Ethics in Public Health Essay - 1212 Words

In the last three decades HIV/ AIDS has become the one of the most notorious and widely spread diseases in the modern world. Its discovery in the late seventies prompted worldwide concern. The one thing that has become the most bothersome thing about the HIV/ AIDS epidemic is prevention. Prevention or stopping the transmission of the diseases is hindered by factors such as: denial or non-acceptance by infected persons, unsafe sex, and non-disclosure by infected persons to their at risk sexual partner(s). According to Alghazo, Upton, and Cioe (2011): Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) the precursor to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is prevalent in the United States. The October 2008 Center for Disease Control (CDC) Morbidity†¦show more content†¦In medicine one of the things every patient is entitled to, no matter what, is their privacy. Since ancient times the privacy between a doctor and a patient has been somewhat of sacred thing. The patient has the right to release their health information to whomever they please. Even for doctors to access a patient’s medical history there has to be consent from the patient. In Mair’s article she reports about the case PD v Harvey in which PD upon asking for her future husband’s (FH) HIV test results was denied access because of lack of consent from FH. FH because of his right to confidentiality, despite having the disease, was able to lie and forge a pathology report which reported his HIV status as negative and in turn PD was lead to believe that FH actually received a negative result. If PD had been allowed the right to view the positive result or maybe even if the doctors would have taken into consideration her well-being PD could have avoided being infected (2009). 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The ethics of public health is when the focus is more on the freedoms of privacy and actions, as long as they do not harm others.â€Å"In public health ethics, autonomy, the right of privacy, and freedom of action are recognized in so far as they do not result in harm to others† (Williams Torrens, 2008). When considering medical ethics the focus on the concerns of individuals and their libertiesRead MoreThe Ethics Of Public Health Essay1123 Words   |  5 Pages†¢ â€Å"Public health practitioners by virtue of our role have special responsibilities for ethical conduct and ethical practices that go beyond meeting minimum legal and regulatory standards.† – American Public Health Association adopted a code of ethics developed by the Public Health Leadership Society. †¢ APHA’s code of Ethics identifies: o Values and beliefs that are key assumptions underlying a public health perspective of health, community, and bases for action o Principles of the ethical practiceRead MoreEthics Of Public Health, And Healthcare1857 Words   |  8 Pagesis that long term consumption of high fat, high sugar foods and drinks lead to many health problems, so making them more expensive and less accessible should decrease the health issues related to their consumption. 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As genetically modified (GM) food has entered the marketplace, these ethical questions have fallen not just to scientists but to the public at large, and the issue has grown into a massive, polarized debate with no signs ofRead MorePublic Health Ethics : Legal Analysis1758 Words   |  8 PagesBrian Dominguez GPH – 704 Public Health Ethics – Legal Analysis (Patient w/Tuberculosis) Introduction: In the fall of 2005, a homeless man from another state arrived in Maine who has been incompletely treated for tuberculosis (TB). He had several incarcerations within the next year and exposed the disease to other inmates. In addition, he exposed the disease to people at the homeless shelter; more than 100 persons were exposed between the shelter and county jail and transmission to 6 homelessRead MoreThe Code Of Ethics And The Law Of The Public Health, Safety, And Welfare981 Words   |  4 Pagesfield. In each one of these fields, there is a certain code of ethics that must be lived and maintained, by the engineer themselves. There are lists of the different ethics models, but to list a few: there is Rule-Based Utilitarianism, Duty Ethics, Rights Ethics, Virtue Ethics, and the NCEES ethical code. All of these individual codes clearly states, and sets guidelines for the engineers to follow and live by. These ethics set the standard and obligations that engineers and their partnersRead More Codes of Ethics in Health Care Essay995 Words   |  4 Pagesprovide a procedure if a code violation occurs. Medical ethics began as a professional code for physicians and has now expanded and includes a variety of health care professions and health care organizations. The growth of medical knowledge and technology have grown so have the concerns that ethical standards and issues facing our society today may be compromised or not appropriately addressed (Littleton et al., 2010). 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Herpes Simplex 1 Symptoms Natural Treatment - 656 Words

There is a old misconception Herpes Simplex 1 only infects above the belt by manifesting as cold sores. Herpes Type 2 was previously considered below the belt and caused genital lesions. However, the medical profession has found oral-genital contact can spread either, so that types of herpes have become virtually insignificant. Lets define herpes. It is very contagious. It is transmitted by bodily fluids. Proper hand washing precautions should be taken to keep the virus from a cold sore from spreading to the genitals. The first time herpes symptoms appear is called the primary occurrence and it worse than recurring outbreaks. Symptoms generally occur within 4-7 days after contact. Initial symptoms are burning, chronic itch or tingling. In a couple of days, pimply sores pop up on reddish skin. Later, the pimples metamorphose into agonizing blisters. When the blisters burst, they secrete blood and yellowish pus. 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Streams of Silver 7. Dagger and Staff Free Essays

string(48) " that she would not give up her life so easily\." Entreri stood on a hill a few miles outside the City of Sails, his campfire burning low behind him. Regis and friends had used this same spot for their last stop before they entered Luskan and, in fact, the assassin’s fire burned in the very same pit. This was no coincidence, though. We will write a custom essay sample on Streams of Silver 7. Dagger and Staff or any similar topic only for you Order Now Entreri had mimicked every move the halfling’s party had made since he had picked up their trail just south of the Spine of the World. He would move as they moved, shadowing their marches in an effort to better understand their actions. Now, unlike the party before him, Entreri’s eyes were not on the city wall, nor toward Luskan at all. Several campfires had sprung up in the night to the north, on the road back to Ten-Towns. It wasn’t the first time those lights had appeared behind him, and the assassin sensed he, too, was being followed. He had slowed his frantic pace, figuring that he could easily make up the ground while the companions went about their business in Luskan. He wanted to secure his own back from any danger before concentrating on snaring the halfling. Entreri had even left telltale signs of his passing, baiting his pursuers in closer. He kicked the embers of the fire low and climbed back into the saddle, deciding it better to meet a sword face to face than to take a dagger in the back. Into the night he rode, confident in the darkness. This was his time, where every shadow added to the advantage of one who lived in shadows. He tethered his mount before midnight, close enough to the campfires to finish the trek on foot. He realized now that this was a merchant caravan; not an uncommon thing on the road to Luskan at this time of year. But his sense of danger nagged at him. Many years of experience had honed his instinct for survival and he knew better than to ignore it. He crept in, seeking the easiest way into the circle of wagons. Merchants always lined many sentries around the perimeter of their camps, and even the pull-horses presented a problem, for the merchants kept them tied close beside their harnesses. Still, the assassin would not waste his ride. He had come this far and meant to find out the purpose of those who followed him. Slithering on his belly, he made his way to the perimeter and began circling the camp underneath the defensive ring. Too silently for even wary ears to hear, he passed two guards playing at bones. Then he went under and between the horses, the beasts lowering their ears in fear, but remaining quiet. Halfway around the circle, he was nearly convinced that this was an ordinary merchant caravan, and was just about to slip back into the night when he heard a familiar female voice. â€Å"Ye said ye saw a spot o’ light in the distance.† Entreri stopped, for he knew the speaker. â€Å"Yeah, over there,† a man replied. Entreri slipped up between the next two wagons and peeked over the side. The speakers stood a short distance from him, behind the next wagon, peering into the night in the direction of his camp. Both were dressed for battle, the woman wearing her sword comfortably. â€Å"I have underestimated you,† Entreri whispered to himself as he viewed Catti-brie. His jeweled dagger was already in his hand. â€Å"A mistake I shan’t repeat,† he added, then crouched low and searched for a path to his target. â€Å"Ye been good to me, for bringing me so fast,† Catti-brie said. â€Å"I’m owing to ye, as Regis and the others’ll be.† â€Å"Then tell me,† the man urged. â€Å"What causes such urgency?† Catti-brie struggled with the memories of the assassin. She hadn’t yet come to terms with her terror that day in the halfling’s house, and knew that she wouldn’t until she had avenged the deaths of the two dwarven friends and resolved her own humiliation. Her lips tightened and she did not reply. â€Å"As you wish,† the man conceded. â€Å"Your reasons justify the run, we do not doubt. If we seem to pry, it only shows our desire to help you however we may.† Catti-brie turned to him, a smile of sincere appreciation on her face. Enough had been said, and the two stood and stared at the empty horizon in silence. Silent, too, was the approach of death. Entreri slipped out from under the wagon and rose suddenly between them, one hand outstretched to each. He grasped Catti-brie’s neck tightly enough to prevent her scream, and he silenced the man forever with his blade. Looking across the breadth of Entreri’s shoulders, Catti-brie saw the horrific expression locked onto her companion’s face, but she couldn’t understand why he hadn’t cried out, for his mouth was not covered. Entreri shifted back a bit and she knew. Only the jeweled dagger’s hilt was visible, its crosspiece flat against the underside of the man’s chin. The slender blade had found the man’s brain before he ever realized the danger. Entreri used the weapon’s handle to guide his victim quietly to the ground, then jerked it free. Again the woman found herself paralyzed before the horror of Entreri. She felt that she should wrench away and shout out to the camp, even though he would surely kill her. Or draw her sword and at least try to fight back. But she watched helplessly as Entreri slipped her own dagger from her belt and, pulling her low with him, replaced it in the man’s fatal wound. Then he took her sword and pushed her down under the wagon and out beyond the camp’s perimeter. Why can’t I call out? she asked herself again and again, for the assassin, confident of the level of terror, didn’t even hold her as they slipped deeper into the night. He knew, and she had to admit to herself, that she would not give up her life so easily. You read "Streams of Silver 7. Dagger and Staff" in category "Essay examples" Finally, when they were a safe distance from the camp, he spun her around to face him – and the dagger. â€Å"Follow me?† he asked, laughing at her. â€Å"What could you hope to gain?† She did not answer, but found some of her strength returning. Entreri sensed it, too. â€Å"If you call out, I shall kill you,† he declared flatly. â€Å"And then, by my word, I shall return to the merchants and kill them all as well!† She believed him. â€Å"I often travel with the merchants,† she lied, holding the quiver in her voice. â€Å"It is one of the duties of my rank as a soldier of Ten-Towns.† Entreri laughed at her again. Then he looked into the distance, his features assuming an introspective tilt. â€Å"Perhaps this will play to my advantage,† he said rhetorically, the beginnings of a plan formulating in his mind. Catti-brie studied him, worried that he had found some way to turn her excursion into harm for her friends. â€Å"I’ll not kill you – not yet,† he said to her. â€Å"When we find the halfling, his friends will not defend him. Because of you.† â€Å"I’ll do nothing to aid ye!† Catti-brie spat.†Nothing!† â€Å"Precisely,† Entreri hissed. â€Å"You shall do nothing. Not with a blade at your neck – † he brought the weapon up to her throat in a morbid tease – â€Å"scratching at your smooth skin. When I am done with my business, brave girl, I shall move on, and you shall be left with your shame and your guilt. And your answers to the merchants who believe you murdered their companion!† In truth, Entreri didn’t believe for a moment that his simple trick with Catti-brie’s dagger would fool the merchants. It was merely a psychological weapon aimed at the young woman, designed to instill yet another doubt and worry into her jumble of emotions. Catti-brie did not reply to the assassin’s statements with any sign of emotion. No, she told herself, it won’t be like that! But deep inside, she wondered if her determination only masked her fear, her own belief that she would be held again by the horror of Entreri’s presence, and that the scene would unfold exactly as he had predicted. Jierdan found the campsite with little difficulty. Dendybar had used his magic to track the mysterious rider all the way from the mountains and had pointed the soldier in the right direction. Tensed and his sword drawn, Jierdan moved in. The place was deserted, but it had not been that way for long. Even from a few feet away, the soldier from Luskan could feel the dying warmth of the campfire. Crouching low to mask his silhouette against the line of the horizon, he crept toward a pack and blanket off to the side of the fire. * * * Entreri rode his mount back into camp slowly, expecting that what he had left might have drawn some visitors. Catti-brie sat in front of him, securely bound and gagged, though she fully believed, to her own disgust, that her own terror made the bonds unnecessary. The wary assassin realized that someone had entered the camp, before he had ever gotten near the place. He slid from his saddle, taking his prisoner with him. â€Å"A nervous steed,† he explained to Catti-brie, taking obvious pleasure in the grim warning as he tied her to the horse’s rear legs. â€Å"If you struggle, he will kick the life from you.† Then Entreri was gone, blending into the night as though he were an extension of its darkness. * * * Jierdan dropped the pack back to the ground, frustrated, for its contents were merely standard traveling gear and revealed nothing about the owner. The soldier was a veteran of many campaigns and had bested man and orc alike a hundred times, but he was nervous now, sensing something unusual, and deadly, about the rider. A man with the courage to ride alone on the brutal course from Icewind Dale to Luskan was no novice to the ways of battle. Jierdan was startled, then, but not too surprised, when the tip of a blade came to rest suddenly in the vulnerable hollow on the back of his neck, just below the base of his skull. He neither moved nor spoke, hoping that the rider would ask for some explanation before driving the weapon home. Entreri could see that his pack had been searched, but he recognised the furred uniform and knew that this man was no thief. â€Å"We are beyond the borders of your city,† he said, holding his knife steady. â€Å"What business have you in my camp, soldier of Luskan?† â€Å"I am Jierdan of the north gate,† he replied. â€Å"I have come to meet a rider from Icewind Dale.† â€Å"What rider?† â€Å"You.† Entreri was perplexed and uncomfortable with the soldier’s response. Who had sent this man, and how had he known where to look? The assassin’s first thoughts centered on Regis’s party. Perhaps the halfling had arranged for some help from the city guard. Entreri slipped his knife back info its sheath, certain that he could retrieve it in time to foil any attack. Jierdan understood the calm confidence of the act as well, and any thoughts that he might have had for striking at this man flew from him. â€Å"My master, desires your audience,† he said, thinking it wise to explain himself more completely. â€Å"A meeting to your mutual benefit.† â€Å"Your master?† asked Entreri. â€Å"A citizen of high standing,† Jierdan explained. â€Å"He has heard of your coming and believes that he may help with your quest.† â€Å"What does he know of my business?† Entreri snapped, angered that someone had dared to spy on him. But he was relieved, too, for the involvement of some other power structure within the city explained much, and possibly eliminated the logical assumption that the halfling was behind this meeting. Jierdan shrugged. â€Å"I am merely his courier. But I, too, can be of assistance to you. At the gate.† â€Å"Damn the gate,† Entreri snarled. â€Å"I’ll take the wall easily enough. It is a more direct route to the places I seek.† â€Å"Even so, I know of those places, and of the people who control them.† The knife leaped back out, cutting in and stopping just before Jierdan’s throat. â€Å"You know much, but you explain little. You play dangerous games, soldier of Luskan.† Jierdan didn’t blink. â€Å"Four heroes from Ten-Towns came into Luskan five days ago: a dwarf, a halfling, a barbarian, and a black elf.† Even Artemis Entreri couldn’t hide a hint of excitement at the confirmation of his suspicions, and Jierdan noted the signs. â€Å"Their exact location escapes me, but I know the area where they are hiding. Are you interested?† The knife returned again to its sheath. â€Å"Wait here,† Entreri instructed. â€Å"I have a companion who shall travel with us.† â€Å"My master said that you rode alone,† Jierdan queried. Entreri’s vile grin sent a shiver through the soldier’s spine. â€Å"I acquired her,† he explained. â€Å"She is mine and that is all that you ever need to know.† Jierdan didn’t press the point. His sigh of relief was audible when Entreri had disappeared from sight. Catti-brie rode to Luskan untied and ungagged, but Entreri’s hold upon her was no less binding. His warning to her when he had retrieved her in the field had been succinct and undeniable. â€Å"A foolish move,† he had said, â€Å"and you die. And you die with the knowledge that the dwarf, Bruenor, shall suffer for your insolence.† The assassin had told Jierdan no more about her, and the soldier didn’t ask, though the woman intrigued him more than a little. Dendybar would get the answers, Jierdan knew. They moved into the city later that morning, under the suspicious eye of the Daykeeper of the North Gate. It had cost Jierdan a week’s pay to bribe them through, and the soldier knew he would owe even more when he returned that night, for the original deal with the Daykeeper allowed the passage of one outsider; nothing had been said about the woman. But if Jierdan’s actions brought him Dendybar’s favor, then they would be well worth the price. According to the city code, the three gave up their horses at the stable just inside the wall, and Jierdan led Entreri and Catti-brie through the streets of the City of Sails, past the sleepy-eyed merchants and vendors who had been out since before dawn and into the very heart of the city. The assassin was not surprised an hour later when they came upon a long grove of thick pine trees. He had suspected that Jierdan was somehow connected to this place. They passed through a break in the line and stood before the tallest structure in the city, the Hosttower of the Arcane. â€Å"Who is your master?† Entreri asked bluntly. Jierdan chuckled, his nerve bolstered by the sight of Dendybar’s tower. â€Å"You shall meet him soon enough.† â€Å"I shall know now,† Entreri growled. â€Å"Or our meeting is ended. I am in the city, soldier, and I do not require your assistance any longer.† â€Å"I could have the guards expel you,† Jierdan shot back. â€Å"Or worse!† But Entreri had the last word. â€Å"They would never find the remains of your body,† he promised, the cold certainty of his tone draining the blood from Jierdan’s face. Catti-brie noted the exchange with more than a passing concern for the soldier, wondering if the time might soon come when she could exploit the untrusting nature of her captors to her own advantage. â€Å"I serve Dendybar the Mottled, Master of the North Spire,† Jierdan declared, drawing further strength from the mention of his powerful mentor’s name. Entreri had heard the name before. The Hosttower was a common topic of the whisperings all around Luskan and the surrounding countryside, and the name of Dendybar the Mottled came up often in conversation, describing the wizard as an ambitious power seeker in the tower, and hinting at a dark and sinister side of the man that allowed him to get what he wanted. He was dangerous, but potentially a powerful ally. Entreri was pleased. â€Å"Take me to him now,† he told Jierdan. â€Å"Let us discover if we have business or no.† Sydney was waiting to escort them from the entryroom of the Hosttower. Offering no introduction, and asking for none, she led them through the twisting passages and secret doors to the audience hall of Dendybar the Mottled. The wizard waited there in grand style, wearing his finest robes and with a fabulous luncheon set before him. â€Å"Greetings, rider,† Dendybar said after the necessary, yet uncomfortable, moments of silence when each of the parties sized up the other. â€Å"I am Dendybar the Mottled, as you are already aware. Will you and your lovely companion partake of my table?† His raspy voice grated on Catti-brie’s nerves, and though she hadn’t eaten since the supper the day before, she had no appetite for this man’s hospitality. Entreri shoved her forward. â€Å"Eat,† he commanded. She knew that Entreri was testing both her and the wizards. But it was time for her to test Entreri as well. â€Å"No,† she answered, looking him straight in the eye. His backhand knocked her to the floor. Jierdan and Sydney started reflexively, but seeing no help forthcoming from Dendybar, quickly stopped and settled back to watch. Catti-brie moved away from the killer and remained in a defensive crouch. Dendybar smiled at the assassin. â€Å"You have answered some of my questions about the girl,† he said with an amused smile. â€Å"What purpose does she serve?† â€Å"I have my reasons,† was all that Entreri replied. â€Å"Of course. And might I learn your name?† Entreri’s expression did not change. â€Å"You seek the four companions from Ten-Towns, I know,† Dendybar continued, having no desire to bandy the issue. â€Å"I seek them, as well, but for different reasons, I am sure.† â€Å"You know nothing of my reasons,† Entreri replied. â€Å"Nor do I care,† laughed the wizard. â€Å"We can help each other to our separate goals. That is all that interests me.† â€Å"I ask for no help.† Dendybar laughed again. â€Å"They are a mighty force, rider. You underestimate them.† â€Å"Perhaps,† replied Entreri. â€Å"But you have asked my purpose, yet have not offered your own. What business does the Hosttower have with travelers from Ten-Towns?† â€Å"Fairly asked,† answered Dendybar. â€Å"But I should wait until we have formalized an agreement before rendering an answer.† â€Å"Then I shan’t sleep well for worry,† Entreri spat. Again the wizard laughed. â€Å"You may change your mind before this is finished,† he said. â€Å"For now I offer a sign of good faith. The companions are in the city. Dockside. They were to stay in the Cutlass. Do you know it?† Entreri nodded, now very interested in the wizard’s words. â€Å"But we have lost them in the alleyways of the western city,† Dendybar explained, shooting a glare at Jierdan that made the soldier shift uneasily. â€Å"And what is the price of this information?† Entreri asked. â€Å"None,† replied the wizard. â€Å"Telling you helps my own cause. You will get what you want; what I desire will remain for me.† Entreri smiled, understanding that Dendybar intended to use him as a hound to sniff out the prey. â€Å"My apprentice will show you out,† Dendybar said, motioning to Sydney. Entreri turned to leave, pausing to meet the gaze of Jierdan. â€Å"Ware my path, soldier,† the assassin warned. â€Å"Vultures eat after the cat has feasted!† â€Å"When he has shown me to the drow, I’ll have his head,† Jierdan growled when they had gone. â€Å"You shall keep clear of that one,† Dendybar instructed. Jierdan looked at him, puzzled. â€Å"Surely you want him watched.† â€Å"Surely,† agreed Dendybar. â€Å"But by Sydney, not you. Keep your anger,† Dendybar said to him, noting the outraged scowl. â€Å"I preserve your life. Your pride is great, indeed, and you have earned the right. But this one is beyond your prowess, my friend. His blade would have you before you ever knew he was there.† Outside, Entreri led Catti-brie away from the Hosttower without a word, silently replaying and reviewing the meeting, for he knew that he had not seen the last of Dendybar and his cohorts. Catti-brie was glad of the silence, too, engulfed in her own contemplations. Why would a wizard of the Hosttower be looking for Bruenor and the others? Revenge for Akar Kessell, the mad wizard that her friends had helped defeat before the last winter? She looked back to the treelike structure, and to the killer at her side, amazed and horrified at the attention her friends had brought upon themselves. Then she looked into her own heart, reviving her spirit and her courage. Drizzt, Bruenor, Wulfgar, and Regis were going to need her help before this was all over. She must not fail them. How to cite Streams of Silver 7. Dagger and Staff, Essay examples

Probiotics free essay sample

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food,† the age-old quote by Hippocrates, is certainly the tenet of today. With the growing interest in self-care and integrative medicine coupled with our health embracing baby boomer population, recognition of the link between diet and health has become increasingly strengthened. As a result, the market for functional foods, or foods that promote health beyond providing basic nutrition, is flourishing. Within, the functional foods movement is the small but rapidly expanding arena of probiotics live microbial food supplements that beneficially affect an individual by improving intestinal microbial balance. The consumers’ overwhelming interest in and demand for functional foods, including probiotics, make it imperative that health professionals stay abreast of the latest research findings and available products. The functional food market has been rapidly growing for the past years but the development of new products is still imperative due to the increasing demand for healthy, high quality foods associated to changes in consumers? life-style. Incorporation of probiotics into cereal-based products is therefore desirable since it can combine the healthy formulation of a cereal mixture, the added value of prebiotic ingredients, and the beneficial effects of the probiotic bacteria. Encapsulation techniques have been recently applied to protect probiotic cells from storage conditions in order to increase shelf-life of probiotic products and to overcome other technological hurdles such as the food production stresses. The aim of this research study was to develop process technology for a probiotic cereal bar by microencapsulating probiotics using the method of freeze drying and evaluating the viability of encapsulated probiotics in a cereal bar. A cereal mixture comprising of corn flakes, oat flakes, wheat bran were used to prepare cereal bar. The probiotic strains Lactobacillus casei (MTCC 1423), Lactobacillus acidophilus (NCDC 11), Lactobacillus plantarum (NCDC 414) and Bifidobacterium longum (F8) were microencapsulated using guar gum and xanthan gum as base materials for microencapsulation respectively. The microencapsulated probiotics were added to the cereal bar to a final concentration of 1010 CFU. g-1 of product. Viability above 108 CFU. g-1 was found in the formulated probiotic cereal bar after 3 weeks of storage. This study indicated that it is feasible to incorporate probiotic  bacteria into a cereal bar product, but further studies are required to determine the product shelf-life, viability during gastrointestinal passage and to assure probiotic functionality. RATIONALE OF STUDY The demand of functional food is increasing day by day due to constant health awareness and readily available information on usefulness of different diet and their direct link with health. The concept of functional foods includes foods or food ingredients that exert a beneficial effect on host health and/or reduce the risk of chronic disease beyond basic nutritional functions. Increasing awareness of consumer health and interest in functional foods to achieve a healthy lifestyle has resulted in the need for food products with versatile health-benefiting properties. Within, the functional foods movement is the small but rapidly expanding arena of probiotics – â€Å"live microbial food supplements that beneficially affect an individual by improving intestinal microbial balance. † Dairy foods, fermented and non-fermented, have played important roles in the diet of humans worldwide for thousands of years. Currently hundreds of probiotic dairy products are manufactured and consumed around the world; typical examples include pasteurized milk, ice-cream, fermented milks, cheeses and baby milk powder. Dairy products are the main food carriers for probiotic bacteria to human. Limitations of these products such as the presence of allergens, high lactose and cholesterol contents, and the requirement for cold storage facilities have created the need to look for new probiotic product lines based on non-dairy substrates. Furthermore, the increase in the consumer vegetarianism throughout the developed countries has generated an increasing demand for the vegetarian probiotic products, as well as the demand for new foods and tastes have initiated a trend in non-dairy probiotic product development. Several ranges of non-dairy probiotic products have been developed and marketed in the last two decades. The market available for non-dairy probiotic products include: fruits and vegetable, juices, non-dairy beverages, cereal based products, chocolate based products, meat†¦etc. Even though, the cereal nutritional quality, compared to milk and meat, is inferior because of their lower protein content, deficiency of certain essential amino acids (lysine), low starch availability, anti-nutrients substances (phytic acid, tannins and polyphenols) and the coarse nature of the grains, cereal grains are still considered as one of the most important food sources of protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and fiber for large segments of people all over the world. Furthermore, cereal grains are good source of non-digestible carbohydrates that besides promoting several beneficial physiological effects can act as prebiotics that selectively stimulate the growth of Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria in the colon. Considering the above mentioned facts cereal based probiotics may be potential substrates, where the healthy probiotic bacteria will make their way in the global market. Therefore, the non-dairy cereal based probiotic food products should fulfill the consumer’s expectancy and demands for the products that are pleasant and healthy. AIM AND OBJECTIVE The present study was undertaken to develop process technology for microencapsulation of probiotics and their incorporation in cereal bar. The specific objectives are as follows: * Physico- chemical analysis of raw material and finished product. * Evaluation of acid and bile tolerance of probiotic strains before and after incorporation in the cereal bar. * Microencapsulation of probiotics by freeze drying. * Formulation of cereal bar and incorporation of microencapsulated probiotics. Evaluation of sensory characteristics of the formulated cereal bar and viability study of microencapsulated and incorporated probiotics in cereal bar. Flow sheet for Preparation of Probiotic Cereal Bar Procurement of Raw Materials Corn (3-5mm) Oats (3-5mm) Wheat bran (0. 5mm) Jaggery (Melted at 50-60oC) Mix Uniformly Microencapsulation by Freeze Drying Add microencapsulated Probiotics (L. casei, L. plantarum, L. acidophilus, B. longum) Moulding Cool (20 – 250C) Packaging (Polythene Aluminum Laminates) The physico- chemical analysis of the raw materials and the formulated probiotic cereal bar were carried out. The results in case of, raw materials were in accordance with the standard values. In case of, formulated bar the results were compared with other nutritional bars in the market and indicated that the formulated cereal bar can be used as a supplement in diet with added health benefits of probiotics. Acid and bile tolerance studies for probiotics were carried out before as well as after microencapsulation as these are the foremost characteristics to be known for the strains to be regarded as probiotics and the results indicated that the strains were acid and bile tolerant. The probiotic strains were microencapsulated using the method of freeze drying in order to prevent the strains from exposure to heat and other stress conditions. Two base samples were prepared for microencapsulation; the first one comprising of guar gum, inulin and dextrin and the other comprising of xanthan gum, maltodextrin and sucrose. The microencapsulated probiotics were then incorporated in the cereal bar during its preparation. The viability studies of the prepared bar were carried out  for three weeks and the results revealed that probiotics were viable but CFU was decreasing with storage time. Figure-1 Freeze dried microencapsulated probiotic powder Sensory evaluation was done for both Probiotic cereal bars and results indicated that they were liked moderately; however, improvement was required in texture The recipe of the resulting product, i. e. , the probiotic cereal bar included prebiotic ingredients which are considered valuable for the subsequent incorporation of pro biotics. The delivery of beneficial bacteria with the selective growth stimulation by the prebiotic ingredients makes the cereal bar a synbiotic product, with better chances to promote probiotic effects (Steed et al. , 2008). Furthermore, it has been reported that synbiotic products are the most popular among consumers and therefore have higher market value (Annunziata amp; Vecchio, 2011; Bogue amp; Ryan, 2000). Figure- 2 Probiotic cereal bar CONCLUSION In conclusion, the present study showed that the incorporation of probiotics in cereal bars is a feasible procedure, albeit several technological hurdles. However, both physical parameters of cereal bars and probiotic viability during storage are yet to be enhanced. From an efficacy point of view, assays of GI digestion should be performed for each probiotic strain cereal bar, since the exposure to bile salts and acidic conditions in vitro is strain-specific and provides a more accurate evidence of probiotic viability expected after consumption – an important criterion to guarantee a probiotic health effect. Consequently, biological assays would be required to assess whether probiotic functionality is maintained after digestion using, for example, cell culture models to monitor probiotic adhesion or anti proliferative activity. In this way, a steady and consistent scientific ground may be attained in order to deliver a satisfactory product to the final consumer.

What Do I Have to Offer This College Family free essay sample

Upon choosing this topic I pondered, what next? I sat in front of my PC deliberating what direction wanted this piece to go in, and what impression I wanted to give my future alma maters admissions of myself and then it struck me. The point of this essay is not to paint an illusion of myself to you, but, to show you what have to offer as a unique individual. Marianne Williamson in her book, Return to Love and I quote, wrote, Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us.We ask ourselves, ho am to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? I first stumbled upon this quote during one of my times of feeling deeply insignificant among my high school population. I decided that constantly feeling as though you are insignificant leads to you becoming insignificant. We will write a custom essay sample on What Do I Have to Offer This College Family or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Am a believer that the mind is a very powerful thing and I plan to use this belief a self confidence to encourage those around me to do nothing but their best because the min ate you start believing your worst is your best, it in fact becomes the best you can do.Academically, am well rounded. Have over the years gained all the necessary basic knowledge to excel in any subject decide to work at. I study well in groups and have always had a love for tutoring; as such during and after high school I took the responsibility of tutoring my younger sister and her friends at the primary level. Throughout high school I also tutored my friends in order to ensure that leisure time was not affected by poor academics. The passion for helping those in need, has become a part of who am and I intend to use this to help those around me if I am accepted into the university. Extremely confident a team player, athletic and energetic young woman and I have dreams of one day helping everyone around me see that they too can be apart of this world holding only a positive outlook for their lives and being calculative about consequences. Am trained as a peer councilor and intend to use my skills for self fulfillment as well as the maintaining of the mental well being of those I encounter in my tenure at this prestigious university. It would be unlike me to not mention my rich Jamaican heritage as one of the things have to offer this university.Cultural diversity is one of the many things that make university life worthwhile and I am no doubt endowed with a mixture of cultures; as the Jamai can culture has evolved to included aspects of cultures of people from all walks of life. Hope have given you a good enough idea of what I have to offer this institution, but I assure you this is just the tip Of the ice berg. I also have no doubt that will not be a silent student as intend to be a production member of the university family. As we say in Jamaica W like but WI tallow, meaning big things come in small packages.

Impressionism and Postimpressionism essays

Impressionism and Postimpressionism essays Impressionism was a form of art in the late nineteenth century that used luminosity, subtlety of tone and preoccupation with sensation. The impressionist subject matter preserved the romantic fascination with nature and the realist preoccupation with late century French society. An example of an impressionist work would be Claude Monet's Impression: Sunrise. Impression: Sunrise is a seascape that shows more of what one sees than the sea. The painting had no real strong lines because there were no lines in nature. Postimpressionism describes the western artists who followed the impressionist. They believed in art for arts sake aestheticism, they prized pictorial invention. An example would be Van Goghs The Starry Night. This is a landscape view of the small French town of Saint-Remy. The paintings sky rolls like ocean waves. The moon appears to burn like the sun. He uses color to express his vision of nature. ...

Building an Ethical Organization Part II Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Building an Ethical Organization Part II - Essay Example se, Aids Prevention and Case Management, Counseling and Outreach Programs are making a positive difference in the lives of increasing number of families. We have yet not become the largest health care organization in Albuquerque, Los Lunas, Belen, and Peralta area as envisaged earlier, but we have woven an organization culture based on core ideas stated in our Mission Statement and Values Statement and adherence to ethics and keeping service before self. This has been possible only with the unflinching support and leadership of the management and dedication of the staff. Albuquerque Health Care has earned commendations from the government, the people, the patients, community and our suppliers for being organization that has never compromised on ethics, our values, commitment of purpose and quality in dispensing our services. . It is worth mention that we have not only delivered quality health care to the people of but have also earned many an honor for being an organizations committe d to ethics and integrity. However, in these two years we also encountered difficulties in our functioning, which has made us introduce changes in our policy. We will discuss these changes in the points below: All the 16 health care activities mentioned in Organizational Report 1 are being carried out in these seven departments. Each department is headed by a senior member of the staff, who directly report to the Director (Health Services) once a week. The Administrative work is looked after by a General Manager, who reports once a week to the Director (Admin and Finance). The Ethics Committee is headed by Director (Ethics) and has the General Manager as the permanent member. Three heads of the department serve in the Ethics Committee for six months on rotational basis. The Ethics Committee has formulated an Ethics Book. Every three months there is an Ethics Audit and a Compliance Report is generated, which is discussed in the specially called Board of Directors meeting on Ethics. The

Death Penalty Position Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Death Penalty Position Paper - Essay Example Proponents believe it to be neither cruel nor unusual, on the contrary, they think it just and fair. The purpose of this study is to discuss the legal and moral issues that literally are of life and death importance and is a major barometer when measuring a societies collective conscience. The ‘eye for an eye’ group not only accepts but vocally insists that the death penalty be continued for many reasons which will be covered thoroughly in this discussion. It will also include the opponents’ reasoning regarding why it should be abolished along with the legal precedents involved in an effort to gain a comprehensive overview of the death penalty debate. The discussion will conclude with an opinion regarding the future of Capital punishment in the U.S. By definition, capital punishment is not unusual, legally speaking, unless one considers and acknowledges the racial bias that exists in the justice system. Whether or not it is cruel is not definable by law. It can only be defined by the collective social conscious of a culture. The legal interpretation of ‘cruel and unusual’ is somewhat open to debate but in general, the term ‘cruel’ refers to brutal punishments that cause excessive pain. Most legal experts agree that punishments including bodily dismemberment or torture are undoubtedly classified as cruel. Again, terminologies are open to interpretation as evidenced by the current debate at the highest level of government involving the definition of torture. The term ‘unusual’ is commonly understood to define the equitable application of punishment for a particular offense. For example, if ten people were cited for speeding and nine of them were fined $100 but one was fined $1000, this penal ty would be considered ‘unusual.’ Taken together, both ‘cruel’ and ‘unusual’ indicate that the punishment should be exacted in proportion to the offense committed. A life term in prison is an

Summary 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Summary 3 - Essay Example Effectively, this gives the teachers, students, and stakeholders in these systems little faith that conditions will improve. The article represents challenges in school districts after a study conducted by The Broad Foundation. The study identified 75 challenges that explain three phenomena that affect the public schools system. In the first phenomena, the article provides fifteen challenges that explain the reasons why resources failed to reach the classroom. These include, ineffective monitoring of expenses, unnecessary duplication of resources, overspending in construction maintenance, poor communication within the organization, slow central office systems, severe budget cuts, and many other examples. Secondly, the challenges explain the reasons that contribute to teacher’s failure to receive the support that they required to play their roles effectively. These challenges include the lack of access to proven interventions for struggling students, practices to grow professionally, challenging curriculum and technology. Conversely, the bar for teaching and learning is also low while teachers also lack adequate information on students’ progress, and many other challenges. The challenges identify challenges that go forth to explain why policies and procedures failed to allow the school system to pursue its mission. For instance, stagnation of the status quo for adults, inconsistency in orders from above, differences in scientific research in educational disciplines, the lack of strategic plans, and other challenges contributing to this phenomenon. In conclusion, the article identifies the importance of transforming the public school system in order to ensure that American students competed with other students academically. Importantly, the article identifies the importance of collaborative efforts in eliminating these challenges in order to eliminate bureaucracy and enhance the process of

Human Resource Management: Leadership Styles

Human Resource Management: Leadership Styles In the global economy there is a competition especially in the retails sector. The customer satisfaction is a major driver for the organizational performance. The important determinant for customer satisfaction in the retail sector is about the employee attitude (Heskette et al., 1991). In the retail industry there cannot be satisfied customers when served by unhappy employers (Heskette et al., 1997). The organizational commitment of employees results in lower attrition rates and improves customer satisfaction (Marshall et al., 2001). One of the key determinants to employee attitude is attitude and leadership style of the immediate supervisor. Some of the leadership styles prevail upon the employees resulting job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Human Resource Management Human Resource Management (HRM) plays a vital role in all organizations management. The importance of Human Resource Management is to increase the productivity form manpower resources day by day and it became a factor in the organizational strategic management. It gradually increases the human capital and organizational performance by managing them effectively (Delaney et al., 1997). The HRM must attract the well trained and skilful employees, training; provide guidelines to improve the efficiency of the work force and organization. The title human resource management has been generally known from the past ten or fifteen years. Even, the term is commonly used as personnel management. Dessler (1991) defined that there is no discrimination among personnel management and Human Resource Management and found that final as current extended adaptation of traditional personnel management because of the technological existence in work place changed social values. Torrington and Hall (1998) argued that the personnel management and the Human Resource Management are different because he divided the personnel management based on workforce center and HRM based on manpower resources. Guest (1987) concept on HRM is that human resource management is the alter not an alternative to the personnel management but it particularly concentrated on some elements of workers such as employee flexibility, commitment, integration and quality. But here is no any exact define for human resource management and so many definitions are existed Armstrong (1995) described HRM is a strategic and logical practice of the organizational management and its a main valuable asset. And HRM is used as employees participate as individual and also jointly to contribute their work to achieve particular organizational goals. The Importance of HR as a Source of Competitive Advantage Today, organizations considered that the human resources are the most valuable assets for competitive advantage and to sustain in a long time in the business. Many of work force assets are theoretically reviewed as resource based view (RBV) by (Barney, 1986, 1991, 1995). The (RBV) theory realized instead of build up a competitive advantage, they should shift to generate resource such an approach that the approach no one can imitate their style, rare, and no one can be substitute. But Pfeffer (1994), Barney (1986, 1991, 1995), Youndt and Wright (1996), Snell, Wright and McMahan (1992) are disagreed with the above statements the reason is that the history proved that the competitive advantage is frequently possible to imitate. And the organizational human resources can effectively influence and existence of the competitive advantage. The organizations RBV theoretical process is followed by the strategic management field. RBV revealed that the attributes and resources of an organization very essential for effective competitive advantage than organizational formation and also competition from rival firm (Barney, 1997). Resources are defined as an organization search and implement its strategies by using tangible as well intangible assets. (Barney, 2001). The above definition consists of all the organizational, financial, physical, human resources. Pisano and Shuen (1997) Barney (1991) and Teece have summarized that suppose a resource might measured a source to continue competitive advantage. So this assumption required some factors such as valuable resources, uncommon, incomparable and non replaceable. Organizations can obtain value form, natural resources economies and technologies, But RBV was not agreed because those resources are easily available to everyone and everywhere so anyone can imitate from anyone, whi lst defined human resources are the group of human resources under the organizations direction in straight employee relations (Wright McMahan, 1992) can become competitive advantage to the organization from their competitors. Initially this process adds value to the organizations productivity. The result would be positive by the contribution of the employees as a pool. Generally the inputs of the all employee are not equal so the outputs in the market are limited. So these kinds of resources cannot be easily imitated by the other organizations. But its very difficult for firms to understand which is the correct source to adopt their competitive advantage. So, this resources are cannot be simply replaceable. The management scientist Barney (1991) argued that firms cannot gain the highest efficiency from the employees who are working in their firms due to their employees commitment is less so they are not interested to put their maximum efficiency. It was found organizations must motivate the employees by motivating them and develop their knowledge, skill set, and abilities by adopting HRM practices. Approaches of HRM Examining the importance of HR practices in organizational performance, the major activities of human resources implemented RBV method (Barney, 1991, Delery, 1998). Adopting this technique the firm may obtain the competitive advantage. Although every firm may not obtain this competitive advantage by adopt these human resource practices. But the organization can minimize the rate of attrition (Delery, 1998). Anyhow this theoretical frame work and practices can affect the organizational relations as well as the practices. HRM and firm performance. According to Huselid (1995) found the results of using the thirteen Human Resource practice on organizational performance. He found tow types methods of HR practices. The first method concerned with skills firms structures. This was based on practices to improve abilities, skills and performance of the job responsibilities of the employee. The second method was to motivate the employee. For this they were approached to understand the behavior of the employee. Therefore they focused on employee satisfaction levels toward his job. However he found significantly the both methods results effects were positive on organizational performance. Therefore the number of researchers examined and revealed the relations between the firm performance and HR practices and various approaches are adopted. Finally the HR practices helps in organizational performance to enhance skills of the employees as well as motivate them towards their role by using positive approaches (Delery Doty, 1996). Leadership Defining Leadership Hemphills (1994) defined leadership in his simple way and in a very appropriate way. For this he summarized the classical definitions as leadership is to directing his group this one sentence he summed up the basic definition and dynamics of all leadershipthe directing of group achievements. He stated that the leader is the superior and the followers are subordinates even roles are concerned. Therefore the efficient leader delivers the effective process. Though, definitely the effective leadership administers the organizational achievement and performance positively. The leadership is one of important aspect human behaviours and well studied subject in the recent times. There are several forms definitions in the literatures for the leadership. The more accepted form of definition is influence theme. The leaders who influence people are to achieve the goals and increases organisational performance. It does not translate to that leader having control over his followers to achieve the goals which leader wants to achieve. The followers emulate the leaders attitudes to achieving desired goals. The leader is expected to leader the process of planning and execution of activities to achieve the organisational goals. There is a difference between the management and leadership, the management is concerned about the short-term issues in a company, where as leaders adopt and look into broader prospective. Most of the leadership theories are emerged in organizations to achieve their organizational objectives as well as their goals. The theories are focused on behaviours, traits, controlling and circumstances(Mintzberg, 1973). However the current theories are correlation centered. Where as the co operation between the leader and followers. The trait theory and behavioral theory could not clarify the effect of the leaders on followers. , behavioural can not explain the influence of leaders on the followers not only that there is no understanding among the definitions and measurement of effective leadership. The organizations realized that the effective leadership is required to lead and survive their business in the market. The recent development in the leadership type is transformational leadership which most suitable in the contemporary times. The transformational leadership also integrates the trait, behavioral and situational approaches (Figure 1). The transformational leadership recognizes that there are some traits in the people and they can observe, developed and learnt. The leader influences the followers behaving in certain ways. The relationship between the leader and follower is dictated by various situational factors. The central them to transformational leadership is that leader behavior is not solely based on the tangible inducements, rather based on the development of followers in their interest in resulting group productivity. In specific areas like educational institutes, business, family, hospital and political organization require an energetic leadership. The energetic and dynamic leadership is ready to offer quality of service. These dynamic leaders find new ideas and creativity get in to practice. Leadership Styles The types of leadership styles considered who is a leader, says and how he directs the followers. This study used in approach of authority and decision making. However an assessment on few selected leadership styles reveals a degree of leaders accountability with his employees. Lall and Lall (1979) listed the five leadership styles as follow: Autocratic Leadership style: The current generation of employees is resistant to autocratic leadership and hence received lot of criticism from academicians. This type of leadership style is applicable in certain situations where the staff is not well trained. In some cases where staff does not respond to other forms of leadership can be dealt with autocratic leadership. The autocratic leadership should not be used in where are staff would like to contribute with their inputs and knowledge based projects. The approach of autocratic leadership style concerned with the decision making power. This leadership style doesnt obtain contribution of their followers and they always fix that the staff accept their decisions. These leaders suggest only structured and inflexible rewards but they wouldnt support performance related compensation. These leaders must not concern of followers justifications even if they took wrong decisions. They often punish their sub-ordinates and they have fixed behavior. Therefore the staff cannot feel they are the part of the organization and there will not be any correlation. So the employee cannot contribute his maximum effort. The recent generation avoids this kind of leadership style. But this leadership style work out in some critical situations when the employees are not trained well and when the subordinates are not responding to other leadership styles. However this leadership style must not use where the employees are contribute with their skills, knowledge and willingness to work. Benefit: This leadership style usually get work done . Drawback: The sub ordinates just depend on the leaders decisions and there is no participation in making decisions. The followers personal growth put in risk. Bureaucratic Leadership Style This leadership style strictly follows the policies, rules, procedures and regulations blindly. This leadership style success where the repetitive work will be done frequently. In this style if the decision making is not according to the policies and procedure then they will go for another level of decision making. This kind of leadership well exist where dealing with accounting and cash in each section. But the staff may disinterest towards their work. This is well applicable to those who have minimum skills and the performance is not up to the mark. Benefits: Here every problem contains solution instantly without any practice. Drawback: this is well organized and has a tendency to depersonalize their group. Charismatic Leadership style In this leadership style, the leader concentrates on himself and try to be a charismatic. The subordinates transformed to champions of the cause Benefits: This kind of leadership needs many followers to support the leaders views, look after his origin. Drawbacks: This leadership style has a tendency to bend towards bureaucratic leadership style. Laissez Faire Leadership style This kind of leadership style doesnt influence the subordinate by guiding and directing. These leaders make their sub ordinate to make decisions without restrictions and the followers or subordinates make their decisions. This is the current leadership style where the organizations are following. In this style the leader must aware of the knowledge of their subordinates. Here the leader assumes, the staff is trained enough, intelligent and qualified. In the organization where knowledge based for e.g. software companies employees are enjoy working their own and solving problems. However this style of leadership may not worked out where the job security is low. The group members are competitive but tere is no any guidance and direction for the group therefore it creates problems. Benefits: each and every group member get the chance to make decisions. Drawbacks: This kind of leadership makes confusion among the team members as well as the leader. Democratic Leadership styles: This kind of leadership style is a contribution leadership. Here the leaders consider their subordinates efforts while decision making. The leader educates their group regarding the activities in which they are involving. Though the team participate form the beginning to execute it. It supports the group members in any situation. This democratic leadership performs as a coaching and motivating their group members in all areas. Although the staff contribution as a role. Therefore the employee compensation and reward will be based on his performance. The democratic style of leadership is most useful if the sub-ordinates are active and active participates in making decisions. However the multi type projects need contribution from other divisions and other employees. The technology based projects require the huge support form other divisions and also they are up to date. But the problems are not appropriate for these leaders. This kind of leadership strategies are obtained from collection of group employees Finally the democratic leadership is form of a participatory leadership where the leader takes into consideration of sub-ordinates inputs while making the decisions. The staff is well informed before hand regarding about the activities they are involved and the matter concerned to them. The staff has participatory role starting from planning, design and execution. This enables the staff to effectively deal with any problems during the execution. The democratic leaders act like a coach motivating the staff and instil the team culture in the organisations. The team work results in the large volumes of work in the short period of time. The democratic leaders receive support form staff and appreciate the importance given to their inputs. The democratic leader place trust on their staff allowing to them make decisions and develop their goals. These leaders allow professional growth of their staff and encourage career growth based on their performance. The employee reward and compensation is linked to the individual performance. Benefits: the growth of individuals developed through involvement in organizations operations. Drawbacks: the leader must support the decisions according the majority of the group. Employee Job Satisfaction The job satisfaction can defined as employee total attitude towards the work organisation and working conditions. The academicians focussed on the job satisfaction when the employment became significant part of the society. In the early days academicians focussed on studying the job satisfaction in the industrial environment and job satisfaction termed as work output. However over the period time job satisfaction definition transformed to attitudes of employees towards various situational factors in the work environment (Bullock, 2003). There is a great interest in recent times about the job satisfaction of the employees. The basic reason is that people deserved to be treated with respect and fairly and the job satisfaction directly reflects the treatment. The job satisfaction shows that emotional well-being and physiological health. Secondly the job satisfaction results in the organisational commitment and performance. The management concern is about the well-being of their workforce (Aryee 2009). The organisations like to measure the job satisfaction of employees at regular intervals to gauge employees attitudes. The aspects which effect the job satisfaction are: Personal aspects: The personal aspects consist of the gender, culture, education, social, economic situations, family etc. Jon inherent Factors: These aspects consist of the supervisors, workers; skilled workers frequently want to be directed by their convict on their daily job activities. Organizational Factors: The management aspects consist of supervision, job security, remuneration, career growth opportunities and responsibilities. Their existence usually motivates the employees and gives them job satisfaction. The organizations main motive is to concentrate on job design. It facilitates to improve employee hob satisfaction and productivity. Therefore when the job satisfaction is increase the attrition rate will be decreased (castor and spector, 1987). When the organizations not satisfied the employees jobs then automatically the absenteeism increases as well the productivity decreases. Gap 1 The Causes of Employee Attitudes The major factor in employee job satisfaction is the employees attitude, that depends on the management practices, working conditions, wages, and other fringe benefits, often employees are looking for extra benefits from the employer. Then the gasp exist between the employee expectation and the employees satisfaction towards his job. The culture is also one of the important factor influences the job satisfaction of the employee. Cultural Influences Culture aspects such as beliefs, values, food habits, traditions, these are affecting the employees. The globalization of companies faces so many problems to Human Resource practitioners. Therefore the cross cultural studies could assist those organizations. (Erez, 1994; house, 1995: Triandis, 1994) and the other social factors such as individualism, collectivism, uncertainty avoidance versus risk taking, power distance, masculinity/femininity are mostly play a major role in employee job satisfaction. Gap 2 The Results of Positive or Negative Job Satisfaction The second factor is the positive or negative job satisfaction of the employee. Often the organizations believe that the organizational productivity depends up on the satisfaction of the employees. Human Resources practitioners always put their maximum effort to reduce the cost incurring in employee job satisfaction and the organizational out comes completely depends up on the employee satisfaction. Gap 3 How To Measure and Influence Employee Attitudes The 3rd Gap focuses on the measures of employee attitude and influence. But number of methods existed attitudes of the employees such as conducting interviews, surveys. Form the above methods the attitude survey method most popular and well constructed method. This method is used to understand employee attitude whether it is positive or negative. Form that, we able to understand the attitudes of the employees. Authoritarian Style Democratic Style All policies are determined by leader Strategies for goal relation determined by leader; no future direction. Leader dictates work task to team Leader is personal in his praise and critics without objective reasons. Leader maintains distance from members All policies are determined by the group Explanation of overall processes give in the beginning; technical advice sought and given Members are free to choose work companion and division of tasks Leader is objective and fact minded in praise and criticism. Leader participate in the group Source: Kurt Lewin (1943) Autocratic versus Democratic Leadership There is always a controversy between the leadership style which is effective, whether the autocratic leadership style or democratic style of leadership. Daft (1999) said the autocratic leaders are one who lean to centralize power and compel power from the particular location, controlling the rewards. The system is initiated in responding to the on going situation in some European countries in those days. A study conducted by Lewin, White, Lippitt (1939); Lippitt White (1943) on autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire a group of boys and girls under guidance various leadership styles. The outcomes revealed that the group has imitated their leaders style of leadership. Under autocratic leadership style the leaders controlled in all the situations. In this leadership style they are very directive and scarcely appraising their group members and followed by-book leadership. The authoritarian team members are did not get the opportunity to make their own decisions and they always depen d on their leaders in decision making. The democratic leadership style of leaders provides their team a lot of opportunity to express their views confidently. The team members exposed social, impulsive and participative behavior in all the situations. The laissez-faire is measured as a light-weight leadership style. Leaders are very rarely influence their team. And there is no any direction to their teams and there is no any encouragement as a democratic style. This is like a captain less ship. Shaw (1955) observed by his study that the authoritarian leadership style team members are very speed, accuracy and efficient in their views. In the other hand the satisfaction of the team leaders are high. Tannenbaum Schmidt (1973) extended the democratic vs. autocratic leadership style perception by bring out Leadership variety. Leadership and Job Satisfaction There is a relationship between the job satisfaction and leadership style of the immediate supervisor (Bass, 1985). In another study Chionk (2001) established a positive correlation between the leadership style, job satisfaction and employee commitment. The manager should leadership qualities to produce the organisational outcomes. The leadership style and vision can influence the employee job satisfaction internally as well as externally (Gaziogly and Tansel, 2006). On the contrary Chang and Lee (2005) showed that there is no significant relationship between the leadership style and job satisfaction. In general transformational leadership results in the employee willingness to organisations and desired organisational outcomes. While viewing the job satisfaction in the context of leadership there are several prediction can be derived (Bass, 1985). The transformational leadership can foster a more job satisfaction due to sense of ownership and intellectual stimulation. The transformational leader encourage in more freedom and responsibilities for their employees. The work also provides a more accomplishments and job satisfaction. The transformational leaders also encourage development of their employees, hence employees feel that their needs are also cared and carried out. While the employees who do not like the transformational leadership may feel that reward system is not good enough for them. The people who believe in management by exception feel that transformational leaders are searching for deviations and are not happy in their jobs (Solomon, 2007) The employees are more satisfied with the managers who are supportive compared managers who are critical of employees. The employ undergo stress to work with leaders who are unsupportive and show a hostile behaviour towards employees. The employees expect guidance and directions in situations where they cant make decisions. The negative leadership style results in the reduced productivity, increased turnover rate and absenteeism (Ribelin, 2003). The studies conducted by Robbins (2003) it is revealed that employees retention is higher with transactional leadership as compared transformational leadership. The transformational leadership helps employees to improve their skills increasing the job satisfaction and organisational commitment. Job Satisfaction and Retail Leadership: Hammer (1996) says that from the past two decades, the employee behaviors are changing frequently. Because of the improved multiple job opportunities the employee has the wide choices. Therefore the retention of employee is a crucial thing for the organizations (Chowdhury, 2000). This study tells what the organizations are going to practice satisfy the employee and what are the emerged theories on employee job satisfaction. But in the current business environments the money is not very important for the employees. Although the peer study revealed that the main reason for employee job satisfaction is the behavior of the manager or managers behavior. There it review that the leadership and the support or co operation of the leadership play a key role in employee job satisfaction. Then the organization must support the employees through the organizational cultures, policies that exist effective in the work place. But some studies say that the satisfaction of the employee is linked with employee job satisfaction. Where as the employee get motivated by customer satisfaction in certain environments such as retail industry and direct marketing organizations. The study explained that the job satisfaction will be resultant by five basic characteristics: Task variety, Task identity, Task significance, Autonomy Feedback. People want to have more control and meaning in their work-lives, and not just perks and benefits. Theories found in the literature which pertain to job satisfaction include: Equity theory: Mostly this theory defined that the employees can be satisfy and get motivated with their jobs when they have the healthy industrial relations among their work group. Here they must feel that every employee is same and equal. The satisfaction levels decrease when the recriminations rise among the employees. Therefore the organizations must maintain the equality among their employee. Two-Factor Theory of Job Satisfaction (Herzberg) Herzberg theory states that dissatisfaction effect on the employee satisfaction it directly results on the employee out put and productivity. Generally the employees satisfaction with their job and perform a positive result on the organizational productivity. The motivational factors that are influence on employees, such as rewards, promotions, achievements, by adding responsibilities and recognition by his skills. Value Theory: The modern theory (1997) defined that the job satisfaction is formed in daily building up the positive attitude on the employees job. Where the employee gets the opportunity and value to achieve a particular goal and also the job provides that opportunity to accomplishment of such goal, then mostly the employee feel the job satisfaction. When the employee finds the organization go against to the employee regarding his role so the dissatisfaction of the employee may occur. Social Information Procession Model This model recommends that the co employees attitudes and behaviors result on the job satisfaction of the employee. Therefore where the employee surrounded the people who have positive attitudes and views regarding the opportunities which the organization provides and never bother about job security then automatically the employee satisfy with his current job. So the co employees attitudes and motivation effect the other employees. QUESTIONNAIRE The satisfaction of my job is Excellent b. Good c. Average d. Poor I am provided the resources by my organization to perform are Excellent b. Good c. Average d. Poor Working conditions are good and safe Excellent b. Good c. Average d. Poor The organization formed the clear cut goals to achieved by the team members. Excellent b. Good c. Average d. Poor The motivation of my team leader Excellent b. Good c. Average d. Poor My team leader communicates me regarding my job responsibilities Excellent b. Good c. Average d. Poor The company help me to identify my strengths and weaknesses Excellent b. Good c. Average d. Poor The opportunity provided by our company to try innovative things Excellent b. Good c. Average d. Poor The value of my views and participations in our organization is Excellent b. Good c. Average d. Poor The level of facilities which our organizational structure practices to enhance effective accomplishment of tasks is Excellent b. Good c. Average d. Poor The environment which the management provide me is Excellent b. Good c. Average d. Poor The satisfaction of the policies adopted by our organization is Excellent b. Good c. Average d. Poor The respect of team members ideas and opinions is Excellent b. Good c. Average d. Poor Consumer Buying Decisions: Product Attributes Consumer Buying Decisions: Product Attributes In this research, instant coffee purchasing is selected to study the buying decision of consumers. Three blind taste tests are experimented and proofing that participant tended to choose the popular brand of coffee. Surprisingly, people made different choices in each of the test. The result tells us that without knowing the brand name, their buying decisions are different when comparing with knowing the brand name. In conclusion, brand has a strong influence in consumers decisions. To better understand the blind taste tests, we executed a questionnaire survey immediately. As a result, the survey tells us taste is the most important factor in affecting their buying decisions whereas their second consideration would be price, brand, and influenced by advertisement. This giving an idea that except for the brand and taste, there are many factors should affecting the consumers buying decision. Contents 1. Introduction 1 2. Literature Review 2 2.1. Brand name 2 2.2. Brand Image 4 2.3. Linking brands to consumer perceptions of product 5 2.4. Consumer buying behavior and decision making 6 2.5. Customer satisfaction and loyalty 9 2.6. Product attributes 10 3. Research Methodology 12 3.1. Pilot study 15 4. Findings and discussions 16 4.1. Participants 16 4.2. Relationship of brand, taste and decision 17 4.3. Post-tests evaluation 20 4.4. Buying behavior 23 4.5. Discussions 26 5. Conclusion 28 5.1. Recommendations 28 5.2. Conclusion 29 6. References 30 7. Appendix 33 7.1. Annex: The Blind Test and Questionnaire 33 Keywords Branding, Brand image, Brand equity, Consumer buying behavior, Consumer buying decision, Customer satisfaction and loyalty, Product attributes Introduction Over the past few decades, a considerable number of studies have been made on the relationship of branding and consumer buying behavior (Fournier, 1994; Keon, 1983), i.e. how the consumer buying behavior affected by branding. Many companies devote lots of money and manpower to build up images for their brands. That is the reason why many studies have focused on this field. In this research will be figured out which factor, brand name or product attributes, plays a critical role in affecting consumer buying decision. In the economists normal approach, price is used as the main tool to explain the consumer buying behavior (Becker, 1996). We carry out blind taste tests and also conduct a questionnaire to find out the impact of branding on consumers preferences.. Literature Review This literature review is going to analysis what has been done in investigating the relationship among brand, consumer buying decision and product attributes. Such information will be digested and modified to be applied to instant coffee purchasing in the Hong Kong market. Brand name In recognition of the growing coffee culture that is sweeping Hong Kong, different tastes of coffee have been rolled out on the market. For example, Nescafe has newly released a new series of coffee Latte in which the image is totally different from the original Nescafe coffee. Old Town coffee has introduced a new series called white coffee. Why do they give new brand names for the new products? Why do they have different images? Is there any advantage for them to do so? According to Armstrong and Kotler (1999), brands can be described as a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of these, which identifies the maker or seller of a product or service. Later, Olins (2000) gives a supplement to the definition of brand. He suggests that brand is a device that helps differentiating products from different sellers, without clear branding, in some fields, we literally could not tell one product or service from another. By using brand names, consumers can easily distinguish products from different sellers. Brand Image In the words of Keller (1998), marketers can build up an image for the product to draw customers attention so as to induce more sales (Keller, 1998). Randall (1997) says Brand image is the whole image of the brand existing in the minds of consumers. It is the total information that the consumers have received about the brand. Some scholars think that the brand image can influence consumers buying decisions. Furthermore, Ogilvy (1983) suggests that consumers do not buy products; rather they buy products with a personality. Ogilvy (1983) also suggests the fact that a brand can have a personality or image reflecting that people not only want the basic function offered by the product, but also psychological benefits. If a brand image matches with an individuals image, he/she will purchase that product and may stick to that brand in future (brand loyalty) (Levine, 2003). From the above statements, it seems that consumers are concerned more about the brand image rather than product attribu tes. In the research, we will use the product of instant coffee to test the validity of the above statements. After reviewing the sections of 2.1 and 2.2, we can say that there is an intimate relationship among brand name, brand image and the consumers. Linking brands to consumer perceptions of product In the research, we will investigate how consumers make buying decisions. Perception of a product is crucial in making the buying decision; therefore, it is necessary to find the linkage between brand and consumer perceptions. Olins (2000) suggests that people can have a relationship with a brand: they have an immense emotional content and inspire loyalty beyond reason. Besides, Keller (1998) suggests that what distinguishes a brand from its unbranded commodity is the sum of consumers perceptions and feelings about the products attributes and performance, brand name and what it stands for and the company associated with the brand. In the past, there were only a few instant coffee brands available in the market. In recent yeas, a lot of new instant coffee brands appear in the market, such as Indocafe and Old Town coffee. The traditional branding strategy which has emphasized on product offerings and associated functional and utilitarian benefits is no longer workable in the market. People are now paying more attention to the brand (Levine, 2003). Therefore, it is no wonder many companies create a strong and distinctive brand image for their products so as to differentiate himself from other competitors (Keller, 1998). Advertising is widely used by the companies to build up a brand image. In Hong Kong, many coffee brands have been advertised on TV and in magazine, such as Maxwell house, Nescafe and Mr. Brown. Most studies have found that there are inter-relationships among brand, advertisement and consumers buying decisions (MacKenzie et al., 1986). Besides, that the affective and cognitive-based attitudes towar ds the brand can affect the consumers buying decisions (Homer et al., 1992). Advertising is the primary device used to build the image of a brand and most of the customers usually rely on advertising messages when they make an infrequent purchase for an unfamiliar product (Dowling, 2001).Well-established brands attract increased preference and usage (East, 1997), produce greater emotional ties (Biel, 1993), and boost trust and loyalty (Fournier, 1994). If the statement is true, it indicates that customers perception of products derive from marketing effort such as brand images and brand differentiation in addition to the physical characteristics of the product. What about the product quality? Can product quality influence the perception of product? Consumer buying behavior and decision making In our study, consumer buying decision is our key focus. We will focus on how the consumers make their buying decisions in purchasing instant coffee. We want to know which factors, brand or product attributes, influences most in the process of buying decision making of consumers. Therefore, we must understand the consumer buying behavior and how they make the buying decisions. In the past, consumers were more concerned with a products function- efficiency, reliability, value-for-money, durability and convenience todays customers are prepared to pay more for a stylish product as they become more affluent and visually sophisticated (Henley Centre, 1989). It is no wonder companies put much effort on packaging, product design and advertising. In the words of Bayley (1989), the ambience, the layers of imagery, the texture, the decoding- all of these are vested interests leading to the only rationale: a purchase. Consumer buying behavior refers to the buying behavior of final consumers, individuals and households who buy goods and services for personal consumption (Armstrong et al., 1999). Consumers have to make decisions when there is more than one choice. However, how do the consumers make their buying decisions? Foxall (1980) suggests that consumers will make the buying decisions according to perception, personality, motivation and attitudes. He says that consumer behavior is a process of learning and it depends on how you perceive the product. The process is modified according to the customers past experience and the objectives he or she has set (Foxall, 1980). Besides, Foxall (1980) also suggests that consumers personality and self-image is important in studying consumer buying decision as he believes that consumers only choose products that are consistent with their perceptions of themselves. By using Foxalls (1980) idea, it is not difficult to understand the relationship between brand and consumer buying decision. Once the brand image and consumers image is matched, consumer will purchase that product. Besides, Foxall (1980) also claimed that consumer buying decision is motivated by something more than awareness. It depends on the consumers needs and drives, his tastes and aspirations, plus his attitudes, personality and social environment (Foxall, 1980). Furthermore, Foxall (1980) says that attitudes and buying decision are related and each may influence the other, however, they are not always entirely consistent. Customer satisfaction and loyalty Although our key focus of the research is how the consumers make buying decisions in purchasing coffee, customer satisfaction will also be investigated. In our study, satisfaction refers to the situation when consumers expectations are matched by perceived performance (Blackwell et al., 2001). After purchasing a product, consumers will have a post-purchase evaluation (Foxall, 1980). Consumers will continue to purchase the product if they are satisfied with it. It is called loyalty. Sometimes, they may recommend it to their relatives and friends. In the research, the blind tests will be used to find out how the consumers perceive the product, that is, to see if consumers can recognize the taste of the brand that they have chosen. Previous study has found that customer satisfaction has a positive effect on loyalty and they will repurchase the product again (Oliver, 1997; Mittal et al., 2001). If the consumers are satisfied with the taste of coffee in the blind tests but it is not the brand the consumers used to buy, we can say that brand influences consumers much and the consumers only loyal to the brand but not the product itself. Product attributes According to Armstrong and Kotler (1999), product attributes can be defined as something that can deliver the benefits offered by the product and can add value to the customers. In the words of Keller (1998), product attributes are the ingredients necessary for performing the product or service function sought by consumers. They refer to a products physical composition and are what determine the nature and level of product performance (Keller, 1998). It can be further characterized according to important and optional features, either necessary for a product to work or for allowing customization and more versatile personalized usage (Keller, 1998). In the research, we will focus on the study of instant coffee and we will regard taste as the most important attributes of coffee. Some studies have carried out in which consumers perceive the products they buy and the brands they regularly choose. Taste is used to determine the effect of brand identification on consumers reactions to and evaluations of products (Allison Uhl, 1964; Makens, 1961). The studies conclude that Participants in general did not appear to be able to discern the taste differences among the various brands, but apparently labels and their associations did influence their evaluations. To sum up the literature review, many studies (Allison Uhl, 1964; Keon, 1983; Makens, 1961) have shown that consumers are influenced by branding. However, to what extent will the consumers make their buying decisions according to product attributes? The research will find out the answer. Research Methodology I used the technique of triangulation (White, 2000) in my research in which two techniques, blind taste test and questionnaire, were used. Before conducting the actual survey, I randomly selected 82 people outside a supermarket in Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong and asked them if they had the habit of buying instant coffee. 39 of them stated that they buy instant coffee regularly but 18 of them said that they do not drink instant coffee. In the 39 people, 33 (84.6%) of them said that they usually buy Nestlà ©s instant coffee, Nescafe. 4 (10.3%) of them buy Maxwell House instant coffee and 2 (5.1%) of them buy Old Town instant coffee. I invited the 33 Nescafe instant coffee buyers to do the blind taste test and questionnaire as they were the majority (84.6%) of the respondents. I believed choosing Nescafe instant coffee buyers to be the sample was more representative as they represent the majority of the coffee drinkers that I have asked. However, only 30 of them agreed to participate in the test. The 30 Nescafe instant coffee buyers were my sample population. The sample consisted of 8 males and 22 females who have the habit of buying instant coffee on their own. The blind taste test was carried out in order to find out how the consumers choose coffee. The test was divided into three parts and each part would have 10 participants. In the three blind taste tests, Tsit Wing instant coffee (TW), Maxwell House instant coffee (MH) and Nescafe instant coffee (NC) were used. I chose the three coffees as their price is more or less the same. Every participant had tried the Tsit Wing instant coffee (TW), Maxwell House instant coffee (MH) and Nescafe instant coffee (NC) before. In Test A, three cups of different coffee were given without brand labels. NC was the brand that the sample population used to buy. The participants were asked to taste the coffee and choose one that they would purchase. The data collected in the Test A would serve as a base reference. If the participants like the taste of NC, they will also choose the NC in the test. In Test B, three different cups of coffee were given. Each cup of coffee had a label showing the brand of coffee. The aim of the Test B was to see if there was any difference between Test A and Test B. If they really like the taste of NC, the results in the Test A and B would be consistent. If the results in the two tests are not consistent, it shows that brand influence consumers decision. Test C was carried out to determine if the consumer buying decision was independent of the brand name. The Test C was the same as Test B, except the name of the coffee brand were labeled wrongly. I labeled the cup of MH as TW, the cup of TW as NC and the cup of NC as MH. By comparing with the result obtained in the three tests, we hoped to find out which factors, brand or taste, has a greater influence on the consumers. If the data obtained in the Test A does not match with the data obtained in the Test B, it tells that brand has an influence on consumers decisions. The reason is in Test A, the participants only know the taste of the coffee and they can only choose the coffee according to the taste of coffee. In Test B, however, the participants know both the taste and brand. If their decisions are different, that means the brand affects their buying behavior. For the Test C, the three different coffees were used again. However, their brand names were labeled wrongly this time. Comparing the result obtained in this test to that of in the Test B, if the result has a big difference, that means the brand has a greater influence than the taste on the decision of participants. Besides, questionnaire (Annex 7.1) was also used to obtain data. The questionnaire, used immediately after the blind taste tests, consisted of five questions with choices given. Pilot study The pilot study made me realize that what I need is to observe their buying behavior which cannot be asked but observed. Therefore, I decided to do the blind taste tests and questionnaire instead of doing an interview which allowed me to focus on measuring the influence of brand and taste on the consumers decisions. Afterwards, I decided to carry a three blind taste tests with three groups of people. I enjoy to take this chance tend to do all blind taste test is they will remember the taste of the coffee in the test, and finally affect their choice in the next following tests. Findings and discussions Participants Of the total number of 30 respondents, 8 (26.7%) were males and 22 (73.3%) were females. All of them were NC consumers. The result is shown in Table 4 .1. More than a half people had 1 to 3 years NC purchasing experience and 70% of them had at least 1 year purchasing experience. From the data, we can assume that some participants are experienced in purchasing instant coffee and the results obtained from them are valuable to discuss and analyze. Relationship of brand, taste and decision In the research, blind taste tests were used to find out how the consumer made decisions regarding brand and taste in purchasing instant coffee. Three tests were carried out. In each test, participants were given three cups of different coffee. In Test A, three cups of coffee without brand name were given. In Test B, brand name was given to each cup of coffee. In Test C, brand names were given but placed wrongly on each coffee. In Test A, three cups of coffee without label were given to participants to taste. Surprisingly, the result was not consistent with our expectation. In other words, taste was the only reason for their choices in the Test A. The result told us that without knowing the brand name, their preferences were different when comparing with knowing the brand name. In this test, the result was changed because the participants knew the brand name when comparing with the result of the Test A. There was a 30% increase in the NC and a 30% decrease in the MH. The data showed that the brand really influenced participants when deciding the coffee. In Test C, the participants had to taste three cups of different coffee in which the brand labels were placed wrongly. The result was very close to that of Test A. That means they chose as if just chose by the taste only. It gave us a hint that with a different label on the cups, their choices were different. What we can conclude is that the brand plays an important role in affecting buying decision of participants. Post-tests evaluation After the three blind taste tests, the participants in Test A and C were told about the correct branding of the coffee they had tried. All the participants were asked if they would continue to purchase the NC after trying the tests. Only 30% of the participants would firmly say yes. Half of them had a second thought of their decisions. It told us that they started to think about their perceptions of NC coffee. It implies that the participants will also consider the taste when purchasing instant coffee. Participants were asked to choose one coffee to recommend to their friends after trying the blind taste tests. The result was shown in Table 4 .6. The result was very interesting that about half of them recommend NC to their friends while another half suggested MH, was most people voted due to the taste in the Test A. It implies that branding and taste also have a strong influence in consumers buying behavior. Participants were asked if they were satisfied with the NC. Before the blind taste test, over 40% of the participants were satisfied with the NC. However, after the blind taste tests, only 17% were satisfied with it and there was 13% of participants were dissatisfied. From the result in Fig. 4 .7 and Fig. 4 .8, we can see that the participants were influenced by the blind test. We can say that beside the factors related to the products, there are some other factors may affect our buying decision. Buying behavior In the research, participants were asked immediately after the blind taste tests about how they made the buying decision when purchasing instant coffee. In the research, the participants were asked to give factors they thought were influential in making the buying decision in the questionnaire. The answers were shown in the Table 4 .9. In Fig. 4 .9, it shows the most influential factor affecting buying decision. 63% of the participants regard Taste was the most influential (Table 8.1), 13% voted for Influenced by advertisement, 10% for Brand image, 7% for Price and 7% for Word-of-mouth. Nobody voted for brand in the questionnaire. Comparing to the results obtained in the blind tests, the results were inconsistent. In the blind tests, it was found that the influence of the brand was greater than the influence of the taste. In Fig. 4 .10, it shows the top three influential factors affecting buying decision regarding to instant coffee purchasing. Nearly one-third of the whole population voted for the Taste, the second one was Price (20%) and the third were Brand (13.3%) and Influenced by advertisement (13.3%). The Fig. 4 .10 shows that Price is also an important factor in making the buying decision. The data gives us an idea that beside brand and taste, there are many factors should be considered in making the buying decision. Discussions According to the three blind taste tests and the questionnaires done by the participants, we can see that the brand influence was strong to the participants. In the Test A, participants did not know the brand but the taste. They chose the coffee according to the taste. More than 50% of the NC buyers chose MH. However, when the brands were labeled on each cup of coffee in Test B, 50% of the NC buyers choose NC. In Test C, three cups of coffee were given with the wrong brand labels, the result showed that participants tend to choose coffee according to the brand name as 60% of the NC buyers chose MH which was labeled with a NC label. The three test results indicate that brand affects consumers decisions and which is supported by Olins (2000) and Keller (1998). Olins (2000) suggests that brand helps people to differentiate products from different sellers. Besides, Keller (1998) suggests that brand is an external aspect of product and it can affect the purchase or consumption procedure. Besides, the participants were asked if they were satisfied with the NC before and after the blind taste tests, Over 40% of the participants were satisfied with NC. However, after the blind taste tests, the number of satisfied people decreased and there was 13% of participants dissatisfied with the NC. From the results, we can see that the participants were influenced by the blind test and there are some other factors may affect our preferences. As we mentioned in the literature review, consumers will buy the product again if they are satisfied with the product (Foxall, 1980). From the results, we can see that the brand influences consumer buying decisions a lot. From the data in Table 4 .9, there were 63% of participants chose Taste as the most influential. However, nobody voted brand as the most important factor. Compared that to the results obtained in the blind taste tests, in which brand had a strong influence in consumers decisions, there is a contradiction. The inconsistency shows that people do not understand what influences their behavior very well. Conclusion Recommendations The result obtained from the tests and the questionnaire is not consistent in some way. If the answers from participants are truly reflecting their preferences, the obtained result should be consistent. So we should not trust the result given from the research and we should be critical in reading other research data in the future. Furthermore, if it is feasible, we may observe their actual buying behavior after trying the blind taste tests over a period of time in order to get an accurate result. Conclusion In this research, we carry out three blind taste tests and find out that participants tended to choose coffee according to the brand name. 60% of one of the instant coffee brand supporters chose another brand of coffee which is wrongly labeled as their favorite coffee brand by me. Surprisingly, 80% of them do not choose their favorite coffee brand in another test when the labels are gone. The only factor which affects their decisions if the labels are gone is the taste of the coffee. In other words, taste is the only reason for their choices if no labels are provided. The result tells us that without knowing the brand name, their buying decisions are different when comparing with knowing the brand name. The result shows us that brand had a strong influence in consumers decisions. 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