Luxury Good and Gucci Essay Example for Free

Luxury Good and Gucci Essay Gucci‘s overall strategy was to vertically integrate to strengthen its overall brand image. After vertically integrating they acquired other luxury retailers to continue to grow horizontally and to increase economies of scope. The economics of the luxury goods industry changed forcing Gucci to modify its strategy. Consumers demand shifted from classic style buyers to style conscious buyers. Gucci not only had to change due to the economics of the industry but they also had several problems with their existing structure. Hence Gucci made the following moves to reposition it to compete in the new economics of the luxury goods industry. Gucci The partnership between DeSole and Ford addresses the company’s inability to have streamlined decision making and consistent branding throughout the company. By partnering product design and strategy, Gucci can now make product and business decisions that deliver a consistent message externally. All products and communications will support the brand image of a luxury goods retailer that Gucci wants to deliver to the marketplace. The cost cutting and targeted layoffs address Gucci’s poor cost structure. While profit margins were healthy, the extravagant spending by the former CEO was reducing profitability. The company had excess headcount in some areas and less in others. The layoffs improved Gucci’s cost structure and streamline the organization. Secondly, Gucci lacked the management talent to run a high end luxury company. By laying off underperforming managers and hiring experienced business executives, Gucci significantly improved the quality of its management team. The cash investment by PPR protects Gucci from hostile takeovers by competitors. The improvement in Gucci’s capital structure enables Gucci to move from an acquisition target to a potential acquirer of substitutes and new entrants. This is critical because in the fashion industry, new brands are always emerging in the market. The $3 billion dollar cash investment enables Gucci to protect its core market better. Additionally, the acquisition of YSL through the merger diversifies Gucci’s product portfolio and creates high barriers to entry. Buyers Due to changing consumer demands, Gucci started to focus on fashion in particular the â€Å"glamorous edge. † Since switching cost for consumers are low and consumers are now demanding new fashions every season focusing on seasonal trends competitively positioned Gucci against its rivals and impeded consumers from finding substitutes. Gucci changed its target consumer from an older more conservative buyer to a modern, youthful, fashion conscious one. Since all of Gucci’s competitors had the same target (30-50 year affluent women) going after a modern, youthful spirited consumer allows Gucci to focus on a different segment of the luxury market, capturing a different slice of the pie. To create loyalty, give consumers options, and to prevent consumers from switching and buying a substitute product Gucci decided to revolutionize their product assortments to correspond with the seasonal trends. In addition they increased the quality of their products comparable to Hermes and offered these products at a value to meet the consumer’s needs. Furthermore, Gucci tailored their product assortment in each DOS to local customers to attract more consumers in the local markets. To better forecast product demand for seasonal goods and to keep inventory costs down Gucci added customer intelligence to the decision making process to better understanding consumers buying behavior. In order to obtain higher profit margins and offer a comprehensive line of products it was necessary for Gucci to diversify its portfolio. Hence Gucci introduced items from scarves to fur coats. To remain focused and maintain its â€Å"luxury status†, Gucci did not introduce diffusion product lines. Gucci had initially set its prices too high hence reducing their retail prices by 30% was necessary to attract and maintain customer loyalty. In order to generate demand for the product Gucci doubled their advertising and turned Tom Ford into a celebrity hoping to attract media and attention from around the world. To restore Gucci’s image as a high end luxury goods retailer they renovated all of their stores to support this new image. In addition all internal and external communications had the same look and feel to convey a consistent brand identity. Furthermore, they reduced distribution through retail stores that didn’t support the new brand image regardless of sales. Gucci launched an official web site to create awareness and exhibit new product lines and to position themselves against their competitors. Suppliers Suppliers are a key driver of profitability—a key competitive force. Suppliers are responsible for delivering a premium product that satisfies the company’s standards in quality and that reflects Tom Ford’s creative vision. Without fast turnover to meet fashion forward trend demands and a quality product, the repositioning of the Gucci brand could not have taken place. To fulfill this vision Gucci created an incentive program to keep suppliers loyal to ensure a quality product was manufactured, on time delivery, and it would prevent the suppliers from forging relationships with Gucci’s competitors. In addition, Gucci made suppliers more efficient through technology and logistics investments, provided training for suppliers and built an EDI network allowing Gucci to efficiently communicate with partner suppliers through the production process. As more fashion products will be produced every season along with the classic products, delivery and meeting demand could become an issue if production processes are not efficient. Investing in suppliers ensures that supplier threat, which is high, is controlled and suppliers have incentives to stay with Gucci. Supplier threat is high because of there is an absence of substitutes suppliers. Switching costs are high for Gucci other suppliers may be producing for their rivals. Other suppliers may not deliver the quality and craftsmanship Gucci is expecting. In addition, other suppliers do not have experience in producing Gucci products (current suppliers have been with Gucci for long time). Hence they will have a longer learning curve slowing down the production process. There are few suppliers in specific regions: Gucci suppliers had production capacity to meet Gucci’s growth (20-30% a year). However, finding new suppliers would be going into Prada’s territory. With more growth, suppliers gained bargaining power with sub-suppliers and with Gucci. Initially, Gucci had power because suppliers worried that Gucci would go overseas for suppliers. Complementors Complementors are a not a high threat to Gucci because there only a few of them, media and advertising. Competition There are many firms in this industry because profit margins are high. However with the number and volume of MA activity on the rise, consolidation is imminent with a few big players left in the market. Consolidation among competition has given competitors lower cost structure resulting in a competitive advantage such as ad purchasing discounts and supplier negotiating power. The competitors have a diversified product portfolio to target multiple segments of the market. They dominate in particular segments, for example Hermes and leather bags. Since there is slow industry growth precipitating fights for market share is certain to occur. This may result in a high threat from competitors such as LVMH and Prada. Threat of Entry The threat of entry is low because brand identity and product differentiation has been well established in this industry. In addition, access to distribution channels is limited and the new entrant would be competing with already established channels of distribution for Gucci and others firms. Gucci and other competitors have substantial resources to fight back because they of their monetary resources and could obstruct the new entrant or buy them out.

Study on online gambling market Essay Example for Free

Study on online gambling market Essay For thousands of years, mankind has enjoyed spending money on games of chance. Today this has developed into a multi-billion dollar worldwide phenomenon- the gambling industry. While the total number of gambling enterprises has fallen in recent years the overall number of people employed in the industry has increases, suggesting that enterprises are now larger than they were a decade ago. The way people bet has been revolutionised of recent years with the online gambling industry taking over the traditional high street bookmakers. Betting exchanges on the internet where punters can offer bets to other punters. Meaning the average punter can now act as the bookie and say that a certain event will not happen. To understand the impact of the gambling industry, one has to consider the percentage of people that partake in gambling. Knowing it has been around for two millennia, it is interesting to observe today 80 to 85% of people will gamble in any given year. The gambling industry has evolved greatly in recent years due to the development of online gambling, this is clearly the reason for the rapid growth in the market. Along with new markets such as the online poker industry, that has taken the world in a massive fad with millions playing poker online. The gambling industry tends to be an industry in which people will use their disposable income, but the desire to win more and the increased joy from having a larger bet causes people to spend more money on gambling than they wish. This is a market driver for the industry but also the general increase in people gambling has become the main market driver in recent years. (Party Gaming) For the five year period from 2005 to 2009, it is estimated that revenues generated by the global online gaming market will increase to approximately $22. 7 billion, representing a compound annual growth rate of approximately 22 per cent. From this estimation of expected spending in the online gambling market, it shows a market with great potential. Introduction . The following report analyses the dynamic market within which gambling exists, and the way the online gambling industry beginning to takeover the gambling industry. From the report on the market it will be possible to have a clearer understanding of whether the market will continue to grow or whether the market can not continue to grow at such a rapid rate. The following report analyses the dynamic market within which online gambling exists. The report will focus on areas such as 1. PEST Analysis 2. Boston Matrix 3. Porters Five Forces 4. Competitors Analysis 5. SWOT Analysis 6. Shareholders Such consideration of the market will enable a clearer understanding of whether the market will continue to grow at such a rapid rate. Market Definition Market sectors There are four main gambling sectors that attract the vast majority if online gambling ? Online Poker ?Online Casinos ?Sports Betting ?Betting Exchanges Online poker and betting exchanges are dominating the market and have only been introduced in recent years to the online gambling market. Sports betting and casinos still have large market share of the market but growth has slowed down. The size of the online gambling market for 2004 was $8. 2 billion for the world. In 2004 in the U. K ? 7. 4 billion was spent in gambling. Even though stats are not that easy to compare it shows that online gambling has not yet dominated the gambling market and there is potential for further growth. PEST Analysis PEST Analysis is analysis of macro-environments that affects all firms. PEST stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technological factors of the external macro-environment. Such external factors are beyond most firms control and sometimes present themselves as threats. On the other hand changes in the external environment can lead to new opportunities; this is certainly true for the gambling industry. Political Political and legal factors are those controlled by ? governments, local authorities, or other trade or activity orientated regulatory bodies (Brassington and Pettitt, 2000). Gambling legislation is put in place in order to prevent consumers been taken advantage and also help control consumers with gambling problems. The internet is open to great abuse in all areas of the internet and gambling is no exception. Within five minutes it is possible to be gambling on the internet at as high stakes as one desires, this obviously has its dangers. Companies have recently been pushed to be more responsible for caring for their customers. Some of the companies now have a system which its customers can use. The system offers the customer control of how much they can deposit in a designated time period, this helps the customers control their spending. Though this may affect profits for a company, it gives the impression that they care for their customers, which promotes their company. The laws for online gambling are reasonably relaxed and with it been a worldwide market that anyone from any country can access it is hard to control such a market. There have been recent worries about illegal gambling carried out on Betfair with trainers and owners regarding the running of a horse to lose. Many bets would be taken on the specific horse resulting in a major movement in the market and the price . The in the know punters will know the certain horse that is going to lose the race and they then lay the horse to lose on betfair, guaranteeing that they will win. This has caused many investigation and question over betting exchanges. Economic This considers both the ?macro- and micro-economic environment conditions which affect the structure of the market (Brassington and Pettitt, 2000). With the UK expecting an increase in disposable income this is likely that more money is to be spent in gambling. The gambling market may, however, be susceptible to recessionary influences. In times of economic downturn consumers become more reserved in their spending. With the market been worldwide the economic stability of different countries should balance the market out at such times, but large consumers of the market such as the US may have an effect on the market. Interest rates and level of inflation must be considered as threats to the online gambling industry. Social In order to combat the issues surrounding gambling addiction, casino staff undergo training in order to identify problem gamblers. The Gambling Bill is to focus on social responsibility rather than on casinos. The resort casinos which the gambling bill allows are an issue as evidence from New Zealand suggests that the bigger the casino the bigger the risk of problem gambling. This kind of control on the internet is done in a different way and there is no obligation for companies to offer this service. It is only the leading companies who tend to offer protection against gambling addiction. The way it is done on the internet is to let customers set there deposit limit with a desired time period. Obviously this is not as well controlled as at the casino as employees can take control of the problem customers but on the internet that kind of control does not exist, which proves to be a real worry for the online gambling industry. Many online gambling companies cater for only English speaking consumers due to the large domination of the market from the U.S and the U. K. This restricts market growth in other countries but companies are changing towards catering for other countries, with casinos ahead of the game due to its global appeal. As gambling is seen as a use of leisure activity the market considers its success on the amount of leisure time consumers have but from research it is clear to see consumers feel no obligation to carrying out their gambling whilst at work, often a poker game in the lunch break or even whilst working, which creates extra revenue for the online gambling industry. It also emphasis the ease at which it is to gamble online, which is the main reason behind the success of the market. Technological Gambling has been revolutionised in recent years by technological change and this is the reason for the rapid growth in the industry, making it easier than ever to gamble. The internet has seen new systems such as Betfair, and online poker which is know an $8. 6 billion market. The idea of online gambling is the ease of placing a bet. Before people would have to go to the betting shop or the casino to gamble but with such easy access for customers to access there betting accounts it has a bee a revolutionising advancement in the gambling market. New software is constantly been developed to offer an enhanced experienced for the consumers. The betting exchanges offer the chance for consumers to act as the bookies by being able to lay their bets. This obviously offers a new exciting way for consumers to experience gambling and has helped to develop the market. With improved graphics companies are making it more like the real thing. Some of the casinos online are designed to make you actually feel like you are in the casino the same is done with online poker games and even sports betting is going down the same line with offering text and audio commentary for sports events. This encourages consumers to use the internet rather than go to the casino or the betting shops. Porters Five force analysis Mr Porter was a scholar and management consultant. His model is based on the insight that a corporate strategy should meet the opportunities and threats in the organisations external environment. Porter has identified five competitive forces that shape every industry and every market. These forces determine the intensity of competition and hence the profitability and attractiveness of an industry. The objective of corporate strategy should be to modify these competitive forces in a way that can improve the position of an organisation. Barriers to Entry New entrants into to the market are quite regular due to the low costs of setting up an online gambling site. However, in practice, there are significant barriers to building a large, successful online gambling firm, as the business model is dependent to a large extent on, amongst other things, a strong brand underpinned by liquidity and effective payment processing. The exceptions of success by new entries tends to be when a company has an innovative idea such as Betfair. They are offering something different to the customer. The key features of a successful online gambling firm are difficult to achieve due to the following: ? Player liquidity: a large number of players are required for online poker and betting exchanges, to provide customers with opposing players for poker or a price for betting exchanges. In addition, player liquidity means that the larger sites can offer a greater variety for its customers. ?Software control: ownership of software to provide the operator with greater control, improved margins and bespoke functionality, with the ability to develop high quality user interface and scalable systems which are critical for attracting and retaining customers. Payment processing expertise: to attract and maintain customers, sites must be trusted and must provide a wide range of methods to pay-in and withdraw funds. Such payment processing must also be quick and efficient whilst maintaining low levels of fraud. ?Customer support: responding to customer enquiries on a timely and efficient basis enhances the level of customer service and customer retention. To build and sustain a large online gaming business requires significant investment in customer service operations. Marketing and global reach: as competition increases, the leading operators have greater marketing resources with which to attract and retain customers and are increasingly becoming global brands in order to penetrate new geographic markets. Buyer power The buyer power of customers determines how much customers can impose pressure on margins and volumes. The gambling market is driven by consumer trends and companies need to identify these trends and implement their strategies to remain competitive. Promotional strategies are used to initially sign up a customer and once signed up they are likely to stay there if they like the lay up of the site. It is predicted that one in three people that sign up for a free bonus will use that company for their gambling. Threats of Substitutes This is no real concern for the online gambling market, the only substitutes is betting shops and casinos, but these where all put in place before the online gambling market was created, so there is no possibility of threats from this. Supplier Power The supplier in this market is the software developers, where many companies use the same software to run their websites and with a worldwide market suppliers are never short when it involves employees skills to create the products, unlike coffee that may be affected by poor weather conditions. The concern of software developers rising prices for their products may be an issue due to them feeling they are loosing out on profit with which some online gambling companies are creating a large amount of profit. Competitor Analysis Competitor analysis is a ? systematic attempt to identify and understand the key elements of a competitors strategy (Brassington and Pettitt, 2000). An understanding of competitors enables competitive advantages to be formed. Gambling is a highly competitive market which may discourage market entry and stifle innovation, it may similarly stimulate a range of strategies for promoting growth and with constant technological improvements markets may open in the future. The amount of online gambling companies available to consumers are very variant, this has made a very competitive markets with companies offering free bonuses and providing the latest in software technology. The online gambling market can be split up into 4 sub-markets, online poker, betting exchanges, sports betting, and casinos. Betting exchanges market is dominated by betfair. Betfair is the dominant player in the betting exchange market, with an estimated 86% market share by value. Betfair exchange boasts a high level of liquidity across a wide range of betting markets, and a professional customer service operation alongside a fully integrated telephone and internet betting service. These features, have served to act as a significant barrier to entry into the betting exchange marketplace. Several other betting exchanges were set up including Sporting options and Betdaq. Sporting options was no success and was closed with many people losing money in there betting accounts because the company were unable to pay them back, betfair stepped in to offer support for these people which helped betfair grow even more dominant in the market. While there are over 200 online poker sites in operation, the online poker market is dominated by a small number of large operators. For the current year to 5 June 2005, the top eight operators had an estimated combined market share of 95 per cent in terms of ring game rake, 92 per cent in terms of number of ring game players and 88 per cent in terms of number of tournament players, which illustrates the effective barriers to developing an online poker business. Of these operators, PartyPoker. com has been the clear market leader in terms of both revenue and number of players since mid-2003. The sports betting market is much like the poker market, as many companies exist but the market is dominated by several market leaders such as William Hill and Paddy Power. William Hill has had success due to it is reputation of stores in towns and cities all over the U. K. As for paddy Power the success has been from large amounts or promotion and innovative ideas to promote the company. The casino market also works on the same basis that there are few market leaders that dominate the market. The main market leaders are casino on net, Golden Palace and Ladbrokes casino; there are still many major competitors in the market but with less market share but have the potential to take more of the market share. Most traffic is driven to online casinos via marketing on television channels and bonus deals in order to get customers to sign up for the casinos. Boston Matrix The Boston matrix is a chart created by the Boston Consulting Group in 1970. This is a useful marketing tool when analysis of market growth-relative share is required; the growth and share of different online gambling methods can be compared. The markets on the internet consist of poker, sports betting, betting exchanges and casinos. Dogs These are products with a low share of a low growth market. They do not generate cash for the company, they tend to absorb it. There are no online gambling markets that are in this category, this shows a strong healthy market. Cash Cows These are products with a high share of a slow growth market. Cash Cows generate more than is invested in them. Sports betting and casinos markets have slowed down as the stars of the online gambling market have entered the market. Problem Children These are products with a low share of a high growth market. They consume resources and generate little in return. They absorb most money as you attempt to increase market share. These gambling games are fairly new to the market and have yet had a chance to grow. Stars These are products that are in high growth markets with a relatively high share of that market. Stars tend to generate high amounts of income. Betting and exchanges and online pokers have taken the market to the new levels of turnover and have set of a craze worldwide. Shareholders For nearly every industry, sustainability is a key objective. Creating a sustainable online gambling industry benefits all of the industrys stakeholders. In recent months we have seen the flotation of many online poker companies, which developed a great relationship between the stock market and online gambling. But in September this year PartyGaming warned its growth prospects may be not be as great as was suggested when it floated in July 2005. More than ? 2 billion was wiped of the value of its shares; they dropped 30% in value. This obviously had an effect on other online gambling company shares which saw a slide in share price as well. One indicator of the slowdown is that although there are still more people signing up to play poker online, their average spend is falling. This is a concern for the online poker market as it shows the growth is not sustainable and action must be taken to not just let the online poker market just a short fad. Chief Executive Richard Segal said as these trends continued, the group would adapt its marketing strategy and infrastructure to provide greater focus on customer retention and player value. SWOT Analysis ________________________________________ SWOT analysis is useful in auditing information in a systematic manner. It demonstrates how strengths and weaknesses can be understood in context with opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis helps to explain where the online gambling market is today, but also where it is likely to be in the future. ?Strengths 1. New innovations and improvements are a regular feature due to a highly competitive market and high demand from consumers. 2. The growth in new consumers is constant, especially with the current fad of online poker. 3. Consumers have more faith in using the internet which is helping the market to grow: new payment systems such as Paypal are trustful and they prevent, together with insurances and banks, consumers from online fraud. 4. The overheads are very low for new companies to enter the market of online gambling: create a webpage and buy a payment gateway is basically enough to have a gambling website. 5. Online gambling represent entertainment at home that can be accessed at anytime, from anywhere and by anyone. 6. Due to the diversity of gambling available bringing consumers into the market that would not potentially consider gambling (e.g. gambling on games such as Chess) is very easy. ? Weaknesses 1. Online gambling is likely to become quite a saturated market, and will only continue to grow at such a rate if innovations can be added to the existing offer: develop gambling in new areas such as politics, decrease the time between the deadline to place a bet and the event on which the bet is placed 2. Companies with poor marketing strategies will have to struggle to exist due to the amount of competition: new websites are issued quite every day without even proposing new possibilities for consumers. 3. In becoming stronger, more reputable organisations have the capability to over power smaller organisations or websites: this may occur in France in the next few years if La Francaise des Jeux decides to develop a wide-scale platform for online betting it will probably have a very negative impact on smaller competitors. 4. Gambling laws in several countries such as France or Italy constrain success of market with the social issues of gambling addiction. 5. Betting shops and Casinos when they are allowed by national gaming acts still have a high presence in the gambling market and stop people using the online gambling options as much. 6. It appears to be quite difficult for new company to enter the market place due to high competition and dominance of large firms controlling the market, unless with having an innovative idea: some small websites, for example, focus on the European market, they propose adapted hours for online tournaments or develop their pages or hotlines in many languages ?Opportunities 1. Can emphasis on the rapid popularity of online gambling and that anyone can do it. 2. It is highly potential to gain a lead on the market with new technology. 3. Innovative ideas such as celebrities even gamble online, e. g. www. celebritypoker. com offers the chance to play poker against celebrities. 4. Inexpensive start up costs for a new online gambling company. 5. Constant improvement in technology opens up opportunities in the market. 6. Broadband creating much more opportunity. 7. The market is worldwide so anyone who has access to the internet can be targeted. Threats ?Rapid growth of the market may cause gambling laws to be tightened affecting profit for companies. ?Negative publicity highlighting the dangers of gambling. ?Demand depends upon real income therefore downturns in the economy can have an adverse effect of demand. ?Some companies are in a weak position financially. ?Dominance of the market. ?Market dependant on technology, which is not always reliable. Conclusion ________________________________________ The future of online gambling is bright with estimates of $32 billion spent in the year of 2009 compared to $14 billion this year. The market has seen rapid growth in recent years and it is not possible for a market to sustain such rapid growth forever, but it is still likely to grow at such a rapid rate for several years to come but it will slow down gradually. Gambling laws vary in different countries but could prevent the growth of the market, due to worries such as gambling addiction. There will always be a strong market for online gambling but is likely to see more domination by larger companies keeping the barriers of entry difficult to succeed in the market. Online gambling is highly innovative industry with new ideas to draw more people into gambling with the latest idea of offering to be able to gamble on games of chess or snooker or backgammon It is possible to gamble on nearly everything, this just defines the potential of the market. References Textbooks Brassington, F. and Pettitt, S. (2000). Principles of Marketing. Websites www. quickmba. com/strategy/porter. shtml Five forces analysis diagram. www. gamblinglicenses. com Provided information on the gambling laws work. www. partygaming. com Provided stats on market size and useful information on the online poker market. www. bettingmarket. com Reviews of the online gambling market with stats of traffic on online sites. www. reports. mintel. com Provided a report on the gambling industry, with helpful information on market size. www. amadeus. bvdep. com Provided information on the market share of companies. www. thismoney. co. uk Provided information on the share situation for the market.

Effect of Overdenture on Teeth Stability

Effect of Overdenture on Teeth Stability Effect of overdenture with vital and non-vital abutment teeth on the teeth stability Abstract Objective: This study aimed to examine the effect of overdenture over vital and non-vital abutment teeth on the teeth stability. Methods: An experimental study was conducted as non-randomized controlled trial at Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Albaha University, Saudi Arabia during 12 months (December 2013 to November 2014). Thirty patients were voluntary participated in this study, first group overdenture over vital abutment teeth and the second group overdenture over non-vital abutment teeth. Attachment loss and teeth mobility were evaluated, after 3 months, 6 months and finally after 12 months. The data were collected from the two groups by questionnaire for demographic characteristics and observation checklist for assessing attachment loss and teeth mobility. The data were then analyzed by computerized method; Statistical Package for Social Sciences, (SPSS version 20). Results: The study showed that the patients have homogenous demographic characteristics. Overdenture over vital abutment teeth showed minimum attachment loss and teeth mobility compared to the overdenture over non-vital abutment teeth. These differences were with high significant statistics Conclusion: It was concluded that, the overdenture over vital abutment teeth was more stable and showed less teeth mobility and less attachment loss than that made over non-vital teeth. Keywords: Overdenture, vital and non-vital abutment teeth, attachment loss and teeth mobility. Introduction: The difference of overdenture from a conventional denture is the precision of dental attachments underneath that gives the overdenture much better retention. In general, the life expectancy of an overdenture is pretty good, and although the process is quite complicated, the benefits far outweigh the cost and time involved.This is because overdenture is very stable and feels more like natural teeth than ordinary dentures.They are also more retentive and help preserve the remaining bone (1). Overdenture could be used with implants or over the natural teeth. The teeth provide good stability for the dentures so that patients feel much better in the same way as natural teeth, and they can be confident that they won’t move around or fall out, alleviating the need to use messy adhesives (2). There is less pressure on the alveolar ridge than with conventional dentures and patients generally feel a lot more confident and can enjoy better health through being able to have better nutrition (2). Many patients with dentures seek for resolution of soreness of bearing tissues and non-stable or retentive dentures, that may increase esthetics, function, comfort, and psychological benefits from implant overdentures, without the need for more extensive fixed restorations (4,5). Overdentures are caries and periodontal diseases of the abutment teeth as bone resorption. Bone resorption in edentulous alveolar processes has been studied extensively, and the conclusion has been reached that it is a chronic, progressive and irreversible process that occurs in all patients (6). As a general rule, four implants are the minimal number in the maxilla in order to remove partial palatal coverage. While maxillary overdenture implants tend to show a slightly higher risk of failure than seen in the mandible, this clearly appears to be related not to the prosthetic design but originates as a direct consequence of compromised preoperative bone, thereby necessitating a reduced number, length, diameter, and angulation of implants (7,8,9). Differences have been observed between individuals in the amount and speed at which alveolar bone is lost, which have been attributed to a diversity of factors such as age, sex, facial anatomy, metabolism, oral hygiene, general health, nutritional status, systematic illnesses, osteoporosis, medications and the amount of time the patient has been edentulous (10,11,12,13). There is a lack of evidence investigating the efficiency of overdenture over vital and non-vital abutment teeth on the supporting structures. This study aimed to examine the effect of overdenture over vital and non-vital abutment teeth on the teeth stability. Methods: An experimental study was conducted at Albaha region, Saudi Arabia during 12 months (December 2013 to November 2014). The study sample consisted of 30 patients (men) with age of 59 years or above. They were partially edentulous for an average of 28 years, and were wearing their third lower denture. The patients selected were free from systemic diseases. The sample was divided into two groups each of 15 patients, both treated with overdenture, but they were different in the abutment teeth, the first group had vital abutment teeth while the second group had non-vital (endodontically treated) teeth. Both groups weared overdentures and evaluated 3 months, then 6 months and lastly after 12 months, as regarding to the attachment loss and tooth mobility of the abutment teeth in a both groups with vital and non-vital abutment teeth. Preparation of the abutment teeth was done as follow; the crown of each tooth was reduced 2-3 mm above the free gingival margin proceeding labially and lingually till a dome shaped. Preparation was obtained with a chamfer finishing line placed subgingivally. The crest of the dome shape was placed over the long axis of the abutment and the sharp points were rounded. This study was approved by the Ethical Committee at Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Albaha University (attached). The consents forms were filled by all participants. The right of the participants to withdraw any time was explained and preserved during the study. The data were collected and statistically analyzed. The data were then analyzed by computerized method; (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) (SPSS version 20). The chi-square test was used to test differences in patients’ demographic characteristics in the two groups. The independent t-test was used to identify differences between the two groups. Paired sample t-test was used to measure differences before and after intervention. All values were tabulated as average (mean) with standard deviation (SD). P values less than 0.05 were considered significant with level of confidence 95%. Results summary: As shown in Table (1), thirty patients participated in this study were homogenous in the demographic characteristics. There were insignificant differences in the variables such as age, education level, and years of edentulous, (P > 0.05). As shown in Table (2) and Figure (1), the attachment loss (expressed in mm) in the first group and second group. It was clear from the table that there were significant increases in the attachment loss with time. It also showed that the increases in second group are significantly higher than first group. The table also showed the significant increase of attachment loss and teeth mobility in second group (non-vital abutment) higher than first group (with vital abutment teeth). Table (3) and Figure (1) showed the abutment teeth mobility and bone height (expressed in mm) in the first and second groups. It was clear from the table that there were also significant increases through the time in the abutment teeth mobility and bone height (expressed in mm). It also showed that the increases in second group are significantly higher than first group. Tables and Figures: Table1: Characteristics of group 1 and group 2 patients participated in the study. Variable Group 1 n1 (%) Group 2 n2 (%) P value Education level Illiterate 23 (76.7%) 26 (86.7%) 0.12 Primary 7 (23.3%) 4 (13.3%) Age of patients 59.34  ± 1.76 58.65  ± 2.64 0.65 Years of edentulous 28.12  ± 2.76 27.89  ± 1.67 0.50 Table 2: Comparing the means and standard deviations between the attachment loss for the first group of the vital abutment teeth and second group with non-vital abutment teeth at the different times Variable Group 1 Mean  ± SD Group 2 Mean  ± SD P value Time of evaluation 3 months 0.60 mm  ±0.11 0.97mm ±0.15 0.04* 6 months 0.75 mm  ±0.19* 1.23mm ±0.20* 0.02* 12 months 0.81 mm  ±0.51* 1.54mm ±0.49* 0.01* (*) Significant Table 3: Comparing the means and standard deviations of the tooth mobility between the first group of the vital abutment teeth and second group with non-vital abutment teeth at the different times Variable Group 1 Mean  ± SD Group 2 Mean  ± SD P value Time of evaluation 3 months 0.10 mm  ±0.13 0.16 ±0.15 0.01* 6 months 0.22 mm  ±0.25 0.28 ±0.29 0.01* 12 months 0.48 mm  ±0.51 0.53 ±0.49 0.04* (*) Significant Figure 1: Comparing the means of the attachment loss and tooth mobility between group 1 of the vital abutment teeth and group 2 with non-vital abutment teeth at different times Discussion: This study showed that the attachment loss in the first group with vital abutment is less than the attachment loss in the group with non-vital abutment. It was clear from the findings that there were significant increases in the attachment loss with time in the second group compared to the first group. A study conducted by Gulizio to compare the alveolar bone loss in the anterior segment area with conventional complete denture to overdenture along five years. It concluded that, there was a significant decrease in alveolar bone loss in case of overdenture as compared to conventional complete denture. They attributed this finding to the presence of carried out some studies that shed light on the resorption process that occurred in patients wearing overdentures on both arches (9). Krennmair, in one study on edentulous patients with facial esthetics and associated structures, found that horizontal loss of hard and soft tissue through resorption, disease, or trauma is so advanced that teeth need to be placed far anterior to the residual ridge in order to provide adequate facial support, then an overdenture (ie, acrylic base and flanges) can provide replacement of these structures (14). Moreover, Bryant tested the type of implant prosthesis effect and outcomes for the completely edentulo us patients, and found that no statistical significant differences in premaxillary bone loss. Alternatively, bone grafting procedures can be performed to augment the missing tissues, but limitations must be evaluated (15). Regarding the teeth mobility, this study showed that the abutment teeth mobility and bone height in the first with vital abutment is less than the second group. It was clear from the findings that there were also significant increases in the tooth mobility through the time in the abutment teeth mobility and bone height in the second group compared to first group. Grageda showed that a single implant mandibular overdenture has additional advantages of being less expensive and invasive and significantly increases the satisfaction and quality of life of patients with edentulism (16). The strengths of this study include comparing two different two methods of overdenture, and the long evaluation period (12 months). The study limitations were; the study was conducted among only thirty patients in Al-baha region; such studies will yield more useful results if conducted on more sample size with complete randomization all over the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. From this study it was concluded that, the overdenture over vital abutment teeth was more stable and showed less teeth mobility and less attachment loss than that made over non-vital teeth.

The University Should Raise Tuition Each Year Essay -- Argumentative P

The University Should Raise Tuition Each Year Tuition usually increases once a year, for the main purpose that schools go over their budget and they have to make up that money in some way. The schools are using that extra money to make that school a better place so that existing students and new students think its worth spending their money on, going there for a higher education. There are good and bad things about tuition increases, but the big thing to think about is, are these increases going to help the students? Yes, they are, the schools are increasing tuition so that the students can get there higher education, and feel that they are getting it at a great place. Schools want to help their students get the best higher education they can, but to do that, they have to raise tuition so they can afford to help their students. Universities have budgets which they are supposed to stick to, and now that they are not sticking to them, they need to raise tuition so that they can make up for the extra money that they spent. â€Å"The University of Virginia saw a 20 percent cut in their tuition bill in 1999, is planning a midyear tuition surcharge as bad state-budget news continues to poor in,†(Hebel, 2002). Universities are having a very hard time with their budgets that they need to raise tuition. There is a really good question to ask, why are they going over their budgets? There are many answers to that question, one of them is that the government isn’t giving universities as much money as they used to, another answer is that, they have so many students paying to go to their school, that they feel that they have to keep them there, so they spend money improving programs to help their students get the higher education ... .... This way the students get their higher education, and better programs to help them achieve that higher education. Programs such as tutoring really do help students with their classes, and help keep their grades up. Some students have scholarships, and without good grades, they loose their scholarships. As long as raising tuition helps the students, it’s a good idea. Otherwise, they should think about leaving the tuition alone or putting some of that extra money into some new or existing programs. This way, the students know where their money is going; doing this will help students be ok with the idea of tuition increases. If the students are fine with the idea, then it won’t be such a hardship retaining more students and keeping the existing students, because the students are getting something for their money, not just a higher education, but programs and help.

Ethnic Mexicans in the 20th Century Essays -- Social Movements, United

Given the social struggle of ethnic Mexicans in the United States, the 20th century turned to be pivotal in the social movements that would not only create opportunities but mobilize the ethnic Mexicans to push forward and make sure their voices where heard all throughout the century. They have used these means to incorporate into everyday life in the United States. Despite this they have struggled to achieve what in politics of the United States considers to be a ‘full citizenship’. Even though the US has dehumanized, criminalized, and subjugated ethnic-Mexicans, Social and Cultural Citizenships have changed the way of understanding politics of ethnic-Mexicans social movements because ethnic-Mexicans have countered all levels of government to achieve a form of belonging in the United States and have heavily contributed to the United States despite being discriminated. Social Citizenship is defined by â€Å"T.H. Marshall conceptualized as evolving from a combination of civil, political, and social elements in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries† (Del Castillo, 95). The three keys to social citizen as defined above are civil, political and social. All these keys as fundamentals for immigrants to live in the United States while having freedoms such as, speech, religion and fundamental civil right liberties. The other two comprise of political and social, the political is the right the full right for immigrants to participate or exercise political power and finally the third is the social component that ensures that immigrants are given rights entitled to American citizens. Social citizenship is crucial in understanding because it gives the ethnic-migrants a sense of belonging in the community. These ethnic-Mexicans ar... ...becoming U.S. Citizens, something that they have been doing with other Works Cited Chavez, Alex â€Å"Labor Revolution and the Great Migration† Mexican-American History. University of Illinois at Chicago. 3. Oct. 2013. Lecture. Chavez, Alex â€Å"The Chicano/a Generation† Mexican-American History. University of Illinois at Chicago. 29. Oct. 2013. Lecture. Chavez, Alex â€Å"Constructing Illegality† Mexican-American History. University of Illinois at Chicago. 12. Nov. 2013. Lecture. Del Castillo, Adelaida R. 2007. â€Å"Illegal Status and Social Citizenship: Thoughts on Mexican Immigrants in a Postnational World† In Women and Migration in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands: A Reader. Garcà ­a, Igancio M. 1997. â€Å"Strategies for Aztlà ¡n: Creating a Cultural Polity.† Rosaldo, Renato. 1994. â€Å"Cultural Citizenship and Educational Democracy.† Cultural Anthropology 9(3):402-411.

Law :: essays research papers

Anyone who works in the legal business knows that communication is both verbal and non-verbal and we also know that the verbal element–that is, the spoken word taken alone–is an extremely unreliable story-teller. This is why all lawyers should know how to interpret a second language. The second language I’m going to talk about is the non-verbal language. First, the non-verbal language creates better communication skills, needed by a lawyer. Second, the non-verbal language would greatly benefit international lawyers. Finally, understanding the non-verbal language will have an impact on future career growth. First, the non-verbal language creates better communication skills, needed by a lawyer. Witnesses are not always believed despite their credentials and their command of the facts. In some instances, witnesses are believed despite their little mistakes about the same facts. Jury decisions turn on an obscure point either overlooked or understated in the case all because of an insufficient or incomplete understanding of non-verbal communication. In the diverse world of lawyers, the unreliability of the spoken word plays out in cases that are won and lost, which ultimately has an effect on the decision making to the trial judge or jury. Second, the non-verbal language would greatly benefit international lawyers. Understanding the non-verbal language prepares international lawyers who have to litigate in other countries. It also provides the lawyers the necessary tools to prepare a witness, by knowing the different cultures, customs, and courtesies. Lawyers might not be able to fully understand the verbal language of their witness, but can use their tools of the non-verbal language to coach their witness. Also, the non-verbal language will help a lawyer during the jury selection process. The lawyer’s ability to analyze the non-verbal language while questioning the potential jurors, benefits the lawyer and the client. Finally, understanding the non-verbal language will have an impact on future career growth. A number of lawyers become judges, and most judges have first been lawyers. In fact, Federal and State judges usually are required to be lawyers. Understanding non-verbal language helps a lawyer transition to a position as a judge and applies the non-verbal skills to listen to testimony and make rulings. Also, a majority of Senators and Representatives are previous lawyers. Senators and Representatives are elected by the people, which means, the ability to communicate non-verbally benefits any lawyer wanting to become a politician. The ability to understand non-verbal language opens up a variety of opportunities for career growth as a lawyer.

The dictionary definition

The dictionary definition of a linguistic communication is stated as a system of communicating consisting of sounds, words and grammar, or the system of communicating used by the people of a peculiar state or profession in Cambridge Advanced Learner ‘s Dictionary ( 2nd edition, 2005 ) . And that means, larning a linguistic communication to pass on decently in that linguistic communication requires get the hanging all parts of a linguistic communication system such the vocabulary, the grammar and the sound system. Harmonizing to Dawani ( 2006 ) in order to pass on in a linguistic communication one should analyze a balance of four basic linguistic communication accomplishments which are reading, listening, composing, and speech production. That ‘s why instruction and rating of these accomplishments have ever been peculiarly of import. In this paper, the rating of one of the four basic linguistic communication accomplishments, viz. â€Å" Reading Skill † will be discussed in item. However it is indispensable to put some basic facts about â€Å" reading † before get downing to discourse its rating. Reading in a different linguistic communication has traditionally stemmed from the demand of accessing the written literature of a higher civilization. Subsequently with the visual aspect of communicative attack, alternatively of high civilization literature, reading texts started to be chosen harmonizing to the reading purposes like utilizing mundane stuffs such as newspaper articles, coach agendas, etc. , for intents to develop communicative competency. As a consequence, instruction of reading and reading drills at any degrees became a cardinal portion of linguistic communication instruction. As a definition, reading accomplishment is called an expertness which turns composing into significance and enables the eloquence and comprehension of the proprietor. Agring that, Rasinski ( 2004 ) provinces, accurate and automatic decryption of the words by giving expressive readings of it to accomplish maximal comprehension means reading eloquence. Consequently, reading does non simply average accurate decryption of the words like instructors thought for old ages. And that ‘s why the appraisal of reading should affect the ability of eloquence and comprehension, for certain. From another point of position, harmonizing to Stages of Reading Development of Chall ‘s ( 1983 ) Reading is a accomplishment which develops through some phases and a uninterrupted procedure. Agring that, Beers ( 2006 ) adds that in instance of a skip in a reading development phase, pupils will fight in their reading ability and finally this will besides impact their authorship accomplishments. That ‘s why instructors should be entirely attentive to pupils ‘ comprehension of each phase of reading procedure before go oning with the following degree. Harmonizing to Carnine & A ; Silbert ( 2004 ) , â€Å" Appraisals supply the information that will enable pedagogues to supply kids with direction that starts where they are and so construct on that base to assist kids progress to the higher levels. † ( p. 13-15 ) As it is evident from all these research workers ‘ statements, the rating of reading is a important portion of learning a linguistic communication. Although most of the researches of that field unite in the importance of rating, they differ in the sentiments for the rating mediums. No affair how much a peculiar rating type is praised by pedagogues, in world all of them has some advantages and disadvantages and usage of these rating types is merely a affair of penchant. Hughes ( 2007 ) states that, all appraisals are fundamentally designed to develop the acquisition of pupils. As it is stated in Hughes ( 2007 ) , appraisal is the procedure of:Gathering information from a assortment of beginningsSupplying pupils with descriptive feedback for future developmentMiscue AnalysisIn this type of appraisal, the mistakes a kid makes during the reading procedure are diagnosed. Using this method, a instructor can be more easy cognizant of the pupils ‘ comprehension by looking at the errors he/she makes.The 6 Types of MiscuesCorrection: A child self-corrects his/her mistake and re-reads the section/word without motivating. Interpolation: A kid adds a few words which are non on the page. Omission: A kid omits a word while reading. Repeat: A kid repeats a word or part of the text. Reversal: A kid will change by reversal the order of the text or the word. Substitution: A kid inserts a different word, alternatively of reading a specific word. Some regulations about utilizing miscue analysis:Use unfamiliar text, non something the kid knows from memory.Do non utilize miscue analysis on novice readersGive the pupil some pick in the reading choice.You will necessitate a quiet topographic point without breaks, it can be really ready to hand to enter the kid which provides you with an chance to listen to the transition more than one time.Photocopy the choice the pupil will read, utilize this to enter the miscues.Record each miscue. ( Use hypens for skipped words, record each permutation ( Internet Explorer, went for when ) , use ^ for interpolation and record the word ( s ) , circle omitted words, underline repeated words, you may besides desire to utilize // for repeated words.What do the miscues tell you?Correction:This is good! We want readers to self-correct. However is the reader reading excessively fast? Is the reader mis-correcting accurate reading? If so, the reader frequently does n't see himself as a ‘good †˜ reader.InterpolationDoes the inserted word detract from intending? If non, it may merely intend the reader is doing sense but besides inserts. The reader may besides be reading excessively fast. If the interpolation is something like utilizing finished for coating, this should be addressed.Omission:When words are omitted, it may intend weaker ocular trailing. Determine if the significance of the transition is affected or non. If non, skips can besides be the consequence of non concentrating or reading excessively fast. It may besides intend the sight vocabulary is weaker.RepeatTonss of repeat may intend that the text degree is excessively hard. Sometimes readers repeat when they ‘re unsure and will reiterate the word ( s ) to do sense of the transition.Reversal:Watch for altered significance. Many reversals happen with immature readers with high frequence words – of for for etc.Substitutions:Sometimes a kid will utilize a permutation because they do n't understand th e word being read. Does the permutation make sense in the transition, is it a logical permutation?In SummaryUsing miscue analysis is an of import diagnostic tool that should be done every 6-8 hebdomads to see how the reader is bettering in the schemes used. Making sense of the miscues will assist you with following stairss to better the kid ‘s reading. It is worthwhile to hold a few inquiries prepared that Lashkar-e-Taiba you know about the kid ‘s comprehension of the transition read as miscue analysis tends to trust on reding you of the schemes used. Miscue analysis may look clip devouring ab initio, nevertheless, the more you do, the easier the procedure gets.