identifying the hazards all possible methods are pursued to decrease the probability of occurrence. Comparison With Other Analytical Methods FTA is a deductive, top-down method aimed at analyzing the effects of initiating faults and events on a complex system. This contrasts with Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), which is an inductive, bottom-up analysis method aimed at analyzing the effects of single component or function failures on equipment or subysystems. FTA is very good at showing how resistant a system is to single or multiple initiating faults. It is not good at finding all possible initiating faults. FMEA is good at exhaustively cataloging initiating faults, and identifying their local effects. It is not good at examining multiple failures or their effects at a system level. FTA considers external events, FMEA does not. In civil aerospace the usual practice is to perform both FTA and FMEA, with a Failure Mode Effects Summary (FMES) as the interface between FMEA and FTA. Alternatives to FTA include Dependence Diagram (DD), also known as Reliability Block Diagram (RBD) and Markov Analysis. A Dependence Diagram is equivalent to a Success Tree Analysis (STA), the logical inverse of an FTA, and depicts the system using paths instead of gates. DD and STA produce probability of success (i.e., avoiding a top event) rather than probability of a top event. References Ericson, Clifton (1999). Fault Tree Analysis A History (pdf). Proceedings of the 17th International Systems Safety Conference. http://www.fault-tree.net/papers/ericson-fta-history.pdf. Retrieved 2010-01-17. Rechard, Robert P. (1999). Historical Relationship Between Performance Assessment for Radioactive Waste Disposal and Other Types of Risk Assessment in the United States (pdf). Risk Analysis (Springer Netherlands) 19 (5): 763-807. doi:10.1023/A:1007058325258. SAND99-1147J. http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/759847-JsFRIG/webviewable/. Retrieved 2010-01-22. Winter, Mathias (1995). Software Fault Tree Analysis of an Automated Control System Device Written in ADA (pdf). Masters Thesis (Monterey, CA: Naval Postgraduate School). ADA303377. http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA303377. Retrieved 2010-01-17. Benner, Ludwig (1975). Accident Theory and Accident Investigation. Proceedings of the Society of Air Safety Investigators Annual Seminar. http://www.iprr.org/papers/75iasiatheory.html. Retrieved 2010-01-17. DeLong, Thomas (1970). A Fault Tree Manual (pdf). Masters Thesis (Texas AM University). AD739001. http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=AD739001Location=U2doc=GetTRDoc.pdf. Retrieved 2010-03-09. Eckberg, C. R. (1964). Fault Tree Analysis Program Plan. Seattle, WA: The Boeing Company. D2-30207-1. http://www.dtic.mil/srch/doc?collection=t3id=AD0299561. Retrieved 2010-01-17. Begley, T. F.; Cummings (1968). Fault Tree for Safety. RAC. ADD874448. http://www.dtic.mil/srch/doc?collection=t3id=ADD874448. Retrieved 2010-01-17. Hixenbaugh, A. F. (1968). Fault Tree for Safety. Seattle, WA: The Boeing Company. D6-53604. http://www.dtic.mil/srch/doc?collection=t3id=AD0847015. Retrieved 2010-01-17. Acharya, Sarbes; et. al. (1990) (pdf). Severe Accident Risks: An Assessment for Five U.S. Nuclear Power Plants. Wasthington, DC: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. NUREG-1150. http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1150/v1/sr1150v1-intro-and-part-1.pdf. Retrieved 2010-01-17. Vesely, W. E.; et. al. (1981) (pdf). Fault Tree Handbook. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. NUREG-0492. http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr0492/sr0492.pdf. Retrieved 2010-01-17. Vesely, William; et. al. (2002) (pdf). Fault Tree Handbook with Aerospace Applications. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/codeq/doctree/fthb.pdf. Retrieved 2010-01-17. 7.9 Fault Tree Analysis (pdf). Electronic Reliability Design Handbook. B. U.S. Department of Defense. 1998. MIL-HDBK-338B. http://www.everyspec.com/MIL-HDBK/MIL-HDBK+(0300+-+0499)/download.php?spec=MIL-HDBK-338B.015041.pdf. Retrieved 2010-01-17. Fault Tree Analysis. Edition 2.0. International Electrotechnical Commission. 2006. IEC61025. ISBN2-8318-8918-9. Long, Allen (pdf), Beauty the Beast Use and Abuse of Fault Tree as a Tool, fault-tree.net, http://www.fault-tree.net/papers/long-beauty-and-beast.pdf, retrieved 16 January 2010.

Puumala Virus (PUUV) Genome Analysis

Puumala Virus (PUUV) Genome Analysis HANTAVIRUS PAPER REVIEW Summary A key concern of any viral vaccine research is the tremendous genetic diversity of the virus Hantaviruses are etiological agents generally known to cause two distinct human diseases: kidney affecting disease and heart affecting disease, haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) sometimes called Nephropaphia epidemica (NE) in Eurasia and Americas hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) respectively. These viruses are heterologous (heterologous transmission from animals to humans (zoonosis)) which belong to the hantavirus genus, family Bunyavidae normally they make up four genera Hantavirus, Orthobunyavirus,   Nairovirus, Phlebovirus and Tospovirus. The genome of hantaviruses consist of three segments which are negative-strand of RNA, small (S) 1821-1830 nucleotides (nt), medium (M) 3682 nt and large (L) 6530-6562 nt encoding for nucleocapsid (N) protein, glycoprotein molecule (GPC) Gn, Gc proteins   and RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase, respectively. This study characterises the full genome of a Russian hantavirus discovered both in infected humans and small animals, Puumala virus (PUUV). PUUV is considered a prime etiological agent of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome sometimes referred to nephropaphia epidemica in Russia and Eurasia. Mostly, all hantavirus diseases in human have a fatality rate ranging from mild to severe with an intriguingly percentage rate from 0.1% up to 50%,   the symptom outcome of the disease   heavily depend on the geographic location of an infected person. Precisely, in the republic of Tatarstan, Russia the strain of Puumala virus has shown significance increase as human pathogens resulting to the acquiring of the status as emerging virus. PUUV in the republic of Tatarstan, Russia, has become a serious life-threatening hantavirus causing HFRS with high fatality rate of up to 12%, especially in the Volga region. The spectrum of illnesses caused by hantaviruses varies with the particular virus involved(Hantavirus infection: a global zoonotic challenge paper). It is reported that the high peak of Puumala virus comes with the high agricultural activities of this region during of which Bank vole mouse (Clethrionomys glareolus) the etiological agent of HFRS rapidly multiply. Normally, hantavirus, Puumala virus (PUUV) is transmitted to human by coming into contact with contaminated materials like faecal matter, blood dropped by an infected rodent and through aerosolised contaminated air and by bite of a carrier infected rodent. In the case of the strain of Puumala virus in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, the strain is dropped by notorious reservoir rodent specie found in the surrounding environment either near homes or in the fields, Bank vole mouse (Clethrionomys glareolus). It has to be noted here that most hantaviruses are transmitted to human by small animals themselves with an exceptional of Andes virus which can be transmitted from human to human. In South America the case of Andes virus has been reported to be transmitted from human to human. Intriguingly, other species of hantaviruses, Dobrava-belgrade (DOBV) virus with its sub-species isolated in Europe, and Tula virus (TULV) are seriously detected and isolated in Russian and know to cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and in Europe the syndrome is called Nephropaphia epidemica. Dobrava-belgrade is known to be associated with yellow naked-mouse (Apodemus flavicollis) this specie is the most life-threatening hantavirus. Other dobrava-belgrade species, DOBV-Af, DOBV-Aa and DOBV-Ap are associated with A. flavicollis (Af), A. agrarious (Aa) and A. ponticus (Ap) respectively. All these species cause HFRS from mild to severe mode of disease. PUUV form distinct phylogenetic leanage, in line with the natural host, bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus). The strain of Puumala virus is heavily isolated in Ufa, Samara,..parts of Russia both in human and small animals, in human as they thrive causing the dangerous form of human disease, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) Introduction Hantaviruses If you hear a feminine voice thinks of a beautiful lady, what if this time the feminine voice is of a man [1]. Hantaviruses have been limited to the genus hantavirus under bunyaviridae family which give rise to several number of species viruses Puumala virus (PUUV) [2], Dobrava virus (DOBV), Tula Virus, puumala virus (PUUV) Saaremaa virus (SAAV), and Seoul virus (SEOV) are commonly know hantaviruses to be circulating in Europe and Russia [3-5]. However, the agent rodents Hantaviruses are morphologically classified as follows; order rodential, families crecitidae and muridae. Its now a known fact that rodents are not the only hantavirus reservoirs. Researchers have found hantaviruses insects which belong to the lipotyphra order, soriciodae familys and Talpidae[6]. Further, with the recently isolated Bat-borne Hantavirus in China, laibin virus ( LBV) chyroptera order has given a strong predictive assumption that hanataviruses could be found in other animals like cow, [6]. The black bea rd tomb bat hantaviruses isolated in china gave a discrete relation to the previously known hantaviruses. Heavily depending on the geographical location of an infected person, the outcomes of hantavirus infection are well classified human diseases: haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) sometimes referred to nephropathia epidemical mostly in Eurasia and hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) normally called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in the Americas [7] (dissertation Nina Luteka 2010). [1] As the onset of the diseases advances the changes in the vascular permeability is highly noticed, defects in platelet function and acute thrombocytopenia intrinsically can also be observed which is associated with high fever and hemorrhage. However, with the global health threat of hantavirus it has triggered serious research mainly focusing on the vulnerability of the endothelial cells when attacked by hantaviruses. Needless to say, less viral cytopathic effect is observed on the endothelial cells after hantavirus infection. (dissertation Nina Luteka 2010). The mechanism underlying these drastically changes in platelet as the pathogen advances drastically pooling down the immune system and how the hantaviruses trigger interference in the immune system greatly remain futile and poorly understood. hantaviruses have been discovered in insects which acts as the host vector (HO2), hantaviruses in the reservoirs cause asymptomatic completely they do not show any symptom in the natural host. We characterized genome of puumala virus discovered both in human and rodents Diseases Hantaviruses are zoonotic viruses that infect human through rodents contact; in rodents they dont cause diseases but when human come into contact with infected rodent through smelling the excretes or inhalation of infected hair from the rodents induces human diseases known as; Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome found in Europe, the agent viruses for this disease are: Dobrava virus (DOBV)-Belgrade, Puumala, Saaremaa, Sochi, and Seoul virus which is recently reported [8],these viruses are considered to be old world viruses, Bulgaria is one of the country were Hemorrhagic with renal syndrome is endemic but the virus has never been found in the natural rodent reservoir [8] however, Eastern Russia, Korea and China has the highest cases of HFRS caused by HTNV, SEOV, and ASV. Nephropathia epidemical diseases, a rodent disease found in human who gets infected after coming in contact with infected rodents and this disease has the symptoms of the hemorrhageic fever with renal syndrome which makes it to be referred to as same as hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome [2] has continued to be life threatening in the republic of Tatarstan since its first identified in 1997. Epidemiological study on Nephropathia epidemical between 1997 and 2013 in the republic of Tatarstan, Russia gives an account that NE mostly affect male adults due to the agricultural activities during which myodes graleorus (bank vole) the natural reservoir of NE causing agents population increases [9]. It is revealed that the higher epidemic of hantaviruses in the Republic of Tatarstan is due to the supportive mating environment of small animals (bank voles) and increase in agriculture activities. Myodes galeorus shows high population rate during this time of agricultural activities and are a genetic variant prevalence for hantavirus in this region. However, the severity (or the fatality, the outcome) and the kind of disease or the infection involved mainly depends on several factors; The place infection take place The pathogenicity of the agents The genetic makeup (or the genetic predisposition of the host) Diversity of the agents [1] Geographical of the infection acquired Not all known rodent and insect hantaviruses cause disease in human [3] and the treatment for this dangerous hantavirus infection remains futile. The reasons for the variation of severity between virus species/genotypes and in individual patients are not yet known. Diverse determinants concerning virusand patient-specific characteristics may play a role in the pathogenesis. Differences in the use of entry receptors, in the regulation of cytokine response and in viral replication were described to be associated with pathogenicity [8-11]. Studies with genetic reassortants in vitro and in animal models suggest molecular determinants to be responsible for virulence [5, 12]. However, the speciesspecific factors of hantaviruses that are responsible for pathogenicity and clinical picture are not identified so far. Interestingly, the pathogenicity of related viruses of DOBV genotypes differs enormously with case fatality rates (CFRs) between 0.3%-0.9% for DOBV genotype Kurkino and 14.5% for DOBV genotype Sochi [13]. In addition to severe courses that are linked to specific virus species or genotypes, several serious cases were reported for infection with PUUV that usually causes a milder form of hantavirus disease [14, 15]. These infections often involve extrarenal manifestations [16, 17]. From (Clinical characterization of two severe cases of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) caused by hantaviruses Puumala and Dobrava-Belgrade genotype Sochi paper) Hantaviruses evolution Hantaviruses within the family bunyaviridae are different from other member viruses in the sense that they are roboviruses (ROdent-BOrne viruses) signifying that they are hosted by small animals which act as the host reservoirs (vector). Other bunyaviridae virus members are arborviruses (arthropod viruses) transmitted by arthropod to human [10-12] . the circulation of hantaviruses throughout the continent has been triggerd by a number of activities which account for from human movements to the events of the world. These activities also account for the evolution of hantaviruses. However, it is believed that hantaviruses co-evolved together with their reservoirs animal more than 10 million years ago. The genetic diversity of hantaviruses came about by genetic mutation on the genome of the virus producing quasispecies which happened through deletions or insertion of new nucleotides. It is further, shown that the genetic diversity came about by reasortments of the same two viruses genome within the host and by the homologous recombination of the viruses with each other [12-14]. Evolution of hantavirus in the host (rodents) depends on the number of factors which greatly help them to thrive as they live within the host rodents or insects these factors include: the destict environment which act as a life supporting of rodent, there events that are believed to contribute to the evolvement of different kind of rodents, such as glaciations events.   Deglaciation events triggered the movements of rodents in the northern hemisphere southern hemisphere as the small animals migrated from one place to the other caused mutation to occurred in the host themselves and equally in the strain producing distinct kind of hantaviruses in the end causing permanent genetic variations in the population of the hantaviruses. Needless to say, human do not act as the host range of hantaviruses instead they are dead-end point of hantaviruses. Thereafter, hantaviruses do not evolve after inf ecting human vectors, its either they die together with the an infected body or they are wiped off from the human body.[11] Symptoms PUUV -circulating in Northern and Central Europe, Baltics, the part of Russia Europe and the Alpe- Adrian region; High fever Back pain Renal impairment DOBV- mostly circulating in Balkan countries and Alped-Adrian region has the following symptoms Severe illness Hemorrhage High fever Acute renal failure Dialysis may be required Fatality rate reaches 10% PUUV -circulating in Northern and Central Europe, Baltics, the part of Russia Europe and the Alpe- Adrian region; High fever Back pain Renal impairment Structure (morphology) The new era of elucidating the etiological agent of human disease hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), emerged when the strain of puumala virus was isolated from the Bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) in Europe 199.., and the discovery of the four canners hantavirus in USA 1996. However, thanks to the famous and prolonged scientific work of Lee at el who isolated the first agent of Korean hemorrhagic fever, hantaan virus, from the autopsy lungs of striped field mice (apodemus agrarius) in 1978 after two decades of work [15]. Hantaviruses virion is lipid enveloped, covered and protected by polymorphic protein membrane nucleoprotein. The virion of hantavirus species are spherical shaped 80-110 nm in diameter [16-19]. Tripartite segmented negative-sense single stranded RNA genome comprising small (S), medium (M) and large (L) [20-22]. Small (S)-segment is the smallest segment and encodes for the nucleoprotein of 1821-1830 nucleotides the protein have 433 amino acids (aa) [22-2 4]. Medium (M)-segment encodes for the glycoprotein, large (L)-segment encodes for the RNA dependent RNA-polymerase (RdRp), of 3682 nt the glycoprotein precursor which covers the medium segment has 1148 amino acid, RdRp have 2156 aa, respectively [22-24] [6-10]. Furthermore, the small (S) segment however, has further an overlapping open reading frame (ORF) with a putative NSs protein of 90 aa [16, 20, 22, 24, 25] The lipid envelope bounded with viral glycoproteins covers nucleocapsids and RNA dependent RNA-polymerase.   Transmission The transmission of hantaviruses is done horizontally in specific human become affected by inhalation contaminated air, smelling of excreta of infected rodents and by direct contact with infected rodents. This can be realized through different situations: first domestication situation were an infected rodent happen to be in the house and leave some excreta, when in habitant come into contact with these materials they become infected, secondly through camping and agriculture this kind of situation amount to 70% of all kind of situation where people become infected. Natural reservoir Puumala virus is known to be harbored by the wild small animal called bank vole, myodes glareolus, DOBV, yellow field mouse; apodemus flavicollis, HTNV and a SAAV striped field mouse, apodemus agrarius (koreae and agrarius, respectively). SOCHV caused by black sea mouse, Apodemus ponticus; ASV Korean mouse field, apodemus penisulae; SEOV Norway rats, rattus norvegicus [3, 8] Hantavirus history Within a century modern world renascence between 1900 and 2000 the world witnessed the two major outbreak of diseases designated hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, sometimes referred to nephropathia epidenmica and cardiopulmonary syndrome all presumably caused by small animal rodents. The outbreak caused global human health threat before its agents where properly defined. It became an emerging potential human biological weapon disease because of its mass infections and its anthropoid vector which lead to the virus to thrive in its host reservoirs, without showing any sign of infection. The health hazardous outbreak led to the discovery of hantaviruses worldwide later categorized into two old and new world hantaviruses. Needless, to claim that hantaviruses evolutionarised only between this period, the signs and symptoms of these etiological agents disease in human hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome where long ago described noticed and can be seen in Chinese literature of 10th century and the Russian archives show the description of the disease as early as 1913 in Vladivastok. Lee et al, while working on the early reported severe or mild form of hemorrhagic fever, isolated the etiological agent believed to have induced high fever called Korean hemorrhagic fever near Hantaan River, Korea in 1978. The initial isolation of the agent of KHF led to the designating name hantavirus derived from the hantaan river the place where it was discovered. The highly published anticipated discovery of 1978 proved the earlier noticed hemorrhagic fever in 1951-1953 and gave the new era in the understanding of etiological agents human disease, HFRS and HPS in the world of health hazardous biological weapon. Needless, to say more than 3000 UN soldiers were diagnosed with high fever in the course of Korean War which lasted for 3- 4 years from 1951-53. Throughout, decades of research these zoonosis viruses were not well known However, afte r thorough research, until late 1981 the virus was known to have its own clade and belonged to bunyaviridae family, unlike other viruses hantaviruses research revealed that they did not have arthropod vector, hence they formed their own genus of hantavirus in the family bunyavidae and they exclusively maintained their residing reservoir rodents. Hence the new zoonotic Hantavirus emerged and was restricted to the old world viruses. This was proved wrong in 1993, the world experienced the outbreak of hantaviruses related diseases which triggered the malfunction of the respiratory system, high fever and severe heart damage in the unfortunate patients infected with hantaviruses. This lead to the conviction of world researchers that hantaviruses are actively circulating in the region earlier than there isolation in 1993, in the four corners of the Americas. Seoul virus transmitted by rat-borne mouse in Asia was described, an etiological agent specie of hantavirus causing HFRS in 1980 after the description of hantaan virus from striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius) which started in 1976. This pioneered discovery came after a carefully long research and isolating the virus from the rat-borne mouse captured in the demilitarized battle field of Korea. The etiological agent of nephropaphia epidemical characterized in Europe was termed puumala virus, isolated from a bank vole striped field mouse initially called clethrionomys glareolus and later renamed myodes glareolus. 25 years later, the etiological agent of human disease hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome, Hantaan virus was identified from†¦..after the four corner outbreak in the united state in 1993 and this led to the discovery of another hantavirus specie called no name virus later renamed Sin Nombre virus. It is estimated that there hantavirus cases yearly go beyond 1500000 gl obally, with almost half of these cases occurs in the peoples republic of china. Since the definition of hantaviruses more than 22 species of hantaviruses known to be pathogen in humans have been clearly categorized and accepted by the international Committee of Virus Taxonomy. With the suspicions of been engineered spread the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warn of hantaviruses to be possible potential biological weapons. The world health organization   in 1983 initiated the use of HFRS to represent all etiological symptomatic diseases believed to cause HFRS restricted in the Eurasia later called old world. Mostly, HFRS displayed symptoms such as chills, headache, high fever, generalized myalgia, back and abdominal pain and hemorrhagic presentation. Because of its epidemiological and worldwide distribution, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome initially had several names before 1983. Most terms used were epidemic hemorrhagic fever, Korean hemorrhagic fever and the alike symptomatic disease was called nephropathia epidemica in china, Korea and (USSR, Scandinavia and Europe) respectively. Hantaviruses clinical presentation Normally incubation of Hantaviruses human infection takes 2 to 3 weeks. The results of infection are the two distinct severe or mild forms of diseases: hemorrhagic renal with renal syndrome (HFRS) in the Eurasian countries and Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in the American Countries. HFRS and Nephropaphia Epidemical are the severe form of hemorrhagic fever developed when infected with Euraisan kinds of Hantaviruses, patients present kidney failure, high fever, and internal bleeding as the main symptoms which results to the death of the patient[7]. Apart from kidney failure and high fever, affected humans present symptoms which include chills, vomiting, headache, dizziness, nausea, non-productive cough, gastrointestinal symptoms. A half percent of the patients display prolonged diarrhea, malaise and lightheadness, other presentations include back pain, arthralgias, abdominal pain, and shortness of breath, tachiypnea, tachycardia and fever. However, the main cause of death is the develo pment of disseminated intravascular congulation and internal bleeding. Table 1.   Clinical manifestation of Hemorrhagic Fever with renal syndrome [HemorrhagicFeverwithRenalSyndrome:PathogenesisandClinicalPicture Hong Jiang 1, HongDu1, LiM.Wang2, PingZ.Wang1* and XueF.Bai 1*] Incubation period takes 2-3 weeks HFRS Phase 1. Febrile Hemorrhage Flushing Headache Conjuctival injection Backache Albuminuria Azotema Present of antibodies IgM Eye pain Platelet decreased Petechial rash Immune complexes Fever Flushing Chills Conjuctival injection Myalgia Albuminuria Malaise Present of antibodies IgM Phase 2. Hypotension Kinin Complement activation Nausea Disseminated intrascular congulation Vomiting Vascular leakage Bleeding Acute shock Phase 3. Oliquric Disseminated intrasecular congulation (DI) Hypervolemia Kidney failure Pneumonia Phase 4. Diuretic Improved renal function Pulmonary complication Shock Death or improvement Phase 5. Convalescent Recovery period Table 2. Bunyavidae family classifications Common Reservoir Host Genus Common Species Country endemic Animal vertebrate bunyavirus Bunyamwera virus La Crosse virus Tahyna virus Akabane virus Oropouche virus Animal vertebrate Hantavirus Hantaan virus Sin Nombre virus Andes virus Puumala, Dobrava Americas Eurasia Animal vertebrate Nairovirus Dugbe virus Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus Nairobi sheep disease virus Eurasia, Africa Animal vertebrate Phlebovirus Rift Valley fever virus Rift Valley fever virus Sandly fever-Sicilian virus Plants Tospovirus Tomato spotted wilt virus Tomato spotted wilt virus Table 3: Hantaviruses genus classification Virus(serotype) Endemic area and reservoir distribution Disease Rodent vector Mortality (%) Puumala (PUUV) Eurasia (Old World) HFRS/NE Bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) 0.1-1 Dobrava-Belgrade (DOBV) South and East Europe, Balkan countries and the middle East (Old World) HFRS Yellow naked-mouse (Apodemus flavicollis) 9-12 Dobrava (DOBV) Central, East and north of Europe (Old World) HFRS Striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius) Low Hantaan (HTN) Central, East and north of Europe, Eastern Russia,Tien Shan Mtns Caucasian,   China, north and south Korea (Old World) HFRS Striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius) 10-15 Seoul (SEOV) World Wide (Old World) HFRS Rattus norvegicus and rattus 3-15 Tula (TUL) Europe (Old World) HFRS/? Microtus arvalis Low Amur Eastern Russia, Eastern Asia and Siberia (Old World) HFRS Korean field mouse (Apodemus peninsula) Low Andes (ANDV) South America (Argentina, Uruguay, Chile) (New World) HPS Oligoryzomys longicaudatus 35-56 Sin Nombre (SN) USA, Canada (New World) HPS Peromyscus maniculatus grassland 40-60 Prospect Hill(PH) (New World) USA, Canada HPS/? Mricrotus pennsylvanicus (Meadow vole) New York (NY) (New World) USA, Canada HPS Peromyscus   leucopus low Khabarosk (KHB) Russia , Asia (Old World) HFRS/? Microtus fortis (reed vole) low Thottapalayam (TPM) India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Japan (Old World) HFRS/? Suncus murinus (musk shrew) Monongahela USA, Mexico, Canada (New World) HPS Peromyscus maniculatus (Deer mouse) low Black Creen Canal (BCCV) USA, Venesuala, Peru, (New World) HPS Sigmodon hispidus low Bayou   (BAYV) USA (Louisiana), (New World) HPS Oryzomys palustris Sigmodontinae (Rice rat) low Araraquara (ARAV) South America (Brazil) (New World) HPS Bolomys lasiurus low Muleshoe USA (New World) HPS Sigmodon hispidus Low Lechiguanas South America (Argentina), Brazil